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hb-pickle · 4 years

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Frozen 2: Dangerous Secrets Review Essay

Why Sensitivity Readers Are Always Necessary

Before I start, I would like to make it very clear that this review only critiques the aspects of colonialism and representation in Frozen 2: Dangerous Secrets. I will not be discussing the romance, side characters or anything else like that. Also, I would like to make it very clear that none of this review is meant to personally attack or berate the author @marimancusi . I firmly believe that none of the cultural insensitivities in her book were intentional, but were simply the result of a non-indigenous, white author writing about experiences she could not personally relate to. My only goals for writing this review is to show the author how her book unintentionally perpetuated many harmful and outdated ideas about racism and colonialism, and to convince her and Disney to contact and hire sensitivity readers before they create content about vulnerable racial/ethnic groups.

I would also like to state that I am an African American woman and not indigienous, so I have personal experiences with racism and colonialism towards black people, but not towards indigenous communities. So if any indigenous people see problems or inaccuracies with my review, I would be happy to listen and put your voice first.

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To summarize quickly (with full context), Frozen 2: Dangerous Secrets is about Iduna, a young indigenous Northuldra girl (oppressed racial/ethnic minority) who was suddenly and violently separated from her home and family when her people were betrayed and attacked by the Arendellians (colonizing class). As a result of the massacre battle between the two groups, Iduna is permanently separated from her home (caused by a magical and impenetrable mist) and forced to spend the rest of her days in the kingdom of Arendelle, where she lives in almost constant fear of being exposed as a Northuldran (for the townsfolk are violently bigoted against them). Naturally, this book contains many many depictions of racial hatred and bigotry along with exploring the mindset and fears of a young girl dealing with the brunt of colonialism. Unfortunately, it tends to fumble the seriousness of these situations (out of ignorance or out of a desire to keep the book lighthearted/to center the romance plotline), which results in an overall detrimental message to the audience. The missteps I specifically want to unpack are as follows.

- (1/5) Severs Iduna’s connection to her culture before the story even begins (making us feel less empathetic for the Northuldra’s plight)

I’m not 100% certain, but my understanding is that the purpose of making Iduna a double orphan was to make her more sympathetic and to give her a reason to save Agnarr’s life (to have compassion for a stranger, the same way her adoptive family did for her). In theory this is perfectly fine, quickly establishing that the audience should like Iduna is smart and so is rationalizing her most important, life changing decision. But in practice this only functions to distance Iduna from her culture and family and make the reader care less about the Northuldra. This is because it takes away Iduna’s chance to have a strong, palpable relationship with a specific Northuldra character, which would humanize their entire group (even if only in memory). The only Northuldra characters that Iduna mentions more than once is her mother and Yelena. Both of these characters are mentioned rarely, neither have a close relationship with Iduna (her mother dying 7 years before the events of the story), nor do either of them have any specific personality traits or lines of dialogue (Yelena has exactly one line and it is about knitting). The goal of a story about a child unjustly stolen from her home should be to explore why those acts of violence were so horrific. The very first step of exploring that is to humanize the victims. After all, why would a reader care about the injustices done to a group of people who barely exist? How are we, the readers, supposed to feel bad for Iduna and mourn her family like she does, if we barely know them?

We needed more of Iduna’s memories. We needed to learn about her friends, her family, her mother and Yelena. What were they really like? How did they love Iduna? What were their last words to her before she never saw them again? Didn’t Iduna care for them? Did she worry about their well being and miss their comforts? We need to hear about how she bonded with them, how they made her feel, how they made her laugh or cry. How they taught her to hunt, forage, and knit so that when we hear how the Arendellians speak of them, with such ignorance and contempt, we are as truly disgusted and offended as we should be.

- (2/5) Equates Iduna and Agnarr’s suffering, aggressively downplaying the brutality of colonialism (even to the point of prioritizing Agnarr’s needs)

First things first, I understand that Dangerous Secrets is a modern day romance novel for older children/teens so an equal power balance between Agnarr and Iduna is preferred (which I agree with). But, this balance extends past the romance and personalities and into attempting to portray Agnarr and Iduna’s suffering as equal. This is best exemplified in these lines of internal dialogue by Iduna:

I did not deserve to be locked away from everyone I loved. But Agnarr did not deserve to die alone on the forest floor because he’d had a fight with his father. Whatever happened that day to anger the spirits and cause all of this, it was not his fault. Nor was it mine. And while we might be on different sides of this fight, we had both lost so much. Our friends. Our family. Our place in the world. In an odd way we were more alike than different. (Page 67)

All of this is technically true, up until the very last line about them being “more alike than different”. Agnarr and Iduna’s lives are nothing alike. Iduna is a poor, indigenous girl who had everyone she ever knew or loved either killed or permanently taken away from her, stolen from her home and forced to spend the rest of her life living in a foreign kingdom rife with people who actively, consistently threaten her safety. While Agnarr, on the other hand, is a white male member of the royal family, heir to the throne, and extremely wealthy. The novel doesn’t shy away from this (at least on Agnarr’s part), and doesn’t hesitate to show us that Agnarr is royalty and will never experience what Iduna has to endure. But it behaves like Agnarr’s relatively petty, temporary, and incomparable ills are just as heartbreaking as Iduna’s and focuses significantly more time and energy building up empathy for him and his woes. This extends from small things like the book asserting that the few times Agnarr needed to stay in his castle, to avoid political assasination was comparable to Iduna’s family being trapped in the mist (against their will for 30+ years); to more concerning issues like claiming Agnarr’s separation from his parent’s is just as distressing as Iduna’s separation from her entire people. Now fleshing out Agnarr and his relation to parents is a good thing, since it can provide crucial character motivation and make him more of a well rounded character. But when Agnarr’s suffering is presented as more relevant and worthwhile discussing than Iduna’s it, by extension, implies that the frustrations of an affluent life and being separated from parents that did not value you in the first place (Runeard and Rita) is somehow more or just as pressing as facing the brunt of the most violent and terrifying forms of colonialism. Agnarr’s story may be tragic, but it is nowhere near as horrific as Iduna’s and the book should acknowledge and reflect that.

- (3/5) Has a rudimentary understanding of racism and how if affects the people who perpetuate it

Dangerous Secrets’ understanding of racism (and how to deal with it) is summed up very concisely in a conversation between Lord Peterssen and young Prince Agnarr. Agnarr asks his senior why the Arendellian towns people are so obsessed with blaming magic and the spirits (magic and spirits being an allegory for real world characteristics that are unique to one culture or people) for all their problems, and the following exchange insues:

“People will always need something to blame for their troubles”, he explained. “And magical spirits are an easy target-since they can’t exactly defend themselves… “So what do we do?” I asked. “We can’t very well fight against an imaginary force!” “No. But we can make the people feel safe. That’s our primary job.” (Page 132-133)

Though Lord Peterssen is supposed to be a flawed character, who puts undue pressure onto Iduna and Agnarr to uphold the status quo of Arendelle, this line is (intentional or not) how the book actually views racism and how it expects the characters (and reader by extension) to deal with/understand it. Bigotry is portrayed as something that is inevitable and something that should not be quelled or disproven, but accommodated for. Agnarr, as king next in line, should not worry about ending the unjust hatred in his kingdom, or killing the root of the problem (the rumors). Instead he should tell his people their suspicions are correct, and put actual resources and time into abetting their dangerous beliefs. Even later on, at the very end of the novel, Agnarr treats the prolific bigotry and magic hatred of his people as an unfortunate circumstance he has found himself in, and not something that he, as king, has the power or civic responsibility to change.

This could have been an excellent line of flawed logic, representing how privileged people tend to avoid/project the blame of racism, and prioritize order and peace over justice. Which would work especially well for Peterssen and Agnarr since they are both high class nobles with the power to actually make a difference, instead choosing to foist responsibility onto Iduna (in the case of Peterssen) who was only a child, relatively impoverished, and the one with the most to lose if she spoke out. Or, in the case of Agnarr, they do disagree with the fear mongering, but only for personal reasons (Agnarr because his father used it as an excuse for his lies); refusing still to actually work to improve his society. But the key detail is that this needs to be portrayed as wrong, which this book fails to do. Agnarr nor Peterssen are ever expected to disprove the townsfolk’s bigotry in any meaningful, long lasting sense, Peterssen is never confronted seriously for his cowardice and victim blaming, and Agnarr is never criticized for his anti-bigotry being based entirely on his own personal parental issues and not in the fact that he knows with 100% certainty that the Northuldra are innocent.

This flawed understanding of bigotry also applies to how the book depicts the Arendellian townsfolk, who are awarded no accountability whatsoever for their actions. The townspeople spend the entire book threatening to kill any Northuldra they find and Peterssen, Agnarr, and Iduna are constantly afraid that they would immediately destabilize the government if they found out their king was close to one. But somehow this does not translate into any contempt or distrust in our protagonist or the reader. In this novel, we meet only four openly bigoted individuals: the two orphan children playing “kill the Northuldra”, the purple/pink sheep guy (Askel), and the allergy woman (Mrs. Olsen). The orphans are dismissed wholesale because they are literal children who also lost both of their parents in the battle of the dam (so they were killed by Northuldra; somewhat justifying their anger). And the other two townsfolk are joke characters, whose claims are so unbelievable that they aren’t supposed to be seen as a serious threat. Not only that but Askel is rewarded for his bigotry when Iduna offers he sell his pink sheep’ wool (which he thought was an attack from the Northuldra) as beautiful pink shawls. These are the only specific characters that show any type of active bigotry in the entire kingdom besides Runeard, whomst is dead. Every other character is either an innocent and friendly bystander (the woman at the chocolate shop, the new orphans Iduna buys cookies for, the farmers Iduna sells windmills too, the people at Agnarr and Iduna’s wedding), has no opinion at all (Greda, Kai, Johan), or is portrayed as someone who is just innocently scared and doesn’t know any better (the rest of the townsfolk, especially those who fear the Northuldra are the sun mask attackers). Even the King of Vassar, the most violent and dangerous living character of the story, doesn’t even hold any prejudice against the Northuldra, and simply uses their imagery to scare Arendelle into accepting his military rule.

So according to this book, bigotry and racism come not from the individual, but from society and the system you live in, but also not really because the people in charge of that system (Peterssen, Agnarr, and eventually Iduna) are also virtually guiltless. This, of course, is not true at all. Racism is a moral failing which exists on all levels of society, from individuals who chose to be bigoted, to others who tolerate bigotry as long as it doesn’t inconveniance them. It's not just an inevitable fear of what you don’t understand, but an insidious choice to be ignorant, fearful, and unjust to the most vulnerable members of society. It is malicious and irrational, and the more you tolerate it, the more dangerous it becomes.

