Simp For Elsa

Yeah, you were wrong, asshole. I know it's been ten years, but people have willfully forgotten that a vast number of the Elsanna ship were and have always been wlw - and that in 2014-15, so many of the shippers were young lesbians, bi women, queer folk figuring ourselves out.

When I think about the golden days of the Elsanna ship (circa 2013-2015), two images come to mind – this one… 

…and this one…

Both pieces of fanart were created to celebrate the legalization of gay marriage nationwide in the US in June 2015 – and both encapsulate the youthful energy, the innocence, the idealism of Elsanna shippers at the time. They might seem silly now to some people, but only because they are so earnest. There is an achingly earnest sincerity here because the Elsanna-shipping community was made up of a bunch of young, queer Disney fans. 

The ship wasn’t created by a bunch of creeps who wanted to “disregard or misunderstand the message of the film.”

The ship was created by a group of young wlw, young lesbians, young queer folks, who were drawn to the film because of its themes of self-acceptance and self-understanding (because they UNDERSTOOD the message of the film.) And they were drawn to the sisters’ bond because, in some way, it resonated with them – a connection between two people that was based on coming to an understanding of shared trauma and pain, a connection rooted in compassion for someone othered by society.

Frozen came out in 2013. Korrasami wouldn’t be canon for a while yet, things like Lumity and Catradora weren’t even a dream, and these naive, earnest, heartfelt kids wanted to see something that reflected themselves so much that they built a ship from the ground up.

I have seen people in recent years express bewilderment about why the Elsanna ship came into being, saying things like, “Why does this ship exist? Elsa and Anna aren’t in love; they’re sisters.” Which… duh. Obviously, they are not in love. Obviously, they are sisters. Such an attempt to say, “Checkmate, creeps!” ignores why ships come into existence in the first place. Non-canon ships emerge because there are aspects of two particular characters that the audience can relate to or project a part of themselves upon/see themselves in; and because there are elements of these characters’ dynamic/interactions that the audience can project upon/see themselves in.

And with Elsa and Anna’s dynamic together and connection throughout the film? There was A LOT that a young queer audience latched onto - NOT because these shippers felt the film was secretly espousing incest subtext, but because the characters were created to be broadly relatable to anyone with a difficult home life, anyone who felt isolated and ostracized from society, and so their narrative together lent itself to a queer reading.

Consider: on the one hand, there is Elsa – a character who exploded across the popular consciousness because so many people related to her individual story, many of them queer young people. Isolated for who she was, taught to repress her identity and her emotions, forced to conform to a society that could harm her. There hardly needs to be any more ink spilled on why Elsa struck such a chord with queer viewers – and the queer viewers who helped to shape the Elsanna ship were among the people who fell in love with her as much as anyone.

On the other hand, there is Anna. Anna’s story is different from Elsa’s, but bears many of the same marks of trauma. Anna is forced to live in a world where the rules feels arbitrary and uncaring, where nothing makes sense but no one will tell her why. Not her sister, who has been taught that she must shut Anna out. Not her parents, the authorities of the society she lives in who put the rules in place. Like many queer young people, Anna is forced to navigate a world where the rules are arbitrary and cruel. And, like her sister, she begins to internalize that pain. “What did I ever do to you?” she cries to Elsa at the coronation because, without the full context, she can’t rule out that this might be her fault – or at least, that societal forces around her tell her that this is her fault even when she did nothing.

There was so much in each character individually that queer young people resonated with.

When you factor in that their connection is something that the powers that be within the film attempt to forbid, that their connection is something that is at first treated as something that needs to be suppressed but that ultimately proves to be a positive force for both of them, then… yeah, it becomes clearer why so many queer young people aching to connect with something would see themselves in that relationship.  

I know of several prominent artists on this site who got their start in the Elsanna fandom, or who were happy to take part in the ship because they saw the way other queer young people connected with it (signatures blotted out to prevent potential harassment of artists over decade-old art):

People don’t like to remember it, but ten years ago, there were wlw fandom blogs on here that would casually make or reblog Elsanna art – not because they had some secret insidious agenda – but because the ship connected with them on an emotional level or because they understood why it did with others:

And there were shippers of other queer ships reaching out:

The Elsanna fandom of 2013-15 was a reflection of a group of queer young people (primarily wlw) – a reflection of their passion, their dedication, their craftsmanship, their creativity, and their longing to be seen. It was a group of queer young people using the pieces that a film they loved gave them to create something of their own, from their hearts, for themselves.

