#I knew I was going to enjoy being wretched and hateful over a fictional character’s fashions

[eighteenoheight]

Ranking Claire Redfield’s outfit repeats because I’m a huge bitch and also proving a point a little bit

Revelations 2

The blueprint. This is Claire grown. She’s got her dress shirt under a more sophisticated/business casual red leather jacket with blue skinny jeans and heeled boots. Perfect way to serve looks at a Terrasave welcome party before you get kidnapped and trapped on an island with infected. Started the trend and as the great Sidney Prescott once said; “you forgot the first rule of remakes, Jill (Valentine). Don’t fuck with the original”.

Resident Evil 2 Remake

The second incarnation of the template for a Claire Redfield outfit. A solid interpretation. A red leather jacket with the now essential layered tank top for a female protagonist. Blue skinny jeans again with brown biker boots. Pretty standard and practical for a girl with a motorbike. Safety first though she wears her helmet. Kept mostly fresh and appropriate for a 19 year old.

Infinite Darkness

Downhill from here. Now we’re just mashing the two previous looks together. We’ve got the red leather jacket, this time the dress shirt is collarless and ill-fitting. Blue skinny jeans yet again, and black boots. The combo is a little odd to me, like wearing flip flops with a tuxedo. Maybe I’m thrown off because the button-up looks to be business casual, if it were black instead of white it would change the look. But I’m not here to give fashion advice, I’m just policing repeat offenders. Maybe not the worst but most definitely not the best.

Death Island

This is the worst one probably because it’s the most recent version of this look and I’m tired at this point. I wouldn’t say it’s a terrible outfit on its own but this is the fourth time we’ve seen this be done and while the last one was a little bit of a fashion emergency, this one’s just a snooze fest. I see no soul in this. Here we yet again have a red leather jacket this time paired with a plain black undershirt. We’re not done overcooking this repetition because, you guessed right, she’s wearing blue skinny jeans and black boots. A revolutionary take on an outfit we saw almost 10 years ago I must say. I’ll give Claire some credit though, she’s got the red leather jacket industry on lock. She’s only wearing the same shit to keep the economy together. It is so bad, I want to give you a zero. But that’s not possible. So I give you a one.

There seems to be a distinct lack of creativity going on and it’s really sad. I could point out so many artists who have posted their own fan redesigns of Claire that are clearly recognisable as her that are so varied and brilliant. It’s possible to separate Claire from her red leather jackets, skinny jeans and boots. People will still know it’s her. It’s a beyond dead horse at this point and I don’t see it resurrecting (zombie joke) so I beg of whoever is in charge of the character designs over there, please get it together.

[escapedaudios]

I don't usually argue with anons making critiques, but I'm nipping this one in the bud real quick. After seeing a glimpse of the discourse around the other "Lexi" (Redacted's Alexis) I'm a little wary of people saying which morally bad characters you can't enjoy.

All of Lexi's actions were unambiguously bad up until episode six, where she has a brief moment of humanity and sincerity. Up until that point she cheats on Ash, lies to Thad, uses her status and image to manipulate a mob into turning against the protagonists, manipulates people, finds information about others just to attack their insecurities, insults the Listener publicly, and it's implied that she may have even stalked her ex. She's very VERY clearly depicted as a bad person by the narrative.

Understanding in good faith that the audience already knows she's a bad person, I think it's unfair to try and establish an arbitrary line where you "shouldn't" enjoy her. In episode five, she takes advantage of the blurred boundaries of the situation she's in to steal a second kiss from her ex when she was only supposed to kiss him once. She does this for her own selfish reasons, as well as to taunt and anger the Listener. This is unambiguously wrong, and the narrative doesn't gloss over it. Ash is immediately furious with her, and the Listener is seeing absolute red but has to contain her anger because of the situation she's in.

I suppose this could be categorized as a sexual assault, but I feel like putting it in that category and concluding that you should react the same way as you would to far worse acts is a little misrepresentative. An emotional association with rape is invoked by describing her actions as sexual assault. Expecting people to react the same way they would to what she did as they would to a far more sadistic and traumatic action because you placed both things in the same broad category doesn't sit right with me.