- (4/5) Presents Iduna’s assimilation to the dominant culture as a positive

As the romance plotline of Dangerous Secrets really starts to get underway, Iduna’s life seems perfect. Her romance with Agnarr blossoms, she has her own business, and is becoming accustomed to her new surroundings (in order to make the coming drama more exciting). This is her internal dialogue as she returns to town one day:

I couldn't imagine, at the time, living in a place like this. But now it felt like home. It would never replace the forest I grew up in… But it had been so long now, that life had begun to feel almost like a dream. A beautiful dream of an enchanted forest… There was a time I truly believed I would die if I could never enter the forest again. If the mist was never to part. But that time, I realized, was long gone. And I had so much more to live for now… And my dreams were less about returning to the past and more about striking out into the future- (Page 128-129)

Again, I understand that the point of Iduna being content with her life like this is to be the “calm before the storm” of the romance arc, but the fact that Iduna is almost forgetting her old life, and that it is presented as a good thing, is extremely distressing. At only 12 years old Iduna lost everything she ever had besides the literal clothes on her back; she would never forget that. Not only that, but the real world implication that a minority should cope with their societal trauma by spending the rest of their life working for said society that unapologetically wants to kill them (and get a boyfriend) is horribly off putting. It strikes a nerve with many people of color and indigenous readers because telling minorities to “get a job” or “get a life” (especially when said jobs ignore/are separate from their own cultures) is commonly used by privileged folk to blame them for their own dissatisfaction/unhappiness with the society they live in. The idea is that minorities should continue to suffer, but busy themselves, so they stop criticizing dominant culture and defending/uplifting their own. This is part of cultural erasure, and the book plays into it, by commending Iduna for “having more to live for” than cherishing/wanting to return to her original home, for prioritizing Arendelle over herself, and for forgetting her heritage/playing it off as nothing but a dream. Devaluing indigenous culture like this, especially through an indigenous character, is extremely disrespectful.

Not only that, but it’s completely antithetical to Iduna’s character, since she claims to be proud and unashamed of who she is, but happily assists the townsfolk who hate her, and rarely mentions her heritage besides when she’s caught in a lie or actively being persecuted. This is another failing brought on by the lack of understanding of how racism affects its victims. Being a minority plays into all the decisions you make and all the interactions you have; it’s not something that you can just turn off unless directly provoked. Iduna’s would be constantly fretting about who she talks to, and who she is with because if she gets too close to the wrong person, she could have put herself in serious danger.

Nowhere is this lack of realism more obvious than the scene directly after Iduna rejects Johan’s proposal. Iduna spends a long time thinking about whether marrying Johan or Agnarr would be better for her, and not even once does being a Northuldra play into her decision making. This should’ve been front and center because your husband can be your strongest ally or your greatest enemy. If Iduna was outed, what could she do to defend herself against or alongside her partner? If she was ever going to consider marrying for anything other than true love, her chances of survival should have been her first priority.

What I’m not saying is that there needs to be a complete overhaul of Iduna’s personality, or that she needs to be frightened and suspicious at all times. Iduna can project strength and caution. She can be kind to the townspeople, but reserved in order to keep a safe distance. She should cling to the few pieces of her culture she has left, despite what society tells her to do. Or, on the exact opposite side of the coin, Iduna’s personality could be kept relatively the same, but the book needs to acknowledge that this is a terrible thing. Iduna is being assimilated against her will to a society that doesn’t value her and that is a tragedy. In a futile attempt at survival, Iduna buries her culture away and lives her life as a perfect, contributing, model Arendellian citizen, but they terrorize her regardless.

- (5/5) Negatively depicts the indigenous Northuldra as murderous invaders

In Chapter 34 of Dangerous Secrets it is revealed, during a flashback, that Iduna lost her parents and her entire family group in an attack by a separate group of Northuldra invaders. This scene is completely unacceptable regardless whatever narrative/story purpose it was supposed to achieve for several reasons. Firstly, because this book is about colonialism, which we as a society already know the consequences of and how colonizers, in an attempt to rid themselves of blame, react to it. One of the very first things a colonizer/privileged class will do to make themselves feel less guilty for the atrocities they perpetuate is bring up acts of violence/wrongdoing on behalf of the oppressed. The sole purpose of this is always to make the victims look less sympathetic and less deserving of justice, equality, or attention because “they’re not so innocent, they did wrong things too, so maybe we shouldn't feel that bad for them/maybe they got what they deserved”. And of course this mindset is absolutely horrific and unforgivable when you’re talking about a group of white colonizers actively trying to destroy and indiscriminately slaughter a large group of indigenous people, including their children.

The second reason is because the author is a non-indigenous white person, and therefore benefits directly from the downplaying of indiginous pain. I’m sure this wasn’t intentionally malicious on her part, but that’s what she wrote; these are the consequences.

((Also the fact that one of the Northuldra groups are murderous invaders means that Iduna was actively lying the entire book about the Northuldra being peaceful.))

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In conclusion, any book that incorporates the culture and experiences of a group the author is not a part of, should absolutely hire a sensitivity reader to ensure accuracy and respect. As a Frozen superfan myself, I actually enjoyed this book a lot and I was delighted to see the lore, worldbuilding and romance. I loved Agnarr, Lord Peterssen, and Princess Runa and certain pieces of dialogue and imagery were beautiful. This novel just desperately needed someone to check it. All this book needed was a bit more of a critical gaze on some of the character decisions and motivations (I truly believe Agnarr and Peterssen would have been even more intriguing and likeable characters if they were actually called out, and given time to reflect on their hypocrisies) and it would’ve been much stronger and more palatable to diverse audiences. Some elements did need to be cut out completely, but a sensitivity reader would’ve easily been able to point this out and offer alternatives that preserved the spirit of the novel, without including any offensive and distasteful implications.

#dangerous secrets #Frozen 2: Dangerous secrets #agduna #iduna frozen #agnarr frozen #iduna #agnarr #frozen #frozen 2 #dangerous secrets review #frozen reviews #frozen review #frozen analysis #frozen 2 analysis #Frozen 2: Dangerous Secrets Review

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movyman32 · 4 years

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#dangerous secrets #frozen 2 #prequel #teens #young adult #mari mancusi #net galley #review #disney publishing worldwide

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yumeka36 · 4 years

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Frozen 2.5 - Prologue + Chapter 1

I’m literally shaking. I can’t believe this day has finally come.

I first began work on this project back in November, on Frozen 2′s anniversary to be precise, and have worked on it for countless hours since. My artist for the project, the talented @myrthena, has also been working hard on the above cover art and other illustrations. After tons of edits and re-readings, I can’t express how happy I am to finally share it with all of you!

Frozen 2.5 is my next big Frozen writing project. But unlike my previous one, Seek the Truth, which is an essay-style analysis book, Frozen 2.5 is a post-Frozen 2 fanfiction novel, created very much in the same vein as the official Frozen novels Dangerous Secrets and Forest of Shadows. Anyone who’s been following my posts for a while knows that I mostly do essay/editorial writing and have never had much interest in reading or writing fanfiction. But like any fan, I’m always playing out fanfiction stories in my head. I just never felt the need to write one out in full - until now. But before you get to reading the story, a quick introduction is in order:

I had two main goals while writing Frozen 2.5. First goal was to create a Frozen story that would be indistinguishable from something Disney would officially release as a feature-length film. I wanted fans, whether hardcore or casual, to read this novel and think, “Yeah, I could see Disney making this for the next Frozen movie.” Obviously, that means there’s nothing in the story that would warrant a rating beyond PG, but as anyone familiar with Disney movies knows, that certainly doesn’t mean the story can’t have drama, angst, and dark moments (which it does). And my other goal, and probably the more important one, was to create a story that appeals to a wide range of Frozen fans, especially fans who are having trouble imagining if fun, likable scenarios can still take place with the new direction Frozen 2 took for our beloved characters. With that in mind, even though I’m not well versed in the Frozen fanfic community, I’m pretty sure my story will have some similarities to others (the world of Frozen does lend itself easily to common headcanons and narrative ideas). But in spite of this, I’m hoping Frozen 2.5 has enough of my own unique touch as a writer, and die-hard Frozen fan, to be something very interesting, unpredictable, and overall enjoyable for fans of many ages and tastes.

I’m going to be releasing a new chapter of the story every 1-2 days, starting with the prologue plus chapter 1 today, and ending with chapter 7 (the final chapter) and the epilogue on April 11th. Each chapter will have an original illustration by myrthena as well. The entire 63K+-word novel is written already, so don’t worry about me getting writer’s block and not finishing it. I just need a little more time to compile the illustrations and do a final review.

The release schedule is below (I’ll try to stick as close to it as possible, though it may vary slightly). You can follow me here or on Twitter to be notified when the new chapters are available. You can also check the respective pages on FF.net and AO3 (linked at the end of this post):

Release Schedule:

-Sun. 3/28 (today): Prologue and Chapter 1

-Tue. 3/30: Chapter 2

-Fri. 4/2: Chapter 3

-Sun. 4/4: Chapter 4

-Tue. 4/6: Chapter 5

-Fri. 4/9: Chapter 6

-Sun. 4/11: Chapter 7 and Epilogue

For the final release on April 11th, I’ll also include a complete edition that has all the chapters and illustrations together in one pdf, including an afterword written by me (where I discuss some history and final thoughts on the project).

With all that said, please enjoy the prologue and chapter 1 linked below. I have poured my heart, soul, and every fiber of my being as a Frozen fan into this story!

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Story Summary: It’s been about half a year since the events of Frozen 2. Anna is adjusting well as queen of Arendelle, and Elsa has been making slow but steady progress with reconnecting the spirits with the Northuldra. And while both sisters, as well as Kristoff, have been trying hard to create a unity between Arendelle and Northuldra, decades of animosity is proving difficult to mend. However, the new status quo is interrupted when Anna receives a letter from a queen of an unknown kingdom - a queen who still thinks that Elsa is the queen of Arendelle. Our heroes soon get caught up in the mysterious plans and dark history of this strange kingdom and its enigmatic queen. Trusts are tested, courage must rise against danger, answers slowly come to light, and in the end, all sides must come together to overcome an impending threat.

The prologue and chapter 1 mostly reintroduce the characters and their current status, and have a lot of endearing Frohana moments. But there is foreshadowing of the calm before the storm...

*I recommend reading the PDF version since FF.net and AO3 have limitations (not a lot of font choices, can’t show all images, no distinction between prologue/epilogue and chapters, and FF.net doesn’t let me have a period in the title)*

*Read PDF version HERE (recommended)

*Read on FF.net HERE (it’s called “Frozen 2 5″ because FF.net doesn’t let you include periods in titles)

*Read on AO3 HERE (thanks to @wintermoonqueen for the invite)

#frozen #disney frozen #frozen 2 #frozen2 #frozen fanfiction #fanfic

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tom-riddle-haunts-me · 4 years

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Finally, the Reader has a little more space ✨

Hope you enjoy,

Abigail 🐍

Warnings: swearing.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

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Not As Planned

Tom Riddle x Reader

The infamous Dark Lord begins to orchestrate his oh so dreaded return, but while trying to achieve a new, critical pawn's loyalty to him and his cause, things go not as planned.

