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queen-iduna-of-arendelle · 4 years

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Forgotten

@marimancusi You wanted to see it, here it is. Although in my head it was way angstier than I was able to type down...

Major Spoilers for Dangerous Secrets! AU where Iduna let Pabbie make her forget about Agnarr.

AO3 ff.net

After nearly freezing to death and having had dreams of her childhood, Iduna was glad to still be alive and that the Trolls found her. She was still on a mission after all. “What are you doing out here, dear?“ Asked Bulda worried. “It's too cold for humans.“ No kidding...if she didn't find this cave she would've been an icicle right now.

“I was looking for you.“ Said Iduna, looking at Pabbie. “I want you to make me forget Agnarr.“ The Trolls all gasped in shock about her request.

But it was again Bulda who talked. “But why? Did you forget what we told you? You'll marry and have two daughters...“

“Stop that!“ Iduna yelled frustrated. “Stop. I don't believe anything you say! Agnarr has to marry a princess! That's what the council wants. And I know I can't stand there and let it happen.“ She just knew it. Seeing Agnarr with someone else would break her beyond repair. “I want to forget. We knew our charade needed to stop eventually. This secret relationship of ours meant nothing!“ Liar. She was a liar. This relationship with Agnarr meant everything to her. But it's because of this that they needed to stop right now! The king and princess of Vassar will come here and maybe she'll be the one Agnarr will marry. Or he'll entertain countless princesses till he found the one. It could never be her. “Please, just let me forget!“

The Troll's looked at each other worried, but in this moment Iduna really didn't care. It's her decision after all. “Is this really what you want?“ Asked Pabbie worried.

“Yes. Please.“ The old Troll looked into her eyes for a few seconds, before giving in.

“Okay...“ Bulda and the other trolls weren't very happy about it though and started arguing. But Pabbie told them that if Iduna was sure, they shouldn't stop her. At least someone was on her side. They fell silent as Pabbie came closer to her. “I can remove the memories of him in your head, but not in your heart.“ Yeah, she remembered what he once said to the ice harvester that day...“It's still going to hurt, like a phantom pain but you won't know why. And if you see him it will only get worse.“ He warned her. She knew the risks. But this was the only choice.

“I know. It's okay, though. We both need to move on. I'm just taking the first step.“ A drastic step. But what else was she supposed to do? They will get hurt eventually, so not forgetting him will only delay the inevitable.

“It can be possible that your heart makes you remember if you're confronted with too many memories...“ He kept warning her and Iduna tried not to roll her eyes at that.

“Agnarr won't come to my place, I'm sure. He thinks I'm gone for good. And even if, he'll back off once he sees I can't remember. This is the only way for us to have a happy ending.“ Iduna argued, ignoring the worried looks from the Trolls.

Pabbie sighed and took a step closer to her. “Okay...come closer.“ Iduna leaned down for Pabbie to put his stony hand on her forehead. She closed her eyes and already felt the changes. Something's being removed from her memories. Instead of all the memories where she hung out with her best friend, she only remembered being all alone. As soon as Pabbie was done, Iduna felt a weird pang of loss in her heart. It hurt. She's never experienced this kind of pain before.

The girl opened her eyes and looked around the group of Trolls. “What...am I doing here?“ She asked, trying to remember why she left her home and was now in a cave with the Trolls she once encountered.

“You got lost.“ Said Pabbie with a sad voice. “We found you in time.“

Iduna had no other choice but to believe him. She did remember going out of Arendelle in a hurry, but she couldn't remember the reason for it. “I see. Thanks for your help.“

The old Troll nodded. “You're welcome. Now go home, before another snow storm comes.“

At his words, Iduna grabbed her belongings and got on her wobbly feet. “Yeah...thank you.“ And with that said, she left the little cave and made her way back to Arendelle.

-----------------

A few days later Lord Peterssen came to her house, to tell her the people will be asked questions, even about their past. Not good for someone trying to keep her past a secret. He reminded her to keep her secret at all cost, but when he mentioned someone called Agnarr, his voice was all but some background noises.

The pang she felt in her heart when she talked with the Trolls returned. She had no idea who this Agnarr was, but just at the mention of his name her heart beat faster. Painfully fast. As if it wanted to jump right out and go to this guy. “Iduna, are you listening?“ Peterssen's question brought her back to reality.

“Yes.“ She answered immediately, maybe too fast. “Yes, don't worry, I'll keep my secret.“

“That's not what I was asking you.“ He said, frowning. It was very obvious that she didn't listen to him and there only a 50/50 chance she'll guess right.

“Sorry. But don't worry, okay? Nothing bad will happen, I promise.“

Peterssen sighed, but it seemed like he's letting it go. “Okay. Be careful.“

“Always.“ She promised and followed him to the door. When he stepped out, she closed the door behind him and started pacing around her house.

Who was this Agnarr guy? Why was her heart beating so fast at the mention of a stranger's name? And why did she care so much? This was very frustrating...Though, she didn't have enough time to think about it, as someone knocked on the door. Did Peterssen forget something? But as she opened the door, she immediately saw that it wasn't Peterssen. It was another guy dressed in black and a hat pulled down to hide his eyes.

Iduna frowned at the stranger. Was this one of the guys Peterssen warned her about? Will he ask her out all kinds of things now? “We need to talk.“ He said in a commanding done and just waltzed into her house like it was no big deal. His tone already sparked some annoyance in her, but him just walking in was too much. That voice though...She closed the door as soon as he stepped in and when she got a closer look on his face, her heart skipped a beat. Or two. Maybe a lot more. Actually, she felt like getting a heart attack. Although she didn't know why. And then there's was this weird longing...Why would she react like that to a stranger?

“Excuse me?“ Iduna glared at him, annoyed beyond believe. Not just about the fact he's behaving but also her reaction to this random guy.

He turned to and took off his head, revealing his strawberry blonde hair. And for some reason Iduna felt the need to run her fingers through this mess. Then his eyes became gentler, making her heart skip once again. “I need to talk with you.“

The brunette tried to not let her emotions show on her face. “How about you tell me who you are and why you're just walking into people's houses like that?!“

The man frowned. “What are you talking about?“

“What I'm talking about? You just went into my house like you own it and I'm not okay with that obviously! Who do you think you are?!“ His words visibly hurt him. He looked at her in complete shock, the hurt in his eyes was unbearable to look at. Something tugged at her heart, like she could feel his pain.

“You're kidding me...right?“ He asked, there was still some hope in his voice. But she really had no idea that he was talking about.

“Do I look like I'm making jokes here?“

His expression became desperate and that tugged at her heart strings again. “You...really don't know who I am?“ He asked, searching her face for something. What, she didn't know.

“No. I just told you, didn't I?“ Despite the weird feelings she had and the stronger they became the longer he stayed here, he was still very annoying. He was still not telling her who on earth he was, but at the same time something in her told her she already knew him. But that couldn't be.

The man kept looking at her like this for a minute, or two. Still desperately searching for something. “Did you go to the trolls?“ He asked eventually. A weird change of topic.

“You know the trolls?“ She asked back, thinking back how she found a map in the castle after her lesson and went to their home. She wasn't quite sure what made her go there. In fact, she didn't remember what she's been talking about with them. Only that she was there alone, spoke with them and then returned to Arendelle. There was a big chunk of her memories missing there...How long has it been since she went there?

She didn't have time to think about it, though, as the stranger stepped closer to her and grabbed her shoulders. “Iduna, please don't tell me...“

The young woman frowned. Right, how did he even know her name? What kind of guy was he. “How do you know my name? Can you just tell me who you are?“

He looked broken now. Completely broken. And were there...tears in his eyes? Iduna felt her heart being cut in two in this instant. There was a strange longing to hold him. To...kiss him. Of course she did none of that. “I'm Agnarr.“ He finally said. So this was the guy Peterssen was taking about.

“Agnarr...“ She mumbled, trying out how it sounded. And it sounded very familiar. Felt familiar on her tongue. But that only raised more questions.

