lovelikeelena

[lovelikeelena]

Is Elena of Avalor for Everyone?

After Elena of Avalor premiered and a few episodes had aired, I started seeing some parents posting on twitter about how they watched it with their children.  I view Elena as a family show, so I thought that was cool and sweet.  That is until I discovered that some of the children watching Elena were 2-7.  While the first season, minus Secret of Avalor and A Day to Remember are fine for kids to watch, I don’t believe kids under nine-years-old should watch S2 on.  The storylines are complex bc Elena is an adult-as they should be.  When we first meet Elena, we witness her watching her parents being murdered by a power hungry sorceress who then tries to kill our girl.  That’s not something a toddler or kindergartener should be watching.  The rest of S1 minus the episodes I listed is appropriate.  As for S2, parents need to watch it before letting their children see it.  While some episodes like Three Jaquins and a Princessa, Royal Rivalry, and Science Unfair are fine, most of the season from Race for the Realm on is darker and more complex than 1.  Again, because Elena is getting older and facing real problems like PTSD and trauma recovery.  Topics that little kids wouldn’t understand for the most part.

  What it boils down to is this,  I think it depends on the age of the child and personality.  You know your kids best.  With that said, I honestly think Elena is for ten and up.  Maybe nine at the earliest.  I don't believe five-year-olds should be watching her past S1 minus Secret of Avalor due to the complex storylines.  With older kids, you can talk with them and open up discussions about topics covered on the show.  But episodes like Rise of the Sorceress, Song of the sirenas, Jewel of Maru and Race for the Realm are not for little kids.  Obviously, this is just my opinion.  What does everyone else think?

#Elena Of Avalor

[lovelikeelena]

This may just be me, but I think Elena of Avalor is made for all ages. Not only younger audiences and not only older audiences. Everyone.

The way I see it, Elena is like any other Disney princess. She has complex storylines and the show covers sensitive topics, making it seem like it’s not for children. But if you think about it, so do other princesses, such as Moana, Mulan, and even Elsa in some ways. Those movies are made for all audiences, children and adults, and that’s how I see Elena of Avalor.

Nobody says anything if a young child wants to watch official Disney princess movies, so why say something about a show that’s structured the same way. I know plenty of children ranged 3 - 8 who love Elena. Watching her show isn’t going to leave them traumatized.

I just had to say something. Since the show’s began, I’ve seen comments from many people saying that kids shouldn’t watch it because it’s bad for their “fragile” brains. Since season two started, however, the comments have increased, most likely because the season has been darker and more complex.

These are just my opinions. I’m not trying to call people out and say that anyone’s wrong for what they think. It does sound a bit like a rant, but I’m not great at putting my thoughts into words.

[lovelikeelena]

My Thoughts On the fandom drama re: Mateo 2/2

A day or so after reading the episode summary, I went surfing on tumblr.  One of the podcast…cringe…princesses had posted about how happy she was for the episode.  She is a HUGE Mateo fan and one of the ppl who writes about him 24/7.  I decided to share my opinion.  I replied, stating that I wasn’t looking forward to it except to hear Rafa sing and see her role in the episode.  I also said that Mateo isn’t a favorite character of mine.  I didn’t bash him-I just expressed my opinion.  Just go to pizzansunshine’s tumblr and you can read what I wrote for yourselves.  Anyway, not long after, I received a nasty message from her, along with a few others from her friends.  They accused me of stalking her blog and called me and my best friend toxic.  I was surprised, even though I had had problemas with pizzansunshine before just bc I didn’t like Mateo to the extent that she does.  A few days later, I was cleaning out our podcast e-mail folder and found a comment from one of pizzansunshine’s friends.  She accused Becca and I of being disrespectful to the crew bc we didn’t like certain parts of the episodes or certain characters.  As well as not looking forward to the episode Movin’ On Up.  This person also assumed they knew what having an eye condition is like, which made me angry.  I replied and tried to be civil, but it didn’t go over well.  The only thing this user apologized for was accusing us of not talking about certain aspects of the Navidad episode Snow Place Like Home.  A few days after this happened, pizzansunshine blocked both Becca and me.  Now I don’t care that she blocked me, but I do care that she blocked Becca without warning.  The reason is, it’s a trigger for her.  I told pizzansunshine this, but she didn’t seem to care.  I’ve been treated badly online before by other ppl who I Thought were my friends, so I’m accustomed to it.  However, I never thought it would happen in the Elena fandom.  The things pizzansunshine and her friends said hurt, but this two shall pass.  The one thing I’m most upset about is the fact that they’re telling other people on tumblr not to be friends with us.  You read that one right.  US-not me.  If it was just me, it would be bad enough, but Becca has NOTHING to do with this!  She should NOT have been dragged into this.  It had NOTHING to do with her!  Pizzansunshine and her friends have no right to warn fellow Elena fans against getting to know us.  They should let them discover who we are for themselves.  When I read on twitter that they were doing that, I got triggered and became angry afterwards.  I’ve had that happen to me before and I’m not interested in going through the pain again.  I healed from that other experience and it took me a year.  I know there are good, kind and open minded ppl in the Elena fandom.  I’m friends with a few of them.  I just hope the others allow themselves to get to know us on their own and don’t believe the untrue and hurtful things pizzansunshine and her friends are saying about us.  I always try to follow Elena’s example and let love light my way.  I try to treat everyone with kindness and respect as well as take a three second pause before saying anything if I’m upset.  I’m not perfect at it, but I try my best.  This whole thing has brought up memories of another time I was attacked online and abandoned by someone who I Thought was my friend just bc we didn’t see eye to eye.  I Realize pizzansunshine isn’t my friend and that’s probably why this whole thing hasn’t hit me as hard, but it still hurts.  If she chooses to hurt fellow Elena fans with unkind and untruethful accusations, I hate to think the emotional damage she can cause to someone who actually is her friend.  Despite everything, I still will continue to read the fanfics of hers that I like and review them.  She is a good writer in spite of how she treated me.

