#*Avalor under Shuriki*

[notmoreflippingelves]

I'm just saying that it was real mistake on the Elena of Avalor production team's part to tell the world (i.e. me) that THAT scene in the series finale was explicitly visually and thematically modeled off the end of Beauty and Beast (1991). Because what on earth am I, an English major, to do with that information except want to make an infinite number of Esteban Flores graphics featuring lyrics and lines from various incarnations of Disney's Beauty and the Beast (especially the Broadway show)? And this is a real problem considering that I am very, very not good at Photoshop.

[tale-of-two-queens]

HOW DID I MISS THIS?! THAT'S LEGIT AWESOME

Ur so smarty for this :0

edit: sorry if you saw three or two reblogs of the same. Tumblr glitched on my phone, but i got it fix XD

Very cool detail about Elena of Avalor that I just noticed. Shuriki's hair whipping to the side is actually a very subtle hint that Elena's sneaking behind her with her invisibility spell ready to ambush her. I've rewatched the show several times and only just recently picked up on this but it is pretty damn cool! (This scene is my favorite in the whole show btw)

[blueflyingturtleontheway]

I was supposed to be working on the next piece for the estewizard AU but the other worlds were fighting for my attention, so I thought why not include a bunch of them in the drawing. You can think of it as Mateo messing up a spell and accidentally bringing together the multiverse

Solo pictures and short introductions to the AUs under the cut

Puppet (Elena) AU

This AU diverges during Shuriki's seige of the palace. Elena's amulet is found by Esteban before Alacazar. Wanting to comfort the panicked boy at least a little, Alacazar explains that Elena isn't dead and they can easily free her if only they get Shuriki's wand... and that's when the devil spoken about shows up and strikes Alacazar down.

Elena is freed from the amulet by Shuriki and Esteban after a few weeks/months. She's brought to the palace and inofficially kept prisoner by the threat of hurting her family - her family in the painting of course, she's one step away from hurting Esteban herself at any given moment. At first she tries to rebel against Shuriki, free herself and her kingdom from this invader but soon she realises that she can actually achieve more by working with Shuriki rather than against her. Of course, only in minor things, only temporarily, only to keep her pleased so she doesn't harm Avalor more...

Estewizard AU

After 41 years Elena has become the second (or third, depending on if you ask her or Esteban) person in the kingdom after the queen herself. She's officially given the crown to Shuriki a long time ago and now focuses all her efforts on making sure the citizens of Avalor are safe and have nothing to worry about. It would be easier if her shitty cousin didn't try to undermine her efforts every step of the way.

A little glimpse on how much she's changed under Shuriki's influence could've been seen in this little ficlet.

The inciting incident is similar to the previous story, Esteban finds the amulet before Alacazar and learns from him that Elena is trapped inside, but here they both manage to escape from the palace. Esteban joins Alacazar on his journey, with time becoming his apprentice and then a full-fledged wizard and taking over the mission. He builds a whole legendary persona of the Last Wizard of Avalor, while in reality using the Amulet's powers more than his own. After Elena was freed he took over as the royal wizard, continuing his mentor's legacy and taking Mateo on as his apprentice.

(I explained the whole story in greater detail in various posts under the #estewizard au tag on my blog)

To King or not to King AU (tkon)

If the name of this AU reminded you of the To Queen or not to Queen episode, you'd be correct since this AU started with me being dissatisfied with that episode XD I was thinking how I would write a story where Elena grapples with the question if she'd be queen if she didn't have to and skipping now over all my musings on the episode, this story was born. Technically it's not an AU but a canon compliant post canon story where an alternate reality is created in universe.

A powerful wizard realised that the best way to take over the kingdom is to get rid of the royal family. But killing them or locking somewhere would inevitably lead to them seeking vengeance, no, to properly get rid of them she has to keep them happy - and separated. And so each member of the royal family had fake memories implemented and was put into a new life.

Here we see Francisco as a travelling musician/vigilante, accidentally passing by Avalor City. Only the wizard didn't consider that her spell didn't work properly on everyone and this Francisco doesn't have any memories prior to the morning he wakes up on the outskirts of the city, neither the fake nor the real ones.

(Also technically Elena and Esteban are more important figures in this story, but I didn't want to repeat characters)(and designing Francisco was a lot of fun.)

Guapoverse

One of my older stories and because of that probably marked by the most dramatism. One could argue whether it's an AU or simply a post canon story, since the plot takes off around 3 years after Coronation Day, but because of how many liberties I took with the story I prefer to call it the former.

As the general Gabe took it upon himself to improve safety in all of Avalor, not just the capital and to do that he sends his best men to all parts of the country to research the social situation, warn of possible dangers and set up new posts. During one such expedition, Rico stumbles upon a sketchy plot which could potentially put the whole kingdom in danger...

Having lost contact with one of his officers and not experienced in any matters that big yet, Gabe looks for guidance. With Francisco dead, most records of the military under Castillo rule lost and Shuriki's general having disappeared with all the most important archives soon after Elena's return, Gabe turns to the one man he knew to be a successful general - unfortunately that man is currently stuck in a magic sword and has been for the last few centuries.

They strike a deal, Gabe will share his body and Guapo will share his experience and if Gabe successfully brings Avalor out of this crisis, maybe Guapo can finally be released from his magical golden cage.

Now, the picture, after 5 more years the dark cloud of civil war is entirely in the past and Avalor is peaceful once more. As for Gabe, he got to settle down with the love of his life who finally accepted the whole possession deal and though there are still many years and many adventures before him, he can already safely say that he found he earned his star. And Guapo? With the doors to the Spirit World now open to him, he decided to stick around a little longer, he got attached to this kid (and someone has to take care of his fashion sense.)

A little snippet from the guapoverse has actually already appeared on tumblr here.

Neither of these stories really has a firm canon or much in terms of finished pieces but I still love these concepts and think they're great fun even just to muse over. Feel free to send an ask if anything piqued your interest and hey, maybe I'll even know what to answer! And if not we'll brainstorm together

[the-gayest-show]

I wrote an Esteban fic!!

This thing has been in the works for a long time and God fucking damn it i am FINISHED!!! I HAVE RELEASED IT FROM ITS CAGE!!!!

Refer to the summary for what it's about (it took me so long to write it, i dont know how to summarize the shit i spent so long on i guess) but it's basically the AU that I created specifically for this story specifically for Esteban to suffer haha.

