Ask her what he looked like. His mannerisms, if she remembers.

Tell her it isn't her fault, that's what they do. Manipulation and selfish games. Real fairy tales are not nice. But with any luck that's all behind her now.

Tell her there is someone here in your place now, living your old life. He may be up to something, could be something soon or he'll act normally for years. You have no idea, but to be safest she must not trust him or have anything to do with him.

>>452027
Hug her. She needs it.
"Shh... It's ok. Taking control of peoples minds is some sort of sick game to them, and they love their games. I found that out the hard way.

Savannah, lets team up. I'll can help keep you safe, and you can help me get these creatures under control.
Even if you can't remember much you're still a pure human, so there are things you can do that I can't. Like go in places completely uninvited and stuff.

The next place I would be taking you is basically an impenetrable fortress. On the moon. You would have to meet my, well, I suppose I'll have to call her an 'ally' even though I can't trust her. She's unpredictable.
Savannah, I promise that I'll do whatever I have to do to keep her from hurting you while you're in my moon base. Do you want to go?"

Wait for her to respond, then: "I've needed to ask since... what happened, but wanted you to decide to help or not without mucking up your head... I need to know. Do you really like me? Like, like-like me?"

>>452084
>hug
Sure, why not?

>Savannah, lets team up
What, no.

>moon
No.

>Like, like-like me?"
DAMMIT NO.

Just so you guys know, when we looked at her, that counted as an invitation. YOU MESSED UP, EVAN.

>>452153
Savannah is human, so the whole invitation deal goes right out the window

>>452160
That makes two assumptions which I wanted to test.
The first assumption is that she is human.
The second assumption is that she is Savannah.

>>452173
take her to the iron court, if she falls over screaming she isn't human.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it. They have a sort of a mind manipulation they do."

>>452179
Unless she's like Evan, or has tasted his blood, or etc...

>>452232
Less paranoia please. NOBODY else is like Evan. Her eyes would give her away if she were fae. Evan is the only one who can make them look normal. That's why Elle wore sunglasses when taking on a human form.

I wouldn't put it past her being fey. Totally possible. We already blew our chance to test it in an inconspicuous way, so whatever, opportunity missed. If this bites us in the ass later, we'll deal with it then. Let's not alienate her.

jesus she is not a fae. if someone knocks on your window and you look at them, that is not an invitation. also fae can't make that good of a disguise. evan was raised human, so he has human mannerisms ingrained into his very being. any other fae could MAYBE pull off acting human for a little bit but they will make mistakes very easy.

I would be very surprised to learn that our doppelganger planted a fake Savannah meant to deceive us in the event that we accidentally teleport into her living room after we were executed. This isn't a shitty M. Night Shyamalan movie.

The odds are in our favor that she is legit.

It is important to be very supportive of her. Her world is shattering around her right now. She's been violated by the fae. At the very least emotionally and mentally...and perhaps physically as well. If Elle is any indication, the fae like to fuck like rabbits. There is a sickeningly real chance that she may be a rape victim.

For her sake, I hope that Orion's violation never went that far.

Oh yeah also don't forget that other fae can't tell us the rules! She just did.

Bam, proven.

>>452251
Looking at someone isn't necessarily an invitation, but he gave her a look. Totally different.

>>452285
What rule did she explain? I see a lot of describing actions, but nothing that directly says how things work.

>>452277
>our doppelganger planted a fake Savannah
If Savannah was like Evan then his doppelganger couldn't have done that, since he would have been an infant at the time.
Further, the antagonist we know about couldn't possibly be responsible for Evan's situation. In fact, based only what we know to be true you could reasonably consider both of them victims of some as-yet unknown entity.
For all we know, that entity could be this Orion person.

>meant to deceive us
The world doesn't revolve around Evan. It would be more likely that Savannah would be part of some other and/or larger plot.

>>452303
>what rule?
>need an invitation to get in

>>452319
Elle explained that too, and the Tooth Fairy started to explain the rules before she realized she isn't allowed to explain them to Evan. That means it's likely a rule imposed on them by the prince. If so then somebody beholden to a different court wouldn't be bound by that rule. If Savanna were like Evan then she would obviously be from a different court.

I would like to point out that Evan is free to explain the rules to others. That means that unlike requiring an invitation it's not something intrinsic to being Fae.

>>452392
That's because Evan is awesome at breaking rules. Not being able to explain rules is an intrinsic element of being fey. Look this stuff up, guys. ChildOfAB is working with pre-existing mythology here.

>>452027
Just make sure she does this on her own time. Be calm, don't even HINT that we blame her for anything.

The last thing a girl that age needs is a guilt trip over being maybe-raped.

Sympathize. Don't patronize.

Maybe make it clear that we feel lied to as well?

