“Adam Parrish Was Whiny And Annoying” Have You Ever Considered That Maybe You’re Wrong

They need to invent a job where I don't have to wake up or go to it

lowkey obsessed with my own blog. it has all my favorite things and all the opinions i agree with. best place on the internet maybe ever

someone said ‘you better not be more when you were alive when I get home’ me:

HOW DARE YOU BE FUNNIER THAN ME ON MY OWN POST 😭😭

starting off my tumblr strong with trc art 🫡

mark S the type of guy to get sold to one direction

You can be talking to someone and she'll be like, "Oh I made a silly mistake. Women don't deserve voting rights teehee." And you'll be like, "What." And she'll be like, "Oh I'm sorry! That must sound so bad out of context. No it's this Tiktok meme where, if you're a girl and you do something dumb, you say 'Women don't deserve voting rights teehee.'"

And you'll be like, "That sounds bad." And she'll be like, "No no. It's totally not that bad. It's just a meme. Men say it too. Like if a man does something silly he'll be like, 'I am like those women who do not deserve to vote.'" And you'll be like, "Does that make it better?" And she'll be like, "Well there was one guy who tried to make 'Men shouldn't vote' a popular meme. But it never caught on and also he got yelled at a lot."

And then you drop it there because like, you're harshing the vibe.

phoebe bridgers i have $4 and a few jolly ranchers can i pay you to go to the studio phoebe bridgers please

since yall LOVED blue in strawberry dress so much here's another silly outfit raven cycle doodle for yall 😌 let's just pretend i didn't forget to add blue's eccentric earrings and just focus on ronan being silly goofy

So. I love every character in TRC, with all my heart and soul. And I love them with the understanding that these dynamics and nuances of their interactions speak to their larger character themes. All of the protagonists are teenagers who feel very out of control in their lives and utilize varying coping mechanisms to regain external control that compensates for their internalized panic. They are dumb and hormonal and they make stupid stupid decisions and they hurt each others feelings because they are seventeen and all of them are seriously traumatized and continue the trauma train through all books.

Now, this feels like a safe space for me to not only admit I love Adam (if you can't tell by now please inform me so I can rectify this immediately) and he could have become the villain like originally planned and I'd have been rooting for and justifying him the entire time. So take everything with a grain of salt that I'm someone who thinks all his actions track and make perfect sense, especially considering who he is how he was raised and how he internalizes the environment.

So when I say that I don't see much nuance in the Gansey vs Adam dynamic when it comes directly to money and Adam's home life I mean it. Like I can understand that Gansey is coming from a good place, he doesn't mean to be condescending, and in his head he just wants to protect and love his friends. And we can tell that Adam positively adores Gansey, like an outrageous amount. Multiple times Adam has cited he's incapable of saying no to him. So when he does that should matter.

A constant theme of Gansey's character, especially early on, is the idea he can't speak without offending others. He's quick to make a verbal misstep. He doesn't think all his words through and he easily hurts others. This isn't even about the "repugnant" scene (that alone would have been enough for me cut someone off, especially considering Adam had just lost his hearing because of his abuser), or about Gansey saying Adam is just as bad as his mother, or any other time Gansey makes a particularly cruel jab about Adam's abuse. There is nuance to it, and I'll never ever say I hate Gansey because you know it's all about intention and Adam responds because he isn't used to people caring for him or how to not take it as pity.

