#because Mike and Holly!

[evil-ontheinside]

I saw a brighter world beyond myself: Chapter 2

"He must have something useful in his bag, right?

Michael moves slowly when he shifts his bag into a more accessible position. Holly’s arm moves along with his, letting go seemingly the last thing on her mind. Her eyes are still fixed on Batty who crouched down to examine the paper. They’re wide, a little terrified even though she has nothing to fear. Michael will face the consequences, no matter what happens.

With a hand deep in his bag, trying not to make a noise he will regret instantly, Michael tries to recall what exactly he threw inside. He doesn’t remember much other than Dustin’s bewildered look when he cut off the curtains—which he mostly only did to see his reaction and because he can. If he leaves the castle in a cloak-and-dagger operation he will leave his parents with a present. Or steal something, seems more accurate.

It isn’t like Michael has never done anything illegal before, and stealing half the curtains in his own room should hardly count as a crime.

The object he finally feels at the bottom of his bag is a different story."

Chapter 1

[conflictofthemind]

[pinkeoni]

There's only one Jonathan Byers. No one else is like him. The parentified older brother with an abusive-abstentee father from a low income household who had to step up both in terms of helping out the family financially and looking after his little brother.

Nancy's relationship with Mike is not like Jonathan's is with Will, but she's not a bad sister because of that. Mike's relationship with Holly is not like it either. The Sinclair sibling's relationship is different too, and that's all okay. They all have unique dynamics.

[andiwriteordie]

*clears throat* get ready for the most ridiculous thing i’ve ever conceptualized

not to get all up in my holly wheeler bullshit again but i���m gonna need you to imagine some kind of chaotic world in which holly in the 1990s watches home alone when her big brother and his boyfriend are home on thanksgiving break 

and then something happens where holly is home alone while everyone is out at work or doing something else and then things... get really strange.

there’s a faceless monster outside her window, and suddenly all the phones are not working, and the lights are super fucked up, and the last time holly remembers seeing anything this insane was when she was really little? and there was that weird wall at will’s home? or the trees were moving that one fourth of july?

but holly’s stuck. she can’t go outside or get a hold of anyone to help her.

so what does holly do?

she pulls a kevin mcallister.

and holly home alones the fuck out of this demogorgon.

[lovbyler]

mike is going to be such a protective big brother this season, i can't wait to see him bond with holly and bonus if there are scenes of them with nancy too!!! i need more wheeler brothers content 🙏🏼🕯️

[groovinrightalong]

Baby Transmasc Mike headcanons (because I can)

-His mom always put his hair in braids to make it more manageable. Additional headcanon that he takes after his mom when it comes to hair and her hair (prior to coloring and product) is really curly and hard to tame

-When kids made fun of Will, Mike would take his jacket and fill the pockets with rocks so he could hit them

-He was called a lesbian a lot as a kid because he only hung around boys and was “too rough and mean for a little girl.” They got the gay part right, just in the wrong direction

-Lucas had a lil puppy crush on him when they first met. He would go and find cool rocks outside and give them to him (classic gay/bi experience)

-Dustin is actually the only one to have never had a crush on him (token straight behavior)

-He cut his hair super short with the Party’s help in that bathroom in his basement during one of their first DnD sessions. Didn’t grow it out again until he met Eddie

[dollywheeler]

October 7th, 1996

Dear diary,

Will gave us back our assignments today and he really liked it! I can't help but feel like his opinion is biased though, which is kind of a bummer. I mean, I'm glad that I got a good grade and I'm proud of it so I feel like it deserves the grade it got, but... I don't know. I feel like it would have been more satisfying if it had been graded by someone who hadn't spent Friday night fondueing marshmallows with me at his own dinner table.

Same happens in English now - I always take pride in my essays, but it's hard not to worry that Mike's taking it easy on me, even when he said he wouldn't.

At least I gave Will the copy of Morning Glory after we already got our grades back because that would have been even more damning. Which is exactly why I waited until lunch to pass by his classroom and hand over the tape I'd made as promised, away from prying eyes. Danny walked with me - I'd told him all about our dinner on Saturday over the phone - and in hindsight I probably should have known to expect Mike would be there as well.

They were having lunch together at Will's desk, and through the window I could see them startle as we knocked, but quickly smiled and waved us in when they noticed it was me. As soon as we stepped into the classroom I could tell that Mike was sizing up Danny, even though he already knows him from his English class, and knows he's perfectly smart and polite. He didn't say anything and his expression didn't give anything away as he shifted his attention back to me.

I have to say it's kind of weird having that kind of ... consideration? It's sounds strange and might not make sense but... I've never had a brother before - not like that at least. As annoyed as I want to be over him scrutinizing my life - which he still has no business doing by the way and if he even tries to meddle I will strangle him - it feels nice to have someone watching out for me.

Not that I need protecting from Daniel of all people - he's the sweetest, most considerate boy I know. He's always smiling and it's genuine. I've never met anyone who seems so genuinely happy and kind at all times. It's kind of amazing to see.

But anyway, I gave him the tape and after he'd thanked me I just had to ask Mike if he'd seen the painting Will had made in class.

He'd given us this new assignment - we're back on paint, thank god - and Will had used the projector to show us some new techniques we could try out. He'd started drawing a face from memory and it slowly became obvious that it was Mike - or well, Mr. Wheeler for everyone else in the class. He paused and blinked for a second and then he added antennae and turned him into an alien, making everyone laugh. I don't even think he'd realised what he'd been drawing until he'd seen the whole picture, turning him into an alien to make fun and distract everyone. I wish I could draw like that though - just get lost in a trance and see where my mind ends up. I feel like it would help clear up a messy mind.

