#Alejandra (encanto)

[tboycamilo]

they are a family. understand the vision

[dragoneyes618]

Slivers

Random snippets inspired by the kidnapped Agustín and Camilo AU by @toaverse​

Also posted on Archive of our Own.

It is a dilemma, what to call Camilo.

He cannot call him Camilo - his real name, his true name, the name his parents, his real parents, gave him - because she will know, she always knows. It may take time, but she always finds out eventually. Whether Camilo will let something slip or she will notice something different in his behavior, it doesn't matter. She will know, and it is not worth the trouble.

Besides, the poor boy is confused enough as it is, and calling him one name when she is home and another when she is out will only worsen matters. Better for him to have stability, even if the name is the wrong one.

Sometimes, he wonders if Camilo even remembers his real name. Or his real parents. Or life Before.

It doesn't matter.

But he refuses to call him Pablo. He cannot. Camilo is not Pablo, he is Camilo Madrigal, only son of Félix and Pepa Madrigal - oh, how Pepa will bring the heavens down on her head when she finds her son, and he cannot wait to see the day - grandson of Alma and Pedro Madrigal, and he cannot force himself to perpetuate this lie. The real Pablo - poor, sweet child, dead at five in a horrific carriage accident that took his life and the life of his father the next day - is probably watching from above aghast at what his mother, driven to insanity by grief, is doing, has done, because she loved her son and her husband too much to let them go, to live without them.

So he calls him "mijo."

Mijo, mi hijo, but simply mijo, a term of endearment for any younger male relative. She finds that acceptable, and yet it does not force him to call his nephew by a name other than his own. So mijo it always is.

.

Isabela is the eldest. She is her mother's right hand. She keeps the family together in times of crisis.

At least, that's what happened when her father and primo disappeared at once and she took care of Luisa and Mirabel in the following weeks, making sure they ate and sending them to bed on time and doing their laundry so they had what to wear and helping Luisa with her homework.

Even after all the chaos died down, she still remained at her mother's side, taking on more burdens than an older sister should.

After all, her mother had no one to help her anymore. Isabela had to do what she could.

It occurs to her, though, about a year and a half later, that maybe helping with the housework and letting her mother cry where her sisters can't see isn't the most important thing she can be doing.

She sees Mirabel skipping home from school, the sunshine - rare, these days - on her face, smiling as she chatters about some kind of project the teacher is having them all work on, and she realizes-

Mirabel is perfectly fine.

A little quieter than she was, of course; the disappearance of her father and her playmate on the same day did have an impact. But she was only five. Six, now. Little kids are resilient. Little kids move on with their lives and make new friends. Little kids don't remain stuck in the past forever.

Little kids forget things.

Mirabel might barely remember Papá one day. Isabela had to make sure that didn't happen.

She was the oldest. She had the most memories of him. She had to make sure that Mirabel didn't lose those she had.

So she tells Mirabel stories about their papá, trying to remember each and every detail, what exactly he looked like, what he was doing, what he said.

She points out similarities in looks and actions between her and her sisters, although never when Mamá is within earshot, unless Mamá is in a reminiscing mood.

She plays the same sort of games with Mirabel that Papá played with her when she was little.

Someone has to make sure that Mirabel remembers Papá, and Isabela's going to be the one to do it.

.

They know Camilo isn't dead, because of his door.

If his door was dim and dark, they would know he was dead and gone. Met with a terrible accident, maybe, when he was exploring in the woods alone, against the rules. Sad. Tragic. Awful. But over and done with.

They would be able to grieve him. They would be able to mourn him. They would be able to remember him fondly. Maybe they would even find his body, one day, and be able to give him a proper burial.

But he's not dead. He's alive. They know he's alive. They just don't know where he is.

His image on his door changes and grows, as he would have. Taller, thinner, looking just like his father.

Mirabel waves "good morning" to her cousin's door every day. Dolores taps the image of him in greeting. Félix sometimes whispers to the wooden engraving of his son, and his daughter does him the decency of trying not to hear. And Pepa-

Pepa cannot even look at the door, or it will start raining; she will cry for hours upon hours.

Avoidance doesn't help on his birthday, though. Without fail, every single year on that date, it rains so hard that the river nearly floods.

.

It's not fair to Antonio. Everyone knows it's not fair, but they can't help themselves. It's not Antonio's fault that he looks so much like his brother.

Until he was about four, he thought that an absentminded "Milo" meant the same thing as "mijo." They would be thinking of their lost son, lost in reveries, or even looking directly at Antonio, but he looks so much like Camilo-

Pepa is even more protective of him than she is over her daughter and nieces. She's lost one son. She won't lost another. Antonio isn't allowed out of Casita alone until...well, ever, actually.

Everything Antonio does is compared to Camilo. It's made even worse by the fact that Camilo, and now him, were the only boys. No brothers or primos to distract Pepa and Félix. There is only one Madrigal grandson, and he is the spitting image of his lost brother. He could almost be him reborn.

Pepa and even Félix sometimes find themselves tearing up at the mere sight of him. He is a living reminder of what they have lost.

