#the fifth year i presented on how hans from frozen never should have been a villain and they did a bad job making him a villain

[aidanchaser]

may I inquire about your presentation that includes loveybug? :0 🫶🏻🥰

YES!

I just posted the first four slides bc that's what i prepared tonight

but anyway it's a party my friend hosts annually for her birthday. we had to pause for covid and other friend group drama but it's back and so i've decided to present on the lovesquare (which is not actually a square!) and the lovesquare wouldn't be complete if I didn't end with the wonderful creation of loveybug!

[justlookatthosesausages]

:: “Memoirs” :: a post-Frozen 2 Time Travel AU

======= CHAPTER 7 Safe and sound =======

As Elsa opened her eyes - even though, she thought, she didn’t really opened them, because Ahtohallan was projecting the memories of the future into her mind - she was welcome by a melodious and soft music. 

The notes turned into a song as a gentle male voice accompanied them, and Elsa looked around trying to understand where she was standing. 

This was Anna’s and Kristoff’s bedroom. It had been only Anna’s, a long time ago, then they had redesigned it from the moment Kristoff lived in the castle, and Elsa had seen its design change once again in the future memory of Anna giving birth to her daughter. But here, it had a different structure, though half-familiar, and the Snow Queen easily guessed that what she was about to witness was happening before the memory that was submitted to her in the Forest.

She finally laid eyes on the source of the music, and found a moving ice statue representing Kristoff playing the lute, seated on the bed, as Anna was on the sheets next to him, her face adorned with a dreamy smile. She had a hand against the pillow next to her, and the other was absentmindedly rubbing her belly. 

Elsa loudly gasped with emotion when she saw that Anna was pregnant, and visibly in the last months. She immediately covered her mouth, fearing for a second that she ruined the soft lullaby Kristoff was playing. Thankfully, she wasn’t really there, them neither, and they were all just sharing a moment lost in time. 

Lost in time, but real. The blonde felt her eyes sting at the thought, and her stomach leaped a bit. This would become true. This was the future. Kristoff was singing to his wife one of the most tender songs she had ever heard from him, and Anna was looking at him singing like she was in the best place in the entire world. 

Once he was finished, it took all of Elsa’s will to not clap right then in awe or sigh with delight as Kristoff placed his hand above Anna’s on her belly. She had to focus on what they were saying. She couldn’t help but think, despite the beauty of the scene: was she already dead in that moment?  

Kristoff bent to his wife to kiss her in the hair, then he shifted to kiss her belly. He smiled after he did. 

“Oh, I’m very lucky tonight.” He said, his voice a bit crystalline and reverberated in ice statue form. “No kick in the face. I won’t lose a teeth this time.”

Anna giggled, but also eye-rolled. “Come on. Don’t exaggerate. It had just been a tiny kick.”

“Still. She’s as strong as you, and I’m sure that one centimeter to the right would have knocked me down.” 

They both laughed, then kissed, and Elsa shed a tear at Anna’s voice. It was the first time she heard her talking as a grown adult, and a future mother. Last time she saw her around that age was when she was giving birth, and well, it wasn’t the most representative sample... She had mostly heard her scream. Here, she was calm, bathing in love and happiness, and it filled Elsa’s heart. 

“Hey, you’re still persuaded that it’s a girl?” Frowned Anna, lifting her face, her long untied hair sliding along the pillow.

“What, this conversation again?” Groaned Kristoff, but he was amused. “Come on, feisty. I told you. Bulda said it would be a girl. The northern lights are never wrong.”

“The northern lights...” Repeated Anna with a long sigh, exasperated, and Elsa couldn’t help but laugh, especially at the face she made as she put her head back down. 

Kristoff chuckled. “Don’t mock it. It’s been proven.”

Anna smirked. “Alright. Then we need to think of baby names. I only thought about boys ones.” 

“Oh yeah? What were your choices?” Asked Kristoff, picking up his lute and idly plucking the chords.

Elsa stepped forward. This conversation was lovely, and she leaned on the edge of the bed made out of ice, her arms crossed, smiling at their soft interaction. 

“I was thinking about ‘Hans’.”

Kristoff missed a heartbeat and his hand slipped on the chords, and Elsa almost fell to the floor at the sentence. 

Anna cackled loudly with laughter. “I’m just kidding! Oh my goodness, you should have seen your face!!”

“This is not funny.” Mumbled Kristoff. 

She howled with laughter, and suddenly slammed her hand on her belly when her moves became too big. “Ow, ow, ow...”

“See? Stop saying nonsense, you’re going to hurt yourself.”

He helped her change her posture on the bed, using his own pillow to put it under her back. 

“Thank you. Ugh, I shouldn’t have laughed that hard. At least she’ll have the sense of humor.”

Kristoff and Elsa shook their head at the same time, puffing. 

“Do you have ideas for a girl name?” Asked Anna, her voice soft and calm again. 

“I’ve been thinking about Olwen.”

“What? What even is that kind of name?” Snorted the Queen. 

“It means ‘White footprint’ in Welsh. And I got the idea inspired from old mythology. Olwen was a goddess who would make flowers spring up as she walked in snow.” Smiled Kristoff, waving her hands with pretty illustrative gestures. “For a baby who will be born between Winter and Spring, it will be great, don’t you think? Your sister would approve it.”  

Elsa’s entire body stiffened as she heard the sentence. Did that mean... What that meant? Was she gone already?

“Okay, ice nerd.” Puffed Anna. “Well, don’t try to convince me with emotion. That’s not gonna make me change my mind. It’s a no-no.”

Kristoff pouted, and Elsa’s heart split in half. ‘With emotion’ echoed in her mind. So she was dead before this scene happened. She was dead before Anna even finished her pregnancy. 

If present Anna was there by her side, she would convince her that she had to wait for more clues, and was taking things out of context. But she wasn’t there. And Elsa knew that it was too many coincidences for it to not be the truth. 

As Kristoff kept defending his choice of name, Elsa winced. She sighed and forced herself to smile. At least she could enjoy this moment of them. 

“How about Alexandria?” Suggested Anna with a big smile. 

Kristoff groaned. “That’s sounds a bit like a disease.” 

“What?? Come onnnn, be supportive!” 

“I would if that didn’t sound like a disease.”