ChildOfAB 2012/09/09(Sun)01:54 No. 452904 ID: 4b44fc
File 134718085656.png - (292.72KB , 720x893 , 80.png )

"Listen, Anna, it's okay. It's not your fault, it's these things. It's all manipulation and games, that's all they ever do," you say sympathetically. You think back to Elle, and can't really think of her as an exception. Rather than keep talking, you decide the best thing to do would be to sit up and hug her.
She quickly wraps her arms around you and hugs you back sweetly, holding it a few seconds longer than you think most hugs tend to last. It's nice, though; it somehow feels like there's more emotion involved in this simple hug than any of the stuff you've done with Elle.
Anna lets go and you sit back. She gives you a strange look and laughs awkwardly. "Listen, Evan. I have something to tell you, and you're not going to like it."
Your heart drops a little. "Oh. What is it?"
She waves her hand in front of her nose. "You really smell terrible," she says.
You laugh, feeling the heat rise in your face as you recall all the things you've done since you last bathed. "Haha. Yeah, sorry. It's been a long day."
She smiles, clearly blushing as well. "Well, then we both forgive each other, I guess. And, thanks. Your stinky hug made me feel better."
"Haha. Yeah, okay. Can you tell me anything else about Orion, or do you not want to talk about him anymore? Like, what did he look like and stuff?"
"Weren't you there when he was?" she asks.
"I couldn't see him. You were talking to someone and then the window closed, is all."
"Huh. Well he's real tall and kind of thin, black eyes and pointy ears and sharp teeth and white hair. Not like old person white, but like white white. Wings, too, or else some kind of feathery cape thing. Oh, and whenever he opens his mouth, it's like there's a light inside it. I remember he would stay by my bed and tell me stories...weird stories, and that light would sort of blink because he was opening and closing his mouth. I don't remember them though." She snaps her fingers. "That's right! I saw your flashlight outside and I thought it was him, I remember now. And then, when he really did show up, he said he was going to go get someone else, and I should...um...make you stay."
"Go get someone else? Someone else named Evan? Or, maybe he called him the prince of the black court?" you ask.
"I don't think that was it," Anna replies uncertainly. She thinks for a moment, then shrugs. "I really don't remember. Maybe that was it, but he didn't even say who he was going to get at all. There's someone else named Evan?"
You nod. "He looks like me and says he has the same name, and I think he took over my place in the family. He's the one who I hope still thinks I'm dead."
"Woah, okay. I think it's your turn for story time. What happened to you?" she asks.

tell her what's up. gloss over what happened with you and elle.

>>452905
Yep.

May as well give her the story. There's no reason to tell her you've been banging a fairy, and you should leave out the part where you killed a dude, and you don't really need to go into that much detail about the whole thing, but otherwise you may as well tell it all.

>>452904
You can tell her about the sex. Specifically, how Elle has been using you for it.
It doesn't matter if it was intended as enticement or for her enjoyment; you didn't have a choice in the matter.

After what Savannah has been through, she won't doubt it one bit.

>>452904
Well why not have a little storytime? She's been through enough of the manipulations of fey to deserve the real fairy tale. Let knowing the truths be her reward, lesson and punishment for messing with things beyond her understanding. Hold back no truth but do not dwell on what is unpleasant. And besides, who else will we ever be able to tell it to?

>>452914
While I don't think we have to omit it at all, but details aren't needed. I'm not sure "using for sex" is the right way to describe it anyway.

Was she using him for sex? I mean, yeah it's reprehensible and all, but he did agree to it. Hell, the first time he actually dared her to do it. The issue is muddied by age of course, so I as an outside observer would say it was non-consensual, but I don't think Evan would see it that way. He took what was offered.

"WELL. I played a game of truth or dare, and things got crazier from there..."

Hey, I just realized that if our enemies ever catch wind that we're alive, they can just teleport right to us. To prevent that, we have to be somewhere they don't have an invitation to. From now on we should stay in uninvited locations whenever possible.

As for telling this girl about what Elle did, do not tell her anything that would clue her in that you are fae as well.

>>453215
Why not? It isn't like we have any reason to pretend otherwise.

>>453215
We've got nothing to gain and a lot to lose by deceiving her. We could lose her trust if she finds out about Evan has been deceiving her.

Evan should be honest with her. Everything has been happening so fast. Magic is real. There is a huge fucking fire and all the electronics are broken. His house was burned down. He has an evil twin that wants him dead. Elle has been helping him stay alive...but she obviously has her own agenda. Is it in his best interest to continue playing to role of a pawn in Elle's plan? His cat is dead. He killed a man...fae....thing? Apparently he's magic. He might be a fae? Half fae? Is this some convoluted scheme to make him think he's a fae? Turn him into a fae? Are his parents actually his parents? Evan is very confused and is reaching out to Savannah for help. I believe that she will be sympathetic towards his cause if he is honest with her.

Alternatively, you could go with your plan and hide your heritage. Then when she finds out, she'll see you for what you are. Just another fae deceiving her for your own personal gain. I imagine that she will take that very hard, and Evan will probably lose her as a friend and ally.