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4 - Absence

Getting her next day's lessons ready did no use to Y/n. The extra classes provided by her Family during the summer break still vividly played in her mind, and they had covered most of the year's schedule, reason why she had found herself sighing, interest killed by the reading on the potion they were to brew the day after.

Y/n had kept on reading though, just to make sure the words her grandfather had so gently engraved in her head a few months prior were still bleeding in her skull.

Well, they were.

But that was okay, it was perfect, actually.

An Addams could not afford the liberty to start a school year unprepared.

They had to be the best.

She had to be the best.

You had to be the best.

Not only that, you had to be the best of the best.

Hence why in the current time you were answering questions like there was no tomorrow. You'd always end up being almost the only one to participate in the lesson, professors had nothing against it (I mean, maybe Professor McGonagall did, but you still managed to get most of her questions) and your classmates gladly let you take control of the situation.

Well, almost everyone, actually.

There still was him.

Lazarus thatfuckingbitch Malfoy.

He just had to be an asshole and find every single possible way to get on your nerves, sometimes it felt like he simply enjoyed giving you a hard time. Did he want to die that badly? Weren't the Malfoys just cowards naturally inclined to submit to the strongest bidder?

<Yes, Mr Malfoy?>

To hell with him.

You would have liked to say you had no idea why he was looking at you like that while giving the right answer to Professor Sprout, head of the Hufflepuff House and your Herbology teacher, but you actually knew too well that kind of staring.

He was challenging you.

He was looking for a weak spot, a grain of uncertainty, maybe even fear for a possible defeat.

He had no idea who he was trying to mess with.

You smiled, as if encouraging his little, pathetic show, and apparently he gladly reciprocated the gesture with as much fake kindness as yours.

Professor Sprout had granted the students the permission to swear only during that particular class. She had looked kind of excited while explaining them the plant they were to study that day was a very dangerous one, and honestly, after having the said study's subject in front of you, you had understood why. The greenhouse back at your home was actually guarded by Venomous Tentaculas, hence why you were particularly fond of those "little" monsters.

But now all you could hear were screams from Hufflepuffs and muffled snickering coming from your fellow Slytherins, all you could see a very panicked teacher trying to keep her cool and an unidentified student (probably a Slytherin) being tossed around by a green, spiky, excited vine.

High pitched voices kept bouncing loudly in your skull, picking at your brain like little annoying bites, the chaos was driving you out of your mind.

You had always preferred silence.

In a matter of seconds, everything was quiet once again. As if someone had casted a Full Body-Bind Curse on the entire class, the students were now frozen in their steps, some still gaping, others with their eyes shut so tight they threatened to pop into their skull.

Even the teacher was standing still, shock draining the color out of her gentle face.

Malfoy, though, stood there, unmoved, as motionless as a statue, but finally with something you were dying to see hide behind his placid eyes.

Defeat.

<Oh, oh Merlin! G great job Miss Addams, brilliant thinking! Ten, no, twenty points to Slytherin!>

At this point in time, while the trembling Slytherin boy was being accompanied to the Hospital Wing by Professor Sprout, a receded vine lied lifeless in front of the tall, young man you just morally slapped right across his stupid face.

You won.

And everyone knew.

________________________________

<Yeah, hahahaha, stupid Malfoy! He has no idea what he got himself into! Right Y/n?>

<You're so talented, bloody hell! I couldn't cast a spell that fast for my own life!>

There they were.

<Out.>

Your silky voice rang in the almost empty Slytherin Common Room, making the little group that had gathered around you vanish like smoke in air.

Flies.

Maybe that was the reason why the Malfoy brat intrigued you to that extent.

He was a challenge, not an easy bet.

The dark-haired Slytherin had stormed out the Greenhouse like a hurricane a couple of hours ago and you hadn't heard from him since then. Next class was canceled due to the teacher's "personal reasons", so the Slytherin and Ravenclaw students were left to themselves with a lot of free time. The clever ones retreated to the Library, to catch up whit the massive amount of work the professors had kindly drowned you all with, the stupid ones were out, bathing in the little sun October was blessing Hogwarts' grounds with. So, moral of the story, you were bored to death. Having reviewed today's lessons yesterday and Malfoy nowhere to be seen, you were left with nothing to do but read. Again. The same books you had already finished at home.

Ugh.

You shut the book close and sighed. It wouldn't work.

As soon as you stood up, you heard other students coming down from their dormitories, so you quickly turned to the Common Room's exit and made your way into the school's busy corridors. You had always been the silent type, the solitary one, and from a certain point of view, you had to. From a young age, your family had taught you to mistrust every person you were to get to know in your life, but honestly speaking it didn't bother you keeping a distance from others. Once alone, you could let your mind wander and go to a different place, far away from Hogwarts, from what you called home. You'd always wondered if a place like that was real, if somewhere in the world you would ever have the chance to allow yourself to relax a little bit, let your guard down and maybe laugh genuinely to the twins stupid pranks.

Speaking of the devil.

<I'm always thinking about you, guys. What do you have for me today?>

As always, they each grabbed you by one of your arms and gently dragged you in a quiet place, unnoticed by curious eyes.

Fred started, as excited as always.

<They'll probably end up protecting something that the participants will have to retrieve. Wicked, right?>

George finished, with a big grin on his face.

There was something special about them, you just couldn't let the thought of the two happy behavior out of your mind. You could say that interacting with them was your secret, little guilty pleasure, but no one had to know, right?

Their laughs and silliness were just contagious.

As the twins answered in unison, you shook your head smiling. A tiny, minuscule but luckily restrained part of yourself wanted to keep the money, just a little more, just to talk to them for a bit, but your Addams self immediately handed the brothers their two galleons with the simplest and most polite smile you had. Next thing you know they're hugging you before sprinting away full speed, as if scared you'd curse them, but giggling cheerfully, as their usual, jolly selves.

What a strange duo.

Your favorite one, though.

Carried by your feet, you headed to the Black Lake without a second thought. Knowing the path by heart meant you had to pay no attention to wherever you were going, therefore you could focus on the newly acquired information. Dragons, mh? Interesting.

Who in the Wizarding World had the magnificent idea of letting seventeen years old students deal with freaking dragons?

Guess your father was right about the Ministry being just an overrated, overly-powerful and overly-paid coven of incompetent clowns.

"What a huge waste of time"

The voice in your head sounded uninterested and almost soulless in your ears, a most accurate reflection of what was repeatedly going on in that beautiful mind of yours. Words echoed undefined in your brain, racing around like brooms gone mad. Nonetheless, they melted in a clear whisper, almost comforting your craved loneliness.

E/c eyes quickly glanced around, immediately spotting the still missing presence of the pale brat, now outstandingly deafening in an eerie, heavy way. Not once you had graced someone witch such attention, and even if in that case it was justified and most certainly not a good thing, it unnerved your usually calm self finding your mind wondering where the heck he was or what the bloody hell he was doing.

Was it something you could do better? Was it a place you knew better?

Whatever was going on between you two, though, did have a name.

It was a game.

The prize? Power.

<No, you tell her!>

First years. Sometimes you forgot you were a prefect, and moments like that made sure to rimind you of your duties. Your thoughts faded into an impending headache and you could do nothing but discreetly massage your temple with one hand, while patiently waiting for the three kids to take some courage and grow the guts to call you.

After ten more, long minutes of arguing, finally the little blonde girl in the middle stepped forward and grabbed you by your robe.

You gently swirled around, letting your uniform slide in a delicate way out of the little creature's hand.

<Yes, my dear?>

<I, uh->

<Yes, he did! We have Potions next, Snape will eat us alive!>

You could almost laugh at the expression the little slytherin girl had on her cute bronze face. Her amber eyes were trying to strangle the two boys with way too explicit effort, and her perfectly tamed hair bounced on her warm cheeks whenever she shook her head from side to side, disappointed in her friends' childish behavior.

Ah, younglings.

Your eyes followed her thin hand, which was now pointing to the stairs.

Not wasting any more time, you turned on your heels and reached the first floor in less than it should have taken. When Peeves locked eyes with you, his ever present grin contorted into pure horror, and in a moment of overwhelming panic he sprinted forward, even faster than usual. You had to follow the poltergeist to the second floor, chasing him through the corridors like a wolf after his bleeding prey.

He knew far too well that if you were to raise your voice, he would've been doomed.

<PEEVES.>

Well, shit.

<Books? Peeves doesn't know wh- >

Oh, how you despised his stupid voice.

You straightened yourself and placed your hands behind your back. Taking a frighteningly stern aura, you rose your chin high, as if silently judging the being in front of you and already sentencing your prey's imminent end.

Memories from the girl's first year flashed before the ghost's disembodied eyes and fear took over him, leading his jester self to drop the books to the ground and fly away as fast as his lifeless body could.

The three text books moved from the cold stone floor and neatly stacked themselves under your eyes' will, just to float up middle air and reach your arms, where they gently let their weight go and settled down.

While turning around, your brain managed to register someone's silhouette slide into the girl's bathroom and given your position, you were morally obligated to check, after all classes were just about to start.

And you would've fulfilled your role, if it weren't for the figure now standing in front of you, a black cloak blocking your vision.

<Addams.>

If it was possible, the corridors fell even more silent, and the man a few feet away from you, right beside the bathroom entrance, brought back to your mind the main reason you were spacing out in the middle of the hall. You locked eyes with the teacher for a never ending minute, a wordless exchange that ended up in the two of you parting your ways in complete silence.

___________________________________

After returning the books to the now little bundles of joy, you got back to your journey towards the Black Lake, brain still stuck in the second floor's corridor, on the semblance of a person entering the girls bathrooms.

First of all, Professor Snape had seemed to not notice anyone in there. He was standing right in front of the door but not once he looked that way, so whoever entered didn't want to be seen.

Addams shouldn't put their nose into others businesses.

But that definitely smelled like something suspicious.

Very suspicious.

Especially because the glimpse of a shadow you had taken was the one of a guy.

You had finally reached the lake without even realizing it. Sitting under what you had adopted as your own tree, you mindlessly took you Charms text book out of your robes. Your eyes, though, were full of the scene that kept on tormenting your restless mind and millions of questions started blossoming in your head. You began to make assumptions and plans to solve the question as soon as possible, to let your brain go of the itching sensation the odd coincidence had layed on it. Your eyes lost focus, and as the world around you melted into blurred colors, you fell in your little world, only to be suddenly brought back by a familiar, wheezy voice, almost an inaudible hiss.

Your hand automatically shut the book it was holding closed, your mind now empty and focused only on the voice's source.

