#since it seems like after Isabela and Dolores he might not have used it as much

[miracles-and-butterflies]

For @time-for-a-grandkid-round-up, based on the prompt: “Mirabel becoming the next candleholder after Alma.”

Of course! Here’s my take on this headcanon. This started as a joke because the headcanon robs Mirabel of her character development, but I wanted to write something for this. It gets worse before it gets better.

Comments are always appreciated.

Next part of ITOG.

~~~~~~

Intertwining Threads of Gold I

What is going on?

It had been a question in Mirabel’s mind for some time. Since the town leaders who worked with Abuela spent increasingly more time in Casita - she doesn’t think she’s ever seen her Abuela working so much; the family seem to be very aware of her, constantly staring and talking; and deliveries from Señor Osvaldo Ortiz have became very frequent. And no birthdays are coming up - Papa has just had his and Isabela’s isn’t for another two months.

If it was any comfort, she wasn’t the only one left unaware. Antonio, naturally as the youngest, was usually kept in the dark. Which meant that when he realised this was strange, he began bothering her for answers as the only one who would understand his frustration of not knowing.

Following another visit from the councilmen, all of whom made a point of acknowledging her in the middle of a conversation with Alma - having merely passed her and her cousin in the dining room - and even Abuela hadn’t look disgruntled about her presence being a distraction to their conversation.

However, Antonio wasn’t so dismissive. He yanked hard at her arm with a curious look in his eyes, without a care for the needle that went off centre in the process.

“Why’s everyone being so strange to you?” He asked.

“I know no more than you do, Antonio. But something is happening.”

“What do you mean?” He clambered up on to a chair beside Mirabel, briefly turning his gaze to where Tío Bruno was carrying in more boxes with Luisa and Camilo. The three of them were whispering and giggling like school children. “I mean, yeah, something is happening. But why do you say it like it’s a bad thing?”

“I overheard Dolores telling Mariano that she couldn’t see him tomorrow. Therefore, something is happening. Something serious.” Mirabel observed.

Antonio gapped. His sister never went a day without visiting Mariano or vice versa. The idea of the couple being separate for once since Casita’s rebuild was practically unheard of. He glanced at his animal friends, who seemed just as clueless as he and Mirabel.

“What does that have to do with you though?” Antonio finally questioned.

She sighed, “That’s what I would like to know.”

Antonio pouted, throwing himself back against the chair. “But nobody tells us anything. They all think we’re babies. We’re never going to know what’s going on!”

Frankly, Mirabel wouldn’t have to wait much longer for her answer.

A few hours later found Mirabel sat in her room, working on a new dress for Tía Pepa. She had been pondering over potential ways she might be able to get some information. Her best bet was the extended family, all of whom were terrible at keeping secrets.

Not even the whole truth, just a little hint at something that would hopefully put her mind on ease and she could be a little less on edge.

There’s a quiet squeak from the doorway, where Dolores poked her head round.

“The family is meeting in the dining room. Immediately.” She announced. Then, after a beat, added, “You’d be best to leave the sewing.”

Hesitantly laying down her sewing, Mirabel smoothed over her skirt, adjusts her glasses in the mirror and followed Dolores down the stairs. Though she does want to know what’s happening (and that this sudden meeting is most likely about it), this was definitely not the way she wanted to find out.

When they arrive, Mirabel finds that the rest of the family (minus Antonio, Camilo and Luisa) are sat around the table. The table is lined with glowing candles, one of which looks brand new and waiting to burn. Everyone, besides herself, has a glass - the fancy glasses that haven’t been used since Isabela’s failed proposal - of red wine and beaming at her as she enters behind Dolores.

She can’t tell if this is more unnerving than the disappointed frowns and narrowed eyes she was expecting.

“Come sit with us, mi amor,” invites Julieta. 

Mirabel takes her chair beside Agustín, even more uncomfortable as everyone is still watching her expectantly. She keeps her eyes trained on Dolores as she walks around to her chair, whispering something to Félix that Mirabel doesn’t hear.

There’s an awkward silence as the family nervously glance at each other.

“Will you tell her, Mama?” Julieta asks. 

“No. You’re her mother, mija. You know best how to put these things.”

Julieta tries her best not to look disappointed by the response. She still needs a moment to recollect herself, take a breath and organise her thoughts. Perhaps waiting for someone else to get impatient or to take pity on her and start instead. Although, with each passing second, it’s clear that they are all waiting for her.

“Well, Mirabel, we have some excellent news for you,” her mother says. “You remember the night all the councilmen came to dinner? After you had gone to bed, we stayed up discussing the future of Encanto. It can’t be denied that your Abuela is getting older and she won’t be around forever, and someone needs to take the reins. Be in charge of running our community. Everyone felt it was important that the position stay within our family because of your Abuelo’s sacrifice and all of our family’s efforts.”

Mirabel nods along. It was only natural that one day Abuela would be surpassed and Mama, no doubt alongside Tía Pepa and Tío Bruno as they are triplets, will take on the mantle.

But everyone is still staring at her.

“And,” Julieta declares. “Your Abuela has decided that when she passes, you will inherit her position as town leader.”

The family suddenly cheer and applaud, compliments thrown this way and that. Speaking of throwing, colourful petals and confetti are also flying across the table.

But Mirabel wouldn’t know. She remains as quiet and still as humanly possible, in a twisted mix of shock and bewilderment. She is still trying to process her mother’s words, which leaves her unable to respond in any way.

Inherit.

Meaning, to gain something from a previous holder. In this case, becoming the next leader of Encanto. The next matriarch.

She is going to inherit. She, Mirabel Teresa Rojas Madrigal, the unknown, useless and giftless, jinx, is going to inherit the glorious and honoured position of her Abuela, Alma Madrigal, the woman who single-handedly created and governed a wonderful community, has raised several generations of both Madrigals and townspeople, blessed and bestowed countless miracles…

No. There is no way.

She doesn’t want this. She isn’t the next in line, literally - there’s still her mother, Tía, Tío, Isabela, Dolores, Luisa and Camilo before her. She doesn’t want this. She’s not even an adult, nor has she finished school yet - there are still final exams and qualifications and such. She doesn’t want this. She hasn’t even considered her options for her future - that is something she should be thinking about now, time is pressing, she’s useless. She doesn’t want this. She isn’t gifted.

No. She was what destroyed the miracle and Encanto. She cannot be pulled closer to it.

The Madrigal inheritance is going to be hers.

She looks around at the happy and proud faces of her family, blinking and blank-faced.

This must be a dream. This has to be a dream.

“What?” Is all Mirabel says; she must sound pathetic, and stupid.

Julieta smiles adoringly, “We were just telling you that your Abuela has chosen you as her successor, Mirabel. You will be responsible for looking after this town and continuing its success for the next generations. Your Abuela, your father and I, the council and the rest of our family have all agreed that this was the right decision.”

There’s various voices of agreement and thoughts from the rest of the family, but Mirabel doesn’t really pick up any of it.

“What?” She asks again.

Any moment now she will wake up in her room and this will all be ridiculously nonsensical. She will be snug in her little bed in her room, before hurrying into her morning routine. Perhaps she’ll tell her mother about this nightmare as she helps with breakfast.

Mirabel looks at her mother with as much determination as she can muster, but she’s still too shocked to react, “I can’t be.”

Tío Bruno reaches over to take both her cold, shaky hands, in a gesture of support.

“Kid, you’ve been given a seat on the council. The main seat!” Bruno corrects himself. He is beaming at her. “Didn’t I tell you that you were exactly what this family needed? I didn’t even need future vision to know that. Now you can show everyone what you can really do.”

“But what about Mama? And Tía Pepa? And you?” Mirabel questions, rambling.

“Doesn’t matter. We were all happy enough for the role to pass to you.” Pepa answers instead, her siblings nodding together. “Mama wanted it go to you.”

“But… my sisters? And my cousins? Their claim is as good as mine. Better even?”

This time, nobody bothers to reply. They had just answered that question. Mirabel still glances across to Isabela and Dolores just to be sure, she’s disappointed when she realises it is definitely the same answer as before.

“I can’t be,” Mirabel whispers, turning to her father this time. She braves a glance at the rest of the room. “I can’t.” She can feel tears welling up in her eyes. “I can’t do it. I don’t want to do it.”

“Calm yourself, Mirabel,” calls Abuela, since Mirabel’s parents, alongside everyone else, looks astounded at her lack of enthusiasm and are at a loss for words. “Let me tell you, that you are more than capable of this. I trust that you can do this. As does the rest of our family. Our miracle would have warned me when I came to this decision, if there was any doubt. Isabela?”

Taking her cue, her sister rises from Abuela’s side and picks up the non-lit candle, walking around the table down and setting it in front of Mirabel, where her hands are still joint with Tío Bruno’s. She shifts away.

She had barely batted an eye at the only non-lit candle beside Abuela, she assumed it had accidentally gone off or someone had forgotten. But now that it is close up, she can see the beautiful engravings and details reminiscent of Abuelo and Abuela’s wedding candle: that was lost barely two years ago.

A candle for her is a strange present in itself - she’s definitely not going to get married. And what would that have to do with her governing Encanto as the matriarch—

She is going to be the matriarch for the family too. She is going to be the next candleholder.

It feels like the whole world has stopped.

Everyone is still watching, smiling and nodding at her, a few of them are talking but Mirabel isn’t obtaining any of it.

“The candle is yours, nieta,” Abuela’s voice finally cuts through. She doesn’t even look disappointed or annoyed that Mirabel hadn’t worked it out herself, as she would have done a few years ago. “You will not only be the matriarch of the town, but of the family too. You will be responsible for protecting the miracle and bestowing gifts to the next generation. Once I am gone, my room will be yours.”

Tío Bruno goes to guide her hands towards the candle and Mirabel twists sharply in his hold. She touched Abuela’s candle twice and neither was a good experience. She isn’t going to cradle another candle. She won’t dare to do it again. She would sooner cut her own head off.

Once standing and free from Bruno, she catches her mother’s eye. “Mama,” she cries, and even she will admit she sounds childish as she does. “Tell them I can’t do it, I don’t want it.”

Julieta is up on her feet in an instant. Mirabel almost smiles from the instant relief she feels, even if it’s embarrassing to be saved like a child, as her mother comes around to her side. Her mother will rescue her from this misery. Even if it’s just to the kitchen to make a start on dinner, she doesn’t care, so long as it is anywhere but here.

But then her head is lifted by her mother’s hand caressing her cheek, “Mirabel, mi amor, we would never have arranged anything we didn’t think you weren’t capable of. And I completely understand your concerns, but this is a wonderful opportunity for you. Your father and I are so proud of you, your sisters too. You will make a great matriarch.”

“I can’t, Mama,” Mirabel says. “I can’t be. I don’t want to be.”

“You’re nervous, and it’s making you doubtful. It’s natural. You’ll warm up to the idea.” Her father tries next.

“I am not being doubtful, Pa. I don’t want this,” Mirabel reenforces gently, looking up to where he has joined Julieta’s side with a firm handing on Mirabel’s shoulder.

“You have only just heard the news, primita,” interrupts Dolores. “You need some time to truly think about it. You can’t let these worries hold you back in life. You’re growing up.”

“There are many good reasons for this decision, some you might not realise just yet. But you will, with time. You will start visiting the council with me, so that you can build on your confidence and understand the workings of our community.” Abuela continued.

The elderly woman gestured to Pepa, who unraveled a large scroll and passed it across the table for Mirabel. She didn’t make any attempt to take it. Bruno sets it down in front of her.

Not that Mirabel properly read the document, but from having a quick scan, she could sum up that it was an outline of the training she would undergo to prepare her for this role. Lists of dates, events to attend and people to meet. The word ‘ceremony’ beside her name makes her heartbeat uneasy.

She must be crying now - things are blurry in that familiar way, and her glasses are definitely still on. The family mistake it for joy or gratitude, as they just coo and gush at her.

“Now, let’s put these little doubts to rest, and focus on your bright future,” Alma concludes. “There are a few things we need to finalise with the council about this. I figured that you may want to come and do that yourself, or if not we can discuss them now. This has all been done for your benefit, nieta.” Alma’s eyes tearing up a little, fondly.

“I don’t want this.” Mirabel continues, turning back to her mother. “Mama, I can’t! I can’t do this!”

“Breathe, Mirabel. In and out. This is nothing to get upset about. It’s a good thing,” her mother reassures.

She pulls away from her parents’ hold. “No! I won’t do this - I can’t do this! Not if it’s going to hurt someone!”

“It’s not going to hurt anyone.” Another voice, maybe Tío Félix, cuts in.

“Yes, it will! This miserable future is going to kill me, if not anyone else! I should just do it now and spare you all the trouble.”

“Mirabel, come on, you are working yourself up over nothing. This is a great opportunity for you. Of course, there will be change, that’s natural. You should be happy.” This time it’s several voices talking at once and that is what she manages to pick up.

Mirabel stammered, looking around the room. “Is nobody listening? I don’t want it!”

“You’re shocked right now,” Isabela said. Everyone else is talking, suggesting similar ideas. As if everyone is deaf to Mirabel’s refusal. “Dolores is right, you can take some time to think about this. Maybe talk to someone about it.”

“What is the point of no-one cares? If nobody listens?” She retorts.

“We are listening,” Her father comments.

“And we do care about you.” Her mother finishes.

“Then why don’t I matter?” Mirabel inquires, with tears stinging her eyes.

Mirabel doesn’t give anyone the chance to respond, quickly leaving the room.

The family is in silence once again.

Alma and Bruno turn to each other, gapping and not blinking; Isabela sits back in her chair, sipping at her wine; Dolores excuses herself, deciding to be the one to check on her brothers; Pepa and Félix keep opening their mouths, but can’t think of anything to say.

Julieta turns to her husband from the empty spot Mirabel had left, as silent as everybody else, but looking a little more sullen then simply confused or shocked.

Agustín clicks his tongue, “She took that well.”

#encanto #ask me anything #my writing #mirabel madrigal #alma madrigal #julieta madrigal #agustín madrigal #bruno madrigal #pepa madrigal #félix madrigal #isabela madrigal #dolores madrigal #antonio madrigal

[gamerbearmira]

AU idea: werewolf AU but Isabela and the other grandkids are the only ones currently with the werewolf curse, so Isabela and Dolores have to teach the rest of the grandkids how to live because the adults can’t know (since they were all raised without any knowledge on werewolves at all).

I think it would be Isabela angst all around to be honest but also everyone else

I'VE WAITED YEARS FOR SOMEONE TO ASK ME ABOUT THIS AU. HOLD ON. I MADE A DRAWING❗❗❗

No but seriously. I have an au like this thay's pretty much the same. It was one of my first of two aus (the first being a vocaloid au). And. It was mostly Isabela/Dolores angst. Mostly on the pressure of having to hide all of the situation from the family, specifically Alma. Isabela felt really pressured to hide. She hated it at first, but, at least with Dolores, she wasn't alone. She didn't like it anymore, but at least she was with Dolores during the whole thing. And both of them thought it would just be the two of them.

You know until Luisa. After her gift ceremony, around a week or two later, Isabela found her terrified in her room. So ok, there was Luisa. That was it. Until Camilo. And it was clear it was the curse, because Camilo can only shift into people, not animals. But after Mirabel's failed ceremony, Isabela was actually relieved; she thought that in order to get the curse, you had to have a gift. So when Mirabel didn't get one, she was more than happy. Well---turns out she was pretty much wrong. Far from it; Mirabel still did get cursed, just later than the usual one or two weeks, around a month.

By this point both Isabela and Dolores were used to it. And they did their very best to help the younger three (later four) hide their werewolf side. And it definitely was hard on them, especially when they were younger and didn't have half as much control. They were little kids, and the last they wanted to do was hide and keep it a secret. But, Isabela and Dolores knew better, so they listened, obviously.

But that didn’t lessen the pressure. Isabela was around Alma a lot, so she couldn’t always keep an eye on the others. She gets paranoid sometimes. The last thing she needs his trouble because of a 15-16 year long secret. But you know. Little lies can snowball. Bigger lies cause an avalanche 🤕

Now after Antonio was born, they was really stressing. Isabela was already protective enough of Mirabel. And that was thing about their dynamic. At a glance, they might seem a little distant, but if you watched them enough, you could see Isabela was way overprotective of Mirabel. Mostly because she had no gift and thus had no cover up if something happened. A common excuse they would use was "oh it must be the magic acting up". Mirabel didn't have that excuse, so Isabela watched her like a hawk in her younger years, and only really let up a little to keep an eye on Antonio, though Dolores had that covered.

And Dolores. She struggled enough with Camilo, but after Antonio, she was struggling even more. Sure he was only a baby, but it was obvious they couldn't delay the inevitable. Because of that, they let him in on the secret early; so he was expecting it. And he was more than excited, seeing that he was such a big animal fan.

Now imagine how horrified Isabela and Dolores are when Antonio gets cursed before his ceremony.

Ok I’ll shut up now.

Antonio tryna act like he not excited:

#my asks #my asks are open #encanto #encanto au #au #encanto mirabel #encanto antonio #encanto isabela #encanto dolores #encanto camilo #encanto luisa #werewolf grandkids au #I love this AU #if you couldn’t tell #I could come up with ideas sand scenarios all day #also #housebroken content soon #tbh #any grandkids centric au #you immediately have my attention

[needs-to-stop-looking-at-valves]

Can you write about Isabela and Dolores’s graduation? Everyone was sooo excited about it but their mamas just burst into tears because of how fast their first daughters have grown up. Like yesterday they were just babies, crawling around and talking in baby language but in the blink of an eye they’re adults now.

