ouuuu the voices

Excuse me what?? Are we talking about the same Will Byers? I really have no idea where those opinions come from... someone's ass I suppose.

There's a lot of talk about Will being traumatized and all but can we please acknowledge that he is also one of the strongest characters in ST? Tbh he's kinda badass if you think about it... but just more of a quiet, resilient, selfless kind of badass...

Ok, let's recap:

01. Will at age 11 beggs his mom to let him see Poltergeist. Fucking Poltergeist. I know people who couldn’t sit through Coraline at that age… This kid is a horror and punk rock fan, that doesn't really scream "snowflake" to me

02. After being followed to his house by an unknown creature at age 12 he doesn't hide under the bed... noooo, he goes outside and grabbs a shotgun - a fucking shotgun! I'd like to remind you, that the only other kid to hold any kind of weapon in S1 is Lucas and it's a slingshot... In S2 Max holds a bat and Mike holds... well... a lamp and a goblet xd To this day I believe he's the only one to hold a gun among the "kids" generation and probably is the only one to know how to use it (though I wouldn't put it past Max tbh)... and it was S1

03. Kid somehow survives a week in another dimension that killed multiple adults during that time... not only that - he manages to figure out a way to communicate (smart kid) and one of his first messages to his mom is not "HELP", it's "RUN" - his priority is to save her, not for her to save him

04. After waking up in the hospital, the very first thing he does is ask Jonathan about a bandage on his hand as if he didn't just almost die... "Don't mind me! There's a cut on your hand, are you sure you're ok??"

05. Will at age 12 starts seeing things that brings him back to the other dimension that tried to kill him but this time there's another creature following him... Then gets possessed by that creature at age 13 and in both instances decides at first not to tell anyone about any of it bc he doesn't want others to worry about him or treat him like he can't take care of himself

06. While being possessed at age 13 he manages to find a way to communicate (again) with a fucking morse code (smartass) and apparently he's the only one aside from Hopper to know it by heart (while being possessed, mind you). And what does he communicate you might ask? Well, he figures out a way to kill the thing that attacks the town knowing full well that it will probably kill him too. Does he say it might kill him though? Nope. He'd rather get himself killed than put his loved ones in danger. Gladly Mike was able to figure it out...

07. After all of that at age 14 he finally can live a "normal" life while still feeling the presence of that thing that possessed him and took control over his body... and he is so fucking patient and tries to keep a level head with his friends that straight on dismiss him and he is able to take so much shit from them (especially from his best friend he is in love with) before he finally snaps. Then again he sweeps that under the rug and doesn't hold a grudge bc there are more important stuff happening which he can feel thanks to that lovely bluetooth connection he has with his former supernatural abuser

08. At age 15 (shortly after his birthday that everyone forgot) he buries his feelings again for (what he believes is) the greater good. He "sells" his own love and a painting that he poured his heart into to repair his best friend's relationship and to cure his insecurities. After that he encourages said friend to make a grand confession at his own expense bc he believes that it might save the day.

And after all of this you want to tell me that he's whiny, weak and helpless? Did we watch the same show?

Funny thing about Will being "saved" in both S1 and S2 is that it didn't come from Will... he didn't ask to be saved. It was Joyce's and Mike's love that saved him, that brought everyone else on board. It was all those people who cared and went out of their way to save him even if he didn't care to be saved.

That is not a testament of Will needing to be saved, it's the testament of how much he means to all of those people for them to love him this much to save him.

He is not weak, he is loved. <3

And it's HOMOPHOBIA. (And oppressive gender roles.)

Will is not the kind of character who'll win conventional popularity contests. He's not a Steve Harrington. He's an example of quiet courage and resilience. As I've said before, "heroes can be quiet gay boys, too."

As Shawn Levy said, this show is an "anthem for the marginalized and imperfect." These people picking on Will echo the abuse that Lonnie Byers gave to his gay son, and Will in his OWN badass way has been defying his abuser.

Fuck 'em.

drops this and runs

he was so useless and every time he came up i was falling asleep because he’s so boring i was so happy when he died

the way he starts out just like the rest of the boys- laughing at Piggy and revealing his nickname when Piggy asks not to be called Piggy, calling Simon queer and not using his leadership to his full extent and just being too lax with everyone and then the fire goes out and they miss their chance of rescue and the pressure of leadership and the stress of looking out for the group changes him, how he goes from ignoring and pushing Piggy away to valuing his advice and valuing his friendship, to making sure Simon is heard at the meeting, to trying to convince the other boys to get their act together and actually start working towards rescue instead of lazing around all day

how he matures from watching the ship disappear from the horizon knowing it was their immaturity and inability to focus on their goal of rescue and Ralph's own lenient leadership that failed them that day, vowing to never let it happen again and to always focus on the end goal, all trace of the old Ralph gone, yet he still gets distracted he still joins Jack's hunt and almost hurts Robert(? might be someone else) with the other boys, he still joins Jacks group at the feast and kills Simon along with the other boys.