“We're best friends...“ He continued, his grip on her shoulders tightened slightly. “We've been together since we were kids. We have a relationship.“ Iduna frowned, not remembering any of that. One of them was definitely crazy here. “Did you go to the trolls to forget?“

She thought back to the day where she found them. Right, there was an ice harvester who wanted to forget about her husband. And she went to the trolls because...why? There was something she wanted from them. And then this snow storm happened. And she almost died out there. The next day the trolls found her and...told her to go back. There was something missing again.

Iduna was quiet the whole time, trying to put her memories in order and that seemed to confirm his suspicion. “Iduna, why did you do this?“ It looked like he couldn't hold back the tears anymore. There was that pull again. The longing. The urge to whipe his tears away and calm him. “I know I've been a jerk back in the castle...and I'm sorry! I really am! But going to the trolls...I just wanted to protect you. I know I shouldn't have said what I said, but I just wanted you to stay with me.“

Thinking back, she remembered being in the castle. Something was annoying her. Was it something Peterssen said? No...Agnarr said it was something he said. But she couldn't remember him being in the castle. She couldn't remember him at all.

So he was either just a crazy person, or what he said was true. That they actually knew each other since forever and that she went to the trolls to forget. But why would she do that? If these weird feelings in her heart were true as well, then why did she throw it away like that? “Why were you at the castle?“ Agnarr looked like he expected this question from her, but it didn't make him look any less hurt.

“Well...I'm the prince.“ At that her eyes widened. She was best friends with the prince?! Had a relationship with the prince?! What kind of relationship anyway? Platonic? Romantic? Well, the was he looked at her and the way her heart hurt, she could guess it was romantic. But how on earth did she do all this? And now that she thought about it...As a citizen of Arendelle she should know the prince, but she couldn't remember anything at all. “Iduna...please give me another chance. Come with me to the castle, maybe it can help you remember.“

Hope made it's way in his eyes, but...“No.“ In mere seconds the hope in his eyes vanished without a trace and the familiar desperation and hurt came back.

“No...?“

Iduna had to turn away from him, before her body did anything she'd regret. “Look...Whatever happened...I surely had a valid reason to forget. Whether is was for your sake, or mine...I don't know. But I surely thought it's something that had to be done.“

“Iduna—“

“Please.“ She interrupted him harshly. “Please leave.“

They both stood there for a minute —or two— in silence. Iduna just waited for him to leave, her back still turned to him. And he...Maybe he was thinking about how to convince her, what things he had to do to make her come with him and remember again. But then she heard him sigh. “Iduna...“ She waited for him to continue, but it could be that he didn't know how to say it. “I'm sorry, I can't and don't want to forget.“ He finally said after another silent minute. “I don't want to give up on you just yet. I can't. But I'll respect your decision for now. I'll uh...give you some time. But I'll be back. Please think about it...I can't live without you, Iduna. You're my light...“

His speech brought tears into her eyes. It made her think why she chose to forget if she knew all that...And at his last words, she felt the need to tell him that he's her life, but she bit back the words. Now where did that come from? He sighed at her silence and then slowly walked towards the door. “Agnarr!“ They were both surprised at her outburst. He stopped at and looked at her. There it was again. The hope. Iduna bit her lower lip to prevent herself from saying anything stupid and quickly turned away from him again. “N-nothing!“

“Okay...See you later.“ And with that he left her house. As soon as the door closed her legs gave away and she fell on her butt. She took a deep breath, but it felt like she couldn't get enough. As if she was unable to breath now with him gone. And why did she hold him back? Well now she had the time to think about it. It really made her curious why she decided to forget. When they were so in love...had a great relationship...But he was a prince. Surely their relationship was forbidden. Was that the reason? Because she knew she could never move on? It kinda made sense in a way. But the pain, the loss, the longing, everything was still in her heart. Even her body reacted on its own. Why couldn't they all just listen to her mind and forget?

But what was worse? Being hurt and knowing exactly why or be oblivious? She didn't know. Should she let him try to regain her memories or should she stay away like she obviously planned to do? Some big decisions needed to be made.

-------------------

Just like Agnarr promised, he gave her some time to think about everything. But still, when they saw each other Iduna then she hasn't decided yet. But he came with an okay solution. “Listen...How about you come with me to the castle. Go to the places we've always been. And if it's too much for you...if you really...Don't want to remember...and don't want to stay with me...I'll accept that.“

“Yeah...we can do that.“ And there it was again. His hope. She didn't like that at all. Really, she hated having to crush his hopes over and over again.

“Okay.“ Iduna saw he was trying to hold back his enthusiasm. He looked like he wanted to drag her right into the castle and do his damn best to make her remember. But that's still a thing she'll decide later that day. The walk to the castle was already engraved into her brain, so were all her favorite places inside. But something was pulling her into the library. Well, she did love it there, but there was something else. Agnarr followed her close behind and didn't say anything. He just let her do her thing.

She stopped by the statue of Nokk and activated with it the secret from to another part of the library. Where mostly books about magic and folklore and blueprints hid away from the world. Iduna remembered having found this place by accident. By...running around the library all alone? No, something was missing. She guess Agnarr must've been there with her. “So you remember the secret library.“ Agnarr's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. “We found it together.“ Just as she expected. Iduna walked through the into the secret library, Agnarr followed close behind. She remembered having spent a lot of time here. Alone. But they were all so blurry that she had no idea what she did here all this time. “We had our first kiss here.“ He continued, when he saw her frown. “We spent lots if time here together. Hiding our relationship from everyone...“

Iduna decided to say nothing, just take everything in. And then she walked out again. There was another important place for her. She heard Agnarr's steps right behind her, trying to catch up when she started running at some point. The brunette led them outside to a big tree. And without a second thought, she started climbing on it. Then she chose a branch high up and sat on it. It's just like the library. She remembered everything about it, but obviously not about Agnarr. Though, when she looked down to see him climbing up as well..she suddenly remembered a boy trying the same but failing. He couldn't even get to the first branch and she always laughed at him for being so bad at climbing. “You couldn't climb when you were a kid.“ She said, since he was close enough to hear her mumbling.

The prince looked at her in surprise, before nodding his head. “That's right. You taught me how to climb.“ She was already starting to remember again, but did she even want that? Once Agnarr said next to her on the same branch, she spoke again. “I was thinking...“ The blonde just looked at her in silence and waited for her next words. “You're a prince. I don't think a prince is allowed to be with a commoner.“

He nodded and looked away. “Yeah...that's why we kept it a secret.“ Just as she thought. That was the reason she forgot. For sure!

“Then you know having a secret relationship wouldn't last.“ Iduna caught him biting his lower lip. She was right. “That's the reason I went to the trolls then. I'm sure. Maybe you do the same. Move on.“

His reaction was immediate. “No!“ He practically screamed, turning back to her and gripping her shoulders. “I don't want to move on! And even if, you'd still be in my heart forever. Just like I'm still in yours. Right?“ He was right. But it didn't change their situation.

“What else do you want to do then?“ She asked, looking away from him. “This is better than...“

“It's not! Forgetting or moving on from my true love is not an option.“ Okay, she admitted it, he was extremely cute. And a dork.

“So what do you want to do?“ That was still the question in the room. For Iduna there was nothing they could do. Hence her drastic decision to forget. It wasn't the best idea, though since now the memories slowly returned again...

“Whatever it takes.“ He said, looking at her with such a determination that said he'll sacrifice anything. “Look, if the council doesn't want this, then so what? I'm gonna be king, I can marry whoever I want, right? If there's a law for me to marry a princess then I'll change that! I can do that, right? If nothing works then...Well, if they don't want you to be my queen...then maybe I don't want to be king.“

Iduna blinked at his speech. He's really gonna fight the council, bend laws and refuses to be king just for...her? This brought back more more memories of him joking around to change laws and making new ones. “Well...you wanted to annihilate meetings altogether, right?“

At that he grinned at her brightly. He was obviously beyond happy that her memories returned. “Exactly!“ His grin was as bright as the sun, blinding her. Iduna's body moved on its own again. Before she even realized what she's doing, she kissed him already. She felt his surprise —just like the very first time they kissed— before hastily returning it. Agnarr was pouring all his love into this kiss and all the memories of him, all the kisses they secretly share came flooding back like a dam was broken.