She nudged him on the shoulder, and he chuckled, continuing his soft plucking of the chords. The scene was so sweet that it actually made Elsa grin, and she forgot her sadness.

“Okay, I’m gonna think about another one.” Accepted Anna.

She then turned to him with a warning finger. “But we’re never ever going to pick your name.”

=======

“Hi, Olwen.” Smiled Anna with a soft voice. 

Elsa blinked when the memory suddenly changed. The room was the same, still filled with moving ice statues, but there were more people, and the furniture had changed. It was back to the design Elsa had seen in the memory when Anna had given birth. 

And then it hit her. This was what happened right afterwards. 

With an emotional gasp, Elsa ran to the tiny baby Anna was holding in the crook of her arms with a smile, and that Kristoff and her couldn’t detach their eyes from. Anna was gently rubbing her cheek with her thumb, her eyes filled with maternal love, and the elder felt her heart leap at the beautiful scene.  

The baby was adorable, and the blonde started crying along the new parents as they all stared at it. 

“Olwen of Arendelle. You’ve got all the world to discover.” Whispered Kristoff, like he feared that talking too loud would shatter the fragile skin of his daughter. 

Elsa rubbed her tears so she would stop seeing blur, and smiled to the blond as he caressed the head of the sleeping baby. It looked infinitely cute, and Elsa wished she could say the same of Anna, but she had messy hair, and some locks were stuck to her face because of her sweat. 

With a chuckle, Elsa looked at her, and lifted her hand as she wanted to put some of her hair behind her ear and tell her how amazing she had been in her labor. 

However, this only was a memory, even if it was from the future, and she only contented herself with a supportive smile as she saw Anna hold Olwen closer to her chest. 

The Fifth Spirit looked around, looking one last time with one last hope that she was indeed present in the room, but hadn’t noticed. Nevertheless, she definitely wasn’t. With a pinch to the heart, she looked at Kristoff and Anna kissing each other, then the redhead giggled with happiness. Seeing them both admire their daughter, who brought such touching smiles on their faces, and would become the future of Arendelle, was enough to make her lips stretch in a content smile, and she enjoyed the moment as it was.

=======

A new flash appeared as the memory changed. Now, a lot of years had passed, easy to notice for the blonde in a simple stare: the furniture was different, and maybe even the wallpaper, but she couldn’t tell which color it was, for everything was cyan and white in ice statues. 

Elsa squinted as she walked to the bed, and tried to recognized the ones present there. She gasped in joy when she saw how adorable Olwen had grown up to be. She now was around 10 years old, and reminded her of Anna was she was her age. She wanted to step further to see how cute she was, but the little girl shifted in her sheets as Anna, now an older adult, kissed her on the forehead. 

They both giggled, and the Snow Queen masked a giggle behind her hand as well. She couldn’t help but hide her sounds. She felt like the moment was intimate, private even, and was so touched by the love filling the room that she didn’t want to ruin it, even if they couldn’t hear her. It was a shame that the ice memories couldn’t show much colors, because she would have loved to know if her niece’s hair was blonde, red, or maybe a mix of both. Elsa chose to use her imagination, like she usually did, and it wasn’t hard because of much she looked like her mother.

“Sleep well, love.” Smiled Anna, and her bun swayed in her move as she stood up from the bed.  

“Mama, can you tell me a story about Auntie?”

Anna stopped right in her tracks just before reaching the door. Elsa stopped breathing.

The blonde’s hand, who had lowered from her mouth to her chest in emotion at Anna’s love as she put her daughter to bed, clenched there. 

‘Here we go.’ Thought Elsa. ‘She’ll want to know what happened.’

Anna didn’t look back, and from where the elder stood, she couldn’t know what her expression was. Her heart squeezed even harder. The redhead probably was feeling sad about it. She had stopped walking, and wasn’t looking back as she answered her daughter. 

“Not tonight, sweetheart. Sorry.”

“Mamaaaa!” Insisted Olwen, using adorable bounces in the sheets to persuade her. 

Elsa would have found it adorable if she wasn’t devastated. 

“Please tell me the story about that time she saved Ahtohallan!” Begged the little girl. 

Anna didn’t reply right away, and Elsa accepted with sadness that she didn’t want to talk about how she had lost her... Wait, when she saved Ahtohallan? The elder frowned in confusion. 

“Why wouldn’t she tell you herself?” Finally turned around Anna, and to Elsa’s greatest surprise, she was wearing a big smile and looking right at her. 

The elder gasped with wide eyes, panicking. Was she able to see her? Did she know she was here? How long did she know? 

She inspected the expression on the ice statue of her grown adult sister, and then realized that she wasn’t looking at her, but behind her. 

Slowly, Elsa turned around, and was seized by the biggest emotion when she saw who had just came in by the window.

A gust of wind finished twirling as an older adult Elsa stepped in the room, and as she turned around to close the window behind her, present Elsa got struck by the vision of her own front and back. With a dropped jaw, she saw how in the move, her shoulder pieces sparkled, even in the dimmed light of the candles in Olwen’s bedroom. Her white outfit was the same after all these years, but was more sophisticated, more ergonomic, and, Elsa couldn’t help but admit, ten times more gorgeous than the one she was currently wearing. She - her older self, as insane as the situation was - had added light armor pieces made of dense ice that brightened with the purest white, and they covered her shoulders, her chest, but also her arms and her thighs. 

Elsa forgot to breath and gulp for the eternal seconds when her older self stepped in the room and to the bed. As she did, she stared at her with wide eyes. Her future self had shorter hair, way shorter hair than present time, but also undeniably more muscles, from bigger biceps to broader shoulders, and Elsa wondered if it was due to intense riding or to simply living in the woods for several tens of years. Her brain was unable to come with an answer, for how stunned she was by that mere entrance. As her older self came to sit on the bed, the skin-like ice fabric below her chest armor piece shone. It attracted Elsa’s gaze, who detached her eyes from the impressively confident expression her future self had, to make them land on a set of sharp abs. 

Present Elsa let out a gasp that was a mix of a scoff and a sigh as she looked over and over at herself. She was alive. And not only alive; actually looking really great.

“AUNTIEEE!!” Exclaimed the little girl, jumping in joy and completely going off the sheets to join her and crush her in a hug. 

