Thanks to Vesfarhloc for the questions!

1) How did you get into the Elsanna fandom?

2) What did you like about the film? Favorite song/character/moment?

3) What made you want to write TQM in the 1st place?

4) How would you describe your writing style, and how do you think you have evolved as a writer?

5) At the time of this interview, it’s 76+ chapters with a plethora of characters. Any challenges you had to face undertaking such a massive project? How much of this was planned in great detail? Any difficulty in keeping track of them & the plot?

6) You made a conscious decision to use characters with slightly different personalities (Elsa being more confident & Anna being more hardened), and set them in scenarios with vast political consequences. Why, and did this pose any difficulty?

7) The Coronan Royal family appear here as supporting cast, and mesh well with your Elsa’s and Anna’s past, personalities, and the overall arc. Why include them, and did this pose any difficulty?

8) Why not inserted more Disney princesses & lore into the plot?

9) Any general Elsanna tropes that you wanted to avoid using? Or include?

10) What were the influences & inspiration for TQM (from both Elsanna and other works of fiction)?

11) Your at the final arc of your story, so if you had a time machine, what aspects of your story would you to have added/deleted/changed?



12) What do you think are the themes/motifs/symbolism of your story?



13) Favorite character in your story? What aspects of yourself, if any, are reflected in your characters?

14) Favorite moment in your story? Any moment in the story that you yourself can relate to?

15) If this story gets the Hollywood treatment, who would you want to direct? Play the characters? Tone?

16) What’re your other favorite Elsanna stories, authors, and most memorable scenes?

17) Favorite Disney/Pixar film?

18) Once this story is completed, what next? Sequel/Prequel/Midquel? A different Elsanna story?

19) Any tips for future writers?







1. It was probably the reverse opposite of many other Elsanna fans. I actually stumbled upon some Elsanna fics BEFORE I saw the movie. Then, obviously, I watched the film. By that time, I was already sucked in.





2. The characters and surprisingly adult themes for one. I think what I appreciated most about the film was its willingness to deviate from Disney’s usual formula and change things up a little. Favorite song…honestly not quite sure. My favorite moment, of course, was Anna attempting to sacrifice herself for Elsa. It was a wonderful subversion of expectations and really fit the themes of the film well.





3. I’ve always been fascinated by the dynamics of how power/wealth disparities influence/affect romantic relationships. I searched a long time for Elsanna stories on this topic, but none really provided what I was looking for. ITSOTQ was somehwat close, but their relationship seemed far too ‘easy’ considering their situation. I wanted to approach it with a more realistic point of view.





4. I like to keep my writing relatively simple and clear; I provide readers a good amount of detail but leave them room to fill in some gaps about some non-critical things…like the layout of a room, for example. In terms of evolving as a writer, I think the most important development for me has been learning the value of delayed gratification. Writing and reading certain things feels good, but it’s often a bigger payoff if there’s wait/challenge involved. Instant gratification is an easy trap for a writer to fall into, but I’ve learned that the enjoyable aspects of a story are a lot more meaningful in the end if there’s been a lot of pain and uncertainty involved.

A big turning point, both for this story and my writing as a whole, occurred in Chapter 9. Anna was practice-dueling against some jerkass named Henrik. Originally, I planned for Anna to win that fight and leave Henrik humiliated. But then I realized that it was important to establish that the heroes of this story could (and often would) lose some of their battles. So Anna ended up humiliated by the end of that fight, Henrik walked off with a smirk and we never saw him again. It wasn’t a scene that had a big direct impact on the plot, but I think it was important in establishing the tone of the story. At the moment, it would have been more pleasurable to write (and read) if Anna had won that bout, but I believe it made the story better as a whole.





5. Originally, I didn’t intend for it to be this long, but it quickly became apparent to me that this would become a story of epic length. I’ve always had a good memory for fiction, so keeping track of the plot in my head was never too much of an issue. I’ve had the ending in mind since Chapter Ten, and nothing about it has really changed since then. Sometimes there are certain minor details that I need to refresh myself on, but I usually don’t have trouble finding which Chapter they were in.





