#jorge makes the spackle

[cancelforcipe]

u have skill and, I'M IN UR WaLLZ

wat

[myhummingbirdbluelove]

I made a meme for Pride

[the-rat-man-in-the-walls]

I really would appreciate it if I could get some motivation to draw a bit.

I can draw decently. It’s not 100 but it is rather decent. I wanna try drawing Bruno in Jorge mode with the smile peaking underneath the bucket (You can see him grin underneath the bucket when he’s building with Mirabel) Also I found out he weighs 100lb. How on earth did he manage to throw himself through a wall when he barely in the triple digits? It was crumbling but it was still a couple of layers. 

I wanna draw Camilo, Dolores and Antonio annoying Pepa. Antonio seems like the type of baby who falls asleep on everyone and everything and no one will move because they do not want to disturb the sleeping baby. 

Bit of Abuela maybe, spending time with Mirabel to make up for a shitty attitude and maybe talking to a therapist. Or the priest. This is 1950s, she probably still wondering how a phone line works and won’t be calling a therapist any time soon. 

[diamcnddcgs-archive]

Do you think Bruno gets comments from people saying "oh did I wake you up" because he looks tired and his hair is messy?

[ordonianhero]

Little goofy

Cw: strong medicine reactions

Twi: *after being given one of Wild’s strongest potions* my name is Fernando. *makes a serious face* I’m Jorge I spackle-“ *giggle snorts*

Time: *looking at the half drunk potion* uh champion? What exactly did you use to make this?

Wild: *sweating nervously* uh, you don’t want to know. Don’t worry, this absolutely normal. He’ll zonk out in a bit.

Time: Wild!

Twi: hmmm frogs. *makes frog sound*

*the younger lads giggling*

Wild: *innocently smiles*

Time: you made this from frog parts?!

Wild: and a few other ingredients. *frog, mushroom and herbs* it’s a strong potion.

Time: I can see that. I hope to never have the pleasure of trying this.

Warriors: *chuckling* oh I think you’d be a blast on it.

Time: 😑 no.

Twi: *has konked out and softly snoring*

Wild: see. He’s fine.

Hyrule: OMG i never knew that how it would effect someone.

Wild: well rancher is a bit- how do I say it.

Warriors: special! *smirks*

Wild: no, just potions and meds has always had a weird effects on him. This why you got to be careful.

Hyrule: oh! Sensitive you mean.

Wild: that’s the word.

Time: fine, I trust you. He’s asleep now, so let’s all go catch up on some rests and restock up on things before we move on.

Twi: *murmuring in his drugged up state* mmmidna.

Everyone: ….

Warriors: oh lovely he is dreaming of girls. Fantastic. *chuckling*

Time: *sighs* let it be. Come on. Off we go. 



[hurt-comfort-lover]

Mirabel AU / Mirabel Angst / Mama Mirabel / Part Ten

“Ah! Sorry- sorry I didn’t mean to- uh-” He stops not knowing what to say. Mirabel was so surprised that she stopped shaking and her breathing slowed. 

“Tio Bruno…? What are you doing here?”

“Well- um, I kind of live here? Unless you mean like- like in this area which is because I heard someone in the passageways, and then I saw my vision and you know uh, yeah.”

“Oh.. um, what do you mean live here? How?”

“It’s a bit hard to explain, it might be easier for me to just show you.” He says offering his hand, Mirabel takes it, pulling herself up. He takes her through the passageways to his “room.” Mirabel walks by and sees cracks that are covered in cement.

“Are you patching up the cracks?”

“Oh! No no no no no, I don’t go near those. All the patching is done by Hernando.”

“Who is Hernan-” Bruno puts up his cape and says,

“I’m Hernando and I’m afraid of nothing!” he pauses, “It’s actually me, I say my real gift was ‘acting,’ haha.” Mirabel looks at him and she can’t decide whether to find it funny, charming or concerning.

“I’m Jorge, I make the spackle,” Bruno says. Mirabel decides she should probably be concerned. They make it into Bruno's room. It’s filled with rats messing with his stuff, and his room is small and covered in small things he’d collected over the years. 

“You never left?”

“Well, I left my tower- a lot of stairs you know. It’s kitchen adjacent, and-” He goes over to the television, “free entertainment! Telenovelas!” He says as he flips through different cutouts for the rats. He sits down on his red chair.

“Their love could never be.”

“I don’t understand, why did you leave, but not actually leave?”

“Well, free food, and uh ya know.” He just shrugs. Mirabel looks through a hole in the wall to see the dining table, and then looks at a small table that’s labeled with his name, showing that he uses it to pretend like he’s still a part of the family. Bruno stands up and walks behind her.

“Yeah, my gift wasn’t really helping the family, but, I love my family, ya know?” Bruno says. Mirabel nods and looks at the vision in her arms.

“Nobody was ever meant to see that vision.”

“Why- why did you take the vision?”

“Well, after you didn’t get your gift Abuela was worried about the magic and asked me to take a vision. When I saw the vision I knew how it was going to look, because I’m Bruno and everyone always assumes the worst, so.. So I left.”

“You left… for me?”

“I mean not just that, but yeah I guess. You are my niece after all.” Mirabel smiled sadly, just happy that he cared that much.

“Thank you, Tio.”

“Ah- no don’t- I uh, you don’t need to,” he stumbled.

“I feel like I should though. I messed up Isabella’s proposal and now I’m hiding in here instead of facing Abuela. I know I don’t have a gift but I love my family and I just want to help.”