Ralph gets so close to slipping into the same fate as the others yet he still perseveres and holds on to the responsibility he feels towards the other boys and making sure they get home, he's still guilty and remorseful over the ship pass away, his guilt and grief stop him from embracing his impulsiveness, his guilt and responsibility keeps him sane and focused on the welfare rather than the happiness of the group, keeps him aware and full of clarity even as he's literally dissociating and distressed over the events of the book, and then finally realizing how easy it is to fall victim to being in the moment and how easy it is to hurt someone, how hard it truly is to be good, how evil exists inside them all

i love the part of the novel where HE has to be the one to say that they murdered Simon, even when piggy, who we've been lead to see is a voice of reason, doesn't.

I also love the fact you highlighted Simon as looking in as opposed to being shut out of the boys. I am a firm believer that he doesn't belong to the hierarchy of the boys that they seem to have formed- he is entirely separate from the flock himself (hence his ability to see things that the others can't) you've genuinely kickstarted my urge to write an essay on this 😭😭😭

This explanation of Piggy's actions is also so good. Props to you and your teacher, I wholeheartedly agree- I also found him, to a slightly lesser extent, hypocritical within the events of the book, in his ability to outline the problems and 'savagery' in Jack's actions yet not in his own, (which i guess does relate to how he perceives human nature. and maybe links to the whole ww2 context...)

the way he starts out just like the rest of the boys- laughing at Piggy and revealing his nickname when Piggy asks not to be called Piggy, calling Simon queer and not using his leadership to his full extent and just being too lax with everyone and then the fire goes out and they miss their chance of rescue and the pressure of leadership and the stress of looking out for the group changes him, how he goes from ignoring and pushing Piggy away to valuing his advice and valuing his friendship, to making sure Simon is heard at the meeting, to trying to convince the other boys to get their act together and actually start working towards rescue instead of lazing around all day

how he matures from watching the ship disappear from the horizon knowing it was their immaturity and inability to focus on their goal of rescue and Ralph's own lenient leadership that failed them that day, vowing to never let it happen again and to always focus on the end goal, all trace of the old Ralph gone, yet he still gets distracted he still joins Jack's hunt and almost hurts Robert(? might be someone else) with the other boys, he still joins Jacks group at the feast and kills Simon along with the other boys.

Ralph gets so close to slipping into the same fate as the others yet he still perseveres and holds on to the responsibility he feels towards the other boys and making sure they get home, he's still guilty and remorseful over the ship pass away, his guilt and grief stop him from embracing his impulsiveness, his guilt and responsibility keeps him sane and focused on the welfare rather than the happiness of the group, keeps him aware and full of clarity even as he's literally dissociating and distressed over the events of the book, and then finally realizing how easy it is to fall victim to being in the moment and how easy it is to hurt someone, how hard it truly is to be good, how evil exists inside them all

i love the part of the novel where HE has to be the one to say that they murdered Simon, even when piggy, who we've been lead to see is a voice of reason, doesn't.

kids don't even say bless you anymore they just look at u like this......

piggy would def be that kid who goes allergy for allergy with you. you're allergic to dust? thats rough buddy. he's allergic to dust AND grass AND pollen. you can't have pizza because you're lactose intolerant? oh no. he ate peanuts when he was younger and almost DIED. so.

simon turns up for every lesson with all his stationery loose in his bag. there are like seventeen sheets in there from four different subjects. every time he runs through the corridors his bag obnoxiously rattles and every time he sits down for a lesson he spends 5 minutes rooting around looking for a pen.

simon is also the first to offer to lend a pen (quietly) and all the class heaves a sigh in dread because the next ten minutes will be him pulling random shit out of his bag. one time he pulled a whole box of chocolates but had NO pencil. it's a dark day in england when any of the choir boys have to rely on simon for stationery

every time the choir boys are at a school-mandated event they have to sing for (like SPORTS day of all things. their headteacher hates them) jack turns to simon with a heavy sigh and says 'you know. nobody would hate you if you fainted right now'. the others also use him as their escape plan; maurice tries jumpscaring simon in an attempt to get him to pass out, meanwhile roger behind him is just whispering under his breath 'faint faint faint faint' like a subliminal. NONE of them know how fainting works 💔💔💔

littlun year 7s with their MASSIVE backpacks with EVERY book from EVERY subject at ALL times running around in hallways and knocking piggy over. jack finds this the funniest thing in the world and says piggy is 'one of them'.

simon does just end up passing out at the events he's really freaked out for and they all still poke fun at him for it. it's all part of jack merridew's foolproof plan anyways (ie. give the kid a solo in the song you really don't want to perform, and have no back-up plan. boom! now you don't have to sing imagine dragons in front of the whole school!)

there's graffiti all over any of the desks that the boys work at; jack obnoxiously writes his initials in calligraphy to the point where there's more desks with his initials than without. ralph uses his ruler to saw at the edges of the desk absent-mindedly like he's 9 years old. piggy draws smiley faces in pencil so he can smudge them away when a teacher comes over. simon doodles in pen at the very corners of the desk so his arms are always ink-stained

is it bad that ive been laughing at this drawing for a minute straight like I haven’t experienced this b4.