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rain-and-a-nice-nap · 1 year

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I rewatched “Encanto” with my sibling, and it was my second time viewing. So, I used my brain and here’s a hypothesis. (I did not proofread, and sometimes mirabel corrects to miracle and I think abuela might be corrected once, heads up).

SO obviously, while casita loves all of them, miracle is obviously Mirabel is the favorite. Bear with me, I'm gonna elaborate, but I have to set this out first. I think that while casita has it's own conscious, it is energized by two souls. Until the end, I believe it was Abuelo and Abuela. When Mirabel tried for the door, casita was occupied by two souls already, and shut her out. But, abuelo’s soul saw that because she is destined to help hold the house, he begins to let go of his hold so that he can find peace. Here's my thought process:

Miracle walks up to the door, casita shuts her out but favors her from then on. But, as soon as this happens, the candle flickers for the first time. This is the beginning of Abuelo’s soul letting go so that he can finally be at rest (but he can't do that until the two holders will be emotionally ready). Regardless, his soul now has less of a share on the house, and Abuela, who's soul never found peace with what happened, now has more of a share. Because of this emotional turmoil, it begins to crack.

I think this is obvious, but the candle’s stability is emotionally centered around the family. Because Abuela never found peace, not only is it upsetting the balance, but I think it's a huge reason that Abuelo’s soul stayed for 50 years (along with making sure the family was ok).

The butterfly is seen in Bruno's vision, and while it symbolically represents several things, such as being able to begin anew, I think it is also a physical representation of abuelo’s soul. Fate leads mirabel and Abuela to the spot where he died. In that exact spot where he died is the prophesized plant, where the golden butterfly lands. We hear (and see) a song that shows the two lovers to be caterpillars turned to butterflies. I believe around the part where he does it mentions them to be chrysalis and then butterflies. They became two different things but we're in the end, still the same, and the butterfly was engraved on the candle.

The candle burns out, and it is only after there is no longer a butterfly on the candle that I remember seeing his butterfly. His soul has finally let go of the house, and because abuela was not ready to trust her family, it fell apart. Anyway, they go to the river and abuela finally is at peace with what happened and what everything has become because if her resentment, and wants to fix her family together. It is only then that the butterfly representing abuelo’s spirit leaves in a cluster(?) of other similar butterflies, who may symbolize similar things and departed souls. He finally goes to the afterlife, knowing that after all those long year's, the family that he loves so much will be ok.

Abuela and Mirabel go home, and they all build a new foundation together. So at this point, I'm not quite sure if it rests soley on mirabel or not, but I'm pretty sure that Abuela has at least some share. I think casita needs either a strong, willing, and living soul to keep it alive, or two souks that can balance it out.

I don't doubt that I left parts out, it's late, and I did not refer to the movie while writing this. It is just from what I remember. Anyway, it's late and this movie makes me emotional and I nearly cried when casita waved goodbye and hello.

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ficnation · 6 months

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Chapter 4: The Love She Holds

Series: “She” Word count: 2,7k+ Pairing: Angel Reyes x Female! Reader Warnings: 18+; mayans mc typical warnings, unwanted touch, SMUT kinda A/n: What we're all been waiting for ✨ PS. If I reread this one more time before posting I'll probably scrape it all bcs I'm never satisfied 😩 If you enjoyed reading this please reblog and let me know your thoughts!

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For the next few days, Angel can’t look you in the eyes—hell, he can’t even bring himself to leave his room when he hears you shuffling around the apartment. He waits for the sound of the lock shifting in the door before he can bring himself to stick his head out of his safe haven.

Angel knows he’s the one that fucked up this whole thing with you. He was lonely, and you were in his life for such a long ass time. You’ve never let him down—not even once. You are the sweetest person he’s ever met, yet you can still kick his ass when he’s being a dick. Falling in love with you was inevitable, but he didn’t know it would happen so fast—so soon.

The man sighs as he leans his elbows on the wooden counter, listening to the wheezing of the coffee machine as hot black liquid spurts into the mug. The sound was tickling his nerves in a certain—very annoying—way. It didn’t make him even slightly angry before the bath incident, but now he just can’t stand it—it makes his head hurt.

He slams his fist onto the counter, cursing loudly. The coffee spills over the edge of the mug and barely misses his hand.

“I should fuckin’ do something,” he murmurs to himself through clenched teeth. Since when was he afraid to go after a woman he loves? He’s never been a goddamn pussy. What changed?

You are just so different than anyone Angel’s ever been with. He doesn’t want to lose you—can’t fucking stand the thought of you walking away. He has to do something.

He drops Maverick off at Felipe’s house—gives them some abuelo-nieto time while he drives over to the bar where you work. It’s a shithole—a very suspicious one at that—yet the parking lot in front is almost full. The neon sign above the door flashes on and off when Angel slams the door of his car shut. Jesus, it’s gonna give someone a headache or a fucking seizure.

Entering this building was probably one of the worst mistakes in life—the man thinks as he’s greeted by a couple almost going at it by the entrance. The skinny blond dude has his hand down the poor girl’s skimpy skirt as she moans loudly in his ear, hips rolling into his palm. Fucking disgusting.

He was doing the same exact shit back in the day when he was dumb, reckless, and didn’t care about anyone other than himself. But now the view makes him almost gag.

The brunet pushes past the lovebirds—or rather fuckbirds—through the narrow hallway to the main area. The dimmed red lights flashing above his head and the music that makes every wall pulse with the beat make it seem like more of a club rather than a bar. He’s surprised when he takes a few more steps and a woman dressed in booty shorts with her whole tits out passes by him with a tray full of colorful shots. What the fuck is this place?

Angel looks around wildly, searching the topless women’s faces in fear he’ll recognize one of them. He pushes past the swaying bodies in the middle of the room, and then he sees you—working behind the bar.

He’s relieved when he notices that your chest is covered by one of those bralette thingies you like to wear so much. But he’s not sure whether this relief comes from not wanting the pathetic men around the bar to stare at your perfect body or not wanting to get another surprise boner in front of you.

“You didn’t tell me you’re a bartender now,” he yells through the loud music as your gaze finds him, your eyes widening in shock.

You serve one of the men at the bar a bottle of beer, popping the cap simultaneously, then you come back to Angel and squint at him, trying to find a clue as to why he turned up at your workplace and how he even knew where to find you. This bar was almost an hour's drive away from Santo Padre.

“What the hell are you doing here? I do not have time to put up with your shit right now, Angel,” you sneer at him as you lean over the bar in hopes he’ll hear you better, take the hint and retreat back to his car.

“I’m fucking sorry, alright?!” He throws his hands in the air in exasperation, almost knocking a drink out of some poor girl’s hand.

You blink once, then twice, and your eyebrows scrunch up in annoyance, “Fuck off.” You whip around and go the opposite way to serve another customer.

That’s definitely not how Angel imagined this conversation would go. He didn’t know you were that mad at him. He was a moron to think you’d accept his apology without a peep in the middle of a sea of drunk strangers. This wasn’t a goddamn telenovela.

The man sighs deeply in annoyance before following you to the other side of the bar. “Querida, can we talk? Give me five fucking minutes.”

At first, he’s sure you’ll just ignore him as your eyes almost pop out of your skull—that’s how hard you roll them at his words—but then you turn to him with teary eyes. “I’m at work. I can’t. You really couldn’t wait and ambush me when I’m home?”

“It was an impulse,” he admits. Angel knew it was pretty dumb to think that if he came here, you’d drop everything, so he could explain himself and get rid of this guilt that’s been eating him alive for the past few days. “Please, querida.”

“Oh, for god’s sake,” you curse under your breath before waving over the other bartender and shouting through the noise to her that you’re taking a break.

You join Angel on the other side of the counter and tug at his kutte, leading him toward the exit. Before you can even reach the hallway, someone bumps into you, their hands grabbing at your naked waist.

“Hey there, bonita,” the man greets you. The smell of his cologne and cigarettes makes your eyes widen—you know it very well.

Angel stands there for a second, his left brow raised in annoyance and confusion because you seem to know this guy—and he really doesn’t like that thought. He pushes the stranger’s hands off your body with a sneer.

“Man, don’t fucking touch her like that.”

You catch Angel’s forearm and squeeze almost painfully, your nails digging into his inked skin. You don’t turn your head toward him even for a quarter of a second.

“The hell? We’re friends, big guy.” The man’s deep voice and graying beard confuse him even more. Since when do you fancy fucking grandpas?

“Uh, Cesar, hi,” you greet him, your voice squeaky and the upward quirk of your lips fake. The second the stranger’s gaze falls over your grip on the brunet’s arm, you release him. “Sorry, I’ve actually just finished my shift.”

“No, you fucking didn’t.” Cesar’s eyebrows and nose scrunch threateningly. Who the fuck is this guy to be talking to you like that?

You reply without missing a beat, “My kid’s got a fever. It’s an emergency.”

The old guy looks between your face and Angel’s before the grimace falls. The smirk taking its place isn’t any less threatening. “You must be the baby daddy, huh?” he asks, but his tone is clearly mocking.

You pray in your head that Angel will hold his short temper at bay. You know, one wrong word to Cesar equals a shit ton of trouble—even the satisfaction of wiping that disgusting smirk off his face wasn’t worth it.

“Mi niña hermosa. So fucking good at riding, she got herself a biker,” Cesar almost moans those words out as his hand finds your hip, fingers toying with the belt loop of your dress pants. You don’t move to slap his hand away.

Angel raises his fist to punch him, his teeth gritting against each other almost audibly. Before he can deliver that hit, you push him aside and usher him out of the door. You don’t say another word to that Cesar guy—not even a goodbye—as he slips a bill into your back pocket and slaps your ass.

Angel is fucking livid because you know how to take care of yourself, he saw you kill a man before, crush his skull with your goddamn boot, and yet you just take the disrespect in silence. It’s not like you.

