anyone in this thread thinking about agott and coco. anyone . hey is anyone !!
from the moment i saw the opening red string of fate chapter cover i knew i was about to be catered to. agott's internal struggles with a selfish view on the purpose of magic is sooo interesting to me -- the way it stems from their childhood pain, and the need to be seen as capable and intelligent and ultimately: worthy of their mother, worthy of a position with their family. and i also love their gay little spirals. cute lol. you have a crushhhh! the rooftop scene and apology was so gratifying..

"i can finally see what they mean when they say... magic is meant for helping others. or how easy it must be to draw for someone... if you just imagine the smile she'll wear when you show her the spell." is soooo! agott has been raised with the magical society culture of philanthropy and giving (to its extent, and to the extent the arkuam’s must have emphasized it) for and this is where it clicks! do you ever just change each other's life in a few months? do you ever pull each other one after the other; pushing past the fear, and the resentment, and the insecurity, and end up dancing on the stage, making something beautiful together?? i already liked them a lot but this volume came in with the steel chair. wah. and what creative contraptions being displayed! what stunning art and paneling as always!!!

more plot-forward thoughts: VERY fascinated and wary about the king of life. it’s clear he and his son share the aim of learning the secret to magic, of bringing about the rise of the witch king… and coco and the atelier apprentices are rolled into it all… keeping my eye on tetia…

i love art about art, about the creative process and its hurdles. there's a lot of great advice in these volumes. they may appear to be baseline lessons, but they are also the things that artists need to come back to and reminds themselves and ground themselves in again. take care of yourself. make art in a way that listens to your needs and isn’t restrictive and painful. keep your mind open! rest! keep a tight hold on the joy of making!

i’ve been thinking about how i've almost fully caught up to this series in a couple months. i devoured this volume in an hour. but it's been being made for close to a decade now. it's been in the author's head for way longer, i'm sure. so much time, and anguish, and sweat, and joy went into getting us to this taut point full of possibility and conflict. art is so rich, so much… i love it… i love stories <3