20 Bookmarks by itmatters
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A sharp crack tears through the air. Mike flinches back, staring down at Will's lifeless body. He gets one last look before the ground is giving way beneath them, and all at once, they’re falling.
A shrill cry tears from Mike’s throat as he finds himself flailing through the open sky. A sharp crack of lightning shutters in the distance. Will's limp corpse contorts, dropping faster than he can. He’s screaming, unimaginable terror ripping through his body. He writhes, reaching for Will, crying the boy's name.
He’s falling, plummeting through a destabilized upside down and there's nothing he can do to stop it. He’s going to die.
Mike reaches out, eyes squeezed close. He tears the watch from Will's wrist, seconds before colliding with the Exotic Matter.
.
OR
Colliding with Exotic matter as the Upside Down collapses in on itself sends Mike hurtling through time. He’s given the chance to save Will before any of this starts.
But he can’t seem to get it right. Reliving moments throughout the years, helpless to warn Will. He just wants to keep him safe. Why can’t he keep him safe?
He’ll do this again and again until he gets it right. He won’t lose him again.
Bookmarked by itmatters
13 Mar 2026
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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:
- 71,803
- Chapters:
- 11/15
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 1,444
- Kudos:
- 3,783
- Bookmarks:
- 851
- Hits:
- 62,089
Bookmarked by itmatters
01 Mar 2026
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The first time Will felt that something was seriously wrong with him, he did what he thought was best, which is absolutely nothing. It was hands-down the worst decision he’d ever made, and considering how his life turned out, that was saying something.
If he’d just opened his mouth, said something—anything—it might’ve saved him from being possessed for the next year and a half.
Or
November 6, 1987. Will Byers disappears for seven days, then comes back alive but possessed. Mike takes his sweet time connecting the dots, but once he does, he’s definitely not okay with this information.
Bookmarked by itmatters
25 Feb 2026
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okay so are the curtains blue for a reason or what (this is a metaphor) by sunflower_J
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
28 Dec 2025
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Now, someone walked into the room. A boy, awkwardly standing at the side of his bed, looking over him worriedly. His hair was brown and scruffy, and he had big baby doe eyes and a yellow-and-blue horizontally-striped shirt like a cartoon character. The window was lighting him up like he was important to Mike’s narrative. The curtains are blue, thought Mike, this boy is light. I love metaphors. Maybe he was high on the pain meds. Upon seeing him, Mike felt a great affection, a great peace. Plus, he had long eyelashes. Mike almost giggled to himself. He was definitely a little high.
“Hi.” breathed Mike.
“Hi.” he said, hesitating.
“We’re friends?” Mike asked hopefully.
Or: During the Party's final battle with Vecna, Mike is gravely injured and loses his memories. He wakes up in a hospital only remembering a handful of inconsequential little things, like how much he loves a boy who seems like light.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 61,496
- Chapters:
- 4/4
- Comments:
- 360
- Kudos:
- 1,539
- Bookmarks:
- 441
- Hits:
- 16,269
Bookmarked by itmatters
23 Feb 2026
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Something's been feeling weird lately (There's just something about you, baby) by willel_domination
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
16 Mar 2026
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Mike’s heart lurches into his throat, constricting his airway as he takes in his face. Because he knows that face. His eyes have wandered along that strong nose, those bunny teeth peeking out between parted lips, that mole beside his mouth. He’s catalogued every detail of that messy brown hair, those long eyelashes, and that pair of enchanting hazel eyes, over and over again, to the point where it burns behind his eyelids when he kisses his girlfriend.
“Holy shit,” the man breathes, gaping in shock, and for once in his life, Mike doesn’t need a trick to stop his loud mouth. For the first time, he’s truly struck dumb.
Because it’s him. Older, taller, and different, but it’s him.
The man standing in front of them, somehow, is Will.
Or,
18-year-old Will Byers gets sent back to July 1985, tries to help them out using some awesome superpowers and futuristic wisdom, and Mike does his best not to combust in the process.
Bookmarked by itmatters
23 Feb 2026
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weep upon the spot (for the starving of me) by cameliae
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
12 Mar 2026
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“M–My liege,” the man grits through his teeth, pain clearly written in his expression, but looking in peace at the same time. He stares up at Will with a devotion Will is unfamiliar, as if he's looking right at the sun after years living in the dark. Like a week living in the upside down, staring up at his mother and Jonathan and Mike like he could finally breathe again. “You m–must have come for me– at last. I am so grateful. I awaited for so– so long.”
