I'm still really confused by Elena naming Gabe general and Mateo master wizard in the finale cause like I frankly thoughht captain of the guard is highest military rank in Avalor? Like...Seriously does that change anything for Gabe other than title? I thought he was only subordinate to grand council? And Mateo one doesn't really seem like title Elena could give? Like it sounds like something that if someone would be able to officially give is some sort of sorcerer school?

"A good soldier always has a plan B."

If someone were to ask me “What ship in EOA do you think would most likely be canon.” I will always respond with “Elena and Naomi.” While yes, this is Disney we’re talking about, they would never allow them to be canon, but if EOA was on a different network like CN or Nickelodeon, they would be canon.

Its the way they interact in the series that makes them the perfect couple. Elena has showed she doesn’t really have much of an interest in romance with men. Hell when Mateo tried to make a move, she visibly CRINGED and was very weirded out. (srry eleteo shippers i luv yall dw) But when it came to Naomi, she was clearly comfortable with her since the day they met. Like dude they are so comfortable with each other they changed in the same room without a care. I will never shut up about that, its funny and cute. Right off the bat, Elena refers to Naomi as her best friend, and Naomi knows damn well she is. Also, even though Elena sees Naomi every day, the second she came over to sleep over, Elena sprints over to her, gives Naomi a giant bear hug, and says “this is gonna be the best day ever.” Elena has a picture frame of JUST Naomi and her on her table, Naomi carries around a locket with a matching photo of her and Elena. Their arguments were like that of an old married couple lets be real here. And of course, the finale, oh dear lord the finale…Elena during her coronation casually walking up to Naomi, not even batting an eye towards Gabe and Mateo, who are waiting for her to pick either one of them as first dance. GRABS NAOMI’S HANDS, the camera zooms in on their hands, and mainly focuses on Elena’s ring!!?? (in media that kind of camera panning holds meaning.) and says to Naomi: “Will you be MY chancellor?” NOT “Will you be the kingdom’s chancellor?” NO NO NO. “WILL YOU BE MYYYYYYY CHANCELLOR.” That was very much coded as a proposal just saying.

In the eyes of the queer community, they can see Elena and Naomi’s relationship, and see that there is clearly something more to them that meets the eye. And I explicitly say “the queer community” because factually, queer people are most likely to notice another person of homosexuality, or a paring that displays clear homosexual tendencies, which is a stated fact. The community is able to see specific patterns, and behaviours in characters and people that would label them as queer. Not as much as a heterosexual persons.

In conclusion, Elena and Naomi have something else going on, and are secretly smoochin behind the scenes. I rest my case.

For character ask game: Gabe-1,2,14,18,20

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

Aaah it's so difficult to put it into words. I generally really like characters who are "normal" and achieve everything because of their dreams, motivation and hard work and Gabe is literally "just some guy", he's our best look into Shuriki era Avalor and literally, his whole story and character development could have not happened if not for one decision made not even by him, that we didn't even see in the show (him being made Elena's guard) and then if he didn't PUT HIS WHOLE HEART INTO IT!!!

And it's just that, I love how he changed throughout the show, how we see more sides of him and outside of that first promotion, everything that happens to him he has to work for (and tbf he probably had to do something meaningful to become Elena's guard too). He has big ambitions and a big heart which is literally the best combination.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Hmm maybe how he never gives up? He might not believe in himself, he might be beaten or humiliated, it might seem hopeless, but he'll always stand up and fight for what he believes in.

And my second favourite thing is definitely how much he loves his friends and family <3

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

Guard uniforms

Zbbdhzhs okay no, I have this one half-serious headcanon that Gabe is actually very knowledgeable in fashion, he just always wears the uniform because it's just the most comfortable given that he's almost always on duty when we see him. And it would probably be easier if I knew anything about fashion

But okay I tried putting together a little visualization!

So I definitely think that Gabe's personal style is definitely very simple and as much as he cares about looking well put together, he doesn't care all that much about what he wears, so what he has in To Queen or not to Queen I think is actually pretty realistic. But if I was to design him a casual outfit I'd say that he takes a lot of inspiration from Antonio Agama, since he's such a great fan of his, so he definitely goes for the "adventurer" vibes. So high boots with tucked in pants, a simple shirt with rolled up sleeves, except I'd give him a neckline more similar to Naomi's and an ascot, like Mateo's except maybe tied more loosely (he bonds with Mateo by going ascot shopping together.) As for colors I'd put him in warm, earthy tones - browns, beige, red, maybe some khaki, and navy for more elegant occasions (yes, because of his uniform)

And I know that's not what the question was about but I also started thinking about his style in the sense of modern fashion.

I think he'd still dress in a kind of military-but-casual style, he wants his clothes to be practical first and foremost. I allowed myself to give him a bit more accessories, since again, he's not flashy but a watch is just a useful thing to have. The paracord bracelet I imagine was a gift from some friend who thought that he should accessorize more XD and he wears it because hey, you never know when you might need a piece of rope. Also Gabe strikes me as the type to always be warm, so it's t-shirts for him for the majority of the year, but he'd look great in a biker jacket, you can't convince me otherwise. (Bonus not included: given how big of a fan of Antonio Agama, he definitely owned an Indiana Jones type of hat at some point and thought it made him look so cool. He still wears it sometimes when he's out of town with his closest friends and it kind of grew into an iconic part of his wardrobe between them.)

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

His friendship with Elena! Cause really, it's so diverse, since it's so full of contradictions and they're basically opposites in many aspects, but through all of this they just care for each other so much and it's just- A

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

Ricoooooo

I'll be sharing my "Gabe and Rico are friends" propaganda until the day I die, I fully believe they are friends and in fact have been almost since the beginning of Gabe's time in the guard (okay, so maybe they weren't that close pre The Curse of El Guapo, but I still think they were at least work friends and definitely became closer with time, you can pry their friendship from my cold dead fingers)

Thank you so much for sending this ask!! As you know, I love talking about Gabe zbsggs

Ask game

Hi! I just read your post about Mateo recently. If I may, can you give me any specific instances in the narrative of the show where Mateo isn’t called out as heavily as they should have? I’m just curious?

During the Shuriki returns arc in particular, Mateo makes some pretty glaring mistakes that I feel like he should've gotten much more flack for (and based on what we see elsewhere in canon, I feel pretty confident that if Gabe, Naomi, Isa, or Esteban at least --and possibly even Elena-- had made these mistakes, they wouldn't have been swept under the rug nearly as quickly as they were for Mateo).