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

@simp027

@reneuv

#harry potter #hogwarts #hogwarts x reader #tom riddle #tom riddle imagine #tom riddle x reader #tom riddle x you #voldemort #fanfic #reader insert

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greatqueenanna · 2 years

Text

As Promised, here is my very late review of Polar Nights.

As a note, if you are curious about my thoughts on other Frozen Novels, I have an analysis here where I did short reviews on all of them. Once again, my audience scores are based on Goodreads.

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Frozen Polar Nights: Cast into Darkness

By: Jen Calonita and Mari Mancusi

Released: July 19th, 2022

Type: Stand-Alone

Age Range: 8 - 12 years

Audience Score: 4.2/5

My Score: 3.8/5

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Overall, Polar Nights was a nice story that included some elements that helped build Frozen 2's story more and gave explanations to things that were previously left vague. Anna and Elsa's interactions were the best element, especially when they talked about the past, and there was also a little bit of great Kristoff and Anna content that helped built their relationship. However, the story was a bit boring for me and I wasn't really invested in the two sisters Sissel and Inger. It seemed like I was just reading it to see how much more deleted Frozen 2 content and world-building lore was put in there to help further develop the films, rather than actually caring about what happened in the story.

More details of my thoughts are under the read more.

The Good

Polar Nights shines the most with its main characters Anna and Elsa. It explores their relationship and even has them acknowledge more aspects of their troubled past, something fans have been asking for since Frozen that some fans felt was glossed over in Frozen 2.

Polar Nights tries to further canonize the infamous deleted scene where Elsa brings up a memory of their parents praising Anna - that was also previously brought up in Dangerous Secrets as well.

The novel also tries to better explain what Elsa is doing in the forest now, with her trying to better perfect her memory powers, learning more about the Northuldra and Spirits, and studying Ahtohallan.

The novel tried to harmonize the previous version of the North Wind Siren with the current film version. What do I mean? From Aurora's interview and the Into the Unknown: The Making of Frozen 2 documentary, the siren was meant to be an ancient force that calls to Elsa. This was then changed to Iduna calling her - leaving it vague on whether it was actually Iduna or the memories of her. Here, it explains that Ahtohallan called to Elsa using Iduna's image to appeal to Elsa as a mother. It was nice to finally get some clarity on this.

Polar Nights also has a great emotional side story for Anna and Kristoff. Kristoff begins to lose his memories of Anna and we are treated with some very emotional scenes of Anna trying to cope with this. I remember the satisfying reunion they had when Kristoff finally remembered Anna. It was a beautiful scene.

The Bad

This is less a criticism of the novel and more of Disney in general. The novel pretty much writes the Northuldra out of the story - which is understandable in terms of Disney not wanting to write them without a Sami guide, but given that the Northuldra were such a big part of Iduna's story and the overall story of Frozen 2, we really need more content with them in it. I believe it is long overdue to have a Sami actually write or guide a story featuring them to further push their importance to Frozen's lore.

Another one for Disney in general because I'm not sure how much power the writers actually had when it came to his character - Runeard continues to be a one-dimensional villain and scapegoat for everyone's problems. The issue with this is that we can't really teach children that evil things only happen because of unrelatable evil people - it happens because of abuse, misinformation, prejudice, pride, and fears that are not exclusive to just one big bad. Anyone can do something bad if they think it is right.

The story itself wasn't bad - it was fairly serviceable in terms of a simple, monster-of-the-week type story. My only issue with it was that it was a bit boring. I didn't really feel anything for Inger and Sissel since they seemed to just be diet Anna and Elsa and felt they needed a bit more pizzazz to really make me want to know what happened to them and invest myself in their story. I know the focus needs to be on Anna and Elsa - but you can't build a story around the interactions of two people without building an interesting world around them.

I don't know what it is about Frozen Novels, but they seem to love to write out Kristoff and Olaf as much as possible - and now Mattias has been added to that list. Maybe we can use a little less of the original, forgettable characters and start using the ones we already have. Like, instead of a random shepherd seeing the death of the sister, why not use Mattias to involve him more in the story? Again, this could be more of an issue with Disney restricting characterizations, but given that Mancusi was getting ready to write in Kristoff's mother in Dangerous Secrets with the only thing stopping her being timeline issues, then maybe we can get a little more content here.

#Frozen Polar Nights: Cast into Darkness #Polar Nights: Cast into Darkness #Polar Nights #Frozen #Frozen 2 #greatqueenanna/analysis

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fericita-s · 4 years

Text

Dangerous Secrets Reviews Where I Give In To My Inner Fangirl (spoilers galore under the cut):

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH this is so good! I read it in five hours straight, stopping periodically to scream at @the-spaztic-fantastic about how perfect and amazing it was, thrilled with things we had guessed or hoped or not anticipated but were delighted to find out! It’s so good! Agnarr is the sweetest, he is literally ADMIRING A BUNNY RABBIT when we first see him as a kid. Later his goals become reading books under trees, kissing Iduna, and inventing sexual harassment legislation. Iduna is so brave and had such a hard start that by the time they grow up and she and Agnarr are kissing all the time in between her learning how to harness wind energy and baking for the elderly, you’re like, “Yeah, good for you. You deserve this.” @marimancusi wrote them sympathetically but didn’t gloss over the rough consequences of their decisions re: Anna and Elsa. IT WILL RIP YOUR HEART OUT.

I’m drawn to these two because 1)The Cheek Cradle in Frozen II and 2) The Way They Still Love and Trust Each Other And Work As A Team To Figure Out How To Meet the Needs of Their Children Who They Are Pretty Sure They Are Failing. Both of these are explored well in the book and oh my gosh THE AMOUNT OF TOUCHING! Even in my wildest imagination and smuttiest smut smut stories I did not think Agnarr would be LICKING CHOCOLATE off of her FINGERS. Outside! In a Tree! You guys! AHHHHHHHHHHHH! And since they are not absolutely dead at the end, I’m going to hold out hope for a sequel, even if it’s just them pitifully clinging to driftwood while he cradles her cheek. @marimancusi this is a fantastic story, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and hooray for 2020 not sucking for five hours!

#dangerous secrets #mari mancusi #Agduna #agnarr #iduna

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marimancusi · 4 years

Text

Nerds and Beyond reviews Dangerous Secrets!

Now that we’re in the final stretch to release week, we’re going to start seeing a lot more reviews for the book! I really love this one from the Nerds and Beyond website!

https://www.nerdsandbeyond.com/2020/10/28/review-frozen-fans-will-love-frozen-2-dangerous-secrets-the-story-of-iduna-and-agnarr/

#frozen #frozen2 #iduna #agnarr #agduna #dangeroussecrets #marimancusi #bookreviews #upcomingbooks #yabooks #bookshelf

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toysoldiers-rwby · 4 years

Text

[CS] 1. The Rebels

Cutting Strings

Characters: Penny, Ironwood, Pietro, Aro Word Count: 5k

Penny is almost ready to leave the lab. But is she truly ready for how unpredictable the world can be?

Read on Ao3

Day 239 since creation. Day three since latest artificial skin tear. Three trials cleared.

Penny waited as Dr. Pietro and General Ironwood configured the training room. She closed her eyes and bounced on her feet. Processors warming up for the trial to come, with a review of the previous ones.

The second test was the easiest and soon breathing became second nature. Dr. Pietro and General Ironwood tested her strength. Several broken equipment later, they tested her control. That was the hardest to pass. Everything broke under metal fingers. Dr. Pietro had to make several alterations to the synthetic skin Penny wore. It was a complicated mix of Dust and wires that relayed Aura and pressure to her processors.

The first test overloaded her systems. Too many inputs, too many anomalies. But strangest error was conflicting drivers…

Penny realized it after the 5th prototype. Father didn’t design the artificial skin! No scientist, or official Atlesian scientist did! Ironwood was very hesitant and careful with his words whenever she had asked about it.

Dr. Pietro smiled and said, “You’ll meet her… hopefully soon.”

Penny frowned remembering it. Father said the last bit softly, as if he was whispering to himself. Like it was a secret from the General. But he couldn’t have forgotten her sensitive hearing. One that could detected a change in his voice, even if Penny did not know what it meant. Yet. It was similar to when Ironwood talked about the council.

Was it contempt? What did it feel like?

“Ahem. Penny, darling?” Dr. Pietro called out. A hand rested against her own and Penny opened her eyes. Her background processors did tell her someone was approaching but she was too focused on internal questions.

“Is the last trial ready?”

“Yes but… is something on your mind?”

“Is that possible?” Penny asked with wonder. “The mind doesn’t take physical form so-”

“No, no, darling,” Dr. Pietro chuckled softly. He let her hand go after softly patting it. “You seemed to be thinking hard about something.”

“Oh!” Penny perked up, “It’s about who created this artificial skin. Does General Ironwood not want me to meet them? If they are capable of adding functionality or upgrades wouldn’t it be more productive if they know what I am?”

Dr. Pietro was silent for a moment. Penny saw his eyes flicker, small twitches in his face before everything smoothed out. He let out a long and tired sigh, “I guess brains run in the family.” He muttered. She noted soft whispering seems to be personal so she didn’t comment on how brains don’t have the functionality to run. “I tried convincing James but… there are other factors at work.”

“Hm…” Penny nodded. It wasn’t answer but she was satisfied with the attempt. For now.

Penny entered the training room. Hard-light shaping the room into one with random short square. Up in the control room, Penny could see the unique silhouette of her father and his chair next to Ironwood. They talked briefly before the General’s voice came through the speakers.

“Penny, your final test is a combat test. Your goal isn’t just to destroy the bots, it’s to show me what your made of.”

She frowned, head tilting and raising a brow. “But sir… You already know what I’m made of.”

There was a moment of silence. Then some soft chuckling through the speakers. “Show me that you are combat ready.”

That lit a spark in Penny. She grinned, swords flaring from her backpack. “Yes, sir!”

Side panels opened an Atlesian Knight-130 marched into the training room. They were… stiff. Mechanical. She looked at her own hands for a moment. Opening and closing them. The artificial skin detected her fist, hide the ball joints. Everything looked natural…

Penny looked forward, “Ready, sir!”

The AK-130 opened fired and marched forward. The bullets were easy to deflect with Floating Array and it took little effort to slice them open. She took a moment, looking at the sparks and wires…Then next wave AK-130 marched forward, opening fire. It was wasn’t a challenge. They were predictable. Her own programming was far beyond what the AK line could simulate.

2, 3, 4 waves later and she looked to the control room. Penny saw two additional figures before the speakers on the AK-130 crackled to life.

“Security Breached-”

“Uh! Ignore that!” A stranger’s voice quickly said over intercom. “I have full permission to alter their program this time!”

“This time…” Another women softly muttered with a snort.

