#liam and ruby the darkest minds

[daisychains111]

even though I'm a very avid reader, I have the horrible habit of skimming and it came back to bite me today bc I'm rereading darkest minds and I got to the part where ruby is telling liam about her parents/Sam and am sobbing bc I had never read the part where ruby says that she was "Sam's 'Chubs' until she wasn't" and for some reason I had never realized how close they had been(even though im also pretty sure they have a cute reunion scene in ITA but i need to reread the whole book too bc its been forever and tbh i dont remember how it ends) and it just broke my heart idk...anyway don't skim your books kids

[chodzacaparodia]

Me, when characters who are practically meant for each other destroy their relationship by a misunderstanding they could have avoided if they’d just been honest with each other:

[k0juki]

Nothing to worry about

Liam Stewart x reader

All genders are possible! English is not my first language so feel free to point out any mistakes or errors!

A/n: Just a small drabble:) requests are open! More posts here!

Words: 268

---

Liam was smitten. Absolutely. When he first saw you smiling at him, he felt that tug at his heart. He felt the need to give you everything and anything you want, even though you both knew he had nothing to give you, but his love.

"What are you thinking about?" You asked, as you slowly approached him and wrapped your arms around him from behind. He was guarding around the camp, looking for any danger and/or stopping other people from leaving camp.

"You shouldn't be here, you know?" He said and smiled a little. It was weird, he should have noticed when you sneaked on him from behind, but he didn't. Something was on his mind and you've senced, it was probably either you or his duties. 

"Yeah, I know," you answered "but I wanted to see you" you admitted as your voice was getting a lot quieter. Everyone from your group started to notice how you didn't like the camp so much compared to others. 

Even Liam had his own doubts about this amazing camp, but he didn't want to admit it just like you. He knew that everywhere else you and others would be in danger and he had promised himself and most importantly you, that he will do anything, for you to be safe, no matter what. 

As he heard that tone in your voice, he turned himself in your hold to get a better look at you. "It's gonna be alright." He softly said and cupped your face in his hands. His blue eyes looking into yours.

"We just have to hold on.”

---

Don't copy or translate my work! Also the picture is not mine! Credit goes to owner!

[lily-style]

I still think Liam Stewart might be one of the greenish flag fictional dystopian book men ever exists..

my man has no socially violent personality, has charisma, thoughtful, kind -even though he experienced too many traumatic things himself as well- and still acts so innocent and good! to everyone! and open to talking things through rather than ignoring..

-it's been a while since I read the books so I may have forgotten some events/plots but I feel like the hype on him is not enough on "green flag book mens"-

(and I really loved watching Harris Dickinson in the movie as him!)

[imisslittleme]

sometimes i remember that ruby is kinda developmentally behind a few years and it makes me so sad. the book points out how she has the academic capacity of a 10 year old but being in a concentration camp for 6 years will definitely stunt you in other aspects too. if bracken leaned into this more, the series wouldve been much much sadder

[eviloolive]

I’m really sorry to say this…

I know that Clancy is supposed to be like this super attractive guy, but I legitimately cannot help but imagine him as Nevel from iCarly💀

[gywn]

tdm if it was a tv show:

[thedarkestcrew]

Ruby : I'd actually rather go back to Thurmond on a suicide mission than talk about my "feelings"

Cate, Liam, Chubs, Zu, Vida, Jude, Nico, and literally everyone else: Ya that's part of the problem

[zeevbenoit]

y’all ever think about jude from the darkest minds and cry?

just me?

🧍‍♂️

[takecareofthingsboss]

Some Stewart family lore because I miss my boys way too much. (Nothing sad)

Cole let Claire pick his birthday cake ever since she was two. It was not a specific flavor but the cake had to have strawberries on it.

Grace is super into gardening. She'd grow every flower and herb she possibly could. She picked up this habit after they moved to N.C.

Cole would get super competitive at the arcade/mall. He'd gloat about winning all the time. His favourite game was laser tag (because of the adrenaline rush) and Liam's was bumper cars.

Cole was amazing at math. He'd sometimes tutor Liam and help him with his homework. He'd try to play it cool but he'd obsess over Liam's grade more than Lee himself.

