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[rei-ismyname]

Iceman Cometh - Bobby Drake Levels Up

As the youngest of the original five X-Men, Iceman was the class clown and the least powerful. Snowboy might have been a better name for him, though that would be a little mean. He definitely experienced growth and came into his own with his powers, but Bobby Drake was closeted for many years in more ways than one.

Snowboy and Iceman, side by side.

All-New X-Men is a great example of an additive retcon for Bobby, revealing that he is gay. His outing is not a model for how to treat queer people, but Marvel sucks at that so it's kinda to be expected. It was nonetheless a quite profound turning point for him and he grew as an X-Man and as a person. 2019's House of X revealed that he was an Omega Mutant of Temperature Manipulation (negative) while also finally defining the term - 'a mutant whose dominant power is deemed to register or reach an undefinable upper limit...' Basically Gods or elemental incarnations for their specific gift, and Iceman was no different.

Iceman terraforming Mars with the other Omegas in Planet-Size X-Men, described as 'creating ice sheets miles wide' - all the ice on Planet Arakko was created by Iceman - the very environment.

Bobby was having a blast in Marauders, taking names and kicking ass on the high seas. In issue 21 most of the Marauders + Emma Frost were flushed into space by a scoundrel trying to rob and kill them. He would have succeeded if not for Iceman's quick thinking, creating a small planetary body to shelter in after being airlocked. Iceman himself could survive space but this feat unlocked confidence we hadn't seen before from him, and something else...

Bobby Drake was truly becoming Iceman and internalising what Omega means. Not having to fear death played a part too but he was considering 'undefinable upper limit' when opportunity struck.

One fine afternoon FIN FANG FOOM smelt their aged Krakoan whiskey and acted as gigantic dragons that win galactic combat tournaments often do. The whole crew was terrified and made haste to GTFO. Sure, customers were waiting on their product, but generally dragons do as they please.

Bobby Drake would have been one of them but Iceman just saw a challenge. 'This isn't even my final form' - probably.

Freezing his gums and his initial attack didn't work, with the dragon smashing Bobby into shards. Fortunately that's barely an inconvenience and Iceman was not giving up. Yeah, get iced, idiot!

Still, Ice Pokémon are weak to Fire. Melting him was as effective as smashing him to pieces, so Bobby finally got serious. 'Get big and beat them down' beats even the hottest flame.

Sure, buddy. After a walloping, Triple F fired off some face-saving utterances and turned tail. The rest of the Marauders were gobsmacked and kinda scared, except for Christian Frost who said 'that's my boy.' He still wasn't feeling challenged though, so he went on a little trip...

... to Niffleheim to bare knuckle box Ice Giants. I feel a little sorry for them bc they were just kicking it in their home when this lunatic showed up and kicked all their asses. 'SEND THE ONES THAT FIGHT THOR!'

'WE ARE THE ONES WHO FIGHT THOR.' Yeah he beat the shit out of all the Ice Monsters in the Ice Realm easily. The ones that give Thor and Odin grief. They've invaded Asgard and Earth multiple times, though they might give the latter a miss in future. Tbh he found it unchallenging, but at least they know who's the king of Ice. ICEMAN, THAT'S WHO.

'What did you do today?'

'Pounded Fin Fang Foom til he fled then beat up the entirety of Niffleheim. Kinda slow, wbu?'

[pluckyredhead]

what do you like most about darkice?

I love that Akihiro is supposed to be this cool, sexy, confident badass who has been fucking his way around the planet for over half a century and doesn't give two shits about anything...and he loses one (1) fight to Bobby and absolutely loses his mind about it. Like, I love Bobby, I adore him, he's my favorite X-Man, but he is kind of just a regular-looking dork who is also an accountant and very annoying, and yet Akihiro stages this elaborate killing-all-the-X-Men-and-taking-over-the-world scheme that's about 5% about killing all the X-Men and taking over the world, and 95% about getting Bobby's attention. Bobby is my precious ice ice baby and he deserves to have a beautiful deranged man completely obsessed with him.