This wasn’t the first time she accused me of bashing Mateo and spreading negativity as she put it.  I’m in the middle of posting a review for one of my favorite episodes of Elena called Song of the Sirenas!  If you haven’t seen the special, I highly recommend it!  Anyway, after I posted the first two parts, pizzansunshine commented, telling me I was being negative towards Mateo bc I chose not to write about him much.  I explained it was my review.  I also put some humor in it that she didn’t appreciate.  Again, it was my choice how I wrote it.  While reading through it, I did dial back a little on some of the humor I used towards Mateo.  After all, I didn’t want the crew to read it and think I hate him.  I honestly don’t.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough for pizzansunshine.  At this point, I didn’t care.  I just kept writing it and not letting her comments bother me.  Before I knew it, she had blocked me.  (This was the first time.)  she had also blocked Becca as well.  I confronted her about it in a general tumblr message and she apologized for blocking Becca.  But went onto say that we were a package deal.  Excuse me?  What!  Becca and I are two totally different ppl.  A few weeks later, pizzansunshine unblocked us.  Little did I know it wouldn’t last.  And it didn’t as of last week.  What’s making me upset about this whoel thing is the fact that Becca is afraid to post on tumblr now.  She SHOULD NOT feel unsafe on tumblr or any site on the net.  Tumblr should be a safe place to express our opinions about anything, regardless if they differ from other people’s.  Pizzansunshine says that the fact that our opinions differ is not the reason she blocked us, but the proof is in her replies to mine to her original post about Movin’ On Up.  As of now, I’m just trying to find closure and move on.  But it’s hard when they keep talking about me and hurting me with their words.  I’m also dealing with some personal things, which are stressing me out.  And the fandom drama that pizzansunshine created just bc I don’t like Mateo isn’t helping.  At least I have my true friends and fellow Elena fans who have my back.  And that’s what truly matters.

#Elena of Avalor Character Opinion

[lovelikeelena]

My Thoughts On The Fandom Drama Re: Mateo

My Thoughts on This Fandom Drama Re: Mateo ½ When I started watching Elena of Avalor, I liked Mateo.  He wasn’t a favorite character of mine, but I did like him.  I was curious how he factored into Elena’s journey and how he would contribute to it.  I liked seeing his bond with Sofia.  One of my favorite episodes is Spellbound bc of the friends working together and Mateo’s character growth thanks to Elena’s building him up.  I also enjoyed Scepter of Night bc it had heart and Mateo actually expressed a genuine desire in “Wisest Wizard in the World.”  It wasn’t until Wizard in Training, Spirit Monkey Business and Realm of the Jaquins  that Mateo started to slide way down on my like meter.  It didn’t help that certain people on tumblr were talking about him all…the…time.  Not only that, they had paired him with Elena!  Now everyone is intitled to their own opinion and ship preferences.  I happen to have my own ship preference and it is NOT Eletaeo or whatever they call it.  Alas, my ship preference is NOT what this post is about, so I’m not going to  mention it here.  If you’re interested, you’re welcome to read most of my other posts.  Anyway, as the season progressed and Mateo started being in more episodes than Naomi, he started grading on my nerves.  Why couldn’t Naomi have a chance to go on an adventure with Elena alone?  Why couldn’t she help her out on her journey without Mateo being there?  There’s only one episode where that happens.  Race for the Realm.  This ep happens to hold a special place in my heart for many personal reasons.  I’ll talk about them in another post.  I don’t have a problema with Mateo being Elena’s friend and helping her out when necessary.  That’s fine.  I do however have a problem when he’s in more episodes than the other characters.  One of the many things I Love about the show is that there is NO love interest for Elena until possibly the last season.  It’s refreshing to see Disney’s first Latina princessa focus on familia, her friends and ruling her kingdom rather than finding love.  Elena deserves to be happy in the romantic department, but she has time for that.  Last year, my best friend and I started an Elena of Avalor podcast called Spirit of Avalor.  It’s on youtube if anyone reading this wants to check it out.  We love doing it and it brings us joy to know most people love listening to it.  We review the episodes and interview show runners.  If you listen to most of our reviews, we DO NOT bring shipping into the conversation for the most part.  There are only a few where we talk about it.  Also, we give each character their turn in the spotlight.  Due to our blindness, we use audio description when its available to help us with the reviews.  AD means someone is telling us what’s going on between the dialogue.  Body language, actions, fight scenes, etc.  While this helps tremendously, it does not give us everything.  Therefore, we’re liable to miss things.  We’re not perfecta.  Nobody is.  We do try our best though.  The important thing is, we have fun!  There’s another Elena podcast out there called themagicwithin.  I’ve listened to the first five episodes.  With the exception of Song of the Sirenas, they choose to only spend ten minutes reviewing each episode unless Mateo is the center of it.  When he’s not the center but still there, they spend a half an hour focusing on him and leave important story points out.  Which is why I’ve lost interest in listening.  They also tend to give Mateo more credit than he deserves in certain cases.  I E Rise of the Sorceress.  Yes, Mateo threw Elena her scepter and had a part in helping her defeat Shuriki.  But the real hero of the episode was Naomi!  If she hadn’t pushed Elena out of the way, her best friend would have died.  I love the scene at the end of the episode bc Elena and Naomi have a heart to heart.  I love the episode overall-especially the Cristina stuff!  But the scene at the end tugged at my heart the most.  Anyway, the hosts of theMagicWithIn didn’t even mention Naomi’s quick thinking and act of bravery!  Mateo is NOT the star of the series.  Elena has other friends who help out just as much, even more than Mateo does.  I’m so excited for the episode where Naomi rescues Elena and Esteban!  And those of you who read my blog know I’m not a huge Esteban fan.  But he’s for another post.

  A week ago, we got the summary for the next upcoming Elena episode.  It’s called Movin’ On Up.  During an interview Becca and I did, a crew member told us this particular episode would be emotional.  We were excited, thinking it was going to be about Elena finding her Mami’s tiara.  Fast forward to a week ago when the programming highlights were released.  Upon reading the episode summary, I almost started crying from disappointment.  Before I go on, I want to say I don’t usually have that kind of strong emotional reaction to not looking forward to an episode of Elena.  In fact, this was the first time it happened.  The reason is, I had been counting on this episode being about Elena bc she is helping me on a journey of trauma recovery.  I have a medical app coming up that will be very hard on me emotionally.  I needed this episode to be about our girl.  Instead, it’s about Mateo!  Worst of all, he moves into the palace!  Despite my disappointment, I understand why they’re doing this.  Mateo needs to move out of his mother’s house.  He’s growing up and needs to spread his wings.  I just wish he wasn’t staying at the palace permanently.  They could have done this episode by having him stay there for a week or two while his new place was cleaned or whatever while still having Rafa learn she must let her son go.  I like Rafa a lot, so I’m looking forward to seeing her!  The only saving graces of this episode for me will be Rafa and the possibility of either her or Elena singing.  I also hope Elena has an emotional reaction to Rafa being there.  Seeing her and Mateo interacting, reminding her of her Mami.  It’s natural and would be realistic.  If they do that, I’ll be able to give this episode a seven out of ten. Part 2 of this post is coming in a little while

#My Thoughts on This Fandom Drama Re: Mateo ½ When I started watching Elena of Avalor I liked Mateo. He wasn’t a favorite character of mi #Elena of Avalor Character Opinion

[lovelikeelena]

I'm not stalking Becky.  Reading her posts and enjoying her episode recaps, along with replying to them isn't stalking.  I stopped following her on tumblr .