Create something of their own with their own spirit and hopes, reflecting their own aspirations and fears and dreams for the future.

And sure, people now can say, “That’s disgusting! How could anyone do that?” In 2020, someone called out a lovely person on here because she shipped Elsanna nearly a decade ago (even though she HAD LONG SINCE DELETED ALL EA CONTENT FROM HER BLOG, even!):

This callout is dishonest. It claims that the individual “thinks shipping them is cute” even though, when this was written, the person had not shipped Elsanna in years. It also claims Elsanna is p/*do/ph/ilic when it is not. (It is incest, obviously, and that is inherently problematic.) It also tries to make a connection between the person wanting queer rep and shipping an inherently problematic ship, when those things do not correlate at all. You can ship something and never want it to be canon. You can ship something and not want it to be “representation” – and that’s what being in the Elsanna fandom of 2013-15 was like.

People didn’t want it to be canon. They didn’t want it to be “representation.” Everyone already knows that incest is wrong. People don’t have to ship something as a crusade for representation. But people DID ship it because they saw something of themselves in the ship – and they saw the opportunity to project something of themselves (their queerness, their sense of being othered and isolated by their families, etc.) onto characters that they loved. The ship provided the opportunity for these young people to explore their senses of self and explore their identities.  

And sure, as I’ve said in the past, perhaps that wasn’t ideal – the fact that these young folks were starving for anything that was like them and so had to make a feast from whatever they had available. But I find something BEAUTIFUL in the fact that so many people were able to come together and create such beautiful things because Elsanna inspired them. I know people who met their partners, met their wives, through this ship. I’ve seen firsthand the positive influence it has had.

Like Elsa on the North Mountain, we felt isolated, we were figuring ourselves out. And we built wonders with what was inside of us. The beauty of some of the art in this ship is akin to the beauty of Elsa’s ice palace. The writing I have seen in this ship can be as elegant as any elegantly-sculpted spire Elsa fashioned through her own magic and her own will.   

This ship was ours, is ours. 

We made it for ourselves, to reflect ourselves and our identities and share aspects of those identities with others, the same way people came to ship Elsamaren when F2 came out. It may have been new faces and a new ship, but it was part of the same idea, just for a different time. 

And when you look at the thousands of pieces of Elsanna fanfiction that have been written, and the thousands of pieces of fanart (especially the beautifully diverse styles of early Elsanna fanart) – you don’t get so many people expounding their passion and creativity on something unless it means something to them, and Elsanna meant something to so many people. Mattered to them. Look at the excitement and joy in people’s words in the early days of the fandom if you don’t believe me. 

FROZEN II 2019

Pairing: Elsanna

Warning: Incest

Rating: M

Words: 1850ish

A/N: I’m experimenting with format, so I wrote this more like a poem. Does it work? Maybe I’ll hold on writing like this for the next ones…

She was excited.

She really couldn’t help herself.

It had been so long.

Like an ache numbed over the years, a dull dagar inching across her skin.

She’d lived in fear of touching,

And being touched.

The trails of doubt still lined her mind,

So she maintained the distance she grew accustomed to as a child,

Except with Anna.

It was different with Anna.

She didn’t feel like anyone was going to be harmed when the warmth of her sister touched her.

So she touched her.

They hugged,

They sat next to each other.

They held hands and had slumber parties, making up for the times they’d missed as children.

It was exciting, so exciting being able to feel another living thing and know,

know deep in her heart that it would not freeze.

So like her slow melting fear of physical contact, so did the barrier of her emotions creepingly drip away.

After years,

Long long long years,

Of only crying and sitting alone and wishing for someone to hold her without fear daggering heart ache and penting up emotions, she finally felt more at ease with expressing herself,

At least around Anna.

She didn’t have to be Queen around Anna,

So she was less careful around Anna.

The new range of expression,

the fresh sensation of life still continuing even after her hands met it,

it was a lot to handle,

and they were alone,

and it was late,

and Anna was just so warm,

and alive.

She wanted to feel her everywhere.