Sometimes Antonio looks up at the picture of Camilo on the family tree and wonders what a big brother would be like. Would he be nice? Would he play with him, like Mirabel does?

Would Mami love Antonio as much as she loves Camilo, if Camilo was here with them?

As Antonio approaches his fifth birthday, he looks more and more like his brother. Five was, after all, the age Camilo was when he disappeared. Pepa and Félix get more and more overprotective of Antonio, and no one can blame them. But it is healthy for a child to play with others his own age, and eventually they are persuaded to let Antonio play with the children in the marketplace, so long as one or the other of them is overseeing. They will take no chances.

On his fifth birthday, in Antonio's place everyone sees Camilo in his pristine ceremony outfit, excitedly opening his door, and it is all Pepa can do not to flood the river again. Félix actually breaks down and has to leave the room for a few minutes. Dolores gives her brother a hug and a smile tinged with sadness, and Antonio wonders, yet again, if his family likes Camilo better than they like him.

.

The baby cries.

It was different, Before. Before, the babies cried, and he would walk back and forth across the room patting her on the back and singing softly to her. Before, he was with his wife, the most perfect woman in the entire world, despite Félix's objections. Before, he was in his home, in a house with his family and his brothers, where everyone was safe and happy and he could see the love of his life every day.

Now, he is trapped inside this small isolated house, seeing no one other than the two - three, now - faces he sees every day. He has not been outdoors in years, and he thinks it is slowly driving him mad. The baby's cries make the haze in his head even worse than it already is; it's like moving through a fog, most days, he can't remember everything, and he has a splitting headache. Her cries are shrill and plaintive and never-ending, and no amount of walking her across the room or rocking her or trying to give her her bottle helps. She only cries more, vocalizing his misery.

The baby looks more like him, he thinks, gracias a Dios. He's not sure how he would handle a miniature version of her toddling around in a few years. This whole - situation, he thinks, and nearly laughs aloud - is hard enough as it is. An innocent infant, born into this - this - well, situation, and this time he really does laugh, and the boy - not Pablo, Camilo, Camilo, frowns at him, worried, but he can't think straight anymore, he hasn't been able to in years. She enters the room with a croon of "Mi amor!" and he flinches, and the baby cries, and cries, and cries.

.

"Parce says there's people there," Antonio explained, from atop said jaguar's back. "He says they never come out except one lady, and everyone else always stays inside. Sometimes they feed the birds from the window."

To judge by the small cloud of birds gathered hopefully by the small house, "sometimes" meant "multiple times a day."

"And Parce knows this how exactly?" Isabela wanted to know.

"He was hunting the birds," Antonio admitted. Parce indeed looked rather hungry. "But he promised he'll be on his best behavior now!"

Antonio had come explaining that his new animal friends had told him of a little isolated house deep in the woods, just within the Encanto's borders, just far enough to be out of range of Dolores' hearing. A woman named Reina lived there; she'd become something of a recluse after the deaths of her husband and son a decade earlier, although at the time the Madrigals had been rather occupied. According to Antonio, more people lived there than just her - a man, possibly two, or maybe a boy; the age of the second male was indeterminate, somewhere between childhood and adulthood; as well as a little girl, and Antonio had been delighted with the prospect of making a new friend.

"We don't know these people," Luisa fretted. "We're just barging in on them. They're probably perfectly nice ordinary people just trying to eat their lunch and we're coming in with a jaguar."

"Who never come out?" Isabela had to admit, that was strange.

"They could be sick or something," Luisa suggested. "I don't know. Shouldn't we at least-"

Dolores, heretofore silent, made a kind of strangled gasp, and everyone looked at her, even Parce.

"What is it?" Isabela started to ask.

"It's him," Dolores said, and began to run.

.

There is a knock at the door - not a knock, more of a frantic banging - and everyone freezes. Such a thing has never happened, not once.

Alejandra freezes, eyes wide, and - not her brother, although he cares for her as if he is, but he's not her brother, picks up her doll and motions for her to go into the other room, while glancing over at him all the while. He should do something, he should know what to do, he's responsible for the children, he's the man of the house, and oh, what a lie that is. At least she is at the market now.

There is more banging, and voices shouting. "Can you hear us? Are you there? Papá!"

Papá.

The door appears to be being yanked out of the doorway from the other side. Wood splinters. Considering the hinges are on this side, that is quite an impressive feat, even for someone as strong as his little Luisita.

Camilo is frozen, eyes wide, hair curling and color seeping into his skin as he assumes anything close to his true form for the first time in years. Alejandra pokes her head in from around the doorway, looking terrified.

"It's all right," he tells them, and for the first time, it is true. "It's all right. We're going home."

.

He looks old.

Logically, Luisa knows this makes sense. It's been ten years. People age. She herself has aged. She herself isn't nine years old anymore. She's grown up without him.

But in her mind's eye, she's always pictured him exactly as he was the last time she saw him, taller than her, dark-haired, laugh lines on his face and love in his eyes as he swung Mirabel around in the dining room before bidding everyone farewell to go help Señor Rojas fix something out on his farm, no, Luisa, you can't come, I know you're strong, but you're too young, maybe next time-

And then he'd been gone.

