#rafa de alva

[locitapurplepink]

[cartoonfangirl1218]

A Very Mateo Navidad

Note: Don’t let the title fool you, I’m bringing the angst baby.

“C’mon, get moving!” A guard yelled impatiently from outside the house. 

7 year old Mateo’s small hands shook as his mother and he tried to act like it was a normal meal. As of they didn’t have any ornaments, presents and a tree stuffed in the closet behind junk chairs and other assorted items. 

The old holidays were forbidden. His mother had told him the queen that currently sat on the throne had taken it wrongly by force. She was evil and she knew she wasn’t beloved. That’s why she banned all things that could threaten her rule. Magic, wizards like his abuelo. Holidays like Navidad that people loved for the joy it brought yet only gave the queen a headache. 

His mother and a few other rebellious villagers continued to celebrate these traditions, teaching old ways, songs and dances. Most years they were able to secretly celebrate. Sometimes travelling to far villages where guards were scarce.

But this year, something was different. Marlena sent a message that guards were checking houses this year. His mom had hidden all the items once she had heard and told him to go on with his day, act normal. Now it was dinner and they had heard the harsh growl of Shuriki’s loyal elite guards. Screams, and the crunch of glass breaking underfoot from their neighbors. 

Mateo felt tears creeping up and the images in front of him started to get blurry as fears started to grip his mind. Of guards taking his mother away, of being thrown to the guard like his father all those years ago. Whom he never saw again. 

He swiped at his eyes quickly. Mami said to act normal and hope that the guards would be careless in searching or ignore them completely. 

But it was hard, and he was scared. 

Their kitchen was cheerful in the light. The colorful tiles that were worn with age and care, the delicious smell of empanadas permeated the air. But the coziness was tainted by the caphocanic noise. The screaming of a woman, the shouts and yells of the guard. 

“Worthless piece of trash. Let’s see if this has anything.” A guard snarled, pushing open their door with a bang. 

The face, white with anger, was contorted in meanness. Like a gargoyle from one of his picture books when his teachers taught him about the architecture of other kingdoms in comparison to Avalor’s. 

Another guard came in a bit more cautiously but he was clearly as rough as his partner when he strode straight to the closet and tried to force open the lock. 

Mateo huddled himself, wishing there was some way to blend in with the chair, hoping that this would all be over soon. Sometimes he wished his mother wasn’t so brave. Not when they could get caught. He just wanted to hide under the bed. 

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” The guard cursed once he got the door open and a chair almost fell on top of him. He slammed the door back just in time and internally Mateo breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Don’t curse in front of my son!” Rafa yelled as the other guard barged through the rst of the house. 

The one with the gargoyle face spat in her direction, prompting Mateo to bury his face in his mother’s arms. In the soft cotton, the sounds were muffled and he could pretend this was all faraway. Rafa lovingly rubbed small circles in his back but ater awhile, she released him and wiped his eyes. He hadn’t realized he was crying. 

The house was eerily quiet after the guard’s absence. 

“I’m sorry, Mami.” Mateo mumbled, tears still silently streaking down his face. He hated disappointing his mom, he tried so hard to be brave but. . 

“It’s okat, mi amor. You did your best. I’m sorry you had to see those-those pu-” she caught herself, “Those bad men. I’m sorry Navidad was like this.” 

Mateo went to his room. The painting of home with his momm and him in front of it was ripped. Drawers were open and clothes and wooden toys were strewn across the floor. 

They. . they had tossed his stuff like trash. Their voices, their meanness as they went through their house like it was a gutter and treated them like nuisances echoed in his head. They were the real monsters. They had ruined Navidad, they took it all away. 

Just like they took Papi. 

A long time ago he learned to cry silently because he didn’t want to worry his mom. He saw her worried eyes, always looking at him as if he might hurt himself. 

He hid under his blanket, just sobbing and waiting for the weight in his chest to unsettle itself, until he could breath normally without feelings of nausea. Once, he felt his throat not constrict, he left. 

He tiptoed as quietly as he could to his mom’s room. He was always welcome but sometimes he went his mother didn’t know. 

He ducked into her closet and opened a small wooden box that was hidden under silk dresses that were too fancy for daily use. 

The box had a crystal, an opaque chain with a shiny gold star. This was his father’s box. He knew that because the necklace read Nicholas y Rafa. These must have been gifts they shared. There was a small book about pocket size, with indecipherable writing. It didn’t look Avaloran though. Maybe a different language, he hoped he would get to learn it in school. 

He looked at the necklace again and sighed. He missed his Papi and nights like these were when he missed him the most. He’d ask stories about past Navidads and his mom would tell her of her childhood or the first Navidad she spent with him. But she’d never mention Papi in her stories. 

One time he had asked. It was a few months after Papi had been arrested and Mami was acting like everything was normal even though she never talked about him. It was as if he never existed. Mami said she still loved his dad. So much that it hurt. So please. . . 

Mateo never asked again. He saw the look in her eyes. A sort of sad emptiness. He didn’t want to see it again. His mom was always strong, but seeing her sad and hopeless scared him more than those soldiers. 

But still, he sometimes wished he could ask Mami about Papi. If only to know more about him. He had so few memories. 

The only one he had was on that night three years ago. 

It had been dark, and Mateo had been soundly asleep until he heard crashing and huffing when he realized his dad was crouched next to him with a hasty kiss to his head. There had been no moon that night so he didn’t see his dad’s face. It was all shadows like his hazy memories. 

Papi had left without a word and Mateo tried to follow. Mami came at that moment and told him to stay in his room. Her voice was different, she sounded scared and that made Mateo scared enough to stay in his room. 

But curiosity got hold of him when he heard new raised voices and his mother sobbing. He crept out of his room, his door unlocked in his Mami’s haste to reach her husband. 