But how many times do we see Adam calmly explain (and less calmly as the point continues to be pushed) why he can't accept Gansey's assistance or his money? Multiple times to Gansey, by the way, and more to others. It's implied it's an ongoing conversation. And Gansey steps over the line several times. He does what he can get away with and then pushes over and over. And I fully understand the intention, I cannot stress that enough, and I know it's because Gansey loves him so so much. But even if you boil it down to money, I truly think that if someone says "hey don't do [this thing] it pushes my boundaries and I need to handle my life in my own way on my own terms.' then it should be respected. And Gansey tends to push these lines and assume he knows how to handle situations better than his friends because Gansey is a very rich teenager who makes poor decisions, especially regarding money. He does it with Ronan, too. And you can have all the good intention in the world and still do something shitty in the eyes of another person. I see a lot of people say Gansey did nothing wrong and Adam is being an asshole and that fundamentally makes no sense to me. Not even counting the shit Gansey says to him, but the general attitude towards money and the disregard for Adam's very clear boundaries are an issue. I'm surprised they're defending because "Gansey just wants to help!" I'm very weird about money and favours myself and have a hard time viewing acts of kindness as something I need to repay (I got in a fight with a friend for buying me a present when I explicitly said not to get me one, I have a list of drinks or snacks friends have gotten me so I can repay them, etc.) and when my friends cross those boundaries I get pissed. And my friends and I are in the same tax bracket. Blue behaves in a similar manner to Adam surrounding money, and doesn't get nearly as much vitriol over it (Blue in general gets overlooked by fans but I digress.) Nevermind that Adam is a person who thrives on the ability to make his own choices, and his agency and sense of control is vital for his survival.

I think every character is deeply flawed. Every one of them. Gansey's flaws are a huge part of his story, his constant need for control (all of their needs for control) and his tendency to try and fix other people's problems to distract from his own. And it's difficult to criticize because it comes from a good place. If it was anyone else, it'd be unforgivable. But it's Gansey. And he truly doesn't consider this condescending or disrespectful. But when it's regularly laid out and explained to him it's hard to give him a pass. He speaks on how he doesn't want to be judged for his money, but he will use his money when he needs to solve a problem. (He will hate himself for it, of course. But nonetheless.) Because it's the environment he was raised in and its hard to put himself in a place where he understands why that can be inappropriate.

This isn't like... a major hate train on Gansey. I love Gansey. I really do. But pretending like the dynamic between him and Adam isn't as equally (if not more so?) influenced by Gansey's pushing of those boundaries is a huge misreading and a disregard for how beautifully complex Gansey is written. This primarily springs from my own TRC annotations and some posts I've seen swirling around.

“Is that all?” She whispered.

“That’s all there is.” Gansey replied.

Okay fuck it all, here are some reasons to love the shit out of Gansey:

• the way he cares about his friends, like he just loves them so incredibly much and always feels like he doesn’t deserve them and he sees all that potential in them and just wants them all to be save and happy and healthy

• every time he calls one of his friends “marvelous creature”

• the yearning. The yearning for Glendower. The yearning for knowledge. The yearning for every single one of his friends. The yearning for blue

• the way he doesn’t do favorites. He loves all his friends so obviously equally and even when blue joins the group and he falls in love with her he’s still not choosing her over the guys or the guys over her

• the way he makes mistakes all the time and does his fucking best to learn from them and improve

• the way he does things just for the aesthetic. His journal? The Camaro? Monmouth manufacturing? The books laying around at Monmouth? His bed in the middle of the fucking room? None of it is really practical and there are way more modern and sensible alternatives he could use but NO bitch boy has got to be extra and live his 80 year old grandpa life for the a e s t h e t i c of it all

• his intelligence. I know we talk about how smart Adam is a lot (which duh! He is.) but guys!!! Gansey is so fucking smart. He’s close behind Adam in most classes and that all the while searching for Glendower and as opposed to Adam he doesn’t need to be good. (Also he never seems to study much in the books. It’s mentioned that Adam studies a lot. It’s mentioned that Ronan studies once. It’s never mentioned that Gansey studies. I mean sure, we can assume he does study a bit but by all means not even close as much as Adam and he’s still right behind Adam in most classes!!). But also, let alone all the research and shit he did for Glendower? All the random unnecessary facts he has floating around his brain?