People can like Lexi. They don't like her in spite of being bad, they like her BECAUSE she's bad. She's fun to hate and she's awful in such an entertaining way that people can't help but be at least a little endeared to her. Most of the people who enjoy her character in the bounds of the fictional story she exists in would hate her if she were real and they knew her in real life. Understanding this is an important part of media literacy.

I'm not mad, but I mention this because I've seen this kind of rhetoric spin out of control before. I've seen fans of uncannily-similarly named Alexis of Redcated Audio get scolded and even harassed for enjoying her character. Why? Because Alexis(Redacted) turning her ex (I think Sam?) into a vampire against his well has been interpreted as a metaphor for sexual assault. This quickly spiraled out of control into people accusing people of being ok with rape for simply enjoying the character, making fan art of her etc. I don't believe the anon who made this confession was trying to incite harassment or make that kind of accusation toward anyone, but I'm going to put my foot all the way down before anyone tries spinning that kind of angle.

Lexi is, in fact, iconic. She's horrible and awful and lies and cheats and antagonizes the other characters constantly, but she's SO MUCH FUN in the context of the story. Let people have their fun! I personally love writing her and can't wait to bring out more of her. Her awfulness is a delight to construct. She is my wretched angel, my vile princess. I do in fact, love my terrible creation and appreciate people enjoying her. I'd hate for having harmless fandom fun with a villainess to become a touchy subject here, yeah?

Since someone confessed that Ash from Greasefire Life gives them the icky, I feel the confidence to confess this. I think Escaped and his fans glossed over the fact that his character Lexi literally sexually assaulted Ash? Forcing someone to kiss you, especially as intensely as she did during the audition is not okay and if the genders were reversed or the roles were reversed (Ash don't it to Lexi) people would definitely not have brushed it off like they did. I don't think Escaped or his fans are bad people, but they shouldn't be calling Lexi "iconic" all the time as they do. I liked her before that happened.

.

[sevensided]

how did you get into writing fic? i'd love to start but idk even where to begin! I loved adats so I was wondering do you have any advice?

Oh my goodness! I am so flattered you’ve asked me this. Yes, I can absolutely help. I’ll throw a bunch of rambling under the cut.

I started writing fic probably when I was... sixteen years old? A lot of my early works were oneshots. I couldn’t figure out how to do anything plot heavy for the life of me, so I just stuck to AUs or whatever I felt like. I wasn’t in any particular fandom -- I really wrote whatever I had ideas for. I remember I tried once to do a plot-heavy story and I received a review absolutely ripping it to shreds. Like, it was so cruel I cried lol. I ended up deleting the fic. Years later, I get what they were trying to say (basically, more substance, less style), but at the time it cut to the quick. Really, it was only when I was in my twenties that I started writing work that was longer and/or better.

The fandom that helped me actually write plot heavy work was a historical-based fandom. As I’m a historian, it was perfect. I got to use my research skills and knowledge to create works that, above all, aimed to feel authentic. I mainly read historical fiction, so I was familiar with how that genre worked. Miraculously, people loved my work. I think I wrote about ~200k in the period of a year? These were several short stories (20-40k) and a few oneshot filler fics. While I was part of this fandom I also helped organise a Big Bang which was a lot of hard work but was extremely rewarding. Along with that, I interacted mainly with other fic writers, so I spent a lot of time chatting to people about ideas and encouraging other writers, and it just created a lovely medley where no concept was impossible or any line of dialogue too difficult. We supported each other and it was truly like a little commune. I gradually stepped away from the fandom mainly because it was just a part of my life at a very specific time, and almost as soon as that time was over, my love for that story/ship faded, but I firmly believe I figured out a lot of how/what I do now purely through that experience.