Big, mena looking guard roughly picked up Papi from the floor after a man took his boot off his back. They were shoving him around like he was a criminal, hitting him against the wall and doorway. His dad hung his head like he was ashamed of himself and another guard held his mother back. She was yelling he wasn’t a rebel. They weren’t doing anything wrong. 

“That’s what they all say,” the guard muttered and without looking back, they all left. 

He never saw Papi again.

Mami didn’t know that he had seen. He didn’t tell her that he had disobeyed. But he had asked where Papi went and she said Papi wasn’t returning. No one could return from the Spirit World. 

She had that empty look in her eyes. . . 

Yet he wanted to know more. Why Papi and no one else’s dad in the village? Had he done something wrong? He wanted Papi to come back. Since Mami was so tough and brave, maybe she could get all the way to the Spirit World and bring Papi home? Most of all, he wanted to be like all the other kids that had two parents and knew if he looked more like one or the other. If he acted more like one or the other. 

Mateo didn’t feel like other kids. He wasn’t as good at sports, he preferred to read and learn more about magic that the abuelo he never met used to do. It sounded so cool and when Mami showed him abuelo’s tamborita, something inside him hummed. It felt right and when he told Mami about that feeling, she smiled worriedly and said he was special like his abuelo. But he was not allowed to do the magic. Maybe later. She’d tell him when. 

Maybe Papi had been a wizard too? 

“I love you Papi. I hope you’re having a good time in the Spirit World. I miss you.” 

He felt his finger scratch on something he hadn’t felt before on the necklace. 

He crawled out of the closet to stand by the window in the room. The moonlight cast some light on the item so he could read.

“Love is the magic within.” 

It faded quickly after. As if the moonlight was magic itself, revealing invisible letters. He held the necklace up to the light again and again to see if the message would return but it didn’t.

Maybe the message had been just for him? Maybe Papi was listening! 

He smiled, liking the idea of having a secret with Papi and put the necklace and box back where he ound it. 

His stomach growled and he went to the kitchen in hopes that Mami still had the stew they hadn’t touched out. 

But there was much more than that. Lights gleamed along the walls and curtains, a dozen candles lit the Christmas tree that Rafa had set up once more. The lack of ornaments on the tree created an unearthly image as he could barely see the pine from the lights. Under it were a few sparsely wrapped packages and a gingerbread house that caused Mateo’s stomach to grumble even louder. 

And there Mami was sitting under it all, “Matito! Feliz Navidad!” 

Mateo ran into his mother’s arms, his eyes alight with how quickly she set up the Navidad decorations again. That they still would be able to celebrate as before. 

“Thank you, Mami!” Mateo hugged her tighter and Rafa stroked his curls, “Anything for you, mi amor.” “I-I thought we weren’t going to do it at all. . . because of the guards?” Mateo questioned. 

Rafa nodded, “I was thinking if the same, but the guard left. Nothing happened and now we can go on as planned. Know why?” 

Mateo shook his head. “Because our familia was watching from the Spirit World. They help us when we need it. They always have our backs for even when they’re not here, they are. In spirit.” 

Mateo never forgot that. 

Years later, Mateo stepped back from under a sprig of mistletoe, his mind dazed with the sweetness and blissful feeling Elena had left him with after they kissed. Just like every time they kissed. 

Elena moved along with him, plastering her body against his and she nuzzled into the crook of his neck, never losing the warmth of her body. 

“Feliz Navida, mi amor,” She said with a loving look and a bit of a wicked glint in her eye, letting him know she had other presents in store for him. 

“Feliz Navidad,” Mateo answered, looking around the room at her family and their friends and his mom who was indiscreetly clapping for him before going to talk to Luisa. Probably about their upcoming nuptials that weren’t happening yet. It had only been a year of courting, but that was his mom, planning for the future. 

A happy future, Mateo knew. One where he felt like he could do anything with Elena by his side, and his family having his back. 

All of his family. 

“Feliz Navidad, Papi.” 

[lucy-shining-star]

📂

Flores family got lowkey offended when they find out that Rafa didn't let Mateo eat chocolate. Like Avalor has the best chocolate what do you mean he can't eat it

So for some time after Mateo started living in the palace them and Naomi offered chocolate to him everyday often multiple times a day. He first liked it but grew tired of chocolate after a bit and didn't tell at first to not offend them but finally it was too much and he didn't eat chocolate for a bit again.

[ameliathefatcat]

This Rafictor headcanon based off of my family

So Rafa and Victor treat Isabel and James’ kids Santi, Lucia and Lorelei and Marisa and Cora’s daughter Emma like their own grandchildren. The kids call Rafa Abuela and Victor Abuelo. Victor loves having ‘ Bonus granddaughters’ since he’s girl dad. Rafa just enjoys having more grandchildren to spoil

[mistydemorrow]

Fate Be Changed - Chapter 1 - MistyDawnTomorrow - Sofia the First (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own]

Sofia Balthazar was four years old when she lost her parents to Shuriki's wrath during a business trip that could not have gone more wrong.

Her life is saved by a selfless woman with a ten year old son. Frightened, lost, and traumatized, Sofia comes to rely on the two for safety and care.

Over the years she is considered a part of the family, with her big brother teaching her about magic, and her mami teaching her about music and dance.

She loves her adoptive family, and she is given a precious gift that once belonged to Princess Elena herself that her abuelo had kept hidden with the family.

As she learns more and more about Avalor's history and what Shuriki has done to it's people, she vows she will help put an end to the sorceress's malevolent rule. And with her big brother and mysterious amulet's powers to guide her, she will succeed, and bring freedom and joy to Avalor's shores once again.

