#bruno madrigal leaves the encanto after mirabel's ceremony

[sorryiwasasleep]

Patient and Steadfast and Steady

Mirabel left her home a decade ago and is now returning.

She's... terrified.

She doesn't know what to expect, what to think, what to say.

But she's not alone, and things in the Encanto aren't quite as she'd left them.

It might just be time for her to get a miracle of her own.

(Written for the best girls birthday, tho I didn’t get it out in time. A runaway and returning Mirabel fic!)

[jacarandaaaas]

mirabels birthday so here’s some headcanons !!!🦋💘

- she zones out a LOT! whatever she’s working on/ thinking about takes priority in her mind so she accidentally gets so invested she could forget someone’s talking to her! (this doesn’t help in school)

- She’s a try hard on everything! probably stems from her giftless status but she gets frustrated if she can’t be up to standards! she ends up exhausting herself or burning out because she overworks herself!

- social butterfly! she’s a people person and loves talking to both the adults and the kids! she loves validation from the adults and being a role model to the kids!

- never stops talking😭 mirabels a professional yapper🙏 DONT ever ask her to explain what she’s working on because she will not shut up ever!!!

- carries around a sketchbook with her and goes to different parts of the encanto for inspiration! she might just doodle a motif or theme but it’s always something! she uses it later in her projects

- stealing @spooky-spextre-arts hc here but I love this one sm!! after Antonio’s plushie he tells the other kids and she makes a load of plushies for everyone!!

- she painted the mural in family madrigal! I think alma is aware mirabels artsy and would have asked her to do it! since it’s special commission that’s why the husbands are absent! mirabel was just so excited to be asked! Also it fits her art style

- she makes clothes! She designs them AND makes them!!

- she has friends! she’s incredibly social and I refuse to believe there’s only 2 teens in the encanto

- she likes cooking with julieta! even if she’s not the best at it she just appreciates the time with her mother!

- she helps Luisa discover her own style! since Luisa’s outfit is for work mirabel makes her other outfits to wear on her days off

- when she gets a crush she’s super annoying about it! Love language is acts of service!

- makes fun of camilo for being cringe (she is also cringe)

- Antonio is her fave cousin (this ones basically canon)

- a home bird!! she can’t ever picture herself leaving the encanto and this causes some friction between her and isa because isa does leave at some point!

- vents to casita about anything and everything (they are best friends)

- still struggles with opening up to people post movie. she’s not user to all the attention on her and gets overwhelmed often (she would never admit it)

- more street smart than book smart and is average in school but prefers art

- hates her birthdays (this one’s sad ik) but not only is it the anniversary of her ceremony but the day bruno left and in her mind the beginning of the cracks! she’s getting better but it’s still hard! (Her family spoil her for this exact reason)

- when she’s not playing music in the town she often plays with Felix and Dolores!

🌵isabela headcanons dolores headcanons🎀

[brumiramybeloathed]

A brumira idea I've had is, what if Bruno actually left the Encanto after Mirabel's ceremony and then Mirabel left the Encanto after Antonio's?

I've seen both of those floating around, and I've even seen a Brumira story where Bruno left the Encanto and then Mirabel decides to leave when she's 17/18 and they meet up at a bar.

But. I'm thinking something that sort of combines the two.

When Bruno leaves, he takes very little with him. Some changes of clothes, some food he pilfers, and that last vision. He hikes over the mountain and settles in the first town he comes across, not wanting to be too far, but not willing to stay. As a Madrigal, he helped the community in a variety of different ways, so he is skilled enough to make a living. So he does. Eventually, he settles on wood working, carpentry. He gets to be artistic and he gets to make things that actually help people, unlike his visions.

Mirabel, 10 years later, pushed aside by her family over concerns of the magic and her lack of gift and other issues, leaves. No one besides Abuela Alma knows he had a vision, as he took it with him and met no one on the way out. So. The day after Isabella's engagement to Mariano, two days after Antonio's birthday, Mirabel packs a bag with a change of clothes, some food, and some of her sewing supplies. She'll need to support herself after all.

So she walks to the next town over and talks to the tailors and seamstresses about someone hiring her on as an assistant or apprentice. Mirabel shows them her work on her clothes, offers to demo her skills, and most turn her away except one. This one calls Bruno over, as Bruno is good at reading people, even after all this time of not using his gift.

Bruno puts down his tools, comes over and talks to her. About her home life, where she's from, why this town, etc. And he recognizes her as Mirabel, his niece. But she says her name is Veronica Mortize.

So. Two weeks after she arrived at the town and she became the apprentice for one of the seamstresses, Bruno finally finds time to talk to her in private.

So she spills that, yes, her name is not Veronica Mortize, it's Mirabel Madrigal. She talks of her family's gifts, how she didn't get one, how things just got worse and worse for her as everyone grew tired of her being in the way and in the middle of things and she grew tired of everyone leaving her behind. So she left to make a name for herself.

Then Bruno tells her his story. His name, his gift, how everyone treated him. They commiserate over food Mirabel makes that reminds them both of Julieta's cooking.

3 Years go by. The two are busy, providing for themselves and holding down jobs in a town far busier than Encanto, but they meet up every month or so and catch up. Then it moves to meeting every two weeks. Then once a week.

Mirabel tosses out the idea of them living together first.

"We are family after all. That wouldn't be weird, and we would both save a lot of money and be far less lonely."

And. Well. Who is Bruno to argue with saving money?

But he also notices that they sit close together on the couch. That they sit next to each other at the table. That everyone around them thinks they are in a romantic relationship and most don't even know the two live together.

Bruno then notices the odd touches they give each other, across the shoulders, down the back, on the arms and legs. Bruno notices that Mirabel will sometimes look at him longer than perhaps a niece should look at her uncle. And he catches himself on more than one occasion looking at her longer than an uncle should look at his niece.

So they talk about it. It is an awkward, stilted conversation of uncomfortable realizations and begrudging agreement to not go further. They don't look each other in the eye for weeks afterwards. They try to keep their distance from each other. Meal times are quiet and suffocating. People and neighbors and coworkers wonder if they're fighting.

No. Not really. Just trying to reestablish the normal boundaries that family members should have between each other.

They break down three months after The Conversation. They cling to each other, the only comfort they have in a (not so) foreign land, the only comfort they have away from home, away from family. They agree that distance was not helping and that a certain amount of damage has already been done. So long as they don't cross more boundaries, they should be fine.

They keep this up for over a year. Soon, Mirabel is 20. Bruno is 55.

And both are done with the boundaries they upheld for several years now.

They get married with a small ceremony at the local church, using Mirabel's fake name and Veronica Mortize becomes Veronica Madrigal.

3 years later, a rider comes from over the mountain in search for Bruno Madrigal and Mirabel Madrigal. Alma Madrigal is dying and has requested that someone send news to them so she can see them in her final days.

Bruno and Mirabel have a serious conversation about the family, how they would react, was it wise to return as a married couple or should they hide it?

"Mirabel, neither of us are good pretenders, and both of us are already outcasts in that village. What good would hiding do?"

They decide to brave the backlash, Mirabel talks to the lead seamstress about a leave of absence, and Bruno closes his shop. Neighbors and friends wave them goodbye as they head to a mountain that has split down the middle, back to a place neither thought they would ever see again.

[yellowcry]

Mirabel headcanons

Mirabel Braulina Rojas Madrigal. Born 6th of March 1935

Childhood

Mama’s girl

Was a natural mediator. She generally doesn't like arguments and starts tearing up when somebody yells, even if it's not at her. 

Was very close to Luisa prior her ceremony. Hovewer, because of it, Mirabel was actually way more hurt by gentle distancing with Luisa rather than mych more agressive and bad relationship with Isabela.

Started learning embroidery in school and developed a great interest in it. (School in a rural Colombia would definitely teach about managing the household and self-care.)

Wasn't actually close to Bruno prior him leaving. In fact, they had barely interacted with eachother at all. Bruno was isolating himself for the most part by the point Camilo and Mirabel were born. And Mirabel was blamed for Bruno leaving

Mirabel got her eyes checked at the Christmas, few days prior Camilo's ceremony. Her sisters were checked too several times during their childhood

Teenage years pre-movie

She didn't play "mother's" role for Antonío. Antonío sees her as a big sister, not parent fugure. And Mirabel wasn't forced to babysit newborn all days long. Especially without an adult supervision. 