Reasons I am Excited for “Movin’ On Up”

1. I ADORE Mateo and he’s finally getting his well deserved season 2 character focus episode.

2. According to Chiamo Duffy, an amazing Elena cosplayer who visited the EoA studio last summer and saw a sneak peek of the song, a huge inspiration for this episode was my amazing amiga @lovelyrugbee ‘s Mateo and Rafa mother/son artwork ^^^ . I’m so excited on her behalf that her artwork helped inspire an episode! Such an incredible honor for an incredible fanartist and friend!

3. This makes me think that the main theme of the episode is going to be a mother’s love for her child. And no matter how old he gets, Mateo will always be Rafa’s baby. But at the same time, my theory is that she will learn the lesson that the time has come for her to let her EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD ADULT SON spread his wings and fly. I think the emotional part will come when Rafa comes to terms with this. It will be bittersweet but good. For both mother and son. This is called GROWTH.

4. If my theory is true, then I’m guessing that Rafa is going to be singing which will be AMAZING. Because we haven’t heard Rafa sing solo yet.

5. Character development. We get to see Mateo take a new step in his life. AND we get to see Rafa growing as a character too! I’m hoping for some backstory on Rafa and Mateo’s childhood.

6. ELENA INVITING MATEO TO MOVE INTO HIS OWN ROYAL WIZARD’S QUARTERS IN THE PALACE HEADCANON CONFIRMED WITH IT AIRING VALENTINES DAY WEEKEND BEING THE ICING ON THE CAKE

All in all this is going to be an amazing and emotionally charged episode with a ton of heart and I, for one, am excited!

P.S. If you aren’t looking forward to the episode for whatever crazy reason or you don’t like Mateo, please don’t bother commenting or reblogging this post. I’m not interested in having anti’s rain on my parade. You know who you are. Please and thank you!

[lovelikeelena]

It'll be great to ehar Rafa sing, although I was hoping Elena would sing about the day she watched her mother die to give Mateo a reality check.

Reasons I am Excited for “Movin’ On Up”

1. I ADORE Mateo and he’s finally getting his well deserved season 2 character focus episode.

2. According to Chiamo Duffy, an amazing Elena cosplayer who visited the EoA studio last summer and saw a sneak peek of the song, a huge inspiration for this episode was my amazing amiga @lovelyrugbee ‘s Mateo and Rafa mother/son artwork ^^^ . I’m so excited on her behalf that her artwork helped inspire an episode! Such an incredible honor for an incredible fanartist and friend!

3. This makes me think that the main theme of the episode is going to be a mother’s love for her child. And no matter how old he gets, Mateo will always be Rafa’s baby. But at the same time, my theory is that she will learn the lesson that the time has come for her to let her EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD ADULT SON spread his wings and fly. I think the emotional part will come when Rafa comes to terms with this. It will be bittersweet but good. For both mother and son. This is called GROWTH.

4. If my theory is true, then I’m guessing that Rafa is going to be singing which will be AMAZING. Because we haven’t heard Rafa sing solo yet.

5. Character development. We get to see Mateo take a new step in his life. AND we get to see Rafa growing as a character too! I’m hoping for some backstory on Rafa and Mateo’s childhood.

6. ELENA INVITING MATEO TO MOVE INTO HIS OWN ROYAL WIZARD’S QUARTERS IN THE PALACE HEADCANON CONFIRMED WITH IT AIRING VALENTINES DAY WEEKEND BEING THE ICING ON THE CAKE

All in all this is going to be an amazing and emotionally charged episode with a ton of heart and I, for one, am excited!

P.S. If you aren’t looking forward to the episode for whatever crazy reason or you don’t like Mateo, please don’t bother commenting or reblogging this post. I’m not interested in having anti’s rain on my parade. You know who you are. Please and thank you!

#ElenaOfAvalor

[lovelikeelena]

I don't think Marisa is immature.  She showed great maturity in saving Elena's life.  Being a dreamer doesn't make said person immature.  Marisa is amazing!

So with rewatching Song of the Sirenas for the upteenth time, I saw how many similarities Elena and Marisa had but at the same time Marisa is different in her own way but I just can’t put my finger on it. Do you see it too?

Hmmm… That’s a great observation! I completely agree. Elena and Marisa are almost clones in their personalities (which is one of the reasons I don’t ship them…not enough differences to give them good chemistry together) They are both chaotic good to the extreme, possess fiery spirits, and are big dreamers. They are both precious dorks in their own way and they both choose to see the good in everyone. One major difference is I think Elena is a bit more mature than Marisa. It’s very subtle, honestly. Because Elena is still oftentimes a precious naive dork (that’s one of the things I love about her tbh), but she literally has the fate of her entire kingdom riding on her shoulders. And I think the writers did a nice job of conveying Marisa’s more childlike, carefree view of the world and her problems. Marisa has the freedom to be a goofy teen girl most the time while Elena has dark memories and serious stressors that haunt her at every turn. It really has been cleverly and artfully done.

[lovelikeelena]

So with rewatching Song of the Sirenas for the upteenth time, I saw how many similarities Elena and Marisa had but at the same time Marisa is different in her own way but I just can’t put my finger on it. Do you see it too?

Hmmm… That’s a great observation! I completely agree. Elena and Marisa are almost clones in their personalities (which is one of the reasons I don’t ship them…not enough differences to give them good chemistry together) They are both chaotic good to the extreme, possess fiery spirits, and are big dreamers. They are both precious dorks in their own way and they both choose to see the good in everyone. One major difference is I think Elena is a bit more mature than Marisa. It’s very subtle, honestly. Because Elena is still oftentimes a precious naive dork (that’s one of the things I love about her tbh), but she literally has the fate of her entire kingdom riding on her shoulders. And I think the writers did a nice job of conveying Marisa’s more childlike, carefree view of the world and her problems. Marisa has the freedom to be a goofy teen girl most the time while Elena has dark memories and serious stressors that haunt her at every turn. It really has been cleverly and artfully done.

[lovelikeelena]

I agree with all of this! She is amazing and has quickly become my second favorite character!

For the ask meme, how about Marisa?

What I love: I love her spunky, impulsive nature and her devotion to bringing peace to her people. Also, she’s just so cute! And her character design is AH-mazing!

What I don’t: Honestly? I can’t think of anything I don’t like about her. She’s so sweet! And adorable. And we haven’t seen enough of her character development to really pull out any significant faults.

Best Episode: Song of the Sirenas

Favorite Quote: Even the sea and land meet at the shore. We can bridge that gulf, if we try.

Favorite Outfit: I LOVE her leggings

OTP: I actually don’t have one for her. She’s so like Elena that I imagine her needing a super strong emotional bond before she would become romantically involved with anyone and we just haven’t seen enough of her with any other character to establish that bond.