Anyway, after he was done with the sketch and actually got around to showcasing the paint techniques - using blues and greens to stick to the alien theme - it actually turned out really cool.

As expected, Will squirmed in embarrassment as I brought up the painting but he pulled it out for Mike and Danny who of course thought it funny as well. And seriously, Will is crazy talented - even this silly five minute painting was insanely well done.

We talked for a while, but Daniel and I still had to get lunch so eventually we had to join the others in the cafeteria.

By the time we got to seventh period English, Mike had hung up the painting in his classroom. He even had a frame for it and everything!

Seriously, where did he get that thing on such short notice?

Love, Holly

[sufferboypizza]

I like to think about mike and holly's sibling dynamic sometimes because we basically never see it?? I wish we did cause I feel like it'd be so cute

I like to imagine him teasing her a lot with things like "holly watch out, an evil witch is going to come to your room tonight... 😰" and she totally believes him until nancy gets pissed at him and tells her it's fake

other than that though I think they'd have a good relationship and he'd like spending time with her, and I bet will is her favorite of mike's friends and LOVES when he comes over

[lighthouseas]

okay i love the wheelers. so much. i want to make that very clear. but i feel like it was VERY much intentional that we can compare their family dynamic to the byers family dynamic and see the sheer differences between them.

the wheelers are clearly very well off, with little to no communication within the family; while the byers are poor and are very close with good communication.

nancy and mike interact very little onscreen, and when they do, they’re usually arguing.  not that that’s abnormal for siblings - it’s not - but when you compare that to will, jonathan, and el’s relationship? hm.

will, jonathan, and el have interacted a lot together onscreen.  mike, nancy, and holly almost never do. i think there’s like. 1 instance in s2 where mike talks to holly, and that’s it.

additionally, there’s also very little physical affection between the wheeler siblings; we LITERALLY see, at the end of s4, joyce hugging her sons while nancy and mike stand and...watch?? now, before you come after me, i’m not saying they don’t care about each other - they do.  but they’ve clearly grown accustomed to just. not being affectionate, and hmmm smth smth conformity smth smth lying smth smth trying to look as normal as possible - 

joyce is hardworking, determined, and very aware of what’s going on with the ud.  while yes, this is mainly due to will going missing in s1, karen could’ve also easily figured out what is going on (hell, her son literally hid a child in the basement for a week) but she didn’t.  she consciously ignored it - i say consciously because in s3, holly was pointing out the trees very obviously moving and karen just told her to “look at the fireworks”.  which begs the question - does karen actually know some of what’s going on, but is just choosing to ignore it? if this is true, in s5, karen is going to be forced to become aware of the ud, because it’s quite literally destroying her hometown.

we’ve also seen joyce act affectionate towards her kids; hugging them, kissing their heads, etc etc. when have we seen karen do that? VERY little, especially in later seasons.  i think the most emotional we’ve seen her get is with nancy in s3, after nancy gets fired (that whole scene honestly had a lot to unpack about karen’s character, which i will maybe make another post about).

bottom line: just. the fact that these two families pop up the most in the series is SO telling.  we are meant to compare them. we are meant to notice the very obvious differences in their dynamics and how it affects nancy, mike, and karen in particular.  and something tells me this is going to come into play in s5.  wheelers i am keeping you in a little terrarium and watching you scurry around

[trans-clown-catgirl]

hidden variable studios pls resprite squigly please it is that simple it j

[brionysea]

"stop trying to make the wheelers relevant, they're NOT going to be relevant" oh yeah cause i'm sure vecna trances people and then doesn't even try to kill them due to how irrelevant and not at all narratively special they are. i'm sure almost every wheeler having a similar encounter with a monster where anyone else would have died doesn't signify anything at all

[your-stranger-halfblood-things]

Jealous Mike is canon, but like Jealous Mike from his siblings?? I'm not sure if this leads into my transfem Mike/Daisy headcanons, but Mike would literally envy his sisters so much because they got to do "girly" things growing up and he had to do "boyish things". Mike is the type of person to be jealous of his sisters because they took ballet classes and Mike was signed up for flag football or something like that

[uselessnbee]

ok but consider: Holly knew Will pretty much her whole life, he visits the Wheelers so often that he sometimes ends up helping Mike babysit her. and well little Holly loves him of course! he's always so kind and gentle and she loves and admires his art and so he always helps her to get better and he always compliments no matter what she draws and she just loves him so much!

so much that little Holly starts talking about how she's gonna marry him when she grows up.

and Mike ..well he's Mike ...so of course he's jealous. he knows it's stupid but also hey if Will is going to marry any Wheeler it's going to be him you little shit-

[jonathanbyersphd]

No cause like who do I have to commission to draw Mike & Nancy at the Ren Faire?

[madwheelerz]

It's 3am and there's something wrong with Mike. Holly's not sure what it is, but he looks scary and he's holding something, something she knows mommy wouldn't let him touch.

Holly wriggles her toes and blinks at him. "Mikey, where are you going?"

Mike stopped short. He's standing on the porch and everything is so eerily quiet and Holly just wants to go to bed, but something's not right-

"Some dogs got loss Holls, I'm just going to put them back in their place," Mike turns around and throws her grin. It looks sharp.

Her eyes flick to whatever Mike's holding and a chill crawls up her spin. Why would he need something so dangerous to catch dogs?

In the end, Holly watches Mike leave just like every other time she manages to catch him.