Once you’re out the door and out of earshot, he explodes. “Why the fuck did you let him treat you like that?!” His voice reverberates through the night air, earning the two of you a few concerned and annoyed glances from the bystanders.

“That’s my boss. Now shut up and take me home,” you mumble, exhausted, looking around the parking lot in search of Angel’s car. “I spent an hour in the car with that dick to even get here, and now I’m going back after not even half of my shift just because you couldn’t wait to talk,” you rant, almost stumbling over your words.

When you reach the car, and he opens the door at the passenger side like always, he’s surprised to catch a glimpse of tears running down your cheeks. He joins you inside with a sigh, concerned eyes finding your head turned away from him as you stare through the side window.

“Cariño, I’m sorry,” Angel whispers, his hand reaching to push a loose strand of hair behind your ear.

You sniffle, wiping your cheeks with your bare arm. “Every single time I feel like we’re closer than ever and that maybe you feel something toward me too, you fucking push me away.”

“I know, I’m—”

You cut him off before he has a chance to apologize again, “No, I’m speaking right now. You’ve never yelled at me before. Not like that. You scared the shit out of me, and I blamed myself. Wondered what the hell I did to deserve it. But I didn’t do shit.” You throw your arms in the air, gesticulating toward him. You still refuse to meet his eyes. “You fucked up. Not me. You’re the one that’s been playing with my feelings all this time, and god forbid I try to even out the stakes.”

Angel’s now the one tearing up as his eyes widen at your words. “Querida, I didn’t mean it. I didn’t fucking mean it.” His fingers find solace in tugging on his hair in frustration. “And I never wanted you to feel like I’m playing with your feelings. I’m so sorry.”

You turn away from him again, biting your lip to keep the sobs inside. “Please, just drive me home, Angel.” The desperation in your voice is heartbreaking.

So he does what you ask of him and drives you home in silence. He doesn’t have it in him to try again when you’re already struggling, trying to keep the whimpers from wrecking your body. And when you pull up in front of your apartment building with a heavy heart, he lets you jump out of the car and rush to the door.

He stays in his seat, trying to recollect himself—it doesn’t help, he still hates himself for making you feel this way. It takes a while for him to get inside the apartment, he dreads that when he walks in, you’ll tell him to take his shit and get out of your life.

Angel knows he fucked up, and you were right; he played with your feelings—played with his own too. He slept in your bed almost every night, cuddled with you, kissed your forehead and told you ‘goodnight’ and ‘good morning’. How was it any different from how he’d treat Nails, Luisa, or any other woman he loved? Minus the sex. And when you challenged that unspoken boundary—on purpose or not—he chickened out and treated you like a plague. What the hell was wrong with him?

The apartment is swallowed in darkness when he enters it. You’re nowhere to be seen, and he figures out you’ve probably shut yourself inside your room, maybe even locked the door, so he wouldn’t be able to come in. He wouldn’t blame you.

He sits on the couch in the gloom and stares into the void. He’ll wait for you to come to him once you’re ready—he’ll sit here for hours if he has to. Angel needs to fix this, tell you what’s really been on his mind the past couple of days—tell you how much you mean to him, how much he loves you, and how fucking terrifying it is.

Three hours pass, and he’s almost dozed off on the couch, his head tilted forward, his back slumped, and his eyelids drooping with every second. The wooden floor creaks underneath your footsteps, waking him up completely. The sleepiness evaporates into thin air as he straightens up and finds your frame in the darkness.

You switch on one of the lamps in the corner of the room. Its warm glow takes over its surroundings, but not overwhelmingly so. Angel squints a little as your frame drops onto the couch beside him. You sniffle softly before leaning your head on his shoulder.

His heart shatters just a little bit more, and his voice carries it, breaking in the middle of the sentence, “I’m sorry, cariño.”

You don’t acknowledge his apology—you don’t really need to. Your next words are all the forgiveness he could ever want.

“I love you, Angel,” you mumble against his arm. It’s a quiet confession, yet it echoes in his mind like a mantra.

He feels your tears soaking into the sleeve of his shirt. The man blinks in shock once, or twice, then pulls you into his lap and presses a gentle kiss against your forehead.

“You know I love you too, right? More than any woman I’ve ever loved,” he admits, and it pains him, but it’s the truth.

He loved Luisa and Stephanie, but those feelings pale in comparison to what he feels for you. Angel never experienced this overwhelming want to protect someone from the whole goddamn world—the pure need to spend every single minute of his life with them and care about them more than he’s ever cared about himself. He feels that for you—like he could throw himself into a burning fire if someone promised him his sacrifice would give you and Maverick safety for the rest of your lives.

You straighten up in his arms and cradle his jaw in your palms. When your eyes meet, you see that burning fire in them. He doesn’t need to say anything else—you understand him without words.

Your lips press against his tentatively at first, tasting the love and longing. But Angel has a different idea. He pulls you flush against his chest, hands tangling in your hair as he deepens the kiss. His tongue grazes the plush of your lips, and you part them for him without a second thought.

That night, he fucks you on the couch in the middle of your living room, your back pressed against the cushions as he slides inside you with a guttural groan. It’s sweet and needy. The desire you harbored for each other finally released into the world—he’s far past feeling guilty, and sorry for a woman that’s long gone.

Your moans reverberate through the room, and all he can think about is how perfectly he fits inside you—like you were made just for him. One look into your eyes, and he knows you’re thinking the same thing.

Your nails bite into the bare skin of his back, and the pain is so lovely—he could get drunk on it. He pushes deeper and deeper until you’re a whimpering, clenching mess beneath him. It’s a picture that burns into his brain, he’ll never be able to get it out—not that he’ll ever want to.

When he spills inside you with a groan, you pull him flush against your naked frame, cradling his face in your palms and leaving sweet pecks anywhere you can reach.

He’s addicted already, he’ll never be able to give you away now—not a chance in the world. Angel’s love for you is burned into his heart permanently.

Taglist: @neverland14353 @darklydeliciousdesires @spnaquakindgdom @dreamy-caramel @mars469

#“she”#angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes fic #angel reyes x reader #angel reyes #angel reyes series #angel reyes smut #mayans m.c. x reader #mayans x reader #mayansmc #mayans fx #mayans MC series #mayans mc smut

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aevyk-ing · 1 month

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Watching the making of Wish

-Patting their backs for reusing animation as an homage. Like yeah, it’s nice, there’s work behind that, but it’s the way they say it, like: “We’ve worked hard! Trust us!” We know animation is hard and the problem with Wish was never the animation.

-I didn’t know Sabino was based on Roger from The Aristocats. I love Roger, he’s delightful. Poor Sabino just looks bland in comparison.

-They say Asha has her good and bad traits (which isn’t true) and is so brave to go against what she has believed her whole life. I've seen that done way better and with actually compelling characters.

-“She has to balance being a good friend and family member to speaking the truth and I think we can all relate to that” Well… nope. All those things can be different things. And both your friends and family should help you or at least listen to you.

-Saying that the “I want” song explains how the character is, like… duh.

-Well, yes, Ariana DeBose did great with what she was given.

-So Asha has freckles because some people of North Africa and Southern Spain have freckles… what? Any skin color can have freckles. And I can’t talk about North African people but Andalusian aren’t quite freckled (yes, that’s the name of Southern Spain). Also, I never saw her as mixed. She totally follows more of her mother’s culture. That’s why I don’t like her calling her father’s father saba. Her mother’s father would be her saba and her father’s father her abuelo.

-I love Bill Schwab’s designs, he’s a great artist. But he was only told Asha’s age, race and height. Which yeah, it’s important, but for designing a character you should think about their personality too, because that also translates into their features, hairstyle, clothes and mannerisms. We still don’t know anything about Asha. Is she shy? Likes comfy clothes? No, wait, she’s adorkable.

-They talk about Disney Princess gowns using elements from the current period where they were made (something quite interesting) but they just put the Modern twist in Asha’s hairstyle. Like, what were you afraid of?

-Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but Schwab’s just did his job with a model sheet and that was the ONLY reference they had for animating Asha for a while. Then one of them used his daughter as inspiration and then Ariana came with lots of ideas. They didn’t know how Asha moved for the longest time! Their lead character!

-They say Asha is pure energy, which is… somehow correct? Like she’s just awkward and making those weird moves and trying to be cute and funny. The movie is done and nobody knows yet who the heck is Asha as a character.

-Apparently, Asha has details of pumpkin seeds all over her clothes and she’s wearing periwinkle because of the idea of making her THE Fairy Godmother. I still think she looks better in orange.

-Seeing the voice acting outtakes was good. But now I wish the Bland Dwarfs looked more like the actors. All of them have interesting features that could have been implemented in the designs instead of making them clones of the Encanto family and the mother from Strange World.

-The first deleted scene is after Sabino retrieves his wish and he sings a song. I would have put it in the end as a farewell song with everyone joining it.

-"The Wish equation" is to have a true wish, be responsible of it and… finding support? Fight for it? Exclude fear? Accept change? What are we even talking about? A dream career?

-They say the FG gave Cinderella the dress but couldn’t make the Prince fall in love with her, so she was supporting her! Like… Cinderella just wanted to go to the ball. BAM, there you go, a new dress, WISH GRANTED. Cinderella’s wish wasn’t to make the Prince fall in love with her, she didn’t even know him yet!

-“Music happens when you’re too overwhelmed with emotion.” This clip plays AFTER a snippet of "Welcome to Rosas". I guess Asha was too overwhelmed with being late. That shouldn’t have been a song, she should have told us about Rosas in the book opening.

-They wanted it to be like a fairytale and then hired a pop composer. Like the director says she grew up with the Disney Renaissance Era. Which used Broadway music!