While it's unfair to completely blame Mateo for Carla's manipulating him during the "Rita" arc, I feel like it's reasonable to hold him a *bit* accountable. He did after all blab highly confidential information (on more than one occasion) to try and impress a pretty girl with how clever and important he was. (Something tells me that if any of the others had done likewise, they would've been called out for it. But because it's "beloved" Mateo, we don't even get "wait, you told Rita how to get into your workshop? And you've known her for only a few weeks? What were you thinking, Mateo?") Moreover, he never even apologizes for this or promises to do better/be more careful with such important, sensitive information in the future.

Even more aggravating is his behavior in "The Scepter of Night." Mateo is so eager to play the hero and claim all the glory for himself that he twice (!) disobeys a direct order/abandons the plan and goes looking for the scepter piece on his own. This directly leads to Fiero and Victor finding the scepter piece and (temporarily) stealing it. And it's really only due to luck and very conveniently-timed infighting amongst Shuriki's allies that Elena and co. are able to get the scepter piece back. While Mateo does receive some (brief) criticism, it's nowhere near the level that it should be.

Also noteworthy Elena doesn't really get particularly "mad" at him (especially considering how angry we see her get at other characters even for more minor things) . She's not truly, actually angry at Mateo (and Gabe and Naomi are only a bit angrier); she's just a little frustrated and disappointed at him in the moment. And apart from a (very short) little "do better next time" speech, Mateo doesn't face any real consequences or lingering resentment unlike other characters who do.

When Isa obeys direct orders in "Sister of Invention," she has to face consequences (Elena grounding her). Similarly, Elena holds a grudge against Esteban for days (if not weeks) after he interfered with the Feast of Friendship (a much lower stakes mistake than Mateo's imo). Moreover, it's possible to interpret Esteban's staying behind in Avalor when the others go to see the Norberg Lights as a punishment (either self-inflicted or imposed by Elena) for his actions in the previous episode.

In contrast, Mateo just gets a brief "I expected better from you" speech from Elena and Gabe jokingly assigning him push-ups as punishment (which he immediately takes back when Mateo tries to do them). I'll give Mateo a little bit of credit for actually apologizing this time (which he doesn't always do). But it's still frustrating that everyone is so ready to forgive and forget Mateo's missteps immediately while this same courtesy is seldom shown to others.

I think it's worth directly comparing a few Mateo-centric episodes with a few more similar ones that focus on other characters so that we can see how there does seem to be a noted narrative bias in his favor compared to the others.

Let's start with two "feeling kind of insecure" episodes: "Spellbound" for Mateo vs. "Naomi Knows Best" for Naomi. In the former, Mateo expresses doubt that he's capable of rising to the occasion as royal wizard. No one (except Gabe and he gets over it by the end of the episode) blames him for not having reached his full level of confidence and potential right away and not being able to immediately solve the problem. And Elena in particular (and by extension the narrative) gives him so much validation and support. Whereas in "Naomi Knows Best" (and to a lesser extent "Finders Leapers" and the "Carla-as-Rita" arc as well) the narrative "punishes" Naomi for her feelings of self-doubt. We're told that *if only* Naomi had trusted her gut instincts and stood her ground right away, Elena and co would not fallen right into the trap and that Naomi needs to screw her head back on straight and embrace confidence ASAP to fix her mistake.

When Mateo feels insecure, the narrative gives him every reassurance about how capable and special he is, that he can learn at his own pace, and his insecurity isn't really such a problem after all. When Naomi feels insecure, the narrative encourages her to get over her doubts as quickly as possible because unlike with Mateo, there's "no time" for her to wallow in self-doubt and actually the fact that she even had said doubt in the first place is what "caused" the disaster.

On a slightly different note, Naomi is also called out for taking a little free, fun time for herself in "The Last Laugh" when the group needs her, and yet somehow I have a feeling that Mateo would've been allowed to take a day off if he wanted without any protest. He complains about long hours in "Movin' on Up" and Elena gives him the big royal wizard's chambers for him to relax and unwind in. Naomi asks for one (1) day off to spend with her childhood friend for her birthday , and suddenly it's big drama. (And at the time, Naomi asked for said day off, all Elena needed from her was help doing paperwork. The Team Ash stuff came up unexpectedly.)

Similarly whenever Gabe and Mateo get their little rivalry on ("Spellbound," "Party of a Lifetime," "Captain Mateo" and a few other examples) , the narrative either presents them as equally at fault or Mateo as the only one in the right.

When Gabe brings in Bronzino to train the Royal Guards in magic, it's specifically because Mateo failed to explain how and why he was training the guards in the way he was. If he'd just explained how they were going apply the seemingly basic exercise they were doing to real magic, Gabe likely would've allowed Mateo to continue the training at his own pace.

(Also like. it's super hypocritical imo for Mateo to get annoyed at Gabe feeling impatient/impulsive about their apparent-lack-of progress when Mateo himself is easily the second most impulsive character in the show after Elena.) Mateo feels entitled to keep important information to himself (or blab it to a cute girl he barely knows) even when its no one else's best interest. He's only okay with being "cautious and patient" when he specifically is the one setting the pace. And yet, Gabe is the only one who is called out for his behavior in this episode--even though he might not have acted as he did if only Mateo had trusted him and the guards with an explanation in the first place.

And then there's just a few other "dude not cool" little moments that never really get acknowledged/Mateo never apologizes for. For instance, there a two low-key terrifying Mateo moments in "Captain Mateo" that are not only not acknowledged but are also framed in context as Mateo being just "so funny and quirky". Near the end of "Should be in Charge," Mateo magically gags Gabe so he can't protest anymore about Mateo taking over as leader of the mission. And this is after having already enchanted one of the stationary suits of armor to come to life and fight Gabe. (Gabe admittedly does lightly shove Mateo out of the way during his parts of the song, but that's still a far cry from literally drawing a sword on Mateo as Mateo does via magic to Gabe.)

It's played for laughs (The Grand Council is just smiling happily in the background throughout the scene which is so yikes), so it's easy to overlook what's actually happening. Frankly, it's pretty horrifying that Mateo's natural instinct upon his experience/authority being questioned is to literally attack and then silence. (And attack and silence someone who is supposed to be one of his best friends and closest allies at that!)

