No, no, no, no! I found it! I found the perfect story for a Julieta/Agustín focused AU! It literally just clicked into place while I am trying to fall asleep! But it’s not the sequel to Subtle as a Storm I’ve been struggling with 😩, it would need a completely new universe!! But I want to finish out the SaaS story, but it’s such a good idea, but I’m still emotionally invested in the SaaS universe I created, but it’s such a fun concept, but etc etc etc
Here's Julieta in the AU I'm working on. Originally I was gonna have a flashback to when Agustin met Julieta as kids, but by the time I got to writing that chapter, it was no longer plot or thematically relevant and I told instead of showed. But I had already drawn teenage Julieta so what you gonna do. Pretty happy with the way 25 year old Julieta turned out, especially the skirt of her ballgown.
As usual, ramblings and reference photos under the cut!
I need to fix some of the line work on Felix and the OC's, but I don't have my tablet right now. I'm planning to save Pepa's character sheet for when I post the first chapter, so this might be the last one I post until I am ready to start posting the fic.
God help me, in the throes of insomnia (don't skip your meds kids) I figured out how I could make the sequel, which I definitely don't plan on writing because I already have so many WIP's, but I figured out how I could center the story around the relationship between Bruno and Julieta. It would be so good, I can't do this to myself. I would have to do so much research, but... oh my god. I have to. The only other option is to fridge characters, or the plot will feel incomplete.
And that's why I'm posting Julieta! Because she is apparently the star of my next fic I guess! Here are my references:
With the ballgowns I went for more of a vibe based approach, because these are supposed to be not just historically accurate ballgowns, but Disney Princess Dresses. For example, when researching I didn't see a lot of pleated skirts on fancy party dresses, but it works well with the herb embroidery. And I decided against using a more accurate hairstyle, because none of the hairstyles I saw looked compatible with natural hair. The ruffles and fancy sleeves on the other hand, as you can see, those came in and out of fashion in the mid 19th century. When I drew this I had just read a timeline on when those details were in fashion, but that was like a year ago now.
She's still a healer in the AU but her magic is a lot more spell based so she can do a variety of things she can't in canon. Like use magic to do a diagnostic spell, or transmute poison into its own antidote. She carries around very plain shortbread cookies and will use the cookie to carry specific spells like one that doubles the restorative properties of any sleep you get in the next few hours.
Julieta herself was a bit of an internal conflict for me. I'll admit, my decision to make her slim in her twenties was affected by my hatred of diet culture and anti-aging culture. I know that sounds backwards, but I think we need to normalize gaining weight as you age. Like you would think it would be normalized because people are constantly talking about how they gained weight as they aged, you would think we all just kinda know that's what happens, you age, you gain weight. But no, people still act like its some grand tragedy. It drives me up the wall. Like I wanna shake people by the shoulders about it. So yeah, in my head every character, except I guess Pepa, is like 50% heavier in their fifties than they were in their twenties. And they're happy that way!
Summary: The island kingdom of Tiembean has enjoyed decades of peace after withstanding centuries of invasions, in large part thanks to the magical capital of the Americas, Encanto. Once a proud city state and now an even prouder province, the Encanto is home to Minister Alma Madrigal and her triplets, healing prodigy Julieta, the ever useful seer Bruno, and the most powerful weather witch, favorite priestess of the gods, Pepa Madrigal. Fierce and outspoken, Pepa has enjoyed the freedom being a weather witch has given her, the last thing she would ever want is to be tied down to a life of politics. Unfortunately for her, the chemistry between her and the new king is almost too tempting to ignore.
Even more unfortunately, somebody just tried to kill her brother.
Or read it on AO3
Prologue: Too Soon
“Are you joking?” King Félix, his royal majesty, Lord and Keeper of the mighty Kingdom Tiembean asked his advisor in a flat voice.
“No your Majesty, I fear this is quite serious,” his only advisor for the time being, Minister Cortez, answered in an equally flat voice, “you must secure a wife, or more importantly an heir, as soon as possible.”
“My father just died yesterday . And you want me to think about getting laid.”
