#might delete this later as it feels like tattling

[laurelindebear]

Oh god...still working on policy edits because that's never going to end, there's so much you gotta cover in a policy and I looked at the 'Information Requirements' appendix for Spectrum and

...I think we're gonna need a bigger spreadsheet.

[autistic-katara]

“this whole situations making me rlly stressed/ppl when i get upset at smthn upsetting” mf this situation’s making ALL OF US super stressed nd i would consider getting a “fuck you all i’m killing myself” message upsetting (esp for someone w/ alotta trauma related to that) but yk god forbid someone cares abt ur life nd calls ur mother (who from what we’ve seen u have a pretty good relationship with) mid panic attack (lmfao imagine having a panic attack over someone maybe dying 😂😂😂 reposting a tiktok abt feeling like ur friends abandoned u for the transphobic ableist popular kids is unforgivable tho 😐)

ppl who use their mental health as a shield/excuse for stuff when they’re in a group of similarly mentally ill ppl confuse and annoy me

[equizona]

i think i requested something abt a teen mc that just summons the brothers against their bullies? if u deleted it, its ok!

Note: Ayo I don't remember getting a request like this– Maybe it was another account you're talking about? Or maybe Tumblr just decided to be weird and not send it, it has happened before— Also this wasn't very detailed so I've put it so it's still in the Devildom(Assuming that you're talking about OM)

Scenario: Brothers reacting to a teen MC summoning them against bullies.

Fandom(s): Obey Me!

Character(s): Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Belphegor.

Warning(s): Bullying, Violence, Blood, Gore, Threats, Death, Suicide, Blackmailing, Canibalism, yandere themes.

Lucifer[Avatar of Pride]

Lucifer is the avatar of pride, so the fact you have a pact with him is HUGE and EVERYONE knows it, so if you have any bullies they've probably been there for a while and have been sure you won't tattle.

They mostly like to do non-life threatening injuries in places you can hide easily, since they don't want the wrath of the seven princes of hell on them.

Ruining your things and threatening you are one of their favorite things though, making sure you know your worth and that you would be dead if you weren't important to Diavolo's exchange system.

Now, Lucifer is a busy man, and has expressed multiple times to summon one of the other brothers if possible as he might be doing something important, so he's expecting you to be dying when you summon him.

He quickly looks you over and when he sees nothing wrong the annoynce builds up, but then he notices the three demons shivering in fear with your backpack in hand, another one right behind you, leaned in to probably be whispering something to you.

All of them gulp, making Lucifer glare at them.

If you summoned him you probably made up your mind to tell him about what happened, so when you do he's livid.

And if you start crying or tear up, it only gets worse.

The glare he gives the demons has them running for the hills, not wanting to face his punishment. He won't chase after them, torturing them in front of a human would be traumatizing after all.

He'll leave it until later.

He'll bring you back to the house of Lementation, getting a cup of tea ready for you while asking you to tell him about it with a comforting hand on your back.

If you say that you didn't mean to summon him specifically and you kind of just summoned whoever you felt the safest with his pride goes up the roof please–

Mammon[Avatar of Greed]

Oh boy–

Again, the demons probably fear Diavolo and Lucifer's wrath so they'll never quite do too much damage, but injuries that don't need medical attention past the basic stuff and taking your things as well as threats and insults are popular.

And I mean, you think they are scared of Mammon? The weak, scummy, useless second eldest?

They aren't, of course they aren't. Everyone is aware that he isn't dangerous or scary.

But Mammon cares about you, maybe even more than he should care about you, so when he gets summoned and the demons don't stop laughing at you and continue making the threats, thinking Mammon won't care?

They are very wrong, and they'll get a reminder as to why he's the second eldest, and the scariest part is that he isn't lost in a fit of rage, no, he's doing this on his own will with no rage to snap him out of.

It's horrifying to watch someone get livid, but there's just something chilling when they aren't angry, and cannot still pull of actions like that.

He won't go too far until you are away and can't get traumatized by anything he does, so he'll just.. give them a little warning before taking you back to his room.

He'll suggest games, talking about it, movies, cuddling, anything to make you feel better. He'll add these dumb jokes as well that never fail to make you laugh.

When you're feeling better he'll find those people. It's not hard either, he had his crows watch out for them, and now that his human isn't around.. well, what can he say, nobody messing with his human.

Then he'll just direct Lucifer in their direction.

Trust me, you won't have to see them ever again.

Leviathan[Avatar of Envy]

How could you do this to him– He doesn't want to be out of him room! This is torture–!

The fact that you summoned him and not someone else though... That makes him super happy,

It'll first be him being angry for a few moments before that passes into him being happy and then it goes back to anger when he realizes what situation he's in.

He's no strangest to being bullied, so he knows that it isn't a fun, and you're so young too so...

He ends up choking them with his tail, glaring at them harshly, and he relishes in the fear on their faces.

You'll have to pull him away and calm him down, and once he has calmed down he'll bring you to his room whether you're done with school or not.

He'll invite you to play games or watch anime with him, letting you pick whatever you want to do.

Satan[Avatar of Wrath]

Please, honey-boo, why would you do this?

Satan has lived with the anger that isn't really his anger his entire life, so he has grown quite good at handling it, but sometimes...

Well, sometimes shit like this happen and then suddenly it's not so easy to ignore anymore.

He won't be able to be calmed down, not even by Lucifer. He'll go full demon form on them and bash their heads into the wall, refusing to show them any mercy.

It's better for you if you just ignore it, turn around, huddle up, close your eyes and cover your ears.

It's a violent, bloody, gory mess and you don't want to look at it, trust me.

The smell is disgusting too.

Once his anger is a bit.. calmer he will end up feeling bad about it, because you're a teenager and you shouldn't have had to see that, but he has problems controlling himself.

He'll apologize gently, trying not to scare you too much. It's the last thing he wants after all.

He'll bring you to his room, letting you settle down on his bed and huddle up in his blankets before getting you something to drink before settling down next to you.

He'll apologize again before getting your favorite book out and reading it to you<3

Asmodeus[Avatar of Lust]

Oh this one will be fun–

Asmodeus doesn't like getting his nails dirty, so violence is a big no since blood is horrible to get out of clothes, you know?

Instead he'll just give them a carrying smile, asking them to leave and it's Asmo so they are more than happy to comply.

He'll bring you to his room after that, giving you a spa day so that you can feel the best. You should love yourself and he'll be there for you so that you know what they are saying is a lie.

And then he'll start his plan.

He won't get violent physically, but he can't just let them do that to the person who's basically his younger sibling, right?

He'll just.. start saying a few nasty rumors, and I mean, who wouldn't listen to Asmodeus? He's beautiful, and if anyone does go against what he's saying he can simply just work some of his magic.

That's when their lives get ruined in a matter of days, all of their friends stop communicating with them, people whispering about them in the halls laughing.

Give them a taste of their own medicine.

After that he'll just go up to them, cheerfully befriending them and giving them hope, learning all their secrets before letting everyone know those.

Then he'll just look them in the eye, giving them.. subtle hints..

Well, nobody really cares when your bullies get discovered with a rope around their necks.

Beelzebub[Avatar Gluttony]

This guy...

Is really scary to most people.

The entirety of the Devildom have all kind of agreed that Lucifer, Satan and Beelzebub are the scariest of the brothers, and even if Beelzebub is a sweetheart, strangers don't really know that, do they?

When he gets summoned they all kind of freeze, not sure what they should do. Do they run? Can they even outrun this guy?

Beel gives you a confused look, he had been busy eating before, and you usually didn't summon any of them without good reason.

Whether you simply hint at it or say it straight, Beel is actually quite obersvant and he will notice.

He'll shrug his jacket off and give it to you, sending the demons a warning glare that just tells them to try him, so they stay put. They wouldn't want to make him any angrier than he already was.

He'll tell you to close your eyes tightly, and cover your ears so that you won't be able to hear anything. He'll make sure your smell is also covered.

Once he knows you won't be able to see what he's about to do he'll just turn to them, eating all of them in matter of minutes.

He got pulled away from his food because of them, and they were hurting the one who fixed his family, and is basically his family? They don't deserve to live.

He'll lift you up after that, carrying to back to the cafeteria where he was eating, giving you some of it with a bright grin.

You know better than to ask.

Belphegor[Avatar of Sloth]

Belphegor is a yandere in the game, and there is no changing that he is canonically a yandere so..

He is not happy about anyone picking on who is basically his younger sibling.

When you first summon him he'll be annoyed of course, he hates having to do anything, especially if he was taking a nap before you called him over but when he realizes the situation?

He'll take a similar approach to Asmodeus's manner, making sure that he remembers who they are before taking you a way to take a nap with him.

While you do that he'll just put them into a deep sleep, giving them nightmares and discovering their darkest secrets.

He'll spreed those around.

He'll just slowly drive them insane, and now they are so horrified over what will happen while they sleep that they don't have time to bully you.

Eventually they'll just end up stabbing themselves, wanting to sleep without being disturbed.

Belphegor doesn't care.

While they do that he can just spend time with you and reassure you that what they say is a lie. Also he'll get Beel to help make you feel better because he sucks at that.

