An interview with J. Peterson on "Locked Away". It contains a lot of fun insights and a great "bonus".
This was my first interview for the Elsanna Positivity Project. It was done via email.
1. The Interview by Katarr
Author Profile
Accounts
How I got started writing...
I've been making up stories in my head for as long as I can remember. Putting them down on paper started when I was 7 or 8, but writing them in English and actually posting them for other people to read didn't happen until an internet connection had been a fairly attainable thing for at least a year (this was back when it was so farking out there that you could download an entire song in just 20 minutes - *shakes cane*). I started in the Charmed fandom at 15 without any actual ships, and didn't find my way into femslash until I was 16 or so and stumbled upon the Sam/Brooke ship from Popular; a fandom old enough that posting fics, reading them and otherwise interacting with others happened on Yahoo! Groups.
FFnet became a steady part of my life about a year later; I'll actually have been a member of that site for 15 years on December 1. The rest, I suppose, is history; much like most of my works from back then.
How I got interested in Elsanna...
Honestly, I didn't even know that Frozen existed until it had been out in theaters in the US for at least a month. This is very unusual because the movie is based roughly on a Hans Christian Andersen story (just like The Little Mermaid) and Danes are tiny-country-people who make big deals about any part of their culture or history showing up in the world at large. Not to say, mind, that Denmark didn't notice; it's far more likely that I was just too blind to catch on.
The only reason I even ended up here was because a friend of mine on the other side of the world raved for a bit via Skype, and actually ended up introducing me to the good ship Elsanna before I'd watched the movie. The incest aspect initially made me uncomfortable (it wasn't until this year that I realized that Sam/Brooke is incest, too; albeit step-sibling incest), but I'm very much of the school that any relationship between loving, consenting people is a valid one, so I was intrigued enough to start poking around FFnet looking for fics. I started out on unrelated AUs, but eventually found my way to Aesla's Victims of Circumstance. And I was sold.
Other ships I follow...
Holy pooters, way too many. I touch base with Sam/Brooke from time to time, and Shiznat - Shizuru and Natsuki from Mai HiME, which was my main ship before Elsanna happened - still holds a large part of both my heart and my WIP folders. I'm also working on stories for:
And, of course, I have some original works going on at the same time. Laser focus is not a thing that I usually have when it comes to writing, so I end up spreading myself about as thin as graphene.
Other things in life that interest me...
The list above should make it reasonably obvious to like minds that I'm a gamer, and that long RPGs are my favorites. Aside from that, I'll spend some time now and then wandering around my hometown for pretty architectural or landscape photos, crochet or cross stitch (which, according to IRL people, I really don't seem like the type to do), and occasionally go out with my coworkers, get absolutely shitfaced and have those cozy-crowded-pub-loud type conversations that you only ever have when drunk off your ass.
Questions on "Locked Away"
We already know that you created this story for an Elsanna contest on Tumblr...
Not to my knowledge, no. The contest didn't seem to get a lot of attention in spite of having small, physical prizes; last I checked the tag there were three entries apart from mine.
I'd like to say that it won, but honestly, the contest was announced and then seemed to drop off the face of the earth. I haven't seen or heard anything of it since about a week before I submitted my entry.
Did you have the entire story plotted out, or did it just grow organically?
A... little bit of both. The first thing I even wrote for it was the penultimate paragraph of chapter four: It started with a painting and two broken hearts. It ends with a moonlit bedroom and Anna's fingers trailing over Elsa's naked back. That was my synopsis; a start point and an end point. Filling in the space between was what took time.
Overall, the story was supposed to be a lot more angsty. The scene in chapter two where Anna learns that Elsa is in love with her was initially going to be an angry confrontation, but by the time I'd written the first chapter, the original plan didn't make sense for how Elsa and Anna were turning out. Chapter five, meanwhile, was completely organic, since my intention was for the story to stop at the end of chapter four.
Yes. I know there are loose ends and plenty of unexplored problems, but Locked Away was never intended to be anything more than a slice-of-life style romance centered on Elsa and Anna learning to understand each other better as both sisters, rulers and lovers. The political aftershocks and suchlike I happily leave to writers like Kurrent, and as I've already mentioned, chapter five wasn't even supposed to be there; that was just Elsa whacking me upside the head until I gave her a say.
