Rogue Mercury

Quick intro: Byler broke my heart, and now I'm trying to fix it with more Byler. Not sure that's how you're supposed to heal from Byler heartbreak, but S5 unfortunately didn't come with grief-processing instructions. Not very good ones, anyway. "fINd a WAy tO aCcEPT wHaT hApPENeD" my ass. No. I'm not accepting your bullshit finale, I'm fixing it with headcanons. This is what we're doing here. Welcome to my blog.

(And I may or may not be working on one or two original stories that may or may not be inspired by Byler, but will 100% have better queer representation.)

OVERVIEW:

Byler Fanfics

Byler Comics

Artwork

Other Tags (e.g. random headcanons)

Original Projects (aka my revenge arc)

Don't hesitate to let me know if you want to be tagged for updates on specific projects!!

Please don't use my art to make money, don't repost it without credit and don't use it to feed AI! Thank you <3

Artwork for Charisma Check

1. Byler Fanfics

Posting as Rogue_Mercury on ao3!

I'm generally using #Name of Fanfic Update (e.g. #Charisma Check Update) for update posts and #Name of Fanfic Spoiler or #Name of Fanfic Teaser for sneak peeks (in case someone want to block certain tags for spoiler reasons).

ONGOING FICS

Charisma Check (DnD is just an excuse to flirt without consequences), Chapters 4/?, Fanart posted for each chapter!

In one of their campaigns in Summer of 1989, Mike includes a returning, gay NPC who is interested in Will. Will is a little apprehensive and confused at first, but Lucas, Dustin, and Max are very much intrigued.

Post-Canon, party banter, SO MUCH nerdy flirting, Byler slowly becoming more comfortable and daring with their flirting with each session and a comfy stormy summer vibe.

This prompt won my 'what fanfic should I write next' poll and this fic is now my current hyperfixation.

Fanart for Charisma Check: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4

COMPLETED FICS

Here We Stand, Chapters 10/10

Basically Mike and Will get Murray’d and deal with the consequences (the consequences are 9 of the 10 chapters lol).

I wrote this before S5 came out, so this is now a fix-it fanfic with more apocalyptic vibes and just overall better than what we got I promise you (not that that is hard to do)...

Including byler sharing a mattress in a little storage room in the radio station, angst and fluff, Will coming out to Mike on his own terms, Mike getting Vecna'd, flashbacks to miwi meeting on the swings, Castle Byers in the UD, "Crazy together" (because why the fumble did we get You die I die but not that??) etc etc you get the picture...

And We Kissed As Though Nothing Could Fall, Chapters 6/6 - technically completed (but I'm gonna add another chapter and an epilogue at some point)

A churchgate, canon-divergence, Post-Vol1 fic.

Started this after Volume 1 with so much hope you guys... Also now basically a fix-it/ Vol2&3 rewrite that picks up where the show fell off. Including Mike's POV (also Will's), Mike being jealous of Robin, Mike and Joyce heart-to-heart, Mike worrying over Will, Will dealing with his powers and his newfound confidence, Mike overwhelmed (in the best way) by said newfound confidence, flirty but shy Byler, nerdy flirting which means byler flirting through Star Wars, DnD and LOTR references, churchgate, and just generally ALL the Byler scenes I wanted to see happen in Vol 2 and 3.

FUTURE FICS

For future projects check my fanfic poll (I'll try to go by the order in which they won, might also do another poll later down the line) Short list, working titles: Will's first kiss, Conformitygate (Mike wake up!), Cleradin Isekai, Conformitygate (all are stuck)

From the Pocky Game Comic

2. Byler Comics

Byler Pocky Game Comic (Ongoing): Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3

Will's First Kiss Comic (Ongoing, will also write a fanfic for this concept after Charisma Check): Part 1

Will's Mixtape Comic (Ongoing): Part 1

Byler UD kiss Comic (Hiatus): Part 1

Cleradin Isekai/ Bravebyers Comics: What did he tell him?? Part 1, What did he tell him?? Part 2 (spicy Byler), Cleradin reunites (colored version)

3. Artwork

Ok, so first of all here's a little collage of some of my Byler fanart for vibe reasons. I'm generally trying to tag any art posts with #my art (it's pretty much all Byler anyway).

BYLER FANART

Fanart for Charisma Check: Chapter 1 (platonic Madwheeler), Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4

Byler kiss in the Abyss, Byler kiss in bed (for Will's birthday), Will's birthday kiss (also obv for Will's birthday), May the fourth Byler, Pride Byler, Byler Makeout, Are friends electric??, My first Byler fanart sketch (very scuffed lol)

ELMAX FANART

Max teaching El skateboard, Happy Birthday El (for her birthday obv)

4. Other Tags

Tagging any headcanons as #byler headcanon and #miwi headcanon and any rant posts as #rogue talks

5. Original Stories

I'm currently working on two original projects that are sorta kinda related to Byler in the sense that that terrible finale motivated my revenge arc and made me get to work on some fantasy/sci-fi books where the main couple just happens to be queer for some actual queer rep stories. Also the main characters might share some similarities with Byler - sue me (actually pls don't I'm on a mission).