Under da cut if u wanna hear yapping bout this shit

I wanted to play with the idea of the following:

- Shuriki is BACK. I got this complete baller idea from a tumblr posts that I don't remember the contents of but I think it implied shuriki surviving the stuff from Song of the Sirenas

- Esteban and his fuckass trauma which i believe he has and drzone's stupid chart post changed me on this forever

- Panic attacks bc what better way to torture my fav than to have him break downnnn. Tried doing this in an unfinished Cedric (sofia the first) fic but my hyperfixation gave up before I could finish it. This one was kept alive by my incessant ordering of dvds, and I now own 3 elena of avalor dvds (bringing my collection of total dvds to a concerning 7)

- Francisco being the only one who forgave Esteban in the court sequence in The Magic Within. This is shown to us but I've always wanted to see a real in depth thing going for it. One last stand ya know?

This entire damn fic was me going "welp no one's supplying the stuff I wanna see so I gotta BE the vision."

Or like the stupid quote I see passing by a certain school every day states, "Be the You You Knew Was In You"

Yeah so I locked tf in nightly (all my best prose comes at night guys) and got this done. Some of the descriptions n shit im proud of.

I left the ending a bit open ended but I literally don't wanna write in this AU thing. Maybe I'll return to it in one way or another but this is a oneshot and you will not see a direct continuation unless somehow I flesh out a good idea for it. But I'm also a big fan of open ends so yeah

I tried to use one of the interesting formatting techniques for character thoughts that I'd only seen in Fahrenheit 451 when I read it, which is to leave it completely raw and unformatted. I think I'll keep doing that I love the appeal it gives the story

[raptorladylover6969]

nobody questions how horrific Elena of Avalor was compared to Sofia the First 😭😭 the duality of both shows is so shocking its insane. STF I would say in my personal opinion is a little more tamer than whatever fentanyl EOA was on. And im not counting the STF finale. And its not just the duality of the shows themselves that are insane, it’s both Elena and Sofia as characters. The way they handle and cope with things is so drastically different, it’s interesting to compare. And I’m gonna be honest, Elena was like 1000x more violent than Sofia was. Not just towards antagonists, but Elena literally wanted to physically assault an innocent character cuz she found him annoying ☠️

(under the cut are major EOA spoilers)

I don’t blame Elena for her actions and behaviour in the slightest, it’s obviously because of her trauma regarding witnessing her own parents literally DISINTEGRATE in front of her eyes, and also being trapped in a amulet for 41 years completely isolated. She’s obviously gonna be extremely mentally fucked up, to which she expresses in anger and or violence. It’s no wonder why her emotion magic is so chaotic, her brain itself IS chaotic! Shuriki’s return only worsened that violent side of her, and Esteban’s betrayal had her at like the very edge of full on psychosis. She wanted to KILL HIM for god sake. ZERO hesitation, she wanted him GONE.

As for Sofia, the way she handles things feels almost…unrealistic. Especially for a child her age. She’s only cried ONCE in the entire show, which is lowkey scary. There were MANY instances where you’d EXPECT her to fully breakdown, only for to be like “oh no ☹️…anyway.” LIKE??? Applause to her for being so in control of her emotions, but like, she’s a CHILD, and by mid s4 she’s a preteen. Her expression of “negative” emotions was so scarce, the entire fandom got excited whenever she DID show them, which is very concerning and not good character writing at all 😭😭

Also hot take, I hated the ending for EOA. Esteban should’ve not been forgiven. He should’ve been like banished or something, but definitely NOT be welcomed back into the family?? “Oh it was a mistake” your mistake costed peoples LIVES, not just Elena’s parents. And have caused a whole generation of trauma that will be passed down onto other generations. He lowkey shouldve been killed off—IM SORRY but he does NOT deserve to be ALIVEEEE after his actions.

[lucy-shining-star]

So I recalled one of my elena of avalor dreams few days ago and decided to check it in my document in which I wrote about some dreams. So copying:

'And in my other dream from Elena of Avalor I was watching and Elena,Naomi and Mateo were locked somewhere and girls were looking for a way to get out,but Mateo was like rather rude the whole time and he didn’t do anything to help? Anyway,one of things they needed to do to get out was eating some blue panckakes? Idk. So then they finally got out suddenly Shuriki and Carla came  and either Shuriki said something that indicated that Mateo is on her side now or Mateo did it(i don’t remember that in detail) and Elena,Naomi and Carla were like “What!?” and when Mateo was coming to Shuriki Elena runned next to him,looked at him and said “You must be under some spell?Right?” and after a few seconds she looked even sadder and said “No you are not”. And then my brain decided to show me ending credits.'

[swiftcry]

A few years too late, and you may not even remember, but I want to say it: You were right. The Elena of Avalor fanbase DID have issues it refused to acknowledge. They instead swept them under the rug under the guise of being "drama free." The main ones being (for me) poor fandom dynamics where only a handful of creators ever got proper feedback (and when anyone brought this up they were seen as "attention seeking"), and an intense pressure to fit in based on those popular people's opinions. Maybe no one was outright mean or hateful, but the vibe of "well that's YOUR opinion" just was not it. Because it was done in such a dismissive way where those on the "outside" (rarepair shippers, new writers, people with different headcanons than the popular, etc.) felt ignored and their content unwanted. Also, the canon "all-but-confirmed" confirmation of Gabe and Naomi as a thing just RUINED the fandom. Change my mind.

(For the record, I will not mention and do not want to speak about certain other aspects of shipping due to my personal stance that disagrees with yours. I'd rather let that lie.).

That's it. That is all I wanted to say. You were right and many of us needed a few years removed from it to see it.

Thank you so much for this message! It means a lot. I do remember it well. And probably will for a long time.

I’ve always been a fan of more obscure things, and so as a result,  I’ve always been a member of smaller fandoms. The atmosphere in Elena’s fandom was so contrary to every other similar sized fandom I had ever been in. And it was sad.

In other places, due to just how few of us there were, basically anything and everything was appreciated. Even the weird stuff. Because dang it, it was content. There were multiple interpretations of the lore. Multiple ships. And while there were ‘leaders’, they weren’t decidedly totalitarian in their treatment of others. The best leaders were the ones who encouraged new ideas, stopped misinformation and generally just were cool people. 

I of course came to the Elena fandom a little late but in part for research, in part morbid curiosity I read a lot of old posts throughout the fandoms lifespan. I saw a lot of concerning things. I saw how anyone who criticized Elena as a character in any way got shut out. You could literally see fandom drop-off points where something big would happen in the show, and people who didn’t like whatever it was (re: Dreamcatcher) would try to talk about it before being shut down, especially for defending Esteban. The Dreamcatcher lockdown I’m pretty sure shrank the fandom in half. 

