#We love Pepa and Abuela for trying

[glorious-spoon]

17 and/or 28?

hello nonnie! i went with 28: surprising them with their favorite treat. love is stored in the kitchen, etc.

-

"No, no, I'm not doing it for you," Abuela says, swatting his arm lightly with her dishtowel in that way that makes Eddie feel like he's taken a step backward through time, back to the sunny little kitchen in the house she sold three years ago to move back to Texas, back to being eight years old again and hanging around while she baked, even though he was supposed to be too old for all that by then. She's frailer now, but her eyes are just as sharp as she folds Eddie's fingers back around the egg he's trying to hand to her. "You're never going to learn if I do it for you."

"We're going to run out of eggs before I get it right at this point," he complains. They've gone through three already, the yolks broken and bleeding into the whites and therefore useless.

"You can use them to make a frittata. Or an omelet. Something. They won't go to waste."

He squints at her. "Was that a metaphor?"

"Come on, come on. Josephina is picking me up in an hour, if you want this cake to happen it's got to happen now."

"I could just buy one," Eddie says halfheartedly, like this whole enterprise wasn't his idea in the first place. God knows why. He's managed to drag himself a good few steps above boxed mac and cheese in the cooking department, but baking remains an intimidating mystery. It's not like he couldn't just buy one. It's Los Angeles. Plenty of places local to find tres leches cake, even if it won't be his abuela's recipe.

She probably would have made him one herself if he asked. Almost definitely would have. But once he got the idea in his head it felt—important, like Buck's laborious perfecting of the lasagna he's planning to make for them tomorrow, like Bobby's home-cooked meals at the station. Something about doing it himself.

Something about home-cooked meals, and about love, that it's definitely too early to say to Buck, at least in so many words. But he kind of wants to say it all the same.

He cracks the egg—gently, this time. The glistening yellow yolk remains intact, cradled in one half of the shell as the white slides away into the bowl beneath. Eddie holds his breath, holding his hand still until the separation is complete, feeling more than a little bit like he's defusing a bomb here. Then he finally drops the yolk into its own separate bowl with a feeling of absurd triumph.

Abuela squeezes him with a startling amount of strength for a woman who's more than a few years past eighty, but her voice is very gentle. "Perfect, Eddito. Now we just need four more like that."

Eddie breathes out a shaky laugh and reaches for another egg.

-

By six o'clock, Pepa is on her way over and the cake is cooling in the refrigerator, waiting for the leches mixture—the counter wiped clean, Abuela installed in a dining room chair sipping a cafecito from one of the little red cups that she bequeathed to Eddie when she moved away. They talk about inconsequential things: Christopher, his dad's retirement, his parents' tentative plans for a cruise, which makes Eddie wince and bite his tongue. Christopher again. Buck's name comes up, because of course it does, it always has. For years he's been so entwined with their lives that there's no way to talk about Eddie and Christopher for any length of time without mentioning Buck.

It feels more revealing now. Or maybe that's just that now Eddie knows there's something to reveal.

He's not trying to hide it. It's new, but he's never felt so sure about something in his life. He just doesn't know quite how to go about saying it; any of the words he can come up with feel too clumsy, too inadequate.

It's not until Pepa's car pulls in the driveway that she leans over to pat his hand where it's resting on the table. "He's going to love it. Tu novio, he'll be so happy you baked that just for him."

"That's assuming I don't mess anything else up," Eddie says, and then registers the rest of that sentence. Your boyfriend. His heart stutters for a moment, but settles fast. She's still smiling at him.

"You won't," she says.

He breathes out; laughs a little, breathless. "How did you know?"

"I'm old and wise," she says puckishly. Then, gentler, "You talk about him like you're in love."

Outside, the car door opens and shuts. Pepa starts up the walk. Eddie takes another breath, and nods. He feels a little flayed open, but it's a good feeling, to be seen like this. A little raw, but good. "I am. I—really am."

Abuela slides out of her chair and holds out her arms; Eddie folds into them like he's not a head taller than her these days. They're still standing like that, swaying a little, when Pepa comes in.

-

Buck is over the next night for dinner, a frequent if irregular occurrence whenever they both have the same evening off. They don't actually cook together, because Buck is kind of a control freak in the kitchen, but Eddie sets the table with Chris's sullen adolescent assistance, and puts on some music, and he remembers as he does it those evenings when he'd see his grandparents dancing together in the kitchen after dinner, the easy sway of their bodies. He's half-tempted to try and pull Buck into a dance, but right now Buck is frazzled and wearing an apron splattered with béchamel as he swears under his breath at the lasagna, so Eddie can wait.

It all comes out perfectly, because of course it does, and Eddie kisses him after he sets it down on the table, ignoring Chris's disgruntled noise. Buck smiles against his lips and kisses him back.

"Smells amazing," Eddie offers.

"It only took me five tries to get it right."

"Well, I appreciate you not burning my kitchen down."

"You're not funny," Buck pouts, but he leans in for another kiss.

"I'm starving," Chris says pointedly, and they break apart, laughing.

"You forget how to serve yourself, mijo?"

"No," Chris says, but he's smirking a little as he dishes himself a generous helping of lasagna and passes the spatula over to Eddie.

It's not that different, all told, from any of the other meals they've had together over the years. That's something that keeps tripping Eddie up: how little has actually changed. Other than the part where he's allowed to touch Buck as much as he wants now; other than the fact that he lets himself notice how much he wants.

For Chris's sake, he's discreet about it, but he curls his hand over Buck's knee under the table once they're all served. Buck ducks his head and smiles, a pretty flush dusting his cheeks, and Eddie leaves his hand there for the rest of the meal.

They clean up together, and Buck insists on helping even when Eddie tries to shoo him out of the kitchen, though he honestly doesn't try that hard. Chris escapes into the dining room when Buck pulls Eddie into a shuffling, impromptu dance to some Taylor Swift song on the radio—he must have stealthily changed the station when Eddie wasn't paying attention—but he ducks his head back in a few minutes later to ask if they're going to eat the cake.

"There's cake?" Buck asks, bemused.

"Tres leches," Eddie admits, and now he's blushing. "Abuela's recipe."

"You got Isabel to make me tres leches?" Buck asks, looking delighted.

"Okay, okay, it's not just for you—"

"Dad made it," interjects Chris, the traitor. "Can we please eat it now?"

Now Buck's expression has gone all soft, so sparkling and warm that Eddie can barely look directly at it. "You made me a cake?"

"You cooked dinner," Eddie counters, crossing over to open the fridge and pull the covered pan out. The whipped cream isn't in those graceful swirls that his abuela always did, but he's pretty sure it'll taste okay. It all looks okay, anyway. "Don't worry, I had supervision. It's probably edible."

"It looks amazing," Buck says, but he's not looking at the cake; he's looking at Eddie. Eddie tries to duck his head, and Buck catches his chin before he can manage it, and kisses him. It lingers sweetly for a moment, and then he grins and pulls away. "You made me a cake."

"Yeah, yeah," Eddie says, and thinks, I love you, I love you.

He doesn't say it out loud, not yet. But by the way Buck is beaming at him, Eddie thinks maybe he got it all the same.

[runawaymarbles]

9-1-1 fic recs

because if I do nothing but read 9-1-1 fic for a month solid I feel like I should. Since my bookmark notes are all spoilers. Buck/Eddie unless specified otherwise.

to your front door by hammersmiths | G | 3k

Buck and Pepa are bridge buddies and Pepa is happy to arrange everyone's lives.

i'm headed to the mountains by hammersmiths | 8k | G

a.k.a. Abby Clark does deserve rights

pick me, choose me, love me by trysetmeonfire | T | 9k

It is some kind of hell, it seems to me, to be forced to choose one irreplaceable thing over another. Buck and Chris get stuck and Eddie has to get one of them out first.

brick by spqr | E | 10k

9-1-1 fic I read and loved before I knew anything else about 9-1-1. Post lightning strike, Buck and Eddie are not at all on the same page.

i love you, ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard? by rarakiplin (gmontys) | T | 10k

"Because, Evan" is actually a love confession, but Buck's with Taylor. They handle it great.

the stick-around by derryfacts2 (winchysteria) | T | 10k

Buck is bleeding out. It's surprisingly funny.

Ace of Hearts by glorious_spoon | T | 10k

The poker night was a date but Buck doesn't realize it until later.

darlin', i'm just tryin' to tell ya by archerincombat | T | 10k

The station adopts a dog that has cancer and Ravi has some feelings about it.

still by brewrosemilk | T | 10k

Eddie is standing on a bomb.

the light's been out though, baby by hattalove | M | 15k

There's a video of the shooting.

like a hole in the ground by clytemnestra | T | 15k

Buck shares his feelings but they still don't know how to communicate.

maybe love won't let you down by sibylsleaves | M | 15k

Buck tells Eddie he loves him; Eddie thinks he himself is terrible at relationships and so he dodges the question. Things are OK until they aren't.

False Start (timing’s everything) by Morgane (smilla840) | E | 16k

Buck and Eddie hook up, and then Buck gets back together with Taylor. Ouches all the way down. It's great.

i would like a place i could call my own by maybeamystery | E | 17k

Buck and Eddie hooked up at the end of season 3. It does not make things better.

find a way to you (if it kills me) by foxwatson | M | 20k

Buck doesn't realize he has feelings for Eddie until Eddie lets Linda set him up. They both suck at coming out.

stay soft; get eaten by eddiediass | T | 20k

Ramon Diaz is dying.

every time we stop talking (the universe starts screaming) by withmeornotatall | M | 20k

Buck is being reckless, Eddie's pissed about it, and Natalia is asking a lot of questions about everybody's trauma.

where there's smoke, there's fire by wakeupnew | T | 24k

You're really not supposed to be secretly dating your coworker. Luckily, they have a union rep.

into the fire by brewrosemilk | E | 27k

Cheating fic (complimentary); Buck and Eddie sleep together. It's messy.

Tick Tick Boom by ChasetheWindTouchtheSky | 30k | T

Buck's having a breakdown; he's not talking to his parents; he doesn't tell Maddie this but he does go to drag brunch.

I Kinda Fell Half In Love (And You're To Blame) by orphan_account E | 33k

Eddie is dating Ana and Buck can't figure out why he doesn't like it. Also, Chris is trying to return to school after COVID and they're really stressed about it.

the going water and the gone by trysetmeonfire | T | 30k

Eddie is lost at sea and presumed dead. The logistics of death are complicated and custody isn't as easy as saying you want your platonic bro to raise your kid without telling anyone.

i don't swim and you're not in love by hattalove | T | 30k

Eddie is dating Ana, Buck tries to get over himself, and there's a sewer leak at Abuela's.

listen to you breathing (is where I wanna be) by Yavilee | T | 40k

Buck goes down in an earthquake and is missing, presumed. He and Eddie leave each other voicemails.

everything (nothing) has changed by bizarrestars | E | 50k

Buck goes to therapy, tells Eddie that he's in love with him but he's going to get over it, and Eddie has a meltdown for 50,000 words except this is from Buck's POV and Buck's an idiot.

across our great divide (a glorious sunrise) by catchingpapermoons | M | 50k

Buck and Eddie go to couples therapy in s5 and I? Cry.

a blaze in the dark by woodchoc_magnum | E | 117k

Buck gets caught up in Natalia, Eddie starts dating someone else, it goes about how you'd expect. Hurts in a delightful way.

tell me about despair by hattalove | M | 150k

THEEEEE Eddie Diaz fic.

just to be with you by woodchoc_magnum | M | 150k

Buck and Eddie keep their relationship secret for months and it turns out it's hard to come back from that.

