Burdigel

my first drawing needed to get olly's design down. I tried using the same textures as the smoky casting qifrey from chapter 1 of the manga

he's damaged ^u^ ^u^ ^u^ speaking of which i can't wait for tomorrow's episode

happy bday bb girl

There are many chains bringing both of them down. They can't use magic to aid themselves. Their lack of a home restricts his opportunities, coupled with not going to school and always having to worry about food and money. He wishes to be free from these chains restricting the ways he can live, and the freedom he craves is symbolized as the flight of birds.

The first appearance of the motif of birds is in ch 45. A flashback features a starving Custas who attacks a crow. The page draws a direct parallel between the crow and the privileged people above Custas, perched on top the very walls that confine him.

It's an action for survival but also filled with resentment. He envies those that have wings, an appendage that'd let him fly over those imprisoning walls. His first meeting with Dagda and hearing his ballad makes him a little more optimistic, though. A panel two pages later features the same birds flying away, with a quote from Dagda's song: "You've gotta believe the chains of fate exist in order to have something to grab onto and throw off."

With Coco and Tartah's contraption, he's able to soar through the sky. He's able to have a taste of the amount of freedom witches have, and more importantly to him, he believes he's free from feeling like a burden to those around him. He even apologizes to Coco for not realizing that her "fate" being born a witch was just as much undecided as his situation.

But in his next meeting with Coco, everything changes. This happens in Ch 51, which has a cover where he is completely cloaked in feathers.

Now, after receiving silverwood legs from Ininia, he learns from the Brimhats that it's not birthright--it's not fate--that prevented him from using magic, but a secret that the pointed hats keep to themselves. This makes him lash out at Coco and Tartah, saying that they "wouldn't want me knowing how to help myself […] I'm supposed to keep relying on one of you to to show up." He still is living by the lyrics from Dagda's song. "You've gotta believe the chains of fate exist in order to have something to grab onto and throw off." Now he believes Coco and Tartah were lying about what those chains really were, and by crossing the line into forbidden magic, he can finally perch on top of the imprisoning walls like other privileged do.

Coco creates the next turning point in Custas' character in chapter 73. As Custas is dealing with the witches and knights still trying to apprehend him for rescuing people with forbidden magic, his rage for the unequality grows. Coco interrupts the situation by using a spell that blows away his brim into a pointed hat, with feathers errupting all around. Because he is just trying to help others, Coco believes that he should be on the side of the pointed hats. A bold, perhaps even naiive action, but the feathers being blown away start to hint that this isn't something he should have to face alone, that he should be able to join the pointed hats to keep helping people.

There's a lot to unpack in the chaos of the leech arc, but I will narrow my focus to its aftermath. In Chapter 81, he is not seen fighting witches or knights anymore, but being carried on Dagda's back. Coco assures him that the King can treat Dagda, and for once he can rest easy.

This is one of the most important pages to Custas' and Coco's characters. All this time he was so frustrated with how Dagda always risked his life for him, and he wanted to be free of owing anyone anything. But it's here that Custas realizes that he's the same way as Coco and Dagda--helping people isn't out of malice or control, they don't expect anything in return. It's just who they all are.

Finding this resolution with himself and feeling relief over Dagda's situation is what makes his body give in to slumber.

In Chapter 85, Dagda makes the same point. Just like how Custas was surprised that Dagda chose to go out and do Mercenary work for him when he could have easily gone back to travelling, Dagda sees how Custas could have done whatever he wants with his magic, but spent all of his efforts helping not only Dagda, but the muckpool people who are strangers to him.

These panels in 85 juxtapose the panels in chapter 45 where he is grimacing at the birds above him and attacks one. In this flashback with Dagda, he is at peace with the birds around him, even despite living a life of hardship that pointed hats would not know. Magic didn't bring him this life, finding Dagda did.