Dude the all but confirmed ships thing fills me with a rage too!

I hatttteeeeee Mateo x Carla so much it's literally my main notp from the show and the finale did it to them too.

Granted, Eleteo was so popular with the big wigs that obviously that one got the slide.

But any other options for Gabe and Naomi were out.

Estenaomi? Elenaomi? Gabeisa? Gabela? Any other combos I’m not thinking of?

Nope! 

(Totally ok! I have a guess as to which it is and while I don’t ship it, it’s chill!)

I personally was a quiet shipper of Marzel and Elena; he struck me as the in-between of Mateo and Gabe that gave her the best of both worlds. 

I have ranted a lot about the toxicity of the fandom to close friends. What got me the most was the gaslighting of people and the regular blatant lying or dismissive behavior. 

There was one gif that was made that was meant to show that ‘blaze isn’t a kill spell’ in a ‘so random coincidence not related to me’. It was from when Shurikki got her wand back and what happened in the show was that blaze hit her wand not Shurikki. 

But the gif was misleading. It took out a frame from the show in order to make it look like blaze hit Shuriki instead of her wand. It made me so fucking angry. 

But I refused to call them on it. Because I even doubted it myself. Because that’s what kind of control these so called ‘leaders’ had on the Elena narrative and discourse.

So instead I just put the actual clip in my second video. 

My favorite thing was how they never directly spoke to me but instead tried to pretend I didn’t exist while ‘so randomly’ addressing the stuff I bring up in either of my videos. 

It was sad.

They were a lot of sad sad women who were definitely lonely.

I lost all sympathy though when they started bullying the younger generation of fans who started appearing and had different takes on the show.

Like the laughability of it all, these millennial women getting angry at the actual intended audience for having a different opinion then them. 

I could keep going, but basically,

Hang in there cowboy. There’s always more fandoms and now you know the warning signs.

Thanks for the message!

[amulettrapped]

@umbravirtus asked

How can you still keep smiling?

Elena's fingers lingered on the guitar strings. Out here, among the stars, the story had been easier to tell. Of course, everyone knew of her story; of seeing her parents' murder then being trapped in an amulet for forty one years. What most didn't know, outside her students, Mateo, and Naomi... was that she'd been awake and aware the whole time. Actively guiding and testing young princesses to someday free her... working tirelessly for decades just to find a way home. She hadn't even told her grandparents, as she hadn't wanted to burden them with the knowledge.... she had, however, confided in Hans.

"I'm not sure, I find ... little things each day." She explained, half shrugging in response to his question. "A hug from Abuela, a look from Isa, flying with Skylar. Part of it... is seeing how far we've come since those dark days. You've heard how my people suffered under Shuriki, everything she took from them. But... seeing them now, their strength, is mine. They fought to keep the spirit of Avalor alive, they stood behind me when they had everything to lose... It's for them that I have to be the leader they're trusting me to be."

[tookishcombeferre]

It's so funny you tagged me in this.

I was literally just cleaning up a section where Roland talks about Elena potentially recognizing Cedric and trying to "tease" him back into the way she remembered him as a child when Tilly had the Amulet. I also think that her having been exposed to that much magic for that long made her more conscious of magic inside others, so as you said @shychick-52, I think she could tell Cedric wasn't all bad.

I also kind of described it in that section as Elena "drawing Cedric back" to Sofia because she knows their destinies are intertwined in the same way hers and Alacazars were.

Additionally, I'm also working out some bugs in a conversation between Cedric and Roland where Cedric describes his desperation to get Sofia out of the Amulet coming from the fact that Elena was **technically** born 3 years before Cedric. Cedric explains that it's hard for him to hold the reality that the record of Elena's birth would state that she was born in the same calendar year as Cordelia, and, yet, to him, she looks like a child and has all the lived experience in this Realm that a sixteen-year old child would have.

For according to what Sofia has/would have told Cedric at that point, Elena was unable to age, and she couldn't have any meaningful lived experiences outside of what she could perceive from the Amulet while she was inside it. Elena lived *FORTY-ONE-GOSH-DARN-YEARS* as a SIXTEEN YEAR OLD in COMPLETE fracking ISOLATION!

I'm sorry.

I can't get over this fact.

Like, as someone who is now thirty, I cannot imagine, and I am APPALLED, by the idea of being SIXTEEN for FORTY-ONE freaking years, under any circumstance. Sixteen/Seventeen was the *worst* year/years of my *ENTIRE* life, so that might be part of it. (Truly, when they say it gets better, it does, in fact, get better kids.) However, still, being sixteen for forty-one years in solitary confinement should be grounds for murder.

How is she even mildly sane?

Needless to say, Cedric wasn't about to let Sofia watch everyone around her age from inside that death-trap only to come into a world where her parents didn't exist, and Amber and James were Roland's age, or quite likely, closer to Baileywick's age. For, if that came to pass, when Sofia was finally removed from the Amulet via ritual, she would still be just twelve.

Cedric couldn't live with that. He wouldn't. So, he didn't.

I think *that* might be what Cedric and Elena end up talking about.

Like the absolute insanity of what Cedric did for Sofia and why he did it.

The whole first episode is about getting to Avalor because there's a ritual that needs to be done in order to get Elena out of the Amulet. The ritual can't just *be done* by anyone anywhere. There are parameters to this ish.

Like, the *amount* and *specificity* of ritual that it took to get Elena out of the Amulet to retake her throne was both highly specific and intense.

I think they ended up trying ... twice?? ... maybe they got it on the first try? I can't remember.

(We haven't watched that one in a while because it's a little hard for Squish to follow, and they're just starting to hit the "things in TV actually scare me because I understand just enough to make them scary" stage of development. So, Shuriki has real fear factor for them.)

But, regardless, Cedric's like: "Nah. Who needs a ritual? I've got a spell for that. I'm just going to pull her out. Why not? Bonus points, I'll bring Prisma with her. Can't be that hard." (I mean ... it was ... but like ... also ...)

So, to me, I feel like that's the thing they discuss. She's, like, on paper as old as Cedric is, or even as old as his sister.

Elena OUGHT to be an adult.

She should have been allowed to grow up with her "peers," who are now old enough to be her parents. The world must feel so woefully confusing.

Thankfully, she still has some ties to the life *before.* She still has some consistency through her sister and grandparents.

But, is it enough?

Or are those lines still blurry?