The things we lost in the fire by SunSpell80

Buck's uncle molested him when he was a kid. Buck's relationship with his parents is complicated in a way that doesn't villanize them, but is still messy as fuck. I am rotating it in my brain. (Note: the author presumably wrote this before we met Buck's parents in canon, but got tired of changing the names a couple chapters in.)

[buckleyflower]

PLEASE CAN ANYONE WRITE THIS?

I wish we had a fic where Buck and Eddie, still living in L.A., are best friends for some reason (I haven’t thought about the reason yet) and Buck is a firefighter and Eddie is in the army and Buck helps him with Christopher while Eddie is away. (Eddie only has Pepa and Abuela in L.A. because he refuses to go back to Texas to his parents — then Buck introduces him to Carla too)

And Eddie goes on his first tour but during his time home after the second tour, when his friendship with Buck is something really solid and important to him, Eddie starts saying that he’d like to be there for his son more, that he is grateful for Buck but he can’t burden him with his life choices and that he wishes he could settle down and have a normal life with his son. What actually bothers him the most is staying away from Chris but also the fact that, as time passes, he realizes that his feelings for Buck are not as platonic as he initially thought.

The problem is that Buck is slowly falling for Eddie, even if he doesn’t want to because Eddie is straight and a soldier and has a son and a thousand other reasons why he shouldn’t be interested in him. Anyway, what he wants to do doesn’t matter, what matters is what he feels for Eddie and his feelings only deepen when Eddie starts talking about a ��normal” future, there in L.A..

The problem is that Buck doesn’t say a thing and they both pine for each other, trying to hide their love but failing miserably, until Eddie goes on his third tour and gets shot and Buck completely loses it.

He goes stir crazy and the only thing he wants to do is get on the first flight to Afghanistan and get to Eddie.

It is in my mind that Buck will pretend to be his husband to get the military hospital staff to let him talk to Eddie and will have a total breakdown once he sees Eddie through a video-call, all bandaged up, bruised and drowsy from the painkillers and Eddie will do his best to comfort him even if he is a thousand miles away and he is the one who needs the comfort. And then Buck would be scared shitless of confessing but he will do it as soon as he has Eddie in his arms again, without knowing that the first thing that fleshed before Eddie’s eyes, together with Christopher, when he thought he’d die, was a life with him.

[les-pompiers118]

Isabel Díaz attends a wedding

Because we'd all like to know why she turned up there, out of the blue, and ABC isn't saying...

"So Chimney's feeling a bit better, now that the meds have kicked in, and he wants to get married right away," Eddie tells Christopher and his abuela as he tucks his phone back into his pocket. "Like, in an hour."

"In the hospital?" Chris asks. "Is that allowed?"

Eddie laughs. "I'd like to see anyone try to stop them now. Or Bobby. He told us he's always wanted to officiate a wedding as a fire captain. He's not about to miss his chance."

"Well, I guess we should be going then." Abuela holds out her hand to Eddie, so he can help her get up from the couch. "You don't want to be late for the wedding. Twice."

"Very funny," Eddie says. "We'll drop you off at Pepa's house, if that's what you want, but you know you're welcome to make yourself at home here. We won't be gone long. And they'll probably kick us out when visiting hours end, anyway."

"No, no, Eddito. I'd like to come with you to the hospital."

"You want to come to the wedding?"

"As long as your friends don't mind an uninvited guest." Abuela slips her arm through Eddie's and looks up at him with a dreamy smile. "I love weddings. I never turn down the chance to go to one. And at my age, I don't think anyone can begrudge me that."

"Definitely not. I'm sure they'll be happy to have you there." Eddie starts for the door, but stops after only two steps and pivots around. "Abuela, did you... plan your visit to L.A. for this particular weekend for any special reason? Say, a wedding?"

Abuela's eyes sparkle and Christopher muffles a giggle with his hand.

"Maybe I just missed my boys," Abuela says before giving Eddie a wink and dropping her voice to a stage whisper. "Or maybe I had a hunch that this wedding was going to be a special one."

"If by special, you mean cramming into a hospital room with no food or music, you'd be right."

"Oh, mijo, don't you think I know how things always seem to go for you and your friends? Never have I known a group of people with such topsy-turvy lives. Cruise ship sinks. Girlfriends move in, girlfriends move out. They should make a telenovela about you all."

Eddie huffs a grudging laugh. "I suppose we should be happy there wasn't an earthquake today, on top of everything else."

"It's not too late," Chris sings. "They're not married yet!"

"Okay, okay," Eddie groans, ushering them both towards the door. "Let's go, Díaz family."

Abuela claps her hands. "To the wedding!"

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

The new ones sound so good! But I'm also loving your ongoing fics, so I'm putting a little of everything (hope this isn't too much!). 📖📖📖📖 🧟🧟🧟🧟 🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️

➰➰➰➰ 🔼🔼🔼🔼 🦷🦷🦷🦷 🚨🚨🚨🚨

⚡⚡⚡⚡

Ahhh thank you so much!!

12 for 📖:

---

Buck has Fridays off. So his week is Sunday to Thursday. Starting after that second run-in with Eddie and Christopher, Buck starts seeing the kid two or three times a week. Sometimes with Eddie, sometimes with a relative. His Abuela or aunt. And then, sometimes - increasingly so - with Carla. 

Buck is thrilled to have Carla back in his life. After Patricia died, there hadn’t been much of a reason for them to see each other. Abby transferred to Phoenix. Stopped responding to Buck’s texts, despite promising him it wasn’t a breakup. Consequently, he and Carla had drifted apart. But he has such a fondness for her. 

---

12 for 🧟:

---

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Eddie complains. “Can we kill that thing?”

Former person. Whatever. 

“I can do that!” Buck jumps to be helpful. 

He strides into the street, aims, and shoots at the dying creature. Buckshot takes off most of its face and it slumps over, dead. Some pellets hit noisily off the metal street sign behind it. 

Eddie doesn’t actually feel any better at all. 

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles.

---

12 for 🛏️:

---

 It’s not even a turning point. 

It’s just a natural continued erosion of boundaries. 

They’re eating dinner. Buck cooked. Obviously. Eddie has been very quiet all day. Waiting. Looking at his phone. He still hasn’t heard from Chris. Buck wishes he could teleport to Texas and plead with Chris to put aside his hurt and anger for just one moment to call his dad on Father’s Day. But he can’t. So he’s cooking for Eddie instead. 

---

12 for ➰

tagging @steadfastsaturnsrings

---

“It won’t work,” Eddie says. 

He sounds so certain. 

“Why not try?” Buck asks. 

“I’ve tried everything,” Eddie says. 

“Eating a different restaurant?” Buck asks. 

“Yes, Buck,” Eddie says through gritted teeth. “Obviously I tried that.”

Buck blinks. How did they go from I’m so lucky I get to love you, I’m so lucky that you’re mine, I love you so much, to here?

“Okay,” Buck concedes. 

---

12 for 🔼:

---

“I know,” Shannon mumbles. Her face is on fire. “God, I know. I-I… I’m so sorry.”

“I have to go,” Buck says tightly.

“Wait, Buck! I’m sorry!”

But he doesn’t stop to listen. He turns and flees her, shutting the apartment door loudly behind him.

Oh, god. God, what has she done?

---

12 for 🦷:

---

So they do this thing now, where they don’t even try to let go. Where they find any reason or moment possible to be somehow connected. And they never say a word about it. 

Eddie had wondered if it might change when Chris came back. If they’d both be too self conscious. Clearly Buck wondered the same, because they hesitated, a little, as they sat on the couch. But they drifted together all the same, and now here they are. Sitting with their thighs touching and their ankles hooked together and their shoulders bumping every time one of them moves. Christopher doesn’t seem to notice. And it all just feels easy. 

The thing is, Eddie knows. He knows Buck is waiting for him. 

---

12 for 🚨:

---

“And then you almost died,” Ramon says. 

Right. The well. Of course, Pepa or Abuela would have told them. 

“I did,” Eddie admits. 

“And then the world sort of… Ended in a way. For a bit there.”

“It did,” Eddie agrees. Although, he’s not sure he agrees. It sure didn’t feel ended, when he was still taking calls. 

“So I retired,” Ramon announces. 

---

12 for ⚡:

---

“So, yes,” Adriana guesses. “That covers it.”

“I guess,” Eddie grumbles.

“This is where you say, thanks, Adri and Ravi, love you both, and I’ll buy you a souvenir.” 

“You want a souvenir from San Clemente?” Ravi asks her. 

“Yeah, good point. I want wine.” Adriana decides.

“I will get you wine,” Eddie concedes. “Thank you both again. Seriously.”

[rimarkka]

DT17 x Encanto AU

I already see some Ducktales x Encanto AUs and they were really good

But I want to present my version of this AU

I want to bring dt17 characters into the Encanto’s world. It’s still a family concept with magical gifts in a magical house.

Could Duckworth move into the house and revive it?

Speaking of assigning roles

♪ Wait, who’s a sister and who’s a cousin? There’s so many people How do you keep them all straight? ♪

Scrooge as Abuela 

Have you noticed that the Miracle Candle and the Number One Dime play a similar role in the plot?

♪ We swear to always Help those around us And earn the miracle That somehow found us The town keeps growing The world keeps turning But work and dedication will keep the miracle burning And each new generation must keep the miracle burning ♪

I think he’s more concerned with the Number One Dime the Miracle Candle by helping the townspeople through deeds and adventures than by helping people itself

Donald as Pepa

Pepa is emotional and with her mood changes nature. Donald is no less emotional

♪ My tía Pepa My tío Donald

Her mood affects the weather When she’s unhappy Well, the temperature gets weird ♪

Daisy as Félix

She has no gift, she became part of the family by marrying Donald

♪ She fell in love with Family Madrigal McDuck And now she’s part of the Family Madrigal McDuck ♪

June and May as Dolores and Antonio

The biological daughters of Daisy and Donald

♪ Cousin Dolores can hear a pin drop <…> Antonio gets his gift today ♪

Huey as Luisa

They both take greater responsibility for the well-being of their family

♪ I’m the strong one, I’m not nervous I’m as tough as the crust of the Earth is I move mountains, I move churches And I glow ’cause I know what my worth is ♪

But for both of them, this responsibility is a cause for concern. Their gift weighs heavily on them. Luisa has it as a nervous tick and a song

♪ Give it to your sister, your sister’s older Give her all the heavy things we can’t shoulder Who am I if I can’t run with the ball? If I fold to ♪

And Huey has the Duke of Making a Mess

Dewey as Isabela

They both focus more on image than on gift.