His bloody hand softens around his wrist just to raise up enough to give Will a caress on his cheek, delicate, like he would do to a flower. Will barely feels the touch, but it sends a shiver down his spine all the same, and his eyes wells. Behind him, a chorus of gasps.
After that, the man with Mike's face loses consciousness, hand falling down on Will's lap.One night, Will Byers looks at the sky and wishes to be loved back.
From another universe, a Paladin answers his call.Bookmarked by itmatters
14 Feb 2026
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i am caught, right inside your line of fire by ethqreal
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
02 Feb 2026
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“Why are you touching him? You don’t own him.”
Will dropped his head into his hands. “Mike, oh my god—”
Paladin Mike’s jaw tightened. “I do not own him,” he said immediately. “He is—” He stopped, swallowing. His eyes went back to Will softening, and that softness made Mike hate him even more. He could recognize the look, and saw it mirrored in his own eyes countless times.
[...]
“He is the Light. By your oath, I am bound to him. My liege.” He bowed his head slightly toward Will, his mouth wrapped around the word like it was a prayer. “My cleric.” He said after, softer.
“Oh my god.” Will flushed, impossibly. “That is crazy. He is actually crazy."
Max, who had been standing with her arms crossed behind them, muttered, “Jesus Christ,” under her breath.
Mike Wheeler is going to explode, because there is an alternate, armoured version of him, following Will Byers around like he belonged to him.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 16,431
- Chapters:
- 2/2
- Comments:
- 528
- Kudos:
- 10,181
- Bookmarks:
- 2,100
- Hits:
- 108,697
Bookmarked by itmatters
02 Feb 2026
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"I just need you to know," Will says quietly, and he makes himself hold Mike's gaze, "that if something happens - if I hurt you, or anyone else - it's not because I wanted to. I would never want to hurt you, Mike. Never."
The words hang between them, loaded with more meaning than Will intended.
There's a pause where all Will can hear is their breathing echoing against the storage closet's walls. The hum is more distant now, buzzing in the back of Will's mind, but the uneven inhales coming from in front of him sound louder. The breath tickling his nose (because they really are that close) feels realer.
Mike's eyes are still darting across Will's face, and Will can feel him inhale sharply. "Will, why are you so convinced you're going to hurt someone? What did Vecna show you?"
Everything, Will thinks. He showed me everything. Showed me killing you over and over until I couldn't see anything else.
Somewhere between slaying interdimensional eldritch horrors, exploding an entire dimension, and risking their lives countless times, Mike and Will find each other.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 106,443
- Chapters:
- 14/14
- Comments:
- 308
- Kudos:
- 1,764
- Bookmarks:
- 668
- Hits:
- 43,720
Bookmarked by itmatters
23 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:
- 1,692
- Kudos:
- 9,813
- Bookmarks:
- 2,369
- Hits:
- 199,222
Bookmarked by itmatters
18 Jan 2026
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Will tried to swallow down the last of his fear, but his throat felt like sandpaper.
“Take me.”
Those milky eyes fixed on him, and a warped brow lifted, as if asking him to repeat himself.
Even though the cold seeped into him, like he was drifting backwards into a freezer, Will didn’t take the way out.
“Take me,” he repeated, his voice still shaky, but he held Vecna’s gaze. “Take me instead of Holly. I’ll come to you. I won’t fight. Just finish it already.”
Vecna was silent for a long, agonizing moment, but then, a smile curled across his twisted face.
“Deal.”---
Will offers himself to Vecna in exchange for Holly’s safety.
Mike takes this about as well as can be expected.- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 69,955
- Chapters:
- 20/20
- Comments:
- 659
- Kudos:
- 4,054
- Bookmarks:
- 1,186
- Hits:
- 112,808
Bookmarked by itmatters
15 Jan 2026
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“We are more similar than you realize, Will. Both of us were...sensitive children. We were different. Seen as freaks. But we are special. You are special.”
Will takes a shallow breath, tries to swallow his nerves. He speaks flatly. “And?”
Henry blinks, seemingly surprised by Will’s coldness. “I chose you that day, you know.”
And Will sees himself, small and alone, riding his bike through the darkness. He sees the silhouette of something tall and not-human. He sees himself crashing his bike. Running home. But the creature unlocks the door. It follows him into the shed. It gets him.
“It was you,” Will whispers, a hand coming up to the back of his neck. The monster that took him. The possession. The visions. “It’s always been you.”