“No your Majesty, you need not think about ‘getting laid’ if you do not wish to, you simply have to do it. Quickly.”
Félix glared at him, “And if I don’t?”
“Then it is entirely likely you will meet some unfortunate accident that surely had absolutely nothing to do with your famously ambitious cousin,” Cortez shrugged, almost casually, “which would be quite tragic. And incredibly inconvenient.”
“Inconvenient?”
“Sí. I only just filed the record of your legal coronation and I have already started making arrangements for the various coronation ceremonies you must complete.”
Félix rolled his eyes and turned back to his paperwork. There was a lot of it to go over, and lot of things that needed to be transferred from his father’s agenda to his. They were in his father’s-, what used to be his father’s private office, and Cortez was supposed to be helping him, not adding one more problem to Félix’s already bursting plate. The silence rang loud in his ears, he hated silence, but they hadn’t brought his record player up from his old office yet. He knew Cortez was likely waiting for Félix to give in and start talking, anything to make the quiet feel less dead.
But Félix wasn’t going to do it.
He wasn’t.
He could sit in silence, he didn’t need sound.
He didn’t.
“I suppose you have somebody in mind,” Félix grumbled, grudgingly.
“Several somebody’s, actually,” Cortez didn’t even have the decency to sound smug.
“Several?”
“Ten.”
“Ten?!”
“Indeed, ten.”
Félix leaned back in his chair and rubbed tiredly at his eyes, there were a number of reasons he wished his father was still alive, the first and foremost being that he loved his father. There was also the fact that he’d been so excited to show his Pá what he’d gotten him for Christmas, the idea that the giant Atlas would sit unopened in the back of Félix’s closet until he figured out what to do with it was depressing. Not to mention, there were all the milestones he would never get to share with his Pá, falling in love, his wedding, his first kid, his Pá would be there for none of it.
But one of the many reasons Félix wished his Pá were still here, was because Félix did not feel ready to be a King. He was twenty seven, which was just old enough to understand how much he still had to learn about the world. He knew how to balance the budget, guide council meetings, read convoluted legalese, and give speeches. He did not know how his father made the hard choices, like agreeing to an alliance with Rosas even though it might incur the wrath of the Kingdom of the Southern Isles.
Félix definitely did not feel ready to get married. His Pá just died, he was sad, wasn’t he allowed to just… be sad for a little?
No. No he wasn’t, because he was king now. Damn it.
“Let me see,” he sighed, holding out a hand while the other pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed.
There was the rustle of paper, then a folded up page landed in his hand. He opened his eyes, unfolded it, and looked over the list. After reading all the names he glared over the top of the paper at Cortez.
“Seriously? Elsa of Arandelle?”
“She is still, technically, a princess.”
“And also, technically, a god. Or something,” he argued, waving the paper around as if batting at flies. Then he frowned at her name on the paper, contemplatively asking, “Does she melt? I heard she’s ice made flesh, and well, I always figured it’d be rude to ask...”
“Marrying her would make for quite the statement. And no, she seems to be made of flesh. Real flesh.”
“Pretty sure she’s into women,” Félix grumbled, glaring at the list, “last time I saw her she spent the entire summit trying to flirt with Julieta. And are you sure? She’s some sort of god spirit… person. Who knows how she was made.”
“So she has good taste,” Cortez shrugged, “who are we to hold that against her. I do believe she was made by her parents in the traditional way.”
“But you don’t know?”
“No, but we could simply ask. She hardly seems the sort to get offended.”
Félix rolled his eyes, then addressed the next name on the list he took issue with, “Sophia’s a bit young to be married, don’t you think?”
“Perhaps, but just being betrothed to you would legitimize her claim to the throne, which would greatly deter any attempts to remove you.”
Félix grunted, “I’m not making kids with somebody that young. I know, I know, we would wait until she’s of age, but still, it’d be gross. Oh! And I am definitely not marrying Duke Weaselton’s daughter.”
“I believe it’s pronounced Weselton, your Majesty.”
“Whatever, I don’t want to be related to that guy.”