• so he comes from a rich white family of Republicans. Red flag, right? But no, not with Gansey. You might thing a character with that background would probably be controversial and idk man racist and homophobic and what not. But not Gansey

• he literally couldn’t give any fucks about Ronan being gay. When he finds out about Ronan and Adam all he says is that Adam better not play with Ronan’s feelings because he’s vulnerable. Also, it’s to assume Gansey already knew about Ronan’s sexuality and he never made a big deal out of it (because it is no big deal).

• Also, when Ronan made slightly racist remarks about Henry, Gansey called him out on it (and that happened like twice at least)

• number one Adam Parrish stan

• number one Ronan Lynch stan

• number one Henry Cheng stan

• number one Blue Sargent stan

• number two Noah Czerny stan (sorry but I think blue and Ronan are fighting for first place so Gansey got pushed to second because he wouldn’t want to get into that war)

• the peacemaker!!! Literally such a pure boy who hates fights so much and all he ever tries is to solve them and get going

• all he ever tries is to help and support his friends and give them all the love and best life they deserve even if he’s pretty shit at it at times (i. e. whenever he tried to help Adam with money. We know you mean well Gansey but that’s not the way to go with Adam you should know that by now)

(• the way rarely sees fault in his friends. Ronan literally once thought about how Gansey always acts like Adam is such a saint while he’s really not (Ronan’s words, not mine) and literally Gansey would excuse any bullshit Ronan does in a heartbeat without even thinking about it twice)

• how he’s always worried about his friends. When he still thought Ronan tried to kill himself how he always worried about it happening again and he keeps blaming himself for not being able to help or Adam getting hit by his father and Gansey not being able to help him out of there

• all. he. wants. is. for. his. friends. to. be. happy

• his need to always please everyone no matter what

• “Gansey was just a guy with a lot of stuff and a hole inside him that chewed away more of his heart every year. They were always walking away from him. But he never seemed able to walk away from them.”

• the amount of times he thinks of Ronan and Adam as his brothers. The unconditional love he has for them

• it might not be evident at all times because Gansey is a clumsy mess around women (Blue) BUT he did drink his respect women juice. Sometimes he just says dumb shit he doesn’t mean and learns from it

(• all the emotions and thoughts he keeps on hiding and shoving down because he doesn’t want to burden his friends with his problems?? Like, baby this is not the way to go you gotta let it out but also super sweet you don’t want to put it on your friends (which you should tho because that’s kinda what they’re there for and you’re also always so eager to hear about their problems and help them with it). He already knows he’ll die soon but he tells no one because he knows they will try to help prevent it and that they’ll get hurt because of it so he never tells them.)

(• His panic attacks. His ptsd. His insomnia. He’s trying so hard to be the positive and supportive and helpful dad of the group while he himself has major problems but he always feels like his friends are more important than that.)

• “With force, Gansey kicked off his shoes. One flew over his miniature Henrietta and the other made it all the way to the side of his desk. It slammed off the old wood and slid to the ground. Under his breath, Gansey said, "Yee haw.”

• the poetry of his thoughts and speech. Like,,,, dream me the world,,,, safe as life,,,,, excelsior,,, that’s all there is

• his almost kisses with blue and just the way he always describes and thinks of her and he’s just so. in. love

• “And everywhere, everywhere there were books. Not the tidy stacks of an intellectual trying to impress, but the slumping piles of a scholar obsessed.”

• the way him and Declan just,,, raised Ronan??? And Gansey was the parent that made Ronan feel very loved and accepted while Declan was the strict parent who just wanted to protect without giving much freedom

• wanting to use the favor to bring Noah back to life??? Like??? He could use it for anything in the world but no if he gets it he wants to use it to bring Noah back because he just loves his friends so. much.

• he died to save his friends even though he was so so terrified about dying. I mean he did it once and never wanted back. He thought about not wanting to die so so so many times. So many conversations with his friends about just how scared he is to die and how easy it would be for him to die with his allergy and all and then he just puts his life on the line for them in the flicker of a heartbeat