[desatandonos]

12 fev 23 19:52

hoje atendi uma ligação pela primeira vez por vídeo de minha avó materna. as primeiras palavras dela foram "você está tão bonita, tão alva" e me atingiu em cheio o quanto que muitas vezes esse processo de embranquecimento passou como sutilezas, elogiando meu cabelo mais liso, ou minha pele mais clara do que a de alguns tios ou parentes. entendendo isso, não coloco culpa na minha mãe ou na minha avó, mulheres brancas, por toda minha insegurança, medos e pela minha falta de carinho pelos meus traços que são negros, o que talvez eu esteja tentando fazer é uma reparação histórica comigo mesma, tentando me dizer que apesar de não ter recebido elogios ou de ter tido figuras importantes que me lembrassem da beleza negra, eu preciso fazer isso por mim e pelas outras crianças que por mim passarem. crianças, jovens, adultos. quando a namorada do meu irmão falou hoje sobre emagrecer, quando meu sobrinho comentou sobre o corpo da minha outra cunhada, sobre estar gorda demais, isso também me atacou. eu não consegui falar sobre como aquilo me afeta diretamente, sobre como já me machucou ouvir essas falas. hoje não senti que fosse comigo, mas de certa forma senti que precisava colocar uma barreira novamente, um limite, mas não consegui. às vezes o que eu vou conseguir fazer é tentar passar um tanto quanto ilesa das situações desastrosas. não quer dizer que doa menos. na hora fiquei pensando numa parte de uma série em que uma mãe fala sobre o filho "se mateo pensar assim daqui a 20 anos terei falhado enquanto mãe" e eu pensei, caramba, não sou mãe, mas também não posso me colocar enquanto pessoa alheia a isso tudo. o que ainda me faz acolher tudo isso e de certa forma me dar um colo é que por serem questões caras demais para mim, ainda não consigo ser objetiva e clara o suficiente sem que eu mesma não me sinta machucada. por isso o silêncio. no entanto, eu sozinha não posso fazer todo esse esforço mental para poder explicar onde dói. a sensação que eu tenho ao estar perto dos meus pais ou irmãos, familiares no geral é que eu preciso gastar muita energia para simplesmente existir ali. talvez isso diga sim da minha dificuldade em comunicar, ou mesmo da minha pouca capacidade de interagir por muito tempo, ou talvez isso diga muito mais sobre as pessoas, sobre o ambiente, sobre as conversas, os temas, as ofensas que passam despercebidas sobre os corpos, sobre as formas de ser, sobre as escolhas de cada pessoa. rafa me perguntou sobre qual mudança mais me afetou durante o ano passado, eu não diria que é mudança, mas talvez uma dúvida eterna, na tentativa de me descobrir enquanto pessoa não branca. ter alguns traços negros, mas ainda assim ser lida enquanto pessoa branca. privilégios. 

14 02 23

e quantas coisas me afetaram então ao longo desse ano? a maior parte delas sim foram familiares, mas a principal se trata de minha própria identificação, a minha relação comigo, o quanto que eu percebi o quanto preciso gostar de mim, das minhas coisas, de quem eu sou. 

nesse último ano não estive presente para meus amigos, não fiz questão de ver eles, ou de socializar, mais ainda do que antes. 

talvez por medo de que eles vejam o quanto às vezes estou tão quebrada que não consigo ver beleza nas coisas. passar por um luto não é fácil, assumo. 

viver em uma família em que não se conversa sobre isso, pesadelo. 

não durmo bem já faz mais de um ano, intercalado entre uma vez ou outra em que estou tão cansada que não consigo me lembrar de colocar o despertador. 

eu acordo em sobressalto às vezes. falta de organização deles reflete em mim. 

ontem um dos meus professores de academia estava me perguntando se alguma pessoa não tinha chegado em mim ainda, porque eu tinha mudado bastante, fisicamente, e com relação a minha autoestima e eu respondi que não deixava as pessoas chegarem. 

e ele falou mas você é bonita, já era mas agora está bem mais ainda

quase que eu deixei escapar porque eu não me acho bonita. 

e lembrei do início desse texto, falando o quanto minha autoestima é frágil. 

mesmo quando me falam que sou bonita, eu custo a acreditar que seja realmente verdade. tem vezes que eu vejo garotas parecidas comigo, de corpo, de rosto, de traços, e consigo ver beleza, porque não consigo ver beleza em mim? 

que tipo de ódio foi plantado aqui que eu não consigo chegar e tirar a raiz? 

existe uma questão que sempre me assombra, e sei que só eu posso responder, sou negra, afinal? 

e aí vem as questões se sofri racismo, se já vivi isso, se meus traços já foram alvo de preconceito, se meu cabelo já foi um problema. 

meu peso tem sido o problema muitas vezes. meu cabelo ainda sinto que é, que é melhor aceito quando sem volume. 

ou sou mais bonita quanto menos melanina minha pele estiver mostrando. 

[dittomander]

I'd be interested in hearing your 'entire other headcanon dump just on the Alacazar & Fiero situation.'

alright alright, twist my arm :P - grab a snack and buckle up because this one's a whole saga:

The Early Days

Alacazar and Fiero were both orphaned at a young age and grew up together in the same orphanage. They don't remember a time before then - they were so young when it happened that there wasn't even a proper record of their birth names. "Alacazar" and "Fiero" were names that they eventually picked themselves from a series of adventure books they both enjoyed, and as adults, they couldn't even really recall the names the orphanage matron had given them in the interim.

(They never really had surnames either - it wasn't an issue as children, and they both had enough fame/notoriety as adults to get away with the One Name Only thing. "De Alva" is actually Rafa's mother's surname.)