Elsa gasped in emotion, tears now rolling down her cheeks. She couldn’t tell if it was due to happiness, relief, or because her older self now was hugging Olwen tight.

“Hi sweetie.” She chuckled. 

It was odd to hear one’s own voice, and even weirder to hear it from one’s future self. Elsa felt taken aback by the situation, but the memory went on, and she barely caught on the sensation. 

“Seriously, Elsa?” Grumbled Anna. 

Present Elsa thought she was going to scold her from suddenly appearing at the window, reproach her from not using the door, or tell her to have warned about her visit. But it was none of those. 

“It took me ages to put her to bed. I’m gonna kill you.” Sighed Anna. 

Older Elsa chuckled, and Olwen giggled with a guilty tone. “I doubt that you will kill me”, smiled the blonde. “Also, we can make a deal.” She added to her niece, looking down. “I tell you the story of that time I saved Ahtohallan, and then off to bed, alright?” 

“I promise!” Jolted the girl, beaming in joy and not disappointed at all. 

“Alright. Now go back in your sheets.” Asked Elsa as she ruffled her hair. 

Anna had stepped to her, and while the child was lying back down, the blonde added: “The meeting has ended. I took care of the maps. Kristoff is walking the dignitaries to their coaches. You don’t need to go back.”

“Okay, thanks.” Smiled Anna with a relieved but also tired sigh. She wasn’t a fan of interrupting her evening meetings, going upstairs, putting her daughter to bed, to then switch her mood back and go to regal tone again.

“I think contracts are on the right way with eastern diplomats.” Analyzed Elsa. “With the new politics, we made an equal deal.”

Present Elsa was speechless at the scene. The blonde’s lips stretched slightly at how her older self sounded. By those simple sentences, she was showing a lot of assurance, relaxation, and she was touched to see that she got Anna’s back in Queen duties despite clearly only passing by. However, she was surprised to see that her voice hadn’t changed at all in all those years. She was way more confident, but still had a light voice. 

“Yeah, I think so too.” Nodded Anna with a smile and some professional wisdom.

“Hey, enough boring adult talk!” Grumbled Olwen from the sheets she had buried herself in to the cheeks. 

The sisters giggled, and even present Elsa shook her head. Yep, she was Anna’s spitting image. Even if, proof being there, older Anna would become a very serious and dedicated Queen. 

Older Elsa tapped her chin. “Okay, the story of that time I saved Ahtohallan... Hummm...”

Anna eye-rolled. “She heard it a hundred times already, no need to put that much suspense.”

The Snow Queen laughed, and gave an amused look to her sister as she sat on the bed too. “Did you tell the story more times than me, or is it the reverse?”

“I think I did.” Snorted Anna. 

“I prefer when it’s Auntie who tells it.” Pouted Olwen. 

Anna dropped her jaw as Elsa cackled with laughter. 

“Ouch?” Gasped the redhead. 

“You put too much details when you tell it. I want to go to the action part.” Explained the child, and Elsa laughed again.

“There’s no need to rush to the fight part!” Frowned Anna, defending her own version of the story. 

“But you always spend soooo much time praising Auntie, it gets so long!” 

Elsa looked away to openly laugh without embarrassing her sister, and present Elsa smiled with delight at the scene. Anna was blushing deeply - even if she couldn’t really tell in ice statue form, she just knew it -, her older self was laughing out loud without hiding behind her hand, and her niece was adorably pouting after proving that truth comes out of the mouth of children. 

“Okay, okay, no useless intro, then.” Coughed Elsa, retrieving her breath. 

She patted Anna’s shoulder. “The positive part in this, is that she’ll go to sleep earlier.”

The redhead pouted a bit, still not recovering from being criticized on the way she told stories. 

“Once upon a time, raiders plundered Ahtohallan. I fought them back. The end.”

“AUNTIEEEE!!”

“I’m just kidding.” Giggled Elsa, and Anna joined the laugh. 

“Okay, once upon a time, and that was when you were very little--”

“I wasn’t born yet, actually.” 

“Yes, you weren’t born yet.” Smiled Elsa. “She knows the story better than me.” She added to Anna on side note, and the Queen nodded. It was the third time in the month that she asked for that story. 

“Ahtohallan got attacked by very evil and very numerous raiders.” Continued Elsa with a lower mysterious voice, pocking her niece’s belly above the sheets at each ‘very’, and the latter giggled. 

“They had carefully planned their coup. I was there in Arendelle, along your mother, because she was about to give birth.”

“Ew.”

“To you.” Specified Anna.

“Still ew.”

The sisters chuckled, and Elsa kept going. “They had strategically chosen that period because they knew that the Queen was in no condition to send an army, and I’d be too far to come prevent them from raiding the glacier.”

Olwen was listening carefully, her eyes opened wide, even if she knew the story into every detail. 

“Little did they know that Ahtohallan could warn me.” Said Elsa, now switching to a soft and deep tone, almost hypnotic to the young girl’s ears. 

She then moved her fingers, and some tiny figures made of ice and snow appeared in the air just above her niece’s eyes, and showed what happened. “I waited for them to enter the glacier to create an ambush...” 

“Hey, no wonder you’re her favorite to tell the story!” Suddenly exclaimed Anna with a bit of anger. “You cheater! You’re making images as well!”

Elsa and Olwen laughed as the snow characters continued to move. 

“Shhhh, we’re getting to her favorite part.” Teased Elsa, and the Queen grumbled as she looked away and muttered a ‘It’s unfair.’

Elsa put as much suspense she could, and suddenly burst a mini explosion of snow, making Olwen gasp, as she showed the raiders falling into a pit in the reproduction of the glacier. The little girl giggled as some of them comically tried to hang to the sides with their picks, but then fell backwards. 

“Some were clever enough to have anticipated it, and had escaped the trap. So I started fighting them...”

The mini ice figure representing Elsa started to craft herself an ice staff, and fought the angry men in Northuldra style. 

“Awesome!” Beamed Olwen.

“This is a bit too graphic for a girl of her age.” Mumbled Anna, and she waved her hand through a snow figure particularly violent that depicted Elsa knocking down a guy with her staff. 

“You can’t erase them.” Smirked Elsa.

