#user messrsbyler studies will byers

[messrsbyler]

on my will byers agenda, we know will wanted lonnie’s approval. he wanted to be liked by his father, or at least that’s hinted when he and jonathan have that conversation in the ‘should i stay or should i go’ scene, when jonathan mentions lonnie never does anything that will actually likes and will says that’s okay. i don’t think that comes from will being embarrassed of the things he enjoys. i mean, we know will is the ONE character of the og party that never walked away from D&D, in fact he calls mike out on how he’s ruining things by pretending to be someone who he is not. so, will isn’t ashamed of being a nerd and liking things most people don’t like. when he does the things lonnie wants to do, i think it’s only because he wants to find a common ground with his father.

and what if that is because will wants for jonathan and joyce to be better? relating to my last post and my last rb, what if will feels responsible for lonnie walking away on them? but if he learns to get a long with lonnie, if he learns to shoot a gun and to like baseball, then maybe lonnie will show up the days he’s supposed to spend with will because he’ll enjoy them because he will like will, and so maybe jonathan won’t look so angry and sad all the time, joyce won’t have more fights with will’s father over the phone, maybe lonnie will learn to like his family again and jonathan and joyce won’t have to work until late even in holidays, they won’t be as tired anymore, look as beaten up by life because lonnie will be there and in will’s young mind and what has been drilled into his brain is that a house with a mom and a dad is a good house. lucas has that, and so does mike though will knows mike hates his house and feels lonely there, but maybe that’s something will can fix once the time comes.

because will loved his mom and brother, and will knows they love him too, and that his presence makes them happy. but there’s an edge to joyce and jonathan’s eyes, a sadness and anger carved deep within that will can’t ever get rid of and it drives him crazy. and sometimes will maybe considers if that sadness wasn’t there when lonnie liked to be around and be a dad, before will showed up and made lonnie dislike him and walk away.

(of course i understand lonnie is an abuser piece of shit, but seeing it from will’s perspective as a victim and how a lot of times victims place the blame on themselves, i wonder how that affected will)

[messrsbyler]

the interesting thing about will is that unlike mike, almost everything you mentioned about him has been told to us through other characters. in seasons 1, will was gone ofc. all of his characterization was focused around the way other people reacted to his disappearance and through short flashbacks from other people's POVs. in s2, will's storyline was more focused on things happening to him rather than him doing things himself (and in the back half of s2, he's possessed and not in control of his own mind). after that, the show doesn't really delve into the aftermath of his possession. when will starts becoming a more active character and we finally start getting his perspective, his storyline shifts from the supernatural to the more personal struggles of feeling left behind by his friends in s3 and his love for mike in s4.

idk if i'm wording this right but basically i feel like the fandom doesn't analyze will the same way that we do for mike bc when it comes to his issues with lonnie, his family, the way he was treated by other people in school, etc, we don't see that much of it onscreen. we see troy and james say homophobic shit about him, but not directly to him. will tells jonathan that dustin and lucas are babying him but we don't see that. we hear about how shitty lonnie was to their family but we haven't even seen will and lonnie interact in person before. there just isn't that much given to us from will's perspective, you know?

you explained yourself just right and yes!! i hadn’t thought about it like this but you are completely right anon! we see will through the lens of other character’s and when we see will through his own perspective it’s when his arc takes on the more of coming out of age plot line. that’s so interesting, though. i feel like there’s many things about will unanswered and many things we are told but not shown directly. and that’s because we aren’t following will’s pov most of the time.

i agree this is the reason we don’t get as many analysis of will as of other characters mainly mike. but i am ready to take the dots and the crumbs and bring them together. i’m soooooo interested in will as a character, and for some reason in how his relationship with lonnie shaped him. of course i’m also interested into the rest of him, his trauma of the upside down and maybe the guilt he has after what happened in the lab of after he grabbed joyce by the neck or when he sent the demodogs to his friends or about how he was responsible of bob’s death in a way.

will isn’t escaping the horror plot line in s5 so i am EXCITED to see more of him in that setting and i am hoping they address the things that so far have been left hanging in the air.

also i need an interaction with lonnie and will even if that’s on vecna’s curse through a nightmare or a memory.