#glader-of-wicked

[a1-thebetrayer]

whenever i think about the fact that the gladers as we know them aren't really themselves it makes me so very agonisingly sad.

wicked stripped these children from their identities. slapped new names on them. seperated SIBLINGS.

they did everything at all in their power to completely detach the kids from their pasts.

and we don't ever even get to see those identities given back.

sure, we know that teresa was deedee, sonya was lizzy, thomas was stephen etc. but what about the others?? what about all the other children who will only ever be able to be remembered by their label? their role?

[fluffypotatey]

Au that happens earlier, sort of mid-apocalypse after the Lights Went Out where the Flare still infects a shitton of people but some people are mutated by it instead, basically still themselves but with weird abilities, and they're fucked on all sides because WCKD wants to dissect them, military forces want to blow them to bits, normal people are terrified of them bc they are still technically infectious, and even others like them want to be cured or kill each other bc they're "monsters". Thomas is an Evolved (what WCKD is calling the mutated people) that was infected on purpose to try and find the mutation genome, escapes when they try to basically vivisect him, and is found by the Gladers. They were trying to escape the quarantine zone, but now they're switching tack to fuck up WCKD after realising oh no these guys are making things Worse, what the fuck, goddam it, and now Thomas is dealing with an insane evil organization as well as the fact he's bi for the cute English guy that almost killed him that one time

the way i would read this in a heartbeat

GAH YES THIS IS SUCH A COOL AU 👀 and just the way how Thomas believing WCKD when he agreed to being infected bc they raised him (and Teresa) but he didn’t know about the dissections or was told that the dissections he found were consensual. or just that he eavesdrops or discovers that WCKD never planned to make a cure

and like, the Flare is canonically WICKED’s fault, a bioweapon that spurred out of their control and are trying to rein it back. so, having his whole worldview and childhood crushed, Thomas books it (what’s the vote on Teresa being aware of WCKD’s plan to never find a cure? of her being aware of the blatant violation of medical ethics? bc i wanna say yes :D)

OH AND WE CAN MAYBE WORK IN NEWTMAS BEING CHILDHOOD FRIENDS BEFORE WCKD WIPED THE GLADERS’ MEMORIES

maybe 🥺 maybe Thomas has the amnesia while Newt remembers him. tho they were kids back then. WCKD separated Thomas and the other special Elites from the other kids that it takes Newt some time to put two and two together. meanwhile, Thomas’s memories pre-Swipe are so fuzzy, only remembering his life post-separation, but he receives dreams of them because the Flare is a virus that eats at the brain, slowly chewing at WCKD’s memory block

Newt is still not Immune >:) which has wonderful potential when it comes to tactile affection

[dame-nervy]

Gladers are WCKD - Chapter 14

Vince used to say I had a smart mouth that would only cause trouble, Mary said I was clever enough to talk my way through anything, and when I met Jorge, well he told me I should work on my aim. Though I don't think any of them would expect my escape to have something to do with chewing.

It had been a long 24 hours - I'm guessing, I don't have a clock - of nothing since Jeff had threaten and fed me. Apparently, I wasn't interesting enough for anyone other than Clint and Jeff to come and check on, both saying a lot less than yesterday. Though, with all that time I was able to estimate that I was far away from most people, barely any foot traffic coming past my door. So, while being fed my one meal a day - though I'm not sure you can classify the grease trap grit I received as food - I had managed to spit some in my hand when the Medjacks weren't looking. After they'd left, I was able to use it to finally slip my hand free, though it was not without pain and the wonder of if it will lead to an infection later. Putting that out of my head I redressed myself, collected my weapons and waited by the door until I was pretty sure that no one was around. I opened the door only as far as I needed, quickly getting out and shutting it again before finding a dark hallway to hide in. The silence was deafening, but reassuring. I was alone.

It was only now that I discovered that I was in a building that was barely standing, lots of patch work and boarded up windows. Peeking through the boards I was momentarily blinded before seeing what was home base for the Gladers.

It was a large clearing of green land, men meandering around crop fields, sheds, pens with animals grazing, and buildings that were either new or very well taken care of. I couldn't believe my eyes at how they were living, I'd never even seen green grass before, not in real life. but then there was the 30 metre tall walls that reminding me of the wall around the last city and of what Sonya, Harriet, and Aris had said about where wicked had kept them. Must be Wicked's favourite architectural trait. And then I notice the gaps in the walls... my way out.

Even though I knew my odds would be better to wait for nightfall, there's no telling when someone would next come to check on me. Now might be my only chance. I found a boarded-up window on the side towards the back, peaking out of that one you could easily tell it was closer to the wall and not too visible to the main area, I could also see another hole in the wall, closer but easily exposed. I pulled the boards off, which was made easy by the fact that they were rotted out, thankfully since my busted hands ached after a few moments of pressure. I peaked out a little to see if I'd been noticed luckily finding no one around at all, the closest person being around 50 metres away.

The was no cover. there was no waiting around for a better opportunity. It was now or go and get comfortable in my seat. I climbed out the window, took a deep breath, steadied my nerves and ran.

.

.

.

.

.

"HEY!"

- - - - -

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[pendrcgcon]

just the colour schemes of each movie are beautiful.

[majesty31]

Could you write a fic where the reader gets the flare instead of Newt and pls make it really angsty

𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚈𝚘𝚞 | 𝙽𝚎𝚠𝚝 𝚡 𝚏𝚎𝚖 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕

𝒂/𝒏: 𝒀𝒆𝒔 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒏𝒈𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒕, 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒔.

𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚: 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓/𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒕? 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒚, 𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎?

𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔: 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆. 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉, 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔, 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝑾𝑰𝑪𝑲𝑬𝑫, 𝒚𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒚. 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍.

𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕: 𝟑.𝟕𝒌

It had been a couple of weeks since you all had gotten rescued from the maze, and since you found out that WICKED were the ones to do just that. Being on the run was no picnic, one of the reasons being because you were an awful runner or more so you had almost zero stamina, and also the fact that everything that was wrong with the world was running through your veins as well.

You had noticed it almost instantly, the way you wouldn't be able to catch your breathing, sure you had bad stamina but it was never that bad, you felt dizzier rather fast and your mood swings were all over the place. You didn't think much of it until you saw your arms, the black veins were a clear sign of how far gone you were.

It did scare you, maybe more than you let yourself believe but you were also so tired. So tired of running from one bad person to the next, it felt as if this world was full of nothing but bad people, you truly didn't know if you'd find what the other gladers were searching for. A safe place. Away from the people who wanted you for nothing other than what was in your blood.

You hadn't told anyone what was going on. You knew if you did they would do anything to keep you from dying this way. Maybe even postpone getting back Minho. And you couldn't let them do that, he was the one person who gave you hope in the glade, who told you he would get you out alive. And you believed him. He kept that promise, and now you'd do anything to get him out alive as well, even if that meant sacrificing yourself.

But the thing was, if you did do just that, there would be one person who would never forgive you. He would do just about anything for you, he would even take this flare if it meant you would get to live. He had always talked about how it would be if you finally got out of the maze, but you knew it had nothing to do with the life he wanted. No, it was your life he was so worried about. He said that you deserved a life far beyond the glade walls, a normal life.

But nothing was normal about this life, in fact the glade walls gave you more normality than this dump. In all honesty you missed the glade, missed the laughs, the friends you had to leave behind. At least there were times when life felt okay, but now it always felt like a struggle to keep moving, and there were no times when life felt okay.

The only times life felt just a little bit better was with him. You could tell Newt felt the same you did, in fact they all did, but he never showed it. He would always try to make you smile, laugh, distract you from the world you all came to know. Your feelings for him would grow just that much more when he would do that. And you hated it.

Newt was the one person that you had to tell, but he was also the only person you couldn't. He would drag you off to find a cure, back to Vince and force him to heal you. But you couldn't do that, Minho needed you all, and you couldn't just leave him in that place to rot.

"You know this isn't what I thought the world would be like," Newt's voice cut through the silence. "I thought the maze was the worst it could get. You know," He turned to face you, his dark eyes meeting yours, a half smile on his face. "I actually thought our parents would be out here, looking for us."

"Maybe they are," You replied, your gaze moving over the broken down buildings, wondering how everything used to look before the world went to shit.

"I don't think things work out like that for us," His voice grew soft, his hand coming up to tuck away a stray hair behind your ear which caused your whole body to warm. "But they should, at least for some of us," you turned to face him, the look in his eyes causing your heart to flutter. It was as if every time you looked into his eyes, they would just automatically grow soft. When you first met him you thought that was just the person he was, but then you saw how they shown different for you. You never knew why.

And you were starting to hate the way he would look at you, as if you were the only person in the world, the only one who he would not just die for, but kill for. Soon enough you would be gone, and he would blame himself endlessly. You knew you had a deep love for Newt, one that you would never feel for anyone else, but those feelings would fade away with your soul.

"You need to stop looking at me as if you're in love with me," And there it was, the words you never wanted to say. But you just couldn't keep them to yourself anymore, someone had to know, and if you didn't tell him then did you truly love him at all.

"What?" His expression switched like a blink of an eye. He pulled away a little, his eyes turning concerned. For a second he looked as if he was about to deny it, tell you it was all in your head, that he wasn't in love with you, you were just a good friend. But then he sighed, and it looked as if he was about to confess to something you already knew. "How can I not,"

The words were so soft, and for some odd reason they hit deeper than they should have. You were silent for a little, your eyes locked on his as he poured out his feelings through that gaze alone. But you shook your head, your hands covering his eyes. He wasn't allowed to look at you like that when you could very well become a monster next week.

"Stop it Newt-"

"Why? You know that I've loved you for years. I never tried to hide it," He took your hand off his face, holding it more gently than you even thought possible. "And I know you feel the same. Why would that ever be a bad thing-"

"Because," You couldn't seem to finish the sentence, you wanted to, your mouth was open but the words were stuck in your throat, refusing to come out, refusing to destroy the only boy you had ever come to love.

"You can't even give a reason-"

"I can! But you won't understand why I kept it from you!" This caught his attention, worry and fear coating his whole face.

"What… what are you talking about?" He knew. Of course he did, it was obvious, especially to him, someone who spent as much time with you as he has. But he was to scared to uncover it for what it really was, and you didn't want to be the one to spell it out for him.

Your eyes turned sad causing his breathing to get faster. "I'm sorry Newt," He shook his head slightly, looking as if he was about to have some kind of panic attack. But before he got the chance to do that, someone bursted through the roof door.

