Stephen King villains are one of the funniest possible outcomes of Writing What You Know because their personalities are so clearly based on assholes he's met in real life, even if those traits don't necessarily make sense in context, so you end up with shit like the giant baby-eating spider from outer space inexplicably being an outspoken homophobe.
I don't even consider "it's gay" to necessarily be a selling point in games, but I've played enough zero-budget indie walking sims where what initially appears to be wonderfully imaginative meta bullshit is eventually revealed to be a strained allegory for the straight male developer being sad about breaking up with his girlfriend that at this point I get red flag vibes from the faintest whiff of heterosexuality.
Olruggio of the Torch (Witch Hat Atelier Spoilers Ch92)
A torch has two main goals: to light up a path and bring warmth. In this post, I will go over how Olruggio is the perfect embodiment of the torch from the very beginning of the story.
The Torch for Coco
Olruggio's more cold personality in his very introduction is quite the deception. It is still not long before we see the core of his whole personality when he uses his magic to warm up Coco.
Then, we learn Olruggio's cobblestone spell is the first instance of magic that Coco has ever encountered.
This is one of the sweetest moments in the manga, and Olruggio's embarrassed reaction is just gold. However, Coco's lines in the two bottom panels hint at something more somber. The next time she mentions the magic she felt from the cobblestone path is in her monologue in ch62.
Growing up without her father left Coco feeling lost and directionless. Encountering magic gave her hope to latch on. She imagined all the fantastical things she could do with magic; but above all, it gave her the tiniest hope that she could meet her father. Even though this goal was unattainable, Olruggio's magic lit something foundational in her soul. A light that Agott could see so clearly, which is why Agott asks Coco to reflect on her love of magic in ch62.
The Torch for the Cursed
Ch24, where Coco and Tetia encounter the cursed people of Romonon, is the groundwork for the most important theme in Witch Hat Atelier.
After a failed attempt to beat them with physical force, Coco and Tetia reach out to understand the people of Romonon. What they find is that their cruelty is the result of so, so many years without the feeling of comfort.
Coco's solution is to bring out the most comforting magic she knows: Olly's. The people of Romonon immediately see a path with the snugstone. A path that leads them to finally rest.
It's a choice that Coco protests and despairs over, but in the end, it's the path that they found through Olruggio's magic. Once again, it does not only have a physical warmth to it, but it acts as a guide that helps others make choices.
The foreshadowing of Qifrey's character in this chapter is also important to note: he knows the answer to the riddle is 'comfort' immediately, and he also stops Coco from trying to interfere with the end they chose. All of these details are so much heavier now that we know that Qifrey is someone who is Cursed as well. A snugstone was given to Qifrey; but with what we know now, is he able to even use it?
The Torch for Himself
In the bonus chapter for volume 11, Olruggio is almost entirely by himself. Struggling with an artblock for his work, he produces a purely decorative spell in order to "clear his mind."
These animals he composes are torchstags, which we know because Agott shows Coco her own decorative animal spells in ch58. Perhaps it was Olruggio that partly inspired her to do so after seeing how all the girls enjoyed this display of magic.
Even without others, it's in Olruggio's nature to produce magic with a guiding light. He naturally dazzles others even when it's magic for himself, but he still notes the effect of his magic on Coco.
This page directly connects to the theme of Olly igniting Coco's light; though, reminds the audience that the hope comes from the witch's deception. The magic itself may be a lie, but the strength it gives to others is true.
Indeed, Olly has always had a torch for himself. Ch76 has the youngest sighting we have of Olly. He proudly stands in front of his warming contraption.
However, it's the incident in Noz that leaves him feeling more lost than ever. He doesn't believe in the warmth of his light anymore. That is, until he encountered...
The Torch for The Silverwood Maiden
ch89's flashback opens with a despondent Olly following what he deemed as his greatest failure. The chief assures him that he won't have to worry about saving people down here; ironically, he immediately finds someone that needs saving.
Unsurprisingly, it's a drying spell to keep Qifrey warm that Olly uses. Yet somehow, saving his life will be far from the only gift that Olly brings him. It's with Qifrey that we first see him wave the torch of knowledge. He teaches him to use magic to solve his problems instead of charging in unprepared.
Olly teaches him how to lie. How to put on a friendly smile.
He even teaches Qifrey how to cook, another very important part of Qifrey's future personality. He kept showing Qifrey more and more. Even when Qifrey pushed him away, he is always there.
He was above Qifrey with a helping hand even when he shut himself away in the darkness.
Olruggio isn't just a torch for Qifrey.
When sailors are surrounded by the discomfort of endless seas and in the darkest of nights, they look to the unwavering stars to navigate. And Olruggio is...
This brings us back to the Silverwood maiden Tale in ch47.
There are endless things to pour over in this tale. For this post's sake, I will focus on the aspect mentioned in ch92: that boats sail on the night sky. This reinforces the idea that the sea and sky mirror each other. The star messenger was lost before meeting the silvermaiden, just as Olly was lost before meeting Qifrey. They have too many distinctions to mirror each other exactly, but there's a sort of balance to them. Olly leaves Qifrey a guiding torch to give him hope, but it's because of Qifrey that Olly has a direction to confidently 'sail' in.
I've gone through the many things that Olly has done for Qifrey, but it would be have to be another post to talk more about what exactly Qifrey has done that has made Olly so attached to him--how much of it is because of olly's savior complex, qifrey's nature, etc. All of that is true, and yet there is also a simpler answer to his ceaseless attachment to Qifrey.
Prev yes fucking preach, incoming socialist rant I regret to inform anyone following me for art lmao
Time and time again the small organised American left throws all their energy into the democrats, a fundamentally ruling class institution representing a section of capital in America since major parties rely on corporate backing
It’s extra messed up in America as the underlying operation of elections is only a positive if you want to keep the status quo forever since there’s no ‘left opposition’- no party rooted in unions across the country like there are in other countries
But then counterintuitively, groups like the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America, who Mamdani is a member and internally well respected cadre of) build campaigns around registering Democrat voters and convincing people a vote will be the start to changing the system, I.e thinking the most left wing thing to ever do is just try pushing the democrats slightly more left
And you would think by now that would have run its course? After how AOC voted to fund Israel’s iron dome, or Bernie saying israel has a right to defend itself would kinda prove that ineffective, right??
Running people in the democrats means that they have a constant conservatising force to reckon with- literally the rest of the political establishment.
In order to run capitalism in an executive state position like mayor- it means playing nice with the governor by giving up your defund the police arguments, it means finding an opportunist ally in Brad Lander, an ideological Zionist with some criticisms here and there about Israel so you maintain a bit of cred and internal support.
It’s brilliant that the DSA got 50,000 volunteers mobilised on a nominally socialist candidate, it shows how much of an appetite there is to opposing the horrors of the world, but actually a bit sad to think of how many times this has had a demoralising effect on people!
The democrats can’t offer the solution to the cost of living crisis, or police brutality, or Israeli terror, or homelessness- because these are byproducts of the capitalist system running normally, and dems simply have to run. the. state.
So when people like AOC get elected with them, it’s no surprise they get dragged even further right! Leftists in America !! yall need a working class based project completely autonomous and independent to the democrats, or else you get into a situation where everyone’s too scared to call representatives out on compromising on all their left wing rhetoric (and also don’t run for nyc mayor bc you have to support one of the largest police forces in the world!)
Compromising has a snowball effect when you’re afraid to rock the boat too much, how much slack is too much to give to a politician seems to be a question constantly brought up over there
Below are some quotes and points from a socialist newspaper, red flag, please read it hits the mark so well:
fsr people love to bring up land back but never actually in context of the canadian indigenous people that started the phrase and movement. also ill see people talking about it and using it basically "im being progressive and antiracist" but also like explicitly using it in a super vague tokenizing way where they dont actually seem to be invested in or care about what land back actually means ..?
time to drop the epic landback reading list by mike gouldhawke
I could have sworn he had an essay at one time titled something like "the matriarchal roots of landback" that talked more specifically about the origins of the phrase but I can't find it now
re-reblogging myself because seriously go read or watch at least three things off this list. the vast majority of non-Indigenous people who talk about Land Back have no clue how people within Indigenous communities are actually conceptualizing this stuff because almost every hypothetical I see is so far removed from the things most people I know on the ground in community want and what they are actively doing. (hint: its not a balkanized mass of ethnostates where tiny native minorities landlord over everyone else)
his dark materials will literally always work bc every small child wants an animal companion that loves you most and goes on adventures with you and every adult wants an animal companion that can shoulder some of life’s immense psychologically damage for you. and you can pet it
I know this might make people mad, but absolutely refusing to even attempt to treat your mental illness, and instead just endlessly inflicting your unmitigated episodes on the people around you, is abusive. Your loved ones are not stress toys that you can just squeeze every time you feel bad. It is bad if someone says your repeated behavior is hurting them, and you take no steps to change. I know damn well that you can’t always help how your brain acts, but I’ve also spent a lot of years trying to stop my spiraling brain in its tracks, work on strategies to calm down, and consider the impact I’m having on others, because I grew up in a household with people who have the attitude of, “I have the right to consume all the attention in the house and drain your energy every single day because I feel miserable, and you’re the bad guy if you say that I’m making you feel bad and that I need to get help. I can treat you however I want because of my anxiety.”
guy that thinks more than they speak vs guy that doesnt think before they speak (although frisk wouldve still said that even if they thought it through lol)
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