When they pulled apart to breath, she saw him with different eyes. “Agnarr...“ The prince tilted his head and waited for her to continue. Iduna gave him a playful glare and shoved him gently away. “You're terrible! You made me remember everything!“ She teased, it wasn't very effective. Agnarr pulled her into a tight hug and told her many, many times how happy he was that she remembered and made her promises that he won't hurt her ever again and that they'll stay together forever from now on. The troll's magic wasn't very consistent when confronted with the memories...

When he was done with his rambling, he pulled back slightly. “Sadly I can't call off the ball next week...The King of Vassar and his daughter will come here.“

“I see.“

“I want to invite you to that ball. I'm sure Peterssen will want me to dance with her and all that...But I'll tell them that I'm not interested in her. My heart belongs to you.“ Would it be such a good idea for her to go to that ball? Seeing Agnarr dance with a perfect princess? “Hey, stop that.“ He pulled her from her thoughts immediately. Iduna looked up at his eyes, he looked angry. “I know what you're thinking. Stop that. You're better than some princess. Whatever happens, I'd only choose you.“

His words warmed her heart. Gone was the pain from before. There was only warmth left.

#agduna #fanfics #fanfiction #iduna #agnarr #pabbie #bulda #lord peterssen #dangerous secrets #mari mancusi

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randombookreadersworld · 2 years

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Frozen: Conceal, Don't Feel (Twisted Tale #7)

author: Jen Calonita # pages: 312 #chapters: 36 start date: December 21 finish date: December 23 rating: 4/5 review: Loved it! Love that Anna was able to have a happy childhood and didn’t get shut out but at the same time, Elsa was alone but she also didn’t rediscover her powers until she became queen.

#conceal don't feel #twisted tales #author: jen calonita #december 2021 reads #borrowed from the library #anna #elsa #kristoff #sven #prince hans #queen iduna #tomally #johan #gerda #lord peterssen

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vinterhjerte · 4 years

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i do love that ds used the same staff that get mentioned in all the other frozen books. kai, gerda, olina and miss larsen being there from when iduna and agnarr are kids gives me a kick of serotonin.

#❄ ❛ show you who’s behind the door ❜ ⟶ OOC.#elsa and anna having the same governess/tutor as their parents #oh and lord peterssen who gets mentioned a fair bit #maybe i should add a characters list to my carrd that could be fun

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lovewillthaw-j · 3 years

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Scenes in Frozen-verse that will never be the same again because of Dangerous Secrets

This is my second mega post on Dangerous Secrets. The first was on all the in-universe references, and this one focuses on scenes within Frozen-verse that now have a new meaning because of DS. These posts are 100% original.

Again, spoiler alert!

1. Kai, Olinda and Gerda are old!

You knew that they had been there since Elsa and Anna were kids, but did you know they were also there since Agnarr was 14?! The following excerpts are all from the time that he was 14.

Since Agnarr is about 21 when Elsa is born, that means the castle staff have been there for more than 31 years at the time of F2! [(21-14) + 24)]

2. “Conceal, don’t feel” didn’t start with Elsa =(

That’s Lord Peterssen speaking to Agnarr. In fact, he goes on to say that King Runeard did it too in his time. This is so sad...part of the tragedy of Agnarr and Iduna.

3. Anna/Agnarr and Mattias

Mattias is so fatherly, he was a father to both Agnarr and later, Anna. And Mattias’ father’s wise words, “Do the next right thing”, were passed down to both Agnarr and Anna!

Although Anna didn’t know it, she really takes after her father! She promoted Mattias to General, and she gave Mattias news about Halima (that Halima’s still unmarried)

4. This is the MAKE-OUT tree!!!

Ok, there’s no avoiding it, Agnarr and Iduna MADE OUT A LOT!!!!! In the tree, in the secret room, behind other trees and bushes...Elsa and Anna still do not know till this day the hot kisses that took place in these locations!!!

5. Ariel (The Little Mermaid) “stopped” their first kiss!!

That’s the “some new Danish author” that Agnarr was reading - the Little Mermaid! You can see Ariel on the front cover.

Iduna and Agnarr were lost in their PASSIONATE kiss inside the Secret Room...until...

No underaged kissing!!

(hey Ariel, you were sixteen too...) JOKE lol

Ariel was also “responsible” for them finding the Secret Room in the first place!

6. Iduna’s Windmills

The windmill(s) in Arendelle exist because of Iduna’s research and experimentation (credit also to Johan) and maybe a little help from Gale? =)

7. Iduna and Agnarr stopped at Oaken’s!!!!

Also - did you realise that Iduna and Agnarr were in the sauna together? STEAMY!!

8. This was not the first time Iduna and Agnarr met Pabbie

Iduna and Agnarr met Pabbie years earlier. It is revealed that Pabbie knew from the Northern Lights that one day, the King and Queen would come to him to save their daughter’s life. To me, this actually creates a “Sleeping Beauty” scenario because they knew in advance that their daughter (at least, one of them) is “cursed” in some way.

9. Sir Jorgenbjorgen belonged to Agnarr!!!

In the text below, “she” refers to little Elsa.

10. Anna’s horse, Kjekk, was Iduna’s!

11. Iduna was the first to say Elsa is a gift, not a curse

Anna really takes after Iduna too!

12. These 2 scenes took place in the Secret Room!!

Never knew that we’ve seen the secret room right from the prologue of F1 way back in 2013! Of course, there’s not much to see in this shot.

“I need to tell you about my past” - this scene took place in the secret room. (not providing the text from the book as it’s too long and spread out over multiple paragraphs) Also, DS clarified that this took place a few weeks before the voyage. My previous headcanon was that this happened on the very same night as Anna’s accident (AKA both prologues) but it’s not.

Thank you @marimancusi !

#frozen #frozen 2 #dangerous secrets #dangerous secrets spoilers #spoilers #elsa #anna #iduna #agnarr #disney frozen #disney #marimancusi

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greatqueenanna · 3 years

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Delving deeper into Agnarr and Iduna's story.

Ever since I wrote the first part of this analysis, I’ve gotten a pretty positive response for it - most fans recognize that, while reckless, the choice of separating and isolating the girls was the only choice Agnarr and Iduna had with this unique situation. Tragic in every way, but necessary.

However, one of the things that are still being discussed to this day is whether or not Frozen 2 addressed the separation and isolation properly - that is, if the more subtle approach and scattering it across multiple installments was enough to really delve into the complexity of the separation and the trauma the girls faced.

The main content that addresses this element was Frozen 2 (obviously), Forest of Shadows, Dangerous Secrets, and True Treasure. Given that not everyone has access to or is not aware of a lot of the side books, it makes it difficult for everyone to get the full story. Because of this, I want to explore the full story of Agnarr and Iduna and go over how each of these installments, including the film itself, addressed the separation.

Part 1: Frozen 2

While Frozen 2 left out a lot of complexities when it came to the separation, there were indeed two scenes in particular that really delved into this element - particularly for Elsa.

When the sisters find the ship is the first of these scenes. Here is where Anna and Elsa witness what their parents were willing to do in order to give Elsa a better life.

"Ahtohallan is the source of the magic - We keep going. For Elsa..."

Here, we clearly see that while it wasn't directly stated, Iduna and Agnarr realized that the separation wasn't working and that they were willing to fight the storm if it meant that they could fix their mistakes.

Elsa: This is my fault, they were looking for answers about me.

Anna: You are not responsible for their choices -

Elsa: No, just their deaths.

Anna: Stop. No. Yelana asks why would the spirit reward Arendelle with a magical queen? Because our mother saved our father. She saved her enemy. Her good deed was rewarded - With you - You are a gift.

In this conversation, we see Elsa recognizing that her parents wanted to find answers for her in order to give her a better life. Thank goodness Anna is there to redirect the conversation and explain that they made this choice on their own and that Elsa is not to blame for it. She then helps explain to Elsa that she is a gift, not a bad omen that caused misery to others.

