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Summary; We all saw how Camilo calmed his mother in the movie, now imagine that being normal, imagine Camilo telling Pepa that all would be okay. But, one natural rainy day, Pepa enters her son's room and catches him crying. Then, for once, the rolls are reversed.
The rain smashed against the windows.
Pepa did not like the rain, but this time, it wasn't because of her, it was natural. And Pepa couldn't control that, only her own weather, but even that controlled her sometimes.
”Woah, that's a lot of rain. I wonder if we can even go out tomorrow.” said Julieta, she took a sip of her coffee. ”At this rate it might start thundering.”
She sat down next to her sister, and pushed over a plate of arepas.
”Yeah, usually watching rain that's not caused by me is relaxing. But this time it's really violent. Ay, let's keep our hopes up,” said Pepa. ”And this time it's not even my fault.”
Pepa took an arepa and ate it.
”It's very loud..." mumbled Dolores, she covered her ears and winced.
She put her hand on her daughter's shoulder, and kissed her lovingly on the cheek.
”Lo siento, mi amor.”
Félix was sitting next to Dolores on the other side, and was helping her cover her ears, being gentle with her.
”Hey, it's fine, I'll manage,” mumbled Dolores. ”Focus on something else, like Camilo, I haven't seen him in a while. Sadly I don't know where he is, but he might be in his room.”
”You can't hear?” asked Pepa worriedly.
”No, the rain's too loud... I can't hear anything else...” explained Dolores quietly. ”But I'm fine... Worry about Camilo instead...”
Pepa drank up her coffee, and took another arepa, before grabbing the plate and standing.
”I'll go see where he is, and get him some arepas. Then I'll help you up to your room, so you can rest, okay, Lola?”
She kissed her daughter on the forehead before leaving.
She walked up the stairs, and went over to her son's room, opening the door.
”Hijo-”
What she saw shocked her.
Camilo was there- Crying, crouching, small sobs leaving his trembling lips- He was shaking, and mercilessly pulling his strands- And then he noticed her, he wiped his tears.
”Mami-”, he let go off his hair. ”I'm fine- Lo siento. Just... Forget about it- I-is something wrong?”
She walked over to Camilo and sat down next to him on the floor, and put down the plate.
”I'm fine- But your clearly not, what's wrong, Milo?” asked Pepa worriedly. ”I wanna help you- Like you've always helped me. It's only fair. And you deserve it.”
He did.
Her Hijo had always been so kind to her- Calming her and reassuring her. He had always been so gentle with her, being there when she needed him.
God, how she got lucky.
”¿Cómo estás, corazon?” asked Pepa. ”Solo por favor se honesto, Milito. Por favor.”
She kissed him on the forehead.
”¡Estoy mal, Mami!” cried Camilo. ”Sometimes, when I look in the mirror- I just don't recognize myself, and... I-I wanna shift, I just can't stop... I can't stop working, I just can't... I need a distraction...”
Oh, how his tears broke her heart.
”I'm sorry...” mumbled Camilo. ”I know I should be worrying about you, and your feelings... But I just can't stop mine from dripping over and I'm sorry, I know that's not an excuse, but...”
”I'm sorry!”
God, her heart cracked at that.
”Don't apologize, Camilo,” said Pepa. ”You shouldn't stop yourself from expressing your emotions just because of me.”
She blamed herself, she was always so focused on her own emotions, not her children's. And she should be.
He started to cry more.
”Mi amor, I'm here for you. I promise, okay?” comforted Pepa softly. ”It'll be okay, maybe you don't believe me right now, but it will. I know it will, trust me.”
She wrapped her arms around him tightly and reassured him.
(Later)
His head laid down on her shoulder, they were holding hands- And talking, and eating the arepas.
”I don't wanna wait that long... I wanna be okay. Actually okay.” said Camilo.
”I know, mi sol, but just be patient. It will take time, but I'll be there. The familia too.” reassured Pepa.
