Milk is the blood of cows in a way

early richeh-agott dynamic is probably fun to see since on top of the two of them being polar opposites, one holds grudges and the other one is emotionally constipated

they eepy

aka

some agott studies!

closeups + process under the cut

So, your landlord/parents/home inspector/favorite movie star is dropping by, and your place is a disaster. You don’t have much time to clean it up. You’re in emergency mode. Let’s get started.

Don’t panic. Panic leads to fear, fear leads to procrastination, procrastination leads to the dark side. You can do this, but you have to stay calm.

Unlike maintenance cleaning, we’re not looking to completely unfuck one space at a time. Instead, we want to decrease the overall mess in stages, spread evenly across the whole area that we’re concerned about. If you think your home is at Level 10 filth, we want to bring the whole thing down to a Level 9, and then down from there. One really clean spot in an otherwise messy home is not going to be helpful here.

Get prepared. You’ll want to shut the computer down (or turn the modem off if you need your computer to play music). Trust me. Get your music going. Gather up trash bags, your vacuum and mop, some rags or paper towel, sponges, and other cleaning supplies. Use what you have on hand. Don’t get distracted running to the store and spending an hour browsing cleaning supplies. A multi-purpose cleaning concentrate or a jug of vinegar will be just fine.

Breaks are very important. Depending on your time constraints, work in 20/10s (20 minutes working, 10-minute break) or 45/15s. But take breaks because otherwise you’re marathoning, and marathon cleaning is no one’s friend. Keep hydrated, don’t forget to eat, and check in with yourself frequently to make sure you’re physically doing OK.

Make your bed. This will be your home base if you get overwhelmed or need somewhere clear to take a break.

Start with the garbage. Going from room to room, throw out anything that is obvious trash. Once you fill a bag, take it out. Repeat as many times as necessary.

Move on to dishes. Gather the dishes from all over your house and bring them to the kitchen. If you can, start them soaking in a sink of hot, soapy water or start loading the dishwasher. After the dishes are all in one place, spend one 20/10 getting started getting them under control.

Now it’s time for your flat surfaces. Countertops, tables, dresser tops, etc. Clear them off and wipe them down. Don’t get distracted in too much sorting and organizing. We’re in crisis mode here. There will be time to get in-depth once this is all done. The same applies to cabinets and closets. Unless you have reason to believe people will be opening closed doors, leave these alone for now.

Attack the floordrobe and shoe pile. Get your clothes either put away or in the hamper. Start a load of laundry if you need to, but keep in mind that laundry and dishes have three steps: wash, dry, and put it away, goddammit!

Get random stuff up off the floors. If something is trash-worthy, throw it away now rather than just move it around a bunch of times. Otherwise, put stuff where it belongs.

Take another 20/10 or 45/15 to catch up on more dishes, if needed.

Head into the bathroom. Pour some cleaner in the toilet bowl, fill the sink with hot water and cleaner, and either spray the tub and shower with cleaner, or fill the tub up with some hot water and add cleaner and let it soak. Put everything away that’s out and shouldn’t be, clean the mirror, counters, and toilet seat. Sweep or dry mop the floor. Wipe down the sink and tub/shower, and give the toilet bowl a scrub. Mop the floor.

Sweep and mop the kitchen floor.

Vacuum everything you can, and sweep everything you can’t.

Walk outside of your house (don’t lock yourself out, please). Walk back in and see what catches your eye first. Go and deal with that.

If you’re being inspected or your landlord is coming in for repairs, spend time on whatever area they’ll be focusing on.

Give the whole place one more once-over and pay attention to anything you’ve missed so far.

It’s an old trick, but if your place is a little funky-smelling, put a pan of water on the stove on low heat and add some citrus or cinnamon or vanilla. Don’t leave it unattended or forget about it.

Take a shower, put on something clean, and eat something.