BrOTP: Elena, Mateo, Gabe

Headcanon: Marisa helped the Avaloran chefs develop the recipe for kelp tacos. And after the celebration of the unity peace agreement, this Avaloran/Sirena fusion dish became Marisa’s favorite food and taco Tuesday officially became a thing in Coronado.

Unpopular Opinion: I don’t really have one for her.

My wish for her: I’d like to see her explore more of the human world.

Oh-god-please-don’t-ever-let-this-happen-to-them: Don’t let anything happen to her brother. As twins, I think that experiencing that kind of separation or loss would be 10 times more devastating than with any other friend or family member.

5 words to best describe her: sassy, sweet, devoted, passionate, loving

[lovelikeelena]

Calling all Elena of Avalor fans who have time and are willing, I need some help to finish my review.  Due to my blindness, I have trouble following visual aspects of action scenes.  I need help describing the fights in the movie.  The one between Elena and Shuriki and the other ones.  I'd really appreciate it.  Thanks!

#

Elena of Avalor #Song of the Sirenas

[lovelikeelena]

Unpopular Opinion: Naomi was completely out of line in Tides of Change

No, this not a Naomi bashing post. No, I do not hate Naomi. Yes, she still has plenty of redeemable qualities. Yes, I still like her character.

But.

Her behavior REALLY bugged me in Tides of Change. Especially when you consider other characters in the series who have been wronged and experienced significant trauma and/or loss.

So first, in case someone is reading this who hasn’t actually seen Tides of Change yet, allow me to explain. Elena wishes to sign an official peace treaty with the sirenas immediately following Shuriki’s defeat. Naomi is completely against it — to the point of being belligerent and stomping out of the grand council meeting when everyone voted against her—even Esteban who has a history of judging a “monster” by its past reputation preferred to allow the sirenas the opportunity “to atone for past mistakes”. We later find out that Naomi is so angry because her grandfather died in a sirena attack before she was born and she never got to meet her own grandfather.

First, let me just say that the feelings of pain and hurt over the sirena’s brutal reputation and the unfairness of the loss to her family is completely valid. My problem is with her lack of perspective and her refusal to consider the facts.

Fact 1: It has literally been decades since the last sirena attack. We honestly don’t know how many, but 15-20 years is probably a safe guesstimate since there hasn’t been one in Marisa and Marzel’s lifetime.

Fact 2: Marisa literally saved Elena’s life.

Fact 3: The sirenas stood by Avalor’s side in the final battle against Shuriki. That’s kind of a big deal.

Naomi’s lack of perspective led her to fling wild accusations at Marisa and Marzel, exhibit serious prejudice against an entire race of people based on crimes that had been committed almost two decades prior, and abandon her friends to fight a dangerous enemy without her.

Seriously, I cringed every time Naomi referred to Marisa or Marzel or even Daria, “You sirenas!” It was just so…incredibly judgemental? Prejudiced? It reminded me strongly of those in our world today who cast judgement against individuals from nations that committed terrible crimes against humanity in the past but have chosen to try and atone for what their nation did so many years ago.

And then there’s the fact that Naomi is so enraged and upset about something that happened before she was even born. Something she heard about from her parents when she was old enough to understand. I dunno…like I said, her feelings are valid, but it just feels SO blown out of proportion.

Consider the things Elena has lost personally. Her parents were murdered in front of her eyes by a sorceress, who then turned her wand upon Elena herself. An evil malvago turned her entire family into stone and later two of her friends. The pair of them joined forces to try and kill Elena personally. It’s a small wonder Elena doesn’t hate or at least fear all magic wielders.

Then there’s Daria, the reef commander of Coronado. Who personally suffered an attack by humans. An attack that left a deep, permanent scar—both physical and emotional.

When you consider the personal trauma both of these girls have suffered, it makes Naomi’s issue seem considerably less sympathetic in comparison.

I am, however, glad to see that Naomi came to her senses by the end of the episode. If only because she realized she’d abandoned her friends, but—at least its a start. We can only hope that she finds it in her heart to proceed with more grace and kindness in the future.

[lovelikeelena]

I also agree with everything said here!  It inspired me to record a story!  Thanks, Becky!  I'll give you credit when I post it.

Unpopular Opinion: Naomi was completely out of line in Tides of Change

No, this not a Naomi bashing post. No, I do not hate Naomi. Yes, she still has plenty of redeemable qualities. Yes, I still like her character.

But.

Her behavior REALLY bugged me in Tides of Change. Especially when you consider other characters in the series who have been wronged and experienced significant trauma and/or loss.

So first, in case someone is reading this who hasn’t actually seen Tides of Change yet, allow me to explain. Elena wishes to sign an official peace treaty with the sirenas immediately following Shuriki’s defeat. Naomi is completely against it — to the point of being belligerent and stomping out of the grand council meeting when everyone voted against her—even Esteban who has a history of judging a “monster” by its past reputation preferred to allow the sirenas the opportunity “to atone for past mistakes”. We later find out that Naomi is so angry because her grandfather died in a sirena attack before she was born and she never got to meet her own grandfather.

First, let me just say that the feelings of pain and hurt over the sirena’s brutal reputation and the unfairness of the loss to her family is completely valid. My problem is with her lack of perspective and her refusal to consider the facts.

Fact 1: It has literally been decades since the last sirena attack. We honestly don’t know how many, but 15-20 years is probably a safe guesstimate since there hasn’t been one in Marisa and Marzel’s lifetime.

Fact 2: Marisa literally saved Elena’s life.

Fact 3: The sirenas stood by Avalor’s side in the final battle against Shuriki. That’s kind of a big deal.

Naomi’s lack of perspective led her to fling wild accusations at Marisa and Marzel, exhibit serious prejudice against an entire race of people based on crimes that had been committed almost two decades prior, and abandon her friends to fight a dangerous enemy without her.

Seriously, I cringed every time Naomi referred to Marisa or Marzel or even Daria, “You sirenas!” It was just so…incredibly judgemental? Prejudiced? It reminded me strongly of those in our world today who cast judgement against individuals from nations that committed terrible crimes against humanity in the past but have chosen to try and atone for what their nation did so many years ago.

And then there’s the fact that Naomi is so enraged and upset about something that happened before she was even born. Something she heard about from her parents when she was old enough to understand. I dunno…like I said, her feelings are valid, but it just feels SO blown out of proportion.

Consider the things Elena has lost personally. Her parents were murdered in front of her eyes by a sorceress, who then turned her wand upon Elena herself. An evil malvago turned her entire family into stone and later two of her friends. The pair of them joined forces to try and kill Elena personally. It’s a small wonder Elena doesn’t hate or at least fear all magic wielders.

Then there’s Daria, the reef commander of Coronado. Who personally suffered an attack by humans. An attack that left a deep, permanent scar—both physical and emotional.

