#i like how qifrey is used as a means to introduce information to coco (and us

[meringuejellyfish]

i like qifreys way of speaking soo much its so special to me. personally i want more guys who who just speak ever so whimsically in casual conversation and in drastic comparison to those around them. at times its not even whimsy he just says phrases like “yeouch! ooh, that smarts!” and its like. yeah!

[charmspoint]

Treacherous waters and domestic fires

Lemme talk a bit about Qifrey and Olruggios specific brand of water wizard-fire wizard dynamic. Water-fire dynamics are generally very common and I feel like a lot of them rest on a basic premise of temperamental fire user and mild water user, the dynamic being that the water is usually the one to sooth and center the fire.

And at first, Qifrey and Olruggio seem to fall in this category. Qifrey specializes in water and he's all but designed to be liked and trusted. He has a very mild, friendly disposition, he often wrings his hands as he talks making him seem on the sheepish side, he's goofy and tends to overemote, he is very patient with his kids and always leans down or kneels when talking to them so he's on their eyelevel.

Look at the way he's standing to take up as little space as possible that's what I'm talking about, his body language is so meek and disarming.

But you know what they say, still water runs deep.

And boy is Qifrey's character all about running deep and quiet. Bellow the surface there's so much going on. Qifrey is full of mystery, never fully showing his cards to anyone and when people do see glimpses of his plans, he's very quick to cover his tracks. Qifrey is operating bellow the surface of a quiet teaching life, but he's stubborn, persistent, like water through rocks, this has been something he's been working on his whole life, even if on and off. And when his goals are in his sight oh boy.

The way he just losses himself in his rage and hatred, forgetting everything else, even his students. Water is something so treacherous in WHA, having both positive and negative meanings. It marks Qifrey and his care and protection but it also marks his fear. Qifrey mastered water magic specifically so he would fear it less but that fear is no where near gone. If fire burns, water drowns, overwhelms. Drowning is so much quieter then burning and is it not exactly what Qifrey is doing, losing himself in his own revenge. Despite caring about Olruggio and the girls Qifrey consistently picks the path that may do them harm, despite his caring nature he can't help to have that obsessive, calculative side to him. Even as he cares for Coco, he knows he's using her and still continues to do so. Qifrey is a very gentle person, he's easy to trust, easy to lull you in, but he's like a rip current, peaceful on the outside, very dangerous within. I do think water is a perfect element for Qifrey, not only showing his need to take a firm hold of what he fears and hates, but also it perfectly represents the depths he has under the calm surface. We know less about the ocean than we do about the moon and Qifrey is full of secrets and mysteries the story has just started to unravel.

Olruggio, on the other hand, gets introduced completely differently. He gets introduced as a threat (albite a brief one)

Olruggio gets introduced along with the threat of the Council of Magic as well as the knowledge that now there is another adult witch in the house that doesn't approve of Coco's presence. I wouldn't call Olruggio temperamental, not even in that first scene, but he does come off as a lot rougher, grumpier, sharper than Qifrey. Of course this is because Qifrey did all he did without informing Olruggio and anyone would be pissed, but we see things from Coco's perspective, we see him as someone scary and potentially dangerous to Coco's stay in the atelier.

And then we are introduced to Olruggio's magic and I want it written down that Olruggio's magic and the way it's introduced is one of my favorite things in the series. Because what is the first thing this scary looking fire wizard does?

Dries Coco off from the rain. And to cap it all off

We find out he made the stone-lit path that first gave Coco her love for magic. We could have been introduced to Olruggio's magic in so many different ways. When Qifrey used his water magic to prevent Olruggio from leaving with Coco, we could have seen him use it in combat against Qifrey first. But no, because that isn't the core of Olruggio's magic. Through the series Olruggio's magic is described as kind. It's a warm, caring, loving sort of magic. It's fire yes, but warmth and light first and foremost. By introducing Olruggio's magic like this, he's not only characterized as kind by drying off Coco and preventing her from getting sick, he's also immediately linked to the absolute wonder we experienced on the beginning of the series with Coco as she walked the stone-lit path. Despite making such a foreboding first impression, Olruggio is immediately characterized by his magic as someone who's at his core warm and kind, who cares about other people, who's magic brings joy and wonder. And through the series we see him prove this countless times, taking care of not only Qifrey and the girls but strangers as well, always trying his best to make people happy in whichever way he can.

Also it gets lost in the intimidating aura but Olruggio also does the lean down thing when first meeting Coco and it's cute.

Basically what I want to say with this is how much I enjoy the interpretations witch hat has of water and fire dynamic, how water is something mysterious and possibly dangerous while the fire is something kind and warm. If the usual dynamic of water-fire relationship is water soothing fire, I feel like witch hat is building up towards Olruggio being a guiding light for Qifrey out of the turbulent waters he's found himself in.

That is....if Qifrey lets him