[vedajuno]

“Turn” Based Combat: Breaking Down Origami King’s Battle System

Yesterday the trailer for the latest Paper Mario game, Origami King, dropped from Nintendo out of essentially nowhere, showcasing a new villain, some gorgeous looking paper environments, puzzle solving elements, bowser as a square, and the return of partner characters with individual personalities. Something it did NOT show much of, however, was the game’s battle system... which is odd, because the game seems to be departing from the awful card based system of Sticker Star/Color Splash for something a bit more fresh. The idea of a game with Color Splash’s sharp writing on top of a... uh... GOOD battle system has had my full attention since it dropped yesterday, and I’ve been casually scouting different versions of the trailer ever since trying to work out how exactly combat will work in this upcoming entry. Now, after a bit of analysis and fact checking, I think I’ve managed to break down the glimpses of the battle system we’ve gotten into a basic outline of how battles in the game work, which I’ll go over piece by piece below the cut for those curious! 

We’re gonna be looking at this clip of japanese gameplay primarily, since it’s the cleanest look at the combat system we currently have... but first of all, let’s get the non-battle prompts on this screen out of the way first, since a lot of people seem to think the silhouette icons in the bottom right correspond to the returning Partner system. This isn’t true, and in fact each option translates in japanese to the following:

X = Hint (This is a Tattle system of some sort with Olivia, presumably.)

Y = Cheering (Some sort of mechanic with the crowd, since a toad in the audience is also telling you to press Y. Possibly TTYD inspired?)

B = Flee (Fairly self explanatory.)

As for the main mechanic of this screen, the first phase of battle involves rotating the rings of the arena in order to string groups of enemies together. You select which ring you would like to move with L and rotate it with ZL/ZR, with the little 1X in the corner indicating the amount of rings Mario is allowed to move per turn. We’ve only seen it at 1X so far, but it almost definitely supports more given the brief glimpses of how chaotic battles could get. These ring sections are also timed, but if that stresses you out you can choose to spend a handful of coins to buy more time through the (+) button.

With your ring orientation locked in, you move into the second phase of the battle system and can now select from either the attack or weapon options on the left here. This is the Weapon side, with only the Boots and Hammer option available, but there might be more options unlockable throughout the game considering how much empty space there is on this menu and how “early game stage” this whole arena looks and feels. Alternatively... maybe this is where the Partners come into play? THIS (now deleted) chinese trailer shows the presence of a partner in battle, so it’s not too much of a stretch that they might unlock extra combat options.

And finally, you actually execute the attack you’ve selected, moving across enemies in a horizontal row Sticker Star/Color Splash style. The text to the right upon landing a jump reads “EXCELLENT!”, so it’s also safe to assume you have to time your attacks like all other entries in the series thus far.

As a final little note we have this screenshot of a battle taking place both later in the english trailer and further down the game’s plot, which reveals two additional small but important pieces of info. The first and most major one is the presence of the Shiny Boots indicator under the health. This seems to represent some sort of equipment system(?), since the early game battle features a similar indicator but with regular boots. The other, more minor but still interesting bit of info is the presence of a 1-Up beside your health (seems self explanatory what it does, but it’s still useful to know.)

There’s still a lot Nintendo seems to be intentionally keeping to itself for now, but overall Origami King’s battle system seems to be a bit of a fusion between N64/TTYD and SS/CS’s battle styles, with the ring as a puzzle solving element overtop of a more traditional battle system. It’s an... interesting direction, honestly, and I’m cautiously optimistic to see more of how it works in the months leading up to it’s release.

[jedi-order-apologist]

Personally, I'm not surprised that some fans are surprised that Obi-Wan knew about Anakin and Padme. Because for years people have argued that he wouldn't support and get Anakin expelled from the Order if he knew but it was Anakin's fear and belief. Fans always take Anakin as a reliable narrator. This proves it was not the case at all. Anakin was wrong. Most of us knew but people liked the idea Obi-Wan only guessed at the last moment Anakin was the father. But the movies make it obvious he knew.

I wish ROTS had left in the deleted scene where Obi-Wan tells Padmé that he knew about their relationship the entire time, if only to shut down this misconception about his character. It's still in the screenplay, and it's alluded to later in the film when Anakin senses that Obi-Wan had been to Padmé's apartment and asks her about it, to which she tells him Obi-Wan is worried about him. Even that alone should be evidence enough to say that Obi-Wan knew about their relationship, because why would he seek out Padmé to express his concerns about Anakin if he didn't think they were seeing each other regularly, and that they had a level of emotional intimacy to where Anakin would confide in Padmé things he wouldn't with Obi-Wan?

Obi-Wan probably didn't know they were married, specifically - but it's absolutely clear he was aware of Anakin's feelings for Padmé, even as early as the beginning of AOTC. He immediately picks up on the fact that these feelings are affecting Anakin's judgement, and warns him to be careful as he reminds him of his duty and commitment to the Order. I think it can also be reasonably inferred that this awareness informs his objection to Anakin being sent off on his own, but notably he does not bring this up to Yoda in their conversation about Anakin's readiness (or lack thereof) for his assignment. That itself is a good indication that Obi-Wan wouldn't just tattle to the Council the moment he found out about the relationship.

I guess people look at the part later in the film when Obi-Wan says that Anakin would be expelled from the Order if he went after Padmé after she fell from the ship, but in the context of that scene it's not so much about "having a relationship with her" as it is "abandoning his duty". And from a military standpoint it might very well have been tantamount to desertion, because whether they like it or not, the Jedi are part of the army at that point. Ditching in the middle of battle would have legal consequences for him that the Jedi would have to release him to anyway.

At any rate, Obi-Wan isn't going to just forget about Anakin's feelings for Padmé after that point. And when Padmé shows some reciprocity, it's not surprising that Obi-Wan quickly picks up on the fact that they have a relationship. Even in early TCW arcs (Malevolence, Blue Shadow Virus), he gives Anakin a bit of side-eye whenever Padmé's involved. He just looks the other way as long as it's not actively interfering with Anakin's duties.

[shinobicyrus]

“Compromises”

A late entry for Phanniemay Day 23: Wardrobe. This may or may not have come from a draft I never finished back in 2016....Still counts!

“Nuh-uh. I am drawing a line at makeup.”

Maddie still held the...makeup...pen...thingy in her fingers like a surgeon’s scapel. “A little mascara can go a long way, Danielle.”

“So it can go on without me,” Dani crossed her arms mutinously. She’d have crossed her legs too but they were cold and too-smooth and weird. Not to mention her scalp was still raw from Maddie’s merciless regimen of washing, straightening, and combing Dani’s hair as though it had personally offended her. Probably submitted an article to a nerd-journal criticizing her research and called jumpsuits dumb.  

“I know that look,” Maddie rolled her eyes like she was the one suffering, but still returned the makeup back into the military-style hardcase she’d pulled the thing out of and snapped it shut. Oh, thank God.

“Danny give you the same look when you put him in a dress and pulled his brain out from his roots?”

“Picture day. Fourth grade. He had a black eye and absolutely refused to let me cover it with makeup. He just wanted to stay home.”

“How’d he get the black eye?”

“Some boy probably gave it to him at school, but he never said.”

“That’s because you would have raised hell about it and tattling just makes it worse,” Danny leaned against the doorway to Dani’s room, not quite crossing into it. Either it was respect to Dani’s personal space or some old holdout instinct back when it used to be Jazz’s room and entry portended big-sister lectures. 

“You know,” he said, failing to suppress a grin. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a dress. Like, ever.” 

“Go make out with a Thermos, jerk.” Dani fussed with the hem of her dress. “I look stupid.”

“You look lovely, Danielle,” Maddie nudged a stray bang away from Dani’s face. She always did that, without fail: used Dani’s full name every single time. “Although I wish you’d waited for me instead of trying to shave your legs yourself.” 

“I think the Fenton band-aids really bring the whole outfit together,” Danny said, because of course he got to wear a nice, comfortable black suit and a tie that matched the blue of his eyes. 

Dani flipped him the bird, putting a little ecto-flame at the fingertip for good measure. Hell yeah, Superpowered Eff-You, for when a normal Eff-You just wasn’t enough. “Why can't I be the one that gets the wear a suit? Everyone knows Danny can pull of a dress better than me.”

“Oh I am going to kill Tucker he swore he deleted those pictures!”

Maddie clenched her fists, gloves creaking dangerously. “Because the school board are a pack of anachronistic, narrow-minded, uptight little suburban dingbats that are lucky I limit my violence to the already dead.” 

Danny and Danielle stared. 

Remembering herself, Maddie put an apologetic hand on Dani’s shoulder. “I’m sorry we didn’t have more time, sweetie. Maybe by the time it’s your prom, you can wear whatever you like.”

Dani snorted. By the time her prom came around, everyone else would already be graduated. “Yeah, great. Who would I even go with?”

Danny cleared his throat conspicuously and made a few covert, ‘no no don’t go there’ gestures to Maddie that Danielle couldn’t see.

“But you can still have fun tonight, can’t you?” Maddie tried to cheer her up.  “I know it’s not ideal, but your fath...Jack stayed up all night getting your dress ready for tonight. There’s no harm in giving it a try, is there?”

Guiltily, Danielle gave Maddie her most reassuring smile. Both of them ignored her slip of the tongue. As long ago as it felt, three years wasn’t all that much time- even if it was more than half of Dani’s pathetically brief existence. 

Coming to terms with their son being half-ghost was one thing, but finding out they had a clone-daughter? It wasn’t like she was a traditional surprise-child from faulty birth control or some torrid affair. She was the result of genetic piracy; the world’s most fucked-up copyright infringement.  