It is through this scene that Elsa (and Anna) see that their parents wanted to try and find answers, to give them a better life. This is the sisters witnessing the parents agree that their situation needed to change and that their choices were not working.

The second scene that explores this is Show Yourself. This entire scene is Elsa finally realizing that she is allowed to be herself.

Throughout Elsa's childhood, the parents thought that Elsa should hide her emotions with her gloves in order to conceal the magic (due to their own traumas that we will explore more in part 2). Elsa felt that she wasn't allowed to be herself as it would lead to someone being hurt.

In this scene, Iduna confirms to Elsa that she is indeed allowed to be herself, directly contradicting and going against whatever fears they themselves gave her or what Elsa may have instilled into herself during the separation.

"Show Yourself. Step into your power. Grow yourself into something new. You are the one you've been waiting for all of your life."

Here we see Iduna letting Elsa know that she can be herself, and no longer needs to apologize for her powers. This leads to Elsa's full self-fulfillment because not only does she have the love of her sister and the respect from her people, but also the approval from her parents that she is ok.

Part 2: Dangerous Secrets

In this novel, we get more explanation as to why Iduna and Agnarr thought that giving Elsa the gloves to conceal her emotions was an acceptable plan. In my original post, I argued that Agnarr never intended for Elsa to hide her emotions. However, this was proven to be false in Dangerous Secrets, as we are given the origin of this mantra.

Agnarr was taught this from Lord Peterssen, his father's advisor. Because the young boy was scared to be King at such a young age and thought that his emotions would be a weakness, Petersen told him that he needs to "Conceal, don't feel" in order to appear stronger. Given that this was the only way he was taught to deal with emotions, both from this man that acted as a guardian to him and his own father, Aganrr thought that it was appropriate to teach Elsa as well.

Iduna was taught the same thing from Peterssen, but for a different reason. As Iduna was Northuldra, she had to hide her true self from the Arendellians in order to stay safe - something that was further pushed by Petersen when she wanted to tell Aganrr the truth of her origins before their marriage.

Later on, we see Iduna especially, given how she relates to hiding her true heritage to Elsa's struggles, realizes how wrong this thought process was.

"Since then (the accident), Agnarr had tried to help her (Elsa) do just that - control her emotions, control her magic(....)It hadn't worked, In fact, things had only gotten worse. "

I cringed at the idea of the coming explosion, which at this point seemed unavoidable. It could be devastating not only to her, but perhaps to the entire kingdom. That was why we had her here, tucked away, I tried to remind myself. But all the rationality in the world couldn't quash the guilt. The kind of thing villains did in the storybooks - not heroes."

"My whole life I was told to hide," I said after a pause. "I don't want Elsa to have to grow up doing the same."

We also see Iduna telling Elsa directly that hiding her emotions was not a good way to control her magic, and would only make her feel worse.

"I know that's what your father has told you," I said, slowly. "And maybe it does help, for a time. But squashing down your emotions can only work for so long. Before you feel like a powder keg. Ready to explode."

Iduna later confronts Aganrr about this, convincing him that they needed to find a better solution. Agnarr agrees, setting the expedition himself to Ahtohallan.

Part 3: Forest of Shadows

Many people put forward that Anna's trauma from the separation was not addressed. Frozen 2 focused more on Anna's dependency on her loved ones for validation. She had to lose everything in order to depend on herself. It was written very well, but there was still an element that seemed missing from Anna's development - Anna's feelings of low self-worth that stemmed from the separation. This is where Forest of Shadows comes in.

While I feel that Anna did not need the validation from her parents as much as Elsa did, given that her relationship with her parents was not as strained, it would still be nice if the story acknowledged where these feelings came from in the first place.

This book covers Anna's feelings about herself, and whether or not she can be trusted with important information and tasks. The book has Anna directly relate this fear to her parents hiding Elsa's powers from her.

"Something scraped in Anna, like a rough crumb caught in her throat. Because...well, her family's burdens and secrets hadn't been for everyone. Or at least, they hadn't been for Anna. Her father had let a mountain troll bundle away Anna's memories of Elsa's ice magic, and he, her mother, and Elsa had all worked together to keep it a secret from Anna."

This is important because it shows that Anna realizes the root of her feelings of inadequacy comes from - not from anything she herself has done but from how her family chose to approach the situation.

Throughout the story, Anna struggles with the idea if she is capable of handling important and serious situations. Anna finally gets her answer when she sees that Elsa was planning on leaving Anna in Arendelle while she went on a grand tour. Anna wanted to go with Elsa but felt that she didn't want her to go because she didn't feel Anna was capable enough. However, we come to find out that this is not true.

"I, Elsa, Queen of Arendelle, do hereby proclaim my sister, Anna of Arendelle, Keeper of the Kingdom while I sail on the grand tour. She is kind, thoughtful, and loves Arendelle with the whole of her heart. There is none better than her to watch over the kingdom while I am away."

Anna realizes that the only person that felt she was incapable was herself, not Elsa or anyone.

Of course, this is nice but wouldn't it have been wonderful for Anna to hear it from her parents as well? I agree, and this is one of the many reasons why Anna fans were upset that this deleted scene was removed. While the feelings of the parents in this scene were made canon by Dangerous Secrets, Anna still never got to hear it directly from them.

We can have some comfort, however, in the next part.

Part 4: True Treasure

Psst, you all can read the full story here. After you read, please support the writer and artist by purchasing the comic when you are able to.

True Treasure is unique in that it is a comic book that explores the sister's relationship with Iduna during the separation years. The sisters later find out that Iduna had set up a treasure hunt for them, and the girls use their memories of different events to discover the prize.

However, what is especially amazing about this book, is that it has Iduna (and Agnarr) directly apologizing to the sisters for separating them.

Later, Elsa and Anna say that they are ready to move forward and make their own futures together.

Conclusion

Thus, from all these sources, we see that the separation and the trauma it caused to the sisters were indeed addressed. Given that it was done in multiple installments, it might be difficult for everyone to see the full story. So, I wanted to provide it all for you here, so we all can know the parent's full story.

Iduna and Agnarr were taught their whole lives that they needed to conceal their emotions and true selves in order to stay safe or appear stronger. Wanting to keep both their daughters safe, and Arendelle, they thought that separating the girls and isolating Elsa would be the best choice. This was never meant to be permanent, as they both wanted their daughters to be together again. While Agnarr worked directly with Elsa to help with her magic, Iduna worked behind the scenes doing expensive research.

As the years went by, Iduna started to feel incredibly guilty about the separation and confronted Agnarr about it, who had actually come to feel the same way. They both realized that what they were taught and teaching Elsa was wrong, and the only thing it did was make Elsa's fear that she already had even worse. After creating the Treasure Hunt in hopes that the girls would be together again, the parents went to Ahtohallan to find answers for Elsa's magic, and finally, end the curse of fear that was plaguing their family.

Unfortunately, they were never able to see their daughters together again. Agnarr and Iduna are very tragic figures and knowing everything that happened only gives their story more meaning.

#greatqueenanna/analysis #Agnarr #Iduna #Agduna #pro-agduna #Frozen #Frozen 2 #Frozen 2: Dangerous Secrets #Frozen 2: Forest of Shadows #Frozen: True Treasure

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mam-te-moc · 4 years

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What I learned from Dangerous Secrets

Warning: while I focus on franchise and not on plot, obviously there will be spoilers.

Northuldra

* Unfortunately there is very little info about Northuldra. The book confirms what we more or less know from the movie: Northuldra consist of many independent groups with similar way of living, egalitarian, with a council of elders as informal leaders, peaceful. They don't have magic, but use help of spirits in a daily life.

* Yelana (this is how her name is written in the book) is mentioned as a person who knows Iduna, but it's never said exactly what kind of relation is between these two. Most likely Yelana is kind of a mentor to young Iduna

*Iduna is not related to the tribe she lives with. When she was five years old her own group was annihilated by unspecified invaders, with her as only survivor, found and adopted by another Northuldra group she is with until the battle of the dam.

