holy shit. that's terrifying.

Awesome story. The end of chapter 2 really hit me hard.

Wow this was such a good story! Beautiful and interesting, it made me think unlike much stories I read before.

I love the story so far! I just have an instinct that this sort of story will end in a singularity. When something can make itself smarter, that always happens (in stories at least).

Instant favorite. The thought of the impacts of Elsa's powers is incredible.

This is one of the best stories ive ever read.

I never thought that a Disney movie could serve as grounds for an allegory of the technological singularity, but here we go. The ethic complications make me deeply uncomfortable. Kudos!
(Also, the first thing for a review that came to my mind was "This chilled me to the bone", and then I noticed that, yeah, no.)

I'm surprised no one has pointed this out, but in the movie, as part of the backstory, Elsa hit Anna in the head with ice and the trolls just magic it away and point out that it would be more dangerous if the ice had hit the heart. So, Olaf putting ice in the duke's head being the reason Elsa flips out is kind of off, especially given that Elsa knows that the trolls could fix it, because she was there when Anna was getting healed.

Someone reading this as a Frozen fanfic would be very confused here, yes?

Wow.

Okay, THAT was different! A beautiful, gradual, not to say RELENTLESS expansion of the plot, on plausible ground, with a predictable-in-hindsight culmination. Nicely done!

This story became something more in the reading. I'd not anticipated your taking it in this direction, but I'm glad you did.

Heh. And if any aliens happen by, Olaf will take them over, too. That might work as a sequel. "Independence Day", Arendelle style.

Dobre

Wow, a very interesting story. Although I'm kind of doubtful that Olaf would be able to reach space so quickly, no matter how smart he's gotten. I guess I'll chalk it up to magic.

Ok, holy crap, let's try to tackle this bad boy... A Bluer Shade of White is a cold narration on the exponential growth of an artificial intelligence hidden within a Frozen fanfiction. I call it a "cold" narration because there's little concern with the day to day actions and thoughts of characters, with the story focusing on key moments and dialogs and then quick-jumping days, weeks, months or even years ahead to reach the next momentous occasion, less like a full fledged world and more like a journalistic report of sorts.

As for the artificial intelligence bit, that's an approach seen often in futuristic Utopia narratives featuring benevolent robots capable of learning and self improving, like Olaf did throughout the story. Dude's basically Prime Intellect, but made of snow and with a carrot for a nose lol.

This is a strange story, permeated with a certain atmosphere of dread despite its seemingly happy ending, but it's definitely entering my hall of favorites! Thanks for the material!

Haunting. Singularity stories always leave me shaken, especially when applied to cartoons. I've read My Little Pony fics along the same lines.

It occurs to me that, ultimately, this isn't a story of Olaf going out of control with unlimited power so much as a tale of Elsa allowing her powers to go out of control because of the limitations she put upon herself. She really seemed to concede defeat a little too easily. Her magic is infinitely versatile, and I find myself imagining numerous ways she could have "defeated" Olaf even as she met him on the mountain.

For example, she knew that attacking the "mind buffet" of the Olaf on the mountain would have been pointless due to the multitude of clones. But nothing suggests that she couldn't still add to his psyche. She might have projected her natural revulsion to his proposed regime, "upgrading" his emotional store to compensate for his expanded intellect, granting him a more mature level of humility and empathy to move beyond his simplistic "good/bad" perspective. Even her innate fear of her own power carries with it a crucial moral underpinning. Once the Olaf on the mountain had been modified with a greater understanding of her feelings on the matter, she could have then left him to solve the problem of the other Olafs himself, trusting that his more complex understanding of human nature would provide him with an edge which the other Olafs wouldn't be able to anticipate.

Since the Olaf of this story is an analogy for artificial intelligence, he's basically a computer. And as Doctor Who once said, the thing about computers is that they're "very sophisticated idiots." They can move Heaven and Earth to achieve their goals, but their goals are often dictated by extremely limited parameters. This creates a large blind spot which can be exploited. In the case of Olaf, he has a childlike notion that the ends justify the means. Arguably the most crucial aspect of growing up is learning to respect the boundaries which limit the power we have over one another. This wisdom would have made all the difference with Olaf, and it's a lesson that Anna would have been perfectly suited to bring to his and Elsa's attention.

It's noteworthy that the connection between the sisters is underplayed in this story, which I think ties into Elsa's fatal weakness. Anna has always provided crucial perspective, inspiring Elsa through emotional conviction rather than pragmatic intelligence. For all of Olaf's mental power in this story, his lack of understanding regarding the horror of his campaign suggests that there are strategies he wouldn't have been able to anticipate. So for another example, if Anna had earlier gone with Elsa to confront him (before he became the Borg) then her straightforward appeal to his basic emotions may have turned the tide. Hell, it's a Disney world. Of course it would have.

To put it in appropriately saccharine terms, his heart had to grow along with his head. All Olaf truly needed was an understanding of the line between altruism and tyranny. Elsa could have explained it to him, but Anna would have sung it to him. Hurt feelings and the prospect of never again getting a warm hug would have shaken the tower of logic built over the earnest snowman.

Incidentally, where would an army of Olafs get carrots, coal, and sticks for all of them?

Point is, Olaf became a monster because he fell into an inflexible line of reasoning. And Elsa let it happen because she never allowed herself the flexibility she needed. Not the flexibility to begin experimenting with her power to create life, but the versatility to see around a problem rather than looking directly at it. She always surrendered too easily to feelings of doom, forgetting that while ice is rigid snow is infinitely malleable.

It would have unsettled me far had olaf killed everyone.
Perhaps oneday soon the human race will become something else entirely, and the sad part is that we'll be better for it.

This is perhaps one of the most complex and thought-provoking-if not THE most complex and thought-provoking-fanfic I've ever read. The entire concept of Elsa maintaining popularity and sovereignty by using her ice powers to improve Arendelle's economy and QOL was interesting on its own but the ethical questions addressed in the fic and the inevitability of Elsa's eventual death that would destroy the system being discussed really made me think about the implications of Elsa's powers. The overall melancholic ending was also incredibly well-written and the concept of Olaf becoming a god was unexpected yet makes a lot of sense given the story. I also applaud you for writing the first Jelsa fic that I can actually appreciate.