#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.

[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

[jonathanbyersphd]

ANYWAYS, it very much looks like there's a bike in the back of the car. I wonder whose it is 🤔

[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

[trans-clown-catgirl]

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

[mikewheelersfanfic]

WHAT IF the amount of asterisks is to throw us off. like, we already have the parallel of someone vanishing but the spacing is making me more hopeful of something that might or might not be true

like, i'm not too invested in st news but i want to hold hope that the screencap and the letter spacing could be about mike instead

this is what starts him thinking about his feelings as a reality he can't escape, which leads to a confession bc we know will is unlikely to do that himself but mike would prob be too worried to ruin everything

AND IT WOULD BE A CRAZY PARALLEL

add that it sort of connects to season 2 as well. even then WHY holly? why not emotionally repressed/reactive and defensive himself, who we haven't gone into yet? this entire series has been a lot of mystery regarding mike's thoughts, beyond small moments. we see him emotional but it's isolated, and while others are getting better, he's actively getting worse the further you get in the series, and as one of the main main characters...

it makes sense to actually give him the main character treatment, which i think has been fairly neglected

sure, holly is an easy target and is connected to mike who is connected to will and el, but... idk it seems a little weird to me...

[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

[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-

[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

[lighthouseas]

"Mike?"

He shouldn't be up. Mike steals a glance at the clock on his nightstand -- the red numbers read 1:30 AM. He's clutching a book, his eyes burning open from the little slivers of light his lamp provides against the darker than usual night.

He supposes evil alternate dimensions did that sort of thing. Made everything...darker.

But even so, Holly shouldn't really be up, either. In fact, it's even worse that Holly is up. If his mom finds out, she'll kill him.

Mike rubs his eyes, the action causing him to see spots. He blinks them away, eyes adjusting to the darkness. Holly is standing at his door, white nightgown illuminated against the blackness of the hallway.

"Hol, go back to bed."

Holly shuffles, bunny slippers digging into the soft carpet. She clutches her aged stuffed dinosaur -- Growly (Mike has a matching one named Rory) -- and stares at the ground.

"I can't," she murmurs.

Mike forces himself to sit up. His back aches with the effort; the slouching position hadn't been good for him.

"Why not?"

Holly's lip trembles, and Mike prays that she doesn't start wailing and wake their mom up.

"I'm-- I'm scared. I had a nightmare."

At this, Mike feels his heart break. He hadn't considered this; that Holly has no idea what's going on, that as far as she knows, this "earthquake" is consuming everything-- including her small, six year old world that she's barely had time to adapt to.

He blinks, dry eyes suddenly moistened.

"And you--" he swallows, "came here?"

Holly nods. She shuffles again. "Can you read me a story?"

"Read you a--" Mike glances at the time again, which now reads 1:33 AM. "Hol, you need to be in bed right now. It's way too late."

"Then why are you awake?"

Okay. She's got him there.

"That's different." It isn't, really. Mike has been having nightmares almost every night, now, which are only satiated with the occasional hot milk that he has the rare privilege of indulging in (given the supply shortages). Tonight is one of the nights where sleep didn't want to come, so he just decided to read instead.

"No it's not," Holly says, because she knows when Mike is lying even despite her age.

Mike cracks a small smile. "Is too."

"Is not."

Mike giggles quietly, missing the familiarity of sibling banter, and pats the spot next to him on his bed. This isn't the first time he's read to Holly: since fall 1985, it'd become a common occurrence. Their mother used to do it, but had stopped after the weekly fights with their dad had turned into almost daily fights. Now, all their mom seemed to want at night was "time to herself" and since the first night where she'd coerced Mike into reading to Holly before bed with a promise of five dollars, it'd since become a free tradition. 

Honestly, Mike didn't mind. He took pleasure in reading in voices and listening to Holly's comments on the story so far (positive and negative). She was very observant, and oftentimes predicted elements of the plot before they happened. And, now that she'd started kindergarten, she'd sometimes ask to read some of the book "for" Mike. And he'd let her, because she actually wasn't a bad reader. In fact, she was the best in her class-- but no one else seemed to know this fact except Mike.

Holly hops up next to Mike. He notices the slight bags under her eyes reflected in the lamplight, but decides not to comment on them. She rests her head on his shoulder, burrowing under the covers and huddling close for warmth.

"What's the book?" Holly pokes the page Mike is on.

Mike side eyes her, and sighs. "The Hobbit. I dunno if Mom will want me reading it to you--" The age rating isn't quite right for Holly, and he really doesn't want to get yelled at on top of...everything.

"No. Read it. I won't tell."

Holly is many things, but she isn't a snitch. Mike has to make sure, though.

"Promise?"

Holly nods. "Promise."

Just for fun, Mike bends down and pokes the stuffed dinosaur that Holly is currently holding against her chest.

"Growly too? You know how he gets..." Mike shakes his head in mock disappointment.

Holly scowls, evidently having taken the comment seriously. "Yes, Growly too. He'd never tell."

Mike throws his hands up in defense. "Just making sure, considering--"

"Mike. The story."

"Okay, okay. Let's see..."

Only ten minutes later, Holly has stopped making whispered comments on the story; she breathes softly against Mike's shoulder, having fallen fast asleep. Growly sags out of her arms, which have gone limp with sleep. Mike looks at the clock.

1:45 AM

Gently, Mike lays Holly down, tucking the covers over her. She doesn't stir (she's a heavy sleeper), and snores lightly. Mike giggles, and then yawns.

He's tired.

He looks out of the window, and red lightning illuminates the sky.

Then, he looks at Holly, asleep in the wrong room, but still appearing somewhat peaceful.

And before he can register it, Mike falls asleep, too.

[ohfallingdisco]

Listen they’re already suffering but I hope at the start of season 5 we get a shot of Mike practicing his guitar in his room, alone and half-dipped in darkness on his left side, and Nancy walks by in the hallway like she did in season 4 but this time she just. Looks at him and keeps going. To really emphasize how alone and distanced the Wheelers have become from each other and from all the promises Mike and Nancy made.