Claire became obsessed with the color yellow when Harry got sunflowers home for Grace.

Grace loved celebrating holidays. She took them very seriously. Partly because there was a time in her life she couldn't celebrate them.

Harry is an amazing cook. He wanted to be a chef at one point but his true love (cars) won.

Cole had a childhood friend who moved away when they were pretty young and they ended up losing touch.

Cole and Liam have probably seen almost every barbie movie every because that's what Claire picked for movie nights. Cole will never admit it but he really loved some of them.

Liam had a little stuffed dragon (present from Harry) he took with him wherever he went until the age of 4. Think Cole accidentally set fire to it one day (Oops).

[bookworm-1196]

I just finished reading the first book of The Darkest Minds and I’m going to need some time to get over that ending because noooooo

This book reminded me of how much I love found families in dystopian/fantasy settings where the entire world is against them / designed to be hostile towards the characters but against all odds they form a very strong bond and are each other’s homes and that found family is their shelter from a dismal awful world. And for the entire found family to be separated in the ending feels like getting stabbed

Please tell me they reunite and all live happily ever after and no one dies (actually don’t give me any spoilers I’m scared)

[nostalgicfortomorrow]

Why I love TDM so much

I love The Darkest Minds so fucking much. It's about found family. It's about trust and friendship. AND IT CREATES SOME OF THE BEST CHARACTERS I'VE EVER READ.

So obviously the setting. I like how much effort Alexandra Bracken puts into designing a world that I could definately foresee myself in a couple of years, especially with the rise of GMO food (agent ambrosia) and how it dives deeper into corruption and how a government works being that it never truly will care about it's people unlike many other dystopians I've read. I hated Shatter me (sue me, sure.) despite how similar it is to TDM because I didn't get a strong grasp of character and setting and it was mostly romance rather than an exploration of setting and our world.

Moving forward I LOVE THE CHARACTERS! They're realistic and lovable and flaw...ful? Whatever. The characters have a realistic representation of trauma in all its forms, and many of the characters have real feelings and you can really understand and love them. In many YA books I feel like the main hero doesn't really have much personality, but seeing the world from Ruby's eyes is a breath of fresh air. She's not bratty, but she's not perfect either which are the two swings in YA. She constantly feels guilt, and feels real just like if you and I were in the book together, we'd understand what Ruby is going through. And Liam who on the surface is the perfect dude but really, he's trying to deal with his trauma and guilt while simultaneously trying to keep an unhealthy, perfect facade to keep the rest of the group motivated. He has to live with the guilt of Caledonia and Cole as well as the childrens league and he learns to stop putting out a facade and just truly process his emotions. And Chubsie? My stubborn arrogant loveable grumpy bean. He's stuck with Zu and Liam for ages and now theres a total newcomer who may or may not be a threat. How would he feel? He learns to adapt and becomes bestiessss with Ruby which is extremely wholesome. And Zu. She's so sassy, and amazing, and a queen and yet she's also dealing with trauma by voluntarily going into silence because she doesn't have words to deal with her pain. She learns to speak up and become a force for good. I'd go into Vida, but I don't think I have enough time.

I love the found family. The different groups which become like family to each other. The Original Black Betty gang consisting of liam, ruby, chubs and zu. The never fade childrens league gang which consists of nico vida ruby and jude and maybe cole. And the final new black betty gang which basically pulls Vida into the family. the beyond the night gang with sam, mia and lucas. The darkest legacy gang with priya roman zu max and mayyyyyyybe even lana if she recovers. They are all family and as ruby states family is not the place but the people you are with and these characters make each other comfortable and happy and together and just adopt random children along the way in the case of the darkest legacy gang. Lets call them the psion ring gang. I just love the found family thing that this book series creates for us.

[k0juki]

The picture and gif is not mine! Credits goes to owners.

Sleepy headcanons

Liam Stewart x reader

More posts here.

Warnings: mentions of nightmares but mostly fluff, reader has hair, no mention of y/n, clingy!Liam, soft!Liam, fem!reader or gn!reader

!English is not my first language!

-When Liam is sleepy you can't get his hands off of you no matter what when he's like that.

