so what the title says. i would love some fics where will is a prince and mike a paladin or a knight

Does anyone know what's going on with this fic? It hasn't updated in a while and I really really like this fic I hope it's not a buried project 😭

What would you guys say are the classic byler fics that are generally regarded by the fandom + everyone should read? Obviously you took my heart and eye for an eye, touch like velvet. and then more recently ttmd, dmitmu, etc got really popular. Im trying to find the best and most loved byler fics that everyone has/should read!

byler is literally my favourite ship of all time, but i honestly find it surprisingly rare that i really fall in love with a fic in this fandom

usually it’s because the characterisation feels a little off, or, if i’m being completely honest, a lot of fics lately read as ai-generated or ai-assisted in a way i don’t really encounter in my other fandoms to the same extent (even though, yes, it’s gotten worse everywhere). sometimes the writing also feels a bit juvenile, which is absolutely not a criticism of the authors themselves. everyone starts somewhere, and i genuinely respect anyone who’s creating and sharing work for free. the demographic in this ship is also younger so that makes sense. it just means a lot of the bigger, widely loved fics don’t quite work for me. there are definitely exceptions that i ADORE, but there are also plenty where i just don’t understand the hype

what i love most is when a fic really understands the heart of mike and will’s friendship. i don’t mean it has to be soft or fluff-heavy at all. i actually love angst, even devastating angst, if it grows naturally from who they are. i don’t need them to have an easy journey; i just need it to feel like their journey. i think a lot of stories capture the circumstances around them, but not always the core of who mike and will actually are

my only, ONLY absolute dealbreaker is mike being involved with another guy. a passing crush, even a kiss, a boyfriend, or a previous relationship is a hell no. none of it works for me personally. it’s just fundamentally not how i interpret his character or his arc. i genuinely feel that, had it not been for will, mike would never have understood his sexuality at all. i think will is the catalyst. because of the environment mike grew up in, his repression, and the way i read his internal world, i don’t think he ever gets there without will specifically. it’s just not in his pathology. that’s the one thing that makes me immediately click out of a fic

i’m much more flexible with will. i don’t mind if he has another relationship at some point, or at least i tolerate it even if i don’t prefer it (of course i prefer that he isn’t but honestly if the fic is good, it’s good) as long as it’s always clear that mike is the person he truly wants, and that his feelings for mike remain in a completely different category from anyone else
i also love pre-season 5 fics, although i enjoy post-season 5 as well, so please don’t hesitate to recommend older works. one of my favourites is a body in motion by astrobi. it just feels incredibly true to both of them

i’m happy with anything: one-shots, longfics, canon-divergence, them as little kids, season 4, post-canon, whatever. the more they feel like soulmates, the better. i do prefer non wips

as a point of reference, i know a lot of people loved super soaker before everything came out about it, but those kinds of stories just aren’t really what i’m looking for. there are other popular fics that also didn’t work for me, but i don’t think it’s good fandom etiquette to publicly single out stories people poured genuine effort into. the only reason i’m mentioning super soaker at all is because i don’t feel inclined to extend that same courtesy to someone who was undermining the creativity and community that ao3 was built on with ai assisted trash

and please don’t recommend the absolute classics like you keep my heart sleeping. i love it, and it feels wonderfully in character, but i’ve already read it more times than i can count

please, please, please send me your favourites

they were one of my fav authors and now it seems all their fics are gone 😭 since WHEN and WHY?

i genuinely read more than three fics a day. at this point i’ve read close to 5,400 fics (including one-shots) but i do prefer longer stories. name any fic in the comments, and i’ll tell you my thoughts if i’ve read it. i’ve read all the popular ones for sure and then way way more!

I’d prefer if the fic is focused on the platonic paring, and if Byler isn’t in an established relationship yet. Bonus points if it’s between season 2 & 3, but I’m open to anything y’all have, I’m starving. I love this pairing, and I’ve only found like 2 fanfics focusing on their friendship :(

Hi! I'm looking for fanfics with the "strangers to lovers" theme. It can be within the ST universe or outside of it, anything goes! I'm eager to read about how they get to know each other and fall in love 💕 Could you recommend me some?

(sorry if my english is bad, it's not my first language).

I read a couple Byler fics with this radio show host concept. Mike is the host in one and Will in the other. I’ve always fantasized about hosting my own radio show, similar to how people fantasize about working at a coffee shop or dive bar. I love that doing a radio show is retro and already related to Byler because of the The Squawk clues in the S5 promo. It would be so fun if it took off in popularity and became its own subgenre of fic. I figured there must be more out there, right? I tried searching AO3 to see what else I could find but I don’t see authors using “Radio Show” in the tags. Can anyone help me find some others like this? Here are the two I read and ADORED!

who do you love when you come undone? by bitterglow
https://archiveofourown.org/works/87385376?view_full_work=true

first-time caller by vertiginous
https://archiveofourown.org/works/75411566

I’ve read touch like velvet and force of gravity. I’d prefer if they were complete but would read an active WIP :)

Edit: this has been located, see comments.

wondering if anyone has this deleted/removed fic saved? it's one of poorlittlegreenie's fics (author of spit swear) called "i'm just a notch in your bedpost (and you're just a line in a song)" - byler rock band au. it was a wip. here's the link: https:// archiveofourown.org/works/78506026. thanks for your help.

Can anybody suggest good and I mean *good* Joel Miller fanfics?? But the only condition is that it HAS to have slow burn and angst and pining and jealousy and vvvv slow development bw the characters. I don't mind if it's AU. Joel Miller shouldn't be daddi-fied as well. It has to *hurt* and drive me absolutely insane. Please. Please. Please. I need smth to satiate the itch.