6. We’ve seen Elsa struggle with her powers a thousand times in a thousand different stories. Sometimes, it’s been depicted beautifully. But it’s a subject that, frankly, I’ve grown somewhat sick of. The payoff in a lot of stories has been Elsa finally gaining control of her powers and acting confidently with them. It’s always been enjoyable to see, so I thought, why not have her like that from the very beginning? Anna and Elsa face enough challenge and hardship throughout the story; having Elsa struggle with her powers AGAIN would have been overkill.

As for Anna being hardened, that was (originally) a less conscious decision on my part. I think part of the reason she comes off as less naive is the more realistic tone of this story. Having someone with her background (orphaned, poor, and homeless) acting completely innocent and cheerful all the time would not have meshed well with the tone of TQM. She’s still the Anna we know and love, just a bit more jaded and realistic thanks to a life on the streets.

The scenarios and political consequences came pretty easily to me. The thing that I worried about most was keeping the characters consistent. Not only did I have to make them recognizable with the people we saw in the movie itself, but I also had to keep them acting in a manner consistent with how they’ve been portrayed in TQM so far. It’s probably the aspect of the story that’s worried me the most. When you write an action scene, all you have to do is read what you’ve written and you can usually tell if it was a good one or not. Whether you’ve kept characters faithful to their established personalities is harder to judge.





7. The Coronan cast were essential to TQM for several reasons. Rapunzel’s healing tears open up a lot of potential storytelling avenues, and her place as Elsa’s heir removes some of the angst from Anna and Elsa’s relationship. More importantly, in long-running stories, having a larger cast of characters is almost essential. If I just focused on Frozen’s cast, I’m not sure there would have always been enough characters to cover all my bases (especially since I’ve killed several of them). I wanted to establish that this was a large and expansive world, and for that I needed to have some characters from different countries assume prominent roles. The Coronan cast were surprisingly easy to write; they fit into this story like a glove. Part of what I wanted to convey with them is that they’ve already reached their 'happy endings’ while Anna and Elsa are still fighting for theirs. They’ve already gone through their stories, and hence didn’t need quite as much development as Elsa and Anna.





8. At the same time, I didn’t want TQM to become too crowded. Cameo appearances are still possible, but I didn’t think bringing in more Disney characters was necessary. I wanted every protagonist to receive at least some focus and characterization, and including many more would have put that at risk.





9. There were a lot of tropes that I wanted to avoid. Some, like Elsa struggling with her powers, are ones that can and have been done well before, but I avoided because I wanted to try something new. One Elsanna trope that I find indicative of bad storytelling is 'weak Arendelle’, in which the kingdom is conquered by the villain in five hours, the military is useless, and Elsa is helpless to respond to threats because her kingdom could be destroyed instantly. Stories that feature this make you wonder how Arendelle wasn’t conquered centuries ago, and immediately remove any semblance of realism in terms of politics.

I also wanted to avoid the 'long lost sister’ cliche that we’ve seen a dozen times. In a lot of fics where they’re originally not sisters, they turn out to be related after all thanks to some separation or prophecy or plot. It undermines the entire theme of the story (more on that later) and just seems far too predictable.





10. ITSOTQ and Tempest were probably the two largest influences in terms of plot and setting. There’s also a fic I enjoyed known as Winter’s Heart that gave me the idea of being a Goddess. Outside of Elsanna, Game of Thrones certainly influenced some of the politics that TQM has discussed.





11. There’s nothing major I would change. There are some instances of foreshadowing that I could have included but did not, so that’s probably something I would add in if I could. Otherwise, nothing specific.



13. Anna. I love both Anna and Elsa, but the former just a little bit more. Anna just possesses a natural inclination to help others and be selfless that Elsa doesn’t always quite match. I think this is illustrated in the film by the fact that Elsa is content to live in her mountain and avoid harming others, while Anna goes out to make the world better and save her sister and kingdom. Don’t get me wrong, I love Elsa and think she’s a fantastic character, but I prefer Anna by a slight margin. I try not to reflect aspects of my own personality in my characters (Anna is poor, I am not. Anna sucks at reading and education, I do not. Anna is naturally friendly to everyone around her, I am not.) Anna, for me, is in some ways of how I wish I (and the rest of the world) could be. 14. The ending, which has not yet been written. No spoilers!



