#the friendmaking is entirely up to the other person. which which works well i guess

[beeseverywhen]

It's really important that I can say stupid stuff here because before I used to do this, I'd just end up telling random people that didn't ask irl

[gaybluesargent]

Look I'm not trying to hate, but can you explain to me why you love Henry so much? I just reread the entire series for the third time and I still can't connect to him, even in TRK. Like he just shows up partway through the fourth book (yeah, yeah I know he had a few cameos in the other books but those don't really count) and people immediately include him in the Gangsey, like no. Ronan and Adam don't even seem to like him that much. Idk, I just don't get why everyone loves him so much.

if you didn’t connect with henry, i don’t think i’m going to be able to convince you to. and like, that’s your right, yknow, You Do You. but i can explain why i connected with henry and why i think he’s a legitimate member of the gangsey. so, here’s that, under the readmore because i rambled:

i mean, okay, there’s a lot about him that appeals to me. some of the simpler reasons are here — like, i love his flare for the dramatic, i love that his native language is thought, i love that his methods of friendmaking involve inviting people into dark holes and also inviting people to toga parties, and like.. he got kidnapped for ransom as a child and he leans right into that trauma, and… just. he’s weird and normal and not normal at all and i find him thoroughly, completely charming.

but i think a lot of the reason i connected so easily to henry is because i’m a Gansey Person. like, gansey is the character i relate to the most, so he’s the primary emotional proxy through which i interact with this series. and there is no arguing the fact that gansey connects with henry, a lot, very much, very quickly. when they interact, henry doesn’t feel like a latecomer. they just work, like they’ve been friends for years. and that felt… right to me? like, gansey’s whole thing is that he’s soulmate collector. he finds people who he Clicks With, and then he falls in love with them, and then it’s like they’ve Always Been. that’s… his court. that’s how the gangsey Is. adam helped gansey fix his car one time and then they were best friends. gansey called blue a prostitute and then like a week later she was flying on his helicopter. 

but, you say, ronan and adam dont even like him. and, true, but ronan and adam dont like anybody, lol. ronan and adam didn’t like each other for a long time, and ronan didn’t like blue at first, and adam is a deeply suspicious person in general, so like… it makes Sense that they don’t instantly like henry. which, like… if you’re a Ronan Person or an Adam Person, i get why you might have more trouble connecting with henry too! i’m the first to acknowledge that this is a huge fault in the execution of henry’s story. i think he would’ve been a lot better-received had he had the time to fully grow into the gang, yknow, to develop relationships with everyone, not just gansey and blue. 

but like… idk. that’s what fandom’s For, i guess? exploring the spaces canon leaves blank. and henry has lots of spaces left blank, which means there’s lots of room for us to play around and see what lines we can draw! and i think that’s really fun! having a character like henry, brought in later, provides so many opportunities to add new angles to each of the dynamics in the gang. of course i wish we had seen more of it in canon, like, of course, but… that makes me want more henry. not less. yknow. 

tldr: gansey connected with henry enough to bring him into the gangsey, so i did too. i think, given a little time, the rest of the gang would’ve as well. and that is more than enough justification to Include him, imo.