I just wanna see mommy-daughter moments🥹

Hey. Hey fuck you. Go to hell. This is cute. And technically it's a two for one deal, since you're gonna get two different POV's. You sneaky lil bitch.

Isabela

"Do I look okay, mami?"

Her mom was waiting just outside the nursery door, and once she walked out, she clasped her hands over her mouth, clearly stunned.

"Oh...you look BEAUTIFUL mija! Look at you!"

She cupped her baby's cheeks, giving them a little squish as she attacked her face in kisses. It was her big day, and everyone in the ENTIRE Encanto was excited for her. From her mom, to Osvaldo the candy maker (seriously, the candy basket he brought for her was bigger than her whole body). But she was nervous. Her mom and her siblings got gifts that helped the Encanto, what would she get?

"Juli, is she done? Abuela was-"

Her father was just walking up the stairs carrying a box of something, but the second he saw her, he dropped it, right on his foot. He stood there, tears welling up in his eyes, and her mother just looked at him.

"Are you...crying over our daughter, or your foot?"

"Yes. P-please help me."

Julieta rushed over to get the crate off of his foot, and was about to give him an arepa, when he just sprang from the spot, right to her.

"Look at you! Mi Isabela! You're so beautiful! I am so, so lucky to have a daughter as precious as you."

Her dad was always overly emotional, a bit like her mom. She was about to say thank you, when she was startled by the sudden sound of pouring rain. Pepa and Félix were standing there with Dolores, with Pepa looking like she'd have just the biggest cuteness overload.

"FÉLIX! LOOK AT HER! SHE'S NOT A BABY ANYMORE!"

Agustín used his body to cover herself from the rain, chuckling as Félix comforted his wife.

"Easy Pepi, mi vida, you'll get her wet! We just wanted to see how our angel looked before the big event. Abuela says the face really changes after you get your door. In a good way, obviously. I mean maybe not for your tìo Bruno-"

"I had a vision. Tomorrow I'm smacking you upside the head."

Félix jumped a bit as Bruno popped out of nowhere, hood over his head. Isabela couldn't lie, this was all so much attention and happiness in one room, she wanted to keep it forever.

"Oh that reminds me-we need to get a certain something ready. Bruno, watch the girls for a minute?"

Bruno nodded, and the girls waited till the adults were out of sight, before they both huddled around Bruno.

"Tìo! Did you do it did you do it?!"

Bruno made sure the coast was clear, before kneeling down to their level, and nodding.

"I did, yes. But remember, no telling anyone, okay? I'm technically not supposed to give you any visions. That goes for both of you. Ready?"

The girls nodded eagerly, and Isabela tried not to jump in place as Bruno took her hands in his. Her uncle was so cool, being able to see into the future.

"Okay okay-I'm ready!"

"Good. Now, Isabela. I looked into your future. And the life of your dreams would be promised, and someday be yours. Your power will grow, like the grapes that thrive on the vine."

Did she understand it? Not really, sometimes Bruno's visions were cryptic, but it SOUNDED cool! Dolores seemed to think so too, lightly shaking her cousin's shoulder.

"Your gift is going to be so COOL, Isa!"

"Not as cool as YOURS is gonna be!"

Isa grinned as she traded places, holding onto Bruno's hands.

"You ready, mi little búho?"

"Yes yes yes!"

"In your future...I see the man of your dreams,"

Dolores squealed loud enough to make tìo Bruno wince. She might be younger than Isabela, but she already REALLY liked the idea of romance and gooshy stuff.

"Betrothed to another. Just out of reach."

They looked at him, confused.

"What does 'betrothed' mean?"

"It...means someone who's already engaged."

Isa immediately saw her face drop. It was confusion at first, then sadness. Isabela wanted to comfort her, only to find herself standing up straight upon seeing everyone come back, this time with Abuela.

"Are you ready, mija?"

"Si, Abuela."

"Good. We'll be waiting for you by your door."

Isabela watched them as she walked down, catching Pepa scolding Bruno for what was no doubt the sadness of Dolores. But her prima faked a smile in support, waving her down the stairs. Isabela waited at the end, lightly wincing as the blinding light shown upon her. Everyone was clapping and excited, and it made her heart pound in her chest. Once the 'red carpet' appeared before her, she took a deep breath, and walked.

"One step over the other. Slowly."

She reminded herself. Abuela taught her exactly how to walk, and she hoped desperately that she was doing right. She glanced at the people waiting in the crowd. Tìo Bruno was leaning against Félix, obviously being the only thing keeping Pepa from killing him. Pepa was proud of her, and everyone, Dolores included, was giving her a thumbs up. She made it up the stairs, glancing briefly towards her parents. They looked so proud of her, her dad trying not to cry, and her mother trying to steady her breathing. Then there was Abuela.

The one that gave her this opportunity. The one that loved her like any grandmother could. And the candle. It shone brighter than any star you've ever seen. It was so distracting, she sort of tuned out Abuela's words to the crowd. She didn't even really recall she was there until Abuela knelt down to her level, smiling fondly at her.

"Ready, mija?"

"Si."

"Good. Now, will you serve this community, and strengthen our home?"

She nodded. Abuela let her hold the candle, and she felt warmth. It felt like fresh arepas, it smelled oddly of tobacco, but not as bad? She couldn't understand it. It was taken away from her before she could try, with Abuela taking a step aside to let her be face to face with her door. It glittered with gold, it tempted her. She was so excited, she could jump and touch the moon. The second she realized she could walk, she dove for it, hand right on her new doorknob. The door AND the candle shone brightly, nearly blinding her. When the light dyed down, she looked at the door, then her hands. Nothing. She looked at Abuela, who just chuckled.

"Give it a minute. You'll be blessed."

"Maybe it's because the door isn't...pretty enough? I just think it could use flowers right...here!"

She pointed to the top of the doorframe, and suddenly a bunch of roses, fresh as could be, grew from the wood. She looked at her hands in wonder, before turning to her parents. She pointed at her dad, and a beautiful purple flower was suddenly on his jacket.

"I. Have. FLOWERS!!!!"

Abuela looked aghast at her sudden screaming, but she couldn't HELP it! She turned to the anxiously waiting people, and suddenly flowers took over the entire Casita. Purple and pink and all things pretty littered the roofs, the balconies, the windows, the floors. The crowd gasped as a tidal wave of petals seemed to fall over them. Isabela grinned, and immediately looked towards her door. An image of herself, engraved into the wood. She was standing above a giant flower, she was older, and so...pretty. Oh she was going to look like THAT in the future?! Without a moments hesitation, she opened the door, and gasped.

Even MORE flowers! Flowers made up the floor, flowers made up gazebos and gardens and furniture and statues of just the prettiest swans. She didn't know what it was. But she took off her shoes, and RAN. The flowers felt so good under her little feet. She immediately dove into her bed, that was EASILY ten times her size. She looked up at the ceiling, realizing that behind the flowery curtain, her bed could go up to who knows where. Abuela tried to approach her, probably trying to tell her to behave a bit more given that they were in company, but she couldn't focus.

She jumped out of bed, laughing as she ran across flowers, letting her pigtails fly behind her as she jumped towards her flower garden. She had millions of petals in her hair, and she LOVED it! She was about to get up before Dolores ran into her, the force of her hug sending her back down. They laughed, as little girls did, with Dolores grinning like hell.

"YOU HAVE FLOWER POWER!"

"I HAVE FLOWER POWER!"

She pointed towards her, and her twin buns were decorated in orange, red, and yellow roses. She gasped loudly.

"YOU CAN DO DIFFERENT COLORS?!"

"I CAN DO DIFFERENT COLORS!"

They both sat up, and watched as Isabela pointed at anything and everything, attacking her friends with flowers, decorating family with flowers she never knew existed. She only stopped once she heard her father.

"Isa! Mija! Baila con tu papa!"

She grinned at her cousin as she ran back to the crowd, right into her dad's arms. He spun her around, clearly full of joy, before looking at her, chuckling.

"Look at you, mija. You're so HAPPY!"

"And you're so PRETTY!"

She giggled, decorating his face in just a mess of pretty flowers. He couldn't see for a minute, needing Julieta to keep him steady as she brushed hair out of his face. She couldn't believe that her gift in this room made everyone so, so so happy.

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

Isabela grinned at her little sister. The room had gotten quiet after the party, and Isabela was just about ready to head to bed in her new room, just as soon as her parents came back to get her little sister, who she kept doing little tricks for. She was talking her ear off, but given how she giggled, she didn't mind.

"It sucks that you were napping during the whole thing- you should've SEEN it, Lulu! It was INCREDIBLE! I can make flowers anytime I want! And I'll make you a flower everyday so you can be pretty like a princess!"

Luisa grinned as she seemed to catch onto her sister's excitement, arms flailing wildly on the spot. Isa made her another flower, and this seemed to make her curious, and she tried to eat it. Probably would've gotten away with it, had it not been for mami.

"Woah, hold on! Okay, Isa, no eating the flowers, understand?"

"Si mami. What did you went to get?"

She sat down on her bed, keeping Luisa on her lap as she handed her one of her stuffies to keep her occupied.

"Well. I wanted to share something with you. You remember how me and your papi met?"

"Yeah. He'd get hurt a lot, and he'd come to you to feel better."

"That's right. And everytime, he'd bring me flowers as an apology. There was something so...sweet, about him seeing me past my powers, that made me fall in love with him. And the first ever flower he gave me was just the snallest little daisy, no bigger than my pinky."

She watched as her mom pulled a box out of her little pocket. She opened it, and inside it was a necklace, with a little tiny flower inside. Julieta smiled as she explained.

"I had it put it resin, to keep it from dying. I barely wear it, since I'm scared it'll fall into my food. But, I want you to have it, because you are the most BEAUTIFUL flower he's ever given me."

Julieta was about to help her put it on, when Luisa tried to grab it. Julieta slapped her hand (honestly a feather would be more disciplinary than that 'slap'), slightly shaking her head. Luisa looked as though her mother just smacked her across the face, and CRIED. Julieta sighed.

"Three...two...one..."

"Where is she? Why is she crying?"

Agustín walked in just in time. Didn't matter WHERE Luisa was, Agustín always heard her crying. Luisa did her little 'up up' hands, immediately being embraced by her father.

"She's mad because I won't let her eat everything she sees."

"Oh, mi poor bebé! It's okay! Papi will make you dinner! Then, he'll read you a story! Which one would you like? The Hercules one? I KNOW you like that one! Yes you do! Yes!!! I KNOW you like it when papi does the voices!"

Agustín blew little raspberries into her tummy, making her giggle like a mad woman. He gave Isabela a quick smooch on her nose, muttering a congratulations, before motioning for Julieta to follow. She was about to, when Isabela jumped up a bit to grab her finger.

"Mami? Can. Can you spend the night with me? Just tonight?"

She looked like she'd say no, when Agustín gave her a light bump with his hip.

"Hey, you said the first night alone was scariest for you. Stay with her, I got Luisa for tonight."

They shared a bit of a kiss, before Agustín left, using Luisa's hand to wave goodbye. Once she was sure he left, she finally put the necklace on her, and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you, mija. You are so special, and so wonderful, and beautiful and kind and smart-!"

The list seemed to go on and on and she squished her little cheeks, and kissed her face all over. It made little flowers pop over their heads, and Isa immediately fell into the hug given to her by her mami.

"Okay okay! Enough talking about YOURSELF, mami!"

Oh that made her LAUGH. Julieta squuezed her in her arms, and covered her in her blanket.

"You are such a wonderful little girl, Isabela. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll grow flowers every single day to show you!"

With the way her mami smiled, the way she smelled like her famous bananos calados...she knew that was a promise she had to keep.

Dolores

"Hold on, almost done, mija."

"But I'm EXCITED, Papi!"

Félix grinned as he finished the bow on her hair. Her mom did her hair just fine, but her papi always did it MUCH faster, and she couldn't wait! Félix held the mirror for her, and she LOVED her new hairstyle. Instead of duel buns, her hair was done sky high, and it made her look taller. Félix grinned.

"So, you like it?"

"Yes! It's so pretty! Thank you, Papi!"

She rushed in to hug her, and he gave her a big squeeze.

"Of course, mija! Now. Are you sure you can handle this?"

Dolores looked up at her dad curiously, still in the hug.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying, if this scares you, you could always-"

"Félix Madrigal."

He went stiff as Pepa stood in the doorway, the cloud on her head showing she wasn't too pleased.

"I was just-"

"Mija. Go talk to your cousin, she wants to see you."

She walked out, lightly jumping as the door slammed shut behind her. Her parents argued a lot, and she always wanted to know just WHAT made mami angry. She hated being a little kid, constantly not being told stuff. She wanted to try to listen in on them, when she was suddenly picked up by tìo Bruno, who immediately put her on her shoulders.

"Well look who I found! It's the birthday girl!"

Dolores grinned as she hugged his head. Her tìa, tìo, and her cousin were standing there, clearly just as excited. Julieta kissed the top of her head, holding onto her cheeks fondly.

"Oh, I can't WAIT to see your big gift, mija. I bet it's going to be wonderful. Have you put some thought into what you think it is?"

"I'm hoping for lazer eyes."

Agustín chuckled, clearly amused.

"With eyes like yours, I could see it h-"

"Oh! Could you still play piano after? Pretty please?!"

Dolores LOVED hearing her tìo play the piano. He was so talented, and she loved having something to dance with Isabela to. He nodded, giving her a light pat on her bun.

"Of course. Whatever song you want, I'll play for you."

Just then, Pepa and Félix walked out of the room, with Pepa having that smile that dad described as 'happy, but not happy'. She plucked her off of Bruno, holding her in her arms.

"Are you ready, mi-"

Dolores cupped her mother's face, pouting.

"Hey, no. Rainbow first, mami!"

The demand made her mother smile. A real, genuine smile that made rainbows decorate her face. She squeezed her face against hers firmly, making Dolores giggle.

"Oh I've been blessed with such a sweet daughter! I bet your gift is going to make everything you touch turn into candy! That's how sweet you are! I hope that includes chocolate. I REALLY want chocolate right now."

Bruno rolled his eyes something fierce.

"And you wonder where your son gets his appetite from."

"My what?"

"Er- nothing! Look, Abuela's here!"

Bruno seemed relieved to have someone interrupt them, hiding behind Abuela, as he tended to do. Abuela softly sighed, before smiling at Dolores.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes!"

Pepa put her down, gave her a quick million kisses, before standing up and letting Félix hold onto her waist.

"We'll be waiting by your door. Try not to run up the stairs, I'd hate for you to trip."

"You got this!"

They both gave her a thumbs up, and she gave them a thumbs up back. Isabela waited till they made their way down the stairs, before she grew a flower in her hand, and putting it in her hair.

"It's a peony. It's good luck. You're gonna do GREAT, cuz!"

They had one good hug, before Isabela, ever a bit of a show off, let her vines carry her down the steps. Before she knew it, Dolores was at the bottom of the steps, with the lights bringing attention to her. Not fully, because there were quite a few still congratulating Isa on her gift, but she didn't mind. It was like having a birthday on a holiday, it happens. She walked forward, smiling and nodding at everyone's glances. She felt like a princess, and it was nice, feeling like the bell of the ball. She made her way up the stairs, stopping just short of Abuela.

And this was the boring part. Abuela's rant. Yes, she knew it was important, but it was like sitting through sermon at church. She met her eyes of her parents, and made a look as if she was falling asleep, much to the amusement of her parents.

"Dolores."

"Hmm? What?"

"Will you serve this community, and strengthen our home?"

Dolores looked at the candle. She could hear the crackle of the wick and flame, and she swore she could smell of cinnamon. She nodded, and held it in her hands. It was so soft, like the feeling of velvet. Abuela stepped away, and Dolores was now face to face with a door. HER door. She nodded, and grabbed the handle. The light was blinding, yet welcomed simultaneously, like looking into the sun. She waited till the light died down, before she sat there, waiting.

"Papi?"

Félix looked confused, as did Pepa, and Abuela.

"Yes, mija?"

"What's 'silent but deadly' mean?"

Clearly that question was weird. Félix looked at Pepa, before raising a brow back at her.

"Why do you ask?"

"That guy right there said his was 'silent but deadly'. His what?"

She pointed to the guy in the crowd, who looked incredibly sheepish as one of the spotlights quite literally shone on him in shame. The people around him took a few steps away from him, clearly disgusted. Thankfully, attention was somewhat taken away from him as her door took shape. She looked older, her eyes were so big and she looked so...pretty. Her hands were by her ears, and the sound of MANY heartbeats flooded her ears.

"Oh my god. Pepa, our kid has super hearing."

Dolores grinned as she opened her door. It was so bizarre, hearing the sound of the wood and hearing so many collective breaths. She watched as her room formed in front of her eyes. Thousands of velvet seats lined the walls, stopping short of just the most beautiful center stage. The room was silent, but as soon as the room flooded with footsteps, the sound seemed to be AMPLIFIED. She clasped her hands over her ears, trying to focus on her room instead.

Only, it was hard. The breathing, the muttering. Even if their steps were softened by the cushy floors. Her head hurt. She found herself curled up on the floor, wishing everyone would stop, just for a second. She felt herself picked up off the floor, and brought to a room. The room was small, but it was a bit dark. Most importantly, it was silent. She looked up at her rescuer, and saw her mommy, covered in snow. She could hear the flakes fall, but it was nowhere near as loud as everything else.