When you consider the personal trauma both of these girls have suffered, it makes Naomi’s issue seem considerably less sympathetic in comparison.

I am, however, glad to see that Naomi came to her senses by the end of the episode. If only because she realized she’d abandoned her friends, but—at least its a start. We can only hope that she finds it in her heart to proceed with more grace and kindness in the future.

[lovelikeelena]

Unpopular Opinion: Naomi was completely out of line in Tides of Change

No, this not a Naomi bashing post. No, I do not hate Naomi. Yes, she still has plenty of redeemable qualities. Yes, I still like her character.

But.

Her behavior REALLY bugged me in Tides of Change. Especially when you consider other characters in the series who have been wronged and experienced significant trauma and/or loss.

So first, in case someone is reading this who hasn’t actually seen Tides of Change yet, allow me to explain. Elena wishes to sign an official peace treaty with the sirenas immediately following Shuriki’s defeat. Naomi is completely against it — to the point of being belligerent and stomping out of the grand council meeting when everyone voted against her—even Esteban who has a history of judging a “monster” by its past reputation preferred to allow the sirenas the opportunity “to atone for past mistakes”. We later find out that Naomi is so angry because her grandfather died in a sirena attack before she was born and she never got to meet her own grandfather.

First, let me just say that the feelings of pain and hurt over the sirena’s brutal reputation and the unfairness of the loss to her family is completely valid. My problem is with her lack of perspective and her refusal to consider the facts.

Fact 1: It has literally been decades since the last sirena attack. We honestly don’t know how many, but 15-20 years is probably a safe guesstimate since there hasn’t been one in Marisa and Marzel’s lifetime.

Fact 2: Marisa literally saved Elena’s life.

Fact 3: The sirenas stood by Avalor’s side in the final battle against Shuriki. That’s kind of a big deal.

Naomi’s lack of perspective led her to fling wild accusations at Marisa and Marzel, exhibit serious prejudice against an entire race of people based on crimes that had been committed almost two decades prior, and abandon her friends to fight a dangerous enemy without her.

Seriously, I cringed every time Naomi referred to Marisa or Marzel or even Daria, “You sirenas!” It was just so…incredibly judgemental? Prejudiced? It reminded me strongly of those in our world today who cast judgement against individuals from nations that committed terrible crimes against humanity in the past but have chosen to try and atone for what their nation did so many years ago.

And then there’s the fact that Naomi is so enraged and upset about something that happened before she was even born. Something she heard about from her parents when she was old enough to understand. I dunno…like I said, her feelings are valid, but it just feels SO blown out of proportion.

Consider the things Elena has lost personally. Her parents were murdered in front of her eyes by a sorceress, who then turned her wand upon Elena herself. An evil malvago turned her entire family into stone and later two of her friends. The pair of them joined forces to try and kill Elena personally. It’s a small wonder Elena doesn’t hate or at least fear all magic wielders.

Then there’s Daria, the reef commander of Coronado. Who personally suffered an attack by humans. An attack that left a deep, permanent scar—both physical and emotional.

When you consider the personal trauma both of these girls have suffered, it makes Naomi’s issue seem considerably less sympathetic in comparison.

I am, however, glad to see that Naomi came to her senses by the end of the episode. If only because she realized she’d abandoned her friends, but—at least its a start. We can only hope that she finds it in her heart to proceed with more grace and kindness in the future.

[lovelikeelena]

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD | Official Trailer 2

[lovelikeelena]

Sofia 30 Day Challenge Day 1: Favorite Princess - Princess Amber

First of all, any princess that can go from this

to this

in the course of a single freaking show is bound to be my favorite. Amber didn’t have the same luxury as Sofia and James. She didn’t start out already being nearly perfect. She was vain, selfish, vindictive, spoiled, narcissistic, and bratty. If she wanted something, she wanted it now. If she didn’t get it, watch her scream for it. If screaming didn’t or wouldn’t work, she would plot for it. 

Unlike James and Sofia, Amber had to grow into what she is, which took a much longer process than with Sofia. For Sofia, it was more fixing the small problems she already had and then applying all of her good traits in different situations to round her out. For Amber, it was teaching her the same lesson several times, but it different ways. She couldn’t learn not to be vain in only one situation, she had to learn to be selfless in several situations, to think about others before herself, to understand that it wasn’t right to do it only when you wanted something. 

Amber is the most interesting princess to watch grow. Whereas most of the princesses have one or two episodes showcasing Sofia helping them overcome certain traits to be better people and Sofia herself is already damn near perfect at the start, Amber had to work the hardest to be the best person she could be. 

And this all culminates in the end of season four, in which she is now taking the lessons she learned applying them to new situations, much the same way Sofia had been doing. She is more open and expressive about her fears and frustrations, and she puts the needs of others before herself. Should she fall back on her old habits, most notably in the Mystic Isles special, she learns to look at things outside of herself and understand how her decisions affect others. 

Sofia’s the protagonist of the show, but it’s Amber’s story we see the most of. Also, she loves her sister so much it’s ridiculous. Just look at how happy she is that Sofia is safe!

[lovelikeelena]

Song of the Sirenas Review 2/4

Again, muchas gracias to everyone who helped me with the visual aspects of the movie-including my best friend, Rebecca and DisneyNerd andDisPrincess3!  I also wanna give a big thank you to the hosts of the MagicWithIn podcast!

  Here is the second part of my Song of the Sirenas review!  I hope everyone enjoys it! 

  Part 2

  When we last left our girl, her familia, girlfriend and amigas, they were travelling to nueva vista to visit a cousin who hadn’t contacted them since Elena was released from the amulet and Isa and their abuelos from the painting.  Hmmm, there’s no way this could go wrong…

  Arriving in Nueva vista, Elena and co hear welcome bells.  They admire the palace and Elena is happy they have finally arrived.  Just wait a few hours, Elena.  You’ll be wishing you had declined Christobal’s invitation.  A few miles away, the sound attracts the attention of Shuriki and her minions.  Shuriki is annoyed and demands to know what the sound is.  Fiero explains and deduces Elena must have arrived.  Shuriki declares this will be a familia vacation the crown princesa will never forget.