They didn’t have to take her in. They didn’t owe her anything, and they still went through all the trouble of making a fake paper trail so she could do 'normal’ things like go to school- which Danielle was personally not a fan, but even Danny told her it was ‘important.’ It was a small price to pay for a soft bed and three square meals a day. 

(Mads had been aghast that she’d had been crashing at Val’s apartment on and off for months, with Mr. Gray none the wiser. Jack had been mostly confused about Dani sleeping in a closet but equally adamant she come and stay ‘where she belonged.’)

She still couldn’t call them Mom and Dad. That was just. It was weird. Sometimes she wished she could. Then maybe she could pretend that she was...

But no. She wasn’t.  

So they were Maddie and Jack. Danny existed in some weird cousin/twin/ecto-brother continuum, why would things with his/their parents be straightforward? Technically, Dani didn’t need to stay at Fenton Works. If she wanted, she could grab her backpack and fly away, completely drop off the grid again. She had the power. It had been more than a temptation, once or twice. 

She stayed. They experimented and improvised and somehow invented a new species of family that had never existed before. It got bumpy. Sometimes there were fights. Jazz, away at Yale but always a phone call away, reminded her constantly that relationships weren’t about winning fights. You had to compromise. 

So Dani went to school, but stipulated permission to sleep over at Val’s, sometimes. They let her patrol with Danny, but only after homework. She let Maddie pretty her up, and Maddie didn’t push her hard about the makeup. Jack stayed up all night adjusting one of Jazz’s old dresses- the least Dani could do was wear it. Not like she had a closet full of other options. 

(Sam and Val had offered to take her shopping. The idea of Val watching her try on dresses...)

Danielle shook her head. “No. I guess I can try it. Just for tonight.”

“That’s my girl.”

It came out so naturally; Danielle flushed with a mixture of embarrassment and pride. 

With her door open into the hall, the sound of the front door opening carried upstairs, a voice familiar but muffled through floorboards calling out. 

“That must be Tuck,” Danny said. “See you downstairs, I owe him a punch in the arm.” 

“I should get down there too,” Maddie said after Danny had left. “I promised Tucker’s mother pictures of the boys together in their suits. You come down when you’re ready, okay sweetie.”

“Kay.”

 Smiling down at her ruefully, Maddie cupped Danielle’s face and planted a quick peck on her forehead. (The first time she’d tried to do that, Dani had panicked and Maddie had almost fallen face-first into the floor through her intangible head. Progress!)

After she left, Danielle sighed and smoothed down the dress as if it would improve things...and felt two weird bumps in the fabric around waist-high.

“Huh?” Patting herself down, Dani found a pair of hidden pockets woven seamlessly into the dress. Digging around this new discovery she found...a pack of sour candies labeled in marker with Jack’s sloppy handwriting: ‘Fenton Emergency Snacks!’

“Oh sweet! Pocket Candy!” It took every ounce of willpower not to tear into them right then and there, but she knew she’d definitely be needing them later in the night. Instead, she rifled around her room trying to remember where she left her phone- hidden in the folds of her Star Wars blanket, of course- and experimentally put it into her new kickass Jack-Pockets.

It slid in perfectly. Oh hell yes.

Normally Danielle shopped in the men’s section because the sizes made sense and the pockets were real, but she never considered going to Jack to get slightly girlier clothes altered after she got them. Not like dresses or anything, but Sam wore some pretty kickass skirts that Danielle was totally looking at purely for fashion tips and no other reason. She could always try that.

Her own reflection flashed her the corner of her eye, a swish of blue in the full-length mirror.

The dress wasn’t all that bad, really. Jack had done a great job. Knee-length, the same shade of blue as Maddie’s jumpsuit- which as it turned out matched Dani’s eyes pretty well. 

Her legs still itched like they were covered in cobwebs, feeling every miniscule little shift in the air, or when the hem of the dress brushed against her pale skin, cut smooth and dotted with bright greens and oranges. 

Yeah...the Fenton bandaids definitely were not flattering. 

Playing with her phone reminded her she still had a promise to keep. Pulling up the camera function, she stepped back, sized up the image of herself in the mirror, and took the picture. Deleted it, tried again by sticking out her tongue and making her eyes glow bitter, ghosty green. 

‘If you think this is bad, imagine if I’d let the Madd-Scientist break out the mascara’

Aaaand...send. 

The response pinged back in less than twenty seconds. 

JAZZ: You look adorable. I hear Red and Blue go great together ;)

Dani typed back, Quiet you, and pocketed  (yeeessss) her phone back into her dress before Jazz text jedi mind-tricked her to talk about feelings. Girl is freaky, sometimes. Below her feet, the telltale sounds of Danny-Tucker bickering soaked up through the creaky floorboards.

...welp, she was going to have to face the music eventually, right?

The house-rule against floating still couldn’t stop her from hopping downstairs two at a time, feet thumping loudly. 

Danny and Tucker were in the living room, arms around each other while Maddie and Jack were taking photos. Maddie was taking a few with Tucker’s phone while Jack was snapping pictures with an blocky, black camera that looked positively ancient. 

“Does that thing use film?” Danielle said incredulously. “Where do you even get that developed.” 

“We develop our own film!” Jack boasted. “The patented Fenton Emulsion(TM) not only lets us take cherished family memories, but also catalogue any lurking, invisible ghosts that might be photobombing!”

Before Dani could give that its proper response, Tucker gasped loudly and dramatically. “Oh. My. God. Danielle?! What happened to you?”

“Ha-ha so funny I’m in a dress wow I’m so glad we got to share this moment together and bond closer as friends.”

“You’re in a dress!” Tucker ignored her, hell-bent on milking this for all it was worth. Running to her like a distressed parent, he shook her shoulders. “Who did this to you Dani? It’s okay, you can tell me, I’m here for you.”

“This is because I told Danny about your embarassing picture stash, isn’t it?”

“There’s a stash?!”

“Oops.”

“It actually looks good on you,” Tucker tapped his chin, pouting the thoughtful moue of a guy who spent a lot time designing his MMO characters’ outfits. “I think the bandaids-”

“Already made that joke,” Danny piped up.

“Dammit,” Tucker muttered, then remembered who else was in the room. “Uh...I mean ‘oh gosh darnit.’”

Maddie rolled her eyes. “Oh please, as if all three of you don’t swear like a pack of sailors on shore leave.”

“Darn right,” Danielle grinned at Tucker. “You don’t look half bad, Tuck.” She reached up and flicked the beret-red bow tie around his neck. “Look at you all snazzy.”

He did actually look pretty dang handsome, Dani had to admit. The striped shirt and the bow tie was a bit of a 90s- maybe it was an old suit of his Dad’s- but he filled out pretty well. Tuck may not have been going to the dance with a date, but Dani was willing to bet money that he’d get a couple of offers when they all got there.

“I thought we were supposed to be snazzy together though!” Tucker said. “We had a plan!”

“School board nixed it. No gals in snazzy suits, the world isn’t ready.”

“Well if it’s any consolation, I think you look beautiful.”

The complete, utter frankness he said it made Danielle’s cheeks redden. “I- Tuck...I-”

“Not as pretty as Danny if he was wearing it but-”

“Tucker I have invisibility powers and a long, long memory.” Danny warned him.

“Well Danny can’t have this dress it’s awesome and mine, check it:” She pulled out her phone and candy from its pockets.

“Hey!” Jack exclaimed. “You found the emergency snacks!”

“I did and it was awesome,” shuffling on uncertain feet, Danielle willed herself to cross the living room and threw her arms around him. He was still so big- her face was buried in his stomach and she could barely get his arms around him, and when he hugged her back it felt like being enclosed, his arms were so wide. 

(the ghost of a stolen childhood memory, Danny small and at an age before black eyes at school, when his dad was the smartest, strongest guy in the world and nothing bad could happen when you were in those arms)

“Thanks, Jack. You made dresses cool.”

“Yes! Hear that, Maddie? I’m cooool.” 

“Not what I said but I’ll let you have it.”

“The coolest, hun.” Maddie agreed, with the telltale sound of a shuttering camera. “And thank you for the new wallpaper.”

“Does this mean we’re finally done with the pictures?” Danny asked. 

“I suppose it makes sense to wait until the girls get here.” Maddie allowed. 

“Why are they the ones picking us up again?” Tucker piped in. “Like, isn’t it traditional for the guys to be picking up the girls?”

“Not when Sam sprung for a luxury party-limo.”

Tucker accepted this without hestiation. “Ha, take that gender norms.” 

Danielle fidgeted with the blue sash tied around her wait. “Did...uh...did they say when they were going to be here?”

The doorbell of course chose at that moment to chime; Danielle almost jump-floated to the ceiling.

Danny grinned at her smugly. “She might have mentioned it, yeah.”

Asshole. He gave their face a bad name.

"Oh fine, I’ll get it,” Tucker threw up his arms, muttering to himself all the way. “Not even my house but sure.”

Danny furtively adjusted his tie and smoothed his hands down his suit-jacket. Danielle failed to ignore the almost identical mannerism she’d used when double-checking her dress. 

God, they were dorks. 

They couldn’t see anything from the doorway, just Tucker standing in the hall and leaning in to hug someone. Stepping aside like a bowing gentlemen, he held open the door and-

And.

Well, damn. 

“Oh Sam, you look wonderful,” Maddie gushed. “She looks lovely, doesn’t she Danny?”