If we were to put this story on a "Fluffometer", it would show a straight uphill climb the whole way to the end. Did you do that intentionally?
Oh yes. I wanted a story centered on the building of love based in trust and respect; a - to use what's probably a hoary old euphemism - seedling planted in the heart that blooms and grows into a mighty forest of emotion. The emotion, of course, was already there in terms of platonic love, so my challenge was in writing the changing of that emotion - at least on Anna's part - into recognized, reciprocated romance. And yes, that alliteration was intentional, too.
In regards to your fans' reactions/reviews/comments on the story...
(I still can't quite grasp the fact that I have fans. How the hell did that happen?)
Yes and no. I shoot myself in the foot a lot by writing chapters as long as I do, because when people do comment, they do so on the things that stick out in their minds, which for obvious reasons is usually the latest thing they read. For that reason, opening scenes and anything outside of maybe 2k words from the end of a chapter just doesn't get as much attention or critique as I'd ideally prefer, unless there's something particular to earlier scenes that really stands out.
I must admit, I've yet to see anyone mention the tie from the very start of the story to the - at the time - end of it at the closing of chapter four. Granted, there are about forty thousand words between those two, and again, people tend to comment on the things they remember.
I was also quite happy with the little wordplay I did in chapter five: [...] someone has to have figured it out unless both the castle walls and the people working within them are significantly denser than anticipated. No one has mentioned picking up on that, however.
The number of readers who apparently adored Princess Literal and Queen Sarcasm. I didn't put any thought into that (like, at all), so the fact that it got so much love is kinda funny to me. Also, I'm not entirely sure if people are being hyperbolic in how emotional my writing makes them. If I really can inspire that level of feeling, I'm honored and happy; if also a little puzzled since I myself never react that way unless it's to a movie scene.
In retrospect, are you happy with how the story turned out?
Overall, yes. There are bits of scenes that sound 'off' to me when I go back over them (Anna trying to explain herself before the requested kiss in chapter three, something about the ice dildo thing in chapter five), but I can't quite pinpoint why they're off, and I'm not fiddling with them unless I figure it out.
If you were to change it, what changes would you make?
The changes would be very minor; mostly fixing the above (if I knew how to), and the fact that I tend to over-introduce OCs who have no real effect on the story.
Scenes that define the story
Chapter two, scene four (I feel like that should be followed by "Action!" *CLACK*); where Elsa admits to being in love with Anna, or more specifically, Anna's reaction to Elsa apologizing for it. (If you're in love with me, I should be the one to decide if it's 'sick' or not, and I damn well say that it isn't.) That, to me, was the defining moment of Anna as a character; the fact that love - no matter how unconventional it may be - is something to be accepted and recognized as long as it's genuine. Elsa came through strongly in that chapter as well, and the image of her being all exhausted and grumpy (Queen's orders.) always makes me smile.
The final scene of chapter one, where Anna breaks down outside of Elsa's door. It feels vaguely like I overshot the angst there, though no one's mentioned it in any comments, so chances are that it's simply me being a perfectionist. Also, I just hate hurting any of our girls.
The smut; definitely the smut. I always have a bear of time writing anything like that; if only because the one thing I always try for is a smoothly flowing scene, and in smut there are so many extremities to keep track of that it comes with high chances of turning into a game of literary Twister (left hand blue). Avoiding that takes effort, but I usually manage eventually.
In order of appearance:
That's an incredibly difficult question, so well done. Difficult mostly because I'm the sort of person who can't necessarily tell you why I like or dislike something; just that I do, and usually at first glance. I'm horrendously particular and there is absolutely zero logical reasoning behind it; something is just either right or wrong.
That said, it's very rare that I come across a piece of Elsanna art that I don't like, and since this of course leaves the field wide open, my answer will be based on the styles of four of my favorite artists matched to scenes in the story; sorted alphabetically so I don't have to rank them because I can't. Please keep in mind that in art, I know nothing.