Now she is taller than him, and he has gray streaks in his hair, and he looks old, and not merely with age; the same kind of old that had Abuela aging a decade in as many days when he and Camilo vanished. He looks tired, and careworn, and afraid, and his eyes are full of terrible things.

Then he weeps.

.

He sees Isabela, and thinks she is Julieta.

He still remembers her as his little girl, only eleven, gangling and awkward - although thankfully having not quite inherited his clumsiness - with hair that refused to be tamed. Now she is a woman, tall and beautiful, grown into her limbs and moving gracefully, lustrous dark hair dotted with flowers. He remembers Julieta on their wedding day, and she looked just like that; she is Julieta's spitting image. But no, this is not possible, not unless Julieta has grown two decades younger-

And then she says "Papá?" and he knows.

"Isabela," he breathes in disbelief. "It's you. Isabela. You've grown up. You're so beautiful, mija, mija..."

Then he can't say anything else, not even to Luisa, because he is crying.

.

A splitting headache and fatigue, but he works through it; this is more important. He drops the emerald tablet, and it shatters into countless priceless shards that he carelessly kicks aside as he shouts, already running, "Juli! Pepa!"

.

For the past decade, he's had nothing but memories to keep him going. Julieta looks different now than she has in them. Of course; she's been frozen in time, in them, but it's been ten years.

Her hair is gray, more so than either of her siblings. She looks old before her time. But her face lights up when she sees him, and she suddenly looks a decade younger.

"Mi amor," she whispers tremulously, and something inside him stills, find peace, is complete, and Agustín smiles.

[junosaccount]

✨Happy New Year ✨

[toaverse]

Mamá Mirabel AU

My own (rewritten) version of the mamá Mirabel AU, in which Mira takes care and basically raises Alejandra, Juancho, Cecilia and Antonio

Enjoy!

Ever since her failed ceremony, Mirabel tried very hard to prove to her family that she’s worth something.

But when she was 10, Pepa and Félix decided to take advantage of this, and dumped their newborn son Antonio onto the 10 year old girl to care for, the couple not wanting to be parents again. Besides, it gave that useless brat something to do other than be lazy.

Despite only being 10, Mirabel took good care of her primo, and loved him to bits.

Unfortunately, some of the townspeople got the same idea Pepa and Félix had, and decided to dump their kids onto the 10 year old as well.

In total, Mirabel had to care for 4 babies; Antonio, Juancho, Alejandra and Cecilia.

It obviously was hard caring for 4 young kids when being 10, especially when no one bothered to help you, but Mirabel somehow managed.

It went on for years. Every day, Mirabel had to go to town and take care of the 4 children while their actual parents were doing their chores, gossiping or mostly relaxing…

And obviously, the 4 kids started to see Mirabel as their mamá…

“Mami!” Antonio said, reaching towards Mirabel as little Juancho and Cecilia called her that as well. “Mami!”

Mirabel tried to correct them, saying that she wasn’t their mami, but it was already too late.

And when Alma, Pepa and the other parents found out, all hell broke loose…

[lethal-amigos]

@my-gunpowder beautifully drew a scene of a roleplay scenario we did where Alejandra finds out about the affair with Chepe and Jose. And Chepe will finally confess his love in public to Jose 😭.

"Yes you have... you've done a lot. Is that all you've come for? You roll in like a bandit and destroy families and leave? I also heard you took another victim from the Madrigals." She looks away and thinks about all the signs and hints since his return. "Though Chepe isn't innocent as well." She looks bitter and sighs. "I think a part of me knew he never let you go...it all makes sense"

Fyi, it was Pepa who told Alejandra of the affair 🤭 and Chepe had retuned home when it was revealed. But that will be a later story to tell.

[gamerbearmira]

hey this is just another little silly suggestion for the giant siren au if u don’t mind, can I see some loving guppy giving out affection to the older sirens. Like either cuddling into the neck of the caretakers or their families. Maybe Antonio snuggling into his mom or into Mirabel and the other guppies into their parents. Mostly cause I’d like to see more of the other characters and see Antonio just being a sweetie. These giant scary people getting affection from their tiny babies 😊 hehe hope this isn’t too much if so then it’s up to you. no pressure, I really love your art u do a great job at it

OF COURSE I CAN‼️‼️ I WILL DRAW THE SILLIES AND THEIR PARENTS⁉️⁉️⁉️

Tbh I love seeing characters just. Doting in each other my. My favs <33 and only, yeah, lil gups just being absolute sweethearts to giant sea creatures. I love irony

SILLAY…

[misspotato82]

Cecilia has brown eyes now YIPEEE:333

[miracles-and-butterflies]

In the reincarnation au does the dinner with Alejandra’s family go similar to how the Guzmáns did? Any changes from canon? Who all is there is it just her mother or does she have siblings too

If the cracks are still a thing, I think you mentioned them in a previous ask about this au?

I think there’s a mistake in this ask? Because Reincarnation AU is very, very different universe and none of this applies to it. So I’m going to assume it is actually for the Reversed AU.

The dinner does go down a very similar path to canon, except Mirabel handles the situation differently because she’s grown up.

