Thread by @lainasparetime

Okay, I'm excited about this chapter today! Took yesterday off, but this is a good one, so let's do it! #LainaReadsAnne

#LainaReadsAnne Marilla doesn't find out about Anne's flower hat until the next Friday. When scolded, Anne points out that lots of the girls at Sunday school had bouquets pinned to their dresses and asks what the difference was?

#LainaReadsAnne Honestly Marilla doesn't have an answer for that. "Marilla was not to be drawn from the safe concrete into dubious paths of the abstract."

#LainaReadsAnne Marilla says it was a very silly thing to do, and Anne gets very upset by the possibility that she might give people a bad idea about Marilla, that she isn't raising Anne right, not about how people see herself.

#LainaReadsAnne Honestly that's something that you can really love about our girl. She is fine looking ridiculous if it just effects her, but if it would make people look badly on Marilla or Matthew, it really upsets her. She really wants people to treat THEM well.

#LainaReadsAnne She also says lots of girls had artificial flowers on their hats. Marilla, guilty she made Anne cry, reassures Anne that no, they don't want to send her back to the asylum. Seriously that's where Anne's mind goes very quickly - that they SHOULD send her back

#LainaReadsAnne Marilla says to cheer up and there's good news - she's going to get a skirt pattern from Mrs Barry and Diana is home from visiting an aunt so Anne can meet her.

#LainaReadsAnne Anne is super nervous that Diane won't like her, but Marilla says really she should be worrying about Mrs Barry not liking her and seriously, how queer is this, worrying about a girl's mom not liking her.

Queer Anne of Green Gables should be a thing.

#LainaReadsAnne Mrs Barry has "the reputation of being very strict with her children". She's very polite to Marilla and seems kind to Anne, though. Strict doesn't automatically equal mean, and now I'm singing that song from Into the Woods, about "nice" being different from "good"

#LainaReadsAnne That's a good song, look it up lol.

Diana is described as "a very pretty little girl, with her mother's black hair and eyes, and rosy cheeks, and the merry expression which was her inheritance from her father".

#LainaReadsAnne THAT SOUNDS A LITTLE GAY, I'M JUST SAYIN'

#LainaReadsAnne Mrs Barry is glad that Diana might have a playmate as she reads too much (lol, honestly) and sends them outside to play in the garden.

The Barry garden is absolutely gorgeous, full of flowers and described beautifully. A personal fave, bleeding hearts:

#LainaReadsAnne Not gonna lie, Anne comes on a little strong, but Diana has been lonely, too. No other girls their age live close enough to play with, and her sisters are too small.

Anne asks her to swear to be friends forever, and Diana is shocked as it's wicked to swear XD

#LainaReadsAnne Anne does explain that she means the promising kind, lol. Diana agrees and they swear to be friends forever and ever.

#LainaReadsAnne Gotta point out what Diana says here: "You're a queer girl, Anne. I heard before that you were queer. But I believe I'm going to like you real well."

And yes, I realize that language changes over time BUT.

I'm choosing to read that in a modern context.

#LainaReadsAnne And I'm just gonna sit here for a moment and sip my queer tea.

#LainaReadsAnne BECAUSE I CAN.

By the time Anne and Marilla head home, the girls are walking with their arms around each other and promising to spend the next afternoon together.

#LainaReadsAnne This is kind of a sweet moment, I think. On her third day at Green Gables, they talked about Anne wanting to find a kindred spirit.

Marilla remembers this and asks if Diana is that. She's being a little sarcastic, but Anne doesn't notice.

#LainaReadsAnne And even if she's being a little sarcastic, she still remembered that Anne said that, and it's been like three weeks that Anne's been there.

#LainaReadsAnne Literally the rest of the page - almost the entire page, really - is Anne talking about how happy she is to have met Diana and all their plans for the next afternoon and the future.

#LainaReadsAnne Just gonna leave this here: "I'm an inch taller than Diana, but she is ever so much fatter; she says she'd like to be thin because it's so much more graceful, but I'm afraid she only said it to soothe my feelings."

#LainaReadsAnne Honestly in all seriousness, that's something I'd like to look for in adaptations, how well they get Diana's physical attributes.

Should probably be making notes on that...

#LainaReadsAnne Anne is absolutely joyous and Matthew only adds to that when he comes home. He has brought her a small parcel of "chocolate sweeties" (I love that phrasing) from the store in Carmody, which he remembered Anne saying she liked... the first day they met, I believe.

#LainaReadsAnne Marilla disapproves, saying he should have at least gotten her peppermints as they're "wholesomer", but says Anne can still have them.

#LainaReadsAnne Anne has had one chocolate caramel in her life, and I bet that she's never had anything more than one or two sweet things or candies in her life.

She immediately asks to give Diana half.

#LainaReadsAnne After Anne goes to bed, Marilla says she's a very generous child, and she's glad because there's nothing she dislikes more than a "stingy" child.

She also says it's been three weeks and she can't imagine the place without Anne.

#LainaReadsAnne I love this part, so I'm just gonna quote it.

"I'm perfectly willing to own up that I'm glad I consented to keep the child and that I'm getting fond of her, but don't you rub it in, Matthew Cuthbert."

#LainaReadsAnne She's so stubborn XD

I really liked this chapter, and I'm super excited about the next one. I love the friendship between Anne and Diana.

#LainaReadsAnne Also I'm just gonna leave it here that if you like this series, I do have a tip jar here. All proceeds go towards hair dye and skin-care :P ko-fi.com/A0602GN