”I know...” mumbled Camilo sadly.
”Will you tell them? For me?”
”Sure, cariñito.” answered Pepa.
He smiled, it was small, but it was genuine.
”This is new...” mumbled Camilo suddenly
”What do you mean?” asked Pepa.
”Usually I'm the one comforting you.” explained Camilo. ”Now your the one comforting me. Weird, isn't it?”
”Your right.”
He was, for once, the rolls were reversed.
Okay, so, I feel like Camilo started losing his gift earlier than we saw in the movie, like around the time Luisa did. Because, hear me out, my theory is that Luisa was the first to lose her gift because she used it the most, she was one of the most hardworking Madrigals. And that's why, and, my proof? Well, listen to Surface pressure, all about how she had too much on her shoulders, how she worked too much. And maybe the magic just wanted to tell her to take a break in some sort of way??
And, with that theory settled, your probably wondering, what does this have to do with Camilo?
Well, simple, he's a shapeshifter, so people obviously ask him to shapeshift, and he's a Madrigal, so who is he to say no? And all the Madrigals work hard, so he does too. And, I got proof for that he works hard:
He's the town babysitter, we all saw it when he helped that mother during The family Madrigal, he seemed experienced, no? And that mother just gave her baby to him, with no question or anything. That tells us that he's the town babysitter, and he had to get that title somewhere. From working! And he's probably been babysitting for ten years, so he definitely took care of the kids we saw in the movie, and you babysit little kids too. Who better than the person who babysitted them as babies? Who also was the main babysitter in town? If I was a parent, then I would definitely go for that babysitter. I would want the best for my kids.
And, if I were a kid there, I'd definitely want him to shapeshift, into my mother, or me! So, he definitely shapeshifted a lot.
And, the reason Camilo eats so much is because of his gift, it takes energy to shapeshift, energy that he gets from eating and sleeping. And, I think we all understand that he probably takes extras after and maybe during they were eating, and that he takes midnight snacks, and it's probably canon. How much food he eats depends on how much he shapeshifts. So, he obviously shapeshifts a lot.
And, just later in The family Madrigal, Mirabel says My primo Camilo won't stop until he makes you smile today. I feel like that was literal, he won't stop, he wants everybody to be happy. That's why he was so goddamm funny in the movie, he tried to make everybody happy, he wants them to smile and laugh. And what better way to do that then to shapeshift? He can make funny faces with his gift. I don't know about you, but I would think that was funny!
And people probably ask him to turn into them or someone else to help, like Abuela said when they were getting ready for Antonio's ceremony. "Camilo, we need another José.", I feel like the others say that too, just replacing José with the name of the person they need him to turn into.
So, back to what I was saying, he works almost just the same amount that Luisa does, another kind of way. And he seems like he's really dedicated to helping. Like Luisa is.
He fills this role in the town, according to Steph Anya, LMFT, he's the distractor, he stops family tension from rising, it's a useful role to have in a family, but that person doesn't have experience with being serious, since that person is always joking, never serious, which we can see him doing in the movie, he's like the town jokester. And, how would he defuse tension? By shapeshifting. So, that again, proves that he shapeshifts a lot.
And, what if he shapeshifts in his sleep? People have kinda covered it, does that mean he wakes up strained? Because in pretty much every Camilo Angst story, there is some issue with his gift, like he's tired, or always hungry, and he strains when shapeshifting too much. And I, personally, believe that it's true, shapeshifting must have an affect on him, every gift has a downside, like the headcanon that Bruno has migraines because he has accidental visions. I mean, isn't there just something with that headcanon that makes it so you want it to be canon?
But, anyways, both Luisa and Camilo work really hard.
And, since he's so nice and funny, doesn't it just seem like people would turn to him if they were upset? They're placing their burdens on him, like they do with Luisa.
Okay, you don't need to agree with my theory, it's pretty crappy. Isn't it?