ChildOfAB 2012/09/10(Mon)16:01 No. 453389 ID: 4b44fc
File 134731807451.png - (565.71KB , 720x3502 , 81.png )

You take a deep breath to calm your nerves and decide to tell Anna everything.
You tell her about that first game of truth or dare. She giggles at your confessions of hand-drawn pornography, but slowly begins to lean forward in rapt attention as you describe how the game with Elle turned into something else entirely.
You describe the events of yesterday, starting when you climbed the tree at your grandfather's. She listens intently as you describe your pursuit by the minions of your doppelganger, and her eyes widen in shock as you tell her how they burned down your house.
You tell her your side of the events at her house as you remember them. She points out that her window isn't broken anymore, and her homemade ladder was stashed behind her dresser where she usually leaves it. She apologizes again, and you reassure her. She doesn't remember anything from after you left.
You tell her about waking up with no memory of Elle, with the wound in your neck and the missing tooth. You choke up a little as you describe finding your cat dead, and she voices her sympathies. When you describe being threatened by your father with a shotgun, she recoils in horror. You tell her that it's par for the course.
You recount how you found Elle again, and tell her about the Iron Fields inside the moon. You describe how you created your own border to get out, and about the fruit. When you get to the man at the store, you hesitantly tell her what Elle told you to do, but go no further.
Anna is silent, looking off into nothing. "Did...did you..."
You're not sure how to say it, but you want to tell her the truth. It feels important. "I hesitated. She made me think it was a good idea. I didn't think I would do it, but then she told me to, and...I didn't feel like I had a choice. I just..." you trail off.
Anna sits for a moment, silent and unmoving. You have a hard time looking at her, not knowing what she's thinking. You decide she must be disgusted with you. Why wouldn't she be? Why did you tell her all this? Your heartbeat starts to rush up to your ears and you want to stand up and run away. Leave her here to judge you, and never come back. Why the hell did you even get her involved in the first place? You're so-
Anna sits up and hugs you again. You're too shocked to reciprocate at first. "It's like you said," she says quietly, "all manipulation and games. I'm so sorry, Evan."
You hug her back, and are a little surprised to feel a tear run down your face and soak into Anna's shirt. You choke and laugh a little. "I thought I smelled terrible," you say.
You feel her smile against your shoulder. "Not terrible enough to make me let go," she replies.
After a minute, she lets go and sits back. "Evan, I-well, do you think this Elle girl is really trying to help you out?"
"I don't know. If she is, I think she's got her own reasons. I definitely don't trust her," you reply.
"After all I've done for you," says a quiet voice from outside.

"Yeah Elle. Is it REALLY that surprising that I can't see this mess as an entirely good thing?"

Oh fuck.

Wait, is it our father? Because if so, we should just teleport away. If it's Elle, we're beyond fucked.

Don't let them in either way. Elle's been leading us around by the dick and made us a murderer.

>>453389
Go to the door and see how angry she is with you. (probably very angry)

Right now what we could use is motivation. What is your doppleganger planning? There's no way he can simply take over the world, surely. Why would going along with Elle's plans help? We don't know why Elle is even helping you.

We should explain Anna as just a friend, really. We needed someone to talk to, that wasn't fae. Plus, it would help to have another ally, even though she IS open to compulsion. In fact, if we keep her in our base, any fae that tries to teleport to her will likely die. She could be very effective bait.

>>453392
Why would evan's father's reaction to "I don't trust elle" be "after all I've done for you"? It's definitely Elle.

This is a time for diplomacy. We still need Elle. Just tell her you wish you could but it's hard because you don't know her motives.

Dont act surprised or upset at all. Just speak plainly to her.

"...And I appreciate it. I trust you as much as I can trust what I don't understand, which isn't yet enough to say that I do. But I am putting my life in your hands again, because you're all I have to guide me now. I just... wanted to feel human one last time. I'm sorry for the delay and for what I said. I am ready now."

>>453389
Is that Elle? It seems like Elle.

"Yes, after all you've done for me. My life's a mess, I don't understand most of what's going on, I'm killing people, and you've told me what to do or arranged for me to do things, almost every step of the way.

"You're beautiful and clever and you've saved my life more than once, but you're planning something that will shake your world in ways I don't understand and I'm at the center of it. I don't like being an ignorant pawn in someone else's game, Elle. Even for you.

"I'm with you, maybe until the end of this. But I can't trust you until I can trust what you're doing and why you're doing it, and that can't happen until I get some answers... and I don't know that even you can cheat well enough to give me them."

also, being human is what let's us bend the rules so hard. if we stop being human, start thinking like a fae, we will lose.

>>453407
Not exactly. We were thinking like a fae when we completely broke border rules, as evidenced by his eyes being black.

>>453389
"Anna, this is my ally Elle. Elle, this is my friend Anna.
I'm not ungrateful for your help, Elle, but you have an agenda. You've been dragging me blindly along to some goal, and you haven't much cared for telling me what's going on. If it weren't for you I'd probably be dead, but that man would still be alive. I trust you not to harm me much, but I care about other people.