♪ My older sisters brothers <…> one graceful Perfect in every way ♪

He acts like he’s good at everything, but he’s really worried that his gift isn’t enough

♪ I’ve been stuck being perfect my whole life ♪

Louie as Camilo

Louis in the series is shown as a skilled manipulator, actually (not in a bad way). He knows what to say when to smile and so on

♪ Camilo shapeshifts ♪

I believe it’s his gift

Della as Bruno

♪ We don’t talk about Bruno Della! ♪

I want to see this song in the context of «don’t talk about her so as not to piss off Scrooge», and not «don’t talk about her so as not to cause trouble from her»

♪ They say she saw the future, one day she disappeared ♪

It’s all canon. Della is gone. They don’t talk about her. The end.

Just kidding, I’ll tell you about her fate later

Beakley as Julieta or Agustín

Beakley is not bound to this family by blood, she entered it like Agustín, but not by marriage, but as an approximation.

I couldn’t choose one character, as I found it interesting that even without the gift Beakley would have the skills of cooking and «magic» to even be able to prepare healing food

Webby as Mirabel

Mirabel has no gift, and Webby is not tied to the McDuck family in blood, so she has no gift either. In fact, nobody even allowed such a thought, so they even didn’t try. I’d like to end the story with Webby’s becoming the new the Number One Dime the Miracle Candle’s keeper. 

As far as their family ties are concerned, everything here remains like the cartoon, and does not change under the state of affairs in Encanto. Beakley is still Webby’s grandmother. Scrooge has just become the father of Della and Donald. Donald and Daisy are the parents of May and June. Dell is the mother of triplets.

It’s not that the relationship between Webby and Scrooge is that important. I love this storyline twist in dt17 and it can be in this au too, but I can’t say that it is absolutely necessary, it seems to be superfluous

The main character will be Webby. On the day of receiving gifts, May and June, born on the same day, were afraid to go alone and refused to do it without Webby.

Ugh, going all the way up to two doors knowing that she would never be a part of the family and get any gift... it must hurt

It was Webby who noticed how the house began to collapse, because there was discord in the family. With their quarrels, the gifts weaken. So she intended to help everyone.

Their main conflict was Della, or rather her disappearance. So the Webby began to reveal this secret.

She found a prophecy by which Della flew away and suffered a plane crash. Unlike Bruno, whose poor predictions were not believed, Della herself did not believe her predictions. She believed she had the right to change her fate with her gift.

I don’t really want to take a flight into space because a rocket crash is too much

Why did Scrooge cover it up and get angry at every mention of his daughter? Because he kept Della’s faith in the ability to change her destiny. But after the crash, he changed his mind. For this reason, he ignored Webby’s words about the destruction of the house because he had seen the prophecy about it, and he was convinced that fate cannot be changed.

Scrooge broke it. But Webby collected it and saw herself in the end against the background of the destruction of the house.

Webby loved her family so much, so she decided to go out on emotion to prevent it. But during the escape, Della caught her. She was quite alive, ha

Della had indeed crashed the plane, but she had survived with the loss of her leg. She lived inside the walls of the house, unwilling to return.

She gave an answer to Webby’s questions. It was not only Scrooge who looked at the prediction incomplete. Della dropped the memory first, splintered from it a small piece that did not allow one to look beyond the image of Webby. There was Della too. And just like Webby, she loves her family too, but she thought it’s better without her

Kinda similar, right?

It’s only then Webby realized how stupid and wrong they both are when they run away

They rerun Della’s gift and watch the entire memory to learn how to prevent it.

Della looked at the girl condescendingly, seeing herself in her, but allowed her to. Because if the outcome is predetermined, her efforts will not make it worse.

Webby really saw how she helped her family, in particular, the triplets who first quarrelled when they began to slowly discover the secret of Della.

At this time, Gosalyn as Mariano came to court with Dewey.

I don’t mind them as a couple, but I just want them to feel like friends in that au

Later, Webby extorted the confession that Dewey did not want to marry, he did not know if he loves Gosalyn in that way

So… Webby was trying to make up with everyone and she’s even doing it well until Scrooge told her that he didn’t see the good in her actions

How do those words of Abuela resemble those of Scrooge "you are not part of the family!"

And the house collapsed…

Webby escaped. Scrooge talked to her heart-in-heart. They found an understanding. Della jumped on the donkey, said it’s her fault, she had predicted it. Tearful reunion of father and daughter. Repair of the house. Webby is a new keeper.

The end :з

SORRY IS IT TOO MUCH, HUH?

[butttterball]

y’all is my obsession with the batfamilly and Encanto related cause like think.

(Their role in the family kinda doesn’t matter in most more of their personalities)

Abuela would be Bruce. They one who started it all. At the end of the day, Bruce and Abuela would try to protect their city/candle no matter what. They probably never realized what they were doing to their family.

Pepa would be Stephanie. Steph is an optimistic, upbeat heroine. But a lot of time, Steph is overlooked as a character but in her moments is portrayed to be happy. Pepa is always supposed to be happy. I also think out of her siblings. Pepa is very impulsive as she feels first than thinks (so does Steph).

Bruno is Timothy. I mean riddled with anxiety, undervalued, has been not believed, been cast aside because they believed or saw something else. I don’t think I need to explain this one.

Julieta is Alfred. I know placement in family this is weird, but she’s so nurturing (like Alfred). Loves her kids and her husband . And when her husband did get into accidents she didn’t shame him or yell at him. Julieta just helped. Alfred just wants the Wayne’s to be happy and healthy.

Isabella is Dick. Golden Child type. I mean the dramaticness alone is just very Dick. I mean that one scene where she said “did someone say flowers” and she came down all majestic makes me think of all the ff where he’s on the chandelier. However perfectionism and only wanting to do everything for the family is very similar.

Luisa is Jason. Jason has been perceived as the angry robin or the mean one. “He MURDERS” boohoo. He’s a nerd canonically I mean. He feels he has to be strong. Has to be mean. Has to be “on” all the time never letting goZ

Mirabel is Barbra. I think where I got this from was that Mirabel kinda a clutz. Couldn’t be part of all the action with power stuff. But she still tries to help. Barbra, a little more successful, after getting shot by the joker still made herself useful as oracle. She could jump or rooftops anymore, but she could still help.

Camilo is Duke. Fun loving guy. Duke wasn’t adopted young and he’s the Batman for the daytime (the best way I can explain it). Duke isn’t like all the other bats where he takes everything seriously and Camilo doesn’t either. “What? I can’t say we don’t have a house?”

Dolores is Cassandra. Need I say more.

Antonio is Damian. Okay mainly cause of the animals, BUT he’s just a little kid. I think we’re I mix Antonia and Damian as similar is that they are just kids trying to figure out who they are.

[hannahhook7744]

Where Are You Now? (Cause I'm Thinking Of You);

Cover:

Summary: The family wakes up thirteen years after Bruno returned to the family to find him gone yet again. They naturally freak out. Trigger Warnings: disappearances, premature labor, near death experiences, mention of homelessness, overworking of a pregnant woman, minor violence, guilt, fear for a loved one, etc. Encantober 2024: Return. Co-written with @igetthedisneybox .

------------------------------------------------------------

Bruno was gone—gone without a note. 

Again.

“Oje. Has anybody seen Bruno?” Alma asked a small handful of the family. The others were out in town, but according to Dolores, she hadn’t heard him out there either.

Everyone present either shook their heads, or couldn’t hear her over the chattering of the family. Casita was getting awfully crowded these days.

Squeak. 

Alma looked to her left and saw one of Dolores’ four-year-old twins, Elmira, standing there, looking wide-eyed. She definitely took after her mother.

Her and her twin’s skin was lighter than their mother's, but darker than their grandmother's and just a shade darker than their father’s. But where Princesa had teal eyes and blonde hair, Elmira had her mother’s dark brown eyes and curly light brown hair. 

“Chiquita,” Alma called. “Do you know where Tío Abuelo Bruno is?”

She looked down at her feet guiltily, before quietly answering—always the more mindful twin when it came to her mother’s hearing—“No.”

Alma saddled over to the four year old. Her bones creaked with each step, and she muttered curses under her breath, glad that Elmira didn’t have any superhearing like Dolores. 

“Elli, If you know something about Tío Abuelo Bruno, can you tell me please?” She looked at her great-granddaughter kindly.

“He saids he'd be back.”

“Did he say where he was going?” Panic spiked in Alma’s heart. She couldn’t lose her Brunito again.

Elmira shook her head. “He saws somethin’ bad.”

Alma felt her hands begin to shake, but she clenched them into fists. Elmira didn’t need to see her panic like this. “Thank you for telling me, Elmira.”

“De nada, abuela.” Elmira fidgeted with her skirt, looking over at her mother. “Mamá, I'm hungry.” 

Dolores had heard her from the other side of the room, of course, and came over to pick her daughter up. “I think Tío will be fine, Abuela.” She whispered to her.

“I hope you're right, Nieta.” Alma sighed. 

------------------------------------------------------------

Word got around the Encanto fast that the Madrigal’s beloved seer was once again missing and, before an hour was even up, the entire family was back at the Casita.

Panicking. 

The exact opposite of what Alma wanted. 

“My padres, Félix’s Papá, and the Guzmáns are keeping an eye out for him as we speak.” Agustín said, trying to soothe a crying Julieta. 

“Mi vida, your hermanito will be fine, I promise.” Félix claimed, circling around a pacing Pepa who was murmuring ‘clear skies’ for the first time in eleven years. 

Luisa was also having a hard time staying calm, gently cradling one of her own twins—Emilia and Tito—while her husband, Ryder, held the other and tried to comfort her. 

“You don’t th-think he left the Encanto for good, do you?” She asked, addressing the elephant in the room; the question no one wanted to ask.

“What? No, of course not. Tío Bruno wouldn't do that—he loves the family.” Mirabel protested immediately. “Elmira said he saw something right?” 

“He also saw something when he left the first time.” Camilo mentioned. His own wife, Yanamaria, was standing several feet away from him, sipping on a drink. Camilo had adopted her twin daughters, Amelia and Sofia, after marrying her three months ago when the pair were only two months old. 

Alma wasn't sure she liked the young lady. But maybe her judgment was being clouded by his past two lackluster relationships and the fact that she privately thought Camilo’s best friend, Mina, would be a much better (and kinder) wife  for him.  Not that she would ever voice these thoughts to him. She had learned her lesson after Agustín, thank you very much. 

Dolores elbowed Camilo, hissing. “Camilo.”

“What? I can't tell the truth? He did!”

“What I'm saying is that he probably just ran off to prevent whatever he saw from happening and once he does that, he'll be back. Because he knows he can trust us now.” Mirabel continued looking very confidently, wrangling her hands together, acting as if she hadn't heard her 'mellizo’. 