And, I think she needs someone who would just *listen.* Someone who wouldn't try to put her in her place. Someone who wouldn't tell her that they need her to figure out this, that, or the other thing. Someone who would ask the question and just give her the space to talk about the blurry lines between the past and the present, and the person she might have been, the person they all could have been if it hadn't taken forty-one years for things to line up.

Cedric is good for that.

She knows this.

As put out as he sometimes pretended to be, he always listened. To his crotchety bird, to the twins, to people complaining about him to his face, to Sofia, Cedric always listened.

So, for once, Elena allows herself to be listened to.

And, Cedric just says simply.

"This confirms that I would do it again. Even if it killed me, I would do it again."

And, Elena realizes that she was right to just tease him because he was never really bad. He had curses enough. He just needed someone to mess with him, to remind him of the pranks he pulled, and to help him recall better days.

And, so, they stand there. Together. Better for it.

The two characters from Elena of Avalor I would have loved post-redemption Cedric to meet are Mateo (both royal sorcerers, both have overbearing mothers, both have young girls as their apprentice) and Elena herself (I would think it's obvious why, heehee)!

[lieutenant-amuel]

Today is a red-letter day for me: it’s been four years since I wrote the first chapter of my Gabe story Was Born To Lead. It was on March 3, 2021, that I finished working on A Tale of the Dragon Slayer and shared it with the world. In honour of this very very special day I decided to gather everything I’ve ever done and created for this story in the span of four years.

- written 28 chapters, the total word count is about 200,000 words.

- written 11 short stories.

- written 2 fairy tales included in the Tales of the Dragon Slayer collection and created two legends called A Man in the Cloak and The Eagle and the Crow.

- composed a song and written a quatrain that accompanies the game I invented.

- developed 165 original characters each of which has a picrew, personality, and role in the story varying from minor to major. Plus I have 23 animal characters.

- created two covers for my story and a logo for my website (the picture above is the logo).

- created five collages and two collections of edited projects: symbolism and personality types. Symbolism collection includes six characters and personality types collection includes two characters.

- created five family trees.

- made several sketches and one animatic.

- created several calendars, including the calendar of my characters’ birthdates, two Zodiac calendars, and six calendars with which I keep track of days of the week (these calendars last from the year when Gabe is ten years old to the year when Gabe is fifteen years old).

- speaking of Zodiac calendars, I developed my own Zodiac system in Avalor - by year and by month - and my own calendar system in general.

- created three ciphers.

- chosen voice claims for three characters.

- created playlists for two characters (the number of songs in one of the playlists exceeds one hundred).

- written out the history of Avalor from the Maruvian times to Elena’s reign.

- developed my own military and school systems in Avalor.

- divided the kingdom of Maarswik into two parts - Northern Maarswik and Southern Maarswik.

- implemented several cultural aspects of Mesoamerica and Mexico into my story (if I start listing them, the post will turn out way too long…).

- implemented and created my own system of scouting.

- last but not least - created a website where I keep all materials for this story.

I’ve rewatched Elena of Avalor twice solely for research reasons and am currently watching Sofia the First to expand my knowledge on the EverRealm lore, I’ve read a lot about different aspects of Mesoamerica and Mexico, and I’ve thought a lot about Avalor under Shuriki so I can tell you that this list will only be growing.

I still have a lot in store for this story and I hope I manage to finish it one day and share all my ideas with the world.

If you follow me and read my story, thank you!

[notmoreflippingelves]

It suddenly occurs to me that although "Island of Youth" seems at first a relatively innocuous fun little adventure on the surface, it's actually one of the more quietly devastating Elena of Avalor episodes when you consider it in the context of Esteban's backstory and stop to think about its wider implications. I'm going to put the rest below the cut as it got VERY long and because I do briefly touch on some character headcanons that may be triggering for some people. (warning for some discussion of abusive power dynamics especially as they relate to sexual harassment/coercion).

The episode is set on Esteban's birthday but even though the show does not explicitly remind us of this, this isn't just any old birthday for Esteban. This is specifically during the first birthday that he's had since the liberation of Avalor. It's set during the first birthday in forty-one years (!) that Esteban will be able to celebrate with his family again.

And while Esteban himself is acutely aware of its special significance, the rest of his family is probably not. Because from their perspective, they celebrated Esteban's birthday with him only last year--even if they did so with an Esteban who looks and acts distinctly different from this one. (Elena is the only probable exception as she was the only one besides Esteban to really feel the passage of those long years, even as they did not physically age her as they did him. It's probably why she organizes the surprise party in the first place and charges herself to keep Esteban company while"distracting" him from the surprise).

And though it's only just-barely alluded to in the show itself, this is also the first birthday Esteban's had since he was a teenager--the first birthday in over four decades--where he wasn't eking out a miserable existence trapped under Shuriki's thumb.

His decision to look for the fountain of youth is not the rather pathetic wish of a vain, bitter older man wants to relive some of the glory days of his youth. It's the very understandable wish of a tired, jaded (if also admittedly vain) older man who who never got have a proper youth in the first place--let alone any glory days to cling to.

He did not have the opportunity to squander his own youth, because that youth was taken from him by Shuriki--just as she took Esteban's family, country, and innocence away from him. (And yeah, I know he is partially to blame for his own bad situation, but in Esteban's defense, he was an insecure, frightened and stupid teenager at the time and as a result made the same sort of bad decisions that insecure, frightened, stupid teenagers are wont to make.)

In order to survive--not thrive, merely to survive--under Shuriki's thumb, Esteban was forced to grow up and grow up fast. And grow up in ways that no one should ever have to.

This is true in general but especially true if one tends toward the interpretation that Shuriki may have abused her power over Esteban to take advantage of him in other ways (i.e. sexually) .

In which case, his vanity throughout the show might also have this underlying Freudian excuse undertone to it that Esteban himself may not be consciously aware of. Over the years of Shuriki's reign, Esteban learned to view his looks as perhaps the only thing keeping him alive. So he learned to meticulously maintain his appearance, because as long as he remained handsome, virile and charming, Shuriki would be less likely to have him executed.

And I highly doubt that Esteban would be able to break out of this conditioning--that losing his looks might mean losing his life-- even after Shuriki's defeat. In Esteban's paranoid mind, finding the Fountain of Youth is just another way of protecting himself in the event that Shuriki should return (because there's no way he's not going to be looking over his shoulder for her the rest of his life).

All of which frames his ultimate decision--his choosing to save Elena rather than the canteen of youth-restoring water in a much more complex and noble light.