It wasn’t as dark as Danielle guessed. The gown was a deep, smokey violet from the waist down; the two halves of a black bodice laced together in an intricate filigree that left just a sliver of suggestion of skin beneath a sheer, black fabric that also covered her bare, strapless shoulders like a mourning shawl. 

“Blugh,” was the limit of the words that Danny could manage.

“That good, huh?” Sam’s purple lips quirked. The mascara shadowing her eye sockets made the matching violet of her eyes that much more striking.

“Don’t forget to exhale, Danny,” Dani suggested in a sotto whisper.

A familiar voice carried through the door. “Okay, the driver said he’s fine with waiting while we take some pictures. My dad made me promise to take about three million pictures of us all before we- oh.” 

Valerie stood in the living room’s threshold, phone half-raised but completely forgotten in her hand. 

She was wearing a ruby red dress that flowed smoothly over her curves, flaring just above her knees and terminating in an upside down ‘V’ at her collarbone that tied subtly around her neck, leaving the sweep of her shoulders bare. The muscles of her arms stood out, firm and corded.  

Dani realized that Valerie was staring at her. This fact alone made her ten thousand times more aware that her legs were naked and bare and itching with phantom prickles oh God the band-aids why did she think it was a good idea to try shaving the night of-

“Uh. Hi.” Valerie cut through the screaming white noise filling her head.

“Blugh.” Danielle responded. Tucker gave her a thumbs-up. In the corner of her eye, she saw Danny fumble tying a purple corsage around Sam’s slender wrist.

“You look amazing,” Valerie told her. Dani found the movements needed for her full, red lips to make those words fascinating. 

Her throat felt unbelievable dry.

“It’s the band-aids!” Danielle blurted. “Really brings the whole outfit together!”

Valerie blinked, momentarily confused. Then she looked down. 

“Oh my God,” she laughed, hand flying to her mouth. “What did you do to yourself?”

“Mistakes were made.” Danielle admitted. “I have traced them back to the decision to wear a dress.”

“Doesn’t look like a mistake from where I’m standing.” Valerie smiled at her, which was all the permission Dani’s guts needed to start doing backflips in her belly. “And you can look forward to taking it off at the end of the night-”

She froze in mute horror the second the words left her mouth.

Danny and Sam’s heads swiveled, first to Valerie, then to Danielle, finally swinging around to Maddie, whose face had gone unreadably blank. 

Tucker had the manic look of a man who had been given a wonderful, wonderful gift.

“I swear,” Valerie said slowly. “I did not mean it to sound like that.”

“Make it sound like what?” Jack asked, genuinely confused. 

“I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Maddie told him.

The room was very quiet. Danielle slowly reached into her pockets and pulled out her emergency snacks. She tore open the packet and offered it to Valerie. “Topic change?”

“Please.” Desperately snatching the candy like a woman being carefully studied by a mother with access to high-powered weaponry, Valerie chewed through a handful of candies before realizing: “Wait...how does your dress have pockets?”

“Oh that was me!” Jack boasted. “Sewing isn’t that much harder than jumpsuit maintenance! I used to make all of Danny’s Halloween Costumes before he got too “cool” for it.”

Somehow, this quickly jumped into Sam insisting on seeing pictures of Danny dressed as an Astronaut or one of the Ghost Busters, which seamlessly steered back them standing all together while Maddie and Jack took more pictures; Danny with one arm around Sam’s waist and the other linked with Tucker’s, Valerie hugging Danielle from behind and resting her chin on Dani’s shoulder to fit both of them in frame. 

By some miracle consensus, no one said anything about Valerie’s hilariously and unfortunately-worded slip-up. 

All through the photos, and even as Valerie held her hand and walked with her out the door, Danielle felt at the pocket at her waist with her free hand, checking to make sure the Fenton Emergency Snacks were still there.

Yeah she really owed Jack big time, now. 

[wordswithkittywitch]

What they don’t tell you about poltergeists.

I thought that I’d posted this story in 2015, but it isn’t on my blog. I might have deleted it, since it’s typed up on my computer in an old file. So I’ll post it now. This is the story of my poltergeist.

I’m afraid this story isn’t very scary. It was scary at the time, but that was only because it was happening to me. Now that I’m older, I can look back on it and see how it was a perfectly normal thing to happen, and all a part of growing up. But there are parts of growing up that they explain to you in health class, and there are parts of it they never do. I think that part of it is because it happens to girls more than boys, and if they can get away with not telling forty-nine percent of the class about something that might happen to the other fifty-one percent, they can. Especially when some parents don’t think it happens at all, and they don’t want to make trouble with the family who thinks that their daughter will stay a little girl forever if she thinks the right thoughts and is only taught the right lessons.

It’s terrible being sixteen years old. I think that “sweet sixteen” myth was made up by someone who remembered how nice other people’s lives looked when they were fourteen. Being a teenager is like going through hell. You’re given the pressures of an adult without the control over your life. Especially for girls. Girls are taught to keep their problems to themselves. Especially teenage girls; no girl wants to be that whiney girl who makes things up for attention and keeping going on about how miserable her life is. For a long time, I didn’t want to tell this story to anyone, because it sounds a lot like something a teenage girl would make up for attention, or a childish belief that random coincidences were connected, or a lie a girl told so often she fooled herself into thinking it was actually happening. I wasn’t actually sure if it was happening to me at the time, but now, as an adult, I can look back and if not say definitively what happened to me when I was sixteen years old—well, more that happened around me when I was sixteen years old—I am now certain it was real, because I am now certain of what it was.

It’s hard for me to talk about my sixteenth year without it sounding like I’m making it up, I guess that part of not wanting to be that whiney girl who makes stuff up for attention stuck, so I’m going to be as brief as possible. It was the worst year of my life. My father had just lost a long battle with cancer, my mother was suffering from depression, my grades were terrible, my best friend was dating the guy I liked, most of my other friends had abandoned me because it was too much trouble to stay friends with two girls who liked the same guy, and I made things awkward. In case this didn’t make it seem enough like one of those terrible coming-of-age stories I hated when they made us read it in class, I was the one in three girls who get sexually abused before they leave college. For me, it was that creepy guy who’s always talking about how he can’t get a girlfriend when he comes over to fix your computer. But of course, I didn’t want to be one of those girls who keeps going on about their problems, so I didn’t mention it. I didn’t want to be one of those girls who ruins a guy’s life for a bit of harmless fun, so I kept my mouth shut and let him ruin mine. I was used to not talking about my problems. That’s what good girls do. Only whiney, bitchy girls make everything about them and go on and on about their problems.

It started with the beating. When I laid at bed at night, trying to fight my insomnia and wondering if any of my family were awake somewhere in the house, I heard something in the attic. At first, I thought it might be a cat knocking something over. Something that bounced.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The thumping steadily, and slowly, moved through my attic. As I listened, it sounded more like heartbeats or footsteps than something bouncing. I fell asleep listening to the beating, wondering if it was real but being too scared to check. I dreamed of the old Poe story, The Telltale Heart, and woke up with blood under my fingernails. That scared me, but in a way that amused me. I was hearing a heartbeat above my head, and in the morning I had blood on my hands. Just like in the story, I had hidden the heart away. It was a lot easier to be amused by it once I sat up and realised that the blood under my fingernails came because my period had started in the night when I was too asleep to care if scratching your privates was unladylike.

In the morning, my sister asked me if I heard the Thing in our attic, walking around. I told her I did, and I was glad to know I wasn’t the only one. We were brought up to accept ghosts as part of life and not to dismiss the obvious answer just because it was a supernatural one, because our mother had been studying parapsychology since she was our age. If it looked like a ghost and haunted like a ghost, and there was no mask to pull off, there was no reason that something that went bump in the night might actually be a ghost. But I didn’t understand why a ghost would pick on me. Wasn’t I having a hard enough time as it was?

Another incident happened while I was undressing for bed. It was hardly possible to keep my room tidy with both a teenage girl and a presence that liked to move things around. The bookshelf, in particular, was a disaster area, with dozens of books from preschool to high school crammed in together until they couldn’t fit at all and tumbled onto the ground. I couldn’t even clean my books up because I couldn’t get close enough to the bookshelf to put them away. While I was undressing, I heard a laugh. It wasn’t a male or female laugh, it wasn’t even a human laugh. But it was deep, soft at first but getting louder. And it was coming from the pile of books.

Naturally, I did what any sane person would do; I screamed like a little girl, grabbed my teddy-bear, and hightailed it out my bedroom, stark naked, and insisted in spending the night on the windowseat in my mother’s room.

The incidents kept happening, and while several of the phenomena repeated, there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to what the presence could do. Sometimes it was the thumping, sometimes it was the laughing, and sometimes things would move around my room. My things would go missing sometimes, but I’m honestly not sure how much of that was the presence and how much of that was my just being badly-organised.

But when I zipped assignments into my binder and came to class with my binder empty, only to find the assignment sitting neatly on my computer desk when I got home. I told the teachers that I just forgot to bring the assignments to class, mostly hoping that the moving papers was in my head. But other things moved around too, jewellery would vanish off my vanity and appear back weeks later. There was a few days when my bed kept unmaking itself several times a day. It only stayed made when my sister did it for me.

Once the teddy bear I had since kindergarten went missing for three days and suddenly appeared in the washer. I found that a particularly low blow. Sometimes I just felt like there was someone watching me, but when I turned around there was only the mirror on my vanity table.

I should have figured out what was happening after the mirror.