-They talked about this earlier but “This wish” was the song that helped them write the movie, just like "Let it go" made them rewrite Frozen. So you can tell they didn’t have much to work on, maybe an idea: “Hey, just do a fairytale about wishes for our anniversary.”

-The songwriter was so overwhelmed with the commission she had to reach a friend to help her. Maybe because nobody actually knew what the movie was about? But hey, she’s the youngest to ever write a Disney OST.

-You know? The more I hear “This wish” the more I’m sure it’s the best song of the entire soundtrack.

-Hey, I know that guy in the archive! I’ve seen this clip before!

-I’m just hearing they didn’t know what the heck to do and dived into the archive for inspiration. I like the idea that they studied the greatest artists for some scenes, but sadly, all that is lost in the movie. They scenes are too short to appreciate the animation, but A+ for effort.

-They thought doing a fairytale illustration style was difficult to do… in 3D. Just don’t do it in 3D! Also, I don’t think it’s that difficult, Blue Eyed Samurai did something great.

-The composition is interesting and the backgrounds too, but the characters look quite bad.

-The illustration style led to the backgrounds (and everything) being in focus, which I think it also makes the movie look weird. Look at any old painting: the background is less detailed than the main focus (less brush strokes). They could have gone that direction. The backgrounds of Wish are too detailed a lot of the times and always in focus, so it’s distracting.

-BTW, most of this is: “We did this like in this movie, that like in that movie…” but, what’s original? What makes Wish its own movie?

-They talk about lines like lineart in animation, which we’ve seen it masterfully in Spiderman. But here is so subdued it doesn’t add anything.

-“Wouldn’t it be great to have a warmer climate than the one we’re used in fairytales?” Yeah, because there’s snow in Encanto and Hercules. Also, nothing tells us that’s a warmer climate. Google “Andalusia”, please. There’s flowers in bright colors everywhere, white houses, narrow streets and people, just a lot of loud and happy people. That’s Southern Spain for you all.

-At least with Frozen we CAN TELL it’s Norway. Here, there’s nothing that says SPAIN. Give us people eating serrano ham or tortillas, maybe put a bull around there, have them drink wine from botijos and play guitars!

-Again with the “this was based on this”. Rosas was inspired by The Sleeping Beauty: Germany and France. That’s a whole different architectural design! There’s no verticality as main focus in Mozarab architecture, is all about curves.

-“So it’s your fault.” Yeah, that doesn’t sound fun. I have the feeling you’re not telling a lot of things.

-You know, another Fantasia would have been great. Maybe one with all the Disney characters.

-This is now about the story of Disney, so yeah, padding. Also, way to use “At all costs” in the background. We don’t want to remember what you’ve done in the past, we just want you to tell a good story again.

-This should have been the beginning, the “wish upon a star” that put Wish in motion.

-It was going to be about the origin of the wishing star?

-“Return of Disney villain” Hahahahahahah…

-They didn’t know how bad Magnífico could be and made him do mean stuff like smashing Sabino’s guitar (they called it a guitar here).

-Also, apparently he was going to be shirtless in a scene. Like, you know, a Disney villain.

-We don’t watch him BECOME a villain, we watch a magic book CONTROL him!

-“With "This is the thanks I get" I was like, oh, yeah, we have a narcissist.”, so they didn’t know anything about Magnífico until the song was written! That’s why he doesn’t act like a narcissist much until that song and why the mirror ending felt rushed.

-“When Chris Pine came in I was like: that’s it, that’s the character.” Because they didn’t even had designed it? Like, that’s literally him!

-He did give it all to that song.

-Magnífico was an alchemist?

-“We didn’t want people to know he was evil right away.” Every poster and article: “Disney’s new villain, everybody!”.

-“Makes him more dangerous the quieter he is.” Magnífico in the end battle: eyes fully open, screaming, laughing.

-Oh, Star, here we go. He was going to be pure energy as well… just like Asha! Yeah, we were robbed. BTW, he’s not like Genie or Maui. Maui and Genie aren’t even the same!

-He could have been a fantastic creature as well. And all those designs look crazily fun. But also that’s the kind of exploration you do at the beginning of the production, not in the middle. Unless someone meddles…

-Someone went out to design different sparkles for Star but I could only see it being adorkable. Focused on the face so the sparkles weren’t even noticeable.

-“…they put their personality on it (Star)” Yeah, because none of these characters had any personality… nor have it now that the movie is done.

-People being made of stardust is one of the most beautiful scientific facts. “You are a star” is the worst song in the movie. No wonder it took so long to write.

-Nope, Doc was a leader. Dalia is just there… talking. Of course she’s a way to get the medal of “we put a disabled character” but at least she has more personality than Asha.

-BTW, just saw the Story Artist wearing a pin with a Pride flag in the shape of a Mickey.

-“She’s just a young woman, going with her life.” “And succeeding.” Yeah, representation is good, but it’s better if you’re not talking about how good you are for doing it.

-Also, we have mixed-race representation, older people with dreams representation, etc. but hey, that girl has a crutch, we’re cool.

-“Animals in Disney have to be smarter than people.” Why? Just why? And also, Valentino is no way smarter than any of the other characters. So why say that?

-“(Alan Tudyk) He pretty much made the whole character.” Yeah, because it looks like nobody had any idea of how these characters were.

-“Inspiration can came from anywhere.” You just COPY-PASTED the ideas of others.

-“Everybody has seen me crying in the studio.” For a good or bad reason?

-Ending with a Walt quote proclaiming they always do their best job… huh…

-“It served the story better to have Amaya as a good person.” Yeah, nope. It made no sense for her to switch sides so easily.

-Sabino dying would have been such a strong way to start the story. Him stealing Asha’s diary… yep, not good.

-Reinforcing my theory that Disney wanted to move away from shapeshifters after the Nimona fiasco.

-Looks like they gave the chaotic energy Star was going to have to Valentino.

-Making any other animal talking surely was a mistake. What’s with the sassiness?

-Dalia wasn’t called like that?! BTW, the writers were so proud of her clutch not being mentioned but, in the deleted scene, it’s the first thing they do. Twice.

-“When you’re underestimated, they don’t see your power coming until it changes the world.” Whoa, just whoa. Disney writers, everybody.

-LOL, the deleted scene with the animals is so bad. But Magnífico was going to transform into a Beast, so… kinda interesting?

Here's the link, BTW.

And congratulations if you read this all. If you're interested, here are my own Wish rewrites: 1, 2.

#wish #disney wish #rambling

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impossiblefangirl0632 · 5 months

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do you have encanto fic recs? every time I watch encanto I think about how much potential there is for fic but then I never actually read any...I figure that you might be able to give me a place to start if I ever decide to make the plunge! thanks

That insane cackling you heard in the distance was me upon reading this ask. Um. Yes. Yes I do have many encanto fic recs and I’m so glad you asked! I’m limiting myself to 10 of my all time favorites. Should you choose to delve in I’d be happy to rec more. I tried to do a smattering of the types of fics I like.

Note, Bruno is my favorite character and as such most of these are Bruno-centric or he plays a major role.

The Sandman by @cthene Rated G 30K Complete

Bruno explores his Gift.

Just trust me on this one. It’s fantastic. I’ve literally reread it 5 times. If Bruno as a time wizard plus a really great look at the relationship between him and Mirabel sounds like your cup of tea I cannot recommend this one enough.

Nos Sigue la Noche (The Night Follows Us) by Thornvale Rated T 36K Complete

Post canon, Mirabel can’t help but feel as though something is going to go wrong; mysterious Tío Bruno is behaving more strangely than usual and something about the magic seems to be changing. Not only that, but an old danger is lurking in the shadows of the mountains surrounding the Encanto.

As they learn to see by @cannibalthoughts Rated T 67K WIP

Four and a half years after hiding in the walls, Bruno has an accident bad enough for Casita to call for help, and the family’s problems stop being ignorable.

aka: Bruno slips and knocks over about a dozen family crises on his way down.

I adore everything about this fic. Cannibalthoughts writes Bruno’s internal headspace SO WELL it’s the perfect blend of humor and angst.

a hair on the head of john the baptist by icarusinthesand Rated T 4.5K Complete

Unsettled in the new Casita, Bruno goes to the usual place wayward prophets seeking solace go.

This one leans into the fact that they’re all Catholic and explores how Bruno feels about being a prophet. Also has a fantastic conversation between him and Mirabel. This one has my whole heart and I’ve reread it many times.

A Prophet In His Own Land by @madrigaljail Rated T 33K Complete

Part of the Madrigal In-Laws Verse that flushes out Felix and Agustin’s families. I highly recommend everything in this series but Prophet is my favorite.

Growing up in the close-knit community of the Encanto, Bruno Madrigal is many things to many people: a dutiful and difficult son, a loyal, irritating brother, a shining star, a lurking menace, a dear friend, a familiar mystery, and an object of scorn. Shouldering the burden of all these contradictory roles, he struggles to find his place in both the town and his family.

A Miracle Is Not Earned but Freely Given by @wildlyironicbee Rated T 57K Complete

A bit of an Anastasia/verrrrrrrrry loose beauty and the beast AU

I love this one SO MUCH Please read it it’s got amazing characterization and some really excellent angst and family bonding.

Mirabel grew up listening to the stories her Abuela would tell her about the Encanto and her family's magical house, Casita--and of how it was lost, her Abuelo and Tío sacrificing everything to keep them safe. When she's presented with an opportunity to finally see the ruins of the Encanto for herself, she leaps at the chance. But what--or who--she finds there will alter the lives of her family forever.

Stars Lost Down The River by @ramblesanddragons Rated T 87K Complete

A ‘what if Mirabel ran away after her ceremony, Bruno went after her, and they both got swept down the river and lost their memories’ AU it features them reuniting with the Madrigals and it is just absolutely excellent. Rambles has a lot of Encanto fics and I love all of them.

