I'd first like to say that the last line sent chills down my spine.

Backtracking, huzzah we have our first date between Anna and Elsa! Anna psyching herself up for the date and Elsa's little comment added so much to the tense, awkward, and excited atmosphere. I really liked how you specified they hadn't touched during their dances. I find that rather in character here and it goes to show how tentative they are to cross certain boundaries. But then their later single-hands touch and dance swoop just emphasizes how much they WANT to be together. Anna's hesitation before reaching out and Elsa's own hesitation before reciprocating was such a beautiful, atmospheric moment. A wonderful note to end on their first date.

Merida's interruption brought a much needed laugh to break the tension however haha. But—

"They smiled at each other and turned away. Anna sensed something in the past made them awkward."

Wow! I seriously wonder what was going through Elsa and Merida's head during this interaction. Especially knowing Merida's vulnerable moment of asking Elsa out before. It adds a layer of complexity to this entire adorable scene.

"'And in a quick moment of not being in-character, I'm glad to see you doing something you want," Merida said, moving backwards to continue facing Anna."

I can't stress how heartwarming this moment is. I mean, whatever Merida's reservations about the past, she's obviously supportive of Anna's decision to be with Elsa. That's a true friend right there and it makes my heart ache in a good way. I also love the emphasis on her being happy with Anna doing something she wants for a change. It's a good callback to their earlier talk and a good reference toward's Anna's tendency to make unhealthy decisions for herself, particularly in regards to Vanessa, i.e. doing what VANESSA wants rather than she herself.

It's also a double-edged sword though, given Merida's involvement with her teacher. Huh, green eyes, green eyes. I have to say, it feels as if the teacher's as much of a villain (and I'm using that term loosely because it's more complicated than that) as Vanessa is. Her choice of words about not struggling and to go along peacefully only push Merida right under. And then we have the reference to wanting things. Poor Merida, it's finally coming to daylight that no, this ISN'T what she wants. The last line is the first time the reader's able to glimpse her desperation for her mother. Ugh some parts are really hard to read haha.

I feel like there's a big blowup in the near future. Of course that could be me and my paranoia, but with Merida commenting on how people saw Anna with Elsa and knowing Elsa's reputation, it doesn't look pretty. Especially with Vanessa always on the lookout for breaks in between the girls' armors. And couple this with Merida's continued discomfort with her teacher, it feels like things are going to come to a head. Looking forward to it! Thank you so much for this lovely little story.

My skin crawled when I read about Vanessa offering to help Rapunzel with her grades. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it (though you've done a beautiful job of subtle abuse tactics so far that maybe I'm not too far off the mark), but it feels as if Vanessa is trying to separate our three musketeers. Ha, who am I kidding. I'm sure she is. It's really bone-chilling to see how she switches tactics depending on who she's talking to. With Rapunzel, it feels like she's trying to sort out the "weakest link." Though knowing Rapunzel's character, I expect things to come to a head.

And then Merida's talk with Anna. Not at all surprised to see it's Merida's who brings up the issues with Vanessa so strongly. She's definitely the most headstrong of the three, far more so than Anna and Rapunzel here. It ties in well with her rebellious nature. Poor Anna. Her internal conflict with wanting to believe the best in Vanessa is hard to witness, but it's obvious her doubts are finally getting through to her. And poor Rapunzel. Her slipping grades are only adding to what's likely feelings of isolation. All these little interactions between the three really show how good you are at making them very distinct in nature yet with a common connection that makes their camaraderie feel genuine.

God I adore how you write Anna and Elsa in this story. I loved that it was Elsa who approached Anna here. There's still her anxiety, but watching her reach out to the person she's crushing on is several kinds of adorable. Anna's flabbergasted reaction, the little bit of her holding back a breath, nailed the moment! And then Anna asking Elsa out and her departure into the ramblings that make her awkward but such an endearing character. And then Elsa bursting with excitement and agreeing to go (loudly I might add haha)! There's something so genuine about their feelings here.

I like your little tidbits to each character's backstory. How, rather than state everything in exposition, I can gleam how their home lives are through the interactions of their parents or their surroundings, i.e. Elsa's mother's reaction to Elsa going out and the emphasis on the church statue in her room.

Happy, terrified Elsa is best Elsa. I love the moment this chapter ended on.

What the heck was that first part?

Where in Africa exactly? Is Africa now once country? Is he just gonna land somewhere and say " you need help!" Whole they're missing they're own business. What happened to the kids in other places? But whatever. Good sorry. I'd like to see where it's going.

I still find it funny at how supposed "Christian" parents act like this. It's really stupid.

Middle schoolers act like that? Really? I think not. It's more like-14-16 year olds.

Kids in Africa don't need...houses.

I think I'm being very biased in this regard because this chapter is solely Anna and Elsa, but I think this is your best chapter by far.