It dispersed but reformed after Anna took her hand away. No way her elder was going to let down her golden ticket to the girl’s heart. Anna shook her head with a smile, and let her continue the illustrations. She however gave her sister a look that meant ‘less violence in the figures, please’, which Elsa understood with a nod, and the snow figures became a bit more vague. 

“Olaf had come along to help me.” Smiled Elsa, adding some humor in her illustrations to mask the brutality of the action. “He wasn’t really good at fighting, but scared some of the raiders, and got very useful.” 

Anna and her daughter observed the funny moves of the figures, seeing a bunch of grown men running away in fear as Olaf led an army of snowgies to chase them. They all laughed when one of them managed to go out of the glacier, and screamed of panic when he noticed that a snowgie had made its way into his pants. 

“Olaf named himself ‘Guardian of Ahtohallan’ afterwards.” Smiled Anna. “Not sure if it stuck.”

“Ahtohallan doesn’t dare to tell him that it’s already technically me”, laughed Elsa. “But it’s fine. He can keep the title.” 

“Olaf is so funny.” Giggled Olwen. 

The sisters nodded, and Elsa flicked her wrist, continuing the story. Present Elsa was just as attentive as the little girl now, for she was as curious to know what happened next. 

“The fight continued for long hours. The raiders were ready for a possible danger so they were numerous, though they didn’t expect to face me.” Smirked older Elsa.

“And that is why she couldn’t attend the day I was giving birth to you.” Smiled Anna. “And several days afterwards, because Ahtohallan needed to be rebuilt and reshaped, and justice to be done about those mean raiders with Elsa as a witness.”

Olwen nodded slowly, her jaw still dropped. Present Elsa smiled tenderly at how, once again, she reminded her so much of Anna when she was a child, and listened to stories told by her own mother. 

“She was busing up North, but it was so epic and I’m so proud of her, that I never got upset that she wasn’t there.” Smiled Anna, putting a hand on Elsa’s shoulder, who smiled. “Also, she came three days afterwards with so many gifts that we couldn’t even step in your bedroom for how much they filled it.”

Elsa chuckled. “Guilty.” 

Olwen laughed at Elsa’s love for her, that they all knew very well, then her laugh extended to a long yawn. 

“Alright, that signal means that it’s time for bed!” Jolted Anna. 

“N’ther story, b’lease?” Muttered her daughter. 

“Oh no, young princess, it’s getting late now. Come on, close your eyes.” 

Elsa stood up as Anna put the sheets back on her, and the girl soon went off to sleep. Present Elsa, who rubbed an emotional tear off her cheek once again, noticed that the girl didn’t snore, and thought that she inherited from her father’s side on it. 

She felt filled with love, due to the scene, the situation, how Anna and herself had grown up to be, and the fact she now knew why she hadn’t been at Anna’s side that day, and now understood why Ahtohallan had planned to show her this bed time story moment.

Anna kissed Olwen’s forehead again, and the two sisters silently left the room. 

“We should catch up with Kristoff to join our feedbacks about the meeting.” Whispered Anna to her elder as they passed the threshold. 

“Sure. Just give me a minute. I’ll meet you guys downstairs.” Whispered back Elsa.

“Okay.” 

Anna left and went in the corridor, her ice statue disappearing as she did, because she stepped out of the memory. 

Present Elsa suddenly got struck by the fact that she had been wrong; this future memory wasn’t Anna’s. Or Olwen’s. It was hers. 

Her older self stood still, and then she smiled and turned around. Her gaze roamed over the whole room, like she was searching for something hidden in the walls. 

“I know you’re here.”

Present Elsa gasped in surprise, stepping back as a reflex. Her older self smiled softly, like she knew she had just reacted that way. 

“I’ll always remember seeing this memory of the future.”

There was a silence, and both Elsas looked at each other with respect and calm smiles. 

“Take care of yourself. Well, of ourself.” Said older Elsa. “The future is sunny.” 

Present Elsa took a shaking inhale, her throat tightened with emotion. 

Her older version winked, and turned around to pass the door. 

The whole room dissolved into snowflakes, ending the memory in a wind of snow. 

Elsa watched it elevate, sparkly and beautiful, and smiled deeply. She closed her eyes, the remaining drops on her eyelashes rolling on her cheeks, and when she opened her eyes again, she came back to present time. 

=======

Anna hadn’t detached her eyes from her sister’s face, and jumped of surprise when she started to blink. 

“Elsa?” 

“I’m here.” Assured the blonde, smiling to the face above hers. 

Anna sighed with relief, even if she wasn’t really scared that her elder would never wake up. Tears of joy filled Elsa’s eyes, and she suddenly sat up to hug her sister deeply. 

“Oh- okay.” Blabbered Anna, tackled by the hug. She was confused, but gave it back with closed eyes. 

When they finished hugging, they stared at each other, seated on the ice floor of Ahtohallan, and Elsa found it odd to see Anna in her twenties in front of her. 

“What?” Worried the redhead, seeing the way she stared. 

“Nothing.” Smiled Elsa. 

She turned her head to the dome, nodding calmly and wisely. “Thank you.”

The magic source brightened in a ‘You’re welcome’ gesture, and when the blonde turned to Anna again, the younger had a questioning face. 

“So? What happened?? What was the event of the future? Why won’t you be there at my delivery? Why are you happy crying??”

Elsa sniffed and laughed. 

“There’s a lot I want to tell you.” She grinned.

[kshitij1997]

All frozen characters belong to the Walt Disney company, all I own is this retelling.

Facing what the river knows

Elsa hadn't felt so giddy and light-hearted in a long time. It was a moment of pure joy and ecstasy after all. How many people were fortunate enough to reach absolution in their own lifetime? Fewer were those who got to have all the questions they ever had about themselves, their origin and their world.

The rarest of all were those who got to witness the fact that all the sacrifices they had made for the good of others were worth the suffering.

And chosen were the ones who got the sign of love and affection that they had always yearned for from the people that mattered to them the most.

Elsa wept in gratitude as a huge weight had ben lifted off her shoulders. For the first time in her life she was exactly where she was supposed to be. Sure, being queen and being able to rule for the people had always brought her some satisfaction and pride, but this….this was private, this was personal. It was far better than when she had struck out in defiance to the world when she had built her monument of solitude. It was magnificent, but hollow. For what was the joy in creating if no one else could appreciate your creation? Oh, creativity was truly a marvellous thing.