“You are helping.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do know sobrina. I still know a little about what goes on in the Casita. You’re doing fine. Whatever is happening with Isabella, it’ll be ok.”

“Gracias Tio,” Mirabel says as she hugs him. He awkwardly hugs back,

“Anytime, kid.” 

“I think I know what I need to do. I need to apologize to Isabella.” She says as she goes to leave but Bruno stops her.

“Wait, before you go, if you save the miracle, could you visit sometime?”

“When I save the miracle, I’m bringing you home,” Mirabel says confidently. Bruno smiles and then knocks on a bunch of wood as Mirabel leaves. 

Mirabel walks up to Isabella’s door, and a lot of emotions run through her, debating if this was the right decision. She goes into the room anyway to see an angry Isabella.

“What are you doing here?!” She says irritated.

“I came to apologize.”

“I’m listening.”

“I’m sorry for ruining your proposal, I’m going to talk to Mariano and try to fix this.”

“Don’t bother.”

“Why?”

“It’s not like he’ll change his mind.”

“You don’t know that- Do you… want to marry Mariano?” Isabella looks surprised at the question and thinks.

“I- I mean yeah. It’s good for the Ecanto, and Abuela-”

“I’m not asking about that, I’m asking if you want to marry Mariano.”

“I don’t know. I mean, I thought I was fine with it, but now- now that I have a chance out… I don’t know.”

“Why would you marry someone you don’t love?” Mirabel asks.

“Well, I don’t really want to get married, but Abuela just seemed so happy when Mariano and I started getting along. When she suggested getting engaged, I-”

“-Wanted to make her proud?”

“Yeah. I don’t know why I’m even telling you this. You know Abuela is livid right now? Mami and Papi were arguing with her and everyone’s looking for you.”

“Oh… well, I’m sorry. For all of this. I hope that you can get the ending that you want. I think I need to talk to Abuela,” Mirabel says. Isabella nods,

“It’s fine I guess. You kind of gave me a chance out, so thank you.” Isabella says. Mirabel walks out of the room and goes to talk to her Abuela, though she runs into her mami first.

“Mirabel! There you are!” she says as she pulls her youngest daughter into a hug.

“Hola mami.”

“I don’t know what’s going on. Your Abuela is being unreasonable and there are cracks littered around the house. I don’t understand.”

“I think it’s the miracle mami. I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet, but I need to talk to Abuela,” Mirabel asserts. Julietta just nods and lets her youngest go. Mirabel goes to the living room to see Abuela talking with Senora Guzman. She goes up to both of them, and Senora Guzman sees her first.

“Mirabel,” she says. Abuela turns around to see her youngest granddaughter, anger written all over her face.

“You need to fix this,” Abuela says.

“Lo siento Abuela. I won’t. Isabella-”

“What?! Don’t disrespect me.”

“I didn’t mean-”

“No, you listen to me. I don’t know why you weren’t given a gift but it is not an excuse to hurt this family.” Abuela says with venom. To Mirabel, it feels like a stab in her heart. Senora Guzman looks shocked. Her Papi comes to see what’s going on while Dolores and Camilo were sitting on the couch nearby. Tia Pepa and Felix were near the kitchen.

“I will never be good enough for you… will I? No matter how I try- No matter how hard everyone tries! Luisa will never be strong enough! Isabella will never be perfect enough! Tio Bruno left because you always saw the worst in him!”

“Bruno did not care about this family!” Cracks begin to form on the walls and ceiling.

“He loves this family, I love this family, we all love this family! You’re the one that doesn’t care.”

“Don’t you ever-!”

“The Miracle is dying because of you!” As Mirabel finishes her sentence the house begins to fall apart. Mirabel runs straight for the candle, while Casita tries to help her while also pushing everyone out of the house. Everyone is yelling at her to stop, telling her it’s not worth it. She continues though. As she goes up she sees her Tio Bruno escape the house with a bucket on his head, and she smiles slightly to herself. She makes it to the candle but the house is too far gone. Casita’s last efforts are covering Mirabel with furniture to protect her. The Casita was gone, all that was left was the rubble of what it once was. Mirabel holds the unlit candle as her Mami runs over to her.

“Mirabel! What were you thinking?! Are you hurt?” Julieta says while checking her, Mirabel is despondent, still looking at the candle. Julietta looks at her daughter, who had dropped the candle on the ground, and then back out hearing her hermana call her. 

“I’ll be right back- don’t move,” Julietta says as she runs towards her hermana. 

When most of the fog clears and most of the familia is together, they realize that Mirabel is gone. They call out to her but there’s no response. Everyone goes looking for her, including Abuela. After hours of searching it just so happens that Abuela ended up finding her, she found her holding her knees to her chest while crying next to a lake she knew too well. She walks up to Mirabel and sits beside her.

“I’m sorry, I- I just wanted to help. Instead, all I ended up doing was hurting us.” Mirabel says as she cries into her knees.

“No, it’s not you. Mirabel, this is on me. You are a child, I’m an adult. Ever since we got our miracle I’ve tried so hard to give back to the world. Why out of all people did I deserve a miracle? Instead, I’ve been so focused on the miracle that, now that it’s gone, I can see clearly. Mi familia, they are the most important thing. Not the candle, mi familia. So truly, I’m so sorry Mirabel. I don’t deserve forgiveness yet, but I’ll do my best.” Abuela says as her hand glides against the current. Mirabel looks over to Abuela and pulls her into a hug.