Isabela nodded along. “Mira’s right. We need to trust Tío Bruno. It’s the least we can do.”

“And besides, Señor Bruno promised Elmira he'd walk her to her door. He wouldn't break his promise.” Bubo chimed in from the doorway, startling everyone because he and Miguel had left with Antonio to watch the rest of the children before the conversation had started. 

Julieta sniffed and whipped at her eyes. “Dios mío, look at me. Sitting here crying like a bebé. You all are right.”

“That’s the spirit, Mi esposa.” Agustín hummed, resting a hand on her shoulder; Alma couldn’t help but be surprised by how much calmer he was being than the rest of them. That wasn't to say that he didn't care, however, because she could still see the nervousness in his eyes—unlike with Yanamaria, who seemed like she couldn't care less. At least Raimi and Rosa were acting serious, for once.

------------------------------------------------------------

“Mamá!” Arlo whined, immediately reaching out to her the moment Isabela stepped into the room. 

Zoey was snoring in the crib next to him and Miguel Jr—who they'd named after Mirabel’s husband, Miguel Rivera, after he'd delivered them when he and Isabela had gotten lost in a storm while out in the forest—was laughing at something. 

Isabela hadn't been thrilled to have triplets at first. Far from it in fact, but the older they got the more the florist grew to love them. Arlo especially.

“Hey, nene. Mamá’s here.” She scooped her baby into her arms, gently brushing his black hair from his forehead. He had his father's nose but everyone could already tell that he was going to grow up to be a mama’s boy. 

“Missed you.” Arlo declared, resting his tiny head on her shoulder. His tiny fist clenched tightly around the flower plushie Mirabel had made for Zoey. Somehow, the bear plushie Mirabel had made for him and the one she'd made for Zoey kept getting mixed up—no matter how many times they'd switched them back. 

If she didn't know better, Isabela would almost say that they were doing it on purpose. The fact that Migeul Jr’s wolf plushie never got mixed up with them only made her more sure of her suspicions. But it wasn't as if she could get confirmation from her children—they didn't even speak in full coherent sentences yet. 

“I missed you too, mi flor. And your hermanos, obviously.”

Zoey snored louder. Chubby hands squeezing the colorful bear plushie that she was chewing on. 

And Miguel Jr laughed innocently once again, clapping. Completely oblivious to the mild panic his tías, primos, and padres were feeling over his favorite great uncle’s second disappearance. 

Isabela could only hope that Mirabel's suspicions over why it had happened were correct. She didn't know if she could handle losing her uncle for another decade.

------------------------------------------------------------

Mariano was not fond of discourse.

But when one joins a familia like the Madrigals, bad things happen sometimes.

As of now, Mariano could only hold his wife and children close, and hope that everything would turn out okay.

Oscar seemed to be able to tell that something was going on and was crying quietly—which had been very concerning in the first couple of months after he was born a year ago before it had been confirmed that he was for sure healthy. 

Princesa was oblivious and looking at herself in her madre’s favorite golden hand held mirror that Mariano had gifted Dolores on their first date. Striking a pose she had seen her favorite character on the strange box that Auradon called a television do numerous times. 

Elmira, on the other hand, was sitting quietly in his arms. Looking thoughtful.

Dolores had dozed off at some point. 

“Oscar, are you alright?” Mariano asked his son softly.

The bebé shook his head, causing his brown curls to fall into his eyes. Causing him to frown as he clung to his madre (who thankfully had her earplugs in). “Mamá sad.” 

Oscar had definitely inherited Mariano’s big heart. “I know, mijo. But she will get better, I promise.”

In truth, Mariano had no idea if Bruno would come back.

He was the head of a small ensemble of men and women who’d decided to watch over the town’s entrance, and make sure that there were no civil disputes between its citizens. Handling the few crimes that came up every now and then in whatever capacity he could. He probably should have noticed Bruno leaving, but he’d been trying to settle an argument turned physical between Abraham Cerebro de Burro and his very own brother-in-law, Ryder Nattura, over the donkey farmer’s new fence and lock. Or lack therefore of. 

Which had been very hard to handle considering that an hour into the argument, Mariano had been about ready to throttle the man himself. Señora Alma had demanded a hundred times that he replace the damn lock on his estúpido fence but the cheap bastardo still refused to replace it—even when his own children pleaded with him to do it. 

Mariano had lost count of just how many times Luisa had had to chase after the man’s donkeys because of the farmer’s stinginess. 

The man was lucky that Luisa was even still willing to help him chase after the donkeys after the stress he had caused her during her pregnancy. Luisa and Ryder’s twins weren't even supposed to be born yet but had been anyway the last time the donkeys had got out a month ago. After which the farmer had promised he'd really replace the lock that was older than Mariano was for real this time. 

Or maybe the fool was just lucky because of how apologetic his children were whenever Luisa had to fix his mess. 

He was starting to get angry again just remembering the encounters, but Elmira snuggled against him, which jerked him back to the present.

“Papá?” 

He pulled his full attention to his daughter. “Si, mi corazón?”

“Lo lamento...” She bit her lip, eyes welling up. 

“What? Elli, you have nothing to be sorry for!” Mariano pulled her even closer, gently running his hands through her curls.

“But I saws Tío Bruno go.” The brunette sniffled. “Ands Abuela Pepa cryin’.” 

“That wasn’t your fault.” He stated firmly, well aware of the fact that it was something his younger Prima-en-ley had needed to hear twenty three years ago but never had: the last time señor Bruno had left. 

“¿Promesa?” Her big brown eyes met his own as she stuck her thumb in her mouth. A nervous habit they hadn't gotten her to shake yet. 

“Promesa.” Mariano kissed her on the forehead.

“I'm tired.” She yawned quietly, resting her head on his chest. 

“Then why don’t we all go and take a siesta? Maybe Tío will be back when we wake up.” He got up from his chair, still holding Elmira. 

Princesa didn't pay either of them any mind. 

“Okay papa.”

------------------------------------------------------------

“Any word on Bruno?” Ryder asked his cuñado, worrying his lip as he replaced the ice pack he'd been holding to his black eye. 

His suegra had offered to cook him something to heal up his injuries that morning when she saw him (after she had found out where and why he'd gotten them) but the reindeer herder had refused. If she healed his minor injuries, then the donkey farmer would find out and demand she heal his minor injuries which could very well spiral into the town once again taking advantage of Julieta's kindness. Something Ryder refused to allow to happen.

And no, it wasn't just because he wanted the donkey farmer to suffer for as long as possible for harassing his wife into doing the very job that could have cost them their children. 

….

Okay maybe part of his reasoning did have to do with that. But given the situation Ryder thought he was allowed to be petty.

“Socorro thought she saw him…but it turned out to be a homeless guy.” Miguel Sr sighed as he plucked on the strings of his guitar.

“Honeymaren hasn't seen anything either but Kristoff said that if Bruno isn't back soon, he'd be willing to ask Grand Pabbie for help.” Ryder offered, uncharacteristically frustrated.

He hated seeing his wife cry—she’d been stressed enough with the early arrival of the twins and the more…stubborn and selfish… townspeople (the number of which had thankfully dwindled over the years) who still asked her for help with every little thing. She hadn't needed this. 

Miguel rolled his eyes. “You mean the pile of rocks?”

“The trolls, yes.” Ryder didn't blame Miguel for his reaction—he didn't trust Kristoff's family very much either. 

Miguel wasn’t in the mood to poke Ryder further, so he let the subject of the ‘trolls’ drop. “Anyway, how far do you think Bruno could have gotten? He’s what, pushing sixty?”

“He’s closer to pushing seventy.” Ryder snorted. “And I honestly don't have a clue. I don't think he's ever left the Encanto alone before—and well, the Madrigal family genes are crazy. I mean his bisabuela is still alive.” 

Despite falling off a cliff on her wedding day, getting near drowned by an octopus, being bitten by a venomous snake, getting electrocuted after sticking a fork in the socket, and having her parachute fail after going skydiving. 

Pedro and Benito's mother sure was something.

“True.” Miguel huffed and placed his guitar away, unable to focus. He was worried about the familia, especially his Mirabel. She claimed she was fine, but he could see right through her.

“All we can hope is that he'll return safely and that our in-laws don't kill him when he does.” Ryder couldn't help but smile at the thought, though he knew it wasn't exactly an appropriate thought to have at the moment.

It was true though, Bruno would be lucky if he made it past Pepa and Isabela alive.

------------------------------------------------------------

“Clear skies, clear skies, clear skies.” Antonio muttered to himself as he anxiously paced, two nervous habits he'd picked up from his mother and was trying to shake. 

It wasn't often the wild child got stressed out enough to use the mantra or pace but considering the situation, the eighteen year old wasn't sure anyone would be able to blame him for it. Tío Bruno was missing again and no one knew where he'd gone. 

He wasn't in the walls. 

Antonio had checked six times and Casita said he wasn't. 

No one in the Encanto other than his little violín had seen him go. 

“Clear skies, clear skies, clear sk—”

“You okay, Tonito?” Camilo had been walking by, when Casita had gotten his attention, and showed him Antonio, about to have a panic attack.

Antonio nearly leapt across the room, not having heard his brother approaching. Which, at any other time, might have been amusing. But given the situation, it was only all the more worrying. “‘Milo, ay dios mío, don't scare me like that!” 

“You better watch your mouth, or Mamá’s gonna zap you.” The barest hint of a smile crossed Camilo’s face.

The animal whisperer rolled his eyes, waving him off—heart still racing. “Don't be a Soplón.”

“I won’t…for a price.” His eyes glinted with familiar mischief.

“Oye! Blackmail? After all I've done for you? I should let Parce eat you.” He wouldn't. He knew it and Camilo knew that it was an empty threat, but it was still a fun one to use. 

Camilo snorted. “I’d love to see Parce try.” His smile vanished. “But seriously, hermanito. Are you okay?”

Antonio thought about it for a moment. Thought about whether or not the little thing he had noticed was enough to worry his brother about. Then, he remembered what Mirabel had always told him ‘If it's big enough to worry or upset you, then say something.’ He bit his lip to give him courage and looked around before biting the bullet and answering. “I can't find Tío Bruno's rats.”

Camilo raised an eyebrow. “Did Parce finally eat them?”

“No, I asked around. Nobody is fessing up and I haven't seen them since he left.” He wrangled his hands, trying to reduce some of his panic. 

“So, you think Tío brought them with him?”

“Sí.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But I don't understand why he'd take them if his leaving is temporary.”

At Camilo's silence, Antonio’s nerves only grew. “I know, I know. It's a pequeño thing but it's just—it’s big enough for me to worry about whether Mirabel is right or not.”

“She’s right. When has Miraboo ever been wrong?” Camilo placed a comforting hand on his brother’s shoulder. “And look, whatever reason Tío had to bring the rats, I’m sure it’s a good one. Está bien?”