He's not giving up on a second chance on a youth that he'd voluntarily squandered; he's sacrificing his last opportunity at a real "first chance" of youth on his own terms. Because he recognizes that Elena's life is worth more than the life Esteban never got to have.

He's not reluctantly conceding that his cousin's life is worth more than Esteban's own vanity. He's conceding that his cousin's life is worth more than his own means of survival. In a small, understated way, he's making the choice that he should've made decades earlier: putting his family's safety before his own.

Although the show really doesn't dwell too much on the meaning of this (unsurprisingly), this episode provides a really interesting parallel with the finale. We see early signs that when it really comes down to it, Esteban can be much braver and much more selfless than even he realizes.

[tale-of-two-queens]

Legit I wonder the same thing XD

I do think definitely some Northern Islanders came to Avalor (my best guests is the guards during her time)

definitely people probably moved from the Northern Islands to Avalor specially taking in mind (if I remember correctly) Craig Geber mentioned years ago Shuriki was a pretty influential figure or power in the Northern Islands. I am not sure if she is actually royalthy or a noble is not imply (legit i want to know more of the Northern islands XD)

Also let's not forget that canonically Cristobal benefited from Shuriki (and i think Buena Vista did as well) so do believe that Cristobal most likely is not one of those upper class members that lost their benefit after the Castillo's returned. Meaning Elena def has some angry high status ppl after her i guess

Regarding culture I think it was separated into the ones that held Avalorian culture close, the ones who both took the Avalorian Culture and Northern Island Culture and those who either were born or accepted the Culture. This probably would vary depending on which region (like in IRL life where there are parts of the world that follow their Cultures very closely and the mixed or new Cultures). I personally think its also a mix within the kids who grew up under Shuriki's reign (maybe even some thinking she was the true queen) and some that just Honestly didn't care or learned the past. Its a very interesting concept that i don't see people talking much about as technically not everyone in Avalor would support Elena or even accepted her as the ruler of Avalor or just side with her as (after returning Avalor their Culture)as they now had to adapt to a whole new Strange Culture they weren't probably taught about

I am not sure about interracial couples and children, but i kinda love the idea that (based on my old post talking about the possibility that Shuriki could be a mixed kid too) of Shuriki either being either a bit of a hypocrite (but taking in fact she most likely never fully connected with the Satu culture due to a harsh reality) and being mean to interracial children and couples or that being that one slight human side to her of trying to treat them nicely with the excuse of being half Northern Islander (and perhaps still being and horrid person but kinda not wishing mixed children would suffer. But taking more into the probably cannon route, maybe she just didn't gave a damn as long as they didn't bother her but certainly i can see the poor kids sorta feeling mixed about themselves. (i can't exactly say much as i am Latina and certainly not mix myself)

But yeah i agree, too much to take in

I imagine there were at least some younger citizens from the Northern Islands who saw that someone from their country was in power at Avalor and moved in, seeking their fortune. This kind of thing always happens during colonization, and I can see Shuriki encouraging it.

Imagine that. They could have been there for 41 years. How did they affect the culture? I imagine there were some interracial marriages as well. What about the language? I suppose Shuriki always held her native language as the "superior" one. Bet this also fucked with the upper class who desired to keep their status (better learn Northerner to please the new queen, folks!). And in turn, how were they affected when the Castillos came into power once more? I mean, there were children turned into adults who grew up with this mixed culture. Talk about language barriers with the younger kids.

Things to wonder about.

[the-gayest-show]

god elena of avalor is so fucking good.

season 3 is so FIRE!!!

[spoilers under cut]

ESTABAN'S BETRAYAL??? EPIC ELENA POWERS??? MARUVIAN MAGIC LORE???? EEEEEEEE

HFIUIUGHIUSEHGE

ive only watched till The Magic Within but woah..... that's wild......

but how did esteban learn NOTHING from 41 years under authoritarian regime. bro said he wanted power and recognition and that's why they teamed with shuriki but then his dumbass.... does it again???? 44 YEARS LATER???? with ash, carla, and victor in tow??? what??? what kind of dumbass logic IS that???? like bro be fr. i thought 41 years taught you that maybe you shouldn't accept an offer from a powerful magical woman who claims to help you?

"i'm not that man anymore" my ass. you manipulated you assistant to get the key and then freed a bunch of malvagos, which by the way, YOU COULD'VE JUST NOT DONE THAT??? YOU COULD'VE JUST KEPT SAYING NO AND LEAVE BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOO 41 YEARS TAUGHT YOU NOTHING!!!!!!!! HOW!!!!!!!!

nah i swear even cedric had the logic to reject grimtrix's second request and look i know it's a different show ish and cedric isn't anything like esteban but dude. be fr. you LITERALLY. LITERALLY!!!! made the SAME blunder of trusting 3 malvagos (one who especially is somehow more goated than victor and carla) to get you out safe and sound. be fr. these are the mfs who tried to destroy the world, or did you like. FORGET THAT???? DAWG??!?!?!?!?

AND YOU THOUGHT THEY'D BE ON YOUR SIDE??? I SAW THAT BETRAYAL COMING FROM A MILE AWAY!!!!! LIKE BROTHER WHAT???? I GET MAKING THAT MISTAKE WHEN YOU'RE A DUMB TEEN BUT YOU'RE A MIDDLE AGED MAN WITH EXPERIENCE??!??!?! GIRL. WHAT.

at first i thought elena was kinda overreacting with exile but dawg maybe they should just exile bro right now actually. make him live in the island they want him to live in. like girl how are you so stupid im sorry. bro you had 2 seconds of consiousness before picking up those tambouritas USE THEM TO PUT YOUR ASS BACK TO JAIL BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YOU THOUGHT THEY'D HELP YOU??? NO FUCKING WAY.....

[raptorladylover6969]

some songs in my EOA Coded Songs playlist that might not make any damn sense but do make sense if you rlly rlly rlly REAAAAAALLY think hard:

-Useless Sacrifice by Death Decline: Istg listening to that song at first had me like “damn I DO NOT understand a word they’re saying under all of that screamo.” Then when I looked up the lyrics, which was the same time I just so happened to finish watching EOA, “why the hell does fit Elena”

-Cobra (specifically the Rock Remix) By Megan Thee Stallion: Bro any emo song fits Elena. I dont gotta say NUTHIN

-Nymphology by Melanie Martinez: Amulet Interlude. Thats all I’m gonna say.

Start a Riot from the Spiderman Into The Spiderverse soundtrack: Secret of Avalor and when the whole kingdom rioted against Shuriki was so JSJJSISKSJWK

Death by Melanie Martinez: I dont gotta say anything. Majority of Melanie’s music is very much Elena coded.

