#throws a table

But omg I miss Luke sosososo much. MAN to be resting on this man's chest while he plays with your hair and he's rambling about straight nonsense and all the stuff he fixed up that day UGH.

BRO. oh my gosh. Minho is such an icon, and the strength he has mentally is absolutely astonishing.

When I read the fever code, I began to love him EVEN MORE as a character because he was the only one, after a while, that was willing to still try and escape WICKED when they were younger. Alby and the others who were originally joining in on that plan sort of backed out when they were believing that lie of "having it better than most" and "at least they had a roof over their head and food to eat." LIKE I SAID EARLIER, I'm not saying those things didn't matter, especially for the time they were in, but Y'ALL. MINHO SAW EXACTLY WHAT WE ALL SAW. THEY WERE MANIPULATING AND TORTURING KIDS, WHAT GIVES THEM THE RIGHT TO DO THAT??? HELLO???

Minho saw RIGHT through WICKED and was brave enough to even fight against them in the way he did (he literally fought one of the doctors the very first time Thomas seen him in person, which I CANNOT get over because he was so young and still himself 😭 DUDE HAD A BANDAGE OVER HIS HEAD FROM THAT SURGERY RIGHT?? HELPP) and he held on to that decision even when his other friends weren't as enthusiastic to leave like he was anymore.

His grit, determination, and basically his whole personality is a lot of what got him through all of this, even in the Maze. But HE'S STILL HUMAN, AND, WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT, HE'S ALSO STILL A KID. A kid forced to keep his chin lifted and act strong in the face of terrible human beings and then the confusion of the Maze.

SPEAKING OF, since he was the Keeper of the Runners, we can only IMAGINE what this dude went through on a literal daily basis once everyone had their roles settled. He pushed himself physically, mentally, and emotionally and managed to keep himself together. By that, I mean he stayed being himself. Yes, ofc, he felt discouraged and even angry on certain days when it looked like they had no chance of escaping that awful place, but he remained as Minho.

I know Newt is the glue, but I also think if Minho wasn't there in the picture, a lot of things wouldn't have gone the way they did. WICKED literally named him as The Leader. That is definitely the word to describe him, if I were to sum all of this up. He has a tough persona, but he really, TRULY, does care about his friends and would beat people up for them (take that guy who shot Thomas, for example 💀)

If Newt is the glue, then maybe Minho is the walls (or whatever else, that's what i could come up with) he's making stay together, if that makes sense.

ANYWAY, I feel like book Minho and movie Minho both went through some pretty horrendous stuff in different ways, so there is A LOT TO COVER. LET'S START WITH WHAT BROKE ME THE MOST 😃

When Newt left them on the Berg. (I really hope that's how you spell it cause I lowkey forgot) Since Thomas never told him what really happened, Minho was first left to read the note given by one of his CLOSEST friends, which told him he'd basically never see Newt again.

Even though the book wasn't written from his pov, you can just see the distress and worry he was experiencing when Newt was gone. He was so focused on getting him back, he didn't care what consequences would come because of it. And then, when they finally found him, he gets told - to his face - that he needs to leave or he'll get shot.

Minho got threatened by his friend, and he clearly didn't want to believe it. Newt would never do something like that, they came all this way to bring him back and try to help him, not to let him sit there and become a Crank like the rest of them. Dude, I can never ever get over his reaction when they had to leave. He was in total despair. I can just FEEL his pain through the pages and the few lines we got describing what Minho was like during this. In his eyes, that was the LAST time he ever saw his friend.

Dude it hurts too much I GOTTA MOVE ON. TO CUT IT SHORT, he forced himself to lift his chin yet again and go forward and say goodbye to another friend he cared for.

MOVIE MINHO. UGH. THEY DID HIM SO DIRTY. I DON'T WANT THIS TO BE RIDICULOUSLY LONG AHDGFG so I'll just say that he is unbelievably strong to be able to endure the torture he experienced. Poor Minho, dude. The people at WICKED didn't give a single crap about what this LIVING HUMAN BEING was going through, for the sake of having the highest test results or something.

