You thought we were done baby but I'm back for round two with a follow up to this post: link. I know it's a very last minute addition, but I decided to take this particular approach to my character analyses from The Spiral Writer. She writes for multiple fandoms like myself. If you like Henry Stickmin or Sonic The Hedgehog especially, then go check out her blog.
But yeah, it's a great way to keep headcanon separate from my discussing the characters as canon presents them.
INSPIRATION
My approach to writing him honestly stems from just my watching the show, really. I draw my own conclusions about his character. I think I've mentioned this elsewhere before, but Esteban does not prominently feature in a great deal of fic in the fandom, so it isn't like I really can find a whole lot of inspiration there anyways. There is one author who I can say has inspired me though, J.B. Blackwood. Unfortunately however, she's taken her stories down. One particular fic of her's featured a drunk, depressed Esteban mourning his parents during Dia de los Muertos, and their distressed ghosts could only look on sadly (if you thought it was tough finding Esteban-centered fics, think about how hard it is to find fics that actually touch on his parents). There was another dramatic fic she wrote exploring how things could've played out between him, Shuriki, and Victor right after the coup. Both were terrific little one-shots. You can check out the headcanon section below to see a few things she graciously allowed me to borrow.
FUTURE PLANS
Outside of my ongoing Elena Of Avalor rewrite, I actually have about three ideas in total. One is a fairly older idea I've had for a Friendship Is Magic crossover which has evolved quite a bit from when it was first devised. Of course it's an AU, diverging from canon right before the start of EoA's third season. Over time it's become more influenced by the concept behind isekais, except for lacking that particular subgenre's more annoying cliches, IE, there will be no harems, Esteban is not going to be an overpowered MC, etc.
The second story idea is inspired by another fanfic concept I heard about and thought sounded interesting, called infinite looping. Basically, a character finds themselves involuntarily jumping from one different version of their universe to the next. So the basic premise will be about Esteban hopping about assorted realities.
The last idea is a relatively new one, so I really don't have very many details about it to share just yet. I will say that it's yet another AU, a drama with romantic (as I'm gonna use it as an opportunity to write about a crossover pairing for Esteban that I think could be interesting) and supernatural elements.
HEADCANON
- He actually does not have a horse or ride in the show I believe (if I'm wrong then someone correct me please). I can see them giving some dumb reason as to why, like “He thinks horses are icky.” I’m sure if cars were around in his world he’d get one, but since there aren’t, he’s stuck with horses and it’d be incredibly impractical for him not to know how to ride one. In my headcanon, he is an equestrian who has grown up with horses and is pretty comfortable with them as a result. His newest horse is a buckskin Andalusian gelding named Arpegiar.
- Speaking of cars, for a modern AU I imagine him being an aficionado of sports cars.
- Due to the trauma he’s been through as well as his feelings of guilt he’s become a functional alcoholic. I was inspired by the aforementioned J.B. Blackwood.
- I would describe my interpretation of Esteban as being far less clownish and dimwitted then his canon self; IE, in my fics, he would never just grab unwrapped tamales and toss them into a cooking pot, no matter how hungry or impatient he was.
- Aside from the palace, he sometimes also stays at his parents' estate in Villa Rica.
- Both the names for Esteban’s parents here as well as what happened to him at Shuriki’s hands in the aftermath of coup is courtesy of J.B. Blackwood again. Regarding the latter... yes, she did rape Esteban. I don't know how obvious that was to readers. I do know that at least one person picked up on it. The 'rents names are different here so as to differentiate my fanon from the source material.
- I love the idea of Esteban's father being voiced by the late great Raul Julia. His parents were largely ignored in the show, so I'd like to explore who they were here.
- Time for a fun headcanon! If he gets enough alcohol in him and there’s music playing, then Esteban will cut loose and start dancing. He’s actually pretty good at it.
- EoA is inconsistent as to whether or not he’s supposed to be a coward. The Disney wiki write-up flat-out calls him one, and he was shown in this light in a few episodes. But earlier on when an evil fairy was invading Avalor and had giant vines attacking the palace, Esteban was right up there with Francisco chopping away at them. And he was the one who stopped Shuriki from casting a spell on Elena and Sofia. So?.... Look, he’s got plenty of flaws as is. I don’t even mind his being scared of Shuriki. That’d be completely understandable, especially within my setting. But does he really need to be a coward too? That said, this does tie into my idea about his having PTSD. I’m dead certain the show didn’t even intend for this to be a thing, but some of his behavior (the irritability and his fear when in Shuriki’s presence) could be construed as his having it.
- It was confirmed on Twitter (I think? I was only told this secondhand) that canonically Esteban is not of the Royal House/royal bloodline, being only related Elena through his mother. Here however, he is actually part of the Royal House, which gives him a stronger claim to the throne and further fuels his feelings towards the matter.
- I plan to play up an "opposites" angle between him and Elena in a couple of ways: I.E.: she's a swordsman... girl, while he prefers the musket and enjoys target shooting.
- I do intend for my Esteban to actually possess a sense of humor. We did see him try to joke around that one time with Isa in "King Of The Carnivale", and he's had some excellent snarky comments here and there, but otherwise, he was set up to be the humorless killjoy as yet another way to make Elena and the rest of the perma-happy characters look good (refer to Isa's reaction to his joking around). So I made him dry-humored to counteract that (plus I prefer dry humor and find it works really well in prose form). I think it fits his personality.
- In my fics, Esteban's last name is not Castillo-Flores. That's Elena and Isa's last name. Since Spanish surnames combine the mother's first surname and the father's first surname, it'd have to include his dad's surname. And since the father is a non-entity in the cartoon, I decided to make his surname Bandera-Mazariegos. So Esteban's surname in my works would be Bandera-Castillo.
PERSONAL
What else could I add here that hasn't already been said? He's one of the most relatable characters in the show for me (under different circumstances I might've included Mateo as another relatable character, but meh, I'm not really big on EoA's younger characters). In addition to his more dramatic moments and deeper characterization, he has some pretty funny lines and scenes, like his spats with Doña Paloma, and he winds up stealing the show for me. I would argue that he is more complex than the characters we tend to see from these sorts of shows.
As much as I detest the last season of the show, and for all the issues I have with how Esteban was approached early on and his blatant character assasination later, I'm still glad that we got to have a character like him around.
