1 - 20 of 46 Bookmarks by daphster
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Instead of the quiet solitude of the winter morning that she had been expecting, there is a familiar face. A face Willow had wished to avoid for the rest of her life.
Michelle Wheeler stands hunched on her doorstep, clutching her side, face battered and bleeding. Her armour is dented, her cloak is torn, and yet she still manages to be the most breathtakingly beautiful person Willow has ever seen.
Their eyes meet. Willow can’t breathe. She sees reflected back in Michelle’s eyes the same shock ricocheting around her own body, and she desperately wants to turn around, shut the door. Pack up, move away. Find a new sanctuary, untouched by the painful memories of the only woman she has ever loved.
But Michelle is here, and she is bleeding, and she’s in pain, and Willow can’t turn her away.
Two years ago, Willow Byers disappeared from Hawkmoon without a trace, running away from her memories and her best friend. Fate intervenes.
Bookmarked by daphster
08 Feb 2026
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"It's your first day," Karen tells him. "This is exciting! You'll make so many friends."
"You think so?" Mike asks nervously, his wide eyes staring at her.
"Absolutely."
Karen Wheeler doesn't condone lying to her children, but she believes white lies can be considered harmless. They won't remember, anyways. But if Karen was telling the truth to her son, she'd have to admit how she's actually desperately nervous about his compatibility with his classmates.
After school, when Mike is rambling about his new best friend, Karen decides that if Will Byers makes her son this happy, she'll do everything in her power to make sure they stay friends forever.
Or, Will and Mike's relationship through the eyes of their friends and family (plus their own). Will is nonverbal autistic, and Mike has allusions to also being autistic. Neurodivergent friendly fic with them falling in love!
// title from Coming Home by beabadoobee
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 25,265
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Comments:
- 170
- Kudos:
- 1,416
- Bookmarks:
- 409
- Hits:
- 11,927
Bookmarked by daphster
02 Feb 2026
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darling, you got to let me know (should i stay or should i go?) by andiwriteordie
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
06 Jun 2022
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Nobody expects it to be Mike.
Everyone is expecting it to be Max or Nancy, who both have already been targeted. Or maybe El, whose childhood in Hawkins Lab makes her the perfect target. Or Will, who has gone through more than enough trauma in the past three years alone for all of them.
Nobody expects it to be Mike.
Or, the one in which it's Mike, not Will, who Vecna targets.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 11,158
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 3
- Comments:
- 134
- Kudos:
- 7,559
- Bookmarks:
- 1,221
- Hits:
- 75,189
Bookmarked by daphster
28 Jan 2026
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a cruel summer with you by andiwriteordie, astrobi, wiseatom
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
26 Dec 2024
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“Oh, come on,” Will says, struggling to keep his voice neutral in a different way. His mouth is dry, and he hates Mike for it even more. “Is this what it’s going to be like this summer?”
Mike looks back at him, considering, lips pursed in an effort to shut down the smirk that Will knows is fighting to break free. Will doesn’t dare to let his gaze catch there, focusing instead on holding Mike’s stare, because this, too, is a game.
Five years into a rivalry with bittersweet origins, the only thing Mike and Will want is to beat each other at this summer’s camp counselor competition. But being back at camp is dredging up old memories, and as Mike and Will lose momentum and gain something else entirely, it becomes increasingly clear that one summer can change everything.
Series
- Part 5 of in the quiet of the night
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 336,141
- Chapters:
- 12/17
- Comments:
- 1,069
- Kudos:
- 7,491
- Bookmarks:
- 1,909
- Hits:
- 339,403
Bookmarked by daphster
24 Jan 2026
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"You're- You're not a bad memory. You're not something I want to forget, and trust me, Will," Mike said breathlessly, almost laughing, "there's a lot of shit I want to forget."
Hawkins is still full of ghosts, and on the night before Lucas and Max's wedding six years after graduation, old wounds reopen, memories that were forgotten resurface and Will Byers learns that distance and getting older doesn't mean outgrowing your first love - it just teaches you to lie about it.
The problem? He has a boyfriend.
Or: It's a semi-warm fall in Hawkins, and Will has to act like he doesn't still have feelings for Mike.
Bookmarked by daphster
18 Jan 2026
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“I want you to tell him why you're so upset," Vecna says, and Will swears he sees the curl of a smile in the webbed scars of his face. “I want to watch you lose him.”
(Or, Will is forced by Vecna to confess his feelings to Mike, with a slow burn aftermath. Alternate Season 5.)