Bitter Blood by ashtreelane Rated G 19K Complete

Post-Canon. Bruno is only technically the youngest. Really, it's by fifteen minutes, but he is also the smallest, and prone to sickness. The fainting spells probably don't help the weakness his sisters see. Bruno is hypoglycemic, which is annoying, but not dangerous. It gets much worse when he enters the walls.

Excellent Madrigal kids stuff and excellent angst

Never Shall We Die by archive_rat Rated M 99K WIP

Young triplets pirate AU. Pirate queen Pepa, ship’s doctor Julieta, & navigator Bruno. Listen, come closer, have you ever read something that left you just sitting in awe and wonder, something that every time you reread it you pick up on something new because there is just SO MUCH amazing detail? Because this is that. I cannot sing this fic’s praises enough. Also if AU’s aren’t your thing go read archive-rat’s other Encanto fics set in canon verse (do that even if AUs are your thing) I was very tempted to rec them individually. Landscape with the Fall of Icarus and Axolotl are my favorites.

Just Your Ordinary, Everyday Miracle by @16magnolias Rated T 283K WIP

Bruno/Original Female Character post-canon fic that starts with the question of ‘where did Bruno get the horse?’ at the end of the movie.

A candle. A living house. Magical powers. A 15-year-old girl named Mirabel. Miracles can come in all shapes and sizes, and Bruno's latest miracle may just take the shape of a 41-year-old widow named Lucía and her daughter Josefina. And – uh – maybe also a horse.

This fic has my whole heart. Lucia is such a well written and flushed out character and Mags’ writing is so cozy and I love it so so so so so much. If Bruno/OFC sounds interesting definitely give this one a read.

(Obligatory plug for my own (with @optimistic-violinist) fic Take Back the Kingdom, a modern/fantasy AU where Bruno and the kids have to save their kingdom from an evil wizard with humor, hijinks, and angst galore)

#phew that was a lot #encanto fic recs #seriously thanks for the ask #if there's something that's more your speed let me know and if I have more recs for that I have happy to provide

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spotsandsocks · 1 year

Text

Date night

Date Night 2k G

I did not mean to write this I had a thought here and then was enabled (not that it takes much ) by the tags left by @singlethread and @canonicallyobserving911. I have tried to build in some of the speculation and ideas flying round here too.

Eddie goes on a date, post Poker night date and Marisol has some insights on him and Buck.

The plan had been simple enough: get Buck out of his flat, introduce him to people who would understand what he’d been through, the people who had helped Eddie get through what he’d been through too. If Buck didn’t want to share how he was feeling with him, maybe he’d talk to someone else. Eddie would be happy if he just started talking to someone, anyone, normally you can’t shut Buck up but for weeks he’s been so closed in. Apart from that brief glimpse in his kitchen where he hadn’t lied but hadn’t exactly told the truth either, Buck isn’t talking. Eddie misses the part of his friend that’s gone quiet but more than that he’s worried about him. Hence the plan.

The first inkling that he’d miscalculated had hit him when Buck had opened the door to him looking like that, like a film star from the old movies Eddie had watched with his abuela and abuelo. He hadn’t expected Buck to scrub up quite so well, which was again stupid in retrospect, Buck is hotter than hell on his most casual days what had he been expecting when he said ‘Dress up for me, you need to look good. I’m taking you out somewhere fancy,’ Buck had fulfilled the brief and then some.

He’d even let some of his awe slip past his lips once his brain had come back online. He distinctly remembers staring and then saying ‘wow’ Buck had beamed and looked about an inch taller as he’d preened under the praise and attention. It had been a flash of the old Buck.

Eddie hasn’t had anywhere near the same reaction to his date tonight. Marisol looks nice, she’s technically very pretty; nice face, nice hair, nice dress, nice smile. Nice nice nice.

He’s been there, he’s done nice, it didn’t end well.

He knows he doesn’t want nice. He’s starting to think he wants something else. Someone else.

Poker with Buck had felt, well it had felt a whole lot of things. Nice hadn’t been one of them. He’d felt alive sitting next to Buck, watching him win hand after hand. He’d felt proud that Buck had come with him, that people watching could see Buck smile at him with eyes brighter than they’d been for weeks. He’d felt hot and breathless watching Buck’s confidence grow, pull those chips towards him with his strong capable hands, fingers curling round them then playing with one chip, twirling it through his fingers. He’d been fascinated by the way they moved, surprisingly

dexterous considering how big those hands were.

He feels a little hot again now, this restaurant should probably get their air con checked. Marisol is saying something about her job he thinks, so he nods and smiles, takes a bite of whatever he’d ordered.

He wonders what Buck’s doing for dinner tonight. He hopes he’s gone out to see Maddie or Bobby or someone rather than hiding at home. At the poker game he’d felt hopeful like maybe Buck was coming back to him a little bit.

At the poker game he’d been having fun.

Tonight sitting opposite this perfectly pleasant woman he feels bored.

“Eddie?”

He refocuses on his date who says quite kindly,

“Why are you here?” The half twist of her smile is also kind and a little knowing.

“What?” He frowns more confused than anything.

“Why are you here?” She repeats, “well physically at least, not sure I have your full attention.”

What does he say; because his aunt’s been nagging him to start dating again and “get on with his life”, because it’s been more than a year since he had a date, because he’s getting older and it’s what people expect from him, because she fits the mold for who he should date, because he still had her number from where they fixed up her house, because it seemed like the best of his very limited options.

Or maybe it’s because she doesn’t make his heart race and his palms sweat, because she has brown eyes not blue and because she’s safe and won’t break his heart.

Or is it because Buck might have thought the poker night was a date because when he said goodnight to him there’d been a moment when Eddie had thought how soft his lips looked and how close they were and Buck had looked at him and he’d looked back and his heart had skipped a beat and then he’d said goodnight with his eyes fixed on his shoes and left.

There’s a lot of reasons why he’s here tonight and one reason why he shouldn’t be.

The most honest thing he can say is sorry so he does.

“I'm.. I’m really sorry I shouldn’t have done this. I’m just not ready to date.”

Eddie says the words with the memory of soft lights and large hands holding cards in his head. He says the words with the feel of soft velvet under his fingers and the scent of the whiskey on Buck’s breath as he’d lent in to whisper in his ear at the table.

“Is it that guy?” She asks with another small smile, “the one you came round to mine with, Buck wasn’t it? Did you just break up or something, this a rebound date?”

Eddie’s heart lurches “What? Why, why would you think that? Me and Buck we’re not, we’ve never… no… no.”

Marisol sits back in her chair, “Oh! It’s a ‘I'm in love but I haven’t told him’ kinda thing then.”

He hasn’t got an answer to that. Not that she was asking a question, it’s more of a statement.

Eddie shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

“It’s fine Eddie. I understand, I was surprised you called, I kinda assumed you were with him then.”

“Why?” His heart is in his throat waiting for her answer, if he’s that obvious a stranger thinks he has feelings for Buck then it’s more than likely Buck suspects, more than suspects after poker night.

“Well the way he looked at you was a big clue.”

Wait what? The way Buck looks at him .

read the rest on AO3

#buddie fic #911 fic #spotty scribbles #911 speculation #for fun #911fic #buddie #911 fox #evan 'buck' buckley #eddie diaz #poker night date night

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animelga · 7 months

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I saw a post on the Bleach subreddit which asked about which parts of the series people found most disappointing. And a lot of people there obviously said Chad, and I agree - But I want to be more specific. Chad in the Lost Agent arc is some of the most blatant missed potential I've ever seen.

I think its pretty easy to infer that each of Bleach's five arcs focuses on one of its five originally-introduced main characters. This is something my librarian-coded brain adores!! Our lineup, as introduced in Substitute Shinigami, is Ichigo, Rukia, Orihime, Chad and Uryu (Renji gets added to that group later, but ignore that for now). The first two are pretty obvious - Substitute Shinigami introduces us to Ichigo's character and his moral code, what he fights for, what potential he has. Rukia, or more specifically the Shinigami as a whole, are of course the focus of the Soul Society arc - even though she's trapped in a cell for lots of it, characters like Renji, Ganju and Byakuya specifically serve to explore the different sides of her character. Both her and Ichigo are of course important throughout Bleach in its entirety, but these two first arcs put them and their relationships with those close to them in the focus far more than atany point later in the series.

Arrancar arc and TYBW are pretty self-explanatorily Orihime and Uryu-focused, if arguably a bit misguided with TYBW in particular. Even though, again, Orihime spends most of Arrancar stuck in a cell, she shows tremendous growth and maturity, and the entire arc's theming of what it means to have a heart is centered entirely on her. And Uyru...well, Uryu is the center of the conflict in TYBW, despite it definitely feeling underwritten in the Manga. I think thats mainly a result of its rushed pacing by the back half though, and it seems to be getting resolved with the adaptation now. So I'll hold off on Uryu for now - his treatment is salvageable and if nothing else he's always gotten at least one golden moment to shine in all other arcs.

That only leaves Chad and Lost Agent - a perfect fit for one another, and something Kubo himself was pretty clearly going for at the start. Its Chad's disappearance that instigates the drama, he's there with Xcution to help Ichigo regain his powers, and the existence of Fullbring in general elegantly explains where Chad's powers came from in a way that's true to his character (the "pride in the color of my skin" line is still one of his best character moments imo). It is, effectively, an arc built entirely around answering the questions Chad himself asked about his powers back in the Arrancar arc.

And then...nothing. He explains his powers, helps Ichigo, he trains to get stronger in a video game, and...then falls under Tsukishima's mind powers and gets knocked unconscious. Only for the Soul Reapers to show up and do all the fighting again - even characters like Byakuya and Kenpachi, who clearly don't have any material for growth when pit against the Fullbringers, show up just to clean house. To me it reeks of Kubo deciding to include fan-favorite characters toward the end of the arc just to make people happier with it, since Lost Agent in general was so divisive. Though it was obviously earned for Rukia to return in order to give Ichigo his powers back, having everyone else also show up to do the work of other characters for them felt kind of like a slap in the face.

