Encantober - Love

Encantober - Love 

 It's actually a generic fanart, but I thought it could have been fit well for Encantober Art entry  <3 I’m passing a tough period and I needed to draw some cute fluffy stuff, I love these 2 dorks so much!! Here some Tìo Bruno and little Mirabel bonding time :3

Little reminder that  My COMMISSIONS ARE OPEN ! 

 If you are interested please send me a mail: [email protected]

Whatever you do, don't spend today thinking about how Bruno watched Mirabel go into Isabela's room to save the miracle "with a huuug", went back into the walls, and didn't know anything else about the plot until the house started to break

Don't think about how, as far as Bruno knows (because What Else Can I Do? takes place outside and on Abuela's tower, where Bruno isn't) the cracks never started to heal

Don't think about how, as far as Bruno knows when he Jorge-yeets his way out the house, Mirabel failed, and he still gets on the horse and goes to defend her

Don't think about how no one else would have done that.

I read about a tradition in Spain that was just perfect for a small "Encanto Easter Story" because I could finally use my headcanon that Bruno is the godfather of every single grandchild. 

Please enjoy some wholesome good Tio Bruno content:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Easter mass is finally over. The church had been packed, like it always is on Domingo de Pascua, and for Bruno the service had been peaceful and nerve-wrecking in equal measures. He had spent the entire time gripping the cross hanging around his neck to keep from knocking on the wooden bench and disrupting the sermon. 

Nerves shot or not: Bruno had missed this. The singing and the praying and the stillness in between. 

He had not missed the side eyes and the occasional whisper directed his way. But that's just the way things have always been. No matter how much more decent the villagers have been treating him these past couple of months, he will always be an oddity, the unknown and mysterious and sometimes scary seer of the Madrigals. 

Bruno can deal with that, especially with his family by his side. Mirabel holding his hand and Dolores leaning against his shoulder, Camilo occasionally leaning forward to make funny faces at a bored Antonio until Felix scolds him and tells him to pay attention to the Padre. 

Yes. He can deal with anything.

But mass is over and they have returned to Casita. Bruno feels a silver of apprehension and fidgets with his ruana (a nice one, the one he only wears to church). Julieta seems to have picked up on his nervousness, because she bumps his shoulder and smiles at him. It always surprises him how much those little affirmations can boost his confidence. With a deep breath he nods at her and hurries into the kitchen to gather the surprise he has prepared for the children. 

The Mona de Pascua, the traditional Easter cake that is passed from the godfather to his godchildren to be shared, sits just as wobbly and misshapen on its plate as it did last night. Bruno had insisted on making it himself, without Julieta's help. Seeing it now, he kinda wishes that he'd accepted her offer. It is not round at all and the chicken he'd tried to form out of chocolate to be placed on top looks more like a chicken that has been run over. 

The kids will probably hate it. 

"Ay hermanito. It doesn't look so bad." 

Bruno gives Pepa, who has followed him into the kitchen, the stink eye. "The fact that you need to tell me that tells me everything I need to know." 

Pepa snorts and ruffles his hair. He hates when she does that (no he doesn't) and ducks away from her. 

"Well it looks… unique?" 

Bruno scowls at the cake. It's the first one he's made since his disappearance so of course he is out of practice. But that's exactly why he had wanted it to be extra special. 

Sometimes he still can't believe that his sisters have made him the godfather for all of their children. Hard to believe that everything had started because of an innocent promise in their teens, either. When a nervous Bruno had sat his sisters down to tell them that he doubts that he will ever want children of his own. 

He had been worried and scared, unsure of how his sisters, who were already discussing baby names at the tender age of 16, would react. But he shouldn't have worried. They had simply declared that, in that case, he would make the perfect godparent for their own children. They had promised him that the first born grandchild would be his to spoil rotten. As is the job of every godparent, apparently. 

When Julieta had given birth to Isa first, Pepa had been so distraught that Bruno had offered to be her child's godfather as well. One more wouldn't make such a big difference. 

By the time Luisa had been born, the villagers had started to call him "Bad Luck Bruno", had started to curse his name and had insisted that he was bringing nothing but misfortune to everyone and everything he touched. 

Julieta had placed baby Luisa into his arms and had said "None of that is true. Don't believe a single word they say. I trust you with my second child as well, Brunito. Always remember that when it gets too much." 

When Camilo had been born, Pepa had followed her sister's example and Mirabel a few months later had just felt like the next logical step. 

Godfather to four beautiful sobrinas and a sobrino. Bruno had been so happy. Every time he'd felt like the words of the villagers were getting to him, he had just remembered his sister's words instead and had gathered them all close for a tight hug. 

Looking at Pepa now, smirking at his sorry cake, he just regrets that he wasn't around for Antonio's birth as well. 

"Listen, Pepa. I know I'm not Tonito's godfather, but I would like to include him as well. I don't want him to feel left out and I kinda consider him mine as well, you know, so I just thought that-" 

"What are you talking about?" Pepa interrupts his rambling. "Of course you are Antonio's godfather."

"Wait. I am?" 

"Yeah. Well, not 'officially' with the church. We had to make Julieta the godmother to get the baptism done but we left the space for the godfather blank and later put you down as his godfather in our will. Hey, maybe we could ask the Padre to repeat the ceremony or whatever you do when you want to add a godfather later on."

"I'm not sure that's even possible." 

"Oh well. No matter. Like I said, we put it down in our testament and it's not like Juli would challenge you about this."

Bruno can only stare at his older sister. "But why? I was… gone."

Pepa grimaces. She doesn't like to be reminded of that time. None of them particularly do. "You are the godfather for all of our children. I wasn't going to change that just because you weren't… around." Suddenly she turns away and her shoulders start to shake. Just the tiniest bit. "Not making you the godfather would have felt like giving up. And no matter what you might think, I never gave up hope that you would come back one day. One day my little brother would return and he would be the most wonderful godfather to my youngest, just like he'd been to all of them. I just had to believe that, or I would have… I would have-"

Bruno wraps his arms around his sister from behind and buries his face between her shoulder blades. Pepa exhales shakily, grips his arms and lowers her head. 