“I could never stay mad at you, of course, I forgive you. You’re mi Abuela, you’re one of the bravest women I’ve ever met.”

“Gracias Mirabel, you’re too kind.” They break from the hug as Bruno jumps through the bushes with a horse, and jumps off.

“Don’t blame her! I gave her a vision-” he says before his mami pulls him into a hug.

“Oh mi Brunito, I missed you. I’m so sorry I pushed you away.” She says as she squeezes him tightly. He wheezes, 

“I think I missed something.” He smiles sheepishly as all three of them jump on the horse.

“Mirabel! Mija I was so worried!” Julietta exclaimed as she pulled Mirabel into a tight hug. 

“Lo siento Mami,” Mirabel says while muffled by her mother’s arms. The familia gathers, happy that Mirabel was found and the entire familia was together. After Mirabel was released from Julietta’s death grip, Antonio jumped on her, Mirabel caught him and hugged him as well. From behind the horse came both Abuela and Bruno. Julietta and Pepa both look to see their brother, Pepa goes up to him first and slaps him in the face, and then pulls him into a hug.

“Don’t you ever do that again pendejo,” she says. Bruno awkwardly hugs her back.

“Lo siento hermana..” he says, not sure if she’s happy he’s back or angry he left. Pepa let him go and then Julietta hugged him as well.

“Welcome back hermano,” Julietta says.When the familia was reunited they realized they needed to figure out a plan as to where they were staying, and how they were going to rebuild their home. Despite earlier events, the townspeople all came to help including the Guzmans. Multiple people had guestrooms for the family to stay, Senora Gabriela had two guestrooms that Mirabel and Bruno took, the Garcias had a guest room that Julietta and Agustin stayed in, the Lopeses had one spare bedroom with two beds that both Isabella and Luisa too, the Guzmans had two extra guest rooms, which Pepa and Felix shared one, while Antonio took the other, Lastly the Gomezes had two extra bedrooms that Dolores and Camilo stayed in. The family was really grateful to all the townspeople, but they insisted because the Madrigals had helped them so much over the years. Plans were made for the next day of clearing the rubble from the area, while also planning out the blueprints for the Casita. That night though, the Madrigals got some much-needed sleep, at least most of them. Mirabel couldn’t sleep no matter how hard she tried, despite the apology from her Abuela, which she was elated about, her negative thoughts still flooded her brain. It was almost as if they got worse. Did she deserve to be apologized to? Does she deserve forgiveness? The more she lay in a bed that was not her own, the louder the thoughts became.

[thelegendcreator]

Alright, time to add to the tradition of analyzing random scenes and making meta posts!

I was watching a GIF over and over again when I noticed a couple things. It might not be much, but they’re there.

First off is this little picture of a rat in what seems to be gladiator armor (or Viking clothes), on the floor at the bottom right when Mirabel first sees Bruno’s wall room.

In fact, in 1893, a book titled Beric the Briton was written by a man named G. A. Henty. It’s about the son of a very influential woman that feels ostracized by his own tribe, but trains them to be able to fight a foreign enemy—which, in this case, are the very Romans that taught him. He later goes on to be a, you guessed it, gladiator. By the end of the book, he falls in love with a Roman named Amelia after saving her Christian sister from being killed by a lion in the Colosseum.

Does that first part—the son of an influential woman being ostracized by his own tribe because he knows things they don’t—sound familiar?

Who knows, maybe I read way too much into it. But maybe he really did relate with Beric to the point of drawing a rat AU. The blurry drawing on the left side of the paper does look suspiciously like a well-off Roman woman…

On another note, I really hope he uses some kind of bookmark, because this:

this is downright sacrilege.

I hope, for that poor book’s sake, that it was just an accident.

And Jorge’s bucket is hung right next to his hammock, just in case there’s some spackle to be made first thing in the morning! It even has the same dent.

[foggyfanfic]

The Jorge Situation

Fic Summary: In the same universe as Love and Fury, and Mirabel's Super Secret Adventure. Bruno tries to figure out what's causing the cracks, and how to make spackle. Leandra covers for him. Pre-movie AU. This one will be updated more sporadically, and doesn't have an overarching plot. It's essentially interconnected oneshots.

The Wall

“No!” Amada crossed her arms and stomped her feet.

“No?” Alma asked, looking nervously from the five year old girl to the assembled village down below. After what had happened a year ago at Mirabel’s gift ceremony she had been a bit high strung all day.

“I don’t want a gift until Mirabel gets one,” Amada insisted.

Leandra closed her eyes and breathed a sigh out through her nose. She loved her daughter dearly, and she was very proud of her little girl’s sense of justice, but she had spent all day trying to talk Amada out of this exact tantrum. She peaked an eye open to look at Mirabel and found the poor girl standing wide eyed between her parents.

“Amada,” Leandra said gently, coming to kneel by her daughter’s side, “do you remember what I said about letting your cousin have some space today?”

Amada turned her tiny scowl on Leandra, “But it’s not fair!”

And there it was, there was the rub. Everything had to be fair for Amada, everybody had to get the same amount for dessert, everybody had to follow the same rules, everybody had to be held to the same standards. It was an admirable thing for a little girl to care about, and again Leandra was very, very proud.

But god did this kid need to learn about nuance.

“I know, I know, I agree with you,” Leandra said, then dropped her voice to a whisper, “but there isn’t anything we can do to fix it, so we need to focus on making things better for Mirabel, not worse.”

“Why can’t we fix it?” Amada asked, not ready to give up.