“Está bien.” Antonio let out a shaky breath. “Gracias, hermano.”

------------------------------------------------------------

Mirabel had said what she’d said. And she believed it.

Sort of.

She could lie to her family, but she couldn’t lie to herself. She was worried about Tío Bruno. Very afraid, in fact.

There was a tug on her skirt. 

She looked down, and saw Dolores’ oldest, Princesa. “Hey, ‘Cesa. What’s up?”

“No sad.” The little blonde glared, clutching something behind her back. Something that looked very familiar.

“I’m not sad.” Mirabel immediately deflected. Then she remembered she was talking to a four year old. “Whatcha got there?”

“��Mentir!” The four year old wasn't fooled and was not amused as she held out one of Bruno's vision tablets. Just where had she gotten that?

She grabs the vision from Princesa. “Wha–where did you find this?!”

“Da Wall. Tío Parce showed me.”

“You went into the walls without adult supervision? Miércoles, Dolores is gonna kill me!”

Princesa shook her head, stubbornly. “No, Tío Parce is a adult. And he went in da wall.”

“Parce is a jaguar!” Mirabel stopped herself before she could argue semantics with a toddler. “Nevermind.” 

She looked at the vision tablet, and immediately blanched at the sight: there was a little girl, around Princesa and Elmira’s age, cowering in a closet filled with crosses on one side in one part of the vision.

On another, there was a little boy standing in front of a younger girl and a baby as a giant of a man towered over them. 

In a third, there was a boy covering his eyes and  screaming as an older boy tried to calm him. 

And in the last part of the vision, there was a boy bruised and bloody holding a rosary. 

So, in short, it was a horrifying vision that a four year old should not have been able to get her hands on. 

“Mierda.” She whispered. “Princesa, go find your Mamí. I need to talk to your Bisabuela right now.” Tucking the vision tablet under her arm, Mirabel tapped her foot on the tile floor. Casita responded, and moved her downstairs to Abuela Alma, who was with Julieta, Pepa, and their husbands.

------------------------------------------------------------

“Abuela!” 

Alma looked up from where she was comforting Julieta, and saw Mirabel speeding towards them with the help of Casita. “Mirabel, what–”

“Princesa found the vision that caused Bruno to leave.” Mirabel held the vision in question close to her chest with one arm, clutching her skirt in the other—it didn't look much different from the one she made shortly before Bruno came back. It was a similar teal color with the family’s different symbols on it, but symbols representing the new spouses and children had been added as well. 

There was a reindeer to represent Luisa’s husband, Ryder Nattura, and a skeletal guitar to represent Mirabel’s own husband, Miguel Rivera. There was a bear costume to represent Isabela’s husband, Bubo. There was a mamabear with a baby bear to represent Camilo's wife and a quill to represent Dolores’ husband, Mariano. There was a violin to represent Elmira and A mirror to represent Princesa, and she had the names of all the ones who were too little to show any clear personality traits sewn into the skirt too. 

Just another not so little detail that showed just how much Mirabel loved their family. 

“What?” Alma stood up. “Let me see.”

“Clear skies clear skies clear skies CLEAR SKIES!”

Thunder rumbled.

Mirabel handed the glass tablet over. 

“Dios mio…” Was all Alma could say when she saw the vision.

“Who are those poor ninos?” Julieta had her hand held over her mouth as she took in the grisly sight.

Augustín pointed. “They’re wherever Bruno is now, I’m sure of it.”

“You think he went to find them?” Félix was clutching Pepa, who was starting to hyperventilate.

Alma let out a shaky sigh. “Knowing my Brunito…most likely.”

“Tío Bruno will likely return when he gets them somewhere safe.” Mirabel would have smiled or sighed in relief at the not quite confirmation that she was right about Bruno not being gone permanently if the vision wasn't so horrifying.

“You think he’ll run into trouble?!” Pepa squeaked. “That man in the vision…Brunito can’t fight! He is too skinny!”

“I don't know.” The seamstress could only hope that her Tío wouldn't do anything too risky….but, seeing how often everyone compared the two of them, she knew that that hope was a fruitless effort. 

Que Dios tenga misericordia de él.

Félix tried to calm Pepa down again. “Bruno is smarter than he seems, eh? He’ll stay out of trouble, especially when there’s children involved.”

Pepa kept taking deep breaths, as Julieta chimed in. “Félix is right. Bruno…he wouldn’t risk the children.”

“What do we tell the others?”

Alma cleared her throat. “We tell them that Bruno is off doing a heroic act. That he is saving children. But, ah—let’s not mention the state of the children.”

“That's probably for the best.”

------------------------------------------------------------

“Tío Bruno’s back!” Antonio whooped as ran back into the Casita, a couple of his animals on his shoulders. 

“What?” Everyone in the sitting room leapt to their feet.

“Cecila said she saw him enter not that long ago! She says he got’s a few people with him.”

Alma and her daughters looked at each other. More people?

“Anyone my son brings into the Encanto is most welcome.” Alma said, albeit hesitantly.

“But what do these people have to do with the children?” Mariano asked, tilting his head. Oscar, in his lap, mimicked him.

“Children?” Antonio looked at his cousins, their partners, his Padres, his tíos, and just basically everyone older than him in confusion before something clicked. “Wait is this about that vision Bruno had that you all refused to show me?”

“Sí.” Alma nodded. “And we did not show you because its contents were much too disturbing for a young man like yourself.”

Antonio did not pout. He did not. But he did shoot Mirabel a betrayal look because honestly, he would have thought his favorite prima would know better than to still treat him as a bebé by now—before Pace tugged on his pants’ leg. Trying to drag him outside, to remind him why he came rushing back to Casita in the first place. 

“Is he close, Tonito?” Camilo asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He’ll admit, he missed his Tío and his telanovas.

Antonio looked at Parce questioningly, getting a growl in return. “Si. He's outside.”

Alma rushed the door. She needed to see her son.

------------------------------------------------------------

Alma stared. 

And stared.

And stared.

And the rest of the family stared with her. None of them quite sure whether or not what they were seeing was real. 

"A little help would be nice." Bruno chuckled awkwardly, a blonde haired toddler in one arm and an even blonder baby in the other. A little red toddler covered in rats clinging to one of his legs anxiously and a grumpy boy with black hair who couldn’t be any older than four or five on the other. 

A teenager and two boys not much younger behind him��arms full of pugs and bags and one boy—one with horrible burns around his milky white, pupiless eyes—even had a frog in his pocket. 

It was quite the sight. 

And that wasn't even covering the fact that the baby was wearing a bag as a diaper and the littlest of the children burlap sacks (or a box, in the boy's case), as clothing. 

“...Bruno Pedro Madrigal Botero where THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?! ” Was the first thing out of Alma’s mouth.

“...Uh, well, you see—remember that place the Auradon folk tried to send me before you set ‘em straight?” Bruno smiled nervously, well aware of the fact all of the kids were cowering behind him. 

“Si?” She shifted nervously, as she continued to take in the state of the children.

“Imayormaynothavebeenthere.”

“YOU WHAT?!”

[satashiiwrites]

morning writing first draft—wip whenever

making some headway on this chapter finally. Tagging whoever wants to write some on a saturday morning.

Title: Choices and Regrets, Chapter 13

Fandom: 911, Dark Matter

Pairing: Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley/Eddie Diaz

Summary: If you could go back and change the choices in your life, would you?  Would you love the same people, go on the same vacations, have the same career? Or would you have regrets?

After the lightning strike, an unexpected visitor makes Buck question all the choices he’s ever made. From dropping out of the Seals to never making a move on Eddie because the time hasn’t been right. He’s going to get an up close and personal look at what could have been because another version of Buck is focused on taking his choices away from him—including Eddie and Christopher Diaz. 

Tags/warnings: dark themes, dubious consent, explicit sex, kidnapping, murder, major character death, drug use, identity fraud, topping from the bottom

Buck crowds Eddie, needing to offer comfort as well as understanding. “What?”

“He picked Christopher up from Abuela’s. Said they were going to have a sleepover.” Eddie turns his phone so Buck can see the screen, and he has a moment of vertigo. 

It’s not his face smiling next to Christopher’s. 

That’s not him.  

The picture was taken in the Jeep. Christopher is leaning forward from the back seat where his booster is, arms wrapped around the other him’s neck as he takes the photo. Christopher has a smile on his face, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.  

It’s not the only photo. There’s a series of them. In each of them, this other him has purposefully taken a selfie of himself with Christopher, taking him to dinner at a familiar Mexican hole-in-the-wall that they frequent and is Christopher’s favorite, to playing video games on the infernally uncomfortable couch that Buck’s mother had bought him when she’d noticed he hadn’t replaced it after Taylor had moved out when visiting after the lightning strike. 

Christopher is asleep on that same couch, the other version of him twisting his body to make sure that Christopher’s face is visible below his smirking visage. 

Buck feels ill. 

“Did he say why?” He asks Eddie shakily. 

“Need to reconnect with my Superman,” Eddie says, reading the text message below the pictures aloud. “Fuck.”

“He hasn’t hurt him,” Buck says, not sure it’s true. 

“Yet. He hasn’t hurt him yet,” Eddie hisses, pulling away and pacing in the narrow space between bed and dresser.  

“Eddie, he doesn’t have a reason to hurt Christopher,” Buck says. “Christopher is leverage.”

“Christopher is not leverage!” Eddie snarls, fists clenched and ready to fight, eyes wide as they meet Buck’s. “He can’t… I…”

“Eds,” Buck coaxes, taking a step toward Eddie to try and calm him. Usually, their roles are reversed, but Buck can’t let Eddie go off like an unguided missile whose only intention is to get Christopher away from the other version of himself. 

Eddie’s phone dings with a new message. 

“Fuck!”

Buck grabs Eddie instinctively, slipping his hands around his lover’s waist and pulling Eddie into his body. Eddie is shaking, but he doesn’t rip himself away. “What’s the message?”

“He’s inviting me to join them for breakfast. At our ‘usual place.’ He’s telling me he knows.”

“Knows what?” Buck asks for clarification. 

“That you’re here,” Eddie stresses, sagging against Buck. “Shit. What am I going to do, Buck?”

Buck takes Eddie’s phone from his limp fingers. “Are you sure? What’s the context?”

Eddie licks his lips, fingers anchoring themselves in Buck’s shirt. “We had a misunderstanding when he made a mistake—something you would have known what I meant without needing to ask. What’s our usual breakfast spot?”

“After work, it’s Paula’s. If it’s just us and Christopher? We go to that hole in the wall that Pepa’s friend owns, which only does Sunday brunch.”

Eddie smiles sadly, fingers twisting tighter to give a little tug of emphasis. “He thought it was Eggs and Bake.”

“Eggs and Bake?  We only go there if Chimney is picking the place and you hate their eggs.”

“I do not,” Eddie grumbles but he’s made his point. 

“So is he at Paula’s?  Christopher’s only been there like twice.”

