#and its the same with Stacy in s2

[heph]

House's addiction to misery is really heartbreaking but also something that is so important to me

I think that he doesn't want any semblance of happiness because being high on feel-good hormones opens him up to being hurt (again)

It's so much easier to hurt others, so much easier to not allow himself that happiness - because happiness is vulnerability and something people can use to hurt him

And so he hides behind this air of idgaf and hurts everyone around him in the process, and it makes me feel so so sad

[solarmorrigan]

For the dialogue prompt, how about “What happened doesn’t change anything” for either Steddie or Newmann?

Thank you!

Hello hello hello I finally have something for you! I chose Steddie for this one, since I was on a roll. I hope this suits!

[post-S2 Steddie AU; CW: Outing, transphobia, some internalized transphobia; soft ending guaranteed, though]

-

When he sees Hagan meandering over towards them in the parking lot after school, his queen bee tagalong, Perkins, in tow, Eddie knows nothing good is going to follow. The way he feels Steve shift beside him says that he suspects much the same. The rest of the Hellfire guys, all gathered around Eddie’s van, talking and joking before heading home, have fallen silent.

It’s a small consolation that Hagan isn’t trailing Hargrove; since putting Steve in the hospital (briefly, Steve always interjects) last November, Hargrove has mostly given him—and the members of the Hellfire Club, once Steve had been taken into their fold—a fairly wide berth. Hagan, however, has had no compunctions about hassling Steve whenever he gets a bug up his ass about something, and he’s only become nastier since he started toadying for Hargrove.

So Eddie expects trouble, but he hadn’t expected–

Hagan starts small, crowing about how Steve has finally found his rightful place: among the freaks. Steve doesn’t give anything away, no displeasure, no anger, just bored indifference – the same mask he’s always hidden behind (the one Eddie had learned pretty quickly to see past, once he knew what to look for). But Hagan pushes.

“I guess the freaks already have a king,” Hagan snipes, cutting a glance at Eddie, “but I’m sure he needs a lady to rule by his side, right, Stevie?”

It seems like an unoriginal sort of dig—calling Steve a girl, how creative—except Steve goes pale. The mask slips, showing wide and frightened eyes for just a moment, but for Hagan, who’s known Steve for years, it’s long enough. He knows he’s hit something good.

“Do all your new little friends know, Stevie-boy? What makes you fit right in with them?” Hagan glances around the group, apparently enjoying the fact that if looks could kill, he’d be dead four times over. Then he leans in and practically spits at Steve, “Do they know that they got into your pants, you’d be less of a King Steve and more of a Queen Stacy?”

And that does it – shatters Steve’s mask so thoroughly that he actually takes a step back, staring at Hagan with a kind of disbelieving betrayal frozen on his face.

The full meaning of the words hits Eddie about three seconds before Hagan hits the side of the van, one of Eddie’s hands fisted in the front of his t-shirt and the other held firm at the base of his throat – not hurting, exactly, but heavily implying that he could.

Eddie doesn’t even have to reach for one of the many theatrical voices he uses to rile people up or cow them into submission; he’s so thoroughly taken by a type of rage he hasn’t let himself give into in a long time that his tone comes out perfectly threatening all on its own.

“If you ever repeat what you just said to another person, I will find out, and I will make your life a living hell,” he hisses.

Somewhere behind him, someone—it might be Jeff, though Eddie isn’t sure—clears their throat, and when Eddie tosses a glance over his shoulder, he finds the rest of Hellfire standing firm at his back (even tiny underclassman Gareth, with his arms crossed and the meanest look on his face the poor kid can muster).

“Ah, my apologies,” Eddie says as he faces front again, flashing a manic little grin, “we will find out. And we’ll ruin your life, Hagan. Same goes for your girlfriend.”

Perkins, who had been standing off to the side as the snickering peanut gallery right up until Eddie had pinned Hagan to the side of the van, makes a choked noise of offense that goes entirely ignored.