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 87,597
- Chapters:
- 26/26
- Comments:
- 1,501
- Kudos:
- 8,739
- Bookmarks:
- 2,147
- Hits:
- 173,049
Bookmarked by daphster
16 Jan 2026
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red light, yellow light, green-a-light go by goldenasteri
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
04 Jan 2026
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IAN! @poppytuft: someone write fic where they all go to the party that night after their campaign and mike and will make out in the bathroom bc Will says I hate your hair like this. please let me fix it. and he’s running his hands through mikes hair and he goes oh. OH. don’t give a fuuuuck
IAN! @poppytuft: Dustin henderson kat stratford ten things i hate about you dancing on the kitchen table moment while mike and will are dry humping in the bathroom. Who cares anymore
IAN! @poppytuft: I'm doing it myself
(or: the party DOES go to Stacy’s party, and mike and will get so gay off that vodka)
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 9,260
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Comments:
- 417
- Kudos:
- 10,068
- Bookmarks:
- 1,826
- Hits:
- 69,733
Bookmarked by daphster
15 Jan 2026
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Will raises his eyebrows. “Is that why you came in here?” he repeats, looking back down at the blue flannel. “To ask me about the weather in Lenora?”
“Kind of,” Mike says, and then, “well no, not about the weather specifically. I just– I wanted to talk to you.”
“Oh.” And Will looks a lot more surprised at this, actually, than the idea that Mike might have just wanted to come to his room to make small talk about unseasonably frigid California winters. “Okay. What about?”
“Anything.” The response is embarrassingly immediate. “Everything. I don’t know. I missed you.”
Hawkins, 1986. The world is ending, there are too many people in Mike's house, and to top it all off, he and Will have some things to talk through.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 77,728
- Chapters:
- 4/4
- Comments:
- 549
- Kudos:
- 8,769
- Bookmarks:
- 2,517
- Hits:
- 184,196
Bookmarked by daphster
14 Jan 2026
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Summary
The love triangle with Tobias ended, and Mike and Will just celebrated their six month anniversary. Life is good.
Until Venca comes back, and starts possessing Will at random times, making him act out of character, making him sabotage his relationship with Mike. Because if Will doesn’t have Mike, Vecna can take him.
And the worst part is, Mike is starting to believe it.
Especially when Vecna starts getting Tobias involved.
Series
- Part 2 of Tobias Universe
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 136,100
- Chapters:
- 26/26
- Comments:
- 1,120
- Kudos:
- 3,373
- Bookmarks:
- 647
- Hits:
- 80,456
Bookmarked by daphster
12 Jan 2026
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The world is ending, which means for the time being, Will is living at the Wheeler’s house with Mike and El. Which means his life is once again a third-wheeling roller rink nightmare, and he’s basically invisible to Mike.
Until Jonathan gives him $20 to go to an art sale, and he meets Tobias, a guy just as into art as he is.
It’s not long before him and Tobias start dating.
And then suddenly, Mike’s paying attention to him after all.
or
Will gets a boyfriend. Mike doesn’t like it.
Series
- Part 1 of Tobias Universe
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 120,535
- Chapters:
- 26/26
- Collections:
- 2
- Comments:
- 3,127
- Kudos:
- 14,470
- Bookmarks:
- 2,708
- Hits:
- 429,125
Bookmarked by daphster
11 Jan 2026
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Summary
Three years ago, Mike Wheeler was too afraid to speak, too afraid to feel the truth that was always buried deep within him. He let the one person who had always been his safe place, Will Byers, slip away, and in that silence it became too late.
Now, living a life drained of color and weighed down by regret, Mike follows a thread of hope to New York City, desperate to find the boy he let go. When he sees Will on the dance floor, confident and alive in a way Mike never imagined, he is stunned. Every smile, every movement reminds him of all the years he spent afraid and all the years he spent loving in silence.
Standing before him, hearts tremble and words falter. Mike is desperate for a life where fear does not rule him, where regret does not weigh him down, and where he can finally fight for the person he has loved all along.
For the first time in years, he is not willing to let that love slip away again.
Bookmarked by daphster
09 Jan 2026
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cursing my name, wishing I stayed (look at how my tears ricochet) by mikeslawyer for afterglowsssss
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
19 Jun 2025
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Summary
"Tell me a secret?"
Mike asks, like he's come to do every day, late at night, when the darkness can swallow the guilt and the regret rushing out of their hearts, when their sides press together, the floor long forgotten, ever since the first Will, please, come up here.
Will is a terrible person.
I'm in love with you. I'm having visions. I'm in love with you. I'm not really having nightmares, Vecna is tempting me with a version of you that loves me back. I'm in love with you.
"I think my death is the easiest solution to everything. The Upside Down will die with me."
Will can hear Mike swallow next to him.