Rather than the narrative acknowledging that maybe it's a bad idea to immediately grant power to someone to someone who is so retaliatory against fairly minor criticism, the Grand Council just gives Mateo exactly what he wants and doesn't even offer a "maybe next time, let's not gag or attack our friends, okay?" alongside it. I mean sure Mateo does step down as captain at the end of the episode, but it's very specifically presented as his and Gabe's voluntary choice and not an order from Elena/the Council.

chancellor esteban flores x reader headcanons

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ masterlist ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

a/n: i literally NEVER see him or this fandom so I’m here to fill the void 🫡 disclaimer though it’s been a while since i watched this show and i am only on s2 so that is when this will take place i guess 🎀💌

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

dating esteban would include…

ok so like he met you at a trade summit with a neighboring kingdom 

you couldn’t keep your eyes of each other

you heard it here folks-

esteban “uptight, professional, reserved” flores couldn’t keep his eyes off you 

ofc doña notices

anyways you get a job at the castle in avalor 

you guys keep meeting at different conferences/events/etc

you both flirt but neither makes a move

esteban keeps asking doña for advice 

because he knows nothing about romance

you are at all the grand council meetings

finally he asks you out 

naomi won’t stop teasing him about it 

he gets all flustered around you and elena loves to try to help him make nice gestures for you

he is still reserved and it takes a bit for him to actually open up to you but when he does it’s so cute 

“He HaTeS eVeRyOnE bUt HeS dIfFeReNt WiTh YoU” 

i know it’s cliche but like it’s true in this case

he loves taking you sailing occasionally 

and he is super busy but always makes time for you 

you eventually find out about his dealings with shuriki when he finally confides in you

obviously he still feels really guilty and you comfort him 

you become besties with naomi and elena and mateo and gabe

gabe flirted with you once though and esteban didn’t let it go for weeks

you hang out with doña a lot and you have girls nights

he’s actually super protective and proud of you 

he isn’t into pda but when it’s just you two he loves cuddling 

victor tried to blackmail you once and the council had to intervine before esteban tried to send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love to hunt down his old friend 

a/n: sorry hamilton reference

you call him el segundo to get on his nerves

he has the cutest nicknames for you

”princesa” “mi amor” “chiquitita” “mi reina”

his family is so so important to him and he hates the thought of losing you like his parents and aunt and uncle 

he loves making his family’s recipes for you

he loves it when you sing him to sleep

you make him feel 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃

you guys get a pet jaquin

even though he’s never been fond of them

but he relented because you wanted one

and he insisted on naming it after you

you guys just love each other so much and everyone in avalor knows it <3

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ˋ°•*⁀➷ well there it is…like i said i am not 100% up to date on this show but i hope you enjoyed!! i love esteban so much and i have since i was 12 so this felt like something i needed to write ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚🍒🩰

Hi everyone !!! Time to do something different. I haven't been making moodboards for a while and I wanna make it again with one of Elena of Avalor characters.

Taglist : @bigfrozensix , @animationfan3000 , @lieutenant-amuel , and anyone else who wants to vote.

Tad and his friends and army singing knowing what i know now

@jakkiisthatboy2

Part 1:

Reena: *singing voice* you’ve been deceived. She not the girl she claim to be. She’s more Vicious than I could’ve ever combined.

Reena: *singing voice* when we made a wish and it came down, this is not what I expected or intended, but now that it’s happened I don’t regret it!

Reena: *singing voice* ‘cause now I’ve seen, their true color-show in shades of green, saying that your wishes aren’t safe because of me and. That’s a lie lie lie. And I I know I can’t do this on my own and..

Reena: *singing voice* if it’s not us then who and when? If we don’t fight, they know she wins. not allowed. Knowing what I know now.

Reena: *singing voice* the lengths he’ll go there’s no amount. I won’t sit back watch this play out, that’s my vow. Knowing what I know now.

Part 2:

Eep: *singing voice* get up yah! Know I’m not the only one that’s…

Camille and Claire and Sam S: yah!

Eep:*singing voice* Fed up!

Naomi, and Alexandra and Jun: yah!

Thunk: *singing voice* wait till they hear our feet go dun dun dun dun

Mateo, Victor, Thunk: yah!

Elena: *singing voice* I don’t think he’s prepared for what’s coming.

All: *singing voice* A REVOLUTION HIT THE GROUND RUNNIN!

Part 3:

Felice: *singing voice* it’s theres one thing they can’t keep down.

Tiffany maze and Victoria: *singing voice* uh huh

Sara and Ramirez, Amy and Jasmine: *singing voice* it’s us and the strength we found

Ramirez: *singing voice* it’s too loud

All: *singing voice* loud!

Sara: *singing voice* knowing what we know now.

All: *singing voice* knowing what we know now.

Gabe and Lukas: *singing voice* and who? Who knows if we’ll succeed.

All: *singing voice* but we.

Odette and Anne: *singing voice* won’t stop and we won’t retreat or turn round.

All: *singing voice* round.

Reena: *singing voice* knowing what we know now!!

All: *singing voice* knowing what we know now!!

Part 4:

All: hoo (5x) hoo-haa(3x) hoo (3x)

Sonic: *singing voice* can’t they tell what we’re becoming? (Hoo)

Knuckles: *singing voice* hear it in the way we’re drumming (hoo)

Tails: *singing voice* I was sweet but now I’m something else!

All: Yah! (4x) (hoo-hoo)

Mario: *singing voice* ain’t it nice for us to drop in. (Hoo)

Princess peach: *singing voice* to take what’s ours to take it back in? (Hoo hah!)

Ramona: *singing voice* she thinks we’re nothing. (Hoo)

Reena: *singing voice* but we’re something else. (Haa)

*tad and mummy noticed*

Reena: *normal voice* okay. Dude. This has got to be embarrassing right?

Tad: *breaths*

Final:

Tad: *singing voice* I’ve seen too many bad things that I can’t keep count.

All males: hoo hah! Hoo hah!

All: *singing voice* he loves!

Tad: *singing voice* one thing more than himself

All males: hoo hah! Hoo hah!

Tad: *singing voice* his crown.

All females: *singing voice* crown!

Tad: *singing voice* knowing what I know now!

All males: hoo hah hah! Hoo hah!

All: *singing voice* knowing what I know now! (Hoo hah! Hoo)

Mummy: *singing voice* the good in him, I’ve watch him melt.

All males: hoo hah hoo hah hah!

All: *singing voice* I was!

Mummy: *singing voice* fooled by the love I felt

All males: hoo hah!

Mummy: *singing voice* so profound!

All: *singing voice* ahh!

Mummy: *singing voice* knowing what I know!

Tad: *singing voice* I know!

Sara: *singing voice* I know!

Guy, Victor, Dawn, and Isabel: *singing voice* we know now.

All:*singing voice* knowing what we know now!!!

The Wizard Princess

Here’s a little gift for a friend that has several elements from The Princess Bride (that I finally watched!). Hope y’all enjoy!

Elena was raised in a beautiful palace in a prosperous kingdom called Avalor. She would know as she saved the kingdom several times after overthrowing evil sorceresses and shades of darkness. But her adventures were not over yet, for her reign as queen only brought more journeys and wild, daring ride with her loyal friends by her side. One of her favorite pastimes was riding her horse and spending time with her royal wizard. His name was Mateo, but she hadn’t called him that for a long time. 

“I did it! I won!” Elena whooped as she brought Canella to a stop at the top of the hill with Mateo coming to a stop a few seconds later. 

