#i would have loved to have the scene from the trailer where she uses kristoffs sword

[inkbutterflyuniverse]

HSMTMTS S3 EP2 : Into The Unknown

This episode was great!! I don't even know where to begin!

I think I will begin with Gina: yes she reminds me of her old self, but with a change, I don't disagree with Kourtney and Ashlyn, but I don't totally agree! Gina wants to shine, she wants to have the first role, and it's her time! She wasn't Gabriella nor Belle, but now she really wants to be Anna (or Elsa, she's the first role too). A part is because of the documentary, but another part is for her, she wants to prove to herself that she can do it!

I absolutely loved the two girls who were Gina's fan, and I really hope that someone will talk to them after what happened to the audition because I feel like one of them will have a good role while the other don't... I mean, Ash and Kourt saw that scene, they could have said something...

I really liked the way Gina looked at Ricky in the audition, I know people will freak out and pointed like "see Rina is endgame", but for me, Gina was like a proud mom/friend. She is the one that pushed Ricky in the first season, she just wanted him to realize he have talent and that he was born to be on stage!

About Ricky now, I liked the conversation he had with Gina, it was akward but I'm happy they decided to forget everything that happened! They are just friends and now the air is clear!

I absolutely love what Carlos said to him in the bed, that line about the fact that he always come unprepared and has the role because he is talented can't be a thing in Camp. This is not Miss Jen, and he needs to understand that he can't do this anymore.

But when he came late in this ski suit, I laughed so hard. Yes he was shown with it in the trailer, but the way he entered and Carlos said it was tradition... Epic 😂

What I also love in this episode is what happened with Jet: yes he has some attitude problems but his voice was so great!! And Ricky making a comparison with him, was cool to see!

I also really like the sort of conversation they had, because since the trailer I already ship them. I mean Ricky is definitely bi, the way he ask what were the relationship between Hans and Kristoff by saying "lovers?", is another proof to that.

About the other campers: I need to see more of Val before having a real opinion, but I don't like how everyone is saying she will make Portwell break up... I didn't feel this vibe from her, she was just happy to her friend! And I liked that she asked about Nini, because it's obviously a thing you will ask your friend if one year he is with a girl, and next year with another!

I liked that Gina was the one who said that Maddox was nice and just wanted everyone to be friend! I definitely could relate to what Maddox said about not having a lot friends because she doesn't know how to be with people! And I don't think that the last scene was a bad thing like they want us to think! It's just another weird tradition! And if Maddox is a witch, then it would be cool! I really want to see a good representation of modern witches!

Anyway, go back to the campers: I don't really know what Carlos changed, but I have a feeling it's not the final cast list just a draft! Val wouldn't have left the real list here, right?

About EJ's, I loved the Portwell scenes, the beginning, and the scene were he said to Gina that their couple was the only thing he was sure about!! I liked seeing him stressed because he was always this super confident guy, and seeing him freak out for once was great! Plus, anyone else wouldn't be able to be a director for a show like that... He's still a high schooler!

Now, let's talk about Nini in LA. I didn't expect at all that Jesse Tyler Ferguson would play the "father" (I don't want to say sperm donor because it's kinda a thing you said to a father who isn't great... Plus, he tried to be a father to Nini, and it was nice). I liked learning more about Nini's family, her moms weren't really shown in the series so far! Plus, this meeting inspired her a new song !

Speaking about the songs, I will first talk about Gina's : it was great, I really like the dancing, the lyrics really shown that she is determinate! But I must say that it didn't resonate with me, like "A Dancer's Heart", that song was so good that I was kinda hopping this new song to be as good... But it was still great !!

The audition songs were great, I love that everyone shine, their voices were great, and I don't want to be at Val's place because I couldn't even said who was better!

Jet impressed me, he had such a great voice, and Ashlyn joining him at the piano was nice!! I really loved how everyone was genuinely happy that he was this good, when he is a concurrent! At first I thought he could be Hans, but I don't know if it will be fair, knowing he didn't read any text... 🤔

And then, there's Nini's song. It was sooo good! I'm very happy to hear a song that isn't sad, it was full of hopes for this summer, and it's all I wish to Nini: to have a great summer! Definitely my favorite of the episode!!

#hsmtmts #high school musical the series #portwell #gina porter #ricky bowen #ej caswell #camp shallow lake #nini salazar roberts #frozen the musical the series

[riddlerosehearts]

aaand now i've got myself thinking now about how it felt to be actively engaging with the frozen fandom on here during the speculation about the frozen 2 ending, when there were various hints from merchandise and leaks about what would happen (iirc we learned about anna potentially becoming queen from a leaked lego set) but we were still unsure, as well as after the movie released and we obviously did finally know the ending. i'm thinking about how it felt to be actively engaging with the fandom as someone who was, the entire time, against the idea of the sisters living apart and still very much dislikes it. and it honestly just felt... really bad, lmao. (i have one lovely mutual i first interacted with back then, and if you're seeing this then i hope you know who you are and that you are not part of the bad experiences)

before we started getting substantial info on frozen 2 and it became clear that it was really happening, i reblogged lots of frozen posts from other people but i never really posted anything of my own or shared my own thoughts often. that only changed because the info we were getting made me so excited that i felt like i had to talk about it. and some of the experiences i had during that speculation period were great, actually! for example, speculating about kristoff and anna's engagement was so fun. i still remember when we all noticed that the trailer edited the ring out of a scene where kristoff was very blatantly meant to be holding it. i remember everyone getting ridiculously hyped to hear he was getting a solo. i remember us all having to defend kristoff from people who were, for some reason, angry that he wanted to marry anna and have a family with her, and the post i myself made about how i thought this was wonderful character development for him. actually, now that i think about it, everything was fine and good before the movie came out, except for the fact that i was worried about how it would end.

but in the months after the movie came out i got increasingly frustrated to the point that i now follow very few frozen blogs in general and i went back to almost never posting my thoughts on the franchise. because it just started feeling bad and unfun. and it got that way because of things like... to be as unspecific as possible here, before f2 came out i would, for example, ask a blogger i liked what they thought about the idea of the sisters living apart at the end of it and they'd explain why in their opinion disney would never do that and why it would be a bad idea. but then after the movie came out they'd be posting about how beautiful and perfect the ending was. which obviously people are well within their right to change their minds, but i just remember feeling frustrated because it seemed like so many people changed their minds and i didn't. i'd think about the movie a lot, read the opinions and analyses of other fans and try to understand more positive views of the ending, try to consider if i was being too stubborn, but it still just is not for me.

which brings me to the next set of very frustrating things that made the fandom feel unfun: a lot of people (and especially one particular person who i will not name) who were vocal about disliking the ending after the release of the movie were very hostile about it, would post very bad faith critiques, would ship els*nna and be hateful toward krist*nna and kristoff, would be hateful toward elsam*ren and honeym*ren in very weird and sometimes racist ways, would just be extremely rude and gross and Wrong in ways i didn't wanna be associated with. but then i'd also keep seeing people who loved krist*nna, and kristoff and anna as individual characters, post very rude, bad faith critiques of elsa, treat the whole movie like it was perfect and had zero room for good faith criticism, and/or say things that made it seem to me at least as if they didn't even like elsa or value her sister's relationship with her. like it didn't matter where she lived or what she did as long as kristoff and anna got married and had babies. and i'd almost never encounter people who loved all of the characters, who loved anna's relationship with both kristoff and elsa, and who were at least sympathetic to those who disliked the ending. i also at one point started seeing a lot of frozen 3 wishlists that were either entirely centered around elsa and what the OP wanted for her, or were entirely centered around kristoff & anna and what the OP wanted for them, with no in between.

like, idk, at some point it just started seeming like the fandom got split up between "people who like the ending" vs "people who don't like the ending", with an additional side of "people who like krist*nna" vs "people who like elsa" and the "dislikes the ending" category all too frequently including rude, aggressive, els*nna shippers and it just. it felt like there was no category that fit me and even now i've usually tried to avoid openly being negative about frozen 2 just in case doing so upsets someone or gives them the wrong idea about me. i've written long lists of headcanons and lengthy rants that i've either only shared with a close friend or kept entirely to myself. i ship elsam*ren in a completely different way than the vast majority of the fandom seems to ship it (naturally, as i don't like f2's ending so the idea i have of them in my head doesn't include elsa agreeing that she belongs in the forest right at the end of the movie) but i've never felt compelled to post about the specific way that i ship them. i just... i feel like this post is itself a terrible idea and i'm only posting it because i like treating tumblr like my diary. i hope this doesn't upset someone who happens across it and if it does then i'm sorry for that. but like tbh, i could write a list of reasons why i, quite honestly, sort of hate frozen 2's ending (i don't totally hate the movie though!! it has beautiful animation and music and some sweet, enjoyable scenes!! and i'm happy for people who do like the ending!!). but easily the thing i hate the most is how it affected my experiences with/desire to engage with the fandom for a franchise that began with my favorite movie of all time. i'm very sure this isn't everyone's perspective but from my perspective it created a huge mess and i'm dreading frozen 3 and 4 bringing all of that back, but hopefully those movies won't be able to be nearly so divisive.

#...making this post un-rebloggable because i sincerely do not want to upset anyone #i'm literally just venting about extremely silly fandom stuff and i wrote too much to delete it now

[kinschi]

@btryx02 requested Anna with the ice sword

don't mess with her

#frozen 2 #frozen #anna #anna frozen #btryx02 #queen anna #anna of arendelle #kinschi draws #i would have loved to have the scene from the trailer where she uses kristoffs sword

[azaffranist]

Deleted lines of dialogue in Frozen 2

We know that F2’s plot suffered from last minute changes and even leaks that we got before the release contradict the final material, but that’s another can of worms for another post. What I wanna talk about in this post is something I happened to notice a few days ago while watching the Frozen 2 Outtakes video available with the Blu-ray version of the movie. Here’s a link to it. My apologies if there’s a post out there already talking about this, but I haven’t seen one so I thought I might as well give it a go.

Basically, the video is a recollection of funny moments that arose when the voice actors were recording their lines. But… I don’t know if this was deliberate or an oversight on Disney’s part, or if they didn’t care too much about it at the end of the day and released it anyways. The thing is, we can see the original dialogue they were supposed to record as tiny subtitles, and good god, there are tons of deleted lines, including an earlier version of Some Things Never Change, and some point to the existence of completely different scenes from the ones we got. Here’s what I mean:

I don’t recall ever coming across deleted lines for Frozen 1 apart from the famous “That’s no blizzard, that’s my sister”, so this is pretty interesting.

But in addition to that, while digging through some old files I found recorded lines of a Frozen 2 book that came out before release (Specifically on October 4th, 2019, when the Frozen Fan Fest was being held with the first released merch). That’s a long, long time ago and I don’t remember the name of the book, sadly, but you can listen to the recording I made right here. If someone does remember the name of the book that’d be really cool. I think the original recording was provided by Snow on the Arendelle Kingdom Discord server, so credits to her.

UPDATE: The book was found along with other interesting pieces of info! It’s called Frozen 2 Read-Along Storybook and CD. Credits to @lovewillthaw-j​ and their amazing detective work! Here it is.

What’s particularly interesting about this one is that no merch released on October 4 had the ending of the movie. Every book was cut off at the moment Anna received Elsa’s message in the cave, with no mention of Show Yourself or Elsa’s death for that matter. Now, we don’t know if they were trying not to spoil the movie, or if they legitimately didn’t have a final ending at the time the books were made. Knowing how… messy Frozen 2’s development was, I think we can all sort of agree it was the latter. 

Because of this, there is some really intriguing stuff. Nods to scenes that aren’t in the final movie, shameless hints to Elsa’s permanent death, events happening in a different order… I don’t know if these lines were recorded only for the book, but I doubt they were, because many of those lines are actually in the movie or are referenced in books and some have really slight modifications like changes in tone of voice. I guess we’ll never Find The Truth™, but we can analyze these lines too because they can give us an idea of what earlier versions of the movie were like.

So let’s look at them one by one. Looooong post ahead.

Frozen 2 Outtakes Video

“Should have left it to me. Love you too. You blew it Kristoff. Oh. I’m alone. It’s fine.” – Kristoff/Sven

This one definitely happens during Kristoff’s first proposal attempt. Before this line, Anna says, “She couldn’t act out ice?” and we can assume Kristoff absent mindedly responds with “Should have left it to me”. That makes sense, considering he delivers ice for a living and ice is his life. Then we got “Love you too”, which Kristoff says in the final movie, but then we got Sven dialogue as he tells him “You blew it, Kristoff.” “Oh, I’m alone,” is what would go before he finally says, “It’s fine.” The reason the dialogue is all mixed up is because Johnathan Groff is the one recording the lines and he does both Kristoff and Sven’s voices (well, technically, Kristoff).

_______

“Hey. What the—What is this? Hang onto me. What’s happening? Run. The mist is rising. We are being pushed by the…” – Kristoff

We can tell this happens when the Arendellian gang was crossing the mist wall for the first time. The scene was evidently going to be longer and more chaotic than what we actually got. Apparently they run and that would’ve been pretty cool.

_______

“The winds are restless. Like how I sometimes feel in the fall. But I’m not ready. I love these days, I’m grateful for them all.” – Elsa (Alternate Some Things Never Change)

Now this is what I call a quality deleted line. I recommend you guys watch the video to hear the little part that Idina sings to have an idea what Elsa’s part in Some Things Never Change was originally going to be like. Definitely a bit sadder than what we got. I think this line gives the idea that Elsa wasn’t feeling too comfy in Arendelle even though she enjoyed the company of her family immensely, or if we go with the idea that fall represents change, Elsa is feeling restless in the face of change. She’s not ready to ‘change’ and wants to keep enjoying her days in Arendelle. She can’t let them go. How ironic. Interpret it as you want!

_______

“I’d freeze this moment if I could find a way…” – Elsa (Alternate Some Things Never Change)

Same scene. Sadder atmosphere for her part of the song. It’s a shame we don’t know what goes next.

_______

“Water drowns with a stallion’s might.” – Elsa

Wowowowowow. Now this is interesting, because I have no idea where to place this line of dialogue meaning there might’ve been another scene foreshadowing the Nokk. In the final movie, the only moment we see the Nokk is during When I Am Older and it was very brief and played for laughs. But this line gives the idea that the existence of an angry murderous water horse was going to be mentioned earlier on. Now I have a lot of ideas as to what she might’ve referred to (maybe that’s just a comparison she made on the fly and didn’t know the water spirit was a horse? Maybe it’s like a riddle she solved to know what the water spirit was?) but to be honest I think there’s no way to know. Fun to theorize, though.

Also, total confirmation the Nokk is a male!

_______

“It’s magic. It’s amazing. There’s a voice. I need to follow it.” – Elsa

This line probably happened when they visited Pabbie and evacuated Arendelle. A different take on how she explained to Anna why she wanted to go on the journey. Honestly, I prefer what we actually got. She sounds quite desperate and hypnotized in this one. VOICE. I HEAR. MUST FOLLOW. I don’t know what you guys think. The actual explanation in the final movie is not great either but I prefer it.

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“Hey Elsa. It’s your mom. Remember, mothers are always right. Now, be who you are!” – Olaf (Longer Post Credits Scene)

We were robbed. This line and another one points to a longer post credits scene. I suspect they weren’t able to include it because of time constraints, because c’mon, this is hilarious. An animator on Instagram said that they were not able to model the inside of Elsa’s ice palace for the post credits scene because they ran out of time, so they used Ahtohallan pillars and changed the lighting so that it gave the ‘feel’ of the ice palace. I’m sorry I can’t provide a link right now because I don’t remember who the animator was, but if I find it again or someone else does I’ll update this.

UPDATE: The Instagram comment in particular was found! Thanks to @super-mam-te-moc​ for the screenshot. 

Okay, kind of got derailed there. They didn’t have enough time to finish the post credits scene and that’s the only coherent answer I can find as to why this was deleted.

_______

“They’re all looking at us, aren’t they? Okay, got any advice? How do I free the forest?” – Elsa

Very similar to what’s in the movie but here Elsa asks Bruni if he knows how she can free the forest. The fact that Elsa asks a little cute salamander this… kind of gives the idea that Elsa was completely clueless, same as the rest of the gang, and the rest of the writers. Jkjk!

_______

“Emotional and slightly haunting memory of Mother? Is that you?” – Olaf (Longer Post Credits Scene)

Same as above. We were robbed. Twice.