Regarding ADATS

With ADATS, it stemmed entirely from wanting to “explain” three months in canon (at the end of season three). I was interested in the idea of season four setting up Will/Mike in canon, and I wanted to test the source material to see if I could draw from what already existed to create something authentic. I began with that simple idea: what happened from July to October in 1985? Then I thought about the major themes I wanted to hit -- family, friendship, coming of age, sexuality -- and I nested them around the bigger concept: how do I get Mike from being ostensibly straight to realising he is gay? That meant thinking of two steps: Mike discovering his attraction to guys; Mike discovering his attraction to Will. Those two concepts were separate “arcs” that needed addressing in different ways. Balance was key to weaving them together and making the reader feel like they knew what was coming (and that they felt smart for putting the pieces together) without just rushing through and going “now kiss!” That’s partly why ADATS needs a sequel, lol: because it’s not finished!

Writing process

The first thing I do when I start to get an idea is I write it down. Sounds obvious. But when you have a killer line of dialogue come to you in the shower and you think “I’ll remember that” -- reader, you will not remember it. You gotta get it down ASAP! I do that the whole way through, as generally I’ll be thinking of scenes I’m stuck on and then it’ll just come to me and I’ll quickly jot it down.

The next thing -- or what I do in the meantime -- is start structuring. I plan. I try to plan a lot. Sometimes it’s okay to write “and something happens here to get them here”, because you’ll figure it out later, but for the most part I’ve discovered that planning is like gold and you can’t get enough of it. I break my work up into generally 3-4 parts/sections, and I treat each section like a mini story. So each part needs a conflict and resolution, and it needs to flow into the next section. You need to have a feeling of things evolving and maturing. Once I’ve planned those little bits, I start thinking about the bigger plot arc and how I can drop in hints along the way. I’m probably not a subtle or skilled enough writer to yet pull off that sort of gasping twist you get in really excellent books, but I’m trying to get there. It’s hard, is what I’m trying to say, but that’s okay, because we’re all learning.

Then I generally do aesthetic stuff. Sounds stupid, probably. But nothing helps me get more into a mood than doing a Pinterest board or -- most of all -- making a Spotify mix. I start thinking about the vibe and the general atmosphere, and then I almost exclusively listen to that mix when I’m working. Sort of like muscle memory? Just to get the creative juices associated with that particular selection of songs.

Another thing I’ll do along with plot structure is character structure. This is a biggie. I mean, a story is nothing without characters. So I’ll just jot down a bunch of bullet points of characters and particular aspects that I want to highlight or remember. I hate continuity errors in fiction. Like, if someone says they work on Maple Street but later in the fic they’re working on Pine Street. I hate that. So I keep note of specific things that my main character might notice at repeated points in the story (colours, places, smells, names, sounds -- so they’re all consistent even as the narrative evolves). That’s another thing -- your characters’ motivations. Not everyone is going to be a huge player, but they all do serve a purpose. The most important character is obviously your main character. I personally think it’s important to let your M.C. be an arse at times. They’re going to be mean, they’re going to misinterpret things or fly off the handle... just let ‘em. Let them be wretched humans, and then bring them back and make them realise what they’ve done. Let them learn! I love consequences in fiction, lol.

At the same time, I’ll probably start writing. We’ve already written down some snippets of neat dialogue or descriptions, but now we should start the actual process. For me, I used to start at the beginning. Usually this was the most fleshed out anyway: I’ll have a clear idea of the beginning and the end, but nothing in the middle. These days, if I have a scene in mind that I can’t forget, I’ll just write it. It will possibly get scrapped or rewritten, but that’s okay, because at least you’ve got it down and now you can devote your brain power to something useful (like figuring out what the middle is supposed to be). I’ll have half a dozen of totally out of context scenes just littered in my Word document that I’ll add to as I go along. Eventually, though, you’re going to start writing properly, and that’s when you write your opening scene.