The mere thought of creativity sent a huge burst of power through her. In that moment, she felt on top of world, someone who could experience past, present and future all together at the same time. Someone who could move continents if they wanted to. She let loose with the thickest blanket of snow she had ever conjured. It was an intricate, delicate dance she was executing at the moment. One moment with the poise and motion of a kind, delicate breeze, another moment the force and power of a hurricane, yet another moment with the kinetic energy of a bolt of lightning, and yet another with the gravitas and defiance of a mountain rising up from the sea against all the strength gravity could conjure to pull it down. And finally, the delicate yet laborious motion of life being created and giving rise to something unique in the universe.

In that moment, Elsa asked herself, is this what the ancient Norse giants felt when they created the universe from the cadaver of their ancestor? Joy, satisfaction, power and peace? Her mind raced back to the moment she had built her castle. She had felt rebellious and powerful sure, but she realized now that there was something missing. Something she only achieved when an act of true love saved her from a horrible death. She glad for everything that she had faced in her life so far, the pain, the heartbreak, the anger, the loathing, the suffering. She wouldn't be here now if all that didn't happen. She wouldn't be the person she was now if she had forever stood aloof against her life and the world. In that moment, she realized that all things good or bad in life, ultimately made one stronger. That was a very important life lesson for her; to embrace life with the good and the bad, as they were what made life worth living in the end. As distant as a galaxy were those moments of suicidal thoughts she had felt after her bitter spat with Anna inside her fortress, when her own creation was looking down on her for being so cold hearted, cruel and cowardly. As distant were the moments of self-hatred when Olva called her out on her behaviour during the coronation when she used terrible words to put her other sister down.

She was grateful that she had the chance to make amends.

She was broken out of her philosophy as the finished sum of her labours became clear to her. A whole bunch of statues that seemed to be sentient, however frozen in a moment of time far gone, or something otherworldly that could happen in the distant future. The future was hazy to make out, even if there were some notable achievements that could be made out; how humans might conquer the skies someday, how one day they may witness a miracle of technology, through which they could see a story being told on a contraption that resembled a curtain yet, without a wrinkle, they were able to witness something as universal as true love and family unfold in front of them. How one day, the oppressed might gain courage and throw their colonial masters to forge their own identity in the world. It was murky but encouraging, as humanity might learn to be more sensitive towards each other. Or not, as she could sense cataclysmic events taking shaping in the centuries to come. Events she didn't wish to think about lest she fell into baseless existential thoughts about everything.

In contrast, the past seemed much sharper, though it had an uncertainty of a different kind. Multiple events happening in tandem, and some events happening yet leading to multiple different outcomes. The curious soul in her was fascinated even as she saw the dome of the Hagia Sophia in purple instead of the turquoise, how she saw two Taj Mahals instead of one, one white marble and the other from black igneous rock. How the deserts once used to be green, and how there used to more freshwater lakes.

It was wonderful to see, but as she approached the past further, it became a lot more detailed, especially when her memories of her own life and the people in the life came to be. How her childhood was a lot happier than she remember it, how Olva and Anna were always by her side, through thick and thin. She almost had to turn away when she witnessed the accident from a different perspective, when Anna was struck in the head and Olva endured a head injury from the crashing towers of ice and snow she had built that night for their playtime. It was painful, but her new mantra of taking the good as well as the bad in her stride helped weather the edge of the moment. Still it was tough not to cry in that moment; it would take a lifetime, even after this moment of paradise to recover from those events in her childhood. But it had all become better in the end, she told herself, which brought her some solace. She then witnessed in full force how Anna and Olva adjusted to a life without Elsa to play with, how Anna would plead day after day for her to come out and build a snowman she would never find the courage to build, how Olva would regularly shove letters under her door so that she would know what was going on, how her parents had increasingly bitter spats and fights on how to deal with her powers. How Anna grew more childish and desperate to escape the terrible feelings of abandonment, how Olva's issues with pain, addiction and rage grew worse with time and how she lashed out viciously against those who threatened her family. Elsa felt responsible for all this and made a note to embrace both her sisters and tell them how much she loved them over and over again once she was able to calm the fury of the fifth spirit against her land.

How the family came together in happiness and in grief, reassured her that no matter how events turn out, family shall always be paramount to her. How the sisters came together after the great thaw and enjoyed a toast of hot chocolate to the found for the first time in several years. It was something she'd cherish forever.

She had to laugh when her moment of rebellion presented itself to her. Oh, to be on her own, what was she thinking? Sure, it was the first time she'd felt free and empowered, however she'd ultimately was just running away and abandoning her responsibilities. Elsa felt glad that she knew better now.

How she saw her mother rescuing her father from the ravines in the last stand of the Northurldra nearly broke her, how her parents much more than just her parents, how they were human being with their faults and fears, Elsa promised to herself never to take anyone at face value again, a promise that was tested in the very next moment when she saw Hans.

Oh, she could break his head like a walnut, but when she was able to see how he became that way, how he had tried to hold ship when Arendelle was on the verge of sinking, how in a rare moment of sincerity, told Olva how he felt about everything, how he was against a wall with he world primed to crush him. Elsa could not endorse, but she could understand. All things considered, she and Hans were rather alike, she felt embarrassed about how she'd called him irredeemable. Her crimes were far worse, even if she was able to reverse them and do penitence. Even if the deeds he did were questionable and punishable, so were hers to a degree. If she had found forgiveness, why couldn't he? She made a vow to forgive him once this was over and hope that he would find peace someday. From what Olva had told her, he had found solace by turning to the lord in his lowest moments. She would find him and ask for his forgiveness in return.

With that resolve strengthening her, she moved further, were a most remarkable thing happened. She began feeling cold for the first time in her life, an occurrence she believed was because she had begun to intrude on something that she shouldn't be able to know. But no, this was different. Somehow, it was private, yet she felt the calling much stronger in that direction.

'"What do you mean you can't lead?!" the king bellowed "I didn't raise a coward!"

"I chose not to lead, not because I can't, but because these wars are a fool's errand." The prince answered calmly.

"I didn't ask you for your opinion." "You should have. Dear uncle Napoleon is screwing himself with this conflict."

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK OF HIM IN THIS MANNER?! HUH! I have known for over twenty-five years now, long before I ever met your mother. I am to just abandon him in his time of need?!"