I wonder how long it took for him to recover from those simulations, of not knowing what was real or what's not. (He should pull a Peeta and ask "real or not real?")

Wow this is FANTASTIC I LOVE IT (it’s so funny whenever u said something I would think something about it and then you would have exactly what I thought written in brackets 😭🫶(same brain bro)

MINHOOOO MY DEAR MINHO

In tfc I agree you only grow to love Minho more. There is literally no character like him. So determined and unbothered by the consequences. And honestly? Minho is—now don’t come at me for this—lowkey the smartest?? Bc as you said he saw wicked for EVERYTHING that it was from the very beginning. Hell, little tfc Minho literally helped ME know what wicked was bc I was still confused. I remember there was this spark in my brain that was like “wait but ig if they’re doing this for the cure…” WHICH DONT GET ME WRONG IT IS DEF WRONG BUT MINHO PUT THAT THOUGHT TO rest when he was like “they’re using us against our will like some lab experiment…” etc etc.

He was just a boy but he still didn’t give to shits about the fact Thomas was ‘special’ bc he ALWAYS and I repeat ALWAYS knew who the real enemy is. Even after Teresa and her stuff with him. Truly amazing.

(And oh yeah when he was fighting off the ‘doctors’ at the surgery bro I was like yes goooo, at the same time tho I remember feeling bad about myself bc I was thinking about how I don’t think I would have the guts to do that against a bunch of fully grown adults holding a sedative lol and I was jealous)

The fact he showed a brave face and confident persona everyday in the maze while knowing there is no way out? Imagine how that clawed at him?! Lying all the time and not knowing how much longer people would be believing it. Also there’s the fact the runners were technically endangering themselves for no reason then.

Minho is definitely the walls I agree and he definitely cares. A lot. I LOVEEEE his protectiveness of his friends which if you read this book called “the maze runner files” go to page 43 and you’ll see the cooled scene of Minho ever. (I pirated it off oceanofpdf but it’s on kindle too)

And yes Minho is such an underrated leader and protector and friend in general. (The scene where he beat up the guy who shot Thomas literally had me screaming with excitement) (I just LOVE found family and the ivy trio (despite the coupling there 😭) is a perfect example of that)

Yeah you could definitely feel Minho’s distress when newt left the berg in that part—poor guy.

Also thinking about the simulations, the fact Minho just got up ran out of there and acted like he wasn’t just tortured? INSANE. And to have ur best friend ACTUALLY die next is also INSANE. Holy shit Minho.

In addition to all this, Minho is also just a funny guy who says some GREAT one liners. One of my favourite things he has done (also displays his smarts) is when to make Thomas a runner he said he should make Thomas the keeper of the runners.

I remember reading that and thinking “wtf Minho? Really??” But that was literally so smart.

Minho is also great for just saying it how it is. He doesn’t dance around words and I respect that.

Underneath his exterior you can still see a boy who just wants to go home, even after the swipe took his memories and I think that’s what keeps his fight alive.

A lot of people will say “newt trusted Thomas from the very beginning” which yes that is true. But actually? When Thomas first came up into the maze he spent more time with Minho and MINHO instantly trusted him too. Which I think is important to remember. Also, in the movies remember that bit that Minho went and fetched Thomas a group of runners to help Thomas search the maze? He always believed in Thomas and maybe that’s just bc he had been without hope for so long and this idiot (lovingly) runs in and starts pulling weird manoeuvres at grievers but i also think he’s just a good judge of character in general (for instance with gally(don’t hate me guys))

Also weren’t Minho and Chuck like friends? Isn’t that the sweetest??!

Minho also ALWAYS knows where to be at the right time and how to help in the best way possible. I could pull up examples but I’m not bothered.

I feel like there is so much more I have to say but I’m stopping there.

Happy birthday!!!!