Almost every single Fnaf song: Girl dies, and her soul possesses an amulet, and now she haunts that very amulet. Sound like a certain game⁉️⁉️ Why the hell WOUDNT fnaf songs fit????

[glorytoukraine2022]

An under appreciated villain

In the world of Elena of Avalor, we are introduced to many interesting villains throughout the series. Whether they are easily reformable characters who were never evil, just misguided, such as Victor and Carla, or truly cruel and evil people, such as Shuriki and Ash, who you despise as people, yet respect and appreciate them as villains all the same.-

However, there is one EOA villain that I feel does not get enough appreciation: Fiero.

I believe that a big part of the reason for this is because for most of Fiero’s appearances throughout the show, he was subordinate to Shuriki, and was turned back into a statue in “Song of the Sirenas” and never seen again.

Yet for the time we did see him, he proved himself to be a powerful Malvago, turning an entire ballroom to stone and has a vast knowledge of dark magic, seeing as he instructed Shuriki in learning how to use the Scepter of Night.

He is also shrewd and cunning. He knows how to maneuver people in the way he wants them to in order to achieve his goals, as shown when he turned everyone at Mateo’s ceremony into stone, knowing that undoing the spell would require finding the Codex Maru. Fiero is a planner. As early as “Rise of the Sorceress”, he takes the information from the codex on the Scepter of Night, knowing that they would needed a weapon of equal strength to Elena and immediately takes charge in planning Team Shuriki’s next steps. In “The Scepter of Night” he immediately comes up with a plan to have Mateo lead him right to it, while everybody else is distracted by Shuriki and the Delgados. The plan probably would have been successful had Victor not gotten in the way at the time.

I can’t help but feel that being a subordinate of Shuriki really limited Fiero’s full potential. He is magically powerful enough to serve as a challenge, while also having a sharp intellect that enables him to plan and outsmart the heroes. If he can be this devious while working under Shuriki, he would be deadly as a main villain.

[silverloreleysfanfics]

As promised, here’s a sneak peek of the Encanto/Descendants fic that came out this headcanon and this discussion with @dragoneyes618.

Actually, I decided to put two. It’s all still in draft form, mind you, so no polishing nor grammar check or else, and full of holes I have to fill.

First bit is a companion piece of the first part I wrote, same day, Carlos�� fifth birthday, but on the Isle.

The second is a part of the first discussion between Carlos and Bruno. In my fic, Cruella kicked Bruno out when Carlos was small, but Bruno decided to stay in the secret passageways and rooms of the mansion, earning the fame of “the Green Ghost of Hell Hall“. Carlos had no idea until after Ben suggested the VKs to look for relatives who could legally take custody of them in Auradon and Cecil, Cruella’s brother, decided to tell Carlos about Bruno and how to find him. Hence the first proper conversation between father and son. Also, in my ‘verse, Encanto is in Avalor, so the people of Encanto were running from Shuriki’s soldiers when the Miracle happened.

It’s long, so, all under cut:

bit 1

Carlos would turn five the next day.

If they had been at Casita, he'd have his gift ceremony that night. A new outfit sewn for the occasion, music and special food, lights and flowers and then his own room, big and spacious, filled with anything he may need, and a gift, a magic of his own that would make his life brighter.

As things were, Carlos never had a single piece of clothing that had not belonged to someone else or was the result of recyclying, the food he'd eat would be the same as ever, unhealty and moldy and rotten, flowers didn't grow on the Isle and under the Barrier there was no magic, so it was unlikely a gift could show up.

Oh, Bruno was praying for it to come all the same. For anything. A small thing, even one like his, seeing the future could actually be useful on the Isle, he could threathen people with it or skirm out of danger if he knew it in advance. Or one like Pepa's, being able to control even a bit the weather could make him needed and dangerous both, and if he got one like Julieta's even the inedible food would heal him and keep him healthy, the Lord knew the boy needed it. Growing plants like Isabela's could be good for defense and growing food and he was almost sure Luisa's must have had to do with physical strenght, that would be optimal on the Isle, but really, anything would do.

As long as something came.

As long as the Miracle could get there and protect the - currently - youngest Madrigal child a little bit.

As long as gifts weren't restricted to children who lived inside Casita because, sure as hell, Carlos couldn't be farther from Casita and a room of his own and the ceremony he should have.

Because he should have one. He should have a good gift and his own room in a good home and get it all that very night.

But life can be unfair. It surely was to the Isle kids, who more who less.

Instead of having a party, even a meager one as there could be one on the Isle, Carlos would spend the entirety of his fifth birthday alone, dragging around his malnourished body, his mother's screeches would bring tears to his eyes, and he'd end the day lying on the floor of a fur closet riddled with bear traps without even the small comfort of a pillow, like any other day in the little miserable life of an Isle Kid.

Unfair.

But, as it often happened, bad things could get worse.

In fact, Carlos had been a little sluggish for the better part of the day, and it was sheer luck Cruella was having a creative fit aka the only time she left the kid alone and completely forgot the rest of the world. It also meant she didn't bother giving him food, but Carlos was smart enough to get some himself, thanks the Lord.

It was in the late evening, while mending a hole in the old robe he found in the abandoned chest in the attic, he guessed one that used to belong to one of the previous de Vil masters if not to Baron Hellman even, that Bruno was alerted by the rats who jumped up and down to get his attention. It didn't seem it was because one of them had had a skirmish with Beelzebub, Carlos' kitten he received when he attended the Evil Queen's daughter's birthday, but something just as urgent. Something involving Carlos, for sure.

Bruno immediately dropped everything and ran to see what was the matter. The inside of the closet was dark, Carlos must have not dared to turn on the light, but Bruno had no doubt the boy was crying. He had become far too accustomed to the sound of his son's tears for his liking to mistake it.

It broke his heart every time and tonight even more so, knowing what a special day the following would be. Perhaps Carlos knew too and that was the reason of his despair.

But no, there was something wrong in his crying. It was hoarse, riddled with small hiccups and moments when it seemed he was out of breath, peppered with tiny coughing fits.

Something was very wrong.

His eyes accustomed to the darkness enough to let him see Carlos' eyes were completely shut so he risked to stick his head a bit out the vent to get a closer look. It didn't take an expert to figure out the boy was both feverish and out of consciousness.

With less hesitations, Bruno climbed down. The fur closet was a bit cramped with all the bear traps riddling the floor and he had to manuever himself quite a bit to go check Carlos' temperature without setting any off.