"I will Pepi! I won't ever disappoint you again. I will take good care of Antonio and the others." 

"I know you will."

They stand like that for a long time until the children all stumble into the kitchen. Bruno and Pepa break apart and he can see her inconspicuously wipe away some tears. Before the kids can notice and question her, he takes the plate and holds it up with a flourish. As if it doesn't hold the most sad looking cake anyone has ever seen. 

"Felices Pascuas!" 

None of the children laugh when they see their special cake. In fact, they are all delighted and every one of them demands the biggest piece. In the end Bruno gives it to Antonio, since it is his first one. There is some grumbling but they are good kids and congratulate their smallest on his big serving. 

And as Bruno finds himself surrounded by all six of his godchildren and sharing the Mona de Pascua with them, he can't help but smile. 

It tastes a lot better than it looks. 

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Please accept some artistic freedom when it comes to how baptism and godparents work. Let's just say that the Encanto is a closed community and it got its own rules.

Happy Easter!

you guys won't believe it

Another encanto art? In two days?? This skrunkly little rat man is getting me out of art block

⭐️ please talk to me about either your Augistin or your Luisa and their relationship with Bruno 🐀💚

Hello, Anon :D I’m going with Luisa & Bruno, who I am. Extremely Normal About. This... got a bit long XD

Okay technically I don't think Bruno and Luisa actually interact in canon BUT they're super close trust me trust me

Starting with how I characterize Luisa, because there’s some extrapolation going on here:

I think the big conflict of Luisa's character (in tandem with straight up overwork) is that she wants to be tender and vulnerable, but feels that being so would make her a burden. Other people have problems? That's part of life. They can ask for help, she'll fix it. But if she asks for help herself, it means she's a failure. It’s right there in the opening lines of Surface Pressure: she has no room for fear, vulnerability, or weakness/inability to do everything.

Also in Surface Pressure, between the Titanic and the line of doors, Luisa fixes Mirabel's glasses. It's a small gesture, but I think it says a lot about who she is. This isn't something that is any easier for her to do than it is for Mirabel. Mirabel’s perfectly capable. Luisa doesn't need to do anything. And in the action of the song, there is a lot going on that only Luisa can handle, but she still pauses for a moment for this.

In part, it could read that she fixes every problem she encounters, no matter how small, but that doesn't really cover the nuances going on. It's a very gentle gesture, even parental, and coming from a person who doesn't wear glasses herself. I think this is habit from when Mirabel was very young—young enough that she was too uncoordinated to fix her glasses without smudging them—which Luisa has kept up all these years later. Which also means that Luisa started doing this when she was young herself. That's not something she was likely ever asked or expected to do, she just did/does it because she loves her sister, who will never fully outgrow Luisa's memory of her. That's the way she loves.

(Keep that last bit in mind, I swear this post is about Bruno & Luisa)

Between this and she tells Mirabel that she (over)heard the adults talking about Bruno having a vision about the magic before he left, Luisa seems to pay attention to the people around her. In that conversation, she also doesn't speak badly of Bruno. The vision was terrible, his room is dangerous, but nothing about Bruno himself. And she knows nothing about his vision, so if she thinks it's terrible, that's a value judgment she heard from one of the adults. Considering what Alma says right before the collapse, I suspect Luisa heard someone (probably Alma) telling the other adults that, whatever Bruno saw, he abandoned them and left them to deal with it, without so much as a warning. “Bruno doesn’t care about this family.”

But she doesn't say any of that to Mirabel. And it would be relevant to whatever’s wrong with the magic. Given that Luisa is telling Mirabel to investigate Bruno’s tower, it’s not a matter of protecting Mirabel from dangerous information. I think Luisa just doesn’t believe it. Which, if my inferences about what she overheard are correct, that means Luisa believes in Bruno’s love for the family more than she believes Abuela, even after Bruno’s been gone for ten years. That trust doesn’t come from nothing.

(I don't necessarily keep that detail true in my fics, e.g. in Atlts Alma didn't tell anybody that she asked Bruno for a vision, so no one else knew. Unless Luisa actually overheard Alma talking to Pedro, but was avoiding sharing that bit of gossip, which is in line with her character. Fic-canon or not, it is always part of how I characterize Luisa, though.)

So, what we have (by my consideration, at least) a solid canon basis for:

Luisa puts on a tough facade, but wants to be vulnerable

Luisa shows her love through gentle gestures

Luisa doesn’t completely stop thinking of her loved ones as the way they used to be

Luisa is observant

Luisa believes that Bruno loves/loved the family

Enter Bruno.

Pre-walls, I like the idea that he was close with all the kids. (Nothing Jared Bush says on Twitter can stop me.) The Madrigals are a busy family, and Bruno wasn’t. I imagine that he wasn’t fielding a lot of vision requests those last few years, or going out for... anything else, if he could help it, given the combination of his poor reputation and his anxiety. And the more he withdrew socially, I think, the more the other adults would encourage him spending time with the kids. He was essentially a stay at home parent.

After the walls? Bruno’s a gentle, goofy guy. And my Bruno, at least, doesn’t stand in the present so much as straddle the past and the future. I think in the movie, when he looks at Mirabel, he sees both who she is now and remembers the little kid she once was. (Pretending to be Hernando and Jorge did work to distract her from the reality of his situation, but also made it worse. I think it would have worked better on Antonio, but Bruno wasn’t quite calibrated to interacting with a teen.) We don’t see him really interact with the other kids he knew before, but I imagine it would be the same for them.

So, the specific Luisa & Bruno dynamic that I write:

Luisa is tender but feels like she can’t let herself be because she needs to be strong and invulnerable for the family. But the facade doesn’t work on Bruno, because he looks at her and thinks “that’s my sweet Luisita” and is just as goofy and sweet to her as he’s always been. Even six foot something and jacked, she will never fully outgrow Bruno’s memory of her.

(Remember I said to keep that bit in mind? It’s one aspect in which Bruno and Luisa love in the same way.)

They also both absolutely won’t stand up for themselves, but I think they’ll throw down for their loved ones, hence my Luisa throwing Ricardo Espitia in the river that one time. They’re good for each other.