"We have a way in,"

~~~

"Okay this is crazy," You whisper yelled to Gally as your eyes frantically snapped to a bound Tressa, who had a bag over her head. You didn't even know how they got her here without causing some big commotion, it was a ridiculous plan that would most likely not work. None of you should trust her, she was the reason you were all in this mess to begin with. Why on earth would she agree to help if she didn't agree from the start. She was the one who got Minho captured, and who knew what she was doing to him behind closed doors.

"This is the only way in Y/N. Do you want this whole trip to be for nothing? Or do you wanna get Minho back?" Gally whisper yelled back, his finger pointing to your face, as it always was when he tried to prove a point. At any other time you would've grabbed it and tried to break it, but you stayed quiet because this did seem like the only way in. "If you’ve got a better plan, I’m all ears. Otherwise, shut it and let me handle this.”

"Fine, but don't say anything stupid. If that's even possible for you," Without waiting for his response, you turned on your heel and stalked back toward the group. The others were seated in a loose semi-circle, all eyes fixed on Tressa like she might explode at any second. They looked as wary as you felt, but none of them said a word as Gally asked Newt to remove the bag from her head.

You and Gally had a strained relationship and never really got along in the glade, maybe because you were the first girl and he hated change, but you knew it was only because you had accidentally broken three of his fingers while training to become a builder.

You felt Newts glare before you even turned your eyes up, you could feel how mad he was at you from miles away, and Newt was rarely mad—especially at you.

Newt tugged the bag from Teresa's head, she blinked, adjusting to the sudden light, but your eyes stayed on Newt as he stalked back towards you.

He clutched the bag as if it would turn back time to the day you found out, as if he held it any tighter it would've made you gone straight to him with the news. But it didn't, and Newt could be as mad as he wanted, it wouldn't turn back time, and even if it did, you would've done the same thing over again.

You turned away when he took a seat next to you, his anger radiating off of his form, almost sucking out the air in your lungs. But you didn't say a word, and just watched as Gally spoke to Teresa, a little surprised that he threatened to cut her finger off but you didn't much care if he did. So long as you got Minho back.

Soon enough she agreed, and one by one you all got the chips out of your necks with a lot of reassurance from Thomas that she wouldn't just cut your throats while she was at it. Newts harsh stare was on you the whole time Teresa was cutting you open, a cloth in his hand as he dabbing the place where she took his chip.

You didn't know weather to glare back or just ignore him, you could understand why he was mad, you knew you would be furious if he did the same to you but it was over and done with, his anger would only make it worse from here. So you opted to just give him a blank stare, but that only seemed to make it worse.

Because after you were done, and began getting ready to go into the city, Newt came rushing towards you. No one was in the room, so it was just the two of you. Which let Newt almost yell at you from his place in front of you.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked, grabbing the gun you were just about to reload out of your grasp, his stare almost as piercing as a sward.

"I was reloading my gun," You snipped back, trying to grab it out of his hands.

"No you're not," He said as he moved the gun further out so you wouldn't be able to grab it. You bit the inside of your cheek, trying hard not to lose your temper. "You wanna know why?"

"Why?"

"Because you aren't coming with us-"

"Oh please Newt don't make me laugh. I'm not just gonna sit here while you idiots go into WICKED alone-"

"Yes you are. You aren't fit to go out there-"

"Fit?"

"Yes fit. Look at your state, you can barely keep up with the rest of us, you would only be putting yourself in danger if you come-"

"I'm not gonna let you all go without me understand? The only way I'm staying is if you tie me to a chair, otherwise I'm shucking coming!" Newt's anger seemed to grow like a wildfire, fems looked to be coming out of his ears, and his eyes looked almost as if he would be the one to kill you before the flare even had the chance too.

"You are one of the most selfish people I've ever met," Your brows furrowed, anger slowly coming into your blood as well.

"Me?" You yelled, slamming down the bullets you had in your hands on the table, causing a load sound to ripple throughout the room.

"Yes you!" Newt yelled back, stepping closer as he pointed to your chest. "You are so shucking self centred you that don't see the rest of us who have to deal with your bloody decisions," you were about to yell back but he cut you off real quick. "No it's my turn to talk and you will keep your mouth shut until I'm done,"

You were shocked, he had never spoken to you, or anyone else like this before, and to be honest it scared you a little bit. Newt was always such a calm person, he almost never got angry, he was always the voice of reason, the one to tell the others to calm down. But it was as if he finally exploded.

"How do you think I felt when you told me that you got the flare? That you had it this whole time, and that if you told us before we left we could've gotten you cured like Brenda. How can you be so selfish that you kept this from not just me but everyone else." He got closer the more he spoke, his anger only getting worse, but you kept your mouth shut. "You know I always thought you were this perfect person, someone who didn't have flaws, which always seemed impossible because everyone had them but for some reason you never did. That was until right now, you wanna know what your problem is?" It was silent, as if he was really asking you, and even if he was, you for once didn't know what to say.

"Your problem is that you don't care about getting hurt. But you know how I'll feel? I'll be devastated. And if you die I will go out of my bloody mind!" He was so close that you debated on weather you should take a step back or not. "you see death doesn't happen to you Y/N it happens to everyone around you. To all the people left standing at your funeral, if you'll even be able to have one, but we'll all still be trying to figure out how we're gonna live the rest of our lives without you in it!"

"Newt-"

"No! You don't understand how much I love you, if you did you wouldn't never kept such a thing from me. You would've never left me here to live without you!" You flinched, his words hitting you like a blow as tears threatened to slip down your face. At your reaction his face softened, his eyes turning warm as he slowly shook his head. "No I'm sorry I didn't mean…" He trailed off, taking a step closer, watching your reactions to see if you'd step away. And when you didn't he took your face in his hands, turning it up so your eyes would meet with his.

"I'm sorry," They were the only words that seemed to come out, the only words that would mean anything right now. You couldn't say much else, you couldn't go back, you could only make him forgive you before everything would go to shit. Before it was too late.

He didn't say anything else, his eyes holding so much love you thought you'd drown from just looking into them. When he moved, it was sudden, you didn't even get the change to catch your breath before his lips crashed into yours.

It wasn’t gentle, not even close. His lips moved against yours with a desperation you’d never felt before, his hands sliding from your face to thread into your hair, pulling you impossibly closer. It was like he was pouring every unspoken word, every ounce of his love, anger, and fear, into this one moment. There was no hesitation, no gentleness.

You couldn't stop yourself. Your body reacted before your mind could catch up, your hands gripping his shirt tightly as if letting go would make him disappear. He groaned into the kiss, a sound low and husky that sent a shiver down your spine. His lips parted against yours, his breath hot and ragged. You could feel the tremble in his hands, the way his breath hitched against your lips, like he was terrified this might be the last time he’d get to do this. And maybe it would be.

When his hands slid down your sides, his grip firm, your knees buckled. He caught you effortlessly, lifting you from your thighs as though you weighed nothing, causing you to gasp softly into his lips.

For a second, you thought he might slam you against the wall, let the weight of all that anger explode into something even more uncontrollable. But instead, he carried you with a steady stride and sat you down in a chair.

The open mouthed kiss broke for a moment, just long enough for you to draw in a shaky breath, your lips swollen and tingling. Your heart pounded as he hovered over you, he had never looked so irresistible before with his hair messy and that look in his eyes that made your core burn.

His eyes locked onto yours, the love and anger swirling together into something almost unbearable. “You have no idea how much you mean to me,” he whispered, his voice hoarse, trembling. “No idea how much it kills me to think I might lose you.”

Your heart pounded so hard you thought it might burst. You reached for him again, your fingers tangling in his hair, pulling him back to you. This time, the kiss was slower but no less desperate, a mixture of apology and promise, of everything you couldn’t find the words to say.

But then his hands moved again, and you felt the rough brush of rope against your wrist. You pulled back, blinking up at him in confusion, your chest rising and falling rapidly.

"Newt…" you started, your voice weak and breathless. But before you could even try to stand, he tied it quickly to the armrest of the chair.

"Don’t," he said, his voice low but firm, almost breaking. "Don’t make this harder than it has to be."

You snapped out of your haze then, tugging at your wrist, anger bubbling up inside you. "Newt, what the hell are you doing? Let me go right now!"

His hands didn’t falter, even as you fought against him. He moved quickly, tying your other wrist down, and then crouched to secure your ankles. You thrashed in the chair, rage filling every inch of your body. "Newt! Stop this right now! You can’t leave me here!"

"You’re not coming with us," he said, his voice strained but unyielding. His hands moved with purpose, tying the knots securely despite your struggles. "You can hate me for it if you want. I don’t bloody care."

"You can’t do this! Newt, please!" Your voice cracked as you tried to pull free, but he’d made sure you wouldn’t be able to. "I swear to God, if you leave me here—"

"You gave me this idea, you know." His voice wavered slightly, and he glanced up at you, his eyes full of something that looked heartbreakingly like regret. "Told me yourself the only way you’d stay was if someone tied you down. So here we are."

"Newt, no," you begged, your tone shifting to desperation. "Please don’t do this. I need to help. I can’t just stay here—"

"I’m not losing you!" he snapped, his voice louder then you’d ever heard it, making you freeze. He leaned closer, his face just inches from yours, his eyes blazing. "I won’t bloody lose you. Not to the Flare, not to WICKED, not to anything. Do you hear me? I can’t."

Tears pricked at your eyes, but you refused to let them fall. "You don’t get to make this choice for me," you spat, your voice trembling with rage.

"You made your choice when you kept this from me," he shot back, his words cutting deep. "Now it’s my turn." He stepped back, his hands still shaking as he tied the last knot. He stared at you for a long moment, his jaw clenched tightly. Then, softer, barely audible: "I love you too much to let you kill yourself for us. You’re staying here."

"Newt, please!" you screamed, thrashing against the ropes as he turned to leave. "Don’t do this! Don’t you dare walk out that door!"

But he didn’t look back. He was already gone. And with him, the rest of the group. The door slammed shut, leaving you alone, your screams echoing in the empty room. You struggled against the bindings until your wrists burned, but they wouldn’t budge.

You were furious—at him, at yourself, at the whole damn world. But beneath all that rage, buried so deep it hurt to admit, was the smallest flicker of something else. Love. Desperation. And a fear so raw you couldn’t breathe. Because you knew, as much as you hated him for it, that Newt had tied you up because he loved you. And you couldn’t hate him for that. Not really.

[colourobserver]

A lot of people are not going to like me for saying this but…it needs to be said. And no one is even going to read this but…vent time!

For starters,

MOVIE TERESA AND BOOK TERESA ARE VERY, VERY DIFFERENT.

I know that people realise that movie Teresa only got her memories later on and made her decision on whether the gladers should be given up for a cure. Yet people seem to miss the fact that this DOESN’T happen in the books. So let’s talk about some things book Teresa has done.

Just so it’s clear, I UNDERSTAND why people don’t hate Teresa. I understand people not thinking she is evil, OKAY? I get that. Bc when I too look at the situation of The Maze Runner from an outside perspective without emotional attachments to the characters I can understand the importance of doing what they could to find a cure. The good of the many and all that jazz.

