#the set up volume...

Beautiful paneling right off the bat. All those stars around the circular frame with Coco and Tartah. It's just beautiful

giggling. "This kid is stressing me out and he's not even one of mine"

They have to bring up the whole deal with Tartah to Nolnoa post-Silver Eve at some point. Agott and Richeh are visibly worried to hear that Nolnoa injured his back, Olruggio checks in with Tartah to make sure he's doing okay, and Tartah basically implies that their atelier are some of their regulars, and the Starry Sword apparently doesn't get many customers. If Nolnoa is going to ask anyone for help finding Tartah, I'd think it would be them, especially because Tartah was spending so much time with Coco.

"Even with Grandpa at his best, it'd be a lot of work for just... two of us." <-Where are Tartah's parents. Why don't they help run the shop. Where did they go. I wonder, with the above line that apparently the shop doesn't get many customers, if Nolnoa made himself a bit of a pariah by keeping Tartah with him.

:((( This makes me so sad now. Nolnoa must be so worried about Tartah

He's shooting his shot!! Okay, but on a more serious note, Tartah has been so isolated for most of his life; it's really depressing. He's inviting the atelier to help him and his grandfather because he quite literally doesn't know any other witches. Of course he wants to hang out with other witches now that he can, and especially his new cool friend Coco.

ghsjkdfhbskdjf so glad Tetia and Richeh have their priorities straight

little beans (I have to enjoy the cute scenes while I can because I know everything is going to blow up and go horribly wrong soon)

Agott: "oh god my mom's gonna be there"

It's extremely cute to see how excited Coco is to show Tartah her workspace and her magic practice. That's just how it is when you get to invite your new friend to stay over, especially because Tartah is someone who she can actually explain things to since they're at a similar spellcasting level (as opposed to the other girls, who are more experienced). They both think the other is so skilled and cool it's adorable

Lmao I forgot the obvious first crush moment when Tartah gets Coco to demonstrate her grip using his finger djfhvbdkj "Why is it so hard to focus?", indeed...

Agott voice: "pack it up, lover boy"

Alternatively: "really? right in front of my spellbooks?"

"Look at all these flowers that sprang up overnight!" "It's 'cause of all the passage stars that fell. The earth's showing how happy it is that they crossed over." <-Interesting. The stars, supposedly the originators of magic, make the earth vibrant, warm, and blooming with life, even ripening the harvest. And places without magic, like Castle Ezrest, are cold, I believe. And did Vinanna describe a "chill wind" to Beldaruit later on? Again, I return to Qifrey's weird vision of Coco calling out for him in the snow. It could just be the ice pack, but I can't help but feel like it was a premonition of some sort. It'll be good to review this in the upcoming volumes.

He's so optimistic here and it hurts so bad.

Tartah: "I'm so happy!"

Coco: "Wow Tartah, I'm really glad you... feel this way... haha..."

Tartah: "...it feels like we are not on the same wavelength here."

"It's like she's right there, and yet... somehow far away." The Coco Qifreyisms begin....... noooo Coco, don't pretend everything is fine and cover up your worries and fears with a smile!!!

Not Coco and Tartah both getting Qifrey's ass for his bad directional sense jshfbsjdf

And then he immediately gets kidnapped by doctors LMAO???

God when Custas is not being the most tragic character in WHA, he's busy being one of the funniest. I have no doubt he said this sincerely, but "the two of us are bound by fate" is such a flirtatious-ass line lmao. And then on realizing that it made Tartah jealous, he immediately went about needling his friend and trying to embarrass him in front of Coco. Silly little guy.

Also I love that Tartah was clearly not just jealous of Custas seemingly "flirting" with Coco, but also jealous because "hey I helped too >:("

Medicine and magic are intertwined. Tartah, with his knowledge of dyes and components, knows this better than most. That the two subjects that use many of the same materials and are both meant to help people have been separated in such a way doesn't make sense.

Noooo Tartah don't walk into the darkness!!! I do believe this is Coco's perspective here - she's just had to grapple with the notion that maybe forbidden spells are the only way to save her mom, and she's very aware of the slippery slope that she could fall down if she loses all hope. Also interesting is the way Tartah has been genuinely worried about her all chapter, but he never gets to ask her what's wrong, and by the end, he's unknowingly added to her burden, because now she has a secret to keep.

Ah... forbidden fruit...

It's very good implicit storytelling that we see a lot more of this world's violence through characters like Custas, who is a child unprotected from the horrors of life, unlike the atelier girls, or most witches. Qifrey's backstory gives us a hint, but that's still magic/Brimmed Cap related. With Custas, we see ordinary people trying to steal and sell his chair, a mobility aid, purely because it's a magic contraption, and thus worth a lot. Later on, others will shoot Dagda and threaten to sell Custas himself. Yikes. And it's for this reason that all the kids have differing perspectives: a kid in a good environment will be relatively unexposed to the world's horrors, and may even be unaware these horrors exist. Kids should be allowed to perceive the world this way. But not all kids get that luxury.

The way Tartah handled that situation was awesome btw. You go, kid

The entire atelier is scolding Qifrey. Incredible.

"My room's always cleanest whenever a deadline's looming..." Olruggio, man, you have to stop being such a mood.

Richeh looks so aghast that Olruggio has trouble with his spells sometimes lol

Yeah I'm looking at this panel and thinking about that one post that points out how it looks like he's not wearing anything. I... have to think on this a bit, tbh.