They got along well as children, bonding over their mutual fascination with magic. They'd spend their free time at the local library, scrounging around for any spellbooks that had made it into circulation, or loitering outside the local magic academy, trying to peek into the classrooms at the day's lessons and mimicking the students' tamborita techniques. Any pocket change they got went straight toward potion ingredients for them to study, and when they once found a secondhand theory of magic textbook at the bookstore, they pooled together to save up for that. It was an obsession for them both - getting whatever resources they could to cobble together their own basic magical education - and they had big dreams of attending the academy themselves someday.

Not that their motives were exactly the same. As the elder of the two by about two years, Fiero took his role as the responsible, surrogate older brother very seriously. He did his best to shield Alacazar from the harsher realities of the world, from the derision and pity they tended to receive from their classmates and teachers. While he certainly had an intellectual curiosity in the subject as well, he saw magic as a way out of his station, a way to gain respect and authority.

Alacazar was the far more carefree of the two, in no small part because of Fiero's efforts. He had a fondness for riddles and jokes that Fiero never quite shared, and was more prone to goofing off, of the belief that Fiero took things too seriously. Magic, to him, was about the adventure of it, the exploration. He shared Fiero's genuine interest in it and certainly wanted to be respected, but his idea of what that looked like was being someone people could trust and be happy around. He wanted to impress people, and he especially wanted to impress Fiero.

Motivations aside, though, they both had the same main goal of becoming famous wizards one day, so when the at-the-time Royal Wizard paid a visit to the orphanage shortly after Fiero's 13th birthday, the two saw their opportunity and took it...

Zarwin, the Royal Wizard

The Royal Wizard at the time was an older man named Zarwin, who had been the Royal Wizard for a long time already and was expected to be retiring soon, so a lot of established wizarding families were vying to get their kids into the position by way of apprenticeship with him. Problem was, though, that Zarwin notoriously hated the "magic as political clout" crowd. Magic was Serious Business to him - it was a force of nature, deserving of awe and fear, something to be tamed but never truly controlled, not something to be used for frivolities or personal advancement. He did generally believe that the more people that understood it, the better, and he was the one to establish a second branch of the Avaloran magic academy in Nueva Vista, but he also believed that it needed to be approached with a strong sense of discipline and humility.

Because of this mindset, he had staunchly refused to take on an apprentice for his entire tenure as Royal Wizard, believing that none of the available options would take it seriously enough.

...Although, that wasn't the only reason.

See, he actually did have an apprentice back before he became the Royal Wizard. He'd been training his own granddaughter back in the day, but she had died during a training accident caused by Zarwin's own negligence. The incident estranged Zarwin from his son, and he never really forgave himself for it, either. It instilled his strict approach to magic in him, and also a sense of sheer terror that he would get another kid killed if he tried with another apprentice - a terror that he hid behind a stern, grumpy, no-nonsense facade.

Not that Alacazar and Fiero knew all that, though. They just knew that he didn't have an apprentice at the time, and they knew, just knew, that they were the right ones to take the role, despite still being a few years too young. They spent Zarwin's day at the orphanage following him around and peppering him with questions, insisting that they show off the little bit about magic they'd taught themselves, and slipping away from the orphanage staff every time they tried to rein the boys in.

Basically, they pulled this number on him:

But the thing is, it worked. They were persistent, and more than a little obnoxious, but Zarwin found that he appreciated their enthusiasm for magic and their dedication to their goal. Plus, he did kinda need to take on an apprentice at some point if he didn't want one of the more elitist noble wizards to end up in the position once he was gone. (And he'd be lying if he said he didn't want to fill a bit of the hole his family had left.) So, he decided to at least give the boys a chance and moved them into the palace.

Apprenticeship

Their initial training wasn't quite what they'd been expecting. Zarwin, trying his damnedest to be careful with them as well as impress upon them the importance of theory, absolutely refused to let them near tamboritas at first. They were still too young, they didn't even know the basics, etc. etc. The boys were often frustrated by this, and Fiero felt especially put out by what he saw as a lack of trust. So naturally, his solution to not feeling trusted was to go behind Zarwin's back.

Fiero cajoled Alacazar into helping him "borrow" a tamborita to practice with one night fairly early in their training, which went about as well as you'd expect. The two ended up pinning themselves under a bookcase and getting stuck there until Zarwin woke up and came to rescue them. Neither was too seriously hurt, but they were pretty shaken up, and Zarwin lost his temper with them pretty badly, especially with Fiero for instigating it. He was supposed to be the responsible one, after all. He should've known better!

They thought they would lose their chance at apprenticeship over the incident, but to their surprise, Zarwin said he would let them stay, saying that he hoped the accident had taught them a lesson.

Time passed, and despite Fiero having been behind the that first major issue, it was actually Alacazar that was a bit of a problem student. He was forgetful and easily distracted, and his more playful nature could easily get him into trouble or have him goofing off with his magic. He ended up needing far more attention than Fiero as a consequence since Zarwin had to keep a closer eye to keep him from acting up, and Fiero would end up getting jealous and feeling neglected. Compounding the issue was the fact that when Alacazar did end up causing actual problems, Fiero would still get in trouble alongside him since again, he was supposed to be the responsible one. Why didn't he stop him?

And so the seeds of discord were sown, and the two began to drift apart as they grew older. Fiero began to resent Alacazar for somehow having both more attention and fewer expectations and began to retreat from their friendship, throwing himself more fully into his studies. As Alacazar was forming closer bonds with the other teenagers around the palace, like the young Prince Raúl (and his friends, the ladies Lucía and Margarita), Fiero was inserting himself more directly into Zarwin's work in a bid to be Good Enough.

By the time they moved up from apprentices to full-fledged wizards under Zarwin's employ, Alacazar had mellowed out quite a bit, as had his relationship with Fiero. They were colleagues and still, ostensibly, friends, but they weren't nearly as close as they were as children, both in the figurative sense and in the literal one. Zarwin would often bring Fiero along with him for conferences and research trips, since he was now being trained specifically to take over as Royal Wizard, leaving Alacazar behind at the palace to, ironically, take care of the real-time responsibilities of the Royal Wizard position, and the two saw less of each other as their work diverged.