"Mija? You okay?"

"Y-yes. Everything was just...so loud. I'm sorry-"

"No no no, mija. I understand what it's like, to have an overwhelming gift."

"Should I go outside still? I don't want to disappoint-"

Pepa held onto her face, shaking her head.

"No. Your papi has the crowd covered. He told me to take you to a quiet place so you could relax. He said to take as long as you need."

"Like when you have bad weather?"

"Exactly. We're very lucky to have your papi, mija."

Dolores immediately dove into her mother's arms, resting her face into her mother's chest. She could hear her heart. It was like the beating of a steady drum, and while it was definitely not quiet, it was...safe.

"I'm lucky to have you too, mami."

She squeezed her as she pulled her into a hug, nice and snug.

"You're wonderful, Dolores. I'm sorry your gift is a bit much. In the morning, we'll take a look around your new room, okay?"

"Okay, mami. Can...can I still open my presents?"

"I can give you one. One that me and your papi got for you."

Pepa reached into her pocket, and pulled out a set of earrings. Golden and red, shaped like hearts. Dolores looked at it in awe, and held them up to her mom.

"Help me put them on? Please?"

Pepa smiled as she did so, before giving her a big old kiss on her forehead.

"He found them at the store a while ago. He said the hearts are exactly what he sees whenever he looks at you."

Dolores smiled at her mom, before going back for another squeeze.

"I see the most beautiful mami ever when I look at you."

The snow quickly turned to rain, and the sound of it falling on the tarp above her head was loud. Loud, but simultaneously so soothing. Her mother was a sympathy of beautiful, tender sounds. As she closed her eyes, feeling warm in her arms, she could only hope to be half as pretty as her.

#asks #encanto #not transformers #we love the moms supporting their daughters #and the fathers obviously #and Bruno being just that cool uncle

[yellowcry]

Hot issue

Camilo wasn't really close to his middle prima. And, maybe it was the reason why he was so suprised when she fainted from a heatstroke while she was working

Camilo groaned as he leaned back in the chair, lisening Abuela's morning speech. It was just like always, be nice, help everyone... Why did she even keep telling the same thing every day? Camilo could repeat it without any mistakes.

It was very hot day. Camilo's shirt clamed to his body, his hair greasy melted together. As he could see, everybody felt no better than him. Mami tried to create a rainy cloud, but it didn't help very much, since she seemed to be in a wonderful mood today. And if somebody would ask Camilo, he would prefer to die from the heat than ruin her day. It seemed like having knotted hair was today's rush of fashion. It was pretty strange to see Mirabel or Isabela who always had their hair loose with neat buns. Camilo also wanted to make a hairstyle with his hair, but instead he cursed the fact that he cuted it  few months ago, because now it was long enough to make his neck sweating, but still too short to make any hairstyles. Maybe he could shapeshift his hair? Yes, it seemed like a good idea. Camilo let out a satisfied sigh, as he felt a little bit better

He eated arepa, looking on suffering faces. Even Abuela looked sick, as she wiped a sweat drops off her face. The only person who actually seemed to not sweat was Luisa. Camilo understood that she might be used to working under the scorching sun, but he still was too suprised, remembering her morning exercises. Camilo would even think that Luisa wasn't suffering from heat at all if her face wasn't so red.

Soon, the whole family dispersed to their chores. Camilo knew that he has to be in town too, but he really doubted that anybody would walk out of their houses today. But he also realized thay Abuela won't take it as excuse.

"Camilo, what are you doing?" Of course. He groaned as he stood up, okay atleast he probably would have a full day for himself.

Suddenly, Dolores interuppted them "I think that Camilo would be better if he would be happy, instead of suffering from heat. Afterall, it's his job to make everyone happy." She explained. "And it would be totally easier if Camilo wouldn't be dying from heat."

"What if somebody needed him to look after their kids?" Abuela insisted standing still and holding her arms behind her back.

"I could tell him." Dolores sighed. "I can use my power in any place of Encanto." She smiled. Camilo could barely hold back a sly smile as he understood that his hermana just wanted to have a reason to stay at home.

Abuela's face became unsure for a minute, before she closed her eyes and sighed. "Okay, I'll be in town." She stared at Camilo for a moment before said stricly. "I'm doing it only because of your role." Unsaid be happy, make everyone else happy floated in the air.

Camilo gave Dolores a thankful smile and jokingly nudged her. She gigged as she reached down for her hermanito and ruffled his hair, forcing him to frown playfully.

"You ruined my hair!" Camilo announced as he put his hands on his chest and looked away.

Dolores rolled her eyes. "You can just-" She stopped at the middle of sentence when Camilo shapeshifted his hair again. "Yes."

****

A couple of hours passed. It was pretty unusual to see Casita so empty and quiet. But since everybody was working he could be here. Camilo played a scene for himself taking sips of cold water sometimes, and Dolores seemed to be listening to the town.

Squeak.

"Camilo, we have to go!" She whispered worriedly as she grabbed her hermanito.

Camilo let out a frustated sigh when he realized that his day off just finished.  "So, who is it?"

"Luisa."

Camilo raised an eyebrow, running next to Dolores. "Why does she need me?"

"I think she might have a heatstroke." Dolores sighed. He took a chaotic breath in, he could swear that even senõrita perfecta's flowers were dying under the direct sunlight. Running totally didn't help to cold down his body.

Soon, Camilo noticed a giant figure lying on the groung surronded by worried donkeys. Without any doubts it was Luisa. Her body was twisting in convulsions, and Camilo could hear how she mummbed some incoherent delirium. Camilo realized that she probably had some hallucinations from heat. Donkeys worriedly puted their noses in her, rolling her on the groung. Then they moved their heads to the sound of running kids and took few steps back.

"Let's took her to mami." Dolores sighed when Camilo turned into the second Luisa and helped to put original one on his shoulders. Camilo really disliked being turned into Luisa, because everytime when he would do it, he would get an endless list of tasks immediantly, but at the current situation everybody would probably understand that something is wrong. Also, Luisa's body didn't seem to be sweating as much as his own, Camilo took a guess that it was because her body was used to overheating due to a hard work. One of the donkeys came closer and helped to rise Luisa. She was hot, her skin felt way too dry, almost desiccated. Luisa's natural muscles helped to carry her, but she still was too heavy, so Camilo started losing his breath. The fact that she was convulsing didn't help. She also stopped mummbling, so Camilo gussed that she fainted. He suffocated cursing Luisa for passing out. Why couldn't it be somebody small and light? Then Camilo could carry them way easier.

"Mom is over here." Dolores took his hand and lead him to the left

"Thank you, seniorita." Camilo heared one of the villagers. In very hot days like this Pepa were visiting town people homes and make rain in them. She said that it was more effecively than making it rain all over Encanto.

"Mi amor, how are.." Now it was Felix, but he was interrupted by his kids voices.

Mami!" Camilo screamed, his parents turned around and saw how Dolores, who was covering her ears from sceam, and Luisa were holding other Luisa.

"Luisa, are you serious?" Pepa groaned running to them with panic on her face. "She's even worse than usual!" Apperently, it seemed like fainting from heat was something that Luisa did often enough to condition her condition woud be admited even worse than usual. "I swear, I'll kill her myself one day." A wind began to blow around them. Camilo couldn't help but happily relaxed when the heat subsided.

Mami focused, and soon a cold rain started to fall on Luisa's face. Camilo gently placed her on the ground and took a few steps back as he shapeshifted into himself again. Dolores wiped her forehead suffocaring from running.

"It's reminding me about old times." Pepa sighed, looking at her sobrina's face. "When she was a baby I had to rain on her whole days because she was too hot." Her voice trembled as she worriedly walked in circles.

"Wow, I didn't remember it." Camilo tried to defuse the situation with a smile leaning against the wall of one's of the houses and crossing his hands.

Dolores hited his head playfully. "Of course, you weren't even born back then." Camilo scratched hitted spot indignantly.

"Something never change." Felix shooke his head. They kept standing here in awkward slience interruptible by sound of raindrops hitting Luisa's body. Her face was red, still twitching from heat.

"She hadn't faded like that almost for three months." Pepa sighed worriedly rubbing her braid and kept walking around. Camilo looked at his mom with suprised face. He was really shoked after realizing that not heaving a heatstroke for couple of months seemed to be a very long time for Luisa. "I thought that she healed. Why mami even let her working?" She started to spiraling mummbing under her nose, Felix took her arm, helping to control her emotions as she continued to whispering to herself. Camilo felt awkward, so he kept talking with Dolores. He used to be the one who make everyone happy, but he was pretty sure that his abilities would do nothing to help his prima right now.

"Pepi it's okay." Felix put his palm on Pepa's hip when her cloud started to thundering. For a second cloud turned into the sun, but then mami shuddered in fear and rain started to hit the ground again.

And, it also was a lot to proceed. Camilo and Luisa wasn't really close. Mostly because Luisa always worked, Camilo sometimes thought that Luisa was working even in her sleep. She got her gift when Camilo wasn't even one year old, so he didn't really know how things were back then, the only Luisa that he ever knew is the always working and responcible one, Luisa who never took breaks. Maybe it was the reason why he was so suprised after hearing the fact that she overheated pretty often, since nobody else seemed to be suprised by it. And he couldn't shake mami's words out of his head. She said that Luisa hasn't faded as if it was the longest time without it in a whole life. And, according to Mami's face expression, Camilo thought that it definetly was truth. He was great in reading face expressions, after all, how can you pretend to be somebody else without knowing all their thought written on their faces?

It took around twenty minutes before she finally woke up. Luisa groaned as she sat down leaning on her hands, then she looked up at the cloud over her. Her skin still seemed to be a little pinker than normal, but she totally looked better. Camilo came closer to see her better, mami also stopped circuling, but rain still was falling on Luisa's wet body.

"Tía Pepa?" She shuddered in realization. "What I'm doing in here?" She scratched her neck. "Wasn't I taking donkeys into the barn?" She looked around trying to remember what happened.

"You passed out again!" Pepa shouted leaning towards her. "Sorry, dear." Mami whispred as she saw Dolores covering her ears

Luisa's face became worried as she started to count something on her fingers. At first, Camilo thought that she was remembering the chores that she has to do, but her face was telling that Camilo was wrong. "But it's an hour before my usual time." She shuddered. "Why would I have a heatstroke so early?"

Papi stared at her in suprise. "Luisa, your body does not obey the clock."  He put his hands on his sides. Camilo desided to not mention the fact that Luisa literally had an exact time when she supposed to faint.

Luisa looked at each of them biting her lip. "Then how do you expect me to get when I need a little cold water?" She raised her eyebrows and spread her arms to the side. Camilo frowned trying to proseed what she said. Wasn't it obvious? "Well, I still have a work to do." Luisa announced clutching her arms together.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Pepa trew her hands in the air and Luisa recoiled as lightning struck next to her. Mami took a deep breath as Felix slighty pat her spine.

"You literally feel hot when it's too hot around." Camilo put out frowning and pointed on Luisa with a finger gun. How come she didn't realize it? But his parent and hermana looked at him awkwardly as if they wanted to say something, but couldn't explain it.

It became quiet for a while as Luisa fixed her hair, stood up and gave Camilo unsurely look holding her elbow in hand. "I don't really feel... temperature." She said and her voice's tone rised up as if it was a question. "Guess It's the side effect of my gift." She shrugged.

He threw his hands in the air indignantly acting like a drama queen, so atmosphere around would be no longer so tense. "How many abilities you've got from your gift?" He crossed his arms on his chest.

Felix sighed looking in his son's eyes. "It's not a good thing because Luisa's still affected by weather."

"It's still unfair." Camilo rolled his eyes and looked at embarrassed Luisa who looked away with a guilty expression.

She scruthed the back of her head. "I really had to work, I didn't even start to rerouting the river." She explained quietly and moved forward humming some tune.

"Luisa!" Pepa's scream was interrupted by lightning. "You are sick!" She tried to run after her sobrina, but Luisa already was too far away, soon her voice faded in town's noices.

"She's okay now." Dolores whispered putting her hand on mami's shoulder. "I'll listen in case it would happen again."

Camilo kept staring at place where Luisa was heading for a moment until he stretched out with a sigh, and asked. "Can I go home now?" Dolores noded, as both of them hugged their parent as goodbye. And Camilo just thought about what happened. Luisa wasn't only super strong and invulnerable, but also unable to feel temperature. Was it how she managed to carry a hot food to the table without letting her face muscles twitch? Camilo could be almost jealous to Luisa with all the abilities that she got. But... After seeing how she convulsed on the ground... He prefered to know when it's too hot without passing out.

Camilo never realized that he stopped feeling so hot when he shapeshifted to carry Luisa.

#encanto #luisa madrigal #fanfic #ao3 author #camilo madrigal #dolores madrigal #pepa madrigal #felix madrigal #genetic disorders #Luisa Madrigal has CIPA

[casitafallz-a]

Decay AU | Bubo the potato

Isabela glowered down at the notes on her sketchbook thoughtfully. On the double page, she had drawn out the pond, colored it and had noted down the issues; her plant list to get it… alive and clear and so far, she was struggling to know where to start.

The restriction of her freedom was…frustrating when she had to rely on someone else to take her and…that someone else was Dolores.

Now, she could get someone to take her down to the pond but that opened up risk of people knowing where she was going and who she might interact with… but of course, if she had other friends, maybe a female friend then that’d take the immediate suspicion the Mateo was like… a secret boyfriend away to anyone that stumbled across. Two is company, three is a crowd.

She needed someone else who… would be open to getting muddy and tolerating her.

“What’s got you frowning?”

Isabela jumped suddenly out of her skin, whirling to see Tio Felix standing in the doorway of the dining room, a basket of dry washing in his hands though he seemed…relaxed and curious.

Isabela let out a heavy breath. “You started me.” She flipped the book she had closed and began to gather up her notes.

“Hey, you don’t need to move.” Tio Felix set the basket down. “Sorry I startled you.”

Isabel shrugged, “It’s fine. I should have set up in my room anyway. Mama’s going to come back and…want the table set for dinner.” A warm hand touched at her elbow, making her pause.

“You’re not confined to your room for everything, Isa.” Tio said, “don’t leave on my account. What are you working on?”

Isabela weighed her options for a split-second; rebuffing would almost certainly be suspicious and set her looking moody… Tio had been very civil with her out of everyone other than Dolores so… it would be rude and right now, she needed a…adult on her side too. Dolores was…very much like her father in that sense. Maybe he might…be useful in making her life just a little more easier.

Carefully, Isabela picked up the notebook and opened it up, letting him take it before she gripped the hem of her shirt as he looked through it.

“Ah, that pond.” He smiled, “it’s been a while since I’ve seen it.”

“You know about it?”

Felix looked up. “I proposed to your Tia Pepa there. It used to be stunning but… an overpopulation of fish and the locked flow of water killed it. You planning on reviving it?”

“I’ve…been getting back into non-gifted gardening.” Isabela swallowed. “I...thought it would be a good project to…get me out of my room.”

Tio Felix nodded, smiling as he took in the notes, “You’re got a good start… though it might take some time.”

“I know. I’ve been…talking with Dolores about timings she can take me down there but… I have to work with her timetable.”

“Dolores? Can’t you ask Luisa or your father?”

“No and…no.” Isabela replied tightly, “Luisa’s keeping her distance, and… I…don’t want my father involved. I want to enjoy my projects without my parents breathing down my neck.”

Felix’s eyebrows pulled in after a moment, glancing down to the book and then to the table. “Is that…why you’re so nervous? You don’t want them to know about the project.”

“Si.” Isabela swallowed, “I want…some privacy in something. I don’t have that in my own room so…I’m trying to find it elsewhere.”

Tio Felix’s frown lingered before he pulled out a chair and sat, gesturing her to sit. Isabela did though watched as he closed up the book, but kept a hand on it with a more thoughtful look filtering onto his face

“Is…that everything you’re so worried about, Isa?”

Isabela said and did nothing except tug back her notebook and hugged it to her chest.

“Isa, you can trust me.”

Isabela inhaled deeply, “I’m…working on this with a friend… but I don’t want people to assume the worst. Abuela said no boys… and I don’t know what context she meant here, Tio. I just…want to keep the only friend I have.”

Felix looked a little concerned though his face turned a little soft, “what happened to your other friends?”

“They….didn’t want to be seen with an attempted murderer.” Her voice turned sour, “they just…liked my reputation in town. My Gift. Not for me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Isabela waved his apology off lightly, “But… with this friend, he’s someone who is genuine… and he can be very helpful in getting this project going so people can enjoy the pond again. I know you may not approve of me having a male friend and that…it might be going against what Abuela set for me but…I need friends. I need him and… hopefully someone else who’s willing to overcome my actions.” She hoped still for that. “So far, it’s only him.”

Tio let out a heavy sigh. “I see.”

“Please don’t tell Abuela…” Isa begged softly, “or my parents. They’ll just assume.”

“Isa-“

“Tio, please. Since my confinement, I’ve done what I’ve been told. I haven’t complained… it’s been almost two months and Abuela hasn’t even decided when even one of those punishments will be lifted. My family doesn’t trust me... Do you know how isolating that feels, Tio?” She whispered, setting up the string that would either convince him to respect her needs or…shatter that little slither of trust she had. She inhaled deeply, rising to her feet. “I will be in my room….for however you decide on my trust in you.”

