#ocurambles

[arcaneoddity]

olruggio of the torch you are so very dear to me... i have so many thoughts i fail to articulate bc the whole thing w him n qifrey is just so beyond fucked up, so tragically interwoven, the yaoi is so incredibly doomed i don't even know where to start... most loyal guy forced to always be at arm's length bc both leaving and getting too close will literally fucking kill qifrey and he cannot let that happen bc he cannot let himself fail to prevent anyone else's death, especially not his... istg when (and not if, we are manifesting the when, shirahama-san i am bEGGING) that seed is finally gone i need both of em to have the ugliest snottiest most relieved breakdown about it head in my hands tearing my hair out

[arcaneoddity]

ngl i rly hope qifrey fucking makes it and the seed is removed safely and he gets to have a good fucking cathartic cry and olly gets to hold him so tightly his ribs crack but i hope olly also gets confronted with the truth of what he's made qifrey go through to get there bc yeah they're here and they're together and they've made it bUT AT WHAT COST I need olly to cry just as badly and feel so horrible about it and then pamper qifrey for the rest of forever to make up for it all

[arcaneoddity]

I know the duality of both water (nurturing rain vs. raging current) and fire (gentle warmth vs. destructive blaze) is pointed out directly in WHA... but I still really love how that translates to both Qifrey and Olruggio and subverts their respective elements' most common tropes.

You'd usually expect water to nourish and fire to ravage, and while both are capable of leaning into those qualities, Qifrey's approach is more akin to the unpredictable deluge, and Olly's magic is kind and wards against cold and darkness.

[arcaneoddity]

baby olruggio coming outta the tower of tomes smiling so brightly at both qifrey and his own fate simply because he can finally do the right thing, he can do what a witch is supposed to do and help and protect, he can make up for his failures, redeem himself and save his dear friend... only that he doesn't stop to consider what exactly it is that he asks qifrey to bear in return, the kind of life he condemns him to...

[arcaneoddity]

Listen, I love Jimbotnik's patched-up coat in S3 so much... Obviously that has nothing at all to do with the fact that he literally rips Stone's shirt off his body (definitely not, forreal), but it's also just that the coat looks like he gave Stone like 20 minutes max to try and fix it using whatever the hell he could find.

And the coat ends up having so much character? No more fresh out of dry cleaning look. That's a garment with a story, and it's held together the exact same way Ivo himself is—by Stone's endless patience and steady hands. Both him and the coat have been Through It, and they both come out seeming so much more human for it. Truly my favorite Jimbotnik look.

On the flipside, that... makes the new fit Ivo gets from Gerald more significant, in the sense that it almost feels like a final rejection of all Stone has done for him...

[arcaneoddity]

When it hits you again on a random Monday morning that Robotnik looked his own death in the eye like, yeah okay cool, no loss. The whole planet? Thankless place anyway, fuck it. But the second he realized that Stone's life is threatened? Unacceptable, not happening, not if he has any say in it, which he has because it's Stone, his Stone—nevermind the recent changes to his employment status—who regrettably still needs that planet to live on and an atmosphere to breathe in...

[arcaneoddity]

No I'm not done actually bc rewatching S3 had me realizing just how fucking jaded Stone is from the beginning of the movie. Almost as if the added snark happens bc he's keeping an iron grip on the very last dregs the seemingly bottomless well of his patience holds.

He's had a very rough couple months, zero vacation or even much privacy considering the Crab's proportions, and barely any thanks. He's burnt tf out, and pretty much the only instance when we see him crack a genuine smile again is when Robotnik finally gets a fraction of his spark back and gets his ass out of the depression chair.

...and then we have to watch Stone get replaced, fired, and witness the guy he loves and has worked his entire ass off for (who also just so happens to be responsible for All Of The Above, with regards to his troubles) get blown the fuck up. tO SAVE HIM.

Please, I need this man to be so incredibly mad about it.

[arcaneoddity]

So... y'all ever think about how Stone pulled All That off after the giant robit fiasco, and how goddamn weary he looks at the start of S3?

Like, that's the look of a man who's spent the past year or so wading through his own personal hell, carrying not only his own weight but also that of his boss the man he loves, and I daresay dealing with a medical case of that magnitude tested his limits. Sure, we know Stone is a quick learner but you don't get a whole ass PhD in medicine in that kinda time.

That year was filled to the brim with cold, sickening dread at every corner, every slight decline in Robotnik’s condition could have marked the end, but Stone being as stubborn as he is, he somehow managed to make him pull through.

But... how do you cope with that kind of pressure when the only other person in the room is the one you're trying so desperately to be strong for? What do you do when it gets too much, when the despair creeps up on you and drags you down? Privacy isn't exactly much of a thing in the Crab, so did Stone just bottle it all up all this time? Or did he conceal what breakdowns he did suffer whenever he left on an errand and stepped out of the mech? Did Ivo see that he'd been crying? Did he feel guilty?