Opening scenes: super important. Every time I write a scene I think: what is the point of this? What do I want the reader to learn or takeaway? Sometimes you do have filler scenes, but they also serve a different purpose (perhaps to establish a group dynamic or to explore/describe a character’s surroundings). Mainly, though, every scene should push something forward in some way, whether it’s character development or a plot point. So, with an opening scene, I always think you have to establish: where you are; who you are; what they are doing; where they’ve come from (in a philosophical and practical sense); and where they’re going (ditto). That doesn’t have to happen in the first paragraph -- that would be silly. But if you sprinkle that information in over time it’ll gradually build up a picture of your character and that way the reader can get an idea of who they are. You basically need to give a snapshot of what your story is about. This also goes back to the character creator stuff: where they are at the start should be different to where they end up. How that happens is, of course, because of plot, and because you’ve structured everything to the nth degree, we’ve got a very clear progression of that character’s growth (/s easier said than done lol).

General advice

Write down everything: every idea, a bit of dialogue, a description, whatever. Write it down. Doesn’t have to be neat. Just has to be on paper. You can’t remember everything, so if you’re spending time trying to hold those things in your head, it’s taking up space for new ideas to come along.

Structure, plan, structure, plan. Sometimes it’s boring and I hate it. Other times, when I’ve not written in a few days and I open the Word doc and think wtf is this supposed to be, I am very grateful for Past Me for leaving such detailed notes. Seriously, it helps so much. Oneshots don’t really need planning, in my experience. You just get those out there. But multi-chaptered stories really do, even ones that “just” focus on a relationship.

Whatever you want to write, commit to it. Space goblins invade Hawkins? Do it. Eleven and Max find themselves in a cult akin to Midsommar (2019) and must escape? Yes. Just... whatever you want to do, remember that you’re writing it for you. Write what most interests you, what makes you when you reread it go AHHHHH I LOVE THIS!! Because that makes it a thousand times easier to actually get on with the writing when you enjoy what you’re doing.

Write a lot. Every day, if you can, or at least at designated times. Occasionally I have a very specific headspace/vibe I have to be in, but sometimes it just hits me and I’ll say to my partner “I need to write now” and just disappear, lol. The more you write the more you write. It’s so, so, so true. Cannot emphasise this enough. When I wrote that ~200k in twelve months? It was because I literally wrote every. day. Or near enough. Remember that some days you’ll write 200 words, and other days you’ll write 20k (this happened to me with ADATS -- part of the reason I finished it so quickly was because I had sprints of writing 10k+ at a time that only happened because I was in the rhythm of it). Write, write, write. Who cares if it’s crap! No one will see it until you are ready. In the meantime, just write!

Probably last of all (although I could go on and on) is connect with other writers. If you’re struggling to start, sometimes just talking about it can help a huge amount. I hope it goes without saying that you can message me whenever you want, anon or not, and I will talk to you. We can talk about ideas or I can beta stuff, whatever you want! Find like-minded people and talk to them about what you want to do. Another thing this helps is in advertising your work when you do publish. I see a lot of first time fic writers get super down because they publish their magnum opus on AO3 but no one comments. Honestly, it’s because no one knows you’ve published! You don’t have to be tooting your own horn every which way, but just actively talking about your work and even collaborating with other content creators with get you hyped and other people too (and the input and encouragement other fandom members give is just... out of this world. Anon messages helped me finish ADATS when I was really worried I wouldn’t [that’s the truth]. Seriously, support is everything). When you have people excited about your work, you get excited. It’s really as simple as that.

I could go on but this is already horrendously long. I hope even a bit of this helps! If you want to chat or have any more questions, just hit me up any time.

[pluviophile-bookworm]

AWAE 1x7 rewatch: thoughts and reactions

The time has come at last to rewatch the season 1 finale of Anne with an E. This one, as far as I can remember, was extraordinarily eventful, so we’re in for a long, bumpy ride. Let’s take off with no further rambling. 

I like the parallel between the two simultaneous conversations in the cold open - the girls on one side, and Anne and... Moody of all people on the other. Funnily enough, both conversations are about Anne, and yet they’re so substantially different. Anne tells Moody about Christmas (or the lack thereof, to be painfully precise) at the orphanage, and at the other table Josie is gossiping about the Cuthberts being poor now. Of course, Anne is not deaf, and is certainly not immune to hearing nasty things about her family, so she calls Josie out on it. 