Isabela and Mirabel were getting agressive and snarky with each other around Isabela's Quinceañera and just got worse over the years. At the same time Luisa was using chores as a way to escape more and more.

Mirabel was/is a far better student than the rest of grandkids. Both because she wasn't distracted by her gift during the school time and she has a huge amount of patience and ability to focus.

Of course she is losing to her sisters (and everyone else) in terms of physical strength. 

Mirabel would walk around Encanto for hours after her parents tried to talk about her feelings. Just hoping that they would forget.

Likes showing what she made but is very nervous if she has to work in front of someone's eyes.

Mirabel acts like the family's cheerleader. Constantly praising them amd making her entire outfit dedicaded to them rather than to herself.

She is using optimism as a coping mechanism. Félix was probably a huge inspiration for her

Would never think bad about her family or think about leaving them.

Post-movie 

Still has nightmares about Casita's fall. Usually she goes to Luisa (Or Luisa just grabs her) as one of the closest relationship she has. (Second to only Antonío, but he is a child  and Luisa is the family protector)

will NOT become the next matriarch/candleholder.

Her future job is clothes design and decoration. She will be the one to decorate clothes for the next gen. (And her own when they would need new)

Repairs relationship with her sisters during the rebuilding.

Mirabel stops acting all cheery and outgoing most of the time now that she doesn't show off her family. She will gladly tell evwryone about her family, but she doesn't feel like she has to run all over the place for this

Sane way to her sisters, Mirabel won't get perfect in just one day. She still blames herself, feels like she has to make up for her lack of a gift and other. It rakes a while to heal

Relationships:

To put it shortly, Mirabel wasn't close to any adults in the family. They essentially grow closer but as teenager, Mirabel isn't really interested in spending time with them.

Her relationship with Abuela took a lot of work, for the most part during the rebuilding. Hearing Alma's stoty helped a lot because of Mira's compassionate nature but it didn't fix all the issues. They are getting there

Out of the adults, Mirabel is the closest to her mom. Tho pre-movie Mira tended to avoid her as felt she didn't deserve attention and affection. But is definitely closer to hwr and has warmer relationship compared to the others.

Mirabel is also very good with Félix as they both tend to act as emotional support and try to find positive sides even in the worst situations.

Pepa aprecciates Mirabel and how she teaches Antonío like a sibling. Generally finds their relationship very sweet. But they also not very close. Not on bad terms, they like eachother. But they won't spend much time together either.

Mirabel finds her dad somebody relieving.  Despite being closer to Julieta, she will much rather go to him if there's something wrong and she needs to talk with an adult. As Agustín doesn't do nearly as much emotional support (he still does, but nobody can beat Julieta.) And they actually can seem closer because spend more time together. Mirabel was a bit more comfortable around Agustín and Félix pre-movie as they were giftless too. Hence why Isabela thought that Mirabel is Agustín's fav.

She gets to know Bruno better, but they aren't very close. Again, taking the fact that they never really spoke prior her ceremony and all the blaming. And Bruno would at first het close with his own generation rather than kids.

Dolores enjoys Mirabel's quiet company. Especially as two relatively responsible members in the family they tend to get along really well. And emboidery isn't a loud hobby either so Dolores prefers it to whatever the others are doing.

Mirabel finds Camilo very annoying. They aren't really close. Pretty much the same fashion as Dolores and Luisa where both prefer anybody else. But as Camilo and Mirabel are teens they also tend to he way more sarcastic and bitter with eachother. As oppose to just not spending time together.

Antonío is still Mirabel's number one friend. They grow apart as he gets a lot of animal friends now. But both are still close to eachother and will happy bond together whenever they can

[hannahhook7744]

I Don’t Know Why All The Trees Change In The Fall, But I Know You’re Not Scared Of Anything At All;

Cover:

Summary: Isabela’s son is a mama’s boy. Trigger Warnings: Confusion, fear, jealousy, thoughts of violence, swearing, blasphemy, anger issues, and repeated use of the word ‘stupid’. Encantober 2024: Leaves. The way Isabela is thinking of Pedro is based off this wonderful fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37560733/chapters/93751921

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

Arlo Emo Marquez Madrigal, son of Isabela Rojas Madrigal and Bubo Marquez, at five years old didn't yet know why all the trees changed in the fall (or why the leaves changed whenever his mother wanted them to). 

Or whether Snow White's house was near or far away. 

But one thing he did know without a doubt was that his mamá wasn't scared of anything at all. He knew this because he'd seen it first hand, on multiple occasions.

He'd seen her chase off the mean old dead fish lady with a cactus after she insulted his mamá’s Tío Bruno. 

He'd seen her chase off his papá’s mean old papá and hermanos with an Épée. 

He's seen her chase the donkey farmer with a chancla after he tried to ask Tía Luisa to help him catch the donkeys again on Christmas morning. 

Arlo had even seen her pick up spiders with her bare hands and had seen her wrestle one of her potato people out of Parce’s mouth  and send the jaguar to the corner. 

So, yeah. Arlo or Mi pequeña flor, as his mamá liked to call him, knew that his mamá wasn't scared of anything at all and he'd even wager all of his allowance with Primo Camilo on it if he hadn't been banned from gambling by his padres. 

Which was exactly why when, during his gift ceremony, his hair went from soft and dry to liquid-y and move-y he ran in terror straight for his madre without even glancing at his door or his siblings’ new doors because he knew she'd protect him from whatever his gift had done to him and make Casita fix it.

And he knew she would because he had the bestest mommy in the Encanto. “¡MAMI! ¡MAMI! ¡MAMI! ¡MAMI!” 

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

To Arlo’s disappointment, mamá couldn't fix his hair. 

His hair, that had gone from wavy and curly and pitch black (like both his parents) to teal water with live, moving goldfish in it—because apparently his gift could affect his appearance far more than just making eyes go from hazel to green like it had with Tío abuelo Bruno. 

Arlo hated it. 

He hated his stupid new hair and wanted his cool old hair that made him look like his parents’ clone back. He hated his stupid Hy-dro-kin-esis or his water bending as Tío abuelo Bruno and Primo Cy called it. He hated that his head was always wet and that he could feel the fish moving, and that his papá and mamá couldn't play with his hair anymore. He hated that he couldn't cuddle with his parents or his siblings and cousins without his hair dripping everywhere. 

Arlo hated his stupid water-filled room that drip, drip, dripped non-stop no matter the time of day. He hated how the water rose when he was upset and how people he didn't know in town kept trying to touch his hair. 

He hated everything about his gift and he hated the miracle and he hated Casita and he hated his Tía Mirabel for handing him her magical door knob during the ceremony.  But most of all he hated his siblings and cousins for getting gifts they loved when he was stuck with one he hated that kept giving him ear infections that Abuela Julieta’s food couldn't heal. 

Why did his hermano Miguel Jr (or Smiley or MJ as he had been nicknamed) get to make shields out of thin air? Why did Miguel Jr get to make a shield bubble that he could run into walls with, without getting a boo-boo when Arlo was stuck with water bending?

Why did his hermana Zoey get to talk to and fix machines that he could befriend while Arlo was stuck with water bending?

Why did Princesa get to make different gasses?

Why did Elmira get to play with music and make things happen?

Why did Claudine get to turn invisible and why did Rachel get to make things come to life by sewing?

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

Why did Cesare get telepathy and Cornel get to see the dead and Cy get to see the future like Tío abuelo Bruno did?

And why did Rick get to tell when people were lying?

Why was Arlo the only one with a gift he hated?

Why did Casita and the miracle hate him?

He didn't want this gift. He wanted something cool, like being the next miracle holder or his mamá’s gift! Preferably something like his mamá’s gift. Not a dumb ol’ gift that ruined his hair and ruined his room and ruined his cuddles!

Arlo couldn't even draw the leaves on his mamá’s vines and plants anymore without the water from his hair dripping onto his drawing and dampening the paper!

It wasn't fair!