Might add more info over time (writing books is a slow process, go figure) but for now I'm gonna give them both a working title and describe the vibe:

PROJECT GAIA - the vibe is space Byler (I have a Master's in astrophysics so obv I'm gonna use it to write a space Byler novel), both are scientists on a small team set to become the first humans to land on the first known planet beyond Earth to harbor life.

PROJECT RED FATE - the vibe here is a Cleradin x Heavens Official Blessing crossover, fantasy setting with spirits, mystery, and a religion around Fate which communicates a person's fate through certain marks on their skin.

Any posts on these I'll tag with #Project Gaia or #Project Red Fate

Will let out a heavy sigh and closed his sketchbook.

Instinctively, he glanced over at Mike, hunched over the board with the little diorama of their campaign setting, flipping through his binder every couple of seconds to scribble something down.

Will often caught himself staring whenever Mike got absorbed in something. Not just because passion looked good on him, but also because Mike was far less likely to notice when he was focused like this.

Will let himself have one more quiet sigh as his gaze lingered on Mike’s face. On the soft frown there, the curve of his nose, the shape of his lips, the dim light reflecting in his dark eyes and his glasses… 

Will really liked when Mike wore his glasses. He usually didn’t wear them much, especially not around other people, so maybe that was part of it. It felt strangely special whenever Will got to see him like this. With his hair all neat, the glasses had made him look a little too proper, though there probably wasn’t a look that Will didn’t appreciate on Mike. It was just nice, seeing all the different versions of him. But now, with his curls messy and falling into his face, they fit him even better. They made him look like a real writer. Dedicated and focused. Completely immersed in whatever he was doing. Like he was all in.

And Will loved that look on him.

Fanfic: Charisma Check (DnD is just an excuse for flirting without consequences)

…Until the words best friend slowly evolved into something entirely different that didn’t really fit with what others described anymore, but he still clings to them because changing them to something else is scary.

(We really did go crazy together, love you guys sm 💙💛)

I'm gonna try to link all my fanart posts that I used for this here so you can see the full images if you want to (I'm gonna organize them in a pinned post at some point cause holy shit there are so many of them now...)

question for you: favorite animal? and have a lovely day^_<

Omg that's so sweet!! Thank you 💛💙🥹 and don't ever apologise for long comments, I'll always love and appreciate them 😭 they fuel my motivation so much!

The days after Will left, Mike doesn't come out of his room much. Karen brings dinner to his door for a week until he comes down to eat with them again. That's when she understands Mike is ready to talk.

Karen brings up Will carefully, talking about moments in their childhood - cute little stories about them being inseparable. About how, through the years, their friendship was always a little different than those of the other kids. About how sometimes another person can become so important to you that you feel like they take a part of you with them when they leave. That's when Mike finally breaks down.

He doesn't say much. Karen just strokes his back until he calms down enough to finally whisper, "I want to see him."

“Okay,” Mike finally said. “While Madmax and Nog navigate the taverns, Will the Wise and Sundar the Bold are left standing outside the guard tower, expected to leave for Evergreen now that their made-up bet appears settled. The guard has retreated into the tower, the door locked once again, and the two adventurers–” he gestured vaguely at Will and Lucas before glancing back down at his notes. “... have just finished catching up with their companions through Chester.”

He looked a lot more comfortable reading with his glasses on, eyes clear and awake instead of squinting down at the pages, and Will found himself smiling at him again for no particular reason.

Dustin lifted a brow. “Chester? For the messenger hawk? I thought we settled on Artoo?”

Max gave him a confused look. “Like the Star Wars robot? Why?”

“Because he delivered the Death Star plans and Leia’s message to Kenobi, obviously.”

“Yeah,” Max said dryly, “obviously.”

“Anyway, Chester, while a very cute dog as far as I remember–” Dustin shot Will an apologetic glance. “–didn’t really deliver messages, did he?”

Mike and Will shared a quick, private smile. Then Mike turned back to Dustin, dismissing him without hesitation. “He did, actually. Very important ones.”

Will laughed softly. 

He wasn’t entirely sure you could call them important. Just blocky, half-legible notes written on flimsy paper. Notes that got tucked into a dog collar and passed back and forth between two kids sitting less than ten feet apart outside Castle Byers, with Chester running between them like a very enthusiastic courier.

But back then, they had felt important.

They still did, just in a different way, even though Will couldn’t remember what they’d actually written on them anymore.

Mike’s eyes had gone warm, like he was remembering the same thing.

Tag list for Charisma Check sneak peeks: @yearncone

My favorite shot of the Pocky comic rn 😭 Will finally giving in after years of wanting this and pulling Mike in is everything to me 😭😭😭