“He would likely stay in Weselton.”
“He’ll definitely stay there if I don’t marry his daughter.”
“So, we have narrowed the list down to seven potential queens,” Cortez surmised, “we’re certainly making excellent progress.”
Félix groaned.
—
“You want me to what who now?”
“Marry Lord Agustín. And it’s only a suggestion.”
“Why?”
“Because he comes from a reasonably well off family, is very kind so we can be sure you will be treated well, and he will likely become one of King Félix’s ministers, which will allow you to keep the life to which you’re accustomed,” Alma said calmly, even as she shelved some of her law books. Pepa felt briefly warm, her Má was not the most expressive of people, and she didn’t give as many hugs as she did before their Pá died, but every once in a while little signs of her love peeked through.
However, just because she liked why her mother had chosen Lord Agustín, didn’t mean she liked Lord Agustín himself. Well, she liked him, just not like that.
Agustín was a good friend, but Pepa had a hard time seeing anything he did as romantic. She knew that was probably a “her” problem, since she had never understood what her sister saw in any of the skinny men she dated, but Pepa also felt it was for the best that she had very different taste in men than both her siblings.
Alma didn’t quite look at Pepa as she said, “Because I am going to suggest to Julieta that she marry Prince Felípe, for the good of the kingdom, and for the good of Encanto.”
“The good of-? Wait, what?”
“Now that Prince Félix is King Félix, his cousin Prince Mercutio is next in line for the throne,” Alma explained, “only because Mercutio has something that Prince Felípe lacks.”
“A favorite assassin?”
“A child.”
“Ah.”
“I will be taking Julieta to talk with Pr- King Félix as soon as the royal funeral is over to discuss the betrothal,” Alma continued.
Pepa interrupted her again, “Does Julieta know?”
“She will when she returns from the hospital.”
The Madrigals were the Kingdom’s most powerful magic users, and each of the three Madrigal triplets had a different specialty. Julieta was a healer, who had already invented two new healing potions since graduating from the Academy three years ago; Bruno had the great misfortune of being born a seer, and not just any kind of seer, but one who could look into the future; and Pepa was a weather witch, the weather witch actually, she had spent years training under several different High Priestesses in order to learn each and every ritual necessary to bring the kingdom all the sun and rain it could ask for.
Their father had been a powerful sorcerer, and their mother was a natural born practitioner of love magic. The couple had both spent their lives as Ministers for the now deceased King, looking over the city of Encanto, the central hub of Tiembean’s magical community.
“Does the hospital know you’re going to ship Juli off to the Capitol?”
“They will if Julieta agrees to my plan.”
“Oh, so Juli gets a choice?”
“Of course,” Alma sent Pepa a scornful look, “I’m hardly going to force either of you into marrying if you do not wish to.”
“And if Juli says no, does that mean you’re going to try shipping me off instead,” Pepa crossed her arms, shifting her weight. As much as she didn’t want to marry Lord Agustín, she definitely didn’t want to marry some guy she’d never met.
Julieta regularly traveled to the Capitol to research with, learn from, and teach the royal healers, so she apparently knew the Prince and new King rather well. Pepa mostly traveled to temples in far flung rural corners of the country, to perform this rain dance or that sun salutation. Not because she had to, of course, but because she could. More often than not, if she was on the eastern side of the country she would swing by and steal some of Agustín’s food for a few days. She knew Agustín pretty well, and would far prefer marrying him to a stranger, even if that stranger was a Prince.
“No,” Alma said, looking strangely uncomfortable.
“Oh! Good. A little weird, but good,” Pepa frowned, “I would have thought I’d be the next logical step.”
Her Má didn’t respond, and if Pepa didn’t know any better, she’d say her mother was avoiding her eyes.
“Actually, logistically, I would have thought I’d be the first choice,” Pepa said slowly, watching her mother through narrowed eyes, “it’s sweet that you want us to be comfortable with our husbands, but Juli needs to be able to come back to Encanto regularly to do any good. I could bless the skies from any temple in the kingdom.”