🥺 Best Tío: Bruno! 🥺

Master List (Pt.1)

🥺 A Madrigal gets Sick

“Mirabel finds out Antonio is sick and informs the family, unfortunately for them the rest of the family is stuck at the town with a storm hitting~” #fluff #sickfic

🥺Hide and Seek

“Bruno plays hide and seek with Camilo. Well, maybe it’s just the two of them hiding together from Pepa and la Abuela.” #fluff #hurt/comfort

🥺Petting Zoo

By @metaphoricaltigers

“Antonio, Luisa and Bruno go to a petting zoo and Bruno talks about his mental health.~” #fluff #BrunohasOCD #AutisticBruno

🥺 Daisy Chains

“On a sunny afternoon Julieta and Pepa take their one year old daughter’s (Isabela and Dolores) to the garden for a picnic along with Bruno. When Julieta and Pepa head inside for a bit, Bruno is left to look after his nieces.~” #fluff #itsjustfluff

🥺Duerme Bien

By @waitingonavision

“Listen to the six-year-old. Antonio has the only right idea. ~A sleep pile with Bruno and his niblings. This is the result.” #fluff #toothrotting #Brunospancita

🥺Healing Takes Time (you’ll get there in the end)

By @impossiblefangirl0632

“One day you’re going to look up and realize that things are starting to get better, that you’ll be okay. Today is that day.” #fluff #healing #hurt/comfort

🥺Little Gestures

By @sokkas-first-fangirl

“Mirabel noticed Bruno tended to pat them on the head (especially when he couldn’t handle a full hug) and, as he did, deja vu always hit. He must have done the same thing ten years ago.~” #fluff #toothrotting

I think werewolf bruno needs a hug!

(because I felt bad for him when he was lonely🥺) 

He always needs a hug no matter what. The world is so hard on him.🥺

Tio Bruno is better than normal Bruno

Wrote this on a plane ride because even miles up in the air I needed to write ANGST.

Warnings: Alma being controlling and harsh, mentions of bullying.

Word count: 675

Mirabel sat on the bench in the garden, wiping tears off her cheeks. 

“Hey carino. What’s wrong? Are you okay?” 

Bruno sat down next to her and set a hand on her back. The small sign of comfort made her begin to cry harder and she collapsed in her uncle’s lap. 

He scooped her up and cradled the three-year-old. 

“Mirabel?”

She shook her head and simply held onto his ruana. 

“O-okay. I’ll just let you cry if that’s what you need.” 

She sniffled and nodded. 

He began slowly rocking her back and forth as she quietly cried. 

He didn’t care if Abuela was going to yell at him for being late to a town wedding he didn’t even want to go to.

His niece needed help. And he was perfectly content holding her for as long as she needed. 

Mirabel yawned and turned in towards him. He smiled and used one hand to push her curls out of her tear stained face. 

“Feeling a little better mi corazon?”

She didn’t answer, just looked up at him with her big eyes and cracked a small smile. 

He smiled bigger down at her. 

“There’s my precious little girl.”

She giggled and reached a hand up to rest on his cheek. 

In the distance they heard Julieta’s panicked calls for her. She ran into the garden and saw them. “Oh thank goodness! I didn’t know where you had gone mi vida!” 

She came over and sat next to Bruno, resting her chin on his shoulder. 

“I suppose your tio Bruno dried your tears before I could, huh?” 

Bruno rested his head against his sister’s and nodded. “It’s my job.” 

“Well thank you, I was worried sick.”

Mirabel crawled out of Bruno’s arms and onto Julieta’s lap. 

Bruno glanced at Julieta. “What happened?” 

Julieta covered her daughter’s ears and answered. “Some kids in the town were making fun of her glasses.” 

Bruno fake gasped. “Her glasses?!”

He jokingly pulled his sister’s hands off of Mirabel’s ears. “Kids we’re making fun of your glasses?”

Mirabel sniffled and nodded. 

Bruno stood up and hoisted her up into the air, catching her and tickling her. 

Mirabel squealed and tried to get away, giggling. 

“Well I suppose we know those kids aren’t very cool or stylish then! I mean obviously these glasses make her look amazing!”

Julieta snickered at her brother’s eccentric way of cheering up his niece. 

He carefully took the glasses off of her and held them as close to his eyes as the small frame would allow.

“I mean look! They make an old man like me look cool! I thought I was too weird to be cool!”

Mirabel was giggling so much she almost fell over but Bruno caught her. 

He held her tight and kissed her forehead. 

Then they heard Abuela call for him with venom in her voice. 

Bruno winced and handed Mirabel to her mother. Julieta looked at him with pity as Abuela stormed around the side of the house into the garden. She changed her furious expression into one of fake happiness when she saw Mirabel was with them.

“Brunito, you are running late for a very important event are you not?”

Bruno sighed and nodded. “I’m sorry mother, I’m coming.” 

She smiled and reached for his hand. He made sure Mirabel wasn’t looking when he winced and took her hand. 

She almost yanked him to the front of the house out of ear shot. 

“Bruno, you missed the wedding!” 

He cowered. “I’m sorry mama, I just- She was-“ 

“There were women there who you could’ve met. Travelers! You’ve said no to every single woman from Encanto that I’ve offered to you! And now you don’t even show up to meet the travelers!” 

He tried not to wince at her tone as he stepped back instinctively. 

She grabbed his hand again. “Come on, someone came to me and asked for a vision about a proposal. Maybe then you can go to that wedding.” 

Bruno bit his lip as she pulled him away. 

-=-=-=-

I know they technically didn't get travelers because the cliffs were so high but shhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Bruno Madrigal Crush Headcannons

This man has spent a good portion of his life watching his family through walls, hoping and wishing and yearning for their happiness, even if it doesn't involve him.

Meaning? He has a staring problem.

Bruno actually caught feelings for you from a distance. You're just...so nice. Nonjudgmental. It's what drew his gaze to you in the first place, how everyone felt safe to be themselves around you. He didn't even need to interact with you to see how wonderful you are!

...Which is a problem.