______________________________

Unused Recorded Lines from Frozen 2 Book

“Teeth? Oh. Pillow fort! Disturbed! Aw, c’mon, you definitely look disturbed!” – Anna

Shorter or summarized charades scene. Anna never mentions a pillow fort in the final movie.

_______

“I know that rumble.” – Kristoff

This probably goes when Pabbie and the trolls appeared at the evacuation place. Seems like in an earlier version, there was more buildup before the appearance of the trolls. Kristoff hears the rumble of the rocks before anything else. Deleted scenes seen in trailers also point to a slightly different ‘troll appearance’ scene.

_______

“I won’t leave her side.” – Anna

During Pabbie’s visit. We know thanks to trailers Anna’s little talk with Pabbie changed a bit. Here Anna displays her worry for Elsa even more.

Here’s a comparison between the trailer:

And the final movie:

What’s particularly interesting about this is that a later point in the movie, during Kristoff’s third failed proposal, Anna suddenly remembers Elsa and runs off hurriedly saying, “I swore I wouldn’t leave her side”. Coincidence? I THINK NOT. She never explicitly says so in the final movie, but it seems like she did in an earlier version. 

_______

“We’ll fix it together. / Together. / Together.” – Anna, Kristoff and Olaf respectively

Probably as they were going to go on the journey, considering the lines are said chronologically? They discovered the power of teamwork. Weird Elsa doesn’t say ‘together’. Maybe they left it out because, coughcoughtheydidn’tfixanythingtogether.

_______

“Uhm, I sense no way in, but this is fun nonetheless.” – Olaf

Definitely during the arrival at the mist wall. Olaf doesn’t say anything as he bounces off in the final movie.

_______

“Hah! It let us in, but it clearly does not wanna let us out.” – Olaf

Same as above. Anna is the one who says they’re trapped in the final version.

_______

“Your father was… / King Agnarr of Arendelle.” – Mattias, Elsa, respectively

In the final version Mattias immediately says “Agnarr”, while here Elsa finishes his words after his pause. To be honest, it makes more sense in the final version, considering Mattias would remember Agnarr’s name without a doubt.

_______

“I’m fine. I just… actually, I’m starving.” – Anna

This probably goes right after the “Don’t Run Into Fire” argument. I didn’t think much of this line at first but it’s actually really interesting, because in the final movie, right after Elsa and Anna’s argument, Elsa places Iduna’s scarf on Anna’s shoulders and with this perfect timing they find out she was Northuldra, leading to the whole “Vuelie” scene. But here, there’s no comforting with scarf, and it seems like this scene leads to the one after Vuelie in the final movie, with Anna eating as she talks to Mattias, and Elsa and Honeymaren talking about the spirits.

Which means… that in an earlier version, the discovery of Iduna being Northuldra was probably going to happen later on. Pretty crazy, right?

_______

“If I lost her… I think I’d lose myself.” – Anna

All right. I think that this line is one of the most important ones. Thanks to books having this line in them we can pinpoint exactly when Anna utters it: expectedly, when she was talking with Mattias. The delivery of this line is also particularly heartbreaking, so I recommend you guys hear the audio file.

I don’t wanna ramble too much but there’s a lot to be said about this line. But yes, I’ll actually end up rambling. Warning.

Along with “I won’t leave her side”, it seems like earlier versions of the movie showed Anna being even more anxious and worried about Elsa’s wellbeing. As we know, Anna and Mattias were talking about ‘doing the next right thing’, and being prepared when life throws you down a new path. This is obvious foreshadowing to The Next Right Thing. But why were these two cut? Don’t they deepen Anna’s character and show just how deathly scared this whole adventure had her?

Well, here’s some speculation. These two lines are obviously foreshadowing Elsa’s death. The thing is, there exists the likelihood that at the times these lines were written and recorded, there was no such thing as Elsa’s revival. We’ve known for a long time that Elsa was going to die for real in Frozen 2, but test audiences were left traumatized and probably in need of PTSD treatment, hating it so much that the ending and everything that came with it was rewritten around June. Including, I speculate, these two lines which blatantly foreshadow Elsa’s big oof.

There’s not much foreshadowing to Elsa’s death in the final version. That’s because it was a minor thing. She died before the climax of the movie and her death scene didn’t feel final nor dramatic enough to fool the audience and make them believe she was really, really, won’t-breathe-ever-again kind of dead. Some watchers didn’t even realize she died, because the scene was not supposed to feel like her end. Not even the score, Ghosts of Arendelle Past, has a final feeling to it. It just kind of ends there in an ominous tone and they stress the fact that she sent an important ice message before freezing, giving hope of events resolving themselves.

But these two lines do foreshadow of a terrifying event. One that’s not minor nor temporary. These two lines, probably among others we’ll never find out about, and Anna’s worried sick attitude in earlier versions, give more weight to Elsa’s death, Elsa’s permanent death, and ultimately, The Next Right Thing.

Or maybe not and I’m wrong and there was no need for a 4 paragraph long overanalysis of two lines. Maybe they just deleted them just cause. Who knows the ways of writers…

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“All this time… the four spirits. Right there.” – Elsa

Maybe this goes during Honeymaren’s talk about the spirits? Right there, meaning, they were all along depicted in Iduna’s scarf and nobody in Arendelle realized? We’ll never know.

_______

“You mean like a voice?” – Elsa

Probably happened when Honeymaren was talking about the fifth spirit crying out the day the forest fell.

_______

“She made it across the sea.” – Anna

“I know why the spirits evacuated Arendelle.” – Anna

“Olaf, I know how to free the forest.” – Anna

Okay, I’m gonna talk about these three at the same time because it’s the same scene. Obviously, these lines of dialogue take place in the cave as Anna receives Elsa’s message, right before The Next Right Thing. We know that for sure because The Next Right Thing was one of the first Frozen 2 songs to be written and the writers knew that’s where they wanted the story to go. This seems like a pretty different setup, but to be honest, it feels like a placeholder. Anna doesn’t even react to the fact that there was a statue of grandpa slicing an innocent man in two right in front of her which just feels weird.

And all in all, the lines just don’t have the sadness of the final version. Anna doesn’t sound nearly as disappointed and her voice doesn’t lower that much. She sort of sounds determined in the last line! So determined to wreck her home to pieces with a gigantic flood… ahaha Anna…

______________________________ 

Okay, it was pretty fun to overanalyze all 23 deleted lines that I managed to find. There are even more deleted goodies out there thanks to the merch, but we’re gonna leave that for another moment.

There’s no doubt that Frozen 2′s development had plenty of problems along the way and I think it’s pretty interesting to learn what it could’ve been and could’ve had. These lines are just the tip of the iceberg and I’m more than interested to know what exactly the test audiences saw in those infamous test screenings...

______________________________

UPDATE: More deleted stuff!

@theupsidedownpyramid​ collected more deleted lines found in the trailers right here!

@yumeka36​ made a really interesting analysis of the Frozen 2 Novelization with even more deleted lines and scenes here!

#frozen 2 #frozen #elsa #anna #kristoff #olaf #sven #frozen 2 deleted scenes #frozen 2 deleted dialogue #frozen 2 outtakes

[tare-chan]

Iduna, Elsa, Anna, and the 4 spirits

After several days of contemplating the story line of Frozen 2, I think I finally get the whole story. Well… this is still categorize as theory though, but as always, I will share my thoughts here.

I think Iduna and Gale’s roles are very important as the base story for Frozen 2

And I’m amazed how the animators managed to portrayed the spirits as ‘human’ as possible, with their distinctive recognizable traits. 

Spoiler… spoiler….

Iduna, as a Northruldan, seems have a very close relationship with Gale, the wind spirits. (Gale seems like the kinder, easy going and friendlier spirits, who also very agile, and loves to play). We can see how they played around in the past sequences. Gale even help Iduna saves a boy, who actually was the “enemy”, and pushed them to safety, out of the forest border (I think the ‘ah-ah-ah’ calling voice is how Iduna ‘talks’ to Gale). I believe, even tough Gale was also trapped inside the forest, being “a” wind, he (I assume the spirits are all a “he” for my convenient writing purposes, btw) able to check on Iduna from time to time. Thus he can sense that Iduna has 2 daughters, one of whom, possessed the special “keys”, to lift the curse, as a gift for the good Iduna has done in the past. Gale didn’t exactly know which of the two daughters has the power tough.

Now the movie itself didn’t show how Iduna and Agnarr met, but from the trailer, we did see that Gale seems also playing with Agnarr. I presume, from that brief interaction, Iduna could tell that Agnarr was different from his Father (more on the curious side, rather than on the fear side, when interact with magic), and Gale agreed with her. Now, for the sake of drama, what if Iduna was the daughter of the Northuldran leader that was killed by Agnarr’s father? This will emphasize Iduna’s good deed even more, IMO. I wished the movie would showed us a little more of Iduna and Agnarr encounter. Anyway, from those tiny tidbits we get from the movie, I could assume that Agnarr didn’t remember who his saviour was. And Iduna choose to keep silent and prefer to build their relationship the ‘slow burn’ way. And of course (for the sake of the story) at the end, Agnarr choose Iduna to be his queen. 

That until the first Frozen incident, that make Elsa need to be isolated. As the mother, Iduna have always known that Elsa is special. And obviously it really pained her to see her eldest daughter “suffer” because of her power, instead of embracing it. But even though she’s a Northuldran, it didn’t make her understand what the spirit’s good deed right away. I even think that Iduna actually forgot and never thought of it. Until the night her husband decide to tell a story about an Enchanted Forest, and she was asked to sing an old lullaby, that the “eureka” come to her mind, The brief scene of memories at Athohallan, where Iduna finally want to confess something to Agnarr, which he reply with ‘I’m listening’, make me believe that it was Iduna’s idea for them to travel North, to find Athohallan, in order to understand Elsa’s power and what purpose it held, so that Elsa will not suffer anymore. Because I believe, deep down in her heart, Iduna knows that whatever power Elsa has, is for great and good purpose. And of course, as every mother in this world, she only want the best for the daughter, and if to understand the purpose of Elsa’s power she have to travel North and face danger itself, she will do it. As good husband, of course Agnarr won’t let his wife travel alone, and went with her.

Unfortunately, the Nokk didn’t feels them worthy to step foot at the Athohallan, and drowned them. (I see Nokk as the more powerful, strict, by the book, will perfectly do his job, as the guardian of Athohallan. Thus only they who managed to survive his brutal test are allowed to step foot at Athohallan). But, being the place for spirits, Iduna’s spirit managed to get there in a way. And she finally understand what Elsa’s power is needed. Then her spirit wait, and in one way, start to send ‘voice signal’ to call Elsa to go to Athohallan. 

The message was never delivered though, as Athohallan was a mystical place. That is until, Elsa unleashed her power in large scale (the eternal winter, the “Let it go” sequence). Such enormous power can be sensed by the spirits. And Gale might be the one to take action. After all, I presume he can sense Iduna’s call (the very same, very familiar ‘ah-ah-ah’ call). And starting from the end of Frozen 1, in 3 years time, he keep pushing the call towards Arendelle, hoping it was heard by whomever the message was sent for. Somehow, I feel Gale did this behind other spirit’s back (particularly Nokk, whom I see as the “leader” and the most “strict” of them all). 

Thus he always checks from time to time, whether someone answered Iduna’s call. Somehow he can senses Iduna’s daughter. And because Anna is portrayed to inherited more of Iduna’s trait, I think Gale assume Anna would be the one who answered the call. There’s a scene where a wind carries a maple leave tickles Anna’s shoulder, when she was walking towards Olaf. And then the wind also whirled around Olaf. I think, it’s Gale sensing the two daughters of Iduna. (With Olaf carrying Elsa’s ‘magic’ sense), And that he is expecting someone to react to the call.

And then, one night, finally Elsa answered the call, and activated the rune crystals (Into The Unknown sequence). This summoning of the runes outside of the enchanted forest, enraged the spirits, and they intent to find whomever responsible for conjuring the runes, outside of the forest, without full knowledge of how to respect/use the power of the runes. On the other hand, Gale sense this as the sign he was waiting for. And being the spirit himself, he actually knows what need to be done to repair the past mistakes (destroying of the dam), and what will be the consequences (destruction of Arendelle). Considering his friendship with Iduna, and that those people lived in Arendelle were her beloved subjects, he took action. Unlike other spirits who immediately retract their powers, Gale pushed all living being outside of Arendelle (we clearly see him pushing Sven out of his stall), towards the higher ground. 

Somehow, I think the one Elsa sensed as good (”Whoever calling me was good. My magic can sense it”) was Gale that has been delivering Iduna’s call. Elsa’s magic could sense Gale, because it came from the same source. Much grander, and different kind than Grand Pabbie’s, which make him didn’t managed to decipher the signs, even from Frozen 1, despite his good intention. But Pabbie’s managed to understand how grand the scale is, which leads him to warn Anna.

Then the main cast embark to their journey, and arrive at the forest’s border. The barrier open upon Elsa’s touch, under the spirits’ command. I guess, the spirits’ want to know who dare to conjure the runes, at the same time curious as why the person outside of the forest managed to do so, at the same time they want to test whether the person worthy of such power. Because, they must already know about the ‘bridge’/ the fifth element, that was needed to repair the past.

The first spirit to greet the group is of course, Gale, who’s very excited to finally able to ‘meet’ Iduna’s daughters. He even pushed the group to walk faster, cause he can’t wait any longer to greet them. Upon viewing that there’re actually 5 of them, he’s confused to decide which one of them possess the ‘key’. We can see how curious he is, as he often come and go near the group. Gale is not alone at this time. Bruni is also shown to be very curious at this outsider who step foot in their forest (and of course the Northruldan also sneaking around them). For a moment, these spirits move around Olaf, cause he’s the one ‘radiating’ magical sense for being an animated snowman. (Yes, including Nokk. As stoic as he is, he can’t stop his curiosity to see who are these people. But when he was met face to face with Olaf, he’s so surprised that he neigh and fled XD)

At certain point, Gale became impatient,and decided to swoop them up in a tornado, making this his ‘trial’, to see who actually hold the special ‘key’. I can see that Gale meant no harm when swooping the group up. The branch that nearly hit Anna wasn’t meant to hurt her. And lucky for him, at this time Elsa’s react to protect her sister, and thus confirming that she’s the one Gale’s been searching for. Thus he ‘spat’ the other party, and start the real “trial” to see how strong Elsa is. While at the same time, he’s trying to give as many message as possible to Elsa, which leads to the making of ice statues. Gale redeem Elsa’s worthy immediately of course. She’s Iduna’s daughter after all :) We can see his friendly trait right after the ‘trial’ has finished. He prank Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf, did an extra prank for Anna (whom he see really looks like Iduna), and did tiny prank to Elsa (cause he respect her). 

During this time, Bruni was watching from the side. Then the gang encounter the Northruldan, and explain to them.  He watched all the scene before him as quiet as possible. But then, Yelena said ‘We only will accept what the nature choose’. This clearly surprised him. (It’s kinda like “when you’re dozing off in class then suddenly the teacher point of you” kind of surprise) Thus his power blow out of control. Bruni panicking. And it cause the flame to grow even larger. I see Bruni as the ‘youngest’ of the spirit, and thus has less control of the flames, even more so when his emotion are not in control. Kinda like Elsa was in frozen 1. 

Elsa senses this in away, and even though perhaps she thought this is the trial of the flame (which I think Bruni will said so if asked, so that he doesn’t look like he didn’t have full control of the flame), she accept the challenge, and put down the flames and even run after Bruni until he was trapped and has nowhere to go. But then, Bruni see that Elsa meant no harm, and in certain way, understand his current position (often misunderstood). And even further, Elsa’s the only one who could hold him (and her hand felt nice and cold). He befriend Elsa immediately. And so are the Northruldan.

During the camp, at night, we see how the Earth Giant came to the camp. From the conversation, this event is unusual. That’s because the Giant also sense Elsa’s power, and curious to see what cause the disturbances in the soil of Enchanted Forest. Somehow, I see the Giants as the slower type of spirit (slow in movement, and slow in deduction ability, just like the trait of earth). He’s slow in sensing Elsa’s power entering the forest, and slow in reacting to it, and couldn’t care less when at the end he didn’t managed to find the source, that they went off just like that. 