“It’s only true, you’re poor.” Well, yes, but it’s not nice to state the truth in such a rude way. Josie is just being nasty. I know she gets at least a bit better at the very end of season 3, but this doesn’t excuse her behaviour right here and now. And fuelling Anne’s insecurity about whether the Cuthberts will keep her or not is just the cherry on top of her nasty sundae of gossiping and taunting. 

Being a choir kid myself, I really enjoy the beginning of this performance of Angels We Have Heard On High, and I chuckle to myself at the funny reality of Moody being the token boy in the choir of girls. This is more common than one might imagine.

The beautiful song can’t be enjoyed for too long, though, as Anne almost has a panic attack and runs off in the middle of the chorus, and Diana, good friend that she is, follows her out. 

I’m missing something here. What exactly happened to make the Cuthberts need a bank loan all of a sudden? I mean, the bank did show up at the end of last episode, but... what am I missing?

It’s heartwarming how Marilla is now more concerned about Anne’s future than anyone else’s. She’s a mother already. This is beautiful, even though it comes up amid a bad situation.

It is a rare occurrence that Matthew should raise his voice, and that makes it all the more effective at attracting the attention and making himself heard. But it’s kind of scary, too - you know, when the quiet person raises his voice, you know things are getting serious.

That was some ending to the cold open - believe me, with how bad the current reality is, I do not need Matthew collapsing to the ground. I mean, I know full well he will be fine, but it still makes my heart skip a couple beats.

There, Anne has raised the sensitive subject - and Marilla reassures her, just as Diana did earlier, that she’s a Cuthbert for life now. For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health... ok, I’m turning into Anne here. This is not a marriage. But it’s a family, and they are going to get through this together.

This is one thing I like about Rachel Lynde - she can be a bit rude and insensitive at times, but she knows when it’s time to stop - for the most part, of course. But leave it to Marilla to let her pride turn away any offers of help, lest it should be perceived as charity. It’s ok to accept help, you know. 

“We can’t keep Jerry on”. See, this is the difference between Anne and Jerry, at the moment at least. She is a part of the family, someone to be provided for and looked after; he is still not. As much as I hate saying it, he is a farmhand who gets paid to do a certain job and when they can no longer pay him, they need to lay him off. But that will change, of course, I know it well. And soon enough.

Anne’s willingness to give her beautiful puff-sleeved dress says quite a lot considering how long she had dreamed of such a dress and the fact that it is the only valuable object she possesses. It almost just breaks my heart to see her and Marilla let go of so much. But that’s just me, I get attached to objects easily and it hurts me to see even people in fiction give away or break or lose their possessions in any way. That’s an issue for me to resolve, not to discuss here. 

Even though I know Marilla said they were going to lay Jerry off, the fact that he’s accompanying Anne to Charlottetown makes me think of something - this trip is exactly when their sibling-like bond was formed, and it’s extra special just for that reason. I have, of course, forgotten some (read: most) details, so it might be misinformed of me to assume, but I think after this journey Jerry would stay with the Cuthberts even if they can’t pay him anymore. 

When Jerry tells Anne that it’s ok to ask for help sometimes - just what I said about Marilla’s pride earlier - it dawns on me how similar Anne and Marilla actually are, even if it isn’t shown very explicitly. They both refuse to admit they need help, and in fact stubbornly refuse it. Like mother, like daughter, even though they’ve been a family only for a short time. 

If someone looked at Anne and Jerry right now, it wouldn’t be too far off to assume they are siblings - bickering, annoying each other partly-on-purpose... If anyone ever asks me to prove Jerry and Anne are honorary siblings, this trip to Charlottetown will be my supporting argument. This and the moment in season 3 where Jerry tells Anne about Diana.  