Leandra threw a desperate look over her shoulder at Bruno, who was wringing his hands, he opened his mouth while shaking his head, then took a deep breath and knelt on Amada’s other side.

“The miracle is a gift, w-we don’t control it,” Bruno explained, but Amada just scowled harder.

“Why is the miracle being mean? Miracles are supposed to be good.”

Bruno pressed his lips together then nodded, “That’s true.”

Leandra waited for him to tack on a “but”, however that seemed to be the entirety of Bruno’s response. She sighed again. Leandra opened her mouth to say something else but was cut off by a gasp from the crowd below. She turned to see what those gossip mongers were whispering about this time, and froze.

Mirabel was walking up the stairs, looking as nervous as she had on the day of her own gift ceremony. Nervous, and noticeably miserable.

Leandra sent a panicked look at Bruno, they had both worked so hard to protect Mirabel as much as they could this past year. They still weren’t entirely sure what his vision had meant, but they knew little Mirabel was at the center of it. 

Mirabel reached the top of the stairs and Amada immediately trotted over to her, grabbing her hand and trying to tug her to the candle, “I don’t want it. You should have it.”

Leandra grimaced. Shit.

“Family is the real gift,” Mirabel said, quiet, voice shaking, but certain, “I’m happy. Not having a gift means I get to spend more time with mi familia. Go ahead and take it.”

She gave Amada a shove that almost pushed her over, forcing her to step back, closer to the door, in order to keep her balance.

Leandra looked at Bruno again, but not out of panic this time. Everything Mirabel had just said were things Bruno had told her, granted he’d said that the migraines his visions gave him were worth it because his gift meant he could stay home with the kids, but the point stands. Mirabel had learned all that from him.

Bruno stared at Mirabel gobsmacked. Apparently unaware that Leandra was planning to kiss him silly the second they were in private.

“But it’s not fair,” Amada whispered.

“I’m happy,” Mirabel repeated, doing an admirable job of not breaking down into sobs as she once again gave Amada a forceful shove.

Amada pouted but, after a few more shoves from Mirabel, turned and returned to her place in front of the door. Mirabel shuffled awkwardly, hands fisting in her skirt and bottom lip wobbling. Leandra waved at her to get her attention, then opened her arms for a hug. Mirabel slowly walked into the hug.

“That was very kind and brave of you,” Leandra said, deciding she’d let the shoving go unacknowledged, just this once. She kept her voice low enough that it wouldn’t distract anyone from Amada make her vows to help the Encanto.

Mirabel didn’t say anything, she just sniffled a little. Leandra looked over her head at Bruno, who took the silent cue to join the hug.

“You’re the real gift kid,” Bruno whispered, Mirabel lifted her head to look at him and he smiled at her with all the warmth of a thousand hearth fires, “thank you.”

She smiled shakily at him, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Leandra looked up when Amada stepped away from the candle. She stared at the glowing door, glared at it really. Leandra smiled fondly and shook her head. Her little warrior.

“Do you want to stay and watch,” Leandra asked Mirabel as quietly as she could, “or do you need space?”

“I wanna see,” Mirabel said, turning in her and Bruno’s arms.

They glanced at each other and silently agreed that they would continue to hold her until her parents could get up the stairs to comfort her. Then they turned their attention to Amada as she finally reached for her doorknob.

There was a great big flash, then Amada stumbled back. Everybody stood silent, waiting. Amada looked around and Leandra could hear people start to whisper something about her eyes, then Amada faced them and Leandra saw that her little girl’s eyes were glowing gold.

Beside her, Bruno tensed up.

Amada stared at Mirabel with her glowing eyes for a few beats then walked to the edge of the stairs and looked out at the party. Then she took off her shoe and tossed it into the crowd.

Everybody scattered away from the shoe as it plopped harmlessly onto the ground. The shuffle of bodies rippled out until even the people at the edge of the crowd were forced to shift around. One of the teenagers stumbled on his untied shoelace and fell onto the nearest table, launching the plate, and its contents, that had been on the table into the air. At the same time, the man behind Pepa shifted forward and stepped on the back of her heel. Clouds started to appear but she immediately chased them off with a gust of wind.

The wind caught the plate and propelled it farther up into the air, everybody watched it soar up, up, up, then arc and fall back down. It landed at Mirabel’s feet, and was followed immediately by the treats that had been on the plate before it was launched. 

Somehow, each and every pastry landed on the plate, not a single one hit the floor.

Leandra recognized some ginger snaps, some cocada blanca, a brownie, and some of the cinnamon cake the Guzmans had brought.

 All of Mirabel’s favorites.

Amada giggled and clapped her hands, “Ta-da! That’s for you!”

There was a stunned silence, then, like any six year old who had just been magically delivered a plate full of sugar, Mirabel cheered and broke out of her Tia and Tío’s arms to pick up the plate. 

Everybody else took their cue from Mirabel and began chattering excitedly. The rest of the family came running up the stairs, Gabriel rushing up to his cousin/sister to lift her up and swing her around while she shrieked with laughter. Leandra patted Mirabel’s shoulder one more time then embraced her children, the second she stepped aside Bruno took her place.

“Your room! Your room! I wanna see your room,” Camilo cried, pointing excitedly at the door which now displayed a young woman holding what looked like a bucket of rocks with one hand and a basket of gems with another. By her feet, a line of dominoes was halfway through toppling over. The young woman stared out at them with a mischievous grin. 

