Olruggio, violence, and the dualistic nature of fire (and all magic)
After reading the latest chapter, I am quite certain that we will see fire magic used in a truly devastating way sometime in the story's future, either in a traumatic flashback or an equally traumatic current event (or both), and Olruggio will be at the center of it. Witnessing a character known for their gentleness resort to violence is probably one of my favorite concepts in storytelling. I am deeply fascinated by the push and pull of violence in narrative, and fire is able to give itself to the theme SO well. That which can be used for light and warmth, can also be used to burn.
Disclaimer: I'm not sure how visually explicit Shirahama will get with fire-related violence, if at all, but I will say that we have already witnessed many instances of body horror in the manga; the origin of the leech monster... Euini's transformation... the people of Romonon turned to gold, and then melted of their own volition... Custas and Qifrey. Shirahama does not shy away from magic turned violent when coming into contact with human bodies. What magic-induced violence she has presented to the reader thus far have been genuine hand-over-mouth horror. Anyway, back to Olly!
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We've already seen the power of his spells when Coco goes to the Tower of Tomes. He takes out a giant sea serpent with a single seal etched onto a skipping stone:
and he uses destructive fire magic many more times against the valance leech:
and he's good at it. He's really good at using magic for violence, when it's necessary. He has no love for it, but he will use fire to cause harm if he has no other choice. In ch82, he was fully prepared to go scorched earth on the leech monster for his kids:
It's brought up again and again throughout the narrative that the witches of old once waged wars using magic.
The chaos and violence wrought by that magic was how The Pact came into being—a select few witches ushered in an era peace by subjugating an entire populace with mass memory wipe, and decreed that magic would never be turned on people again, for good OR evil.
This decision has been at the root (haha) (sorry) of the greater conflict and questioning within the world of Witch Hat Atelier; could the withholding of magic to save lives be considered a violence unto itself? Who is allowed to use magic, and for what purpose? To whose benefit? To what end? The Brimmed Caps would have these questions brought to light and engaged with, however imperfectly.
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There is a moment in the battle against the valance leech where Olruggio freezes at the "encouraging" words of violence that some non-witches are shouting at him. It incapacitates him to the point that he cannot bring himself to cast, and the leech punishes him for his hesitation:
What exactly was he thinking about? What was he remembering?
Olruggio grew up in Ghodrey, a city in the far north and known for its harsh and unforgiving winters. We know that something terrible happened during a job while helping the non-witch village of Nauz, as shown in Utowin's backstory (who also grew up Ghodrey). A blizzard left people stranded in the cold, an unspecified monster attacked them, and people died. Olruggio, an inexperienced child at the time, blamed himself for their deaths, but we don't know for certain how exactly they died, or what became of the monster that attacked the village.
I believe we will be getting a better glimpse into Olruggio's backstory, and the psychological consequences of it, in the new arc; the theme of death in the last two chapters is pervasive—this arc is set in winter, when conditions for survival are most difficult, for all living things.
Like. Hey prince. Why would you say that. What did you mean by that. What d—
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In ch96, Olruggio goes with the girls to help one of the neighboring villages prepare for winter, and in classic Shirahama style, the funny silly heehee panel
is tonally altered by the next ones
"guess he's speaking from experience" and regrettio into "btw seeing a living thing burn alive fucking sucks, would not recommend it, kids" while looking at the very hand that casts fire magic is so crazy, and knowing Shirahama's unwavering attention and dedication to detail, it is very deliberate. In this chapter, Olruggio and the girls come across a dead dragon.
He is no stranger to death, and has seen death by flame; he has grieved and been shaped by the unpredictable nature of fire, an element that can give itself as easily to life as it does to death.
His "failure" to save everyone in the blizzard flashback led him to create magic whose purpose is warm and gentle.
Does Olruggio know that his gentlest form of magic killed every last "living" Romonon? Did anyone tell him it was an amplified snugstone, originally created for warmth and comfort, that finally put them to rest?
At what point does cruelty become a kindness, and kindness, cruel? How does magic, the prohibition of certain kinds of magic, and the controlling of who gets to use magic, position itself in this question?
My guess is that Olruggio first saw the devastating nature of fire without restraint in Nauz, during the blizzard. Maybe it was a question of kill, or be killed. I imagine gentle magic would not easily abate an opportunistic or territorial monster in a winter storm, nor will it mean anything to a Brimmed Hat witch who would see the social order upended, for better or for worse.
