Shirbert Shitposts

- Anne of Green Gables

Anne Shirley illustration for all the fall vibes 🤭

They are roughly time period appropriate...

In Anne of the Island, Anne writes, and attempts to get published, a short story titled Averil’s Atonement. But when the story is rejected by two magazines, she gets discouraged, forgets the idea and locks the story away, giving Diana a copy. Later that summer, Diana sees a baking powder competition for the best short story featuring their product, so she adds a couple of references to that particular baking powder, Rollings, into Anne’s story and sends it, telling Anne nothing. Averil’s Atonement wins the competition and that’s when Diana comes clean about it, but Anne, for some reason or other, is not happy about the fact, despite the success. 

Gilbert stops by Green Gables to congratulate her and this is the scene:

Gilbert arrived at dusk, brimming over with congratulations, for he had called at Orchard Slope and heard the news. But his congratulations died on his lips at sight of Anne’s face.

“Why, Anne, what is the matter? I expected to find you radiant over winning Rollings Reliable prize. Good for you!”

“Oh, Gilbert, not you,” implored Anne, in an ET-TU BRUTE tone. “I thought YOU would understand. Can’t you see how awful it is?”

“I must confess I can’t. WHAT is wrong?”

“Everything,” moaned Anne. “I feel as if I were disgraced forever. What do you think a mother would feel like if she found her child tattooed over with a baking powder advertisement? I feel just the same. I loved my poor little story, and I wrote it out of the best that was in me. And it is SACRILEGE to have it degraded to the level of a baking powder advertisement. Don’t you remember what Professor Hamilton used to tell us in the literature class at Queen’s? He said we were never to write a word for a low or unworthy motive, but always to cling to the very highest ideals. What will he think when he hears I’ve written a story to advertise Rollings Reliable? And, oh, when it gets out at Redmond! Think how I’ll be teased and laughed at!”

“That you won’t,” said Gilbert, wondering uneasily if it were that confounded Junior’s opinion in particular over which Anne was worried. “The Reds will think just as I thought—that you, being like nine out of ten of us, not overburdened with worldly wealth, had taken this way of earning an honest penny to help yourself through the year. I don’t see that there’s anything low or unworthy about that, or anything ridiculous either. One would rather write masterpieces of literature no doubt—but meanwhile board and tuition fees have to be paid.”

This commonsense, matter-of-fact view of the case cheered Anne a little. At least it removed her dread of being laughed at, though the deeper hurt of an outraged ideal remained.

The Mi'kmaq people in 3.01

This is them in 3.08

Considering there's atleast 3 months between these events, you're right that an entire community won't just give up their attires. The men I can understand because they have to do business outside, but the women and children too! There is an absolute possibility of forced assimilation. (I'm not in anyway capable of commenting on the historical accuracy of it) But, I think that they themselves are abandoning some part of their identity so that white people don't look down upon them any more than they already do. Like to coerce people into doing something you want, deliberately or not, is forced in my opinion.

Of course these Native beaders, quillworkers, and seamstresses would naturally incorporate their traditional styles into their husband's clothing, or the things they traded. Then Natives traded with each other. Then fashion trends start occurring IN ADDITION to everything else. Here are some examples from the late 1800s-: (note the cloth shirts, scarf, coat, & white brim hat). Things like wide brim hats, colorful & patterned skirts/dresses/shirts, & blankets were popular with Natives & were worn sometimes simply because Native people liked them.

I haven't watched AWAE but based on what I can see already, it looks like the Mi'kmaw characters, even in their traditional attire in the first examples given, were already incorporating European & traded clothing into their attire (such as the cotton button up shirt, skirts, shawls, & the scarf & hat Kakwet's lil bro is wearing). In the first episode, we also see Kakwet & her father wearing more European attire under their traditional clothing. Being a more Eastern situated peoples, it's pretty likely they had already started trading with White Canadians and/or traded with other Mi'kmaw & other tribes who did for a while now. (Here's the example of Kakwet's father, note the vest, scarf, & hat)

& you can see this onward of again, Native peoples still wearing their traditional clothing as well as European ones, or a combination of both. Here's a photo of Mi'maq in 1870 (left) & 1865 (right: both years earlier than AWAE, an example of Mi'kmaq wearing European clothing, & the other with traditional attire)

Here's a photo of some Nova Scotia Mi'kmaw in 1930 (left), wearing very similar clothing to the charas in AWAE, and then again more traditional clothing in 1910 (right: so we have two cases of Mi'kmaq still wearing traditional clothing years AFTER AWAE takes place)

Jesuits observing Mi'kmaq (circa 1610-1616) had this to say about their clothing, after describing their traditional attire made from animal skins:

"in Summer they often wear our capes, and in Winter our bed-blankets, which they improve with trimming and wear double. [page 75] They are also quite willing to make use of our hats, shoes, caps, woolens and shirts, and of our linen to clean their infants, for we trade them all these commodities for their furs."

Sure do! A general rule of thumb is that fanfiction.net has a strong bookverse community and ao3 has a stronger showverse community. As such, my recs are all from ff.net!

To me, Catiegirl is one of the best fic writers there is in the whole fandom. Every single one of her stories are novel length works of art, though people especially liked Shore of Dreams and Catching Moonlight.

Similarly, MrsVonTrapp, Katherine-with-a-k, and oz diva are notable writers in the community as well. All three of them have incredible characterization, really heartfelt stories, and generally capture the essence of the Anne series. One of the ones that really, really stuck with me is The Parting Glass by Katherine. (Though be warned, it's a bit sad. You will cry, promise.)

After you exhaust through all of their stuff, you can browse their bookmarks. Lots and lots of good stuff.

Phil Gordon (Anne of the Island)