I looked at the mirror, full of terror and wishing I could put some name to what was happening to me. I could feel the sharp teeth on my bottom lip as I bit it to keep myself from crying, feel my face twist itself up with fear. The reflection looked into my eyes, and calmly smiled at my horrified face. I ran out of the room again, woke up my mother and cried from fear.

My mother being the kind of woman who studied parapsychology and raised her daughters to believe in ghosts, she went down to our library, at the time larger than our town’s and with a supernatural section that dwarfed any bookstore I’d yet been to, looked up seals to keep evil spirits sealed away, and chalked it onto the back on my mirror with red chalk.

Even if she hadn’t believed me, helping me seal the spirit away made me feel better, even if it feels more like something you do with a six year old than a sixteen year old.

I turned the mirror back around, expecting? Hoping? To see some sign that the presence left, or was defeated, Or something. But what I saw was my reflection, again not making the expression I felt on my face. While I felt the trepidation written on my face, there wasn’t any hope on the reflection’s face at all. It pouted sullenly at me, like I had ruined its game or it had gotten punished for tattling on someone else. That confused me. And that confusion was terrifying.

One night, I lay in bed, listening for the thumping, and I heard something else. A whispering. A dozen voices, softly speaking over each other. I kept thinking that I could recognise some of them, sometimes I could pick out my sister or one of my teachers in the voices, but aside from sometimes catching my name I never could actually make out what they were saying. One it started, this never really stopped. Sometimes I can still hear the voices, like echoes of conversations I’d had during the day, even though everything else has stopped.

I asked my health teacher if this was schizophrenia when mental illness came up in class. He said no, laying in bed at night and hearing a dozen voices that you’d heard before whispering over each other doesn’t happen. I told him that was nonsense because that happened to me almost every night. The entire class stopped what they were doing to look at me, trying to figure out if I was making this up for attention, or if I was going to suddenly pull out a knife and attack one of them at random.

Slowly, as I got older, these events stopped happening as much. I guess when I stopped being as scared by them, I stopped paying as much attention to them, and the lost some power that way.

Once I started singing along to the thumping, it could keep beat with my music, and then fade away to nothing. The thumps stopped coming with the pimples, and my things started staying where I put them more often. My blankets stay where I leave them, and I am glad to say I am out of the hellhole that is high school and far away from the person who was abusing me. My mirror smiles, but only when I do.

You don’t have to believe me. That’s the beauty of it. There’s a hundred stories like this out there, just put out for the joy of thinking you could believe it for half a second.

Because someone might believe. Because someone might hear this and think, “of course this isn’t real, but what if it was?” Because someone might think, “If this happened, could it happen to me?” Because somewhere, some girl with no control over her life and a bedroom full of blankets that throw themselves off her bed and lights that turn themselves off, might think of a scary little story she read when she was staying up on the computer too late and think “what if this really happened?” Because some girl who’s reading scary stories on her phone because it’s easier than trying to sleep through the thumping might think “what if this is happening to me right now?”

The thing they don’t tell you about poltergeists is that it’s a perfectly normal part of growing up, especially for young girls who feel like they don’t have any control over their lives, young girls who want to lash out but can’t do it physically. Girls who are afraid of making everything about them will take every bit of power they have and attack themselves so that something, finally, will be about them.

The thing they don’t tell you about poltergeists is that it’s you.

[forkanna]

[AO3 LINK] [EF LINK]

Elsa rolled over and groaned the next morning, later than she should have awoken. Not only because it had been so hard to get back to sleep after getting back to the campgrounds, but even once they were in bed, she couldn't drift off. She felt too guilty. She knew she shouldn't, not with the way Aurora had tried to screw them over, but it still felt wrong to stoop to their level. Not that she blamed Anna. It was either that, or keep letting them run their lives that way; there wasn't really any choice when the choices were "bad" or "much worse". Her sister had only done what was strictly necessary to prevent any further nastiness.

Sliding into Anna's bed, she traced a hand over her forehead and whispered, "Good morning, Moondrop."

Anna let out a groan and opened red-rimmed eyes, blinking up at Elsa. "Morning already?" She protested, "Do we have to get up?"

"Not yet, if you don't want to," she breathed softly, just before leaving a small kiss on her cheek. "Do you want to spend a little while in bed with me?"

The redhead's cheeks turned a cute shade of pink as she nodded and opened her arms, smiling at her. "Yes, please." So Elsa slid forward and wrapped her arms tightly around her, nuzzling into her neck. Anna snuggled back, letting out a soft sigh of contentment and pressing her lips against Elsa's soft hair.

"So… last night." They might as well talk about it. Neither of them had felt much like discussing it by the time they got back, and Elsa wasn't inclined to push matters. But she also wasn't inclined to let things lie forever.

Anna's grip on Elsa tightened and her voice had an edge to it when she murmured, "Can we… not think about that right now?"

"No, I think we should get it out of the way. Then we can just… enjoy the rest of today." Rubbing Anna's back, she whispered, "I'm proud of you for the way you handled them. It was… a little scary, sure, but you really took control of the situation."

"B-But I feel so terrible about it," Anna confessed, gritting her teeth. "I threatened them… I'm no better than them for it..."

Frowning, Elsa tried to think of a way she could put this that would make Anna feel less awful. Maybe it wasn't possible, but she had to try. "Of course you are. You didn't start this; they made it impossible for us to keep living like that. You saw how smug and entitled they were, ordering us around." Then she added in an undertone, "Or at least, Aurora was. But they were all going along with her."

The redhead buried her face into Elsa's hair. "You heard Belle, too, right? How they wanted to 'teach us a lesson'... they thought they were doing us a favour…"

"Probably did. That they wanted to show us the error of our godless ways." Though at saying that, Elsa felt a fresh wave of guilt. She still couldn't shake the idea that God might really disapprove of their love — if not because they were both women, then because they were related. Knowing they were both mature adults who could choose who they wanted to love didn't settle any of her fears about what the Bible would say about them.

"If I had just been careful and less pushy, they wouldn't have been able to do this to us in the first place." Anna bit her lip and started to run her hands through Elsa's sleep-mussed hair.

"Mmm," she sighed pleasantly. Then she opened her eyes again to look into her sister's. "We both should have been more careful. Not just you. But… well, I don't think it's very Christian to blackmail anyone; Aurora should be ashamed of herself! We were merely settling the score. Besides, we both know you were never going to show anyone those pictures, right?"

"I planned on deleting them the second we leave camp." Anna glanced over at her phone. "As long as Aurora and the others don't tattle on us, then yeah. I have no plans on showing anyone."

Nodding as if she had expected that answer all along, Elsa pressed a kiss to her temple. "Of course. Especially those of Snow." She shivered to think of what the girl must have gone through. "Poor decisions… they all made a lot of poor decisions."

"I feel the worst about Snow," she confessed with a nod of agreement. As if they were sharing thoughts. "I- I really wish I could take it back just to erase the way she looked at me."

"Why? You didn't make her go to a party she's clearly too young to attend and make her accept offers she… is also clearly too young to accept. If anything…" Elsa hesitated, but she knew she was right, even if it also had the side effect of justifying their actions. "This might teach her the kind of lesson Aurora thought she was teaching us. That she's not ready to be that 'wild', and that it has consequences."

"I keep forgetting she's only seventeen." Anna flinched. "I literally blackmailed a minor!"

"She shouldn't be doing that, anyway!" Elsa whispered, as if it were a secret. Truly, in her mind, Snow was better off waiting another year — or longer, until she was married, or at least in a more serious relationship than hooking up with a random guy she would never see again.

"Do you think she actually consented to it? Or was she too drunk to say no?" Anna asked, looking even more horrified.

"Honestly? I'd rather not know. It's none of our business. But Snow had three other friends who were actually there and did nothing to help her; I… feel sorry for her, but I don't feel any personal guilt. God will deal with her and with her friends, and with whoever she hooked up with."

"I'm sorry," Anna murmured, "I- I really shouldn't feel as bad about this as I do."

Wrapping her arms tightly around Anna's body, she simply held her there for a moment. Then she whispered, "We'll get over it. And so will they, probably."

Anna hugged her back, snuggling into her sister's side and letting out a hum. "Okay." She nuzzled Elsa's ear, then spoke up to lighten the mood, "What shall we do for our day off?"

"Anything you want. Definitely get away from the campgrounds, but… we could take a hike, have a picnic. Just go see a movie. You name it." She meant every word; her only desire was to turn Anna's frown upside-down.

"There was a cute coffee shop in town that I spotted when we were shopping last weekend," Anna suggested. "I was going to point it out but we were both pretty deadset on getting ice cream instead, so I didn't bother."

That got Elsa humming as she sat up, petting up and down Anna's thigh and hip. "Well… yes, I think that might sound nice. We could take books and just sip coffee and chat for a while. Then if we think of something else to do, we can always leave."

Gloomy expression melting like ice in the sun, Anna smiled and said, "I would really like that! I saw a bookshop close by, too, if you want to take a look."

"Perfect!" Elsa said immediately, leaning in to kiss her forehead. "Shall we get ready and hit the bookshop first? Find reading material for the café?"

"Yeah!" Anna returned the kiss, only hers landed on right on the curve of Elsa's lips. Than she gently pulled herself out of Elsa's embrace so they could start getting ready.