He is known as Olruggio of the Torch. The Star of Ghodrey. The sky's kindest, most radiant star. He is a source of warmth and comfort, both in presence and in everything he has ever invented for the better of the world. He has a gentle soul, and the narrative will have him suffer for it.
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Not to worryyy! This is ultimately a story about hope, and hope prevailing in spite of the horrors! The suffering is not forever.
He uses the image of a dragon in his most aggressive spellcasting, which is thematically interesting to me, especially given the sheer amount of dragons we are likely to witness in this arc. With the snowy setting now upon us, I hope we will see more of Olruggio's past come up, whether in flashback, emotional impact, or in similarity to what the girls will be up against.
I love dragons and I'm excited to see the direction this arc takes!
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Other things I would have liked to go further into depth with but decided against it, so as to narrow the focus of this post: the parallels between Tetia and Prince Eoleo and the warring witches of old, and the use of magic for healing vs violent magic used to prevent further harm.
Would love to hear other people's thoughts on the topics I've presented here!
I've read a few recently published books, and there's this recurring pattern where if anyone does anything bad and interesting, they have to later talk about it in a way that makes it clear that it was a misunderstanding/ justified/ not their fault, so they're still a good person. and if they have a disagreement with another character, they have to therapy talk it out, regardless of their background. it doesn't matter if this is a street urchin with three teeth who just stabbed and kidnapped someone, you will get eloquent sterile therapy speak that will smooth out any possible emotional tension. and everyone asks for permission before they kiss, and waits for a clear enthusiastic yes. again, doesn't matter the character's background or situation, they will ask "can I please kiss you," because if they didn't, that could get all yucky and uncertain, couldn't it? and if a character is from a rich family, they will hate being in a rich family, and hate wealth signifiers, and actually be all for class equality. and everyone is casually queer, without thought being put into how that would mesh with the society that is being described. like yes, this is violent class-based system obsessed with inheritance, but no, it's not actually a problem that the child they've coldly groomed to take on the family mantle is unwilling to beget an heir because of gay. the parents might be terrible, cruel and fascistic, but they're not homophobic! I don't know, it just seems like EVERYTHING that could actually be messy gets sanded and sanded until it's smooth as a shark, but the Fun Violence is allowed to stay, because bloodshed doesn't actually bother anyone or have any consequence apart from your rogue character shrugging and going oops, was that me? the rogue is still a good person though. if you think they're not, just wait for the two solid pages of introspection. and yes they started the book by slitting two throats, but that was fine. they will ask permission before hugging you.
I’m still baffled by how many of the responses to this post are “read other books”, because my rant is just pointing out a trend in recently published novels.
we can do a thought experiment: if I, as an individual, read other books, does the trend stop existing, making this observation obsolete?
let’s dig even deeper: what books do I read? the post is about recent-ish books, presumably in the fantasy genre. I don’t explicitly mention that I read old books, translated books, literary books, and award winners. does this mean that I don’t read them? does your teacher sleep in the school? let’s discuss.
chilchuck going "sorry leave me outta this one. i cant fight" but then hitting literally every precise shot with an arrow or projectile he ever made in the story INCLUDING PIERCING A RED DRAGONS EYE BY THROWING A KNIFE WHILE LEAPING AWAY my bro is a rogue with dex 20 and wants no one to know biggest liar in history
the "came back wrong" trope except like... they didnt. like this mad scientists wife died, and so he studied necromancy, brought her back, and she came back and it all worked. like she came back exactly the same as she was before with literally no difference. but the scientist guy is like "oh no... what have i done.... shes Different now!!!! she came back Wrong!!!!" and shes just like. chilling. reading a book. cooking dinner. shes just so so normal but in the guys mind hes like "oh shes soooo weird" but shes just normal
Thinking back to the first story I ever started writing down (I was 7 or 8) about a group of stray cats who, every full moon, took the form of human kids. They actually were human kids, who had been killed (all at different times/by different people). Their bodies were each dumped by the side of the road where a cat had been hit by a car previously, and their souls landed in the cats' bodies. Eventually they all found each other and decided that every full moon, when they shifted, they'd try to solve each other's murders one by one. It was going to be a series, with each book focusing on a different kid's murder mystery. I told my mom about it once, briefly, and she said "Those cat books (warrior cats) are making you creepy."
You know that whole sibling thing where you tell the youngest “you aren’t actually related to us, mom just found you in the trash and felt bad and took you home.”? That being Riyo and Zanka with Rudo but that is exactly what happened when mom Enjin brought him home
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