Leandra chose to believe that wasn’t an ominous warning of what parenting Amada would be like going forward, no, no, no. Surely her very righteous daughter being given the ability to mete out some sort of karmic justice, or whatever, by throwing things would make parenting a breeze. No possible way this could go wrong!

Amada opened her door and they all followed her in, watching the room be constructed before their eyes. It was, of course, very large, and lined with shelves waiting to be filled.

While the children ran around the new space shouting and laughing Leandra grabbed Bruno’s hand and walked over to Agustín and Julieta. He gulped when he saw where they were going, but also picked up the pace so he was soon pulling her to his sister and their brother in law.

“We are so, so, sorry,” Bruno said, “I-I can’t imagine what th-that must have felt like for Mirabel.”

Julieta sighed, shaking her head, “Well, in the long run, I’m sure it’ll be good for Mirabel to look back and see how much her cousin loves her.”

“In the short term however, you owe our daughter so much ice cream,” Agustín jumped in, and Leandra could tell he was only half kidding.

“Of course,” she nodded, immediately offering, “how about tomorrow we take you guys out to thank her?”

“I’ll be busy,” Julieta said, “but you guys should go.”

Bruno cleared his throat, hand tightening on hers, “A-and I should probably check on you know, things.”

This was code for he was planning to try having the vision about Mirabel again, to see if anything had changed. She nodded, out of the corner of her eye she could see Julieta doing the same. Agustín on the other hand, took a long, slow breath, clenching then unclenching his fists.

“Right, of course, what about you and me, hermano? We can take our kids out and I’ll buy Mirabel whatever toy or dessert her heart desires,” Leandra asked Agustín, distracting him from the secret he was only kind of in on.

He smiled, “That sounds great.”

“Great!” Leandra glanced over at the kids, “Alright, Bruno and I should probably go do Parents of the Birthday Girl things, but I’ll catch you when things start winding down.”

“Sí, claro, disfruten,” Julieta waved them off.

They walked away and Leandra waited for Bruno’s hand to relax in hers. When it didn’t, she turned to him with a raised eyebrow. He didn’t notice at first, too busy staring off into space, watching his own anxieties pile up. Eventually he glanced at her and noticed her look, then he sighed, looking so incredibly tired for a few seconds.

“She’s a seer,” he said.

“Her gift doesn’t seem to be the same as yours,” Leandra began gently rubbing his bicep, “we’ve only seen her use it once.”

“Her eyes glowed, mi reina,” Bruno insisted, “whatever else she can do, she can see, y’know, beyond.”

Further into the room a group of children cheered and when Leandra looked over, Amada stood surrounded by her peers. She had somehow made the entire birthday cake appear in Mirabel’s hands this time.

Well, at least Mirabel was cheered up.

“It’ll be alright,” Leandra reassured him, “we’ve got this.”

He sighed, clearly not completely convinced, but nodded.

—

Bruno couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw his little girl with her eyes glowing gold, surrounded by the villagers. He’d asked her to describe her gift to him, and it sounded distressingly similar to his own.

He didn’t know how long he’d been tossing and turning before Leandra slung an arm over his waist and murmured, “You alright?”

“No.”

“You think talking about it will help?”

“No.”

“Does me holding you help?”

“Not that kind of problem.”

“Hm. Sex?”

He thought about it, “Don’t think I’ll be able to focus long enough to uh, do anything really.”

“Then I’m out of ideas,” she drew her arm back and rolled away.

Bruno chuckled, “I think I’ll just get some air, clear my head.”

“Get yourself a snack,” she yawned, “you barely ate at the party.”

He just grunted and got out of bed. For lack of any better ideas, he slipped his ruana on over his pajamas, and headed to the kitchen. Maybe she was onto something, maybe he’d feel better after he ate something.

He grabbed some of the food leftover from the party and carried it into the dining room, where he stopped short.

“Agustín?”

Agustín looked up from his glass, which was filled with an amber liquid, “Oh, hey Bruno. Couldn’t sleep either?”

“I- no,” Bruno shrugged and padded over to the table, he set his food down next to Agustín then took a seat.

Without a word, Agustín grabbed one of the other glasses from the center of the table and poured a drink for Bruno.

“Gracias.”

“De nada.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“H-how is Mirabel?” Bruno eventually asked.

Agustín didn’t respond at first, then he chuckled, “Well, once the sugar high wore off, she was too tired to be anything other than asleep.”

Bruno nodded, “Good.”

“Sí, thanks for asking.”

“Eh, wanted to know,” Bruno pushed a bite of food around on his plate, “I worry about her.”

“I know,” Agustín said, softly, “me too. And of course, my imagination is running away from the little bit that I know about that whole situation I shouldn’t know about.”

“If it helps, I only know a little bit more than you,” Bruno admitted.

Agustín thought for a minute, then said, “You know something? That doesn’t help at all. It actually makes it a lot more terrifying. Por favor, lie to me, tell me you know all.”

“Right, sorry, sorry, I uh, I know everything, every last detail,” Bruno deepened his voice and tried to sound powerful and wise, “nothing is beyond my gaze.”

“And my daughter will be ok?”

“Your daughter will be better than ok, she’ll be happy, and loved, and uh the fairest in the land,” Bruno said.

Agustín chuckled quietly, then sighed, “Gracias Bruno, that helps.”

“Claro.”

They slipped back into silence. Bruno made a valiant effort to eat everything on his plate, but eventually decided that eating most of what was on his plate was good enough. Agustín continued to nurse his drink, staring at it more than sipping it. Every once in a while, one of them sighed.