"I guess this is it" "My happiness" ”My happiness isn't in magic" "It's here with you" "Father"

In chapter 86, another bird-like creature is introduced. A silverwood seed awakens when the bird is injured, giving it the ability to fly again. Ironically, this ability is only given so that the bird can be rooted--chained down--to be part of a silverwood tree for the rest of its existence.

Custas believed that the silverwood legs and his knowledge of magic gave him the ability to 'fly' at the same level as the witches. However, they became the agent of his demise. It's a tragedy, except the "fatal flaw" of Custas is just that he wants to save others more than he's always being saved.

Indeed, what truly rid him of his burdens was accepting that help--doesn't matter if he "earned" it or not. Even with his resentment for the pointed hats, he accepted Coco and worked with her to find a solution. And in the end, it wasn't the silverwood prosthetic that brought him to safety like in the bird's case, but being carried on Dagda's back.

Magic is a powerful force that enables people to do things they couldn't, but it can never be happiness itself. What do you truly desire from it?

Olruggio's more cold personality in his very introduction is quite the deception. It is still not long before we see the core of his whole personality when he uses his magic to warm up Coco.

Then, we learn Olruggio's cobblestone spell is the first instance of magic that Coco has ever encountered.

This is one of the sweetest moments in the manga, and Olruggio's embarrassed reaction is just gold. However, Coco's lines in the two bottom panels hint at something more somber. The next time she mentions the magic she felt from the cobblestone path is in her monologue in ch62.

Growing up without her father left Coco feeling lost and directionless. Encountering magic gave her hope to latch on. She imagined all the fantastical things she could do with magic; but above all, it gave her the tiniest hope that she could meet her father. Even though this goal was unattainable, Olruggio's magic lit something foundational in her soul. A light that Agott could see so clearly, which is why Agott asks Coco to reflect on her love of magic in ch62.

The Torch for the Cursed

Ch24, where Coco and Tetia encounter the cursed people of Romonon, is the groundwork for the most important theme in Witch Hat Atelier.

After a failed attempt to beat them with physical force, Coco and Tetia reach out to understand the people of Romonon. What they find is that their cruelty is the result of so, so many years without the feeling of comfort.

Coco's solution is to bring out the most comforting magic she knows: Olly's. The people of Romonon immediately see a path with the snugstone. A path that leads them to finally rest.

It's a choice that Coco protests and despairs over, but in the end, it's the path that they found through Olruggio's magic. Once again, it does not only have a physical warmth to it, but it acts as a guide that helps others make choices.

The foreshadowing of Qifrey's character in this chapter is also important to note: he knows the answer to the riddle is 'comfort' immediately, and he also stops Coco from trying to interfere with the end they chose. All of these details are so much heavier now that we know that Qifrey is someone who is Cursed as well. A snugstone was given to Qifrey; but with what we know now, is he able to even use it?

The Torch for Himself

In the bonus chapter for volume 11, Olruggio is almost entirely by himself. Struggling with an artblock for his work, he produces a purely decorative spell in order to "clear his mind."

These animals he composes are torchstags, which we know because Agott shows Coco her own decorative animal spells in ch58. Perhaps it was Olruggio that partly inspired her to do so after seeing how all the girls enjoyed this display of magic.

Even without others, it's in Olruggio's nature to produce magic with a guiding light. He naturally dazzles others even when it's magic for himself, but he still notes the effect of his magic on Coco.

This page directly connects to the theme of Olly igniting Coco's light; though, reminds the audience that the hope comes from the witch's deception. The magic itself may be a lie, but the strength it gives to others is true.

Indeed, Olly has always had a torch for himself. Ch76 has the youngest sighting we have of Olly. He proudly stands in front of his warming contraption.

However, it's the incident in Noz that leaves him feeling more lost than ever. He doesn't believe in the warmth of his light anymore. That is, until he encountered...

The Torch for The Silverwood Maiden

ch89's flashback opens with a despondent Olly following what he deemed as his greatest failure. The chief assures him that he won't have to worry about saving people down here; ironically, he immediately finds someone that needs saving.