Now something that people SOMEHOW seem to forget is that book Teresa DIDN’T just do things for ‘the good of the many’ and even when she did she was super heartless about it. She cared for Thomas a whole lot more than anyone else so I don’t believe it’s a matter of her wanting to save everyone too.

1. In the books Teresa knew basically EVERYTHING—even if she didn’t she knew enough—that was going to happen to the boys. At times one word could have saved lots of lives and Wicked still would have got their variables or whatever. For instance she knew Chuck was going to be controlled by Wicked to jump in front of Thomas when Gally shoots him. The same way they were forcing Gally. She also knew other stuff that was happening in the trials for like how she could have at least said something about IDK MAYBE THE BIG MOLTEN METAL BALLS THAT LITERALLY BURNT THOSE KIDS ALIVE.

2. In the end when she planned on saving Thomas and no one else. UMM SO WE JUST FORGOT THAT THAT HAPPENED? It is crazy to me how people portray Teresa as super caring of everyone and stuff bc if YOU were in the maze she would not give two shits if you lived or died. As well as how everyone but Thomas were ‘subjects’ to her.

3. Teresa’s whole ‘I love you Thomas. We’re in this together’ and not only lying to him about the fact he was going to have his memory swiped and not her but manipulating him into comforting her in that bit in fever code that she says “tell me that we’ll survive this. Tell me that we will save our friends together”—something like that anyways. She KNEW the maze was gonna kill most of the kids yet she made Thomas say that right before she let Paige drug him and wipe his memories etc.

4. Teresa’s whole ‘if I didn’t go with Wicked’s plan they would have killed you Thomas” really says a lot about her care for literally anyone that ISN’T Thomas.

5. Teresa’ reaction to Minho calling her a traitor in the scorch when she shrugged and said “I’m sick of apologising. I did what I had to to” like that is SO insensitive to EVERYTHING Minho went through! Have you no empathy???

6. Before that when she whacked Thomas on the head with a gas chamber and spear much more than even necessary has me with mixed feelings about how much she truly loves Thomas or whether she was just attached to him. Maybe it was more of a possession thing? We always talk about male love interests being possessive but not the girl…but that's a whole other thing.

7. Teresa having the AUDACITY to telepathically tell Thomas when he was kidnapped and put into a white room for like ever that “wicked is good” ehh, ever heard of time and place?

I also hate the whole “you just don’t get her like I do” like yes, if you are talking about the fact she wanted to save everyone and not just a select few then YES in fact any one with a bloody moral compass can see that. You are allowed to feel that way, ofc you are. But no, you aren’t understanding her on a deeper level you are understanding something that everyone should be able to understand.

And then movie Teresa…I don’t rlly care if you love her or not. Mostly because she actually showed guilt when torturing Minho. I personally don’t like her either but I don’t hate her.

(Also, I think that if movie Teresa wasn’t so conventionally attractive she wouldn’t be nearly as liked. I’ve literally had someone tell me that she’s their favourite character because she’s so ‘hot’)

Yall im in a war zone saying this but oh well.

[rue-all-names-was-taken]

«I wonder if being alive really matters.»

It's quite sad that under all the posts where everyone mourns Newt, or argues whether Teresa was right with her prehistory, everyone actually forgets how tragic Thomas' fate was. He was taken away and tortured when he was five. He was brainwashed, manipulated for many years, and he had to work on WICKED when he was 14. The last memory of his friends before the Maze about him was hatred. A feeling of helplessness and guilt when Minho was tortured with the first griver in front of his eyes; betrayal in Minho's eyes when he decided that Thomas was really on the side of WICKED. Ava Page, who tricked him and other teenagers into killing the Creators. Betray by Teresa and sent by Ava Page, his memory is erased. Disoriented and confused, after just a few days in Glade, he runs to save two unfamiliar guys, again risking himself. Minho, being the Keeper of the Runners, surrendered immediately and ran away, but Thomas on adrenaline and pure stubbornness protected the wounded Alby, distracted the Grivers from him, gave Minho the idea of how to get rid of them, and all this having no idea about the Maze. That's why everyone followed him — hope. He gave the Gladers what no one could give in two years. Hope that they can survive, get out. He devoted all his time to figuring out how to get out of there, yes, with the help of others too, but it was he who put them on the right track. He risked himself to be stinged and that sent him to a coma for a week in order to remember and find a clue to the exit. He deliberately decided to be a victim and distract the Grivers so that the others could go out and atone for the guilt in front of the boys. When Newt got lost in grief after Alby's death, and Minho was shocked and confused, Thomas remained collected and rational to guide everyone to the exit plan. Winston didn't treat Thomas in the best way in the book, but Thomas still threw all his equipment and rushed to his aid when a metal ball crashed into him. When Minho was struck by lightning, he didn't get up in a second, grinning like in the movie; he was literally burning, and Thomas extinguished him, and then dragged the unconscious body to the shelter. Some call him an egoist or a bad leader for not trying to drag all the boys into hiding, but you need to understand that Thomas was not their leader. He didn't want to be a leader. It was Minho and Newt was the second commander, and they had known the boys for years, Tommy barely knew their names. They call Thomas impulsive, but when Minho attacked Jorge, endangering everyone, it's called iconic. Thomas corrects this situation alone without losses. This phrase, where Thomas wonders if it was easier to be dead, suggests that all his impulsive actions are suicidal. Self-harm is not always obvious or realized, sometimes it's what you do with completely different thoughts. He wants to redeem his guilt in front of others, and losing people again and again, he sees the only way out in death. Stupid heroism, because no one likes living heroes. He is condemned for not trusting Teresa after her betrayal, but that was her task. Hurt him and undermine his trust, and she coped with it perfectly - he no longer knew which specific words to trust her. He almost has a panic attack when he finds out that Newt is not immune, because it means losing him. The one for whom he originally came to the Maze. Not to mention how many times he was shot, kidnapped. Not to mention almost a month in the white room with thoughts that all his friends are dead. And Newt. Newt's death. Toxic fans say it was a murder, I say it was an act of mercy. And the fact that Thomas does not tell Minho about Newt's death, thinking that he will hate him, shows that, in fact, it is Thomas who hates himself.

His childhood and youth are a tragedy. And yes, for everyone else it's exactly the same, but, for some reason, they consider him an egoist, a murderer, a fool and superficial.

[ssseashell]

something about the fact that in the movies newt wouldn’t have even bothered to tell everyone about the flare and they only found out bc he freaked out on thomas thanks to the effects of the disease. bc he probably prefered to suffer and die in silence bc he thought saving minho and the other kids wicked held hostage was more important than caring abt him slowly dying. and yet he was still afraid.

and in the book he found out at the same time as the other gladers he wasn’t immune and probably forced himself to keep it together so he wouldn’t bother and worry his friends (thomas, especially), and still was so scared of dying and probably angry at the fact his friends were immune and he wasn’t.

or idk whatever

[d4n1elll4]

───〃𖹭 MINHO

“I’m tougher than nails. I could still kick your pony-lovin’ butt with twice this pain.”

NAVIGATION ⋮ MASTERLIST

𖹭 A DRUNK MIND SPEAKS A SOBER HEART by starshaped-dreamer [ONESHOT] [1.9K]

⇢ You’re a clingy drunk and Minho isn’t expecting your pent up affection.

𖹭 AFTER THE CALM by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [3.3K]

⇢ You’ve survived the Scorch, dodged WICKED, and outlived Cranks—but nothing could prepare you for Minho’s feelings… or your own.

𖹭 ARE YOU OK? by masivechaos [ONESHOT] [1.4K]

⇢ Minho almost didn’t make it to the doors on time and you are so worried, but he can’t seem to understand why.

𖹭 AREN’T YOU LUCKY by sehnsuchts-trunken [ONESHOT] [1.2K]

⇢ A sprained ankle keeps you stuck in the glade as minho goes out into the maze to run, so you try your best to persuade him to stay.

𖹭 BEHAVE by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [2.2K]

⇢ Minho just wants to focus on mapping the maze in the map room. You’re determined to get his attention.

𖹭 BEST FEATURE by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [1.9K]

⇢ You like to pretend that you’re a level headed and controlled person. That things such as desire or general human nature don’t faze you and you’re focused on work and helping around the Glade. And, for the most part - that is completely believable. Mainly because Minho is always out in the Maze. Thank God.

𖹭 BEYOND THE OTHER SIDE by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [3.3K]

⇢ “You know they're not coming back, right?” You shoot him a glare, “Don't say that- if anyone can survive out there, it's Minho.”

𖹭 BLIND EYE by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [2K]

⇢ You were the first Glader to arrive in the Maze, and the only girl. With the help of Alby and Newt, you run the Glade. You take your job seriously and are the mother-figure of the Maze. Though, your business has led to complete oblivion on your end, especially when it comes to the Keeper of the Runners- who is desperately trying to get your attention.

𖹭 BUBBLY PERSONALITY by petrichor-idyllic [HEADCANONS]

𖹭* DATING HEADCANONS by petrichor-idyllic [HEADCANONS]

𖹭 DECEPTION IN LIBERATION by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [3.6K]

⇢ You and Aris escape the Maze, but the new place isn’t safe. People are disappearing, and WCKD is still in control. Teaming up with Thomas and the others, you uncover the truth and make a chaotic escape.

𖹭 DIE FOR YOU by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [1.9K]

⇢ You try to keep up under Minho’s tough leadership, wondering why he’s so hard on you. During a dangerous run, Minho saves you from a Griever, and things start to click—his harshness hides feelings he can’t express. Between near-death moments and awkward confessions, You both realize there might be more going on than just running.

𖹭 EYES UP HERE BABE... AND LIPS RIGHT THERE by minhotherunninshank [ONESHOT] [1.4K]

⇢ While fighting a griever in the maze Y/N’s shirt gets torn off and later on she realizes it and asks for Minho’s shirt.

𖹭 FIERCE by caitimetravels [DRABBLE] [0.9K]

⇢ “‘Do your part’... Does being eye candy count as my part? ’Cause it sure seems like it.”

𖹭 FINALLY by misskingshit [DRABBLE] [0.6K]

⇢ After so long, you finally take the step.

𖹭 FRIENDLY COMPETITION by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [4.2K]

⇢ After begging Alby for days, you finally get the Gladers to take a day off and play Capture the Flag. You and Minho end up leading rival teams, and the game gets heated with plenty of playful trash talk and flirty moments. Even after it’s over, the tension between you two is impossible to ignore as you chat about the day.

𖹭 FIRECRACKER by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [4.3K]

⇢ Minho teaches you self-defence.

𖹭 HIDE AND SEEK by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [2.3K]

⇢ In the heat of a life-or-death escape, Minho pulls you to safety just in time. Heart pounding and adrenaline rushing, you impulsively kiss his cheek in thanks. The danger might be over, but the tension between you is just getting started.

𖹭 HIGH SCHOOL NOT-SO-SWEETHEARTS by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [3.8K]

⇢ Shy and bookish, you can’t believe it when Minho, the school’s charming heartthrob, awkwardly asks you out. Thinking it’s a joke, you laugh it off—until a heartfelt, rain-soaked confession changes everything.

𖹭 HOW TO WINGMAN (POORLY) by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [2K]

⇢ You and Minho have been best friends since arriving in the Glade, but everyone except you two knows you’re perfect for each other. After countless awkward setups by your fellow Gladers, an accidental “date” in the Map Room finally gets you both to admit your feelings—but you decide to wait for freedom before making things official.

𖹭 IT’S YOU by vintage-marina [ONESHOT] [5.4K]

⇢ Little stories about how the reader came up in the box and adjusting in the Glade.

𖹭 LET ME MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER by petrichor-idyllic [TWOSHOT] [3.2K]

⇢ Minho comes back from the maze really stressed so you offer to give him a massage.

𖹭 LONGING FROM AFAR by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [4.9K]