She grabbed the rest of the stuff and left her Tio at the table and straight into her room though she felt the slight slither of dread in her gut as she shut her door behind her; that she had said so much when… she had planned with Dolores behind everyone’s backs; that she was risking Mateo’s trust in her. He had his reasons but…she hadn’t exposed his identity so he was safe and… she supposed it was early enough that they could change plans.

Abandon her pond project entirely… as disheartening as it was to lose out on a project that could… make people happy. Ultimately, she had hoped to allow people to have access to the pond again; enjoy the sights of beauty and labor she had put in and the craftsmanship of Mateo would certainly be valued.

Not all was lost.

 -

 Dinner had been a tense affair, though she didn’t look at her Tio once, and mercifully, he was seated beside Abuela at the far end of the table with Tia Pepa. Dolores sat next to her though she looked…somewhat tense as well.

“Risky move,” Dolores whispered as she idly picked at her corn.

“I know.”

“Smart, but risky.” Dolores clarified. “Thank you for trusting him.”

“If he tells on me, I won’t trust him for much longer.” Which was what she still feared; all she could do was wait and see. “I still want to go out tomorrow to the pond and start getting the water clear.”

“He won’t be available. He’s working on that box and his parents have him redesigning a set of cupboards.”

“I know, but it’ll be a good start to the project nonetheless. I don’t have to spend all the time there just for him.”

Dolores relaxed a little, “I suppose… I’m just…worried. You didn’t want to let anyone else know and now you’re telling my papa.”

“I’m…trying to make use of a tough situation, Dolores.”

Dolores hummed softly, delicately cutting her corn. “Francesca Lopez.”

“What?” Isabela blinked at her younger prima at the sudden change in topic. “What’s she got to do with this?”

“You mentioned only having him… Francesca Lopez could be another.”

“Isn’t her family the primary family that…hates our family? Why would I befriend a girl like that? I don’t need that antagonistic nature in my life right now when I’m already living with it, Dolores.”

Dolores snorted, “They don’t…hate us. Displeased more with your mother’s job than anything but… Tia’s healing put them out of business.”

The idea of anyone hating on her mother for her gift… it made her feel a little iffy. “You’re hardly selling her to me.”

Dolores’s lip curled. “I’m just saying… it’s complex. She doesn’t have a lot of friends either so.. if you can overlook her issues with us, she might overlook your…problems.”

Isabela opted to get back to her corn than get involved. “Which one is Francesca? Does she have really nice skin? Or really long hair?” Lopez's family had a few women, after all, Dr. Lopez only had boys himself but he had all granddaughters now…

“Francesca is… a few weeks older than us. Long hair but slightly curly.”

Isabela ran through what she knew though she vaguely recognized the description. “You think she’ll actually like me?”

“I think it’s no harm to try. Abuela has yet to ask but there are a few medicinal herbs not available in Encanto that could…be useful.”

Isabela perked up a little, straightening up. “Like, they need me to supply them?”

“More like…give them the seeds to grow themselves after the initial batch. They don’t like gift reliance.”

It didn’t matter too much, the idea of…being useful for something more productive was far more exciting than décor. Should she make her own herb farm in her room? Isabela made a mental note to look into that extra space she had left over as a possibility. She knew a fair bit now so it would be…fairly simple to create seeds and saplings for things…

“Should I wait for them to ask?”

“Maybe until Abuela asks?”

Isabela could hear the warning behind that so she chose to nod. Right, the last thing she wanted to do was…undermine Abuela and she’d rather not do the same as she had with the whole cactus issue and she had learned that lesson swiftly.

“Isabela.”

Isabela froze as Abuela’s voice echoed loudly from the far end of the table. Her eyes turned down, setting down her corn and wiped her hands onto her napkin before she lent forwards with a passive expression. “Si, Abuela?”

“With Antonio’s ceremony coming up, I want to get on top of the planning. As such, your decorations for the event.” Abuela continued, “Tomorrow morning, I want you to go through a few designs of flower arrangements with your Tia and myself.”

“Just flowers?” Isabela asked, sparing a look to her extended family, “because I could add some interesting plants that might—“

“Just flowers.” Abuela interrupted tightly. “No berry bushes, things with thorns and spikes and no obnoxious colours that will draw away from Antonio’s night.”

The list would no doubt be longer in the subtext. Abuela wanted everything as…plain as she possibly could make it. It was disheartening to see the shut-down but not unexpected; a part of her had hoped that she could perhaps use that opening to show the others she was more than just the flower-girl. Clearly, Abuela still held onto the memory of her room after she had changed it.

Isabela nodded softly. “Si, Abuela.”

“Mama, does she really have to do it?” The voice was quiet, a soft whisper even but yet it carried easily, enough to make Isabela’s hand pause on her cutlery but it flared the ache in her lungs that had somewhat soothed over the last month back into unease. Her eyes remained to the tabletop but she forced her mask to stay on.

“Antonio, that’s not a nice thing to ask.” Tio Felix spoke, his tone was underlined with a firmness as he turned his attention to his youngest son, Pepa’s cloud flickering above her head with thunder but Isabela elected to ignore it; not like it really mattered.

“But…I don’t want Isabela to do the decorations. I want the flower-shop people.” Antonio stated, almost confused at them for their reactions, like he thought what he was saying was alright. “Camilo said they have the best natural-grown plants that would look better and that it was better value for money and helps the- the econnimommy by helping with the town’s goods. ”

Even Isabela spared a look to her primo who was just casually eating his plate with a lot more confidence than what Isabela expected for being outed by Antonio. It was also clear not all those words were his either given how proper he sounded for a four year old.

Abuela sighed heavily out, giving a disappointed look at eldest grandson. “Camilo, as much as I’d love the idea that you’re thinking about the town, don’t feed your brother those sorts of ideas that will undermine me.” Her tone remained firm. “Isabela will so the decorations.”

“Si, Abuela.” He nodded though Isabela resisted rolling her eyes at his fake pretense.

The rumbling cloud above Tia Pepa’s head certainly continued so Isabela hoped she’d give her son a lecture.

 -

After her usual curfew came, Isabela took some time to change her room around, settling a new area for her herb garden and to be adventurous, she decided to branch out into the spices as well, like Vanilla. It was a rare commodity in Encanto, but one that could be interesting to introduce to the farmer down town. Maybe earn some good favor by dropping off a fresh batch?

Idly, Isabela grew a few palm trees, watching the coconuts grow quickly and drop off with heavy thuds to the grass. One escaped into the river but Isabela began to pick them up and set them onto her desk for later. Encanto didn’t have coconuts anymore, a few old husks from the first who had been here but it hadn’t been able to grow here as no one had living coconuts that could be planted.

She eyed a new area before waving her hand, cotton plants springing up before opening up with the white balls of fluff. She eyed the plants with a frown; at how…easy this was.

Here she was…able to make the raw materials for…a wide variety of plants, foods, and goods…. And all Abuela wanted was for her to make things pretty. Like she wasn’t…good for anything other than that and if she ventured from that ideal…it was bad.

Her lips pursed though she reached forwards, plucking the little ball of fluff from the pod and rolled squidgy the softness around her palms. If…she needed to earn favor, maybe she needed to… do more at least. If Abuela wouldn’t let her use her gift out so freely, maybe she could…send boxes of supplies to those who could process them?

New flavors and…fabrics.

Was it really worth it? Her mind touched on the demands of Luisa… of her mother. Would she be faced with that once people knew what she could create? Would she be…reduced to her use if gift still?

She let the cotton plants wither away, keeping a hold of her little cotton ball and bringing It up to her cheek and let it’s softness run over her skin as she padded around her room again, listening out for the waters before she found herself beside her newly made farming patch again, glad that her room had set half-wall borders to keep things in order.

Was she wandering because she was bored?

Very much.

Why did the curfew have to be at eight? Why not nine? Or half past? Couldn’t…Abuela just slowly integrate it out?

Her eyes wandered the herb patch before she took a seat next to her more recent creation; the herbs not only grown but she figured it was a start and let nature take it’s course. She had plenty of time, it seemed. She could always restock her mother’s supply when it came to harvesting… but it felt odd.  Would her mother accept her creations when Abuela hadn’t? Would her mother be interested in the vegetables, like potatoes? Corn?

Isabela tucked away the little fluff ball before once again forming a small potato into her hands, though she began to idly experiment with it’s shape; turning it from oblong to something with little arm and leg nubs, before she snorted at the idea of a veg creature, darkening a little of its skin pigment to show two little eyes in the main body where the ‘head’ should be if a potato has such a thing.

“Hm, cute.” Isabela smiled at the little thing. A little potato person. “You are Bubo the first and shall guard my herbs.” She set it down at the corner of her borders, making sure it was fully balanced. It looked… ridiculous and definably a little malformed but… it had character about it that…Abuela certainly wouldn’t approve of given it wasn’t perfect but… Isabela loved it.

“Should I make more of you?” She asked the potato before the thought of reality hit her. “Why am I talking to a potato…” She shook her head. “Dear me, I’m going nuts.”

She rose smoothly to her feet though a thump caught her attention, her head whipping down to see the potato had fallen off its border. Isabela rolled her eyes, bending down to pick it up and set it straight when suddenly, the potato wiggled and pushed itself up onto its nubby little ‘feet’ and up straight before she could touch it

Isabela froze in alarm, her jaw dropping though her pulse sped up as she watched it as it began to waddle around the soil, tramping the herb buds—not doing much damage—and seemed to wander aimlessly away from her.

“What the…” Isabela followed it easily with her eyes, her mind trying to fathom the sight in front but… couldn’t.

A potato? Wandering?

“Why?”

The notion was easy rationally to understand given she hadn’t used her gift as extensively since her room remake… but this was new wasn’t it? To bring a potato to a form of…life? Isabela immediately doubted it. This was hardly intelligent… it didn’t have a brain.

It was a potato!

Reaching the other end of the potato clambered up the border and with far too much enthusiasm for…anything, it belly flopped off the end and little out of sight before there was a sharp squeak half a second later as it hit something.

Isa lent forwards, her slacked jaw snapping shut with a dry snort of exasperation as Bubo the potato was now impaled onto her pruning sheers.

#encanto #encanto au #decay au #decay isabela #isabela madrigal #dolores madrigal #felix madrigal #pepa madrigal #camilo madrigal #antonio madrigal #mirabel madrigal #julieta madrigal #agustín madrigal #agustin madrigal #alma madrigal #luisa madrigal #drabble

[twilight-zoned-out]

I’ve been thinking about Bruno’s tower. Maybe it started out with a reasonable amount of stairs, but as the years grew on and Bruno felt worse and worse about his gift, Casita made the stairway grow longer so less people would come.

Maybe the stairs lengthened so people would stop asking him trivial or obvious questions. I can’t imagine people climbing up all those stairs just to ask about gaining weight or balding hair. Bruno probably got bombarded with those kinds of questions in his early days. Maybe Casita noticed the strain and increased the stairs so people would stop asking him about every little thing.

Also, Bruno is theatrical, but he doesn’t strike me as someone who’d want the walls of his workplace lined with scary stone engravings of himself - I wonder if that was also a Casita move. Maybe the carvings were added to dissuade people from coming unless necessary, but the scary images ended up backfiring and furthering his bad reputation in town.

On the other hand, I wonder how long the stairs got before Bruno began to look for different ways to get around the house. If Casita was trying to help Bruno, it probably built some secret backdoor in his room to help him get down to the kitchen fast or something

#encanto headcanon #bruno madrigal #encanto bruno #encanto #I have more thoughts but couldn't tell how related they were to this post #maybe another post? #maybe a reblog? #about when Bruno found out about the space in the walls #and when he started becoming really reluctant to use his gift #since it seems like after Isabela and Dolores he might not have used it as much #at least on the family #and he def went to his room after Mirabel didn't get her gift #but did he know about the wall space then? #did he find it accidentally? #is that where the stone carvings came from? Casita showed him a passage to the walls and then covered it up with scary engravings? #or was the wall space a childhood hideout? #would the siblings know? #how did nobody find the hole behind the painting? #encanto casita #spoilers? #i can't tell #twilight-zoned-out #many thoughts #encanto spoilers

[shadowed-dancer]

Floorplan of the Casa Madrigal (Encanto)

I didn't see anything about this online, so I went through the movie and managed to map out the house as best I could. Keep in mind that the bedroom sizes aren't accurate since they are magic.

If you care to read some very in-depth analysis about this house, check out everything under the cut

First, a note. I actually forgot a door right where I put the label "1st floor". There is a little green door there, I put a picture in the section titles "Camilo's dance hallway"

Ok disclaimer all these screenshots came from YouTube so my apologies in advance for the quality of some of these.

The 3rd floor

The "3rd floor" is just a few rooms. On the right is "Bruno's tower", or more specifically, the entrance to Bruno's tower (aka his magic door).

In the middle is the room that they keep the candle. Based on the flashback to when Abuela was young, this seems to be her bedroom. There are no stairs to enter from the outside, so it stands to reason that it is only accessible through her magic door, though we do not know what the bottom level of her room looks like.

There is also an area on the left that has some windows (on the outside) but it's unclear what this is, who it belongs to, and how to access it. It's possible all of this is Abuela's space, but I also have the theory that it may be Antonio's, and that taller magic rooms manifest their height on the outside of the house (Bruno's tower is obvious, but Isabela seems to have a bit of a tower as well).

Bruno's tower - 2nd floor

There's this weird empty space near the stairs next to Luisa's room. It seems to just be a wall, and based on the outside I'm simply assuming it's part of Bruno's tower and it's inaccessible from the main part of the house.

Mirabel's magic door

Each kid is on the same side of the hall as their parent (Pepa's kids are all on the "left", Julieta's are on the "right"). Based on the weirdly large gap between Luisa and Isabela's doors, it's safe to assume that Mirabel's was supposed to be in between them (which is why I drew an empty spot despite not labelling it.

During the flashback to Mirabel's ceremony we actually see Abuela's photos in the background (the ones where she poses with all the kids). This seems to just be an error though, since these photos are between Abuela and Pepa's doors, and Pepa's door is clearly not visible in Mirabel's flashback but is VERY visible when Antonio gets his door.

It's also possible that they just moved the pictures lol. If that's the case, then is means the pictures used to be on the wall outside the nursery.

Inside the walls

Unfortunately, I could not map out the path Bruno and Mirabel take inside the walls. The sequence is all over the place, so the only things I know for sure are the entrance point (just beside Dolores' door) and Bruno's wall-room (which we know if behind the family tree mural in the dining room).

In all technicality, the inside of the walls shouldn't be as easy to navigate as the movie shows. There should be a lot of doors and windows that block a walking path, but it's possible we just don't see them (this could also be why Bruno does so much parkour; he's avoiding the windows).

Pepa's corner room?

On my layout of the first floor, I labeled the corner room as "Pepa room". This is NOT her magical room, but instead the area we see here

We never see this room again and have no idea how it connects to the house, since we don't have any other angles and we never see any doors leading to it. We do see a door on the right of the area I labeled "walkthrough", and since we never see what's inside that door, it lead me to believe it might be this isolated room where Pepa can go calm down (notice the raindrops, weather vane, and picture of Antonio. This is a room she goes to a lot).

You may be wondering if this is instead Pepa's magical room, but I don't think it is. We see this room just after Mirabel runs down some very tight stairs inside the walls. The fact that stairs could fit in the walls here led me to believe that they were in the walls of Bruno's tower (perhaps the part I marked as "inaccessible" on the 2nd floor), which just so happens to be above this room on the layout.

Either way, the fact that Mirabel ran DOWN stairs from the second floor means she was now on the first floor, which means this is not Pepa's magic room.

Patio

We see the family gather to eat breakfast on this little patio area outside. There are two doors that lead here, one from the dining room and the other from the kitchen.

I couldn't include pictures because I hit the limit, but you can see the dining room doors very clearly during the dinner scene. The doors are directly across the family tree.

Pedro's portrait and the entrance

Just before Antonio's gift ceremony, we get to see how the stairwell with Pedro's portrait connects to the house.

Mirabel and Antonio come down the Pedro stairs and into the room with the flower curtain. When the curtain opens, we see Antonio is standing in the entrance foyer (if you look closely, you can even see the door to the nursery above him).

The one error

Surprisingly, this movie did a very good job of making the character move around the house in a logical way. Every time I saw a character go from one area to another, I'd follow their path on my map and find that it worked! The ONLY time there is ever an error is at the very start of the movie. Mirabel slides down the Pedro stairs before we see this:

We see the nursery door in the top left and the foyer below it, and Mirabel is walking through the "general living space" (in other scenes, we see this area sometimes has hammocks, couches, and a coffee table set up). Based on the way she's walking though, she would technically be going into Pedro's staircase.

When I first started mapping this out, this scene actually threw me off because I assumed she was going to the dining room. But after going through every other scene in the movie, I realized that this scene was just a little wrong.

To make this all make sense, we can just assume that she simply wandered around between shots.

Camilo's dance hallway

During "we don't talk about Bruno", Camilo has a little sequence in this... random hallway

Thanks to the quality of these screenshots, I had to boost the image on the top right to show that there's a door behind him.

I initially had no idea where this hall is supposed to be, but I figured it out; it's the area I labelled "walkthrough" on the first floor (directly under Abuela's room). The walls are the same, the green door is in the right place, and even though it's not in the screenshots, Camilo DOES pass those wall sconces during his dance. The floor is even the same, all he did was move the furniture out of the way.

Anyways, that's all. Thanks for reading!