I also think they could genuinely work long term (and I mean looong term, since they are canonically both going to live for centuries), because they challenge each other in interesting ways. Bobby will hold Akihiro accountable while not being unable to forgive his past. (I think JohnnyDaken is a super interesting ship and I'm fascinated by their relationship but I don't think they could ever work in the long run because the genre gap is just too wide. The FF don't kill. I'm not sure if Bobby has, I still have about 30 years of canon to get through, but the X-Men as a whole definitely do, and Bobby for sure has maimed people and does not feel bad about it.) And I think Akihiro would be good at seeing through Bobby's deflect-y "Who, me? Oh no, I am just a hilarious scamp with no feelings" ways.

Plus, imagine if Bobby got to have a boyfriend with a personality! I mean, ahem, who said that?

[tiffycat]

Should've brought a coat if you're gonna complain

[thistlepickle]

crying i love richeh

[suremaybeiguess]

Richeh open a business post-canon I believe in you daughter

[myuminji]

wanted to draw a continuation of librarian agott and brimhat coco AU where they meet again a few years later:

Thinking of the qifrey level of obsession agott has over brimcaps after the incident (that also being part of the reason why qifrey took her in as his student) and coco who's always watching from afar until agott finally caught up to her...

thinking of agott who goes alone bcs she knows coco won't hurt her, and when their caps falls off their head and they're back to being just two girls in the tower, not witches or brimcaps,,,

[heysoundsgood]

today your guest lecturer is: fun dad

[tofu-cats]

Thinking about Olruggio as a symbol of hope and protection, and also as a symbol of war.

There's his formative childhood trauma about not being able to do enough, not being able to save people. So much of what he does now is to comfort and protect. His light-up cobblestones — designed to make poor areas of cities safer at night — were Coco's first inspiration. He puts a lot of thought into making sure that his inventions won't be misinterpreted or hurt people.

But also...

He is very well-known among witches and non-witches, rich and poor. Flying around doing fire magic in the night, he is the most visible protector of the city. People on the ground are cheering him on, and the kings and nobles safe in Castle Ezrest are watching, too. After the super big, super impressive joint spell with Qifrey, Qifrey nopes the fuck out like immediately, leaving Olruggio to take all the credit.

We are repeatedly told that if non-witches discover magic's potential for violence, and if the kings grasp magical power for themselves, the entire continent will devolve into war.

Even now, Olruggio is at least somewhat beholden to his wealthy patrons — he doesn't have the option to just walk away from that dude who's being super unreasonable about his floor. Floor-dude's daughter is much nicer, but she asks him to work for her personally, like kings and witches did in The Days Of Yore.

Of course he says no, and she respects that. But will he always be able to say no?

[myuminji]

"memories of the forgotten boy."

I've always had many thoughts for young olly... his regrets of not being able to help and his fear through the whole process. fear of his best friend dying in front of him and having to lose his memories, but still keeping a brave face the whole time...

I think of him being regretful for many things but never once for loving his best friend, and he knows it'll never change with or without his memories

[pivotttt]

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.

[chippolyta]

Belarus is disappointed but not surprised.

[yayee-prsp]

Don't forgive me

[amimochi]

If we ever meet again.

[joshuallyman]

low key feel bad for whatever master took on baby olruggio. like have fun here's an adultified 7-year-old who has already been traumatized by death and monsters and gets nightmares about it. he has a problem with authority, doesn't trust adults, has no problem lying to said adults, probably hates his dad, is codependent with the wise of teaching's apprentice who looks like he bites and hey he also sneaks out into the wilderness regularly with said apprentice. and oh! he's a prodigy who probably thinks he knows more than you. good luck!

[nyuisnt]

WHA CHAPTER 93 SPOILERS!

'And just like that, you can wipe a person's mind of the memory behind the tears.'

[chipchopclipclop]

bro, we are witches, its okay to cast spells around me (legally)

[chipchopclipclop]

studies show that a witches cloaks’ only purpose is actually just to house wayward 10 year olds