14. The ending, which has not yet been written. No spoilers!

15. Very funny. 16. Tempest, ITSOTQ, Ice Roses, With You, Feel Don’t Conceal, Anna Summers PA, Legend of Elsa. There are so many good ones I’m not sure where to begin!



16. Tempest, ITSOTQ, Ice Roses, With You, Feel Don’t Conceal, Anna Summers PA, Legend of Elsa. There are so many good ones I’m not sure where to begin!

17. Honestly, Frozen. But part of that is that I haven’t seen a lot of Disney and Pixar films, to be honest. I’ve never seen Toy Story, the Lion King, or Beauty and the Beast, oddly enough. 18. I’m still undecided. The ending wouldn’t really go well with a sequel, and I’m not sure how a prequel would make sense. Right now I’m trying to focus on making TQM the best story it can be.



18. I’m still undecided. The ending wouldn’t really go well with a sequel, and I’m not sure how a prequel would make sense. Right now I’m trying to focus on making TQM the best story it can be.

19. Write what you would like to read, have a plan of where you want your story to go, and remember that an awesome payoff in the future is often far more valuable than an enjoyable moment in the present Chapter.



12. There are a lot of major themes in TQM. Some were meant to be included right away, and others came upon more gradually. The first and probably the most important one is that anyone can make a difference/be the hero. It’s something that countless works of fiction have explored, yet is all too forgotten. Almost always, whenever a work appears to endorse this view, it undermines its own premise by revealing that the seemingly simple protagonist is 'destined’ or 'fated’ for the role, has royal/noble/significant lineage that he/she was unaware of, has incredible natural talent/intelligence, or is connected to the overarching plot in some fashion. Anna is none of those things. It was the product of pure chance that she met Elsa that night, nothing else. She’s not overly intelligent or skilled at anything save some aptitude with a sword. She was 'chosen’ by Elsa in a sense but only as a lover/companion, not a hero or champion. Save for her heart, Anna has no remarkable innate talent, ability, or heritage.Connected to that is the idea that someone’s true worth isn’t demonstrated by their skills and intelligence but their kindness, loyalty, and bravery. Again, a common theme all too forgotten.I also wanted to explore the idea of receiving assistance from friends and loved ones. Until the Fallen arc, Anna is supported by Elsa completely in all monetary manners. And that’s OK. Too many people, both in real life and in fiction, believe that accepting money from a friend is craven and undermines one’s pride. Part of which I wanted to convey with Anna’s situation is that there is nothing wrong with accepting someone’s charity if you are incapable of supporting yourself and that someone has enough money to spare. Friends and lovers can and should support one another. If there is nothing wrong in accepting someone’s assistance in areas such as emotional support/comfort or accepting their offer to fight alongside you, why is there such shame in accepting monetary aid that they can provide easily? Oftentimes in fiction, a friend/lover risking their life to save the hero will be thought of as welcome aid, but an offer to pay for a poor hero’s food/clothing/roof will be thought of as an insult. I think that is a reflection of the obsessive pride that our culture places on wealth and status.Another, darker theme I wanted to explore is that 'happy endings’ do not necessarily last, even if they have been earned. Anna and Elsa went through hell and seemed to emerge triumphant against Drell’s group, and by every account had earned the happy life they were about to share. Similarly, the Coronan cast are now finding themselves uprooted from their own happy endings even though they did nothing to warrant anything of the sort.So, yes, the fact that life is not fair is something that I wanted to convey. On the flipside, however, I also wanted to demonstrate that that fact should never encourage one to quit fighting. We may live in a dangerous, unfair world where there is no guarantee of a happy ending. But that is no excuse to become overly cynical. Happy endings are still possible, and everyone could continue to strive for theirs. Just because the world is unfair and punishing does not mean that peace and happiness are impossible. Just because some fall short of their goal does not mean that everyone will.