It feels so obvious in hindsight, but Chad and Tsukishima would have been a borderline perfect matchup for a fight to move the arc to a satisfying conclusion. Out of the entire core cast, Chad is the one who feels most motivated by his past to act - he remembers his Abuelo's words, he remembers his times in turmoil with Ichigo, he remembers just how hard he's had it in life and fights to make sure nobody else has to suffer like him. Pitting him against the character able to alter memories would've been a genuinely fantastic challenge of character, and would've made for the most satisfying Chad victory the series could've pulled. Even though Tsukishima isn't Bleach's strongest villain, he's certainly one of its scariest and most potentially dangerous, and Chad's entire personality and design is built around protecting others from such harm.

Instead, Kubo just kind of... procrastinated with Chad, always hinting at more to come, hoping maybe anotber matchup as good as Tsukishima would roll around eventually. Only for him to still gst nothing to do for all of TYBW, and his send-off being to fight some stone statues off-screen.

It's such a shame, imagining what could've been, and remembering just how damn cool Chad is when he actually gets to play with the cool kids.

#bleach #tite kubo #bleach tybw #tybw #bleach anime #bleach manga #chad yasutora #ichigo kurosaki #rukia kuchiki #uryu ishida #orihime inoue #death and the strawberry #mel alphabet soup

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thisismeracing · 21 days

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bono-schumi kiddo thots - godparents edition

once mick and bon’s f1 family find out they are expecting these people are pulling out their credit cards and buying every possible baby item they can set their hands on

kids mini mercedes car? delivered to their house

cute plush they saw at the store? in hand on the way to the register and holding onto it until they see one of them at the next race

the mercedes amg branded stroller and carseat? toto has shown up to their house in the middle of the night to hand deliver it (babe these are real products i just want you to know)

a shit ton of baby tommy hilfiger clothes that are unreleased? lew is folding them and putting it in the new wardrobe he bought for the nursery, before they even woke up (how did he get in?????? [he has a key])

a handmade crib that seb put hours of love into making? he’s setting it up while lew is folding the clothes

a collection of gina’s cowboy hats from her childhood? making space for them in the closet while lew and seb are doing their thing

and it isnt all monetary (even though they get enough items to fully furnish the nursery and have enough toys and clothes for at least another kid and didnt even have to worry about any of the other baby things because their village got it for them already) [seriously they didnt have to buy a damn thing]

like how susie has come over to either cook for them or drop off a dish she’s made

or how the kimi, nando, jensen, seb, lew, etc. come over one day to paint the nursery the color bon and mick have picked out but just haven’t gotten around to painting because of their busy schedules

or how while most of the guys who came over to help paint (how many of these fuckers actually need to be here in order to paint a single room one color?) val has made bon a cup of tea, and a cup of coffee for him to keep her company while mick supervises the painting session

or how lance and esteban will bring over fresh pastry around brunch time, to help in feeding the growing family

and it’s all a bit too much, but they don’t have the heart to tell them to stop so mick and bon just let their family shower their love on them

and bon is a little bit stressed about the whole “who do we put on paper so if anything happens to us they will be taken care of?” situation, but mick reassures her while they are cuddling in bed that there is no wrong answer and he will support whoever she wants to be godparents to their children, while kissing her gently and while sun fills the room they’re occupying

and they eventually land on a consensus

ellie’s godparents are susie and lew

because for one, little miss eloise is named after susie and lew is just so close to bon and she wants him in her daughter's life as much as he has been for her growing up

toto can be an unofficial godparent and i don't feel bad about that because he absolutely just slots himself into the role of grandpa right next to bono. [adding onto this nando absolutely gets called grandpa/abuelo because bon gets a good laugh each time nando reacts to hearing him being referred to as a grandpa.]

mikey’s godparents are gina a seb

seb because again this kid is named after him, but also because we cant leave seb out of being godparent. mick and bon would not let that slide. and then gina cause they also wont let gina not be godparent, and the fact she is mick's sister and bon's sister in law.

yeah people like lance and esteban are close to them, but these four they hold just a smidge closer. but not all is lost because they are very enthusiastically filling the roles of uncles for eloise and mikey. alongside people like val, kimi, jense, etc.

[okay i think im done, hope this made sense and you liked it <3]

☕️

I literally googled "mercedes amg branded stroller" bc I've never seen it before lol kinda cute, toto would def get them one of those

seb building a crib for baby bon is something I can totally see happening and it's such a dear thought to me*teary eyes emoji*

one hundred percent agree and love the godparents choice

#☕️ anon #millies inbox #ms47 #mick schumacher #bonnington!reader #thots

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sandrockianblues · 9 months

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Hey, I was wondering how do you feel about Logan and Haru’s relationship?

I wasn’t expecting an ask after my post so fast lol, hi

Logan and Haru honestly radiate brother energy to me.

I know that’s not what a lot of people will wanna hear, but it's my own opinion and if someone can’t handle that, they need to accept that not everyone sees the same thing as them. This post is just gonna be me elaborating on why and also how I perceive the two.

Before I get accused of ignorance or anything worse than that- I do have gay family members, I was in a major that was filled with predominantly gay or bi men (honestly a surprise to me for some reason, and I had close friends growing up during my grade school years who never had an issue expressing themselves or hiding who they were (we grew up in a more accepting community).

The ship between the boys is neat, but I don’t ship it, just like how I wouldn’t let myself ship Mi-An and Elsie, but I can see the ship after Elsie’s character growth. Or how I’d actually love to see Amirah with Grace.

I ship based primarily upon if they’d fit together psychologically and what their dynamics scream to me. I don’t like to randomly throw characters together just because it’s new or A looks like this and B is the opposite. I don’t believe looks make a relationship- they can make a trope, but a trope only works if characters actually mesh well together. It’s a common misconception I’ve seen over the years.

But in the case of Logan and Haru- they scream found family and brothers to me.

Coming from someone who has witnessed or experienced found family, it’s actually something beautiful and profound. My uncle isn’t really my uncle, my abuelo’s family took him in when he was laboring away as a kid and sleeping in a cargo shipping container. My sister-in-law didn’t click well with her own family but is perfect in ours and she is one of us. My dad’s friend grew up being babysat by a woman across the street and that whole family essentially became hers despite having a sister and parents of her own.

Found family does exist- and it’s often a concept not considered.

Tbh, the two of them remind me of Sylvain and Felix from Fire Emblem: Three House. Which is another case I think is found family/brother bond over romantic.

While Haru does seem to understand Logan and he seems like the balance to him- that’s often a case for siblings. Siblings can be opposites. My sister and I are, my brother and I are- and my brother and sister are the same as one another.

I don’t think Haru could stand dating Logan’s ass BECAUSE he knows him. There’s nothing wrong with Logan, but something in their dynamic hints that Logan can be a bit annoying. I hc him as pestering Haru when he’s bored while Haru is trying to work on something.

And while Logan appreciates Haru helping to guide him, that he makes up for the areas Logan lacks in and vice versa, I can see Logan getting into a tiffy with some of his issues as well. Not like a relationship style of learning to accept one another’s flaws and areas they lack in, more like I can see the two annihilating the shit out of one another in a ruthless sibling like way. And it’d be hilarious and they’d forgive one another because they know they’ll do it again. There’s acceptance and accountability held between the two.

I think the softness they have with one another stems from grief, but also their personalities.

Logan, while blunt and to the point, is caring and protective of those he sees as family. It’s evident in his lines and voice that there’s shifts the more you progress with him unlike some characters (no disrespect to them). Logan is a survivalist who knows he has to accept his own shortcomings and ask for help when he can’t do it himself- because how else will he achieve what he needs done? He’s cocky, but he’s honest and knows he needs humility to stay alive.

I do not believe his gentle demeanor towards his friend is anything romantically coded. He seems to speak like that to some others as well in Act III from what I’ve seen so far.

As for the concept of them being Andy’s parents- while it’s evident that Logan is Andy’s father figure despite the man being young, Haru and Andy seem like siblings as well to me. They honestly give off the vibes of the brothers from Big Hero 6.

Both are incredibly intelligent, both have a similar personality to that of the character they correspond to in the movie, and one leaves so the other can achieve things by himself. Just, in this case, Haru isn’t gonna be in an explosion like the brother was. Haru helped hone in on Andy’s brewing intelligence, but it’s obvious to both men that Andy needs proper schooling as well and to grow up as a kid. Andy cannot follow in either of their shadows, Andy cannot become the next Haru. Haru even radiates big brother energy and is less guiding in Andy’s life like Logan is (I.e. when he tries to do what’s best for him and his safety).

So, in conclusion, I think Logan and Haru are that of found family and brothers. I don’t read any romantic connotations from them or hints of it. And while Logan serves the role of Andy’s father, Haru seems to be that of the big brother. Any “hints” of them being that way, to me, is just this heavy set of shared guilt and burdens between the two of them. I think their need to protect Sandrock and avenge Howlett, as well as taking in Andy, helped to alleviate them in a way, but it’s a dark moment in their lives that is gonna be between the two of them.

I have some friends within this fandom who ship the two, and that’s honestly more than fine. We all see and perceive things a different way. I respect them and thankfully, I receive it back. I worry for this ship to become similar within the fanbase akin to Felix x Sylvain or Dean x Castiel in terms of fans arguing with one another, and I know it’ll occur either way because some are strongly for the ship, and some are vehemently against it. My only hope is that it doesn’t reach that level and we can respect one another’s opinions.