Her hand came up to Anna’s cheek, brushing the soft lips with her thumb, as she lay beside her during one of their sleep overs.

Anna already knew how much Elsa liked to feel things.  She didn’t mind a soft brush on her face, as long as she was helping her sister learn to be comfortable and happy. She never give the action a second thought,

Until the thumb on her lips turned into her sister’s lips. She broke away with a gasp, but the lips were on her again,

So much warmer than Elsa’s usually cool skin.

It took Anna longer to pull away,

As those soft lips joined hers once more.

A hand,

Needy and exploring,

Splayed on the curve of her hip.

“Elsa- Elsa, wha- Wait-”

Her words struggled like waves breaking on the shore as Elsa steadily deepened the kiss.

She felt Elsa’s body move closer to her, pressing their thighs together as that hand on her hip moved upwards towards another set of warm curves.

“Elsa, wait!”

Elsa broke away,

Panting,

The words finally reaching her ears.

With the withdrawal of her body came the withdrawal of the warmth.

Elsa’s mind swam,

And she gasped herself.

Sharply,

She pulled even farther back.

Her countenance drank from a concoction of shock, disgust, disappointment, fear,

All mixed into a special blend for herself.

“Anna, I’m sorry- I- I don’t know what came over me. I- you’re just so warm.”

Her fingers coiled into her palms and,

Her arms drew into her chest,

As she waited for her sister to flee in disgust,

Shouting at her,

Tallying one more thing that would make her a monster.

“Y- you… can do it again.”

“What?”

“I wanna help you feel comfortable around people, Comfortable around me.

You- we can do it again.”

"Anna… no. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done th-”

Lips touched again, and the nicest sensation of heat radiating between bodies was pressed into her thigh as Anna moved closer to her.

Elsa moaned in her sister’s mouth, reveling in the heat that was coursing through her,

Particularly between her legs.

Anna was tenative, letting Elsa quickly take back control.

Hands slid along hips.

Hips rocked into each other.

They both found their fingers tugging the other’s hair,

And much to Elsa’s glee,

Anna wasn’t frozen.

She could even dared to say

Anna was on fire.

Anna’s hands pleaded of her behalf.

They must have been.

Her tongue was too busy duling Elsa’s,

And her throat was too distracted surrendering involuntary noises,

So her hands must have been tasked with begging,

Insisting that Elsa feel more of her.

With the way her hands dug into Elsa’s side and tugged at the bottom of her night gown,

It must have been so.

In a whip of moments, both of them found themselves in nothing.

Slinking her long leg over her sister’s smooth ones, Elsa rested atop Anna, relishing in the heat of the exposed flesh beneath her.

Her kisses found Anna’s cheeks.

Her kisses found Anna’s nose.

Her kisses found Anna’s chin,

And her jaw,

And a spot under her ear that sent a tremor down her sister’s spine.

“Hnngh, Elsa!”

Anna’s hands traced her sister’s body,

Who was always so cold,

But in this moment it really didn’t bother her,

And in this situation there was so much that should have.

Elsa’s breath sent tingling puffs of air against Anna’s sensitive skin. “Anna, ohh, keep touching me.” She couldn’t get enough of those slender fingers caressing her, 

Kneading passion and excitement

On the slope of her back,

Into the dip of her waist,

Against the curve of her behind.

Anna felt like her sister was everywhere.

There was a mouth on her collarbone and hands reverently massaging her breasts,

Thumbing over her nipples,

Tweeking

And tugging,

Simply making them feel good.

She let her legs crawl up, bending them at the knee, letting one of Elsa’s legs slip between hers.

Maybe this was going too far,

A little thought rattled in Elsa’s mind.

Maybe this should stop.

You’re both just tired.

You’re both just learning how not to be alone.

You’re both sisters.

They jumped around, those thoughts.

They jumped and shook, appearing in the in-beween moments when a hand was in the air before landing in a new area of skin,

When there was space between one kiss and another,

Or when the field of thought was cleared from the fog of passion for a few seconds.

Wrong.

Wrong had been when she shut her door in her sister’s face.

Wrong had been in the days she went without the tangibility of love.

Wrong had been what she thought her powers- what she thought her life was for years.

This may have been wrong too,

but in that moment, suspended like the snow flakes she could conjure,

It was right.