When Raúl took the throne a few years after Elena was born, it was sort of presumed that Zarwin would retire. Raúl initially extended his appointment as a courtesy to his father's Royal Wizard, but what he wasn't expecting was for Zarwin to actually accept. He was incredibly old by this point and had been preparing his two former students for this for a long while, so everyone figured he'd step aside for the new generation. The thing was, though, there was still a bit of unfinished business that he didn't want to leave the next Royal Wizard to deal with alone. He was a Professional, see, so when he and Fiero, while out on a research trip together, started hearing rumors of a dangerous, shapeshifting malvago operating out of the volcanic regions of central Avalor, he wanted to make sure that got wrapped up first.

And that's where things really started to fall apart...

The Scepter of Night

Zopilote was only getting more bold with time, and he was being spotted in villages closer and closer to Avalor City itself. Zarwin and Fiero were constantly out trying to track him down (Fiero insisting all the while, "I can do this alone, Master Zarwin; I'm not an apprentice anymore!" And Zarwin coming back with, "Then stop acting as petulant as one."). Alacazar, meanwhile, was back at the palace, digging through all their spellbooks and trying to find anything they could use to help fight him.

And he happened to find some... rather interesting hidden writing on the blank pages in the back of Zarwin's Codex Maru.

When they return from another failed mission one day, Zarwin and Fiero enter the workshop to find Alacazar, casually leaning back against the worktable, twirling the Scepter of Night in one hand. "So guess what I did while you were out?"

Fiero thinks the Scepter is basically the coolest thing ever, and is honestly pretty jealous that Alacazar got to find it without him. It occurs to him, for a moment, that the two of them could've been having adventures together this entire time, like when they were little, but now with the magic at their fingertips that they'd dreamed about as children. The mutual excitement over the Scepter reignites their old friendship, and they start really spending time together again for the first time in years as they begin planning how to best use it.

Zarwin is significantly less excited. He knows what the Scepter is. He knows it's too dangerous to keep around. And since he's still the Royal Wizard, he's the one that gets the final say when he decides it needs to be locked up somewhere safe. They can figure out how to best dismantle it after Zopilote has been dealt with.

But old habits die hard. Fiero and Alacazar fully believe that they can handle the Scepter, and they're not about to waste what could be their best tool against Zopilote (nor are they about to waste this chance to reconnect).

So they decide they're going to "borrow" the Scepter.

This goes about as well as you'd expect.

The bad news is that it turns out to be damn near impossible for them to use. They don't have enough of a raw magic reserve themselves to actually power it, even as they learn what spells it can perform. In their hands, its just a useless chunk of metal. The good news is that they don't need to look for Zopilote anymore. Because he finds them.

They're out practicing at an odd hour, in a remote location, since they didn't want to get found out by Zarwin, so they're far from any help, and as wrapped up as they are in their study of the Scepter, they're in a prime position to be ambushed. Zopilote attacks, and while they're able to defend themselves, he's able to take the Scepter from them and escape. Horrified by this outcome ("Master Zarwin is going to kill us,") Alacazar and Fiero resolve to chase Zopilote down themselves and fix their mistake before Zarwin can find out.

What they're not planning for is that Zopilote can actually use the Scepter of Night. They're able to find him before he goes too far, but with the power of the Scepter backing him up, he's able to fight them both within an inch of their lives. Just like when they were kids, Zarwin has to show up and bail them out (and they never do find out how he knew where to find them), but unlike back then, the stakes are bit higher than some bruised arms and egos. The three wizards together are able to retrieve the Scepter and force Zopilote into a rout, but he takes one last cheap shot as he's fleeing that ends up leaving Zarwin mortally wounded. He dies with the dawn.

The Scepter of Night, Pt 2.

So yeah, that happened.

Alacazar and Fiero have a massive fight in the aftermath of Zarwin's death about What To Do With The Scepter Now. Alacazar wants to destroy it or hide it away, in accordance with Zarwin's wishes. ("We should have never taken it in the first place! I should have never taken it from Tepet Muul!") Fiero wants to try and use it again, for revenge against Zopilote. The fight gets bitter. Alacazar accuses Fiero of only wanting its power for himself, not for any kind of noble ambition or consideration for Zarwin. Fiero is livid at the suggestion ("How dare you suggest I don't care! He was the closest thing I ever had to a father!") and accuses Alacazar of being a coward who'd still rather hide his mistakes than fix them.

The fight isn't resolved by the time they get back to the palace - they're still furious with each other, but they've at least agreed to present their positions to King Raúl and see what he thinks. However, Alacazar goes behind Fiero's back and takes the Scepter, breaking it into three pieces and taking off to hide them. Fiero catches on when he goes to try and talk to Alacazar again and finds him missing, and tracks him down all the way in Vallestrella. He knows now that he's not going to be able to convince Alacazar to keep the Scepter around, so he plans to make a distraction to draw him out and keep him busy while Fiero finds where the pieces are hidden.

His distraction? Releasing Kizin. This backfires a little bit. Kizin attacks Fiero as well and he's forced to flee, so he's never able to find the Scepter parts. Kizin continues to rampage through Vallestrella, and the jaquins have a brutal time trying to contain him again. They're eventually able to get him corralled into a space where Alacazar can perform a sealing ritual, but by then, the damage has been done. Verago, the still fairly new King of the Jaquins (who has just had his first big catastrophe as King and feels like he has to be decisive), basically accuses Alacazar of terrorism. Alacazar swears he doesn't know how Kizin got released. It must have been an accident! But accident or not, Verago has made his decision, and throws Alacazar out of Vallestrella, institutes the human ban, and closes the gate between their two worlds indefinitely.