"Will, I would let the world burn down to ashes if it meant keeping you in it."
or
They're back in Hawkins, everything is the way it's always been, except - yeah, it's still the middle of an apocalypse, Will is having nosebleeds and Mike would sacrifice the world for his best friend but is still losing him.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 39,868
- Chapters:
- 7/7
- Comments:
- 768
- Kudos:
- 7,744
- Bookmarks:
- 1,669
- Hits:
- 141,669
Bookmarked by daphster
08 Jan 2026
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we all have a hunger (tell me what you need) by papenathy
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
03 Jun 2025
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Summary
“Looks like I bit you.” Will tilts his head to get a better look. All Mike can do is stare at him. His fluffy hair at the front, clumped pieces at the back where he’d slid his fingers in a mere few minutes before. His pretty green eyes that look hazel or even brown in this light, the dark circles he gets when he drinks framing them like intricate paintings. A satisfied, bloody smile.
Mike isn’t satisfied. He swallows thickly, choking down the words 'don’t you want more?'
Or: Will dresses as a vampire for a college halloween party, but Mike thinks his costume isn’t bloody enough. Will lets him fix it. Mike goes into a crisis.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 34,403
- Chapters:
- 3/3
- Comments:
- 1,265
- Kudos:
- 32,200
- Bookmarks:
- 7,041
- Hits:
- 489,170
Bookmarked by daphster
07 Jan 2026
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Summary
Will stirred sleepily to the sound of voices and a heavy weight beside him.
“Whazup?” he mumbled, lifting his head off the pillow and blinking in the darkness.
“Shhh, it’s fine,” replied Mike’s soft voice, breaking through the stillness that had followed Will’s muffled question, “I’ve got this one. You can go back to sleep.”
Mike and Will take turns staying up with Holly, who has begun to have nightmares about the monsters in Hawkins. Things take a curiously domestic turn.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 15,183
- Chapters:
- 3/3
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 146
- Kudos:
- 6,406
- Bookmarks:
- 1,106
- Hits:
- 53,474
Bookmarked by daphster
07 Jan 2026
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“Did I do something wrong?” Mike questions, mouth twisted in a frown, eyes less wide than they were a few moments ago, sleepiness gone. His arms stay at his sides, although his fingers fiddle with his sleeves. “What did I do wrong?”
Will frowns back. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Mike doesn’t look like he believes him. Will doesn’t blame him. “Then why do you keep leaving?”
The world ends, and then some. Mike and Will find each other again, amidst the debris and distance.
Series
- Part 1 of fix-its
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 21,203
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Comments:
- 742
- Kudos:
- 16,144
- Bookmarks:
- 3,777
- Hits:
- 234,248
Bookmarked by daphster
06 Jan 2026
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It’s winter in Hawkins, and Mike and Will aren’t speaking anymore. Living in Mike’s house, Will tries to be invisible, spending most of his time in the basement.
Then the power goes out — and if there’s one thing he dreads more than facing Mike, it’s the cold.
or
Seven nights in which Mike and Will have to sleep in the same bed, even though they’re barely friends anymore.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 52,632
- Chapters:
- 8/8
- Comments:
- 13,545
- Kudos:
- 183,935
- Bookmarks:
- 27,944
- Hits:
- 2,345,377
Bookmarked by daphster
01 Jan 2026
Bookmarker's Notes
HOLY SHIT that was the cutest shit i’ve ever read
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No, Haley doesn’t like Sierra. How could she like Sierra? The farmer leaves crab pots along the river in front of Haley’s house. She goes out of her way to bother Haley and give her a daffodil she keeps finding in the most random places. She owns a little cow family named after silly, unfunny cow puns. She knocks on Haley’s door to borrow her sister’s sewing machine carrying a bunch of fabric she probably got from her own sheep.
So no, Haley doesn't like her, because even if Sierra is everything new and charming and beautiful, she's also not a boy. And Haley can only wish that she was.
(the au that is loosely based on that trend on tiktok led by chappell roan's 'goodluck, babe!')
Bookmarked by daphster
25 Dec 2025
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Summary
Jayce sits with Viktor in the hospital and cries
Series
- Part 2 of Let Jayvik Cry
Bookmarked by daphster
10 Feb 2025
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Summary
The first time Jayce cries in front of Viktor, it’s because of a mug. Well, it’s not really about the mug, but that’s the catalyst.
It goes like this: Jayce, without looking up, reaches across the desk to grab a ruler. He hears the crash before he realizes what’s happened.
Series
- Part 1 of Let Jayvik Cry
Bookmarked by daphster
10 Feb 2025
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Summary
I thought I was good enough for… something. I don’t know what. I have never believed in a life where I could be anything other than their soldier. Maybe I thought this was my chance.
* * *
Kodiak's view from the end of part one
Bookmarked by daphster
10 Feb 2025