#awae 3x08

[avonleas-anne]

"I don't understand. What's holding you back?"

"Just...one thing."

[huesofhalcyon]

I still haven’t processed the gorgeousness that is the bonfire scene of 3x08.

I have never. EVER. Seen Gilbert Blythe more distressed than when he was talking with Anne at the bonfire. “…My future, if I want it!” He is so anxious because it’s the first time he’s laying everything out on the table in front of another person - and not just anyone, but his best friend, his kindred spirit, the love of his life. Not just his classmate or family friend. Can you believe he came straight from Charlottetown after dinner with the Roses, and went right to the Ruins because he could NOT wait until the morning. He needed to speak with Anne then and there, or else he wouldn’t - no COULDN’T - sleep or eat or do anything else until he spoke with her. These huge fucking dreams he’s been preparing for, for at least two years now, are right within his reach, nearly ready for the taking. But there is JUST. ONE. THING.

I don’t even know if I’ve been able to grasp the depth of those three words and what they mean for this pair of stupid, angsty, heartbroken teenagers.

And one of the worst parts of this whole thing is that, deep within himself, he knows he doesn’t need the Sorbonne to achieve his dreams. He’s already admitted, out loud, to Anne, in front of his classmates, that SHE is what he needs to feel fulfilled with his profession: “I believe we can fix people. Save them. We just haven’t figure out how… I would give anything to be there when we do.” I had to repeat this part so many times because his words are so beautiful. WE. We. We can fix people, he says. He KNOWS they are good together; his teammate, his partner in crime, his rule breaker. I fucking love that he basically says that BOTH he and Anne have the brains and the heart to facilitate massive change in the world.

The stakes are high now. This is no longer puppy love, it’s not a school boy crush, or a teenage infatuation, or even longing anymore. This is full blown, passionate, excruciatingly painful, fierce, earnest love. Anne is who he wants to grow old with. He wants to marry her, wake up in the morning and have her beautiful face be the first thing he sees. He wants his children to have her eyes and her skin, and her hair, oh god, her hair. She is the sun. The burning ball of fire - blazing furiously in his heart. He wants her in his life. Forever.

If you watch the bonfire scene again, after Anne asks what is holding him back, you can see in Gilbert’s eyes: “Anne. I am in love with you. I am yours. I want you. I always have, but I want you forever. Is there a chance that you might love me, too?”

[figothynewton]

Is no one gonna talk about how the milkman who made that poor boy stop crying and who unknowingly brought ka’kwet to safety is the same milkman who Anne ran away from the orphanage with?

[anne-girl]

I have some problems with this. FIRST OF ALL: OUR GIRL IS MOST DEFINITELY DRUNK. Clearly Gilbert must know that, right? She is in no state to be accepting or rejecting proposals. SECOND: GILBERT, MY BOY!!! YOU WALKED YOURSELF RIGHT INTO THAT. You claim this have you “clarity” but it shouldn’t have. You have made no effort in showing Anne that staying with her would be more beneficial to you than going with Winifred!!! You listed literally all the reasons why you should be with Winifred, and Anne has clearly made a list of her own, so you set yourself up for failure here dude. 🤦‍♀️

[zesty-mythic-bitch]

The shot of Anne drunkenly dancing so wild and carefree in slow motion with her hair loose and whipping in the wind the wind with the fire behind her and not noticing Gilbert watching her with a loving gaze while soft music plays in the background? Yeah Moira pulled that straight out of an ao3 fanfic and you can quote me on that

[missmizzmozz]

FOREVER grateful to Moira Walley-Beckett that she didn’t end the season with “I’m in love with Gilbert Blythe!” 

We are indebted to her for not leaving us all to spontaneously combust if that was how the season had ended.

[larracehouse]

Episode 8:

[shirbertshitposts]

The bonfire scene

[autistic-stedebonnet]

3x07

•••

3x08

In which Gilbert realizes that Anne’s drunk rambling is not in fact, a no.

Gilbert’s words repeated in Anne’s swirling head, over and over again.