Jerry singing cheerfully while Anne is all like “This is an Important Journey™” makes me think this boy will teach Anne not to take herself so seriously all the time. Considering their relationship in later seasons, I can say that, at least the way I see it, he actually did teach her that by showing her an almost parallel- universe perspective of what her life could have been like. I mean, they’re perfect foils, those two - both kids with difficult childhoods who have had to grow up too fast and work from a young age, but so different in every other aspect: Anne is an only child and an orphan, Jerry comes from a large family that is still united and happy despite their poverty; Anne gets to receive an education and strive towards larger goals, Jerry is denied this opportunity because he needs to help support his family; Anne ends up with the Cuthberts by mistake, a girl instead of the boy they wanted, but gets to stay and be raised as the daughter they could never have had; Jerry could have easily been the boy the Cuthberts originally asked for (and judging by Matthew’s comments in the last episode of season 3, he goes on to become exactly that), hired to help with their farm work. I could go on and on, but this is not what we’re here for. Either way, I just wanted to say how very glad I am that Moira took this one-mention character from the book and made him into his own character, a foil for Anne and an important agent in the story. Anyone who has been following me for a while will know how important Jerry is for me - and I didn’t even remember his book counterpart existed at all. But now, let’s get on with the episode.

Anne selling her “if-these-were-ordinary” items is sure to be interesting... I remember it being so, but not the particulars, It’s been a while. Let’s hear.

Ah, sure, Anne uses her talent for storytelling to sell every single thing so well. She could be an excellent saleswoman. Also, is this the brooch that got Anne chased out of Green Gables on her first day? That’s an important one. 

I have to say all Cuthberts are lucky that Anne went on this trip alone with Jerry. Had Marilla been there, Anne would never have managed to pull all of this off.

“Everyone will be moved to generosity”, alright, but do you, Rachel, think Marilla will accept it? Charity, I mean. I don’t really think so.

What are these scoundrels doing to my precious Jerry? They almost just killed him for so little as they were able to take from him. Jerks. 

Ah, and who should appear out of nowhere but Gilbert Blythe... I remember this next part being interesting. 

I see Anne has realised she was insensitive about Gilbert’s father, and I see Gilbert is preparing to travel, just as his father wanted him to. This is nice. Meaningful. A more mature conversation than these two usually have. 

Wait, are those two... the same odious creatures who beat up my poor Jerry... they’re... Nate and- Dunlop, was it? Those two who live at Green Gables in season 2, with the gold rush and all that. I remember now. It had escaped me when I was watching season 2 for the first time that their debut was actually here, in the season 1 finale. See, this is what rewatches are for. Also, those two are dirty miscreants and I hate them. Just wanted to get that one out of my system.

T-R-U-C-E - an important word for Shirbert at this stage. But what is with the sudden mention of Moody out of nowhere? This is almost like that time in the third season when they were discussing the Take Notice board and Anne was like “Ruby...”, and I was like *facepalm*. Hey, Moody and Ruby... I see now. Or is there anything to see here?

Maybe I’m overthinking it. Let’s move on now.

You know, I’ve always wondered why exactly Jerry reacted the way he did here... but now, thinking it over once again, I know why - he has just been beaten up and robbed in a ditch, how do you reckon he’s going to react when he sees Anne, whom he was specifically sent here to accompany and take care of (not that she needs to be taken care of, but she sure could use some help sometimes), talking to a guy he doesn’t know? For all he knew, something terrible might have been about to happen to her. I’m just impressed he was ready to throw down after what those... ugh, my vocabulary is failing me - did to him just minutes ago.

Poor thing, he won’t stop apologising even though he’s badly hurt. And of course he wouldn’t like the city after what happened to him. Who would.

I usually do not condone moment-wreckers, but this here was an awkward silence at best, and all Jerry did was break it - and make me smile in the process. And that makes up for everything.

Ruffians - that’s a good word, pretty much the one I was looking for a minute ago, thanks, Miss Josephine. That’s what they are, the wretched rogues... hey, my vocabulary of elegant insults is back. I hope I won’t need it much, though.