Bruno picked up the glass Agustín had poured for him and took a sip, he rolled the drink around on his tongue, but couldn’t identify it by taste alone. Even as adults, his Má did not approve of them drinking much, la Familia Madrigal had a reputation to maintain after all. As a result Bruno only really knew the taste of fine wines, and snucken tequilas, well enough to identify by one sip.

This was neither, but it wasn’t bad.

“What’s keeping you up?” Agustín asked, “Is it just Mirabel?”

“Oh, no, by now I’m able to seamlessly transition from worrying about Mirabel to having stress dreams about her,” Bruno said, not joking, but not not joking, “right now I’m worrying about Amada.”

“Oh?”

“She’s a seer.”

“Oh.”

Bruno drained half of the mystery liquor, then put the glass down and went back to pushing food around on his plate.

“Fatherhood, eh?” Agustín gently nudged him with his elbow, “Didn’t realize there’d be this much fretting involved.”

“Can’t relate,” Bruno gave him a rueful grin, “I-I never stop fretting, if it wasn’t the kids, it’d be whether or not my wife still likes me, or the rats have a balanced diet, or even about nuclear armageddon.”

“Nuclear Armageddon? What’s…?”

“Uh, don’t worry about that, I-. It doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.”

“Bien,” Agustín said slowly, before taking an equally slow sip of his drink.

Bruno sighed, “I suppose I should be happy that this time I’m actually fretting about something important. You know?”

“Sí, thought Leandra was going to murder you back before the kids came along the way you kept- well. Glad she didn't,” he shrugged, “would have been a bit of a downer.”

“Ah, sí, well, I’d hate to b-bring down the mood by being murdered by my wife, so I guess it’s uh, it’s really good that I have kids now.”

They shared quiet smiles, and slowly finished off their drinks. Agustín picked up the bottle and used it to gesture at Bruno’s glass. Bruno smiled, but shook his head. Agustín nodded, instead of refilling his own glass he put the cork back in the bottle and stood. He groaned as he stretched.

“Ay, fifty seems to be getting closer and closer,” he shook his head.

Bruno snorted, and rolled his eyes minutely, but refrained from pointing out that Agustín was still forty. Right up until his fortieth birthday Agustín would complain that his forties were getting closer every time his back hurt, or knees ached. Now that the dreaded forties’ had arrived, Agustín was forced to complain about his far off fiftieth.

As a complaint, the effect was greatly decreased, but as a joke? As a joke, it was quickly getting old for everybody but Julieta, who was really the only person Agustín truly cared about in matters such as this.

“I’ll take care of the dishes,” Bruno volunteered, “I’ll be up for a bit longer either way.”

“Hm, if you’re sure?”

“Sí, sí, don’t worry about it,” Bruno made little shooing gestures until Agustín gave in and headed towards the courtyard.

“Bien, gracias hermano,” he yawned, then gave Bruno a tired smile, “see you in the morning.”

“Mm-hm, good night.”

Bruno collected the dishes and carried them into the kitchen. He’d accidentally spilled some food onto the table without noticing, so when he had finished with the dishes, he went back to the table with a rag and cleaned the spot where he’d been sitting.

With that done, he stood there, staring into space, trying to feel less worried about things he couldn’t change.

Eventually, he turned towards the wooden painting behind his Má’s chair. Once upon a time, that spot had been decorated by a family portrait, but that was back when it was just the four of them, just him, his sisters, and their Má. Now there were plans to get a family tree made, but after a bit of discussion they’d all agreed to wait until they were sure they were done having kids. For the time being, it was a portrait of all the current grandchildren, all eight of them. It was a year old, painted when Octavia had just come to them.

He stared at his own three children, his three little gremlins, his three little blessings. All he wanted was for them to have a better life than he had.

But now Amada was a seer.

He gulped, then knocked on the wooden picture.

Bruno paused, frowning. He knocked on it again.

“Casita,” he asked, slowly, “why does this sound hollow?”

He only picked up half of Casita’s answer, but he got something about a room? He paced around the corner, double checking for a door he’d somehow managed not to notice his entire life. When he didn’t find one he asked Casita how to get in. To his surprise, Casita led him up the stairs and to a painting.

Bruno examined the painting. It was large, maybe a bit larger than Bruno himself. A painting that size, if this were a book or particularly cheesy telenovela, would hide a secret door. 

But that was ridiculous, of course. And completely unrealistic.

The magic prophet Bruno’s magic sentient house that sat in the middle of a magic paradise urged him towards the painting.

Carefully, Bruno moved it to one side to check behind it.

It swung out like a door, revealing a dark, narrow hall. Bruno stared down the hall, curiosity battling with his trepidation. Eventually, he closed the painting and went back to his room.

He did not have the emotional bandwidth for this shit tonight.

[sleeplessdreamer14]

Mirabel: Y/n, can I ask you a question?

Y/n: sure, what is it?

Mirabel: when did you fall for tío Bruno?

Y/n:

[flashback 30 years ago]

Bruno: I’ve always said my real gift is “acting”, hehe.

Y/n: (stares in confusion/starts to crack a smile)

Bruno w/ a bucket over his head: I’m Jorge, I make the spackle.

Y/n: (starts giggling) ‘new life goal: put a ring on this man.’

[present day]

Y/n: (glances around awkwardly) um…

[usagirln12003]

Bruno Madrigal: Hogwarts AU

Bruno Madrigal is a Pureblood wizard that was born on the 17th of October 1936 and started attending Hogwarts on the 1st of September 1948, being sorted into Gryffindor house.