“Well, mi amor, you did have a few more years of practice on me,” Mateo reminded her, sliding off his horse so he can start to unpack their stuff for the picnic. 

“Oh,” Elena slid off, her arms wrapping around the sides of her favorite wizard, “If you need more riding lessons ontop of the ones Gabe gives you, I’d be happy to find some time.”

Mateo nuzzled her neck, biting her ear in just the way that always made her a bit weak-kneed. 

“I don’t know. . I remember the fact that we were too distracted to do much riding is the reason that Gabe is teaching me now,” he said with a low, meaningful chuckle. 

Elena smiled that feline smile and pulled him into a kiss and they were lost to the world. 

He kissed her slowly, filled with tenderness and the awe he always held for her, letting the pads of his fingers brush against her skin, sending goosebumps up and down Elena’s spine. 

Elena for her part being the bold Flores woman she was, was all passion in her kisses that made Mateo grow ever more weak-kneed and breathless. He stumbled back, inadvertently breaking their kiss. 

Even so, he did not break his gaze from her. Instead he tilted her chin again, and nuzzled against her neck before placing a slow trail of kisses on the contour of her cheek to her ear where he stopped and nibbled with a delicate finesse. 

Elena was almost taken aback by his hunger, it was rough as his tongue pushed past, tangling and twirling exploring her whole mouth as if he would devour her. His kiss was at once determination and desperation.

But truly a hill was the worst place to continue this pursuit as they swayed in place, gravity threatening them at any moment with a roll down the hill.

They split apart, flushed and cuddled by each other’s side as Mateo whipped out his tamborita with a “Lleveluque!” 

Their picnic basket and foodstuff floated out and arranged itself in a perfect semicircle that the horses were eager to claim if the two of them didn’t get their first. 

Though she was still tingling from their kiss, she had regained enough control to think of and speak of other things instead of the one she was most eager to do. That had been a prominent queenly lesson Esteban had been trying to drill into her. 

Though she believed she had matured quite a bit in regards to not impulsively going after what she wanted without a thought. Which was true in the case of dealing with difficult royals and a rogue malvago here and there, it was an entirely different matter when it came to her love. 

She couldn’t believe that less than a year ago, she and Mateo had been just friends. 

Well not just friends. 

There had always been something more to her relationship with Mateo. Something soul-deep if she had to be a word to it. He had been there from the beginning, he was the first person she had seen after 41 years trapped in the amulet. That alone had made him special to her. But over the years, his faithfulness, his growth, his love of puns, it had developed into something special. She couldn’t imagine life without him, a day even. From watching him make new potions in his workshop to fighting back to back against malvagos and zanies, he provided a comfort and a constant. 

She began to notice other little things she hadn’t before, the curl in his hair, the softness of his hands and the overwhelming urge she had to run her hands through both. To feel him at night, even on nights when she didn’t need him to come and comfort her after a nightmare. 

Her family had apparently traded knowing looks behind her back the whole time, wondering when she’d figure out. Isabel had even bet against Flo that Mateo would confess first before Elena even realized her feelings. 

Which was true during Elena’s now favorite memory of Carnaval. Mateo and she had been reminiscing about the previous years. The runaway floats, Flo’s birth and Esteban’s betrayal, that this year would be so much better now that the threat of Ash was gone and Esteban was working on his redemption. She had thanked him for encouraging her to keep going, for reminding her of her mother’s song and he admitted that he wanted to remind her of the power of love. 

Because he loved her. 

A wizard boy. Shy. Shy and perfect with eyes like warm, roasted hazel. 

He loved her and she’d never forget how nervous yet open his face was. How the love had been so clear in his eyes and she had been so blind until now to realize it. And her own feelings as well. 

It had been almost overwhelming in the epiphany of the moment but it felt right. Just as familiar as when she placed her lips upon his for the first time. She felt like she had come to her safe haven.

Their new relationship was almost as before to the untrained eye. But it felt deeper, stronger and so much more enjoyable, Elena thought with a feline smile. 

“What are you thinking about?” Mateo nudged her shoulder as he waved a bright cherry over teasingly. He knew how much she loved them. 

“Oh just you.” Elena said vaguely, plucking it from his grasp before handing him a chocolate covered pastelito. A small sacrifice for her favorite man. 

“You little minx,” Mateo smirked in turn, gratefully taking the pastelito.

“Not like that,” Elena laughed, “Well not entirely like that.” 

They ate in silence for a bit, broken only by the horses’ neighs and giggled over messy foods. It was perfect to Mateo. 

The hill near the edge of Castillo park provided a perfect view of the city in midmorning. The sun shining off the colorful buildings and blooming flora. The wind smelled faintly of sea breeze and roses and it was just content. Peaceful. 

Not that Avalor hasn’t had peaceful days. It’s had plenty since Elena’s coronation. Apparently malvagos and their ike had decided to stay away since hearing Elena’s exploits which was fine by him. Though he’d love to test more spells against adversaries, he was just as content with preparing for hypotheticals than jumping into danger. The past five years had been rough on Elena. Though she had stayed strong throughout, he was still there for her nightmares. She knew how much she held things in. If they could just rest for a bit before the next danger, all the better. 

Not that there was much rest. There was always some royal to host. Some business to take care of. Some spirit to get rid of. 

Last week, they had to travel to Cariza to help King Joaquin with a magical rogue named Vizzani that stole the royal jewels with his invisibility cloak. 

It had been just like old times last week and Elena and Mateo had enjoyed the adventure despite the presence of rats of unusual size. 

But this was just as special. A day to spend in the company of his love without deadlines weighing them down. 

Though Vizzani was pretty hard to compete with for memorableness. 

Mateo chuckled to himself thinking about the goofy rogue. Elena looked at him, unconsciously sharing his smile. He loved her smile, it reminded him of sunshine on a warm day, just joyful and infectious. 

“I was thinking about Vizzani,” Mateo admitted and Elena burst into laughter. She got it, they were usually on the same wavelength.

“He was ridiculous,” She snorted.

“You mean inconceivable!” Mateo shouted, waving his arms in an exaggerated imitation of the man’s apparent catchphrase.

“I don’t think it means what he thinks it does,” Elena said and then stood up, holding an imaginary goblet. 

Mateo playfully groaned as he knew what was coming. It had been an interesting trying to reason with the man who held a magical cloak and little intelligence to back up his plans. Or what little intelligence he had was twisted into puzzles and paranoia as when he was convinced that Elena’s true offering of water was poison. 

Elena cleared her throat, pitching her voice lower and began her act, “But it's so simple. All I have to do is divine from what I know of you. Are you the sort of woman who would put the poison into her own goblet, or her enemy's?”

“Now, a clever woman would put the poison into her own goblet,because she would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I'm not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool; you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.” 

