13 Bookmarks by Esssly
List of Bookmarks
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In the Jar of Fireflies by Boris Pavlikovsky (Monty_Green)
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
04 Jan 2026
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Summary
The day Mike flew back to Hawkins, the sky was a pale, empty blue.
It was a stark contrast to the concrete and asphalt of the airport parking lot. Will tried not to look at the spot on the curb Mike had occupied minutes ago. He’d stood next to El, one hand holding hers, the other clumsily hoisting his backpack over his shoulder. He’d only managed a quick wave to Will before disappearing through the automatic doors.
Will pressed his forehead against the cool glass. Seven days. Mike had been there for seven whole days.
He told himself it had just been awkward. That was all. Mike had never been good at goodbyes.
Timeline divergence following the S4 Vol. 1 airport scene. After an entire week of being ignored by Mike, Will decides to make the most of his new life in Lenora Hills. Joining the track team dulls the Mike-shaped ache in his heart, but when Mike returns that summer, a party trick brings old feelings back to the surface.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 70,981
- Chapters:
- 22/22
- Collections:
- 2
- Comments:
- 239
- Kudos:
- 1,025
- Bookmarks:
- 215
- Hits:
- 29,897
Bookmarked by Esssly
23 Jun 2026
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Summary
It's been three years, and everyone seems to have moved on except Mike Wheeler. Stuck in the same routine, days blending together over and over. He's opted to accept his fate, but some feelings can't stay repressed forever.
As he grapples with his demons, he realizes escape is an option, leading him down a twisted road of memories past. Reliving each trauma reminds him, however, exactly why he was choosing to conform all along. If Mike can escape Vecna's curse, he just might rewrite a love story we've heard before.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 138,673
- Chapters:
- 18/18
- Comments:
- 865
- Kudos:
- 1,151
- Bookmarks:
- 411
- Hits:
- 37,013
Bookmarked by Esssly
22 May 2026
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Summary
It's September 1986 and the gang have been at it for nearly six months now, desperately trying to find Vecna in the Upside Down.
On the night of Crawl #12, something finally happens: and it's not what any of them expect it to be.
or
Two unlikely visitors stumble into the world of our Hawkin's heroes, shaking up their lives for a temporary period of time.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 354,099
- Chapters:
- 12/15
- Comments:
- 746
- Kudos:
- 840
- Bookmarks:
- 190
- Hits:
- 27,328
Bookmarked by Esssly
16 Apr 2026
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Summary
The Wheeler’s lakehouse was a two-story wooden building with white siding and blue shutters on each of the little windows. It sat on the edge of a large blue-green lake, a long backyard full of tall tufted grass that ended in a wooden dock extending out over the water. Will had been to the Wheeler’s lakehouse twice as a child, once when he was eight and again when he was sixteen. Now, he was twenty-nine and pulling up to the long driveway of the house in his beaten-up Ford Escort, his stomach in nervous knots that he was trying to calm with a half-full can of ginger ale.
or, four months after one byers/wheeler couple breaks up, another gets married. and, of course, will and mike are both the best men. and, of course, there is a plot to get them back together. nothing goes to plan.
Bookmarked by Esssly
24 Mar 2026
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Public Bookmark 375
Mystery Work
Part of gootbai miek
Summary
This is part of an ongoing challenge and will be revealed soon!
Bookmarked by Esssly
22 Mar 2026
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Summary
Mike opens his mouth, then closes it. Too many questions crowded in the back of his throat. What happened to you this week? What are you hiding? Why didn’t you call me? None of them make it out.
Lucas, steadier, breaks the silence.
“Whose car was that?”
It takes Will a moment to answer. He blinks at the wall behind Lucas like he’s trying to rewind something in his head.
“I borrowed it,” he says finally.
Lucas tilts his head. “Really? From who?”
When Will Byers arrives at the WSQK radio station in a vandalized car none of them recognize, the walls he’s built start to crack. What slips out is a secret he’s been hiding in plain sight.
Series
- Part 1 of Under Pressure
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 43,830
- Chapters:
- 5/5
- Comments:
- 424
- Kudos:
- 3,025
- Bookmarks:
- 687
- Hits:
- 51,503
Bookmarked by Esssly
22 Feb 2026
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Summary
November 6th, 1987.
During the final battle against the Mind Flayer, an essential part of their plan that the Party never considered goes horribly wrong. And with his suddenly–attractive best friend's life on the line and the danger suddenly all too close, Mike Wheeler must face a very sudden—and very alarming—question:
Could he really be in love with Will Byers?
William Byers has all but given up on his crush for Mike Wheeler, even if he knows he'll always be in love with him. But when all hell breaks loose, and their plan starts to go off the rails, Will finds himself with no other choice but to ask himself the one thing he swore he'd never even consider:
Could Mike Wheeler really love him back?