- He's mostly a light sleeper, like you wake up in the middle of the night to just drink some water and he's already asking you're alright, If you need anything.

-He would be the big spoon, saying he can protect you if someone breaks in but secretly loves being the small spoon when you hold him from behind 🥺 he would always deny that...even when we know it's true.🤭

-A lot and I mean a LOT of cuddles. Always down for them.

Overwhelmed - cuddles

Feeling sad - cuddles

Sleepy  - cuddles

Imagine you are feeling down and just wants to be alone, laying in bed or in Blue Betty and he would gently (as always) ask if you wana talk about it and then he comes to lay behind you, he would put his head in the crook of your neck and shoulder and then starts putting light kisses here, whispering soft words of how mutch he loves you "I got you" "I'm right here, yeah?."

-When Liam is sleepy he whines and is pouting like baby. "Love, come lie down with me...".

King of:

-"How long has it been since you've slept, hm?"

-If/when you're having nightmares, he would wake you up with kisses and is gonna hold you tighter to his chest. Hands in your hair, gently massaging your scalp and kissing the top of your head, pulling you to sleep once again.

-He would DEFINITELY use his powers to pull you to the bed and not letting go. "Liam just give me a moment, I will-  Liam!" "No, you were taking to long."

-Can fall asleep basically anywhere where you are. Will pull you to his lap and fall asleep the second you are comfortable against him.

---

I couldn't find any Liam Stewart fic or anything about him, so I had to do it myself 😤 Again English is not my first language so feel free to point out any mistakes or errors.

Gonna post more from now on :))

DO NOT COPY OR TRANSLATE MY WORK!

[takeabite2812]

i’m reading in the afterlight and all i got to say is nevermind iaan the only disease that struck clancy fancy gray was the sassy man apocalypse like jeez.

[imisslittleme]

mama… a bald liam behind you

[eviloolive]

A question that’s been bouncing around in my head for a while is: did Clancy Gray love Nico?

I’ve been debating this internally because literally no one in my life wants to read or have in depth discussions about TDM, so I have to have them with myself.

Post-East River we’re of the understanding that Clancy Gray is an evil little weasel(he is) that cares for no one but himself. Of course throughout In The Afterlight we’re given a different perspective, he might be a piece of shit and he might be selfish but he does think about other people and what would be right for them(even if his methods are corrupt). Until the end of ITAL I didn’t think there was anything that Clancy truly loved other than power. I never thought that he felt any genuine romantic feelings towards Ruby. I think he liked her, but more importantly I think he liked her power. And he never held anyone else close enough to care about them.

But then there’s Nico… We know that Nico was in love with Clancy, that’s not a debate. He literally tells Ruby in ITAL. But does Clancy love Nico? Nico has been there for Clancy since they had been roommates and were experimented on together at Thurmond. In ITAL through Clancy’s memories we see Nico caring for him in a way that Ruby describes as loving/yearningly. Nico is willing to do practically anything Clancy. And during their time together at Thurmond, Clancy is extremely protective over Nico. It’s interesting that Clancy would choose to care for someone when he expressly believes that colors other than orange are less than. And Nico is green, the bottom of the food chain, I’m sure in Clancy’s opinion. And if we know one thing about Clancy Gray, it’s that he craves power and control. But Nico doesn’t have power and Clancy doesn’t want to control him, so why would Clancy keep him around?

Obligation? Kindness? Love? Towards the end of ITAL when it’s revealed that Clancy has been controlling Ruby in her sleep and having her send messages to PSFs to inform them of their location, we see a conversation play out between Clancy and Nico. Nico had been deeply hurt by Clancy’s second betrayal and is expressing his anger towards Clancy. Nico is begging him to call off whoever is coming and Clancy seems to almost give in. This of course is surprising to both readers and Ruby as Clancy seems to always be putting on a facade. Of course we know how it ends but it’s the fact that Clancy almost gave in to Nico’s pleads that is interesting to me.

To answer my own question: did Clancy Gray love Nico? Yes. Did he love Nico romantically? That could be debated. I think that Clancy loved Nico, but I also think that Clancy never knew how to love the way that Nico might have wanted. In another universe they might have been happy.

Thank you for coming to me TED Talk