Aelifsigrun
Sig has a way of drawing that carries a wonderful sense of wry humor about every piece of hers that I've seen, though I couldn't tell you exactly why it translates that way to me. From her, I'd love to see the events immediately before the actual kiss in chapter three; where Anna is sitting on her vanity and Elsa is tickling her and being infuriatingly reasonable about the whole thing.
Applefrozen
There's something enticingly simplistic about Apple's art; not so much in the style of drawing, but more in the colors used and the situations portrayed. They do an amazing job displaying tenderness, for one, and in their style, I think the scene in chapter two where Elsa realizes that her magic can't hurt Anna any longer would look particularly wonderful.
Glacial Sentinel
Glacial's style is one that I can't quite narrow down in actual words, which is part of the reason why I love it. Something about it always brings to my mind 50's style posters; vibrant, vivid vitality. That style would do something absolutely magnificent to the scene in chapter four where Anna has just returned from Midheim and the two of them are hugging in Elsa's study, without a care in the world for the fact that Anna is covered in mud.
Lorelei-lilyprincess
Lorelei has a beautifully soft style in everything from colors to lines, and also a way of turning all that softness into images depicting marvelously powerful feelings. I'd love to see her take on the kiss that Elsa doesn't give Anna in chapter three; that moment of almost-there-but-not-quite.
For you, where does this rank...
It remains as my personal favorite, closely followed by Scoperta per Caso (the Italian!Elsa series). I'm not sure if it'll stay that way with the unfinished fics that are lurking on my hard drive, but even as I was writing Locked Away, I remember thinking that this was it; this was the story that would define me as an Elsanna writer.
There are far better works out there; ones where the romance is still the overall focus, but where there are subplots and intrigues and a thousand tiny things that I just can't quite seem to include. Most of what I write is simple slice-of-life - fics that center on emotion more so than any actual, novel-style plot - and I have a very healthy level of respect for writers like Freud, Kurrent, TexanRedRose, TheSyndra, Aesla, Nyxie and everyone else who can produce stories like that.
For context...
Not very. To me, it's been maybe a month since the end of the main movie; enough time for Elsa and Anna to have grown used to each other again, but not enough that they know everything there is to know about the other; such as Anna having spent as long as she has talking to paintings.
Yes. From what I took from the closing scenes of the movie, the Great Freeze was forgiven by the time it ended, because Disney.
Elsa
The norm as per canon, or fanon? Control is what the canon version of Elsa is all about, in my eyes; born from having to suppress her powers (and thus, her emotions) for so long. As for the confidence, that's more of a fake-it-till-you-make-it sort of thing, at least at the start of the story. As Anna learns of her feelings, however, it becomes the real thing since she trusts that Anna is telling the truth and thus doesn't feel the need to watch herself quite as closely, now that the most important person in her life knows and accepts everything.
Heh; yes. That's something I picked up from works by my favorite, published author, so it's both a learned trick and a subtle tip of the hat.
Mm, little from column A; little from column B. Elsa is certainly perceptive enough to have noticed the little things that suggest Anna's starting to return her feelings, but she also strikes me as the type who would - at least up until the requested kiss in chapter three - end up telling herself that she's reading too much into things.
Anna
No, but if it works for that too, that's fine by me. Really, the point of having her visibly try to figure things out was more because Anna is a very 'at face value' type of person; she wears her heart on her sleeve, to put it that way, and certainly didn't pick up on Hans' intentions until way too late. Elsa, meanwhile, is much more about layers and needing to read between the lines in direct contrast to characters like Anna herself, not to mention the people that we see Anna spend time around in the movie (Olaf, Kristoff, Sven).
In order for Anna to read Elsa - let alone figure out what type of love that she feels herself - she needs to adjust her way of thinking; to go beyond the surface and find all those tiny, hidden meanings that she usually doesn't notice because she (reasonably) assumes that other people work like she does. That was the intention behind it; to show her learning to understand Elsa - and herself - on a deeper level.
Picture this: You have effectively lost your entire family, and have lived the past three years of your life in loneliness with only the foggiest, childhood memories of the older sister you adored, who now avoids you completely for reasons that you don't understand. You meet someone handsome and charming, fall hard and fast and get burned so badly that you actually die because of it, and the only thing that saves your life is the love that you and your adored older sister still have for each other, in spite of everything. Real love; subtle and gentle and undemanding, rather than overt and flashy and fake.