*Iduna's shawl was made for her by her mother when she was born and is the only thing she has to remember her parents.

*Ice Harvesters are specifically said to be not a part of Northuldra even if they have similar clothes and customs

Spirits

* all spirits: Gale, Bruni, Nokk and Earth Giants are mentioned by name, Iduna knows them well

* all spirits are locked inside the mist and can't get outside. When Iduna already living in Arendelle almost frezes to death she has a vision of Gale showing her a shelter and Bruni helping her to lit a fire, but it's unclear if it's real, or her mind is playing games or it's a vision sent by yet another force.

*Ahtohallan is called the mother of all spirits. Northuldra elders know her location, but such knowledge is not shared with everybody. It looks like unlike spirits, Ahtohallan location is probably outside of the mist

*It looks like Ahtohallan can not only see the future, but can give visions of it to those she chooses

*The Fifth Spirit is never mentioned

Trolls

*it looks like trolls are much more popular among people than we thought. Not only Ice Harvesters know about them and go to them to ask for aid, queen Rita, Agnarr's mother also knew where she can find them

*the book confirms that Pabbie can erase any chosen memories on demand

*Pabbie can also see a future in Northern Lights, he can look for any specific person or events. Unlike in the movies where what he shows looks like a suggestion of the future that can be changed, in the book a future he sees is not changeable.

*Bulda has an ultrasound in her hands ;)

Arendelle

* the book confirms that Arendelle is an absolute monarchy, but gives it a council and when Agnarr is underaged - a regent of a name Lord Peterssen (yes, the same Jen Lee mentioned back then)

* unfortunately the book isn't any more clear about how Arendelle old is. From such words of Lord Petersen “That is what your father did. And his father before him. That is what kings do to protect their people. And this is what you must do now.” it looks like Runeard was not a first king. A few paragraphs later it's confirmed by Agnarr showing Iduna painings of his ancetors (great-great-great-grandfather Eric and co.) - another hint of long history of Arendelle, but right after that he mentions that plans of the dam were drawn long before he was born, when his father and his people first arrived in Arendelle. After some moments we jump again to descriptions of the castle and things in it as old or even ancient and we learn that the Arendelle community have some customs that seem to have long tradition.

*all castle staff we know from movies and books (Kai, Gerda, Olina, Miss Larsen etc.) is already there when Agnarr is a kid, with the same duties we see them doing in Elsa and Anna's time. Gerda works long enough to know queen Rita, Agnarr's mother.

Trivia

*when book starts, with a battle of the dam, Iduna is 12 years old and Agnarr is 14 years old

*It takes one day trip from Arendelle to reach the wall of fog. Such trips are made every six months, first by Iduna and Agnarr then by scouts to check on the fog

*chocolate is already in bars when Iduna is a kid

*sir Jorgen Bjorgen was made by queen Rita for his son. Later Agnarr gave it to Elsa, after the accident

*Kjekk, Anna's horse belonged to Iduna. It was a gift from a farmer.

*carrots seem to be widely available, even Northuldra feed their reindeers with them

*The Little Mermaid - Agnarr reads this newly published book when he is 18

*a secret room exists. The entrance is in the castle's library, behind a bookcase and opens after moving a statue of Water Nokk. The description of the secret room suggests that it's very old, with books that "looked like they’d been in there, gathering dust, for a thousand years", ancient scrolls and maps. Runeard used it, later it was found accidentally by Iduna and Agnarr. They used it too.

*there are other secret passages in the castle

*Iduna was taught to read by her mother from one book she had. Arendellians that were building the dam brought books with them, often with tales about princesses.

*the book shows baby Elsa using ice powers very skilfully from the first moment she revealed that she has magic

*when young, Agnarr loves to sleep in

*Iduna tells Agnarr that she is Northuldra only a few weeks before their sea voyage.

#frozen #frozen 2 #dangerous secrets #dangeroussecrets #analysis #iduna #agnarr #frozen books

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fericita-s · 3 years

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Glowing True

An alternate chapter 26 for Dangerous Secrets, written for the “Write Your Own Style” Agduna Discord Server contest. Thanks as always to @the-spaztic-fantastic for beta-ing and helping me on the most devastating lines. Angst ahead; you’ve been warned.

“Iduna,” he said, reaching for my hands.

I longed for his touch but I crossed my arms instead, bunching the tea towel in one fist and squeezing hard, remembering how he had called me stubborn the last time we spoke. Still, it was a relief to see him, to know that despite the gates being closed, and the looming threat of violence against the crown, that he was safe. That he still had some measure of freedom, though he had tried to take mine away.

It made me mad all over again to think of it. “Are you here to order me somewhere?”

He grimaced and stayed on the doorstep, not making a move to come in. I could see two soldiers a few paces back, one keeping watch out towards the street and one looking at us as we spoke. “I’m sorry, Iduna. I was wrong to do that. And I am here to invite you somewhere, though you are free to say no.”

“I’m listening,” I said, uncrossing my arms but still not inviting him in.

“Mr. Sorensen is at the castle with the council members. They’ve devised a plan to question every citizen about these attacks so we can figure out how to keep everyone safe.”

“They’ve devised it? What about you?”

“I don’t need a test to tell me the Northuldra are blameless in this. We’ve seen how impenetrable the mist remains. And I don’t like the idea of questioning citizens. But these are dark times and I’ve agreed to back their plan. And I’d like you to back it too.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Come to the castle. Allow Mr. Sorensen to question you with this new system. Everyone in town knows you and loves you. If they see you volunteering for this, it might help them agree to do so willingly. It might take some of their fear away.”

“That’s not exactly volunteering,” I said. Lord Peterssen had warned me against this, but I considered. If this was the quickest way to find the culprits, would it be the quickest way to clear the Northuldra from blame? With the true perpetrators unmasked, might I be able to reveal my origins to Agnarr at last? “Did Lord Peterssen tell you to get me? That I should take this test?”

“No, he hasn’t arrived at the meeting yet. I thought he might be here actually. But I’m glad I could talk to you alone.” Agnarr looked so penitent. So hopeful. So kingly.

If I had managed to hide in plain sight for so long, surely I could lie my way through questioning. Even questions designed to catch lies.

“I’ll go,” I said.

Agnarr smiled and I hoped it was the right choice.

***************************

“Tell us your name.”

“Iduna.”

Mr. Sorensen nodded encouragingly, and then pointed to the crystal that glowed red from its short chain around my neck, drawing the attention of the other assembled council members. “See how it glows? That means the answer she gave is true. It will also glow if the wearer knows the answer is ‘yes’ to a question that I ask. Thank you, Iduna. Let’s continue.”

The polished mahogany of the table was so bright it seemed to be its own source of light. But it was easier to look at than the faces around the table. Lord Peterssen’s face was impassive, but I knew he was thinking this was folly. He had flashed a look of shock and then fear when I had arrived and I was certain he would have words with Agnarr later. And me.

“Tell us about your parents, Iduna.”

“They died. In the forest.” I didn’t look down to see if the crystal glowed, but at the sight of Sorensen nodding, I assumed my half-truth worked.

“Do you blame the Northuldra for their deaths?”

“No. I don’t know who killed them. I didn’t see them die.” Some of the councillors moved in their seats or furrowed their brows at this question, but I kept my body as still as possible, trying not to choke on the word “die.” Hoping the crystal couldn’t discern the crowded thoughts in my head.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I wanted to ask what risk they thought a peaceful people who had left Arendelle alone for years could pose. I wanted to say that the Northuldra were blamed for every inconvenience, large and small, and that they could hardly be dyeing sheep purple and assaulting people in the street while trapped behind the mist. But it seemed my pared-down answer worked. The crystal glowed red, Sorensen nodded, and the questions continued.

“What do you know about the men with sun masks?”

“Nothing.”

“Do you know any group that uses the sun as its symbol?”

“Corona.”

“The Northuldra too, yes?” Sorensen seemed thrilled that the crystal was doing what he hoped. He rubbed his hands together and then took notes as he continued with his questions.