  Back outside the castle, Elena, her familia, girlfriend and friends are greeted by Christobal.  Elena receives flowers and is shocked to see how her cousin has aged.  She starts to remark on it when Esteban throws in a jab while throwing Elena under the carriage in the process.  Thankfully, Christobal takes it like a champ.  Esteban, they can still leave you in nueva vista when they go home.  Just keep that in mind, dude.  Elena is swept up into a hug and spun around by her cousin.  She tells him she missed him, and he returns the sentiment.  He explains they’re throwing a festival de liberdad to honor Elena for defeating Shuriki.  Elena painfully reveals the truth about Shuriki still being alive.  Elena is assured by her primo that she has her familia to support her.  They sing a song about times past and how they’re happy to be together now, “Familia Forever.”  Too bad Christobal is lying through his teeth.  Afterwards, they all sit down to a feast.  Elena sits next to Naomi, hoping to patch things up with her girlfriend.  Christobal asks about their voyage.  Esteban doesn’t waste any time in telling their cousin about their run in with the sirenas.  Christobal asks if they attacked their ship.  Naomi answers confidently,  “They were about to!”  Elena gently puts a hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder in a gesture of forgiveness and counters with,  “We don’t know that.  I don’t remember them ever being a problem when I visited.”  Christobal tells her that’s because her parents protected her from the truth.  He explains that his Papa, Elena’s Tio was aboard a ship that was capsized by sirenas.  Elena is surprised and saddened by the news.  Christobal vows that if he could, he’d lock every single sirena up in the tower.  Keep that in mind for later, guys.  He then offers everyone a snack.  Don’t eat it!  It’s probably poisoned!

  Meanwhile, we go back under the waves to Coronado, Marisa and Marzel’s home.  They enter the palace and the throne room, Marisa calling out to their father.  King Pescoro wastes no time in revealing to his children that he knows what happened on the surface thanks to Daria, their reef commander.  Marisa confirms it, but then pleads her case pretty well.  She explains the princesa of Avalor was aboard the ship and she thinks she would listen.  Daria counters Marisa’s proposal of attempted peace with Humans by saying,  “After her guards harpoon us.”  Marisa rebuffs Daria’s fears with,  “What if her guards weren’t around?  After all these years of conflict, isn’t it worth a try?”  King Pescoro concedes that Marisa’s heart is in the right place, it always is.  “But heart alone cannot change the world.”  Marisa tries again, but her father firmly tells her to leave it alone, calling her mija in the process.  “For your own good.”  Marisa nods, but then appeals to her mother, reminding her that she was once Human herself.  “You know more than anyone how much we have in common with them.”  Queen Camilla takes a gentler approach with her daughter.  “If I thought it were possible to make amends with humans, I’d try.  But I know them too well.”  She also warns Marisa to stay away from Humans and their ships.  Marisa nods, frowning in defeat.  Before leaving, Daria’s octopus’ friend, Ocho, waves at the teens as though saying,  “Bye-bye!”  LOL!  The siblings swim out of the throne room, Marzel jabbing at Marisa,  “I hate to say I Told you so.”  Marisa, being the cooler sibling, comes back with  “No you don’t.”  she then declares she’s going to talk to Elena anyway.  Marzel reminds her of their father’s warning, but Marisa dismisses him by saying,  “I respectfully disagree.”  With that, she swims off.  Marzel sighs in frustration and swims after her to make sure she doesn’t get hurt.  In doing this, he demonstrates why I Love him so much!  While Marisa is my favorite of the sirena siblings, I really love them both.

  I wanna take a second and talk about King Pescoro.  I appreciate how Silvia and Rachel made him different from another mer-king and father we know.  He didn’t scream or shout at Marisa after finding out she disobeyed him.  He was firm yet loving in the way he told her to leave well enough alone.  It’s clear he loves her and just wants to keep her safe.  It says a lot that he doesn’t scream and alienate her from coming to him in the future.  That’s the mark of a good parent.

  Meanwhile, Shuriki and Fiero are pouring over a map when Victor and Carla arrive on a very familiar looking horse according to my sighted friends.  Let’s think…did they stop over in Cordoba and steal Pedro?  I could so see Carla using her female whiles to persuade Alonzo to lend them his horse.  Carla complains to Shuriki about the time it took to get there due to the sorceress keeping Cruz to herself, but she is quickly shut down by her father.  I so can’t wait for Carla to turn on him!  Fiero declares now that they’re all there, they can get started.

  We switch to the skies where Skylar, Luna and Migs are flying across the kingdom.  Skylar exclaims he can’t wait to surprise Elena.  They run into Shuriki and go to warn Elena she’s there.  Elena thinks they should postpone the parranda, but Christobal disagrees.  He assures her she’ll be safe.  Elena reluctantly agrees but decides to scout the parade route.  Mateo offers to go with her and I groan.  Elena can handle herself.  She has her scepter.  Fortunately, Elena is soon alone on the trail.  She is walking along the canals when all of a sudden, her attention is caught by singing.  Her eyes glow blue and she starts walking in a trance towards the ocean’s edge.  Once there, it’s revealed Marisa is the one using her power of song to guide Elena to where she is.  Once Elena reaches her destination, Marisa releases her from the trance.  This proves Marisa has control and restraint.  Elena comes out of it dizzy and puts a hand to her forehead.  Glancing down, she gasps upon seeing Marisa, along with Marzel and the horse dude.  Elena raises her scepter and threatens to use it.  Marisa tells her not to be afraid and introduces herself, her brother and the seahorse dude.  She explains they just wanna talk to her.  Pulling herself out of the water, her fins turn into legs seconds later, as do her brother’s.  Elena is surprised and asks if all sirenas can do that.  Marisa reveals just her and Marzel have that capability.  Marisa almost falls upon walking and Elena catches her.  Marisa explains she hasn’t been on legs in a long time.  Marzel scoffs and asks his sister “What’s so hard about walk…”  before promptly falling backwards into a barrel.  What’s that saying?  Pride goeth before the fall, buddy.  Marzel puts on a cool air to save face and swiftly pulls a bucket off of his head.  Elena asks what Marisa wants to talk to her about.  Marisa is completely honest in her explanation, which makes me love her all the more.  She doesn’t try to paint herself or the rest of the sirenas in a good light.  She’s honest and forthcoming with the terrible things they have done, while at the same time regretful.  Through a beautiful and powerful song called “A New Tale,”  Marisa reveals her story while pleading with Elena to help her end the fighting and bring peace between Humans and sirenas.  Can I Love Marisa any more than I already do?  YES!  This song is very timely for today’s world.  Just go on youtube and give it a listen-especially the chorus.  Once Marisa is done singing, she asks for Elena’s help, but our girl is hesitant and rightfully so.  I’m glad Silvia and Rachel took this route.  It makes Elena even more relatable.  Elena explains about her tio and Marisa is sympathetic, but again also honest with her answer.  “I wish I could undo the past, but all I can do is give you my promise that those days are long gone.”  Elena guardedly believes her but lets her know they have to convince Christobal since he’s in charge of nueva vista.  Marisa encourages Elena to bring Christobal to the canals, so she can convince him.  Elena agrees and goes to get him.  After explaining to both of her primos what happened outside, she pleads with Christobal to hear Marisa out.  He agrees.  This is where I started getting the feeling that Christobal wasn’t all he seemed.  Arriving back at the canals, Elena advises the guards to stay back so they don’t scare the sirenas off.  Calling out to Marisa and Marzel, she is relieved when they appear.  She introduces them to Christobal.  Marisa holds out her hand in greeting and my heart breaks while simultaneously skipping a beat bc I knew something bad was about to happen.  Sure enough, Christobal’s true colors are revealed when he orders his guards to capture the sirena siblings!  Elena protests, ordering him to stop!  Again, someone else plainly ignores her direct order.  Seeing this, Elena takes matters into her own hands.  As a net traps Marisa, Elena frees her, allowing Marisa to swim to safety and catch up with Marzel.  Once both sirena siblings are out of harms way,  Elena rounds on her primo.  Our girl is taking no prisoners or excuses!  She is royally pissed off and rightly so!  She demands to know why Christobal tried to capture Marisa and Marzel.  She reminds him the sirenas came to discuss peace.  Christobal in turn reminds her that sirenas lie to which Elena defends her new friends by saying,  “I don’t think that’s what they were trying to do!”  Christobal states that she just met them, and he’s dealt with them his whole life.  He reminds her of his father and says he doesn’t want to lose her too, giving her a hug in the process.  Elena begrudgingly tells him she understands and follows him back to the palace. I wanna stop here and point something out.  Elena heard Christobal verbalize his desire to lock every sirena up, but yet she took him to meet two innocent sirenas?  Really, Elena.  I’ll give her a pass here bc she probably thought her primo was just angry and would calm down and see reason in time. Meanwhile, back under the waves, Marzel angrily states that Elena set them up.  Marisa defends her new amiga, reminding her hermano Elena looked just as surprised as them.  Marzel snaps at his Hermana to grow up!  “Humans hate our kind and always will!”  With that, he swims away.

