♥︎ stranger things blog (byler devotee, will byers number one fan, avid lover of mike wheeler, byers brothers enthusiast, and willel connoisseur)
♥︎ as somebody with mental illness and epilepsy, i really enjoy exploring the lingering impacts of everything the party went through. i am an epileptic will byers truther!
♥︎ i write fics on AO3. come check them out!
♥︎ i LOVE music. my faves are ethel cain, my chemical romance, fleetwood mac, inxs, blur, boygenius, mitski, frank ocean, the 1975, adrianne lenker, djo, sombr, and dice
♥︎ i'm a massive film buff. my top four on letterboxd are all of us strangers, parasite, aftersun + lady bird
♥︎ other interests: queer media, musicals (hadestown, LSOH, spring awakening, n2n + fun home are my faves), literary fiction / literature in general, poetry, daredevil, yellowjackets, dan and phil, afl, tennis, and so much more
♥︎ asks are always open - don't be shy! i have so many thoughts to share and i love chatting with people! ask me what i think about headcanons / various stuff, send me media recs or give me a vibe of what you like and i can give you movie/music/book recs, ask me more about any posts i make, etc.
♥︎ some notable tags under the cut!
♡ original posts: #chloeposting
♡ reblogs with commentary: #chloe'sthoughts
♡ theories and analysis of symbolism, subtext, etc. within stranger things: #STanalysis
♡ combining my two nearest and dearest loves: #stranger things x ethel cain
♡ examining issues with stranger things: #STcritical
♡ my most beloved headcanon: #epilepticwillbyers
♡ my reviews / thoughts on various musicals: #chloewatchesmusicals
♡ and all the generic ones (#asks , #tag game , #stranger things , and tags for each character and relationship in the show)
But tag game where you show me pictures of your pet(s) or if you dont have one what you would like/an animal in your life (ex stray cat on your street)
I’ll start
This is Coal he is a springer doodle and my preciosu son
Ty for the tag this looks fun!! Also very clever way to get a bunch of cute pet pics lol
Here are my current two cats, Purrdy on the left and Ashes on the right.
Purrdy is a bit of a menace, playful, usually whiny and specific about when he gets attention. He recently became a lap act. He also gets sick a lot and has been hit by a car before. Not a fun time.
Ashes is my fav as I am her fav. Shes more I independent and chill but very snuggly with my in particular. She usually sleeps with me at night before going out.
Ashes is most vocal when wanting into my room or wanting food. Purrdy is vocal all the time and quite high pitched, thus whiney. Ashes tolerates Purrdy at most, Purrdy always wants to play with Ashes, this leads to lots of running around and cat fights.
I would die for them
Mutual tags!! @sammiiiithedummest @bylerbean @mj-rulesdaw0rld @chocolateandfictionaddiction @bylerbiscuit @pendragonstarz @theblueshark @puppydogmike @queenofthearchipelago @funkopop547 @sourcarmellia @idontknowhowtodance of course feel free to join or ignore anyways
BEAUTIFUL PERSON AWARD! Once you are given this award you're supposed to paste it in the asks of 8 (or more) people who deserve it. If you break the chain nothing happens, but it's sweet to know someone thinks you're beautiful inside and out <3
this is so sweet! you deserve this award as well <3
BEAUTIFUL PERSON AWARD! Once you are given this award you're supposed to paste it in the asks of 8 (or more) people who deserve it. If you break the chain nothing happens, but it's sweet to know someone thinks you're beautiful inside and out <3
this has me smiling so much! thank you - you absolutely deserve it too <3
2. a song that features an element (earth/fire/water/air)
i'm indecisive and couldn't pick one song, so you get one for both fire and water:
4. a song you'd put on a playlist for a character you love
i'm not sure if this question is asking what i would recommend to a character i love, or a song that i would put on a character playlist about them. i'll answer both and do two different characters (i basically only talk about stranger things and mostly will on here, but i'm also a huge daredevil fan and am always trying to spread the agenda and get more people into it):
so, for a song on my will playlist, i have:
it's so painfully will - always yearning to return to a time where things were simple and happy, but coming up short.
and for a song i'd recommend to will, i'm going with:
based on will canonically liking the cure and them being an influence on shoegaze, i'd want to help him check out that genre and possibly discover a love for it! i think slowdive's first album is a good starting point since it's still pretty goth and has plenty of resemblance to the cure, but is a great introduction to a classic shoegaze band.
and then a song from my matt murdock playlist is:
it drives me insane how much this fits matt. the self-loathing, the references to boxing and church, the line "when you watch me throwing punches at the devil, it just looks like i'm fighting with me" with matt literally being daredevil... crazy
and a song i'd put on a playlist for him to check out:
matt's of irish background so i think he'd really enjoy getting into an irish rock group! this is one of my fave fontaines songs so it's an obvious choice for trying to get people into the band.