~~~
Aka, how the Season 5 finale should've gone. Picks up in the middle of the finale, and continues through the Epilogue!
Bookmarked by Esssly
15 Feb 2026
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Summary
Will raised an eyebrow at his friend's antics, then dropped his eyes to where he knew Dustin had reached a hand out towards him.
“This summer, we stick together. You and me, Byers.”
Will grinned, taking Dustin’s hand and shaking it. “You and me, Henderson.”
A rewrite of S3:
The night Dustin gets back from Camp Knowhere, he brings the Party up to the highest point in Hawkins to set up Cerebro. He thought that his friends would be excited to have him back-- even if it wasn't the most entertaining to sit on a hill and talk into a radio with no response, he thought they would at least wait for him before going home. He thought it was going to be the best summer ever.
Instead, he finds himself and the one friend that didn't leave him, Will Byers, intercepting a weird Russian transmission.
And, well... if he couldn't have the best summer ever, at least he and Will would have an eventful one.
Series
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 56,530
- Chapters:
- 8/8
- Collections:
- 4
- Comments:
- 473
- Kudos:
- 4,336
- Bookmarks:
- 1,010
- Hits:
- 66,548
Bookmarked by Esssly
07 Feb 2026
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Summary
In the summer of 1989, the Byers family moves to Montauk, cutting short Mike and Will's last summer together before college. Certain he'll never see his friend again, Will confesses his love on their last night together, rocking Mike's world entirely. As the tear-filled goodbyes draw to a close, however, Mike is suddenly offered the unexpected opportunity to travel with the Byers family and help them move.
They have five days out of state together to address Will's confession, learn to communicate, and maybe, just maybe, say a few things they should have said all along.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 48,479
- Chapters:
- 6/6
- Comments:
- 350
- Kudos:
- 2,637
- Bookmarks:
- 935
- Hits:
- 65,553
Bookmarked by Esssly
16 Jan 2026
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Summary
“Will, wake up, baby, please.”
The pressure vanished. Will jolted awake, gasping, sweat-soaked sheets clenched in his fists as the unfamiliar ceiling swam into focus. Someone hovered over him—dark curls, blue eyes, worry written plain.
“Mike,” he breathed, the name instinctive, reverent.
The illusion broke. Not Mike. Eliot.
“That name again,” Eliot said gently.
Will didn’t look up, shame burning as Eliot added, “You’ve been calling for him in your sleep, too.”
_________________________
Or: An unexpected commission. A number left on a note. And Will has to decide if he's ready to answer more than just the call but things aren't quite as simple as it seems.
Series
- Part 1 of Spotless Mind (Nothing is Eternal)
Bookmarked by Esssly
08 Jan 2026
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I found my way back to you (but took a long time) by Archraven
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
08 Jan 2026
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Summary
On his fortieth birthday, Mike gets an invitation to Dustin’s wedding. ‘Can’t get married without you there, man. Come on. For me?’
He goes in a suit that fits poorly and a tie that sits crooked. The others greet him with warmth, but he feels like a stranger, and when Will finally arrives, Mike cannot breathe. The passing time has only sharpened Will’s cheekbones, coaxed his softness into something more assured. Mike had forgotten how beautiful he was, hadn’t realised how thoroughly he had filed Will away in the back of his mind, as if memory could be boxed up and stored like Christmas lights.
Then, he sees the arm around Will's shoulders.
In a world where Vecna won, life continues much the same, and Mike and Will slowly—very slowly—find their way back to each other.
Bookmarked by Esssly
02 Jan 2026
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Tags
Summary
Mike looked at him unimpressed. “See you say that. You say that. But you never actually mean it.” He flung his hands out, gesturing at him. “You’re always making stupid promises that you can’t keep.”
Will gaped at him. This was ludicrous. “Name one promise that I haven’t kept!”
“You keep leaving!” Mike burst out. He practically shouted it. If the outburst took him by surprise, he didn’t show it. “Everytime I just get you back you end up leaving again. And it was fine at first, I guess. With the Upside Down and the MindFlayer. Like at least then we knew how to bring you back. But now there’s nothing taking you away but you still aren’t here. And I can’t figure out why. I’ve racked my brain trying to understand what’s going on with you but I just don’t get it! We’re supposed to be best friends but lately it’s only felt like that on my side of things.”
____The Upside Down is gone. Or so everyone keeps telling him. But Will knows the truth. You can burn all the vines and close all the gates. But you can’t flush out a virus once it’s already been spread. After all, how do you kill something that’s intertwined with the very root of Hawkins without affecting the real world?
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Summary
Mike and Will become trapped in the Upside Down. Faced with very low chances of survival, they accept their probable demise and decide to face it together. By leaning on each other in the most desperate of circumstances, they discover the true strength of their relationship, and their will to survive is put to the test. They fight through physical and mental torment in pursuit of hope in a world of darkness and decay.