What is it you want? What's your goal? What am I to you?

Unrelatedly, what can you tell me about Orion, Elle?"

Oh, also, whatever you go with, add this:
"You want me to trust you, Elle? We can start working on that right now.

Anna is mine, but I don't know enough to keep her safe and happy. If you want to earn my trust, you'll help me keep Anna safe and happy.
You'll have some trust just for agreeing, and earn more over time. If any harm comes to her or her happiness, then you'll lose trust.

You won't be able to do it if you don't have a few specific qualities, and I can trust in those.

Are you willing to earn my trust?"

She'll have to at least have humility, empathy, and trust in Evan to do it. Humility for treating Savanna with respect, empathy for being able to respond to her needs, and trust in Evan to let Savanna into the moon base and such on his say-so.

Stay in the fort until this mess can be sorted out. Elle is a wild card and has the potential to be very dangerous. She likely still needs Evan for her plans, so that should keep him safe and give him leverage in a negotiation, but I fear for Savannah's safety.

If I recall correctly, the fort is our home while we are present inside it. We also revoked our invitations to the fort recently. That should keep Elle at arms length until this situation has been defused.

Best case scenario: We learn a little more about Elle and we all become one big happy party.

Worst case scenario: Elle is a threat to Savannah's safety and we teleport her back to the relative safety of her own home.

Let me reiterate. STAY INSIDE THE FORT while you sort this mess out.

>STAY INSIDE THE FORT while you sort this mess out.

Agreed.

"You mean all I've done for YOU. You're using me Elle, don't pretend like you're not."

ChildOfAB 2012/09/13(Thu)20:36 No. 454426 ID: 4b44fc
File 134759377397.png - (588.56KB , 720x1753 , 82.png )

Anna looks frightened and grabs your arm. You try to stay calm, shaking off the sudden feeling of cold dread, and scan the gaps in the walls for any sign of Elle outside. "Elle?" you call out, "I don't-"
"Twenty one," she says, cutting you off. Her voice is unnervingly upbeat and singsong, made even more discomforting by its apparent lack of source. "Twenty one times you've called me by name in this conversation. I came running to your side for the first, of course. I will always come when you call, my love."
Something about her intonation in that last word chills you. "Elle, it's not that I don't appreciate what you're doing for me, but-"
"Of course it's not!" she says, cutting you off a second time. The cheerful quality of her voice seems especially forced now. "You're just hiding in your little playhouse, talking about me behind my back. I think I'd like to join the conversation. May I come in?"
You and Anna both meet each others' gaze with equal quantities of wide-eyed unease. You know that would be a bad idea, but a flat refusal seems unwise, too. "You said I was terrifying because I think like a human, right? I needed to talk to someone who wasn't one of you. I want to trust you, but I feel like you've got some other goal, like I'm just a piece in a bigger game you're playing."
"Oh, what does it matter, darling," she asks. "I'm giving you what all you people want. A tale to tell, a thrill, secrets, sex. Men fall in love for less. I know they do. Evan, you're going to invite me inside now."
Your heart skips a beat. She doesn't want you to have a choice, but you do. Inviting her in seems like enough of a bad idea. "No," you respond.
She laughs, quick and sharp. A low rumbling sound rises in intensity on all sides. "Evan, love, you have a much nicer home. You have a real fortress, a place where you are truly safe. It is not this place. You are sitting in a pile of sticks and string."
There is suddenly a loud and terrible rushing noise. Everything starts to move around you. Anna screams. Without even thinking, you grab her and duck, shielding her. The branches of your fort shatter and crunch, shards and splinters rush by in a terrible gust, and all is silent once again.
Elle looms over you. The light of day is not kind to her. Her pale skin seems sickly or dead, her white hair seems several shades too far from anything natural, and the sunlight glints off of too many teeth in her much-too-wide grin. "I was just being polite," she says, calm and quiet. She reaches down and traces one hand down your jaw, and puts the other one roughly on Anna's shoulder. Anna recoils and whimpers, and Elle jerks her away from you. You don't let go. "It's time for the whore to go now," Elle says, nodding her head as if miming her desired reaction from you.

don't blink, stare her in the eyes. she is borrowing your immunity to iron. it's yours, not hers. take it back. then go to the iron court.

There is a boundry between you and Anna and Elle make it real. She cannot touch you as you are mortal and she is not. She cannot touch Anna because she is mortal and Elle is not. When she does she goes... elsewhere.

>>454426
"I'd very much like to know how exactly you think you're going to get anything done if you make me resent and distrust you."

>>454426
Smile at her. "Now that's just mean. I'll take her home and be back with you in just a moment. Promise." Then slip borders with her to her house and say goodbye. Elle doesn't know about our little extra trick yet after all.

If you can look inhuman for the smile, that would be a plus... and Anna seeing that would be a nice touch. Drive the point that we're not meant for a simple human life anymore.