  Meanwhile, later that night, Elena is tossing and turning and whimpering.  She’s clearly feeling guilty for what happened to Marisa and her brother.  I just wanna hug her!  Miel, it wasn’t your fault.  Both of your primos are selfish, pig headed jerks!  Soon you might discover you have distant familia-including a new prima and primo who will NEVER hurt you like Christobal and Esteban. The day of the water parranda has arrived.  Elena is trying to be upbeat for Isa, but she isn’t successful.  Our poor girl is extremely tired, scared to face Shuriki again, along with worrying about Marisa and Marzel.  Her grandmother asks her if everything’s okay, to which Elena lies and says she’s fine.  Christobal announces as the guest of honor, Elena will ride on the last float.  Gabe insists Elena ride with him, Naomi and Mateo in case something happens.  Christobal reluctantly agrees.  He then tells them not to get in the way of the people seeing their princess.  Elena, just hit him with your scepter.  Isabel observes that it seems like the whole city showed up.  She looks so excited and it’s sweet!  Elena tells Naomi and the others they need to keep a sharp look out for Shuriki.  Mateo assures her if the sorceress is here, they’ll spot her.  Unless Mateo spends the whole time looking for sirenas!  As the floats start to move, we see Elena has someone looking out for her.  Marisa watches and sighs sadly as the floats continue down the canals.  I have a feeling she is returning the kindness Elena extended to her the day before.  I was wrong, it is possible for me to love Marisa even more than I did before!

  Soon after the parranda gets underway, Elena is shocked to see several citizens dressed up as Shuriki!  Naomi tries to reassure her future wife that the costumes are for the parade.  Okay, Naomi, you get one point from me for effort.  Mateo asks how they’re going to find the real Shuriki and I roll my eyes.  Uh, maybe looking for someone with her appearance, sitting on a jaquin.  And LOL!  Suddenly, Gabe spots Victor and Carla in the crowd.  And this is where I get on Gabe a little.  He just said no more than five minutes ago he wanted Elena with him in case anything happened.  Clearly something’s happening, and he leaves her on her own.  She can handle herself and has her scepter, but I digress.  Elena, being the awesome leader she is tries to remain calm, so she doesn’t cause city wide panic.  Suddenly, Christobal shoots a cannon of confetti, some of it gets in Elena’s eyes.  A few seconds later, the person driving the float veers off course.  Elena asks why they’re turning into a side canal and gets no reply.  Once the float stops, the driver jumps off, leaving Elena alone.  It isn’t long before Fiero appears, followed by the last person our girl wants to see.  Shuriki informs Elena that her appearance is no mask while whipping out the scepter of night.  Elena says blaze at the same time Shuriki yells inferno!  Elena tries to make herself vanish, but it doesn’t work all the way.  Shuriki brings her out of it by yelling chaos.  Fiero gets in a good hit, which destroys the float.  What were you saying about all our city’s resources, Christobal?  That’s crappy craftsmanship if you ask me!  It’s not long before Elena is blasted into the water by Shuriki, losing consciousness and her scepter in the process!  And that’s where I leave everyone for now. Part 3 is coming soon!  Feel free to comment in an ask or send me a message!

#Elena of Avalor #Song of the Sirenas

[lovelikeelena]

Song of the Sirenas Review- Part 1/4

Firstly, I wanna say muchas gracias to my best friend, Becca, along with DisneyNerd, DisPrincess3 and others for helping me with some of the visual aspects of this awesome, incredible and amazing movie!

  As many of you know who read my tumblr, I’m almost blind.  That means this review will be unique.  While I’ll be touching on some important visual aspects, I’ll mostly be focusing on storyline and the friendships formed and established bonds between our favorite characters throughout the movie.  There will also be some shipping as well, just so you guys who aren’t Elenaomi shippers know ahead of time.  One more thing before we officially get started:  How cool was it that this movie premiered on international peace day?  This makes it even more timely and relevant than ever!  Okay, let’s dive in!  Pun intended wholeheartedly.

  We open with a spectacular view of the Turner’s boat skimming through the water.  The royal familia, royal guard Gabe and Naomi , along with her parents Captains Scarlet and Daniel Turner, are heading somewhere.  Hmmm?  Where could they be going?  Maybe they’re dropping the douche of Avalor, Esteban off on a deserted island and continuing without him.  Only one can hope.  (I DID NOT come up with that nickname for the chancellor.) Oh yeah, Mateo’s there too.  Well, Esteban isn’t being dropped off anywhere.  No such fortune is shining upon us.  Instead, Elena is stuck with her cousin for the entire journey.  It’s not long into her magical bow and arrow practice that Naomi gets Esteban right in the butt!  Elena giggles, even though she tries to remain stern.  Oops, Sorry!  never mind.  That’s my fanfic version of events.  Back to the actual movie. 