#my time at sandrock #mtas #sandrock #pathea #mtas logan #Mtas haru #Mtas Andy #Sandrock Logan #Sandrock haru #Sandrock Andy #anon ask #siren speaking✨#Logan hc #haru bc

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trashendence · 1 year

Note

Your tags on this set:

I'm still wrapping my head around it, but there's something about how this whole storyline and Eddie's evolving (?) philosophy about the universe is in conversation with the scene at the equestrian center about choice and the randomness of the universe. Something about Buck's utter determination (for self destruction, alas), no matter what the universe throws at him. That the universe screams, but it doesn't control our fate? That we still have to make our own choices, that we are responsible for who we are. Even if and when terrible things happen to us that we can't control, what matters is how we respond to that trauma.

I just really love the overarching narrative and how this theme about agency vs. the universe - choice vs. fate - are all being told through Eddie, at the moment. How the universe may be screaming at Buck, but you are 100% right: Eddie would believe that the choice is up to Buck. That Buck has to decide what (and who) he wants. But it is funny how this stance is leaving them in this emotional stalemate. Eddie, waiting. Buck, running away, deeper into self-destruction.

Anyway, sorry for rambling in your ask box, but I have feelings and would love to hear more of your thoughts on Buck and Eddie and the Universe.

oh i love this ask! eddie and faith, eddie and fate, buddie and the universe? sign me up every. single. time.

i think you’re definitely on to something with eddie’s evolving philosophy about the universe and charlie’s role in all of it (it’s actually why i think ‘suspicion’ should get all the credit). arguably, charlie and his mum represent a turning point for eddie; a single parent turned rotten, someone eddie trusts on instinct because he sees himself in her, and someone who betrays him and her own son in the end. it’s okay not to believe in a higher power if you can believe in people, but what happens when people are not inherently good? what is the point then?

if there are too many variables to keep track of, where does that leave eddie? eddie, who thought he could prepare for everything in his life and, most importantly, in his death. the binary code he can’t predict but can welcome when it comes. and the one time - the one time - he tries to put an end to a situation he didn’t see coming, he gets shot. the one time he reaches out to those he cared about, they’re dead. he starts wondering what’s the point of everything if it all ends in fire, what’s the point of his abuela collecting debt to say goodbye to his abuelo, what’s the point of mitchell dying when they could have found another way, what’s the point. and the point, i think he’s always instinctively known but is slowly realizing just now, is love.

“our job was always to save the person in front of us. and what happens next? well, we aren’t supposed to know. it got me thinking…about the day you got shot. i almost forgot that wasn’t even our call and it made me wonder if you ever wished we hadn’t saved him,” is what buck tells eddie before letting him know the second chance eddie blindly gave charlie - out of love and nothing else - worked. they didn’t know if it would, and it did. both buck and eddie agree there is nothing to regret, even if it’s random, even if it turns out a mess.

i think eddie accepted then and there that they will never know for certain whether it is all a coincidence or if there’s a bigger picture, but there is one conclusion: you can either listen to the universe and call it love, or scream with your own voice and call it love anyway. just like with ‘suspicion’, it’s about not being defined by what you attract - be it shitty people, natural disasters, unexpected losses -, nor by the cards you’ve been dealt. it’s about eddie being a great dad and still pulling into his orbit the exact opposite, which makes him feel used and stupid but also tells us one more time about his heart and what it desires. it’s about buck being stopped multiple times on the way to his donation and still running to make it work, because that’s what he thinks he desires. and everything is drenched in love; for a son, for an old friend, for the chance to give happiness to someone else. trial and error.

that’s why eddie wouldn’t actually stop buck from doing it; he knows randomness is not the enemy because choice is what matters. but i think buck is not there yet. he frantically looks for a sign, opens his arms to possibilities because in the great numbers reside higher chances, thinks his future is written unless what he needs to change it finds him first. there is very little agency in his ‘yes’, there is so much pain in his running and hoping for the best. eddie ultimately will show him that buck found love actively, organically, effortlessly and yes, also a bit randomly.

it’s truly a great love story story of love.

#because this wasn’t already long enough: ‘we don’t know what happens next’ paired up with the shooting scene is the synthesis of everything.#when dying and *free from the future* - that’s when eddie reaches out to buck and openly seeks him #to ASK if buck is okay.#nothing will come so what’s the point in holding back for fear of the consequences?#free from the future is what buck should try to be too right now #(#the suspicion-equestrian lessons-sperm donation pipeline is the realest thing in my life as of now #)#okay i’m done #iri got asked #thank you for the most amazing ask my friend. always a delight!#eddie diaz #evan buckley #buddie

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gamerbearmira · 11 months

Note

Spiderwoman au - snippet (Minor ATSP spoilers)

"Hey! who's the new guy" Mirabel yelled as she swung across the Mumbatten buildings.

"Hey Mira!" Gwen and Pavitr greeted.

"Hey, guess what he showed up and he wasn't even invited" Hobie said with his innocent ignorance.

"I'm no-" Miles tried to speak but obviously that wasn't happening.

"Oh wow, oh! you must be Miles, well let me introduce myself"!

"My name is Mirabel Madrigal and for the past 6 years I have been the Encanto's one and only Spider woman."

"I was bit by a radioactive spider."

"Being spider woman is so cool, I get to fight bad guys, help lots of people, and spend time with my familia AND lots of other cools stuff too!"

Images of Mirabel's life from when she was bitten, to fighting bad guys, to helping civilians with tasks, to her family. One little image showed Camilo, Mirabel, and Antonio hanging out. Looking truly happy, others showed Mirabel being sidelined but Mira has gotten over it a long time ago...sort of.

She knows her worth and knows that she doesn't need gift to feel appreciated. But it still hurt to know that her abuela wants her out of the way, it still hurt to know that her own sister wants her out of the way. But at least she had Dolores, Camilo, and Antonio to make things a little better.

And now that she's a part of the spider council community she no longer feels like she's alone. Pavitr is so nice and sweet, Hobie and Gwen are cool, and Miguel is...something but nice. It doesn't take spidey sense for Mira to know not to get on his bad sad.

She loves telling Dolores, Camilo, and Antonio about all the cool adventures she has and the people she's meeting. Hobie, Gwen, and Pavitr have visited her in Encanto. Antonio loves all of them and never stops asking them questions whenever they visit.

Mira has this little odd-looking spider pet, that bit her, named Pedro. She named it that because it gave her a miracle the same way Abuelo Pedro gave her family a miracle. Mirabel's world is a mixture of 1950's and futurism, kind of like this.

Mirabel saw Gwen saw Gwen wearing a jumper and was completely fascinated by it. They have sweaters in her world yes, but not hoodie sweaters and jackets.

"What is it?"

"A...hoodie?"

"....Where do I get one?"

And that's how a hoodie became part of her spider wardrobe. She's seen people, mostly news reporters/anchors comment on how odd looking it is. But she doesn't care, there comfortable and most of them are gifts from Hobie.

She finds Peter B. funny, and she absolutely loves mayday.

Life was...going good to say the least

"And-WOAH" Mirabel began to speak but what looked to be a black disk was thrown at her.

Mira and the other four looked to see a black hole that seemed coming out of nowhere. Game time.

(I tried my best, I forgot most of the movie, so yeah)

Not her being obsessed with hoodies 😭

Not but. 6 years is longer than ANYBODY on the current Miles team, even SpiderPunk 💀 but anyway. I think her and Miles would be pretty good friends. Also, her being happy with pretty much the warm siblings. F sobbing bro. LET HER BE HAPPY WITH THE FAMILYYYYY.

But her immediately help, not out of obligation of being a spider person, but also just cause is so cool.

Forgetting the whole movie is real bro 🥸 AND I LIKE THE DESIGN‼️‼️‼️ little spider friend, IM CRYING 🐓

#my asks are open #my asks #encanto #encanto au #au #encanto mirabel #miles morales #gwen stacy #spider punk #pavitr prabhakar #across the spiderverse

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cyberdragoninfinity · 7 months

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Hope you don't mind me crawling back in here! I just wanted to ask if anyone will ever call cps on jakob for his crap or do they have the whole "he's our grandad" thing stopping them?

Because if so *holds baseball bat* I'm ready to throw hands with him if the boys can't /hj

WOOF. it's a good question but hoohohohoooly shit, the sheer amount of little (and big) complexes that keep this family from admitting Jakob is actively fucking up not just one but TWO generations of Mancini could fill and subsequently sink a cruise ship 🥴

Like, you got Lester, and he's a little bit "that's just what grandpas do, duh 🙄" about it. <---*kid who is not well* And Primo's too busy wanting Jakob's approval, he'd sputter and gawk at the sheer implication that a VETERAN be treated with scrutiny, let alone held ACCOUNTABLE by any authoritative organization. H-he FOUGHT for this COUNTRY, YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!!! (but why then does the way his abuelo talk to his dad and little brother make him feel so... bad. :,/c) And APORIA is kind of wrapped up in this head in the sand denial like "I deserved to get hit and treated poorly by my father. My kids don't deserve that. So therefore it's not happening to them." He can't even process the idea<-- *grown adult who is ALSO NOT WELL.*

You don't get to be a family made up of four guys who are actually one yugioh guy who is catastrophically fucked up emotionally to an absolutely nuclear degree and not get out unscathed i fear... Something like CPS isn't even on their radar I don't think. :( Also Jakob lives in the bumfuck middle of nowhere and probably has a thin blue line bumper sticker on his oldass truck (CRINGE.) the authorities would probably take his side anyway (CRINGE. AGAIN.)

BUT NEVER FEAR the boys throwing hands might not be in the cards but their dad finally has a moment of clarity at a family get-together when Jakob bashes Primo in the face over Primo calling him out for ragging on Aporia and her life choices and Ongoing Gender Happening (#aporiatransfemnonbinaryrealness) and every other little nitpick a crusty old bitch like him could have.