“That-, That is true,” Alma nodded once. Pepa all but gaped at her, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard her mother stutter.
“So? Why send me to marry Agustín but not Prince what’s his face?”
Alma didn’t answer, she didn’t even look at Pepa.
“Má? Why aren’t I your plan B?”
“Pepa, you know I think you are wonderful-,” Alma started, sighing heavily.
“But?”
“-you are loving, and clever, and quite charming-“
“But?”
“-not to mention you are quite beautiful. You have a kind of beauty the likes of which can be quite rare in this part of the world.”
“But!?”
“But a man of Prince Felípe’s station is not used to being challenged,” Alma said, “I have only met him in passing, but if he is anything like Prince Mercutio I do not think he would be able to handle your temper.”
“You mean, you don’t think he would like me,” Pepa translated, putting her hands on her hips.
“I think he is young and would not see the value in-.”
“You think I’m not good enough for a Prince?!”
“That is not remotely what I’m saying,” Alma held up her hand.
“You think Julieta could land royalty, but not me?!”
“Pepa, please-.”
Pepa didn’t bother to listen to another word, she just turned around and left the library, slamming the door on her way out.
A/N: I decided to post chapters to AO3 on Wednesday mornings and to Tumblr on Friday afternoons specifically so I would have all of Wednesday and Thursday to edit the “also on AO3” link into the header, and then immediately forgot I needed to do that exact thing. But that’s ok, that’s why I put it in the queue, so that even if you deduce what time zone I’m in, nobody has to know how late I will stay up to make sure a fanfic has the proper links. I will have to come back and double check the formatting however, because I had already settled into bed when I remembered I needed to load this into the queue and am now doing it from my phone.
Anyways, if anyone is curious Tiembean is shaped like that because it roughly follows the shape of an underwater mountain range off the coast of Colombia. The name is a portmanteau of the Spanish word for weather and “Caribbean”, because naming the fictional kingdom in a Pepa/Félix centered fic “Pelix” seemed too on the nose. The names of the different states are mostly jokes. And it is comparable in population to Great Britain at the time (according to a bit of haphazard googling).
Bruh, who even is Camilo? He is arguably the Madrigal we get the least real characterization for, other than Teenage Boy, which is a very broad category of person. So as per usual, it helps me to get my thoughts in order if I write this stuff down.
First, Mirabel introduces Camilo through song and we right of way see him shapeshift into a young mother so he can sooth her baby while she takes a nap. That's actually a really great way to imply several things about his character (oh my god guys, this movie is so well written).
Thoughtful enough to offer a new mom a chance to rest
Comfortable caring for infants (probs helped care for Antonio?)
More patient than I would have thought, because taking care of a baby while the mother rests is not a quick and easy favor
Sort of implies that he likes kids
Then Mirabel sings he "won't stop until he makes you smile today" while he turns into multiple people and doing goofy stuff. Everybody already knows he's an entertainer at heart but I gotta add it to the list anyways.
5. Likes making people laugh
6. Plays around with his gift a lot
Moving on to Antonio's party, he's the guy greeting all the villagers by name, and he changes his energy to match each person.
7. Knows a lot of the villagers
8. Charming and personable
9. Respects his elders (kisses the old woman on the cheek)
He jokes around with Antonio, probably in an attempt to soothe his nerves, and teases his Pa. This reinforces points one, four, five and six. If this was a different list, I would talk about what it means that Camilo is clearly comfortable teasing his father, despite the seemingly stern reaction Félix has, but I digress.
He stands with Julieta while Antonio and Mirabel walk to the door, giving birth to a lot headcanons about them being especially close, and I'm going to roll with it.
10. Of his siblings, he's closest to Julieta.
Then he's very excited for Antonio as he discovers his room, it's actually the happiest we see him in the movie (other than perhaps when he's dancing in We Don't Talk About Bruno). So:
11. Supportive? Or maybe just enjoys seeing other people happy?
Plot happens, fast forward to breakfast when he pretends to be Dolores so he can get double the food. Then teases Isabela about Mariano, something he does a lot in the movie.