                                                      ~ o ~

The rest of the morning slipped by into afternoon with as much pleasantness as they could expect. Sitting around and people-watching in the coffee shop was both relaxing and enjoyable. Elsa made her way through one chapter of her book, but that was as far as she could get with Anna to chat with — and cuddle with, when they were feeling a bit braver. Curled up together on the loveseat in the corner, it was easy to do without a lot of guilt.

Besides, as long as they didn't let themselves start making out, it didn't look that much out of the ordinary. Also, no one else from camp wandered in at any point, so there was no reason to care about being seen.

Once it got closer to dinnertime, they found a little Italian place and ate, talking of small things and discussing college plans and camp. Now and then, they would swap food, trying to out-seduce the other one with the way they would lick the other's fork clean. This came to a head when Anna accidentally stabbed her tongue while doing so, and Elsa had to fight to keep from bursting out laughing and interrupting everyone else's meal.

On their way back, they held hands the entire while. The longer they enjoyed each other after having confronted the true nature of their feelings, the more bold Elsa felt. She was in love with Anna, and though it still worried her what other people would think about them being together, she had decided at last that she couldn't truly feel guilty about it when her love was so real, and pure, and enduring. She would die a hundred deaths rather than be denied the precious sister that had been gone from her life for so long.

"Guess we have to stop now," she sighed when the campgrounds came into view, regretfully pulling her fingers away from Anna's. A look of disappointment crossed the redhead's face but it was brief and soon Anna was smiling brightly again.

"I had a really good time. Thank you so much, Snowflake." Before they exited the car, Anna took Elsa's hand back and lay a kiss on the knuckle. She shivered, closing her eyes and sighing at the contact of the sweet lips she had come to cherish so much.

"You… really have to stop," she wound up laughing breathlessly. The redhead simply beamed up at her, leaning forward to kiss her cheek instead.

"But I love kissing you," she cooed, giving the spot she kissed a small nuzzle. Which made Elsa smile even more bashfully. She simply couldn't seem to resist Anna no matter how hard she tried. Anna finally finished spoiling Elsa with affection, pulling away reluctantly before climbing out of the car and taking in a deep breath.

"I know," the elder sister sighed. "But we'll be okay. I've got my sister, my best friend, and my… m-my girlfriend by my side."

Her heart seized at using that last word. It was true, wasn't it? They really were that to each other, even if it was a new term to use. Anna looked at her, briefly surprised, before a brilliant smile lit up her face. It was so wide that she had to close her eyes to make room for it. She looked so happy.

"Yeah! I'll always by your side, just like you'll always be by mine!" she chirped. She reached out to grab Elsa's hand without a care of who saw them. "I have the best girlfriend in the world in my life. I can take on everything that life throws at me!"

Feeling her heart pound in her throat, Elsa squeezed the hand back as they strolled away from the parking lot. Though when they started to get closer to the grounds, she released her hand; there was being brave, and then there was inviting trouble.

"Oh, great," she sighed as they approached the cabins. "Look who's waiting for us."

Aurora and Belle were leaning against the side of Anna and Elsa's cabin. Aurora in particular zeroed in on the two once they breached the treeline, before slumping against the wall once again upon noticing the fair bit of distance Anna and Elsa had hastily put between one another. As they drew close enough to be within speaking distance, the blonde cleared her throat.

"Took you two long enough to get back." There was no true bite to her words.

"We were enjoying an off-day," Elsa told her, and there was a bit more acidity to hers. "We really needed it, after the day we had yesterday. Looking after all your campers, driving into town in the dead of night to pick up drunk girls from a party we weren't interested in…"

With a sigh, Belle hissed, "Alright, alright, we get it. You're pissed."

Anna squared her shoulders. "Of course we're pissed. If the only reason you two came here was to antagonise or threaten us, then you can save it and move on!"

Aurora glared between the two of them for a second before the fight left her. "That's not why we're here," she ground out reluctantly. "We need to talk. Privately."

"Why should we want to give you that privilege?" Elsa snapped. "Do you have any idea how you've made us feel these past few days?"

"Can we not talk about this out in the open where others can hear us, please?!" Aurora looked around nervously as though Father Frollo would walk out of the trees. "At least let's take this to me and Belle's cabin if we must."

When neither of the sisters responded right away, Belle added, "Please? We promise, we're not trying to… retaliate, or anything. Just talk."

Anna looked hesitant before she let out a heavy breath through her nose. "Elsa and I are going inside to drop our stuff inside the cabin," she finally said after a few tense seconds. "We'll talk about it. In five minutes, we'll let you know what we decide to do. And you will respect our choice. Whether we want to talk to you or not. Understand?"

Aurora looked like she wanted to protest but she nodded. "Five minutes," she agreed before leaning against the wall again.

"Alright," Elsa told them curtly. Not heatedly, but definitely with no large amount of love. Nodding to the two fellow counselors, she steered Anna inside.

Once in there, she brought her sister several feet away from the door before whispering, "You sent all those pictures and video to me, right? And backed them up on the cloud?"

Anna nodded. "Even if they somehow snatch my phone, I backed everything up and made copies on my laptop. If we do talk to them, I'd rather have it done in their cabin so they can't mess with anything." She bit her lip. "Plus… as a precaution, I backed up and deleted most of the pictures I had of us on my phone too. Included the background picture of me and you as kids."

Elsa knew that was one of her favourites. "Oh, Anna…" Then she sighed, taking out her phone and putting it under her pillow. "Well, you can put it back once this is all over. Let's… let's go and face the music. I want you to keep your phone with you, just in case we need to call for help. I can't believe I'm saying any of this, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Anna gave her phone a squeeze before putting it as deeply into her back pocket as she could before giving Elsa a very swift kiss on the cheek. "For good luck," she murmured quietly. Thankful they had forgotten to open the blinds since their last intimate moment. "Let's go and get this over with."

"Wait." Then Elsa pulled Anna in for a deeper kiss. If this was going to be for luck, she wanted a lot of it. Anna let out a surprised noise before returning the kiss eagerly, closing her eyes and taking Elsa's face between her hands. Just when she began to feel a tongue poking at her lips, she drew back, panting slightly. "O-okay, that's… that's probably getting close to five minutes."

She giggled softly and nodded, placing one last kiss on Elsa's nose before walking towards the door and opening it. Belle and Aurora were right where they left them and both counsellors turned to the pair at the emergence.

"So? Are you going to talk to us?"

"Very well," Elsa sighed, gesturing in front of them. "Lead the way."

As they walked, Belle glanced at the two of them suspiciously a few times. Elsa tried not to think about it too much; if she did, her cheeks might get even rosier than they probably already were.

Anna, however, was less subtle about it. "Is there something on my face, Belle?" she asked the brunette. "I would appreciate if you would tell me so I can get it off."

"You sure you two haven't been getting off already?" Belle muttered.

"Excuse you!" Elsa hissed sharply. Aurora frowned and nudged Belle with her elbow, leaning in to whisper something that neither sister could catch. Anna moved a little closer to Elsa in response, not liking that move at all if her expression had anything to say about it. It only took a second for Aurora to move away from the brunette and keep walking.

Soon enough, they were at their cabin, walking inside. The minute the door was shut, Elsa folded her arms across her chest.

"So? What do you want?"

Aurora leaned against the door. "We need to talk, that's all. About last night."

"What is there to talk about?" Anna shot back. "We did all the talking last night."

"I don't care what you say about the rest of us," Belle began, overriding whatever Aurora had been going to say next. "But… Snow didn't deserve this. We dragged her along; she wasn't really into the whole idea."

"Yeah. It took poor Snow hours to calm down last night." Aurora tapped her foot. "She's convinced that you'll tattle and ruin her. Anna, she's been kind enough to offer her bed to you when you two had your little 'lovers' spat'. It's cruel to hold this over her head."

Anna bit her lip and looked torn all over again. Elsa remembered it in a flash; the night they had been at odds, Snow was over at the other cabin and Anna had bunked with Rapunzel. She couldn't help feeling a little guilty… but at the same time, Snow had chosen her alliance to be with three other girls who felt right at home blackmailing lesbians into doing their chores.

"We're not holding anything over your head," Elsa snapped, voice far colder than Aurora's. "You wanted to out us. Get us thrown out of camp if we didn't do every stupid thing you asked of us. It's just a disgusting thing to do to other people, and definitely not Christian. We're only using the pics and video as insurance that you won't do that." A little nastier, she added, "Unlike you."

Aurora instantly turned on Elsa. "Out you!?" She hissed, "So you admit it, then! We were trying to teach you a lesson for choosing such a sinful path, and this is how you repay us?!"

Anna instantly flared up, "I'm sorry that Snow was upset, but if this is your version of 'teaching us a lesson', then it's a stupid one and I'm not going to go back on anything I did to ensure you two don't pull this bullshit again!"

"Wait, wait," Belle tried to interject, obviously looking terrified that thing were falling apart. "This wasn't what we called you down here for." Teeth gritted, she hissed, "Aurora…"

"What, Belle? Do you want them to get away with what they are doing?! Not just to Snow, but to themselves?"

Rolling her eyes, she snapped, "You really think blackmailing them into doing our chores is going to make them stop sinning? Please."

"Who died and made you our mother, anyway?" Elsa said with the world's greatest "resting bitch face".

In the wake of what was going on, Aurora forced herself to relax. She took several deep breaths and turned her back on the two girls. Once she was significantly calmed, she turned back to them once more. "I'll let Belle talk for now since I'm having such a hard time with this," she said coolly. "At least until I'm not ready to snap at the sight of you two..."