For a moment the AK-130’s guns lowered. Then several in the rear broke out into a sprint- Penny gasped. Flanking maneuvers were beyond this current model. Her instincts moved Floating Array in front of her. Spinning blades slicing bullets. Two bots ran left. Two running right. Three marched forward, a constant burst of bullets.

Penny retreated back. Floating Array shifted into guns and boosted her into cover. That was her intention anyway. She technically didn’t need it-

“Oh!” A bullet bounced off the hard-light structure. Penny stepped behind it. There was a conflict in her programming. There was a 100% chance of success in standing her ground and fighting, a 20% she might get hit. But… she wasn’t scared. So what if she got hit? Her chassis can withstand more pressure than the bullets can create. Yet was just something telling her to protect herself.

But she was not in any real danger.

The flanking robots appeared first, only to be shot in half. Floating Array spun around her. Red and faint smoke caught her eye. She had charged it too fast. With a small frown Penny shifted it back into her swords. Jumping out of cover she sent them flying forward, piercing the remaining three robots.

After that the waves blurred together. No breaks. Just an endless stream. The bots grew more and more challenging. From basic flanking maneuvers to militant sacrifices and distractions. Sometimes her own AI struggled to find a satisfying solution and it left her frozen on the battlefield. Then the bigger guns came out.

The Spider Droid.

It dropped in front of her from the ceiling. Metal tiles broke under its feet, a small explosion of sparks, wires, and broken metal. Penny blinked up at it. That didn’t make sense. General Ironwood would never allow such a dangerous-

The cannons charged.

Penny stood her ground, stance widening as Floating Array charged for another attack.

The intercom crackled, the two strangers bickering despite the General’s presence.

“Are you crazy!? That will kill her!”

“Ironwood said not to hold back!”

“Of course an Atlesian wouldn’t understand consequence! Shut it down or-”

Penny gasped. The cannons fired before they were fully charged. Floating Array pushed her back, firing at the ground just avoiding the attack.

“Glade! Get back this instant!” This time Ironwood’s voice rang through the speakers instead of being muffled through thick glass. A few seconds later the doors of the training room opened. A women with familiar yet unfamiliar gold horns skated in on hard-light blades that cut into the metal floor. She was in the Military’s Database, but file came up. Not an ally, not another soldier, a student… A civilian.

What was the General doing? Why was she in this facility?

Penny frowned. “Ma’am. Please evacuate.”

The goat Faunus paused, staring at her with… an expression. One Penny have never seen in the labs, with her father or General Ironwood. Brows furrowed, mouth in a small scowl, head tilted. Did Faunus express themselves different? Penny filed it away for later. Right now a flash of alarm came over the Faunus features.

“Move!” In a burst of bright red and purple she was suddenly carrying Penny. Metal talons of the giant security bot pierced the floor where they both once stood.

Her metal frame was nearly five times stronger than the floor. Without reinforcing it with Aura. “Your assistance is not necessary!” Penny frowned struggling against a surprisingly tight hold.

“Glade!” The General’s voice came from the speakers again. It was lower, hard. Her programming instantly recognize it as commanding and furious. She didn’t like it. “Do not interrupt Ms. Polendina’s combat test.”

“Not happening Tin Man!” The women yelled back with a roll of her eyes. Glowing Eyes… Civilians don’t normally have their semblance unlocked. Penny heard a soft sound of metal cutting metal and looked down. The hard-light blades barely floated above the surface, then it dug deep stopping the drift. Purple glow and weightlessness despite Penny’s high density? Gravity Dust, Penny concluded with a nod, and a very skilled, non-civilian usage of it. “Besides, you seriously thought I’d just stand by and watch? What does my record say?”

*“Technically Glade doesn’t have a record because she was found innocent of all the 43 charges of assault. Or she was assisting legal Huntsmen, so there for it wasn’t assault.” The hacker’s voice playfully informed.

Glade huffed, glaring up at the control room. Then those glowing blue eyes shifted to Penny. “Want to shut them up?”

“I… I…” Penny froze. Her processors didn’t know what to make of Glade’s tone or grin. Part of her said not to follow the advice of a women with a possible criminal record. But this situation was an anomaly her simulators could never mimic. Curiously eventually won but Penny’s caution didn’t fade. “Possibly. What do you have in mind?”

“Teach that Atlesian what consequence means.” Glade suddenly dodged back, eyes not leaving Penny even as several shots followed her. The women easily dodged them all. “The main cannon is on cooldown! We need to piss it off first!”

“That is counterproductive to my goal!”

Glade rolled her eyes. Much to Penny’s relief, the possible Civilian stopped blindly dodging and finally looked at the Spider Droid. Penny noted the glowing Dust in the women’s legs. It glowed a soft purple, as gravity gently lifted her off the ground again. Small debris floated until Glade drifted away.

“Is it really a victory if it ain’t fun?” The non-combative asked with a wink. Penny frowned and didn’t answer. She allowed Glade to focus on dodging.

Why would enjoyability of her mission override the results?

The fight continued and with two targets the Spider Droid was more aggressive. Penny was more passive. She couldn’t take any drastic measures with an unknown variable on the field. She had to be more careful, more mindful of the synthetic skin hiding her metal frame. Worst yet she couldn’t entirely focus on the Droid. More and more processing power went to Glade, trying to predict her next move and analyzing the fastest way to help her.

The Faunus women should be frighten. She had no weapon to defend against one of Atlas’ strongest military robots. Instead, the non-combative laughed. A glance at Floating Array showed no signs of overheating. She sent the blades as deep as she could get it into the Spider Droid’s chassis.

Too deep.

Penny gasped, pulling the strings but it didn’t budge. Glade jumped on, gravity Dust latching her onto the metal as if it was the floor. She pulled at the handle of the swords but that didn’t work either.

“And victory goes to me!” The hacker laughed over the speakers. The main cannons started charging again. Glade cursed, kicking at the joints but the hard-light blades on her legs couldn’t cleave through the thick metal.

“Jump!” Glade yelled.

Certainly Penny didn’t hear right, “Jump?”

“Yes! Jump!” Glade repeated. “As high as you can!” Penny jumped but didn’t obey the second command. That much force would break the floor. Of course the Droid’s targeting parameters means that the cannon followed her up. The Faunus ran off the barrel and waited a few seconds.

The cannon hummed louder and louder, energy shining bright.

Then Glade leaped off, lunging at Penny and grabbing her. “Oh shit,” Gravity pulled hard on both of them. Much harder than anticipated, with Penny’s mass. Penny barely had time to shift their positions, moving Glade on top of her as her robotic body created small crater in the floor, bending tiles up and causing broken wires to spark at her false skin.

Beyond Glade, Penny saw the cannon aimed at-

“The control room!” Penny gasped.

“Off, off, off!” The hacker’s fingers scrambled across the keyboard. “I can’t-”

Dad!

Penny shoved Glade off her. She charged Floating Array for a full shot and aimed for the rear joints of its legs. It pierce through. The Spider Droid tilted back, impact just a few feet above the control room. Hard-light barrier flickering at the impact. The Spider Droid shut flickered, smoke coming from the joints as it overheated and shut down.

It reminded Penny to take a deep breath. Her Aura was awake and sending nearly overwhelming power through her circuits. Emergency took priority over her own systems and they were on the verge of overheating as well. Penny slowly eased out of a battle stance. It took a while for her combat analysis to catch up and finally read the situation as a success.

It helped that Glade was on the floor laughing. She had a hand over her eyes, “Goddess and Gods! I’ve never been more terrified in my life.”

“And…” Penny frowned looking down at her. “You’re laughing?”

“I’m alive, unharmed, rescued by a cute girl.” Glade listed. There was a quiver to her voice, almost smoothed out with a grin. Penny frowned down at her. Glade, the other visitor called her. “Where’s the negative?” Glade asked rolling onto her knees and pushing herself onto her feet- prosthetic feet, most of her legs were metal- with a long groan. “I’m out of breath. How do people do this?”

“With proper training, one you rejected time and time again,” Ironwood answered through the speakers. Even as Glade made a face and attempted to wave away the voice. “Ms. Glade, Ms. Xanthic. Thank you for your… assistance. A transport will be here shortly to return you both home.”

“Of course he’d want me gone as soon as possible. Can’t blame him,” Glade sighed under her breath. She gave Penny a smile as she walked… or floated- how much gravity Dust is on that women, to the door, “Nice to finally meet you!”

Penny wasn’t sure if the feeling was mutual.

When she returned to the control room. The two strangers were gone but they left small pieces of evidence. Coffee rings on the terminal, which all Atlesian military personal and student faculty knew not to do. Some bits of candy and scratch marks on the floors were proof that Glade was up here too.

“Penny.”

She stood at attention, eyes snapping back to General Ironwood. “Yes, sir?”

“I apologize, I haven’t been completely honest with the final trial.” The General started, “It wasn’t just a combat test, but also how you would handle yourself in an uncontrolled environment, with… unorthodox civilians.” So General Ironwood… brought in a hacker and Glade because he knew and wanted them to disobey orders?

“Gah,” Dr. Pietro scoffed at him, waving Ironwood’s concerns away. “What do you think of Glade, darling?”

Penny paused, replaying footage of the fight. “She’s… good with Dust. Reckless.” Glade dodged without acknowledging the Spider Droid, "Very perceptive." She listed. But it didn’t feel right.

“But what do you think of her?” Dr. Pietro gently prodded.

Penny hummed, trying to turn off her combative protocols and focus beyond the fight. It was difficult. Her programing was confused, telling Penny a civilian wouldn’t run towards danger. “I don’t… understand?”

“She ran out because she thought you were in danger,” Dr. Pietro corrected with a smile. Penny didn’t like the way it lacked the same muscles as usual. How it slowly sank into… something sad? “Glade is hotheaded and stubborn at times, but she’s brilliant. And deep, deep beneath it all, caring.”

“It’s because of that brilliance she shouldn’t be sent on this mission,” Ironwood argued, but it had no real effort in the tone. “Though I suppose a personal connection with you Doctor, will ensure Penny’s success.”

Penny frowned, staying silent until she was finally addressed again. Ironwood listed many cons against Glade and the hacker while her father gently persuaded that some of them were advantages. Her father was silent as the General emphasis that they weren’t trustworthy.

Finally Ironwood sighed, “Penny.” She stood at attention again. “One fight doesn’t prove that you are ready for true combat, against the Grimm, against higher powers, but you have proven capable of fulfilling this duty.” This felt a little redundant but Penny didn’t speak up. She willed her processors to focus on what Ironwood was saying instead of comparing the list of pros and cons herself. How can a kind person be untrustworthy- “So we are sending you to the Vytal Festival.”

“What?” Penny gasped. Her Aura flared a crossed her systems, giving more energy than she needed. She found herself bouncing, fist tightly clenched. “I’m going to Vale!”

“And school,” Dr. Pietro added with a smile.

At that Penny paused, head tilted in confusion. Anything she’d need to know about fighting Grimm could easily be downloaded. Studying was… an obsolete method to obtain information for her.