If this gets enough love (or I see a demand for it) maybe I'll make a fully coloured version with detail and stuff

#encanto #encanto casita #casa madrigal #madrigal family #bruno madrigal #camilo madrigal #mirabel madrigal #dolores madrigal #isabela madrigal #pepa madrigal #antonio madrigal #julieta madrigal #luisa madrigal #abuela madrigal #pedro madrigal #this took so long

[destinywritessometimes]

Who am I?

“I need to purge my urges. Shame. Shame. Shame.” - Alien Blues

“I’m so sick of myself. Rather be, rather be, anyone, anyone else.” - Jealousy, Jealousy

Everyone seemed to know who they wanted Camilo Madrigal to be. Except Camilo himself.

Tw: angst, depressing themes

Word Count: 2, 841

note: I wrote this late at might so ima proofread this in the morning as of rn it’s half proofread. also sorry tumblr mobile is trash and I couldn’t add a read more.

When Camilo first got his gift, his sister was the first person he shifted into.

He loved the smile on her face when he did. Then he transformed into his other family members and watched their faces light up as they watched this five year old try and imitate them.

Later on, he’d often turn into Mirabel so she didn’t feel alone. If they were going to town together, it wasn’t Camilo and Mirabel, it was Mirabel and Mirabel.

Everytime he did it made her happy so he always did. Even at home if she was feeling down all he had to do was shift and suddenly she was laughing at her own face staring back at her.

Other times he’d use it to help of course, and sometimes, when he was alone, or simply felt alone, he’d shift into his mom or dad, and suddenly he was ok again. Or if he felt like it he’d shift into Isabela to feel taller, or when he wanted to braid someone’s hair.

And she didn’t mind it when she randomly saw another one of herself walking around casita, in fact she found it amusing.

Isabela had taken to showering Camilo with love after Abuela had essentially started ignoring Mirabel, and she felt she need to follow suit. They hung out so often and seemed so similar she hoped it would carry over.

That’s why she was usually his first choice when shifting into a girl, other than Mirabel of course.

But one day when he was around eight, he had just come home from the market with Mirabel, and of course he was a spitting image of her, from the loose curls to the blue skirt to the purple flats she always wore.

The day before he’d auditioned for a play, and he was eager to see if one of his parents had received the results yet. In his excitement he’d forgotten to shift back to himself and remained Mirabel as he practically ran around the house, as he looked for them.

“Dolores!” He covered his mouth once he’d realized he shouted. He always tries not to do that around her.

“Yes?” She turned around, immediately recognizing him as Camilo. She found that her brother had a very specific way of talking.

“Is mom or dad home? I wanna know what part I got,” he whispered, bouncing on his heels.

“No, they both went out with Tio and Tia to buy fruits.”

“Ugh,” Camilo let out an exaggerated groan, before walking off.

He wasn’t very good at waiting, but was sure Mirabel would have some interesting game they could play together as she usually did. That’d keep him occupied for sure.

And sure enough she did, and played together in the nursery, until they were interrupted.

Camilo hoped it would be one of his parents, but instead he stared up into the face of his Abuela Alma, and she was looking down into the faces of two Mirabels. Rather unhappily he thought. Her smile did turn into a frown once she noticed his appearance.

“Camilo, what are you doing?” She asked.

He hasn’t expected that question, since it seemed obvious to him but he had no problem answering, “Mirabel and I are drawing each other and-.”

“No, no, what are you doing as Mirabel?”

Camilo thought everyone had gotten used to him walking around as her, so he stuttered a bit when trying to form and answer that in the end never came.

“Tsk, tsk, this won’t do,” Abuela shook her head, “you are not to appear as Mirabel.”

He definitely had a problem with that, “But what if she’s sad? That’s how I cheer her up! What if I-.”

“Camilo, you are a young boy, and we do not a young boy parading around as his girl cousin. That is not who you are!” she waved her pointer finger around, “From now on you will appear as yourself unless otherwise is necessary, absolutely necessary!” She left, closing the door behind her.

He was taken aback by the encounter, and soon Camilo changed back to himself.

No one has ever gotten mad at him when he’d changed into a girl before, especially when he was younger. Even Abuela often found it amusing.

What had changed?

“Milo, are you really never gonna be me again,” Mirabel’s whole demeanor drooped.

Camilo couldn’t just let her down. She was his best friend . “Of course I will,” he put a finger to his lips, “but I might take a break for a while, but I promise this isn’t the end of Mirabel and Mirabel.”

Mirabel was still a bit sad that she couldn’t go on walks with herself everyday anymore, but was glad that wouldn’t last forever. She moved on from the topic.

Camilo didn’t.

That night it was the only thing he could think about. ‘That’s not who you are’ sounded in his head over and over.

Why couldn’t that be who he was? Someone who could change into anyone.

It’s not like he’d changed on the inside, his appearance was just different.

Why were they ok with it when it helped? But not when he just wanted to have fun? Or make Mirabel happy?

He wanted to talk to Pepa about it, but he knew she’d just reassure him like she always did. Despite how comforting it usually was, he wished she’d say something different. Give him some practical advice.

Camilo didn’t sleep easy that night, but eventually the day's activities caught up to him and he entered dream land.

__________

It’d been a few years since Camilo had gotten the lead in the play back in primary school, and since then he’d practically devoted his life to theater. And people liked casting him.

One because he was good at acting, and two they didn’t have to spend any money on makeup or a costume for him because he could just shift into any role he needed to be in.

Seeing how much fun he’d had doing it, Mirabel had decided to be in a play too. Even though they were both thirteen at that point, she liked doing whatever Camilo was doing. He was basically her brother.

“Come on, Cam!” She dramatically flopped down on the floor next to where he was sitting, “just teach me!”

“Why don’t you ask Isa?” Camilo was busy trying to finish up his own eyeliner, “she’s better at it than I am.”

Usually he’d just shift it on, but he’d been instructed to draw it on himself this time so when he cried on stage it would run down his face all dramatic. He was only ok at it at this point.

“She wouldn’t never teach me! She hates me! You,” she poked his shoulder, “are my only hope.”

With a sigh Camilo obliged, “Fine, I just finished anyways.” After looking himself over in the mirror, Camilo shifted into Mirabel.

The real Mirabel was a bit taken aback by that, “Woah, haven’t done that in a while.”

“Exactly, so it should be fine now,” he handed her one of his pencils, “plus how am I supposed to fit the liner to your eye if our eye shapes are different.”

Mirabel shrugged. She couldn’t argue with that.

As he started teaching her, every second that passed the knot in Camilo’s stomach grew.

Despite how easily he’d brushed it aside, he didn’t know what he’d do if Abuela just happened to come check on them.

He knew if one of their parents did they wouldn’t care, it’d be nothing to them. But Abuela had drastically different views on what was ‘appropriate for a growing boy’.

“Woah,” Mirabel admired her appearance.

“Great!” Camilo could now add makeup artist and teacher to his list of skills, “we both look wonderful if I do say so myself.”

“You mean myself.”

The two laughed.

But Camilo stopped as soon as he heard the door open.

Whipping around he let out a sigh of relief when he saw Antonio innocently standing there, and soon Pepa appeared behind him.

“Well, Mirabel it seems you have a clone,” She joked, picking up Antonio to put him to bed.

Camilo rolled his eyes, turning back into himself, “If anything she’s a clone of me, copying my makeup.”

Mirabel just stuck her tongue out at him.

Pepa turned to look at their faces and nodded in approval, “You both look adorable, but come down for dinner within the next few minutes,” she went to kiss their foreheads, “and Camilo, caríno don’t shift too much you’ll wear yourself out.”

“Yes, yes, mami I know!” He waved her words away and she left.

Mirabel kept her eyeliner on as she went down to the table but Camilo was sure to wipe his off, leaving no traces of it.

He didn’t need the lecture that would come if he showed up to the dinner table with makeup on.

Sitting down in between Isabela and his sister, Camilo had been making faces across the table at Mirabel until he heard his name.

“Camilo!” Felix called again, and he quickly turned to him, “Abuela wants to hear about your role in the play.”

That was just about the last thing he wanted to talk about, especially to Abuela, especially in front of everyone, but he decided to go for it.

“I’m playing the lead, Bello, they can talk to animals and their job is to save them all,” he tried to sum it up as simply as possible, and shoved food in his mouth so he didn’t have to say anything else.

“They?” Abuela asked, and Camilo wondered how that was the only thing she caught, “don’t you mean ‘he’?”

Camilo shook his head, “They’re the embodiment of nature, so they don’t have a gender.” He didn’t get why this was a big deal. He was still himself. He was still Camilo.

Abuela shook her head, “ You shouldn’t be playing roles that don’t fit you. It’s not good for your image.”

He didn’t respond to that, just started moving his food around, and thankfully Felix sensed what was going on and changed the topic.

That ruined his whole mood. Should he just quit? Just drop out? It’d be less to worry about.

And a lot less questioning about what made him himself.

__________

Camilo was exhausted.

Every one of their gifts had a drawback. One that Julieta couldn’t heal, as they were caused by gifts.

And his drawback just happened to be extreme body aches and his energy depleting faster than normal. He’d have to eat more than usual to keep up with it all. And his bones constantly stretching and shrinking wasn’t good for him.

But now that he’d had his powers for ten years he’d gotten used to it. Not that the pain was any less, but he’d come to expect it.

So there he was, laying in the nursery, that’s where they usually stayed when they were ill, waiting for the pain to subside.

The first part was the aches had hit when he was practicing another one of his roles. He wasn’t playing a girl, but it was a bit with long curly hair.

He didn’t think he looked like a girl until Abuela walked in on him and wore a disgusted look on her face.

“Camilo, what have I told you,” the lines on her face deepened, “why do you keep shifting into girls!”

He didn’t have the energy to argue.

He wasn’t even doing anything. How could he be so offensive just existing.

“Abuela, I’m not a girl, I was just practicing-.”

She threw her arms up in the air, “Theater, again! Always making you appear as something inappropriate. If I had any sense I’d advise your parents to make you quit!”

His ears perked up at that and he looked at her, “What?”

“You’re so tired from this stupid program that you don’t have any energy for your work. I expect you downstairs for chores within the next 30 minutes,” not even waiting for a response she slammed the door.

What had just happened?

Camilo didn’t even really care that he was being made to work while he was injured, he just couldn’t have her take his one outlet away. His one safe place.

At least his parents loved him, but he wondered if they’d always accept him.

Theater was one of the only things that made him feel like himself, and without that he’d just be forced to spend more time in the house. More time alone with his thoughts, questioning everything.

“I’m trapped,” he mumbled to himself as he sat up, every bone in his body feeling broken, “I’m trapped.”

__________

Camilo didn’t talk much at dinner the next few days and tonight was no different.

It was always a one word answer or a head movement that he’d use to respond.

Dolores took his hand in support when she noticed this.

He loved his sister for that, even allowing himself to smile as he zoned out, not listening to any of the conversations that were going on.

“It is none of your business what we allow Camilo to do,” Pepa was clearly angry, “if he’s decided he wants to do theater, then he’s doing theater.”

He turned to look at his mother. What was going on now?

“Pepa!” Abuela pointed an angry finger at him, “look at your son!”

Camilo tried to not let it bother him. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter. He just needed to calm down. His breathing started getting heavier, and he felt Dolores’ squeeze his hand tighter as she heard his heartbeat quicken.

“I’m looking!” Pepa’s cloud was growing, “And he’s beautiful!”

Felix showed his agreement with Pepa.

The arguing continued and Camilo felt even worse when his sister put her hands on her ears, irritated by the yelling.

Everyone else at the table was either staring down at their plates or looking for the quickest possible way to leave.

Camilo couldn’t blame them. He wanted to leave too. All this arguing did was form a pit in his stomach.

“No!” Abuela put so much force into that one word that even Pepa stopped talking, “I don’t know how you plan on raising him but this is not the way!”

Felix wasn’t going to let that fly, so while Pepa remained quiet Felix went off, but Abuela didn’t pay him any mind.

All her attention was on Camilo.

“You have to stop wasting your gift on meaningless whims!” Abuela glared daggers at him, “shame, shame, shame!”

All of this was just too much for him. Dolores’ discomfort, his father yelling, his mother crestfallen, Mirabel wasn’t even looking at him, he couldn’t take it anymore.

Before Camilo knew it he was standing. Now everyone was looking at him.

He couldn’t figure out how to make any of this better, how to comfort himself, so he just shifted into Bello.

He’d prepared himself for more scoldings; he didn't expect more silence.

Taking in a sharp breath he turned and ran off, and that’s when all the noises came.

More yelling, asking for him to come back, some were angry at Abuela and others were simply pleading.

But he just didn’t care anymore.

Camilo wanted to go to his room but he didn’t. It changed too much and he needed something stable. So he went to the nursery.

Locking the door behind him, he stood in front of the mirror, slowly breaking down. He got angrier with every tear that rolled down his face.

He saw someone in his reflection, but wasn’t sure if that was even him anymore.

But then again he wasn’t sure who he was anyways, so maybe it was him.

How could he be a person if he was only able to be himself when other people allowed him to be?

Did Camilo Madrigal even exist anymore?

“I need to purge my urges,” he held his face in his hands, “shame. shame. shame.” He repeated to himself.

Even when he didn’t say them out loud the words rang out through his head.

Shame.

Shame.

Shame.

Soon enough he looked back up at himself, or whoever was looking back at him.

He was so sick of himself. In that moment he would’ve rather been anyone else.

As he lay in bed, Camilo begged casita to take his gift away. He’d never ask for anything ever again if he got his wish.

He was disappointed when he woke up with it.

That morning everyone acted like nothing happened, since he usually didn’t like discussing stuff like that unless he brought it up.

But he didn’t bring it up. There was nothing to talk about. He went back to being what everyone knew to be Camilo Madrigal.

He didn’t know if he’d ever bring up what he was feeling on the inside.

But what was the point of that?

What was the point of being him when he was only useful as what other people wanted him to be?

__________

I wanted to write Camilo a vent song about an identity crisis, but I’m not musically talented at all so I wrote this. It’s angstier than I’m used to writng so I wanna know what you guys think.

note: that wasnt meant to be Abuela Alma slander, personally I love her, but I also recognize that she was emotionally abusive

Also since my heart can’t take unhappy ending especially since sad Camilo breaks me he ends up talking to Dolores about it and everything’s fine in the end and he eventually feels like himself no more sad Camilo

Now i wanna write about each of the Madrigals’ struggles who didn’t get vent songs but I’m already working on Pepa’s story in the triplets trilogy I need to stop adopting big projects

also this was definitely inspired by Neil Perry in Dead Poets Society cause I feel like Camilo would kin him

Have a nice day and night !! 💛

#encanto #encanto fandom #encanto fanfic #fanfic #fanfic writing #disney encanto #writers on tumblr #disney #encanto camilo #camilo madrigal #madrigal family #camilo madrigal fanfic #angst #angst with a hopeful ending #alien blues #jealousy jealousy #mirabel madrigal #encanto mirabel #encanto abuela #abuela alma madrigal #encanto pepa #pepa madrigal

[easytravelpw-blog]

Full text write on https://easy-travel.pw/galapagos-cruise-travel-log-quasar-expeditons/central-south-america/

Galapagos Cruise Travel Log - Quasar Expeditons

01 of 13

Day 1 – Boarding the Evolution and Snorkeling off Punta Carrion

Linda Garrison

Like most people, I've always dreamed of visiting exotic places around the world like the Galapagos Islands. When I first started this job as a cruise travel writer in 2000, I had my own list of places to see during my lifetime. Years later, I've traveled to hundreds of places around the world and enjoyed them all–even the ones I didn't have on my original bucket list.

I've finally scratched off the last destination (for now) on the “must see” top 10 list I entered this century with–the Galapagos Islands. I've always been a lover of wildlife and science, and this Galapagos archipelago of islands that straddles the equator about 600 miles west of Ecuador has long enticed me. The island group is quite large, with 13 major islands, 6 small ones, and dozens of named and unnamed islets. One island, Isla Isabela, is the 12th largest in the South Pacific. The islands are volcanic in origin, with the tallest peak over 5000 feet. Most cruises are on small ships that focus on either the eastern group of islands or on Islas Isabela and Fernandina in the west. Quasar Expeditions alternates between the two itineraries so that guests can stay on two weeks and see different islands, harbors, and flora and fauna.

Because the islands are so isolated, the wildlife has evolved over the centuries, with many species of animal and plant life seen only in the Galapagos Islands. Charles Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands in 1835 while on an adventure on the HMS Beagle. Although he was only in the islands for five weeks, his research on the different species of mockingbirds on all the Galapagos Islands and the 13 different species of finches he observed on the different islands led to the publication of his landmark book, “On the Origin of Species”. The guidebooks stress that you shouldn't visit unless you are fascinated by wildlife, the outdoors, and geology. Most of the islands we visited in the Galapagos Islands are not inhabited, and only 28,000 people live on the five inhabited islands. So, those who prefer urban or indoor activities when vacationing might not be a good match for a Galapagos cruise vacation.

Travel to the Galapagos with LAN Airlines

I traveled to the Galapagos on LAN Airlines from New York City non-stop to Guayaquil, an Ecuadorian coastal city of over two million residents that has most of the flights to the Galapagos. LAN has non-stop flights from JFK to Guayaquil or to Quito. Most flights to the two airports in the Galapagos Islands depart from Guayaquil. We arrived in Guayaquil in the very early morning after an overnight flight, and then had a long layover until our flight to the islands, allowing plenty of time for our luggage to get transferred and for us to use the free WiFi at the airport.