12. a song from the 90s
the 90s is my most listened to era so this is tough to narrow down! i'll give you one of my faves:
14. a song you love to sing along to
i relate to this song so fucking badly so screaming along to the lyrics is very cathartic. it's also just such a catchy song that always scratches an itch in my brain - it feels so good to sing along to it.
20. a song you’d put on a playlist for the person who sent you this ask
this is a song from a small new zealand artist i love! the lyrics remind me so much of robin's speech to will in s5 about how she was so carefree and fearless as a kid but stopped being able to recognise her when she got older. it's such a relatable experience for girls and queer people, so i thought you might connect with it and also just love the song!
(This is mainly for an experiment, I wanna see if there is any correlation)
What are your toxic traits and your love languages?
I’ll go first:
My toxic trait is self isolation and my love language is quality time along with physical touch :)
Tags: @moonywithatrafficcone @romantic-revolutions @vargdottern @surprisinglyshiftingmiracle @vnilla-m0nst3r @keybladeofthelostcities @luckybug719 @the-voice-in-your-head-offical and open tags ofccc!! Also you don’t have to do this I’m just bored as fuckkkk
My toxic traits:pushing away when people get to close (it’s Complicated with me so kinda self isolation) and geting PISSED easily Also Just Being a full bitch sometimes
Love languages:physical touch and that’s literally all I’m not interesting Ik ik😭🙏🏽
id say my toxic trait is either getting too attached or staying too distanced. my love language is physical touch even though i dont like being touched a lot 😭
my toxic trait is being unreachable (not answering texts or calls when i dont feel like it which is often) and also telling people they can always call or text me (i have too much faith in my social energy). my love language is quality time (conversation) and physical touch
My toxic trait is that I minimise all my own issues but take everyone else's on like the Titanic took on water!
I'm fairly certain my love language is physical touch but again, I am borderline self-negligent and don't seek out my own regulating behaviours sooooooooooooooo
@smalltown--byler @bean-there-before AND ANYONE ELSE WHO FEELS LIKE EXPOSING THEMSELF
my toxic trait would be that i don't speak up early enough about things that people are doing to upset me, so i allow myself to grow more and more resentful until i lash out at them over something seemingly small (but really it's just a build-up of stuff i haven't tried to deal with).
my love language is absolutely words of affirmation and quality time. spending time doing things i love with somebody who means a lot to me and then hearing them tell me that they've had a great time and enjoyed being around me hits like CRACK.
open tags for anyone who is comfortable joining in!
3. song you'd choose to introduce someone to your favorite genre
this one is tough because I don't even really have a favourite genre - my music taste is super eclectic and could be best described as 'I like everything except the things I don't'.
if i had to pinpoint it, i think my favourite genre would be like... 'dream rock', a sort of mix of dream-pop and alternative rock. in my opinion, some perfect songs that sum up this genre are:
11. a song that makes you dance
i can't hear this song without automatically dancing along to it - it's so funky and catchy. some other songs that instantly get me spinning around, jumping, and dancing all over the place are:
15. a song you'd play for a toddler
i don't want to give a cop-out answer and say 'baby shark' or something. i've gone through my playlists to find a good answer and i've settled on this:
toddlers won't care too much about lyrics so it doesn't matter that the song is in japanese. i just think that this song is pure joy and stimulation and fun in a song, which is exactly what little kids love! it was introduced to me by my japanese host sister so it has a special place in my heart and i'd love to share it with kids and pass on the love <3
thinking about will at the bar and how he’s clearly nervous, judging by the way he’s wringing his hands, but he also can’t stop smiling because he’s so excited and he likes the guy he’s seeing so much. and maybe, in his eagerness, he got there a little too early, so he ordered a beer and smoked a couple cigarettes to try to relax. but then the guy finally shows and will doesn’t hesitate before pulling him in close because he’s too happy to feel shy or ashamed, and the guy lets him because he likes will just as much.