“Tell me you understand, Tommy-boy.” Eddie punctuates the command with a flex of his fingers near Hagan’s throat, until Hagan reluctantly nods, and Eddie releases him. “Glad we’re in agreement.”

Hagan and Perkins hightail it the other side of the parking lot, leaving them be with nothing more than a nasty look from Perkins, but no one is much in the mood to chat after that. No one really knows what to say – except Steve, who offers a quiet thanks to the rest of the guys and, having caught a ride in with Eddie that morning, then asks to be taken home.

Even with the radio playing quietly as Eddie drives, the atmosphere in the van feels silent and stifling.

Asking Steve if he’s alright feels like kind of a ridiculous move. Eddie wouldn’t be alright if he was in Steve’s position – hell, Eddie’s not alright. He’s pissed. But from the way Steve is sitting rigidly in the passenger seat, staring out the window like Eddie is driving him to his execution, Eddie’s anger—even on his behalf—isn’t what he needs right now.

Slowly, Eddie forces himself to let it go (for now, at least for now) and follow the familiar roads home.

It feels perfectly natural to simply head back to his place, where they’d been planning to go before that shitshow of a confrontation, though the surprise on Steve’s face when they pull up to the trailer says that he’d thought otherwise.

“You could’ve just taken me back to my house. I wouldn’t– I’d get it,” he says, and Eddie frowns at him.

“Did you want to go back to your house? We can hang out there if you want, I just figured…” Eddie tilts his head regarding him carefully. “You seem more comfortable here.”

Steve stares at him for a long moment, blank and uncertain, before he breaks back into motion with a shrug. “Okay,” he says, moving to get out of the van.

They head inside and nod a quick hello to Wayne, who looks like he’s just woken up in preparation for his shift, and then they go straight back to Eddie’s room. Eddie’s bag goes on the desk, but Steve’s goes by the door. Eddie sits down on the bed (admittedly one of the few places to sit, but also an invitation for Steve to come sit next to him) but Steve – Steve hesitates before leaning up against the wall, by the door with his bag, arms crossed and gaze cast towards the floor.

He looks ready to run at any moment, and Eddie sighs. This thing between them is new – so new that they’ve been afraid to put a label to it, dancing around each other uncertainly for months before sharing their first kiss barely a month ago. They’ve spent almost every available moment since with their hands on each other in some way or another, though Steve has been a bit skittish about moving past making out (Eddie had thought that maybe it was the unfamiliarity of being with another guy, but he thinks he might have a better understanding of the picture now).

Eddie doesn’t want to break things by pushing too hard, but somehow, he thinks leaving it unaddressed would be worse.

“Look, we don’t have to talk about it,” he says, watching Steve, though Steve still isn’t looking back, “but if you want to…”

Steve shrugs. “I wasn’t hiding it from you,” he says, finally glancing up at Eddie. “I mean, I was, but not– I was going to tell you.”

“You don’t owe me any kind of explanation,” Eddie says.

“You would’ve found out eventually, either way.” Steve lets out a sound that suggests he may have been trying to laugh. “But it was – I should’ve been the one to tell you. That was – that was mine to tell.”

A little bit of Eddie breaks as Steve’s voice does. He’s almost vibrating with the desire to hold and to reassure, to go over to where Steve is standing, still propped against the wall, practically curling in on himself (trying to make himself smaller), but he’s not sure how well it would be received. He tries words, instead.

“Steve, I’m so sorry–”

“That was the one thing,” Steve snaps, anger tearing across his tone, “the one thing Tommy would never touch, the one thing that was off limits, even he knew– and he just–” As quickly as it had come, the anger goes, taking Steve’s energy with it. He presses the heels of his palms into his eyes and lets his hands slide down to cover his face; when he speaks again, he sounds small. “I wasn’t ready.”

Eddie couldn’t keep himself from crossing the room if he’d tried – though isn’t trying, after that. He’s up off the bed and into Steve’s space before he’s even realized, and it’s probably only his proximity that allows him to hear what Steve says next.

“I’m not ready for things to change between us.”

