this narlie hug is the Bane of my existence i am crumbling to the floor as i type this Let me tell u why . it’s bc in this scene, for the whole week nick had to endure being forced to sit next to b*n in his revision period; endured his taunts and shitty attitude and the doubt he was trying to plant into nick’s mind, listening to him only think of nick’s boyfriend as an object and bully charlie behind his back. and what’s even better? his homophobic brother is home from uni, so nick practically gets the same treatment he does at school at home but instead of ben, it’s his own brother. on top of that, he’s stressed about his exams, trying to navigate coming out, and of course, charlie was grounded. but charlie snuck out for nick anyway to see him, and i just. you can FEEL how much that meant to nick; that charlie was there for him and willing to break the rules if it meant he could see nick even if he’d get in trouble. and then when they meet up, they hug and it’s the way you can see Nick hold Charlie so tight despite only having one arm to, burying his face into charlie’s shoulder and scrunching his eyes up tight— you just know nick needed that hug SO bad. he’s been having to put up with so much shit from other people, he’s been so stressed out, but none of that really matters when he has charlie there to hold and to talk to and to cheer him up.
tldr ; THAT BOY IS NICK’S HOME AS LONG AS CHARLIE IS THERE WITH HIM EVERYTHING IS OKAY OIUUUGGHH HE IS SO IN LOVE 🙁🙁🙁🙁
It's not just about the amazing representation and the depiction of the authentic queer teen experience
I just finally read volume 4 and I'm crying right now
The 'you need more than one person in your life', 'one person can't solve all your problems', 'you can't save someone on your own'...
I didn't understand these until very recently
and heartstopper finally managed to put these concepts into words for me. I feel like I learnt so much just from reading this last volume.
Heartstopper is important because I haven't seen any other piece of popular media that teaches this. Popular movies and TV shows will tell you that love (especially the romantic kind) can fix everything and that once you find your one true love/soulmate all your problems will magically become better! But that's not true.
Humans are social creatures. They don't just need companions, they need community. One person isn't enough. You need friends and family, your teachers, that random cashier at the super market and your neighbour.
humans need other humans
This is such an important lesson to teach, especially to kids and teens who will be reading/watching heartstopper.
I'm not fucking OK. First it's Heartstopper 4, and the "Love can't heal mental illness" line over breakfast and the Red, White and Royal Blue movie using "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You" like I don't have fucking Twist and Shout PTSD. Ma'am, I've had enough 😭