"Seems smart to me," Elsa muttered.

"Alright," Belle began, looking a little nervous now that she was "in charge" of this strange little meeting. "Well… personally, I do think the Bible says… what Aurora says she saw you doing…" She took a deep breath to calm herself, but in her case it was only from being flustered. "It does go against God's word, but on the other hand, it's between you and God. I feel bad that she tried to blackmail you for it; what she said made sense at the time, but now it doesn't. I feel… dirty."

"I feel the same way," Anna confessed. "About the pictures and video, I mean. Look — we don't want to hurt any of you, but you have to understand that you are the ones who forced us into this. And because of that, I'm not willing to let go of our only defence against you until me and Elsa are far away from here. I feel bad for taking these pictures and I feel even worse for finding it necessary to hold onto them but when it comes to Elsa's safety, I'm going to take any measures necessary. Even if this measure is below my own morals."

The room was quiet for a few seconds. Elsa didn't bother to add anything to that; she was too busy trying not to feel sick at the situation, or to feel a rush of affection for her sister.

"Okay… okay, I definitely see where you're coming from." Glancing at Aurora's stubbornly-turned back, Belle went on, "I mean… to me, you're straying from God, but I suppose… if you were threatening my boyfriend, Adam, I'd be furious with you. And I'd be trying to do anything I could to protect his best interests."

"I just want to know… why you would do any of this." The question wasn't aimed at Belle but at Aurora, who stiffened. "Why would you do this to us, to Elsa, in the first place? Why the slavery? That's not a very Christian way of doing things."

The blonde let out a snort. "You're one to talk," she said, but the words were half-hearted. "I told you why. It was to straighten you up. Girls don't love other girls. It's lust, it's a carnal thing. A little bit of discipline and prayer, and hard work is all you need to get it out of your system."

"Is that what your parents told you?" Anna asked quietly.

The room was quiet for a few seconds. "What's that supposed to mean?" Belle asked, brow furrowing.

"I think," Elsa said in a bewildered voice, "she's hinting that… Anna and I are not Aurora's first brush with homosexuality."

Aurora reached around to hug herself, digging her nails into her arm. "I don't know what you are talking about," she growled. "You shouldn't talk about things you don't even understand."

Anna blinked and bowed her head. "You're right," she said, "it's not really my business, is it?"

"Aurora, wait… really?" Nobody spoke, and Belle pushed a hand into her face. "Great. I'm the only straight person in this room."

Approaching Aurora, Elsa made sure to speak softly. "If it helps you at all… I was where you were when I first realised. I thought God would only punish me, that the feelings couldn't be real because they were 'sin'. I still worry about it, but… how can they be? How can love ever be wrong if God is love?"

"Shut up!" Aurora snapped. "What do you idiots know?! I'm not gay! I'm perfectly straight! I simply expressed a wrong opinion, a-and my parents corrected me the best way they knew how, that's it! You know nothing about me, don't try to pretend you do." She abruptly walked past Elsa and towards her bed, refusing to make eye contact with any of them. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. We talked about what we wanted to talk about, you two can leave."

Belle seemed too thunderstruck to say anything at all. Anna took a step forward but no more, looking concerned but also wary of the older counsellor. But Elsa was ready to dive in head-first. She took a seat on the edge of the bed, a couple of feet away from the other blonde.

"I'm pretty angry with you right now. But we're also fellow Peterhouse Counsellors. I…" Swallowing hard, she whispered, "I know you think I'm a disgusting sinner. But think about it; if that's true, what room would I have to judge you right now?"

Aurora glared at her but her brown eyes were glazed with tears. "I don't need to be judged," she said stiffly. "The only sin I did was trying to blackmail you, and I will pray to God tonight to forgive me, but I'm not afraid to be judged by you or anyone otherwise. His opinion is the only one that matters."

A pained look flashed through Elsa's features. "I didn't say I was going to judge you. I was trying to say the opposite." Sighing, she looked over at Belle and Anna for help. Belle shrugged as if to say, "Who, me?!" Anna looked lost, staring at Aurora as though she was seeing her for the first time. Her head was cocked like she was a puppy. Finally, she sighed and started walking over to the bed, too.

"You know Aurora… ou- my mom…" Elsa winced at the near-slip, but didn't interrupt Anna. "She wouldn't let me see my sister for five years after I told her I kissed my first girl. She totally shut me out of her life. I sent gifts, called, sent letters… Mom didn't let her have any of it. To her, having my sister think I hated her and didn't want anything to do with her anymore… was the better alternative to knowing a sister that loves her but is gay. She no longer treated me like her kid. She treated me like a disease… a parasite that would corrupt my sister. I had no idea any of this was going on until a few weeks ago. It hurt. It hurt so badly that even now, thinking about it makes me want to curl up and cry."

She paused and wiped away at the tears that were starting to build up in her eyes. Aurora was looking at her now and, similarly to Anna, seemed close to tears. There was a frown on her face but her angry eyes had softened as she listened. She looked like she was seeing the redhead in a new light.

"But….in the end, it was worth it. Because my sister knows the real me now, and she still loves me despite it all. You must feel lonely… it must be suffocating to hate something you can't control. But we're trying to say that if you want us to, we can help you."

"Who says I need help?!" Aurora snapped. But it was so feeble neither of them paid it much attention.

"Not 'help' as in to fix you," Elsa clarified. "Just… we'll listen. That's all we meant."

Finally, Belle shook herself from her shock at listening to Anna's confessions. "I'm pretty sure they mean it," she said as she rounded the two on the bed and sat down on Aurora's far side. "And… I'm here for you, too, if you ever need to talk. Now, or whenever."

Aurora glanced between all three of them, looking at her so earnestly and suddenly she couldn't hold it anymore. The anger, confusion and, admittedly, the warmth of their support caused the dam to break and Aurora began to sob, shaking her head desperately to stop the tears that refused to stop. Anna reached out and ran a hand gently up and down her back.

"It's alright," Elsa breathed, not trusting herself to say much more. Belle took up one of her hands to squeeze it as Anna petted her. She wasn't quite as good with touchy-feely things, so she didn't attempt the same. "You'll be alright."

It took several minutes for Aurora to finally calm down and she shrugged Anna's hand away from her. "What are you two even trying to accomplish?" she asked tiredly as she rubbed at her red eyes.

"We just want to help you understand, and to understand you. Isn't that what friendship is all about?" After a few breaths, Elsa finally did hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder. "And I'd really much rather have you as a friend than… than keep hurting each other."

Aurora regarded Elsa and crossed her arms. "While I agree that getting along is preferable at this point, you're not going to get me to change my mind," she said. "I still think it's sinful and wrong."

Grudgingly, she managed to say through gritted teeth, "That's… understandable. Before this year at camp, I would have agreed with you."

"What did you say to your parents?" Belle asked, hoping to shift the topic. "I can't imagine you saying anything to them that would make them snap like that."

"I simply asked if it was weird that I found a girl in my class cute," Aurora said in soft, bitter voice. "My nannies, who were cleaning at the time, got excited and got me to elaborate and I said things that were too much for my parents. So I was punished."

Elsa looked behind Aurora to Anna with a small smile of bemusement. Anna frowned in sympathy. Aurora rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't hit. I was just made to do all the chores in the house and listen to Father's lectures every night for two months. 'Work the sin out of my system,' as he put it. All in all, I got off easy and I'm better for it." The blonde tucked a strand of hair over her ear. "Either way, it's getting late. You ladies should be heading off back to your cabins." Anna looked like she wanted to protest, shuffling her feet, before Aurora mentioned, "I'll… think about what you both said and get back to you on it. But don't expect me to turn into some liberal weirdo."

"Alright," Elsa said as she stood. She hesitated. Then she added quietly, "I know this won't mean a lot coming from 'sinners', but I think your parents overreacted. It's not necessarily 'gay' just to remark on the beauty of another girl."

Nodding along, Belle echoed, "Exactly. I mean, I think women are beautiful all the time, but I don't want to date any of them." Then she scoffed and muttered, "Well, except Kristen Stewart. But I think she's every girl's exception."

"It wasn't that I thought the girl was cute that got me into trouble, it was the fact that I had said 'if I were a guy, I'd date her' that did." Aurora offered that nonchalantly before waving a hand in Anna and Elsa's direction. "Now off with you two before you get in trouble."

Anna looked ready to protest before she simply nodded and grabbed Elsa's arm, despite the worried glance she cast in the oldest blonde's direction. "Come on, we overstayed our welcome for now," she said quietly to her sister.

"Goodnight," Belle offered, though her eyebrows were raised at the other two as she pushed the door closed. Clearly, they were all thinking the same thing, but it wouldn't be wise for them to discuss it at the moment.

As they walked back to their own cabin, Elsa let out a long, shaky sigh of relief. "WHEW."

Anna giggled softly and took Elsa's hand in her own. "That was stressful, wasn't it? But at least it didn't go as badly as we feared."

"No, you're right. It went far better than I expected. Poor Aurora… I mean, not in terms of money, or of being a colossal bitch, but because her parents came down on her for something so innocent…"

"I feel sorry for her, too," Anna admitted. "And the fact that… she took it to heart so seriously… it's really sad." She frowned and her shoulders fell dejectedly. "She not so bad under that 'Mean Girls' exterior, but all that prejudice is in the way of her being our friend… not to mention she must hate that part of herself so much because of what her parents practically beat into her."

