TheCrypticWitch
Recent bookmarks
-
Tags
Summary
The concept of what would happen after defeating Vecna hadn’t ever materialized in Will Byers’ head. And, now that he was living it, he kind of wished he’d been more prepared. Trying to hide his nightmares, the level of stoned he was, and his very, very new relationship with Mike Wheeler was nothing short of impossible with the wave of Religious Paranoia infecting Hawkins post-Upside-Down.
But who was he to complain? It could always be worse.
—————
Or: Will and Mike navigate the terrifying realities of what it means to be a gay couple in Religious Small-Town America during the 1980s
—————
Based loosely on concepts from the album “Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You” by Ethel Cain.AU: Will only came out to Mike before the final fight with Vecna.
Bookmarked by TheCrypticWitch
26 Jan 2026
-
Tags
Summary
Graduation night, after the tears and emotions, comes the drinks and the joints.
Will lets loose, and Mike does too.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 18,220
- Chapters:
- 5/5
- Comments:
- 154
- Kudos:
- 1,090
- Bookmarks:
- 173
- Hits:
- 13,513
Bookmarked by TheCrypticWitch
20 Jan 2026
-
Tags
Summary
“You’re crying,” Will breathes, his voice quiet enough Mike would consider it a whisper.
Mike pulls back, maybe a bit too abruptly. Will’s hand stalls in the air before falling back to his side.
“It’s fine. I think I forgot to blink. I’m fine.”
What a stupid lie, honestly. He knows that Will isn’t dumb, that he’ll see right through the broken deception in a heartbeat, but his brain begs that Will would just drop it and they'd just go their respected ways and be done with this night. All of this.
Because maybe then he wouldn’t have to hurt anymore.
or
(Mike is being eaten alive by the thoughts of his childhood ending. he finds out that maybe there is more to that than meets the eye and Will helps him figure that out.) You could also kinda consider this post-canon (a big kinda)
Bookmarked by TheCrypticWitch
15 Jan 2026
-
The Secrets That You Keep (When You're Talking in Your Sleep) by DH_epub
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
27 Jan 2026
Tags
Summary
Mike thinks it all started the day the Byers moved into their house.
Having sold their house in Hawkins a year prior and moved to California, when they came back, and the town got put in lockdown, they didn’t have a place to go.
Mike had kindly offered up their place during Nancy’s graduation dinner.
~
The 18-month gap between s4 and s5 told from Mike's POV (with a season five rewrite because what the fuck!)
Also known as the answer to Mikewhatthefuckdidyoudo gate
Steve "the ally" Harrington is to Mike what Robin is to Will
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 104,113
- Chapters:
- 24/?
- Comments:
- 1,874
- Kudos:
- 3,219
- Bookmarks:
- 950
- Hits:
- 73,028
Bookmarked by TheCrypticWitch
09 Jan 2026
-
i could be your lover (and you could be my heartache) by sunsetozier
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
19 Jan 2026
Tags
Summary
Silence. Hungry, carnivorous—or maybe cavernous, vast and lined with teeth, ready to bite. The quiet before the storm, the gasped breath in before the heart stops. Tragedy tastes bitter. Blood tastes like pennies. Both are in the air, promises coating the tongue. Something bad is about to happen.
From beneath the bed, something reaches out—a mass of darkness, a shapeless nothing—and it grabs Mike by the wrist, yanks him forward. Mike chokes on a yelp and flails his arm free, blood dripping from where the shadows grabbed him, like the touch of darkness has split him open. He tries to scramble away, unfolds his legs to kick himself back but only makes himself easier, more vulnerable. The unidentifiable mass encircles Mike's ankle, and he screams something agonized, terrified—and then it pulls Mike, clawing at the carpet with his bloodied fingers, under the bed.
This time, the silence isn't hungry. It's satisfied.
will starts entering the mindscape in his dreams on the same night that mike gets taken by vecna. this is probably the least confusing part of everything that happens after.
Series
- Part 1 of rio's byler fics
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 77,062
- Chapters:
- 10/10
- Comments:
- 728
- Kudos:
- 1,933
- Bookmarks:
- 640
- Hits:
- 33,625
Bookmarked by TheCrypticWitch
04 Jan 2026