"If you really cared, you would've stopped him. The Russians aren't to be fucked with." A rare poor choice of words for the crown prince.

"Where did you learn such beautiful language, huh?! From the girl you've been meeting?! Has SHE BEEN POSIONING YOUR MIND AGAINST ME?!" retorted the king after smacking Agnarr in the face for that comment.

"Who?" Asked Agnarr as he nursed his cheek. "Don't you DARE play coy with me. You thought I wouldn't find out?! Whatever childish games you play, that's your business. When the fairer gender gets involved, any fooling around that you do does become my damn business." The king answered in a voice dripping with disdain, venom and contempt.

"Her name is Iduna, and no, she has not influenced my decisions in any way whatsoever." The prince now rose from where he had fallen and continued "As for the other business you're insinuating, it's a pity I can't strike you back."

The king loomed dangerously close and growled "Try me."

For a moment it looked as if they had forgotten that they were father and son, rather two strangers who were spoiling for a brawl.'

Elsa was aghast; was this the man she called her grandfather? No, this was an acutely private discussion between two people who were long dead. She had no right to judge them; what would she do in their circumstances? However, the call became even sharper in her mind that there was more to it. Even as the cold feeling worsened, she trekked on.

'"Father, why can't we talk like the well-educated people that we are? A mosh pit between us would be shameful. Let's discuss this calmly."

The king took a moment to breathe, stepped back and said "Very well, but I can't stand back this time like I did in Spain. I will rally my army with the French, for the sole reason that I can't let the Tsar have any more influence in Europe than he already has. As for the north, it's time they bowed down to the true authority in Arendelle."

"We should have pursued the peace talks further with the Northurldra, pa. We would have reached an accord."

"I know from experience that's not true. I did offer the NORTH the gift of the reservoir, at great personal cost of the empire. How do they show their gratitude? By nearly blowing up the blessed dam! How do I reach an accord with such animals?" The king said.

"Maybe they couldn't forget the valley of death." Agnarr suggested.

"It's a bloody shame they didn't remember the valley that well either, for they should have guessed that my kindness to them is a privilege they have, not my duty or moral law towards them." Replied the king "The expedition up north will happen, if the Northern people hold their lives and livelihoods dear, they would be wise to stand down without much destruction." '

The valley of death? The ravine where she had felt heavy and suffocated when she and Anna had tried to pass through to get to Athohallan sooner? A place so unholy even the spirits wouldn't dare disturb it?

She felt the beginnings of the slightest rigidity in her movements. Was she being held accountable for this? Or it was just too powerful for her to experience?

Such questions were wiped away from her mind when she came across the battle of the valley of death. What she saw rocked her to her core.

'The Northurldra cavalry, over fifteen thousand strong, charged with all the might that they could muster, with a combination of cutlasses, spears, and clubs, and with their trusted reindeer mounts, for an all-out charge against the biggest pain of their existence.

Though massive in strength, the Northurldra made the mistake of leading themselves into a ravine, and with no way out, they were doomed. Runeard ordered an artillery barrage so horrific that it spread word of his capabilities and depths of hatred across Europe.

The Northurldra had knives, swords, spears and a few muskets at best. It was no contest.

Just a bloody massacre.

It was difficult to count how many were mowed down with bullets, how many were cut to pieces by the bayonets charging downhill, and how many were trampled in the confused stampede. But one could be said for certain; the Northurldra Cavalry never recovered from the battle.

They had risked everything on one last battle, just what Runeard had wanted, and it had cost them everything.'

The rigidity that Elsa had felt had risen further and had begun to feel constricting in wake of the horror that she had just witnessed. Nevertheless, she felt determined to get all the answers possible, even if she would be trapped there forever.

She reached a cliff where she had a moment of doubt; the battle of the valley of death was horrifying, but it didn't explain the mist, the separation and the call she had heard. It wasn't just to make her the best version of herself, surely there was something else to it? But what about Arendelle? She had left Olva alone in a precarious state to prosecute the defence of the Kingdom against all Northern Europe, surely the troops and people needed their leader the most in this moment. And what about Anna? She had once again left her to fend for herself in the wilderness, along with Olaf. She had a lot of explaining to do. Nevertheless, she made the decision to get to the root of the matter, as she felt that would answer everything, and leapt from the cliff into the ravine below.

The constrictive grasp she had been feeling had actively begun to overpower her, she felt difficulty in breathing even as she felt the warnings of her mother's lullaby echo in her head, as well as snippets of another argument.

'"FATHER!"

The king turned back violently to find the crown prince Agnarr. The mere sight of him distracted Runeard so much that for a few long agonizing minutes he forgot where he was.

"Stupid boy, what are you doing here? I told you this is no place for you."

"And I told you it's not worth the bloodshed, leave them alone. I guess an inability to follow orders or advice runs in the family."

"You want to discuss that now?! With these killers inching closer?"'

What did her grandfather mean by 'that'? Was there something else more terrifying?

Elsa got her answer in stark detail as she landed on her feet. The cold was threatening to engulf her by this point, but she chose to go further.

'The leader of Northurldra was beside himself in disbelief. Was king Runeard truly this viciously foolish as to threaten the shrine of the fifth spirit? He, in addition to being the leader of the Northurldra, was also the chief caretaker of the shrine atop the tallest mountain in the north of Arendelle, supported by his adopted special daughter who had the power to change form on a whim, believed to be blessing from the fifth spirit itself, and by hundreds of those who chose to maintain the shrine, a sacred place as well as being the only rocky construction made by the Northurldra in ancient times, compared to the simple leather tents they lived in now. The shrine also served as a fortress, to protect the Northurldra from invaders. Alas, despite their best defensive measures, the Arendellians had made the diabolical move to set fire to the forest at the bottom of the mountain. The forest fire became more intense and deadlier as it climbed the mountain with a terrific speed.

The Northurldra were running out of options as the flames leapt closer. To die engulfed in destructive flames, or to charge downhill and try in vain to take out the army and be destroyed? The Northurldra decided to go extinct facing their devil in defiance and charged downhill with their weapons and a severe vengeance, the transitioning daughter leading the charge.