She doesn’t get up, say anything, force the proposal along, etc. She intervenes more quietly and manages to bribe Dolores to not talk about it; Dolores is happily giggling with Isabela about the promised sweets she’s getting after dinner (if she keeps quiet). Isabela helps her by also playing quiet, though she has no idea why. The two don’t say a word throughout the meal.

Mirabel leaves the dinner early, well, she excuses herself with Alma’s permission. For what looks like just a simple bathroom exit, but in actuality she goes to help Luisa. Meanwhile, the vision shards are stolen from Agustín by Antonio’s animals and put together, the older Madrigals draw their own conclusion about this and accuse Mirabel the moment she steps back into the room.

Cracks start appearing everyone, magic goes haywire… I mean, you’ve seen the scene. You know how it goes from here.

Alejandra has no siblings - just a load of cousins, but they didn’t attend the proposal dinner because that would just be a ridiculous number. All of the Madrigals attended because it was their house, otherwise the extended family also would have sat out. Her parents are the only people from her side of the family in attendance.

[oncexinxmyxdreams]

Encantober: Sign 🪧

@encantober-official

From my unfinished fic au, Miracles Come in Pairs/Efecto Butterfly. Bruno's twin daughters Francisca and Alejandra recieve their gifts. Bruno blames himself for not seeing any signs.

Bruno should've seen it coming. Having two daughters included many things he could see coming along. Days where they'd argue, ignore, cry and laugh. That didn't take him aback. Having two daughters with gifts that were...special was another matter. Not a good special either like everyone anticipated. More like walking on glass, holding breath and bracing yourself for the worst kind of special.  

Months before Francisca and Alejandra's fifth birthday, he wondered if he should check. Look into their futures just to be sure. Any signs he should know. Maybe he could help ahead of time. Everyone reassured him nothing would go wrong. Mercedes, his dear wife, promising their children wouldn't have it like him. He was swayed to not worry. Still, he threw salt over his shoulder and knocked on wood to be safe.

It didn't help.

It wasn't a door ceremony of joy or wonder. It was of shock and fear to everyone. The village hurrying to leave as if some savage beast had woken from its sleep. Alma stunned and holding the candle as if her only reassurance. Pepa trying to calm herself, but dark clouds thundered. Julieta, looking so unsure and worried. Mercedes holding their children to comfort. At least she tried to hold both of them. One refused.

The gifts? Hindsight and Fire.  

Francisca unable to move, but heavily breathing. Her eyes of jungle green and earthy brown, shifted into the darkest green with a glint of shine. She didn't speak, yell or weep. She seemed stone cold evdn in her mama's arms. When she could talk, she explained she saw something from long ago. Something terrible that happened to the Madrigals twenty five years ago.

Alejandra's hand formed a jet of flame. It singed her birthday banner and burnt the flowers. She instantly cried, but the flames seemed to stick along her hands. She never looked so scared. She kept backing away not wanting to be touched.  

Right there Bruno could tell it was a sign of what was to happen for their lives. 

It'd been three days since Francisca and Alejandra turned five. The Madrigals are at a loss. Francisca doesn't want anyone to see her. She keeps snapping she wants to be alone in her mama's art studio. She threw a tantrum when Casita tried nudging her outside. Alejandra hiding in the nursery and when found hugging herself. She even screamed for nobody to touch her because she could hurt them. 

Bruno blamed himself for not looking ahead. He could've prepared them. He would've sought everything to help his twins. He didn't. It's his fault he didn't look for any sign of doom.

Now he would give anything to let his daughters have a sign of hope. 

[hannahhook7744]

Alejandra Madrigal revamped and headcanons;

Her actual name is Alejandra Botero-Yee.

She was Alma's bestfriend and sister-in-law via Raimi.

She is half Chinese, half Filipino.

She left home when she was 15 and eventually found her way to Alma's village which she made her home.

She met her future husband, Raimi, not long after that at a festival when she noticed he didn't have a dance partner amd volunteered herself to be said partner.

She soon became good friends with his sisters—Alma and Catalina as well as the woman who would go on to become Senorita Guzmán.

They got married 3 years later and not long after, their oldest daughter, Miranda, was born.

She became good friends with Alma's husband, Pedro.

She is an ancestor/somewhat distant relative of the Lee Family from turning red.

3 years after that, their youngest, Beatrix, and their nieces and nephew (Pepa, Julieta, and Bruno) were born.

She died fighting off the ruthless soldiers that invaded their home in hopes of keeping her children, nieces ,nephew, husband, and good friends safe.

When she was alive she loved dancing, sword fighting, horseback riding, rock climbing, swimming, making lanterns, and cuddling with her husband.

She was protective of those she loved and had a firece personality.

And yes, Alejandra did inherit the family ability to turn into a red panda. She left home solely to keep it from being taken from her.

She also passed this gift to her daughters.

Raimi was in awe when he discovered this power of hers (since he had never seen anything like it before since this was pre-encanto creation).

Alejandra was just surprised he wasn't afraid of her.

It's one of the reasons she fell in love with him.

She loved roses and had a couple of those hairpieces that Alma gifted her on her sixteenth birthday.