The boy was sweating and burning, his nose was runny and there were some spots on the side of his head, next to his ears.

"Oh, no" Bruno thought as he crossed his chest thrice "Nonono, this can't be" He had heard of it from Horace and Jasper, who were discussing it a few days before: the Isle was swept by an epidemics that hit mostly children. It was as well as harmless for adults but could be very bad for kids. Jace, Jasper's son, had gotten it and they suspected Harry, Horace's son, did too, so the two brothers had been kicked out the respective homes to get supplies to aid. Of course, the two had ran to Cruella to inform her and ask her help, she had ordered them to keep their "furless mutts" away from Carlos, least he caught that too and couldn't do his chores. So much for motherly concern.

Clearly, it had not been enough. The symptoms, especially the blotched spots near his ears, were unmistakable, Bruno was sure Carlos had contracted it. He didn't know what to do. Julieta had always been the one with the remedy for any ailment, he couldn't remember what did the family do before she got her gift. Bruno tried to reign in his panic. If he panicked, no one would help Carlos, he just knew, at least until Ella came out her creative fit she would not react even to bombs, and there was no way to know when that would happen.

"Focus" he scolded himself.

Carlos was ill, ill people needed care. Doctor, he had to find a doctor. But on the Isle of the Lost, who could be trustworthy? Medicines, then. There was none in Hell Hall, but if the illness was spred to all the Isle, there had to be someone out there who'd have something.

So there Bruno went, setting foot outside the walls of Hell Hall for the first time in two years, with no little amount of knocking on wood and finger-crossing and so forth, hoping and praying he could go back without troubles with the cure for his suffering son. § Dr Facilier wasn't a real doctor, but he was the closest thing the Isle had besides the witches - and Bruno wouldn't go anywhere near the witches - and the only one who required a fair enough price for his expertise.

Not to mention, Faciler was a father, and one of the few ones around there who actually cared for his kids: when the epidemics started, Faciler started to work on a cure, afraid as he was he could lose his daughters to it, and now he had perfected the only effective treatment of the whole Isle of the Lost.

It had been Will Baker to tell Bruno that much, two of his kids had taken it and were now better, both Anthony and Ava had recovered at good pace and even Drusilla, the newborn of Drizella, had been miraculously saved by the concoction the voodoo master sold, after the witches had told them there was nothing to do for a child this small.

[...] "As for the payment..."

Bruno hesitated for about two seconds before pulling out the ring from his pocket. It was a real emerald, as far as he knew, one of the few real jewels left in Hell Hall. He knew it was techically stealing - he begged the Lord for forgiveness and promised he would make penance - but on the other hand, wasn't he using the family fortune for one of its members? Carlos was a de Vil, technically the heir of the family, that was for him. Bruno was only a proxy, and for a good reason.

If Cruella wouldn't move a finger for her son, so lost in her own mind she didn't even realize Carlos was ill, he would.

Facilier's eyes narrowed at the gem, studying it "May I ask where did you get this from, my friend?"

"It's my wife's" not a lie, Bruno was already committing enough sins to add lies to the pile "Is it not enough?" he worried, like an afterthought.

"It's adequate" Faciler replied, holding out his long fingers to get the item. Bruno took it back, clutching it to his chest "The cure first"

The other man rolled his eyes "Of course, I am a gentleman. My deals are always paid for on both sides"

His hand's shadow detached from the wall and brought a little vial of opaque glass in which it could be barely seen the slushing of some dense liquid.

"Two drops thrice a day for a child, five for an adult. Only one if the child is younger than two" the Shadow Man recited, the tone of one who repeated the instructions ad nauseam.

Bruno looked at the vial, offered by the unbodied hand, then took it and gave it the ring in exchange "Thank you"

Facilier laughed, the shadow put the piece of jewelry in his pocket "It's been a while since I heard that last. You must be a slow learner, Mr de Vil"

Bruno jumped in his skin "How...?"

"From a future-teller to another, let me give you some free advice: don't show how meek you are, unless it's to deceive others. Kindness is weakness down here. Now go, your boy's waiting"

[...] Carlos didn't get a gift, not that night nor the next, but Bruno wasn't thinking about that, not while he was far too busy keeping his boy alive.

The illness could have claimed his life. Any illness could. Carlos was underfed, underweight, had too many chores for his age and a mother who didn't know how to be one, nor cared to learn.

And yet Carlos survived not only that night, and the next, and the whole week, but also the following months and years.

Whether it was thanks to Facilier's medicine, to Bruno's secret care, or a combination of both, he recovered in full. And he kept on living.

And he didn't get ill again, never that badly. Not even when another epidemic swept the Isle a few years later, not when seasonal flues came, or a particularly late barge left the islanders with food even more rotten than usual and accidental poisoning was rampant for a few weeks.

Bruno wasn't sure if he had to thank Facilier, or God, or the Miracle that had somehow found its way to Carlos. He was thankful Carlos was on his way to grow into his teen years, as long as health was involved.

He was still growing slowly, thin and a tad on the weak side - which Bruno blamed on genetics and too little food - but he was growing. And that, on the Isle of the Lost, was a bit of a miracle in itself.

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

bit 2

Carlos tried to remember if he ever saw him. His father had to be really good at disappearing, but...

There were many times Carlos fell asleep before he could finish the chores Cruella gave him, only to find them done in the morning. Times his mother hid the key of the pantry to deny him food and he found some stashed in his closet-room even if he didn't remember leaving it there. Times he got hurt and wasn't sure his bandagings or self-medications were done right, yet discovering with relief they were more than fine after some sleep.

Long nights being ill and imagining someone gave him water and medicine and sang to him now felt a little less fever dreams and a bit more real instances. Pieces for his tech he needed being in the toolbox when they definitely hadn't been there before.

Little things. Silent, almost invisible signs of something - someone - taking care of him despite everything.

He had tricked himself thinking it had been his mother, doing things for him when he wasn't watching, tough love or something, or maybe pity from Jasper and Horace.

This... made more sense.

"I'm not a good father, I know. I'm not good with kids, or with people for that matter, and I didn't know how to live alone out there, just me and you. I always had mamà and Casita and mi hermanes, your aunts, I wanted to take you away when your mom got worse but I didn't know how we would have survived, just the two of us, without help, assuming she would have let me keep you, so I had to let you stay here and this caused you pain, I know. I'm sorry, Carlos"

"You spent years in the walls of Hell Hall just for my sake?"

"Well, after you started going to school I went out a bit too, while you weren't home, mostly"

[...] "What do you even do in here all the time?"