The sisters saw this from different perspective, and decided that to not endangered the Northruldans, they decide to continue their journey right away. Lead by Bruni and Gale. Gale then showed the sister, the wreck of their parent’s ship. And by Elsa’s power, they finally know what happened to their parents, albeit a very horrifying truth that is. This leads Elsa to go and challenged Nokk by herself, and pushed Anna to ‘safety’. 

The Nokk trial is, IMO, the most difficult and brutal trial Elsa have to conquer. Afterall, he’s a perfectionist, and very confident in his prowess, that he even ‘look down’ towards Elsa.

Never before we saw a ‘princess’ being drowned, thrown, splashed by giant waves, and dragged around under the sea, like Elsa before. And I love how badass Elsa was portrayed in this scene. (Apparently this scene already thought from the very beginning by the story creator, and what shaped the whole movie story. Amazing!). And when Elsa managed to tame the Nokk, is the moment that Nokk acknowledge her power, and thus pledge his loyalty to serve Elsa in fulfilling her destiny, and keeps her safe. After the trial, Nokk accompanies Elsa and help her reach the Athohallan, bow, and wait for her. (Horse is a very loyal animal after all). When Elsa’s thawed and thrown to the sea, he immediately took action and took Elsa to safety. This picture really shows Nokk loyalty towards Elsa (he deliberately keep Elsa’s face above water, so she wouldn’t get drown. But unfortunatelly this concept art didn’t make it to the movie). And then Nokk gives all his power to take Elsa to Arendelle as fast as he can, so that Elsa could stop the tidal wave. This Nokk development is my favorite :D 

Meanwhile, Anna’s encounter with the Giants make her the ‘conqueror’ of the earth element. After standing up from her grief (which is my favorite Anna moment in the whole movie, that make me really proud of her), she took action by ‘manipulating’ the Giants to fulfill her goal. Now the Giant’s reaction is interesting to see. At first noticing Anna, his reaction was like “oh, so this is the one disturbing the peace! Get out! Get out!!”. Thus the Giants chase Anna (and Kristoff and Sven) around, throwing boulders. They even target Anna when she was standing at the dam. But noticed that the moment they understand what Anna make them do, and see that they nearly put Anna’s life in danger, they stop. Being one of the spirit, they must’ve known that the dam need to be destroyed, to restore peace and fixed the past. They really stop mid-throwing. And the look at their faces, it’s like “Oh…. ooohh… so that’s what you’re trying to do…. Oops… didn’t meant to hurt you”. (Like I said, they’re slow ^^;). And by the end of the movie, when Anna reunited with Elsa, we saw the giant standing there with his ‘guilty’ face, bowing towards the sisters, as if saying “Sorry……” (Awww…..)   

I love how subtle the connection between Iduna’s past, the sisters bond, Elsa’s power, and the characterization of the nature’s spirits being portrayed in this Frozen 2. Even tough I need more time to contemplate this connections (and certainly the younger kids wouldn’t be able to grasp yet), which make Frozen 2 “harder to chew”, this make me love the movie even more. I think I’ll watch it again in the cinema XD.

anyway, if you managed to come to this end, Thank you for reading my super hella long theory. Sorry for grammar mistakes. I hope you understand what I’m trying to say, and hope to hear more from you and all Frozen fans out there :)

#frozen2 #frozen 2 #elsa #anna #spirits #frozen 2 spoilers #frozen2 spoiler #spoilers #spoiler #theory #analysis #my analysis

[thesvenqueen]

Jurassic Park

Rating: T (may change, who knows) Words: 2297 Pairing: Kristanna Summary: Kristoff. Anna. Dinosaurs. And babies? Oh my... (a.k.a. an excuse for a fic about Kristoff being unsure about wanting kids hidden within a Jurassic Park AU because adventure, grumpy Kristoff and, you know, DINOSAURS!)

Note: shout out to @feistypaants for helping me get this thing started after the KA discord decided I should and will be writing this lol love you and all y’all <3 let us all pray I can keep up with this better than I did Mummy. Also, this is just going to be little snit bits of certain scenes from the film and not, you know, the ENTIRE movie cause that would be INSANE. 

{Chapter 1}

“You’re ridiculous, you know that?” Anna chuckled.

Kristoff looked back at her, pulling his sunglasses down to eye her, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Anna rolled her eyes, “If you really wanted to scare the kid, you could’ve just pulled a gun on him.”

Kristoff pushed his sunglasses back up, continuing the hike back up to the base. “Whatever.”

Truly, Kristoff didn’t mean to scare the kid. He had wanted to educate him on just how stupid the little shit had sounded. Had he gone a bit dramatic in his explanation? Maybe. Did he have to use the claw they’d found? No, it wasn’t completely necessary. 

Did he have to tell the kid that he would be alive when the raptors would start to eat him? He most definitely could’ve left that part out.

But he would be lying if the scared look on the kids face hadn’t been satisfying. What the kid gets for being disrespectful. 

“What is with you and kids, huh?” Anna asked as she caught up to him and looped her arm through his. 

“They’re just... they’re noisy, they’re messy...they’re expensive.” Kristoff said, “They smell.”

“Kristoff, they don’t smell.”

“They do too.”

“Do not.”

“Name me one kid that didn’t smell.”

Kristoff looked down just in time to catch her rolling her eyes, “Same could be said about you, ya know? You don’t smell great either.”

“I smell fantastic & pine fresh, thank you very much.”

“Yeah, keep lying to yourself.”

Kristoff chuckled, reaching his other arm across to grab her hand and squeeze, “You...you really want to have one of those?”

He didn’t have to ask to know the answer. Kristoff knew full well that Anna wanted kids, and had known since they started dating. They hadn’t talked much about it really, only little side comments here and there, but the idea was still there.

“I don’t want that kid,” Anna said, “But I wouldn’t mind some little Kristoff’s running around here making a ruckus.”

Kristoff smirked, “You don’t think one of me is enough?”

“Oh one of you is plenty, you’re enough of a pain in the ass as it is.” Anna giggled as he bumped her hip, “But...having a baby, your baby, I just…”

Kristoff looked back down at her as she bit her lip. “I know.”

“Have you never thought about it?”

Kristoff sighed, he didn’t expect to be having this conversation here of all places. “To be honest, no. I never really, I don’t know, thought I’d make it that far with someone…” He said, as he idly ran his finger across her wedding band, “I never saw it as a possibility so I just...never gave it much thought.”

Which was true. Before Anna, relationships were not his forte to say the least. It wasn’t until Anna tumbled into his life that he even began to understand what a relationship truly was, what it could possibly hold. Looking back at it now, he’d never in his life would’ve thought that he’d be married to such an amazing, kind, bubbly woman such as Anna. Let alone potentially having kids. 

“And now?” Anna said, pulling them to a halt, intertwining their hands together “Do you...do you see that with me Kristoff?”

He looked down at her, taking his sunglasses off so he could really see her. 

Yes. God yes, he could easily imagine her holding their little boy or girl. Could see her running about chasing after their baby as it toddled around. Could see her smiling her biggest smile as she cradled their little one close to her chest. 

He could see her there, but him? That he wasn’t sure. As with dating, he’d always seen himself too much of a grump and too just...him to even get anywhere with anyone. 

But Anna had changed that, had seen the good, soft guy that he was behind the gruff. Had brought it out of him and made him into a better person; made him into a believer of love. 

There was that underlying fear though that also came with the idea. Would he really, truly be a great dad? He knew little of his real father, but what he did know was not the type of father he wanted to be. He wanted to be like Cliff, his adoptive dad but even then the standards were far too high. He could never be like him.

But what if he could? 

Before Anna he’d never thought he’d make it here, and yet here he stood. A married man to the most beautiful woman that loved him with all she had. 

So maybe, just maybe, he could get there too. With some help but, it could be possible.

Before he could answer, he eyed over her head at the sound of an engine overhead

“What the hell?”

It was a helicopter, one flying right to their dig site. Which equaled absolute disaster for their project, one they had only just begun.

They both took off down the hill back to the site, Kristoff being aware of the helicopter coming closer. As it descended, dust and debris started to fly everywhere around the site. Tarps flapped in the air, students scrambled to take cover. 

“Cover the sites!” Anna yelled, running towards a group of students struggling with a nearby tarp. 

“Quickly guys!” Kristoff called, grabbing hold of a nearby tarp and passing it along to a student. “Cover them up, we don’t want them getting damaged!” 

Any other time, this wouldn’t be a problem. But here, on a site filled with delicate fossils that could break with ease, this was the worst thing they could ask for. The added factor that they had just unearthed another fossilized skeleton made the stakes that much higher.

Passing off the last tarp, looking around to make sure the sites were covered, Kristoff turned to see that the helicopter had landed. He barreled towards it, fists clenched as he approached, 

“Shut that shit off!” He yelled, motioning to the pilot. The pilot looked at him, completely confused and just pointed away from the vehicle as Kristoff came right up to the glass. “I don’t care, shut that shit off now!” He yelled again, and again the pilot pointed, saying something that Kristoff couldn't hear. 

He turned to see where the pilot had been pointing, just in time to see the door to his trailer close.

The hell?

He growled as he stormed off to the trailer, ignoring the confused stares from his students. Whoever this idiot was had some nerve to show up to a dig site, in a helicopter no less, risking disturbing the sites and damaging the fossils and barging into his and Anna’s trailer.

Kristoff yanked open the door, not caring that it slammed into the wall as he did so. He stepped inside, anger only building as he looked for the person who nearly ruined their entire exploration and spying them in their fridge.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing in here?!” 

The man turned, a look of surprise and somewhat glee written on his face. The man was much older, a full white beard covered his chin and glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose. He wore a white brimmed hat, to match his all white attire, right down to his white shoes. But the only thing Kristoff saw was red as the man smiled and popped the bottle of champagne.  

“Hey! We were saving that!” Kristoff said as he came up to the stranger, ready to snatch the bottle from his hand.

“Oh, for today I hope.” The man said with a toothy grin. 

“No! It was for--who the fuck do you think you are?” Kristoff growled, jabbing his finger into the man’s chest.

“Oh, how rude of me. Dr. Hammond. John Hammond.” He said, extending his hand and shaking Kristoff’s index finger. “And it’s a delight to finally meet you in person Dr. Bjorgman.”

Kristoff froze, realization hitting him.

Hammond.

The John Hammond.

The man who owned InGen? The one that did research on distinct animals, specifically genetic research?

But most importantly, who ran and created the Hammond foundation? The one that was well known to fund dig sites, such as the one they were on now. 

No, it couldn’t be.

“I see my, uh,” the man said as he walked towards their table near the back of the trailer, “$50,000 a year has been well spent!” 

Holy shit. 

It was him.

And Kristoff has just cussed him up and down.

Fuck.

The door to the trailer slammed open again, Kristoff knew immediately who it was, “Ok,” Anna fumed, storming inside, “Who’s the asshole that--”

“Uh, Dr., let me introduce you to my wife & our paleobotanist,” Kristoff interrupted, turning to Anna as Dr. Hammond came over. Anna looked at him confused, clearly still fuming over the events of the day. Even so, she looked to Dr. Hammond and shook his hand

“Uh, Anna.” She said, eyeing Dr. Hammond, “Dr. Bjorgman to be exact.”

“Anna,” Kristoff said, wrapping his arm around her waist & squeezing, “This is Dr. Hammond.” 

Anna’s eyes widened, looking from Dr. Hammond back to Kristoff and back again as he began to speak.

“Sorry, uh, for the dramatic entrance. I did not mean to disturb your work but, this was the only efficient way I could get to you both as quickly as possible.” 

Anna stood speechless, the first time Kristoff had ever seen her as such. He couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at her stunned face.

“Now come along,” Dr. Hammond said as he walked back towards their table, snagging three cups along the way, “let’s sit down and have a drink yes? We have much to discuss, much to discuss.” 

Anna looked up at Kristoff, still completely shocked. The question written on her face:

What the hell?

Kristoff shrugged, looking back over at the Dr.

“Come along now, I insist.” Dr. Hammond called again, pouring champagne into the glasses.

Anna hesitantly made her way to the table, and Kristoff followed suit.

“Now, I’ll get right to the point….”

------------------------------------

“So, what do you think? Do we have a deal?”

Kristoff sipped his glass, letting himself think about what he just heard. To be honest, he was confused. Everything the man had just said had made absolutely little sense to him. Judging by Anna’s tilted head, she thought the same.

“So, let me get this straight.” He said, feeling Anna’s hand rest on his thigh, a sign to be gentle, “You want us to come review your park? 

“That’s right!”

Kristoff furrowed his brow, “Why would you ask us to come review your park? We’re archeologists, not park owners.”

“Oh, but it is right up your ally, I assure you!” Dr. Hammond said, beaming, “Tell you what, why don’t you both come for the weekend? I have a jet standing by that could get you there in a jiffy.”

Kristoff turned to look at Anna. She was looking at her cup, biting her lip as she thought. After a moment, she looked up, “I..I’m sorry Dr. but I’m not sure if we can. We just dug up a new skeleton today and it’s something we’ve been looking forward to for such a long--”

“I can compensate you fully by funding your dig.”

Kristoff tensed then, leaning slowly onto the table and looking at Dr. Hammond. He couldn’t be serious. 

“You’d fund our dig?”

“Of course!” He said, smiling, “I’ve funded many of your digs, as I am sure you are well aware and I’ve loved and admired your work for a long time. The Bjorgmans, the best of the best in the archeology world. Your work is extraordinary!”

That gave Kristoff pause. The man knew exactly who they were, knew how good they were in their craft too; admired it in fact. That was not something you hear everyday. Especially from the man that had funded hundreds of digs over the years alone.

Truly, if not for this man, Kristoff was sure that he and Anna would easily be out of the job. 

What the man was proposing sounded crazy, but then again, they did owe this man more than they could ever offer.

“As much as I--we want to Dr. Hammond, sir,” Anna said, interrupting Kristoff’s thoughts, “The just..the timing of it is just not right and with the site just being discovered--”

“For a further 3 years.”

Kristoff’s jaw dropped.

“3 years?” Anna asked, herself stunned.

“That’s right.” Dr. Hammond said, smiling at the pair.

“You’d...you’d fund the dig for another 3 years?” Anna asked.

“Yes.” 

“Holy shit.” Anna murmured, looking up to Kristoff and he looked down at her knowing she was having the same thoughts.

3 more years of funding meant 3 more years spent at the site. One that they had just barely broken ground on. The area was thought to be home to at least a dozen or more possible fossils; some complete, others not. But that was just all theory. The chances of their being even more here was high with what they had discovered just today. 

The problem was, from the beginning the funds were only enough to cover a few months here. Not near long enough for the full expedition they had wanted to do.

The possibilities of what they could discover, what they could uncover in another 3 years…

Hell, a quick weekend would be worth it in Kristoff’s eyes.

It was then that he found Anna’s hand that still rested on his thigh, squeezing it gently and smiled.

Anna smiled back at him, and Kristoff could see the excitement in her eyes. She then looked to Dr. Hammond. “Where’s the plane?”

#kristanna #jurassic park au #kristoff #anna #sven #bet you can guess who sven will be lmao #jessica writes #oh man #here we go

[let-it-show]

Making Frozen 2, Quick Look

I know there’s another review out there and....er well probably several at this point. But I still wanted to make my own, maybe I’ll hit something someone else hasn’t. The documentary was very good, too. Whether you like Frozen 2 or not, the way they showed the entire process was really cool to take in. They visited with people from different departments and showed several steps and then how they come together. There’s a lot of little things to cover there but if I were to try and catch everything I...would just post a link to the episodes instead :P It was very cool to see how the Lopez couple puts together music. Watching the major songs coming together and seeing how they try to work out parts of the plot through backs and forths with the songs is inspiring. I know that it seemed like a rush job on how little they had of the movie a few months out but when you watch you easily see how every little step, every drawing, every note, every sound takes discussion and scrutiny. And, honestly, how MUCH a story changes in the process with more minds feeding forth new ideas. The end did leave me emotional, even if I think they put out a super flawed story. I DO noticed that during the doc they barely touch on the story of the sisters TOGETHER. That should have been the main thing to stay aware of. Anyway I’ll just highlight a few good and bad things under the cut, I took a few notes here and there.