“Steve,” Eddie says, low and careful, “what happened doesn’t change anything.”

Steve pulls his hands away from his face with a derisive little huff of a laugh. His cheeks are red and his eyes are bright; he’s not crying, but it looks like a near thing.

“It’s – like, I get it. You’re fully into guys, and I’m…” He waves his hands down at himself, sharp and frustrated. “Most people wouldn’t call me a real guy, if they knew.”

“Since when am I most people?” Eddie asks. “You say you’re a guy, you’re a real guy, fucking end of. Anyone who thinks otherwise can fuck off.”

Steve scoffs, rolling his eyes, clearly trying to hold back a much more emotional reaction, and Eddie chances resting his hands on Steve’s shoulders. Steve doesn’t move away, even eases a little into the touch when Eddie starts circling his thumbs at the skin right where his shirt collar ends.

“You don’t have to believe me right now,” Eddie says softly. “But I like you, Steve. I like you, andI’m gonna stick around and prove it to you.”

Something about the declaration makes Steve’s eyes snap right to Eddie’s, searching, anxious and cautiously hopeful, and Eddie lets him look. Whatever he’s after, maybe he finds it, because he uncurls from himself a little after that, just enough to lean in for a hesitant kiss that becomes much more certain when Eddie himself doesn’t hold back.

Eddie pulls Steve back over to the bed after that, poking and prodding him around until they’re both settled, Eddie’s back to the pillows and Steve’s back to Eddie’s chest (Steve’s never said as much, but Eddie’s gathered that this is one of his favorite positions to cuddle in; he doubts if Steve’s spent much time being the little spoon).

“Tell me something else,” Eddie says, once he’s got his arms wrapped securely around Steve’s waist.

“What?” Steve asks.

“Tell me something that you want me to know.” Eddie leans forward to press a kiss to Steve’s temple. “Anything.”

For a moment, Steve is quiet, thinking as he traces absent patterns over Eddie’s forearms. “I could tell you why I picked Steve,” he says finally.

“If you want to, I’d love to hear it,” Eddie says.

“It wasn’t because it was sort of close to my… old name. That was actually kind of a coincidence.” Steve lets his head fall back against Eddie’s shoulder, the tension that’s been wound through him for the last hour finally starting to ease. “Steven was my grandad’s name.”

“Yeah?” Eddie prompts softly.

“Yeah. My mom’s dad. I used to spend a lot of time over at his house when I was a kid. Before he died. I kind of got the feeling he liked me more than my parents did.” Eddie gives Steve a squeeze around the middle. “But he used to tell me all these stories about fighting in World War II. Probably not very age-appropriate, now that I think about it, but at the time I really ate it up.

“He didn’t really, like… glorify it, I don’t think? He just kind of told me what happened, good or bad, and whatever the story was, I always thought he sounded, y’know – strong and brave. And when I wanted to pick a new name…” Steve shrugs against Eddie. “I kind of hoped he wouldn’t mind sharing his with me.”

“Bet he’d be honored,” Eddie says, giving Steve another little squeeze.

“Some days I’m not so sure,” Steve says quietly.

“Well I am. I’ll just have to stick around and prove that to you, too,” Eddie says decisively.

Briefly, Steve’s hands tighten where they rest on Eddie’s arms. “I like the sound of that,” he says, and Eddie turns so he can press another kiss to the side of Steve’s head.

“Good,” he says. “Me too.”

[yourfavvgal]

love triangle

now ive been thinking about this a while (basing it off s2:6) and once i watched i was like. LOVE TRIANGLE. so let me show you why and how!

(i really cant remember if half the stuff is correct or if i started rambling on)

cameron and wilson: her and wilson are basically the same in some way. they care for people, they both wanted cheated (wilson did) and well they both have a crush on someone (aka a ‘bestfriend’ in one way or another) she likes her husband’s bestfriend but she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she ever cheated. wilson is in love with his best friend (he was totally talking about house making him happy and that thats why him and his wife’s relationship didn’t work out).

this just shows the comparison about wilson and cameron.

house: both cameron and wilson like house in one way or another (SPOILER!!! cameron kisses house and its obvious wilson loves house)

house hasn’t really loved someone before since stacy really, so it really is a massive love triangle around cameron, wilson and house.

cameron and wilson loving house.

house loving nobody.