He wasn't even allowed to swim anymore either ‘cause the adults and bigger kids were scared that they wouldn't be able to see him ‘cause of his hair if he drowned. He loved swimming and now he couldn't. 

He couldn't play outside while it was cold either or sleep in someone else's bed with them without getting everything all wet because of his hair anymore either! It wasn't fair. 

It wasn't. 

And he didn't know why his mamá couldn't fix it— didn’t Casita know that his mamá was the bestest mamá and that she had to listen to her? Didn't the miracle know that?

Arlo hated them for not listening to his mamá and he hated that his mean old gift made his mamá sad. He even tried to hide how much he didn't like his power after he saw how much it upset her but the fish haired boy wasn't sure if he was successful because she kept trying to tell him that he'd grow to love his gift to make him feel better.

That abuelo had picked it out just for him. 

That water was the reason her leaves and vines and leaves and flowers and leaves could live. That his water could save her plants in a drought. Whatever a drought was. 

But it didn't make him feel better—because he knew that his mamá was just lying for his benefit; something that only served to make him despise his gift more because it had turned his honest madre into a liar —which he knew was a bad thing because his bisabuela Alma said that lying was rude and not good and not nice, and that they shouldn't lie. 

And if his madre was a liar because of his gift, then his madre was bad and he didn't want his mamá or his papá to be bad. 

But they were. All because of his useless, awful gift.

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

“See how green and lively the water makes the leaves, hijo? Isn't it nice?” Isabela asked, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice as she kneeled in front of her five year old with a big fake, painfully forced smile on her face. 

Hoping that her son wouldn't notice that she was trying to fake it till she made it. It, in this case, being love for her son’s gift. 

Since the mad scientist of a florist, quite frankly, despised her poor little son—who was so much like her that it hurt—’s gift. Maybe the artist would have liked the gift given to her little mini-me if Arlo himself had liked it but she would never know because her Arlo didn't like his gift and didn't want it.

El infierno, her little flower had even gone as far as begging for Casita to take it and his room back. 

It killed her and Bubo to see their son in such pain, especially since they had done everything they could think of to ease the boy's misery with absolutely no results other than Arlo trying to hide how much he was rejecting his gift from them. Which neither of them wanted in the slightest. 

Dios, the first thing Isabela was gonna do when she died was strangle her abuelo for giving her poor flower such a dreadful gift—if he was even responsible for this whole ordeal, that was. Not that the artist doubted that her grandfather was responsible for the miracle and their gifts; oh, no she was fairly confident that that was the case ever since Mirabel had suggested it. Mirabel was hardly ever wrong these days and Abuela had even confirmed that it did sound like something her Pedro would do. 

El absoluto imbécil.

And Cornel did say that Pedro had even admitted to being responsible for choosing the gifts each of them had gotten. 

Oh how she couldn't wait to ring his neck for the gifts he'd given her triplets and for the mischievous nature Camilo had undoubtedly inherited from him. El bastardo.

Dios, Isabela hadn't been this mad since she found out while giving birth that she was having triplets. 

Arlo scowled at the potted plant—something he'd never have done before his disaster of a gift ceremony—scrunching up his nose and hugging what was now his stuffed flower. Glaring at the plant as if it had done something to personally offend him as a fish attempted to swim out of his hair. “ No. ”

Oh, juro por Dios, she was gonna murder her abuelo for a second time when she next saw him.

[flyawaymind]

Encanto AU idea

Notes: Yes, I am still thinking about Encanto. It is a big comfort movie for me, and the characters (especially Bruno) are good for projecting onto, and I don’t think I will ever stop thinking about any of them.

You should know that this is nothing like what I usually write for this fandom, even though this is the only thing I feel is ready to post. I believe that all of the characters are flawed, and that even though Alma loves her family, her trauma influences her actions and that leads to her making many mistakes. I don’t believe for even a second that any of the adults in the movie are abusive or bad parents/tíos, and none of what I’ve written here is actually part of my headcanon for them. This idea was just too much to stay in my head, so I’m dropping it here. It’s also on AO3.

READ THE WARNINGS. This isn’t a happy one, folks.

Content warnings and tags: angst; so much angst; implied/referenced child neglect; implied referenced child abuse; good dad Agustín Madrigal; good tío Bruno Madrigal; bad tío Félix Madrigal; bad tía Pepa Madrigal; bad mom Julieta Madrigal; bad abuela Alma Madrigal; traumatized Alma Madrigal; traumatized Julieta Madrigal; traumatized Bruno Madrigal; black and white thinking; insecure Julieta Madrigal; insecure Bruno Madrigal; Bruno Madrigal leaves after Mirabel’s gift ceremony, Alma Madrigal Bashing, angry Bruno Madrigal, angry Agustín Madrigal

Mirabel’s ceremony stays the same. She touches the doorknob, the magic door disappears, the candle flickers, making Alma panic and ask Bruno for a vision. He sees Casita crumbling, his family in danger, and Mirabel at the center of it all, and the only thing he can think of to keep her safe is to go hide in the walls to watch his family from afar.

This is where things go wrong. Maybe he makes too much noise, or doesn't close the painting all the way, or gets caught getting food at night. Maybe he does everything right, but Dolores tells the family about how she’s been hearing something in the walls, something bigger than a rat.

Whatever happens, Bruno is found not long after the failed ceremony, and subsequently the family learns what he saw in the vision. It goes even worse than he had expected it to, starting with this: Alma takes the fact that Bruno tried to hide this from her as proof that Mirabel is already tearing the family apart.

Bruno tries to tell her that she’s wrong, but Alma is scared, traumatized, and she has been spending forty years protecting her home and her family. She isn’t about to risk losing it all again. Instead, she doubles down, saying that Mirabel is dangerous, that she can no longer be trusted.

Agustín thinks that the whole idea is ridiculous. He can’t believe that they were even having this discussion. His youngest daughter has been absolutely distraught about everything that’s happened, and Agustín can’t make himself believe that she would ever hurt her family. He fully expects Julieta to back him on this; after all, she’s been right there with him comforting Mirabel in the aftermath of her ceremony. He’s more than shocked when she quietly tells him that her mother might be right.

Julieta has always carried a huge weight, and it was placed on her shoulders when she was the same age Mirabel is right now. No doctors had followed Alma and Pedro into the jungle. Before the triplets got their Gifts, the town just made do. For thirty-five years Julieta has been the only thing standing between the entire Encanto and medical disaster. She has spent all of her life around the sick and dying, has seen all sorts of horrific injuries. If something happened to the miracle, if she isn’t able to heal everyone anymore, how long will it take for them all to just die off? Part of her knows her reasoning is illogical at best, but fear and shame are powerful motivators, and her mother has been wielding them against Julieta her whole life.

Stunned, Agustín turns to Félix, believing that surely the other Madrigal in-law would see that this was wrong—but Félix shakes his head.

“The Encanto needs the magic,” he tells his cuñado, “It’s the foundation of the whole area. Who knows if the land will even hold up without it?”

He sounds so sad as he says it, like he’s already mourning the loss of the youngest Madrigal. As though there is no avoiding what is about to happen.

Pepa is practically tearing her hair out as she runs her hands down her braid, trying to keep the hail and freezing rain that is buffeting her shoulders from affecting the rest of the room. She doesn’t want to lose any of her family, but she has known Bruno for longer than Mirabel has been alive. He and Julieta are her triplets, three parts of a whole, and if she has to choose between them and her niece, her siblings will always come out on top. Still, she thinks of her little Camilo, not even a year older than Mirabel.

“Maybe there’s a way to change the prophecy, change the future,” she says, “Maybe there’s something less extreme that we can do to stop Mirabel from destroying everything.”

She can’t meet anyone’s eyes, and voice is weak and shaky. It’s clear that she doesn’t believe what she’s saying. Not even Félix can bring himself to support her argument, though he wraps a comforting arm around her waist.

“No,” Alma says, voice sharp and cold as a blade. “All of Bruno’s visions come true. All of them. We must deal with this problem now, before it can take root.”

It’s two against four. Desperate, Agustín turns again to Bruno, pleading with him to find a solution. “Hermano, I know your visions aren’t always clear. There must be some loophole, maybe some detail that you missed?”

