Hello! First of all, I want to tell you that I like your blog. I have read your analyzes and HC's of the brumira ship and I loved them very much. What a way to expose through reasonable arguments a veiled relationship that goes beyond the familiar between this pair! I want to tell you that pairing them didn't even cross my mind at first, but as the movie continued I kept raising an eyebrow in suspicion that something was happening between them, but I didn't know what. I had this funny feeling until the infamous post-credit scene where the two of them were sitting on that hill under a starry night.
I digress, I'm writing to you because I wanted to know your opinion on one of Jared Bush's answers in the last Q&A. Attached image.
I don't know why, but I feel like his answer was quite direct, pessimistic and realistic (I know he wouldn't have to answer with a super analysis either because it's twitter but still). Do you also consider that the family would have fallen apart? Taking into account the coexistence and the dependency that they would possibly develop, do you believe that the relationship between Bruno and Mirabel would have rushed towards the romantic? What do you think would have been the future of both parties? Do you think they would ever meet again? And if that was the case, how do you think both sides would react? I know that there are a million possibilities for these questions, but I would love to know your opinion or possible HC's in a situation like this. Thanks for your attention. I hope you have a good day.
Thank you so much! I'm glad you've enjoyed my thoughts on these two. And thank you for this ask! It's been awhile since I've done anything on here, and I don't keep up with what Jared Bush has to say about Encanto, so this is very cool to see.
To get to your ask, this has been a very fun and interesting scenario to play around with. Let me answer this in parts so I don't get lost.
Do you also consider that the family would have fallen apart?
To put it simply, yes, and it's because Mirabel and Bruno are the family's cycle breakers. But I can break it down further.
Everyone in the family aside from Mirabel and Bruno is working to uphold the status quo that has been set by Alma. A few things about this status quo:
It is incredibly maladaptive and toxic for the mental health of individual Madrigals and the overall cohesion of the Madrigal family.
It was developed directly from Alma's trauma responses in the aftermath of Pedro's death.
The miracle is central to upholding the status quo and without it, the family loses the tenuous foundation keeping them together.
In the film, we see the negative impact the Madrigal's status quo has on individuals. We specifically see this impact with Pepa, Isabela, and Luisa. We see Pepa in constant distress and at complete mercy of her gift, and we see Alma reinforce this dynamic by telling Pepa to tone down her weather (and by extension, her emotions) a couple times in the movie. With Isabela and Luisa, we get to see a slightly different story. A generation younger than Pepa, both Luisa and Isabela have a grasp on how detrimental the family's current dynamics are to their personal well-being, but they don't really know how to change it, and when they try to fix it, it backfires miserably on them, mostly due to Alma's wrath (which for nuance's sake is powered by her trauma-influenced worldview about needing to be worthy of the miracle and not lose anymore of her family). With Pepa, Luisa, and Isabela, we get to see how the different generations within the family interact with the family dynamics. And without any cycle breakers to aid them, they're not able to effectively make any lasting changes to the family.
This is all to say what we already know, and that is that Mirabel and Bruno are not the ones that cause the house—a metaphor for the family's dynamics/cohesion itself—to collapse. They are the ones who were able to see the cracks in the family's foundation, and for that reason alone, they are the only ones who have a chance at guiding the family towards healing. Because you can't fix a problem if you don't recognize it's there, as is the case with the triplet's generation. And even if you do recognize there's a problem, you still can't fix it if you don't know what it looks like or understand what is wrong, as is the case for the grandchildren's generation.
So, if Bruno and Mirabel completely left the family after the house collapsed, which ultimately serves as a metaphor for the family no longer being able to sustain their toxic system, then the rest of the Madrigals would be at a severe disadvantage for healing the family. Not only would the Madrigals have lost their two cycle breakers, but they would also have to navigate losing their gifts and estranging another Madrigal due to the family's toxic dynamics.
When I think about it, the gifts are what is really keeping the family together. The miracle garners a sense of duty within each of the gifted Madrigals. Within the film, Mirabel's reconciliation with Alma is directly what causes her to rally the Madrigals to rebuild. Mirabel keeps the family together in their gift-less state. Without Mirabel, I think it would be very easy for the oldest grandchildren decide to take off as well and finally escape Alma's standards and visions for them.
Really, Mirabel is the key to the family's destruction or rebirth. Bruno paved a way for her, but Mirabel is the one doing the heavy-lifting. That being said, if Mirabel left after the destruction of Casita, I can't think of a single compelling reason for why Bruno would hang around the Encanto or the Madrigals. He was living in the walls to be near his family, but he would see immediately that there is no family without Mirabel's help, and he certainly would not have the courage nor the reason to try to re-enter the family with Mirabel gone.
Headcanons and musings below the cut because this got really long.
Taking into account the coexistence and the dependency that they would possibly develop, do you believe that the relationship between Bruno and Mirabel would have rushed towards the romantic?
Like you said, I think there are a TON of ways this can play out.
If Mirabel and Bruno both decided to leave after the destruction of Casita, I think it is likely that they would both decide to journey together when they do find each other outside the Encanto. They might not know each other very well, but they are each other's last connection to their family and the town they're leaving behind.