[jimmy-wilson]

so the first time House got psychosomatic pain it was seen as obvious evidence that he was still in love with Stacy. Second time, when Wilson is in trouble and pushing that stress on House and House gets new random shoulder pain its......what? Just bros being bros and giving each other inexplicable serious psychosomatic pain that’s been shown to manifest when House doesn’t want to confront his feelings? Maybe they’ll get some beers after, watch monster trucks. Oh wait, that’s exactly what they do, the dumbasses.

[kaypeace21]

Important things we learned from the ST prequel novel “Suspicious Minds”

What we learned about powers

The ‘potential’ to have powers is (generally) hereditary, however only under certain conditions will these powers manifest (psychological trauma, drugs, or certain psychological conditioning/experimentation is usually how it’s done). If this isn’t done, generally, if any powers still develop they are very weak. An example being Ken who was born with powers along with some of his other family members.

-“I am psychic, always have been ... My family always believed in this stuff... “

-“ He got feelings. Certainty would lodge itself in his chest. He had dreams with snatches of reality mixed in. Flashes of intuition. These came unpredictably—which he always thought was funny—and so he was never surprised if an inkling showed up. Or if it didn’t.” 

-“ I get feelings, sometimes fully formed thoughts, that I have a deep sense are true.”

( Hmm...this intuition-thing sounds very similar to how Joyce insisted she knew Will was alive despite seeing his fake-body.)

The younger the child is when experimented or tortured, the more likely they are to yield stronger powers. Even if the same trauma was done on an adult the results would be weaker and would be dependent on that particular stimulus. Alice could only see visions of the future with lsd and electroshock therapy, Terry had what’d you’d call “perfect recall” (which only happened with lsd)- diving into her memories and remembering them perfectly. While El can channel her powers without such things. 

-“Rare enough these days, especially in adult subjects...potential”

-“His theory had always been that exceptional abilities could be encouraged under the right conditions. But he’d always had to work with available subjects, none of them clean slates. This child—he could start encouraging the development of this child’s abilities now. In utero. Every day of her life. He’d make sure she was special”

There is a high correlation between above average intelligence and having “potential” (i.e capability to develop powers). In the book, Brenner almost used the terms interchangeably”.  

- “genius IQ, potential…limitless.” (El’s ‘potential’ was described as ‘extreme’)

-Terri is described as “above average intelligence”, and “brimming with potential” by Brenner.

-One of Brenner’s nicknames for Kali is “smart girl”.

-Terry’s questioned her roommate Stacy (who got out of the experiment) saying “How she’d fooled anyone into thinking she had average intelligence was beyond Terry—Stacey was obviously the smartest of all.”

-also in other outside cannon material Will is said to be the smartest of all the boys... hmmm...

How the void works

Terry after getting pregnant (temporarily) gains her baby Jane’s/El’s power to tap into the ‘void’. In relation to seeing normal people in the void, Terry learned they will not notice you observing and eavesdropping on them, and they cannot hear or see you (according to the book) ... so we can probably assume they also cannot touch other psychics without fading away, as well (like in the show). 

But the void is different if you try this on another psychic, she accidentally summons Kali- and finds out it’s a way for other psychics and only other psychics to have a private place to talk to one another- without anyone realizing. So yep, Will is psychic- the fact Will could touch, see, hear, and talk to El in the void wasn’t a coincidence! Debate over! XD”

More Proof Will has powers

He can communicate with other psychics using the void (in s1) . If powers are genetic (Joyce probably has Clairvoyance like Ken). And in the show, Joyce’s and Terry’s aunts were both described as “crazy” -which is probably not a coincidence. Also he’s the smartest of all the boys and described by Mr Clarke as  “great student.”