>>454426
Don't let her cow you into submission.
"Anna is my friend. Anybody who harms my friends is an enemy. If you harm Anna, you will become my enemy. You will not harm her in any way.
These are statements of fact.

If you trusted me you wouldn't try to control me. I've shown you more trust than you've shown me."

>>454435
Wait... Drinking blood is taking a person into yourself. I think providing blood might actually be the dominant role here.

Grab Elle and tell her she will treat Anna with respect.

She's been calling you "Love" this whole time. If she really loves you, you just CRUSHED her heart. The fact that she didn't just outright kill Anna in that case means she's restraining herself.

First, send Anna home. I remember several times that other fae pushed you over borders to teleport you without them following. Do that with Anna. Second, ask Elle if she really loves you. If she does, then you just really REALLY fucked up. Think back to everything she's done recently keeping that fact in mind. That should change how you look at her actions.

Don't take back Elle's iron immunity. This situation is not unrecoverable!

You know what, it seems like Evan's feelings for Elle changed drastically as soon as he woke up from the daze he was in after killing the hobo.

Maybe Evan should yell at her about it, to get it off his chest so they can cooperate like PEOPLE again.

>>454430
>>454445
Okay we need to go into appeasement mode without giving up ground. If we can do the fae face, do it. It might help mollify her. Get her to let go of Anna, so you can push her back into her house. Maybe phrase as showing her a little bit of what you learned you can do! Also, apologize for the abuse of her name. You were being silly and didn't realize how OBVIOUSLY important that was (No sarcasm. A fae's true name is SRS BISNESS)

>>454426
For being immortal she certainly is acting more -human.

Hmm, we may also want to mention that another fae (Orion, probably shouldn't say the name out loud though) was named prior to Elle during the conversation. For all we know there may be more unexpected company around. Also not sure how effective a barrier on Anna would be, I could easily be wrong but are we sure it would protect against Elle attacking with a mundane object?

>>454459
we cant create barriers, what we do is imagine/find borders to teleport... don't know where the barrier thing came from.

>>454445
I got the impression she doesn't know how love works, but she's trying anyway. She thinks if she throws enough sex and adventure at Evan then he'll love her. She doesn't think using him should affect how he feels about her. She's missing the human element of love. Her entire emotional spectrum is very foreign to us.

If we're going to start opposing Elle, I don't think talking is going to do much good. Just grab Anna and teleport with her to her house. I really don't think we're ready for that, though.

A better plan would be >>454445 send Anna home while not moving, yourself.

Go, "You're right, I /do/ have a real fortress. Do you want your invitation from that one rescinded, Elle, or are you going to let me have human friends? It's your choice."

>>454445
The kind of one-sided "love" that one stranger forces upon another is only damaging. We don't want it if we can safely escape it.

She seems pretty clearly an enemy at this point, working for her own best interests with complete disregard to our own, but we still have use for her, so don't kill her outright.

>>454445
REALLY. The fact that, due to her being restrained from explaining anything to us, perhaps due to her own nature, we went to a fellow human who might know more, crushed the poor, delicate man-killer's heart.

"'The whore'? She's the one in this clearing I haven't had sex with." and "You've done much for me- but if I keep stumbling from fight to pitfall to ambush without understanding anything, I'm eventually going to get myself killed." don't seem out of place here.

WE CAN STILL RECONCILE THIS SITUATION. She is really pissed off, and does not operate on our morality, but she has an investment in us and we in her. Elle is our one ally in this new world, stop trying to make her an enemy. EVAN NEEDS ELLE. For now.

>>455031
We're not trying to make Elle an enemy. She's accomplishing that on her own just fine. We know nothing about her motives. For all we know, she needs Evan to build her a court so that she can takeover the world and begin her reign of terror as the death queen of the universe.

We know very little about the fae. They are bound by rules, but we don't know the rules. Perhaps she truthfully can't tell us the truth because of fae rules. Alternatively, she could be taking advantage of our ignorance and is feeding us bullshit false rules in order to keep us in the dark. If the later is the case, then Anna is a huge threat to Elle's plans. That would explain why she is so desperate to split Evan and Anna apart.


We saw what Elle did to that monster thing. She is extremely dangerous. I am extremely worried about Anna's safety. I believe that Evan should do everything in his power to safeguard Anna. We could teleport her to her home, but Elle could potentially destroy Anna's home or endanger Anna's parents. I think the best way to protect Anna is to negotiate her safety. Make it very clear to Elle. Anna stays with you. If Elle does anything to harm Anna, her family, or her home, then you won't help her build her court.

Ideally we will be able to resolve this mess and keep them both as allies. If forced to make a decision, I'd throw my cards in with Anna. She's less likely to dispose of us the moment we cease being useful.

"I have a real fortress. It's right here. You are not invited. And the whore does have to go."

Stare at her.