Boarding the M/V Evolution of Quasar Expeditions

We landed on the small island of Baltra and were met by Dolores Gangotena de Diez, one of the owners of the Quasar Expeditions' small expedition yacht the Evolution and her son Fernando, who also works for the family business. She lives in Quito with her husband, the other owner. Dolores fell in love with the Galapagos when she first visited in the 1960's, passed this dedication to the Galapagos to her family, and still is very enthusiastic about the islands 50 years later.

Our group boarded a shuttle bus, which took us to the pier where one of the ship's pangas (the Ecuadorian word that equates to a small boat like a Zodiac, RIB, or dingy) met us for the transfer to the Evolution. Our group of seven arrived at the Evolution about 1 pm in the afternoon of the second day of the cruise. We had a nice lunch outdoors on the deck before donning our swimsuits for the afternoon's activity–snorkeling at 2:45. The dozen other guests were resting after a busy morning of hiking; they had eaten lunch earlier.

The Evolution was formerly a fishing ship that was significantly refurbished as a small expedition yacht. It's really lovely, with larger cabins than I've had on other small ships and nice wood paneling. Not luxurious, but very nice, with a classy feeling. Like other expedition ships I've been on, this one did not have keys to lock the cabin while you were gone, so don't bring along any valuables. Passports and any money can be secured in the cabin's safe. The cabin's private bathroom was especially impressive compared to other yachts. I was on the lowest deck in the most forward cabin (D2). I had a tiny window about 8 inches in diameter, but it was level with the ceiling, so I couldn't see outside. Just good for telling if it's daylight or dark. I was afraid this cabin might be rough, but it was actually very stable since it was mostly below the water line. Those staying in the D level cabins don't need an alarm clock; the anchor is right underneath, so you are awakened when the ship anchors each morning, which is usually not long before the daily wake up call.

After our first lunch, we quickly found our swimsuits (suitcases were delivered to our rooms while we were eating), got changed, and went up on the deck to select snorkeling gear and the shorty wet suits that come down to your knees and have short sleeves. The ship was still anchored off Baltra, so we boarded two pangas and went over near a rocky cliff called Punta Carrion to do snorkeling in very calm water. The water is crystal clear (like the Caribbean) and cold, but the wetsuits kept us warmish after the original shock. We saw many tropical fish this first snorkeling expedition, but I think it was more like a kind of a “get-acquainted” snorkel for Samuel (the naturalist) and Victoria (his assistant) to check out our skills.

We stayed in the water about 45 minutes and then returned to the Evolution. Many of us hopped in the hot tub on the Beagle Deck after we shed our wetsuits. The hot water felt good!

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02 of 13

Day 1 – Sea Lions of Mosquera Island

Linda Garrison

I quickly unpacked while the Quasar Evolution repositioned to an anchorage near Mosquera Island, a small sandy beach where Galapagos sea lions like to rest. This little spit is only about 120 yards by 600 yards and is like a giant sand bar. We left the ship about 5 pm on the pangas and stayed on the island until sunset. This was the type of adventure the Galapagos is famous for–dozens of sea lions, and none of them the least bit afraid. It's like they are missing the fear factor gene for humans. We were told to keep about three feet away and to not touch them, but the curious little things would waddle right up to us, touching our legs with their long whiskers. We saw a baby sea lion nursing and the colony seemed to be all ages. The alpha male woke up about the time it started to get dusk and began patrolling his island, swimming up and down the beach, barking and encouraging the younger pups to get back on shore since the sharks start feeding at dark. This is just the way I pictured the Galapagos–unique wildlife completely unafraid of humans. What an experience.

Returning to the ship at dark, we enjoyed snacks and a cold drink before showering and attending the nightly briefing and dinner. Sam (the naturalist) led a briefing in the lounge each evening before dinner and discussed our itinerary, wildlife interactions, and activities for next day. A copy of the daily schedule was posted on the reception desk, and I took a photo of it each day to remind me.

As I noted before, all meals are buffet, and both lunch and dinner start with an Ecuadorian soup, which is served by the waiters. All the soups were good, which is surprising since the weather is warm. Our first night's dinner started with vegetable soup, followed by a buffet with green salad, grilled wahoo with capers, turkey with fig sauce, potatoes, steamed veggies, and turnips. Dessert is cheese, fruit, or the nightly dessert, which was a brownie with ice cream our first night.

After dinner, I slept like a log (or a sleeping sea lion) until about 5 am the next morning. Some people went out on deck to see if the ship's lights attracted any sharks, but I couldn't keep my eyes open. They saw one shark. I didn't even hear the anchor raised in the middle of the night as we sailed for Sombrero Chino Island, a small island off the southeast coast of James Island.

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03 of 13

Day 2 – Panga Ride, Hiking on Sombrero Chino Island, and Snorkeling

Linda Garrison

Our first morning on the Evolution of Quasar Expeditions, we had a 6 am wake up call. The ship played quiet music over the loud speaker for a few minutes before an announcement was made that the pangas would sail at 6:30. I was already awake, and the ship was anchored near James Island, which is also called Santiago Island and San Salvador Island. (Note: All of the Galapagos seem to have three names–an Ecuadorian, English and a Spanish one).

We boarded the pangas and rode near one of the more recent lava flows. The stark black lava against the crystal clear, blue water reminded me of Hawaii. We saw Galapagos penguins, blue footed boobies, lava herons, and one great blue heron like we have at home.

After riding around for a while, we landed at a gorgeous sandy beach on Sombrero Chino Island and had great fun watching the sea lions play and bask in the sun. The lava flows and rock formations were interesting, and we also saw many brilliant orange Sally lightfoot crabs, marine iguanas, lava lizards, and other wildlife and birds. Since it was still early, the morning was a perfect time to hike and be near the beach. However, it was already obvious that multiple sunscreen applications would be important on this trip!

We returned to the ship at 8:30 for a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit, muesli, etc. Very good.

Before we could get rested, it was time to put on our swimsuits for the 10:30 snorkeling or beach expedition. The “deep water” snorkeling panga returned to the lava flow area where the water was so brilliantly clear, and the other group went to a sandy beach on Sombrero Chino Island where they could swim, lie on the beach, or snorkel from the beach. I went with the “deep water” snorkelers, which just meant we snorkeled from the panga, and thank goodness they had a ladder for us to use to get back on the panga!

This crystal clear water with a white sandy bottom bordered by the black lava was a great snorkel for me, and I saw two things I had never seen under water–two white tipped reef sharks (one lying on the bottom sleeping and the other up under a lava ledge at the shoreline) and Galapagos penguins. These little birds can swim very fast under water! We also were entertained by a sea lion for quite a while. What an underwater acrobat he was. The water seemed a little colder than the first day. Sam said it ranged from 21 to 24 degrees Celsius, which is about 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit. Very nice to have on a wet suit. Of course, we saw many reef fish like I have seen in the Caribbean and Hawaii like parrot fish, Sargent Majors, etc. According to Sam, the opening of the Panama Canal in the early 1900's contributed to the movement of the reef fish of the Caribbean into the Pacific Ocean.

We also saw a couple of sea cucumbers, which almost became extinct in the Galapagos. They were “fished out” in the mid 1990's, with over 7 million harvested in just 2 months in 1994. These are not good to eat, but some Asians think they have aphrodisiac properties. Millions more were harvested in the next few years, even though the government outlawed the taking of sea cucumbers in December 1994.

I felt like I had done a full day's activities by lunch. However, we had an outdoor traditional Ecuadorian lunch to enjoy. The meal started with ceviche, which is seafood “cooked” in lime juice. We had 3 types–jack fish, octopus, or squid. Most people tried all three, but I stuck to the fish one. It was so good, most of us had seconds. I was about full after that, so just ate a little salad (lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes) and some fruit and skipped the roasted pork, cabbage with apples, and banana cake.

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04 of 13

Day 2 – Exploring James Island – Marine Iguanas and Fur Seals

Linda Garrison

Finishing lunch about 2 pm, we had a whole two hours before our next Galapagos Islands adventure. I actually took a short nap in the cabin. We rode the pangas ashore from the Evolution for a wet landing on James Island, Charles Darwin's favorite island, which is also called Santiago or San Salvador. This island was once inhabited, but is not any more. It's the archipelago's fourth largest island and has several walking trails for visitors.

We landed at Puerto Egas on James Bay on the west side of the island. It was a wet landing on a black sandy beach–quite lovely. We all toted our walking shoes so they wouldn't get wet, and the ship kindly provided small towels for us to sit on the rocks surrounding the beach and dry the black sticky sand off our feet.

We were all a little surprised to see the remains of when James Island was once settled for salt mining in the 1960's. After the settlers left, the island was overrun by ferral goats by the 1990's, and almost all the vegetation was destroyed. The government hired a New Zealand firm to use helicopters to fly over the island and kill all the goats with machine guns. The goats were left to rot. It sounds a little gruesome, but the island rebounded.

We hiked along a trail that skirted the lava shoreline. The tidal pools and black lava were covered with hundreds of marine iguanas. Very creepy to see a dozen or so of them kind of piled up on the rocks or sand, making it easy to see why a group of iguanas is called a mess! I loved exploring the tidal pools (without getting my feet wet) and the grottos where we saw our first Galapagos fur seals swimming. Many sea birds flew overhead while the marine iguanas patrolled the lava rocks and sand. All of our group got into photographing the iguanas.

The walk was fairly easy, but we were all happy that we did it in the late afternoon to avoid some of the heat. The sun sinks quickly when you are at the equator, and we saw it go down over the ocean before we got back on the pangas and returned to the ship after our two hours ashore.

As usual, delicious snacks and fruit juice greeted us upon our return. The ship usually had two hot snacks, plus chips of some sort and then a cold tropical juice like passion fruit or maybe lemonade. I quickly took a shower just in time for the nightly briefing and dinner.

Dinner was lentil soup (another good one!), fish, chicken, veggies, and chocolate cake, fruit, or cheese for dessert. Off to bed by 10 pm or so.

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05 of 13

Day 3 – Genovesa Island – Snorkeling and the Birds of Darwin Bay Beach

Linda Garrison

The Quasar Evolution sailed during dinner and then overnight to the northernmost Galapagos Island, Genovesa, which is also called Tower. We even crossed the equator back into the northern hemisphere sometime during the night. When I awoke the ship was anchored in Darwin Bay in a caldera much like the crescent shaped one at Santorini. The cliffs at Genovesa are not as tall, but it's still the same concept–a volcanic caldera that was once the site of an eruption. This island is not inhabited and is not as frequently visited as some of the other Galapagos Islands, but the trip north of the equator was worth the sailing time.

Our naturalist Sam wanted to possibly show us a creature that often frequents the waters of the caldera. Since the creature is shy, we needed to go snorkeling very early since he also knew that four other small ships would be at Genovesa the same day. So, we ate breakfast and were in the pangas by 8:30. What creature were we seeking? Hammerhead sharks! Never thought I would go looking for a shark, but the waters are so rich and the food is so plentiful in the Galapagos that snorkelers/divers who behave themselves are safe (or so we were told). Anyway, this snorkel was only recommended for those of us who were more experienced since it was much deeper water and the water was very choppy.

We slipped into the water from the pangas and slowly moved along the cliffs overlooking the caldera. Quite magical since the water was deeper than I am used to, but you could still see fairly well. The chop made it a little less brilliant than the day before, but the fish were MUCH larger. We saw huge parrot fish, angel fish, and other marine life. Sam and one other person saw a hammerhead but I missed it. We pressed on, kind of circling back and forth along the cliffs where Sam and Candace had seen the hammerhead. Finally, many more of us, including me, caught a glimpse of the shy shark. I wasn't nearly as scared as when I had seen the reef shark up under the ledge the previous day, maybe because this one was deeper and further away. Believe it or not, the hammerhead wasn't the highlight of the snorkel. We also saw a huge school of manta rays–must have been about 30 of the giant black rays with white bellies. They were swimming in the opposite direction of us and went right under us. Wow!

We were back on board by 10 am, quickly changed clothes and got back into the pangas for a walk along Darwin Bay beach, a small coral beach inside the caldera. It was a wet landing, but since the walk wasn't long, I just wore my teva sandals. There's a flat, half-mile trail that goes inland just a short distance, and we saw many red-footed boobies nesting in the small bushy trees. We also saw some Nazca boobies, swallow-tailed gulls, yellow-crested night herons, lava herons, and other birds.

The most exciting (and most photographed by our group) Darwin Bay beach birds were the great frigatebirds who were in their mating season. The males have a giant red neck pouch that they can inflate like a balloon. This pouch can stay inflated for a long time and is used to attract females. They can even fly with it slightly inflated. The female great frigatebirds don't have the bright coloring of the males, but do have a red ring around their eyes. This is one of the easiest ways to differentiate them from the magnificent frigatebirds, which is a separate species. Strolling along the beach trail was interesting, and we even came upon a lava grotto formation that linked to the caldera.

I can't describe how mesmerized we were by the male frigatebirds with their inflated bright red balloons. Often the balloons were so large that the bird had to rest his chin on the balloon. They looked like they would pop very easily. Some male frigatebirds would be off by themselves, others would be grouped together. I must have taken 100 photos of this mating ritual. Once a female selects a male, they might mate 100 times over a two week period. Enough said.

At the end of the hike, we returned to the beach to see some sea lions, one of whom was nursing. A few who hadn't changed clothes for the walk waded into the water for a swim. They were joined by one of the sea lions who played with them a little. These creatures are so unafraid. I can't seem to say that enough.

We returned to the Evolution for another nice lunch. Some of the guests went kayaking after lunch. The ship has four, 2-man kayaks, so people had to take turns. I passed since we had a hike along the cliff at 4 pm.

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06 of 13

Day 3 – Genovesa Island – Hiking on the Top of the Cliff

Linda Garrison

At 4 pm, we were back in the pangas for the short ride from the Evolution to one of the caldera cliffs of Genovesa. It was across the bay from the morning's hike in Darwin Bay. The cliff top is accessed via Prince Philip's Steps, which were named after a 1964 visit by the British royal. The stairway is 81 feet up to the top of the cliff, and the stairs were steep and difficult. Sam said this hike would be our most difficult, so I didn't think the 92-year old member of our group would try it, but he climbed the cliff and did the entire hike of about 2 miles.

The hike along the cliff top began with a trek across the caldera, stopping at the other side where we had great views of the sea. The path was rocky and uneven, but flat with desert plants like cacti. We saw many birds–boobies, frigates, storm petrels, tropicbirds, short-eared owl and even a waved albatross, a species the ship owner Dolores said she hadn't seen in many years. The short-eared owl is very territorial, so Sam was able to point him out in a dark gulley cave off the trail since that was one of his usual daytime haunts.

When we saw what we thought were two boobies “fighting”, we didn't realize that one was the chick of the mother and he was trying to get her to feed him. The boobie-babies (gotta love that) do not fly until they are about 1 year old, and their mothers feed them regurgitated food until they are able to fend for themselves. After one year, the babies are often larger than their moms, so feeding them can be quite challenging. The mother we saw was trying to tell her son that she didn't have any food for him! She kept running away and he kept trying to grab her neck and open her mouth to start the regurgitation process.

The sun was setting as we climbed back down Prince Philip's Steps, but we rode the panga along the rocky cliffs and got to see our first close-up view of the Galapagos fur seals that we had seen in the grotto at James Island.

Only time for a shower before the nightly briefing and dinner. Dinner started with zucchini soup, followed by salads, shrimp and veggies over rice, beef stroganoff, cauliflower, or French fries. We had “make your own ice cream sundae” for dessert. Nice ending to the day.

The ship had sailed before dinner, so by the time we finished dinner, the ship was almost at the point to where we would cross the equator. So, several of us went up to the wheelhouse to watch the GPS for the latitude reading of 000. Since we crossed the equator during the middle of the night on the northbound trip to Genovesa, and it was about bedtime during the southbound trip, this ship didn't have a Poseidon ceremony to honor the equator crossing like I've seen on other ships.

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07 of 13

Day 4 – Blue-Footed Boobies of North Seymour Island

Linda Garrison

The next day was another glorious day on the Evolution. I woke up about 5:30 am, and the anchor was dropped not long afterwards. In order to re-fuel the Evolution, we had docked back on Baltra Island where our adventure had begun. As the ship was refueling, we were told to stay inside until we sailed for North Seymour Island in the Galapagos Islands.

The official soft music wake up call was at 6:45, with breakfast at 7 am. Doesn't take long to get ready when it's all-casual, all the time. We had an omelet station, plus the usual fruit, yogurt, muesli, granola, etc. Our first activity of the day was a hike at North Seymour Island, so the pangas left the Evolution at 8:00 am, not long after anchoring near the island. Sam, our naturalist guide, had announced at the nightly briefing that he wasn't going to caution 92-year-old Douglas on the difficulty of any more planned hikes. He had successfully negotiated Prince Philip's Steps, and the rest of the trip would be easier.

The North Seymour Island hike started out very rocky, but got smoother. It was about a one-mile hike, was mostly flat between the beach and the inland area, and was filled with scrubby bushes and trees. Glad I wore my closed-toe walking shoes again. Seymour is famous for its colonies of blue footed boobies and magnificent frigatebirds. The blue footed boobies were amazing to watch. They have a very complicated mating dance, and we were entertained by several pairs for over an hour. The female blue-footed boobies perch on a rock and the males “dance” by walking slowly and lifting their feet high. This dancing is followed by wing flapping and tail and beak pointing. The males continually whistle while the larger females honk. We watched two males court one female by alternating their dances. She ignored both for a while, but finally chose the one with the brightest blue feet! Apparently, this is common since the brighter the feet, the “stronger” the male in booby-land.