12. Likes food.
13. In his Little Shit era
Fast forward some more, all the way to We Don't Talk About Bruno. He absolutely kills it, and clearly enjoys the whole production. If you're like me and you headcanon that the musical numbers happen in universe then we can conclude:
13.5. Fucking loves living in a musical
And if you headcanon they don't:
14. Enjoys telling stories.
15. Probably hasn't thought through the consequences of telling everybody his Tío is a seven foot tall boogy man that feasts on screams. Which is very normal for a fifteen year old boy.
Teases Isabela about Mariano again. More plot happens. Time For Dinner. Dolores gossips to him as soon as she can, then he immediately gossips to his Pá. When Félix accidentally spits his drink onto Mariano, Camilo has to hold in a laugh. It's possible he doesn't really like Mariano, he keeps making jokes about the guy, at the very least he doesn't take him seriously. I wonder if he's the sort of guy that prefers to hang out with women?
16. Close to his sister.
17. Close to his father.
18. Shapeshifts reflexively/accidentally.
More plot. We see him try to soothe his mother.
19. Takes care of his Má. Pepa is literally unable to hide her emotions, so it would make sense that, through no real fault of her own, the kids slowly learn to take care of her as they grow up. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and all. On the flip side, the fact that sun beams come out whenever they get home from school or learn a new skill probs means the kids can never doubt that Pepa loves them. Plus, she likely has the easiest time transitioning from a parent-child relationship to a parent-adult offspring relationship of all the adults. So Camilo might be growing closer to his Má as he gets closer to adulthood.
The longer the plot goes on the less we see him. He's clearly frustrated with his gift glitching on him, but that doesn't really tell me much. It's a situation that would frustrate anyone and they don't show us how he handles those negative emotions. They also don't show us how he handles hearing the end of Mirabel's and Abuela's argument. Rude. They do show us him leaping to the candle's aid while the house crashes down around him so clearly:
20. Sees the Miracle as more important than his own safety.
The house falls, the candle goes out, in the background we hear him first remark on his gift being gone, then wonder how this will effect his little brother. We already know he enjoys using his gift, I can theorize he's made Being a Shapeshifter an important part of his identity, but all we have that's concrete is:
21: He doesn't just enjoy his gift, it is important to him.
22. Empathetic.
Mirabel runs off, resolution happens, Mirabel comes back. He is the one who cuts through the reunion to point out their house is gone, and even gets a little exasperated when he catches a bit of flack from Félix.
23. Not an optimist. Might be a pessimist, but most likely just not particularly sentimental.
For the rest of the scene he exists in a state of confusion. The hits start coming and they don't stop coming. Apparently Tío Bruno is just suddenly back now? And it kind of seems like half the family isn't surprised or asking any questions?! There's not a lot of conclusions I can draw from him being shocked and confused that Bruno just sort of appeared out of nowhere, I think most people would be. And unlike the parents or the older cousins, he doesn't have enough memories from when Bruno was around to be swept up in the joy of seeing him again. His reaction is relatable and endearing, but not very revealing.
The last character moment we get is when he tries to twirl the shovel around all fancy, almost drops it, then checks to make sure Mirabel wasn't watching. It reinforces things already mentioned, like him being showy, and wanting to entertain those around him, but also:
24. Wants to be seen as cool. Another very normal trait for a teenage boy.
It is interesting that the first person he looks at is Mirabel, I can't help but wonder if that would have been the case at the beginning of the movie. There's room for interpretation there, but regardless, by the end of the movie:
Sorta a weird post, because presumably these characters are relatively devout Catholics, they absolutely would not ever get tattoos (not to mention we have no idea how much they know about micro-biology so jury’s out on how clean tattoos would be in Encanto). But I saw @teawizard ‘s picture of Bruno doing male thot jobs and it got me thinking. So!
Edit: Oof, this has been in my drafts way too long.
Alma
Hers are low key the most obvious to me. Alma would definitely have a little memorial tattoo for Pedro, and possibly have the triplet’s names. I’m operating under the assumption that she wasn’t born into an important family, so when she becomes La Señora Madrigal she makes an active effort to play the part rather than it coming naturally to her. Which would mean she might get a single tattoo right after losing Pedro, someplace easy for her to cover, then never again.