⇢ Minho has always been confident and cocky, that is until a girl shows up in the Glade, completely changing the dynamic. What makes it worse is that Minho recognises her, though he doesn’t know where from.

𖹭 MIRAGE OF THE PAST by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [5.3K]

⇢ While you’re just gardening and humming to yourself in the safe haven, Minho spots you and feels like he knows you from somewhere—but he can’t quite place it. Intrigued (and maybe a little smitten), he goes all out trying to catch your attention, whether you notice or not.

𖹭 MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE by heliads [ONESHOTS] [2.3K]

⇢ Waking up in a strange, metal room with no memory of who you are, you’re thrown into the middle of a dangerous maze. Surrounded by boys who’ve learned to survive in this place, you decide to keep one secret: you’re the actually a girl.

𖹭 NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES by starhaped-dreamer [ONESHOT] [2K]

⇢ Minho and y/n are stuck in the maze for the night. Feelings are confessed after their near death experience only amplifies them.

𖹭 NOTHING BY IT by heliads [ONESHOT] [2.2K]

⇢ "So, are you and Minho actually together, or do you guys just flirt all the time because you think it’s fun?"

𖹭 ON YOUR OWN | PT.2 | PT.3 by petrichor-idyllic [MULTI-PART] [2.9K]

⇢ Out of all the Maze that WCKD made, you got the short end of the stick. Completely abandoned on your own with just a dog to keep you company, you spend three years of your life in almost complete isolation, trapped with horrific monsters. That is until the last couple of days- when everything just stops. A God must be looking over you... or maybe someone else.

𖹭 ONE NIGHT AWAY by heliads [ONESHOT] [2.9K]

⇢ It takes Minho a couple of moments to realize what’s going on, why it sounds like thunder even without a drop of rain. He should know this sound from hearing it twice per day, yet for some reason being on this side of the Maze when the Doors start to close makes it completely, utterly foreign.

𖹭 OUTRUN ME by heliads [ONESHOT] [2.6K]

⇢ You and Minho have been competing since the day you met. Alby making you two co-Keepers of the Runners was the final straw, especially because that means you two have to work together.

𖹭 PROMISE by tomboyneedshercoffee [ONESHOT] [2.9K]

⇢ Minho, Thomas and Alby get trapped in the maze and as you wait oustide the walls, you think back to moments with Minho.

𖹭 PROMISE ME THIS by lieutenantfloyd [ONESHOT] [1.2K]

⇢ Reader, the keeper of the medjacks, is having a completely uneventful day. That is until Minho returns from the maze battered, bloody, and refusing to be treated by anyone but reader.

𖹭 RANDOM HEADCANONS | PT.2 by sehnsuchts-trunken [HEADCANONS]

𖹭 SAFE PLACE by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [1.6K]

⇢ It was meant to be a simple night. You’d always been restless and sleep never came easy to you. It was kind of common knowledge that you’re an insomniac, so when you decided to go on a late-night walk earlier, you never expected to end up on Minho’s doorstep, blood dripping from your palm, physically shaken.

𖹭 SAVIOUR COMPLEX by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [2.3K]

⇢ You’re a new Runner, and an absolute pain in Minho’s ass. You can’t seem to obey him and keep getting yourself in trouble. So, when you get stung, Minho is left to play saviour. And doctor. Though, as he looks after you, he starts to think you might not be so bad and his feelings might not just be annoyance... until things go wrong again.

𖹭 SECRETS WHISPERED BY THE WATER by heliads [ONESHOT] [2.2K]

⇢ There is a small pond in the glade. You and Minho are friends with hidden feelings. One day you find out about that pond so you takes Minho there for a swim.

𖹭 SELF-DEFENCE LESSONS by starshaped-dreamer [DRABBLE] [0.8K]

⇢ Minho reluctantly teaches you to fight after months of begging.

𖹭 SOFT AT HEART by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [2.1K]

⇢ You’ve been harbouring a long-term crush on Minho, but the problem is you’re shy and nervous, and Minho is anything but. Instead of bonding with the rowdy Gladers directly, you show you care by looking after them. Little do you know, your quiet kindness inspires Minho more than you realize—and he might just want more of it.

𖹭 STAY by caitimetravels [ONESHOT] [2.2K]

⇢ Y/N and Minho butt heads after a heated argument, but a drunken confession at a bonfire forces them to face their feelings.

𖹭 STUNG by sehnsuchts-trunken [DRABBLE] [0.7K]

⇢ Getting stung by a Griever was worse than you ever imagined, but Minho stayed by your side through all of it. Between the pain, the foggy memories, and his terrible jokes, you somehow made it through. Now, you're left with a sore leg, a clearer head, and the realization that you couldn’t have done it without him.

𖹭 TAKE A BREAK by rivwritesiguess [DRABBLE] [0.3K]

⇢ Whatever Minho has to do right now can wait. You want cuddles.

𖹭 THE BEGINNING | ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE WALL | HOPELESS GREY SKIES | STRIKES FROM ABOVE by minhos-harness [MULTI-PART] [10.3K+]

⇢ With (Y/N) being appointed the role of a Med-jack and Minho winding up injured during a venture in the Maze, the two end up becoming close friends. Throughout their journey to freedom alongside their fellow Gladers, deeper feelings grow between the two. However, both Minho and (Y/N) hesitate to act on them due to the uncertainty of reciprocation and their overall futures.

𖹭 THE CITY by heliads [ONESHOT] [2.1K]

⇢ Minho asks if you’d want kids someday. You’re unsure, but he reassures you that he’s happy with just you. Standing together, watching the city lights, you realize that’s enough.

𖹭 THIS NIGHT by heliads [ONESHOT] [2.6K]

⇢ Minho only has time for two things right now: one, making it out of the Maze long enough to scratch out the day’s findings in the Map Room, and two, his best friend Newt. However, you seem to have made yourself a place between those priorities.

𖹭 TMR BOYS IF YOU GAVE THEM A ROCK by givemearock [HEADCANONS]

𖹭 TO BET ON LOSING DOGS by acciopietro [ONESHOT] [5.2K]

⇢ The newest greenie isn’t as tough as he seems.

𖹭 TRAPPED TOGETHER | PT.2 | PT.3 by minhos-harness [MULTI-PART] [12K]

⇢ Despite their shared experience of surving the Maze and Scorch, (Y/N) and Minho never liked each other and often clashed. However, their toughest trial yet throws them together when they find themselves captured by WCKD, and a new side of their relationship comes to light.

𖹭 UNDER THE INFLUENCE by petrichor-idyllic [ONESHOT] [2.2K]

⇢ Greenie Day has always been your favorite time in the Glade, mostly because of Bonfire Night—a rare chance to let loose and forget the Maze for a while. This time, after a few too many drinks and some lighthearted games, liquid courage leads you to drunkenly flirt with Minho, much to his amusement.

𖹭 WARMTH IN COLD PLACES | PT.2 by petrichor-idyllic [TWOSHOT] [12K]

⇢ You are an undercover agent at WCKD secretly working for the Right Arm. When Minho is captured, You sneaks him food and helps him survive the facility. Along the way, You find ways to aid his escape, proving your loyalty to the cause—and to him.

𖹭* WORSE WAYS TO COPE by hollybell51 [ONESHOT] [4.6K]

⇢ “Lightly buzzed” confessions leading to making out leading to sex on a shitty couch.

𖹭 YOU THINK I’M PRETTY? by petrichor-idyllic [HEADCANONS]

𖹭 YOU’RE FROM ANOTHER MAZE by minhos-harness [HEADCANONS]

NOTE: All these fics are awesome but Petri’s have a special place in my heart they are perfect <3

[zer0brainc3lls]

Candy salad with tmr characters

Thomas: hi I’m Thomas and I got taken by wicked at 5, watched my best friend try to kill himself and went into the maze to help him, watched multiple of my friends die and one get taken, got betrayed and the one I went into the maze for died in the end, and I brought sour patch kids

Newt: hi I’m newt, me and my sister got separated and I got sent into the maze and got so depressed I attempted, watched the gladers I care about die and watched my best friend get taken, my crush fall in love with the girl who betrayed us in the first place and caught the flare and died in my crushes arms and I brought nerds

Minho: hi my name is Minho, I got sent into the maze and spent three years trying to solve it for some random white guy to solve it in three days, had to spear my boyfriend in the chest, got struck by lightning and taken and tortured by wicked and I brought snakes (the lolly)

Gally: hi my name is Gally and I got sent into the maze, watched some random guy come in and change everything about my home, got speared in his chest by my boyfriend and lost a lung, became and solider for Lawerence and had to rescue my boyfriend from wicked and I brought war heads

Frypan: hi my name is frypan I got sent into the maze, watched my life get turned upside down by wicked, slowly watched as my best friend turned into a crank and heard him shoot himself, and rescued one of my friends from wicked and had to revive witnessing my friend die from the flare and I brought Mars bars

[ermdotorg]

when all is said and done, thomas and teresa make me so unfathomably sick.

in thomas' story teresa betrays him and gives into the evil that is wicked, abandoning him and their friends for the greater good. he's distraught over it, not understanding how she could care more for wicked than him.

in teresa's story, thomas betrays her by discarding their lives work for the sake of a group of boys. he knew of her story, of why she worked so hard to right the wrongs of the world, and yet she wasn't enough for him to stay. he sent himself into the maze to save the group, and despite her efforts he still chose the gladers over her time and time again.

in the end they came to a sort of understanding with one another, then she chose to die with wicked, an event he had to helplessly watch after losing far too many of those he loved already.

platonic or not, they're so disgustingly tragic.

[mssorceressupreme]

hiii i felt like ive read every single minho fic in existence & ive been dying from the lack of it so im hoping u can write ts 🙏🏼

fem!reader works for wicked and betrays the gladers w teresa (or not doesn’t matter). & instead of teresa talking to minho in that one scene, its reader. reader tries to explain that its for a good cause by being slightly stern n rude about it but breaks down for the first time and softens up when she realizes that it isn't right. reader then tries to make up with it by being a lil freaky…..,, (can be spice or smut idc)

HAHAHAH girl mans was literally in pain during that scene but ur so real 😩🤌🏼 literally tho I feel like the fandom is slowly dying and it hurts 😭😭 anyway, l hope I satisfied your prompt but I do apologise as I got slightly carried away at the end and added more to the plot 😭🫶🏼

——

Change | Minho x Reader

Summary: after betraying the gladers, you come face to face with one of them again. the one who captured your heart a long time ago, and you discover that feelings don’t go astray.

Warnings: spicy content, mild violence, mentions of blood and gunshots

——

You stood in the sterile lab, the cold, fluorescent lights casting a harsh glare in the white walls. The sound of machines humming filled the room, a constant reminder of the work you were doing here.

You paused from working on your lab report, glancing over at Teresa, who was intently focused on a computer screen, analysing data. “Do you regret it, Teresa?” You asked, “Betraying them?”

Teresa didn’t look up from the screen. “No,” she replied firmly, “We’re in the right, Y/N.”

You stared at her blankly, did she really not care about them?

“Don’t think too much about it, this is our job now. We’re here and not with them. They’re out there and it doesn’t matter anymore.” She continued, with a slightly gentler tone.

“Not all of them…” you mumbled.

Teresa looked up from her computer screen, she knew how much he meant to you back in the glade, about your secret infatuation with him. “The tests on Minho are looking good, he’s delivering promising results Y/N. If we continue testing, we’ll be closer to finding a cure.”

You nodded, but felt heavy with doubt. You had always believed in the cause, the need to find a cure and save humanity.

But seeing Minho captured and brought to the facility, subjected to tests and experiments, had stirred something inside you. Was this truly the way?

You couldn’t shake the feeling that you were crossing the line but you chose to ignore that for the sake of finding the cure.

It was still early in the day and you were due for a check in session with Minho in a few minutes. The first session, and the first time seeing him since he was held captive.

You couldn’t bring yourself to visit him previously, well, not until now, since it was mandatory for you to check in with your subject as a scientist.

“Well I’m off, got a meeting.” You began packing up your items.

“Good luck. See you for a coffee later?” Teresa smiled softly, and you nodded, showing a small smile before leaving the room.

——

In no time, you found yourself sitting in the cold, clinical meeting room, waiting for Minho to be brought in.

You fiddled with a pen, your mind racing. When the door finally opened, and Minho was escorted in, your heart clenched at the sight of him. He looked worn, his usual fierce determination dulled by exhaustion and pain.

You sat at opposite ends of the table, the distance between you feeling both emotional and physical.

“Minho,” you began, trying to keep your voice steady.

Minho didn’t respond, his eyes refusing to meet yours.