“It would be suspicious if a student with your talents suddenly appeared at the Vytal festival with no public record. The other nations may try to accuse Atlas of cheating.” Ironwood said with a soft chuckle. “Ms. Glade is one of the possible teammates we have chosen for you.”

“Oh! I think me and Ms. Glade will get along splendidly-” Penny cut herself off with a gasp. What did Glade say? Nice to finally meet you. They did call her brilliant- “Did she design the sensors in the Artificial skin?”

General Ironwood frowned, looking at his right arm. “That… and more,” He said, one again whispering the last bit under his breath. His face was different than her father’s when he did it, but it was definitely not a positive emotion. Could the same physical behavior be used for more than one emotion? Why did the General not trust Glade?

“Father, may I formally met Ms. Glade?”

Dr. Pietro let out a nervous and sad laugh. “Soon, darling. We’ll let Glade recover first. She’s not who she used to be,” His eyes shifted to Ironwood. Why? Whatever look that crossed over her father’s face was gone in an organic blink. “And Ms. Xanthic pushed that Spider Droid well past its limitations.”

With the meeting winding down and Penny’s final trial run a success she was dismissed back to the labs. Her walk was quiet and undisturbed. Only her father and Ironwood had permanent access to this facility. A brief research into Ms. Glade brought up several women in the data banks. She filtered her Faunus Horns and found none.

Penny frowned and adjusted the parameters. Instead of horned Faunus she filtered it to all Faunus’. Only one women came up but the features were wrong. Instead of those golden horns wrapping around her head there was ears protruding from the sides. She looked at the meta data for the date.

Weird right? She looks better with the horns.

Penny paused. Tempering with official Atlas records was a criminal offense. And it was not a glitch. Penny refreshed her visual feed, blinking a few times and referred the page on Glade. The photo changed to one that did not fit Atlas’ requirements for a dossier. All photos must be shoulders up, forward facing with a neutral expression.

This one had several people it and was dynamic. Glade struggled against another Faunus who laughed and used her legs to keep a golden prosthetic horn out of reach- as it sunk into her Deep Pockets. Or at least Penny hoped the horns were prosthetics. The photo itself could be altered. A hacker was not a reliable source of information.

Huntress Fiona Thyme bullying civilian Aurora Glade.

Penny looked around. The hallway was empty but there were was a drop of evidence that someone other than her father and General Ironwood has passed through. Precisely a drop of coffee on the ground. Penny looked around, “Altering Atlas information is a poor method of communication, Ms. Xanthic.” Her scroll pinged before she was done speaking.

“It’s about sending a message.”

“How does changing the delivery method-”

“By the Brothers- I’m not one of Ironwood’s soldiers so he can’t order me around like one. I want to know what’s up.”

“Well… the city of Atlas is up.”

Penny had to wait a few seconds for a response. For some reason it made her nervous.

“Okay, plan b. We’re going to see the goat.”

“The goat- Ms. Glade!”

“Yep. I’ll meet you here.” Ms. Xanthic sent a map of the facility with a red blinking dot at the back. “All the cameras are on loop but hurry. I don’t want get caught again.”

Penny held the scroll to her chest. This… This wasn’t an approved course of action. Meeting a hacker skilled enough play with Atlas Drones and the database was not a smart thing a robot should do. But didn’t care. She bounced on her feet and looked around. If she snuck out her father would be disappointed… Right? But it seems that he wanted her to meet Ms. Glade. For unknown reasons General Ironwood is stopping him. Glade jumped in to rescue her, her father believes Glade is kind and trusting. The Faunus wouldn’t harm her…

But every reason and logic was drowned out by curiosity. This was a situation that was beyond what her simulators could produce.

“Okay.” Penny whispered to herself. She felt… unsure?

The ride to Mantle was awkward and silent, except for the soft music playing from the speakers. Ms. Xanthic was… not as welcoming or kind as Ms. Glades. The only similarity was their abnormal eyes. Glade’s glowed from her semblance while Xanthic’s was glowing obviously cybernetic.

Her first words to Penny was, “Don’t talk to me. Talk to Glade.” So Penny quietly sat in the transport and played with her hand.

Until the view outside… Outside the lab her attention.

“Wow! The sky is gorgeous!” The vast blue melted into pink and reds, brighter than the lights or plasma cutters in the lab. “It’s much different in person…” Penny closed her eyes and pressed her for head to the window. With a thought she recalled her visual data of just seconds before. The view of Atlas and Mantle, the setting sun and a palette of color Penny never saw within shining metal walls. It was better than the pre-installed photos. It was the same as the world beyond the window, pixel for pixel but… Being outside…

“Brothers, you really do sound like Glade sometimes,” Xanthic mumbled under her breath, cybernetic eyes rolling. “But… I know what you mean. Things haven’t been the same with these replacements.”

“If I may,” Penny said looking at the hacker. She gestured for the girl to continue talking, “What happen to your eyes?”

“Nothing you’ll find on the net,” Xanthic said. Her chest puffed out a little proud. The grin on her face matched her a lot better than the scowl but it was gone in a few seconds. “Seems like Dr. P gave you an upgraded version.”

“Oh um… Possibly.”

“What happen to yours?”

At that Penny found closed her mouth, lips pressed to a tight line. Nothing happened to them, she was created with these eyes. But that was highly confidential information. Penny is highly confidential information. She shouldn’t be out here. Penny looked at her hands in her lap, wringing them ever so slightly. If anyone applied the right pressure they could feel the ball joints in her fingers.

“A secret for a secret, Ms. Polendina,” Xanthic said resting back against the backseat. She took a shaky breath and hugged her jacket to herself. “I thought Mantle had heaters? How is it this cold.”

“I…” Penny couldn’t tell a stranger, a hacker, she was a robot and couldn’t feel the cold. “This is my first time in Mantle.”

“I guess… you can say it’s my first time down here too,” Xanthic said with a small laugh.

The silence afterwards was much more comfortable and shorter. The transport landed right on top a building. Penny thanked Xanthic’s robot butler who looked at her but did not respond. Instead Xanthic frowned and rolled her eyes, “So much like Glade…”

“Do you know Ms. Glade?” Penny asked following the women to the roof access. She watched her pull out her scroll. The hacker didn’t press it to the scanner for entry, she opened it and… Lines of code appeared- Xanthic hacked the locked and the door hissed open. Penny gasped, “We can’t break into Ms. Glade’s home!”

“Is it really trespassing if she’s expecting us?”

“Well, we are…” Penny paused double checking the dictionary and Atlesian laws in her head. “Not infringing on her privacy.” Penny wrung her hands again. This was definitely not acceptable behavior, even her father wanted her to meet Glade, he definitely disapprove of this. “Nor have we come with the intent to harm… but…” Glades may not want to harm Penny but this was a hacker. Penny could be lured into a trap though… she would easily be able to sense whatever was lurking in the dark and fight her way free.

“Oh, now the huntress-in-training is scared? Where was this with the Droid?” Xanthic said, once again rolling her eyes. Penny frowned. She wasn’t scared. Safety protocols was just overreacting again. “Then I’ll have Glade drag you in. And to answer your question, no. I don’t know the damn goat personally, Glade’s reputation precedes her.” Xanthic entered without checking to see if Penny would follow.

After a small nervous dance and looking around as if someone would order her, Penny finally entered the building. She made sure the door would properly lock behind them. Xanthic was just a few steps down, looking at the building’s layout on her scroll.

“Her living quarters are… second floor from the top. Fun fact, she owns the entire building and her shop is the first two floors. Space between that and her apartment are testing rooms, workshops and storage.” Xanthic pocketed her scroll and lead Penny down a few more steps then to a door which she immediately opened.

Penny expected another hall but instead was greeted by bright lights and a living room. Random bits of machinery laid scattered the place, almost in an organized mess. Penny could see an open drone on the coffee table, screws and internal parts too close to a prosthetic arm to be organized.

From the other end of the living room a door opened. Glade had that expression again, brows furred, mouth slightly open. After spending time with Xanthic, Penny realized Glade was glaring a little. Behind her another young adult in Police Academy uniform. She stared intensely at Ms. Xanthic.

“Ashley Xanthic. Age 19. Recently found guilty of hacking Atlesian Military Facility.”

That odd face Glade had on instantly turned to joy. At least that was something Penny knew. “And you were ragging on my record! You were dumb enough to get caught!” Glade said throwing her head back with a laugh.

Xanthic scowled, a blush contrasting her blue bob. “Shut it, you goat!” That only made Glade snort and laugh harder. “I have so many regrets.”

“I suppose breaking the law, multiple times, isn’t one of them.” The officer-in-training frowned. She walked around Glade but no further into the apartment. Her eyes inspected Penny, “You are… unknown.”

“She’s Penny Polendina,” Xanthic said while Glade tried gasping for air. She just laughed harder. The hacker hummed, not a pleasant hum like father’s singing. Xanthic had her lips parted in a slight scowl, so more of a growl than a hum? Ms. Xanthic waved her arms, “This bitch is Ciel Soleil, and you’ve already met Aurora Glade.”

“Play nice, Xan,” Glade giggled. It finally stopped once she detached her metal feet. There was a soft hiss from the prosthetic and from pain. Glade slotted lighter, simpler ones. Indoor feet, Penny giggled to herself. “Shoes off, make yourself at home! Apparently we’re going to be spending a lot of time together.”

But Penny is a highly classified weapon. She wasn’t suppose to be out here, wasn’t suppose to be with people. “What… do you mean?” Penny asked hesitating. Her mind quickly fired up several scenarios, most of them involving the hacker discovering her origins-

“I was trying to get rid of my records but found something else linked to my file,” Xanthic said with a shrug. She took Glade’s offer and walked into the kitchen. The sound of a coffee machine followed. “Apparently we’re going to be a huntress team.” Of course! Ironwood was saying something about Glade and the Vytal Festival. “I’d like to meet everyone on my terms before becoming Ironwood’s puppet.”

Penny tried not to flinch under those words, but it spat out like hot wires against her processors. At first she thought no one notice but Glade’s eyes lingered a little too long. They both looked at Ciel when she scoffed.

"I’m not interested in behind dragged into whatever you anarchist have planned. If the General of our Kingdom," Penny noted how Glade and Xanthic rolled their eyes, “Has a directive for us we’d best follow it,” Ciel said. “I have an exam tomorrow, so if you’d excuse me-” She was not excused. Glade stepped in front of her.

“I’ll help you study,” Glade offered, “I helped my friends all the time while they were in combat school.”

Ciel looked up with a stare that had no emotion. A blank stare? Penny believed it was called. “We aren’t friends.”