- From early on in screenings they had a lot of people confused. Jenn Lee and Chris Buck expected their work to be torn apart and it definitely was. I’m not sure how much they learned from it, because they were told early on that it was confusing, very dark, and they needed notes to keep track lol. I’m wondering if this was a screening where Elsa was left as dead? They didn’t mention it if so, and in fact, they never brought up that possibility. I hate it but I wish they had to talk about why it didn’t work at all. - Idina’s reaction to seeing Into the Unknown animated was precious and I want that known. Nice to see her seeing her work being used and being so happy about it! - ...I have another note about Lopezes’ (how do you pluralize that!?) music but no idea what it meant. - Heartwarming note, there is a hall in WDAS that displays framed letters sent from fans about how touched they were by certain movies. The one read about Frozen was featured in the doc’s trailer. - Show Yourself was a production hell song. Lol. They had ideas on what it would be about and sold it as Elsa “coming home” and almost named it “I’m Home”. Which I believe Kristen Lopaz kind of bluntly pointed out was dumb, powerfully singing “I’m home” was actually kinda mundane. (In my personal opinion that sort of phrase usually is followed by “Did u make dinner” so yea glad that title was scrapped). Originally Elsa was to see a reflection of herself as what she was meant to be, and then she would step into it. Then the transformation. That wasn’t working no matter what they did. Story wasn’t working and the idea was odd and well they just went round and round on it. Eventually they ended up tying it up with the All Is Found and tossed in Elsa’s mother. Which as we know, ended up amazing. And of course for this they decided she was going to be down inside the glacier, and Ahtohallan had to actually be designed and created and THAT was a process too. It was cool to see Brittney Lee in the process of putting the visuals for that idea together. The lullaby was also adjusted pretty late, to make it more powerful/moving with the orchestrated parts. And then tie in with the end, which they called “locking the movie down”. It may sound dismissive to say they didn’t know what they wanted and just sort of tossed things in but that’s kind of what it came down to. And you can see the messiness. But where these things worked, they WORKED. Show Yourself was ridiculous but we got a powerful, incredibly moving song and scene out of it. The time taken to figure it out did well. I could have lived without Jenn Lee repeatedly going on about “Elsa is HOME”, though, and calling her lonely. Was frustrating. Actually watching her frustrated me a lot and I was a little surprised by that... - Lost in the Woods coming together was quite cute. Whatever you think of Kristoff, it was nice watching Groff work on his parts. Also he seems like a teddy bear?? He had to record a number of reindeer voices. And also this scene made a bit of a challenge for the reindeer riggers, because this movie, the reindeer had to SING. So they had to figure that out. There was an adorable animator that took a video of herself acting out the expressions she thought Kristoff would have during the song, LOL. Love watching the little personal bits they add in. They did touch on Get It Right, a little. I don’t think they explained why they dropped it. Also one of the team said something about Kristoff seeming like a Nick Offerman character which was funny, but he definitely is NOT that in F2. MAYBE F1. But hell I hear that name and think Ron Swanson and Kristoff would have to be a sturdier character to be a Swanson... - The Next Right Thing was kind of straight forward commentary. Good, but nothing stood out since we already know it is a song of deep pain. Kristen Bell drew from her experience of anxiety and depression. I also deal with those lovely ailments and I the song lines up for me. People have commented this was TOO dark for little kids, maybe, I wouldn’t know. I think young me would have just eaten it up because it was animated with singing. Adult me however resonated with it, as did my own best friend/”Anna”. That feeling of just trying to push forward - to take one step, and then, try hard and take another, and do what feels right - its very real. And I’m going to say it, I felt...seen/recognized seeing this in a kid’s film rather than having to be an adult only seeing depression and anxiety in characters in what is already an adult targeted show/movie. There’s something incredibly important about that and Kristen Bell delivered it amazingly. - Comments about our little Anna included pointing out she’s a lot sadder this movie, and also that...yes, she was more reckless in F1 and more protective in this one because back then she had nothing to lose, now she has everything to lose. Which is a  fair statement and what I wish people would see when they go on about Anna being clingy and co-dependent. In her shoes I would be scared to death of Elsa even being in the forest. - Chris Buck spoke about the son he lost, Ryder. It was a difficult part to watch but..I think important to watch. I believe it was Jenn Lee who asked him if she could name a character after his son. And Ryder in the movie is meant to be light spirited and happy. Kinda sounds like Anna after F1! - Jenn Lee: “Are people going to be angry at us for the choices we made on behalf of these characters?” oh honey I’m sure I’m forgetting something because I’m actually a terrible note taker, surprise! But overall I loved watching the creation of the film. However that is kind of where it stops. Like, they touch on story stuff and all that but this is really a “how it’s made” with Frozen 2 as the subject. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fascinating. I knew a lot of work goes into animation and putting together a movie but the way they broke it down and showed it in detail was cool. I just wish we had more cleared up about this story. This connection with Anna and Elsa and the decision to split them, what the hell happened there? Why did the spirits function the way they did; what IS the fifth spirit, exactly? And all that stuff. But, maybe farther down the line. Frozen 2 is a bizarre mess that I love regardless and I’m so happy I got to learn about the nuts and bolts that brought this film to me.

#Frozen 2 #Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2 #Frozen documentary

[thedeliverygod]

Reasons Why I Really Enjoyed Kingdom Hearts III

The music. Every time I listen to the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra -World of Tres- soundtrack, it makes me want to play the game. The music is so much attached to the imagery and gameplay that I can’t seem to separate the two. Granted, I’ve always loved the music of the Kingdom Hearts series. But there is something about hearing music from KH3 that makes me go “wow, I really want to go play in the Kingdom Of Corona right now” etc. That’s something I never really experienced before this game; I of course relate the music to the worlds and moments that they played during, but they’ve never gotten me in the mood to immediately go turn on my console and play. Also, full Kingdom Hearts III soundtrack when??? (I suppose the answer is when all the DLC is released and the soundtrack is considered COMPLETE but... I just really want it okay.)

The visuals. Continuing off the last point... Kingdom Hearts III is G O R G E O U S. I had my doubts about the unreal engine and honestly, I had my doubts about KH getting a more detailed look in general. I enjoyed watching the FMV videos at the beginning and ends of the games but the more cartoony in-game graphics always felt like home to me. It took some time and a lot of trailers to gain my approval, but the final product was gorgeous. Granted... I honestly still have some complaints. Mostly about my old boss, our own King Mickey; I feel the new style doesn’t show his emotions very well but hopefully that’ll improve in time? Moving on from the characters... The worlds. Omg, the worlds. The detail that went into them is astounding; not to mention the effects that magic has on your surroundings when using it! And then of course, there’s the battle animations. Flashy, amusing, and destructive? A win, in my opinion, and definitely true to the Disney name.

World Building. The worlds are finally not lifeless dioramas from the movies! It always bugged me when they’d talk about climbing up a mountain or something like that, and in reality we’d pass through 2 or maybe 3 areas with very gradual elevation changes and the characters would be like “phew what a rough journey” and you’d be like “that literally took one minute but okay”. The North Mountain from Arendelle is a REAL MOUNTAIN. Like the Heartless knocked me off after I had been climbing for like 20 minutes and I felt like I had suffered an actual loss. How dare they make my perilous journey even longer by knocking me off the side of the mountain?! Luckily, I found a shortcut so it was fine, but it actually felt like accomplishing something while climbing that mountain which was... amazing. My other favorite experience was gathering together the green blocks to make the cactaur in Toy Box. Being in that play area made me feel like a kid again, I haven’t been in one of those spaces in so long and it was nostalgic and just so fun to crawl through all of those ball pits and tunnels to find those blocks. Lastly, there were finally citizens in the worlds! Mind you, there were kind of like maybe 5 designs at most that got repeated over and over... but still! It was a vast improvement from what we’ve seen in recent years.

Dialogue & Interaction. Let me tell you how excited I was that there was FINALLY DIALOGUE WHILE EXPLORING! It was so fun listening to the trios conversations and funny quips. Of course, “Look, it’s a lucky emblem!” and “This looks like a good spot to find some ingredients!” did get annoying, especially when I couldn’t find where the heck said things were, but I think an update calmed those exclamations down because I heard them a lot less during my 2nd playthrough. Adding the selfie function the gummi phone? BEST. DECISION. EVER. I had so much fun taking selfies with the various Disney characters and seeing what their reactions to the camera were. Of course, characters like Hiro & Honey Lemon knew what a camera and a selfie were, but Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff? They were just like ummm do I smile for this thing? Okay!!! And then there’s Mike and Sulley who make especially funny faces for the camera. It’s just all around a blast. Moving on to cutscenes, I know there’s been some debate about the voice direction but my personal opinion is this game is the best it’s ever been. The conversations and especially jokes (thank god) finally sound natural. In the past, things have been either just really forced or really cheesy and I’ve just sort of been like “Oh, well it’s Kingdom Hearts/it’s Disney, it’s gonna be cheesy.” But like there’s a right way to be cheesy, and the moments I’m thinking of... aren’t it. KH3 did it right. There’s still a few things that were rough around the edges, like Sora’s “unforgettable... like your face~” to Donald lol it was still really funny but it was also just like “oh my god you nerd”. Also all the jokes about Sora not being a Keyblade Master yet came off as just mean spirited to me, but that’s another subject entirely.

Character Moments. KH3 gave us a lot of what we had been waiting for. Aqua’s reunion with Sora and Riku, the boys she met on Destiny Islands so long ago. Her long awaited return to the realm of light. Aqua and Sora waking Ventus up from his long, deep slumber. Terra’s redemption and reunion with his friends. Aqua, Terra, and Ven getting to see Eraqus again and saying goodbye. Kairi and Lea becoming keyblade wielders (officially). Kairi and Xion facing off in battle. Xion and Roxas brought back to life as replicas and their reunion with Axel/Lea. Sora and Kairi sharing a paopu fruit. Sora and Namine finally getting to talk (at least, somewhat). Namine getting a body through a replica. The return of org members who had vanished after CoM & KH2 (Marluxia, Demyx, Larxene, etc). The return of Replica Riku. Others I’m probably forgetting lol.

Reveals & New Info. With the end of a saga, we have some mysteries finally answered. Of course, this game is also setting us up for a new saga, so we’ve also got a lot of lose ends. Luxu is revealed as Braig/Xigbar. The Master of Masters is shown in the secret ending after vanishing for thousands of years, but who are they? Not to mention the foretellers managed to show up after also being absent for a long period of time as well, minus Ava. What’s she up to? Who’s Yozora and why did he show up as a video game character in Toy Box but also in the same world as Riku in the secret ending? Nomura-san says that the Shibuya shown in the secret ending isn’t the same universe as TWEWY, but why bother introducing the characters and Shibuya itself if it’s not going to tie in later? What exactly is happening at the end of KH3? Is the group looking out over the ocean or looking at the tree where Sora and Kairi are? Are both scenes happening at the same time or at separate times? Why exactly does Sora vanish? What are the exact stipulations and reasonings behind all the warnings Young Xehanort gave Sora? There’s so many things I am so eager to learn about and I can’t wait for DLC and/or the next full game.

The Story Is Not Over. We’ve got DLC coming to us, and from the sound of it, a decent amount of it. At least, enough to keep us satisfied until the next game. And please, no “they should have sold us a complete game” comments. They said multiple times they had to cut content in order to release a game that fit on the disc. Also remember, KH2.8′s Birth by Sleep 0.2 -A Fragmentary Passage- was originally supposed to be the INTRO of KH3. If they fit all the content they wanted to fit into KH3... we would probably be looking at a 2, maybe 3 disc game. Anyway, good things come to those who wait, so that’s all I’ve got to say on that. 

#Kingdom Hearts #KH3 #Kingdom Hearts III #I am probably making a mistake by tagging this but here

[snowbellewells]

“Over the Realms and Through the Woods, to Arendelle We Go”

A @cssecretsanta2k19​ gift for @xhookswenchx​

“Over the Realms and Through the Woods, to Arendelle We Go”

By: @snowbellewells​

This is my belated @cssecretsanta2k19​ gift for @xhookswenchx​ ~ and I truly am sorry for making you wait extra days, Lovely. It was such a busy December, then I traveled home, had family engagements, and so on.  But talking with you and learning different things about the show and the holidays that you enjoyed, put this idea in my head early. I just needed the time to write it down.  I have very much enjoyed being your Secret Santa.  I hope that your Christmas was Merry, that you will have a Happy and Blessed New Year. Please enjoy this story gift just for you!

Summary: Emma and Killian take their crew on a holiday road trip to visit old friends and make new Christmas memories…   A CS canon divergent in which the realms have been joined as they were in Season 7’s finale, but Henry has not left the Land Without Magic as he did in Season 7.  I always imagined him going out into the non-magical world for college, to write books, and so on (at least once it became clear they weren’t all going to make a permanent move back to the Enchanted Forest).  So for the purposes of this fic, he is home for the holidays from college, and Emma and Killian also have two little ones of their own. I used the daughter of my fictional invention, Morgan Ruth Jones, rather than Hope.  She’s appeared in some of my other fics, and I’m kinda attached to her.  I’ve gathered you enjoy original CS kids in your writing and reading as well, so I hope you won’t mind that liberty taken. I know that Westley Graham is not as completely original as I thought it was when I dreamed it up, but I love it too (especially since the show gave us so many Liams to keep track of already without naming a son of Emma and Killian’s Liam David as I once would have done).  Westley for the character in “Princess Bride” (‘As you wish’ makes that seem appropriate) and Graham for the hero they should have been naming baby boys after in canon.  You also said you really enjoyed the “Frozen” characters in 4a, so I have tried to incorporate them - and found it to be a fun new character writing stretch.  I truly do hope you will find this fun to read!

*************

“Papa, how much longer?” a tiny voice piped up from the backseat over Killian and Emma Jones’ shoulders with the wheedling tone only a four-year-old’s impatience could muster. “Are we almost there?”

Emma glanced over at her husband with bland exasperation and humor mixed together before swiveling in her seat as much as possible to look back at their daughter Morgan where she sat in her car seat behind Killian, idly alternating between swinging her feet and singing little nonsense songs she made up for herself, staring out the window at the changing scenery as they traveled from one united realm to another, heading ever steadily north toward Arendelle to visit Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Morgan’s best friend Sonja, Princess Anna and her husband’s little girl.

Henry, comfortably on his long winter break from his senior year at Boudoin College, had his nose buried in a detective whodunit, and though he was usually quite patient with his much-younger sister, he seemed to be craving some reading time to himself that Emma was willing to humor. She would like to keep them both fairly quiet so that Westley Graham, their youngest at just barely five months, didn’t wake up quite yet from where he was peacefully sleeping in his own backward-facing car seat between his two siblings and where Emma could reach him if needed.

Killian, for his part, chuckled indulgently, his sparkling blue gaze sliding back over to return Emma’s look before answering his little girl, seeming infinitely patient and making Emma love him even more all over again “We are getting closer, little Love,” he assured calmly. “You’ve been very good - and we should be there within the hour now.”

For a moment, Morgan merely nodded and hummed to herself in satisfaction as she watched the scenery pass by out the window. Once they had left Storybrooke behind, the buildings had given way to the forest, thicker and more wild as they had passed through the land of Emma’s birthright rule - the Enchanted Forest. Since then, the forest had thinned out, and slowly the flatter land became foothills, which then turned into snow capped mountains - something which really did seem to almost sparkle before their eyes - not to mention the imaginative view of a toddler. But it wasn’t long before she piped up again, still obviously a bit impatient and unable to hold it in. “Papa? Can you sing a song? … Please?”

Emma snort-laughed at the way her husband’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, not expecting that particular request if his expression could be any indication. Shaking his head, he admitted defeat rather easily for a once-fearsome pirate of the Seven Seas, especially when she playfully jostled his shoulder, egging Morgan on and adding the she would like to hear him as well.

It wasn’t long before Killian’s clear, strong voice was ringing out within the walls of their newer smallish SUV, having left the Bug at home in favorite of more passenger leg room and space for the wealth of presents they were bringing along, both from their immediate family and her parents and other Storybrooke folks who had come to know the Arendellian visitors when they were in the Land Without Magic some years back. The tune her pirate had selected was a rollicking sea shanty - one of their daughter’s favorites - that he and his crew had once sung on the Jolly Roger many years ago as they circled the waters of Neverland endlessly. His song and its playful, raucous melody seemed practically bouncing around the interior of the vehicle, swaying with the rolling buoyancy of its rhythm and pulling Henry from his reading to grin at the song he had heard countless times before. Thankfully Westley didn’t seem in the least disturbed, sleeping right through the impromptu serenade, and Morgan was giggling and clapping her little hands along with her papa’s song. Emma soon found herself singing along as well, watching her family in their joyous uproar, and marveling at the reality that this was the sort of cozy Christmas journey she could have now.