"I'm done, Elle. I'm done being manipulated, pulled along, told what to do, being a part of a janky whatever-you-are conspiracy. You will leave. You will not come near me again. Or so help me god, I will find a way to use your name against you.

"You used your slim form and your tender lips to control me, once. But talking to my friend, I've discovered what a monster you are, what you've MADE me do, with words and assurances. I live for myself and my friends. If you want to be a part of that, earn it. No stealing, no tricking, you will WORK for my trust, with promises fulfilled and good will given."

We know Elle is dangerous. We also know that if shit does go down, we can't take her. We CANNOT PROTECT ANNA FROM ELLE. We need to get Elle to back down ON HER OWN. The only way we can do that is if we get her to calm down. Do you guys WANT a BAD END? No matter what we say right now, Anna will understand. Even if we appear to sell her out or side with Elle, Anna will forgive us. We don't know what kind of grudge Elle can hold, but you guys are about to turn her into a woman scorned. I Guarantee that will not end well. SIDE WITH ELLE.

Elle destroying that monster does prove she's a more VALUABLE ally than witch girl, though. We have a prince trying to kill us- he won't exactly be gently hugged to death (probably?).

>>455144
I'm with the 'teleport her home, stay to deal with Elle' camp.

when she destroyed the monster she waited until we dared her to, but the fact she blew up the fort means she could have at any time but WOULDN'T. she could of easily earned more trust by doing it freely.

>>455318
I don't really know how this stuff works, but I feel like there's an order of magnitude difference in the energy required between breaking something a child made out of materials he found in the woods and rendering a large, dangerous living creature into a completely unidentifiable bloody paste. On the other hand, maybe magic doesn't really care about the energy involved and just cares that something is being broken. Elle's explanation at the time was "Games make us stronger together", but I suppose it's entirely possible she's yanking Evan's chain. I've been operating this whole time under the assumption that the fair folk don't lie (at least not directly) but on re-skimming the prior chapters I don't see anything to indicate that that's the case in this setting.

I still think that Anna will be more valuable than Elle in the long run. We should do what we can to keep her safe. Evan certainly seems to be an important player in whatever the fuck is going on, but for the moment the extent of his abilities is teleportation. I doubt that he could protect Anna from Elle's wrath if things become violent. His best bet for keeping Anna safe is probably negotiating with Elle for her safety.

Evan's cooperation is his biggest bargaining chip at the moment. If he has to continue playing the role as a pawn in Elle's game for the short term, fine. But it should be on his terms. If Elle wants Evan's help, then Elle will have to guarantee the safety of Anna (and her family, and her home. The devil is in the details).

I'm assuming that Elle desperately wants that new court. I'm under the impression that Evan is supposed to play some key role in the creation of the court (If she doesn't need Evan, why is she involving him in its creation at all? Why go through all this seduction and manipulation to try and get him wrapped around her finger?). His refusal to cooperate with Elle may very well be suicide for Evan. While I don't think that Elle gives a fuck about Evan's safety, his demise would most certainly completely ruin Elle's court plan. From where I'm standing, Elle doesn't have a choice in the matter. If she wants her court, then she is forced to agree to Evan's terms.

This could buy Anna the time she needs to do some more extensive research. Evan's deal should probably include some means of keeping in contact with Anna (I'd push for the freedom to visit whoever he wants whenever he wants). Her research is next to useless if we can't learn the results.

I'd still prefer a solution where we become one big party of 3, but that might not be possible at this time.

ChildOfAB 2012/09/21(Fri)21:40 No. 456627 ID: 4b44fc
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You shake your head numbly. Frustration, pity, and fear make terrible battle for control of your actions. Something clicks into place. Whichever wins, you know what you have to do first. There is a border now, between you and Elle. That's all it takes. "Sorry, Anna," you say, weakly.
"EVAN! Don't let go!" she shouts, fearful. You are helping her, she just doesn't understand.
You push her away, towards Elle. She disappears back to her house.
Elle, suddenly unencumbered, tips over backwards. Her black eyes grow wide as she falls. You realize this is the first time you've seen her shocked. The forest seems to have gone silent around you, as if it shares the sentiment.
You rise to your feet as Elle scrambles to hers. "Wh...WHERE WAS THE BORDER?" she yells, her head darting from side to side.
You take a deep breath. Your voice stays quiet. "Why do you think I will tell you when you've done nothing but make me resent and distrust you?"
"STOP IT!" she screeches. "STOP DISTRUSTING ME! After all this! What else do you want? TELL ME!" Her voice cracks. You think you see the glint of a tear in her eye. She suddenly throws herself at you, pushing you down. "Tell me...tell me you love me."
She doesn't want you to have a choice, but you do.

>>456627
"I think I did, until you had me kill that guy."

"i want to"

she can't give you a straight answer for no reason. she CAN'T. so say "truth or dare" and if she picks truth ask "do YOU love me?" if she says yes then i'll trust her, the games restrict as much free as they grant.