Elena faltered near the end of her parody, falling to her knees weezing that Mateo could only echo in his own mirth. 

It had went on like this for a bit until the man had decided to run off and leave the cloak behind when it got snagged on a branch. What the man failed to remember was that he left all the stolen jewels in the cloak pocket. 

So overall, retrieving the jewels was easy for Elena and him, it was just returning from the fiery swamp full of rats that took some hacking and blazing but they did it, and after being nearly burned alive, they had decided on this picnic. 

Elena flopped down next to him as they caught their breath again, coming to lie on the crook of his arm, giving him an intoxicating whiff of her strawberry and sunshine scent. He turned to spoon her, enjoying the soothing in and out of their breaths. 

Truly this was a perfectly mundane day and Mateo loved every moment of it just like he enjoyed any time he was Elena’s presence. She had been his light. 

She was the shining light for all the people, but to him, she represented the best of life, love, joy, belief, compassion. She believed in him and he was forever grateful to her for that. She made him stronger, more confident, and she was so fiercely loyal. He only hoped that he’d be able to do the same for her all his life. 

Everything felt right when he was with her. That he was home, no overthinking or worry about others judging him or underestimating. Elena never did that and she was all that mattered. 

This is true love, she radiated to him, not even needing words. 

This is true love. You think this happens every day?

No, it doesn’t. 

Aren’t we the lucky ones? 

They squeezed hands just as they had all those years ago in Vallestrella. They’d be there for each other. . . no matter what. 

So come danger and come celebration, they’d be each other's side. Though they had some ideas of what was to come, or at least hopes for what was to come. Alongside persistent suggestions from his mother and her abuelos. 

Things would happen as they come, but it’d be a magical adventure whenever it did happen.

Just like their kisses.

Since the invention of the kiss, there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind. 

The end.

Writer Q&A Tag Game

thank you for the tag, @digital-chance. I love how this one forces you to look at your own work in such a positive way.

1. What motivates you to write?

Some of my characters are ANCIENT. Even when I went 5+ years without writing, they're still there, and I miss them. Daydreaming about stories and scenarios is my favorite hobby, especially during my work commute.

2. A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

From Ch 9(ish) of my Unnamed Nuka-World Fic:

From the corner of his eye, Luvell saw the Sunshine Tidings Co-op settlers jump and cheer, pumping their arms into the air. He couldn't hear them from the cataclysmic roar of the blast, but the rapture of revenge was clear on their faces. No one must be watching the settlement, with how many people were suddenly collected on the ridge. Even this far away, they could feel the sound and the heat threatening to bowl them over. He could hardly stare at the blast for more than a few seconds, and the people around him that didn't think to bring sunglasses dipped their hats and shielded their eyes. He had expected to be cheering, too, or at least relishing a deep satisfaction at finally striking back. Finally making someone pay for taking Lafayette from them. Instead, something inside him felt disquieted and out of place. This was too much. Too much like them. It wouldn't end here, it only raised the stakes. Things would get worse after this. Luvell glanced back at his parents, their faces brightly lit from the blast. Dave squinted behind his glasses, brows furrowed, still frowning. Gabe had tugged his goggles down over his eyes, and as the light made his tawny skin glow warm and golden, a toothy grin began to creep across his face. He watched the destruction with a growing smugness, a hand reaching up to squeeze Dave's shoulder. "He's gonna fuckin' haaate thiiis!" he relished happily when the world finally started to go quiet again.

3. Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

I should say my main boy Lafayette, because whew I love putting him through things, but it's his lunatic little ex-boyfriend Mateo that delights me the most. He's hot in a way that is absolutely unhelpful to everyone, lowkey a nerd about plants, loves making lil spooky crafts, and will undoubtable one day run a death cult. Every time I write him, he does something so ridiculous and over-reactive that I didn't predict and its always fun.

4. What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

When the juices are flowing, and you're almost passively watching the things happen in your head and just recording what is being said and done, and the characters are in control. Especially when they surprise you by reacting differently than you anticipated and now everyone else has to react to them.

5. What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

Dialog? Maybe? Sometimes I really enjoy it, but that might just be self-indulgent.

6. What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

The little daily tokens of encouragement to keep writing, and to write for yourself.

7. A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

Post-it notes. Lmao. I don't really use anything fancy, but as I'm reading, each and every book is gonna have at least one post-it note that is covered with page numbers, words I'm unfamiliar with, phrases I love or concepts I think I can use later. I have hundreds of notes like this and its a great source of inspiration when I need it.

8. A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

I write mostly fanfics, so I can't claim the world as my own too often, but when writing Salem's Child, the bit about post-apocalyptic Salem, MA being overrun with black cats came out of nowhere at me and now I'm obsessed.

9. What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

Plotting, or over-plotting, is what most often bogs me up. To shake it off, I try to look back on a major plot point and change it, and write how things would go differently. Did Dave survive getting his leg eaten off by cannibals? Write about what happens if he didn't. (In my case, everyone wigged out and killed each other, and it really made me appreciate how Dave holds the whole family together lol.) When it works, it almost always fixes my slump.

10. Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters

I'm still pretty new here, but no pressure to: @elean0rarose, @leebrontide, @touloserlautrec, @words-after-midnight and @ruinmegently

Do you have any LGBTQ+ headcanons for EoA?

heck yeah I do 😎 and yes they change all the time lmao.

(second anon: I'm assuming you mean for EoA - you didn't actually specify, but that *is* kinda my brand of answered asks, so if you meant something different you'll have to let me know)

I don't know if I've actually talked about this in a post before, but it's actually very rare for me to have "true" headcanons in the sense that I treat them as "canon" in my head, for sexuality or gender or anything else. I'm prone to rotate ideas around at a moment's notice if I want to explore something else. I like alternate interpretations, y'know? That said, I do still have some common patterns that I tend to fall back on, and some of these are definitely more concrete than others:

Main Cast (in no particular order):

Gabe: bisexual, with a tilt toward women. He kiiinda knew he liked guys as well when he was younger, but sort of put it on a back burner until he joined the guard and very abruptly found himself having to confront it. Pretty casually out to most everyone, except for his parents. (Blanca knows - she’s also bi. Roberto hasn’t figured it out yet, though post-Olaball he’d be very supportive, if a bit confused, if he were to find out.) He's a little in love with all of his best friends.

Naomi: also bi, also with a tilt toward women. she thought she was gay when she was younger and initially came out to her parents as such, and then again later when she realized she was actually bi. the first time was very carefully planned out and rehearsed and maybe a little defensive, which it didn't need to be - she hadn't been subtle, and her folks had already figured. The second time was a blunt and casual "so turns out - 'm bi" through a mouthful of eggs at breakfast one morning. She and Gabe joke about having very similar taste.