Bruno refuses to approach you-- he can't. It's just not possible.

But he will watch you.

He watches the way you smile and laugh, he's hypnotized by the way your hair bounces when you walk, he wants to take his thumb and rub away the little furrow between your eyebrows that shows up when you're reading intently, kiss your lips every time you bite them--

(Or is that too much, hahahahahahahah-- Kill him, someone anyone please please please---)

Bruno is so, so awkward. While Tio Bruno is funny and adoring with his family, as well as hilariously sassy when he wants to be, people outside his social circle are Not Trusted with anything but The Madrigal Manners. Years of being accused of malicious intent makes it difficult for him to be fully himself in public, and the decades of isolation made him forget all the important social cues.

But you? He's exponentially worse around you.

The few times you've actually spoken with Bruno, he was both Supremely Polite and a Tongue Tied Disaster.

He comments on easy, obvious topics, like the weather or the weekend, but he talks so quickly he can't breathe and starts laughing at things that aren't even jokes. He'll open doors for you or pull out your chair, but will trip over the door frame or accidentally tip the chair over and scramble to pick it back up.

You make him a mess. You whip his thoughts so frothy he can barely remember what he's said, let alone focus on putting up a wall. It's incredibly endearing, and it makes his crush on you supremely obvious.

He's had one or two childhood crushes, but it has been literal decades since the last time his heart beat this fast. It was so bad that this idiot (affectionate) literally thought he was having a heart attack the first time you made eye contact with him--Fully clutching at his chest and panicking before darting away to get some help.

There is a certain amount of guilt he feels about his crush. After all, he's not exactly prime husband material. Bruno is acutely aware of how old he is, and there aren't many love stories out there for people his age(a crime imo). "The fifty year old uncle" is usually the creepy antagonist in drama, never a romantic hero. Besides that, there's the matter of his reputation. Even with the rest of the Madrigal family working to repair it, there are still parts of the Encanto that don't like the weird fortune-telling hermit that LIVED IN THE WALLS OF HIS OWN HOUSE FOR SOME REASON.

(....There is also a little bit of guilt of the Catholic variety. His thoughts about you can get pretty spicy late at night. After one of those he can't bring himself to even look at you.)

Bruno won't confess his feelings to you if he can help it. He doesn't think he deserves romantic love, especially not from someone as wonderful as you, and the last thing he wants to do is burden you with his feelings. He's been enough of a burden already. He will try to get over you before he even considers hinting that he likes you.

Unfortunately, Bruno's resolve isn't as strong as he wishes it was.

Every time he tries to suppress his feelings, someone will simply say your name in passing and it's enough to fully divert his train of thought back to how kind you are, how funny, how understanding....

Fantasies have always been a huge coping mechanism for him, but lately, baby you are the star of every. single. one.

Some are realistic: He pictures the two of you hand in hand, walking to the market, and he's somehow managed to be funny and charming enough to make you smile just for him.

Or maybe you have a suitcase packed and ready to leave the village--it's raining of course--and Bruno will run out to you, pull you into a tight embrace and kiss the idea right out of you.

He could live out his childhood dream and be the director of a theater troupe, while you, his newest actor shaking with nerves, ask him to run through your lines together. He agrees, comforts you through your stage fright, and as your practice ends the chemistry between you both is electric enough to crackle. He just knows you'll do great things together...

Bruno is his best self in every fantasy, of course, witty and charming and without a single grain of sand in his hair. Often, in private, he has his rats reenact his favorite daydreams. (Whichever Rat that plays you gets extra treats. It's the most coveted role.)

...Eventually, though, his wistful sighing and blatant eavesdropping on any conversation involving you start to get on his Family's nerves. They've been supportive of his crush--why wouldn't they be, they've met you, you're great!-- but it's also obvious Bruno is going to need a helping hand.

Mirabel in particular gets it in her head to play Cupid after she sees how happy her Tio gets talking about you. She gathers up the youngest generation of Madrigals, and all of them begin conspiring ways to push Bruno into as many situations with you as possible.

Isabella invites you over to help garden, while Luisa gets her Tio to come help her organize where the pots should go. Antonio begs you to play hide and seek with him and his animal friends, and it's not like Bruno can resist his nephew's puppy eyes either. Mirabel brings Bruno along to tell stories to some of the local village kids, and Camilo makes sure you're nearby to see his Tio in his element.

Bruno immediately picks up on the fact that his nieces and nephews are trying to meddle, but he can't find it in himself to get upset about it.

Besides, it's a little hard to think lately when so many of your pretty smiles seem to be directed at him...

...Maybe he has more of a chance than he thought? 💞

The last two Encanto Commissions I made lately.

My commmissions are Open! If interested please send me an email: [email protected]

Well I had to write an El Ratoncito Pérez story, didn’t I?

Thanks to @usedtobeguest123 for the prompt! Also I found this version of the original story and used it as reference, if anyone needs it. It’s super cute! Bruno finds out that his youngest sobrina missed out on a beloved tradition, and decides to fix it.

“No, that is not how it happened!” Pepa leaned forward in her chair, thumping her fist on the breakfast table. “I’m telling you, Bruno; Agustín didn’t break his leg on purpose. He’s clumsy, not stupid.”               “He totally did. I remember him telling me he did.” Bruno leant back in his chair, inhaling the smell of rich, dark coffee. How he loved coffee. “He was all like, ‘Nah, I don’t need a soft landing, Bruno. I-it’s all in the pursuit of love, of sweet Juileta…’”               “He did not say that.”               “Mmyeh, makes a better story than ‘ Agustín met the love of his life because he fell out of a tree onto her brother.’”