"You don't know what love is, Elle."

Sex isn't love Elle, and saving a person's life doesn't make them like you. And power? What use does a boy have for power? I was happy being just a boy.

To love someone is to care for them, to take their own thoughts and feelings into consideration. You've never done that for me so how can I feel love for you?

Quit Shutting Elle down. I honestly have no Idea what to do in this situation. I know we shouldn't just shut her down.

Lets go the fae route and be indirect. Say that you Don't love anna. or something.

No lectures, though.

>>456627
"You want me to trust you? To be loyal to you? To obey you?
Love isn't expecting trust, loyalty, and obedience; it's giving them. Love isn't exploiting weakness in somebody else; it's making yourself weak against them.

Love isn't certain. When you give somebody your love you aren't sure they'll you love back. You give them your loyalty and obedience and make yourself helpless against them, because you trust them.

If you love me, with real love, then you will obey me and you will be loyal to me, because you trust me.

I loved you, Elle, but you never showed me love. You used me, and things that made me feel terrible.

If you want me to love you again, then first you'll have to show me real love. For humans this would be a long and difficult process, but you can skip most of that.

You can make yourself unable to break an agreement, right?
Swear you'll give me your obedience, loyalty, and trust. You can chose how strongly you wish to be under my control, and how strong that is tells me how much you love me.

If it seems like a one-sided deal, that's because it is. Like I said, love isn't certain. You'll just have to trust me."

>>456651
>Swear you'll give me your obedience, loyalty, and trust.
She cheats the rules, and her promises. They all do. This is not going to work out smoothly, even if she did it.

>>456627
"Love comes from understanding, not sex. I'm trying and I'm here for you but it needs to go both ways. I know it's hard because we're so different We'll work on it, alright?"

Then just hold her for a while.

>>456627
How can you trust her when she has consistently avoided explaining anything to you, when she condescends to you, when she serves her own interests, when she takes what is yours?

oh oh. say to prove that she loves you, she must give you something, without expecting anything in return, because after you get the gift, you will only think about if you love her, not guarantee you will. and it must be important, not a flower from the field or something.

>>456731
Eh I think she'd just say she's already given us our own court or something

Idea: Ask why she wants us to love her.

>>456733

This sounds good.

well, fuck.

After rereading a couple times something popped out at me: she's trying to command Evan there, to make him say he loves her. But the command isn't "tell me if you love me or not". It's "tell me you love me".
We know that people can choose not to follow a command if it goes against something they feel strongly about, right? At least, that's how I am interpreting it. Failure to obey "tell me if you love me or not" means you feel strongly that she shouldn't know whether you love her or not, which is an edge case sort of thing with a low chance of happening. In other words, she would be pretty much guaranteed a "yes" or "no".
On the other hand, failure to obey "tell me you love me" indicates not only do you not love her, but you feel strongly enough about not loving her that you can't even say you do to make her feel better. And that's a much worse situation for her.
So why didn't she command, "Tell me if you love me or not"? I think it's because she already knows the answer is no. She's not going to take an "I love you" response to mean that we actually love her, she's going to take it to mean that we're not so far away from loving her that we can't even bring ourselves to say it.
tl;dr: say "I love you" but you don't have to mean it.

ChildOfAB 2012/09/23(Sun)23:13 No. 457468 ID: 4b44fc
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You look Elle in the eye. "Do you love me?"
She recoils a little. "You can't even say it," she says, quietly.
"No, Elle, listen. This is important. Love can't be one way," you respond.
She looks angry again. "WHAT? YES IT CAN, EVAN," she yells, "Of course it can! You don't even know what you're talking about! It happens all the time! I've seen it!"
You take a deep breath. "So you're saying you don't? But you want me to love you? How does that work?" Elle sits back, taking her weight off your shoulders. She mumbles something under her breath, but you can't make it out. "What?" you ask.
"You're asking a cloud to go swimming," she says.
It takes you a second to parse the saying. "Clouds can't swim, is that what you're saying? You can't love?"
"Of course I can love!" she snaps. "It's you! You and all the humans think love means something stupid and weird. You don't even know what it means! You all think it's something different. I tried to figure it out, I tried to learn, I tried to do everything. For you, all of it. But it didn't work, you don't love me, and you're running off sharing all your secrets with the other stupid girl because she's got the same stupid ideas you do."
"I don't love-well, I'm not in love with Anna," you say. "I don't think I've ever been in love, really."
Elle droops a little. It's hard to tell with her black eyes, but it seems like she's staring off into space. "If...you ever do decide to try it, will you try it with me?" she asks.
You sigh. "Why do you want me to love you so badly, anyway?"
She runs her hand through your hair and looks sad. "I just...I don't know. Don't you want someone to love you?"
"I guess," you respond, "but you don't love me, not even with whatever definition you use."
She finally shakes her head. "No, I don't. You wouldn't want that, anyway."
"I wouldn't?" you ask.
She slumps over on your shoulder and sighs. "Trust me," she says. "Please?"