will anxiously drinking and smoking cigarettes because he's so nervous but then throwing caution to the wind and unhesitatingly hugging his date close when he arrives is so beautiful. like, finally will's anxiety can just be a silly little voice that he can push away because he knows he doesn't need to be ashamed anymore, that he's found a space and a community where he can be unabashedly queer, and he's no longer of afraid of opening his heart up
just remembered all over again how this happened and then seemingly had no impact on their relationship because mike went on to ignore and dismiss Will for the next 2 seasons and they didn't even have the decency to put this moment into Mike's trauma montage that played when Vecna was being killed
the more you think about it, the more you realise there is a huge issue with continuity in mike and will's relationship going from s2 to s3 + s4. it genuinely doesn't make sense for mike to be so dismissive and even actively cruel towards will after literally holding his unconscious body up while watching a demodog slaughter. mike experienced constant fear that his best friend was literally dead or going to die in s1 and s2, and yet he turns around in the following seasons and belittles will's desire to play D&D, ignores him in favour of el, makes a homophobic comment towards him which he never directly apologises to will for, makes little effort to communicate with him when he moves to california, etc. sure, maybe pushing will away is mike's way of coping with the trauma of seeing will hurt so many times... but why the writers never address this? why do we just get the illogical jump from 'mike would do anything for will, including never letting go of his limp body even as he watches violent demodogs tear bob apart' to 'mike will completely demean and ignore will and choose his girlfriend over him even when he knows what will has been through'?
not to mention that the trauma montage in s5 only has mike losing el, not the scene above, not mike watching what he thought was will's body get dragged out of the lake, not will screaming in the hospital bed while possessed, none of it.
this quote fits will perfectly. his resilience and strength to endure every terrible thing that's happened to him and come out the other side with optimism, hope, and a desire to live his life on his own terms is forever an inspiration. what a beautiful gifset
he did all that yearning for a 5 second arm touch. he deserved a smooch and a dance while a bunch of QUEER lesbians and gays make out around him. and by QUEER I mean fat butches and twinks.
real shit - there were barely any visible indicators of it being a gay bar compared to just a generic bar. i wanted will to kiss his boyfriend with no fear while dozens of other visibly queer people made out with their partners too. i wanted people in drag. i wanted go-go boys. i wanted butches, bears, twinks, every flavour of queer out there. i wanted a space that felt distinctly, undeniably queer where will was entirely surrounded by LGBT+ community and culture - he didn't go through all that pain and suffering for his ending to be sanitised and palatable for straight people
noah's acting in s2 gets heaps of praise because it's really flashy/extreme (and i totally agree that it's a phenomenal performance), but i genuinely believe that his best skill is subtle facial acting and two of the best examples of it are pictured above. the way will's face falls after mike's homophobic comment in the rain fight scene is genuinely gutting - no words are needed to understand the thoughts and fears running through will's head and the way he feels his life has just imploded. in contrast, look at the unmissable awe and amazement in will's eyes when he sees robin and vickie - noah visually conveys how things are finally clicking into place for will through his facial expressions in that scene
Zombie Boy. That’s what they call me. It doesn’t make any sense.
Zombies were once alive, then they died, then they came back, and then they’re called UNdead. Or Deadites, like in the movie Evil Dead. Whatever you want to call them, zombies are connected to the word “dead” because they actually died.
Well, I didn’t die. It’s just easier for everyone to say I did. THE TRUTH IS I went to another place—the Upside Down. I’m not supposed to talk about that. They could probably throw me in jail just for writing it.
Actually, I never technically died, so I’m not a zombie. I’m not the undead. I’m UN-undead. I’m alive. But Alive Boy doesn’t sound as funny to an eighth grader, so I’m gonna be Zombie Boy for the rest of my life. Or weirdo, or geek, sometimes spazoid, and of course FREAK. Will the Freak.
Still, I’d heard things. In the two days I’d been there, it was pretty clear that if there was a Weird Kid in the class, Will was it. Hell, I was the new girl, and I still wasn’t even the most interesting thing at Hawkins Middle. The things people said about him were stupid or ridiculous and totally all over the place. A girl in my history class named Jennifer Mack had said that last fall his mom had reported him missing because he’d been lost in the woods, and it took him forever to find his way back. In my PE class, the general consensus was that his dad had kidnapped him for a week, and some of the boys in English had been elbowing each other and drawing cartoons of him with X’s for eyes.
Yeah, that house is full of screw-ups. You know, I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised. A bunch of screw-ups in your family. I mean, your mom... I’m not even surprised what happened to your brother. I’m sorry I have to be the one to tell you, but the Byers, their family, it’s a disgrace to the entire...
I hate to break it to you, Toothless, but he’s not in danger. He’s dead. That’s what my dad says. He said he was probably killed by some other queer.
Will’s in fairyland now, right? Flying around with all the other little fairies. All happy and gay!
Even without really talking to him, I knew the type. He was exactly the kind of boy that other boys always made fun of.
Look, he’s not like you, Hopper. He’s not like me. He’s not like... most. He has a couple of friends, but, you know, the kids, they’re mean. They make fun of him. They call him names. They laugh at him, his clothes...Look, he’s a sensitive kid. Lonnie used to say he was queer. Called him a fag.
