No major updates to share, but while working on a scene for A Brush With Danger, I arrived at a pretty messed-up realization about Elena Of Avalor:

Francisco and Luisa are both pretty bad grandparents. Yes, even Francisco, and I've called him the more tolerable of the two.  

Sure, when Elena is sad or needs encouragement they're there for her, but they're really passive when she does impulsive stuff like run off to confront Shuriki all by herself, just sitting back staring like goons when I realistically think most family members would (hopefully) be like "What? No, don't do that, that's really dangerous!" I mean, is that not a normal reaction? Am I being out of line here? They could've even just told her "Hey, why not bring some backup with you in case you end up in a bad spot?" Esteban was the only one who disagreed with Elena's leaving, but with the way the show was framing both him and the situation, of course it was to make him look like the bad guy for telling her to just let the royal guards handle things.

So the grandparents basically just exist to cheer Elena on. Enable her behavior, even. I don't think EoA intended for that to be the case, but with the way the storytelling was handled, they were simply yet more victims of "Elena's always Right" and "no one's allowed to have a reaction to anything but Elena, unless it's to back up whatever Elena says or does." Isa was the only one who was able to kinda avoid this trend, because the writers actually let her be upset about Esteban's departure in the third season. Same for Gabe that one time he got mad at Elena in the episode "Shapeshifters", but of course there was no fallout from that situation in the next episode. I mean, you'd think he'd start being more protective of Elena, or openly questioning her (often poor) decision-making abilities, something.

I've been trying to think of animated shows in which the grandparents were better handled, but the only examples I could think of where the grandparents are fairly prominent are things I either haven't seen enough of (Hey Arnold) or haven't seen in a long time (Rugrats). So I guess I'll have to look to a movie to highlight an example of a parent who alternately knew when to be stern when times actually called for it, and then when to be affectionate, as well as actively teaching his son about their world -- Mufasa from the original Lion King. His and Simba's relationship is significantly more well-balanced and healthier then the that of the grandparents Flores and their grandchildren.

But back to EoA and the grandparents' existences revolving around making Elena feel better -- note that it's only Elena. They never did the same for Esteban (Isa I don't know, I think Elena was the one to primarily be her source of comfort IIRC). I guess the argument could be made that he's a middle-aged and they just think he's doing fine (which is fair if you take into account the culture as well as them being older folk), but given that they've given him dirty looks or disapproving comments whenever he acted like a vain butt or scared... yeah. No, I'm not being "a butthurt Estefan durrhurr" 🙄, and I'm not saying they should justify him in his bad moments, but outside of the finale (which I didn't watch, but I'll be fair and assume they were actually nice to him in its conclusion), did they ever have any sweet moments with him?

I'm sure that looking after grandkids after a major tragedy is not easy. I'm not saying it is. But if two of my grandchildren had real beef going on between them the way Elena and Esteban do (and I'm not even referring to Esteban's betrayal; this was an issue long before Francisco and Luisa even gained knowledge of that), then I'd get together with my spouse, if not talk to the grandchildren myself, and try to see what's wrong and how could things improved. If EoA showed Francisco and Luisa even doing that much, then at least then I'd give them props. But both sit there and never say a word about it ever, or are completely absent. Zuzo had to say something to her in the third season.

I hate this kind of stuff because I -- surprise -- prefer good writing and a main character that doesn't have a stranglehold on a series, but I guess that's where fanfic and a deconstruction more specifically comes in handy. My OFC who isn't even related to the family is more proactive at being a parental figure then the grandparents are. He actually tells Esteban and Elena to keep calm and try to figure out what's going on, because being overly defensive and going at each other isn't helpful in the situation. Of course, with the way fandom is I'm sure 95% of fans don't see an issue with Francisco and Luisa all. Family members are supposed to just praise and comfort you all the time. Everything else is clearly abuse, and anybody who says otherwise is just being a character basher. :) 

All I'm saying is just constantly praising a kid and letting them do what they want when they want, even if they're a good kid at heart like Elena is, may not be a great parenting style.