^Primo gets his nose broken for this and Aporia stands up to her full nearly eight foot tall height and tells her father that if he lays a hand on her children again she will Fucking Kill Him and later on she helps clean the blood off Primo's face and shirt and that is one of the warmest moments Primo has had with his dad(mom? dadmom?) since he was like. a young teenager. ;_;

it throws things into a bit of chaos afterwards BUT the liger does finally snap the chain and put the fear of god back into Jakob. gotta take the small victories

#ygo posting #ANOTHER MILD DISSERTATION. SORRY. I ROTATE THIS FAMILY IN MY BRAIN LIKE A SOLAR SYSTEM <3 #5ds pizza au #ygoart #dana art #asks #angel-of-sweet-revenge #tw abuse // ?#he/she being used for apo here. gender. you understand primo himself is still working through his own personal issues #but on fucking god he will fight for the people he cares about ;__; my fuckign ITALIANS

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blueflyingturtleontheway · 1 year

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touching prompt 42 for gabe and isa please !!

"It's fine, this is fine, everything's fine," Isa repeated under her breath as she paced around her room. She had already changed into the right dress, packed the present and left the guitardeon by the door so she wouldn't forget it. There were still two hours to the party, so substracting the time needed to drive to Amara's house and the braiding itself, it still left Elena over an hour to get there.

A sudden knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Come in!" she called out and sighed in relief at the same time. "Finally, I was afraid you wouldn't- oh it's you Gabe." Her shoulders immediately dropped when she noticed him walking in.

"Uh, yeah I wanted to tell you I just got a message from Elena, she said the meeting is dragging on and she probably won't be able to come back as soon as she had hoped. Is... everything alright?" He asked as Isa flopped into a chair and loudly dropped her head on her dressing table.

"Everything's just splendind," her voice was muffled by the wood. She heaved a deep sigh and finally leaned back on the chair. "I just really hoped Elena would help me with my hair."

"Oh," Gabe scratched the back of his head. "Should I call the royal hairdresser?"

"No, no, I don't want it to be that fancy." Isa quickly shook her head. "It's not such a big deal anyway."

"Than maybe I could go get your abuela?"

Isa shook her head again.

"No, she went out with abuelo today, so you wouldn't find her anyway." She sighed again. "I suppose I'll just go" she flung her arms out and let them flop back into her lap "like this."

"Well... maybe I could be of some help?" Gabe finally offered, hesitantly.

Isabel slowly raised her head only to send him an incredulous look.

"you could be of some help... with my hair," she asked him carefully, like you'd ask someone who just said that iron is lighter than copper. "You do realize I'm talking about briding my hair for a party."

"Yeah," Gabe chuckled nervously. He was starting to regret his offer.

"Do you even know how to braid hair? Or... Do a crown braid, for example?" She still sounded unsure, but he could hear a tiny bit of hope sneaking into her voice.

He exhaled quickly and called on his best smile.

"There's only one way to find out, isn't there?"

Slowly, almost against herself, Isa returned his smile and excitement sparkled in her eyes.

"Now do you have like, a drawing of this hairstyle or something?" Gabe clapped his hands walking over to the dressing table. "I might be a bit out of practice, but growing up with my cousins we often..."

A few hours later

"Wait, are you talking about a real hen? A real, living hen? And it just stayed there?"

"Yup," Gabe's voice was muffled by the hairpins he held in his mouth. "Of course we thought about going back and - hold this for a moment now" he interrupted quickly handing her another strand of hair. "We thought about going back and looking for the owner to give it back, but honestly, we had no idea where it even actually came from. Add to that all the trouble with mooring the raft, then walking probably a whole day upstream - and anyway we wouldn't leave it for so long, we were extremely paranoic someone would steal it, though realistically speaking I don't think anyone would even want to steal it," they both chuckled "but the thing is, we had no idea where it could even come from. I mean almost everyone there keeps chickens, so if we'd go and..."

"I'M SO SORRY I TRIED TO LEAVE AS SOON AS" the door slammed into the wall, pushed with the power of a hundred typhoons, revealing Elena, with a frantic look in her eyes. "Possible..." her voice trailed off as she took in the scene before her.

Isa was seated on the floor, her dress carefully evened out so it wouldn't crinkle, and she held her head tilted a little forward so Gabe - Gabe - (Elena rubbed her eyes here to make sure she wasn't hallucinating) was sitting on the bed above her and braiding her head.

"Hi, Elena." He waved to her quickly with his free hand.

"Don't worry," said Isa. "Gabe told me you'll be late, but luckily he could help me with my hair do."

"I mean, I don't know how to a crown braid, but Isa said two braids connecting into a low bun will be good enough, so." He fell silent for a moment, pinned down a few last strands of Isa's hair and finally leaned down. "Alright, I'm finished! Let's see how it looks like from the front though."

Isa let out an enthusiastic "woohoo!" and they both walked up to the big mirror by the wardrobe.

Elena finally recoverd from her shock and also waled by to them, looking over her sister's hair.

"Are saying you did all this? I mean you can actually... do hair nicely? Honestly I wouldn't suspect you actually knew your way around elegance..." she mused, looking between Gabe and Isa.

"No, I'm pretty sure Gabe actually got under some spell of Mateo's, but I'm not complaining for now," she said, beaming at her reflection.

"Why do my talents always go unrecognized," he shook his head and chuckled.

Okay this is much longer than the other ones, but IT WAS A TRAP YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE GABE AND ISA.

Prompt lists

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magicalmadrigals · 1 year

Text

Something New, Something True - 3

Synopsis: Newly married and newly pregnant? Ay, life is never simple for Isabela Madrigal...

Turning his head to bury a kiss in his hija’s hair, Agustín smiled when she mumbled something incoherent in her sleep and nestled deeper into his embrace. It was rare she let him hold her like this, rare she fell asleep on him, but she was going through so many changes and she was so worn out at the minute that it surprised him little and he certainly wasn’t going to complain. She and her hermanitas were all so grown up now, even Mira was only a matter of months away from turning twenty which he tried not to think too much about, and none of them were all that eager for his company nowadays and so when they wanted him it pleased him to no end.

He pulled the blanket his daughter brought with her a little tighter around her, not wanting to her to get cold, and when he looked her way again he sighed. It was still hard for him to get his head around the fact she was going to be a mamí before the year was out. In his mind, she was still his little girl and even though he was so impatient to be an abuelo and watch her blossom as a mother he also hated that time had gone so fast. He felt he took for granted her younger years, that he didn’t spend as much time with her as he probably should have done since he was so ocupado and Luisa came along not long after her, and it was something that he regretted.

He remembered everything about the night she was born as though the events only took place mere days ago. Juli was in slow labour for almost three days with her, unable to sleep or think about anything other than the pain she was in, and seeing her like that and being unable to do anything for her was absolute torture for him. It only got harder for him to remain calm as her labour went on and he heard her start crying out, but luckily he had Bruno and Félix there with him and they both managed to keep him from punching a hole in the wall. He doubted doing so would have scored him many points with his mother in law, so he was thankful to them.

It must have been the early hours of the morning when the doctor came to him and told him that it was over. He could remember running from the room the second he heard the baby was born and going upstairs, almost slamming into Alma somewhere along the way, and his whole life changed when he crept inside the bedroom. Julieta had to tell him to go and join her on the bed, he spent so long standing near the door because he was truly unsure as to what he was meant to do in that situation, and the moment he sat down he saw their lovely little girl’s face. He cried unashamedly then, both from relief and sheer happiness, and he still didn’t care at all.

He thought he knew what love was when he met and then later married his wife, but the love he had for their daughter was like something he had never experienced before in his life. It was so intense it left him unable to form a coherent sentence and he made Juli laugh with his stammering. It was when she let him hold her in his arms that he truly fell in love with her, her warm weight and tiny hands and gentle little squeaks, and he made a promise to her then and there that he would always love and keep her safe. Of course, she had no idea what on earth he was going on about back then and she still had no idea he made that promise, but he honoured it.

He honoured that promise to her the same way he honoured it to her hermanitas.

He adored the three of them, that was all there was to it, and he would spend his entire life doing so.

Her moving in his arms with a soft murmur of discontentment pulled him from his thoughts after a while and he looked her way again, smiling at seeing her looking up at him from where her head rested on his shoulder. “Ay, I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” She chuckled, her voice still rough with sleep as she brushed her hair out of her eyes and sat up a little. “Lo siento, Papí, I haven’t been getting much sleep at night and so I’m tired a lot.”

He shook his head. “Don’t be sorry, mi princesa, your mamá was the same when she was pregnant.”

“How can something so tiny be giving me so much trouble already?” She smoothed a hand across her belly.

“Being a papá has taught me it’s sometimes the smallest things that cause the most trouble.” He smirked.

“Perdóneme, I was a delight when I was little.” She feigned hurt.

He laughed at that. “For me, you were always un ángel but you and Lolita liked to scare your mamás to death sometimes. I remember once, the two of you decided to play hide and seek without telling them and they both spent hours looking for you. You were only about three or four at the time, so you were still inside the house, but you were both so small back then that you managed to squeeze into the tiniest space and they couldn’t see you. You gave up hiding in the end and I remember you being so contenta that you won, but your mamá and tía were so upset with you both that neither of you got any galletas that night. You never did it again though.”

“You could have snuck me a galleta,” She pouted. “You always used to do it and still do!”

“Ah, but that would have gotten me into trouble with your mamá too and I wasn’t going to do that.” He said.

She snorted. “Don’t tell me she scares you.”

“I love her, I really do, but you have never seen your mamá get so upset with someone that she starts speaking full español,” He shuddered. “I have only ever seen her do it twice, but that was genuinely more than enough.”