The cornerstone of your life is still your adored older sister, but in a present, tangible way, rather than a distant sense of half-forgotten memories. She is there with you every day; listening to you, protecting you from others and herself even after you hurt her so very badly. She accepts the boundaries that you set, and never pushes for more although she probably dearly wants to. You are the absolute center of her world. She loves you.
Does it really matter all that much if the love she feels is romantic?
Supporting Cast
Well, Kai was briefly there in chapter five. But honestly, at the time I just didn't feel that I had a good enough grasp of the supporting characters to write them, so I - as I usually do when there's something I'm not confident in - wrote around them instead. This is basically something that I got from my 4th grade teacher, back when I originally started learning English: If you don't know the word itself, use the ones you do know. That principle, I've found, can be applied to a lot of things.
Magic
On a bit of a whim, frankly. That was one of the parts of the story that just sort of popped up on its own, but made a lot of sense when I started thinking about it.
Yes. I do not write chronologically (see the bit about me starting Locked Away with the actual ending), and the scene where I use the exploding of the chalice as a tool for Anna proving to Elsa that she can't hurt her was written well before the scene where the explosion actually happens.
Elsa's ice is born from her emotions; be that anger and fear or joy and love. Her castle, in my head, was made entirely from Positice - from her joy at her newfound freedom - and though we saw it react to her in the movie (the walls and floor changing colors from calm blues to fearful purples, anxious reds and angry yellows), it never hurt Anna even when she was literally standing in the middle of it.
You could argue that Anna was wearing clothes and therefore had no direct contact with the ice. I will argue back that that was also the case when the negative version struck her in the chest. Therefore, it isn't what she's touching or how, but the emotions that Elsa feels in order to create the ice that matters. And Elsa's love will never hurt Anna.
Negatice. Elsa argues that 'Negice' would be a better fit because it's shorter and therefore more efficient, but Anna likes Negatice better because of how it rolls off the tongue. She will, in fact, whisper it in Elsa's ear because it sounds funny, and keep doing so until Elsa snaps and either tickles or kisses her into submission.
No more than she had as a child and was rolling around snow piles in a knee-length night gown; something that my Scandinavian butt certainly wouldn't be able to do for more than maybe two minutes, even at that age. Granted, their breathing doesn't mist in that particular scene, so it's entirely possible that Elsa's ice is naturally warmer than the real kind somehow.
Midheim
That's another one of those parts where an idea got away from me, but in a good way. I basically wanted something that would show Anna as a competent ruler in her own right, but also be mild enough to keep the story from going into something more angsty or dramatic. An outlying town dealing with a flood did the trick nicely; it was fairly simple and easily written without spending a lot of time on research, and also ended up being a useful plot point for Anna's growing emotions and her realizing them.
Not so much the actual return part, no. This scene was based more on the fact that cuddling is quite possibly my favorite activity, and on the peace and sense of home that comes with the privilege in just being close with someone you love.
Sex. (In case you didn't know) you are generally acknowledged to write the best sex scenes in the fandom. In regards to this story...
(I actually didn't know that, but given how much effort I always end up putting into sex scenes in particular, I'm very glad to hear it!)
Definitely the latter. Even in my smut-centric works, the sex is secondary to the underlying emotion; an extension of love and a way to express or explore affection, but certainly not the be-all and end-all of the relationship. If the relationship as a whole is a car, the emotion is the engine that makes it run, and the sex is the detailing, the paint and the extras; nice to have, but not need to have.
I assume that those two are the beginning and ending scenes of chapter four, respectively. Personally, I prefer the initial exploration; the slow, steady climb and what they learn about themselves and each other because of it, and definitely also the fluff afterwards with Elsa's purring, which we'll get further into later.
Yes. Desperately so, in fact. For all that I have no problems with more mechanical descriptions in the stories I read, when it comes to stuff I write myself, describing sex as the physical act that it is just seems to ruin that ever-important flow, and makes it read to me like a collection of Tab A and Slot B references with all the erotic charm of a set of IKEA instructions.