(or the one where will’s connection to the upside down is a crucial part of season 4 instead of him getting sidelined, and how it changes everything)
Series
- Part 1 of darker in the day than the dead of night
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 32,825
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 164
- Kudos:
- 5,970
- Bookmarks:
- 1,667
- Hits:
- 116,016
Bookmarked by itmatters
13 Jan 2026
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You're In My Head (And I'm In Yours) by RoseByAnyOtherName17
Fandom Stranger Things (TV 2016)
25 Feb 2026
Summary
Mike and Will develop a mutual telepathic connection with "the power of best friendship" (as dubbed by one Robin Buckley).
This is that story, and some moments before and after.
- Words:
- 98,804
- Works:
- 7
- Bookmarks:
- 96
Bookmarked by itmatters
13 Jan 2026
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Love From the Other Side (I Guess You Can Say Things Are Getting Pretty Serious) by RoseByAnyOtherName17
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
13 Aug 2025
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“I’m sorry,” Steve said. “I tried to make her wait until you woke up, I really did.” He tossed something in Mike’s direction, which Mike caught without thinking. “Happy birthday, by the way.”
Mike blinked. He’d completely forgotten, between Holly going missing, frantically searching for a way to get her back, and being possessed by Vecna himself. “Uh, thanks,” he said awkwardly, running a hand through his hair and looking down at what Steve had tossed at him. It was a Kit Kat bar. His favorite. He wondered how Steve knew that.
“Oh, right!” Robin darted forward and hugged him before he could react. He met Will’s eyes over her shoulder, but Will still had a hand covering his mouth and his expression was unreadable, aside from the red on his cheeks. “Happy birthday! There’s a surprise waiting for you in the kitchen. Anyway—mind reading. Totally a thing now, right?”
--
Through "the power of best friendship," as Robin puts it, Mike and Will develop a telepathic connection when Vecna tries to take Mike. Neither of them are really upset by it, especially when it gives them the opportunity to finally destroy Vecna once and for all.
Series
- Part 1 of You're In My Head (And I'm In Yours)
Bookmarked by itmatters
12 Jan 2026
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Summary
“I will kill you,” says Will, returning his gaze to Mike.
“No, you will not,” Mike shakes his head.
“No, I will.”
“Yeah, I know, you told me your name ages ago,” Mike starts grinning at his own joke, and Will is really considering slapping him in the face.
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
Mike’s grin is still wide, but his eyes are soft, and Will can’t shake the feeling that these words mean something else entirely. He still feels Mike’s hands on his own, but he can’t bring himself to let go.
“Hey, guys,” Mike says softly, still looking at Will. “Could you give us a minute?”
(or: Mike decides that it is a good idea to let Vecna possess him, so he can search for his weaknesses. Now it's Will's job to bring him back.)
Bookmarked by itmatters
12 Jan 2026
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“And why come back when so many are leaving Hawkins?”
Will slowed without meaning to. The leaves under his shoes crackled. “I–”
What should he tell this stranger that wouldn’t reveal the fact that his sister had superpowers and might actually be the only key to save this entire town from a monstrous maniac?
“Well, everyone I know is here,” he murmured. “I couldn’t… just leave them.”
The man hummed softly, then he lifted his head to scan over the woods, a faint whistle came from his lips, before his gaze landed onto Will again.
“Maybe something here wanted you back.”
Or, a
fix-it ficmodern-gothic take on Will Byers' story in Season 5 .- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 144,956
- Chapters:
- 9/13
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 1,114
- Kudos:
- 3,904
- Bookmarks:
- 1,500
- Hits:
- 127,944
Bookmarked by itmatters
10 Jan 2026
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Will wakes up to find Mike Wheeler sleeping on his floor, only four years younger. Now it’s up to the Party to get him back to his own timeline.
Title from the song Landslide - Fleetwood Mac
Series
- Part 1 of landslide
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 40,401
- Chapters:
- 11/11
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 1,486
- Kudos:
- 16,106
- Bookmarks:
- 3,376
- Hits:
- 240,179
Bookmarked by itmatters
10 Jan 2026
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Brand me with your hands so everyone can see. by sundollop
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
01 Mar 2026
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Summary
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:
- 172,551
- Chapters:
- 25/25
- Comments:
- 5,510
- Kudos:
- 15,354
- Bookmarks:
- 3,104
- Hits:
- 509,820
Bookmarked by itmatters
04 Jan 2026
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- Words:
- 34,883
- Works:
- 1
- Bookmarks:
- 159
Bookmarked by itmatters
18 Dec 2025
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Summary
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:
- 13,830
- Kudos:
- 189,942
- Bookmarks:
- 29,106
- Hits:
- 2,485,814
Bookmarked by itmatters
07 Dec 2025
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Bookmarked by itmatters
03 Mar 2022