How dare he! How dare he approach her in such a state and tell her to ask him to stay?! She could never do such a thing, why didn’t he understand that? She wasn’t so selfish as to tear him from his dreams and a life that would make him truly happy, just for her own satisfaction. She tried to convey this to him, but with the alcohol coursing through her veins, and the rage and sorrow pounding at her heart, her words came out jumbled and mostly incoherent.

His eyes, a warm honey color in the firelight, searched her face for the answer that he so desperately wanted. Anne had never seen him so vulnerable, but oh how she hated him! She could vaguely hear the girls’ voices, high-pitched and giggly, calling for her, as if they didn’t see the boy sitting beside her. For a moment she resented them for not seeing that she was busy. But did she even want to talk to him? What was she supposed to say? She watched in anger and desperation as he walked from the ruins, lingering for a moment, giving her one more chance. But she was already plunged deep into her thoughts, the vision of the bonfire and her friends even more blurred than they had been before. Her heart sank as the moonshine began to wear off, and she realized that that was probably her last and only chance. Gilbert was going to propose to Winifred and pursue the life that he deserved. And she’d always be plain Anne, a fading memory, a fleeting crush, a simple, stupid Avonlea girl. But wasn’t that what she wanted? For him to be happy? Of course, but she wondered if it was worth breaking her own heart.

•

After waking up to the terrible thing of her dream of Gilbert being cut short, Anne lay out on the hay bales in dismay,gazing up at the barn roof as if it would give her the answers she wanted. Half of her was running through her plan in which to speak to Aunt Jo without breaking out in tears over seeing Diana, and the other half was berating Gilbert. Stupid Gilbert. She fought back tears as she clutched at handfuls of hay, hoping it could serve to ground her, and only plunging further into the abyss. She had always read of heartbreak, but thought it to be simply metaphorical. But how could the anguish splitting through her chest be figurative? It truly felt as if someone had twisted her heart, tied it in a knot and shoved it back into her with no care. She shut her eyes and breathed in shakily.

“Anne?”

Oh dear. At first she didn’t open her eyes, sure that this was her imagination and unsure about whether or not she wanted it to be. When she opened them, she didn’t know if she wanted him to be there or not. Of course, the reality was the former.

“Gilbert?” Anne cried, shooting up from her almost fetal position and furiously wiping her eyes, no onions for him to blame it on now. “What- what are you doing here? Matthew, he’s uh, he’s out in the fields.”

“I’m not here for Matthew,” Gilbert replied hurriedly.

“Oh.” Anne stared down at her slender hands, fiddling with them as a way to keep herself from blurting out all the wrong things, like she always did.

Realizing Anne didn’t plan to say anything else, Gilbert sat gingerly beside her and continued. “I wanted to speak with you about... about last night.”

Anne shook her head. “We don’t have to.”

“Don’t we?” Gilbert inquired.

“Fine. I don’t see what else you have to say though.”

Gilbert chuckled sadly. “Well I must apologize first. I didn’t quite take into account your... state of mind.” He sighed. “I should’ve waited.” Boldly he reached out to grasp Anne’s hands. “But Anne, I couldn’t bear waiting.”

“Gilbert...” Anne choked on her words.

“Anne, I’m in love with you.”

“No, you’re not supposed to be!” Anne declared. “You’re supposed to be in love with Winifred.”

“But I’m not, and I can’t be. Anne, please tell me not to propose to her,” Gilbert pleaded, his voice cracking.

“I can’t.” Anne wasn’t fighting the tears anymore. She hated Gilbert for this. She hated him for putting all of this on her and forcing her to decide his future for him.

“Do you... do you not have feelings for me?”

Anne stood up, enraged and crying. “Of course I do!” She yelled. “Could you think that I don’t? But I can’t hold you back! I can’t be the one that prevents you from achieving your dreams, I simply won’t!”

Now Gilbert was standing as well, his dropped shoulders and begging eyes making him seem so small. “Anne, why can’t you understand? You are my dreams, and you have been since the day you hit me over the head with your slate. I love you, I always have. And I can’t marry Winifred, not when I’ll always be in love with you.”