She was four years younger than Alma and died when she was 21. Though Alma would not discover this fact until years later.

While sad, Alma was not surprised as it was very in character for her friend to fight till the very end.

She had a statue built in her friend's honor that they placed in the house.

Alma and Raimi also placed Alejandra's old decorative taxidermy animals up around the house. Which somehow caused them to come to life and be able to talk.

No one is quite sure how that happened, why they insult people, or how to get them to stop.

Alejandra would have found it funny, despite her no nonsense nature.

Her favorite colors were red, gold, black, and pink.

She preferred having her hair up over having it down.

She would have been 89 years old by d3 if she had lived.

Original concept art of Alejandra and her door (if she had lived long enough to get one):

[toon-tales]

Town kids in Bruno's colors! (green and purple)

[dragoneyes618]

Nothing is as Simple as Black and White

Inspired by the “What if Bruno Madrigal is Carlos de Vil’s father” idea by me and @silverloreley plus this fanfiction by @silverloreleysfanfics.

Carlos hovered nervously at the outskirts of the village.

It looked like a nice little village. Friendly. Peaceful. People bustling around on their everyday business, children playing.

Completely foreign, for an Isle boy.

He scratched Dude between the ears. It had been a hassle, bringing him all the way here - two plane flights, a short boat ride, and a lot of walking, not necessarily in that order - but in Carlos’ opinion it was worth it.

“It’s going to be fine,” he told Dude, rubbing his fur. Dude growled softly in contentment.

“Right,” Carlos continued, emboldened. “We’ll just go in and ask directions to the Madrigal family….there’s a bunch of them, it shouldn’t be too hard to find one…and then we’ll just - well, I’ll just say who I am and ask them to stay and give them the letters he…Oh, forget it,” he said abruptly. His arm dropped to his side. “Who am I kidding?”

Dude barked cheerfully, as though to say, “Me!”

“They don’t even know me,” Carlos muttered. “They probably don’t even know I exist. If they did they would have showed up at Auradon Prep like Snow White did for Evie. They’ll just kick me out and I’ll have to find somewhere else to live for the summer.”

It was hot. He was thirsty. There were birds singing in the trees - even after months in Auradon, he still found that odd - and beautiful, vibrant flowers grew everywhere.

This wouldn’t have been nearly so bad if one of his friends or cousins were with him. But his cousins, of course, were still on the Isle. Carlos had promised to try to get them off, just as Jay had to Jade and Mal had to Hadie and Evie had to Dizzy. But so far, nothing was doing. Being friends with the, admittedly extremely busy, king of Auradon didn’t have as many advantages as Carlos had thought it would. And just being in Auradon didn’t mean they had the power to change things. The newly-arrived and technically on paper not actually in Auradon Freddie Facilier was already getting very impatient.

And his friends weren’t there, because for the summer they weren’t allowed to just live in the dorms. (“We live there the rest of the time!” Mal had argued, but Fairy Godmother had been adamant. “It’s not like the buildings are unfit for human habitation! There’s enough food and running water and plumbing and everything! Why are you looking at me like that? We won’t be lonely, we’ll have each other! We can even catch up on all our schoolwork since we’ll literally be living in the school! What do you mean we need adult supervision and stable family structures?”)

So for the summer, they were all staying with whatever family they had in Auradon. Which wasn’t much.

Evie was staying with Snow White, who was technically her stepsister. From what Carlos had seen so far, the time Snow had come to school to meet Evie and from whatever Evie mentioned about the occasional texts they’d exchanged since then, they seemed to be getting along all right. But then, in a way the Evil Queen was Snow’s mother as well.

Jafar had no known family, so Jay was staying with Coach Jenkins.

Maleficent also had no known family - at least, no known family that could be contacted and was willing to. Unless Mal wanted to wander into the wilderness in Auroria and wait for any fae kin to find her, she was alone, so Ben had convinced his parents to let her stay with them for the summer.

Which left Carlos. The only one of them who had biological family anywhere in Auradon.

Ben had been surprised. “I thought all the de Vils were on the Isle,” he’d said.

“We are,” Carlos had said. “I don’t mean my mother’s family.”

Now, Carlos took a deep breath. “Come on, boy,” he murmured to Dude, slinging his backpack, which contained everything he owned, onto his shoulder. “We might as well get this over with.”

.

Mirabel spun as she danced in the street, laughing. “Come on, dance with me,” she called, and three small figures (usually there would be four, but Tía Pepa had informed Camilo that it was his turn to watch Antonio for the day) ran after her, spinning and dancing to the best of their ability. Which wasn’t much, considering none of them were older than six, but their enthusiasm more than made up for it.

Mirabel liked spending time with the little kids of Encanto. Children were so sweet and adorable and enthusiastic. She played with them and made up games with them and told them stories, and they told her all about the events going on in their lives, competing for her attention, and at least this way she was doing something useful, right?

“Faster!” Mirabel shouted, reaching out her arms; Juancho and Cecilia and Alejandra grabbed her hands - well, Cecilia and Juancho did, Alejandra held both of their hands - and they all spun in a circle until they fell down dizzy, giggling.