“You have to understand where Teresa and I are coming from…” You continued, “This is for a good cause. We’re trying to save the world.”

Again, he didn’t move a muscle nor did he respond. But you could feel the tension between the two of you, the atmosphere was uneasy. The guilt of bringing him here, away from the other gladers weighed heavily on your shoulders.

You felt your resolve wavering but you forced yourself to remain stern, “You know how much we need to find a cure. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made.”

You sighed and continued. “There’s a girl here, her name is Cheyenne. You can help her Minho, we’re so close to finding a cure. You can help hundreds of infected people, think about it. It just takes a bit of sacrifice…”

Minho’s eyes narrowed, anger flashing in them. “By torturing and experimenting on people? How can you justify that.”

“There is no other way.” You sneered, “We’re doing the best we can.”

“Your best looks a lot like your worst.” He spat, clenching his fists through his handcuffs.

“At least we’re doing something about it! Unlike some people!” You slammed your pen on the table, frustrated with the amount of confusion running through your head.

Your head was thinking differently than your heart. You had certain thoughts, but out came opposing ones.

“You’re no better than WCKD,” He was spiteful, “You’re just like them.”

Your gaze softened, you shook your head slightly.

“The Y/N I know wouldn’t have done this.” He added, scoffing.

The weight of his accusation hit hard. You had always prided yourself on being different, empathetic, wanting to help people. But now, you felt the full force of your actions crashing down in you. Tears welled up in your eyes, and you couldn’t hold them back any longer.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, your voice breaking, “I just wanted to help…I thought I was doing the right thing, but now, I don’t know anymore.” There had to be another way to cure humanity, this was straight up torture.

Minho’s expression softened slightly, seeing you break down for the first time. “If you really want to help, you need to stop this.”

You took a deep breath, the decision forming in your mind. You stood up and walked around the table, closing the distance between you. “I never wanted to hurt you, Minho.” You confessed, “I’ve always…loved you.”

He scanned your face, eyes darting from your eyes to lips, as you leaned in. Your lips brushing against his, before forcefully attaching.

Little did you know, that Minho too, shared your feelings. You had always admired him, his leadership, fearlessness, and the way he cared for other gladers, especially you.

Those moments where he paid extra close attention to you, wasn’t just because he cared for you like everyone else, but because he had feelings for you. You were always his first priority.

“Shuck, I’ve been wanting to do this to you for so long.” Minho mumbled into the kiss, as he pulled you onto his lap despite having his hands cuffed.

“Please forgive me Minho, I can’t bear to see you like this anymore. I want to stop this, stop WCKD and find the others.” You were straddling him, and pulled away from the kiss.

His response was leaning in for another kiss. The kiss was filled with desperation and regret, a silent plea for forgiveness.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, tugging on his hair lightly, while he pulled you closer to him, fully closing the gap between you.

He bit your lip slightly, you left out a soft moan in response. Your lips moved in sync, they became sloppy, desperate and hungry kisses. You craved more, you missed him badly, and this proximity was exactly what the both of you needed.

The fact that his was growing harder beneath you, and how wet you already were, made it evident that the both of you were touch deprived, and all your feelings had burst out in this session.

“Minho…” you moaned, as he began kissing your neck, finding your sweet spot and sucking on it until he left a mark.

“Looks like we’re both tagged now.” He smirked, his eyes still tired and weak, but a tinge of something else was shown, forgiveness.

You now couldn’t imagine how much the betrayal must’ve hurt him especially. But the past is in the past, you wanted to move forward and truly make up for your heinous actions.

You planted a gentle kiss on his forehead, “I’m never going to let you get hurt, ever again.” You looked down at his handcuffs, and grazed your thumb above them, “I don’t have the keys to this on me…they should be in the lab somewhere.”

You got off his lap, “As much as I’d like to continue, we need to get you out of here,” determination hardening your voice, “I’m going to help you escape.”

Minho looked at her, taken aback by your sudden change of heart, “Why would you do that? Never-mind me…what will WCKD do to you if they find out?”

“I don’t care about WCKD anymore. I realise now that I can’t justify what we’ve done,” You replied, “And I’m not letting them hurt you again, I care about you Minho.”

He nodded firmly, “What can I do to help?”

——

You grabbed the handcuff keys from your lab, un-cuffing Minho swiftly. He shook his wrists and cupped your cheeks, giving you a quick peck on the lips, “Thank you.”

As you made your way through the compound, you led the way. Using your clearance to bypass security systems and unlock doors.

It was all havoc. Alarms sounding, people rushing to flee something, gunshots erupting. There had been a sudden attack on WCKD and the Last City, and you mentally thanked yourself for switching to the right side on time.

When you encountered guards, you fought together, defending Minho. Your movements synchronised and steady.

You grabbed a fallen guard’s weapon, tossing another to Minho. You defended each other fiercely, a silent understanding between you. The both of you weren’t just fighting for survival, you were fighting for each other.

As Minho rounded a corner, he bumped into Thomas and Newt, who were searching for him in the compound.

Minho reunited with the two of them, the three of them sharing a relieving hug. “Minho!” Thomas beamed.

You followed soon behind, seeing Minho embraced in a hug.

Thomas saw you and raised his weapon instinctively, and in the chaos, a shot rang out. Pain seared through your leg, and you crumpled to the ground.

“Y/N!” Minho shouted, dropping to his knees beside you. He turned to Thomas, “She’s with us again! She helped me escape.”

Thomas lowered his weapon, guilt washing over his face. “Sorry Y/N,” he stammered, his eyes regretful, “I didn’t know…it’s good, good to have you back with us.” He affirmed.

Minho carefully lifted you into his arms, cradling you into his chest. “We’ve got to get out of here. She’s hurt.”

They moved quickly, Minho carrying you bridal style as you navigated through the compound. You clung to him, breaths shallowed and pained. The warmth of his body was comforting and reassuring against you.

“Hang on,” he whispered, “We’re almost there.”

When the four of you finally burst out the building, the cool night air hit you like a wave. You stumbled into the open, the dark sky stretching above you lot.

“You did it,” you murmured, a weak smile tugging at your lips, you had lost a lot of blood in your leg. “We did it.”

Minho held you tighter, his face close to yours. “You’re safe now,” he said softly, “We’re going to be okay.”

Thomas and Newt followed closely behind, their expressions a mix of concern and determination. They had all made it out, but your injury weighed heavily on them.

“We need to get her to safety,” Thomas said, his voice urgent, “I’ll get Brenda and the others to come to us.”

Minho nodded, his grip on you unwavering. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” He promised.

As you moved away from the compound, you felt a sense of peace wash over you. Despite the pain, despite the uncertainty of your future, you knew you were where you needed to be—by Minho’s side, fighting for a better tomorrow. Together, you would face whatever came next, your hearts united in your quests for freedom and redemption.

[nomoreusername]

The Fandom Versions of TMR Characters

The TMR fandom is amazing. It has a significant number of great people. It has some very talented editors and writers.

However, like every fandom with a good following, it has its issues. One of its worst ones is honestly one of the most obnoxious things one can have in my opinion.

It has awful mischaracterization. It's less of completely changing a character's personality and more of going off one trait and making that all that they are.

It feels like Thomas gets portrayed as an idiot who only asks questions or doesn't ever listen to anyone. He also gets called overrated even though he's the main character of the series.

We first get introduced to him when he's a Greenie with no memory (except for his name in the books). Of course he’s going to want to know what is happening to him. The Glader's start out revealing very little to not intimidate the Greenie's which has to be frustrating. While it is clear he wants to figure almost everything out throughout the series, that's a very human trait. He’s also definitely not stupid. WCKD/WICKED picked him to work with them because they saw something in him. He is incredibly intelligent and quick on his feet. A lot of the time, he’s given no notice to make a decision. He just has to make it. Whether it's running into the Maze to save Minho and Alby, having to decide whether or not to go through with Newt’s note, or going back to the place that started all the pain and torture, he wasn't truly given time to prepare for such important and life-changing decisions. Despite this, he always did his best to make them.

Newt probably has the worst fanbase. I love him as a character. He’s been through so much and is still doing his best to keep everyone in line and afloat which is extremely admirable.

The problem is that people water his character down. They’ll treat him as though he isn't a Second-in-command, the second longest surviving Glader, a suicide survivor, and resilient to the most dangerous situations.

Newt is not someone who would need protection. If anything, he was a protector. He would have to do things such as banish Gladers (his friends), to protect the other ones. He was a Runner before he got a limp. He stood up to Thomas in the movies when he thought he was just being paranoid, showing that even though he does love his friends, he isn't afraid to confront them if he thinks they are wrong. The way he still remains loyal to the people he loves when he does though, is another trait that deserves more acknowledgement. He went out of his way in the movies to hide that he was slowly dying in front of everyone’s eyes and losing his mind just for Minho. He never expected to make it but didn't care. In the books, he lied to his friends about being taken to protect them from himself. He’s so strong, self aware and beautifully written.

Minho is sarcastic and does have witty comebacks. However, he’s so much more than that.

He was the Keeper of the Runners. For around three years he was not only doing the most deadly job, but training others to do it as well. He wasn't allowed to have fear or be weak in the Maze. Not when the cost would have been his life. Something more complex about him is the way he covers up his actual emotions. During Chuck's death in the movies everyone else is allowing their tears to fall. However, he closed his eyes so he wouldn't cry. Whether it's because he doesn't want to cry in front of people or just doesn't want to cry is uncertain, but both are painful to think about. Another thing about him is very subtle character development. When he first gets caught in the Maze, not only does he give up at first, he at one point leaves Thomas and Alby behind, showing his intense desperation to live despite him wanting to stay realistic. In the last two movies we don't see any other instances of him being willing to accept defeat or leaving others behind. While he may have been given the tag ‘the leader' it isn't something that could ever or should ever be denied about him.

His bond with Newt is also something that honestly deserves more recognition. From the way he dropped to his knees in the movies to how Thomas didn't tell him how he really died due to how much the two cared for each other, they are nothing less than platonic soulmates.

Gally gets a lot of hate. He’s seen as angry and ‘that character who killed Chuck’. In a lot of ways though, I think he's one of the most logical, relatable, and realistic characters.

While some people think he just randomly hated Thomas and Teresa, that's not at all true. In the movies, he seems civilized with him when they first meet. While his action of shoving him before he could go into the Maze may have seemed performative, the fear was most likely needed for Thomas to grasp the gravity of the situation. He can also be seen shaking hands with Thomas in Greenie night after the fight. In the books, he went through the changing. He was stung so he got some of his memories back the way Alby did. He told Thomas that he recognized him from those which was why he was suspicious towards him. His concerns were valid. Everything did change after Thomas and Teresa, and a lot of Gladers ended up dead. At one point, they had both worked for WICKED/WCKD. Something was up with them, the exact way he said there was. If someone came to my home and changed everything I knew I wouldn't trust them either. He cared for the Gladers and wanted the people he lived with for years to stay safe and be alive. He didn't want to just kill Teresa and Thomas. He wanted things to go back to how they were in a sense. He was afraid of leaving his home. He was afraid of change, the way so many people are.

