fic recs where will is still dealing with ptsd years after the final battle? i’m looking for something that really explores the long-term effects of everything he went through and how he’s dealing with it.

byler is a huge plus ofc and i also love party-centric dynamics and jonathan & will’s/el’s relationship. preferably longer fics and canon-divergent, but i’m open to anything well-written. thanks! <3

hahaha i’m so sorry in advance, but this is going to be kinda long.

i've been thinking about conformity gate and while i don’t believe in it, i think the theory is compelling and interesting to think about. i've also been thinking about what an alternate version of s5 could’ve looked like if some of those theories were true so i wrote down some thoughts.

will’s powers + vecnas curse

after vol 1, we go into vol 2 where will has powers and helps fight alongside the party to defeat vecna. vecna's curse, as we know from season 4, specifically preys on people carrying guilt, shame, trauma and/or secrets. he tormented max because of her guilt over billy, nancy because of barb, chrissy because of her shame of having an ED and el because she was powerful enough to stop him. will, as we know is another direct target because vecna continued exploiting the shame and fear he's carried for years about being different because he was gay but eventually he comes to terms with himself and his love for mike, allowing himself to harness his powers.

what if mike took holly’s place?

as we also know, vecna eventually goes after another wheeler, holly. she becomes one of the 12 vessels he needs as anchors to merge realities and reshape the world. however, holly has never really been a major character or a member of the original party. theoretically, it would've made much more narrative sense for mike to take her place. not only is mike connected to the original party but he's also emotionally connected to nearly EVERY character vecna has already targeted. if mike had become trapped by vecna, it would've affected the entire party as well as el, nancy and everyone else. the emotional stakes would have been significantly higher. i also think it would've paralleled max's storyline really well. max and mike could've both been trapped inside vecna's mind (or camazotz), helping each other survive and escape. max would ultimately need lucas to reach her (vice versa) while mike would need will. it would've completed both emotional arcs while bringing the two central relationships together, not to mention, we could’ve got more of max and mike’s (madwheeler) relationship.

love triangle between will, el and mike

throughout the series, there's an implied triangle between will, el and mike. mike obviously develops a close bond with el after meeting her and he genuinely cares about her. however, their relationship also begins because el helps him find will. at the same time, mike's relationship with will has always felt distinctly different from his relationships with the rest of the party. whether someone believes byler is canon or not, the show repeatedly frames their connection differently. if conformitygate were true, i think el could represent the path mike chooses because it fits the heteronormative life expected of him, allowing him to avoid confronting parts of himself he's afraid of.

the 3 doors

there's another detail i keep thinking about. max explains there are three doors:
door 1: take your own life.
door 2: accept your fate.
door 3: escape.
i think this applies literally and symbolically.
if mike became cursed by vecna, door 2 could represent accepting the false reality he's created for himself and continuing to repress whatever his deepest truth is. door 3 would represent escaping, not just from vecna physically, but emotionally by finally confronting that truth. vecna's victims are forced to face the things they've buried and if mike's deepest fear or shame was something he'd spent years hiding, that would fit the way vecna's curse has always worked.

mike’s role as the storyteller

another thing that makes me wonder is mike's role as the storyteller. canonically, mike is both storyteller and the dungeon master. he's always been the one creating campaigns, naming monsters and imagining stories. because of that, i've wondered if the ending we got could theoretically be viewed as mike's imagined version of events or at least an alternate ending born from his perspective. in this version, mike never truly comes to terms with himself. instead, he creates a future he can emotionally survive in. he tells everyone what happens after the battle. el is still alive somewhere and her "death" was really an illusion to keep everyone safe. max and lucas finally get their happy ending. dustin goes off to university while remaining close with steve. will moves to new york, where he finally finds acceptance, love and happiness but when mike talks about himself, he says he'll keep telling stories and we ultimately see him alone in a college dorm (this is where we see a photo of el and the infamous painting.) if you view that symbolically (or literally) it almost feels like mike chose door 2. instead of escaping, he accepts a version of reality he can cope with. everyone else continues moving forward, while mike remains stuck in grief, repression and stories about what is or what could've been.

i'm not saying i believe this is what happened. i know it's speculative and a lot of it depends on accepting the idea that mike is repressing something in the first place but i do think it's an interesting way to look at the themes of the show. vecna has always forced his victims to confront hidden truths and mike has always been the storyteller. combining those two ideas creates a version of the story that, at least to me, feels emotionally consistent with everything season 4 was building toward. that's why i think conformity gate is such a fascinating theory. not necessarily because it could be true but because it creates a thematic storyline that connects vecna's curse, max's three doors, mike's role as the storyteller and the recurring idea throughout the series that escaping sometimes means confronting the parts of yourself you've spent the longest trying to hide. if this was something that was true, mike is the only one that can change the true ending.

i've been thinking about the ending of season 4 and how it would've been the perfect setup for season 5 to begin immediately after the apocalypse started. instead of the time jump, i would've loved to see the story pick up right where season 4 left off, with hawkins falling apart, the party trying to survive, figuring out what vecna's next move was & dealing with the immediate aftermath of everything that happened. i feel like there was so much potential there & it would've made for such an intense + interesting continuation of the story.

with that being said, i'm looking for byler + party-centric fics that explore this idea (canon-divergence stories) where the apocalypse actually becomes the main focus after season 4. bonus points if they lean into will's powers, the upside down, wondertwins and the party working together to stop vecna. i’m also looking for (preferably) long, completed fics, but i'll take anything you think is worth reading. i'd love your recommendations! 🫶🏽

ahhhh my shayla’s. i wish we'd gotten to see more of will and el's sibling relationship after they moved to california. i feel like we were completely robbed of watching their bond develop between seasons 3 and 4 and then again going into season 5.

i'm looking for fics that really explore their sibling dynamic. i'd love stories that focus on:

-will & el's sibling bond (and as the wonder twins ofc)
- byers-hopper family dynamics
- jonathan being a protective older brother to both of them
- joyce and hopper-byers family moments
-the california era or post-s4 + s5 fix-its
- healing, comfort and found family

i’m open to any genre, but i’d prefer completed works and/or longer fics. also if byler is in the background, that's totally fine (a plus even, we love byler) but i’m mainly looking for fics of will and eleven <3

with season five being an absolute shit show, one thing that did come out of it was will finally harnessing his innate, honest-to-god sorcerer powers.

however, the downside is that we never really got to see him use them to their full potential or fight alongside el like so many of us expected after vol. 1. not to mention it was such a huge reveal, yet we barely got to see the party’s reaction (or anyone else’s, for that matter) outside of mike, lucas, joyce and robin.

i’d love any fic recommendations that dive deeper into will having powers, whether that’s him learning to control them, exploring what he’s capable of or just letting him be the powerful character he deserved to be. i feel like it would’ve made for a much more interesting storyline.

also, i’d love to see more of mike’s reaction to will’s powers. that scene between the two of them meant more than words could ever say & i wish we’d gotten more of mike processing what it all meant and seeing will finally step into that part of himself.

looking for byler-centric fics with a strong platonic elmike dynamic (bonus points for henderhop and plenty of wondertwins content).

i’ve read a few fics with these character dynamics recently and absolutely loved them. i’m especially looking for stories where mike and el have a genuinely supportive friendship, while will remains the main focus romantically with mike. i also really enjoy seeing jonathan and el’s sibling relationship explored.

any recs that fit this vibe? long fics, completed works and hidden gems are all welcome!!