“Yes, though it seems monumentally stupid that those who bother wearing masks to hide their identity would use a symbol of their nation in the design of their mask.” I winced as I caught the surprised look of the council members, but Sorensen laughed. So much for only giving short, succinct answers.

“Yes, I believe that as well,” he said, still chuckling.

I hazarded a look at Peterssen but he remained expressionless. Conceal don’t feel, indeed. I wondered if he was so good at it that he could prevent a truth-telling crystal from revealing his feelings.

“Do you often travel alone?

“Yes. I meet with farmers to help them with their windmills.”

“Have you ever seen anything suspicious?”

“No.”

“Do you swear allegiance to Arendelle?”

I took a breath, very aware of the crystal, cold against my chest. I thought of my home. My first home. My mother wrapping me in her shawl and Yelana pledging to keep me safe.

But Agnarr was Arendelle. And I loved him.

“Yes, I do.” I looked down, relieved to see the crystal glowing red.

“Is there anything else you’d like to tell us, Iduna? Anything you think we need to know?”

“No.”

“Is there anything you think the crown prince needs to know?”

My cheeks heated at this, as red as the crystal that was surely about to glow. Agnarr needed to know so much. That I loved him. That I was Northuldra. That I would never cause him harm, and that’s why I had to lie now.

This group of assembled council members was looking at me sympathetically right now, but they were also a reminder of how hated the Northuldra remained. A reminder of how little a chance I had of existing in Agnarr's castle as anyone other than a friend, than a citizen being brought in for questions.

I looked at Agnarr and then down at the crystal, glowing brightly red. More red than it had for any of my other answers.

“Please excuse me,” I said, rising quickly from the chair. Every council member stood up, the sound of several chairs scraping against the hardwood floors deafening as they all rushed to show how courteous they were.

I ran to the door and down the hall, hearing Agnarr behind me, calling my name, but I didn’t turn to look. Even if I escaped his sight, he would know where to find me. Our special place. Our secret room.

The library was dark and Agnarr shut the door behind us quietly, not even a muffled sound escaped from tumblers latching into place.

“I’m sorry,” I said, my hand flying to where the crystal lay just above the neckline of the bodice. “I forgot I was wearing it.” It wasn’t true and the crystal was dull now, accusing me of the lie. I tried to unfasten it but couldn’t with my shaking hands so instead I clasped them together, trying not to wring them with worry. What must Agnarr think of me after that interview?

“What is it, Iduna? What was it you couldn’t say?” His voice was gentle and kind, soft and soothing. I tried to imagine how he might shout if I told him the truth of who I was but just as quickly realized the futility. He would never react in anger. He would understand, and that would be worse. It would put him in danger. I would put him in danger.

“I want you to leave,” I said. “I don’t love you . . . I can’t love you.” I didn’t look down at the crystal, willing his eyes to stay on mine so he wouldn’t look either. Wouldn’t see how dull it remained.

The complete lack of the crystal’s glow proving that I was a liar.

But then I thought of what was true. A truth that crushed me in its cruelty, that would crush him too. “You are a prince. And I am not a princess. We cannot be together. ”

There was a long moment of silence and then Agnarr reached out and touched the crystal. “You really believe that,” he said, his voice a whisper. I saw the red glow reflecting on his fingers as they ran across the surface of the crystal. This close, I could see a small fleck of soap lather left on his collar from shaving, could feel the heat of him and remember what it felt like to be even closer as we so often had been in this very room.

He reached behind my neck and unfastened the clasp and then put it around his own neck, pulling at the collar of his shirt so the crystal lay against his skin. “Well, I don’t. Look, Iduna.” His voice was strong now as he cradled my cheek with his hand and used the other to pull me close. He was so tall now that my eyes were directly across from the crystal as it lay against his collarbone. “I love you. I will find a way for us to be together.”

It glowed so red against his skin it looked like it was vibrating and I had the sudden horrible thought it would explode, shattering into shards and cutting us both. Wounds we would never heal from.

“Come live at the castle. Please. If you won’t let me love you, at least let me protect you.”

The crystal glowed red against him still. Glowing true.

“Alright,” I said, wishing it wasn’t the only yes I could give him. I would give him all of me, all of my future. But to do so would ruin his. Would ruin Arendelle’s.

So instead, I did the only other thing my heart and my body were longing to do. I reached up to his cheek to feel the smoothness of his clean-shaven jaw, I rubbed at the spot of soap on his collar. And I raised myself up on tiptoe and pulled him down by that collar to press my lips on his, to drink in all of him that I could. His hands went around my waist and he pulled me closer, and then his thumbs were on my cheeks, gently smoothing away the few tears that had fallen. And as we kissed, I pretended.

Pretended to not have a thread around my heart that tightened when I thought about my mother. Pretended that every mention of “the evil Northuldra” didn’t send a stab of panic straight down my spine. Pretended that I could be Agnarr’s, and that he could be mine.

We kissed in the hidden room, and I wished it was the only secret in this castle that could never truly be my home.

#agduna #fan fic #dangerous secrets #frozen #alternate chapter 26 #Agnarr #Iduna #frozen 2

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true--north · 1 year

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could you write a quick drabble of a moment of sexual tension between Iduna and Agnarr? just curious lol

Gee, Anon 😊 here it is: T-rated, Dangerous Secrets, Prince Agnarr, Ward Iduna, picnic, first kiss, chocolate cakes

I also want to recommend @annaofthenorthernlights sweet and romantic Agduna works: A bed in the meadow and My home is with you

THE battle for the last slice of a delicious chocolate kladdkaka became less and less innocent as Iduna, completely losing to Agnarr, fell on to her back.

It was a beautiful autumn day, and the young prince and Lord Peterssen's ward decided to have a picnic on the Arenfjord's hills, away from the demanding and watchful eyes of the court.

But even though Iduna's competitive nature began this battle of the century, Agnarr was simply stronger than her. Her ringing laughter from a moment ago faded when Agnarr leaned over her, propping up on his elbows, breathing heavily. The bright blue sky, golden autumn foliage — everything disappeared, leaving only his clear green eyes.

They were shamefully close, almost lying on top of each other, Iduna's grey skirts in complete disarray.

Agnarr looked down at Iduna, scanning her face for any sign of discomfort, watching as her eyes slipped down to his neck, which was visible in the unbuttoned collar of his blue shirt, and back up to meet his lips. Seeing her cheeks turn red, Agnarr felt himself blush as well, but he couldn't bring himself to break this touch, this proximity between them. Iduna's hands squeezed his wrists, caressing his bare skin — it was so warm that Agnarr had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, baring his strong forearms.

"May I?..." he asked in a suddenly hoarse voice, leaning even closer to her.

Iduna nodded, understanding what he meant. Her heart was beating like crazy, but her face remained calm.

Agnarr bowed and gently kissed the sensitive spot just below her ear, sending shivers down her body; and then, a little bolder, he touched her cheek, and then finally, kissed her on the lips. Overwhelmed, Iduna wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling the prince even closer to her and kissing him in return.

But at the moment when Agnarr completely forgot about everything except his Iduna in his arms, a love mist clouded his mind, Iduna flipped him over to straddle his hips, sitting on top him and giving Agnarr a triumphant smile as she pressed his hands to the plaid blanket.

"The kladdkaka is mine from now on and for ever! I am now the queen!" she giggled, enjoying her silly victory.

But Agnarr remained serious. "All that is mine is yours, Iduna."

And just that one tone of his voice, so deep and meaning, made Iduna feel hot and dizzy for her prince.

She's been living in a dream.

#agduna #drabble #asks

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hb-pickle · 4 years

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Frozen 2: Dangerous Secrets Review Essay

Why Sensitivity Readers Are Always Necessary

Before I start, I would like to make it very clear that this review only critiques the aspects of colonialism and representation in Frozen 2: Dangerous Secrets. I will not be discussing the romance, side characters or anything else like that. Also, I would like to make it very clear that none of this review is meant to personally attack or berate the author @marimancusi . I firmly believe that none of the cultural insensitivities in her book were intentional, but were simply the result of a non-indigenous, white author writing about experiences she could not personally relate to. My only goals for writing this review is to show the author how her book unintentionally perpetuated many harmful and outdated ideas about racism and colonialism, and to convince her and Disney to contact and hire sensitivity readers before they create content about vulnerable racial/ethnic groups.

