Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. or whatever. if you even care
shoutout to this frame from alllll the way back in chapter 43 btw :) qifrey holding olruggio's phantasmal fireball spell and uniquely rendered to look almost undressed as he does, for some reason. who's to say
I love this part so much -- the way this chapter parallels qifrey with coco's mother in multiple ways, including visually here in them both draping fabric over her protectively. the way he doesn't presume to step into her mother's place, but takes on the duty of shielding coco from the cold in her absence. visually we're also placed under the safety of his wing, as it were, to witness coco's most vulnerable state, feeling with her how big and steady and safe he is in her eyes despite as readers having just seen him as a confused hurting child himself for several chapters and knowing all his foibles and missteps well after almost 100 chapters. among all the other things shirahama is a master of, these subtleties of character perspectives is one of the most devastating ones to me.
(for all of the everything going on I think qifrey is actually consistently good at making sure he maintains the role of the adult in this relationship. he recognizes coco's reflexive smile as something akin to his own masking, but he doesn't bleed his own emotions into that, he's there to support her and actually manages to do it. and he apologizes when he slips up, which is probably just as important.)
the sky's kindest, most radiant star strikes again :') again shirahama laying her thematic groundwork perfectly, though; the realization qifrey has at the end of the chapter is set up and shown off perfectly here. he's using the warmth given to him by olruggio and giving it on to someone else (it is, crucially, not a finite resource, it multiplies with the more people it touches on)
I suppose you would know, qifrey :') I also find it very metaphorically interesting that coco's mum is frozen while holding out a lantern, considering the importance of light and warmth in keeping qifrey in this world in the same situation. she carries her own light with her, she's the light for coco, what she's always headed towards. no matter how she goes astray along the way, it's the light she's following. (presumably knowing, however she is capable of knowing right now, that her daughter is out there somewhere makes for a hell of a light to hold on for.) also the fact that the way to coco's home and her mother is guarded by a plant haha looking back at it it's like 'wow wonder where qifrey got that idea from who's to say'
look at the conspicious absence of himself in the supportive lineup lmao. self-esteem of a gnat under there. 'well obviously not me tho I am mostly a Problem'. (still thinking about 'I'm just an empty... mess' thanks for asking.) and then it's thinking about olruggio that makes him sort of wake up to 'wait. I am a person who can have value to other people and meaningfully impact their life posititvely fuck!!!!'. cool and fine and good I'm not sad and touched at all!
also not feeling completely unhinged by how this echoes olly's sentiment way back in the extra chapter that made me cry like a little baby. (presumably he did not actually speak all that aloud, but something clearly resonates between him and qifrey wordlessly here)
shirahama playing the long con always and I am her most gleeful and willing mark
it's so funny that the place we primarily see adult olruggio maintain his clever/hm maybe more like crafty Techniques is in his professional life -- as seen with his expert noble wrangling in chapter 39 that somehow leaves everyone walking away happy -- and meanwhile on the homefront he gets regularly and effortlessly outmaneuvered by a gaggle of preteens. I feel so bad for him in the silver eve arc where everyone keeps taking off with coco's modified sylph shoes, he's like a desperate sheep dog whose precious flock have donned little sheep rocket boots and are merrily scattering to the winds on him
(well I guess in a very real sense he has been outmaneuvered by a preteen every day for the last twenty years or so, it's just that that preteen happens to be himself lol)
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