“But we will be teammates.” Glade said with a grin. She leaned forward until she was eye level with the officer-in-training and held up one finger, “And it’s called being polite.” A second finger went up, “A new perspective will help.” Three used her thumb instead of her ring finger, “And this way you won’t be wasting time going back home and cooking your own dinner.” Then Glade straighten out to nearly half a head taller than Ciel and held out her hand. “Good?”

“Those are… acceptable terms,” Ciel relented with a sigh. She shook her hand and finally stepped into the apartment. “Rumor has it you’re a good cook.”

“Rumor has it you humans have a taste buds like cardboards.” Glade said with a small laugh. She looked at Penny and crossed her arms. “What? I need to talk you into staying too?”

Penny was still by the door, hands clasped together. She bounced a little, still unsure if she should stay or go… Her father trusted Glade. General Ironwood didn’t trust either of them. But if the hacker and mechanic wanted to harm her they would have done it already. And if not, P.E.N.N.Y could handle two civilians.

“Hm. No, I think I’ll stay for the moment, Ms. Glade.”

“Ugh, Glade is too formal. My friends call me Aro.”

Friends call me… Penny gasped bouncing a little more. Her power core leaking her Aura into too many components, “We’re friends?!” Someone wanted to be friends with her?

“Only if you like how Aro sounds- Hey!” Glade yelped, tackled a few steps backwards. The gravity Dust in her legs tethered her to the ground. Ciel and Xanthic frowned glancing at each other. Ciel gestured to the babbling ginger and the laughing goat but Xanthic choose to look around for cream and sugar.

Day 239 since creation. Three days since last artificial skin tear. Four trials cleared.

Day One of Team APCX.

#penny polendina #pietro polendina #fic #cutting strings #apcx #qued

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hb-pickle · 3 years

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°❆。ヾ(*´▽`*)ﾉ❄°。

Welcome to my blog!

(✿ ´◡` ✿)*✲ﾟ*

💎☃❄🌨💙 Here are some of my favorite post, so you can get to know me 🐝🍯🌻💛🖤

Also if you'd like to talk to me or ask me questions, please send me an ask (no DMs)!

.‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵.

⚠ IMPORTANT POST about racism and bullying in the Frozen fandom: My post (Screenshots and Sources ✉) + Friend's Post (Insidiousness of Fandom Racism)

🎨 Creative Stuff: My art + My edits

📚 My Essays (long, researched post): Interview With Sami Culture Expert, Dangerous Secrets Reviews, Into The Unknown Documentary Review, Frozen 2 Myths and Rumors

💬 My Opinions (short, more opinionated post): Hot takes 🔥

🌟 Author's Choice: Favorite Fanfics, Favorite Headcanons, Fav Fanart

💞 Personal Life Updates and such: #Personal tag

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☁ Misc: Frozen 2 Manga Uploads

.‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵.

#personal

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lovewillthaw-j · 5 years

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Forest of Shadows review

I finally read FoS, because my recent post on the “Secret Room” led me to search FoS and I also had some time on hand. I’m writing this post to share my views and invite conversations. Spoilers ahead! Also; I have not read any other full reviews of FoS. This is also the first Frozen-related official fiction I have read other than the Dark Horse comic True Treasure. Long post ahead.

Background: Ever since joining the fandom, I have seen mentions of FoS by other bloggers and get the general feeling that it’s a great book; thus I had high expectations of FoS. I had obtained the book in early February, read the first chapter and found it interesting. Didn’t have time to finish the book till now. Unfortunately, to be honest and true to myself, I did not like it.

The Good: I give credit to the author for 1) Exciting writing, it is truly quite a page turner, I couldn’t put it down and finished it in a day, reading into the night way past my usual bedtime. 2) A complex plot that did not feel drawn out for the sake of filling pages 3) Focusing on the sisters throughout and the climax being about their love for each other 4) The new characters do not take too much focus away from the sisters 5) Countless F2 references such as the scarf, Iduna singing the lullaby and cuddling both children, mention of a Dark Sea on the map, mention of Runeard and the Northuldra.

The Bad: I will touch on 6 areas (with some unavoidable overlap): 1) The premise 2) Anna’s characterisation 3) The Nattmara 4) Aren and Revolute sword 5) Myth vs Reality 6) Plot holes. Spoilers ahead!

1) In this story, Elsa is 24 and Anna is 21 - 3 years post Frozen 1 and in the same year as F2. The premise of the story is that Elsa is fearful of being a bad queen, and Anna is insecure about how Elsa feels about her. Elsa is also about to leave, without Anna, on a world tour on a ship. Elsa has planned for Anna to be the “keeper of the kingdom” while she is away but for some reason, has not told Anna, even up till 3 days before the voyage. The Blight starts and Elsa feels powerless, amplifying her fear, which brings on the wolf form of the Nattmara. Anna, who is insecure for almost the whole story, gets freed from her insecurity when it is revealed to her that Elsa intended for Anna to be the “keeper of the kingdom” all along. And then, Anna figures out the Nattmara is Elsa’s nightmare (and not Anna’s) and in the climax, uses “true love” to free Elsa and the whole kingdom. I feel that the entire premise of this story is thin and very OOC for the sisters, at least in my headcanon.

It is illogical to me that after 3 years of rule, Elsa feels fearful of being a bad queen. Surely she would have feared she would be a bad queen for the entire time since Agnarr died 6 years ago? Why now? Why would she feel this way 3 years after the great thaw and when she has Anna by her side? It is illogical to me that Elsa wouldn’t bring Anna on the world tour, and illogical that she would make Anna the keeper of the kingdom but not tell her about it or even give her some preparation and instructions, up till 3 days before the voyage. In the library, the sisters spent a whole afternoon together reading books and they couldn’t find the time to talk to each other?

Regarding the climax, I acknowledge that the author found a clever word play with “Revolute” being an anagram of “True Love”. But, using an act of “True love” to save the day felt stale and rehashed from F1, as if Anna’s act of true love in F1 was insignificant. I was sorely disappointed when I reached the climax.

2) I was very irritated with how Anna was characterised in this story as it clashes with my headcanon of how 21 year old post F1 pre F2 Anna should be. The author decided that “Anna is really, really, REALLY insecure” and bombarded us with reminders every few sentences about it. For example, when the sisters talked to SoYun, Elsa told SoYun “you did the right thing coming to me” and Anna felt insecure that Elsa had not said “us”. When Anna suggested to send Kristoff to look for the trolls, Elsa hesitated and Anna felt insecure that Elsa did not seem to like Anna’s idea. When Anna discovers the secret room, she is reminded of how she was always “the last to know” as a child. When Elsa talked to Gerda, Anna “would have been even happier if Elsa had told Gerda that Anna had found something important”. Anna also has a nightmare that there is another “Anna” that Elsa and Kristoff interact with, while she, the real Anna watches from outside. Why is Anna so insecure 3 years post F1 when she knows that Elsa’s love for her is so great that Elsa would willingly lock herself away from her? The book also tells us that Anna felt that she needed to “prove her worth” to Elsa, and this led to Anna becoming fixated on fixing the Blight, to earn Elsa’s approval and to bring her on the boat trip. To me, Anna giving up her life for Elsa in F1 has “proved her worth” for all time!! The author also took pains to bombard us with reminders of how ditzy and clumsy and awkward Anna is eg always waking up late, walking into the great hall in her nightgown, interrupting Elsa and embarrassing Elsa in front of the people, running off with Revolute sword with no plan. This is not what I headcanon 21 year old post-F1 Anna to be. She might be awkward, yes, but not to this level.

Anna also did a couple of immature things. 2 big examples: Elsa held a meeting in her bedroom and Anna wasn’t invited, but Anna could hear that the meeting was going on (outside the door) and was upset and fled to her room. I would have expected Anna to knock on the door and go in and be helpful, after all, she is the royal princess and Elsa’s confidante. Anna’s belief in the spell that grants dreams is also rather immature, as a 21 year old adult I would have expected her to know better.

I also expected Anna to sleep in Elsa’s bed every night to be there for her, especially when Elsa has been troubled by events (think about F2). Since when does Anna put anything, including her own insecurity over her love for Elsa? but no, upon finding Elsa’s bedroom empty, she goes back to sleep in her own room, and Elsa also didn’t come over to look for Anna. Why couldn’t the sisters just TALK to each other?? At the end of F1 they couldn’t stop touching each other, holding hands, hugging each other, making up for lost time.In summary:

I just cannot see my darling Anna as this person, sorry!

Yes she could have been like this before F1, but not after her epic F1 journey to save Elsa and not after 3 years with Elsa by her side.

3) The Nattmara. I have trouble with the Nattmara’s existence. As mentioned above, Elsa should have been fearful of being a bad queen 6 years ago - Nattmara should have appeared way earlier, why now?

The powers of the Nattmara were also ill defined. First, it was a sickness on animals and crops. Then it became a literal, physical wolf with capabilities to inflict real physical harm. Then, it also gained the ability to scare humans (not as a wolf, but as some unseen, spiritual force) but additionally, turn humans into zombies (Kai and Gerda, while half-awake, were able to hold weapons against Anna) Next, the Nattmara gained the ability to turn into black sand, reform into a wolf, and turn back into black sand effortlessly. IIRC, the Nattmara only demonstrated the ability to turn into black sand after they read about it in Sorenson’s book, and then it started to use this power extensively. But even more confusing, when they were leaving the Huldrefolk and rushing back to Arendelle, they met up with Sorenson who was “possessed” by the Nattmara but didn’t have the yellow eyes and was able to speak normally and deceive the main characters about a magical water source. And after that, “possessed-Sorenson” (an old man) gained the physical ability to take on Kristoff in a fight.

I feel that the author twisted the powers and capabilities of the Nattmara to keep the reader on the edge. (doesn’t everybody like zombies) I’m not sure if the Nattmara is just darkness or does it have a mind of its own? And every normal person has nightmares and fears, why hasn’t Nattmara appeared before? In chapter 9, it is stated that “Anna had dreamed of the wolf her entire childhood” - what is the explanation for that from a Nattmara perspective?

4) Aren and the Revolute sword are confusing as the author first introduces it as a myth (a sword that can create an actual, geographical fjord miles wide, is a myth) and the sisters acknowledge that it is only a tale. Sorenson debunks Aren and Revolute. Inexplicably, after Sorenson debunks it, Anna immediately says “So we need Revolute!”, showing that she now believes that there is a real Aren and a real sword, and this leads them to look for the Huldrefolk because “the Huldrefolk always find that which is lost”. To put it another way, a group of adults decided to enter dangerous, abandoned mines, based on the thinnest of suggestions that a mythical sword exists and a magical people that may not exist, somehow have it. Their quest to find the sword then leads them back to the tumulus, which they now believe is Aren’s. After some difficulty, they actually find a physical sword named Revolute, but my question is, do the sisters believe this is a real, normal sword owned by a normal human warrior called Aren or do they now believe they have found the mythical, fjord carving sword? They then try to use a physical sword against a mythical creature - doesn’t that contradict the “myth to destroy a myth” bit?