It's rare to find work that manage to pin down the nature of abuse as well as you do here. Again, speaking from personal experience, a lot of people don't get down the internalized part of abuse. You manage to evoke it quite clearly however and for that I'm ecstatic and impressed. The interaction between Anna and Vanessa at the end of Anna's part sent chills down my spine and made me sick to my gut. (I get similar feelings whenever Merida and the teacher interact.) As depressing as it is, it's refreshing to see such a take on abusive relationships.

Now onto the part that doesn't hurt!

I like to see it when writers explore sexuality among teenagers. I especially liked that you were exploring Anna's sexuality here. It made me so happy. Not the actual scene itself though. I don't know if you intended it this way, but the whole scene between Anna and Snow White was cringeworthy. Not in a bad sort of way, but in the way that I think of those moments as being the memories that come back to you in the middle of the night ten years later down the road and make you feel awkward and squirmy. (I'll admit though, the part with Anna going "Praise God!" had me laughing as much as I was cringing.)

Vanessa shows some of her true, hidden colors during this chapter. The way she physically puts herself between Anna and her destination made my skin crawl. I'm not sure if Anna is getting a bit fed up with Vanessa's nosiness or getting fed up with having to grovel so much. (Is there significance on why Vanessa smiled when she went to her class?)

I felt for Elsa and how she couldn't openly express her interests and sexuality, unlike Jane and Belle in the last section of this chapter. I mean, so far everyone sees it clear as day that her and Anna like each other, but I'm a bit surprised nothing about Elsa's conservative family was brought up except from Elsa's own inner monologue. Do Belle and Jane not know how rigid Elsa's family is? Well, moving on! They sure are quickly accepting of Elsa's crush on Anna.

Are we going to get to see the actual prom? *crosses fingers* That'd be great. (Oh and I was really surprised to see Merida had tried to ask Elsa out last year. Huh. That puts a new perspective on their sparse interactions.)

The whole passage of Elsa realizing when she first started noticing Anna brings a bit of light on WHY she's attracted to Anna and not anyone else. To see her so genuinely pleased and awestruck by Anna's chatty behavior makes me sigh happily. Coupled with Anna's comment about Elsa seeming so human and not scary at all in chapter 4 makes me wonder if they'd subconsciously noticed that the other is not who they are underneath the surface. I don't know how to explain it. I guess they're attracted to the other's humanity. That sounds cheesy. But I don't know else how to say it.

That last line though. It seems as if Elsa isn't very fond of Vanessa either. Hmmm. I can't wait to see how it unfolds and what she thinks or knows about Vanessa. All in all, I think this was your best chapter by far. It was really worth the wait.

PS: I still haven't figured out why I love this story so much. I think it's maybe because it all feels so genuine.

It's nice to see Anna and Elsa get some time alone with each other. Of course things had to get cut short, but the little time they spent is still precious.

Ah and now a look into Merida's home life. Out of all them, this is the one that didn't surprise me since Brave did a good job of portraying how micromanaging your kid's life could send them into fits of rebellion. I wonder who's going to find out first about Merida's relationship with her teacher. Elinor, Merida's friends, or Vanessa.

Goodbye Kristoff! So long and see you later! This does not bode well for Anna now that Kristoff and his rationality are out of the picture. Ick. Poor Anna. Vanessa has her claws sunk deep into her. And poor Kristoff, he can't really do much except watch things unfold.

So far, spot on characterization with minimalist writing. I love that.

I also really, really, really love it that you have Elsa being aware Anna returns her feelings. Anna is obvious with her affection and Elsa picks up on it. That avoids pages and pages of contrived conflict. It adds a certain mutual feeling to their relationship with each other. They both want to try and get to know the other more, but certain circumstances (either their own shyness or external ones) prevent them. It's not too much that it ends up being just downright frustrating. It just enough to make the relationship wonderfully 3-dimensional.

I feel for Elsa so much in this chapter. The part where she was going over in her head why couldn't it have been a boy made me want to hug. Yes it would be so easy for her in everyday society if she had a crush on a boy and not Anna. But nope, who she likes is Anna and I'm so happy to see that, subconsciously, she readily accepts it's Anna she likes and not anyone else.

That last scene was actually a great way to demonstrate what they have in common. A struggle with a certain subject and the big desire to help the other. (And the little desire to get closer to each other.)

You're probably sick of hearing this but I love how their relationship develops over the course of the story. It's fantastic.

This is one of my favorite chapters.

1. Because I'm a food addict. (I love ice cream and ice cream scenarios.)

2. We get a deeper look into Rapunzel's life. (Fuck Gothel seriously. One of the most deplorable Disney villains imo along with Lady Tremaine, Hans, and Frollo. The way she chips at Rapunzel's self-worth is the same here as it is in Tangled. All tiny comments that wouldn't make most people really bat an eye except these tiny comments happen like every day. That's one of the things some people don't understand about abuse. Tiny things that seem really isolated and irrelevant when pointed out, but they happen often enough to start chipping at your own self and create one huge thing.) The scene with Anna giving Rapunzel money for her ice cream helped soothed my rage. I love the part where Anna was inspecting Rapunzel's art work and then the passage about what happened to Punz's parents. No happy biological family here I guess. *sniffs*

3. The scene with Anna and Elsa was a balm to my wounds. Seriously, every time those two are on-screen together I get so happy and fluffy. Again, I love how you write Anna getting distracted by Elsa. It's so quick and small, I have to reread sometimes to understand what's happening, but that's what I love about it. Anna and Elsa's mutual shyness is going to be the death of me. Seriously, the line about Anna blushing and Elsa smiling behind her cup and waving is one of my favorite passages in this whole fic.