              “Mamá! Mamá, Mamá look!”               Antonio ran up to the table where his Mamá and tio were sitting, opened his mouth wide, and wobbled his front canine with his tongue. “Ah gah ah loof toof!”               Mirabel brought up the rear, squeezing her primo’s shoulder before sitting next to her tio. “We just realised it was wobbly and had to come tell you,” she said. “Any coffee left, Bruno?”               “Nope. Shoulda got here earlier, kid.”               “Tch, so selfish.”               Pepa sank to the floor, wrapping Antonio up in a huge hug and peppering his face with kisses, the tears welling up in her eyes before her knees hit the floor. “Ay, my baby! You’re all grown up! My hombrecito, my little buñuelo…”               “It feels really weird.”               “Stop moving it with your tongue, mi vida.”               “Ah, well,” Bruno said, sipping on the last of his coffee, “You’ll be getting a visit from El Ratoncito Pérez soon enough, I guess…”               Antonio and Mirabel looked at their tio; heads cocked, identical expressions on their faces. Mirabel inched forward in her chair. “El Raton…’”               “Who’s that, Mamá?” Antonio asked, looking up into Pepa’s face. “Do they live in town?”               Pepa winced.               “You know,” Bruno continued, leaning back in his chair with a nostalgic grin, “Ratoncito Pérez? Th-the little rat? I used to tell the kids about him every time they lost a tooth – I can’t believe you forgot, they loved that story! They were always so excited to see what he drew for them…”               “Bruno…”               “’coz, y’know, he leaves you a present in exchange for your baby teeth? Lives in a cookie box, with the little red satchel and the…wh-why are you looking at me like that, Pep?”               A tiny, grey cloud had appeared over Pepa’s head as she looked down at the floor, hands knotted in her dress. “Um, Bruno…we didn’t…I mean…”               She darted a look at her son, and covered his ears with her hands. “You were always the one who did El Ratoncito Pérez when the children were small,” she whispered. “After you…after you left, we, um…”               “I just gave my baby teeth to my Mamá,” came a small voice at Bruno’s shoulder. Bruno turned, heart sinking, to see Mirabel gazing into the middle distance, her expression blank. “She kept them in an old box of spices in her room. We painted it together.” She shook her head – just a tiny movement, almost more of a shiver. “So, everyone else got…they got presents, and a story, and I didn’t?”               “Oh. Oh, kiddo…”               At the sound of his voice, Mirabel looked at Bruno, a memory dawning in her eyes. “Camilo,” she began, and her voice cracked. “Um. He lost his first tooth just before I didn’t get my…um, like, the week before my gift ceremony. And he was so excited, I remember now…”               Bruno remembered that day. Camilo finding the little envelope under his pillow, showing everyone the little drawing inside that Bruno had done the night before, sticking it to the wall just above his bed. He’d drawn a tiny mouse-Camilo holding hands with El Ratoncito Pérez. His tiny curls and a big, wide smile with a gap in it. It was the last time he played that game with the kids before he went into the walls.               He wondered what had happened to that picture.               The cloud burst, slowly tinkling raindrops onto Pepa’s hair. “Mirabel…we didn’t –”               “No, Tia Pepa. It’s okay. It’s just another piece of magic that everyone else had. And I didn’t.”               Mirabel blinked hard, then stood up. “I’m gonna…I said I’d walk with Abuela into town today. I better go get ready.”               She pushed her chair out from the table, making an awful screech against the cobblestones, and walked away without looking back. Bruno watched her go, Antonio breaking free of his mother to run after her. Guilt lay heavy across Bruno’s chest; followed, quickly, by anger.               “Seriously, Pep?” he said, jerking his head to glare down at his sister. “You guys couldn’t even do that for her?”               She couldn’t look at him. “Bruno…it…it was your thing. We could never do it like you did. Your little drawings, the notes –”               “Then just put a coin under her pillow like everyone else in town does, jeez! She was a kid, Pepa, you guys didn’t think she deserved even that tiny bit of –”               “We didn’t want to replace you!”               “So that means Mirabel gets to suffer? Oh, wait; of course it did.”               Bruno stood up from the table. “Sorry, Pepa; I-I’m pretty mad at you and I don’t wanna shout. So, so I’m just gonna go.”               “Bruno –!”               “See you at dinner.” …

              She knew it didn’t matter. The family had been through so much together; grown so much together. So much had been forgiven, and talked over, and rationalised and analysed and swept under the rug. But still. It hurt.               Could you miss something you never even had? She’d barely known her Tio Bruno when she was small. And yeah, they were close now. He was – and she’d never say this out loud because it was kinda pathetic – probably her best friend. But she didn’t get to have his bedtime stories, or his hugs when she’d skinned her knee, or ticklefights or rides on his back. Everyone else had these touchstones of memory with him from their childhoods. She didn’t. It seemed there were a lot of things she didn’t get to have.               Mirabel had excused herself after dinner and spent the rest of the night reading the Family Book Club book up in her room until it was late enough that she could curl under the covers and close her eyes. For a long while, her brain was just a swirling mess of self-pity and sadness. Then, finally, she tipped over into the blank relief of sleep.               When she next opened her eyes, it was the middle of the night. The moon was full, and shining against her curtains, but everything else was thrown into shadow. She could hear her father snoring a few rooms down, the creak and shift of the house settling into itself. And something new. Scrabble-scrabble. Scrabble-scrabble. Scrabble.               Mirabel sat up, fumbling for her glasses. Her eyesight was, somehow, even worse than her Papi’s; everything was a mess of smudges without them.               In the middle of the floor was a shape. One of Antonio’s toys? How had that ended up in –               As she pushed her glasses into place, Mirabel realised it wasn’t a toy. It was a rat. A small, soft, mist-grey rat, with a miniature straw hat and – Mirabel’s chest tightened – a tiny red satchel, the strops looped over its front paws, stuffed with rolls of paper. The rat spotted her and turned its tiny head. Mirabel froze.               The rat scurried up the bedpost at the far left of her bed, making its way over the hills and valleys of her sheets until it was sitting on her knee. It sat up on its hind legs and looked at her, cocking its head this way and that, the moonlight caught in its beady, black eyes. Mirabel reached out one hand, and it snuffled at her fingers. It tickled, but Mirabel didn’t laugh. She barely wanted to breathe. This seemed like something from a dream, and if she made too loud a noise, she’d wake up.               The rat turned away from her, showing her the contents of its satchel. It squeaked, once, in an instructional kind of way. With shaking fingers, Mirabel took the scrolls of paper from the satchel, and laid them in her lap. With that, the rat gave her one last look, and was gone; down the bedpost, onto the floor, and lost in the shadows of her room. After a long, long moment, when her room fell quiet again, Mirabel leaned over and tugged the curtains open; just enough so she could read by the light of the moon. The first scroll, when she unfurled it, was no bigger than the palm of her hand.               ‘Dearest Mirabel,’ it read, ‘I must first apologise for the lateness of these missives. You see, I have been on a long and perilous adventure with my best friend, King Bubi (I shall tell you all about him in Letter #2). The terribly wicked cat, Don Pedro, dogged our steps at every turn (which was quite impolite of him, being a cat), and so I am only just now writing to you...’               There were so many letters. Each one had a new story, or a little drawing (her favourite one was of a Ratty Tio Bruno running away from a housecat who bore more than a passing similarity to Parce, Antonio’s jaguar friend), coloured in with coffee grinds and shaded with pencil. Mirabel spent the rest of the night hugging her knees, squinting as she read each story in turn, running her fingers over the small, untidy, familiar writing. She smiled a lot – pressing her hand to her mouth to stop the giggles – and often had to pause to wipe away a tear before it smudged anything she hadn’t read yet.               Just before sunrise, as her eyes were beginning to ache, she tucked the letters into her bedside drawer and snuggled down onto her pillow.               “Thank you, Ratoncito Pérez,” she whispered, closing her eyes again.

