Whimsy Moonchild

going too far (just to have you near) by kissingpractice - absolutely combustible, delicious makeout that still had so much yearning.

a pity she does not exist by wolfecoded - During a game of truth or dare, Will ends up in El's clothing, Mike has a "REACTION". this was my first Byler fanfic and I was immediately hooked into this fandom. the angst, the kissing uff!

you took my heart (i was sleeping) by lameparties - THE ICONIC power outage fic, enough said. Made me wanna kick a pillow with the feels.

Anatomy of a Misunderstanding by L_hyuga - top-tier. the angst, the pining. Will thinks he's just a placeholder, does not realize he and Mike are dating for real and that Mike is not pretending.

Supervoid by maximumtrash - iconic, perfect, sobbed. Catastrophically traumatized boys cling to each other and accidentally figure out how to be close—too close—while moving through their grief.

My Will Is Good by peachstatic - roommates and Friends with benefits Byler. Downbad Mike. God, I love Friends with Benefits. Gimme all the tropes. New FAVVV

when we touch we are caressing stars by id_rather_be_home - Love me some smut. The evolution of Mike and Will's sexual relationship. Bottom Mike Wheeler fans, enjoy

touch me with a kiss, feel me on your lips by jeaanmoreau - Ugh, this was so good. Always eat up a 'Mike initiates kissing practice' fic😩😭 God, we eating good with this one. No, you don't understand how much I love this ficcc

deal me in, tie me up by purescent - Mike suggests a spicy card game to help Will loosen up before college. It works a little too well, and suddenly they’re gambling with unresolved feelings. (Spectacular, gimme 40 more, love how it switches from tender yearning to horny. Love this new Byler genre of 'ticking off sexual exploits before kissing')

can i be yours? (tell me i’m yours) by thepassnger - omg immaculate SMUT. Mike and Will drunkenly sleep together after Stacy’s party.

spit swear by poorlittlegreenie - the concept of Richie Tozier being Will Byers' dirty little secret and Mike Wheeler being so jealous he can't breathe. Byler endgame. (BUZZY AF. Obsessed. Richie is such a hilarious lil shit. I live for jealous Mike)

Do I Wanna Know? (You Know I Do) by L00cidDreamerz - Will learns how to slip into The Void. While spying, catches Mike masturbating. Smut ensues. (HOLY FUCK, I love this premise )

The Secrets That You Keep (When You're Talking in Your Sleep) by DH_epub - a slowburn, but really well-written Mikewhatthefuckdidyoudo gate fic. Relishing this like a full course meal🥺

High courage, Low foresight by LeighJ - Byler hook-up after graduation. BOTTOM MIKE omg THIS WAS DELICIOUS FUCKING FOOD. Loved it. Everyone needs to get more Bottom Mike-pilled 🤭

The Red Envelope series by midnighteverlark - This series is soooooo good. Binged it in one go. The 1st part starts off cute, the 2nd part broke me😭😭🤌🤌💙💙💛💛 One of the best Byler fics of all time.

older and wiser by lightsflicker - SOBBING. Everything this author writes is straight up a masterpiece, sucker punch to the heart. Brilliant character study of Will.

How to Disappear Completely by peachstatic - Mike Wheeler is thirty years old, three years married, and incredibly unhappy. After an unexpected AOL Instant Messenger group chat with the Party, Mike reconnects with Will after several years and realizes that maybe his life doesn't have to be so bad. (God, this is soo good. Always eat up an epistolary fic. 😭😭🤌🤌this is going to RUIN me)

I’m in love with you, do you think it shows? by @apateangle - Oh God, binged this in one go. Mike has Amnesia AU. Such a beautiful, tender, sweet fic🥺😭💛💙

high tide can't keep me from you by subliminalpsyche - The Party sets sail on a 7-day cruise. Not much has changed since their last reunion, as long as you don't count Mike and Will breaking up two years ago, which fractured the group permanently and made it so neither of them could stand to be within ten feet of each other. (Delicious, exes to enemies to lovers, omg we eating good, this one is so much funnnnn)

Roll for Strength by midnighteverlark - Mike is the first to the queer scene. (Doesn't know Will's gay) Mike gets a secret boyfriend which Will accidentally discovers, and he has to watch and pine from the sidelines. (BYLER endgame ofc. AMAZING ANGST SLOWBURN. God, such a devastatingly beautiful fic, had to take a break from reading because it made me emotional. Poor Yearning Will 🥺 it's just so tough to see him pining)

The List by Bylerific - Mike decided since this would be the last summer the whole party was together before leaving for college, they should do something different - something special...and so The List was born. (Another BANGER addition to the FWB trope, Mike doing increasingly unhinged gay shit under the guise of experimenting yoohoo)

for art's sake by diplopia - After their mentors tell them they need more life experience to improve their art, college roommates Mike and Will agree to start up a short-term friends-with-benefits situation. (Absolutely DELICIOUS. I just love how goofy Mike is in this. Love how it goes from dorky banter to smoldering sexual tension in minutes 🤌🔥💙💛)

Roll To Charm Person by harriet_vane - Mike offers to be Will's date to Joyce's wedding and proposes being in a fake relationship until the wedding so that Joyce will quit being sad about Will being lonely. Will reluctantly agrees, knowing he's in it for real, greedily lapping up sweet relationship moments. Little does he know, that it stopped being fake for Mike a long time ago.