Here’s the thing: although the stakes have never been this personal, this argument isn’t new to Bruno. In the past his mamá has used his visions to dole out punishments well before any crime was committed, and Bruno knows word for word how the fight will go, so he tries a different approach. If he can’t change their minds, maybe he can at least make sure his sobrina isn’t punished too harshly for what he had seen. Maybe he can still keep her safe, or at least, safer.

“What are you even planning to do?” he asks his mother, “You can’t just kick a little girl out on the streets, especially not your own granddaughter. Even aside from how cruel that would be, there’s no way she would be able to survive on her own, and none of the villagers would be willing to help her, not if it meant going against you.”

This is what finally makes Julieta speak up.

“Surely Mamá isn’t thinking about kicking Mirabel out entirely,” she says. “Maybe we can just keep her isolated until the danger is past. Casita can make a new room for her. The Mirabel in the vision was a teenager, no more than sixteen at the most. I would rather spend a decade or so with my daughter locked away under the same roof than a lifetime without knowing where she is.”

Alma rests a gentle hand on Julieta’s shoulder. “I understand your concerns,” she tells her. “The love of a mother is a powerful thing. But you cannot allow your own selfishness to bring harm upon the miracle. As Félix said, there are many more lives at risk here than just our family. The needs of the many must outweigh the needs of the one. This is no different than separating a contagious person from others to keep the disease from spreading.”

Julieta doesn’t have a counter argument for that, and the tiny spark of rebellion in her eyes goes out before it can catch flame. She closes in on herself and cries quietly, muffling the sobs in one hand and using the other to grip Agustín too tightly for him to pull away. She doesn’t notice that he isn’t holding her hand in return.

“This isn’t a disease they’re talking about,” Bruno says, desperate to make his family see sense. “She’s a little girl, barely five years old, who is just as scared as we are. It was her door that faded away, after all, and she isn’t even old enough to comprehend the potential ramifications, let alone bring down the whole Encanto.” His voice is shaking with barely contained rage and old hurt as he continues. “Mirabel isn’t some kind of curse. She isn’t bad luck and shouldn’t be shunned because of a bad vision. She’s just a child, just a kid. She’s done nothing to deserve any of this. It’s not like she can create the future.”

The argument goes on as emotions become more and more fraught, each person trying to speak over the others. Each person except Alma, that is. She hasn’t taken her eyes off of her son, and after a few moments she raises her hand. The gesture is enough to make everyone fall silent once more.

“Bruno is right,” she says, and Agustin lets out a sob of relief. “The jungle is too dangerous for a young child, and although the future is unavoidable, Mirabel isn’t the one who set it in stone. That is why Bruno will go with her.”

The response is immediate and loud. Pepa and Julieta argue that there has to be another way, that they can’t lose their little brother again. The short time he spent in the walls was painful enough.

Agustín is yelling, swearing, asking how Alma can banish two members of her own family, her own son and granddaughter, based on something that won’t even happen for another ten years.

Félix is quiet, but he has turned to glare at Bruno, as though this was just a repeat of his and Pepa’s wedding, as though the prophet wasn’t one of the only people trying to stop this in the first place.

Bruno has gone pale, his breath knocked out of him by his mother’s words and the clear message between the lines. His mother believed that he was to blame for his niece’s future, for the potential downfall of the family and the miracle, and so he would be punished along with Mirabel. Somewhere under the shock and hurt, Bruno feels a little bit of relief. At least he knew what she thought of him, now. At least she wasn’t pretending to care for him anymore. No more masks, no more condemnation thinly disguised as encouragement. He hears himself speak as though through a long tunnel.

“Fine,” he says, the single word cutting through the noise. “If all of you are willing to let your fear rule your actions, then Mirabel is no longer safe in Casita. I always swore I’d never let any of the kids turn out like me, and if I have to protect Mirabel from our own family, then I will. Clearly neither of us are welcome in Encanto anymore, but I’ll be damned if I let Mirabel go out there on her own.”

Agustín tears himself away from Julieta and clings to Bruno, pleading with him not to take his daughter away, to wait a day, to give everyone a chance to come to their senses, or to at least let Agustín leave with them. Bruno’s ceyes are sad as he brushes off his cuñado’s hands.

“You have to stay here,” he says.

He doesn’t tell Agustín that the others could turn on any of the other kids just as quickly as they have turned on him and Mirabel. He doesn’t say that they can’t take them all, that they’ll never make it past the mountains with so many children and so few adults. He doesn’t say that the rest of the kids need at least one person in their corner, should something like this ever happen again. He doesn’t need to say any of it. Under the shock and panic and heartache, Agustín already knows that he has to let this happen, to let the man he thinks of as a brother leave with his youngest daughter. He knows, and it hurts him all the more.

There are a few more weak protests from Julieta and Pepa, but the decision has been made. Bruno and Agustín go to Dolores’s room, where all of the children had been sent so they wouldn’t hear the arguing. Agustín begins to cry when he takes in the way they’re all curled up together, with Mirabel right in the middle of the pile. The sound wakes Dolores from her light sleep, and her movement wakes the other kids, like a little line of sleepy dominoes.

Bruno isn’t doing much better than his cuñado, but he gives a watery smile as he informs the kids that he and Mirabel need to leave the Encanto. No, he isn’t sure how long. No, no one else is going with them. No, this isn’t because of anything that any of the kids had done. No, he isn’t sure when they’re coming back.

“Sometimes grown-ups make bad choices,” he tells them, barely disguising the bitterness in his voice. “It’s better for me and Mirabel if we go, to put some space between us and the Encanto.”

Dolores speaks up for the first time that night, even before she had been sent to bed with the others. “Will you be careful, Tío?” she asks, “Will you protect her?”

Bruno swallows against the lump in his throat, wonders if her room is as soundproof for her as it is for everyone else. “Lola, I swear that I’m going to do everything I can to keep her safe. To keep us both safe.”

By now all of the kids are crying, confused and scared. They’ve never seen Agustín so upset, have never seen him cry like this, no matter how badly he’s gotten hurt. Isabela, Luisa, and Mirabel are clinging to each other, and even though Camilo is held tight in Dolores’s lap, he has one little fist clenched in Mirabel’s dress. Agustín kneels down to detangle his daughter and pull her away, giving her one last tight hug and a kiss. For a long moment he just keeps her close, breathing her in, petting her hair, feeling her weight in his arms, trying to cement everything about his little girl in his memory. She is trying so hard to be brave, but he can see the way tears are rolling down her cheeks and how her bottom lip is trembling. Through it all, she pats his cheek.

“Don’t be scared,” she tells him, “Tio Bruno is really nice, and we’ll be back home before you know it, okay?”

It’s the same thing that he and Julieta tell their daughters whenever they don’t want to go to school, to reassure them that their teachers are kind and that at the end of the day the girls would come back home. Agustín clutches Mirabel to his chest and sobs into her hair, his whole frame shaking. He feels a hand on his shoulder and desperately turns away, but Bruno moves with him and gently lifts Mirabel from his arms. The prophet is crying now, too, but for Mirabel’s sake he still clings to a brittle smile.

“I’ll take good care of her, Gus,” he says, “And hey, Mira and I will try to write as soon as we get settled, okay? Let you know all the news from our new place.”

Agustín nods and does his best to paste on a smile, but both men know that even if they found a way to get a letter back to Encanto, Alma would never allow it to reach the rest of the family.

They make sure each of the other kids says goodbye to Mirabel before leaving the room to find Julieta and Alma in the courtyard with two old suitcases. Agustín ignores them, instead going straight into the kitchen for the strongest bottle of alcohol he can find. It doesn’t escape his notice that although Julieta looks worried and upset, neither of the women are crying.

Bruno won’t let go of Mirabel, so Julieta has to awkwardly hug them both goodbye at once, her brother tense and angry in her arms. He refuses to let Alma come anywhere near them, even to say goodbye, and rejects Julieta’s help as he uses an old blanket to tie a still-sleepy Mirabel to his back so he can pick up the suitcases. Leaving his mother and sister with one last withering glare, Bruno walks out the door, forcing himself not to look back as he and Mirabel leave the warmth of Casita and go out into the night.