…

              Bruno woke up to a small, twitching nose pressing into his palm. “Wha…” he muttered blearily, before sitting up in bed, wiping the sleep from his eyes. Rosa sat on the edge of his mattress, her satchel wonky on her back, hat hanging off one ear. Bruno had been so pleased to find the old costumes tucked away with the rest of his stuff. He couldn’t remember how he’d made the hat.               “Hey, mi vida,” he murmured sleepily, gently removing Rosa’s outfit. “Did you have fun in your first starring role?”               Rosa was his ingenue; at only a few months old, she was just starting to learn the ropes of Bruno’s troupe of performing rats. She needed her big break. Plus, it was less likely Mirabel would recognise her. A little suspension of disbelief went a long way to make a really good story.               “C’mon,” he said, lying back down and letting Rosa make a temporary nest in his hair, “we can get a little more sleep before she wakes up.” If Mirabel was anything like her sisters, Dolores and Camilo, she would burst in here in, oh, about an hour or so, to show him her gifts from Ratoncito Pérez. And, just like the old days, he’d smile and ask questions and muss her hair and wish he had a big pot of coffee because it was really, really early, kiddo, can we do this at the breakfast table?               He couldn’t wait.

Here is my "El Raton Perez" One-shot. For everyone who did not see the post: apparently in Colombia the tooth fairy is a mouse (sometimes a rat!). I saw that, had a desperate need for more cute Bruno and Antonio interaction, and here we are. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's happening. It's really happening. 

Antonio clutches the blanket tight to his chest. The spot in his mouth where his tooth is missing still aches a little, but that pain was pretty much forgotten the moment he heard the little squeaks coming from under his bed. 

When Mirabel had pulled a crying Antonio into her lap and had told him about El Raton Perez, the little boy with one tooth missing had immediately believed her. If there is anything he knows for sure, it's that his favorite prima would never lie to him. 

Mirabel is nice. The nicest! She sometimes teases, but only in a funny way. Not like Camilo, who is also nice and funny, but whose jokes sometimes are only funny for himself. 

Antonio believes Mirabel, he really does, but a rat that takes your tooth home and gives you money in return also kinda sounds too good to be true.

Well, El Raton Perez will probably bring Antonio candy, since money has long since lost its value here in the Encanto. But even better! The old coins Abuela sometimes gives Antonio so he can play with them are nice to look at and they make funny noises when you shake them in your fist, but Antonio usually gets bored of them rather quickly. 

Candy is much better. 

"Some think El Raton Perez is a mouse and some think he's a rat." Mirabel had told him just that afternoon. "I think it's a rat here in Encanto. We have a lot of rats, don't you think?" 

While Antonio had believed her, he'd thought that she may have been… what does his Papi always call it? Bamboozled. Tricked. 

Mira is the best, but she always thinks the best of everyone else as well. If someone had told her a lie about El Raton Perez, she would have believed them. She is not as mature as Antonio, with his four and a half years. That's why he has to look out for her. Like a big boy! 

But she was telling the truth! There is definitely a rat under his bed. 

The room is dark and he is alone in the nursery. Tia Julieta has forced Mira to have a sleepover with Isabela and Luisa to "strengthen their sisterly bonds.". 

Whatever that means, Mira hadn't seemed too happy about it, which is weird. Antonio loves his monthly sleepovers with Camilo. His older brother always declares that they will stay up all night, only to be the first one to fall asleep every time. It's always really funny. 

Antonio has no problems sleeping alone from time to time. Casita always watches over them, so there is nothing to be afraid of. But no matter his initial excitement about El Raton Perez, the scratching and squeaking from under his bed are a bit scary in the dark. 

He wants to see Senor Perez, but at the same time he kinda wishes the rat would hurry up and leave. 

Suddenly there is a weird sound outside his room. Some kind of hissing sound. Antonio bites his lips and pulls the cover higher up so only his eyes peek out. He wonders if he should call out for his Mama, when Casita opens his door a little. 

The hissing, which Antonio now realizes hadn't actually been hissing, but a voice going "psst psst psst" immediately stops. 

"He's in there, Casita?" 

Antonio doesn't recognize the voice, but Casita swings his door a little as if she's nodding. Whoever it is, Casita knows him. Antonio immediately relaxes. Casita loves them a lot. She would never let any harm come to them. 

"Miercoles." The voice mutters. After a short pause, someone creeps into the room. It's a man wearing a ruana with the hood up. Antonio can't see his face, only the mouth, which is pressed into a thin, displeased line. The stranger peeks at Mira's bed and then turns to Antonio's side of the room. The little boy closes his eyes and pretends to sleep. After a few seconds, Antonio can hear the man kneel down on the floor. He reopens his eyes into slits and observes the man pressing his cheek against the floor to peer under Antonio's bed. He looks kinda small and scrawny and Casita still doesn't ring any alarms, so he must be okay. 