“It’s out of our way unless we’re coming from work.”

“Right.  So what do we do?”

Eddie shakes his head. “I don’t know.  I have to go, right?  He has Christopher.”

“We need to talk to Athena.  You’re not going in without backup and if he sees me, it’s game over.”

Eddie slowly nods. “Okay.”

“Let’s go talk with Athena.  She’ll know what to do.”  Buck prays desperately that she will. 

[likeshipsonthesea]

I love your recent posts about Eddie and Shannon and their relationship. I just don’t see how the show can address any of that with the way they’ve written this arc. There’s no one who can criticise Eddie’s feelings of ‘she was the love of my life, I’m broken without her’ except us the audience. There are no characters who saw their relationship as it actually was, so how can the show steer Eddie in that direction? I feel like they’re gonna leave it as she’s his Great Dead Love and that’s that

i see what you mean, and tbh i'm not sure what the show is going to do with this arc on-screen. they have a bunch of storylines to tie up in this finale episode (here's hoping we don't get any cliffhangers 🤞) and i don't know how much time they will have to devote to eddie, or even what they want to do with that time. it's possible they have a completely different perspective on this and will take it a whole other way, but i have faith that the show will tell the story they want to tell and, if the past six seasons are any indication, i will enjoy that story

all that being said, if we're talking dream arc, this is what i would want

as far as who can tell eddie "hey, you're looking at your marriage with rose-colored glasses, this is how it actually is," i've got two ideas for this. one is eddie himself, and the second is his parents, specifically helena, who has been rumored to be in the s7 finale. i'm kinda more excited about the second, so let's get the first one out of the way

eddie himself - hopefully after the clusterfuck that is explaining to his son that he's been seeing a dead ringer for his dead mom and she cosplayed as mommy to give eddie closure, eddie will talk about this in therapy, and through the skills he's learned and a frank discussion (pun intended) he will be forced to confront the reality of his marriage and start to address the trauma he has from everything with shannon

p cut and dry, my typical eddie-goes-to-therapy kinda story. we've all been here before.

now, for the good stuff �� (putting this under a read-more bc i have Thoughts)

helena. the diaz mother we all know and have complicated feelings over. or not-so-complicated feelings over, given the "don't drag [chris] down with you" line. i know i keep asking y'all to think of things from the white woman's perspective, but bear with me just one moment while i do this again

helena married into a large mexican family in the 80s. she had a mother in law whose cooking was renowned, a husband always away on business, and three children to bring up along with keeping her home together. given how everyone in their family seemed to treat shannon, i'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume there were some heavy expectations on helena to be the wife everyone thought ramon deserved, and i'm gonna assume that meant a lot of tradition--cooking the right things, doing the holidays the right way, teaching the kids the right values, etc. etc.

i think it was hard. i think helena didn't always meet the expectations put on her. i know it was played as a joke, but during ramon's retirement party, eddie and pepa were concerned that helena was cooking a specific dish (i can't remember which one atm) until abuela assured them she was in charge of it. meaning this is probably a running joke, helena not cooking things as well as she ought to.

also, raising three kids with a physically absent husband in a town that (i'm assuming) is full of in-laws seems hard to me, too. (if this is sounding familiar, yes i'm about to make a shannon comparison just gimme another second). the stories we hear about eddie as a kid are yes, reflections of traditional masculinity and eddie falling short of that, but also reflections on his parenting--how could helena let her son try to cook? that should be her job, she should be watching him! how could she let him try to drive at 8? tsk tsk and all that

i think helena has become a part of the diaz family fully, but i don't think it was always easy, and i think when her son married a white woman who didn't fit the expectations of a diaz wife either, helena recognized that. i think helena saw herself in shannon so clearly.

and instead of breaking the cycle and offering shannon that support and empathy that shannon (and young helena) needed, helena enforced those expectations even harsher. helena did it, so shannon had to, too.

maybe it was out of protection--she wanted shannon to fit into the family the way helena had learned to. maybe it was common generational sentiment, i.e. it's the Right way or it's the way I did it so therefore you have to do it that way, too. maybe it was a means of reinforcing her own place in the family, as she was no longer the newbie, shannon was.

whatever it was, i don't think she was conscious of it, and especially after shannon left her son, helena refused to acknowledge she was anything like shannon at all.

until now.

(yes i've found my way back to the point, i usually do i promise--and yes my adhd meds are THRIVING rn)

both helena's husband and son have done a lot of emotional work in the recent years and i think it's likely she would take a queue from them (and if her daughters are anything like me, i'm sure they're trying to nudge her towards a therapist at every turn). helena very well may be in a place where she can acknowledge how the expectations she's lived under may have been stifling, and given her son's recent encounter with kim, she very well may be in a place to acknowledge how similar shannon was to her.

and that's where, dear anon, your point comes in.

because helena was there for shannon and eddie's entire marriage. ramon was working, eddie was in the war, abuela and pepa were in la, but helena was right down the street (idk if she was actually right down the street but you know what i mean). helena knew shannon as an 18-20yo woman, as a new mother, as a struggling mother. she was in the unique position of watching shannon go through a marriage alone and remembering exactly how that felt.

kim may look like shannon, but she has no idea how shannon felt during her marriage. eddie can say all the things he wants to say, but it's like talking to a gravestone. i think helena can say the things eddie needs to hear, even if he may not want to hear them.

....and now i really wanna write that conversation. fuck.

[the-moon-loves-the-sea]

It took me a while to notice that the Encanto gramma predicates them “deserving” the miracle (survivor’s guilt there) on them using their gifts for everyone who asks for help, all day, no rest, and tries to make sure no one in the town ever feels alone or unprotected, but not only is that making the kids feel exhausted and inauthentic and unseen; it’s also making her unable to deal with reality (the miracle faltering); and it’s also probably the reason Bruno felt like his gift was hurting everyone, bc it made the villagers really uncomfortable. At first the way “we don’t talk about Bruno” presents him made me think he was walking around telling people bad news unasked, but then he says everyone kept asking him, they just didn’t like the answers. So the town feeling unsafe around him made abeula feel like they were failing them.

And! The way Pepa tells her part of the song makes it sound like everything was sunshine at the wedding until he said what he said. But her husband corrects her “there wasn’t a cloud in the sky” to “no clouds ALLOWED in the sky.” And then at the end Bruno said “I could see that you were stressing,” which presumably means she did already have a little cloud when he showed up. But every time Pepa shows a cloud Abuela yells at her. She’s even dressed all in yellow with sun earrings, she’s trying to hard to stay sunny for Abuela. So she revised it in her memory to Bruno causing it. But then at the end when he tells her he wishes she would just feel all her feelings, her husband says “I’ve been saying that” and at the very end she’s dancing in the snow.

And at first I thought Mirabel had no gift but she and Bruno have almost the same gift! He had future sight and she has inner sight—she can see the cracks in the house before they appear, she can see Luisa’s trauma visually as she explains it. And at first she seems more determined than Bruno to follow through on her gift, but by the end she followed the same route as him—she ran off convinced she’d failed them. But bc Abuela had been through it already with Bruno she was able to make a different choice this time and follow Mirabel and let her teach her. I wonder if Abuela had inner sight too, since Mirabel seems poised to inherit the rest of her gift—house and candle guardian. She pretends she doesn’t believe the magic is faltering but then privately admits she knows, so is it bc she can see it too and was in denial? Or she just guessed bc of what happened to Mirabel?

The fact that Bruno saw the future still in doubt means the visions were multi layered anyway. And adjusting to free will as it happened. I love that Bruno’s prophecies are fluid like that. How the meaning shifts in response to what they choose. Dolores takes his prophecy and chooses to go get her man, Isabela takes it and gets new dreams of her own. So it doesn’t hurt them. I love how all of them develop so much more dimension to their gifts when they’re allowed to use it for themselves and not just for service! Selfishness!! It’s so necessary! I think it’s one of the best forms of healing trauma!! Bc our idea of selfishness gets so twisted. i’ve heard some people say they wished they hadn’t gotten their gifts back. They thought it would be more powerful if they didn’t, but I think the point is that the gifts are just who they are, it’s not really about them being magic. The house only amplifies the gift.

We never really get to see Mirabel’s moms inner life, which makes sense because that’s how we are with our parents at that age. But I do wonder if she had any adjusting she needed to do..

Also fascinating how Dolores is the one after Bruno who sees how things are most accurately, and she sees how nobody wants to hear what he sees, so she stays quiet about her perceptions about what she hears and just reports what she’s asked for neutrally, almost mechanically (unless it’s a major emergency, lol). Like Mirabel says Dolores will tell everyone, but she never argued with anyone about Bruno being bad even though she knew it was more complicated than that, she never tells anyone she still hears him sometimes, she reports “he wants five babies” with the barest quirk of her mouth, she never once mentions Isabela’s bf is her dream man even though Bruno told her that would happen years ago. Her verse about Bruno is by far the most perceptive but she almost whispers it. And only tells Mirabel things if she’s asked. It's so traumatic to be the one who sticks out, who can’t hide the gift so it antagonizes everyone. But it’s almost as traumatic to be the one who has to stifle their gift and not to use it nearly to its potential because so they’ve seen what will happen.

It’s SO layered and so dang accurate to how trauma plays out generationally and I’ve rewatched it three times and still keep noticing things and WOW. And Dos Origuitas makes me cry. Bc it’s layered too! It’s not just “you’ll transform through trauma,” it’s “the process of transformation may take you away from the people you went through the trauma with, and that’s ok, you have to let each other go and trust the cocoon and that you’ll find each other again after if you can” and that’s a lot!!!

[canonicallyobserving911]

Several Sentences Sunday

Fanonwriter2023 on AO3

Where CANON and FANON collide!

This is an EPIC LOVE STORY!

Season 7 FANON Speculation: Buddie Multi-Chapter Fanfic - Hiatus Reading: “I’m still in love with you but... I needed to learn how to love myself too!”

Chapter 19 will be posted soon; hopefully tomorrow.

Currently 18 chapters completed: 673.4K Words Rated: Mature

One chapter will be posted at a time.

[Previous snippet from WIP Wednesday]

____________

I'm excited to finish writing Chapter 19 because there are only 21 days left until Buck and Eddie get married.

For anyone who hasn't read Chapter 18, here's a brief overview: Since Eddie had to work a 4/10 from Monday through Thursday, Buck and Chris went to the Diaz family's Thanksgiving celebration without him. After Helena was rude to Buck the Sunday before the holiday, he was completely nervous about the way everyone else would treat him too and he hoped he wouldn't end up standing in the backyard alone but Eddie reassured him the Diazes would love him. Also, Eddie, Buck, Adriana, Antonio and Sophia had a meeting with Helena the day after Thanksgiving and the proverbial $hit hit the fan.

Buck and Eddie will tie the knot before Christmas 2023 but they are NOT getting married in the U.S. and they won't have a wedding ceremony until May 2024. They've revealed their relationship, their engagement and the fact that they're going to Europe to their found family during the 118's Thanksgiving dinner and now to Eddie's parents, his sisters, his abuela and Tia Pepa but they didn't tell them everything. No one knows they're getting married in three weeks, not even Chris because they haven't told him yet.