He hopes that by leaving the valley, he can break the prophecy and change the future. He hopes that Mirabel never has to step into this town again, but if the vision holds, he hopes the death of the miracle tears this place to the ground. If she does come back at some point, he will make sure he’s right beside her, keeping her safe.

[artastickk]

Day 5!

Karina’s 30’s ❤️ (she’s 39 in the pic I drew, but it still counts 😅)

Heads up there will be some mention of death. Also I’m sorry this is so long my brain is a bit fried from work today 😅💚

Up until Mirabel’s ceremony, Karina and Bruno’s life was pretty quiet and happy. Other than battling the constant disappointment from Alma and the aggressive rumor mill of the village. Alma makes it known not long into their marriage she doesn’t exactly approve of her son’s choice in a wife, but she makes the best of the situation.

The day before Mirabel’s gift ceremony Karina realized that she is pregnant. After so many years of marriage and no “slip-ups” her and Bruno became content with the fact they may never have children. She was ecstatic. She chose to wait until the day after Mirabel got her gift to tell the good news, it wanting to take any attention away and figuring everyone would be in a good mood by then. That is until the day actually came and Mirabel didn’t get her gift nor did anyone know where Bruno was.

Karina was devastated when Bruno disappeared. Alma and his sisters were also heartbroken at first until Alma decided that there would be no more talk about Bruno and that him leaving was a disgrace to the family. Julieta and Pepa were easily influenced by what Alma said and thought in the situation.

Things got pretty hostile a couple of months after Bruno had gone. Karina refused to stop looking for him and the Madrigal’s saw her as a walking reminder of their biggest shame. So, Karina had to make the choice to leave Casita and hope for a better life for her and her baby somewhere else.

The first place she went for help was her parent’s. They knew of what had happened from what Alma was willing to divulge to the other elders in town. Instead of supporting their daughter, they took Alma’s side. Staying if she just told them where Bruno was everything could go back to how it was. When she continued to beg them to listen to the truth, they refused and said that their child that would never help tear a family apart the way she did. She never saw them again after this day.

From then on she determinedly worked a handful of jobs around town. Waitressing, working a local farm during the harvest season, and being an assistant to an elderly seamstress, Bastía Sosa. She came to the Encanto with her husband, leaving her adult children and other close family behind for a safer life. In exchange for room and board, Karina would help her meet deadlines for certain commissions she had. After several months they became quite close. Just before Karina gave birth to her daughter, Bastía passed away after falling in her shop and hitting her head on a corner shelf. With no living relatives in the Encanto, nobody fought Karina for the inheritance of the store.

October of that year was an awful month for her. She lost her only friend and confidante. Shockingly found herself the owner of a loft and a whole storefront. Bruno’s first birthday since he left rolled around and she didn’t bother getting out of bed that week. Two weeks later she goes into labor, but sadly her little girl did not make it passed her first breath. The midwife called it an “fluke tragedy”. Karina never fully recovers from that day. She thought she was shattered before and yet her heart still breaks anew from this.

💚 Bastía Amora Vergera Madrigal- 1st born October 29th, 1940 💚

@encanto-extended-edition

🥀🥀🥀

[foreveranevilregal]

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

@justadreaminghufflepuff asked for: Pepa going to water the fields after Bruno leaves and remembering how Bruno used to tag along when they were young so he could tell her sad stories to get the job done then funny ones to make her smile again.

Sorry this took so long! Please note that one of the stories mentions animal death (not in detail), so be mindful if that’s something that would upset you.

It had been a rainy spring. Sure, springtime normally brought plenty of showers, but Pepa’s gift helped compensate for any lack of rainfall in the encanto.

There had been a lot of compensation that year.

It wasn’t like Pepa could help it. Her gift was still, as a forty-year-old woman, not fully under her control. Usually, she’d rely on Félix or her siblings to help her harness whatever emotion would produce the desired weather. Well, one sibling in particular…

Yet even in his absence, he caused Pepa to rain. Torrential storms tormented the town, causing the river to flood over. Fortunately, many of the crops hadn’t been planted yet, so not much was lost. With some grumbling, the farmers agreed to wait until the rain was under control before planting. A delay was better than no food at all. They would still be fed that winter.

Eventually, the rains dried up. The river receded to its normal levels, and the ground gave up the extra water it had been harboring. Crops were planted. Young plants were tended to. For a time, everything was running smoothly.

Then the dry spell began. There would be no rain for long stretches of time, interspersed by brief intense showers. Evidently, it was going to be a dry year.

Apparently Pepa had been compensating far more than everyone had realized.

Although the townspeople had been avoiding contacting Pepa, out of both respect for the family’s loss and fear of her reaction, it had become inevitable. If it didn’t rain, their crops would be lost.

So, a brave soul reached out to Julieta in the marketplace, asking her to pass the message onto her sister. No one dared confront her directly. They’d seen what happened to people who invoked her wrath. The charred remains of that cobblestone could still be seen in the plaza.

But Julieta had a way of speaking to Pepa that calmed even her most extreme emotion. Whether it was elation scorching the ground, or sorrow drowning everything, Julieta was able to soothe Pepa back to a state of tranquility. It was an ability honed over years of experience. Not even Félix was able to calm her so thoroughly. With him, Pepa would be so grateful to calm down that sunlight would burst out whether people liked it or not.

When complete calm was needed, people turned to Julieta. Some commented, in hushed whispers, that this gift was just as valuable as her healing.

And so, Pepa found herself leaving the house for the first time since… well, since what had happened after Mirabel’s gift ceremony. Her feet knew the way, leading her up the path towards the fields and their parched crops.

She wasn’t quite sure how this would go. Normally, her brother would accompany her on the trip; helping her use her gift and do what was needed, since Pepa couldn’t exactly force herself to cry on command. He’d come up with some sad story to tug on her heartstrings and make her cry long enough to water the crops, then just as easily tell her something happy to cheer her back up and stop the rain. In return, Pepa would help him when his visions left him shaken and terrified.

Somehow, the Madrigal gifts weren’t really gifts to the Madrigals themselves.

It had started when she was little. After a short adjustment period, when people saw that she’d gained a modicum of control over her gift, they immediately started requesting her to make it rain on command. They requested sun sometimes, or a gust of wind occasionally on a sweltering day when they wanted to cool down, but it was primarily rain they’d ask for.

The first time Pepa went to the fields, she was by herself. She stood there for what felt like hours, trying desperately to make herself sad enough for it to rain. Ultimately, it was the thought that she’d be a failure who would let down her mamá that finally brought down the rain. But she had gotten so sad over the situation that she wasn’t able to make the rain stop for far too long. She had walked home in waterlogged alpargatas that day.

Following that incident, her mamá had decided someone should go with her when she went to water the crops; just to keep an eye on her and make sure she was okay. Bruno and Julieta would take turns at first, but as Julieta got busier and busier with her healing, Bruno was left as Pepa’s companion.

She wouldn’t trade it for anything.

At home, Bruno still acted like a normal brother, annoying her and causing her grief. But when they were at the fields, he was her biggest support. Pepa remembered the first story he told her to get her to cry. It was a horribly sad tale about a bunny that had died. She’d begun sobbing uncontrollably, and then Bruno quickly reassured her that the bunny had been healed somehow and came back to life.

The first time she heard this ending caught her off guard. It was impossible, she argued. Dead things don’t just come back to life.

Well, it was a story, Bruno shot back, so it could have whatever ending they wanted. Didn’t she want the bunny to be alive again? Then stop complaining. Stories were allowed to have impossible things happen. That’s what made them stories and not real life.

Pepa had to concede, she did like the ending where the bunny lived again. From then on, she began to wholeheartedly believe in the impossible.

She still wanted to believe that impossible things could happen. Except now her wishes were far less naïve than wanting a bunny to come back to life.

Every time they went to the fields, Bruno would tell her the story of the bunny. The details would vary, but the overall plot remained the same: the bunny died, somehow the bunny came back to life, everyone lived happily ever after, the end. As they grew older, the story morphed to fit her newfound interests. Dying animals gave way to star-crossed lovers, kept tragically apart by various circumstances (varying in intensity depending on how much rain was needed), but always, always, reunited at the end.