(New fave. Excellent fake dating fanfic! Love how funny, cute, charming and SEXY this is💛💙 much-needed break from all the angst.)

guilty plea$ures by wusgood_curious -

(EVERYONE GET MORE TOXIC BYLER-PILLED. What are these messy guys doing i love this. Holy shit the smut is INSANE🔥) Will and Mike turn sneaking around into a twisted routine, convincing themselves that whatever happens in the dark doesn't actually count.

Or: Ruining a friendship is easy. It's the rebuilding that might actually kill them—or finally make them honest.

fr3aky texts // allure by wusgood_curious -

(Why is this literally so ADDICTIVE. I love toxic Byler) Will is trying to move on.Mike is trying to prove that he doesn’t have to. Or: A string of texts blurs the line between obsession and need, leading to location pins and decisions you can’t undo in the morning.

a lesson in coasting: an idiot's guide to gay allyship by michael j. wheeler by cinnamoncider - (this has got to be one of the best Byler fics I've ever read. SO GODDAMN ENDEARING, this Mike is such a sweetheart!💙💛)

Mike conducts an uncomfortably elaborate semester-long personal inquiry project on how to be a better straight ally to his gay best friend. for educational reasons only. obviously.

At risk of drowning by marchmagnolia - Friends with benefits/ situationship Byler is just an instant hit 😭(one of my all-time FAVES. DELICIOUS smut, impeccable tension and angst and a dash of best friends goofiness. I'm INSANE about this fic. FERAL. I ACHE. I want to inhale this fic 🥵)

thy will be done by lightsflicker -

Following a desperate ritual to cast the devil out of Hawkins, Will starts acting strangely. Mike starts having dreams. (ARGHHH omg Lightsflicker is back with another bangerrr, love this Churchgate AU, I'm so SATTTT)

stones, and other lethal weapons by eredmes - Come on,” Mike argues. “Think of it like… a test drive. You’ll get the full Mike Wheeler boyfriend experience. It’s miserable! You’ll be over me in no time!” (Fake dating AU my beloved, this one's soooo cuteeeeee)

Three's A Crowd by maroondaydreams - Mike and Will are college roommates, teetering on the edge of becoming something more. Mike drunkenly kisses Will at a bar, the night before Jane returns after five years of being presumed dead. Will convinces himself everything is fine, this is life returning to the way it was supposed to be. But Mike won’t stop kissing him. (Currently so obsessed with this. LOVE IT)

Charisma Check (DnD is just an excuse for flirting without consequences) by Rogue_Mercury - In one of their summer 1989 campaigns, Mike includes a mysterious, recurring NPC. A male tower guard who appears to be interested in Will. Will is a little apprehensive and confused at first, but Lucas, Dustin, and Max are very much intrigued. The guard seems to be hiding something crucial for moving the campaign forward, but it turns out Will is the only one who can get him to talk... by charming him. (This fic is soooooo excellent! I don't understand DnD too much, this fic really helped me get invested in it tho💛💙)

chain, keep us together by wisepaladins - (DELICIOUS estranged bestfriends to enemies to lovers trope. This fic HURTS so good. ripping my hair out) Will and Mike have been estranged for 14 years. Mike wrote a Cleradin book allegedly about Will and became a bestselling author. Will's now a wedding planner, planning his former best friend's wedding. What could go wrong?

August Moon's Surrender by Kalieno - It's the summer after graduation and Hawkins is plagued by a heatwave. As Mike whiles his days away at the pool, he tries to figure out why he no longer feels normal about Will - and why he can't stop staring at his abs. But when lights start flickering and kids are talking about strange things happening at the Creel mansion, Mike soon realises that his identity crisis isn't the worst of his problems. His obsession with keeping Will safe makes him confront some traumas of his past - and feelings he hasn't been able to name. (Beautiful, well-characterised fic, absolutely toe-curlingly tingly tension even without smut and dreamy summer with creepy vibes)

Even In The Quietest Moments by Kalieno -

Ever since their return to Hawkins in the previous spring, Will has kept a careful distance from Mike, keeping himself busy with school clubs to avoid spending time with Mike one on one - because every time they're in a room together, he finds himself on the verge of saying things he shouldn't, asking questions he knows are only going to hurt him. But then a snowstorm wreaks havoc in Hawkins, trapping him and Mike in the Wheeler house while the rest of the family are gone. And now Will has no choice but to confront everything he has tried so hard to ignore.

(I'm so in love with this author and their beautiful writing. This one is just so soft, tender and dreamy....filled with a quiet intimacy....gosh i LOVE THIS AUTHOR 💛💙)

pink in the night by bearphobe - Will becomes the patron saint of pretending to sleep with guys to help them come out of the closet. Mike isn’t exactly thrilled with the situation. (Funny, cute, hella sexyyyyy AF and the angst is also hitting, perfect package 🫶😭)