“That was fun!” Juancho announced. “Let’s do it again!”

Mirabel stretched in the warmth of the sun and began to sit up.

Her head hit the dirt as she fell over backwards, bowled over by a heavy weight that had materialized on her stomach. She yelped, her vision full of brown fur. Something warm and wet lapped at her face.

The children were laughing and shrieking.

“Dog! Dog!”

“Mirabel! Are you okay?”

“I wanna pet the dog!”

Someone shouted in English, accompanied by running footsteps.

The dog sprawled atop Mirabel shifted, ears perking up. Mirabel tried to sit up again, pushing the dog into her lap and wiping the dog spittle off her face with her sleeve.

A boy of about Mirabel’s age was running forward, his face panicked, calling out in English; Mirabel caught the words no and stop. The dog leapt off Mirabel and bounded over to the boy, tail wagging, as though expecting to be rewarded with treats. The boy gave it an angry look, gesturing to Mirabel, then looked at her nervously as she stood up and brushed her dress off.”

“I’m sorry,” he said in stilted, accented, but understandable Spanish. “He doesn’t usually do this. I am very sorry. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” she assured him, but he still looked afraid, like he thought she was going to be furious at him. “No, really, I’m fine! No harm done.”

“Is that your dog?” Cecilia asked.

“Of course it is!” Juancho interrupted before the boy could answer.

The boy looked startled. “Oh - yes, this is my dog. Sorry. Um-”

“Can we pet him?” Alejandra wanted to know.

“Oh - sure - he liked being petted - just be gentle-”

He’d barely gotten a few words out before the dog was laying down with a supremely contented look on its face while the three children gave him belly rubs.

“You’d think they’d never seen a dog before,” Mirabel commented fondly.

“No?” the boy asked.

“I mean, they have, they just get really excited over, well, everything,” Mirabel explained. “Anyway, so…you’re new here?” Clearly, he was; the Encanto didn’t get many visitors, so strangers were instantly recognizable.

“Um, yeah, I’m….My name is Carlos.”

Carlos. That was a Spanish name, but Carlos himself didn’t appear to be. He didn’t look it, and while his Spanish, while fairly good for a foreigner, wasn’t fluent, and his accent wasn’t Colombian either. Perhaps his parents had died when he was young, and he’d been raised elsewhere?

Enough speculation. He was a visitor to the Encanto, and she was the only Madrigal present and so must give him a good impression of the Madrigals and the Encanto. Although that was kind of hard to do with mud all over your skirt.

“I’m Mirabel,” she said. “Nice to meet you.”

Carlos blinked. “I - oh - thanks,” he said. “Um, I’m actually looking for something…someone, I mean, a few people….Would you happen to know where the Madrigal family is?”

Oh. Well. That made sense. To anyone outside the Encanto, the Madrigals were the only notable members inside it, what with the magic most of them possessed. Maybe he needed help, help that only her family’s magic could give him.

“Right here!” Juancho piped up from where he was scratching Carlos’ dog behind the ears.

“What?” Carlos said.

“Mirabel’s a Madrigal,” Alejandra explained.

“Oh!” Carlos, if anything, looked even more nervous. Which was ridiculous, really; no one would ever be wary of her. Not when there was Luisa-Who-Can-Lift-Anything or Dolores-Who-Knows-All-Your-Secrets or Tía Pepa-Armed-With-Lightning (Okay, so Camilo’s imitations were a little funny, she had to admit) to be faced.

Or, once, Tío Bruno. But no one talked about him.

“So….do you want to meet my family?” Mirabel prompted. He’d have to, if he needed their help, but he looked like that was the last thing he wanted to do.

“Um…yes?” Carlos almost squeaked. “Please? If it isn’t too much trouble?”

“Of course it’s not! Come on, Casita - my house - is this way.”

Mirabel led the way. Carlos, who kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, followed just behind her, and his dog right behind him, accompanied by the three kids who had apparently decided that said dog was currently their most favorite thing in the world. (“Look! He licked my hand! He likes me! Look, he lets me pet him! That’s nothing, he lets all of us pet him! Ooh, look, he’s smiling at me! Dogs don’t smile! Yes they do! Isn’t he smiling, Juancho?”)

“So, um…Mirabel.” Carlos swallowed. “Could you…tell me about your family?”

“Sing him the song!” Alejandra called from behind them.

They both turned. “The song?” Carlos asked.

Mirabel shrugged. “A while ago I made up a little song about my family, to sing for the kids around town. I guess they liked it.”

“We LOVED it!” Juancho announced, jumping up and down; Mirabel wondered if he’d been at the coffee again. “Sing it again! Please!”

“You have to sing it, for him,” Cecilia pointed out. “Because he doesn’t know your family.”

Mirabel gave a half-laugh. “Oh, all right, but only if we keep walking.” Somewhat self-consciously, she began her song.