Pepa adored these stories, with their drama and twists and turns. She joked that Bruno should write them down, like a book or a play. Surely other people would enjoy her brother’s creativity too.

(When she discovered romance novels, she was just delighted.)

But she couldn’t dwell on those memories now. Not when she trudged towards the field with heavy feet and a heavier heart. She had to focus on the task at hand: make it rain enough to water the crops, and not so much that it would flood the fields. The last few weeks, she had been feeling numb; not really sad or angry or upset anymore, just a kind of flat buzzing filling the void left by the intense emotions that had wracked her after… well, after. She wasn’t sure whether she’d be able to make it rain.

Finally, she reached the fields. She surveyed the plants; taking in wilted, yellowing leaves with curled edges desperately crying out for water.

The buzzing was still in her head.

She missed Bruno.

She wished Bruno was here.

She missed Bruno.

But he wasn’t. He was gone.

She missed Bruno.

She might never see him again.

Suddenly, the floodgates opened.

It turned out she didn’t have to worry about whether she could make it rain.

Making it stop would be the real problem.

[bombasticprimekitty]

Side Story: Second Best

All her life, Dolores Madrigal is known to be the second.

The second to be born, the second to be able to walk, the second to be able to talk, the second to get her gift, and the second to be the very best.

And no matter how hard she tries, no matter how hard she struggles. Every blood, sweat, and tears that she pours to perfect her craft. Days, months, years of hardship to try and be the very best, to be the number one. She was just never good enough. Always losing behind her older cousin by three months, Isabela. Everything she do or does, Isabela simply did it better.

After all, what is hard work when pitted against natural talent?

Isabela the golden child. The perfect child. The first of the third generation of the familia Madrigal. A gifted prodigy. And the one that always ahead of her. And the very best of all.

No matter the many sleepless nights or the long hours of days. She is always in Isabela’s shadow. Even when she tries to claw and tore her way out of it. Struggling against it as if she was drowning. The shadows just grow taller and wider. Threatening to block her off completely.

Carving a Pokeball? Her’s was slightly lumpy with a few imperfections, while Isabela’s made a perfect one without any bumps or imperfection. Perfect shape to the likes of her Tio Agustin smooth metallic pokeball.

Catching Pokémon's? She managed to get three, while Isabela caught six. And all six of the Pokémon are known to be very aggressive and dangerous.

Entering the Tournament of Champions? She ranks second, while Isabela ranks first. Beating her three to six, not even bothering to let out the other three. A total sweep.

And she could only greet her teeth in anger. Envy growing in her chest like the parasitic mushroom on a Paras back.

Each one step forward she takes, Isabela would take six. Widening the gap between them with each passing day until all she could only see was her back from a distance. The gap between them separated by a wide chasm. And never once did Isabela look back to acknowledge her.

Isabela was always the first, while she always took second.

How she resents it. How she resents her. It wasn’t fair. While she struggles to accomplish anything and Isabela makes it so effortless. It felt like her attempts were being spitted on. That no matter how hard she tries she could never reach her. To be her equal and stand side by side with her. That the gap between their skills is too enormous. And Dolores was determined to prove her wrong. That she can be her equal. That she is her equal.

And then Mirabel’s gift ceremony happened. And Isabela and Tio Bruno are gone.

And just like that, her world grinds to a stop. Suddenly there isn’t anyone that she can compete against. No one that she can try to prove herself to. All of her hard work and struggle amounts to nothing now. Since now that Isabela is gone, she’s now automatically number one.

And she hates it.

Because it isn’t something that she earns. It was just given to her on a silver platter. Because when the first is gone, the second would replace them. It felt like she had cheated. That she took an easier path to get the recognition she so desperately wanted. And not by the person she wanted to be recognize the most.

Yes, she had gotten the number one spot she wanted. To be the very best. And yet...

After her pseudo sister cousin’s untimely death, she felt the shadows that she was under growing exponentially larger. The gap between them is ocean apart now. And this time, she has no way of ever leaving it. After all, there is no better feat of accomplishment than dying to protect the people of Encanto. Like Abuelo Pedro.

Isabela’s last big accomplishment. Dying a hero’s death.

She felt like a replacement. Like they need a stand in for the best. A second Isabela Madrigal. The one that will forever be just a shadow to the real one. The fake one. A poor imitation of the original.

Guess no matter what she do. She’s always destined to remain the second best.

[newtishfiction]

Two separate covers of Encanto songs have me thinking about my oc and I can't stop.

First up!

Waiting on a Miracle - Stephanie Beatriz

I went with Annapantsu's cover. There's a minor lyric "Hey, I'm still a part of the family Madrigal" becomes "Hey, I'm still a part of the family after all". This one I want to turn into a pmv and here's what I'm picturing for the idea:

Happens during the Star's wand ceremony. Nova (the oc in question) watches on and wants to be happy for her but she's hesitant. While everyone celebrates Nova slips away at some point and goes to the Hall of Queens aka the Grandma Room. Here's where the music would start. She's taking a breather to calm herself and vents with only her family's tapestries there to see. The song would come to a close with Nova standing before a tapestry of the first queen. This one was created based on descriptors of the queen.

Mirabel's Villain Song - We Don't Talk About Bruno by Lydia the Bard

I don't have any thing written up and already I want to write an au of an au. In this case Nova turns on her family far earlier in the story. The Magic High Commission knows about her true lineage and treat her with indifference. Nova remains quiet and stays out of their way. She's found that Butterfly Castle has a lot of hiding spots. Another thing is the MHC like to talk when they think no one else is around. Nova learns a lot from overhearing their discussions.

At some point while Star is still very little an incident occurs that results in Nova leaving or being sent away. Her leaving I can picture the song being how it all goes down.

[lord-madmyth]

Name: Javier Delgado

Pronouns: He/Him

Age during the film: 75

Eye color: golden brown

Hair color: black with gray streaks

Height: 5’11

Brief personality description: quiet, gruff, and introverted, Javier rarely talks and when he does it’s usually sass. He’s a workaholic but is also very family oriented. He fears losing his remaining family.

( TW family death)

An abridged backstory: the youngest son of a carpenter, he wasn’t expected to take on the family business, so when he married the wealthy Portuguese tailor’s only child Teodora he took on that trade (which he was naturally talented in). He became friends with Pedro Madrigal in their young adult years (an extrovert adopting an introvert type of situation) and was a frequent sounding board of advice to him with his relationship with Alma. Their town was attacked not long after Pedro and Alma’s triplets were born. Javier and his wife had to flee after the shop her parents ran was burned. He witnessed the death of Pedro and the subsequent birth of the Encanto. About a year after the Encanto was established, he and Teodora had their first daughter, expecting her to be their only child due to fertility issues that plagued his wife’s family, they named her Carina. About four years later they were surprised to find Teodora got pregnant again with another daughter who they named Núria after her grandmother. Sadly misfortune fell upon his family not long after Mirabel’s gift ceremony, Teodora died making him a widower. Then two years later his eldest daughter Carina died in childbirth with his grandson Jacó, leaving her husband Edwardo a widower. Javier had to put up a strong front even though the losses devastated him. Eventually even his son in law died from a stress induced heart attack and Javier found him. Feeling numb from so much loss, he threw himself even further into his work. Eventuality the events of the movie happen and Núria begins seeing Bruno, which surprises him but he supports.

3 Interesting facts about your OC:

* Javier is based personality wise on my maternal grandfather.

* He looks really scary but he’s a softy.

* Núria inherited her shynesses from him.

[sorryiwasasleep]

Port in the Storm:

The world can be cruel, especially if your name is Bruno Madrigal.

(even if he doesn't use the Madrigal part anymore)

But sometimes, there are bright spots, and when he leaves the Encanto, he finds shining lights and comes into his own.

(New runaway Bruno fic- prequel to my ‘To Fall Apart’ one but not necessary to have read!)

[reikomizuao3]

Tres Oruguitas AU

This is directly based off of my fanfic Tres Oruguitas: https://archiveofourown.org/works/40662573/chapters/101882607

After Mirabel's failed ceremony, Bruno has his vision, and starts truly considering leaving the Encanto. He and Dolores both go to comfort Mirabel, and Dolores urges Bruno to take them both and leave.