I would also like to state that I am an African American woman and not indigienous, so I have personal experiences with racism and colonialism towards black people, but not towards indigenous communities. So if any indigenous people see problems or inaccuracies with my review, I would be happy to listen and put your voice first.

- - -

To summarize quickly (with full context), Frozen 2: Dangerous Secrets is about Iduna, a young indigenous Northuldra girl (oppressed racial/ethnic minority) who was suddenly and violently separated from her home and family when her people were betrayed and attacked by the Arendellians (colonizing class). As a result of the massacre battle between the two groups, Iduna is permanently separated from her home (caused by a magical and impenetrable mist) and forced to spend the rest of her days in the kingdom of Arendelle, where she lives in almost constant fear of being exposed as a Northuldran (for the townsfolk are violently bigoted against them). Naturally, this book contains many many depictions of racial hatred and bigotry along with exploring the mindset and fears of a young girl dealing with the brunt of colonialism. Unfortunately, it tends to fumble the seriousness of these situations (out of ignorance or out of a desire to keep the book lighthearted/to center the romance plotline), which results in an overall detrimental message to the audience. The missteps I specifically want to unpack are as follows.

- (1/5) Severs Iduna’s connection to her culture before the story even begins (making us feel less empathetic for the Northuldra’s plight)

I’m not 100% certain, but my understanding is that the purpose of making Iduna a double orphan was to make her more sympathetic and to give her a reason to save Agnarr’s life (to have compassion for a stranger, the same way her adoptive family did for her). In theory this is perfectly fine, quickly establishing that the audience should like Iduna is smart and so is rationalizing her most important, life changing decision. But in practice this only functions to distance Iduna from her culture and family and make the reader care less about the Northuldra. This is because it takes away Iduna’s chance to have a strong, palpable relationship with a specific Northuldra character, which would humanize their entire group (even if only in memory). The only Northuldra characters that Iduna mentions more than once is her mother and Yelena. Both of these characters are mentioned rarely, neither have a close relationship with Iduna (her mother dying 7 years before the events of the story), nor do either of them have any specific personality traits or lines of dialogue (Yelena has exactly one line and it is about knitting). The goal of a story about a child unjustly stolen from her home should be to explore why those acts of violence were so horrific. The very first step of exploring that is to humanize the victims. After all, why would a reader care about the injustices done to a group of people who barely exist? How are we, the readers, supposed to feel bad for Iduna and mourn her family like she does, if we barely know them?

We needed more of Iduna’s memories. We needed to learn about her friends, her family, her mother and Yelena. What were they really like? How did they love Iduna? What were their last words to her before she never saw them again? Didn’t Iduna care for them? Did she worry about their well being and miss their comforts? We need to hear about how she bonded with them, how they made her feel, how they made her laugh or cry. How they taught her to hunt, forage, and knit so that when we hear how the Arendellians speak of them, with such ignorance and contempt, we are as truly disgusted and offended as we should be.

- (2/5) Equates Iduna and Agnarr’s suffering, aggressively downplaying the brutality of colonialism (even to the point of prioritizing Agnarr’s needs)

First things first, I understand that Dangerous Secrets is a modern day romance novel for older children/teens so an equal power balance between Agnarr and Iduna is preferred (which I agree with). But, this balance extends past the romance and personalities and into attempting to portray Agnarr and Iduna’s suffering as equal. This is best exemplified in these lines of internal dialogue by Iduna:

I did not deserve to be locked away from everyone I loved. But Agnarr did not deserve to die alone on the forest floor because he’d had a fight with his father. Whatever happened that day to anger the spirits and cause all of this, it was not his fault. Nor was it mine. And while we might be on different sides of this fight, we had both lost so much. Our friends. Our family. Our place in the world. In an odd way we were more alike than different. (Page 67)

All of this is technically true, up until the very last line about them being “more alike than different”. Agnarr and Iduna’s lives are nothing alike. Iduna is a poor, indigenous girl who had everyone she ever knew or loved either killed or permanently taken away from her, stolen from her home and forced to spend the rest of her life living in a foreign kingdom rife with people who actively, consistently threaten her safety. While Agnarr, on the other hand, is a white male member of the royal family, heir to the throne, and extremely wealthy. The novel doesn’t shy away from this (at least on Agnarr’s part), and doesn’t hesitate to show us that Agnarr is royalty and will never experience what Iduna has to endure. But it behaves like Agnarr’s relatively petty, temporary, and incomparable ills are just as heartbreaking as Iduna’s and focuses significantly more time and energy building up empathy for him and his woes. This extends from small things like the book asserting that the few times Agnarr needed to stay in his castle, to avoid political assasination was comparable to Iduna’s family being trapped in the mist (against their will for 30+ years); to more concerning issues like claiming Agnarr’s separation from his parent’s is just as distressing as Iduna’s separation from her entire people. Now fleshing out Agnarr and his relation to parents is a good thing, since it can provide crucial character motivation and make him more of a well rounded character. But when Agnarr’s suffering is presented as more relevant and worthwhile discussing than Iduna’s it, by extension, implies that the frustrations of an affluent life and being separated from parents that did not value you in the first place (Runeard and Rita) is somehow more or just as pressing as facing the brunt of the most violent and terrifying forms of colonialism. Agnarr’s story may be tragic, but it is nowhere near as horrific as Iduna’s and the book should acknowledge and reflect that.

- (3/5) Has a rudimentary understanding of racism and how if affects the people who perpetuate it

Dangerous Secrets’ understanding of racism (and how to deal with it) is summed up very concisely in a conversation between Lord Peterssen and young Prince Agnarr. Agnarr asks his senior why the Arendellian towns people are so obsessed with blaming magic and the spirits (magic and spirits being an allegory for real world characteristics that are unique to one culture or people) for all their problems, and the following exchange insues:

“People will always need something to blame for their troubles”, he explained. “And magical spirits are an easy target-since they can’t exactly defend themselves… “So what do we do?” I asked. “We can’t very well fight against an imaginary force!” “No. But we can make the people feel safe. That’s our primary job.” (Page 132-133)

Though Lord Peterssen is supposed to be a flawed character, who puts undue pressure onto Iduna and Agnarr to uphold the status quo of Arendelle, this line is (intentional or not) how the book actually views racism and how it expects the characters (and reader by extension) to deal with/understand it. Bigotry is portrayed as something that is inevitable and something that should not be quelled or disproven, but accommodated for. Agnarr, as king next in line, should not worry about ending the unjust hatred in his kingdom, or killing the root of the problem (the rumors). Instead he should tell his people their suspicions are correct, and put actual resources and time into abetting their dangerous beliefs. Even later on, at the very end of the novel, Agnarr treats the prolific bigotry and magic hatred of his people as an unfortunate circumstance he has found himself in, and not something that he, as king, has the power or civic responsibility to change.

This could have been an excellent line of flawed logic, representing how privileged people tend to avoid/project the blame of racism, and prioritize order and peace over justice. Which would work especially well for Peterssen and Agnarr since they are both high class nobles with the power to actually make a difference, instead choosing to foist responsibility onto Iduna (in the case of Peterssen) who was only a child, relatively impoverished, and the one with the most to lose if she spoke out. Or, in the case of Agnarr, they do disagree with the fear mongering, but only for personal reasons (Agnarr because his father used it as an excuse for his lies); refusing still to actually work to improve his society. But the key detail is that this needs to be portrayed as wrong, which this book fails to do. Agnarr nor Peterssen are ever expected to disprove the townsfolk’s bigotry in any meaningful, long lasting sense, Peterssen is never confronted seriously for his cowardice and victim blaming, and Agnarr is never criticized for his anti-bigotry being based entirely on his own personal parental issues and not in the fact that he knows with 100% certainty that the Northuldra are innocent.