"What I'm getting from this is that we're both WAY out of our depths. So it's confession time."

We need more information.

"well, since you admitted it, i can give you another shot."

>>457468
Sure, okay, now that she's dropped the big act she seems a lot more trustworthy. It seems like that was why she was all mysterious and manipulative- she was trying to engage you with mystique and adventure.

But we're not gonna trust her completely yet. She should understand that takes time. Ask her about that weird wind power she's got. Can she give you any hints on how to use it yourself?

Well the poor girl is trying, I'll give her that. I think right now is her being more honest and human than we've ever seen her.

Answer her "Sure." Then hold her a bit closer and give her a kiss on the forehead. Because that's a lot more like the kind of love we understand. Then to show trust, tell her about what you've learned about barriers.

Tell her that we aren't interested in giving up all our power by being in love with someone who doesn't love us. At the very least, there ought to be equality in love.

Privately, to yourself, understand that if she loved you and you didn't love her, that'd be fine, too.

>>457478
This guy is right.

>>457468
"Trust is part of the problem. We're not in love, but we can still be friends. I'm going to need you to trust me more, though"
Sigh
"Ok, you want to know why I went to Anna? Because she's been abused by one of your kind, and I wanted to help her protect herself.
That's something friends do - they do what they can to help each other.
I hoped she might be able to tell me more about the rules since they don't apply to her, but she didn't know anything more than I did.
Of course, the reason you would care about is that I need human contact to think like a human. That's like my entire superpower, right? Being able to bend the rules so far they look broken? I can't do that if I stop thinking like a human, and I can't think like a human if I don't spend time with them. You keep trying to pull me away from humans, but they're where I get my strength.
I trust Anna. Trust in my trust of her.

... That guy who was toying with Anna. You heard the name he went by, but I dunno if that's a fake name or not. You know anything about him?

What should I call your kind, anyway? Anna thought you were demons, at least one of you is known as a fairy.

What I'm hearing from this is she wants Evan to love her exclusively, because if he loved anyone else she would get jealous. Even though she can't/won't love him back. May I be the first to say, "Fuck that."
It makes me wonder what fae love is, since she seems to think Evan wouldn't like it.
I recommend friendzoning her.

Well at least Elle is no longer in murder-mode. She also seems more talkative than usual. Take advantage of that. Keep her talking. DO NOT LET HER SILENCE THINGS WITH A FUCK.

Let her know that you want to trust her. While she has done a lot for Evan, he really knows next to nothing about her. Opening up about herself will be a huge step towards earning Evan's trust.

What is the fae definition of love? How does it differ from human love? Which type of love does she want from Evan?

What is Elle's motivation? What are her goals? What are her plans for the new court?

Elle is our friend. So is Anna. We might still be able to form one big happy party. We may be able to convince Elle that Anna is a potential ally rather than a rival. Anna has been hurt by the fae. Fae that are probably aligned with the fae that have hurt Evan. Evan, Anna, and Elle all share a common enemy.

Ultimately we may be able to get Elle to realize that her outrage at Anna was a misunderstanding. We may even be able to get her to apologize to Anna for frightening her. The definitions of love and friendship may vary between humans and fae, but I bet that the concept of an enemy is the same in both cultures. For the time being, it might be easier to focus on the angle that we are allies because we share a common foe.

>>457468
sorry, Elle. just a 'please' isn't going to cut it.. trust has to be earned.

>>457478
Yes. Might want to point out that right now she was being honest, and that makes trust.
Maybe she has some issues with the whole love thing, you should know by now how easy it is for bad things to happen to someone... even someone of your and her kind. So maybe you shouldn't be too harsh on her and shouldn't push her too far.

Its worth breaking this down things too. She protected you, she has helped you gain power, build your other fort which she calls the red court, she seems honest in her desire for you to love her. where you are having issues is the secrets, and wondering the reasons for why things are done (the fruit, the blood, the fort, etc). More answers are needed.

But remember the rules, iron hurts them, they can't enter places, they can't answer many questions... They can cheat, and you can cheat. but there are rules. She couldn't answer your questions so she asked you questions that made you guess the answer. So the rules could be part of why she is keeping so many secrets, so ask her more questions and guess more answers. And maybe their love has rules too.

>>457540
What? you barely know anna. You ARE one of Elle's "kind" (or at least, half of you), and you went to anna for answers and someone who can talk to you not because you have some "trust" or "love" going on with her.

"I'll trust you as far as I can throw you" and leave it at that.

How much trust is she asking you for anyway? There could be very good reasons for her to not love you. There are creatures in folklore whose love kills and that is a strong candidate for what she's trying to say without directly saying it.

A more productive line of questioning would be to ask what she can tell you about why it's so hard for you to get answers.

God damn, I haven't checked on this quest in months and it hasn't progressed too far. Guess /tg/chan really is a lot slower. Anyway, good read as always OP. Keep up the good work.