You can do this. It’s overwhelming, yes, but it is not impossible. You just need to do it. You have a list. You have directions. You have a whole bunch of Internet strangers who have been there before and who are cheering you on. You can do this, but you need to get started.

this got way longer than i expected lmao. so out of all the kids, we definitely see olruggio be hardest on agott.

of course, agott's behavior is the one that needs correcting the most so that plays into it too, but it reveals a lot to us about the two of them. olruggio doesn't hesitate to correct her if he feels the need. it adds a familiarity between them that runs pretty deep. olruggio isn't afraid to push her, he knows her faults, he probably understands a lot about the pressure agott feels from his own childhood.

we know olruggio was a prodigy as a child. his village received multiple adult witches in exchange for just him before he even had a master. so i expect he can recognize what agott's going through. being under massive pressure to reach your potential.

his conversation with her when he tells her no to joining the silver eve procession is such a good one. it's really interesting to me that olruggio is giving permission here, not qifrey. maybe qifrey defers to him since he has more experience in the procession. but he's making important decisions for someone else's students.

is this common for watchful eyes i wonder or is this just him lol. my impression is they just have to keep an eye on things, not necessarily get involved. olly doesn't really feel impartial enough to be qifrey's watchful eye in all honesty. i bet beldaruit pulled strings for his favorite former apprentice.

back to this convo, olly is v no nonsense in this conversation. not smiling, not hiding how unimpressed he is. he doesn't wilt at all in the face of agott's anger. have we seen agott get this angry at qifrey before? maybe when she wants to take the second test?

and agott looks miserable when he tells her the truth. he cuts through her defenses quick, no fluff. he doesn't hesitate to tell the kids the truth and keep them in check. she's upset she can't participate in the procession, but she's also upset she got corrected by olruggio again in a pretty intense way. a very personal way.

the conversation was enough to push her into running away from him physically. his words hold a lot of weight with her and she doesn't get what she wants, but agott also knew he wouldn't say yes going into it.

i love this conversation agott has with qifrey cause i think it sheds a lot of light on how agott feels about olly.

she still remembers olly's advice from a while ago. what he says is important to her. she knew from the start that master olly would forbid it. (she knows him well) that's probably why he looks so annoyed when she reacts the way she does. he knows how smart she is. he knows she knows. and he's disappointed. she knows the stricter side of him i guess.

and qifrey, who knows olruggio better than anyone steps in. qifrey knows olly's soft side better than anyone, he knows what agott is probably missing cause olly can be grumpy and intimidating. so he fills in the blanks for her. he knows olruggio is never going to explain this side of himself to the kids, so he steps in and shines a light on olruggio’s personality for agott, the part he covers up.

it's important to qifrey, that agott knows olly cares for her. olly's just not good at letting her know that all the time. i wonder if olly's prickly sometimes so that people will stop calling him too nice lol. anyways it's also important to qifrey that agott has a good relationship with olly. qifrey's giving agott insights to his friend so there isn't a miscommunication.

but yeah olruggio doesn't tell agott the whole truth. he leaves out the part about how it's to protect her from the world around her. i get the impression he does this procession every year, so he would be able to clock what the crowd reaction could be.

and i think qifrey knows how important olruggio's opinion is to agott. that's why he says this.

i think you might find olly, too, thinks more highly of you than you imagine. qifrey knows his opinion isn't the only one that holds weight with agott. it's important to him that agott knows olly thinks a lot of her, so she doesn't have to worry about that.

we see olly teach tetia with extreme kindness and empathy.

so he's capable of turning on the kindness when he deems it is warranted.

and i think it's because olruggio ultimately identifies with agott and her struggles to live up to expectation, to push yourself hard. cause he's also seen to be super supportive, trying to help her.

he's excited to help agott with her spell and encourages her. he always has time for the girls, no matter how tired he is. (again are all watchful eyes like that?)

and when she shows the right attitude, he's right there with her. happy to help.

he wants agott to get hands on experience, overriding what qifrey, her actual teacher, wants. he sees her potential and wants her to grow. he'll override qifrey for her sake. agott sees him going to bat for her.

coco also got a view of olruggio's most intimidating vibe when she first meets him. when he almost takes her to the knights bc he's mad at qifrey.

the whole interaction he has with her in his workshop, he's short with her and flustered. not very welcoming.

i hope we get more insight on olly's childhood since we're told he's basically a prodigy. he's a marvel. how does that kind of language effect a little kid who doesn't even have a master yet.

Agott&Coco♡