Agustín
I was going to say Agustín looks like he was raised too fancy to get tattoos even in this hypothetical, but then I actually thought about it a little. He’s supposed to be super accident prone, right? So, I think he’d have a tramp stamp. Hear me out! First time he goes out drinking with friends he discovers he is way more sensitive to alcohol than he thought he’d be. He wakes up with a bunch of blank spots in his memory, a helluva headache, and a sore spot on his back. A week or two later he is getting undressed to take a shower and notices something weird on his back out of the corner of his eye. And there it is! The words “Señor Madrigal” in a heart made out of healing herbs. Inexplicably, there are dolphins either side of the heart. When he asks his friends, he went missing for a while and they eventually found him hours later with his tie and vest off, and his shirt untucked. Biggest problem? He is not yet dating Julieta.
Julieta
In contrast, Julieta had an idea for a tattoo for her entire childhood, but figured she’d never get it because she knew her Má would hate it. She starts dating Agustín (is very amused when she sees his tattoo), then starts arguing with Alma over her boyfriend. In a fit of pique, she decides to get the tattoo whether or not her Má likes it. Even though Alma is annoyed at the tattoo itself, when she sees it she can’t help but like it. It’s essentially Julieta’s own version of the Hippocratic Oath on her left shoulder blade. Pepa makes fun of her because “even when you rebel against mother, you’re so perfect about it”. Eventually, Juli gets a matching tattoo with her siblings. Eventually.
Pepa
Pepa always wanted a tattoo but couldn’t settle on anything until Dolores is born. After that she gets each of her baby’s birthdates tattooed on her ankle. She would also eventually get a matching sibling tattoo.
Félix
Song lyrics, his wedding anniversary, and a tattoo that references his side of the family in some way. Maybe all together to form a sleeve, but more likely to be on his back.
Bruno
Bruno would have a full sleeve of good luck tattoos, and then some. He would have a chicken on one foot and a pig on the other (sailor superstition), on his shoulder blade opposite his sleeve he would have a prayer he likes that he got right before going into the walls. In an ill thought out fit of boredom he would give himself a stick and poke in the walls, the word “leña” on his knuckles (one of the ways to say wood in Spanish, although it looks like people usually use it to say firewood, but “madera” wouldn’t fit on his knuckles). Then when he gets out of the walls and is reunited with his sisters they would get a matching tattoo, the movie hasn’t really shown us enough of their relationship for me to say exactly what, but something meaningful to them.
Isabela
Immediately post movie she would get a sleeve of carnivorous and poisonous plants in order to express her newfound individuality. Later when she’s gotten over the initial high of finding herself, she would get a butterfly or something, something that represents her love for the family.
Dolores
One of Mariano’s poems on the inside of her forearm so she can reread it regularly. And a little lightning bolt right behind her ear, Pepa’s gift probably makes their relationship complicated, so I could see them looking for ways to show they do love each other despite said complications.
Luisa
She would have some sort of inspirational quote on her bicep about hard work, then post movie she would get another on the other arm about remembering to pause and enjoy life every once in a while.
Camilo
Like his mother he’d have a really hard time picking a tattoo, since the creators said they would have included him having slight identity issues if they had the space for it. When he gets on the other side of those issues, he gets those two theatre masks on the inside of his wrist to remind himself not to get too caught up in his own act.
Mirabel
Since she puts so much self expression into her clothes she wouldn’t really get the point of getting a tattoo until post movie when she starts actively building a relationship with Alma and thus gets to learn the town’s history more in depth than before. Then she gets the date the Encanto was established, a picture of the butterfly that was on the candle, and a quote about love conquering all.
Antonio
His back would become a guide to different animal tracks. So there would be the paw print and then right under it a label explaining what animal it goes to, but like all over his back and spilling down his arms when he runs out of room. Since he and the artist wouldn’t be sure how to do snake tracks, he’d have the local snake species circling his ankles and wrists.
