Darkness Burning
is a 3-chapter fanfic based off of Disney's Frozen by gethsemane342.
In an Alternate Universe where her parents did not die on their voyage, Elsa still lives shut away from the outside world. Unwilling to be close enough to others to produce a heir, her parents decide to arrange a marriage for her younger sister Anna. This sparks the events of the story.
Darkness Burning contains examples of:
- Affectionate Nickname: Anna calls Joachim "Joe".
- Afraid to Hold the Baby: Amongst Elsa's worries is the worry that she'll accidentally hurt her nephew with her powers. She tries to avoid her nephew until the very end of the fic.
- Alliterative Family: Anna names her son "Elias". He's named after his aunt Elsa.
- Alternate Universe Fic: Idun and Agdar survive their voyage. The events of the film don't occur and Anna never meets Hans. Anna meets (and marries) Hans' brother Joachim, who mentions that Hans is more into traveling than romance.
- Arranged Marriage: Anna is wed to a prince from another kingdom. Anna and Elsa herself are at first horrified at the thought of arranged marriage, but Anna eventually comes around to it because she doesn't want to see Elsa uncomfortable. Her husband to be, Joachim, and Anna initially don't get along due to clashing personalities but they eventually fall in love.
- Bittersweet Ending: Anna and Elsa has successfully reconciled at the end of the story with the latter starting to learn how to control her powers and is now on the road to recovering her mental state. However, Anna must still part ways with her sister due to already being betrothed in the Southern Isles and the story ends with Anna unable to forgive her parents for what they had done to their oldest daughter.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Anna calls out her parents for teaching Elsa to "conceal, don't feel".
- Confirmed Bachelor: Elsa refuses to marry due to her fear of accidentally harming others.
- Dark Fic: Elsa's mental health and self-esteem issues take a turn for the worse, leading to a suicide attempt.
- Deadpan Snarker: Joachim has be described and shown to have a dry sense of humor.
- The Disease That Shall Not Be Named: An in-universe example. Elsa's depression isn't named and her family avoids using the word "suicide". Elsa just refers to her own depression as "darkness". This could also be because of the setting as the word "depression" as we know didn't become commonplace until almost twenty years after the 1840s.
- Exhausted Eyebags:
- Elsa gets shadows under her eyes as her depression worsens.
- Anna gets bags under her eyes due to stress.
- Happily Married: Despite it being an Arranged Marriage, Anna and Joachim are clearly happy with each other to the point where they are comfortable being goofy with each other sometimes.
- Inopportune Voice Cracking: Agdar's voice cracks when he is overcome with emotion.
- Loving a Shadow: Anna is so desperate for love that she becomes very attached to her suitors easily. This turns most of them off.
- Messy Hair: Anna is unnerved by Elsa's haggard appearance when she comes back home after hearing news of Elsa's suicide attempt. Elsa always had meticulous hair.
- Mistaken for Suicidal: Played with. Elsa was suicidal, but when her parents find her with a shard of ice she states that she isn't anymore. She was just trying to see if she could avoid wanting to attempt again. The narrative is intentionally vague on whether Elsa was being truthful or not.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Idun and Agdar have this reaction when they realize just how they've negatively affected Elsa.
- Mythology Gag:
- A few lines from the film are redone in different contexts. For example, in Chapter 1 one of Elsa and Anna's conversations mirrors their equally awkward conversation from the film:Anna: You're not … mad, are you? I mean angry, obviously you're not crazy, at least I don't think so. I guess I wouldn't know … wait, what?
- The Duke of Weselton accuses Elsa of being a witch who caused a storm. In this case, all Elsa did was make a few piles of snow to save a boy. Adgar lampshades the Duke's exaggeration.
- A few lines from the film are redone in different contexts. For example, in Chapter 1 one of Elsa and Anna's conversations mirrors their equally awkward conversation from the film:
- Never Say "Die": Elsa and her family refuse to discuss Elsa's suicide attempt bluntly. They either instead use euphemisms or just avoid the issue. It's a Wham Line when Anna finally refers to it as such.
- Not What It Looks Like: In the final chapter Elsa is caught holding a piece of ice to her wrist. She claims she was just trying to see if she could resist the urge.
- "Ray of Hope" Ending: Anna and her parents haven't reconciled, but Anna and Elsa have repaired their relationship. And Elsa has started to learn to control her powers and is beginning to heal mentally. Anna believes that she'll be able to forgive her parents for their secrecy some day.
- The Stoic: Joachim barely reacts to his wife's antics, such as when she accidentally spills wine on him.
- Suicide Watch: Elsa is on suicide watch for the entirety of the second chapter. Someone is almost always in the room with her.
- Seen It All: Joachim hardly reacts when Anna's clumsy nature results in her spilling or breaking something. Her family suspects that this is a common occurrence back in the Southern Isles.
- Teen Pregnancy: Anna gets pregnant at nineteen. Elsa thinks she's too young but doesn't say anything.
- The Tooth Hurts: Anna accidentally knocks a tooth loose when she ducks onto the floor.
- What If?: "What if the king and queen had returned safely and didn't die?"