Alacazar tries to look on the bright side: if humans can't get into Vallestrella, then there's no risk of the Scepter of Night being found again. He did leave clues, he supposed, but they were mostly for his own benefit, so he could remember where he hid them, and he made sure to conceal them and style them as riddles. And its not like anyone else knew the Scepter had been broken anyway, right?

Still, he ultimately has to go back to Raúl, ashamed, and inform him that Avalor will no longer have contact with the realm of the jaquins because of his mistake.

The End of an Era

Time passes, and after an appropriate mourning period has passed for Zarwin, Raúl decides its time to appoint a new Royal Wizard. Tradition would dictate Fiero as the obvious choice. He was the older and more experienced student of the previous Royal Wizard, and (at least on paper) didn't have "ruined Kingdom relations with a neighboring realm" on his resume. But Raúl is nothing if not loyal to his friends and allies, even if against all advice or tradition, so maybe his choice to appoint Alacazar instead shouldn't have been all that surprising. It wasn't completely unreasonable politically either: Alacazar was the wizard that had actually been around the palace for the last however-many-years. He was the wizard that the general people of Avalor were actually familiar with, even if he really wasn't All That to the wizarding community.

But still, tradition is tradition, and Fiero and Alacazar are shocked. Alacazar tries to deny the appointment, insisting that Fiero is the more deserving wizard. Fiero also insists that he, himself, is the more deserving wizard. Raúl stands firm. Incensed, Fiero starts shouting about Alacazar's recent failures. "What about what happened with Zopilote and Master Zarwin? What about what happened with Kizin?"

But see, when Alacazar told the story of what happened in Vallestrella, he didn't actually include Kizin's name. He points this out, Fiero tries to save face, but Alacazar has put two and two together by now and realizes that it must have been Fiero that released Kizin. He's furious at the realization and everything that it entails - Fiero was fine with endangering an entire realm for his own goals, and was fine with letting Alacazar take the blame for it - and finally challenges Fiero to a duel. Fiero accepts.

The day of the duel comes and the two head to the designated area. Raúl decides to officiate himself, since this is involving one of his direct appoints. The duel is as long and as bitter as their last fight, before Alacazar split the scepter, and ultimately, Alacazar wins by throwing Fiero out of the arena by deflecting one of his own spells back at him. Fiero, however, refuses to respect the result of the duel and attacks again, and in a fit of thoughtless rage outright tries to kill Alacazar.

Fiero flees, Raúl declares him a malvago (which Alacazar initially tries to protest, before Raúl points out that he literally just tried to kill him), and Raúl and Alacazar realize slightly too late that Fiero is probably fleeing back to the palace. They hurry back themselves.

Fiero is fleeing back to the palace, in a bit of a panic - he's hoping he can grab the Codex before the guards get the memo that he's a malvago now. He didn't have enough of a head start, though, and when Alacazar and Raúl return, the guard is mobilized against him. He decides to show just how dangerous a wizard can be. Alacazar engages him again, but he's trying to keep the collateral to a minimum, which is pretty difficult to do in a wizard duel, and Fiero isn't bothering to hold back, so despite having a numbers disadvantage, Fiero is still making headway toward the Codex.

It's Lucía who ends up being linchpin in the fight. Fiero is expecting guards at every turn, but he's not exactly expecting the Queen to come barreling down a hallway out of nowhere with a rapier, screaming bloody murder. Wizards aren't typically as good in close combat, so once she closes the distance, Lucía is able to get a blow in. Wounded, and knowing his chances of success have now dramatically diminished, Fiero finally decides to leave for good, swearing that he'll be back, and he'll have his revenge.

Loose Ends

The first thing Alacazar does after officially being named Royal Wizard is relocate the workshop so Fiero can't find it later if he comes back. He was always pretty good with pocket dimensions and hammerspace (how else do you think Mateo can stash entire books in his robes?), so he would rotate the workshop around to be "inside" different paintings in the palace every few months to keep it hidden. He kept clues in his journal on how to get in, just in case he ever forgot where he'd moved it last.

Fiero was never able to find the Scepter of Night again on his own. He knew Alacazar had initially found it in Tepet Muul, and that there was a clue to the location in the Codex Maru, and that it had been broken into pieces, and that some of those pieces were in Vallestrella, but he didn't know how many pieces there were, or what the actual clues to find them were, or if there were any other potential hiding places, so he just didn't have enough info to figure it out alone.

Fiero and Alacazar encountered each other a few more times in the next few years, and every meeting was as awful as the last. The only time they worked together again was when they happened to both be fighting Zopilote. They both considered him the higher priority to defeat, and the fight forced Zopilote into relative hiding for the next few years. Alacazar made one last appeal to Fiero's former goodness afterward. It didn't work.

Elena doesn't remember Zarwin very much, just that she always thought he was kinda scary. She conflates Fiero with him in her mind, and doesn't actually realize that the Fiero that attacked the night of Mateo's ceremony was technically someone she knew. She also doesn't really remember the final showdown at the palace. She remembers her mom ushering her into the nursery and telling her she had the very important job of keeping her sister quiet, and she remembers going out into the hall afterward and taking one look at her mom (hair disheveled, tiara askew, a bloodied sword in one hand, rolling her eyes as Raúl chides her for doing something so reckless) and deciding that she's the coolest person ever. That was when Elena started pestering Lucía for fencing lessons.

Alacazar never got around to telling Rafa the whole story. He wanted to, but he was worried that if he told her that he and Fiero had been friends once while she was still young, she would naively try to "redeem" him herself, and he didn't know if he could trust Fiero to not exploit that. He wanted to make sure Rafa would stay safe if Fiero ever came by the house. He meant to tell her someday, he did. But then Shuriki happened, and, well.