Dude, the only 'good' thing WICKED has done for Thomas (along with the other 'subjects') was give him a place to live in and provide food. That's seemingly what every person could ever want when things like the sun flares were happening and Cranks were running rampant, BUT THE COST FOR THOSE BASIC THINGS WERE INSANE. LITERALLY INSANE.

Like, oh yeah we're gonna USE you to help find a cure - and that's a big maybe, if it even exists - but we're gonna TORTURE YOU INTO FORGETTING YOUR OWN NAME, subtly manipulate you into doing something we've been planning for a while because, LOOK AT THAT, you're one of the 'smarter' kids and have more potential than the rest. SO WE'RE GONNA SEPARATE YOU FROM OTHER KIDS FOR THE LONGEST TIME SO YOU CAN DEVOTE YOURSELF TO OUR RESEARCH.

They really made him believe he was doing something for the greater good while he was building that maze (AND, ONE QUESTION, WHY IN THE WHOLE WORLD DID THEY REQUIRE LITTLE THOMAS AND TERESA TO DO THIS?!?!? BLOWS MY MIND.) but in reality, he was literally building the place where so many of his friends would be killed in. So many innocent boys.

Dude, the constant theme throughout tfc was, if he didn't listen to WICKED and did as they said, he'd be tortured. Simple as that. Like, they couldn't have killed Thomas (probably not even standing from a moral point) because they needed him for their experiments.

I feel so bad for Thomas dude 😭 ESPECIALLY WHEN I WAS READING TFC. He was LITERALLY just a BOY. A CHILD. Forced to make decisions he shouldn't have and grow up WAY WAY WAY too quickly.

So yeah, WICKED is good, if you count mentally tormenting kids and even physically harming them when it is "necessary."

I also can't get over how they made him watch Minho almost DIE by a griever. That was actually so messed up bro

Yes yes and yes.

When people are like “Thomas chose to help them” no no he did fucking not. In tfc it is so clear how he wanted to protect his friends even then. If he didn’t help they would torture him and no doubt hurt his friends if he disobeyed.

There was no ‘option’.

And the fact he literally sacrificed himself when going against wicked before the maze while knowing that he would be done for of it? Now that takes fucking GUTS.

The difference between him and Teresa is that in tfc and the other books he has this insane guilt complex and tries to do things with the most harm reduction. Teresa does things in the most efficient and what she deems as right way.

Thomas ALWAYS had that lingering feeling of “this is wrong” despite all the manipulation and upbringing. Which when you think about it IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE. Like look at characters in hunger games (Cato Ifykyk) and even people in the real world—almost entirely who they are is created by their upbringing. I mean maybe Dee Dee never had a mother/parent that loved her like Thomas but I honestly don’t know if that little bit he had before wicked would have changed much yk?

Anyways yes I love Thomas I love his sass (that people always forget about) I love how he blames himself for everything and I love how protective he is (even if the people who don’t like him like Gally in the first book)

If I were Thomas I would have been very pissed off at the gladers and how they handle the ‘green beans’ and while you could tell it annoyed him he never blamed them for it. He always held all life’s at equal value and that is something incredible admirable.

Asides from morality Thomas is smart, cunning and humble. He never seeks praise or basks in it. Never allows himself to even be proud of his own actions that saved so many people.

I also think that Thomas’s ability to give people second chances is remarkable—something that I’m not so good at myself.

Also with the whole “Thomas was wicked’s fav” thing I’ve seen a lot of people spread some resentment on Thomas bc the characters the love (eg minho newt gally) weren’t held at such a standard. However, I think people need to really consider what being the ‘special kid’ did to Thomas. Not only did it isolate him while the others got to be together (we all know that socially you need to grow up around lots of people/build relationships with different personality types) but also made him dependent on praise (bc he was taught to crave praise bc if he isn’t praised he is then worthless (which fun fact this is also an issue parents have with their kids when raising them bc they think they need to constantly praise their kids but it’s bad for them in the long run))