Antonio sits up silently and leans over the side of his bed to get a better look. The man doesn't notice. 

"Pssst. Perry." The man whispers. "Bad rat, get out of there! I told you guys a million times that you are not allowed in the kids rooms." 

A big, grey rat shimmies out from under Antonio's bed. The man sits up and the rat jumps on his lap. He is frowning down at it and pokes it in the side. Antonio's curious eyes still go unnoticed. 

"No cheese for you for a week, young man." 

The rat squeaks sadly and Antonio can't take it anymore. 

"Oh, please no! He only wanted my tooth." 

The man almost jumps out of his skin. He scrambles backwards, still sitting on the floor, limbs flying everywhere. It looks so funny and Antonio can't help but giggle when the man bumps into the dresser and hits his head on it with a quiet "Ay!" 

Mama would scold him for laughing, but Mama is not here. 

The man clutches his heart and his breathing sounds ragged. "Dios Mio! Don't do that!" 

"Sorry." 

The hood is still obscuring the face, but Antonio can't help but think that something about the stranger looks familiar. 

"Who are you?" 

The man freezes. Mira always praises him for his instincts and empathy. Antonio thinks that the man looks scared. 

"I… Uhm…"

The rat squeaks again. It had held on to the ruana during the man's mad backwards scramble and is now climbing onto a narrow shoulder. Antonio looks at it, then at the man, then back at the rat. 

"Oh! Are you El Raton Perez's helper?" Mira hadn't said anything about a helper, but who else could the man be? 

"Am I… Huh?" 

"His helper!" Antonio pulls the tooth out from under his pillow and shows it off. "My tooth fell out. El Raton Perez came to get it."

The man slowly stands up. He hunches in on himself and steps closer to Antonio's bed. Maybe Antonio should feel intimidated by a stranger standing over him in the middle of the night, but the man is so careful, so hesitant. He supports the rat very tenderly while he walks and strokes a single finger over its little head. Something about the man makes Antonio trust him immediately. 

"Your first tooth already? Time flies, huh?" He sounds wistful and sad as he stares at the tooth in Antonio's palm. Antonio didn't mean to make him sad. 

But then the man seems to shake himself out of his sad mood and puts his hands on his hips. "But uhm, yeah! Exactly. I'm El Raton Perez's little helper. Good job figuring that out, Antonio." 

The little boy gasps. "You know my name?" 

"Oh well, of course. I.. I am his helper. I need to know our clients." 

"But why does he need a helper?" 

"He is very small. He can't open doors very well on his own. And someone needs to carry the teeth for him." 

"Oh…that makes sense." Antonio holds out his own tooth. "Here!" 

The man holds up his hands and shakes his head. "Oh no, I can't."

"But that's why you are here." 

"I… darn it." He slaps his own forehead. The hood shifts a little and just for a second Antonio can see green, kind eyes, before nervous hands pull it back down again. "I forgot the candy. Sorry." 

Antonio lowers his hand. He is a big boy. He is not gonna cry. "So I get no candy?" 

"I'm sure you will. Later? Probably?" 

He will not cry, he will not cry, he will not cry. 

"Hey hey hey." The man sounds like he is about to cry himself, which makes Antonio feel a bit better about his own childish sniffles. He gingerly sits down on Antonio's bed. For a second it looks like he wants to hug the boy, but then he just hugs himself. "Don't cry, Tonito. You'll get your candy. Just later. How about… how about you hold on to that tooth for now and I… I will tell you a story instead. To tide you over?" 

Antonio perks up immediately. He loves stories. Almost as much as candy. "You will?" 

"Sure kid. A short one, okay?" Perez's helper wrings his hands and looks towards the door. "Casita, you will warn me if someone-" He shoots Antonio a quick look. "You will warn me when it's time to go, right?" 

Casita waves soundlessly with the door. 

"Alright. Lay back, Tonito. There, that's good. Have you ever heard the story of the princess and the frog?" 

***********************************

Antonio falls asleep to the sound of a rumbling voice talking about adventure and love. Perez's helper is a very good storyteller. He makes different voices and he uses El Raton Perez himself to act out some scenes. He even allows Antonio to pet the rat. 

Just before he's completely asleep, Antonio thinks he feels the man pull up the blanket and tuck him in. Just like Mama and Papa always do. 

And then he's gone. 

****************************

The next morning his tooth is gone and in its place is a piece of candy. It's nice, but the story was even better. 

When he tells his Mama and Papa about Perez's helper, the two of them exchange that weird, grown up look they get sometimes, indulgent and amused. They praise his colorful imagination. 

"But my tooth is gone. He must have come back later!" 

And again that weird, amused, look. Like they know something he doesn't. 

He is in a bad mood, because no one will listen to him, until Dolores finds him in the garden and hugs him tight so she can whisper into his ears. 

"Perez's Helper is a secret, hermanito. The adults can't know." 

"You know about him too?" 

"Sure I do. How did you like the story about the princess and the frog? That was always my favorite." 

"I loved it!" Antonio cheers. He grows somber really quick though. "I wanted to hear more. Do you think he will tell me another one when I lose my next tooth?" 

"Who knows." For some reason, Dolores looks towards Tio Bruno's tower, the one Antonio is not allowed near. "If we are lucky, you won't even have to wait that long for a new story."

Antonio is not quite sure what she means, but he hopes she is right. 

He already misses El Raton Perez and his helper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll probably upload this to ao3 next week. Will let you know when that happens

Camilo, opening a kitchen cabinet: Found you!

Bruno, squished inside: Damn. How many of us are left?

Camilo: You were the last one. You're way too good at hide and seek, tio. I bet it's because you're so small!

Bruno: Yeah this would be a lot harder if I had, like, a seven foot frame.

Camilo:

Bruno:

Camilo: I WAS FIVE OKAY YOU LOOKED REALLY TALL TO ME

Mirabel: Uh... Tio Bruno, are you good?

Bruno, lying in the floor covered in rats: At anything? No.