Nattmara destroys the sword, and eventually the “myth to destroy a myth” is revealed to be True Love, which happens to be the anagram of “Revolute”. Clever, but too convenient! What does the sword have to do with true love? Couldn’t Anna have figured out that the answer was true love by another way?

Historically speaking, warriors would be buried with their swords next to them or laid on their bodies with their arms crossed over the sword, so why is the sword found in the ship’s dragon mouth? And, the book said that the tumulus may be thousands of years old, how can a sword that old not have rusted and disintegrated by now?

Additionally, the Earth giant’s passage starts from the castle and passes the tumulus of Aren; Iduna knew the existence of the passage because she wrote about it in her book, so why wouldn’t any other king, Agnarr included, have examined/exhumed the tumulus and made it a museum, or store the artifacts in a museum, and research to see whose tomb it was? These are the 1800s after all, archaelogy had already begun post-renaissance.

5) As an extension of point 4, the treatment of myth/magic and reality is confusing. The story starts off on the premise that aside from Elsa’s magic and the rock trolls, we are in the real world dealing with real botanical and animal farming issues. Sorenson is introduced by Oaken as a “mystic” but in person, Sorenson is actually a scientist (reminds you of Varian from RTA/ TTS). Sorenson makes an excellent speech debunking the Nattmara, Huldrefolk and Aren and Revolute. When I got to this point in the book, I thought, that’s an absolutely correct 21st century mythbuster/human psychology explanation of nightmares and magical creatures and other unexplained phenomena. The book that he is holding is even called “Psychologia”. I was expecting that there would be a real world, logical explanation for the wolf and the Blight and Kai and Gerda going mad (Zootopia and the “night howlers” serum causing savageness comes to mind) However, the author then throws this away and the Nattmara is shown to be a real magic force, the Huldrefolk are shown to be real, Aren and his sword are actually real. Sorenson is the one who said “you can only defeat a myth with a thing of myth” but in the same breath says that all of these don’t truly exist; Yet, the rest of the story rests on defeating Nattmara with a thing of myth.

If the author had intended to portray this as a magical world and Sorenson as the “skeptic”, she didn’t write it clearly enough; or she shouldn’t have inserted so many sentences on debunking to maintain the suspension of disbelief.

6) Plot holes: Why is Elsa the only one who can deal with mundane problems like cracks in chimneys and animal illnesses? Hasn’t she heard of delegation?

Why isn’t Elsa interested in the contents of the secret room, as an educated adult and ruler? She took one look at the portrait of Aren, thought about “great leaders”, felt consumed by fear that she isn’t one, and decided that she will shut the secret room and inexplicably says “mother and father intended for it to be hidden, so it should stay hidden”. A great leader would read extensively and do research and build on what your forebears have done; here is a treasure trove of work done by her parents, the previous rulers.

If Elsa could make the massive snow bear, Bjorn, then why didn’t she make an army of snow bears to fight possessed-Sorenson? Instead she left Kristoff to face him alone?

When Elsa was consumed by the black sand and Anna ran towards her, it is clearly written that Elsa attacked Anna with the black sand, but in the next chapter Anna is still Anna and not zombified.

Wow, I have really written a lot. I guess I was really invested in the story, but my disappointment at the ending and the overall premise is too great. I really wanted to like this story. I don’t mean to start any wars, I hope I haven’t offended anybody and I’m willing to consider other perspectives. Please talk to me in the comments! Thanks for reading if you reached here!

#frozen #frozen 2 #frozensnetwork #frozensource #forest of shadows #disneyfeverdaily #disney frozen #disney #elsa #anna

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mediaeval-muse · 4 years

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Book Review

Echo North. By Joanna Ruth Meyer. Salem: Page Street Publishing, 2019.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: YA fantasy

Part of a Series? No

Summary: Echo Alkaev’s safe and carefully structured world falls apart when her father leaves for the city and mysteriously disappears. Believing he is lost forever, Echo is shocked to find him half-frozen in the winter forest six months later, guarded by a strange talking wolf—the same creature who attacked her as a child. The wolf presents Echo with an ultimatum: If she lives with him for one year, he will ensure her father makes it home safely. But there is more to the wolf than Echo realizes. In his enchanted house beneath a mountain, each room must be sewn together to keep the home from unraveling, and something new and dark and strange lies behind every door. When centuries-old secrets unfold, Echo discovers a magical library full of books-turned-mirrors, and a young man named Hal who is trapped inside of them. As the year ticks by, the rooms begin to disappear, and Echo must solve the mystery of the wolf’s enchantment before her time is up, otherwise Echo, the wolf, and Hal will be lost forever.

***Full review under the cut.***

Content Warnings: blood, violence

Overview: I picked up this book on recommendation from a friend, who also recommended Rosamund Hodge’s Cruel Beauty. I’m always looking for a fun fairy tale retelling, and there were parts of this book that I found clever and enchanting. What prompted me to give this book a middling rating was not the book’s concept or the author’s imagination, but the writing. I felt like Meyer didn’t take advantage of the opportunities for rich descriptions - either of her magical settings or character emotions - and as a result, I think the prose prevented me from fully engaging with the characters or the fantasy world.

Writing: As I said above, the descriptions in this book are rather sparse. While I’m not advocating for lengthy paragraphs that pile detail upon detail, I do think that Meyer could have offered more to make her story feel more vivid. She has some nice turns of phrases and metaphors here and there, but on the whole, I didn’t feel like her prose brought her world to life. For example, when Echo (our protagonist) arrives at the magical house and has her first meal, she describes the banquet: “I sampled little bits of everything: the meat was tender, the fruit summer-sweet, the soup hot and rich with flavor. The glass of pink liquid tasted lightly of honey and berries, and fizzled pleasingly on my tongue.” While I don’t need a catalog of all the food, I did find this description lacking - it doesn’t exactly impart any feeling of richness to me. The same is true for descriptions of the house. Descriptions are given matter-of-factly, without taking advantage of language to impart a sense of otherworldly or magical beauty. Doors are simply red, blue, green, or some other color, stairs are made of dragon scales or paper, some doors are carved with birds or trees. I wanted to be dazzled by this house, but in the end, nothing really popped for me.

The lack of rich descriptions also made for problems in portraying character emotions. While characters would sometimes act in ways that indicated how they were feeling, I felt like a lot of emotions were simply told to us. It felt like Echo (who narrates the story using a first person perspective) had very little interiority, and that her narration was keeping her at a distance from the reader. Meyer attempts to make up for this, I think, with a quirk of hers, which is to repeat something two or three times or to put something in italics. For example, when Echo and Ivan (a guide she hires to take her through the wilderness) slip through some ice, Echo describes rescuing Ivan as “I wrap my other hand tight around Ivan’s arm, and pull” or, when describing emotion, Meyer writes “he wept and wept.” It wasn’t overly irritating, but it happened enough for me to notice as a pattern.

I also thought that the prose was lacking in terms of pace. The entire book seemed to progress at roughly the same pace, which made some parts feel rushed and others feel slow. While it may not be a problem for readers who like their stories to move along, I found that it rushed through events that I would have liked to see explored more or given more emotional weight. It gets a bit better in Part 2, but I still would argue that with all the travel scenes, the pace might not suit some readers.

Plot: The plot of this book follows your typical “Beauty and the Beast” or “Cupid and Psyche” structure. A girl is taken to the home of a prince (or lord, or what have you), the latter cursed by a witch to appear monstrous by day. The prince makes clear that the girl must not look at him at night (which is when he changes back to his true form), lest he be taken by the witch forever. You can probably guess the rest.

In terms of remaking or subverting this plot structure, Meyer doesn’t do anything I’d call revolutionary. It proceeds as one might expect. Where this book shines, however, is in the details that make it unique. For example, the magical house that Echo must routinely “rebind” (something akin to stabilizing) using her magical needle and thread was a lovely image, and the threat of its “unbinding” was intriguing. The library of mirror-books, too, was a wonderful addition, and was an interesting way to think about how we “experience” stories. I also really liked the transformation scene (which readers might be familiar with if they know the story of Tam Lin, for example). The transformations really hammered home how scary and dangerous it might be to hold on to someone as they change form, and I think Meyer handled it well. I also think the stuff she does with time was clever (though I won’t spoil it for you).

But by far the biggest flaw in the plot is the lack of shape. While I got the sense that Echo wanted to help the Wolf, there were so many scenes of her wandering (the house, the mirror-books, the frozen wilderness) that I couldn’t see how scenes built upon one another to progress towards some kind of end; scenes simply happened. I also would have liked to see a recurring theme wound into the plot. While there are some (self-acceptance, the power of stories, etc.), they aren’t really integral to the unfolding of the plot. They’re just kind of there.

Characters: This story is told from the first person perspective of Echo, a sixteen year old girl who was disfigured as a child by the very wolf who pressures her to live with him years later (this isn’t a spoiler - it happens right away). Echo was a refreshing protagonist in that she wasn’t always confident in herself and didn’t have that “pretty but thinks she’s plain” vibe. However, I also found her to be a little too perfect. She reads so much about anatomy that she has basic healing skills, she teaches herself piano, and learns to fence so she can be somewhat competent in any given battle situation. Her only real faults are that she tries to help others too much - she tries to please her stepmother, but ends up angering her by being better at piano; she tries to rescue the Wolf, but accidentally angers him, etc. I wanted a little more nuance from her, some real flaw that she could grow from. I think her scars suggested that her character growth was one of self-acceptance, but I don’t think it was strong enough or woven into the plot other than the moments when she expresses some angst.

The Wolf (our “beast” in this “Beauty and the Beast” tale) is likewise a little void of flaws or interesting personality. He’s mostly there to teach Echo how to care for the house and to be mopey about his impending fate, dropping bits of lore or information when needed. I honestly didn’t get a real sense of why Echo ended up feeling affection for him, other than he was kind. Even when we learn of his connection with the mirror-books (and that’s all I’ll say about that), I didn’t quite understand the appeal. I did like the reveal towards the end of his true motives, but I do wish there was more to him so that we could see why Echo feels things for him.

Supporting characters were likewise a little flat for me. Echo’s stepmother was a bit too stereotypically nasty, the Wolf Queen lacking motivation or nuance, and Mokosh (a fellow reader) a bit too convenient. I never got the sense that they were characters, mostly just archetypes.

Other: This book doesn’t have a lot of proper worldbuilding, which may please some readers, but annoy others. Echo’s village is never really named and we don’t know how magic really works or how it fits in with the non-magical world. I was a bit bothered by the lack of worldbuilding because it meant that I wasn’t fully aware of the limits or rules of the magic, nor did I get a strong Slavic “flavor” to the story.

Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in

fairy tale retellings (especially “Beauty and the Beast” or “Cupid and Psyche”)

enchanted houses

Slavic folklore

#book reviews

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