Have they revealed their relationship, engagement and European vacation to everyone or is there someone else who'll find out in Chapter 19? 👀

___________

Here's another snippet from Chapter 19 of Buck and Eddie being romantically fluffy while they're lying in bed.

___________

Eddie says, “You know I’m right here by your side and I’ll support whatever decision you make.”

“I know and you know I’ll do the same for you.”

“I do know.”  He emphatically admits. With their faces only millimeters apart, he asks, “Have I told you how much I love you?”

“You have but uh… I always love to hear you say it and I’ll never get tired of hearing those words come from your lips.”

“Ti amo cosi tanto.”  [“I love you so much.”]

“Ti amo con tutto il cuore! " [“I love you with all of my heart.”]  Buck replies then he leans in and French kisses his fiancé.

They get lost in it and as they gasp and moan into it, Eddie begins to roll his tongue and Buck feels like he’s entered a realm of pure unadulterated ecstasy. 

He rolls onto his back and gently maneuvers Eddie so that he’s on top of him.  Every part of him wants to feel Eddie and he longs for the next 19 days to pass quickly because they’re getting married and on the night of December 17th, their emotional, physical and romantic intimacies are going to collide and it’ll be spectacular.

He breaks the kiss, moves his head to the side so their cheeks are pressed together and whispers, “Fai l’amore con me!” into his ear.

Eddie leans back so he can meet Buck’s eyes, he furrows his eyebrows and says, “My love… I’m still waiting for you to tell me what…”  He trails off because the alarm sounds and it interrupts them.

He thinks the timing of the alarm sounding sucks since they are in the middle of making out and he’s trying to find out what the new Italian phrase Buck said means in English.

Instead of translating it, Buck kisses his neck then lays his head back onto the pillow and gazes into his eyes.  He lifts his hand and cups Eddie’s cheek then replies, “I promise I’ll tell you what it means after we get to Rome and we’re back at the villa”.

“I love you.”

“I love you too… so much.”

Since the alarm is still sounding, Eddie silences it but he leans in and kisses Buck one more time because he can.  After they break it, he says, “19 more days”.

“Yep, only 19 more days.”

Will Eddie find out what "Fai l’amore con me!” means in English before they leave for Rome? 🤷🏽‍♀️

___________

Fic Summary: Months after Buck and Eddie were hit by the same lightning strike; they’re still struggling with the aftermath of it.  But before they make their love confessions, they’ll spend time getting to know themselves as individuals first. Eddie learns to enjoy the simple things in life as he participates in activities on his own and with new friends while Buck learns the rest of the 31-year-old deep dark family secret about his conception and birth. Their journey to forever is still a work in progress but once they finally admit they’re in love with each other, everything that follows their love confessions will be cataclysmic.

__________

Chapter Summaries

Chapter 1 - Eddie makes a new friend while Buck receives devastating news regarding the sperm donation he made for Connor and Kameron.

Chapter 2 - Buck does a lot of research to learn more about the abnormalities found in his red blood cells and Eddie starts a new therapy journey that’s all about him and not the traumas he’s experienced.

Chapter 3 - After more than a month, Buck and Eddie finally spend time together outside of work but it doesn’t end well and they part with a lot of uncertainty regarding their places in each other’s lives.

Chapter 4 - Eddie has a few realizations about his life which causes him to consider moving back to El Paso, TX while Buck continues to be reminded of his past which causes him to take an impromptu road trip across America.

Chapter 5 - Both Buck and Eddie have difficult conversations with their parents and Buck finally learns the truth behind the reason why his mother despised him while Eddie finally tells his mother about the way she tries to control him.

Chapter 6 - More than two weeks after Buck pushed Eddie away after suggesting they needed a break; Eddie decides to try again. Eddie’s there for Buck when he’s at his worst just like Buck was there for him when he was at his worst and he won’t let Buck give up.

Chapter 7 - After Buck’s mental breakdown, Eddie has his back the same way Buck had his when he had his own breakdown more than a year ago.  They share several vulnerable and emotionally intimate moments with one another and they begin to realize their small, sweet and caring gestures matter just as much if not more than any grand gesture ever could because these are the foundations of a long-lasting love relationship.

Chapter 8 - Buck, Eddie and Chris all have their own therapists and during their sessions, they reflect on their pasts while they’re in the present so they can prepare for their future together as a family.

Chapter 9 - Buck and Eddie are there for each other when Buck has to testify as a witness during the trial.  But by the end of it, they’ll both realize their individual and shared traumas are going to keep resurfacing until they talk about them, deal with the fact that they’re in love with one another and face the fact that they can’t live without each other.

Chapter 10 - As Buck and Eddie finally begin to confront their past traumas, they realize how much they need each other to fill in the gaps of their memories.  Additionally, the universe screams at them for what appears to be the one hundredth time so Buck can realize he doesn’t have to ‘find it’ because he already ‘made it’ and Eddie’s reminded tomorrow isn’t promised and he doesn’t have to die alone if he doesn’t want to.

Chapter 11 - A “virga” or dry thunderstorm is in the forecast but once the rain starts, the thunderstorm happening outside won’t be able to match the storm brewing inside between Buck and Eddie.  It’s the universe’s final scream and when the tumultuous winds begin to blow, they’ll have one last chance to hold onto everything they’ve built over the last six years or they’ll lose it all forever.

Chapter 12 - Buck and Eddie have always shared a deep physical attraction and an emotional intimacy that’s unmatched but now that they’re in a relationship, they’re learning how to navigate the romantic intimacy they’ve been waiting for six years to explore. The love they have for each other is a once in a lifetime, soulmate, love of their lives type of love that transcends space and time.

Chapter 13 - While navigating the newness of their romantic relationship, Buck and Eddie take advantage of every moment they spend together. As their individual lives, people from their pasts, time constraints and the possibility of losing each other again make attempts to interrupt and interfere with their journey to forever, they love, care for, support and hold onto each other even tighter to withstand it all.

Chapter 14 - Buck and Eddie can see the lights at the end of the tunnels regarding the results of Buck’s Cancer Screening along with everything else they’re dealing with. But are the lights they see exits to the tunnels or are they headlights on different runaway trains that are speeding towards them in an effort to interrupt their forever?

Chapter 15 - Buck and Eddie have known they were exactly who the other one wanted in a partner since they met six years ago when they agreed to have each other’s backs. They’re in a romantic relationship, they’re both preparing to ask the other one to spend forever with them and by the end of the seventh week into their relationship, together they will plan their most important and greatest adventure for their future.

Chapter 16 - As Buck and Eddie begin to prepare for their marriage ceremony that will take place in Rome, Italy in December 2023, they start planning their first international adventure as a romantic couple. Even though Chris is still the only person they’ve told about their relationship, several people who know them have already witnessed the love they share and as the days continue, others will witness it too.

Chapter 17 - As Buck and Eddie get closer to departing Los Angeles for their international adventure, a moment in time will remind them; life is fragile, tomorrow isn’t promised and every second of everyday should be cherished because everything can change in an instant.  The result of that realization will cause them to hold onto each other even more.

Chapter 18 - As Buck, Eddie and Chris prepare for family gatherings before and during the Thanksgiving holiday, the “Santa Ana Winds” start to blow and all sorts of expected and unexpected familial drama ensues.

Chapter 19 - Will be posted soon.

__________

Read chapters 1-18 are available on AO3.

Continue reading on AO3

Chapter 19 will be posted soon. My goal is to post it tomorrow. I'm currently proofreading and editing it.

[izavella21]

The Use of Color in Character Design

One detail in character design that I’ve grown to really like is when certain colors, and sometimes patterns or accessories, are used to convey or hint at some type of connection between the characters involved. 

Here are some examples that I really like:

(Please note that a lot of these are my own speculation. I have no idea if these details and meanings were the artist’s and designers’ intentions when designing these characters, so please take this with a grain of salt)

Sonic The Hedgehog

Tails looks up to Sonic, and they’re close friends. Sonic and Tails both wear red and white shoes, as well as similar gloves. (I love that most of the Sonic characters’ gloves look like the basic cartoon white gloves at first glance, but they’re stylized to fit that character’s personality)

Later in the Sonic IDW comics, we get Surge and Kit, who are based on Sonic and Tails. Obviously, they wear the same shade of yellow, and their gloves and wrist bracers are identical. In this case, they were literally made for each other, so I think it would make sense for Starline to have them be matching to a degree. 

Encanto:

Encanto is full of examples of color used like this! A lot of details in the Encanto characters’ character designs show their connection. But for now, I’m going to focus on color specifically.

Okay, first, all the Madrigals are shown wearing white at their gift ceremony, before switching to a more colorful outfit afterwards. This is most prominently shown with Antonio, and briefly in Mirabel’s flashback.

Pepa’s side of the family wears warm colors. Mostly shades of yellow and orange. 

Dolores is shown wearing mostly red, which makes her stand out, but also blend in with her parents and siblings, at least to me. I’m not sure if that means anything. Antonio also wears a red scarf, so in that regard, Dolores matches her brother. 

Julietta’s side of the family wears shades of blue. 

Everyone except for Isabela that is. I’ve seen some people say that Isabela’s dress is pink, and I’ve heard others say that it’s purple or lilac. I think both make sense for her. Pink is Abuela’s color, and Isabela is shown to be the favorite grandchild. And if you really look into it, Abuela Alma seems to try to live her ideal life through Isabela, hence she might have influenced Isabela’s wardrobe, hence them both wearing pink.

Or, if you think Isabela’s dress is a pale purple, that also works, because purple can be made by mixing pink, Alma’s color, and blue, Jullieta’s color. 

In her song “What Else Can I Do?” Isabela’s dress gets painted with several colors, the most prominent of which being blue, yellow, and red, which are the colors of the Colombian flag, where Encanto is based.

At the end of the movie, Isabela’s dress is colored mostly blue, the same color as her parents and sisters.

Bruno wears green, which is yellow and blue mixed together. In other words, Bruno’s color is his sisters’ colors mixed together. 

And Mirabel’s dress contains lots of images that relate to her family’s gifts, but there’s no image relating to Bruno. However, Mirabel’s connection to Bruno is shown by her glasses being green, Bruno’s color.

Danganronpa:

The most obvious one: Junko’s outfit is black and white with red details. Similar to Monokuma.

Mukuro’s outfit when she’s disguised as Junko has a similar color palette. Makes sense. She’s in disguise, so she’s supposed to look identical to Junko at first glance. Does this count as foreshadowing to the mastermind reveal?

Chiaki’s design shares multiple elements with Usami/Monomi, including a similar shade of pink.

Not sure if this was intentional or not, but Hajime and Nagito have similar colors in their designs (mostly white and green). They are very much foils for each other.