Wonderful, fascinating thoughts expressed here. You can create anything, but what you put into the world will carry its own set of consequences. It's something to always be mindful of. Censorship of information is always at the jurisdiction of those in power, and not a solution to reducing fear and raising awareness of issues since it doesn't allow for any learning about said issues. It's how you use that information that matters, and it's here that the true work happens: those who are thinking of others have to consider the long and short-term ramifications of their actions. Those who don't will merely do whatever they want regardless of consequence. This quandary presented by Olruggio and Qifrey is at the boundary line between the Pointed and Brimmed Cap philosophies, and neither extreme seems to truly grapple with it, more concerned with the restrictions around magic knowledge itself. The reason many people won't grapple with this question is because, to put it bluntly, it's fucking hard and there's no easy answer to it, nor is the answer likely to be the same in every situation.

he's so cute... he's genuinely so happy to see her

"Seems he just can't give up on me." Said with such a bitter expression... Custas absolutely blames himself for not being able to retrieve their supplies from the river, and he sees his injuries as a further burden on Dagda. It's fascinating that Custas should reject Dagda as his dad when Coco outright told him that he had called him his son, not because he's rejecting Dagda, but because, in a way, he's rejecting himself. To accept Dagda as a father would be to accept that he is a willing burden to him and not one that he needs to work to repay his kindness for - to allow himself to be a child without an adult's worries and not some kid from the slums who's never had the luxury of turning a blind eye.

Custas' genuine happiness at having Tartah and Coco as friends is paired with this just as genuine resentment that they don't have to worry about the same things as him. It's more complex than that though. Custas feels he must be grateful for even the tiniest slivers of goodness in his life, so he is, but then he wonders why he's been dealt such a bad hand that he has to be grateful for these things. As much as him snapping at Coco here sounds like (tbh justified) self-pity, it's far more rooted in his worry and concern for Dagda. Custas has this immense desire to help and be "worthy" of the guidance of his parental figure, and while much can be made of Tartah and Custas navigating the world while disabled, there's also much that can be said about commonalities between Coco and Custas, and even Agott and Custas. And yet: Custas is also like none of them, because they have had a certain stability that he has never truly had.

Oof. I have many thoughts on Dagda and Custas but I'm not sure I can get them all out coherently. I will say that it interests me that Dagda outright admits that he's doing mercenary work: whether it's because he can't hide this from Custas due to not being able to get the bloodstains out, because Custas has already seen shit and Dagda feels it wouldn't be right to lie to him, or because they're in the habit of telling each other everything is unclear, but unfortunately, this knowledge only adds to Custas' guilt.

Coco, grasping Tartah's hand: "Let's make the world more accessible. Together."

Coco almost invents the escalator and the movator jsdfhvbdkjsfhbv

Along with Richeh's "it hurts when there's something you want to do but can't" line, this is another core thesis of the series. If something doesn't affect you or you haven't seen it affect people you care about, you might not notice it's even a problem. Again, this is why the censoring of knowledge and sharp divisions between different classes of people is such a problem. If people don't know where the problems are because no one talks to each other outside of their own groups, how can they hope to fix them?

I love when Coco gets an idea and scares the hell out of whoever she was just talking to jdfhbsdldjghb

Agott tsun moments hehe. I love that she ends up putting the blanket on her in the end anyways <3

"Then, maybe that means that I can be special, too." Custas' feelings of helplessness and wanting to be useful surfacing again here. It's likely also culturally rooted - witches help people, the people without magic can only be blessed by them. Custas wants a chance to give back, sure, but it's also about having the power and ability to change the world for the better.

ININIA!!! She's here, hooray! Watching ominously from the woods lol

:')))

Coco and Tartah: "Oh hey Dagda. Yeah that's your son flying in the air. It's really not dangerous! We promise! Ahahahaha....."

I genuinely can't do this man

It's insanely messed up when you think about how many unfortunate people could die all the time because they lack knowledge that would be insanely easy to teach. All because of the Pact.

Literally what the fuck man. I guess he was just too happy for once! If I was Custas, I'd think the whole world hated me or I was cursed by fate too.

Absolutely chilling imagery for the counterclock spell. Incredible work you're done it again Shirahama-sensei

"Tis a miracle able to grant any of those wishes you've held in heart while gazing upon a nighttime star." Stars again... stars associated with miracles... Restys what do you knowwwww tell meeeee

The bonus chapter is adorable. Coco more fascinated by how the seal works. Richeh calling the boxes tiny and adorable, "just like [her]" lol. Agott as a knight, we love to see it <3

Tetia took this weirdly personally. Her pose in the first image, where her hands come up to grab loosely at the hair around her head is the same pose she does when afraid. Fashion, or rather, the ability to choose how you present yourself through what you wear, clearly means a great deal to her. I really enjoy the transfem Tetia idea I've seen around; I've also thought about Tetia's family being not well off and therefore not having access to nice clothes, or else preferring fiction to reality in some way, which would be an interesting contrast to her changing views on the lies of witch society. Either way, she is definitely holding in something that's been eating at her. It doesn't escape my notice that she compares fashion favourably to a transformation spell, a type of spell that is forbidden. Trans Tetia truthers, I think you have a good chance of being on to something.

Richeh's not paying attention she just wants to be a knight lol

Coco gives Agott one (1) CocoSmileTM and she folds immediately jhdfbvskjdfhbv