This flawed understanding of bigotry also applies to how the book depicts the Arendellian townsfolk, who are awarded no accountability whatsoever for their actions. The townspeople spend the entire book threatening to kill any Northuldra they find and Peterssen, Agnarr, and Iduna are constantly afraid that they would immediately destabilize the government if they found out their king was close to one. But somehow this does not translate into any contempt or distrust in our protagonist or the reader. In this novel, we meet only four openly bigoted individuals: the two orphan children playing “kill the Northuldra”, the purple/pink sheep guy (Askel), and the allergy woman (Mrs. Olsen). The orphans are dismissed wholesale because they are literal children who also lost both of their parents in the battle of the dam (so they were killed by Northuldra; somewhat justifying their anger). And the other two townsfolk are joke characters, whose claims are so unbelievable that they aren’t supposed to be seen as a serious threat. Not only that but Askel is rewarded for his bigotry when Iduna offers he sell his pink sheep’ wool (which he thought was an attack from the Northuldra) as beautiful pink shawls. These are the only specific characters that show any type of active bigotry in the entire kingdom besides Runeard, whomst is dead. Every other character is either an innocent and friendly bystander (the woman at the chocolate shop, the new orphans Iduna buys cookies for, the farmers Iduna sells windmills too, the people at Agnarr and Iduna’s wedding), has no opinion at all (Greda, Kai, Johan), or is portrayed as someone who is just innocently scared and doesn’t know any better (the rest of the townsfolk, especially those who fear the Northuldra are the sun mask attackers). Even the King of Vassar, the most violent and dangerous living character of the story, doesn’t even hold any prejudice against the Northuldra, and simply uses their imagery to scare Arendelle into accepting his military rule.

So according to this book, bigotry and racism come not from the individual, but from society and the system you live in, but also not really because the people in charge of that system (Peterssen, Agnarr, and eventually Iduna) are also virtually guiltless. This, of course, is not true at all. Racism is a moral failing which exists on all levels of society, from individuals who chose to be bigoted, to others who tolerate bigotry as long as it doesn’t inconveniance them. It's not just an inevitable fear of what you don’t understand, but an insidious choice to be ignorant, fearful, and unjust to the most vulnerable members of society. It is malicious and irrational, and the more you tolerate it, the more dangerous it becomes.

- (4/5) Presents Iduna’s assimilation to the dominant culture as a positive

As the romance plotline of Dangerous Secrets really starts to get underway, Iduna’s life seems perfect. Her romance with Agnarr blossoms, she has her own business, and is becoming accustomed to her new surroundings (in order to make the coming drama more exciting). This is her internal dialogue as she returns to town one day:

I couldn't imagine, at the time, living in a place like this. But now it felt like home. It would never replace the forest I grew up in… But it had been so long now, that life had begun to feel almost like a dream. A beautiful dream of an enchanted forest… There was a time I truly believed I would die if I could never enter the forest again. If the mist was never to part. But that time, I realized, was long gone. And I had so much more to live for now… And my dreams were less about returning to the past and more about striking out into the future- (Page 128-129)

Again, I understand that the point of Iduna being content with her life like this is to be the “calm before the storm” of the romance arc, but the fact that Iduna is almost forgetting her old life, and that it is presented as a good thing, is extremely distressing. At only 12 years old Iduna lost everything she ever had besides the literal clothes on her back; she would never forget that. Not only that, but the real world implication that a minority should cope with their societal trauma by spending the rest of their life working for said society that unapologetically wants to kill them (and get a boyfriend) is horribly off putting. It strikes a nerve with many people of color and indigenous readers because telling minorities to “get a job” or “get a life” (especially when said jobs ignore/are separate from their own cultures) is commonly used by privileged folk to blame them for their own dissatisfaction/unhappiness with the society they live in. The idea is that minorities should continue to suffer, but busy themselves, so they stop criticizing dominant culture and defending/uplifting their own. This is part of cultural erasure, and the book plays into it, by commending Iduna for “having more to live for” than cherishing/wanting to return to her original home, for prioritizing Arendelle over herself, and for forgetting her heritage/playing it off as nothing but a dream. Devaluing indigenous culture like this, especially through an indigenous character, is extremely disrespectful.

Not only that, but it’s completely antithetical to Iduna’s character, since she claims to be proud and unashamed of who she is, but happily assists the townsfolk who hate her, and rarely mentions her heritage besides when she’s caught in a lie or actively being persecuted. This is another failing brought on by the lack of understanding of how racism affects its victims. Being a minority plays into all the decisions you make and all the interactions you have; it’s not something that you can just turn off unless directly provoked. Iduna’s would be constantly fretting about who she talks to, and who she is with because if she gets too close to the wrong person, she could have put herself in serious danger.

Nowhere is this lack of realism more obvious than the scene directly after Iduna rejects Johan’s proposal. Iduna spends a long time thinking about whether marrying Johan or Agnarr would be better for her, and not even once does being a Northuldra play into her decision making. This should’ve been front and center because your husband can be your strongest ally or your greatest enemy. If Iduna was outed, what could she do to defend herself against or alongside her partner? If she was ever going to consider marrying for anything other than true love, her chances of survival should have been her first priority.

What I’m not saying is that there needs to be a complete overhaul of Iduna’s personality, or that she needs to be frightened and suspicious at all times. Iduna can project strength and caution. She can be kind to the townspeople, but reserved in order to keep a safe distance. She should cling to the few pieces of her culture she has left, despite what society tells her to do. Or, on the exact opposite side of the coin, Iduna’s personality could be kept relatively the same, but the book needs to acknowledge that this is a terrible thing. Iduna is being assimilated against her will to a society that doesn’t value her and that is a tragedy. In a futile attempt at survival, Iduna buries her culture away and lives her life as a perfect, contributing, model Arendellian citizen, but they terrorize her regardless.

- (5/5) Negatively depicts the indigenous Northuldra as murderous invaders

In Chapter 34 of Dangerous Secrets it is revealed, during a flashback, that Iduna lost her parents and her entire family group in an attack by a separate group of Northuldra invaders. This scene is completely unacceptable regardless whatever narrative/story purpose it was supposed to achieve for several reasons. Firstly, because this book is about colonialism, which we as a society already know the consequences of and how colonizers, in an attempt to rid themselves of blame, react to it. One of the very first things a colonizer/privileged class will do to make themselves feel less guilty for the atrocities they perpetuate is bring up acts of violence/wrongdoing on behalf of the oppressed. The sole purpose of this is always to make the victims look less sympathetic and less deserving of justice, equality, or attention because “they’re not so innocent, they did wrong things too, so maybe we shouldn't feel that bad for them/maybe they got what they deserved”. And of course this mindset is absolutely horrific and unforgivable when you’re talking about a group of white colonizers actively trying to destroy and indiscriminately slaughter a large group of indigenous people, including their children.

The second reason is because the author is a non-indigenous white person, and therefore benefits directly from the downplaying of indiginous pain. I’m sure this wasn’t intentionally malicious on her part, but that’s what she wrote; these are the consequences.

((Also the fact that one of the Northuldra groups are murderous invaders means that Iduna was actively lying the entire book about the Northuldra being peaceful.))

- - -

In conclusion, any book that incorporates the culture and experiences of a group the author is not a part of, should absolutely hire a sensitivity reader to ensure accuracy and respect. As a Frozen superfan myself, I actually enjoyed this book a lot and I was delighted to see the lore, worldbuilding and romance. I loved Agnarr, Lord Peterssen, and Princess Runa and certain pieces of dialogue and imagery were beautiful. This novel just desperately needed someone to check it. All this book needed was a bit more of a critical gaze on some of the character decisions and motivations (I truly believe Agnarr and Peterssen would have been even more intriguing and likeable characters if they were actually called out, and given time to reflect on their hypocrisies) and it would’ve been much stronger and more palatable to diverse audiences. Some elements did need to be cut out completely, but a sensitivity reader would’ve easily been able to point this out and offer alternatives that preserved the spirit of the novel, without including any offensive and distasteful implications.

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