4. Vanessa is one of the best parts about this whole fic too. She doesn't seem threatening at all sometimes until she slides into the scene with another way to manipulate those around her. With how quickly Anna goes from defending Elsa to wanting to get back into Vanessa's good graces, I can feel something big brewing underneath.

PS: I love Elsa's quiet. I love how her quiet can make Anna go quiet. It makes my shipper heart go thumpity-thump. Anna get your mind out of the gutter about Elsa's mouth.

I really don't have much to say about this chapter, but I finally it really interesting how Vanessa seems intent on manipulating Anna the most out of the group. Or maybe it just seems that way because we don't see her with the others as much. Either way she really reminds me of Hans and yet she has her own blend of manipulation.

What the hell does she think she can get out of from a robotics competition? Other than hold the power over a few girls' lives? Ugh. Actually I wouldn't be surprised if it was just that. Some people don't actually want anything big other than to fuck with a few others.

Poor Anna. The last line about her walking away with her hoodie over her head is painfully familiar. I remember seeing something happen like that.

Also, Kristoff is great. His and Anna's BrOTP is always great.

The parental neglect when it comes to Anna is painful in an incredibly sad, quiet kind of way. It's not obvious, but it's there. I don't know why but the line about Anna tripping over a knight and putting it back where it belonged really stuck out to me as well as her falling asleep holding her snowman plush. I wonder what kind of secrets her parents would keep from her.

I like that bit about silence and Anna. For someone like Anna, I can never imagine her as always being comfortable in total silence.

Lack of parental guidance also explains why Anna can't keep her mouth from running from her haha. The interaction between her and Elsa helped smooth the heaviness of this chapter. I adored it. You write the pairing really well and I love this story all the more for it. The part where Anna says Elsa looked cute from sitting on her bike seat made me squeal silently.

Ahh, this was when we first got a look inside Elsa's head. Stories about Elsa and repressed sexuality are a secret pleasure of mine. I also like the bit where she curtsied to one of her parents' guests. It was a subtle nod to how her home life is like similar to how Anna's house seems empty when we get a look into her home.

I haven't mentioned it but I like the way you characterize Rapunzel. People have a habit of making her as chipper and excited as Anna or turning the two into carbon copies. Here, they have similarities but a lot of distinction and I'm grateful for that.

The teacher-student relationship was one of the most realistic things in this story. All too often when I read about stories that deal with abuse and the like they tend to be...overdramatic I guess? I think the only word I can think of is that they feel extremely loud in comparison to this one. Speaking from experience, what a lot of people don't seem to understand about abuse, especially in regards to cases that aren't about physical abuse, is that a lot of instances are small, controlled, and very rarely on-display is what I would call it.

The way Vanessa plays Anna like a fiddle (particularly her line about Elsa being the market) wouldn't raise warning bells for most people, but it gave me uncomfortable reminders of people I've known who happened to be masters at manipulating others and were known as Nice People on the surface. And Anna keeps sinking into her claws because, well, she's Anna. Desperate for love and affection, lonely, naive, and all the painful, vulnerable parts that Hans used against her to manipulate her in the movie. You managed to transplant that really well in a modern AU.

Similarly, the part with Merida and her teacher made me even more grossly uncomfortable. Merida's uncomfortable, the whole date night was uncomfortable, and the whole thing is an accurate portrayal of a student-teacher relationship. The narrative isn't upfront about how terrible this situation is, but the power dynamic between Merida and her teacher made it hard to read.

TL;DR: This story is a wonderful, realistic portrayal about the subtleties of abuse.

You manage to write Anna's less than stellar qualities (rudeness, impulsiveness, etc) without the narrative coming off as ultra condescending in regards to her character. Major props.

Another major props is that Anna, Rapunzel, Merida, and Vanessa all have distinctive personalities. It's hard to juggle a large cast, but you do it wonderfully.

(Anna with a big appetite is one of my favorite things.)

Big, big, BIG!, thumbs up for using Vanessa as the manipulative character. Underrated part of Ursula. She fits utterly perfect in the story, slim, pretty, and a smooth talker.

The way you write Anna getting distracted by Elsa is fantastic. It's not huge, expansive walls of text of how Elsa is pretty and thin and gorgeous and super smart. It's really quiet and that speaks so much louder than the other methods would in this story. It helps make everything feel like a school setting.

Anna embarrassing herself trying to get closer to Elsa in the middle of the cafeteria scene makes so much sense since it wonderfully displays her lack of foresight and her genuine desire to be close to Elsa. Like Rapunzel said, she tried.

At least she got Elsa to notice her however!