Fiero actually missed the memo on the Shuriki thing and popped back into Avalor in the middle of her reign. It was weird for everyone. He'd been out of the country, studying darker forms of magic, and was a bit surprised when he came back to take his revenge and found out that someone had kinda sorta beaten him to it? He offered to work for her as her Royal Wizard, which she declined. And she was like, okay, so I don't want wizards in Avalor so that's kind of an issue, but also the only reason you're here is to fight the people I killed, so we're kinda on the same side? So how about this: You leave Avalor right now, immediately, and never come back, and I won't kill you for being a wizard in Avalor. Fair? And Fiero was like. Hm, yeah, fair. You know, this was honestly kinda anticlimactic for me. And he left, more than a little disappointed. When he heard through the wizard grapevine that Shuriki had been overthrown and Avalor was getting a new Royal Wizard, he decided it was high time to go back.

Fiero absolutely hates that Mateo reminds him of Alacazar. Hates hates hates it. He sees Alacazar's grandson running around in Alacazar's old robes and using Alacazar's old tamboritas and he can't shake the awful cocktail of anger and regret and grief and guilt that he never bothered to sort out, and he's not going to start sorting it out now, so he just hates Mateo instead. And he hates that he can't seem to bring himself to just kill the brat! because of it. He always finds himself stalling, or hesitating, or just leaving when he'd otherwise have the perfect opportunity to finish him off, and he tells himself its because the boy caught him off guard once and he doesn't want to take that chance again, but deep down he knows. He knows that in another life, if he'd made other choices, if he'd been a different person, he would've been this kid's grunkle, and he doesn't know how to deal with that.

("Fiero's the malvago? He said he was a friend of your grandfather's!"

"Friend? That's his worst enemy!")

[magicwithineleteo]

Mateo for the character ask game!

thanks for the ask blue! u sent me this like 97 years ago but i'm doing it now :)

first impression:

okay, no one hate me but i didn't really care for him. I KNOW IT'S AWFUL. but i had such gabelena tunnel vision (nothing wrong w gabelena i love them to bits) that i just ignored mateo 😭

impression now:

the loml. my beloved. my precious. my favorite character to ever exist. i love him so so much. i don't know what i would do without mateo de alva in my life <3

favorite moment:

god it's been a while since i've watched eoa so it's all a bit blurry but i would definitely say his final showdown w fiero, him in spirit of a wizard attacking ash and zipoloteite after alacazar--:'( and when he defeated the 4 shades of awesome!

idea for a story:

so i have written this (it's unfinished and i don't plan on finishing) (and no i will not be posting it bc it's awful) but basically it's malvago!mateo where mateo's old friend returns and she's actually a powerful malvago (she freed the 4 shades of awesome which led to the collapse of maru, she also made shuriki's wand) and basically made him choose between her killing elena and taking over the kingdom like that, or her sparing elena but he has to come w her. and obvi mateo is in love w elena so he goes w her but she turns him into a malvago. so he's like possessed. and the only way elena can communicate w his true self is in their dreams. so every night, they meet in their dreams to figure out how to defeat this villain while being in love. at the end of the story they somehow defeat the villain and elena realizes that she loves him and yeah lmao

unpopular opinion:

i prefer the robe he has in s1 and s2 and beginning of s3, then the one he gets in spirit of a wizard. it just seems so comfy

favorite relationship:

romantically, eleteo. platonically, gabteo, naomateo, him w isabel and him w rafa <3

favorite headcanon:

i have so many for him but one i LOVE is one my good friend @laprincesaelena came up with and that is the fact that mateo has little jaquin slippers :')

that was really long lol! thank u for asking again ily blue

[a-lilacsong]

Here's a picture I made of one scene from my latest fanfic! Link to it: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36850582

She's making sure he doesn't get any nasty sunburns! 

[Image ID: A pencil crayon and ink drawing of Mateo and his mother Rafa from Elena of Avalor. Mateo is around 5 years old in the picture and he is squirming as his mother calmly puts sunscreen on his nose. End ID]

(Line art under the cut)

[glorytoukraine2022]

Am I the only one who is desperately wishing for a pre Shuriki prequel series? I just want to see what everyone was like when they were younger and meet characters we never got to meet in the series.

[lieutenant-amuel]

Hi! Another wonderful family analysis! Would you mind doing one on Mateo? I know we only meet his mother and grandfather, and we don’t even know if Alacazar is Mateo’s paternal or maternal grandfather. So I’d understand if it’s more difficult. But if you’re up for it, I’d love to see it!

Hello!! Thank you so much for the ask! I'm really so sorry I made you wait for so long!!

Mateo really is a bit difficult since, as you mentioned, we didn't get to see both of his parents, and he doesn't really resemble Rafa. They have different eyes colour, eyes, eyebrows, and nose shape, and complexion.

Anyway, I always thought Mateo nonetheless takes from Rafa. They have a pretty similar face shape, hair colour, and the body structure since they both are pretty skinny and not really tall.

What comes to Alacazar, I don't think they're similar even for a bit? Anyway, it might be a hair type. I know Alacazar is bald ×) but his beard tends to be a bit curly, and Mateo's hair is clearly curly as well, so it might make sense.

I think Rafa is Alacazar's daughter. Some facts from the canon can confirm that, but what comes to genetics, I don't think they resemble each other. I can't see any similarities between them.

In conclusion, I want to say that I like to think Mateo takes most of traits from his father, even though we never got to see him.

Thank you so much for the ask again!!