"Lots of things, actually! I sew, clean, do repairs, and I have free entertainment! I write ratanovelas and plays. I used to say my gift was acting, but I'm good with playwriting, if I can say so..."

"You write what?"

"Ratanovelas. Mr Ratigan jr is my top actor, and I'd have more talents if Beelzebub didn't chase away most of them"

"But animals can't speak under the barrier"

"They're very expressive though"

"You've been alone for too long" Carlos smiled "And yet you're still more sane than mom"

"That's not so hard" Bruno grimaced, then flailed his hands "Nonono, forget I said that, I shouldn't teach you to disrespect your elders, especially your mother" Carlos didn't think that respect for elders should mean to never tell the truth, but it was a thought he held deep down, bottled by years of receiving beatings from older kids and adults for running his mouth too smart.

"I don't understand"

"Uh?"

"I mean, you are so... nice. What did you see in mom?"

"I, uh, was among the last to be brought to the Isle, you see. Mi familia did what they could to keep me there as long as possible, but..." he shrugged "I was in the same boat as your uncle Cecil and he said he was going to not be separated from his family, especially his sister. He was fine with me following him and introduced me to many people once here, and talked so highly about his sister I had no reason to think badly of her. We didn't get many outiside news in Encanto and there were lots of people more or less innocent thrown in the last barges. When I met her she was... less bad than now, you know? in the head" he tapped his temple for emphasis "And they made me think her crimes were, like, illegal business practices, I thought that meant tax evasion or fraud, it wasn't that bad compared to murderers and evil magicians. I saw a large familia like mine and they're nice enough when they try and Ella was, uh, she could be be really charming when she wanted to"

"You still call her Ella, like uncle Cecil does" Carlos noted, not without a bit of surprise.

Bruno smiled a bit and lowered his eyes with a tiny shrug "She was my only one, you know? I never had a relationship before, or after. In a way, she'll always be my one, or the woman she was back then will be. I told you, she was different when I met her, a different woman. I thought she loved me"

"Yeah, me too"

"I wish I could say she loves you in her own weird way, but..."

"I know. It's fine, really. I have known for a while, the most precious thing in her life are her furs, not me"

"If it helps, you are mine"

"Your what?"

"Most precious. Person, not thing. Important. Loved. I'm terrible at this, I know..."

Whatever remained of Carlos' anger flew away at that.

[...] "Okay, hear that, Ben asked us if we had more family in Auradon, to get custody of us VKs so we can stay out there without coming back here for holidays and stuff unless we want to"

"That's good! It will do you well. You're already so much healthier since I last saw you, and Julieta's food will do you plenty good..."

"Yeah, but..."

"Oh, no. No, you don't worry about it. Or me. Mi familia, our familia, they'll greet you with open arms. Julieta, tu tìa, will for sure, you can ask for her. Pepa will need a bit to come around but Felix will..."

"How can you be so sure? They sent you away"

"Err... The fears of the villagers sent me away... well, technically the Security Services did, if we want to be precise. Maybe Pepa was still a little upset for the hurricane during her wedding, but I know how much she thundered when I was taken away. Mi familia wanted me to stay and they'll want you too, I saw it!" "I think I missed something"

"You don't know about Encanto?"

Carlos shook his head "I knew nothing about you at all before today"

"Oh, it's, well, it's all about the Miracle. The Miracle made Encanto what it is, it protected our people when they were running from Shuriki's horsemen, you know, Avalor's usurper, by raising mountains around the valley and giving us a safe place to live, and then it made Casita, our magic home. And the same Miracle that makes Casita special gives a gift and a special room to each Madrigal child for their fifth birthday, so we can help the village more. I got visions of the future, Pepa can control weather, Julieta's food can heal next to anything"

"Whoa"

Bruno nodded "I'm not sure what all your primas' gifts are, I'm sure Isabela had to do with plants because in my visions she was always surrounded by flowers and vines, and Dolores has something like good hearing or mind reading? and I think Luisa has strength? I'm not sure about the rest, the visions about Mirabel were, uh, it doesn't matter. Oh, you could get yours too, once there! Or not, I don't know if it could happen only on your fifth birthday..."

Carlos shook his head "That's a lot to unpack"

"Ah, yes, sorry" he seemed to shrink back, the little enthusiasm elicited by talking about his family dissolved in a hearbeat "Anyway, Casita is a great home to live in, you'll be cared for in there"

"If they'll want me"

"They will. They didn't want me to leave, mamà, your Abuela, wanted to have the family close at all times, having you around will make them happy. And I saw it, I saw you in Casita! It was my first vision since I got here, it happened when the Barrier opened during the coronation. You'll be fine, mijo"

[...] "I don't understand" Carlos took one of the props made for the small rat-scenery and twirled it in his fingers "Why are you even here? What did you do to end up on the Isle?"

"It's a bit, uh, complicated. It wasn't things I did on purpose, but people thought I did. Could. It's complicated"

Carlos listened him explain the gift and its working and why the Safety Services decided his place was on the Isle. Too dangerous to be left free.

"But if you can't control the visions it means you're just a spectator, not a wrongdoer"

"That's what I tried to explain! But they didn't listen, they had already drawn conclusions and got King Beast to sign my sentence papers. They also said Pepa's gift was dangerous too, but if I left and the others kept her in check they'll let her off the hook since she could control herself and I couldn't"

"They threathened you?"

He shrugged "It was either just me willingly, or both of us by force, and Dolores was just born and then there would have been no Camilo and Antonio, Julieta and mamà would have been devastated, I couldn't destroy the family by being selfish. I, uh, I love my family"

"You sacrificed for them?"

Bruno shrugged again "I'm just me. The brujo, the black sheep, the useless one. I could foresee things but not how to prevent them, I brought nothing to Encanto. I tried to make myself useful but at the end I gave them only grief. I'm sure they're better off without me"

[...] "No one thought anyone would ever get out the Isle a year ago, and now there are VKs roaming around in Auradon. Have some faith"

"I don't think I would have survived here without faith. I'll hold on, don't worry for me" Bruno shrugged and put something in his hand.

Carlos looked at it and frowned.

"It's salt. You throw it behind you, to ward off bad luck" Bruno explained and proceeded to demonstrate it with a pinch of his own.

"Oh" Carlos scrunched his nose but replicated the gesture.

"Some sugar too would be good, but that's hard to find here, you'll have to make do with salt. I'll keep my fingers crossed"

Okay, maybe he had overestimated how sane his father was.

§§§