Kaede and Kaito have similar colors in their design. There’s a lot of parallels between them and they play similar roles, particularly when it comes to supporting Shuichi. This one might be coincidence, but still.

Last but not least, Kaito’s associated with the color purple, Shuichi is associated with blue, and Maki is associated with red. Blue and red mixed together makes purple. In other words, Kaito’s color is his sidekicks’ colors mixed together. 

I think this is my favorite example on this list because it's subtle, and it doesn't register until well into the game.

At the start of V3, Shuichi Kaito and Maki have no meaningful relationship with each other, so you don’t think the colors used in their designs have any meaning. Then as the story progresses, their friendship gradually forms and develops. Key word being GRADUALLY, until you get to the scene in chapter 4 where they sit down and chat, and that scene has a dedicated image of them sitting together in a circle (also, Kaito is pictured between Shuichi and Maki, which makes the detail of their colors even more apparent). And you can look at that image and go “oh, that detail makes so much sense now!”.

Thank you for reading!

[foggyfanfic]

Queer Madrigals

I'm about to post a couple future!fic for Encanto, so I figured I'd take a minute to talk about my headcanons when it comes to their genders/sexualities.

The Obvious: I've posted somewhat in depth about what I think Bruno and Isabela's individual deals are, so I'm not going to really talk about it here, but yeah. Using the labels I am familiar with, I assume Bruno is demi, bi, and nonbinary, and that Isabela is a lesbian who ends up marrying a trans woman.

The Married: I mean, we can sit here all day and speculate, but the only real headcanons I got are that Juli is demi and Pepa has made out with more women than Bruno.

Mirabel: I've mentioned this, but I didn't really talk about it. Due to heteronormativity I suspect it wouldn't occur to Mirabel to question her sexuality until later in life when the Pride movement starts up. I think she's bi, possibly also demi, but most definitely not very focused on her love life (another reason why she doesn't think too hard about her sexuality). She's got shit to do and if somebody wants to date her they better speak up about it because she's got too many projects going on right now to bother with mind games. Mirabel ends up with a man mostly by coincidence, I saw somebody do the numbers and its just statistically more likely that a bi person will end up with somebody of the opposite sex (the math didn't factor for gender). I try to keep all of my headcanons grounded to peoples lived experiences, and this felt historically accurate.

Luisa: I think that if Luisa were a tumblrina she would end up being CIS+, but would have to go through the journey of exploring her gender due to societal biases. In the context of 1950's Colombia, she spends her youth hearing abuelas and tias talking about how she needs to be more feminine if she wants a husband, and struggles with that for a while. Luisa sings "I glow because I know what my worth is" and that's the sort of thing somebody says when they're on the other side of some serious self doubt, so I do think she had to deal with a bit of misogyny and body image issues. The thing is, Luisa likes the way she looks, and she's proud of what a hard worker she is, but she also wears ribbons in her hair and skirts instead of pants to work in. Furthermore, I suspect every bi person in the village, male or female, has a huge fucking crush on her because if she was a modern tumblrina people would be responding to pictures of her with that "not to be a lesbian but oh my god" stuff. I headcanon her as being technically cishet, but culturally gay due to people being people about the whole Woman with Biceps thing, if that makes sense. Once she starts allowing herself some free time, she dates every bi man in the village.

Dolores: Morosexual. No offense Mariano.

Camilo: You know how gender is a product of your culture and different societies throughout history have had different ideas of how many genders there are and what it means to be a man or woman? I think being able to turn into a woman at will would have an effect on Camilo's relationship with his gender. Like, I don't know if he would be full nonbinary, because I have never met a shapeshifter and asked them how they feel about gender, but I can't imagine he sees gender as a rigid binary. Like I said, I try to stay grounded in my headcanons, and I have zero idea what the lived experience of a shapeshifter is, soooooo...?

Antonio: I have spent a long time weighing the options here, his association with animals makes me think he would be the least traditional Madrigal, so I would like to think he'd end up in the least conventional relationship. I posted a list of headcanons where I floated the idea of him being poly, but I like the idea of him being aroace better. I stand by the rest of it, though. He marries a lesbian, let's her girlfriend move in with them, and he's just kinda there. Like, the women consider themselves married to each other and he's just some guy who talks to birds. They're his best friends and thinks he's pretty great but the only time he has sex is when him and the wives want kids, and other than that he's just vibing. I arrived at this headcanon because I love the idea of him being sorta a reverse Bruno. Like, people think he has two wives so everybody assumes he's this total lady killer, they sing songs about how charming he is, rumors abound that he can make a girl swoon with a single smile, then you talk to him and he's just some guy. Occasionally, a woman will throw herself at him and he's like "No thanks" then starts having a conversation with her cat. Do you see my vision? Anyone? I don't care if nobody else thinks it's funny, because I'm giggling at my computer.

[unnecessarilygrandiose]

Guys, come on. You have to try to understand. Eddie being 'the angry guy' in Buck's dream wasn't bad writing, an injustice to Eddie's character, or racist.

Hear me out.

If Eddie never met Buck, Eddie never met Carla. Which means he's struggling to be a firefighter, raise Christopher, trying to make it work with Shannon, and also probably trying to put up a good front for Abuela and Pepa because it's quite likely that whatever they know will get back to his parents. That's fucking hard for anyone, never mind someone with as much repressed PTSD as Eddie.

If there was no Buck, then, as the episode very clearly states, there would be no Bobby. Buck and Bobby are the first two people Eddie starts to trust in the firehouse. He forms a relationship with them before he gets closer to Hen or Chim. If there's no Buck and there's no Bobby, he probably isn't able to get close to Hen and Chim so easily. And that too is if he even ended up in the 118. We know from 2x01 that Bobby fought to have Eddie from the academy. All of this is to say that not only does he not have Buck, he doesn't have the entire support system that being in the 118 gave to him.

And maybe, even without Buck and the firefam, he would have eventually found someone to take care of Christopher, but that's a very difficult task, and certainly even more so when you've only moved to a new place a only few months ago. He's completely alone out here.

When Shannon died, Eddie's grief turned to anger. Remember fight club? Yeah, he's a war veteran, he's been trained to channel all his emotions into anger, to hit something. So it's not too far fetched to think that her dying and him being burnt out from all of his responsibilities and not having any real friends would turn him angrier. Maybe after joining fight club, he would have kept going. No Bobby to calm him down or coax him into therapy he doesn't want, no Buck to be annoyed at for suing departments, no Chim for Eddie to give sage romantic advice to, no Hen to bond over playdates with their kids.

Pepa and Abuela are probably seeing their nephew and grandson struggling, and while I'm sure they'd want to be on his side, maybe they decide that it's for his own good that they ask Eddie's parents to intervene.

So they come, they fight, and Eddie hasn't yet tried to mend his relationship with them, so they genuinely believe they're better for Chris than whatever Eddie can offer, and when he refuses to give Chris up, they take him to court.

Eddie loses his son. He never gets to meet his found family. He never gets to mend his relationship with his biological family. He doesn't go to therapy, because at least initially, Christopher was his only motivation to go to therapy.

Hence, he's 'the angry guy'.

I get why someone might not immediately get it, because all of this was distilled into one line in the show, but that doesn't mean it isn't true.

Also, it truly isn't a case of the white guy being the brown guy's saviour, god no. Eddie saved Buck as much as Buck saved Eddie. Imagine if Eddie never came to LA. What then? What would Buck do in season 2, when he's lonely and grieving the loss of his first adult relationship? In season 3, when he's recovering in his loft all alone, because there's no Eddie dropping Christopher off every day? He had a best friend, and he sued the department anyway. What if, because Eddie wasn't there to say “Do you know how much Chris misses you?”, Buck never dropped the charges? What if that completely ruined his relationship with the firefam? What if he completely regressed?

Those are very real things that could have happened if Buck never met Eddie. So truly, it is not a case of the nice white boy saving the angry brown man. It is a case of ‘what if this very pivotal character was removed from the equation, how would it affect the lives of the people who love them?’

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[miramilocamimira]

Villain Antonio???? Plez???

This is haunting me. It took so long to figure out what his reason would be and I realized if we lean heavily into pre-movie mama Mira headcanon, we really only need to start with a change at one scene.

If You Are Good

Antonio had come out of his room when Hiro told him that he heard Mira and Isabela come back. He had known that Abuela was looking for Mira but he didn't know what she wanted. He did know that Mira was trying to fix things.

All the animals kept talking to him. Telling him everything they knew. From Bruno being in the walls to his mom Pepa and Abuela having fought about what to use his gift for.

He loves his mom! He thinks. It's... Well, it's hard to say. How well can someone love what's essentially a stranger in his house? Antonio knows that's not what they all meant to have done but… the village came first. Abuela’s orders came first.

Except with Mira. He remembers when she'd break the rules and sneak him snacks or bandage his wounds or when she spent the whole day by his side while he was sick. She'd gotten in trouble for not helping pass out things or something.

It was funny. His Mira got in trouble for helping and for not helping.

“The cracks started with you.” He hears from his abeula and he feels cold. He looks down from his spot on the second floor and he doesn't need to see his Mira’s face to know she's hurt. Hiro growls and the others give out chirps and squeaks and more as they get upset on Mira’s behalf.

“Bruno left because of you. Luisa’s losing her powers,” Which isn't true! Bruno chose to leave to protect her! The rats said so. Earlier Dave the donkey said that he agreed with Mira and that Luisa deserved a break.

Barry is the one who comes up with the idea.

“Isabela’s out of control,” Flowers was out of control now? Antonio hears from some of the birds. He kind of agrees. Her having fun was out of line? “Because of you!” There's a bad feeling that feels like it's consuming him. He feels like he's on fire and covered in ice at the same time. Like he's gotten hundreds of paper cuts all at once.

He decides to do what Barry suggests. In a matter of moments, he and the animals are making their way up. Everyone else is focused on Abuela’s yelling at his Mira once again so they don't see him climbing.

“I don’t know why you weren’t given a gift,” Because his Mira, his Mami was perfect already. She was kind and caring. He'd always thought of her as good, as what good was supposed to be. “But it is not an excuse for you to hurt this family!” Now he knows he's the only one to think this way.

The walls are shaking. The animals say it's cause of the cracking.

There's a candle on a plate. It sits atop a windowsill to decide your gift and change your fate. He hears in his head. Something his Mira told him for as long as he could remember. Especially when he was feeling bad or scared. Well, in that impossible scenario, you’d stay here in the nursery with me.

He sees the candle. He doesn't hesitate to grab it.

“Don’t you ever- Antonio?” He turns around, candle in hand. They all start calling out to him but he focuses only on Mira.

And the hurt. The pain and fear, the doneness in her eyes when she first turns around are what does it. Even as it changes to concern and worry for him, he knows it was there.

If being good like the others will make him hurt his Mira for Abuela, if being good is what they are… he doesn't want it. Barry’s right.

If they're gonna call Mirabel bad then he’ll just have to show them what bad truly is.

He blows.

And

Everything

Crumbles.