  As I was saying, it’s not long before we find out Scarlet doesn’t take any crap from anyone-including her husband!  She finds Daniel standing, using a barrel as a table.  Poor Daniel just wants to eat a sandwich, but instead he’s told to trim the sail.  He tries to get out of it by assuming bc his wife is captaining the voyage that he would get a well-deserved brake.  No such luck buddy.  Say adios to that break you were hoping for.  Turning, Daniel goes to complete the task.  Before leaving his post, he snatches up his sandwich, knowing his daughter too well, not to mention the fact that there are two hungry teen boys on the ship.  It’s then that Isa answers the question that’s been on our minds since the movie started-especially if you haven’t read the book companion that was released in June or kept up with spoilers before the movie premiered.  The royal familia is on their way to Nueva Vista on the west coast of Avalor.  Isa is excited to get there and her abuela feels the same way.  Louisa mentions sitting on the terrace of the summer palace and napping in the sun.  Esteban puts his two cents in, commenting that Francisco has gotten a head start, indicating him sleeping on a chair.  On another part of the ship, Elena is hanging out with Naomi and Gabe, practicing with her scepter.  Elena demonstrates a few powers we’ve seen in the past-including envision and glow.  Then she shows off a newly acquired power, which is making objects invisible by saying the word vanish.  She uses Naomi’s lasso for this test.  It works and Elena beams.  Gabe asks how many powers the scepter has.  Naomi chimes in by requesting teasingly if her girlfriend can test them on something else bc she wants her lasso back.  Unfortunately, this is the last time in the movie that we see Elena and Naomi treating each other with the love and respect we’ve come to know they possess.  Just knowing this makes me sad.  Hopefully, they’ll resolve things fully in Snow Place Like Home.  I love how Isa comes up to them and is fully welcome by Elena and not told to go away like most older siblings say to the younger ones when with their friends and significant others.  Isa tells them that Scarlet said they’re almost there.  Elena starts to reminisce about her and Isa’s first paternal cousin, Christobal, telling everyone how she remembers going fishing with him every summer.  Gabe is puzzled and says he thought Esteban  was the girls’ only cousin.  Naomi throws her usual jab at the Chancellor by stating “Leave it to Esteban to exaggerate.”  She lays a hand on Elena’s shoulder, initiating the only loving contact they have for the rest of the movie.    In making that jab at the douche, she exemplifies why I love her so much!  Mateo, yup, he’s there, tells Elena she’ll have plenty of time to reminisce when they arrive and it’s time to get back to practicing.  Come on, dude, give Elena a break!  Mateo encourages her to try to make herself vanish.  Elena protests that she only knows how to make objects vanish.  Mateo is insistent, so our favorite future Avaloran ruler obeys.  Elena, there’s no law that says you must listen to him!  You make the laws or will be doing so in three years!  After trying the power, Elena mildly succeeds.  Her body disappears, but her head is still visible.  Mateo makes a lame joke that doesn’t even make any sense by saying “You’re headed in the right direction.”  Leave the quips to Naomi, por favor.  Elena reforms just as all five of them hear a bell ring, followed by Scarlet yelling about approaching sirenas.  All four young adults have different reactions to Scarlet’s announcement.  Elena is confused, while Mateo is all excited and looking every which way like a puppy who is trying to find his new bone.  Apparently, he’s never seen a sirena before.  Gabe is also curious.  Naomi is ready to obey her parents’ instructions at a second’s notice.  Scarlet commands her to take the wheel, calling Naomi Nomes, which I despise!  Naomi does so while her parents ready the crossbows.  Elena shakes her head upon hearing this and asks why they need the weapons?  And this is where I get a little irritated with Naomi.  I know she’s panicking, but still.  She whirls around and snaps at her girlfriend for no reason.  “Sirenas are dangerous!  Everyone knows that!”  Excuse me, Naomi, everyone knows that?  Not everyone has traveled as extensively or has the knowledge you do.  Especially your girlfriend who was trapped in an amulet for 41 years!  Daniel explains to Elena that sirenas sing a song that put sailors into a trance, crashing their ships.  Even though he too is panicking, he doesn’t snap at her.  Take a lesson from your Dad, Naomi.  Elena points out the sirenas aren’t even singing and Mateo chimes in that he can’t remember the last time sirenas caused a ship wreck.  Still, the Turners go through with their defense plan.  Glancing down into the water, Elena locks eyes with a female sirena.  We later learn her name is Marisa.  In the moment their eyes meet, Elena is captivated in wonderment-never having seen a sirena before this.  I’d like to think  she’s also silently assuring Marisa that she knows Marisa isn’t doing anything wrong and that she, Elena, won’t let any harm come to her.  Meanwhile, Scarlet commands Gabe to get everyone below deck, which he does immediately.  Elena commands Scarlet to stop firing.  Instead of listening, Scarlet fires anyway.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s grounds for treason.  Scarlet defied Elena’s direct command.  Eighteen or not, Elena is in charge.  If she says stop firing, you stop firing-no questions asked.  Scarlet, you just keep slipping further and further down my like meter.  It looks like there’s one more in Esteban’s party on that deserted island if they find one.  Elena keeps her silent promise to Marisa and fires her scepter, knocking Scarlet’s crossbow out of her hands.  This affectively saves Marisa and her male companion from injury.  We switch points of view and see Marisa, her friend and seahorse dude in the water.  We discover that the male friend is actually Marisa’s twin brother.  Marisa is just as amazed by Elena.  She asked if her brother saw what Elena did, then must keep him from retaliating.  She calls him Marzel and tells him to stop!  Marzel argues that the people on the ship tried to fillet them to which Marisa points out,  “But the princesa stopped them with that magic thingy.”  Marzel advises they better leave before she decides to use it on them.  Their seahorse friend agrees, and they dive beneath the waves.  Meanwhile, back on the Turners boat, Naomi again turns on her girlfriend, demanding,  “Why did you do that!”  Elena doesn’t take her crap and shoots back with,  “I’m not going to attack someone who hasn’t attacked me first!”  As much as I love watching Elena stand up for herself, my heart breaks a little more.  I don’t like it when Elena and her future wife fight.  I know it happens in every friendship-whether it’s destined for romance or not.  Even so, it’s still hard for me to watch when it's Elena and Naomi. Meanwhile, under the sea, Marisa and Marzel are swimming towards the palace they share with their parents.  Marzel points out that “Sirenas haven’t sunken a ship since before we were born.  And still Humans come after us.”  Marisa counters with,  “That’s because no one has told them we’ve changed.”  Marzel doubts they would listen.  “Maybe the princess would.  You saw what she did.”  Marzel disagrees.  He shakes his head when he sees an all too familiar look in his Hermana’s eyes.  “I hate that look!”  Marisa ignores him.  “We can tell her, then she can spread the word to the rest of the Humans.”  Their friend tells her to keep dreaming.  Marzel reminds him that’s what Marisa does best.  Marisa declares she’s going to talk to their father.  Marzel tells her she’s wasting her time while watching her swim off.

And that’s where I leave everyone off for now!  Part 2 is coming in a few days!  Feel free to leave comments or send me asks!

#Elena of Avalor #Song of the Sirenas