He didn't kill Chuck. He would never hurt Chuck. In the books, WICKED had both him and Chuck under their control. In the movies, he was stung, meaning his actions did not belong to him. Even then, he was not aiming for the sweet kid. He was aiming for Thomas, who in his mind at the time, was one of the ones who had started him and his friends years of pain and suffering.

Movie Aris is my favorite. He is very sweet but the way people will describe him as innocent is wrong.

I do consider him and book Aris two different characters. So for now, this is strictly about him in the movies.

He’s seen alone when we first meet him. His friends are gone, and people are talking about him like a circus animal so it makes sense why he wouldn't want to be around anyone. He’s generally quieter than a lot of the main characters so he can get mistaken for just a background character. However, he literally got everyone out of WCKD. He never got any recognition for saving them, but he still did. When he does open his side of the door for everyone to get out there is at least one unconscious, previously armed guard on the ground, with his weapon now being held in his hand. This shows that he is capable of taking care of himself despite his at first glance passive demeanor. He knows to break the control pad to buy everyone time and books it. What must be less than an hour later, he’s helping take down Cranks with a single bat, also showing quick thinking from the way he knows to trip them so they could focus on getting away. Not to mention, he’s doing all of this after finding out his friend (and possible lover) is going to die. On a lighter note, we see his face light up and how much he talks with Sonya and Harriet when they all meet again, showing that he's not afraid of speaking to others. He just has a few and specific group of people he feels comfortable actually talking with, which is literally just being an introvert.

All of those are why he is not innocent or in need of saving. He knows how to look after himself and others.

That's just the basics of The Maze Runner fandom's mischaracterization problem.

[just-a-casual-newtasaur]

And then the world exploded

And then the world exploded (Newt x gn!reader)

Words: 5.4k

Warnings: injury, infection, explosions, mentions of death, blood, violence, mentions of violence, kissing

Summary: Minho has been taken by WICKED and the gladers are trying to rescue him

(50 follower special, whoop whoop 🎉, I luv you all tyy for being here and have an amazing week)

You POV

you follow the boys as they run along a road, looking around nervously. if they were seen by WICKED wouldn’t hesitate to blow them all sky high. you raise your head along the crowd and see Newt herding boy after boy under a moss covered overhang.

when you reach him he says in a worried voice, “is that everyone”

“yes, I’m the last one”

he nods and follows you after the others. the youngest of the boys are being comforted by the others while some had spilt into small groups to talk.

you walk with Newt, peering out around the rock you were hiding behind. you see Newts eyes scanning the area and the sky around it, muttering, “he should be here”

you put a hand on his shoulder and he holds onto your wrist, still scanning.

Thomas joins his friend at his shoulder and starts surveying the barren land between the distance WICKED building and their rocky overhang.

Newt stares, absently kicking the sand with the toe of his boot as he keeps looking into the distance.

you look at Thomas and he looks at you. he is biting his tongue and looking anxious for his friend. he had known Minho for maybe more than two years, and you have no idea what he’d do if his friend didn’t make it back to them.

“There!” Newt’s cry makes you, Thomas and others look up. you see from the distance a figure walking towards them from a distance. even from far away, it is almost certainly Minho. Newt rushes forward only stopped from running right to Minho by Thomas’ arm and quiet words.

the gladers crowd in a semicircle, bunched together watching as Minho stumbles towards them, Newt and Thomas’s faces are filled with glee and you can tell Newt is barley stopping himself from running towards his friend.

everyone keeps looking left and right, he was doing alright so far, it looked like WICKED hadn’t noticed him yet. hadn’t noticed that one of their prisoners had just escaped. the last thing you see is Minho’s face split into a giant grin. and then the world exploded.

you fall to your knees, ears ringing as bombs fall from the sky. smokes snakes around you making you cough and fire rains from above.

you bend your head, covering it with your hands and coughing violently. and then everything was still. a dull ringing fills your head and people are standing up all around you.

you find you’re sighing in relief despite yourself, as you see Newt and Thomas are already on their feet, looking around to where Minho had been a few moments ago.

“Over there.” Thomas points towards a hunched figure, no doubt Minho, shaking with coughs. three shadowy figures holding long sticks with electricity fizzing from the end, approach him from behind.

you don’t think. you weren’t thinking. all you know is that you’re running. running towards the crouched boy.

“No! Y/n!” you glance behind you to see Newt fighting off Thomas who had his arms gripped around his waist, restraining him. “No!”

you turn away from him, Newt’s screams still ringing after you. you race towards Minho and the figures, slamming into one of them and making his teammates turn and raise their weapons.

there is a fizz of electricity and you feel your limbs jerk from under you. a strangled scream escapes your mouth as you fall to the ground.

hands carry you away, another flash of electricity and shout of pain tells you Minho is being carried after you. pain ripples through your body. and then you pass out.

Newt POV

I struggle against Tommy’s grip, fighting as hard as I can to run after them. “No! Y/n!” Thomas grunts with the effort of restraining me and Frypan moves to help, grabbing my arms and pinning them down by my sides.

I see them slam into one of the figures and a flash of light as the others shoot their weapons. a strangled cry, somewhere between a scream and a sob, escapes my mouth and I double my efforts in fighting to free myself.

“Newt stop it”

I ignore him.

“Newt, if you get caught now, we won’t be able to help them”

I stop struggling and Tommy uses the opportunity to drag me away after the other gladers who had taken cover behind the large overhang.

You POV

you blink open your eyes and see Minho leaning on one of the walls of the blinding white room you’re in. “you’re finally awake.” sitting up, you rub your head.

“That was a really stupid thing to do.”

you scoff, “yeah, you’re welcome” he smiles grimly at you.

“When Newt gets his hands on us, he’ll kill both of us.” at the thought of Newt your stomach flips and you fight the urge to be sick. you didnt know whether they were safe or not, if any of them weren’t.

the last time you remember seeing him was him screaming at you to not go while being held back by Thomas.

you spin around and start hitting one of the walls with your fist, hoping you were somewhere near the door that was pretty much invisible. or non existent. but you push that thought away.

Minho is watching you, a tiny smile on his face, “it’s no use, you don’t think I’ve already tried that?”

you press your back against the wall and slide down it. Minho sits beside you, “Listen y/n, I’m grateful for what you did, I really am, but you didn’t have too”

you look at him sadly, “I did though, I couldn’t leave a friend.”

Minho sighs, “this is why Newt gets so worried about you.” you rest your head on your knees, and Minho pats you on the arm.

“I’m sorry y/n.”

“No, it’s alright, it’s true”

“but I’m still sorry”

“it’s not that. I just feel bad that I left him. that I left all of them.”

“you got me though. that was pretty brave of you, even if it was stupid. I’m glad I’m not on my own”

you look sideways at him and smile a little. he smiles back and tucks his knees up to his chin.

Newt POV

I bounce on the balls of my feet, “we need to go get them, we need to go get them”

Tommy puts a hand on my arm, “calm down, it’s alright.”

I push him away, “it’s not bloody alright, what if they’re hurt, what if they hurt them, what if they-”

I cannot finish that sentence but Tommy’s eyes show understanding. “they’re tough, y/n, they can take care of themself.”

I sighs, “I know it’s just” I bite my lip, worry creasing lines into my face.

Thomas pulls me around to face him and hugs me tightly. I find myself hugging back, resting my face on his shoulder.

“y/n’s fine, they’re both fine, they’re troopers, they’ve been through worse.”

You POV

the click of the little hatch on the door makes you jump to your feet. “about time.” Minho scoops up the food and hands you half of it, digging into his own.

you sit cross legged on the floor, silently eating with Minho. “you know you have no manners.”

Minho grins at you through a mouthful of potato and starts stuffing his face so much he looks like a hamster.

you laugh quietly.

“I’m glad I’m not alone in this place. It’d be pretty miserable.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t be alone for long. they’ll get us out”

you scoff.

“Seriously, I wouldn’t be surprised if Newt isn’t pulling out bits of his hair right now. he worries about you, you know”

you put your chin on your knees, not very hungry anymore. you did not want to think about Newt right now, let alone think about the worry you knew he must be experiencing.

Minho puts down his food, “I’m sorry y/n, I’m just trying to keep you from losing hope”

you nod at him, “how did you escape before.”

he grins to himself, pointing to a piece of plaster scraped hastily over a patch of ceiling.

“See that up there, these shanks don’t think we can get up there but I wasn’t keeper of the runners for no reason”

he gets to his feet, walks up to the back wall, takes a breath and sprints as fast as he can at the opposite wall, he jumps on a small foothold you see Minho must have made himself, and pushes off it touching the uneven ceiling with the palm of his hand.

he lands on his feet, and sits back down next to you. “it was probably because I need some fresh air but now they’ve just covered it up and are probably using some kind of fancy technology to blast air in here.”

you sigh, “how on earth are we getting out of this place”

“You’ll see” Minho smiles at you, “the others will be here, they’ll help us”

Newt POV

I feel my leg shaking, having to stop myself biting my nails for the fourth time. Tommy paces behind me, talking with Frypan and a few other gladers.

they are talking about how best to get Minho and y/n out of their prison. Brenda has a vague idea of where they are, but the rest of us are stumped, we just know that they’re in that building.

I get to my feet and walk over to the group. “Have you decided what to do for Minho and y/n yet?”

“Newt,” Tommy starts patiently, “it’s only been five minutes since you last asked that, and we haven’t got much further in figuring out how to get them out”

“Let’s just burst in there”

“Newt they’ll shoot you down within seconds”

I feel my blood boiling with hatred for WICKED, “I’d like to see them try, I’ll snap their necks in half for what they’ve done to all of us”

Tommy puts a hand on my shoulder, “If we start hurting them what do you think they’ll do to y/n and Minho. they have them trapped. won’t be too hard to put a bullet through their brains if we do anything wrong”

I press my mouth into a thin line and take a deep breath, closing my eyes tight before nodding and sitting back down some ways away, watching the WICKED building and imagining many things, most involving piles of Cranks and giant rocks of fire, destroying the whole place.

*

I feel my hopes lift as Thomas beckons all the gladers to gather around him. “I think we have come up with an idea to get Minho and y/n back from WICKED.”

I listen carefully as Thomas explains the plan, “but before we do this, I need to tell you, if anyone breaks from their post,” he fixes me with a serious stare, “this whole thing might not work.”

I raise my head indignantly, “I won’t break from my post, so long as I’m helping actually rescue them.”

Thomas looks at me and I glare back at him. then he sighs and I know he’s given in. “Fine, you can help, but don’t go running off, or attack anyone from WICKED just because they’re passing”

“Alright, alright, I’ll behave myself”

“Good,” Thomas turns to assign posts to the others, as they gather around him.

You POV

you sit in the middle of the room, your back pressed against Minho’s. “So, how long do you think it’ll be before the others get in here.”

“At least we’ll hopefully know if they tried,” you look at him in confusion, “well they’ll be thrown in here, won’t they?”

“Doesn’t seem like WICKED will let us all share a cell.”

Minho doesn’t answer, just kicks one of his legs over the other. “When do you think they’ll bring dinner.”

you laugh, “I thought we were talking about the others rescuing us.”

he shrugs, “I’m hungry.”

you laugh and he laughs too. that’s when the door clicks. both of you scramble to your feet, expecting to see the faces of their friends.

