Elsanna

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Pairing
Pairing: Elsa/Anna of Arendelle
Alternative name(s): Elsanna, Icest, Frozencest, Arencest
Gender category: Femslash
Fandom: Frozen
Canonical?: no
Prevalence: popular
Archives:
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Elsanna is a popular femslash pairing in the Frozen fandom between Elsa and Anna. Despite being the most popular pairing on AO3,[1] the pairing is controversial for being an incest ship and for the contingent of shippers who only ship Elsanna if they're unrelated.

Canon

The Frozen movies focus on the relationship between Elsa and Anna, which starts out strained due to an accident with Elsa's powers. Because of Elsa's inability to control her powers, Anna is kept from her sister but clearly yearns for a connection with her. The first movie was notable for being a subversion of the typical Disney Princess movie in that the concept of True Love's Kiss is introduced and Anna simply assumes Hans is her true love, leading to the iconic line "Oh, Anna. If only there was someone out there who loved you."[2] and the climax of the movie where it's not the love between Anna and a man that saves her, but the love between her and Elsa.

It it also notable that a motif Disney decided on for portraying their sisterhood was Anna and Elsa touching hands on either side of a door,[3][4] which looks suspiciously like the moment when Kirk and Spock touch hands across glass in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan and is widely considered to be a romantic gesture.

Fandom

Because of the relatively low number of characters in Frozen and the themes in the first movie, Elsanna became extremely popular. People began shipping them before the movie was even released and it quickly became both the most popular femslash ship in the fandom and the most popular ship overall.[1] The pairing remained popular even after the release of Frozen 2, although Anna/Kristoff is also quite popular with the two pairings maintaining relatively equal popularity.[5][1]

It's a somewhat unusual Juggernaut Ship, given that it's femslash and incest and while there's a pairing for Anna that's nearly as popular in Anna/Kristoff, the second most popular pairing for Elsa is ElsaMaren which only surfaced after the release of the second movie and the introduction of the character Honeymaren. Before that, Elsa's second most popular ship was Jack Frost/Elsa, a crossover ship involving Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians as part of Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons.

Elsanna is also unusual as an incest ship due to the relatively large contingent of shippers that mainly write Anna and Elsa as unrelated,[6][7] particularly when the works are explicit, despite the movie emphasizing the sisterly bond between the two sisters.

[min0rd3tails]

Look, I am all for queer representation, but Elsanna is not that for me.

It is INCEST.

I am not hating on the ship or the people who ship it because for all I know you guys pretend they are not related.

I just do not understand why people would ship SISTERS together romantically and/or sexually.

It would be great though if someone could explain the reasonings or mentality behind the ship.

[nayanuwa]

The Elsanna fandom as a whole has actually, a TON of unrelated AUs, usually modern AUs. Out of the fanfics in this fandom, I would say it’s about half related Elsanna and half unrelated Elsanna.

People don’t ship for queer representation. They ship because they love certain characters(s) and the story, and they notice a dynamic they like, and run with it. There are a lot of queer girls in this fandom, and not surprisingly, they like to ship girls with girls. Those that are uncomfortable with incest usually stick to the unrelated AUs.

If you’re a lesbian Disney fan, the pickings for good femmeslash ships are slim. For instance, on a blog like this or this you’ll notice that most of the ships are shipping princesses from different movies with each other. And that’s just not as interesting as shipping characters that actually interact, you know?[8]

Common Tropes

  • Unrelated AU: Many Elsanna shippers exclusively or primarily ship the sisters in AUs where they're unrelated.
  • Modern AU: Like most fantasy fandoms, Frozen features many modern aus.
  • Canon Divergence AU: Various divergent aus, such as ones where the ending of the second movie is altered, are popular.

Controversies

As usual for an incest ship, Elsanna has a large contingent of anti-Elsanna shippers who object to the fact that it's incest. A common refrain among the anti-Elsanna crowd is that Anna/Kristoff sucks but it's "better than incest" or that Elsanna shippers all claim Anna/Kristoff is unhealthy.[9][10]

Fanworks

Fanfiction

  • A Snowflake in Spring by Celery Sticks, After her brother Hans is institutionalized, Anna makes it her mission to visit him whenever she can. The sooner he comes home, the sooner everything will go back to normal. She wasn't expecting to meet the asylum's resident 'Ice Queen,' who refuses to speak or acknowledge anyone...
  • Stolen Ice by Aesla, Sisters are orphaned, split at birth. One's a thief, the other a conwoman. There's paintings, diamond heists, forgotten identities, and an evil corporation. There's also a slow burn romance, which isn't the best when it's with your long-lost sister you never knew you had.
  • Café Liégeois by 4mation, So a blind woman walks into a coffee shop… (AU - not!incest)
  • Dear Elsa by Saiberia, In the wake of her parents' death, Anna is whisked off away to the Countess Elsa of Arendelle, who has been entrusted with her care. Though a bit put off by her childhood friend's aloofness, Anna finds herself drawn to the allure of the reclusive Countess. However the Countess, her manor, and the forests surrounding them harbor greater mysteries than Anna could have imagined.
  • Needed by FrozenHeartsDontBeat, When the odds are stacked against them, can two sisters learn to overcome their obstacles, and still remain the siblings they once were? Or will they find something even greater within themselves? (NSFW)
  • r9kElsa-Is-Suffering by AnonElsa, A series of short, semi-related one-shots exploring the pain that is /r9k/Elsa.
  • Freckles, Archived version by HouseOfCrows
  • a smile worth the sun and the stars, Archived version by lutece

Fanart

Meta

Resources

References

  1. ^ a b c Frozen (Disney Movies) Tag on AO3. Accessed 14 Feb 2023.
  2. ^ (FROZEN) - hans betrayal to anna. Posted 30 Jan 2014. Accessed 14 Feb 2023.
  3. ^ Frozen Song - Do You Want to Build a Snowman (Uncut HD) – Live at Hyperion Show - Disneyland (HD). Posted 15 Jun 2016. Accessed 14 Feb 2023.
  4. ^ Tweet. Posted 4 Apr 2018. Accessed 14 Feb 2023.
  5. ^ Fandom: Frozen, Archived version by phantomstatistician
  6. ^ Unrelated Anna/Elsa (Disney) Tag on AO3. Accessed 14 Feb 2023.
  7. ^ Unrelated Elsanna Tag on Tumblr. Accessed 14 Feb 2023.
  8. ^ I do not understand why people ship Elsanna., Archived version
  9. ^ Tumblr Post. Posted 2 Sept 2020. Accessed 14 Feb 2023.
  10. ^ Tumblr Post. Posted 27 Dec 2019.
  11. ^ elsanna-week, Archived version on Tumblr
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