I'm not sure if it makes it better, per se; it just works better for me in getting it onto paper. As stated, I have no issues with other styles or even with crude words used, but the style and vocabulary needs to be consistent or it throws me off something awful when it changes.
For an example: One of my favorite off-fandom stories is pure, beautiful romance from start to finish - Dreiser's Crazy Little Things, for anyone wondering - apart from a lone sentence. When one particular word showed up a single time in the final paragraphs, it shocked me so much that I actually veered back from the screen. Insert keanureeveswhoa.gif here, and do keep in mind that that's just me.
Why not? It's another small way for Elsa and Anna to feel connected to each other, and a toy that can not only be crafted and customized by the wielder but also evaporates on command is definitely the more discreet option.
Oh, sure. For one, the Yule Ball where Anna wears a blue version of her gown from the coronation. Then there's the actual wedding night, and one scene in particular some years later that ends in something Elsa's council speculated on. And much more than those, besides.
Marriage?
The world of Disney is made up of people who are very hard to throw off in any way. Its citizens have married, off the top of my head:
Really; does incest even rank on that scale? Anna and Elsa's relationship is practically pedestrian in comparison.
Dangling Chads
(I have never heard this term before, but for some reason, it immediately brought to mind George Carlin's skit on Guys Named Todd.)
Interviewer's note - I actually meant to title that "Hanging Chads". When an old style paper punch card is actually punched, the little piece of paper that falls out is called a "chad". Sometimes, the punch isn't complete, leaving the chad hanging. In this context, it's the little pieces that aren't quite complete.
Elsa loves every last one of them; so much so that Anna eventually had them bound into a book and gave the book to her as a gift. If Elsa has a trying day or they're apart for whatever reason, she takes the book from its place by her side of the bed and goes through it for the reminder of just how much Anna loves her, and how often she is on her mind.
A fine example of me over-introducing OCs. She has no bearing on anything in or after the story apart from bringing information to the capital.
Having difficulty freeing a sword from its place on the wall. She managed, but ended up using enough force that the eventual release had her beaning herself in the head.
Extremely so, but only in one particular area: the soles of her feet. When Anna found that out, she wound up getting kicked because Elsa wasn't expecting it and didn't have time to check her reactions. Elsa was mortified, and Anna was laughing so hard that she could barely breathe.
In the first few years of the isolation, there was a semi-stray cat that was an open secret in the castle; it would be fed in the kitchens and was basically the pet of the entire staff. Elsa would let the cat into her chambers because its presence helped calm her and kept her from feeling too lonely, and taught herself to both purr and meow back when the cat 'talked' to her. She must have said something particularly offensive at one point, because the cat stared at her for several minutes.
Elsa spent several hours watching Anna through her window. Wanting to play with her became just wanting to be around her in general, which in turn became simple things like wanting to see Anna smile at her, or be able to take her hand or hug her. As Anna grew up at the edges of her vision, those simple things started to take on meanings and desires that frightened her, and while she eventually found that she couldn't stop herself from feeling these things no matter how hard she tried, she could stop herself from acting on those feelings. Until it seemed that Anna shared them.
*hangs head* Two. Specifically, the first two. This is why asking questions of/rambling at the author is important; it makes them think and sometimes even expand the universe they're writing (even if it is about two years after the fact).
In regards to the rest of the story (the parts that you implied but didn't write)
There are jerks everywhere - even in the world of Disney - but on an overall scale, the people of Arendelle are happy if their royals are happy. Honestly, the bafflement that tourists show just amuses them.
Yeeessssss. See next question.
Both wore gowns, and both gowns were of Elsa's making. Once the public part of the festivities were over, Elsa revealed that once she gave the material a little extra infusion, Anna's gown would tear under Elsa's teeth or nails, while Elsa's gown would evaporate under Anna's hands.
Yes. It is, however, finicky enough that this doesn't happen until both of them have decided that it won't, so their first child is adopted.
Elsa is wise enough to realize that in the event of armed conflict, Anna is her best bet as either a second in command or a commander on her own entirely, based on the trust and respect that she inspires in everyone around her. She hopes that if this does happen for whatever reason that they will at least be able to face it side by side rather than from different parts of the country, because if she had to send Anna off into danger alone, she herself would about lose her mind with worry.