Killian seemed so into his song, and his children’s entertainment, that Emma couldn’t help checking to be certain he was still paying attention to the road ahead. It hadn’t really been until the last couple of years that Killian had begun to take over some driving duties for them on longer trips; having learned to drive capably well before that, but never fully becoming comfortable with - or trusting - their “horseless death traps”, as he often called them. Modern automobiles still seemed smoky, loud, and entirely too unpredictable to a person long used to ships on the sea or riding horseback and in carriages - not to mention one whose first experience with them had been being run down on the road and seriously injured.

All the same, he shot her a look of exaggerated affront as he finished singing, waggling those wildly expressive eyebrows of his at her and pressing his hooked arm to his chest in further drama. “Honestly, Wife? Don’t you trust me more than that by now?” Taking his hook from where it covered his heart, he gestured out the window to indicate the lane beside them. “I may not be as old a hand at driving as most, but I won’t drive us under a semi trailer like that Griswold fellow on the magic box.”

It was Henry who snorted his laughter then, at the reference to National Lampoon’s which they had watched the night before, prior to setting off on their journey. Shaking his head at his stepdad’s odd way of reassuring him, and humored in spite of himself, Henry placed a marker in his book and more fully joined their antics, now that they were drawing nearer to their friend’s kingdom anyway. Danger and adventure, or just taking a family trip; be it Christmas or some random everyday in between, there was never a dull moment with their little crew.

~~~~~***~~~~~***~~~~~

When they entered the Arendelle borders and pulled up to the palace’s front gates, within 45 minutes’ time just as Killian had promised Morgan, the sense of awed anticipation settled over all of them, the air inside the car going quiet at the stunning beauty that met their eyes. Somewhere within the last half hour or so, light flurries of snow had begun to fall around them, looping and twirling through the slowly purpling sky as afternoon inched closer to evening. The ground had already been covered in a picturesque light dusting of white, but it was growing deeper as the additional fluffy flakes continued.

Thankfully, ice didn’t seem to be a part of this particular snowy scene; the roads had remained safely passable and they had made good time. Four uniformed guards two on either side of the wide, silvery sparkling arch and gates of the front entrance to the Queen’s castle and grounds, bowed respectfully as the passageway opened for them. Emma had spoken to her dear friend via magic mirror that morning before they set out, and their arrival had clearly been anticipated.

Despite having been there several times before by that point, all over them sat in openmouthed adoration that overcame them for a few breathless instants. The setting sun hit the gate and front of the castle, sending glitter and sparks of light out to dazzle their eyes. It was as if the whole structure were indeed beautifully coated in ice - and yet there was none of the frigid austerity one might once have feared. Queen Elsa of Arendelle has long since found her equilibrium, allowing her the self-acceptance and open understanding to balance the cold with genuine warmth. She learned to love every part of herself - including her powers - just as she had once helped Emma to do, and as Killian had reminded her ever since.

Their vehicle had barely parked, and they were just stepping out and stretching their tired limbs when they heard familiar voices calling their names, a childish squeal of delight yelping Morgan’s in particular, the sound of several pairs of feet hurrying over freshly fallen snow (well, feet and one set of reindeer hooves) and then they were engulfed in a flurry of hugs and handshakes by the royal family themselves. Anna was predictably firing questions at them as quickly as she could voice them, about their trips, the rest of their family, Belle and the library, without even allowing them time to answer. Kristoff was shaking Killian’s hand and accepting baggage and gift wrapped boxes to lead them inside. Sven snuffled around Henry’s pockets and Morgan’s hair seeking out carrots and other treats as well as providing his own animal greeting. But through the melee, Elsa pressed through to wrap Emma in a fiercely tight hug for several long moments. When she did pull back, it was with a watery smile and unshed tears in her eyes to match those which started in Emma’s.

“I’m so glad all of you have come,” she stated fervently, that sweet, melodious voice trembling with sincerity beyond its usual poise. “Come in, come in.  We’ll get you warm and settled, then we can get caught up.”

Emma nodded, pressing the queen’s hand tightly in her own, before turning to grab more luggage and unfasten Westley from his car seat to do as Elsa suggested.

“Let me help you,” her friend offered, holding out her arms to take the still-sleepy child so Emma could reach the suitcase behind. “May I?”

Emma didn’t hesitate for even a second, easily passing her just-barely-stirring-to-wakefulness infant into her friend’s arms, moving her hand gently so Elsa could cradle Westley’s head and crooning lowly to him until he settled again, rooting deeper into the young queen’s arms as a pleased and rosy smile pinked her cheeks.

Throwing a surreptitious glance over to Killian, only to find him watching her with a comforting smile that already knew where her mind had gone and wished he could undo the old hurt, Emma shook her head to clear the memory as best she could and send her husband a small grin as reassurance that she would be fine. As much as she had tried to banish the moment from her mind, and as much as the sharpest stinging slap of betrayal had faded, Emma still saw her own mother pulling little Neal away from her, protectively fearing her magic and not letting Emma hold her younger brother. Intellectually, Emma knew her mother loved her, magic or no, realized that the knee-jerk reaction had not been aimed to hurt her… and yet… it had.

Watching Elsa as various emotions flitted across her face while cradling her friend’s youngest in her arms, gazing down at the drowsy babe adoringly, Emma knew Elsa had felt that same fear and suspicion she had, and that perhaps Elsa had almost resignedly expected her request to be denied, knew that parental protectiveness all too well, and had been thrilled when she was granted trust instead.

Little Westley Graham did nothing more than flutter his eyelids briefly without fully rousing and gave a slight coo of contentment as the Queen bowed her head to press a light kiss to the top of his downy, sandy-colored hair. “Come on then everyone,” she suggested cheerfully, looking as merry and confident as they had ever seen her and leaving Emma blessedly assured of her friend’s happiness.  “There’s hot chocolate with plenty of marshmallows in the large sitting room.”

She led the way, with Killian, Henry, and Kristoff bringing up the rear to make sure no overexcited little girls, snowmen, or reindeer were left behind. It didn’t take long to find their luggage placed in their rooms, their coats and snow boots shucked off, and all of them seated comfortably scattered around the large open room full of soft chairs and sofas, a roaring fire in the hearth at one end, and plates of toast and jam, cookies, doughnuts, scones and a whole pot of rich hot chocolate with marshmallows set out for the taking.

Conversation hummed warmly throughout the room as the kids played; Henry showing Olaf, Sonja, and his little sister how to make a chain of snow angels for the tree while the four adults caught up on all that had happened since they were last together. Westley had woken up, but to everyone’s surprise, the little boy had not cried or fussed for his mother, and so Elsa still held him gladly. His guileless blue eyes, the mirrored hue of his pirate father’s, blinked up at her curiously, looked more enthralled that concerned by the less familiar person holding him. One pudgy little hand unclenched to reach up toward her almost startlingly white braid and wrapped around the end of it, tugging gently with his tiny fist, and burbling happily as he did.

Elsa practically giggled, a musical, enchanting sound that the rest of them had rarely heard, and a light carefree look graced her face beautifully. “You really are quite a sweetheart, aren’t you?” she whispered to the little one softly.

She did eventually hand Westley back to Emma when he began to wiggle and wanted to eat. Once Emma returned with him after his feeding, she found the Queen of Arendelle seated cross-legged on the floor with Morgan and her niece watching wide-eyed beside her as Elsa effortlessly shaped and reshaped whorls and twists of ice into glittering ornaments she handed them to place on a tree they had left bare for that very entertainment. The girls let out little ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ of excitement and surprise with each shape that seemed to bloom from Elsa’s hands into thin air. Each new creation brough exclamations of delight, and the two children then ran to their papas at the tree to lift them up to place them high on the branches, then hurried back to see what ‘Auntie Elsa’ would create next.

As the decorating eventually wound down, the two little whirlwinds huffing and puffing from all their trips back and forth over the length of the room, and Elsa lightly chuckling at their theatrics, Killian came to sit near them as well, gathering Morgan into his lap and nodding encouraging at Sonja until she scooted up close to his side as well. Soon he was telling them a story of the first time he saw snow fall at sea as a young lad. He remembered how it looked trailing down to rest on nearly frozen arctic water, where their captain had unwisely taken them too far north for the season.

He was relating how his older brother Liam had distracted him by encouraging his wonder at the beauty of the sight. Killian himself had not realized until much later - a similar instance on his own ship facing the very real danger of ice floes in the water and the precarious travel a ship must make in the depths of winter driving the memory home - just how much danger they had been in that night as he had simply marveled at what seemed to his young mind cold falling stars of sparkling light. “He said each one was unique - no other could exactly take the place of the one before. Like people, Liam said they were…” Killian nearly whispered this last over the sudden lump in his throat, seemingly lost in another time and place. Emma reached out a hand to rest upon his knee, and he came back to them with a bit of a start, the faroff gaze clearing from his eyes.  “Like us even,” he added. “We might have been expendable slaves to most - but we mattered, at least to each other, and he always made sure I knew that.”

Both of their daughters had drifted off to sleep by then; the excitement of the day overtaking them once they had settled in to listen to Killian’s quiet, lilting voice. Kristoff came to lift Sonja from Killian’s side to carry her to her room, wishing the rest of them goodnight. Anna followed with a contented wave as Sven trailed behind, headed outside to his barn to bed down for the night.

Queen Elsa’s gaze remained on Killian, though the story had finished. There was a melancholy, almost wistful, look within her light eyes as she seemed to consider the story yet.  “He sounds like the best sort of big brother,” she finally said to Killian softly, and gentle and a bit sad smile curving her lips. “I wish I could have met him….” This last was said almost hesitantly, as if she herself did not quite know why it had slipped out, and yet she nodded determinedly after, as if confirming the sentiment.

“I wish you could have met him too, Milady,” Killian answered fervently, his voice a bit hoarse and husky with the regret and pain of still missing his elder sibling, even after ages had passed. “Maybe it’s just something about the way a younger sibling sees a beloved older one, but at times I can see  something of Liam in you.”

Elsa smiled once more, gratefully accepting what for Killian must be the highest compliment he could give someone. The three of them settled into a sort of peaceful remembrance of those no longer with them - bittersweet but not unpleasant, as they were reminiscing of good times and not just their loss - before she rose as well to retire for the night.

Her exit left Emma and Killian seated cozily before the fire together, one last mug of hot chocolate in each of their hands and the silent beauty of the room around them, still decked out for Christmas, and snow still falling outside, weaving a lovely spell.  Tilting her head up, Emma found Killian’s lips waiting to capture hers tenderly, sipping from them as if they were even more delicious than the chocolate and twice as precious. “I love you, my Darling,” he murmured against her cheek as his kisses trailed back to the spot behind her ear that made her melt on the spot. 

Practically keening back that she loved him too, Emma held her husband even tighter, wanting nothing else she could possibly imagine in that moment. As she gazed into Killian’s blue, blue eyes she could see the future of them, and their family, together, and she knew the coming year would be their best one yet.

Tagging: @cssecretsanta2k19​ @xhookswenchx​ @searchingwardrobes​ @kmomof4​ @jennjenn615​ @whimsicallyenchantedrose​ @thisonesatellite​ @profdanglaisstuff​ @resident-of-storybrooke​ @revanmeetra87​ @teamhook​ @hollyethecurious​@winterbaby89​ @darkcolinodonorgasm​ @hollyethecurious​ @gingerchangeling​ @spartanguard​ @lfh1226-linda​

#cssecretsanta2k19 #cs canon divergence #cs holiday oneshot #ouat holiday au

[memaha19]

Okay, I have a lot of (mostly positive) thoughts about Frozen II and I need to get them out...

Spoilers abound, obviously. This post is giant so it’s all below the cut.

I hope this makes any sort of sense, it took me like four hours to write and I’m afraid it’s just all my rambling thoughts.

Hi. Okay. I’ve seen Frozen II twice now (with plans to go see it again) but I have a lot of thoughts about it and the story and the characters and everything that have been warring inside my brain for the last three days and I just need to express them.

Tiny backstory, for those who weren’t following me six years ago: the first Frozen was/is everything to me. It was a phenomenon to the world, but also a personal phenomenon for me. And even when everyone got sick to death of hearing Let It Go, I’ve never given up on my love for it. I have pretty bad anxiety. Some days are hard. So to see a character like me in a Disney movie was amazing. To see Elsa struggle with herself and her fear and her anxiety was eye-opening and I immediately fell in love with her character and what she represented. I’m not Disney’s “target audience”. I was 21 when the first movie came out (the same age as Elsa, so I felt like I could relate even more) and I’m 27 now. But I was in love with Frozen all the same.

So. Frozen II.

There are a lot of things I love about it. I debated before writing this about whether I should start with  with my favorites, things I didn’t like, or just a general review? I guess I’ll start by saying: all of the things I disliked about it weren’t really even things I disliked, just things that I think could’ve been served better by a movie that had more time to devote to these things.

The Big Problem

This movie could’ve done with being about 20-25 minutes longer. That is my biggest complaint that ties into all my other complaints. I wanted more from some of the plots and the themes. Frozen II wanted to do way more than the time it really had to do all of these things. It wanted to deal with their parents past, Arendelle’s past, the sisters relationship post-Frozen, the romantic subplot between Anna and Kristoff, Elsa’s quest to follow the voice and find herself, the Northuldra, the mythology behind the Enchanted Forest, and a bunch of other tiny little things. It did not have the runtime for all of this and so while some of it was done incredibly well (i.e. Elsa and the whole “Show Yourself” sequence), some things felt introduced and then almost immediately abandoned. Other things felt like they were introduced and explored a teeny tiny bit and then given to us later as the reason why a character makes a choice to do something.

My biggest issue relates to our beloved, beautiful snow queen, Elsa, and her story. The catalyst for the film is Elsa’s desire and need to be something more, to do something else with her life. It’s this desire of hers that leads her to “Into the Unknown”, which ends with her waking up the spirits of the Enchanted Forest, endangering Arendelle and kicking off the journey that makes up the body of the film.

My issue with this isn’t that I don’t believe that Elsa could be having these “I don’t belong here, need to go somewhere else” thoughts. It’s been three years since the first movie took place, three years of her being queen and maybe deciding that, although she has the love of her sister and a family supporting her, there’s still somewhere that needs her more, that she needs more. My issue, again related to needing the movie to be a little longer, is that Frozen II forgets “show, not tell” a couple times. We’re told every day’s a little harder as I feel my power grow in “Into the Unknown”, without ever being shown this. A scene of Elsa wrestling with a new, undiscovered part of her powers would go a long way in fleshing out this plot point, giving her some reason to be concerned and some real impetus for her to want to follow the siren call and find out more about herself and her powers. Later, she sings or are you someone out there who’s a little bit like me, who knows deep down I’m not where I’m meant to be? A beautiful, beautiful theme in these movies is allowing yourself to follow what makes you different, don’t bury it or push it away, because it’ll show you who you really are and what you’re meant to be, but the beginning of the movie fails to show us any scenes of Elsa really struggling with being in Arendelle before it has her sing about how she’s struggling with being in Arendelle.

As it is, we’re given this (beautiful) song about Elsa wanting to go into the unknown when, only a few minutes prior, she’s seen perfectly content in Arendelle, even expressing in “Some Things Never Change”: I’m not sure I want things to change at all. These days are precious, can’t let them slip away. She flip flops back and forth from perfectly content with her family to suddenly needing to be somewhere else while the beginning of “Into the Unknown” seems to suggest that the last thing she wants to do is try anything out of the norm, telling the voice I’m afraid of what I’m risking if I follow you.

The risk is there, given that we’re all familiar with the first movie and we’re familiar with Elsa’s character, familiar with the fact that she and Anna mean the world to each other and that family is the most important thing. The impetus for why she would take the risk of leaving her family is missing, and it could’ve really been fixed and/or smoothed over with a scene or two in the beginning (maybe instead of just jumping right into “Some Things Never Change”) that shows how Elsa is experiencing new powers and/or doubts about being queen. It makes 100% sense to me that Elsa would want to know about her powers, given that they’re such a big part of her life (for better or worse) and that no one else around her has them, but there could’ve been a better way to make this theme of “I want to know who I am” the main jumping off point for the plot.

This post here, which really inspired me to do my post, brings up a good point about some of the songs that were cut from the film. “I Seek the Truth”, a song for Elsa and Anna, in particular makes me think that the road map was there for them to be a little clearer about the plot and that, like many things, it was chopped up and cut for time. In the song, Elsa sings to their mother about how she feels lost, scared, and uneasy, but that she also feels like she needs to find the truth and learn more about her powers.