In relation to the adults (with powers) both the Xmen and Lord of the Rings were used in reference to them, multiple times. Will’s password for Castle Byers is “Rhadagast”, a character in Lord of the Rings. And in the 1st ep of the series, before Will goes missing , he asks Dustin for his X-men comic- later in reference to El ,Dustin asks “Do you think El was born with her powers like the X-men?” And when Mike says El is “channeling him (Will)”. Dustin says “like professor x”. clearly hinting that they were both born with powers, like the X-men.

Dr Brenner says there are very few people in the world with ‘potential’- ie the ability to develop powers under certain conditions. He encouraged the numbered-children to draw since it would increase the chances of developing powers. This is why we see a picture that El drew on her bedroom wall in s1. And who else really likes to draw- Will?

-“Art the psychologist here claimed, was vitally important for the creative children. Eight was definitely creative.” (Eight at this time, was the most powerful psychic ever, since El wasn’t born yet.)

when experimenting on the adults, they would take monthly blood tests and monitor their blood pressures. In s2 ep 1 they did the same thing to Will. They drew Will’s blood and put it in a vial ,monitored his blood pressure, and like El, recorded his brainwaves.

 Ken who was born with powers, is not heterosexual. And since many believe Will is queer it’s probably not a coincidence. Plus Will is referenced  to as a “cleric” and a “wizard”. And as a joke his friend says about him, “what wizardry is this?”

Dr Brenner tells a story about an experiment that involves killing rabbits. In the show “Papa” tries to force El to kill a cat. While Lonnie, Will’s dad, forced Jonathan to kill a rabbit, the first time he learned to shoot a gun. And since Will knows how to shoot a gun in s1e1, we can infer he was also forced to kill a rabbit/animal by a father figure-so it’s probably a parallel.

Both Alice and Terry when using their powers had hallucinations of a rainbow, Kali also formed a visual-allusion of sunflowers and a rainbow (implying all 3 have seen this rainbow, as well, when using their powers). And when Will was very young- he drew that ‘rainbow ship’.

-Terri: “Spots bloomed behind her eyelids. Every color ... as the sunlight turned to rainbows” ( p44-45), “The rainbow stayed with Terry for a long while, but eventually it faded and in its place: darkness. A pit.”(p. 48).  “streaks of rainbow appeared (p47)”, “Wavy rainbows seemed to radiate from her hand even once she stilled it. (p. 88). “Her eyelids drifted shut, rainbows and sparks flying behind them. (p. 89). 

-Alice (who sees visions of the future) : “Snarling, snapping monsters, rainbow lights playing in the air around them (p. 121).

-Kali: “field of yellow sunflowers grew up around them. A rainbow arcing over the golden tops.” (p. 139).  “He noticed she’d drawn up there, a rainbow with her colored pencils. Maybe he’d suggest that for the playroom” (the rainbow room we see in s2) (p. 298) 

Interesting things we learned about Kali

- Kali at 5 years old, was the strongest of all 10 numbers- who were called the Indigo children (who are in a separate experiment than the adults, like Terry).

- Brenner purposely isolated her from other people. “Eight wasn’t allowed to know there were other children here. They were all ordinary so far. He worried they’d infect her.” (what a sicko- he did that to El too). He says about Kali “Child shows gifts that require isolation from those who might weaken her…Constantly asks for family and to be called by given name…Has stopped asking for her mother…”

- Brenner put her through sleep deprivation, for 13 hours, when she tried to keep a secret from him.

- In another scene after Kali reveals another secret to Brenner, Terry finds her on the bed “bathed in sweat, soaked through her gown” and “sobbing” “tightly gripping the sheets”. What did Brenner do here... am I reading too much into this? I feel like I missed a page or... y’know maybe he’s even more of a monster than I thought. They never explain this? And I’m still not sure how to interpret it 0-0

-Kali loved Terry (El’s mom) and the other adults even saying “I love you”, and referring to them as “family”. And Kali makes a hallucination in order to help them escape, they promise to come back and free her. So in s2 ep7 the “family” that Kali referred to that Dr. Brenner/the government killed was them.