Did you guys hear Disneyland Cast Members voted to strike?
It was nearly unanimous too, 99% of the unionized cast members voted in favor of the strike. This doesn't necessarily mean they will strike, more that when the union rep shows up to the negotiation table on Monday they'll have that extra bit of leverage. Hopefully that'll be enough to win them living wages and such. I don't have anything intelligent to say, I just feel a kind of way about this subject, I'm going to put my opinions under the cut.
Ok, look, I love Disneyland. Love it with a passion. You know what reminded me this was happening and prompted me to look up the story? I was thinking of updating this card I made for one of the many games I've come up with to play in Disneyland because I have a weird variety of hyper-fixation when it comes to that park specifically.
So I am not speaking an ounce of hyperbole when I say Disneyland is my favorite place in the world.
But! Whoever the hell is making the big decisions around there needs to get their head out of their ass. I don't know if I should be blaming Bob Iger or Josh D'Amaro for the way the parks have been since the pandemic, but I'm going to blame both. I can deal with them experimenting with Genie Plus (I hate it but I'm used to capitalism), and I can sort of deal with the prices (I can't afford them easily but I'm saving up), but Disneyland has very clearly been trying to cut labor costs for a while now and it's incredibly baffling to watch. It feels like the parks are being run by somebody with a business degree from a sketchy "college" and zero experience with the real world.
They're cutting back on shows, overworking their existing staff, and skipping regular maintenance so they can operate the park with a smaller maintenance team. Overall it results in a worse experience for the customer, making it less likely that they'll convert new guests into returning fans like myself. While Disney World is a major tourist attraction that most people consider a once in a life time experience, Disneyland has always had a steady revenue from local Californians that return again and again. If you frequent forums about the parks you hear all about folks who live in SoCal that buy their annual pass (I know that's not what it's currently called, but that's what it is) and use it to get into the parks just to have dinner or rove around and maybe grab a churro. They might not be paying for Iger's next yacht, but those folks are providing a reliable revenue stream, and they go back again and again because for decades Disneyland has maintained a "magical" atmosphere.
And I feel like it's fairly obvious that the front line workers are the ones that make Disneyland what it is. Right? Like I'm not crazy, we all agree Disneyland would be nothing without the hard work of these cast members, right?
Why are they-? You need front line workers, why wouldn't you-? Do they not have years of research and experience backing up how beneficial a well paid staff is? I love the Incredicoaster but if all I wanted was thrill rides, Six Flags is an hour closer and a whole lot cheaper. I'm going for the complicated rides that require their own pit crew like Mickey's Runaway Railroad. Why are we even still having this conversation? I get that people like Bob Iger are a bit insulated from the rest of us, but the relationship between a happy staff and profit is well documented. Why wouldn't they just...? In the Disneyland subreddit a retired cast member post the Benefits Binder he got back when he worked for Disneyland and this thing was thick, it included health, retirement, and stock options. Somebody somewhere must have known that whittling down benefits while stagnating pay was not sustainable. Right?!
Like I said, I don't have anything intelligent to add to this conversation, but to be honest, I think everything intelligent to add has already been added. I'm just annoyed for my own sake and downright pissed for the sake of the cast members. I hope they get everything they ask for on Monday, and if they don't, I hope the strike knocks some sense into everybody it needs to.
Writing from the perspective of a villager and trying to decide how the different Madrigals look from the outside, and Mirabel is the one I’m having a hard time pinning. As usual, putting the thoughts to screen helps.
So obviously Mirabel doesn’t receive the same level of admiration as Isabela or Abuela, and she doesn’t seem to be relied upon as heavily as Luisa and Julieta. The warm color branch of the family seems to be high charisma, so they’re probably popular in the more traditional sense. And of course we know that Bruno is the least liked Madrigal. So what social niche is Mirabel fulfilling?
She doesn’t seem to be disliked, although she is shown to be pitied by the villagers (the “not special” special), she’s probably looked down upon just a little. She probably had to deal with some bullying from other kids, but not Complete Social Pariah levels. The threat of being the next Bruno is looming over her head but she’s not quite there yet.