She sang of how her family had been blessed, how they used their gifts to keep the Encanto safe and flourishing. She sang of her Abuela who led the family and the village, who had received the miracle so many years ago, through her own love and grief; of Tía Pepa, who could control the very weather with her emotions, calling up a storm in a rage or a rainbow in bliss; of Tío Bruno, the prophet long gone (Carlos flinched); of her mother, the kindest, gentlest soul in the Encanto, with the gift of healing to match; of her father and Tío Felix, who both proclaimed that they’d become the happiest men alive the moment they’d married their respective wives.

Moving on to her generation, she began with Dolores, who could hear a pin drop from the other side of the village. Then on to Camilo, who could change shape at will and perfectly imitate anybody he saw. Antonio, soon to receive his gift. Señorita Perfecta Isabela, beautiful and graceful, who could grow any kind of flower, anywhere. Luisa, gifted with superstrength.

“Wow,” Carlos said when Mirabel had finished. “That’s….a lot.”

“It is,” Mirabel agreed wholeheartedly.

“So what’s your gift?”

Mirabel’s heart sank down to her toes. She’d hoped he wouldn’t ask that.

“Mirabel didn’t get one,” Cecilia informed him.

“No?”

“Nope!” Juancho chimed in. “She’s the only Madrigal not to get one! No one knows why.”

“Oh,” he said. “Uh. Sorry.”

“It’s all right,” she assured him. It made sense that he would ask. The questions - at least the first questions, the ones of “What’s your gift?” and “You didn’t get a gift?” didn’t bother her; they were only to be expected. What did bother her were the ones like “So why do you think you didn't get a gift?”

“Anyway!” she said with some relief. “Here we are!”

Mirabel led him into the courtyard. Juancho, Cecilia, and Alejandra offered to stay at the gate and watch his dog. Carlos said, in English, “Stay, Dude!” to his dog, who plopped himself right down for some more belly rubs.

“Mirabel!” her mother called, coming through the door. “Where have you b- Oh! Who’s this?” She gave Carlos a surprised, almost spooked look.

“This is Carlos,” Mirabel said. “He’s from…” She realized that Carlos hadn’t actually told her where he was from. “Anyway, he wanted to talk to all of you, and I said I would bring him to meet you? He needs our help.” Carlos didn’t contradict her.

Mama blinked several times. “Hello, Carlos. It’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry - it’s just that you reminded me of someone for a moment. Come right in; Mirabel, bring him to the living room, Abuela will see him there.”

Mirabel led him through the hallway, past Tío Felix, whose eyes widened; past Dolores, who poked her head out of a doorway, squeaked, and pulled herself back in; past her father, who dropped the stack of plates he was holding and shooed them both away when they tried to help him pick them up; past Luisa, who was juggling dumbbells; and past the kitchen, where her father had deposited his miraculously unbroken plates and was whispering loudly to her mother “Doesn’t he look a bit like-” before finally reaching the living room.

Sometimes she wished she’d been born into a normal family.

“You can sit if you want,” she offered. She didn’t usually entertain guests and had no clue of what to do.

Carlos jumped a little, said “Thanks,” and sat down gingerly on the very edge of the sofa.

Abuela walked in, took one look at Carlos, and demanded “Who are you?”

Carlos quailed, but drew himself up and answered “Carlos de Vil.”

Devil? Wasn’t that the English for Diablo? What kind of name was that?

“A-are y-you Doña Alma Madrigal?” Carlos stuttered. Mirabel thought he was trembling. He looked terrified.

“I am,” Abuela answered, but before she could say anything else Carlos reached into his pocket and withdrew several grubby, folded pieces of paper; sealed envelopes. He unfolded one, then another, and handed that one to Abuela.

“This is for you,” was all he said.

The envelope was labeled, simply, Mamá.

.

"Oh, Dios mío!” Mirabel gasped. “You’re C!”

“You’re C?” Camilo asked. “You must be!”

“He’s C!” Dolores agreed. “Wow, I never thought we’d actually meet him!”

Carlos looked overwhelmed, like he quite wished no one would be paying any attention to him. Unfortunately, the exact opposite was the case. “C?”

The entire family was crowded into the kitchen. Mama and Tía Pepa were hugging each other, weeping about their poor Brunito, the letters Carlos had delivered to them from him clutched in their hands. Abuela was sitting in her seat, reading her own letter over and over, as though trying to discern some hidden meaning in the words.

Carlos himself was sitting at the table with the heaping plateful of food Julieta had demanded he eat before interrogating him about his father and ripping open her own letter to read. So far, he’d eaten very little of it.

Papa and Tío Felix were huddled together, whispering.

Mirabel and her sisters and cousins were all crowded around poor Carlos.

“You got a door,” Isabela explained. “To your room in Casita, and you would have received your gift when you opened it. It had your initial on it, so we knew you existed, and that your name started with C. But that was all we knew about you. And you weren’t there to open it, so your door disappeared.” She hesitated. “You do know about the doors and the gifts, right?”

Carlos nodded jerkily. “He told me. But I thought it was just a story, then.”

Antonio interrupted them all to come up and wrap his arms around Carlos and the chair Carlos was sitting in. “A new cousin!” he proclaimed. “Hi, new cousin! I’m Antonio!”

“Uh - hi, Antonio,” Carlos said, sitting very stiffly and ill at ease, seemingly uncomfortable.