How do I be me and Arendelle? How do I govern this land with a power inside that I can’t command? It’s growing and speaking a language that I don’t understand.

Here is the set up for the conflict that pushes the rest of the story forward. Here is a song that they probably should’ve kept in. (Don’t get me wrong, I love “Into the Unknown”, but it’s always felt like “Let It Go”/awards season bait.)

If you’re going to make something the catalyst for the whole film, make sure you have enough evidence to back it up.

(Again, I do not doubt that Elsa could be feeling confined and out of place in Arendelle after being queen for three years, that’s not what I have issues with. I just wish we could’ve seen evidence to back these feelings up, rather than just letting us rely on our previous knowledge of Elsa and her character to be like “oh, okay”.)

What I Wanted More Of

There’s a lot I loved about this movie (maybe this post so far doesn’t seem that way, but I do) but also it left me with this incredible feeling of “want”. I wanted more out of a lot of the moments and the story lines. Like I discussed above, my biggest, overarching issue is that they wanted to do too much in the limited time that they had and that left some things desperately in need of being fleshed out more.

I wanted more of Iduna’s backstory. There seemed like there was way more of her and Agnarr in the early trailers, so this is something I’m just     assuming was cut for time, because the art book devotes a whole page to little Iduna, who we barely even see. I actually just want a whole little     side story about how she snuck back to Arendelle with Agnarr and how their relationship began and grew. A little exploration of how little Iduna felt with, presumably, her whole family either dead or stuck in the forest     would’ve been great too.

Wanted more of why Elsa was feeling like she needed to leave Arendelle (already discussed above)

Related, wanted more of the Northuldra, who are introduced and then almost immediately left behind, only to reappear at the end and tell Elsa that she belongs there. And then she agrees to this?! Even though she’s spent next to no time with them?! I’m 100% okay with Elsa being the fifth spirit and finding herself (more on “Show Yourself” later) but more about the Northuldra and Iduna’s connection to them would make me less skeptical about the decisions made in the ending (more on THAT later too). I definitely though that Yelena was going to end up being their grandmother, or something similar that would’ve given the girls an even more special connection to them.

I wanted a moment where Elsa and Anna actually discuss Elsa abdicating the throne and Anna becoming queen. Instead it’s just like a thing that     happens in between two other scenes. I want to see tears and “I     promise I’ll visit all the time” and Anna accepting that Elsa has found a     place where she’s at peace and Elsa telling Anna that she’ll be a great     queen. More on this later.

I wanted Anna and Elsa’s reunion to be a little more dynamic, like Elsa     jumping off Nokk and running to Anna and Anna splashing through the water to get to her and then them just sinking down in the water and crying. Something like that. I know, probably even now, that Elsa isn’t the most touchy person (just watch her body language in the charades scene) and that holding her arms out for Anna is her “thing”, but Anna thought     Elsa was dead, so I think the reunion could’ve been a little MORE.

I actually kind of want the alternate ending that’s been floating around, the one where the water destroys Arendelle and then everyone works together to rebuild it. I know this is a Disney movie, but it just seemed a little too neat that Elsa was able to get there in time. I don’t really want the rumored ending where Elsa dies, because that seems unnecessary, but...

Things That Don’t Bother Me

AKA, things that I’ve seen others have issues with that that just don’t bother me.

I’ve seen a weird amount of complaints about how many songs there are, which makes me go ???, because there are actually less than the first film and I, personally, would’ve liked a couple more songs.

Some people think “Lost in the Woods” is out of place but I’m just happy Jonathan Groff got a whole song.

Elsa not being at Anna’s coronation: That’s not Anna’s coronation at the end of the film. She already been crowned (another scene I wish we could’ve had). So Elsa was most definitely at her coronation, I’m sure.

Elsa being too ethereal and unrelatable at the end: it’s true, I love Elsa and look up to her because I see my mental health struggles in her, but seeing her happy and free and smiling at the end of the film doesn’t make me love her any less. She’s not some all-powerful being. “Show Yourself” isn’t about her becoming an otherworldly spirit goddess, it’s about her seeing herself for who she really is. Sure, she has a new pretty dress and a new pretty horse. But she’s still Elsa. She’s just an Elsa that knows where she belongs and who she is and she’s happy. And I feel like that’s definitely something everyone with mental illness hopes for someday. I do admit struggling with myself about this point, though, because I still would like to see her try to balance her newfound confidence with her mental illness.

Anna being too clingy and annoying: Anna working through her co-dependence is a big part of her journey in the film. Keep in mind, this girl had a childhood shaped by abandonment: her sister shutting her out of her life and then her parents dying unexpectedly while her sister still shut her out when they should’ve been grieving together. She then turns to the first guy who proposes to her (Hans) only to have him try to kill her and  Elsa and just turn out to be a terrible human being, So it makes absolute  sense that Anna, despite having a relatively stable, happy life with     Kristoff and Elsa, still has some of these residual fears. She spent 13     years begging her sister to speak to her. It makes sense now that her     greatest fear is losing her again. So I don’t find her worry and the way     she clings to Elsa to be annoying or out of character. She’s still working     through some trauma, just like Elsa, and that’s part of why “The Next     Right Thing” is so powerful. It’s her picking herself back up and growing     and telling herself she can do this.

There isn’t an actual villain: a movie without a villain and without conflict would be a bad idea. There would be no stakes. Luckily, the “villain” in Frozen II comes from the internal conflict both girls have. The “bad guy” they have to defeat is their own internal obstacles. I much prefer watching them grow and change in this very real way instead of watching them defeat some cardboard cutout villain standing in the corner and laughing maniacally.

I’m  actually okay with Anna and Elsa not being together at the end of the film (that’s not my issue with the ending) but only because we all know she can gallop on her magical horse from Ahtohallan to Arendelle in less time than it took the water to break from the dam and rush towards Arendelle, so she can come home whenever. And that is really the only thing that gives me piece about them not being together. That and the very peaceful, free look on Elsa’s face right at the very end.

The Ending

I know there’s been a lot of discussion about the ending. And I have my own feelings about it too.

Like I said above, it’s not the separation, really, that frustrates me, because I can appease myself by telling myself that they still see each other all the time. Of course I would’ve preferred them not to separate at all.

I understand the whole justification of “sisters don’t live together their entire life, they’re growing up and growing apart” thing that’s been going around, but it just doesn’t feel like it fits for these two particular characters. That, and the fact that Disney seems like they’ve fallen into this “separation” trope. This film, Toy Story 4, and Ralph Breaks the Internet have all ended in very similar ways.

I am a little frustrated that they decide that the best place for socially awkward, insecure Elsa is the forest, alone, with a bunch of people (the Northuldra) who weren’t fleshed out enough to give her any sort of reason to want to live with them. Meanwhile, free-spirit Anna becomes the queen. Anna goes through a lot of growth in this movie so it’s not actually her new role that I’m skeptical of. It’s putting Elsa, given her background, where she ends up. And maybe if the movie had taken time (again, it all comes back to more time) to give us more of the Northuldra and give Elsa more of a relationship with them, I could be like “okay, she belongs there”. But does she? The forest is saved and the spirits are at rest and tamed. What does she do all day then? I honestly want to know.

Just because she is magic doesn’t really provide enough justification, for me, for her to have to live there with them. It’s not like she faces fear and prejudice in Arendelle for her magical abilities. The beginning of the film and the shorts seem to suggest that the people love her magic. So, I would’ve preferred an ending in which she could still tame the spirits and get her magical makeover and then go home with Anna, returning to the forest whenever she pleased and whenever she needed, but continuing to, if not be the queen, at least be there to advise Anna.

The good part is this gives me a lot of good ideas for future fanfics.

Things I Loved

This whole post up until now is probably making you wonder if I really loved any of the movie. The truth is, I loved a whole lot of it, but since Frozen is so important to me, I feel especially critical of it. I have to get nitpick-y, especially when I think they could’ve done even more.  

However, I loved:

the animation. That really goes without saying. The film, the colors, every moment was just beautiful. I’m always in awe of the advancement of     animation.

the humor. It could’ve gone one of two ways with so much Olaf humor. It went the “this movie is funny as hell” route and I am so glad. I’m still randomly saying “Samantha?!” to myself.

the more mature songs. I’ve seen people say they didn’t like the music as well and that none of the songs are catchy. I love that they’re a little more mature and a little less “Disney bops”. I cry every time I     hear “Show Yourself”, “All is Found” is hauntingly beautiful, and “Lost in the Woods” is a really poignant song, if you look past the reindeer chorus.

I love that they didn’t go out of their way to make this movie appeal to everyone. Yes, it has flaws. Oh yes. But it’s dark and it’s mature and     it’s a little weird. Not every little kid is going to like it, but they didn’t try and dumb it down to appeal to every little kid out there.

The growth for the girls. I already touched on Anna’s growth re: her     co-dependence, but Elsa has a lot of growth too, obviously. Seeing GIF     sets of her in the first movie and her in the second, I just want to cry,     honestly. Seeing her be confident and sure of herself and happy with who she is and even just the way she and Anna are able to casually cuddle and hold hands when she was terrified to touch her AT ALL in the first movie. I’m overwhelmed. Strong characters can sometimes help out a chaotic plot (or a plot with too much going on) and if there’s anything Frozen specializes in, it’s the strong, beautiful characters we know and love.

“SHOW YOURSELF”. This fucking scene. I can’t listen to the song or watch the scene without SOBBING. Many things about it kill me. I’ve never felt so certain, all my life I’ve been torn. But I’m here for a reason,     could it be the reason I was born? and the way she steps into the middle of the elements and it shows her snowflake and the way she says “Mother?” with tears in her eyes and the little “hand over the mouth” movement she does because she’s so happy and the DRESS CHANGE and when she starts crying and You are the one you’ve been looking for-all of my life! and I am found! Geez. Just thinking about it makes me cry.

One of the main things I wanted from Frozen II was a story in which Elsa wasn’t made to feel bad about herself (in Frozen, she hurt Anna and blamed everything on her and her powers; in FF, she blamed herself for getting sick and messing up Anna’s birthday; in Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, she blamed herself for ruining their Christmas tradition, etc.) and it     delivered. I love seeing her smiling and embracing her powers. I’m okay     that Anna didn’t give her a dressing down at the end like “how dare you put us in an ice canoe and push us away.” It’s nice to see Elsa gets     some wins.

Elsa talking to the memory of her grandfather, saying “That’s not what     magic does, that’s just your fear.” Coming from someone who used to be so afraid of her magic that she locked herself away for 13 years, this is     just an awesome, confident moment for Elsa.

“The Next Right Thing” and the absolute pain in Anna’s voice as she says when it's clear that everything will never be the same again. An awesome performance from Kristen Bell.

“I don’t want to stop you from being whoever you need to be, I just don’t     want you to die trying to be everything to everyone all the time.” Yikes,     this line has hit me both times like a gut punch. Perfectionism and     anxiety go hand in hand and, oftentimes, people with anxiety feel like     they need to go out of their way and run themselves into the ground trying to please everyone to appease their own anxious feelings. I speak from     experience.

The parallel between the scene in the first movie where Elsa tells Anna she belongs in Arendelle, Anna says “so do you” and Elsa replies “No, I belong here where I can be who I am without hurting anybody” vs. her decision to live somewhere other than Arendelle in the second movie that doesn’t come as a result of her trying not to hurt people but as a result of her being free and knowing, finally, who she is and allowing herself to be this person. It’s beautiful. It’s beautiful growth for our anxious little queen.

The themes are mature and gorgeous. Growing older (it hit hard when Olaf said “and you all look a little bit older”); acknowledging that things in your life will change and that you have to embrace the change sometimes, because change leads to growth; knowing that it’s okay to be angry at     people, even people you love, and that your feelings are valid; embracing what makes you different, because those differences are beautiful and will let you be who you are; the power of finding where you’re meant to   be/knowing what you’re meant to do; taking things one step at a time even when taking any steps at all seem impossible; acknowledging the past without allowing yourself to dwell on it and be consumed by it. Gorgeous. I’ve said many times that Frozen II tried to do a little too much, but all these themes are just beautiful.

Anyway. This is so long and I’m so sorry. I’ll probably be back with more thoughts after I see it a third and fourth time!

I really do love this movie. If I seem super critical, it’s all from a place of love. I love this franchise. I love these beautiful films. I love the amazing characters they’ve brought into my life. I’ve wrestled the last couple days with how much I truly love Frozen II vs. how much I wish they had had the time to explore all the ideas they obviously wanted to explore (I hope we get some shorts or an extended edition) because it’s obvious that all these ideas were there and ready to be fully explored.

Anyway, if you read this giant essay, thank you. It became like 3x longer that I was planning on, but I could talk about Frozen for HOURS.

#frozen 2 #frozen #frozen 2 spoilers #frozen II spoilers #disney #elsa #anna #olaf #kristoff #frozen ii #sven #disney frozen #review

[yumeka36]

Now that D23 Expo is over and I’ve had some time to process my thoughts on all the Frozen 2 goodness I experienced there, I wanted to write a follow up to my panel coverage post from Saturday where I tried to describe pretty much all the new footage that was shown (thanks to everyone who liked and reblogged and for pushing me over 400 followers :3)

Firstly, I wanted to go a little more in depth about the “Into the Unknown” scene now that I’ve found a few posts with the lyrics (can’t say they’re 100% accurate but they definitely sound on point from what I remember):

As Elsa’s walking down the corridors of the castle.

“I can hear you, but I won’t. Some look for trouble while others don’t. There’s a thousand reasons I should go about my day and ignore your whispers which I wish would go away, oh. Oh. You’re not a voice. You’re just a ringing in my ear and if I heard you – which I don’t…”

She stops and looks at paintings on the wall, One is of the Frohana group and the other is of her parents.

.”..everyone I’ve ever loved is here within these walls. I’m sorry secret siren but I’m blocking out your calls!”

She continues walking through the castle and ends up outside. I believe it’s the exact same location where she fled Arendelle in the first movie, the area behind the castle near the fjord.

“Are you here to distract me so I make a big mistake? Or are you someone out there who's a little bit like me, who knows deep down I'm not where I'm meant to be? Every day's a little harder as I feel my power grow. Don't you know there's a part of me that longs to go into the unknown?"

Around this point the magical ice particles that we saw in the trailer appear. The first image they form is a heard of reindeer like we saw in the trailer scene with Kristoff and Sven. Then the fire spirit (it looks like a little wispy, bouncy flame, just like the purple fire from the trailer), then the Nokk, then the earth giants, and then the blowing leaves. There was also a moment the ice particles seem to “pull” her towards the edge of the land and she spontaneously makes a ledge of ice so she can follow them even farther. This leads to the other trailer scene of her reaching her arm out towards the fjord before the ice crystals with the symbols appear all around her. The footage ends there.

I loved this new song and everything else that was revealed at the Expo. But like others, I’m both hyped and apprehensive about how the filmmakers chose to end the story. Switching gears from song to speculation, while they were discussing the story during the panel, they said things like there will be a “big change” and “in the end nothing will ever be the same.” One of the biggest fears fans are having is that Anna and Elsa will end up separating at the end, whether it’s Elsa staying behind in the enchanted land or some other scenario. While I can’t help sharing that fear maybe a tiny bit, I’m much more certain that it will not be the case. titania-knight mentioned that separation of the main characters happened in recent Disney/Pixar sequels like Toy Story 4 and Wreck-It Ralph 2, so it could happen with Frozen. But Frozen is different in the fact that the entire plot of the first movie revolved around Anna and Elsa getting back together as a family. While all the Toy Story movies emphasize the fact that Andy’s toys were like family, they also emphasized acceptance of change (leaving Andy for Bonnie), plus the fact that they’re toys makes it a given that things won’t always be the same when their kids grow up. And even though the movie ended with Woody separating from the others, it’s not like he went off all alone - he’s still with Bo Peep and her toy friends, which still leaves potential for fun adventures with them as well as Buzz and the old toys. Same thing with Wreck-It Ralph: the first movie was all about Ralph trying to find out that he’s more than a “bad guy” by forming a friendship with Vanellope, while the second film explored how his friendship went a bit overboard and he had to accept Vanellope’s wishes even though they clashed with his own. And again, even though they ended up going separate ways, there’s still potential for stories with Vanellope and her new friends in Slaughter Race and the rest of the internet, as well as Ralph and his arcade friends. Plus they can still easily visit each other now that the arcade is connected to the internet. So yes, Toy Story and Wreck-It Ralph do involve strong bonds of friendship between the characters, but their whole identity isn’t formed from a single relationship the way Frozen’s is with the sisterly bond between Anna and Elsa.