What they didn't know was that Runeard, in a fiendishly cunning bit of legwork, had found the secret tunnel used by the Northurldra as an escape route in dire situations, keeping him and his personal guard safe from the fire and the battle that raged on the mountain. Runeard ascended with his guards to the summit as the battle was being fought down far below. He entered the shrine where he and his personal guard stood face to face with the leader of Northurldra, along with ten loyal defenders, armed to the teeth.

'Runeard, you backstabbing snake! How dare you desecrate the holy mountain? I relented after the dam, but now I won't!' Hissed the leader.

'It is 'Your Majesty' to you from now on, do you understand, you old fraud?' Runeard growled.

'You have a beef with me, you fight me alone, what did my poor people do to deserve it? To be forced to charge down towards a decoy resulting in near certain death?' the leader began to speak, but he was interrupted rudely by the king 'No hard feelings, your grace, but I can't let a cancerous appendix threaten the health of the state of Arendelle.'

The leader had heard enough 'You will regret this, you monster.' With that, he gave the go ahead. And so it was.

A fight to the death.

A bitter melee between scores of people, the kind of fight Runeard generally avoided, but wasn't averse to. Even so, his guards were feeling the pressure as the Northurldra were in their element and were desperate to protect their shrine. The Northurldra leader may have been out of his prime, but he was still a force to be reckoned with. Even as the last of his defenders were immobilized, he was able to cut down five of his attackers personally when he was struck in the heart with a spear from one of the few surviving kingsguard. Runeard stepped in callously and asked the fallen leader contemptuously 'Any final words from the dying culture of you northern savages?'

'Your own family will be your kingdom's downfa-' the dying leader began to speak in choked words but his head was lopped off by the king, who wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

A full minute of silence passed even as the inferno grew behind Runeard, who was taking in the spoils of his attack.

'What about the survivors, your majesty?'

'Let them die with their gods, and set fire to the shrine once done with them''

Elsa couldn't watch anymore, shutting her eyes away from the massacre, even as she could feel every death, every cut from the battle, the lives of the fallen ebbing away, and the shrine burning to utter destruction, the cries of an aged woman lamenting the fate of the Northurldra before slitting her own throat open to avoid being made a trophy of those Arendellian monsters. Elsa cried out in pain as the cold turned to ice as it began rendering her solid, in tandem with the bloodcurdling cries of the woman who saw the fate of her adopted father, her grief turning to murderous hatred as she vowed the destruction of Arendelle.

It was heart-breaking, but it still didn't explain the mist. The fifth spirit was clearly furious with Arendelle, but then it could have destroyed Arendelle without a trace left behind, why the mist, and why the call? Had she always been an unwitting pawn in this play from the beginning?

The queen summoned all the courage she had left and opened her eyes with tremendous effort towards one final scene

'It was a titanic clash in the middle of the worst avalanche the north had ever seen, between king Runeard and the self-proclaimed avenger of the fifth spirit.

'Such a magnificent fighter you are, you'd make a wonderful queen' Runeard goaded the woman, even has he narrowly missed a blow from her double handed battle axe.

'I'd feel even better with your head mounted in my lair' growled the woman in a wolfish voice.

'It's a pity that you're a monster begging to be killed.' hissed the king as he played a manoeuvre of hitting her on the shoulder, while pulling out a pistol ready to shoot the woman in the heart. She anticipated this, dropped her weapon and turned into a wolf to go for the shoulder and ducking in at the last second to break his neck with her open jaws.

A shot rang and a jaw clenched. Then the survivor yelped in a near feminine tone of voice as his life ebbed away from his throat which was torn apart. And then it happened in an instant, the fire, the earthquake, the inferno, the hurricane, the landslide and finally the mist.'

Elsa realized it all in horror, even as she was near solidly frozen, that the mist was there because the work of the fifth spirit was incomplete, it could only be done with the utter destruction of Arendelle. And she was the final move, the triggering device for said destruction. Runeard's own family would be the downfall of the kingdom of Arendelle after all.

She made a desperate decision in a split second. Anna and Olva need to know about this. As for myself, I'll offer myself up as sacrifice to the fifth spirit, so that it may be appeased, and it may relent somehow. The people of Arendelle don't deserve this horrible fate. I'll take the fall for them.

With that, she conjured two wisps of snow, one for Anna and one for Olva and stopped resisting once and for all as she froze completely in a statue of ice.

Anna found out about the whole story and put two and two together in terror as Olaf melted away; the dam must go, that was the only hope for her people, even if she had to lay down her life for the greater good. It was the next right thing after all.

Back in Arendelle, Olva was finishing the discussion with the admirals regarding the battle plans to face the naval invasion coming in the next twenty-four hours, when the giant six-foot mirror of ice in her room was shattered into a million pieces. Olva stood dumbfounded for a moment as she saw the shards of ice melting away, then lifted her face in terrible realization. Turning to Hans, she said gravely 'Elsa's dead, Anna's nowhere to be found, we're on our own.'

Whoo, for a standalone story this fits nicely into my multichapter fic, frozen the epic. If you like, you can read that as well!

Nevertheless, I hope you like this standalone. If you wish, I'll include this in the multichapter story when the time comes. Olva is the OC and Hans is there too.

As usual, constructive feedback or appreciation is always welcome!

[lorrainecparker]

Valerian: Luc Besson’s hero drives a Lexus

Valerian, the film, picks the comic series from 1967 and mixes it with a promise of the future: the Skyjet vehicle designed by Lexus for a world set 700 years in the future. Time to look at Luc Besson’s love and a dream which started half a century ago.

The first trailer from Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, revealed last November, gave viewers a glimpse of the Skyjet, a single-seat pursuit craft featured in the film. The vehicle is the result of a cooperative work between the team behind Valerian and Lexus, challenged to create a vehicle grounded on reality but existing in the future universe of Valerian.

The creative team met with Lexus’ Chief Engineer, Takeaki Kato and the Lexus design team, to discuss incorporating believable, imaginative technologies and contemporary design cues into the final iteration of the Skyjet. The result is a craft the being futuristic includes an adapted interpretation of Lexus’ signature “spindle” grille, and a similar headlight design to that of the anticipated 2018 Lexus LC coupe, defined by an athletic and aerodynamic shape.