Unsurprisingly, it's a drying spell to keep Qifrey warm that Olly uses. Yet somehow, saving his life will be far from the only gift that Olly brings him. It's with Qifrey that we first see him wave the torch of knowledge. He teaches him to use magic to solve his problems instead of charging in unprepared.

Olly teaches him how to lie. How to put on a friendly smile.

He even teaches Qifrey how to cook, another very important part of Qifrey's future personality. He kept showing Qifrey more and more. Even when Qifrey pushed him away, he is always there.

He was above Qifrey with a helping hand even when he shut himself away in the darkness.

Olruggio isn't just a torch for Qifrey.

When sailors are surrounded by the discomfort of endless seas and in the darkest of nights, they look to the unwavering stars to navigate. And Olruggio is...

This brings us back to the Silverwood maiden Tale in ch47.

There are endless things to pour over in this tale. For this post's sake, I will focus on the aspect mentioned in ch92: that boats sail on the night sky. This reinforces the idea that the sea and sky mirror each other. The star messenger was lost before meeting the silvermaiden, just as Olly was lost before meeting Qifrey. They have too many distinctions to mirror each other exactly, but there's a sort of balance to them. Olly leaves Qifrey a guiding torch to give him hope, but it's because of Qifrey that Olly has a direction to confidently 'sail' in.

I've gone through the many things that Olly has done for Qifrey, but it would be have to be another post to talk more about what exactly Qifrey has done that has made Olly so attached to him--how much of it is because of olly's savior complex, qifrey's nature, etc. All of that is true, and yet there is also a simpler answer to his ceaseless attachment to Qifrey.

I believe quite certainly that Qifrey intends to reveal the complete truth to Olruggio very soon, and that while he seems to be accepting his fate, he is trying to maintain as much control over the terms of his inevitable end as possible.

Following the events of Chapter 88, after he reveals his nature as a Silverwood host to Coco, he asks to postpone his complete confession, wishing to be able to reveal the truth elsewhere, in a peaceful place beneath a wide open sky where his roots would have room to comfortably grow. He has described the land around the atelier in this way many times before.

Later, when the entire group is finally reunited and Olruggio tells Qifrey they’re going home. Qifrey’s expression looks pained for a moment, before he answers, “Alright then. Let's go home. Our atelier awaits."

His verbal recognition of the atelier as his home is a rather glaring signal that he is beginning to accept his imminent end and has chosen the atelier as his ideal final resting place. This is hinted at early on in a sequence during which Beldaruit spoke to Riliphin of the Silverwoods, and implied that he knew of Qifrey’s condition as he privately worried that his beginning to think of the atelier as his home could be dangerous for him.

At a point during their journey home, we return to the group to find the girls all asleep, while Qifrey has distanced himself from the rest, sitting on the bank of a lake to write in his book. Olruggio joins him and points out how far he’s sitting from the fire.

I think this was probably intentional in an effort to be closer to the lake to keep himself anxious, since it is my personal theory that here, Qifrey is actually writing a letter to Olruggio in which he tells him the entire truth, and that the narration through the next arc is comprised of excerpts from that letter. The lake is intended to be a failsafe of sorts, since of course, we know that vocalizing the truth to Olly is Qifrey’s greatest comfort trigger, while water touching his skin is his biggest anxiety trigger. Given this, it makes sense for him to choose this particular spot to begin to release the truth so he has a means of keeping the Silverwood at bay readily available should he need it, which he evidently does later on.

In the segments that follow, Qifrey reminisces on how he and Olruggio crossed paths at the Great Hall and became close.

Through the end of chapter 91, we watch the story unfold neutrally as though it is happening in real time, with no narration, but in chapter 92, something shifts. As soon as Qifrey’s recount reaches the part of the story that would have been lost to Olruggio’s memory, a past-tense narrator voice begins to cut in, and suddenly, it becomes clear this story is being told to someone, not merely recalled, and not just to anyone, but to Olruggio by Qifrey. This is the strongest evidence that what we’re reading is actually the contents of a letter to Olruggio.