Elena: aspec, and that’s about how much I can narrow it down, because the particular variety of aspec I hc her as changes pretty much daily, if not more often. The two I toggle between the most often though are demi-pan (romantic & sexual) and aroace. she's not especially tethered to her gender and wobbles along a line between demigirl and agender, but still generally uses feminine terms for herself - sister/granddaughter/prima and princess/queen are titles, not genders. despite being aspec (or perhaps because of it), she always ends up being the person her friends go to for dating advice.

Mateo: a roulette wheel full of question marks, and I don’t mean that I haven’t thought about it; I mean that I’ve thought about it a lot and I still have no idea, and honestly I don’t think Mateo does either. I think he thinks he’s straight. I doubt that he is, although I do have transhet Mateo on the aforementioned roulette wheel, so I haven't ruled it out entirely. I've got his gender on rotation as well - my most common take is "his gender is Wizard", because let's face it, that's a more significant part of his identity than anything else ever will be.

Isa: a true scientist at heart, she feels the need to both A: experiment, and B: categorize. she does a lot of research into microlabels and neogenders and rotates through several, taking notes on how she feels about each one and trying to codify the distinctions between how she feels about different people so that she can get the exact precise label to describe herself. Elena initially assumes Isa is doing it out of anxiety, but the specificity is part of the fun for her. I'm not sure what she settles on, if she ever does, but whatever she's into includes girls.

Esteban: gay and/or aspec. Definitely had a thing with Victor when he was younger. Definitely ended badly. The two of them were just getting on speaking terms again when they met Shuriki, and, uh, we all know how that one ended.

Francisco & Luisa: bi and closeted & the ultimate straight ally, respectively. They're the Cool Grandparents when it comes to their grandkids' and their friends' identities. Raúl's side of the family was a bit more traditional than them back in the day, but Francisco and Luisa's own marriage was considered "non-traditional" once since Francisco married outside of nobility, so they're very open to a lot of very queer stuff just on principle.

Assorted extras/recurring characters that I have opinions on:

Victor: very bi, with historically very terrible taste. Also as the only non-acespec of the pre-Shuriki amigos, he was the resident member of the friend group that was always like "isn't so-and-so the hottest person ever?" and all his asexual friends were just like "Victor this is just some guy. what."

Carla: aromantic allosexual - she treads a line between wanting a romance and feeling uncomfortable with the concept. she likes it in theory and used to fantasize about getting swept away by a prince when she was little, but realized as she got older that that was more about the comfort and stability than anything else, since when she was actually being presented with romance she was feeling uneasy (the sheer vibes from her little grimace when Elena is telling the romantic sunflower festival story, and from how quickly she jumps from the novelty of her parents being back together to thinking they're being gross...)

Marisa & Marzel: listen.... if you line up Elena, Marisa, and Marzel in Song of the Sirenas, their outfits make the bi flag.... I’m just saying.... that said! they'd be bi/pan by human standards, but sirenas don't exactly operate on the human gender binary and are generally much more fluid with their gender identities than humans, and by extension, with their sexualities. there are chemical signals in their tails that are visible to other sirenas (and possibly under UV light? undecided if this is a science thing or a magic thing) that change with their current gender to communicate information about it to others.

Feli: heteroromantic asexual. she thought she might be gay when she was younger since she knew she wasn't quite into guys the same way her straight peers were, and pre-Shuriki, she and Elena briefly experimented with a romantic relationship. It didn't work out, for obvious reasons, but ended very amicably, and Feli eventually figured out what her deal was. Ricardo was straight, but respected Feli's boundaries, and her asexuality was a big part as to why the two never had kids.

Val: I waffle between bi and lesbian for her, specifically. she tends to process her attraction as frustration, of the "get out of my school" variety. she likes someone? okay, so she's gotta be better than them- She mellows out with age and with a more robust friend group.

Alonso: I generally hc him as bi as well but honestly I do kinda think it'd be hilarious if he was the royal friends' Token Straight. He took his lessons about honesty from A Lava Story to heart, but it does take him a bit to realize that what he would consider impressive might not be to someone else.

Chloe: bisexual, with a preference for men. she tends to be very over-eager in romantic relationships the same way she is with friendships, and needs someone that is both very clear about defining their boundaries, and also very clear about confirming hers.

Rebeca: pansexual. she often gets very anxious before dates as her perfectionism starts to get the better of her, especially for big events like holidays or anniversaries.

Tomiko: oh, well she's just a massive lesbian, isn't she? she's got a pen-pal girlfriend at Cariza's science academy that she met when Isa and Cat decided they needed more hands on deploying the gondola project. Elena is very much her and her girlfriend's celebrity crush.

Vee: she's a demiromantic lesbian with a big 'ol childhood infatuation with Naomi that she'd been hanging onto for years. She fully expected to show up in Avalor and completely sweep Naomi off her feet, sail off with her into the sunset, all that jazz, which didn't quite go as planned. Having seen how Naomi changed over the years, she was finally able to let go and move on to seeking a different partner.

The Royal Guard: Rico is gay and Miguel is bi. In a sort of inverse situation to Gabe's, Antonia used to think she was bi and then after joining the guard and being around men far more frequently than she had been she was kinda like, "hm. maybe not," and now identifies as a lesbian.

Ixlan: nonbinary and sapphic. they mostly use gender-neutral language to refer to themself, but typically won't correct people on using gendered language unless they're directly asked. It's not that big of a deal to them to be considered one gender or another or multiple, they just won't talk about themself that way. There's a specific word in Maruvian for the gender they consider themself, but it doesn't really translate into modern Avaloran.

Rafa: oh, the possibilities! I like the idea of aroace Rafa, who never wanted a partner but did want a kid and so recruited a friend in town to help (or else just dug around in the basement for stuff to make a Potion of Spawn Child); I like the idea of lesbian Rafa, who figured that out from the tryst that resulted in Mateo and didn't exactly have time to get into a new dating pool before she had a kid to take care of and is getting to start fresh and really embrace her identity now that he's moved out; I like the idea of mspec Rafa and the wide range of possible backstories and post-canon stories it affords her; I just like the idea of Rafa lmao

Julio & Carmen: the more business-minded and methodical Julio is pansexual, while the more artistic and outspoken Carmen is asexual.

Doña Paloma: aroallo, like Carla, but she's had a few more decades to sort herself out and find her sweet spot as far as relationships go. she likes a good time but her heart will always belong to her business.

Antonio Agama: despite being something of an idealized, masculine sex symbol by some Avalorans, he's actually asexual. while he likes the adventuring in its own right, it was also always a convenient excuse to not have to spend the night with one of his admirers. "ah, but I can't resist the call of adventure! you'd only miss me in the morning - it's not meant to be, señorita." ...also he has an unrequited crush on Mendoza, who mostly finds him annoying.