“Do we also get to meet a new tía?” Antonio wanted to know, still keeping his small arms wrapped around Carlos’ stomach.

“What?” Dolores asked.

“If we have a new cousin,” Antonio explained, “then we also have a new tia! Is she visiting, too? Can we meet her?” He looked around expectantly, as though waiting for the cousins’ new tia to come walking in.

“No!” Carlos snapped, and then again, calmer, gingerly removing Antonio’s arms from they were wrapped around him, “No. You won’t meet her. You can’t meet her. She’s not here.”

Mirabel remembered when Carlos’ door had appeared, only about a year after her own failed ceremony. She’d been so excited, because she’d thought she would finally be getting a gift, after all. But then the door hadn’t even been for her.

She’d been jealous, at first. She had been born and raised in Casita and got no gift or room at all, while the cousin the rest of them knew nothing about would have gotten a room and gift of his own - or would have had, if he’d been there to open his door. But he hadn’t been, so his door had faded as well.

But she’d also felt a strange kinship. After all, the mysterious C was also a giftless Madrigal. There had been no C to open the door. No C to receive a gift. She wasn’t the only Madrigal without a gift, then.

Every year, the Madrigal cousins marked the date the door had appeared as C’s birthday. It was a day of tense silences, a day to be lost in thought, just like the triplets’ birthday was, and Mirabel’s birthday, and a random day near the beginning of November that they had eventually realized was the day Tío Bruno had been taken away.

She’d always wondered if one day, somehow, she would get to meet the mysterious C. And now, here he was.

This is a week or so before Antonio receives his gift.

I figure that Carlos would know some Spanish because if and when Bruno was present in his childhood, he would have spoken it to him. Also, once he found out he’s getting sent to Encanto for the summer, he would have tried to learn some; he’s smart, he’s picked up at least the basics by now.

As an aside, according to Return to the Isle of the Lost, Carlos’ middle name is Oscar. And what was Bruno’s name originally in some early concept art? Oscar.

[lapseinrecs]

It Takes A Village

By LastOneOut @lastoneout

On Archive of Our Own

Status: Complete; 22,168 words

Summary: Bruno Madrigal's journey to find his place in his family and community starts with a strange conversation and ends with someone falling flat on their face, but given his track record, that's not exactly surprising.

My thoughts: You know good for him for interacting with the community that feared him. Growth for everyone.

[sansblues2]

Don't forget

Day 28. Don't worry, It's just me imagining an amazing friendship between those two, so it hurts even more when it's broken later.

Also, don't mind the clothes. I was so focused on their poses that I forgot to pick an outfit for them.

That's it. See ya tomorrow ❤️.

[toaverse]

Au where Pepa was infertile and the kids were Julieta's and Bruno's (Bruno with Dolores, Mirabel and Antonio and Julieta with Isabela, Luisa and Camilo)

Okay!

@cartoon-lovers-world here it is!

Pepa didn’t like to admit it, but she was jealous, really jealous.

Seeing how happy her sister and brother were with their kids, seeing Julieta’s and Ozma’s stomaches while they were pregnant. Knowing that she couldn’t have that joy of having a child, sharing that with Félix… it made her mad…

She always wanted children, and showed it by how she interacted with Isabela and Dolores, but as hard as she and Félix tried and tried, it didn’t seem to work…

Pepa’s jealousy grew, and started to lash out at Mirabel because of it. Though she stopped and apologized to her niece after Bruno called her out on her behavior.

As the years passed, Pepa accepted the fact that; no, she and Félix couldn’t have children, biologically at least. So, the couple focused on serving the village, as well as babysitting their nieces and nephews when Julieta, Agustín, Bruno or Ozma needed a break.

But one day, when Pepa was 45, the tragic news broke that three separate babies were orphaned.

There was baby Juancho, who was abandoned by his parents who didn’t want children. Baby Alejandra, who’s mother passed away during childbirth without a father in the picture. And baby Cecilia, who’’s mother left the Encanto and her father suddenly became I’ll and tragically passed…

Hearing the news, the Madrigals were shocked, and devastated for the babies.

Alma immediately asked the town who would willingly raise the children.

But Pepa interfered.

“Félix and I will raise them.” She said with clear determent. She didn’t want those three kids to grow up with parents who felt forced to take care of them. She wanted to offer them a home.

“Are you sure, Pepa?” Alma asked. She wasn’t complaining, but she wanted to make sure her daughter knew what she was doing.

“Yes, Mamá.” Pepa said, Félix nodding as well.

So, it was decided. Alejandra, Cecilia and Juancho would be raised by the warm couple.

And three doors appeared.

Pepa and Félix raised the three kids, with love and care.

They adopted them around the time when Antonio was born, so the townspeople and some of the Madrigals called the four kids “the quadruplets”.

When the kids turned 5, gift ceremonies arrived. Antonio got the gift of speaking to animals, Juancho got super-speed, Cecilia could communicate and control insects, and Alejandra had flight.

Pepa and Félix couldn’t be happier for their kids.

Finally, they had their family😊

[lethal-amigos]

Grammar Lessons

by @my-gunpowder

Jose teaching Alejandra English.