In this scenario, I think Bruno and Mirabel's relationship would develop more quickly into a romantic one than if they had stayed with the family. After all, they are not going to be around other family members they can harm with their mutual attraction. It's going to be harder and harder for them to justify staying away from each other when they are all the other has. But I do think it would still take awhile before either of them develop feelings, acknowledge their feelings, and then decide what to do with their feelings.
I guess once they both realize they have feelings for each other, they might be more likely to act on their mutual attraction in this scenario. And the angst over what this means for the family would be lessened greatly because they're not a part of the family anymore.
You know, as I'm thinking about it, one way this could play out is that they really lean into this idea that they were the destroyers of the family, so yeah, of course they're going to have incestuous feelings for each other. Just par for the course.
So in this case, we have much more potential for Mirabel and Bruno being much more unapologetic about their feelings and their relationship with each other. Plus, aside from the obvious age-gap, they would be able to be as open as they want about it as they travel from town to town. (Because I guess in my head they become travelers. It adds to this idea that the only home they have at this point is each other, but I digress.)
What do you think would have been the future of both parties?
Let's focus on the rest of the Madrigals. Following the conclusion that Mirabel leaving would result in the destruction of the family, then I would have to say that if for some reason Mirabel and Bruno do ever return to the Encanto, it is highly unlikely the family is all still together.
I think Julieta and Augustin probably would have stayed behind with Alma, trying to maintain some semblance of the family that used to be. Plus, Julieta is the eldest daughter, so she might feel a deeper sense of responsibility to keep up the old ways best she can. Even if Alma's actions resulted in the estrangement of her youngest daughter.
Pepa and Felix are also probably nearby, or at the very least, in contact with Julieta and Augustin. But I don't see them living together. After all, after Bruno, Pepa had the most issues with Alma.
It's with the grandchildren that you can really see the fallout of the Madrigal family.
Isabela absolutely would leave as soon as she deemed that Mirabel was not going to return. She probably becomes a florist or a gardener a few towns over, exploring her other interests (and bisexuality).
Luisa would probably stay behind due to a blend of sense of duty and guilt over not wanting to leave her parents completely alone. But I can't imagine she would be too happy about it. She likely would still be in secret communication with Isabela, though it would break her heart that it has to be secret.
Whenever Dolores does end up with Mariano, they would probably find their own place together, either in town or just out of town. Either way, it would be away from the family.
Camilo would probably stay with his parents for a few years, but since these are my headcanons, I think he would also go looking for Isabela at some point. Once he finds her, they end up together.
For the most part, Antonio gets to grow up as a normal kid since Pepa and Felix move away from the family. He doesn't get the full experience of living in a close-knit multi-generational family, but at least he gets to be a kid with friends and more appropriate amount expectations set on him.
Do you think they would ever meet again? And if that was the case, how do you think both sides would react?
I imagine that the fragmented parts of the Madrigal family probably wouldn't meet again. At least not until far into the future. But if they were to meet again, it would have to be due to an event that would cause all the Madrigals to come together again.
Maybe it's Alma's funeral. Maybe it's the birth of Dolores's first child. Either way, something so big happens, that even the estranged Madrigals are notified. How? Probably Dolores. I think she would be savvy and covert enough to know where her estranged relatives are without outing them to the other relatives. So she's probably the one to let them know so they can decide if they should return, even temporarily.
When Mirabel and Bruno get the news, they have to decide first if they want to go back and second how they will present themselves to the family.
If Alma is still alive, they would totally go the unapologetic route of being openly together as a final middle finger to her before leaving again. If it's her funeral, they might be more secretive about it out of respect to the other grieving Madrigals.
Either way, enough time has passed that Mirabel is a fully grown woman, so if/when the family does find out, I think there would be some disgust and upset, but it would be much more worn than if the family had stayed together. Partially because of how much time has passed and how clear it is that Bruno and Mirabel are in an established, stable relationship, and partially because the family is broken and most of the Madrigals have made it to the acceptance stage for this brokenness. So an uncle and niece are in a relationship? Well, now that's a part of the family Madrigal.
But if Mirabel and Bruno are found out, Camilo and Isabela would come forward as a couple as well, as a show of unity to them.
Nothing like finding out there are two incest couples in one family to really send home the message that this family is beyond repair.
After that, I think the Madrigals would be taking sides. Mirabel, Bruno, Isabela, and Camilo would probably start reconnecting again, while the other Madrigals decide who they are willing to maintain relationships with and who they are disowning.
Luisa is pretty firm about not disowning her sisters, though she is secretly a little uneasy about Bruno. Mostly though, she's just happy to see Mirabel and Isabela again. It's probably what gives her the final push to move away from her parents and closer to Isabela and Camilo. Antonio is torn, but ultimately glad to be reconnected with his cousins and brother. Dolores and Mariano, of course, are opening their arms to everyone. It's Bruno's siblings and in-laws that are having a harder time.
But that's okay, because Mirabel and Bruno have reunited with the family who is willing to accept them. This gives them incentive to finally settle down, choosing to live close to Isabela, Camilo, Dolores, Mariano, and Luisa. It's not perfect, and it's certainly not normal, but the seven of them are able to slowly rebuild the Madrigals into something new. Possibly something a little better.
[ID: A set of tweets.
User Sara Amelia asks: "What would have really happened if Mirabel and Bruno had left Encanto after the destruction of Casita to never return again to avoid harming their beloved family?"
User Jared Bush responds: "The destruction of the family."
ED]
