Sofie’s Reviews > Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 7 > Status Update

qifrey’s dead in the eyes smile when coco says that it feels like something wonderful is about to begin ajsmsmskskk yeah babes he just did something unforgivable to the love of his life, the only person who has stuck by him for so many years, bc he’s obsessed with maintaining the peaceful life he’s managed to create with said love of his life and their adoptive children everything is DOOMED but yay pretty stars

anyway. that was brutal
in terms of actual plot stuff, i still feel pretty in the dark about what the brimmed caps would be doing with qifrey’s eye and memories (and future???) but i did notice more tree imagery!!!!! full panels of roots and branches just before qifrey wipes olruggio, and that big illustration of the eye inside the trunk……WHAT DOES IT MEAN

(cont.)
despite olruggio having this whole arc about trusting qifrey’s intentions and coming to a compromise and realizing that the most important that is being there for him and supporting him through whatever darkness he’s facing. all of that just for qifrey to be the one to spit in the face of that goodwill and love and to force olruggio away from him again in the name of protection (unasked for!!) what a mess

seeing qifrey wipe nolnoa was child’s play compared to THIS, after the past two volumes had endeared us even more to olruggio and how kind he really is. and that’s apparently exactly why qifrey feels the need to keep him “safe” by keeping him ignorant of the knowledge about the brimmed caps’ master plan. he’s too gentle and good to shoulder such ugliness, so qifrey will carry it instead (cont.)

i don’t even know what to think my jaw is just on the floor and my heart aches for both of them they really are doomed huh
i saw someone say that orufrey is more like jayvik than satosugu and. yeah. *yeah* the betrayal of trust and forced removal of autonomy for the more vulnerable person’s “greater good” (at least i assume that’s why qifrey wiped him, to keep olruggio safe) is SO jayvik it hurts

so. okay. okay uh. hm
my brain is rebooting i think i know nothing and understand even less besides the fact that that sequence was so well plotted and paced that i could feel my own heartbeat rising to meet the sense of foreboding and doom and despair that both qifrey and olruggio felt too

THE CALLBACK TO THEIR PAST AND THE PACT THEY MADE AS KIDS MY HEART
so we’re definitely gonna see that flashback scene in full at some point right? i mean we can infer that it was something about staying by each other’s sides but i wonder WHY. i know olruggio is head over heels for qifrey now but how did that start? what was it that about him that made him willing to make such a promise back then?

“why are you willing to go so far for me?” OUCH????? qifrey really doesn’t have a great sense of self-worth does he. i wonder if it all stems from his lack of personal identity or a feeling that he’s never been a “complete” individual or the guilt of going so far to achieve his goals and feeling like he’s dragged olruggio down too
also olruggio i see the deflection with humor but we all know the answer

oh they’re so in love, the way that they both rush to make sure the other knows it’s not their fault???? and olruggio potentially regretting becoming a watchful eye and throwing himself into work bc it might’ve pushed qifrey away without meaning to??????? so now he just wants qifrey to know that he’s there for him no matter what oh ouch “as a friend” uh huh yup no for sure

OH MY GOD I WAS RIGHT LETS GOOOOOO yeah he really was most bothered by qifrey lying to him and keeping him at arms’ length when he’s clearly been struggling. they made some kind of pact (either metaphorically or literally) when they swapped hat tips, and i imagine that qifrey refusing to let olruggio in now is in violation of that pact, which is way more important than any law or witch principles