The Skyjet vehicle and the technology that makes the film possible, are the only modern elements of Valerian, because the story is old, a sci-fi saga that started back in 1967, when the first adventure of Valerian and Laureline (yes, because there is a heroine in the series) was published in Europe, in the French magazine Pilote. The comic book series, created by writer Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières, was published until 2010, a total of 21 volumes plus a short story collection and an encyclopedia. The books are being reissued now, in special editions that hope to explore the public’s interest in the film.

In 2012 Luc Besson announced that he wanted to make a film based on a comic book from his youth. The idea of adapting the adventures of Valerian and Laureline to the cinema was not new, though. Since Besson made The Fifth Element (1997), also based on a French comic series, that he wanted to do it, but the director felt the technology available would not allow to reproduce the unique universe of the spatio-temporal agents. It was only after Avatar, from James Cameron, that Luc Besson believed the conditions were met, and started to think of Valerian as a film. Or more, as the director suggested in a recent interview: “I will be the happiest guy in the world if the film works and I can do a second one and a third one.”

Are we about to see another saga like Star Wars?

Valerian, as multiple articles on the Internet have enumerated over and over, is one of the sources for Star Wars. The comparison reveals so many “coincidences” that it is hard to believe it’s just a coincidence. From Princess Leia’s costume worn in Return of the Jedi, very similar to the slave-girl outfit that Laureline wears in The Land Without Stars (1972), to the figure with a burned face present in Empire of a Thousand Planets, from 1971, which is similar to Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker), going through the Millenium Falcon and Valerian’s spaceship or the way Valerian is frozen in liquid plastic, in the same comic book, and Han Solo is imprisoned in carbonite in The Empire Strikes Back of 1980, nine years later, there are too many coincidences.

An interview with Pierre Christin, by Martin Scholz of the German newspaper Die Welt,  (available in English at Europe Comics, under the title Valerian: A Model for Star Wars), touches the subject. The journalist asks if the authors were surprised when they saw, ten years after their first comic book came out, the first episode of Star Wars borrowing heavily from their characters, creatures and design of spaceships and Pierre Christin replies that “Yes, that’s exactly what my colleague Jean-Claude Mézières and I told ourselves when we walked out of the cinema after watching Star Wars for the first time. But my first reaction was not anger.”

In the same interview Pierre Christin comments that “In the ’80s, particularly in France, people were convinced that George Lucas had stolen from Valerian” and adds that “in general, all you hear from the US in reply to such allegations is that French comics are barely known and not successful at all on that side of the Atlantic – which, on the whole, is true. Nevertheless, the few people in the US who do know French comics fairly well are Hollywood’s art directors and storyboard artists. They might not be able to read the magazines, but they still flick through them now and then in search of ideas. That’s what French film-makers who’ve been to Hollywood have told me: They happened to have seen piles of French comics in the creative departments of various film studios.”

One important element that many seem to forget is the influence that, without any doubt, one French magazine had in Hollywood. Metal Hurlant, a comics magazine launched in France in 1975 was renamed and launched in the United States in April 1977 as a monthly magazine, Heavy Metal. The artists published in the magazine included names as Jean Giraud (a.k.a. Moebius), Philippe Druillet or Enki Bilal. Although the first Valerian and Laureline album translated to English was Ambassador of Shadows, published in Heavy Metal in 1981, it’s only natural that Heavy Metal, which is still published today in the United States, attracted the attention of a whole generation of artists when it was launched, and made French and Belgian comics and European comics in general even more popular with a generation after new visions.

The cross-influence from comics to cinema should not come as a surprise and Star Wars is not the only case. In fact, Luc Besson’s film The Fifth Element is said to have “borrowed” the idea from the comic series The Incal, created in 1980 by comics writer Alejandro Jodorowsky and artist Moebius (Jean Henri Gaston Giraud). Moebius did contribute storyboards and concept designs to the movie, but some suggest that Besson used more than just the storyboards.  In a 2002 interview published by Danish comic book magazine Strip, Jodorowsky said it was an honour to have his ideas stolen.

Moebius and Jodorowsky are also associated with another project that never saw the light of day, at least as Jodorowsky meant it, but which, apparently, was used in Hollywood as “guide-book” for science-fiction films: Dune. A documentary from 2013, Jodorowsky’s Dune, reveals that the “film notes, Jodorowsky’s script, extensive storyboards and concept art were sent to all major film studios”, and argues that these inspired later film productions, including the Alien, Star Wars and Terminator series.

Still looking at Star Wars and Valerian, it is also interesting to see that Valerian and Han Solo seem to have similar traits, while Laureline is basically Princess Leia. One other element usually not mentioned, but that fascinates me, is that Luke Skywalker lives as a farmer with his adopted family until he starts training to be a Jedi, while Laureline is a 11th century French peasant brought from the past by Valerian and trained to become a space-agent. Both heroes are farmers, both are taken from their element to receive training…

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets launches in cinemas around the world starting next week. In the United States it will be available in 2D and 3D beginning 21 July 2017, and it will be interesting to see how the public receives Luc Besson’s adaptation. Featuring an all-star cast including Clive Owen, Ethan Hawke, Rihanna, and Kris W, the project marks Luc Besson’s most ambitious film to date and the largest-budget European motion picture ever produced. The film is produced by Virginie Besson-Silla.

Having collected Valerian and Laureline stories throughout the years, since they first appeared, I must admit I am very curious to see the film, because, as Luc Besson, I always thought the comic deserved to be translated to the cinema. Knowing the series, I also hope this Valerian and Laureline film opens the door for more films, because it would be fantastic to see the evolution of the saga beyond the first books. In fact, while Star Wars became a sterile universe after the first three films, in my opinion, the stories created by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières have evolved, from the exciting sci-fi adventure from the initial books to stories touching multiple political and social topics that could just be the base for sequels to the saga.

The film gives us an image of Laureline that corresponds to the image  the comic series build of her throughout the different albums. As Gabrielle Bellot wrote recently in The Atlantic, Laureline was, “from the start, a radically impressive figure who set the bar high for women in science fiction. No mere beautiful figure, Laureline has a piercing intellect, a near-indomitable pride in herself, an endearing but acid wit, and formidable fighting skills. And yet she resists being an archetype of female perfection.”

It’s easy to understand why Luc Besson says that he fell in love with Laureline when he first read the comics. It’s a love and adventure that started 50 years ago.

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