Shaking her head at him, she moved closer to him on the sofa and curled into his side as her head fell against his shoulder again. It made her smile when he placed a kiss on her forehead and she draped an arm across his stomach, curling a hand into his waistcoat. “I was brought up so well and I am so thankful to you and mamá for all you taught me and all you did,” She told him in a quiet voice, letting him put his arm back around her. “I know I was hard work while I was growing up and…and I know I gave you a hard time sometimes, but you were always so patient with me and I want to be like that with mi bebé. I want to be as good a parent as you.”

“Amor, you are going to be a brilliant mother,” He soothed. “And you are going to make us all so proud.”

“But how can you be so sure of that?” She tilted her head back on his shoulder and looked up at him again.

“Because you have never done anything but,” He smiled, stroking her cheek. “Never…”

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lovefelp05 · 4 months

Text

hey, first time showing my ocs around here :D /hey, primera vez enseñando mis ocs por aqui :D

ENGLISH: (here come ma boys~) I have this whole story of anarchic Oc's, and gangsters, (✨with fantasy and magic✨)

One of the main factions is the house Stainland, run by this gargoyle woman named Gina, on the surface, a businesswoman, in control of the most popular clothing brand in the big city, and behind the scenes a group quite involved in tax evasion, monopoly, and extortion (this group does not like competition xd)

Gina Stainland: she is someone Sassy, (she has bipolar problems, perceptible mood swings that she dont fully control, along with certain anger issues on the other side) she usually has a long tongue, and is not afraid to say what she thinks, which can cause her certain problems, but in front of the public, she likes to be friendly, and keep up appearances.

Helios Phire: He is Gina's faithful assistant, her fashion assistant, secretary, and from time to time, the one in charge of burning down the competition, Helios is basically a diva, somewhat eccentric and a show off, but that's only when he is being passionate about what he likes. he is a fan of fashion and elegance, but he also knows how to be a gentleman and a good boy with the guests ^^ (but also, he does'nt like rude idiots, he is good at recognizing problems, and he knows how to deal with them)

and Elwood: He is the butler and guardian of the Stainland house, and also Gina's grandfather by merit, he raised her, and was in charge of the house until Gina's brother took over, and a couple of years later, Gina took over as the new head of the family, Elwood is like the combination of a strict grandfather, but also a chill one, he has the character to tell everyone what to do, but once everyone is done, he lets everyone do whatever they want. with age his fatigue became evident, but he can still fight in his own way.

ESPAÑOL : (aqui vienen mis chicos jsjs) tengo toda esta historia de Oc´s anarquicos, y mafiosos, (✨con fantasia y magia✨)

una de las facciones principales es la casa Stainland, dirigido por esta mujer gargola llamada Gina, en la superficie, una mujer de negocios, en control de la marca de ropa mas popular de la gran ciudad, y tras de escena un grupo bastante metido en la evasion de impuesto, el monopolio, y en la extorcion (a este grupo no le gusta la competencia xd)

Gina Stainland: ella es alguien Sassy, (tiene problemas de bipolaridad, cambios emocionales que no controla del todo, junto a ciertos problemas de ira a parte) ella suele tener una lengua larga, y no teme decir lo que piensa, lo cual le puede causar ciertos problemas, pero delante del publico, le gusta ser amable, y mantener apariencias.

Helios Phire: es el fiel asistente de Gina, su asistente de moda, secretario, y de vez en cuando- el encargado de incinerar a la competencia, Helios es mas o menos una diva, Un wisp algo excentrico y presumido, pero eso solo es cuando esta siendo apasionado por su trabajo, él es un fan de la moda y la elegancia (un poco demasiado) pero tambien sabe como ser un caballero y un buen chico con los invitados ^^ (eso si, no le gustan los idiotas groseros, el es bueno reconociendo problemas y sabe cómo lidiar con ellos)

y Elwood: Es el mayordomo y guardian de la casa Stainland, y tambien el abuelo por merito de Gina, él la crio, y se hizo cargo de la casa hasta que el hermano de Gina tomara el cargo, y un par de años despues, Gina ocupo el cargo como nueva cabeza de la familia, Elwood es como la combinacion de un abuelo estricto, pero tambien chill, él tiene el caracter para decirle a todos que hacer, pero una vez todos han terminado, el deja que todos hagan lo que quieran, con la edad se le nota el cansancio, pero aun asi puede pelear a su modo.

#mis ocs #Gina Stainland #Helios Phire #Elwood #honor of the pentagram OC´S #falperio05

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encantowishes · 2 years

Text

Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic. -- Carl Sagan

Break the Shackles of Time

Mirabel would have tripped down the stairs if it hadn’t been for Casita catching her. When the house creaked a floorboard in admonishment, the girl grinned sheepishly and held up a magazine. “Sorry, Casita, I was just so caught up in this story.”

Now that the valley was open, the people of the Encanto had access to things most of them had never even dreamed of. Bus rides, movies, and fizzy drinks were near the top of Mirabel’s favorite new things. But just as amazing were new versions of old things, like records and books.

There were so many stories to choose from! Mirabel and Camilo were currently recommending comics to each other in much the same way Dolores and Pepa traded romances. Julieta liked mysteries, and Isabela was reading a bunch of political stuff. Félix and Agustín were more into biographies and histories.

All these new books seemed to inspire a burst of creativity in the household, as well. As she crossed the courtyard, Mirabel spotted Luisa -- who had been devouring fantastical adventures -- and Antonio -- always asking for animal stories, of course -- hard at work on their epic serial, “Antonio in the Land of Donkeycorns.” Entering the kitchen, she found Bruno sitting still at the dining table, staring at the blank page before him as though the paper itself might suddenly reveal some long-hidden truth of the universe.

“How’s the new play coming, Tío?” Mirabel asked brightly, helping herself to a leftover buñelo. Camilo wasn’t the only growing teen in this house.

Bruno did not move at all, only letting out a distressed groan. The rat on his shoulder started grooming him, presumably in an attempt to soothe.

“Am I interrupting?” came Alma’s voice from behind Mirabel. She carried a worn cardboard box.

“Come on in, Má,” Bruno said, still not moving.

“Can I help you with that?” Mirabel asked, gesturing toward the box.

“Thank you, but it’s only going right here.” Alma set the box down on the table. Turning to Bruno, she said, “I thought you said after you read all those new plays you were full of ideas?”

“I am, I just … I wanna make people cry.”

Alma and Mirabel gave him identical looks of concern.

“No! That came out wrong. I want … I wanna move people. I wanna write something that makes people think, or, or feel. Y’know … something that people will look back on years from now and say, ‘boy, that Bruno Madrigal sure knew how to write a story.’”

Alma smiled fondly. “You never even knew him, and still …” She lifted the lid from the box and began pulling out the contents. There were a few notebooks, and many photos.

“Who took all of these?” Mirabel asked, picking up a photo. A man led a laden donkey through a village street, while children played off to the side. She didn’t recognize any of the people. Or the place. Yet she felt as though she knew a bit of their story, just from this one image. “This is really good.”

“Thank you,” Alma said. “I took these when I was young. Your abuelo had an idea for a book. We were going to call it: ‘Colombia in the New Century.’” She chuckled. “Neither of us had ever been more than ten miles from the places we were born, but we thought we could tell a big story. The story of the whole country. I took the photos, he wrote the words.” She picked up a notebook with a tan cover. “That’s all in here. But what I was really looking for is this.” She pulled out a larger book.

“What’s that?” Mirabel asked.

“A scrapbook.” Alma laid the book on the table and opened it. The pages were filled with photos, a few newspaper clippings, and short bits of writing, notes about funny or interesting things that had happened.

“I’ve never seen that,” Bruno said.

She pushed it toward him. “I put it all away as soon as we came to the Encanto. I’m sorry, mijo, I should have shown this to you and your sisters long ago. But I … couldn’t.”

Bruno and Mirabel began looking through the pages. A picture of Alma and Pedro goofing off at a festival. A scribbled joke. A photo of Pedro playing tejo with other young men. A clipping about a dance competition, with a woman’s name underlined -- a friend, perhaps. A doodle of a donkey. A closeup of Pedro sleeping.

“I’ve decided I want to add to the scrapbook again,” Alma said. “So you all will have it to look back on when -- oh!”

Bruno and Mirabel looked up. Alma gingerly cradled a small red notebook. “I thought this had been lost,” she breathed. She looked at them. “This is Pedro’s journal.” Alma hesitated before handing it to her son.

“Me?”

“Perhaps it will help.”

Bruno read his father’s journal, and then Mirabel did, too. Before long, the whole family had seen it.

Pedro had begun his journal shortly after meeting Alma. He wrote of his deep love for her, and how he admired her strength, even if she was a little scary sometimes. He wrote of how his heart swelled as he realized that this was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, and of his anxiety about proposing to her. He wrote with wry humor of how nearly everything had gone wrong on their wedding day, how they had almost arrived at the jail by accident, how a cart of manure had overturned outside the church, how none of that mattered because they both had said “I do.”

Pedro wrote of his excitement and fear about his impending fatherhood. The doctor said there was definitely more than one baby, but Alma must be trying to work him up with her insistence that there were three. He wrote about his hopes for the future his children would grow up in -- the brand-new twentieth century -- and all the milestones in their lives he was looking forward to.

His final entry was written while Alma was giving birth. The midwife would not allow him to come in, and the waiting had him nearly bursting. But from what he could hear, it seemed that Alma had been right all along. Suddenly, Pedro was the father of three children. Was he up to the task? He had love enough, he knew. He had boundless love for these babies he had not even seen yet. But did he have the courage, the strength, to be the father his children deserved?

“It’s strange,” Mirabel said to Bruno after she finished reading. “I feel like he was telling me his story. I almost feel like I really met him.”

Bruno nodded. “I know what you mean.” But he did not look up from the page he was quickly filling with his own words.

#encantober #encantober book #it's me amrys

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