How quickly we forget. The day before, we all snapped hundreds of photos of the male great frigatebirds at Genovesa Island. On North Seymour, we practically ignored the red-ballooned frigates, giving most of our attention to the blue footed boobies. In addition to the great frigatebirds, we also saw magnificent frigatebirds on North Seymour. The two species can most easily be differentiated from the great frigatebirds by the ring around the eye of the female birds–the great ones have a reddish-pink ring and the magnificent ones have a blue ring around the eye. The male great frigates have green iridescent feathers on their backs, and the male magnificent frigate birds have blue feathers on their backs. These two very-similar-looking frigates are separate species and never mate. Good piece of cocktail party trivia, isn't it?

We were back on the ship by 10:30, quickly had a snack and fruit juice, changed clothes, and went snorkeling near a cliff on North Seymour. It was another successful snorkel, although the water was choppy. We saw gazillions of tropical fish, many much larger than I've seen in the Caribbean and Hawaii. We saw a large sting ray lying on the bottom and one very brilliant yellow puffer fish. I also saw two other puffers–one black with white spots and the other brown. The highlight of the snorkel was the sighting of yet another large (more than 6 feet) white tipped reef shark. He was lying on the white sandy bottom in about 15 feet of water. He laid there for about five minutes or more (long enough for all of us to get a close look) before slowly moving off.

Returning to the Evolution, several of us jumped in the hot tub for a soak before showering and changing clothes for lunch. It was Mexican day, so we all enjoyed the “make your own” burrito with ground beef and beans, along with all the fixin's (guacamole, salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, oninons, etc), chicken enchiladas, and a beef stew. The starter was a tuna/tomato salad, which was a little odd, given the theme, but was tasty. Dessert was either apple pie or passion fruit mousse. We had another delightful lunch outdoors on the covered aft deck, and at one point saw a whale (think it was a minke) frolicking in the wake of the ship.

After lunch, a few of us did a tour of some of the cabins, the galley, and the engine room. When living in comfortable air conditioning, I often forget just how hot these “other” places on the ship can be. We wore ear protection in the engine room, which was roaring with all the machinery going.

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08 of 13

Day 4 – Hiking and Kayaking at Santa Fe Island

Linda Garrison

The Quasar Expeditions' Evolution had sailed south for the Galapagos island of Santa Fe during lunch, and we arrived about 3:30. One group went kayaking while the other hiked on the island, and then we reversed. It was a wet landing on yet another gorgeous beach. This one was well-protected by volcanic lava flows, making the cove attractive to sea lions. The sandy beach was almost covered with either sea lions or a few large rocks, and we had to pick our way through the (mostly) slumbering giants to access the trail.

The small island of Santa Fe (24 square km) is one of the oldest islands in the archipelago, and has had many issues with invasive species like goats, black rats, and fire ants. Over 3,000 goats were removed between 1964 and 1974, and continual monitoring has been used to prevent the return of the little fire ant since it was eradicated in the late 1980's.

Approaching the island on the panga, at first I thought I saw palm trees dotting the landscape. As we got closer, I realized that these towering “trees” were actually giant prickly pear cactus, many over 30 feet tall. The trunks resembled pine trees because of their size and reddish-brown coloring, but looked like palms because the thick cacti vegetation doesn't start until about 20 feet up. Some of the cacti had lovely yellow flowers.

We hiked up into the highlands a ways on a 1.5 km (less than a mile) trail that was very rocky, one of the toughest we had. It was difficult walking, but we all made the circle trail, glad we had on our walking shoes. The trail ended up at another beach near the landing beach. This one was also filled with sea lions. While hiking, we had great views of our ship and two others in the bay.

Again, we saw different wildlife—two huge Santa Fe land iguanas, both lying in the middle of the trail, and two Galapagos snakes, also sunning themselves in the middle of our trail. Couldn't believe the snakes just laid there. One was a “baby”, about 18 inches long, but no bigger than a fat pencil. The second was over two feet, but was much fatter, so we could see his yellow stipes. The snakes were rather drab compared to photos I've seen of other tropical snakes. Still not as big as even a garter snake back home. The Galapagos snake is the only one in the islands, and probably arrived on floating pads of vegetation from the mainland, like some of the other wildlife did. The snakes are not very poisonous, but Sam said they have fangs in the back of their throats. They mostly feed on lava lizards and baby iguanas. It is very unusual to see one, so we got extra lucky. We also saw a Galapagos hawk flying overhead, the first one I had spotted.

Arriving at the second beach, those who wanted to go kayaking took the panga back to board the kayaks out in the bay. The rest of us hiked back to the first beach (just a short ways away) to retrieve stuff left behind on our hike. The sea lions were much more active on this island than those we saw the first day on Mosquera. It was a little scary watching some of them, and we kept our distance from the large males. Many were playing in the water or on the beach, and some demonstrated terrific yoga moves (like a downward dog) that I wish I could do as well.

Back on the ship, it was time for fresh juice (we had so many different tropical juices, I can't begin to name them) and snacks (chips, beef empanadas, and some type of plantain ball). The ship sailed for our next island as soon as we were back on board. By the time I showered (another two-shower day), it was time for the briefing and dinner. I was really zonked, so dozed through the part of the briefing where Sam turned off the lights and showed slides about climate and water currents. Dinner was a chicken soup, salad, fried calamari, turkey with peach sauce, potatoes, and ice cream and crepes for dessert.

A few of us went outdoors after dinner to check out the constellations. Even I could spot the Southern Cross hanging low in the sky–we were back in the southern hemisphere for sure. As we moved south, it moved higher in the sky.

Into bed by 10:00. The next day we would be on Floreana Island (also called Santa Maria or Charles Island).

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09 of 13

Day 5 – Post Office Bay on Floreana Island

Linda Garrison

Woke up a little after 5 am, and the Evolution was already anchored off Floreana Island in the Galapagos. Dressed and went up on the covered top deck for a cup of tea. Surprised to find a few other guests up there. Guess it's “the” place to hang out for many of us. We didn't have the wake up music until 7:30, followed by breakfast at 8 am. I ate healthy, only having a bunch of fruit and some muesli mixed with granola and fruit. Yummy, and proud that I skipped the eggs and crispy bacon!

Off the ship at 9 am to go ashore with a wet landing at Post Office Bay. The history of Floreana is fascinating. Pirates, whalers, and convicts visited and stayed on Floreana in the past, and three groups of Germans (not together) once settled here in the late 1920's and early 1930's. Two German doctors (man and wife) were the first to arrive in 1929. They even had their teeth pulled before leaving Germany to avoid a possible health problem. According to the legend, Dr. Ritter (male) was a dentist and very controlling over his wife. They even shared a pair of dentures.

When a German family the Wittmers arrived in 1932, Dr. Ritter forbid his wife to socialize with them. Mrs. Wittmer had read Dore Strauch's (Dr. Ritter's wife) book she had written about the island paradise they lived on. Evidently she only talked about the good parts and omitted the struggles, lack of fresh water, lack of arable land, lack of other people, etc. Or, maybe her controlling spouse edited out all the bad parts.

I guess the abusive Dr. Ritter got his comeuppance. Although Dr. Ritter was reportedly a vegetarian, he died of food poisoning after eating chicken. His wife immediately returned to Germany. Some speculate she killed him.

The Wittmers stayed on the island and wife Margaret even had children without any assistance. Some speculate the family fled Germany because of the Nazis, but they certainly didn't know what they were getting into. They definitely should have done more research than just reading Mrs. Ritter's book. However, Margaret lived a long life, dying at age 95 in 2000, so she must have been a strong woman. Her surviving children and grandchildren still run a small hotel/restaurant on the island, which has less than 100 full-time residents, most of whom are sustenance farmers. To be near the limited amount of fresh water, they primarily live up in the highlands away from the beach since we saw no signs of civilization. A passenger boat brings supplies/visitors every two weeks. Talk about a Robinson Crusoe life!

The third group of Germans were even more unusual than the first two. It was a (self-proclaimed) Baroness, her husband, and her two male lovers. She apparently kept things stirred up on the island. She died mysteriously, as did her entourage. Our guide showed us a photo of a “party” at her home–there were 8 men and she was the only woman. Maybe she was a little bit of a courtesan rather than a baroness, but this Galapagos affair certainly makes a fascinating story, especially for those who have visited the islands.

Floreana “Post Office”

Enough of Floreana history. You might be wondering how Post Office Bay got its name. Back in 1793, British sailors set up a barrel as a post office, leaving letters to be picked up by other ships. Ships going to England (or wherever) would sort through the letters and hand deliver to those who lived in destinations they were visiting. No postage necessary. Today, visitors leave behind post cards in the barrel (a different one), sort through those that are there, and do the same–hand deliver those going where they are. Since we knew where everyone on our ship lived, we sorted through the couple of hundred in the box, calling out towns in the states/provinces where people lived. I didn't take any cards, but did write down the address of someone in Decatur, GA and another person in Hartwell, GA. The ship provided three cards for each of us. I addressed a card to Ronnie and I, dated it, and left it behind. I also did a card for two young kids I regularly send post cards to. Doubt if anyone ever delivers them. In fact, we speculated that someone regularly throws a few hundred away since all those we saw dated were from 2013. It was fun to go through the cards and see where people were from. (Update: Received card 8 weeks later with USA stamp, but unreadable postmark. Would love to know who was kind enough to mail it to me!)

Following the short walk to the post office, we had an hour's free time on the beach–a real rarity for this trip. We were supposed to explore some lagoons via panga and kayak, but the Galapagos National Park officials pulled the permission from the ship just the day before. There were two other small boats' guests enjoying the beach, swimming. and snorkeling, and we found their lagoon permits were pulled, too. It's important to know that like any cruise, things can change and itineraries change. No one complained since we were so busy otherwise.

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10 of 13

Day 5 – Snorkeling at Champion Island and Devil’s Crown

Linda Garrison

One panga went back to the Evolution early, and I joined it. I'm not much for sitting on the beach and didn't feel like applying more sunscreen. Back on the ship about 10:30, I had 1.5 hours until our next Galapagos Islands' adventure–snorkeling off Champion Island. We had snacks on the top deck, so I sat up top in the shade and the breeze with some of my companions while we sailed to Champion Island, a tiny islet where no humans are allowed ashore (except maybe some scientists).

The wind was whipping the panga when we got into the water, and the waves were about the highest I've ever snorkeled in. However, once I put my face in the water, I almost forgot about how much I was having to fight the waves and keep my snorkel tube above the water–the number of fish off the point where we started was by far the most I have ever seen at one time. Schools of millions of fish were all around; and since the water was deep, you could see even more. Wow! I felt so insignificant, much like when you look at the sky on a clear night. All shapes and sizes of fish were holding on this rocky point, fighting the waves and the current. We were told to move with the current, but to avoid the rocks. It wasn't difficult to swim since we had on wetsuits and flippers, but a little creepy to realize the vast numbers of fish all around us, some of which were very large.

We snorkeled down along the coast of the island and the numbers of fish decreased. When we got around the backside and out of the wind into calmer waters, we didn't see as many fish, but sea lions were all around un in the water, diving and playing. A couple even nibbled on some of the flippers (not mine). All too soon it was time to go back to the ship for lunch.

As usual, lunch was delicious, and was another traditional Ecuadorian meal. We started with a cold fish soup with about a half dozen large nice shrimp in a gazpacho-type broth. Next came salad, fish in a coconut sauce, small hunks of pork breaded and fried, bright yellow potato pancakes with a peanut sauce, fried plantains, huge-kernel South American corn, and rice. (I skipped the rice.) We had rice pudding or cheese cake for dessert. The rice pudding had nutmeg and cinnamon in it, and was topped with a sweet pepper whose texture reminded me of a prune. It was 2:15 by the time we finished lunch. Our last snorkeling adventure of the week was to follow at 3:15. Not much time to get lunch digested, re-apply sunscreen, and squeeze into that wet swimsuit.

Our last snorkeling adventure of the week would have been the best one, had the clouds not rolled in with the wind, lessening the visibility. It was still fantastic, with tons of marine life. We rode in the pangas to Devil's Crown, which is right off Punta Cormorant on Floreana Island. This rocky outcropping looks like a jagged crown, with cacti growing on some of the rocks. It's a paradise for marine life, and one of the best snorkeling spots in the Galapagos Islands. The current was strong, making it tough to stay in one place, especially given the winds and waves. I was exhausted when we finished, but the snorkel was a good one. We saw a very large white tip reef shark patrolling right below us in about 10 feet of water. You could really see the white tips on his fins. Like the morning dive, the water was teeming with many types of marine life and we enjoyed watching the sea lions swimming with us again.

All too soon it was time to reboard the pangas and head back to the Evolution. We all hopped in the hot tub (or at least 14 of us did) for a quick soak before taking a shower to continue to warm up. The cloudy weather and rough seas contributed to the coldest water we had snorkeled in.

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11 of 13

Day 5 – Hiking at Punta Cormorant on Floreana Island

Linda Garrison

We only had a short time on the Quasar Evolution before heading off to a beach near Punta Cormorant in the Galapagos Islands. We had a wet landing on a beach with greenish-sand, and hiked to a hyper-saline lagoon and saw a half dozen flamingoes wading in the water. We hiked across the point to a second beach where many frigatebirds were circling. This beach is popular with turtles laying their eggs, and the pesky frigates eat the baby turtles when they are making their way from the nest to the water.

Although this second beach was gorgeous, we didn't swim there since it was teeming with sting rays and sharks, many of them in only a foot or so of water. We didn't see any baby turtles, and Sam speculated that the frigates had fed on most of those that had hatched. We did see some adult turtles in the surf, along with the numerous sharks and rays. Fun watching them, and we almost stayed until dark.

Snacks awaited us when we reboarded the ship. Fish fingers and some type of stuff on a tortilla chip. The nightly briefing was very nice, and since Dolores and Fernando were leaving the ship the next day, they had a little farewell champagne with all of us. Several people gave testimonials about the great trip we've all had. Douglas wrote a little ditty about Sam our guide, which we were supposed to sing to the tune of the song, “Twas on the Isle of Capri”. Unfortunately, no one (not even his kids) knew this tune. So we just kind of chanted it. Sam was quite touched.

Dinner was a yummy cauliflower soup; green salad, pea salad, and Greek salad; creamy mixed seafood on pasta, vegetarian moussaka, and cooked carrots. Dessert was birthday cake for one of the other guests.

The next day would be our last full day, and we would finally see the giant tortoises of the Galapagos.

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12 of 13

Day 6 – Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz – Giant Tortoises, Lava Tubes, and Civilization

Linda Garrison

Our last full day in the Galapagos Islands was a little bit of a shock–we were back in “civilization”. When we awoke, the Quasar Evolution was docked in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island, one of the few settlements in the Galapagos. The town has over a third of the 28,000 archipelago's residents, plus there were many boats in the harbor. Those living/staying on the other inhabited islands can take day ferries back and forth, so the harbor was very busy. We anchored and took the pangas into the dock.

Charles Darwin Research Foundation

Our first visit was to the Charles Darwin Research Foundation, a poorly funded society that continues his research and tries to keep the tortoise population flourishing. The museum was un-inviting and a little depressing. However, the live giant tortoises were very interesting and made the visit worthwhile. Like many of the other wildlife, each island has a different species of tortoise, some of which are extinct and others endangered. When pirates and other sailors first arrived in the Galapagos, they quickly found that these animals could live up to a year with no food or water. So, they filled up the holds of their ships with hundreds of the creatures and lived off them, throwing the shells overboard when they were finished. Most of the tortoises lived in the highlands, so since the females were smaller (and weighed a lot less), the sailors toted mostly females down to their ships, decimiating the population even quicker.

The most famous Galapagos tortoise was Lonesome George, who died in the summer of 2012. He had been discovered on Pinta Island in 1971 and brought to the Darwin Research Station in 1972 at about age 90-100. Scientists tried to find other tortoises on Pinta Island, but never could, giving him the name of “lonesome” since they weren't sure how long he had been alone. Then they tried for years to get him to breed with other tortoise sub-species from other islands, but they soon found that for tortoises, if the males didn't “use it”, they “lose it”. Poor George had gone for decades without mating, so his sperm count was too low to reproduce, even by artifical insemination. So, the last of the Pinta island tortoises is gone.

We saw many baby tortoises, plus adults used for breeding. Since it was early in the morning, the keepers were feeding them, and it was interesting to watch them eat. I was especially impressed by the long necks and height of these creatures, which enables the plant eaters to reach taller vegetation.

Rancho Primicias – Giant Tortoise Reserve

All too soon, it was time to leave for the Galapagos highlands, where we hoped to see Santa Cruz giant tortoises in their natural habitat. We rode up into the hills in an air conditioned bus for about 30-40 minutes, and it was nice to see some of the countryside, which looked like Costa Rica or other tropical countries. Soon we arrived at the Rancho Primicias, a wildlife preserve that borders onto the national park. Tortoises move freely between the two areas, but the wildlife preserve has trails that cross prime tortoise territory (muddy and swampy). If it is muddy, visitors are given rubber boots to wear, but since we had been lucky enough to have dry weather, we didn't have to put on our socks and boots.