Dr Brenner probably has powers 

- Ken who was born with powers describes it as a gut feeling of something that will occur or a belief he knows is true.

-Brenner can simply look at a person and his gut feeling tells him whether or not they have ‘potential’ to develop powers or not. It isn’t always correct but the vast majority of the time it is. He does this throughout the whole novel to everyone he meets.

“male, 5′8″, 180 pounds, white, average intelligence, potential…fulfilled by sitting in a guard booth checking IDs”

“Rare enough these days, especially in adult subjects. The way she’d sensed an opportunity and shown up suggested potential...Potential. She was bursting with it.” (about Terri)

“Such lost potential is always sad. There’s so little of it in the world.”(about Alice)

“Funny that his ID contained some of the information Brenner would have wanted if he were looking at himself: male, 6′1″, 195 pounds, white. The rest: genius IQ, potential…limitless.”

What we learned about the Mindflayer

-Well, I was right about the mindflayer having fire powers -so Will will probably get electro-pyrokinesis (along with other powers) like the comic and show hinted at, link here and here. 

Alice who sees visions of the future describes the mindflayer as “A monstrous vortex of fire and energy and darkness, tentacles reaching and growing. Growing so big they could eat the sky. Its mouth had a glowing fire of destruction inside it… (p. 243). 

[flordidian]

Comments: Worst Changes Made by Adaptations to the Anne Series

filmmakerdream

On Gil on S2, have you been paying attention to the scenes he was in? The whole reason why he went back on his word is complex. Like he travalled the world because he felt trapped in the community he was in, then when he found reasons to go back. He tried to settle, tried to catch up but recieved no help.

He gets so frustrated because he feels trapped again. So he tries to find ways out of it like talking to his doctor friend. Then when Miss Stacy comes out and gives him a clear way out, he takes it and in doing so, he loses his friend.

It’s a process that leads him to his father’s grave, like he’s come right back to where he started. He feels like his home isn't in avonlea, not in Trinidad, not on the ships. And he's only sixteen.

Gil was never explored in the books, he was never was given a story outside of Anne Shirley. As much as he messed up, I think its truer to his ajustment period being back in Avonlea.

That being said -- he was an ass to Bash (Bash being in avonlea is dangerous enough let alone on his own) so I'm glad he apologised.

First, can I just say how beautifully you argued that? I was seriously impressed. So impressed that you have changed my view of the scene.

I love Gilbert in the books and I think, without realizing it, I projected that character on the Gilbert of Anne with an E. I essentially ignored their unique characterization in favor for my perception of Gilbert in the book. Naturally, that caused me to miss the character arc you so skillfully described.

The Gilbert of Anne with an E is certainly different than the Gilbert of the books. Arguably he is more flawed, but that is simply a result of him getting more screen time then his book counterpart.

Not to mention, the Gilbert of the book does not lose either of his parents (until Anne of Ingleside anyway) and has the love and support of the town. He feels like he belongs and has a lot of family in the area. The Gilbert of the book doesn’t experience the heart break or frustration that the Gilbert of Anne with an E does. Sure, book Gilbert has troubles, but they are not the same.

As you yourself conclude, I still think what Gilbert did was wrong, but you have painted him in a far more sympathetic light to me.

[roadtoavonlea]

A/N: I’m not really sure what this is.  I had an idea for a one-shot, it turned into this, and it could possibly turn into more.  Please let me know your thoughts and whether or not you would be interested in reading more.

Also, I know Anne’s eyes are supposed to be gray, but Amybeth’s are blue, and since this takes place in AWAE universe, I went with blue.