That boy never was very good at taking care of himself.
I struggled a lot like Will when I was a kid. With bullies. It's the ones like us, that don't punch back, that people really take advantage of, you know? They rub your nose in it, just a little bit more. I don't know why they do that. Maybe it makes them feel powerful.
The small kid trailing in Jonathan’s footsteps is the smiling boy from those photocopied flyers. He’s got a twitchy look to him, and he keeps his head on a swivel, always looking over his shoulder. Scanning the shop, he locks eyes with me for a second. The color drains from his already pale face, and he looks down, keeping even closer to his brother.
Holy shit,” says the kid at the front. He’s tall, a good amount of baby fat still clinging to his cheeks. His jacket practically drowns him. “Is that Zombie Boy?”
Will doesn’t say anything. He keeps his gaze pinned to the record bin in front of him, but he’s gripping the sides of it, no longer sifting through titles. I’ve seen that stance before, usually before one of my Hellfire kids gets dumped into a trash can. He’s bracing for impact.
"Zombie Boy!” the second jock is saying. “Hey, Zombie Boy!” But Will’s not turning around, and that’s just working these guys up. “You deaf?” the first jock demands. “His ears are full of grave dirt.” “Maybe maggots.” The first jock shoves Will’s shoulder. The kid staggers, catching himself against the record bin. “You got maggots in your head, Zombie Boy?”
“N-no,” Will stammers. He’s shaking.
“You need a head shot to take out a zombie,” the second jock says. He’s got something in his hand, tossing it up and down. A baseball. “Watch this.” He’s drawing back his arm to throw, to smack Will right in the bowl cut with a quarter pound of solid rubber and rawhide, and—
“What were they saying?” Jonathan glares daggers toward the door. “Was it—” “It’s not just them!” It bursts out of Will, like it’s been building up since forever. “It’s everybody! They look at me like I’m a freak—”
The idea of him as some kind of undead monster was so ridiculous it was actually a little scary, like the twist ending to a story. I’d learned from movies like Psycho that sometimes people were dangerous even when they didn’t look like it. No matter how hard I stared at Will, he just looked tired and shy and a little bit worried.
Will was smaller and quieter than the others and reminded me a little of my friend Nate. He seemed like the kind of boy people didn’t usually notice. For some reason, he was hauling around a huge camcorder almost too big for him to carry. He seemed shy and easy to embarrass, like the kind of person who probably felt weird having his picture taken. I wondered if it was easier when he could be the one looking out from behind the lens.
Stop treating me like that.
What? Like what?
Like everyone else. Like there's something wrong with me.
What are you talking about?
Mom, Dustin, Lucas. Everyone. They all treat me like I'm gonna break. Like I'm a baby. Like I can't handle things on my own. It doesn't help. It just makes me feel like more of a freak.
You can ask anybody. Except Will, because he is really sensitive about it.
Will forces a big smile, trying his hardest to pretend like everything is okay…even when he knows it’s not.
I was a little surprised that he was still allowed to come to school if he was in such bad shape. I figured it was like Jamie Winslow in my class at home. She had one of those rare kid-cancers and had to wear a wig. She still came to school when she could, and I figured even when they were in bad shape, sometimes people just wanted to feel normal.
Why am I even going to the Snow Ball? It's not like anyone is going to ask me to dance. Everybody in my class thinks I'm weird.
Well, I don't think you're gonna think it's gross when you fall in love.
I'm not gonna fall in love.
For just a second. I want to tell him that life here is going to get better, but I don’t have any comforting words. I wish I could just tell him to run.
So far, I haven’t made too many new friends here. People are nice, it’s just…we’re the weird kids from Indiana. Sometimes I think it doesn’t matter where we go. Like being deemed a freak goes beyond the boundaries of states, or even countries. Like I could go anywhere in the world, and they’d smell it on me. Now who’s being gloomy? It’s still early days. I’ll find my people, I’m sure.
🧟
Stranger Things // Will Byers' Secret Files // Runaway Max // Tales from Hawkins #2-2 // Zombie Boys // The Bully // Flight of Icarus // The Other Side // Tomb of Ybwen // Stranger Things VR // Rebel Robin // Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Stranger Things // The Dustin Experiment
seeing it all compiled together like this makes my heart ache - they really put him through fucking torture over and over again. but thank you for ending it on the excerpt where will says "it's still early days. i'll find my people, i'm sure". after all the pain and suffering he went through, that's the reminder that he finally did find his people! he got out of hawkins and discovered a whole new world of queer community and joy where being a freak is a beautiful, liberating thing
