Velvet Resistance:

Simone’s Notes:

Abstinence is a self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, or abstinence from alcohol or food. The practice can arise from religious prohibitions and practical considerations. Abstinence may also refer to drugs. For example, you can abstain from smoking. Abstinence has diverse forms. Commonly it refers to a temporary or partial abstinence from food, as in fasting. In the twelve-step program of Overeaters Anonymous abstinence is the term for refraining from compulsive eating, akin in meaning to sobriety for alcoholics. Because the regimen is intended to be a conscious act, freely chosen to enhance life, abstinence is sometimes distinguished from the psychological mechanism of repression. The latter is an unconscious state, having unhealthy consequences. Freud termed the channeling of sexual energies into other more culturally or socially acceptable activities, "sublimation".

On the same first night, the Cupids of Heaven called an emergency meeting. Mother Superior banged her gavel again her desk.

“They have opened the gates to the Fallen City,” she said. “Most unfortunate, really.”

“What are we to do?” Bette asked. Mother Superior cleared her throat.

“We must take immediate counter measures!” she announced.

“You can’t mean…” Laurel said. She slowly covered her mouth. “That bad, huh?”

“I am afraid so.”

“Fuck.”

“Please watch your mouth during these meetings, Laurel.”

Laurel lowered her head. “Forgive me.” Bette rubbed her on the back.

“Anyway, we have located the source of the main gate,” Mother Superior said. She brushed a skinny finger over the top of her desk. A giant screen appeared in the air. Lacy black gates stood around a fire storm. They looked like a hungry mouth looking for food. The deities shivered as they gazed upon such a beast.

“That looks creepy,” Jenny, a first-year girl, said.

“We must never be intimidated,” Mother Superior said. She ran her finger along her desk again. The image changed to deeper into the gate.

“The gates must be destroyed from the inside,” she said. “However, we can’t go in it ourselves.” The love deities gave her puzzled looks.

“Why is that?” Alice asked.

“They sacrificed an innocence to heightens the gate’s power,” Mother Superior said. Whispered filled the room.

“They’ve never done that before,” Shane said.

“They have really stepped up their game this time. Plus, there is him.” The leader ran her finger across her desk. The image of Asher filled the room. The ladies’ cheeks turned bright red. Some of them started fanning themselves. Mother Superior slammed her hands against her desk.

“Contain yourselves!” she yelled. “He is the enemy.” Alice pinched herself in the arm.

“How do we handle him and the gate?” she asked. Mother Superior rose to her feet.

“By any means that you choose!” she said. “Go out and kill the sources of the gate’s power all over the city!” The love deities rose to their feet.

“Right!” they said.

“I will be joining you on the battlefield,” she said. The love deities stared at her, wide-eyed.

“What?!” they asked.

“But why?” Bette asked.

“It has come to that point,” Mother Superior said. “We are at a time of war!”

“But…” Helena said.

“This is not the time to lay back!” their ruler said. “We are all hands on deck! Do not ask questions! Do you understand?” The girls were rather hesitant to speak.

“Do you understand?” Mother Superior asked.

“Yes!” the girls said at last. Their ruler cleared her throat.

“Good,” she said. She held up her hand in the air and chanted a spell. The love deities vanished in a pink flash.