The sun wasn't gonna be coming up for quite a while, but Flower didn't have to rely on photosynthesis to grow.
All her life, she just wanted to be seen; to be noticed, respected, regarded as the plant-person-whatever with potential that she had always seen herself as. She wanted to win Dream Island, or at least have a decent shot at it, and so when the opportunity arose she gave it her all. Despite all her efforts, however, how was she rewarded? Being eliminated first, spending so many months in that awful, cold, cramped prison, then finally getting a second chance at it then getting snubbed yet again. When she finally got the chance to protest, to respond aggressively against all the months and years of constant backlash and insults, she was then proverbially trampled by a force from beyond, her life ripped right out of her without even a moment to react, to even ask why.
When someone *finally* bothered to recover her (and after a few more hiccups after that), she had plenty of time to think back on everything that's happened... and how *unfair* all of it was. What kind of sick joke was this? How did she possibly offend those unseen voters *so* badly that they voted to have her be the first boot? All she was doing was the same thing everyone else had been: Battling for Dream Island. Only one of them can win, so she did everything that she could to ensure that that singular winner was her. What did they have to complain about? That she was *mean*? Anyone with common sense knows that people are *bound* to betray and backstab each other the longer the competition dragged on; again, only one of them can win. Flower was just ripping the bandage off now, along with making sure that *nobody* was gonna stand in her way of her deserved victory? Was that so wrong? Did she do anything incorrectly? Was it *even* something she did, or did they just hate her specifically?
Time went on, the seasons passed by quickly, and Flower spent quite a long time all by herself, barely holding onto life as the elements (and certain others) tried to rip it away from her. With each passing day, though... something funny started to happen. Maybe it was the desperation, the complete and utter lack of *anybody* to talk to, but maybe, *just* maybe, she thought... they could be right. She hated the possibility with such an immense passion that *plenty* can be written about it, but as reality has proven several dozen times by this point, just because it's horrible doesn't make it any less true. It wasn't like it was gonna kill her to just be a *little* bit nicer, right?
After aggressively denying it for just a little bit longer, she eventually gave in and decided to give it a shot the next time she was given an opportunity to compete for *something*. When her team ended up being the first to lose, she expected the story to write itself: she'd be the first to go once again, proving that this whole 'niceness' thing wasn't the issue. *Clearly*, it was somebody else. She counted the days until the next episode, she waited for her *inevitable* elimination once it started, and...
Pencil was eliminated first.
It took a while for the situation to *really* set in; she'd survived an elimination beforehand, but *anyone* could survive against that good-for-nothing barfer. Pencil was a well-established contestant with a reputation and a sizable group of friends, and yet *she* got out before her? Could it be that actually being a tolerable person towards others could be the miraculous solution to her problems that she's been waiting for all this time?
It can't *possibly* be, right?
And yet with every episode where she remained, it sure did seem like it was the case. Another elimination came and went, and yet she remained standing. And now here she was, having survived through a decent chunk of the competition and seemingly having a good chance of being its winner; granted, it was mostly because most of the contestants left in favor of a better, *cooler* show, but... just let her have this, alright?
Flower felt quite conflicted whenever she confronted this whole dilemma; here it was, all the fame and fortune she'd been seeking for all these years, at the *very* low price of essentially sacrificing her character and doing a complete 180. Just what exactly did she value the most? Being true to herself, or finally winning someone? Did it have to be like this? Can't she just learn to enjoy the success? The stress was so immense that she felt like she was just going to wither on the spot and