Our group immediately saw three tortoises very near the gift shop/reception building. I couldn't help but wonder if the food is supplemented here to attract them. The animals are huge, with some weighing over 800 pounds, and they often live over 100 years. Although giant tortoises move very slowly (about 1/4 mile per hour), they migrate on islands between the highlands and the lowlands to follow the green vegetation. We struck out on the trail and saw a few more near the swampy areas they like. The biggest tortoise we saw was completely blocking the trail, so we all got a few good photos of him (remember the males are bigger).

After searching for Galapagos tortoises for a while and wandering around the nature reserve/park, we had a little free time to check out the — gasp!– souvenir shop, which had all the expected goodies. Sam had thoughtfully told us to bring some money, so everyone fully utilized our first shopping opportunity in a week.

Walking in a Volcanic Lava Tube

Leaving the tortoise area, we stopped at a large lava tube on the way back to Puerto Ayora. This one goes on for about 400 yards and is quite large. It also looks man-made with the walls so perfectly formed. I've seen lava tubes elsewhere on Hawaii and Lanzarote, but this one was surprising since there weren't any visibly active volcanoes nearby.

We rode back to the harbor and were on the Evolution in time for a late lunch. One funny thing was a sea lion lying on the pier under a bench. The animal had to climb up on the dock and then up a bunch of steps to get to his preferred resting place. At first I thought it was a dog, but then saw it was actually just a sea lion. I can't decide if humans are invisible to them most of the time or just another warm-blooded creature.

After lunch, we had the departure briefing, and then I grabbed my notebook computer, went back into town, and found an Internet cafe ($3 for 2 hours) where I caught up on email for the first time in a week. Back on the ship at 5:30, we had the farewell briefing and dinner–lobster tails, French fries, salad, steamed veggies, calamari, etc. It was a great memory meal to leave the ship.

The Captain of the Evolution pulled up the anchor after dinner and we started back to where we started–anchored off Baltra Island where the airport is located.

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13 of 13

Day 7 – A Sunrise Panga Ride and Off to Guayaquil

Linda Garrison

Six of the 19 of us had signed up for a sunrise panga ride and exploration of a mangrove area for our last morning on the Quasar Expeditions' Evolution in the Galapagos Islands. The sea was perfectly calm–the first time we had seen this phenomenon. The panga moved slowly into a large bay, and we watched the sun rise at about 6 am. It is easy to forget how quickly it comes up near the equator since it has so much further to go before sunset.

The quiet mangrove lagoon was filled with pelicans, feeding fish, and even a huge school of cownose rays, which were interesting to watch as they quietly patrolled along the edge of the mangroves. All of us agreed we were glad for the early wake-up call at 5:30 am.

Back on the Evolution, we ate breakfast, loaded the luggage in the panga, and were off to the airport. We had a LAN flight at 11 am to Guayaquil, where we would spend the night before flying non-stop and overnight back to New York on LAN the next night. This Guayaquil layover would give us about 30 hours in Ecuador's largest city, just enough time to get a taste of the city.

All too soon we were flying away from the Galapagos, each of us with special memories of these amazing islands. The islands were even more spectacular than I had anticipated, with wildlife and activities I've never had before. Although the Galapagos Islands were the main highlights of this vacation, Quasar Expeditions and the crew of the Evolution planned an excellent itinerary, which greatly facilitated and enhanced our Galapagos expedition. They seemed to know what we wanted to see and do, where we needed to be, and when we needed to be there. Then, they gave us time to soak up the environment and the memories. I spoke to every guest on the ship, and each felt the same way I did about the experience on the ship and in the Galapagos Islands.

As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with complimentary airfare and cruise accommodation for the purpose of review. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our Ethics Policy.

#travel #airlinetickets #airtickets #cheapairfare #planetickets #travelinsurance #travelquotes #travelblogger #traveller #travelling #travelocity #travelodge #vacation

[miracles-and-butterflies]

Prompt request please: Everyone's reactions when Mirabel runs away

(Sorry in advance, I'll be asking for more prompts in the future as well as other stuff).

(Don’t be sorry at all - I look forward to them.)

Considering we see some of the reactions in the film - Alma, Bruno, Julieta - I won’t do literally everyone. And I can’t promise it’ll be any good. But here’s a short extract; do remember everyone is still reeling after the event and emotions are high.

Weighted Regret

Fuck the townspeople.

How dare they do nothing and continue as normal whilst her baby sister was missing, if not dead?

Tía Pepa had huddled Antonio and Camilo close, singing some familiar lullaby. She’d extended a hand to the older girls, but Dolores had already agreed to help her father in the search, and her nieces looked uninterested, though their eyes betrayed them, shiny with longing for that comfort.

If Luisa listens carefully, she can hear the childish questions of her young cousins:

“Will Casita fix itself?”

“Will we have to move into a new house?”

“Do you think my animals will move into our new house?”

The woman looks shellshocked, but she tries. She tries to offer a reassuring smile, she tries to deny the tears threatening to spill, she tries to ignore the fact all her children are safe and Julieta’s aren’t. The worst part is that it’s working.

It’s pissing Luisa off. How the three of them are sat, hugging, so oblivious to what’s going on. Because she wants to sit with her younger sister and mother too! But she doesn’t deserve it.

Dolores has been nothing but determined since they started looking. She was logical too. She’d argued that on short and definitely sore legs (if not injured), Mirabel can’t have gone far and the townspeople wouldn’t be of any use to her, therefore the girl had to be on the outskirts of town but still close by Casita.

But her logical and quietness makes her seem uncaring, and Luisa hates that too. How does she always know what to say? Why can’t that be her?

Tío Félix had tried to take on a leadership role. To be fair, he was the oldest, besides Abuela. Not that age should make a leader by default, Luisa would have descended into anarchy if she had to follow Isabela’s orders.

But, he’d been unusually solemn. Taking a moment to gently pat both sisters on the shoulder before departing with Dolores.

Even if he hadn’t said anything, he definitely agreed with Isabela.

“She can’t just be missing,” Isabela had argued earlier. “She might not have survived. It was a stressful situation and Mama could have just imagined it.” She’d turned her head towards the remains and pushed a heavy chunk of debris, possibly once a wall, to reveal a shattered family photo. “I think we should remove this stuff first. There’s no point looking until we know if Mama actually saw her.”

Luisa bit her tongue.

She hated how there was reason behind it. None of them had seen Mirabel; Mirabel hadn’t interacted with their mother. Then again, if it had been real, if they didn’t look for the girl now, she’ll definitely be dead by the time they do. No doubt that’s what the spoiled brat wanted.

This entire thing was bitter, like the sickeningly metallic taste in her mouth.

So, Luisa had bitten her tongue.

In front of the others, at least. She couldn’t hold herself back when they were far away, with only Dolores and Tío Félix to hear her.

“Why? Why would you say that?” Luisa spat, glaring at the older woman.

“It’s likely. How come nobody saw Mirabel get up and leave?” Isabela replied. “The miracle went out before she got stuck inside. Maybe Casita couldn’t save her. I know we were told to remain optimistic or whatever, but there’s nothing to be optimistic about.”

“Yeah, no shit, you fucking idiot.”

“Okay, that’s it. What is your fucking problem? You’ve been moody since we left. And I get you’re stressed and worried and whatever else you’re feeling right now, but I’m trying to help here. We need to stay focused or we’re not gonna find anything.”

“Maybe if someone wasn’t such a conniving, selfish bitch, none of this would have happened in the first place!”

That’s it, right there.

Isabela recoils, physically, as if sprayed by some toxin. Her eyes narrow, her nostrils flare, her lip curls. She looks nothing like the famed beauty of Encanto, more like a prowling tiger. “I am not selfish.”

“Say that to Dolores and Mirabel and anyone else you hurt,” she says sarcastically. She tries to steady herself with the support of a nearby tree. It’s useless. Truthfully, she doesn’t know where this anger is coming from, but she just can’t seem to calm herself down.

“You didn’t stand up for her either.”

At the mention of the youngest sister and the argument that caused this, Dolores claims to hear something and guides her father away.

“How dare you?” Luisa steps closer, towering. “How dare you even speak about my hermanita?! You have no idea what it’s been like for her or me. All she did was try to fix our family, because someone selfishly,” there’s that word again. “Decided to bewitch our cousin’s soulmate into thinking marrying her was a good idea!”

“Don’t you dare. You know that is not how it happened.” Isabela growled. “She is our sister and I’m just as hurt as you are. The difference being I can admit that I’ve used her as a scapegoat for the past ten years, while you sit on your high horse, without giving a damn to what your neglect has done to her. Now, get away from me, Luisa.”

She glares. “No. Seeing as you don’t wanna help, you can leave. I’m staying here. I’m staying and looking for my sister.”

“Our, Luisa!” The older goes to say more, but seemingly thinks better of it. Good, Luisa doesn’t want to hear it. But she does wonder what it was. “Alright, I’ll leave. I know when I’m not wanted. But I’m not going to stop searching, as you so clearly want, because she is our sister and I care about her.”

“No, you don’t,” Luisa argues.

Isabela doesn’t give a reply this time. But it infuriates Luisa all the same, she clenches her fist around the branch. It snaps, easily. She might not have her super strength, but the years of building her muscles don’t leave her helpless.

Neither of them react to it.

“I do care. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here. You’re upset that you didn’t do anything to help her when she need it and you’re projecting that onto me because you’re the perfectly good older sister,” Isabela huffs, then, “If you ask me, you’re the one who’s being selfish.”

And with that, Isabela turns on her heel and disappears into the greenery, leaving Luisa alone with her thoughts.

Fuck the townspeople.

Fuck Isabela.

Fuck herself too.

#encanto #ask me anything #luisa madrigal #isabela madrigal #pepa madrigal #félix madrigal #camilo madrigal #antonio madrigal #dolores madrigal #mirabel madrigal #julieta madrigal #the warm family #mariano guzmán #dolores x mariano #alma madrigal #my writing

[gamerbearmira]

The family was frowning as they all gathered for lunch outside on the picnic blanket. Nine year old Mirabel mentioned a picnic the other day off handed and the family thought that sounded like a good idea, although Luisa and Felix would have to help Pepa up off of the ground later.

Mirabel was running late. She had been hunting down the perfect naturally grown flowers to make a flower crown for her Tia and unborn primo. She said she wanted to find them herself instead of having Isa grow them.

"Dolores? Where is Mirab-" Alma asked but Dolores was already removing her ear muffs that Mirabel insisted she wear since they were going to play in the water and they might get too loud.

"LOL-"

"Shut up brat we're trying to save you!"

"Someone's grabbing her! They're kidnapping he-"

Luisa, Isabela and Alma were already running in the direction Dolores was pointing while Bruno and Felix helped Pepa up, the woman having one hell of a hurricane starting to form even as lightning flashed and struck the ground.

The rest of the family followed Dolores who was leading them to where Isabela was already hurling vines and cacti at the would be kidnappers while Luisa grabbed Mirabel and cuddled her close.

They got there in time to see Abuela start beating one man with her sandal.

"How dare you try and take my nieta!" She was furious and her hits were leaving bruises and welps.

"We see how horrible you all became after her ceremony! And that's in town! There's no telling what you do to the poor girl when alone! How many times have you beat her huh?!" One man demanded and he was immediately struck by lightning.

"We'd never hurt Mirabel." Pepa growled out dangerously as Mirabel was handed to Julieta to be checked for injuries and healed.

"I know you wouldn't Tia. I know my familia loves me and would never hurt me. They're probably drunk. You don't need stress right now." Mirabel, their sweet little miracle angel, was fretting over Pepa and trying to calm her down.

"Mirabel, sweetheart, why don't you, Dolores, Camilo, and Agustin go back to Casita with Pepa. Stress isn't good for the baby or her right now. We'll sort out these men and make sure they know better than to spout accusations while drunk." Alma asked giving Mirabel a sweet soft smile and Mirabel nodded immediately.

"Come on Tia. Let's get back to Casita and have some tea. I can show you the blanket I've been working on for the baby!" Mirabel said and she fretted and fussed over her heavily pregnant Tia as she helped the woman back to Casita, the others named in tow.

The rest of the family waited until they knew she was gone far enough before dark eyes were turned to the would be kidnappers.

"No one tries to hurt or take away our Mirabel. Familia. Don't kill them, let them serve as a warning to anyone else wishing to take her away. But make sure they hurt." Alma said her eyes dark and cold and the family all gave grins that looked feral.

Bruno and Julieta moved first, each slamming something into the faces of the men. Bruno slammed a glass tablet into one man's face, taking glee in how the glass broke and cut him. While Julieta slammed the serving tray from their picnic into the other man's face, breaking his nose with ease.

The family gleefully took turns making sure the men would remember this lesson and spread the word not to touch Mirabel. Luisa going last as she broke their arms and legs with the upmost ease and then coldly told them that if they tried taking her baby sister again she'd see how far she could throw them and how hard they'd hit the mountain.

Then Alma stepped forward and forcefed them some of Julietas food to heal them before punching them hard enough to break their noses again.

"This will seem like a civil conversation to the next person who tries to take my nieta from us. This is the first and only warning anyone gets. If it happens again...we won't hold back."

Alma then told Luisa to break their leg, one leg each, again and the family were to leave them to crawl back to the village. Only after they got to the village would they be healed again.

Then Alma ushered everyone to Casita. They needed to check on Mirabel again and make sure she was truly safe.

She was and she didn't mind that her protective family insisted that she have a sleepover with at least one other person for weeks afterwards. She loved her family and she was glad that they loved her so much in return.

No because...after 4, almost 5 years...you still haven't picked up on the Madrigals’ behavior? SERIOUSLU THOUGH...I'm glad they double dutched on yo goofy ahh ☠️☠️

And WHY WOULD YOU THINK YOUR SAVING HER??? SHE WAS NEVER IN TROUBLE???? I know as soon as Mirabel left and the Madrigals started smiling, them mofos knew they were not walking out of this event unscathed.

Chile anyway so...Stan Mirabel for caring so much about Pepa and Antonio, she's way too sweet (and low key oblivious) in this au. Too sweet man. Too sweet. And you know that even after the (very one sided) fight, she was 110% on board with the sleepover idea, because she loves them so much.

the Madrigals pulling on those guys up:

And two requests! Sorry I wasn’t able to get to them last night, I had called alseep, so my bad 💀💀:

✨You’ve got mail!✨

Anon asks:

“I know it’s not cannon to Housebroken!Madrigals, but could snippet anon write a scenario where Fèlix and Agustín were cursed to?”

kmlightfury asks:

“Hello👋, I have found your blog and your AUs are very creative, I have a question, how It would go if Bowser/Koopa Alma meet her conterparts of the cocconed, housebroken, mermaid and protective AUs? (english is not my first language so please excuse me for any grammatical error)”

I'm glad you like my aus and blogs so much Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ And Snippet Anon is honestly a saint for writing these snippets, dear Lord. And don't worry about grammatical errors, everyone is welcome here, native English speaker or not :)

#encanto #encanto au #au #my asks are open #my asks #encanto mirabel #encanto antonio #encanto dolores #encanto isabela #encanto luisa #encanto camilo #encanto alma #encanto Pepa #encanto julieta #encanto bruno #encanto felix #encanto agustín #protective madrigals au

[twilight-zoned-out]

Thinking about the family dynamics because Julieta’s side of the family seems to have much more responsibility than Pepa’s but then Camilo is also very active and seems to contribute almost as much as Isabela or Luisa.

Taking from the oldest to the youngest, Isabela seems to help with a lot of the Madrigals’ good standing in the community while Dolores helps more with communication and organization within the casita.

Luisa doesn’t have a Pepa twin which probably adds more pressure on her concerning her duties since she doesn’t have anyone her age to confide in. She also helps with the good standing in the community by showing how the Madrigals actively help the town.

Then there’s Mirabel and Camilo. Mirabel was probably expected to follow in her siblings’ footsteps of being more responsible and assisting the community in a somewhat visual way, but this expectation probably diminished after she didn’t get a gift. Camilo, on the other hand, is extremely active with the town. He’s physically active like Luisa by shapeshifting into different sizes and appearances to help others with tasks, as well as helping the reputation of the Madrigals like Isabela through his use of shapeshifting.

In this sense, Camilo is similar to Luisa. He seems to use his gift constantly, possibly to the point where he feels like it’s all people care about or want to see from him. Similar to Luisa, Camilo might also be trying to take on extra responsibility because his twin cousin didn’t get a gift, so he’s contributing for the both of them. He’s taken over the role and expectation that Abuela had for Mirabel.

Last is Antonio. He’s also without a Julieta twin, but he’s extremely close to Mirabel. The family hasn’t figured out yet what his gift can help with, and Abuela tries to encourage him in his gift but doesn’t seem to like the way he tries to get his animals to help. In this way, Mirabel and Antonio are similar in that they want to help, but their efforts don’t seem to fit into the way the rest of the family is helping.

#encanto #madrigal family #mirabel madrigal #camilo madrigal #luisa madrigal #isabela madrigal #dolores madrigal #antonio madrigal #julieta madrigal #pepa madrigal #encanto mirabel #encanto camilo #encanto luisa #encanto isabel #encanto dolores #encanto antonio #encanto julieta #encanto pepa #madrigal family dynamics #made this a long time ago but am going through a lot of drafts and posting them all at once haha #haven't been on here for a long while #just some thoughts #twilight-zoned-out #Camilo takes on so much initiative in his gift #just thinking about it a bit #compared to Julieta's side of the family #he's the social equivalent to Luisa's physical help #but also physically helps too #but also basically helping out for his whole side of the family since Dolores' gift doesn't seem to often interact with town events #really hope we get a sequel