One of the villagers who had always seen the best in Bruno decides to help them escape, and through Bruno’s sacrifice of leaving his home behind, and the kind villager's sacrifice of food, clothing and a horse, Pedro Madrigal is able to temporarily return from the grave, transporting them to the other side of the mountain and giving them a new magical house at the expense of Casita.

Naturally, Alma does not take this well.

I would love to see what other people come up with for this AU

[brumiramybeloathed]

They Both Leave Au Snippet #1

(AU where Bruno left the Encanto adter Mirabel’s gift ceremony and Mirabel left after Isabella’s engagement dinner)

Mirabel and Bruno sit side by side on their small couch. Dinner was finished and the dishes were cleaned and it was almost time for them to go their separate ways for the night.

Neither wanted to leave.

"How do you think the family is doing?" Mirabel asks softly.

They never mention the Madrigals by name, as if saying it could summon them and take them away from the peace they've found.

Bruno sighs. "I don't know. You know I don't use my gift anymore."

"I am well aware of that, Bruno," Mirabel says, glancing at him. "I asked what you thought, not what you saw."

Touche, Mirabel.

"They're probably fine. Probably don't mention either of us but... Mama is nothing if not persistent in making sure the family looks perfect."

They look fine, but likely aren't is what remained unsaid.

Even this far away from the Madrigals, Mirabel and Bruno know to keep certain things unsaid.

Mirabel leans her shoulder into Bruno's and Bruno leans back, for just a moment.

"It's time for me to go to bed if I am going to make it out of tomorrow with no injuries," Bruno says.

"Me too."

When he lays down for the night, his shoulder still tingles with residual heat and his heart aches for something Bruno cannot quite describe.

[yellowcry]

I've seen some posts about "Mirabel is disobedient" and I really don't agree with it. So some of my own opinion/analysis of Mirabel's action. Just my own thinking. Not attacking anybody

The thing is. Mirabel actually DOES follow the rules that Alma had said to her specifically in the movie

Starting with

"The best way for some of us to help is to step aside".

It is the first direct appeal to Mirabel. Alma does not clarify what she meant by 'step aside' at this moment. And Mirabel's action pretty much show that she stopped helping at that moment. So we can see Mirabel leaving the preparation and going into her room. Which shows that Mirabel generally follows Abuela's rule. But what is coming next is the ceremony. Mirabel doesn't stand with the rest of her family but stays behind the curtains in the dark. Which is exactly what Alma had said, step aside, don't be near the family. Yes, she breaks this rule in the end. But this happens only because of Antonío (but let'sbe honest, who can blame her?). Which highlights that Mirabel is ready to go over her own guidelines if it means helping and defending people she cares about.

The breakfast is probably the scene that shows Mirabel not following rule the most. We don't know how the rules are in Madrigal family. But taking the facts, it is safe to assume that talking at the same time as Alma does can be concindered rude. So shows that Mirabel can be a bit forgettable and focus on her goal rather than what is going on in reality. Hovewer, we can also see that Mirabel stops after Alma's demand to do so. Allowing the rest of the scene to go even without her interruptions. So even in this small situation, Mirabel still clearly follows what Akma has said her to do.

"Stay away from Luisa."

Another rule that Mirabel easily follows. We can see her concerned. And taking Mirabel's passionate nature into account, I have no doubt Mirabel would want to check on her sister. But she doesn't. Yes, we can blame it on the fact that Mirabel was far more focused on the vision at the moment. And even when Alma is obviously far away and we can see Luisa struggling with a pot, Mirabel still doesn't aproach her sister to help. So staying away as she's supposed to.

So in general Mirabel followed all the rules said to her specifically. She did break some of them, specifically about Bruno. As entering Bruno's tower that's off-limits (only because Luisa said her to. And what's interesting, Mirabel describes Luisa as obedient in TOTS) And generally talking about Bruno. And even not talking about Bruno seems more as a principe. Alma isn't a dictator and she wouldn't force rules upon the whole Encanto. People just generally don't talk about him.

All other things that seem to cause problems weren't actual rules because of how specific they are. Finding an old vision, going into the walls and finding Bruno, talk with her family. Neither of this seems as something that would be forbidden. Either because it's too odd (Imagine a rule saying "Do not go into a hole hidden beihind the portrait and don't you dare to accidentally find your lost uncle") or just not something to be forbidden. (Banning family relationships lmao)

Each time Mirabel tries to simply agree and swallow her feeling or find an excuse and lie whenever she actually did something forbidden. Like entering Bruno's tower. Doing ot silently and clearly hiding. Which is an opposite of rebelling as it normally meant active protesting which Mirabel have never done until the argument scene. And let's be honest, if adds the climax so much.

And about that. It is the biggest moment when Mirabel finally opposes Alma. It can technically be concindered as breaking the rules, but we don't have any confirmation. In the very least occasion, same to the breakfast, it can be concindered rude to talk back to Alma. What's interesting, she looks at her sisters suggesting that she does it to defend them not thrown Alma off or for herself. Just the same all the way back in the Antonío's ceremony. Showing her kind and compassionate nature once again and the fact that Mirabel feels much more need to break the rules not for herself, but for offering support to her family.

So that's the thing. Mirabel wouldn't break rules for herself. Or try to argue. But if people she cares about need her — she will go against what she does normally

[jack-it-to-em]

Bruno found Dolores tucked into one of the alcoves near the main balcony. Her small seven-year-old frame easily folded into the narrow space, just out of sight of the exterior and main halls. He paused for a moment in the arch way before approaching. He knew she could already hear him nearby, but still made sure to keep his steps soft and even. The fact she hadn’t already hidden away from him was hopeful.

“Room for one more?” he asked, voice soft and low as he could make it.

Dolores just nodded, not even glancing up to acknowledge him, keeping her arms wrapped around her knees. Bruno, for possibly the first time in his life, was glad he’d ended up so scrawny as he managed to tuck himself into the narrow space left in the alcove beside his niece without squishing her. Not that it was the most comfortable place to be. He managed to fold one up his legs up, shoulders hunched against the tiles while his other leg dangled towards the floor.

She was older now than when she had first gotten her gift, better able to control her hearing so she could filter things out and to keep even soft noises from becoming overwhelming when made too close. Still, he didn’t like to make too much noise around her. Fortunately, he was pretty good at not drawing attention to himself. Years of shyness and trying to avoid the nervous looks of the townspeople had trained him into quietness. He wondered if that was part of why she let him approach at all.

They sat there in silence for several minutes before Dolores spoke up.

“Have you ever had a secret, a really big one. So big that you think if you keep it inside you might go POP and explode? But. But it’s a secret you know you shouldn’t tell cause your Mamá and Abuela would get mad about gossiping and eavesdropping on people?”

Bruno gave a sad smile, reaching over carefully to rub her back. “Yeah, a little bit kiddo.”

Dolores squeaked and looked up, eyes wide as if she hadn’t considered he might actually get it. “Really?”

“Really, really. When I have my visions, I usually see stuff that’s going to upset people, bad things that are going to happen. But also, sometimes, I see stuff that feels like people wouldn’t want me looking into at all. Not because it’s bad, or even good, just cause it’s personal.”

Dolores nodded, tucking her chin back into her knees. “What...what do you do when that happens?”

“Humm, well. Sometimes, I’ll tell it to your Mamá or Papá, sometimes your Tiá and Tío, and sometimes, if it’s a really big one I’ll tell it to the rats.”

Dolores wrinkled her nose up at that last idea and Bruno chuckled softly. “How about this pequeño?” he said. “How about when you hear a secret, a really, really big secret. A secret so big you think you might POP and explode if you keep it in, you can come tell it to me?”

“Really really?” Dolores said, looking back up at him.

“Really really,” Bruno confirmed. He shifted slightly as Dolores moved to crawl into his lap, his arms wrapping around her tightly. “You tell me those really big secrets and I’ll help hold them for you.”

“That’s not fair though.” Dolores’ lower lip jutted out in a pout, expression tight in seven-year-old morality.

“Why not?”

