Okay so I’ve been thinking about some posts that have been circulating in THSC (Charles suicidal tendencies and such) as well as tags left by @asexual-introvert, and yeah. I left a bunch of tags, but I feel it’s enough to warrant its own post:
I’ve used it a lot, but I’ve always felt Charles tends to have a sense of alienation. Whether he’s best friends with Rupert, friends with other soldiers, or just his usual friendly self, I’ve always felt he only feels truly seen and understood by Henry and Ellie.
Like, he logically KNOWS that Rupert/others are friends with him, but those feelings/sneaking suspicions that he’s not really their friend, just a bother, never truly goes away. It’s none of their faults, especially because he refuses to talk about it and wouldn’t unless actually dying (even the, that’s what he wants secretly, right?) but he’s got emotional insecurities that nevertheless make him feel disconnected.
until Henry and Ellie.
They’re not of the military. They’re thieves, loose in morals and ideas, unfazed by Charles’s jokes and personality. They’re not dissuaded or made uncomfortable by Charles’s personal “failings” like his jokes about crashing helicopters and dying in a fiery explosion or his apathetic suicidal tendencies. They’re not ones to panic in crises. They’ve spent their times in darker places than the soldiers, darker places Charles understands and could even feel more comfortable accepting as a worldview and status than the rigidness of the military.
To Charles, it’s shocking that, when Henry and/or Ellie come along, they’re wanting to… be his friend. They want to be with HIM. For his PERSONALITY. Incredible!
but is it really surprising that Henry and Ellie would feel most at home around Charles and his special brand of chaos?
We all know Charles has a chaotic personality. To me, it makes sense that someone like him, with wavering senses of suicidal ideations, chaotic urges and a personality that makes often uncomfortable/dark jokes, and yet keeping an immutable sense of chillness that allows people to ignore or not see his emotional pain or struggles, would feel more seen by thieves and those who see and understand that side of his personality more. The military is more rigid, more for outspoken people. He does well because of how he is- a ray of sunshine with a heart of steel, unmoved and unfazed by anything- but it results in a sense of loneliness and lack of belonging.
there’s a reason I’m such a TT truther, and probably one of the only people who is obsessed with Rosevin/Ellie and Charles’s dynamic. But I think they complement each other more than the military does Charles- chaos on chaos, sharp-edged people with other sharp-edged people.
This also got really long, but it’s kind of my Triple Threat thesis and how they really get each other. Charles is just one aspect of this dynamic. There’s more posts in this vein- Henry’s problems, Ellie’s problems, how they fit with their partners, Triple Threat as a group- but I’ll save those for another day.
hopefully this makes some amount of sense and conveys what I feel is a really interesting reason that Charles is so willing and able to work with Henry and Ellie. They just match each other, y’know?
(on a side note, this is kind of a summary of Forever Lost Together Triple Threat, who have the core principles but different circumstances. Maybe check it out!)