While all Disney movies of the past had the “happily ever after” ending, even though more recent ones have opted for a bittersweet ending, one thing they still stay true to is, as I described with the aforementioned sequels, the potential for the characters to have more adventures and live on in their world, even if it’s not the exact same way as before. Disney keeps their characters immortal by allowing us to always imagine them in a happily ever after even if it’s a bit bittersweet. So unlike Ralph and Toy Story, what potential would exist for Frozen if its main characters ended up separating? From what we’ve seen of the enchanted lands, they don’t seem like a fun place - Matthias and his soldiers have been trapped there for years, so it’s place people want to get away from. Unless a lot more about it is revealed later on, the impression I have is that it’s a desolate place not meant to be inhabited. I’ve been trying to think of a possible reason for Elsa to stay there but I can’t think of any, especially not one that would make a satisfying ending. I know Disney isn’t always totally akin to what its fans want, but I don’t think there’s a single Frozen fan who would want an ending with the sisters splitting up, and Disney must be aware of that. I know they want to make Frozen 2 a bit “darker” but that doesn’t mean unsatisfying. It’s an ending nobody would want, that goes against the achievement of the first movie, and leaves poor potential for imagining the characters in a continual happily ever after. So while I can’t say with absolute certainty we won’t get a separation ending, it’s very unlikely in my opinion.

So then what could this drastic, irreversible change be? Another theory is that Elsa will lose her powers in the end. It seems more plausible than the separation ending, but still doesn’t seem that likely - stripping Elsa of her powers would pretty much render the 6 years of making her an iconic user of ice magic completely obsolete, and I don’t think Disney would do that to one of their most popular characters. While I’m not one to dwell much in fan theories, I will say that I personally think the “nothing will ever be the same” description is referring to how we thought Elsa got her powers: she was born with them, but it’s actually not the case. For a while I’ve been thinking about the scene at the beginning of the first movie where Pabbie asks “Born with the power, or cursed?” and Agnarr says “Born.” The way he says it almost seems like he’s being a little too insistent, like he doesn’t want anyone to think it could be a curse...so maybe we find out that it actually is, that whatever happened when he went to the enchanted land originally caused his first born child to be cursed with magic powers? Again, that’s just my theory and the only plot reveal I could think of that matches the drastic description the filmmakers put forth for the movie (I also like frozenartscapes’ theory of Elsa uniting the magic of the enchanted lands with Arendelle)

I think that’s all I gotta say about Frozen 2 for now. I apologize that this post was kind of all over the place. Just had to get all my thoughts out at once! XD I’m sure I’ll be back once we get the next new trailer or other footage~

#frozen #frozen 2 #frozen 2 spoilers #d23 expo 2019 #d23 expo #into the unknown

[cogentranting]

Y’all, Frozen 2 is lit. 

Full disclosure, I’m not a big fan of the original Frozen. I think it’s a fairly mediocre movie with a lot of flaws.  But this one? This one I really REALLY like. So, here’s my list of:

10 ways that Frozen 2 is better than the original. 

(spoiler free, apart from the last entry which contains vague comments on the types of conflict found in the second movie)

It has a plot- The first one has kind of a wandering plot with a lot of random things happening on the side. It’s very unclear why certain things happen, some actions seem arbitrary, the central problem keeps changing etc. But Frozen 2 is very focused. There’s a goal, the characters all act within their characterization to achieve their goals, and their individual motivations and arcs are very clear 

The plot is driven by the characters’ choices- More than its semi-confused, somewhat arbitrary nature, my issue with the first movie’s plot is that after the first third the characters stop actively making decisions and mostly just react to whatever’s happening at the moment. Elsa doesn’t choose to return, she’s arrested; Anna is forced to go back to Arendelle because she’s hurt; Anna doesn’t realize Hans is evil/wrong for her, he tries to kill her etc. Even Anna’s big act of love for Elsa is more a split second reaction than a choice. But in Frozen 2, both Anna and Elsa are very much in control of their decisions all the way through. At every stage it’s their intentional actions which steer the plot, up to and through not only the climax but also the resolution. 

It knows who the movie’s about- The first movie has the issue of not really knowing who the main character is. Is it about Anna or Elsa? It feels like it can’t decide who it wants to focus on. It feels like one started as the main character and then in the revising process it started to shift to the other sister and it never got the chance to finish that process (which, if I know the behind the scenes stories of that movie correctly, is exactly what happened. Anna was the main character but over the course of development Elsa started to steal the show). But what we ended up with feels like a rough draft. Elsa’s need for development (her flaws, her fears, her shutting people out, her running from responsibilities) are what drive the plot, where Anna’s need for development is more of a B plot (her misguided views on romance being the main thing), however, Anna’s arc is the one that more directly resolves Elsa’s flaws and it’s Anna’s actions that save the day. Elsa just has all her growth happen within about 15 seconds after that. Meanwhile Anna’s growth is more informed than shown. So in the end it doesn’t really feel like it’s about either sister fully. They just each have half an arc. Frozen 2 doesn’t pick one sister to elevate over the other. But it clearly intends for them to be equals from the beginning of its development, so the story supports them being co-leads, instead of feeling like it’s undecided and in conflict with itself. So both have fully developed arcs, and both have an equal share in the progression of the story. 

Anna and Elsa interact- The relationship between Anna and Elsa is the crux of both movies, but in the first one they have barely any screen time together. The only time they get to bond is the opening scene. That’s then followed by around a decade of Elsa completely shutting Anna out of her life. Then they have a scene where they argue. They’re separated, argue again, are separated again. And then at the end their love for each other saves the day. We never really get to see them form a relationship as adults. Frozen 2 does more to establish their bond, we get to see them interact, and they spend much more of the movie actually working together, so the emphasis on their love and their bond means a lot more and makes the emotional moments much more effective. 

They do some world-building and the magic makes sense- The thing I see most often... not so much criticized as questioned, about Frozen is where do Elsa’s powers come from? It’s not exactly a flaw or a plot hole, but it is a little distracting. As is the fact that even though Elsa is treated as powerful and frightening in the movie, they still somehow manage to undersell how powerful she is. The other issue with the world of Frozen is that the rock trolls feel vaguely out of place and totally unlike anything else in the movie. Frozen 2 is clearly designed to answer the question of where Elsa’s powers come from in a way that is not only satisfying, but thoroughly fits in with the previously established elements of the world and makes things like the existence of the rock trolls or how omnipotent Elsa is, actually work better than they did before so that it all fits together well. On its own, Frozen 2 embraces the idea of magic and does some really good world building around the concept that makes Arendelle and the surrounding world feel rich and interesting, where before they were basically just a generic place-holder setting. 

The animation and art design get a chance to shine- Frozen has excellent animation. But because everything is just snow and ice, there are very few chances for you to really admire the art. The “Let it Go” sequence is really the only stand out that I can think of. Frozen 2 on the other hand, goes all out with beautiful animation. There’s a variety of different locations, each character has multiple outfits (most of which I love), the character’s have different hair styles, the nature magic has it’s own set of unique and beautiful animation, Elsa’s powers get used more and get to do really visually interesting things. There’s just so many beautiful things to look at.

The songs don’t just stop- Fixer Upper is the last song in Frozen. Which is like, a beginnings of a relationship type song. And then the songs just stop. There’s no song anywhere near the climax. There’s no song related to any kind of character revelation or growth. There’s no finale song. The soundtrack doesn’t feel resolved. Frozen 2 has a song to accompany each of the crowning moments of Elsa and Anna’s respective arcs. The soundtrack progresses along with the movie and feels a lot more complete as a result. Also Kristoff gets a song and that’s good. And this is more of a personal preference thing but my gut reaction is that I like the Frozen 2 soundtrack better (though I still think Let it Go is probably the strongest song out of both). 

Olaf is funny- I don’t like Olaf in the first movie. I only find him funny occasionally, and more often than not he’s annoying. But I really really enjoyed him in this movie and laughed at a lot of his lines. I may even have to rethink my wholesale dismissal of Josh Gad. 

Kristoff doesn’t become irrelevant- Kristoff has two major purposes in the first movie: to take Anna to the trolls, and to be a “true love’ red herring (the second true love red herring, if we’re being real). You could honestly probably take Kristoff out of the movie without having to do much to rewrite it. Kristoff still isn’t hugely important in Frozen 2, but he has his own arc, he has an active role in the finale and over all he just feels a little more included.  [Spoilers-- vague spoilers that give some indication of the nature of the movie’s plot, not revealed for certain in the trailers]

There’s no villain- I feel strongly that the first movie would be a lot stronger if they did not have a villain and let Elsa’s inner conflict be the major conflict of the movie. It would force them to actually address Elsa’s character development. It would push the climax to be centered entirely around Anna and Elsa. It would keep the story focused on the central issue: Elsa can’t control her powers and is shutting people out, instead of bringing in a secondary point as the main problem. It would give Elsa more agency in taking control of her powers. And Hans is not a strong enough character to really lose anything from either cutting him, or relegating his duplicity to a B plot.  Frozen 2 does what the first movie should have done. There is no villain to fight. The conflict at the climax doesn’t revolve around a person that needs to be fought. It’s all about Anna and Elsa’s choices and discoveries and it makes the themes clearer, the arcs more memorable, and the whole story less generic. 

#frozen 2 #disney #tangled is still better than both though

[blossom765]

Watched Frozen 2

Finally watched frozen 2 and I have some spoilery thoughts so be warned:

First off, this was a pretty good movie but I wouldn't say mind boggling great

First off, the way everything starts

It starts with a flashback of of Elsa and Anna as kids and listening to a story and a lullaby from their parents. Then it moves to Elsa and she just starts hearing this voice. And I didn't really like that very much. It just happens, there's no trigger, no set up, just stars because the movie starts. That problem persists for quite a lot through the movie. Things happen, there's not really a big trigger. Like when the elements attack Arendalle. Why attack now after all this time? Because Elsa sang a song? Because she said now she wants to go into the unknown? That's not a good enough trigger.

There's also the huge amount of songs on the worst places. Don't get me wrong, these songs are the shit and I'll probably be listening to them for years. They're far superior to the soundtrack in Frozen 1 but, that's kinda the problem. I feel, that one of the reasons Let it Go was so popular was because it was levels above the rest of the songs in the movie. Can really put for the first time in forever on the same level as let it go. For the first time in forever was great but it wasn't as huge as let it go and that's because we knew that that was the movie's main song. ( Little Mermaid had Part of Your World and Aladdin had A whole new world). And that's the problem. In this movie, all the songs are on a high level. It's like they were trying too hard to find the next let it go but they tried too hard so there's no one song that stands out from the rest. I don't really see Frozen 2 songs having the same impact let it go had but maybe that's just me. And about that part about putting the songs in the worst places, I wasn't kidding. In the first part of the movie, there's like 3 songs barely 5 minutes apart. In the first movie, they not only had songs that told the story instead of just being random songs, but they also felt like time had passed in between them. Here it just feels like their shoving songs in there. And Olaf's song about understanding things when he's older was put in an incredibly awkward place. This scene had ominous tone with the spirits throwing things out of wack and they thought this was a good time to put a comedy song. I do feel this is a better song than Olaf's frozen 1 song but at least that song was put in a better place of the movie. I think only 4 of them were placed in good places. And lost in the woods just takes us out of the movie. It was a good song but, come on. ( Lullaby, Show Yourself, Into the Unknown, The Next Right Thing )

Another thing that bothered me was Anna and Kristoff's relationship. When reviewers said that Kristoff's whole thing was about proposing to Anna, they weren't kidding. Other than saving Anna a few times, he has nothing to do except try to propose to Anna and he disappears in the third only to randomly reappear. When Anna and Kristoff kept having misunderstandings, all I could think off was how bad their communication was. Like how is it the time to think about marriage. If this was real life, this would have been one short ass marriage. Why didn't they address they? Why couldn't they have had Anna and Kristoff have a small conversation about how they need to communicate more? It doesn't even need to be that long.

I really wish I could have seen more of Elsa's and Anna's mother but oh well.

The animation is great but I wish they'd have showed more settings than just dark settings. But, I'm sure with the advancements this movie made with animals, we'll get more movies with this amazing animation talent and with different settings.

There's also that one scene where Elsa sees parts of the first movie including when she's singing let it go and she seems embarrassed by it. That was an important moment. That was a step in the direction of her being free. Why would the movie make fun of that? Bad idea, such a crazy bad idea.

The movie is way to fast. That has a lot to do with how everything happens because the movie is happening, not because there's an in-universe trigger to start things.

I also didn't really like that destiny thing thrown in about Elsa being the fifth spirit. This is more of what I don't like. I don't really like how destiny pull the character to do something. I prefer if Elsa was just both with these powers and the spirits choose her to be the next spirit based on her actions. But, whatever.

I didn't really like how they were ready to destroy the dam and Arendalle without thinking about the people. I know it had to happen but at least mention that they'll be destroying people homes. And these people didn't do anything or know anything, it was just their ancestors. Actually, it was just the king and a few of his soldiers!

There were a lot of characters that were introduced and had very small roles. Maybe we'll see them in Frozen 3. I believe a lot of these issues are here is because the creators assumed the first movie would be it and they only made a sequel because of good the first movie performed. At least now they know that if their movie does well, the higher ups are probably gonna want a sequel. I'm sure if they make a frozen 3, then they will expand more on the underdeveloped mythology. I'm okay with that with another sequel. I would prefer more original works but I'll take an animated sequel over a live action remake any day.

Now, let's get to something that a lot of people are split about. Elsa is a bad protagonist. Some people say she's great, others say she's emo and has no personality. To be honest, I can see where both are coming from. You see, Disney's characters, especially their princesses, don't have much personality diversity. They all have traits like hopeful and cheerful and often exude a sort of innocent childness. Think Anna, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Auora, Tiana, Jasmine. You can tell when they're happy and cheerful. They're all so energetic. They all have their big smile happy moments. So, when we see a character like Elsa for the first time in Disney, it can be a little jarring or a little unique depending on the person. I do prefer Anna with just how much energy she brings but I am glad Disney made a character like Elsa. It's not your fault, it's not mine. It's just what we've come to expect from Disney.

Also, is Elsa immortal now?

Also, did that part from the trailer where Anna pulls a sword from Kristoff and swings it ever in the movie? If not, what the hell? I would have loved to see it.

How does destroying the dam save Elsa?

Is that voice coming from the ice land ( I don't remember the name) itself?

So, is the horse and Bruni the lizard spirits? And of so, are they causing everything in Arendalle? I'm still so confused about this mythology, it's really underdeveloped.

Was that beautiful autumn Forest scene from the trailer ever shown? Again, what the hell?

And, how bloodthirsty are those Giants? How far are they gonna go to kill one tiny person? Jesus!

But, time for some positivity. I really loved the ending with Elsa staying in the enchanted Forest with the Northuldra. I'm glad that she still felt out of place being the only one with magic. Being the only Muslim in your school, being the only African American in your neighborhood, etc. It's a problem people can face. It's why a lot of people feel less out of place when they're surrounded by people like them. ( Like when they go to their family's home country ) the way they handled it was pretty good. You can be with your own culture and people and still be with people who are different from you. It's a better message than just having the usual "follow your dreams" Disney message. I loved how Anna became Queen. If we get another movie, I'd like to see more of what Anna does as Queen. And a smart way to do this is that Anna and Elsa aren't that far apart in age so I'm sure they've had close to the same amount of training so I'm sure Anna knows a lot on how to be Queen. And I love how Anna and Elsa followed their own lives but still have easy contact. Just like families today.

There is a lot wrong with this movie but there is so much that's good. The music, the animation, the ending, the message. It's done so much that's great. I'd still highly recommend it. I expect that future movies and possible future frozen sequel will have better writing.

Thanks for coming to my thought talk 😘

#frozen 2 #frozen 2 thoughts #frozen 2 spoilers

[bigfrozenfan]

Time for new theories...and some facts

I wrote the following BEFORE these ominous plot details came to light, so consider this post as if it were yesterday (or the day before yesterday).