Hey. Hope you’re enjoying your weekend. I was just wondering if you had plans on doing any femslash this year? And if so, with who?

You are vastly overestimating the amount that I plan my writing skdhdjsjd. Unless you count the abandoned 3% Joanna fics sitting in my drafts I don’t have anything femslash currently as a WIP and nothing that’s crouching in my brain ready to eat me as soon as I put pen to paper. I do want to write more femslash in general, but I have so few f/f ships that scratch my brain the way that make fanfiction go. If anything, you’re most likely to get some snippet from my OC f/f couple, or poly ships that include f/f (I did learn that—at least a couple months ago, and I bet it’s still true—I am 1/3 of the Elena/Mateo/Gabe/Naomi tag in Elena of Avalor on Ao3 from one measly flash fic that I dashed off in twenty minutes, and I’m very tempted to write something longer purely with the goal of becoming a full half of the tag lmao).

But at this time last year I hadn’t even heard of Our Flag Means Death and I wrote two fics for it within a month after I finished binging (it was Mermay, I had to) so like, never say never. The long form WIPs are one thing, but most of my one shots are pretty impulsive.

If I were a smarter person I would consider writing griddlehark but a) idk that I can EVER do that canon justice enough to post it online with confidence, and b) even if I can, it will require a MINIMUM of a full reread, bc once through was absolutely not enough for me to grok even half of what’s going on in those books

Okay, making that video made me recall the "Captain Mateo" events and making Mateo captain still makes so zero sense.

For friendship ask Gabe and Mateo:2,5,6,9,13

The boiiis

2. My favorite scene of them

The end of Captain Mateo - I feel like it's kinda obvious, but the boys finally working together and respecting each others as equals and that fist bump 🥺

5. A scene I wish we had of them

So this is maybe less of a scene and more of a whole episode or at least a side plot, but I'd love to see them working together on something not battle related, like, even some prank or a surprise for the girls or something, just them working together in a less stressful setting to really see them work together.

6. A scene with them that I want to rewrite/change in some way

I don't think there's any specific scenes, but if we're talking about episodes, I'd make the conflict between them in Captain Mateo have also a more personal implication.

9. Would I change anything about their friendship?

Hmm I don't think so? If anything I'd just add more scenes to make them interact more, especially in season one and... Alright, unpopular opinion, but I'd make Gabe even meaner back then.

I mean, I just find it very interesting that he didn't like, heck didn't respect Mateo at first and I'd love to see it go even more into that direction and for Gabe to take longer to start liking Mateo (I'm not saying the whole show, just longer then 4 episodes aksjks even half of the first season would be good) and for Mateo to also have some more apprehensions or even grudge against Gabe (depending how deep you'd want to go) since it'd make sure if he had.

13. What I think would have happened if they never met

Now here we'll have a difference! Because when you think about it, they're pretty much opposites - Mateo loves magic, Gabe doesn't like it, Gabe is all about teamwork, Mateo is an individualist, Mateo has a legacy to uphold while Gabe has to make a name all for himself, etc. etc. As for specific things, I'm pretty sure Gabe wouldn't like magic and definitely wouldn't learn it himself, while I'm pretty sure Mateo's battling and planning skills would be worse and like, his general social skills too, since as I said, I think their relationship was quite difficult in the beginning.

Ask game

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.

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Get local news delivered to your inbox! Brothers Gabe and Mateo Perales work in a garden on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s East Campus as part of the university’s Indigenous Food Sovereignty Program. More than 20 Native American students from Lincoln Public Schools are spending Saturdays at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln learning about Native American farming beliefs and practices. Launched by UNL’s Native American Coalition in fall 2021, the Food Sovereignty Program merges western science with traditional Native American teachings through education and practice. Students meet with Native elders, Nebraska Extension, faculty from the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, master gardeners and others on Saturdays year-round to learn how to garden and feed their families while respecting the land from the Native American perspective. Each session begins with breakfast and a traditional prayer. Students work in a community garden with crops such as zucchini, strawberries, watermelon and the three sisters, which is a traditional Native pairing of corn, beans and squash. The crops were chosen by the students. Along with sharing traditional worldviews, the program aims to increase food security for the students and their families and familiarize them with UNL’s East Campus, where most agricultural and horticultural programs are taught. “What’s missing from western science classes is the Indigenous worldviews,” said Tribal Extension Educator Ted Hibbeler (Sicangu Lakota), who leads the program. “Our relationship with the earth and the plants is missing.” Robert Perales, a Native American student advocate for Lincoln Public Schools, said the program is a good way for urban Native Americans who haven’t grown up on reservations or attended reservation schools to stay connected with their culture. “It’s a really good way for them to see the traditions and keep those alive,” Perales said. “It’s something the kids really enjoy.” SHARE Omaha has launched a resource to help give used items a new purpose. People purging possessions can now connect to local nonprofits who can put these items to good use. At SHAREomaha.org/used there is a new directory of organizations that can accept items such as used car seats, loved books and pre-owned sports equipment. Givers no longer need to guess which nonprofits will accept specific used items with this continuously updated list sorted by item category. Renae Bush, Katie Fehrman, Heather Craig and Kris Weland sort used items at Heartland Hope Mission. SHARE Omaha hopes that gathering this information in a central location will make it easier for donors to identify where they can send their quality items to make a difference, rather than the landfill. One organization represented is Partnership 4 Hope, which helps provide for the material needs of former foster youth through their donation center, Youth Mart. Young adults can utilize the free shopping center to set up their first home. The donation center offers things such as used furniture, household goods and baby items in good condition. Clean, ready-to-use items show respect to the young people Partnership 4 Hope serves, helping to launch lives of independence. “Quality donated items truly help us meet our mission. Partnership 4 Hope is grateful for the community’s support through our donation center, Youth Mart, located on the campus of Omaha Home for Boys. It wouldn’t be possible without the community,” said Stephanie Niverson, Partnership 4 Hope board secretary. At Heartland Hope Mission, families can access donated clothing and household items at no cost, as well as food and hygiene items. The pantry and clothing center has recently seen a 45% increase in Omaha families needing access to free resources. Used items such as kids’ clothing, work boots for men, t-shirts, and pots/pans are frequently requested. Amanda DeVries, Heartland Hope Mission volunteer coordinator, said, “People struggling to make ends meet often do not have the resources available to purchase needed clothing and household items.