He has a Hawthorn wand with a Unicorn Hair Core.

His Patronus is a Rat.

His favorite subject is Divination and his least favorite is Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Due to the nature of his seer abilities, Bruno has been labeled as someone who "makes bad things happen" by both his former classmates and his family when he is merely the requested bearer of the news. Despite being feared by almost everyone in the neighborhood, Bruno is kind-hearted, caring, fairly comical, and possesses a strong love and loyalty towards his family. Although he is described as a monstrous and sadistic person, Bruno is actually a quiet, shy, and kind man who easily becomes nervous and suffers from anxiety, like his sister, Pepa. Bruno is introduced to his niece Mirabel as insecure and avoidant, and believes others' accusations that his abilities only brings problems. However, after he is fully reaccepted into his family, he becomes more cheerful and enthusiastic. Bruno is also shown to be gentle with animals in a way similar to his youngest nephew, Antonio. He befriended the rats living within the walls of the Madrigal mansion, sharing what little food he has with them and enjoying their company. When the mansion crumbles during an attack from dark wizards, he takes the rats with him before making his escape. Bruno also takes quickly to Antonio's animal friends, letting his capybara's join the vision and allowing the coatimundi, who he shooed away prior to his vision, to hang from his shoulder. He is also good at flying which was seen when he rode on a broom to find Mirabel and Alma after the mansion's destruction.

Not much is known about his personality before he left the family, but it is known that whenever he had a prophecy, he inadvertently hurt or angered the people around him, causing him to retreat from society and eventually from his family to avoid upsetting anyone. His abilities made him paranoid and fearful of his surroundings, and he developed a sand-based ritual to help focus and control his power. As a result of living for ten years in isolation within the walls of the Madrigal mansion, Bruno developed odd behaviors, such as knocking on wood, stumbling, muttering, and developing two alternate identities: "Hernando", who is "scared of nothing" and "Jorge", who makes spackle, to keep himself occupied in his isolation, along with befriending some rats to keep him company. Yet, despite claiming he is fine with his isolation from his family, Bruno actually misses them and longs to be with them, despite their negative perceptions of him. He also shares a complicated relationship with his mother, due to his abilities not living up to her expectations and she only saw the worst in him. As a result of his mother's difficult attitude, Bruno was intimidated by her and tried to avoid her, even though he wanted to make her proud.

He is very selfless man and his biggest acts of selflessness is catalyzed by his love for his family. Despite the way some treated him when he was around and didn't like to talk about him after he left, Bruno is not spiteful or vindictive and has a forgiving heart. When he was reunited with his mother, he never showed hate towards Alma nor did he reject her loving gestures in spite of his confusion, and listened intently as she began to apologize to him and the rest of the family for her mistakes. He sacrificed his reputation and went into self-exile for a decade to protect Mirabel from being ostracized and treated the same way he had been after seeing an uncertain vision connecting her to the 15 Chosen Ones. Bruno was also willing to take the blame for Mirabel after the destruction of the family home. Initially fearful of being seen by Alma, Bruno revealed himself and was prepared to confront his mother in order to defend his niece before Alma, having now realized she and her idealism were the causes of their family's problems, embraced him, which surprises him completely. Although his former classmates were initially afraid of him due to his gift, Bruno happily works with them in rebuilding the mansion showing that he now has a close bond with them.

Bruno's greatest wish is to be able to help his family. Although he was initially avoidant of his mother because he was initially afraid of her, he does not feel the same way towards his older sisters or brothers-in-law. The misunderstanding at Pepa's wedding arose from his attempt to help her relax and embrace her emotions with an ill-worded joke. When they meet again, he made his first apology to her and Félix for inadvertently ruining their wedding by stressing her out with his comment, and tells her how much he loves her and he wants her to be herself. With the exception of Camilo, who dramatizes Bruno as a demonic figure and was later confused by his return by being the only member of the family who never knew he's actually a good person, the younger generation does not have anything negative to say about him: Mirabel and Luisa still refer him as their uncle despite the taboo on his name and possessing little memory of him before he left, Dolores empathizes with his problems and chooses not to reveal his hiding in the house's walls despite the depressing vision he gave her when she was younger, Isabela is the only one to say something positive about him while everyone else speaks negatively of him, and Antonio, who has no memory of his uncle, is never afraid of him thanks to the rats and sees him as a friend.

[silvercaptain24]

My name is Jorge and I make the spackle

[anemojocknerd]

Ok, but hear me out...

[I'm Hernando and I'm scared of nothing]

[I'm Jorge, I make the spackle]

[theperplexednavigator]

I almost forgot about Jorge who makes the spackle!

[oncexinxmyxdreams]

Encantober

Prompt 23: Rats 🐀

Beatriz is a rat character I made for my Encanto fic Miracles Come in Pairs. However, this works as a stand alone fic. 

She hasn't lived long. Rats live two or three years. She's six months old. At four weeks she was able to leave her mother and be independent. She never left the human who lived among the rats. Imprinted some would say. 

It goes through the rat grape vine why he lives inside the walls. The oldest passed it down their line. They mention his habits: throwing salt, knocking on wood, hopping over cracks, or holding his breath with crossed fingers. 

He has a name. Bruno. However, she calls him her funny human. It's comical how he suddenly becomes another person. He flips the green hood he wears up until it's covered his eyes and he speaks deeply. He goes by Hernando then.  He places a bucket over his head and very muffled will say he made spackle. That's Jorge. By any name, her funny human. It suits him. 