as the rat man steps through, your face falls. “What do you want.” Minho’s voice is harsh and he folds his arms across his chest.

“I’m here to take y/n”

“Mhm, let me think about that, no”

“It’s not your choice, I’ve been sent to take them”

“And why is that?”

“That, is not your concern”

Minho opens his mouth again, but you pat him on the shoulder and step towards the rat man.

he nods at you and gestures for you to step out of the door. you see Minho’s confused and a little anxious face as the door slides close behind you.

two guards flank you and the rat man as you walk down a long hallway. you look around, thinking of the possibility of escape. a guard prods you in the back with his launcher, “don’t even think about it.”

you reach a door and the rat man opens it with the guards shoving you inside. “Make yourself at home, you’ll be here for a while.” the rat man smiles cruelly as he shuts the door on you, leaving you in another, slightly smaller, white room.

Newt POV

I crouch next to Tommy, keeping my eyes on the building. two people sprint towards it, using the overhanging rocks to shield themselves from the view of the cameras that are propped all around the walls of the building.

they run until they are about one hundred meters away from it, and then they raise a hand above their head.

Thomas nods at me, and we and three others run towards them. Funny really, WICKED had so much security, yet they fail to put any cameras under these rocks. or maybe they did and were just toying with us. that was one of the reasons that only me and Tommy were going in.

we run, doubled over to avoid hitting our heads on the rough rocky roof.

Tommy holds out his hand and we stop abruptly. he turns to the boys behind us, “okay, you three, wait here and make sure nobody notices that anyone is going in or out. use a distraction, cover the cameras, just make sure WICKED isn’t focusing on us or Minho and y/n.”

they nod and Tommy moves forwards with me close behind him. we reach a heavy door, when Tommy spins around to face me. “Listen, I know you want to get them out, and we will, but don’t do anything stupid.”

I look defiant but eventually say, “fine.” he nods and ducks under the garage like door, slipping inside.

a long hallway stretches before us. Tommy leads the way down it, peeking around corners before moving.

I breathe quietly into his ear, “where are they?”

he looks around before answering, “Brenda said it was around here somewhere.”

we slip down the hallway, running around corners before Tommy stops so abruptly I slam into him.

I peer around him and see a door. my heart starts racing, and he shoots me a look that says, ‘remember don’t do anything stupid’.

he walks ahead of you, keeping one of his arms stiff as though he is getting ready to hold me back if he has to.

Thomas flattens his palms and starts patting the door, muttering under his breath. no doubt Brenda had told him how to open these mechanical door.

there is a click and a whir, and the door slides open slowly. I’m surprised that people don’t start running towards us, the sound wasn’t exactly quiet.

Minho’s apprehensive face comes into view but it quickly splits into grin as he sees me and Thomas standing on the other side.

he rushes towards us, “I knew it, I knew you’d come. I kept telling y/n.”

“speaking of which where is y/n,” I survey the room, feeling my face grow pale.

Minho looks at me, “the rat man took her. I don’t know where she is.”

Thomas pats me on the arm, and I take a deep breath, though on the inside, my heart is screaming. “Right, we probably don’t have much time before WICKED find out that you’re out of here, so we’d better find y/n, and get out of here”

at the silence that follows I nod and gesture for either Thomas or Minho to lead the way. they share a look of understanding before Thomas moves in front of me.

I follow behind him, being much less careful to be quiet. it was only a matter of time before WICKED was on us anyways.

You POV

you sit, curled in a corner of the room, bored out of your mind. footsteps run past your door and you jump to your feet, pressing your ear up to the door at the sound of mumbling.

“He’s out somehow, the cell’s empty”

“Sounds like his friends have finally come for him”

“Where is security, they should have been stopped”

“They’re over by Denver, taking care of some Cranks”

“That isn’t our problem”

“Well their paying for it and we all know-“

the last bit of the WICKED employee’s sentence was cut of by a loud crunching, and the sound of flesh against flesh.

their friend shouts in surprise but his is cut short too by a thumping sound. “Newt I told you not to do anything stupid,” Thomas’ annoyed voice echoes from near the unfindable door of your cell, “like that.”

you bang your fists on the door, shouting, “Thomas, Newt!” a shout sounds from nearby, “y/n!”

you hear footsteps run towards your door. “Back up Newt, I’ll open it.” you hear a few clicks and whirs and then a hiss as the door slides open slowly.

“Y/n!” Newt grins widely at you and you sprint towards him, throwing yourself at him, wrapping your legs around his waist. you crash your lips onto his the second you two collide.

he stumbles backwards slightly, but keeps his balance, returning your kiss and hugging you back so tightly, you’re sure neither of you can breathe. You finally break apart as Newt says quietly, “Never do that again, you hear me. Never.”

you don’t answer, you can’t promise that.

you raise your head a little and see Thomas and Minho grinning at each other. unfortunately, the moment doesn’t last. at that very moment, alarms blare and red flashing lights dance before your eyes.

“well that’s our cue, let’s get out of here.”

you intertwine your fingers with his and run after the three, down long, narrow corridors. footsteps and shouts sound from behind you.

you glance over your shoulder and hear a clicking sound. armed WICKED guards race towards the group, aiming guns at you.

the bullet flies through the air and hits you in the leg. you cry and feel it jerk out from underneath you.

Newt turns around and bends down next to you, “no, they’re not taking you again.” he sweeps you, bridal style, into his arms and runs with you.

catching up to the others, you see their eyes widen as they see you, still letting out small cries of pain, in Newt’s arms.

Thomas reaches out an arm to help his friend but he waves him away. “Keep going, I’ll take care of y/n, get the others out of the way, it won’t be long before WICKED sends those bombs again.”

Thomas nods, speeds up to run beside Minho, exchanges a few words with him and they both start sprinting away from the two of you, around a corner and out of sight.

a loud metallic creaking reaches your ears. you hear Newt groan quietly. he speeds up, running, or rather hobbling, down the long hallway.

he races around a corner to find a slowly closing garage like door. picking up the pace, you try to block out the footsteps behind you, growing closer.

Newt leans into you, whispering in your ear, “this is going to hurt, it’ll be over soon.” you nod and he touches your nose with his for a moment, before bending down and sending you rolling underneath the door.

you shout in pain as you tumble on your injured leg. as you roll to a stop, you see Newt slide under the door, just before it closes with a crash.

he kneels next to you, gently prising your bloodstained hands off your leg so he can examine it. you see him bite his lip, anger flashing in his eyes.

putting a hand on his, he smiles at you, warmth once more filling his face. yet at the sound of footsteps, both of your heads jerk upwards towards the sound.

Minho and Thomas stand above the two of you, looking grave. “What is it?”

they look at each other, “follow us.” Newt looks back down at you, “are you okay if we stand?”

you take a breath and nod. he puts one of your arms around his shoulders and, as gently as he can, rises with you.

wincing slightly, you lean on him, keeping weight off your leg. the two of you follow Minho and Thomas in silence.

you duck under rocks, bent double. you finally straighten up, expecting to see the gladers, anyone.

but you’re met with a completely different sight. large smoking craters dot the area. boulders have been destroyed, littering the floor with rocky debris.

Newt POV

“looks like WICKED were more aware of what was going on than we thought.”

“I suppose y/n, and me weren’t doing much for them except to get the rest of you in one place. seems like they attacked the others before we got back.”

“Do you think they’re alright” Thomas bites his lip, looking anxious.

“Well there are no bodies but WICKED could have always cleaned up after themselves.” I twist my hands together, worry and hatred for what WICKED had done fighting for dominance.

“They know what they’re doing.”

“That won’t stop them getting blown up.”

Minho sits down with his back against a rock, “so what’s the plan. we can’t stay here. it’s only a matter of time before WICKED blow us up too.”

“We should get moving.” y/n lowers themself steadily onto a rock, “maybe we’ll be able to catch up to the others, and regroup. and if not, at least we’re putting some distance between us and this wretched place.”

“We need to do something about your leg first. I’d clean it, but there’s nothing, but bloody sand around here”

I bend down, looking closely at the bloody fabric of her trousers. I look around me for some sort of bandage, before eventually ripping off a strip of fabric off my jacket and tying it, gently yet tightly around their leg. a small wince slips from their lips and I immediately look up. they have their eyes squeezed shut and their fists clenched.

You POV

“It’s alright love, I’m done now.”

you prise open your eyes slowly, trying hard not to look at the already bloodstained bandage.

“Are you okay y/n.” Minho is looking at you sympathetically.

“Of course they’re not bloody okay. bloody shuck ran their leg through with a bleeding bullet. and when I get my hands on the idiot that did it, I’ll-“

“you won’t do anything to anyone” you pat him gently on the arm.

“We’ll see”, menace edges his voice but the rage has left his face.

“There isn’t much we can do against them.” Thomas is watching Newt closely, “four unarmed teenagers, one of which is injured, against hoards of armed WICKED workers with bergs and launchers. this isn’t a movie, just ‘cause we’re the good guys doesn’t mean we’ll win.”

you sit in silence for a moment, letting Thomas’ words sink in. the truth was, he was right, they didn’t stand a chance against WICKED. it would be a miracle if all of them made it out of this alive. you had already lost so many.

you look around at the boys. if any of them didn’t make it. no, you shake away that thought, it was too unbearable.

besides it wasn’t true, you would make it out, all of you. you’d just have to keep telling yourself it. then maybe you’d believe it.

Newt POV

we keep walking. walking, walking. not sure to where exactly. well I know where, but I don’t know if ‘where’ is even real.

didn’t seem likely that the people that had just dropped bombs on us, and shot y/n in the leg, would just let us into a ‘safe haven’.

I feel I have good reason to be skeptical but I don’t want to mention it to the others. they’ve already got enough worry to burden their minds.

I find myself glancing over at y/n more and more often. I can tell that they’re struggling, though they don’t say anything. their small gasps every few seconds and ever increasingly obvious limp.

they catch me watching them anxiously and tries to smile but it comes out as more of a pained grimace. I move closer to them and offer them a shoulder.

with a small sigh, they lean gratefully into me. burrowing their head in my neck, their short sharp breaths slow gently.

“we need to keep moving love if you’re ready.” I didn’t want to have to say it but Minho and Thomas were getting further and further away.

they look up into my face for a moment, as though they were trying to remember every detail of it. then they nodded.

I let them wrap an arm around my shoulder as we started walking. both of us limped along after Thomas and Minho who looked like they had stopped to wait for the two of us.

You POV

you reach the boys, and see Minho and Thomas watching you closely. “Do you want me to take her Newt.”

you press closer to the boy beside you, and he looks down at you before answering, “I’m alright Tommy, they’re good with me.”

he nods. Newt looks towards Minho, “are we gonna keep moving or are we stopping here?” he cups his hands over his eyes, looking up towards the sun then back at you.

“we can stop here.”

you sigh in relief and sink onto the sand. the sun has already started setting, splashing orange into the blue sky. Newt sits down next to you and you put your head gently in his lap.

he looks down at you, stroking your hair softly. you hear Thomas and Minho laying down out of your field of vision. you close your eyes and feel sleep tugging at you.

a few weak rays of sunlight peek out from the horizon, creeping through your eyelids.

you raise your head to see Newt. dark circles showing prominently under his eyes. looking like he hadn’t slept in ages, still in the same position he was when you fell asleep.

you prop yourself on an elbow. Newt looks down at you then at the boys. “you should try and get some more sleep darling.”

“you can talk.” you retort quietly, “it looks like you didn’t get a wink of sleep last night.”

he doesn’t answer you, pretending he didn’t hear.

“Newt, you need to sleep”