I think, since she must fall somewhere on the middle of Popular to Pariah scale, she’s the sort of person who gets voted Everybody’s Best Friend in school. Idk if you had any one like this at your school, but when I was fifteen I had a few people who I didn’t think of as popular because they weren’t endlessly charismatic, constantly the center of attention, or noticeably cooler than the rest of us. But looking back, everyone liked them because they were just so nice. I’m picturing the girl who eventually ended up being voted Homecoming Queen for my grade specifically. I’ll name drop because it wasn’t her legal name and it’s a very common one.
So, Mary had a lot in common with Mirabel. She was intelligent, easy to talk to, and always happy to help. I didn’t think of her as being glamorously beautiful the same way Mirabel isn’t designed to be the next Disney Princess, but she was pretty and Mirabel is too. I didn’t think of her as being cool or an A-list kid or anything because she sometimes said things in an awkward way, or embarrassed herself, like Mirabel falling over stuff in the movie. While there were people that felt “cool” and who I therefore wanted to impress, Mary was just plain old pleasant to be around, I wanted to talk to her because I felt comfortable around her and enjoyed our conversations. And I thought of her as a friend because she treated me like a friend, she treated everybody like a friend, even people I thought sucked. She was very much down to earth and probably a lot more mature than I was at the time. I remember being pleasantly surprised to see her name on the ballot for homecoming queen, and even more so when she beat out the girl who fell more in line with what TV told me popular looks like. It really reframed the way I saw people. While it’s true that snobs and bullies sometimes gain social currency by convincing people they’re at the top of the ladder, being a genuine friend gets you farther than you realize.
I doubt Mirabel is a one to one comparison to this real world person I knew in high school, but I figure she probably has similar social standing. She has the social currency of being a Madrigal, then add in the fact that she would seem so much more down to earth than the other Madrigals while still being friendly and helpful, and you end up with a Mary. People probably don’t flock to her, but if I were fifteen and in the Encanto you could bet your ass I’d be happy to sit with her at lunch or see her at a party. I’m sure impressionable young me would be just as star struck as the rest of the villagers when it comes to Camilo and Isabela, and wiser adult me would of course want to hang out with Bruno, but I would be pleasantly surprised to see Mirabel’s name on the ballot for Harvest Festival Queen or whatever, and I would vote for her because “that’s my friend”.
Furthermore, Mirabel reminds me of somebody who has some sorta neurodivergence but flies under the radar with it. Considering the Madrigals seem to have a family history of anxiety disorders, Mirabel could too, autism is also in the running since Bruno and Antonio both show signs of it. She does remind me of a guy I knew at college #2 who had an anxiety disorder that bordered on being a physical disability rather than straight neurodivergence. For the most part his anxiety didn’t bother him, then every once in a while his body would decide “Ok! It’s panic attack time!” and he would start experiencing all the physical symptoms of a panic attack with no warning. The first time it happened to him he straight up thought he was having a heart attack because it was so out of no where. He was also not cool, but very kind and friendly, so I’m going to choose to believe that’s what Mirabel has going on. This figures into the equation because I’ve noticed that neurodivergent folks that fly under the radar usually get labeled as “quirky” and it’s considered a good trait, a relatable trait, but not necessarily a cool trait.
Conclusion: I am now convinced that Mirabel is considered the least “popular” Madrigal, but everybody sees her as their friend. She probably has the most genuine connections with the other residents of Encanto, followed by Félix and Agustín, then Luisa and Pepa (who work with the villagers doing odd jobs or watering the crops), then Alma and Dolores (Alma having real friends from before she was A Big Deal, and Dolores having earned a few very loyal friends by keeping their secrets), then Camilo and Julieta each have one or two friends outside the family but are much beloved/admired in a more superficial way, then Isabela is the most popular but also technically the most lonely since not even her family gets hints at her real self until after the movie. Bruno is, of course, in a league of his own because he’s in the walls, so yeah. And Antonio is five, so it’s a little too soon to judge.