Elsa’s slid farther down Anna’s body,

Silently gasping as her center dragged over her sister’s leg.

They both shuttered at the sensation.

Elsa’s breath came quicker,

Breathing through her nose alone was not an option.

Her nostrils flared,

And her jaw hung.

Anna’s second delicate pair of lips were before her.

The firey desired wafted around her senses.

Elsa’s panting breath mingled with the rising heat,

But she didn’t delve.

Not until she Anna looked her.

Elsa wanted to drink in the desire of her sister’s eyes as much as she wanted to take in the glisten desired between her legs.

“Elsa” Anna looked up when her sister paused, ready to question her, when Elsa locked their eyes,

Stilling her with her ravenous stare.

Then her tongue plunged and Anna’s hips quaked, overcome by the suspense.

Dutifully,

Diligently,

Deliriously skilled,

Elsa’s tongue wriggled against Anna’s pearl. She hummed low from her throat,

Sending rumbling sensations through her sister’s core.

“Elsa! Unh, Elsa- I’m so- uuunh!”

Anna bit her wrist,

muffling her moans.

Her legs slammed around her sister’s head,

Trapping her between her heat,

Not that Elsa cared.

It actually excited her more.

Elsa guided Anna through her climax with gentle swishes of her tongue.

When Anna finally released her, Elsa crawled back up her body,

letting her sister suckle her juice off of her tongue.

Treated with a surprise, Elsa was flipped onto her back.

Giggling,

Anna took her turn assaulting her sister with caresses and nips of the skin.

It was like a flame lapping at her all over,

Spreading like wildfire,

Seering and steaming in contact with ice.

Anna found Elsa’s puffed lips,

Pouty and wet,

Ready for fire to consume them.

Reaching around and under her sister’s legs, Anna fanned her fingers along the flat expanse of her sister’s stomach,

Lightly scratching

And circling around her navel.

“Anna… I can’t wait…”

“I know.”

With smirking lips, she grazed her teeth on the apex of Elsa’s thigh,

Dragging her warm tongue over the tender flesh.

Elsa growled in frustration.

“Anna.” “Shussssh.” The air the funneled out through the hush only served to tease Elsa more. She growled again.

Her hips lifted of the bed,

Searching for friction on her own command.

Anna only granted her a pecked kissed before she pulled away, smugness in her eyes.

“Uuugh, Anna! Please!”

With a giggle that turned into a moan,

carried from the bottom of her throat

and out through her sister,

Anna finally let her tongue explore the older woman’s need.

Elsa pushed her self up onto her elbows, wanting to watch her sister’s mouth seal over her.

Her head rolled back when Anna slid one slender finger into her sopping center,

Curling upward,

Hitting a sweet spot inside her.

“Ah! Right there!”

Elsa was going to combust.

She could feel it.

Deep down

In the pit of her stomach.

Anna was trying to light a match inside of her

and any second the right strike would sent her ablaze.

“Anna! Right mmmh! There!”

Anna clamped her mouth around Elsa’s bud, as she kept her finger focused on that spot.

“Gods, Anna!”

One firm sucktion on her clit, and Elsa exploded.

A shivering mess,

Loud,

And writhing.

Anna only just noticed the sight of her breath,

And the ice on the bed,

And the snow flakes that were finally allowed to fall;

Their creator too distracted with bliss to fight againt gravity.

Over and over again,

Elsa panted Anna’s name.

It was the only thing she could remember,

The only thing she could feel,

Or taste

Until, Anna fed her tongue into her mouth,

returning the favour of tasting herself.

Slowly swimming back to reality,

Elsa felt the slight shiver of her sister, who rested on top of her. With a sloppy wave of her hand, she sent the snow and ice away.

They were both snuggled under the covers,

Which took more effort than it should have.

“Comfy?” Elsa asked as she drapped her arm securely over her sister.

“I should be asking you the same thing…

Elsa, if you ever need some warming up again,

I don’t mind helping.”

Elsa didn’t say anything,

only snuggled closer to her sleepy sister.

Before her mind could shove back in her face how wrong this as supposed to be,

Or that this was an unsilghtly action for a queen,

Or even that she should have been regretting this,

drowsiness started tugging her down as well.

The last thought she would be able to remember before sleep truely took her was that,

Even if the cold didn’t bother her,