No, Matthew, I won’t have you talking like that either. What would some money be to Anne and Marilla if you are gone? No consolation, that’s for sure. See, this is one of very few reasons I’ve kind of made my peace with the show’s cancellation - that Matthew survived the whole show’s run safe and sound. And Ruby as well. But still, #renewannewithane

Yes, very well said, thank you, Marilla. Anne would never chose something material over Matthew.

Oh, this one - another moment of Anne and Jerry looking positively like siblings. And it’s golden, too. Poor dear Jerry can’t sleep in a bed of his own because, well, he’s never had one, so he crawls into Anne’s. My own little brother has only ever done something of the kind once and I will never forget that night. It was uncomfortable at first, since we, unlike Jerry, aren’t used to sharing a bed, but it was definitely lovely overall. This is beautiful.

Ah, of course, I’d forgotten this one - of course Aunt Jo fixes everything and will not take no for an answer. She pays for Jerry to keep on working at Green Gables - even though, remembering what those two... uh, hoodlums are going to keep doing to him in season 2, I might have preferred that he be away from there for a while. But then, you know, Anne couldn’t have taught him to read, and that’s important - both for him as a person and for the plot of season 3. 

No, Matthew, what do you think you are doing? It was a bad idea - for my own sake - to watch this at night. As someone who has had suicidal thoughts for my own reasons, I know how Matthew feels, and I want him to stop feeling that way. But of course, I know things will work out. Eventually.

I see Anne has learnt a lesson about accepting help, accepting love. And she talks Marilla into it. This is good. 

Of course, once again Anne’s rough childhood has given her a means to dealing with a situation. She’s selling her services now. And she’s happy to do it. And she’s realised that although they’re poor in money right now, they’re rich in something much more valuable now. 

I’m not going to lie, Angels We Have Heard On High brought a tear or two to my eyes. Things are looking up.

Although, if they knew who the boarders really are, they wouldn’t have been so happy. Not at all. But that’s another story for another time.

Oh, they’re there already... things are about to... get interesting, to say the least. I can’t wait to get into season 2 soon.

To sum up this last episode of season 1: the Cuthberts are poor; Matthew is ill; Green Gables is at stake; Anne and Jerry take off for Charlottetown to do their part in trying to save it; the Cuthberts do not accept charity; valuable lessons about accepting help and love; Jerry takes a hit from two... boarders at Green Gables, is that what we call them now?; Anne and Gilbert spell T-R-U-C-E; Anne and Jerry become siblings; Aunt Jo saves the day; Matthew thinks about taking his own life, gets over it just in time; the Cuthberts are rich, though not in money; things are looking up, but thugs are in the house.

[cute-volleyball-imagines]

Bloom - Tendou Satori / Reader

This is the submission @milk-s0da sent to us!! I hope you guys enjoy hanahaki disease as much as i do cause *tears rolling down* i love hanahaki disease scenarios so much. -mod owl

Your stomach curled and thrashed inside of you. It seemed to lash out with every thought and movement. It probably did, what else was a girl in love to think about than the boy she cared for? Yet here you squatted in the girls room, bent over the toilet as you wretched. Sourness built in the back of your throat and with a groan petals fluttered down to the water, floating before growing too heavy and sinking down with just as much grace.

You had read about your affliction in stories but never thought it was real. As long as your love wasn’t met in kind, blossoms and petals would form inside of you and fight their way to the light. It was painful, when you stumbled out to the sink to rinse your mouth your eyes were red and cheeks streaked with tears. Your tongue was thick as you cupped your hands beneath the faucet and brought it to your lips.

You must have coughed up enough flowers to fill entire gardens by now, yet it didn’t seem to stop. Pink buds, purple blooms, ivory blossoms. All of them tumbled up your throat in bushels and in a burst of singular posies. And you hated it.

  In the hallway you saw him, the crazy redhead from the volleyball team. The Guess Monster who had stolen your heart. As you approached he glanced over and waved with a silly grin, “Hey, (y/n)-chan~”

“Hi Satori-kun.” You said as you came to a stop in front of him, head tilted back just so you could look at the giant’s face.

“You got the newest Jump yesterday, right? How great was the mecha fight scene?”