Fluff prompt: The first time little Dolores said Bruno's name

I love them, your honour 💕

Dolores was a year old. She'd already lisped, "Mamí" and "Papí," and now it seemed that everyone was eager to hear what she'd say next. Would she say the name of an object, or another family member?

"Can you say Abuela?" Alma cooed, poking Dolores's nose. "Hm? Abuela?"

Dolores only squeaked and giggled. Pepa was preparing some lunch for her when Bruno walked into the kitchen. He looked exhausted and there was still a faint emerald shimmer to his eyes.

"You okay, Bruno?" Pepa asked.

"Eh..." He blew a raspberry, ignoring Alma's sighed request to Please act his age.

At the sight of him, Dolores perked up in her high-chair. It was a typical sight; she held out her tiny fists, wriggling eagerly, her eyes bright and her smile wide. She squeaked again and again.

Bruno glanced at Pepa for permission. When Pepa nodded, he lifted Dolores up, cradling her close.

"Hola, mí luz," he said softly. "Have you been good?"

"B'uno!" Dolores cried in delight.

They all froze. Pepa nearly dropped the spoon. Alma stared in surprise, but her expression softened as Dolores once more said, "B'uno!" and tugged on Bruno's hair.

For a moment, Pepa thought her brother was about to start crying. His eyes watered, but his grin was as bright as the rainbow above Pepa's head.

"Yeah," he said as Dolores giggled and rested her little chin on his shoulder. "That's me."

"B'uno," Dolores said again. "Mamí! B'uno!"

"Sí, baby!" Pepa laughed. Her rainbow grew in size and brightness. "That's your Tio Bruno!"

Here’s some revisions I did after seeing some of the ideas (there are obviously some flaws but I tried). Also, these ideas you guys had are amazing and my brain is BRAINING!!!

Season one - Centering the triplets as they grow up and Alma nearly losing her mind. The full season would be 20+ episodes and 20 minutes long. Also includes young Agustin and Felix. 

Season two - First ten episodes ending with the triplets (Pepa’s wedding) and the last ten with the grandchildren growing up. (And expanding on the changes that happened after Mirabel’s ceremony.)

This season and mid season three would expand on how some relationships dwindled and just different dynamics and such. Maybe some post-movie bonding.

Season three - First ten episodes ending with post-movie grandkids/ before Antonio’s birth month. The last ten centering on the actual healing through Casita’s collapse. Mirabel’s parents, sisters, and Primo's reaction to Mirabel’s disappearance. And the reaction to Bruno coming back and how they all felt. 

And more bonding among family members and an introduction to extended ones on Agustin and Felix’s side of the family. Like honestly, what about their other cousins? grandparents? Tias & Tios? Nephews and nieces? We need more of them too.

Over the course of the series a trading & transport system is created for people to safely get in and out of the Encanto to the nearest town. They do explore outside The Encanto/see how far the gifts go. Culture shock. 

Obligatory "the oldest granddaughters go out and shenanigans happen." also Camilo and Mirabel spy/tag along.

Season four - first twelve episodes are going to be character-centric and full of shenanigans. In every episode Luisa tries a new hobby in the B/C plot and it goes a different direction each time. 

Obligatory halloween episode where the grandchildren tell each other scary stories of the outside world. 

Episodes 18  could possibly surround the Triplets birthday. Episode 19 could be the Valentine's day episode with the yellow couple, blue couple, and Dolores’ relationship with Mariano.  Could also involve the other grandkids talking to their crushes or asking them out. Just a full day of wholesome love. 

Episode 20 could be a BIG family game night with extended family involved. 

Season five - Finale season (A few years into the future maybe?)

Mariano goes with the other granddaughters out of the Encanto to get the best engagement ring for Dolores (because only the best of the best is good for her). Camilo and Antonio tag along and they get into trouble. Dolores hears everything and goes to bail her boyfriend and cousins/brothers out.

Day of little candles themed ep where alma and the family go to the river and alma tells them all about pedro. Also flashbacks of before dos oruguitas and Alma telling her family how proud she is of them all. 

Mirabel (possibly seventeen or eighteen) looks back on how far the family has come while working on Dolores’ wedding dress. 

Season ends with Dolores and Mariano getting married! 

Notes: Yes, the theme song would be like the family madrigal, new outfits every other episode, in each episode a part of the diverse Colombian culture could/should be explored. (food, music, dancing, fashion, history, etc).  Songs are a must and Lin Manuel Miranda will be the one who worked on them. I won’t let anyone else attempt to mimic his style of music when he can just be hired. I’m sure he would like to work on the story anyway. 

I think 24 episodes instead of 20 would be a bit better plot and story wise. Maybe each could be 25 minutes each too? Also, if Disney is willing to not have a stick up their ass, I would like the series to be animated in Disney’s renaissance era style. Like the Hunchback of Notre dame, Brother bear, Lion king, Treasure planet, and Tarzan. I’m NOT accepting anything less. 

It could also be a Tradigital (both computer and hand drawn) style like Tarzan/Hunchback of Notre dame! 3D backgrounds painted to look 2D with the characters actually being traditionally drawn. This would especially be cool to look at in Antonio’s room and just Encanto in general. 

TONS OF DISNEY  EASTER EGGS! “Wish” kind of didn’t do it right at all so I think Encanto can do it better.  Honestly I should’ve just asked the Encanto community for help instead of just struggling by myself. YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING!!! If I’m ever able to pitch this to Disney and actually make this become true I will credit ALL OF YOU!!!

Also, I’ve noticed how poorly Disney marketed Treasure planet, Princess and the frog, and strange world (most are allegedly poorly marketed) and by god I WILL NOT let them poorly market this. 

Lastly, I think the series could have a full six seasons because there are so many ideas that I want to add and don’t want anyone’s idea left out. Plus, there’s just so much one can do...

thanks to @midcanto @mirabels-miracle @droppingdonkeys @slayyyysworld @teawizard and you of course for the ideas!

mirabel😭making😭dolores😭wedding😭dress😭

I love these ideas so much!!! in a better universe this exists and in the Number 1 fan!!! I love when this fandom is creative and all come together!!