Reaching for the door to their cabin, Elsa said, "She must. I know that it was hard for me after Mom said that… that we…"

But they were not alone. Waiting on Anna's bed was someone that should not have been there.

"H-hey, Anna. Can we talk?"

                                                       To Be Continued…

[thecoroutfitters]

My because really does 3 continuously and now I see the reason I actually tremble the brain plus melody your ex outside when. This individual writes frequently pertaining to the BioMed Key blog and you will also find them upon Twitting – @justbalmy. “Don’t you need to take this from us, 9 out of 10 health professionals agree with the fact that will Weight loss pill Abc is safe to use.” I can follow me not really your views, wants and manipulations mixed of them folks who couldn’t give a rattling. Someone purposely persuades you to invest in some thing at merely the ideal time period, once you would’ve if not said “no.” This kind of usually is the place you’re quickly or maybe in your mind tired. At 6pm using a Exclusive, because you’re wandering out of the office, your current co-worker demands an individual if you intellect coping with A, B and also Z .

How might you become a member of not one but two phrases working with infinitives?

Though it’s tempting to add images for your stories–pictures person as a child, images of your companion or perhaps areas inside your stories–doing thus essentially undercuts probably the most useful element of your words in the office. I appeared to be through the life insurance coverage field and having had time to control the profits firm power, One of the better must. Use the subsequent Html document for you to connect to this article: Some fonts (for example Wingdings) tend to be image print styles that have virtually no understandale personas consequently you’ll usually see haphazard signs search inside your paintings. You can observe any preview of this impression being created inside app’s eye-port when you first intend your conversion As an example, these sentences are a couple of phrases: I have a yellowish kitty. When anyone efforts to influence an individual connected with a little something by means of sketching a final result which is often in connection with the knowledge these people gave an individual.

In Your own personal Words

So, just how do you effectively incorporate storytelling and also displays with out depending on photographs? The following discussion board is good for one to produce product ideas and give innovative reviews. What exactly? Not any? Exactly how selfish it’s dislike she’s abandoning nys! Amy: Apologies I’ll be on sleep issues involving community plus it’ll toss this options out of. We’re generally wanting to develop your merchandise so we is able to use the favourite opinions to have a favourable modify! “One time sales! Limited present! Get here prior to we’re had sell outs!” Not information is best appreciated using images approaches. The closest thing official time period I realize so that you can something similar to kissmyessay.org has since released their discounted prices on cheap essay writing 24. this is usually a calligram which will is

You can certainly learn more approaches for knowing how data since words by simply reading about Mental Mnemonics. Use specific points and let your senses assist you. Use the following Code in order to link to these pages: This individual publishes articles often regarding the BioMed Middle blog and there are also him about Facebook – @justbalmy. Is it possible you offer me a very few us dollars to go into?” Son: “Could offer united states the drive at this time there?” Son: “Could you pick people up later?”

Example of essay sentences utilizing the word tuition?

“But I’m bad on drawing”, My partner and i hear a person say. Easy running involving vision facts would’ve rescued your family history on the invasion of your predator or even in a seek out meal. In the event that you’ve received a incredibly specific colouring you’d choose to employ in that case you’ll require a eager observation to ensure it’s exactly the same. Perfectly, a person don’t should be an excellent performer to help you get your message across. When someone receives you to accept to something that’s never excellent by telling you it’s somewhat superior to it truly is. Jake appeared to be accepted directly into Yale, although the college tuition was too big and the man were lacking ample cash, thus rather, this individual visited Ohio State. Typographic fine art can be quite preferred right now operating styles illustrations or photos getting developed, from atlases to be able to motion picture images.

5. Doing a strong not reasonable request first.

Certainly, That’s not me indicating an individual delete the many illustrations or photos through the sales pitches. It’s not at all taught the way we understand inside schools (learning off provides), as an alternative this teaches grammar by using it around on a daily basis words and content. I’m will make sure to look-out of these tricky tricks. Appreciate your posting. The way do you figure out how to stop them in their tracks swap this inside twelve months prefer. Tumblr is a fantastic bring attention for the investigation itself.

Rather than indicating “I dont like position adjacent to persons.”, he’ll declare something such as “I don’t appreciate intently flying multiple towards the man variety.” Which makes zero good sense but because it may sound diverse, your dog believes it’s intelligent. To squeeze in a take a note of touch Ctrl+D If offer these individuals the opportunity, men and women aim to change a person. The wonderful pictures enable promote the particular storytelling method that could make science more engaging. When somebody diverts consideration away from the issue of debate to the totally new (although vaguely connected) subject matter to help convince an individual. I suppose the ideal illustration showing all these techniques is so visible during Derren Brown’s shows. Kim in order to Lucy: Also Amy’s no cost this kind of Comes to an end, we’ll receive the woman’s to lower a person off on the job.

Images assistance convey to a story

Someone plays with all your thoughts and also quietly creates fearfulness in the human body, then once you begin thinking about a feasible solution, they supply selection for you. Properly is it possible you give away 5 after that?” Tumblr is a easy way carry recognition towards research alone. Research has shown that people remember creation much easier greater compared to words. We will need ones help! Help all of us strengthen the material by way of extracting issues which are critically the exact and also blending all of them within this query. Individuals may not feel interested in a definite illness or situation simply because they’re not necessarily on an emotional level bought it. I found personally becoming lost, in the great way, in visualizing this particular home.

What is definitely completely wrong because of this sentence Outside the Gulf of mexico can be an island associated with absolutely incomparable splendor named Cocos- lt can also be identified as Tropical isle of the Sharks?

It’s due to the fact from time to time these bits of information simply aren’t calling united states in the manner they have to. The a bed that will it for me is the place where some sort of possibility affirms he/she carries a competitive wager intended for much less or perhaps of which thus and for that reason managed to get incredible brings about 1 / 2 time. I used to be no more co-creating the storyplot, it had been getting informed in my opinion. This cause infographics so popular: these people recession lower facts plus results and share these within the easy to digest method. Number 3 is perfectly Funny! Maybe this Sweetheart have been handling my family this whole time The hardest part is definitely plenty of people co-sign it simply because fell into for doing it. One disadvantage in utilizing essay sentences to outline as an alternative to themes is that often you will have excessive info.

It’s definitely monotonous coping with all of them as well as I’ve lost this fair proportion of locks during this process, way too. Immediately after more unusual? Accomplish this controlled occasion Tumblr. This community forum isn’t examined for almost any support-related challenges. I kissmyessay located me personally losing your way, within a smart way, inside imaging the following property.

Consist of how you had been feeling, build up tension, leaving these individuals suspending in each and every term. Images have the wide ranging to find an psychological result from the audience. And I imagined when you exchanged the idea of ‘did you’ using ‘why would you’ a person will be more likely to tattle upon on their own. Your loved ones call you standing on your pay day advance you should away rambling about how precisely considerably they will detest greedy people and lastly you actually concur. This could certainly will need time along with however it’s generally far better these days employing just about any strategy.

What is definitely completely wrong because of this sentence Outside the Gulf of mexico can be an island associated with absolutely incomparable splendor named Cocos- lt can also be identified as Tropical isle of the Sharks?

Effortlessly these bits of information staying ready to accept the public, we could put together these ingredients and make up a visible product that can employ as well as educate other individuals: www.syracuse.edu another way to decide to put these studies to good make use of. Some fonts (like Wingdings) are icon web page that includes absolutely no easily readable character types hence you’ll usually see unique designs seem to be with your art work. These are brilliant! We are derived from loved ones associated with master manipulators. Thanks for spreading this excellent write-up. Tumblr can also be a fantastic deliver attention towards exploration per se. You’re likewise in a position to personalise this font, size along with shade of the link produced. Son: “Mom, may i head out for an an hour to discover Anthony?”

Every night before mattress, I personally thoroughly clean my own face, clean my personal enamel, and also browse constantly as a result of Instagram–staring during pics associated with pals, family, and people I most certainly will never ever fulfill. When you tell a tale on a powerpoint presentation, the particular creative imagination for each listener produces the graphics to go in conjunction with it. Research has proved that any of us remember creation easier and better when compared with words. The a couple views may either end up being different lines (period of time as opposed to the sprinkle), or they may be from the same sentence simply using a semi-colon (instead of the the dash diet, then do not take advantage the term them). Someone takes on using your emotional baggage and also slightly invokes worry within you, after which before you start thinking of a possible solution, they feature one for you. I have found this injury is a little odd as the data file that’s earned is a short term Pdf document, you should spend less (or perhaps shift) this applying Survey if you wish to maintain it to remain. Specifically when compared to repeating studying through rote.

How can you appropriate sentence are powered by?

The most severe element is usually many people co-sign the idea simply because droped for doing this. Interestingly enough, here’s the infographic telling you exactly why we all like infographics. Number Several is perfectly Humorous! Perhaps my own Sweetheart have been controlling myself this entire time Wordify works best when working with portraits of persons and also images photo for crystal clear experience as you get the very best outcome as a result but also in our evaluating I’m able to find a few decent results from images upon multicoloured qualification. Jake had been acknowledged straight into Yale, although the educational costs seemed to be excessive and he did not have ample funds, therefore alternatively, this individual went to Pitt. She’s likely to believe I’m a really phony. “The stand are going to be ready inside 5 minutes.” Because doing so seems much better than quarter-hour.

from Patriot Prepper Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. Are you ready for any situation? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag