ok buf if Bel knows about the silverwood curse? Maybe one day before travel Qifrey had sit down and talked with him about it...and that is the reason of Bel respect his son space so much...
i've been thinking about this too, because Qifrey only really says that Beldaruit doesn't know about his vision [and granted, in the context and earliness of the chapters- he couldn't have really said or thought more, but... hm]
it would be devastating if Qifrey only talked to Beldaruit before he took off, i think- and if he didn't even really mean to. I fully think Qifrey was planning to just vanish forever if he could- and honor Olly's sacrifice by living as long as he was able w/o succumbing to the tree
if he broke down one final time, in front of the man that practically raised him, before he had to leave... ooough..
au where easthies experiences random visions of the future (because he was subjected to forbidden magic) and the future he sees is always tragic. the only one capable of changing that is coco because she's the anomaly made by brimhats
all easthies' anxiety about magic balance comes from his visions of the world succumbing back into pre-pact crisis and coco has important but vague role in them. despite him not knowing exactly what role she will play in the 'apocalypse', he perceives her in advance as a danger but she'll prove him wrong
Now the specific reason why I theorize visions of future too is because we still don’t have any explanation for why Easthies handed Qifrey that scroll with lock wax seal on it in ch 50 to the point where Qifrey even wonders (in ch 69 I think) how Easthies knew it would be useful because Qifrey mentioned that he used it to apprehend Engendale.
I have so many theories on Easthies but the future sight one in particular feels plausible due to the lock wax sealed scroll. One day I’ll make a list of these theories.
whole scene is so cryptic and strange for no reason now that i reread it
i also want to point out (not for this theory but in general how strange easthies as a character is) that for some reason as a kid he was brought to godley right after a big tragedy with several deaths had happened? even if he was a genius at his young age, it's really irresponsible and strange to take a child on a field trip to take care of mass death
his ch 78 psychosis was triggered immediately after the leech was defeated (meaning immediately after he had a chance to lash out at everyone he took it instead of helping the injured or just resting), and some time after vinanna said about the cold wind
probably the same wind that started the deadly blizzard in godley
atp he's just appearing in people's lives in convenient moments (and very inconvenient for coco)
Romeo and Juliet retelling but it's a married couple who are planning to carve time out of their busy schedules to go out together, but she decides to take a little nap to try to get more energy to stay up later, and when he finds her asleep he assumes she's gone to bed for real so he goes all the way to sleep (I'm talking sleep mask + vaporub + white noise + melatonin, or whatever routine people do for a REALLY good sleep) and when she wakes up from her nap and finds him out cold she just goes to bed too. Tragic 😔
Was talking to a coworker today who explained that her grandfather was like Snow White “but Californian. And an old man.” in that the creatures of the forest would follow him around and presumably duet with him.
“When he died the ravens sat in the trees outside for a week, watching. Taking turns. A horde of raccoons tried to break into the house every night, tearing at the siding. Eventually they gave up, but it was unsettling.”
“Aww. They were checking on him!” I said, like a normal person. Internally, I thought “Maybe you could do the thing you do with dead pets, where you show them to the living pets so the living pet understands they’re gone. But I guess if you did that to a bunch of scavenging species, they’d be like “Well, that’s very sad but he IS food now.” So what you’d need, for human sensibilities, is some sort of transparent corpse barrier. Like a see-through coffin oh that’s what the dwarves were doing! You’ve stopped paying attention to this conversation about the loss of a beloved family member you gotta phase back in.”
Iguin is Coco’s father. Qifrey is a clone of Iguin (which is why he has no memories of his youth). What the brimmed caps failed at in experimenting with Qifrey they will try again with Coco.
This could contribute to the theme of acting according to your own moral center rather than following your family or society. It would also parallel Agott’s journey with developing herself outside of her family ties.
love the fact that iguin did NOT have to charge coco jack shit for that book but decided to anyway. My man how are you so fucking broke you need some change from a toddler who was gonna buy strawberries like what the hellllllll.
ik they probably did it to seem like an actual merchant to a regular person but he could've done the whole "I'll make a special deal just for you" thing and given out his books for free but his penniless bitch decided that they needed to bargain with a child that was 2 apples tall for some goddamn reaosn
So I was scrolling through Twitter and looking through WHA posts. I read this post.
I was interested and thought about how that would make for a good twist that can keep Qifrey alive and the story interesting for future stakes.
Then I saw this post just a few minutes ago.
The art is stellar, go like at the post if you can.
This art piece got me thinking about how if the twin theory is true, especially with the recent knowledge that Qifrey was used as a base for splitting off other potential clones. Then we could get a scene maybe not exactly like this but the same concept.
story idea/theory time:
What if Qifrey tries to run away so he can both stay alive but also to keep the others safe from him if he were to become a tree? That way, Olly or the kids wouldn't try anything dumb to turn him back. Then, while he is gone, Olly and the girls, of course, go searching for him, and they eventually find who they assume to be him. But, plot twist, it's Iguin who is using this opportunity to get into the Atelier and try to influence Coco to do forbidden magic. It would be such a cool arch and it would cause the characters to show just how much they would be able to notice if Qifrey was replaced or started acting strange. Would they think it's becasue of the I'm a tree reveal that he would be acting weird or would they put two and two together? That is not Qifrey.
I have a sinking feeling about Qifrey and where his story is headed.
MASSIVE spoilers and maybe slightly long-winded theorizing below the cut.
I believe quite certainly that Qifrey intends to reveal the complete truth to Olruggio very soon, and that while he seems to be accepting his fate, he is trying to maintain as much control over the terms of his inevitable end as possible.
Following the events of Chapter 88, after he reveals his nature as a Silverwood host to Coco, he asks to postpone his complete confession, wishing to be able to reveal the truth elsewhere, in a peaceful place beneath a wide open sky where his roots would have room to comfortably grow. He has described the land around the atelier in this way many times before.
Later, when the entire group is finally reunited and Olruggio tells Qifrey they’re going home. Qifrey’s expression looks pained for a moment, before he answers, “Alright then. Let's go home. Our atelier awaits."
His verbal recognition of the atelier as his home is a rather glaring signal that he is beginning to accept his imminent end and has chosen the atelier as his ideal final resting place. This is hinted at early on in a sequence during which Beldaruit spoke to Riliphin of the Silverwoods, and implied that he knew of Qifrey’s condition as he privately worried that his beginning to think of the atelier as his home could be dangerous for him.
At a point during their journey home, we return to the group to find the girls all asleep, while Qifrey has distanced himself from the rest, sitting on the bank of a lake to write in his book. Olruggio joins him and points out how far he’s sitting from the fire.
I think this was probably intentional in an effort to be closer to the lake to keep himself anxious, since it is my personal theory that here, Qifrey is actually writing a letter to Olruggio in which he tells him the entire truth, and that the narration through the next arc is comprised of excerpts from that letter. The lake is intended to be a failsafe of sorts, since of course, we know that vocalizing the truth to Olly is Qifrey’s greatest comfort trigger, while water touching his skin is his biggest anxiety trigger. Given this, it makes sense for him to choose this particular spot to begin to release the truth so he has a means of keeping the Silverwood at bay readily available should he need it, which he evidently does later on.
In the segments that follow, Qifrey reminisces on how he and Olruggio crossed paths at the Great Hall and became close.
Through the end of chapter 91, we watch the story unfold neutrally as though it is happening in real time, with no narration, but in chapter 92, something shifts. As soon as Qifrey’s recount reaches the part of the story that would have been lost to Olruggio’s memory, a past-tense narrator voice begins to cut in, and suddenly, it becomes clear this story is being told to someone, not merely recalled, and not just to anyone, but to Olruggio by Qifrey. This is the strongest evidence that what we’re reading is actually the contents of a letter to Olruggio.
All of this indicates to me that Qifrey is not just reminiscing, but is actively preparing for the end. The telling of the story, the physical and emotional distance Qifrey has put between himself and the others, and his now repeated framing of the atelier as both home and the kind of place where he would want to be forever, are all supportive of that.
As far as we know, Qifrey hasn’t been the one to initiate a full confession since they were kids at the Tower of Tomes. Spilling his guts in a letter written under duress is probably a new tactic, and it’s a smart one, as it ensures Qifrey can get the complete truth out on his terms without the usual interruption from the Silvertree.
We also know that Qifrey would rather die than have his transformation hurt the people he loves, so at this point, I wouldn't put it past him to leave the letter at home where the others will find it before going off to trigger his transformation alone, or waiting until the others are gone to trigger it.
This is what has me especially worried for him now, because Olruggio and the girls just left the atelier, leaving Qifrey there by himself. Maybe I'm projecting (probably), but the thought of Qifrey leaving a note and then going off to essentially kill himself makes my stomach hurt. Painfully though, it does feel in character, especially now that he's vocalized his trust in his students, particularly Coco, to carry on his mission. Olruggio, please go home now, your husband is an active danger to himself!!
Fortunately, Hiehart and Jujy pay the atelier a visit, but even upon greeting them, he does already seem on edge and uncharacteristically down.
Hopefully, whatever Hiehart has to say will get Qifrey out of his head and convince him to keep living for a little while longer. I'm guessing he's going to ask Qifrey to take on Jujy as his apprentice. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Anyways. To conclude, here is Qifrey’s directed narration/possible excerpts from a letter to Olruggio compiled:
Every day I turned my gaze away from the encroaching dread, and for as long as I was in the dark, I was happy. I greeted each morning with excitement, for with the rise of the sun came another adventure with you. I thought if I could retrieve the past I lost, my joy would be as genuine as yours, and perhaps I would have a real chance to share in your happiness. A child can dream. Like ordinary boys, we would share our visions of tomorrow with each other and we would laugh at how far away it all seemed.
Little did I know that felicity came with forgetting. It was a bliss born of ignorance. If I knew what I was… If I knew that I was never meant to be saved, I would've stayed far away from you, the sky’s kindest, most radiant star.
I once read an old poem that likened stars to boats sailing through the sky. But as far as I know, boats don’t twinkle like stars. The light doesn’t come from the vessel itself, but its guiding torch. Like your pyreball, it burns at the bow. A beacon of light in the dark.
After that fateful day, you would uncover my secret again and again. Each time you would respond with disbelief. Then your face would twist and turn in anguish. And after biting back a few words, you would show me grace, and comfort me and forgive me for lying to you. And then, without fail, the Silverwood’s roots would grow. You would offer me the same path back every time, and I would take it, adding to my mess of sins.
I had often considered leaving your side. I thought that perhaps traveling alone would save me from taking away your memories. But even that minute solace was enough for the Silverwood. I knew then that distance would do nothing but break my promise to you.
So I had another thought: A master never wants for worry with apprentices to look after. The selfishness behind my reason for taking on pupils made me ill, but they’d never have to know that. So I decided to put every fiber of my being toward becoming a good educator. If only I had known then what a joy it truly is to watch your students grow with each passing day.
It’s somewhat rare for a Silverwood to take root in people. Unlike animals, they tend to hold onto too much anxiety. Which is why the tree planted in Custus that gave him his legs raises some questions. My right eye was the only one to sprout during the experiments. It must have some connection to the Silverwood in Custas. For so long, I thought I was the only host, but now I'm not so sure. There could be more victims out there than I ever imagined.
Did I make the right choice?
Would it have been better to throw everything aside and hunt down the brimmed caps?
Doubts like these turn in my head, but the moment I see my atelier, I remember.
This is where my heart is. This is where I want to be.
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