dash1e
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Summary
Will Byers is forced to relive the worst day of his life - March 22nd.
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Summary
Mike's life is split in three categories; the life he should have, the life he wants to have, and the life he has to have. Currently, he's living in limbo between all three; he'll never have that white-picket fence and suburban wife, not when the only girl he could try to love has left him, and while he's finding it harder to live the life he has to have— the life where he hides himself so deep, not even the people he loves know who he is— he'll never get the life he wants, either.
Limbo sucks, to put it simply. He's so close to what he wants (which is Will, no matter how hard he tries to shove it down) but he just can't push past that barrier and talk to Will, not when everything he does always feels wrong.
But, maybe, Mike might come to learn that what he wants isn’t so bad, after all.
(Or; Mike's struggle with his internalized homophobia— among other things, including the concept of free will, Robin Buckley's mildly terrifying presence, and wanting things Mike's sure he doesn't deserve— structured around the five stages of grief. You can mourn a life you'll never live, and you can mourn someone you haven't actually lost.)
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Bookmarked by dash1e
15 Jan 2026
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Summary
Mike pulls him into a hug instead.
It's tight and grounding and safe, and Will lets himself sink into it, lets himself pretend for just a moment that everything might actually be okay. Mike's arms are solid around him, one hand in his hair, and Will can hear his heartbeat, steady and sure.
"I'm not going to let him take you," Mike whispers against his hair. "I'm not going to let him use you. We're going to figure this out, okay? We're going to save those kids and stop Vecna and get him out of your head, and everything is going to be fine."
Somewhere between slaying interdimensional eldritch horrors, exploding an entire dimension, and risking their lives countless times, Mike and Will find each other.
Or; Season Five Volumes 2 and 3 retold so there's no plot holes, no bittersweet epilogue, and Mike and Will get their happy ending.
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Summary
Ever since he was six years old and ducked into the cupboard beneath the sink to avoid his father’s fury, Will Byers has known he’s good at hiding. Mom and Jonathan used to hate it, used to fuss and worry. Over the years, Will has only gotten better, crafted the skill into something of an art.
He hid when his dad screamed and broke things. He hid the truth when bullies at school slung terrifyingly accurate, harsh words. He hid when the Demogorgon stalked him through the Upside Down for a week.
Will Byers is good at hiding. It’s what’s kept him alive this long.
(or the one where vecna is dead and will is trying to enjoy the normalcy of growing up, while also wrestling some important, decidedly not-normal discoveries. and his relationship with mike. there’s that, too.)
Series
- Part 2 of darker in the day than the dead of night
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Summary
Will's been acting— strange, Mike thinks. He's caught Will skulking around the house like he's got lead weights attached to his ankles, watched his eyes blink listlessly without a hint of light in their irises, heard his voice go so raspy Mike wasn't sure he'd been speaking at all. Mike can’t help but worry.
He doesn’t look too good, either; clammy skin, pale, ashen face, hollowed cheeks like he’s hardly eaten in days. Will's acting half-dead already, and the world's not even close to ending yet.
Mike, on the other hand, is being slowly tormented by a strange monster with fangs long enough to spear him through. These two things— Will's strange behavior, and Mike's impending doom— may or may not be related, but Mike's got to figure it out. One way or another.
(Or; Will puts his life on the line to keep his friends safe, and nearly loses it entirely. Mike does all he can to bring Will back— and, in the process, brings them closer together than ever before.)