he shakes his head. “Who’s gonna make sure no one from WICKED comes and takes you again in the night”

you shuffle closer to him, and put a hand on his cheek. “don’t worry about me, you need to sleep” he opens his mouth but you put a finger of his lips and drag him down slowly onto the sand.

he lets out a small sigh and, after a few moments, his breathing becomes steady. you run a hand gently through his hair. and smile at the peaceful look on his sleeping face.

Newt POV

I wake with a start, silently cursing myself for falling asleep. propping myself up on my elbow, I start looking around for y/n. my heart starts to race as I look up and down the endless dunes. spinning around frantically, I spot them and feel my heart slow from its, one hundred beats a second.

they smile, “lose something.”

“Not anymore”

“How did you sleep.” they move towards me.

“‘bout as well as I can in a desert with a fear of me or you guys being blown up by a bunch of mad scientists.”

“So pretty bad then”

I yawn hugely in answer. they look over to Tommy and Minho, who are stirring slightly. “I’d tell you to get back to sleep, but Minho will kill us both if he catches anyone sleeping longer than him. the filthy hypocrite.” they add as an afterthought, but I can tell it was a joke.

“speak of the devil”

I turn to see Minho, with bleary eyed Tommy in tow. “Shall we get moving then.” he doesn’t wait for an answer, but drags Tommy after him.

y/n rolls their eyes at me, but the smile on their face is wiped away almost instantly as they start walking. their leg seems to have gotten worse over night. they are limping worse than ever and every step is met with a grimace or small gasp.

I find myself moving closer to them, stiff, as though being ready to catch them at any moment. they seem to notice because their mouth turns into a brave smile and they say, “after this heat, I’ll never complain about the cold again.”

I have to agree with them there. I’m not sure there is a part of me that hasn’t been burned from the sun. not that I’m a stranger to sunburns.

while being both a runner and a trackhoe, I usually found myself in the sun. but this was a whole different level of torture. at this point, I’ve given up trying to wipe the sweat of my forehead.

though if anyone was struggling, it was y/n. it wasn’t that hard to see they were in pain. with both the sand dunes making walking normally impossible, and their leg that looked to be getting worse by the minute, I half expected them to keel over at any moment.

beads of sweat glisten on their forehead, and though it is hot, I’m not sure it’s from the heat. their breath is becoming rasping. yes, none of us have had enough water for quite some time, but, I can’t help worrying.

it wasn’t just me who was getting nervous. Minho and Tommy glance over their shoulder more and more frequently until they are practically walking with their heads facing backwards.

as soon as the sun starts to sink, Minho tells everyone to get some rest. he and Tommy sit on a large rock, tipping sand out of their boots, and shaking emptying bags of water sadly.

I help y/n over to another rock and after making sure they are alright, gently peeled back the makeshift bandage. the little liquid I have left in my body nearly came back up as I look at a swollen, red streaked wound where the bullet had entered their leg.

clearly an infection had set in, no doubt from the little piece of metal buried deep. there was nothing I could do but try to get as much excess blood off the strip of ripped jacket as I could.

You POV

you lean into the boy beside you and he puts an arms around your shoulders. looking up into his face you see worry there and both of you know there is nothing you can do to stop the infection.

the other boys walk over to you, “how is it looking?” Thomas asks Newt.

he doesn’t look at him, but says quietly, “infection.”

“and-“ Minho starts.

“and it means without fancy medication from WICKED there’s nothing we can do. after what’s just happened I don’t think they’ll be all too happy to help us” anger edges his voice now and his grip around you tightens.

you hold onto his hand and he relaxes a little.

“is there anything we can do, anything at all?” Thomas looks at his friend.

Newt pretends not to hear him, under the pretence of binding your leg back up, not that it would do anything but cover up the vomit inducing sight. his head is low, hidden in the shadow of the setting sun.

“Newt-“

“You just need to go easy on it and I’m sure it’ll be fine.” he pointedly ignores Thomas’ question once again.

Thomas opens his mouth again but Newt cuts over him.

“We need to rest.”

“But-“

“Now Tommy.” Minho gives him a stern look, gesturing to Newt’s blank, numb looking face.

all four of you know. you all know that if you don’t get medication, and soon, you’re not going to make it much further. you all know that you’re never going to get said medication. there wasn’t much hope. there never was much hope. but you have to keep going. for your friends. for the gladers. for Newt…

(Might continue this, if y’all like this one 😊)

[ginaluvr]

rating the changes between tmr book and movie

anyone who read the books first knows that the movie trilogy ended up telling a completely different story. i've been a big fan of the books forever so i thought i'd rate the significant changes made in the first one since it's generally the same plot. scale is 0-5 with 5 being good change.

the gladers initially not remembering their names: 3/5. maybe it was done to raise the stakes and make it more disorienting.

there are no real buildings in the glade: 1/5. this implies they had to start completely from scratch when they first arrived, which makes the maze seem like a test of survival rather than willpower and psychology.

leading on from that... the maze is actually outdoors: 0/5. you're telling me they had rain and lots of greenery in an outdoor structure in a desert climate? and the gladers had no real shelter provided? it also makes the test of their determination less powerful, because in the books, the maze was an indoor structure. the fact that they could technically climb the walls and see the outside world in the movies removes some of hopelessness and frustration for me.

ben is a runner: 4/5. makes sense! especially since we never learned how he got stung as a builder in the books.

the gladers are allowed to have a bit of fun: 5/5. i love the bonfire scene. i think it's a realistic change that a bunch of teenage boys would want to let loose every now and then.

they were there 3 years instead of 2: 4/5. i mean, sure.

no one has ever seen a griever before and survived: 0/5. makes no sense at all because the gladers are aware of the changing as a process! if no one has ever survived encountering a griever, where did they get this precedent from? how did they recognise that ben was stung? perhaps this info was just newt being dramatic since it comes from his dialogue.

they don't have grief serum until teresa arrives: 1/5. again, doesn't make sense. the changing being a process they're familiar with which brings back memories after they get the serum is entirely destroyed in the movie. this is the catalyst for a lot of the events in the book and it loses all its function.

several of the characters are different in personality: varies. thomas is more typically 'cool' in the movie and less curious and, to put it bluntly, less annoying. i don't like this change much, his constant curiosity and eagerness to learn and discover was a huge part of who he was in the books (if you know mbti, all i have to say is he was an INTP in the books and an ISTP in the movies). then we have minho, who was way less brash, hot headed, and reckless in the movies (he was also made into an ISTP while he was an ESTP in the books). i think alby is a bit different. i like both portrayals of alby, but i think he seemed nicer and more chill in the movie, probably just because the actor was very charismatic. this works because he can easily be charismatic as a leader. but him also being a stressed out kid with too much responsibility in the books, leading to him lashing out more and being less calm and collected, makes sense! gally is a bit nicer, actually rational at times, in the movie. he's also not, like, pathetic and embarrassingly petty. these are all traits in the book which emphasise the fact that he's a scared kid, so this also isn't my favorite change ever.

thomas gets memories back in his dreams: 1/5. unnecessary and completely removes the high stakes of him having no recollection of his involvement with WICKED.

minho doesn't find a dead griever: 3/5. at least they still accounted for why alby had to go into the maze. i still wish they did it.

alby was alone in the glade for a whole month: 1/5. it is not logical that someone would be able to run a whole farm and build shelter all alone at 15 years old without any help. it also doesn't make sense that he wouldn't have gotten killed in the maze on accident.

teresa doesn't come up one day after thomas: 2/5. i guess it doesn't really matter, but this is just one element of the timeline being quite different that wasn't necessary to change.

minho helps thomas save alby in the maze: 0/5. this is thomas's first big act of heroism and the thing that makes minho respect him. they should've kept thomas doing it alone.

the grievers are completely different: 2/5. i understand that this is probably a design issue for the movie, but the book concept of the grievers is better.

the maze is completely different: 1/5. i don't like the movie maze... why is it a circle. the idea of the 8 square sections that are repeating and consistent makes the maze so much more frustrating and bewildering! also that part in the movie where the walls start to fall and the floors come up... why. there's also no code hidden in the walls, which was a very cool element.

no cliff/griever hole: 2/5. not terrible because this would be hard to show on screen. but the fact that instead, in the movie, there is just a visible section that the runners never found before is a bit unrealistic.

gally never went through the changing: 0/5. gally's hatred for thomas in the movie is baseless, while in the book it's clearly about suspicion and fear. he's an understandable antagonist in the book.

thomas and teresa don't have telepathy: 3/5. would've been hard to portray on screen. takes away from the depth of their connection, however.

the gladers give up too easily: 0/5. this one bothers me! when all the other runners in the movie randomly quit their jobs. the whole point in the books is that they'd never do that.

thomas is looked to as a leader: 0/5. when he starts giving orders in the movie and leads the charge into the maze.... ughhh. again i think they tried to make him a more cool and admirable protagonist, but i think a big part of the books is that thomas never saw himself as particularly special, or a leader. he couldn't have done anything he did without minho's, newt's, alby's, teresa's etc skill, authority, support. they were a team and a family. instead, in the movie, they start to follow him without question when he was barely there five days.

the grievers don't only kill 1 glader per night: 2/5. adds tension but also takes away from the fact that the maze again wasn't a test of survival.

alby's and chuck's deaths were essentially swapped: 0/5. i really dislike this change. they took away the fact that alby's fear changed him, and that his last act was both selfless and scared. in the movie he just died on accident. then i think chuck actually chose to sacrifice himself in the movie, when in the books he was forced to as a variable by WICKED. this absolutely takes away from the utter pointlessness of chuck's death, and it's also ooc for a scared 12 year old to choose to die when he so badly wanted to escape.

thomas had no real reason to sting himself: 0/5. he already had memories coming back in dreams and they already believed they had found an escape in the maze. he literally had no reason to go through the changing in the movie and it's a bit overdramatic for no reason.

people take gally seriously as a leader: 2/5. this only happened because alby got killed off early in the movie.

this is one of my least favorite changes so i saved it for last. nalby erasure: 0/5. the movies definitely take away that alby was newt's best friend and the person he cared for and protected most. likewise, in the books, thomas's favorite and most prioritised glader (along with teresa) was actually always minho. although thominho wasn't erased as much in the movies, the fact that those two pairings were the strongest bonds we ever got between the boys in the books isn't really there in the movies. i think the movies allowed people to forget that newt being canonly gay actually means alby is his most likely love interest!

[okerum]

maze runner fandom thoughts on another novella from minho's perspective exploring how the gladers establish themselves on the island post-WICKED while also exploring their complex trauma and how they cope with their grief? because i would give ANYTHING to the lord our savior James Dashner for just one more bit of content for our beloved main characters (+ more content of sonya and harriet ideally)

i think it would also be very insightful and enjoyable to have a novella from minho's pov-- like, newt's novella confirmed and added on to a lot of the minute details of his characterization that i noticed!! i def think minho deserves the same attention !! + i'd love to see how other people view thomas more!!