“Then don’t!” Anne cried out. “But make that decision on your own! Don’t force me to decide on your future and mine! You can’t expect me to purposely hold you back when I know how much potential you have. And I know that me telling you not to propose, it... it would ruin your chances at a wonderful future.”

Gilbert’s eyes dropped to the barn floor. He nodded. “I’m sorry Anne.”

“It’s fine,” Anne murmured.

A beat of silence passed, and another, before Gilbert replied, gently.

“But it isn’t. I put all this pressure on you, and you don’t deserve that.” He reached out for her hands once more, more loving than desperate this time. “I’m going to break things off with Winnie. And don’t you say anything about my dreams, because the Sorbonne is nothing compared to you. It has always been you, Anne.” He caressed her cheek and smiled fondly. “And it always will be. I’d be a country doctor a thousand times over if it meant a life spent by your side.”

Anne’s breath stuttered at his last sentiment, but she didn’t deny anything. “Please Gilbert, promise me that I’m not stealing away your future. I couldn’t bear it if I was,” she whispered, her bottom lip quivering in expectation of impending tears.

Gilbert pulled Anne closer to him, resting one hand on her back and the other on her scarlet hair. “Never,” he said firmly. “You are my future. And there are other schools, other cities, and other opportunities. Being with you Anne, it wouldn’t close any doors, it would just open a million more.”

Anne nodded into his shoulder and her breathing began to even out. “I love you too Gil,” she breathed. “I don’t think I realized it before, I was so confused and stubborn. But I do, I love you and I think that I always have, long before I realized it myself.”

They stood there for a long time. Walls had been broken and promises forged and Anne had come to a bend in the road. She didn’t know what was ahead, but with her arms around Gilbert, she didn’t think that it quite mattered yet.

•••

just a heads up that there’s only one more after this, cause i really loved the way episode 10 ended.

[profoundinqq]

Gilbert: *On the train to Charlottetown to propose to Winifred*

Gilbert: *Goes to grab the ring to look at it but grabs Anne's pen instead*

Gilbert:

Gilbert: Well fuck

[blackfodder]

AWAE ships going into 3X08. As told by scenes from the film Titanic.

[avonleas-anne]

[huesofhalcyon]

This second right here.

That slight raise of his eyebrows.

Gilbert is probably so incredibly nervous right now for what he is about to do. He wants to explain that he would drop everything for Anne (and as we all know that once he finally did he STILL had no clue what or how to properly tell her)...

As he's walking towards her, he has the most excruciating butterflies, the biggest lump in his throat, electrical energy coursing through every fiber of his being... all while he's taking each step and looking up at this fiery, ethereal being.

And then that second when he raises his brows, he does so because despite being the cause of the burning in his lungs and veins, she is also the source of his calm. He raises his brows because he can't believe how absolutely enchanting she is. She is his burning sun and his tranquil moon. She's his love.

[figothynewton]

My favorite parts of this AMAZING episode

Aunt Jo absolutely DESTROYING Diana calling her boring *chef’s kiss*

The absolute Joy from all the students after the exam everyone just having so much fun as children because they won’t get to for much longer

Ka’kwet’s reunion with her family I was crying so hard it was just so beautiful

Gilbert seeing Anne dancing with the flame behind her. The filming. The lighting. The emotions. The hearteyes. Too perfect.

God bless Rachel she fuckin Destroyed those board members

Bash’s little dance when he thought Gil was gonna marry Anne are you KIDDING ME

Anne’s realization right after she reunited with Diana it was AGH

Any way this episode was stellar applause to Moira and the cast I’m so excited for the next two episodes

[redshoes-blues]

“C’mon Anne!”

“We want to do one of your rituals!”

Can we just talk about Anne being the other girls’ pagan ring-leader? Because I’m SO here for it! 🔮

[biandanxious18]

“I asked Anne if she thought there was a chance for us”

Gilbert.

Gilbert.

Gilbert.

You literally didn’t.