Sillylien

it must be so freeing, not having to constantly look after a bunch of idiots. she has so much more time to herself all of a sudden. she can join clubs. she can find new hobbies. she can make a life for herself. and of course throughout hd she, unlike henry, has been consistently going to school, presumably she had some friends there and she must've had some hobbies (dressmaking for a start!) but i think her job in the man cave was really at the forefront of her mind. because that's her best friend who's throwing himself into danger every day. and now he still is but he's on the other side of the world and he's an adult and charlotte is finally free

i think that the things she was doing for herself throughout hd, like keeping up with school and everything, happened on autopilot. she worked on graduating and doing things to enrich her life because she knew she should, it was part of the plan. and she follows the plan she's laid out for herself. but at harvard, she finally has the space to reflect on that plan. she's happy she's learning and her choice of major was undoubtedly a well-considered one, but for the first time in so long, she has the space to think outside the box. maybe she wants to do some fashion minor instead of a humanities one like she planned. maybe she wants to take another gap year to do some travelling. the world is suddenly so full of possibilities!

but despite it all, despite truly being able to focus on herself and what she wants and reconsider how well the life she'd planned out still suits her, the six years she spent working in the man cave never go away. she still knows the fear that her best friend might not come home from work this time at 13. she still knows the crushing weight on her shoulders. she still knows what it's like to be constantly dismissed. and that's never really going to leave her

henry at least had the death of kid danger to finally separate himself from the persona he'd made (one could VERY reasonably argue that he's just made it worse by basically incorporating that persona into his identity as henry hart but this post isn't about him). charlotte was always herself. she never wore a mask. she poured herself into the work with eyes wide open as the little girl she was, without even trying to be a hero. she was just being her. and now she's grown up and where kid danger haunts henry, charlotte is haunted by herself because those memories will never go away even if she shapes her life in ways she hasn't in many years

Even though Thomas is not the prettiest٫ nor the most physically fit Glader٫ it was his bravery and courage when entering the Maze and insisting on saving Alby that made Minho follow him to the ends of the earth.

Minho didn't just see freedom in Thomas٫ he also saw a much better person than he was٫ and someone he wanted to be like٫ making that seemingly crazed Greenie deserving of his unquestionable loyalty.

For Minho٫ Thomas was hope in freedom٫ but also hope in a better future where he could overcome his fears and get rid of everything that held him down٫ including himself.

YAYYY these can be interpreted as platonic or romantic bc I like them both ways :)

she was the first person he came out to and she says she knew the whole time

jasper always thought charlotte wasnt big on affection so he never tried being affectionate with her but one day she's having a rough day and he hugs her and she asks him not to let go and he realizes she does like affection so he becomes affectionate to her constantly :) (random hugs,leaning his head on her shoulder,kissing her cheek,holding her hand,letting her sleep on him etc)

he met her before henry did and he approached her because she was new and told henry they are all best friends now

charlotte likes to do his makeup and paint his nails

in dystopia they started feeling more like a duo than a trio with henry and would vent to eachother about him

sometimes charlotte catches jasper staring at her and he says he just forgets how pretty she is :)

she visits him in dystopia whenever she can and he comes to visit her at harvard

she slapped tf out of henry after finding out he left jasper

he loves taking pictures of her and has a bunch in his phone

they secretly sometimes prefer hanging out without henry there

jasper loves playing with her hair like a fidget toy

jasper gave her one of his hoodies before she left for harvard

I've said this before but after the rest of the group is mean to jasper or charlothe they always tell eachother they dont mean it and are just trying to fit in

they have a bunch of inside jokes that henry has no clue about

charlotte thinks jasper is the funniest person she's ever met but only says it to him