When you donate quality used items, you help Heartland Hope Mission bridge the gap between homelessness and self-sufficiency by providing families with the basic necessities they need to get back on their feet.” Go to SHAREomaha.org/used to find which local nonprofits can put used items you no longer need to good use in our community. The Ironhawk Juniors Triathlon Club has been back to a full season of swimming, biking and running and that means a full day of excitement today. More than 100 girls, ages 8 to 14, will put together all the skills they learned this summer and complete a triathlon. Ironhawk Juniors is about empowering girls through the sport of triathlon. For eight weeks, the Ironhawk Juniors learned the fundamentals of triathlon by swimming, biking and running on the campus of its partner, College of St. Mary. Family and friends will be at the finish line to give the girls their medals. The girls made inspirational posters this summer to bond with their teammates. Since its inception in 2018, 120 girls have learned how to swim, 115 how to safely ride a bike and more than 600 have crossed the finish line of a triathlon. There is no fee to participate. “Because we have generous sponsors, we provide free gear and lessons to give the juniors the tools they need to succeed,” Erin Sullivan said. “Our juniors come from throughout the greater Omaha metro area and surrounding communities. The vision of Ironhawk Juniors is moving young people, changing lives. We teach the participants the values of honor self and others, teamwork, accomplish the impossible, be kind, and empowerment through triathlon. If interested, contact Sullivan at 402-238-6920. Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska has elected five new members to its board of directors. The board is composed of committed community leaders and professionals, who believe in and promote the Girl Scout mission. The new members: Joyce Cooper, Omaha, director of diversity and inclusion at OPPD; Hannah Frey, Omaha, attorney at Baird Holm LLP; Rachel Hays, Columbus, director of sales and marketing at Behlen Manufacturing; Louise Pickens, Papillion, president at OBI Creative; and Larissa Johnson, Gretna, audit and assurance partner with Deloitte Consulting LLP. The Child Saving Institute Guild will host its 15th annual PurseOnalities fundraising event on Nov. 3 at 11 a.m. at the Hilton Downtown Omaha. Funds raised during the event will positively impact children and families who have experienced abuse, neglect and trauma. This year’s “Share Your Story” themed event features a silent auction of extraordinary purse packages and the opportunity to shop on-site from some of Omaha’s most popular boutiques, with a portion of their event proceeds being donated back to CSI. The luncheon will feature inspirational speaker and author Genevieve Piturro. Piturro was a successful television marketing executive in New York City for 20 years when a little girl’s question changed the course of her life forever — and she jumped off the corporate ladder. She began delivering pajamas and books to children in shelters and in 2001 founded Pajama Program, a nonprofit which has been recognized nationwide for both its success and Genevieve’s story. An international speaker, personal strategic coach and author, Piturro has made it her mission to inspire men and women across the globe to listen to their heart-voice connection in pursuing their passions to achieve success. Event chairs are Jordan Peterson, Lyndsay Ruma, Sarah Dukich and Yolanda Delgado. Honorary chair is Nancy Edick. Individual event tickets start at $80 and table sponsorships start at $1,500. For additional information or to purchase event tickets or sponsorships, please visit childsaving.org or contact Julie Oberlies, development coordinator, at [email protected] or 402-504-3634. Pull Up and Vibe Open Mic Festival will be held at 3716 N. 24th St. on Aug. 6 from 3 to 10 p.m. Keiria Marsha, local artist and curator, will be the host with

support from Fabric Lab, North Omaha Trail, Icon One Recording Studios, Nebraska Arts Council, Nebraska Cultural Endowment, Partners for Livable Omaha, and Omaha Mobile Stage. Artists are given an opportunity to showcase their talents in front of other creatives and community members. Music and spoken word are the popular areas of interest, but all performers are welcome. This event is presented on the Omaha Mobile Stage, a mobile, community venue for performing artists of all ages, and a teaching venue to train the next generation of creative workers. The lineup features these artists: Dawaune @dawaune.one; Darren Renfrow @lucid_dreamer0126; AA Monet @aamonetpoetry; Semaj @xxl0stcausxx; TherealrapperKG @therealrapperkg; Ty Gordeaux @tydoesalot; Jus. B @jusbmusic; Syranda Leigh @syrandaleigh and Kaija and the experience @kaijajeanae. Allison Pulaski hula hoops in the crowd at Maha Festival on Friday night. Sasha Quattlebaum and Kirsten McCormack show of their rollerskating skills at the entrance of Maha Festival on Friday night. Maha Festival 2022 wraps up with headliner Beach House on Saturday. Princess Nokia, an American rapper, dances on stage on Saturday at Maha Festival. Festival goers watch Friday's headliner Car Seat Headrest perform at Maha Festival. Tony fish lay dying in a puddle in a mostly dry Platte River bed underneath the Highway 81 bridge south of Columbus, Nebraska on Thursday. Nick Soulliere, right, poses for a portrait with his daughter Kennedy, 11, Highway 81 bridge south of Columbus, Nebraska on Thursday. They were four-wheeling in a mostly dry Platte River bed. Jaren Frost picks up a fish from a puddle underneath the Highway 81 bridge in a mostly dry Platte River south of Columbus, Nebraska on Thursday. Frost was hoping by moving it to a deeper puddle to the east, he could spare the fish from the fate of the one behind him. A car heads south on the Highway 81 bridge over a mostly dry Platte River south of Columbus, Nebraska on Thursday. People used beach towels to mark spots early in the morning at Memorial Park before the Sheryl Crow concert that night on Friday. A butterfly drinks nectar from a flower at City Sprouts Community Garden on Friday. The property has been certified by the National Wildlife Federation as an official Backyard Wildlife Habitat site because it provides the four basic habitat elements needed for wildlife to thrive: food, water, cover, and places to raise young. A family of ducks swims across the pond at Fontenelle Park on Saturday evening. A man fishes at Spring Lake Park on Saturday. Barrels remain at the site the site of Nox-Crete located at 1415 S 20th which burned to the ground on May 30th, 2022. A newly renovated building at 24th and Ohio Streets is part of the historic North 24th Street business district that is undergoing a revitalization. CharDale Barnes poses for a portrait next to his business, Stable Gray, in a newly renovated building at 24th and Ohio Streets on Tuesday. Dr. Sarah Woodhouse with the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium gives Vera, a 5-year-old tiger, a COVID booster shot at the safari park. [email protected], 402-444-1034, twitter.com/mduceyowh Get local news delivered to your inbox! Marjie is a writer for The World-Herald’s special sections and specialty publications, including Inspired Living Omaha, Wedding Essentials and Momaha Magazine. Follow her on Twitter @mduceyOWH. Phone: 402-444-1034. description Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. In addition to the exhibit, Douglas County Historical Society has planned a “year of fun on four wheels” to celebrate our car culture and history. Brummel had most recently served as associate curator of modern art at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. The Durham Museum is searching for the official tree for its annual Christmas at Union Station celebration. Brothers Gabe and Mateo Perales work in a garden on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s East Campus as part of the university’s Indigenous Food Sovereignty Program.

Renae Bush, Katie Fehrman, Heather Craig and Kris Weland sort used items at Heartland Hope Mission. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. source