“Hey no spoilers! The convenience store was out of stock when I went, I’ll have to get it today.”

Bonding over manga and anime was what drew you to him. He had no qualms about reading the thick magazine during breaks and you happened to sit by him one semester during first year.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted you reading the page from your peripheral vision, tilting your head slightly to get a better look at the art. He turned his head to look at you fully and you flushed in the shame of being caught. You expected him to take his magazine elsewhere, and were surprised when he scooted his desk next to yours instead, settling the tome on the seam and asking who your favorite character was.

It only took a few months of outings at merchandise stores and impromptu sleepovers where you picked from each other’s manga libraries before the first flower petal found it’s way to your lips. You remembered it exactly, a tiny Violet petal, velvet soft against your tongue. You had no idea that such softness would eventually scrape your insides raw.

  It was only when an entire rose, red as blood, was crushed between your teeth did you decide to confess to him. It was going to be brilliantly cliche, you would leave a love note in his shoe locker telling him to meet you on the roof before volleyball practice. Only Tendou would appreciate just how shoujo like it was going to be.

Before you had the chance to sneak him the letter, however, he intercepted you. “(Y/n)-chan, I’ve been looking for ya! Come with me, I gotta tell you something.” He said with a sense of urgency you had never seen on him before, not even on the court. You nodded and followed him, helpless to do anything else. His grip on your wrist was tight and his normally skittish movement was even jerkier than normal.

When you were alone he released you, swinging around to look at you. “I need your sage advice, master!”

“M-Master?!”

He nodded, “All those girly manga you have makes you the romance master.”

“Um, okay..go on.” Your heart thudded and the urge to cough was strong. You tried to swallow it back and listen. Maybe he was going to take the lead and confess to you? You could only hope.

“How should I tell Wakatoshi-kun I like him?”

Wait.

What? You blinked in shock. You knew Tendou loved Wakatoshi, you couldn’t have a conversation without the ‘Miracle Boy’ being mentioned at least once. You just didn’t realize his love ran so deep.

“I,  uh…” Your cough began to morph into something much bigger, and…wetter. “I’ll be right back.” You stuttered out before rushing around the corner, expelling an entire bouquet into toilet water. Flowers of all colors mingled with your saliva, it was almost beautiful in a way. In a painful, disgusting way. You marveled over it before another surge overcame you, and you were grateful that it was only the flowers and not their stems.

  When you emerged the bell had rang and class was in session. Your head pounded as you made your way to the nurse’s office. You had only just arrived at school not long ago and you were ready to go home. And stay there forever.

The kindly older woman took one look at you and gave you permission to lay down on one of the cots behind the white curtains. Your bag was on the floor and you kicked your shoes off, nestling into the cot and letting your tears flow down the sides of your face and into the flat pillow.

As you stared at the blank ceiling you realized that as long as your feelings remained you were stuck with your illness. You were just a student, you were far away from affording the operation to remove the buds inside of you. Sliding your eyes closed, you tried to relax. Surely there was someone else you could focus your feelings on. Hell, you had loved fictional characters before it wasn’t so hard to do so again, right?

  Ushijima entered the nurse’s office during science class, an angry red burn on the side of his hand. It wasn’t anything serious, some ointment and a bandage and he’d be on his way. When he saw that the nurse wasn’t there he was prepared to turn around and return to class when he saw your sleeping form, the curtain slightly drawn from when a cup of water was placed beside you.

The large spiker approached you and looked down. He long since figured how you felt about his best friend. If he knew then everybody knew, yet somehow Tendou was still in the dark. With a seemingly impossible gentleness he brushed your hair from your face, his lips tilting upward as he let his fingers linger on the strands.

Ushijima drew the curtain shut before grabbing a tube of ointment and a roll of bandages and leaving, making sure that the door was firmly closed as well. With his free hand he plucked a crinkled carnation flower from his tongue and placed it in the trash bin. He made a mental note to go to the library, there had to be a reason flowers seemed to flourish from his throat. Especially when he thought about you.