He's funny, kind, creative, but also sad. In her young life, she takes it upon herself to be a devoted companion to him. Companions are intelligent, helpful and loyal. 

She thinks she's the most intelligent in the mischief of rats. She's not, but her human acts like she is and that's what counts. Her human coos at her saying she's so intelligent. She loves hearing compliments. 

"Beartiz, you've got spunk." "Clever girl." "You're so smart Bea!" "Eres la rata bebé más inteligente y dulce" which meant "You're the smartest and sweetest baby rat." 

The cutesy ones aren't her favorite, but she appreciates it. She knows he appreciates all the rats who live with him, but especially her. She's one of the most helpful.   

She watches the family he belongs to, but doesn't interact. Snuggled in green fabric, she curls against his neck when he sleeps. She frequently rides on his shoulders and scampers down his arms. She notices when he needs something and she'll fetch it for him.

She sneaks so quietly through Casita. She'll even go outside and into town. It doesn't matter how dark or light it is. She escapes the smacking brooms, traps filled with cheese and predators with big teeth. They'll never catch her. Bruno's always glad to see her bring him something.     

"Thanks Bea. I needed a new pen."  "You found me an unused toothbrush? Aw, gracias Beatriz!" "Ooh! More scrap paper? Thank you!" "I know you don't like the game shows, but thanks for stepping up."   

She detests the entertainment. She's too clever to stick her head in the paper scenes he's drawn and act out his stories. She'd rather fetch things or burrow into his ruana. She'll do it when he asks so sweetly and promises her extra food. Only then. He's happy and she knows he could use some cheering up. The indignity of playing a star crossed lover or the losing sport team is worth it.  

 She's not alone in every endeavor. She'll round up her siblings and cousins if he needs multiple things at once. They all care for him, but she'll be the ringleader. She'll fight anyone who disagrees.      

"You a leader in the making Beatriz? I bet you are."   

She's certain she's the most loyal creature around. These dogs in town, proclaimed man's best friend, she disagrees. She's better than a dog. Besides, they're barking rattles her ears. She's not fond of cats, but most seem to ignore her. That's better. She's loyal to the rats, but mostly to her human. He's a part of the mischief and being part of it, he looks out for her.  

Especially now as the plaster and wood crumble. As she hurries along the bamboo railing and for once, panics. She never panics, but she's at a loss. Her funny human is hurrying behind her. Out of fright, her little paws raise up and his hazel eyes don't miss. His large hand encloses around her form. She's tucked securely in his ruana and holds on as they tumble to safety. 

[diamcnddcgs-archive]

Family: talking about Bruno like he's dead on the very rare occasions they talk about him

Bruno, hitting his head repeatedly against the wall: I'm not dead

Angelo, who talks to ghosts: papà says he's not dead

[long-live-the-gobop]

Buckethead (An AIO Crossover)

472 words. Also on AO3 and FF.net. Just a little ficlet, but I think it's kind of fun. Enjoy!

~~*~~

Bernard whistled a little tune as he got his equipment out of his truck. For a second, he wasn’t quite sure what song it was. Right, that was that old song those folks were singing earlier, wasn’t it? he thought to himself, starting to remember. Heh! Though why they didn’t wanna TALK about the guy when they just SANG a whole song about him, I’m sure I don’t know.

Well, as soon as he’d gotten everything he thought he needed, he double-checked. “All right, we’ve got the rag, we got paper towels, all the cleaning supplies—” (he went over them once again just to make sure he didn’t miss one), “—yep, all of them, the squeegee, and—”

Bernard blinked. He scanned over the objects on the tailgate of his truck. But the thing he was looking for wasn’t there.

“Wha—now, where did—?” He frowned, and rummaged through the rest of the stuff in the back of the truck. Not there. Then he went around to the front and checked in the cab. Still not there. He walked around the whole vehicle to see if he’d gotten it out and left it someplace. But nothing. He was stomping by the time he got back to the other stuff.

“Well, open me a magic door and call me a Madrigal, I know I wouldn’t have just gone and left it at home! And I thought I saw it here just a min—”

It hit him.

“Never mind.” He facepalmed, then stormed off toward Whit’s End, yelling, “Bruno! Ahh, where’s that buckethead—BRUNO!”

~~*~~

Inside Whit’s End…

Wooton was just heading to the counter for another licorice milkshake when he bumped into somebody. “Oh!” He snorted. “Sorry about that.”

The man nodded.

“Hey, cool buckethead.”

“Thanks,” came a thick voice from under the bucket.

“My name’s Wooton Bassett, what’s yours?”

“I’m Jorge. I make the spackle.” And he held up a trowel.

“Wow, that’s so cool! I wish I could make spackle! Hey, Jorge, maybe you can show me!”

“Really?” The guy’s voice shifted a little, turning a bit raspy, but he cleared his throat fairly quick. “I mean,” and his voice was back to normal, “sure, I can show you how to make the spackle!”

“Yeah! C’mon, Jorge, let’s go!” And Wooton started off eagerly to ask Whit where they could find a good place to make spackle. As he went, however, he remembered something he’d been meaning to ask people about, and spun around. “Oh, hey, by the way, Bernard—that’s Bernard Walton, awesome cranky window-washer—he was talking about some guy called Bruno a minute ago. I think he was looking for him. Do you know him?”

Jorge grabbed the handle of the bucket on his head, as if tugging at a tight collar, and hesitated for a moment.

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh… no.”