You made a strong reference in the story to color; how much Elsa loves to see Anna in blues and Anna wants to see Elsa in greens. What was your initial reaction to seeing Elsa in "Frozen Fever"?
I giggled like a little kid for a full minute. She looks good in green, too!
Next-to-last question (should be obvious) - do you think you will ever write the sequel?
Short answer: yes. Long answer:
The royal stables are always peaceful, but rarely completely quiet. Anna knows this, and with the amount of time that she spends in here (which has been less than normal, lately), she also knows every creak of timber and every scraping hoof. So really, it isn't that hard for her to pick up on the sound of someone else in here with her. She even manages to catch a glimpse of movement from the corner of her eye, and shoves down a chuckle as she continues to run the brush over Borr's pitch-black flank.
"Y'hear that, boy?" she murmurs, and watches the stallions gray-tipped ears flicker in response. "Think someone's going to try a sneak attack?"
Borr's soft snort makes her smile. It's a remarkably unconcerned response for a potential attack on the Queen Consort, but she isn't feeling especially worried, either. Instead, she continues her calm, studied brushing of the large animal, uses her directional hearing to keep track of the rustles as they circle from her right side to her left, and sends careful, calculating glances over Borr's broad back to the large pile of hay that he's occasionally turning his head to. Another rustle has her adjusting her position just a fraction to the left, and she runs the wide brush slowly over the side of Borr's neck. And counts.
Anna gets to minus three this time, and takes a moment to smile at the increase in patience. Then she has to hop - if not exactly for her life - and swing her legs around until she's laying flat atop Borr's back while a small form zooms past underneath her, and with her hands on the horse's shoulder blades for balance, she smothers a grin at both the poof of impact from the hay pile and the remarkably exasperated look being aimed her way from the stallion's large eyes.
"Foo!" comes the indignant squawk from beneath the hay, followed by a dark head popping out of it and a tiny fist waving in the air. "No good!"
Anna snickers as she slides onto the hay-covered floor - on the other side of Borr, this time - and drops to a crouch before fishing the small body out from between the stalks and settling down with the toddler in her lap. "I'm no good? Listen to you, y'little stinker; who was sneaking up on who?"
Chocolate-colored brows scrunch above moss-green eyes, and Magnus sticks his fingers in his mouth as he seems to consider that. Then he grins, and there's a saliva-coated finger pointing directly at Anna's nose. "Ea!"
"Nuh-uh!" Anna tickles him and draws out the sound of her denial because it makes the little boy laugh that much harder; all the while smiling at his designation for her. The common theory is that it comes from the Saami word for 'mother' - eadni - since that's where Magnus has his roots. "I never sneak up on anyone!"
"Foo!" is the scowling response to that particular bit of supreme misinformation; a word Magnus uses whenever he smells something bad, and apparently also whenever he decides that someone is lying. "Ea sneak mama."
"Yeah, I guess you got me there," Anna chuckles, and lies back in the warm straw with her son straddling her front. "Sneaking up on your mama is fun, right?"
"Fun," Magnus agrees, even though he's absorbed in playing with the colorful laces that hold the top half of his mother's practical shirt closed. "Make big boom, snow snow snow, whoosh!" He yanks on the laces, and only distracts Anna from her own laughter when the collar of the shirt tightens a little too much. "Sparklies!"
He isn't wrong, though Anna doubts that the guards - who had dutifully responded to their queen's startled yell and proceeded to fall all over each other when they reached the ice-covered floor - had found the situation as funny as she still does. They wear their spiked boots in the castle even now.
Last question - what should I have asked that I missed entirely?
Frankly, I can't think of anything. But in the event that something is escaping both of us, perhaps when you post this you can leave it open for additional questions from others? I'd be happy to respond.
Good Idea!!! You can do that by going to the Elsanna Reddit:
I don't think I had ever been so excited doing something like this before. I was just happy to have gotten her to do the interview, but when she offered me the preview of the sequel, I felt like a reporter that just scored the biggest scoop ever!