All of this indicates to me that Qifrey is not just reminiscing, but is actively preparing for the end. The telling of the story, the physical and emotional distance Qifrey has put between himself and the others, and his now repeated framing of the atelier as both home and the kind of place where he would want to be forever, are all supportive of that.

As far as we know, Qifrey hasn’t been the one to initiate a full confession since they were kids at the Tower of Tomes. Spilling his guts in a letter written under duress is probably a new tactic, and it’s a smart one, as it ensures Qifrey can get the complete truth out on his terms without the usual interruption from the Silvertree.

We also know that Qifrey would rather die than have his transformation hurt the people he loves, so at this point, I wouldn't put it past him to leave the letter at home where the others will find it before going off to trigger his transformation alone, or waiting until the others are gone to trigger it.

This is what has me especially worried for him now, because Olruggio and the girls just left the atelier, leaving Qifrey there by himself. Maybe I'm projecting (probably), but the thought of Qifrey leaving a note and then going off to essentially kill himself makes my stomach hurt. Painfully though, it does feel in character, especially now that he's vocalized his trust in his students, particularly Coco, to carry on his mission. Olruggio, please go home now, your husband is an active danger to himself!!

Fortunately, Hiehart and Jujy pay the atelier a visit, but even upon greeting them, he does already seem on edge and uncharacteristically down.

Hopefully, whatever Hiehart has to say will get Qifrey out of his head and convince him to keep living for a little while longer. I'm guessing he's going to ask Qifrey to take on Jujy as his apprentice. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Anyways. To conclude, here is Qifrey’s directed narration/possible excerpts from a letter to Olruggio compiled:

Every day I turned my gaze away from the encroaching dread, and for as long as I was in the dark, I was happy. I greeted each morning with excitement, for with the rise of the sun came another adventure with you. I thought if I could retrieve the past I lost, my joy would be as genuine as yours, and perhaps I would have a real chance to share in your happiness. A child can dream. Like ordinary boys, we would share our visions of tomorrow with each other and we would laugh at how far away it all seemed.

Little did I know that felicity came with forgetting. It was a bliss born of ignorance. If I knew what I was… If I knew that I was never meant to be saved, I would've stayed far away from you, the sky’s kindest, most radiant star.

I once read an old poem that likened stars to boats sailing through the sky. But as far as I know, boats don’t twinkle like stars. The light doesn’t come from the vessel itself, but its guiding torch. Like your pyreball, it burns at the bow. A beacon of light in the dark.

After that fateful day, you would uncover my secret again and again. Each time you would respond with disbelief. Then your face would twist and turn in anguish. And after biting back a few words, you would show me grace, and comfort me and forgive me for lying to you. And then, without fail, the Silverwood’s roots would grow. You would offer me the same path back every time, and I would take it, adding to my mess of sins.

I had often considered leaving your side. I thought that perhaps traveling alone would save me from taking away your memories. But even that minute solace was enough for the Silverwood. I knew then that distance would do nothing but break my promise to you.

So I had another thought: A master never wants for worry with apprentices to look after. The selfishness behind my reason for taking on pupils made me ill, but they’d never have to know that. So I decided to put every fiber of my being toward becoming a good educator. If only I had known then what a joy it truly is to watch your students grow with each passing day.

It’s somewhat rare for a Silverwood to take root in people. Unlike animals, they tend to hold onto too much anxiety. Which is why the tree planted in Custus that gave him his legs raises some questions. My right eye was the only one to sprout during the experiments. It must have some connection to the Silverwood in Custas. For so long, I thought I was the only host, but now I'm not so sure. There could be more victims out there than I ever imagined.

Did I make the right choice?

Would it have been better to throw everything aside and hunt down the brimmed caps?

Doubts like these turn in my head, but the moment I see my atelier, I remember.