This theory contains SPOILER, at least for those of you who avoid merch leaks and to whom Annecy says nothing.

At the moment the whole fandom is very agitated again. Reason for this are certain merchandise leaks and twitter statements. I contributed to that myself and one of my last posts spread like wildfire..but only because my post landed outside of Tumblr. Ok, that's often the case with very short posts without any in-depth explanations, i get the impression. I now try to go a little further...

Some of you may see their expectations or hopes swimming away that Elsa and Anna will have more time together in Frozen II because suddenly so many new characters have appeared. Some also wonder how this will work if only two new voices have been cast for the movie (Evan Rachel Wood, Sterling K. Brown). Quite simply: these two are intended for vocal parts, so they play a much bigger role than the other new "players". 

I currently count six new characters (without the Spirits / Elements): the young Sami girl and this ominous boy from the teaser (probably a flashback), Mattias (one of the newly cast voices I bet; this spelling seems to be confirmed by now) and these three Sami from this maze game, for which I posted a mini-theory (more about that later). In addition there is Iduna in a flashback and probably also Agnarr (see Leak from Annecy). It can also be assumed that these new characters won't be the only ones on the plan, but that we will also see other people from the Sami people, because they obviously live in this Enchanted Land and probably can't leave it (keyword magic fog). Somehow they must have come to terms with the spirits of nature or at least be tolerated, which doesn't surprise me very much, as the Sami are a nomadic people and have always got along well with nature itself.

What I'm getting at is this: I haven't counted now, but in the first movie we had a lot more characters to deal with, including voice parts, than in Frozen II, as it looks so far. They either loosened up the plot or gave it an extra seriousness, something that wouldn't have worked with our protagonists alone. Additional characters are important for the whole story and they didn't bother us in the first movie, quite the opposite. For example, our gang has a very long sleigh ride up to the north in front of them, really enough time that Elsa and Anna can really talk each other out. I assume that at a more "private" moment with Anna, Elsa has the idea to send Olaf to Kristoff to entertain him a bit, but in reality to distract him from their conversation.

After everyone has walked through the portal, however, there is hardly any time left for chats, because now the actual action takes place. At this point I would like to refer to the "An absurdly long Frozen 2 theory - The Land of the Mist" by @azaffranist, which I think is really great. (LINK)

The trailer only suggests the order in which the scenes take place. I get into the attack scene in the forest, when the inhabitants are fleeing from the fire and Elsa (together with Olaf) probably has her big appearance, which consumes her completely and in the course of which Olaf possibly loses his life. We know from the teaser how he still clings to her and in the trailer you only see Elsa kneeling on the ground and waving Anna away with her last strength to prevent her from getting closer before she finally saves Kristoff at a gallop. 

I suspect that Kristoff had accidentally recognized the danger for Anna in the scene before and then didn't think long. 

We don't know what will happen afterwards, but at this point the threat to Elsa should not be over yet.

Whether before or after, our gang must have gotten to know the inhabitants there and there were certainly very quiet moments, perhaps with one of the seven new songs (to my knowledge more are not confirmed). This brings me to my theory about Kristoff and the Sami. It's one of the big questions from the first movie, where Kristoff came from and why he lived with the trolls. In this country he now meets Sami for the first time, who perhaps know more about it. Maybe a resemblance with someone in him was recognized and maybe it comes out that he actually stands in front of his own relatives. This story with "A new girlfriend?" came to my mind spontaneously, but it would be quite conceivable that a Sami girl (I'm thinking of the dark-haired one) had an eye on him (probably not the other way around). 

It could lead to some entanglements with Anna, maybe even to a full-grown argument. We all know that Anna is his big crush, that he kissed her and confessed his love (Frozen Fever). We can only guess what happened between the two in the Short OFA, but his languishing look at the end says it all, doesn't it? I guess Anna wouldn't take up a new relationship very well and as I know her temperament by now, she certainly doesn't keep her opinions to herself. As for her clothes, Anna wears a SASH (or it looks like she does), like the Sami, and Kristoff wears one, but in a more noble form, just like a princess should. But what this new characteristic of Anna means is still a mystery to me.

Let's get to the other Sami girl, the one with the "white" hair. Can the spirits transform into human form? At least we know from Nokk that he is a shapeshifter. But we also have a harmless looking Lizard, whose character made it into a game (Leak). What if this girl is not a Sami at all, but a camouflaged spirit? Of course, it happens more often that even younger people suddenly get white hair (I myself know someone like that in my private life), but in a movie like this every little thing has a deeper meaning.

As for the serious face of Anna in Frozen II, I think there are only three reasons: Kristoff (quarrelling / jealousy), Olaf (his possible death) or Elsa (one of the reasons for her journey and her concern for her). Which of these would weigh heavier? Or is it the combination of all three reasons that makes Anna's smile disappear for a long time?

#frozen #frozen2 #theory #frozen 2 spoilers #spoiler

[starryburglar-archive]

Hans Info

Full name: Hans Westergaard

Species: Human

Age: 23

Sexuality: Pansexual

FC(s): Domhnall Gleeson

Bio: As the youngest of 13 brothers, Hans found it pretty difficult to stand out in his family or as a prince. It almost seemed like, no matter what he did to an exceptional degree, one or several of his brothers would do it BETTER. It didn’t help the fact that most of them either ignored him or bullied him for being the youngest. The only sort of love he receives from his family is from his mother, who only seems to be truly content around him.

The young prince knew from an early age that her marriage to his father was arranged. The two never loved each other, never grew to be fond of one another, they can’t even stand being in the same room together. But their marriage united two kingdoms and saved The Southern Isles from disgrace.

One would think that being basically ignored by almost every member of his family would mean that Hans has the freedom to do anything he pleases, but that’s not the case. His father barely spoke to him but his eyes said everything. If Hans didn’t do what the king wanted, he would be punished -- it was the silent treatment version of ‘You may be a waste of space but you’re still a prince of the Southern Isles. Act the part.’. Etiquette, diplomacy, politics, geography, economics, manners... Hans had to master them all.

His only moments of solace were when he would be by himself on his private chambers or in the royal library. The young prince would do nothing but read -- read books about the mysteries of the world, about the different kingdoms and their customs, and, last but not least, fairytales. Yes, fairytales -- something unfit for a prince but Hans found enjoyment out of them. They were that one thing that brought a smile to his face because of how hopeful they make him feel. They made him wish for a better future, one where he was able to find true love and be happy, unlike his parents.

Years later, some months after his 22nd birthday, he was sent by his father to represent The Southern Isles at the coronation of the new queen of Arendelle. Why him? It’s still puzzling for Hans how his father doesn’t consider Arendelle a possible strong ally but was happy to be able to travel away from his homeland for a while. A few days without his family is better than nothing. Not long after a few minutes after arriving at the closed-off kingdom, he accidentally stumbled upon the princess of Arendelle, Anna.

She was the sweetest and prettiest girl he had ever seen -- prettier than all of the wives of his married brothers. And despite the unfortunate way they happened to meet, she didn't think ill of him after almost accidentally pushing her into the sea with his horse -- she even laughed! At that moment, Hans was convinced that the warmth in his chest was love. It has to be, right? What else could it be but true love? Maybe it was fate what made his father choose him to come to the coronation and meet the young princess.

Later that day, when the two were alone, he didn’t hesitate to propose right on the spot, even though it was the craziest move he could’ve done. Propose after meeting her that same day? His father would’ve thought he had gone bonkers -- you can imagine how shocked and overwhelmed he was when she said yes, a genuine and heartfelt yes. Hans thought nothing could ruin that evening.

Oh, how fate had different plans for him and everyone involved.

He never anticipated for the new queen to have any sort of magic abilities like he would so often read about in his fairytales. But she did, queen Elsa had power over ice and snow. Because of a misunderstanding, Anna’s frustrations and the evil intentions of the Duke of Weselton, her powers were exposed and everyone feared for the worst -- even he himself was unsure of how to feel at first. After Elsa ran away scared, Anna left the kingdom determined to find her and fix this mess, but not without leaving Hans in charge.

It was rough at first, trying to calm down the townsfolk as well as the other royal visitors currently stuck in Arendelle during the frozen winter in the middle of July. But he did his best, applying everything he has learned back home while adapting it to this current predicament. It worked well enough for the first hours.

When Anna’s horse returned but without its rider, his worries only increased. Dedicated to finding his bride-to-be, Hans formed a team of volunteering men to search for the princess and the queen. Hours later, he was surprised, once again, to find queen Elsa in what seemed to be a place of her creation: a palace made out of ice, truly magnificent. He was planning to reason with the queen and try to make her return to Arendelle peacefully, but those soldiers from Weselton ruined everything by scaring her and almost killing her.

The men returned to Arendelle with an unconscious Elsa. Hours later, Hans found himself with the queen, who was put in the dungeons and chained due to the worries of the other lords present. He pleased her to bring back summer, but she couldn’t. Unsure of what to do, he reassured her he would do anything to help her and returned to the comfort of the chimney. Not too long after that, Anna returned weaker than ever -- her hair was whiter than before and her body was freezing. Apparently, when anna tried to reason with Elsa, the queen accidentally froze her sister’s heart and now anna was slowly turning to ice, only to be told that an act of true love would thaw it.

The young couple stared at one another after being left alone. An act of true love... a kiss! If they kissed, she would be saved. Hans was extra careful while holding Anna, resting her against the sofa in the room that was near the chimney, all while cupping her cheek gently and smiling warmly at her. He leaned closer until his lips met hers in a closer embrace. They stayed like that for what it felt like an eternity... but neither felt anything, not a spark, not warmth, not anything. The kiss not only didn’t work, but both were dumbfounded by this revelation.

It took the help of a curious but strange talking snowman ( which shook him to no end ) for the lovebirds to realize their situation. What they thought was true love was not it -- it was a fling of the moment, a passionate desire for comfort and happiness while sharing it with another person, something both had wanted for years due to not getting any sort of love from their families. This didn’t make things awkward between them ( or at least not THAT awkward ); both knew the truth know.

Now their objective was to get Anna to Kristoff, her actual true love. Hans helped Anna get around the castle due to their weak form and her inability to walk in her current state. They reached the frozen fjörds, where Kristoff was also looking for her, but so were Elsa, the duke of Weselton and his men. Hans left anna so she would go with the blond man, while he grabbed his sword and tried his best to stop the men from killing the snow queen. However, they were three against one, two of them being much taller, bigger and stronger than him.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. The short Duke sneaked past him to strike Elsa, but then Anna stood in the way, using her last ounce of life to stop him while her body became ice. The ground shook as a wave hit everyone who was nearby. The scene was devastating to behold. Anna, who he had ground fond of and now realized she really was a good friend, stood frozen in the middle of the fjörds; Elsa hugged the statue devastated while sobbing her heart out.

No one anticipated the return of princess Anna. But it was that act of true love, the self-sacrifice she did for her sister what thawed her frozen heart. There was rejoicing all across the kingdom of Arendelle, its citizens and the lords visiting as Elsa brought back Summer.

A few days later, Hans was rewarded for his bravery and all the help he brought to Arendelle and the sister, despite the young prince insisting that he didn’t deserve anything while anna said otherwise. He was a hero, as much of a hero as Kristoff, the ice harvester, was. He and Elsa also were able to start again while building new relations between the kingdoms -- The Southern Isles and Arendelle would be their greatest allies. 

Hans was content to have done a good deed and for some of his naïvete to have vanished thanks to this experience -- he’ll be careful in the matters of love, but still hopeful for a bright and loving future.

Note: Hella canon divergent. Mostly based on his personality pre-twist and first impressions from the trailers.

[ MAIN || INBOX || HEADCANONS || VISAGE || MUSINGS ]

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V001: Youngest of 13

Default main verse. Hans is the youngest child of the king and queen of Westergard and without any chance to get a claim to the throne, not without his 12 brothers being more favoured by his father in all ways possible. He is determined to stand out in any way possible without going against his moral compass, which includes forming better relations with other kingdoms and start having friends.

NOTE: Mostly takes place after the events of the first movie. I’ll have to see the sequel to see how I can work him into it.

V002: Working Towards a Better Life

Modern verse. As the youngest of 13 brothers, Hans was often ignored by his siblings and his father, only occasionally receiving a caring word from his mother and, if he was lucky, a full conversation with his father. 

Currently, at the age of 23, he’s working to get a degree in History so he can become a professor in the subject -- history has always fascinated him, even as a child, so having the possibility to share this passion with a new generation made him happy. On top of that, Hans is also working on a novel during his free time. He also moved out of his home as soon as he was able and had the resources; at this point of his life, he didn’t want anything to do with his father’s company and connections ( not that he would get any of that ) and instead focus on making himself happy.

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CONNECTIONS

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[emeraldspiral]

Since Frozen 2 finally dropped a trailer I’m anticipating some crossover in the discourse surrounding it’s predecessor and Star Wars and how people feel about Hans/Anna and Reylo.

IDK how most Reylos feel about Hans, I know a lot of people were pissed he turned to be evil and have been clamoring for a redemption arc. But while I would agree that Hans doesn’t really do anything suspicious until the scene where he shows his true colors, the movie made it clear from the start that Anna was going to be proved wrong for getting engaged to a man she just met. It also fits better with the story’s main theme about understanding what true love is to have Hans be evil than to have him just not be the right man for Anna like Prince Edward from Enchanted.

If you really look at the endings to both movies, it’s clear neither is actually knocking the idea that you can fall in love in a short amount of time. With Enchanted, it was almost pushing in the opposite direction actually. Sure, Giselle spends more than a day getting to know the guy from Grey’s Anatomy, but it’s still only a few days. Meanwhile McDreamy dumps his longtime GF to be with her and the ex-GF herself ends up hooking up with the prince right after. It was as much about McDreamy realizing that if it took him that long to propose to Idina Menzel, then he’s probably only doing it because it’s a calculated risk he feels safe taking and not because there’s any real spark between them, as it was about Giselle learning to accept the imperfections of the real world.

Likewise, Anna doesn’t spend that much time with Kristoff, yet we’re to believe that they have genuinely fallen in love by the end of the movie. But how is that better just because they just aren’t getting married immediately? Is it really just the getting married that was the problem and not the thinking you can be in love after a day?

Yes, actually.

Because the problem with Hans and Anna was the quality of the time they spent together, not the quantity. All Hans and Anna did together before they got engaged was talk. Hans said all the right things to make Anna feel like he understood her and was crazy about her. But when it came time for Hans to prove himself with an act of love, it all turned out to be empty words. Kristoff on the other hand, was honest with Anna, even if it didn’t always make him look like the perfect dreamboat that Hans presented himself as. When push came to shove though, he proved that he genuinely cared about Anna by putting her needs before his own.

That’s what makes Frozen’s cautionary tale different from the proposed anti-Reylo cautionary tale. Frozen isn’t saying you’re dumb or destined for victimhood for choosing the wrong kind of guy. The whole point of Hans is that he seems perfect, quite the opposite of bad boy Kylo. Hans was never presented as a guy Anna thought she could help, only for him to prove he was beyond salvation and she shouldn’t have bothered. Anna didn’t get burned because she had foreknowledge of his flaws but chose to love him anyway. She got burned because she didn’t know anything of substance about his character.

This isn’t a purely paternalistic moral to teach either. Every day some unfortunate guy or girl gets tricked into loaning money to someone using a stock photo on their dating profile. People of both genders and all ages can benefit from a warning not to trust someone who hasn’t proved themselves to you.

So that’s my take on why Frozen’s romantic cautionary tale is just fine but an anti-Reylo cautionary tale would not be. Hans and Kylo are completely different characters. In fact, they’re polar opposites, so there’s completely different messages being sent by crafting the narrative around the heroine being wrong for loving them. With Anna, the message is just that real love is more than pretty words. With Rey, the message would be a five-car pileup of patronizing and cynical lessons encouraging judgement, hatred, dismissiveness, and bad faith and discouraging compassion, empathy, mercy, forgiveness, and reaching out.

#reylo #rey #kylo ren #ben solo #star wars #star wars tlj #tlj #the last jedi #star wars the last jedi #frozen #disney #princess anna #prince hans