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week 1
[Yesterday was, to say the least, an eventful time. 21 people waking up in an alarming kidnapping situation, tempers got heated, salt was thrown, the usual flavor of shenanigans.
Your Alchemist made his appearance, got into several arguments, scruffed a teen and nailed a god. All in all, a productive time! It doesn’t seem like he’ll be making any more public appearances this week but he did say to give him a call.
If you don't want to converse with the Alchemist, there's a whole tower to explore! Check out all the dusty nooks and crannies, read some smutty literature, try to build a death ray, take a cozy bath- the Montessori method of learning. Curiously, starting on Monday there are mysterious leaflet catalogs scattered in several rooms of the tower. There’s no shop name on it, but there are pictures of a variety of fun and fanciful items, just a preview of the many rare and/or exotic goods you could get from one of the shop's Grand Opening Sale blind boxes. There is also a large wooden chest that has appeared in the Entrance Hall right next to the grand entrance doors, despite the fact that they remain locked. A locked mailbox hangs on the wall above the box, along with several envelopes. The mailbox says "CATALOG ORDERS", and there is a handwritten note that adds: "Write your name on the envelope as well as your order. INCLUDE PAYMENT, or it's no deal. <3"
In related news, many of you will also be receiving mysterious gold coins on top of your trunk – maybe this is the payment referenced?
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday
(( OOC: This will be the last mod post for this week! Feel free to start submitting catalog orders for any threads that aren't with the Alchemist. This is a peace week, so get all that CR while you can! ))
Your Alchemist made his appearance, got into several arguments, scruffed a teen and nailed a god. All in all, a productive time! It doesn’t seem like he’ll be making any more public appearances this week but he did say to give him a call.
If you don't want to converse with the Alchemist, there's a whole tower to explore! Check out all the dusty nooks and crannies, read some smutty literature, try to build a death ray, take a cozy bath- the Montessori method of learning. Curiously, starting on Monday there are mysterious leaflet catalogs scattered in several rooms of the tower. There’s no shop name on it, but there are pictures of a variety of fun and fanciful items, just a preview of the many rare and/or exotic goods you could get from one of the shop's Grand Opening Sale blind boxes. There is also a large wooden chest that has appeared in the Entrance Hall right next to the grand entrance doors, despite the fact that they remain locked. A locked mailbox hangs on the wall above the box, along with several envelopes. The mailbox says "CATALOG ORDERS", and there is a handwritten note that adds: "Write your name on the envelope as well as your order. INCLUDE PAYMENT, or it's no deal. <3"
In related news, many of you will also be receiving mysterious gold coins on top of your trunk – maybe this is the payment referenced?
(( OOC: This will be the last mod post for this week! Feel free to start submitting catalog orders for any threads that aren't with the Alchemist. This is a peace week, so get all that CR while you can! ))
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[Why is he not simply better at weaving a web of lies???]
Well. Okay. So, our family house, Casita, she's alive. She can't really talk, but you get to understand her, living there your whole life. Anyway, at first I thought maybe I'd just go and camp out in the jungle or something, but Casita didn't want me to go. She was probably right, I don't exactly have a ton of wilderness survival skills...besides, I didn't wanna go too far, you know? I'd...miss everyone. I don't really see them now, but at least I know they're all okay. Mostly okay.
[Bruno's rubbing anxiously at his arm as he speaks, not really making eye contact. He experiences family life in snippets. He doesn't see or hear everything, not by a long shot, but he does know a few things that aren't exactly common knowledge. Enough to know things aren't exactly as okay as they look from the outside.]
Casita found me somewhere else to stay. I've been there ever since.
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Did your living house...communicate with another living house?
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[So you know how he looks like he hasn't seen the sun in like, oh, ten years?]
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[Bruno rushes to say, because yes absolutely he was living in the walls and he's pretty sure that sounds creepy. And maybe is.]
I mean, there's only a few different cracks I can really see people very well from. Most of the day I just do my own thing! It's not like I'm spying on them all the time or anything!
