For Will

no, noah did not queerbait. ever. he was invested just like we were, and was hyping up the potential before he got the scripts for the latter half of the season, then he stopped. not to mention none of the cast had an idea about all the character's endings until they were already months into filming. holding byler endgame signs at cons isn't baiting either, it was not something valid enough to turn down AND it made his fans happy so of course he'd go along with it. you all KNOW how noah is. he's excitable and positive, he's so young (or definitely as byler picked up after st4) and always had a close bond with his fans. he wanted to share joy with bylers/will's fans and was let down along with us

he was also 17 when people started throwing queerbaiting blame onto him. a child who was in the closet himself, with no control or power as an actor against writers despite what (uninformed) people may think. now it's still going on years later and so many of you think it's okay and don't call it out when you should

and along the way, this fandom hardly ever defended him against actual homophobic abuse, never stuck up for another member of your own community, put expectations on him to make a ship happen while knowing how difficult it is for queer people in the entertainment industry

noah has been consistent about showing disappointment in how mike has been a bad friend to will, with finn even expressing the same thoughts along the way because it was TRUE. I hate what the writers have done to byler because of their bullshit to fix what they apparently "accidentally" set up, but noah and finn and others are just speaking for what they see in the show which is fair. we now have really shit scenes that (when viewed from the byler endgame lens) don't have an explanation for, and DO make mike look shitty (rain fight and the "no homo" moment at the airport). they were so desperate to cleanse their self insert after season 4 that they made mike's priorities and behaviour so messy, that's on them not on noah and how he speaks about the ship 🫩

noah has vouched for will so many times across the years. he and jamie have spoken about asking for more and being denied it - it's not their fault! he understands how will's coming out scene should've been different and intimate. he fought for byler's story after seeing how tossed aside the pairing was, he literally got us that scene on the tower. despite it being a pathetic and cruel, barely even bare minimum script that essentially said "fine, here" to noah, he didn't have control of that. he fought for the fans that the duffers didn't care about because HE cares. and always has

noah was quite literally in the middle of this whole situation for years now until the show ended. a whirlwind of needing to be in will's mindset, as well as then being interested in fan's reactions. he's only just had time to really start processing it all, so how can anyone be surprised that his opinion fluctuates as he spends more time thinking about byler AND seeing what points fans are making

if you don't think that it's perfectly normal for noah to have developed his thoughts in recent months just like we all have, then idk what to tell you. I saw people say he changed his tune despite saying byler would be roommates (sorry, where in that answer did he imply romance anyway?), despite bringing up him talking about will confessing his love in mike's arms as he dies, but that wasn't about byler endgame either? that was just a scenario for "will tells mike how he feels". so I don't get why people think he was still vouching for byler endgame after the show ended and is now doing a 180 when he's been consistent in his priority of - what is best for WILL. as he should be. god forbid the actor of the one character who didn't get ANY romance or a kiss want him to find it somewhere, to find his community, and not stay stuck

he didn't say he hates byler, he's going off of what is on screen, what the story sadly ended up telling and yes, it is so fair of him to say will should not beg for mike. will did all that he could and was SO brave to even come out. he's also not real so NO he can't be blamed for mike not figuring his own shit out lmao?? do you hear yourselves?? will got nothing and you still want him to do the work, unbelievable

from everything I've seen over the years, I do think noah believed in the same story we all thought was being set up. narratively it made sense, the duffers had the biggest fumble of the century and the month after the sorcerer scene proved that with how much bigger byler got, but now with what they actually gave us? yeah it's not great for byler. that's okay, or can eventually become okay as we process, because we push forward and create and love

noah just wants will to be loved how he deserves, I thought that's what we should all want as a fandom? do you not love will outside of byler? I'm a hardcore byler, they're my endgame absolutely but that is not gonna blind me to the nuanced point of view of the gay actor who brought the will we love to life

This is part of the larger problem within Stranger Things. In the later seasons, every character's actions are dictated not by what the character would reasonably do or what has been built up, but what best supports plot convenience. The Duffers wanted the people who were rooting for Mike and Will to end up together (which was a considerable portion of their audience) to continue watching the show. So Will was being encouraged to keep pursuing a potential relationship with Mike - whose feelings and relationship status with El were left intentionally ambiguous.

Then when the eleventh hour struck and the Duffers could no longer straddle the "will they /won't they" line, Will suddenly decided he'd only had a crush on Mike that he was now completely over.