[lostbutterflyutau]

Surprise Snowscape [Link]

Fandom: Elena of Avalor

Ship: Eleteo (Elena/Mateo) (With a sprinkle of Rafictor (Rafa/Victor))

Characters: Elena, Mateo, Carla, Rafa, Victor

Rating: G

Genre: Gen/Friendship, Holiday

Summary: When Carla falls ill over Navidad and has to miss out on the festival she meticulous planned, Elena and Mateo come up with a way to not only cheer her up, but give her a piece of what she would have otherwise missed. (Written for the EoA Discord's Secret Santa 2021 for @camelottree638!)

Link: AO3

[cartoonfangirl1218]

EoA characters as Greek gods 

Elena: I feel like Elena could follow Athena, I mean she is pretty wise for an almost 20 year old but she also possesses a vengeful side. And Athena was the guide for so many heroes just as Elena guides her people through their problems.

Mateo: There is no god of magic but there is a goddess, Hecate so that would be perfect for Mateo. He could also fit Athena again for the wisdom and love of learning. 

Gabe: I was going to say Ares for Gabe because of battles and all but that is the more bloodthirsty side of war. Once again Athena could fit since she's the goddess of the strategic side of war and battle planning which Gabe is an expert in.

Isabel: Isabel is totally Athena. Goddess of wisdom and invention, there's no one else that would fit her. Let's face it, the Flores are an Athena like family. 

Naomi: While I was originally going to go for Amphitrite for Naomi because goddess of the sea and all, she doesn’t have much of a personality. But Artemis does and I feel that would fit Naomi being a feisty traveller of unknown lands but also loyal and protective and can be prone to blow ups.

Esteban: It’s a tie between Poseidon and Apollo. Poseidon because Esteban loves sailing and can be moody and Esteban hides deep waters in his mind but I’m leaning more toward Apollo. Apollo was the god of the sun, and music and prophecy among other things which fit Esteban since he loves making music and heh ending up doing a self fulfilled prophecy of abandonment when he didn’t tell his family the truth(😫) but Apollo was one of the most human gods. He was vengeful, jealous, grudge holding, prideful as well extremely loyal to his family (particularly when someone killed his child or insulted his mother), caring toward his followers and had distinguished tastes.

Doña: I could see as Tyche, goddess of fortune. That interpretation was more like luck but it also includes money and prosperity. I can also see Hera, mainly because she would totally want to be the goddess of everything lol

Luisa: Luisa would totally be Demester, goddess of harvest since she is such an avid cook and also a mama bear. Francisco: He could be Apollo since he is the god of music but I also picture Orpheus because of his amazing voice that could lure animals to dance around the woods like a disney princess.

Victor: Victor would be Hermes, the god of thieves, travellers and deception. He fits all those points. He even fits being the god of messengers since he tried and tried to tell Elena the message of Esteban's betrayal. Ash: She would be Hecate, goddess of witchcraft, magic and ghosts for all the obvious reasons. Maybe even crossroads too because it was in the mountain path where she forced Carla and Esteban to make those fateful decisions on Carnaval. 

Carla: Carla’s a bit of an anomaly since she could fit many things but maybe Hecate too. Or even Persephone, the poster child of teenage rebellion against parents. 

Alonso: Would it be too obvious to say Narcissus? Okay, okay besides Narcissus, Alonso would be Dionysus, god of revelry and wine. The original party dude. Alonso is the party god with a leopard cape. Fight me. 

Valentina: Val would make such a good Aphrodite. All the pink and being a grand beauty and all that. Not to mention going into rage when mortals dare to suggest someone else was prettier than her. Val wouldn't curse anyone but still. . . I imagine a similar not happy princess reaction.

Rafa: Demester, she is so Demeter simply because of her nurturing yet smothering mother idea. 

[lucy-shining-star]

Completely nonsensical crossover idea: Bruno being Mateo’s father

[ameliathefatcat]

I saw somewhere someone believing Felicia and Ricardo are Marlena parents. I like that idea

Here my hc. Felicia and Rafa were friends (both grew up particularly in the palace and got closer after Shuriki took over). Felicia settled down a bit got married and had a daughter Marlena. Rafa never really settled down, she had some lovers but no thing serious. Until she met Mateo Miguel, the love of her life. Teo and Rafa were together for about two years when Rafa found out she was pregnant (it was a shocker she was in her late 30’s) she was going to tell Teo when he was captured and sentenced to a work camp. Rafa later found out that he was going to propose to her the day he was captured.

Just months after Teo was killed Ricardo died suddenly. No one knows how he died he just took a nap and never woke up. Money was already tight and after Ricardo died, Felicia lost the house. Felicia and Marlena were now homeless. Rafa took them in, letting them stay in the two spare bedrooms. Rafa only condition was that Felicia helped with the baby.

When Mateo was born he was five weeks premature. Felicia helped Rafa through those tough first few months. Helping Rafa with her newborn son. Marlena saw Mateo as her little brother and tried to help her Tía Rafa as best as she could (Marlena is about 8-10 years older than Mateo).

Felicia and Marlena lived with the De Alva’s for about four years. After they moved out they were still close with the De Alvas. Marlena would babysit for Mateo often.

[angelshizuka]

I loved your thoughts about Mateo’s father in your character ask. Care to go into more detail about your headcanon?

I haven't entirely thought out this headcanon yet, but part of it is to add some diversity to the parents in this show.

We already have a supportive dad with Daniel, a stubborn but eventually supportive dad with Roberto, a supportive but dead dad with Raul and an old fashioned but still supportive (grand)dad with Francisco. They're all supporitve one way or another, but sadly not all dads are like that.

Like how Ash is the bad mother in this show, I decided to make Mateo's father the bad father. Just some guy who walked out of raising Mateo, because that's sadly a reality for a lot of kids.

I like to think this is at least part of the reason why Rafa is so overprotective of Mateo. He's the one good thing that came out of that bad relationship.