1/3
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3/3
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It's not that bad! I've got free food - my new room's on the first floor and kitchen-adjacent! And there's the rats! Tons of rats back there, we'll put on little plays in the evenings for fun. [see now we're starting to get a way more complete picture of why he's Like That] Lola even stole me a whole armchair a couple years back, so I don't have to sit on the floor anymore!
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Who is Lola?
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[Bruno feels bad about this. She was only 11 when he left, and...well, it seems like a source of stress she really didn't need, especially at that age.]
I, uh, try to leave her alone. She's young, she's got her duties, she shouldn't be spending her time worrying about how I'm getting by. But she leaves things for me sometimes. That's the only reason I'm doing as well as I am.
[He seems to think that he is legitimately doing well, all things considered!]
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That is fortunate for you, that one in your family still seeks to look after your well being.
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[Maybe he's getting a few vibes there? Anyway:]
It - it's not like that. No one else knows where I am, that's all. If...if they did...
[Well. The thing is, he's not quite sure.]
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[Bruno's quick to add:]
If - if this were before, they never would have done that! I mean, they hadn't yet. But then I left, and I - they were so angry at me, I heard the whole thing. "Bruno abandoned us, he doesn't care about this family..."
[.....]
Even if they weren't, I...I can't let them find me. [.....] I couldn't. I guess it wouldn't matter much now.
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[He's never been very good at that. Never could figure out how to deliver a prophecy in a way that wouldn't just hurt everyone involved.]
We're supposed to serve the Encanto. The town, the miracle, all of that - we're los Madrigals. We were given a blessing, so we have a responsibility to use it to help everyone, right? [It does make sense to him. Even if sometimes...] We've all got our burdens to bear. Julieta hardly does anything but cook, Pepa always has to be smiling...Luisa was doing half the work in town by the time she was ten. That's how it is. I'm just the one who...couldn't cut it.
[He's quiet for a moment, before suddenly seeming to realize how much he just said.]
A-anyway, I didn't leave because of any of that.
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Still, there are clearly cultural connotations he isn't understanding, so he puts it to the side for now.]
Why did you leave, then, if not because of how they treated you?
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The question makes him wince a little, but...]
Well...I guess there's no point in keeping it secret anymore. Everyone knows now.
My youngest niece, Mirabel...she didn't get a gift. She's the only kid in the family for fifty years who didn't. [He says it neutrally, not the way a lot of people tend to. It doesn't seem so bad to him, to be free of some of those expectations - though in the end, it just landed her with different problems.] I'd never seen Mamá that shaken up. She was worried the magic was fading, so she asked me to have a vision about it, and I did. And I saw the magic dying, Casita dying, the whole Encanto cracking apart - and it was all tied to Mirabel somehow. I don't think she did anything to cause it! If anything, I think she's the only one who can save it. But I knew what everyone would think if they saw. Dios, I still remember how she cried and cried that night...
[The night of the failed ceremony is still crystal clear in Bruno's mind, even ten years on. It was when everything changed, the last time he saw most of the family. It was terrible. Mirabel had been inconsolable, her parents had been frantic, the villagers murmuring. Bruno had gathered up the rest of the kids and fled with them, and that was where he stayed until Mamá wanted him.]
I couldn't put that on her, too. So I broke the vision and hid it, and then I left. It wasn't her fault - I'd do the same thing again. [....] Anyway, right before I came here, she broke into my tower and found the vision, and now everyone's seen it, so - pffft.
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That is a difficult situation. It sounds like you did the best you could. I can't imagine what she would have gone through had they thought she was somehow responsible for a loss of magic.
Tell me about your family. You've mentioned a few of your nieces, and your mother. Who else is there?
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Ah - well, my sisters, of course. Julieta and Pepa. We're triplets, so we've got them to blame for me not being seven feet tall.
[He chuckles. It's an old joke; Bruno always was the smallest.]
Julieta can make food that heals people. She was always the most responsible one out of us. Always taking care of everyone, even when we were young. I still see a lot of her - my room's behind the kitchen wall, so I'm up with her most mornings. And Pepa, her emotions affect the weather. We were really close when we were younger - I mean, all three of us were, but Pepita and I both had gifts that...could cause problems. She's got a way better handle on it now, though, most of the time. [Although frankly, Bruno remains unconvinced that it's a good thing.]