Takes place two years after the S2 finale of Anne with an E

Word Count: 940

Carpe Noctem

Gilbert Blythe couldn’t believe that his days as a student at the Avonlea schoolhouse were coming to an end.  At one point, he had been impatiently counting them down, anxious about starting the next chapter of his life, but as the days ticked by, a different kind of uneasiness filled him.  He wasn’t fearful about the future.  Not in the least bit.  He realized what he wanted to do with his life nearly two years earlier, but in his haste to reach that next step, he failed to realize that he needed something else in order to make his professional dreams come true: money.  College wasn’t cheap and while the farm was able to stand on its own now, Bash and he were far from rich.  It was definitely a setback, but only a minor one.  He wouldn’t be able to attend Redmond as quickly as he had anticipated, but he had other options—like attending Queen’s.

So, instead of focusing on an acceptance to Redmond, he spent the last few months studying for the entrance exam to Queen’s.  If he got accepted, he would opt to get his teaching certificate in a year. Afterward, he planned to teach for a few years so he could save up the money needed to attend Redmond for the first year.  He knew that if he could just get there, he would find a way to work doubly hard in order to win any scholarship he could to insure the furtherance of his education.

The problem was that he wasn’t entirely sure where that extra burst of energy would come from.  As it was, it was all he could do to attend school, participate in the Queen’s preparation class afterward, and pull his weight around the farm.  Of course Bash and Mary insisted that his studies come first, but Gilbert wanted to make sure they knew that he was as equally invested in the farm as he was in his education.  He repeatedly assured them that he not only could handle the extra work, but that he reveled in the challenge of it.

It was a battle he was afraid he was beginning to lose.  As the entrance exam loomed over him, he found himself burning the midnight oil—so to speak—in order to get a little more studying in after doing his afternoon chores.  

By the time the last week of class rolled around, Gilbert was functioning on about three hours of sleep a night.

He was years away from becoming a doctor, but it didn’t take a medical degree to recognize that he couldn’t possibly keep up with that pace for very long.

So, when Miss Stacy announced an end of term party for those who won’t be returning to the schoolhouse in the fall, Gilbert wasn’t quite sure how to react.

Fun?  The word itself seemed so foreign to him now.  He couldn’t remember the last time he did anything that didn’t involve studying or manual labor.  In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he spent any amount of time outside of school with his friends.  He was certain that the last time he hung out with Charlie Sloane was when they went fishing one Saturday morning last fall.  Then there was the time Gilbert headed to Charlottetown to pick up some tools—so that Bash and he could repair the fence behind the barn—and ran into Moody at the Avonlea station.  They decided to ride together to Charlottetown and back in order to catch up with one another.  It had been a several months since he had seen his friend outside of school, so Gilbert enjoyed being able to spend the afternoon with him.  As far as the other boys in school were concerned, it had been even longer, perhaps last summer, since Gilbert spent any real amount of time with them.

As far as the girls were concerned, the only one Gilbert ever really made time to see outside of the classroom was Anne, but even then, it had been weeks since he was last at Green Gables for Sunday supper.  Bash and Mary went of course, as they did every Sunday, but with the entrance exam looming over him, Gilbert believed that God would understand if he utilized his Sundays after church to study instead of socialize.  Once upon a time, Anne and he attempted to study together, but they quickly realized that it did more harm than good as they normally ended up getting into some sort of debate about one subject or another.  Being as headstrong and stubborn as they were, neither would relent, so they ended up spending countless hours on one subject and would get very little else accomplished.

As much as he enjoyed their scholastic debates, now wasn’t the time to partake in them.  He figured they would have plenty of time to discuss every corner of the universe once they passed their entrance exams.

When the classroom erupted into various conversations about the party, Gilbert’s attention slowly shifted toward the girl with auburn hair and blue eyes who looked as if Miss Stacy had just handed her the keys to a treasure chest.  His gaze lingered on her form as she conversed animatedly with Diana Barry over the announcement.  

A lot had changed for Gilbert Blythe in the last two years, but despite the magnitude of responsibilities weighing down on him (and the fact that he felt closer to forty than his eighteen years showed), one thing remained the same: every single time the beautiful red-head smiled or threw a glance his way, his heart skipped a beat.