“If I tell you MY big secrets, then you have to tell me yours too, so you don’t have to tell the rats. Then it’d be fair.”

Bruno smiled, giving her a quick squeeze. “Deal then. You tell me your big secrets, and I’ll tell you mine.”

Dolores nodded, clearly satisfied with this exchange as she settled into her Tío’s side.

“So,” Bruno prompted. “Got any big secrets to share yet?”

Dolores squeaked and she quickly wiggled around to whisper in his ear what had been troubling her.

 ---

Dolores was twelve and old enough to know the secrets her Tío Bruno would share with her from his gift were not as big as the secrets she would share from hers. Sometimes she would tell him a secret and his eyes would widen and he’d suggest that it was a secret she could go ahead and tell Abuela and her Mama and not get in trouble for. Sometimes, his face would go still and she would overhear him later talking with Abuela and Mamá and Tía Julieta. Most secrets though, he would make interested noises, egging her on as she got out her gossipy nature safely. Except maybe the few times Mamá or Tía would walk in and overhear them, but then both of them ended up getting scolded for gossiping, scrambling to run away to another part of the Casita and laughing. That was okay.

Today though. Today the only secret she had was one the rest of the family already knew, and all Dolores could hear as she laid in her bed was her cousin Mirabel crying in the nursey while the adults spoke to each other in nervous tones, clearly trying to keep her from overhearing. Dolores pulled one of her pillows up and covered her face, pressing it into her ears as she struggled between controlling her gift and her intense curiosity about what was going on. After what was perhaps hours, Mirabel fell asleep, the house settled, and she heard her Tío Bruno make the long, sand-soft walk up to his room.

The next day the house was almost crazier. When she woke late in the day, she heard the townspeople talking amongst themselves, worrying about what had happened last night during Mirabel’s gift ceremony. She heard as Tío Agustín was out in the town with Mirabel and Camillo, trying to distract them with the toy and candy shops. Isabela and Luisa were elsewhere in Casita, talking amongst themselves under the pretense of folding the laundry. Dolores pulled herself out of bed and went down into the kitchen where she could hear all of the other adults were already gathered, looking for food,

While Dolores expected everyone to be gathered together when she entered, they were clearly surprised at her sudden appearance. “Dolores, mi dulce. Are you alright?” Mamá said, dropping to her knees as she smoothed back the loose curls on her daughter’s head.

“I’m fine Mamá, just tired. It was loud last night.”

“I’m sorry about that Dolores,” Abuela said, smiling down at her. She looked the image of calm, but Dolores could hear the soft creek of her bones as she pressed her hands together. It was so hard to filter out the smaller sounds today. “Mi amor—”

“Abuela, let her have breakfast first,” Papi said quickly.

“I’ll make you something,” Tía said, patting her cheek softly as she passed to the other side of the kitchen to the pantry.

“Of course, Félix. I was simply going to ask.”

“Ask what?” Dolores said, rubbing her eyes sleepily. It wouldn’t be the first time the adults had asked her if she could hear something, tiptoeing around the subject because they were afraid she was too young to know exactly what was going on. She’d rather them get on with it so she could have her late breakfast and go do her chores. At least she wasn’t being scolded for sleeping in.

The adults exchanged quick glances before Abuela looked back down at Dolores, leaning over a bit as she addressed her. “Dolores, mi amor, can you hear where your Tío is?

Dolores wrinkled her eyebrow together as she looked up at her family. “Tío is in town with Mirabel and Camillo. I heard them when I woke up.”

Abuela’s smile grew thinner and Mamá bit the bottom of her lip, a wind beginning to brew around her as a small cloud gathered.

“Not your Tío Agustin, Dolores. Your Tío Bruno.”

Dolores frowned, looking around and realizing for the first time he wasn’t there in the kitchen with the rest of them. “Tío...he...” She looked around, not seeing him anywhere in the area. But she thought...Then where?

“I...don’t hear him very well when he’s in his room,” she said.

“We already looked there,” Papi said.

“But....I...” Wasn’t that his footsteps earlier? His knocking? The gentle chh of the sand that couldn’t help but get caught in his clothes and hair? “I thought...”

“Do you hear him?” Mamá said, and there was a note in her voice that Dolores hadn’t heard before. Almost sharp, stinging through her head. She gripped her arms as the cloud grew darker with the snap of electricity. “Baby please, do you hear your Tío?”

“Mamá...”

“Mi vida, you’re scaring her.”

Mamá let Dolores go quickly, pulling her arms into herself as Papi wrapped his own around her. “I’m sorry baby, I’m so so sorry.”

Dolores just stood there, still in her sleep dress. The fear of not understanding what was going on and the too-loud sound of everyone else’s worries was becoming overwhelming. She couldn’t block out the sound of everyone’s breathing, the creak of Casita, her own heartbeat. “I-I don’t. I can’t...I’m sorry.”

“Not just in the house, anywhere in the village. Anywhere in the Encanto,” Abuela said, sitting down on a nearby chair as she reached out towards Dolores.

“Mama, please,” Tía Julieta said, stepping in and putting a hand on Dolores’ shoulder. “Come on,” she said, leaning over to try and catch her niece’s attention, a plate of arepas in her other hand. “How about we have breakfast outside today?”

“I...” Dolores looked around the room. Mamá was crying, soft rain falling over her and Papi as he held her. Abuela sat at the table, hand clenched tightly and face more stern than she had ever seen before as she stared off into the distance. Dolores leaned into her Tía’s skirts as they headed outside. “Okay.”

 Tío Bruno was missing. They had searched the entire Encanto with no sign of him. The picture on his door has stopped glowing, and whenever someone mentioned him around Mamá a storm was soon to follow. In just three days, everyone started tiptoeing around the Casita, almost as silently as when Dolores had received her own gift. Tiptoeing around Mirabel, not wanting to bring up her lack of a door and room and powers. Tiptoeing around Mamá, not wanting to start a flood. Tiptoeing around Abuela, who seemed to be getting more reserved and serious, in her room much more than usual. The dinner table was more silent than not—even for Dolores.

But still, Dolores sometimes thought she could still hear her Tío, even if no one was able to find him. The weeks events had scrambled her head, making it hard to focus, to filter the sounds. She was sick with worry; worry for her prima, for her Mamá, for her missing Tío. If she was hearing him, she couldn’t tell where he was, and she knew if she told any of the other adults when she couldn’t be sure it would only upset them more. Besides, maybe she was wrong. Maybe she just missed him so much that she was imagining his familiar sounds. Or maybe there was something wrong with the magic. Maybe whatever kept Mirabel from getting her gift was messing with her hearing as well. She pressed her hands over her ears at the thought, pausing in the hallway. It was night, which was the only time she wasn’t overwhelmed but he sounds of her family rustling around, and she had snuck down to the kitchen for a snack.

There, in the darkness of the casita, she heard something. Looking up she listened, willing herself to calm down enough to she could properly sort through what she was hearing. There. Wasn’t that her Tío’s footsteps? His careful breathing? The shift of his ruana, pockets full of sugar and salt and sand?

She stepped closer to the wall, trying to focus in on the sounds. Had he stopped moving? Had he been there at all? She pressed her ear to the wall, listening. Gentle mummering.

There! It all snapped together. It was her Tío! and she nearly laughed in her joy as she realized she wasn’t imagining it after all. That’s why she could still hear him around the Casita when no one could find him—he was inside the Casita. Moving through the walls. Her Tío was okay! He hadn’t disappeared, he’d never even left.

She started to run back to her parent’s room to tell them the news when she paused. Tío Bruno hadn’t left, but he had hid. He didn’t have her hearing, but he must have heard them calling his name that afternoon. He was hiding, and if the adults were so worried than he hadn’t told them about it. Was he hiding from them?

Dolores chewed her bottom lip as she considered the floor of the Casita. She had another secret now. A big one. But this one wasn’t hers, it was Tío’s.

She lowered herself to the ground, leaning against the wall and pressing her hand to the paint as she listened to her Tío’s gentle breaths, his steady heartbeat. He wasn’t on this side of the Casita right now, but she still whispered to him. Even if he couldn’t hear like her maybe he’d still know.

“It’s okay Tío. I’ll help hold your secret for you.”

-