[msvhs-deactivated20251231]

Mary Oliver

[lamignonette]

[yohjimuse]

hand beaded this ribbon, which i’ll likely turn into a necklace

[detailedart]

Bottle green details: Rolling Waves. Painter: Constantin Westchiloff (1877-1945).

[bonivers]

(girl who is already extremely private) i think i need to Move In More Silence

[mrscomputer]

Fucked up off 2 pillows and a blanket

[smsomah]

Cormorant fishing in Yangshuo near Guilin, Guangxi, China. Christian Vaisse

Cormorant fishing is an old tradition in which fishermen use trained cormorants to catch fish.

[markovchaingang]

you guys do realise walking doesn't actually move you anywhere right? it just destroys you entirely and places a perfect copy of you right in front of where you were standing

[tli-burn]

oasis

[iconomiccc]

[kirbypoyopoyo]

shirahama's live commentary tidbits 1-2

hey witches, shirahama sometimes writes little bits of trivia in her commentary threads during airings of the wha anime, so i figured i'd collect the ones i thought were interesting here

this compiles everything up to episode 2, and i will also refer to events in later manga chapters or other things like the repro select so beware of spoilers

just to note again, these are not all the things shirahama tweets (a lot of it is just plain reactions to the events in the episode). i focus on things that seem to provide extra info about the wha setting or characters, though i might also include things about shirahama in a more general sense

episode 1 - shirahama really enjoys watching all the little gestures get animated, and refers to herself as a having a "gesture fetish" (this is obviously meant as a joke) - the deer that appears at the well is called a "trihorn deer", though being a doe it doesn't seem to have any horns. the butterfly is called a "bride butterfly" which has also been mentioned in kitchen of witch hat - coco's village (and possibly including the area where qifrey's atelier is) has very little flat ground - aside from being a tailor, coco's family shop also functions as a thrift store. they buy unwanted cloth stock from traveling merchants, and also sell clean clothes that travelers can buy before entering town - the kid with black hair is called "Tanaru" (or maybe Tanar/Tanal) and is the son of the village chief. the blond is called "Kamura" (or maybe Kamra/Camra/etc). both of them are troublemakers as well as coco's classmates/friends from school - the kids in coco's village (including herself) learn to read and write and do simple maths from tanaru's mom at the village chief's house. coco's village is probably too small to merit a proper schoolhouse, though other areas are noted to have actual learning institutions - papermaking in the wha universe is prosperous, due to the existence of the witches who use a lot of it episode 2 - this was also mentioned in qifrey and orugio's background arc in the manga, but qifrey's atelier is built upon the remains of an old sheperd's hut - rumors like the news of qifrey taking on coco (an unknowing) as an apprentice spread quickly in the witches' world due to the existence of certain magic [items]s, though shirahama didn't go into the actual details. i suppose she just means that they have the tech to make info travel more quickly and widely - also mentioned in the repro select, but the chimney-like structure in the atelier is used as a space to test out magic - the tower of tomes's lake is not marked on any map, and the only way to get there is through a windowway. shirahama notes that even if you tried to look for it by searching similar looking lakes you probably can't find it, implying that there may also be magic involved to hide its location - the item qifrey uses to talk to beldaruit is actually a mini version of a windowway. it basically connects two spaces together, which is how it allows for conversation to happen (so it's different than, say, how a telephone would work as a communications device) - shirahama requested that agatto's voice be "standoffish, strict, and sound attractive/cool" - coco doesn't have much experience being surrounded by books and learning for long periods of time at a school before coming to qifrey's atelier - shirahama thought agatto's desk being depicted as neat and tidy on top, but crammed with her personal junk underneath was cute. like a straight-a student who comes off as prim and proper, but is surprisingly messy and has bad manners - shirahama jokes that qifrey's has low exp in building up human relationships LOL. she mentions that he tends to leave his students to their own devices because he personally prefers to be left alone and doesn't like following the crowd. she basically calls him out on leaving coco on her [metaphorical] own right after she came to the atelier

[kirbypoyopoyo]

commentary tidbits from wha episodes 3-4

episode 3 - alaira doesn't currently have an apprentice so she typically works like a jack-of-all-trades; she takes on requests, proctors tests, acts as the guard to the entrance, and so on. the fact that her not having an apprentice is pointed out implies that she did pass the 5th exam and has the certification to do so - the dada range test isn't considered terribly difficult by witch standards, and is kinda seen as more of a charming presentation event for little kids after learning some basic magic. i suppose it's equivalent to watching a play by elementary school kids. because of that, there's very little kids who've taken the test more than once (you'll recall though that coco went during a time period where it's dangerous and so most people wouldn't hold their first tests then) - shirahama notes that there are a higher number of animals with multiple limbs in the wha universe compared to ours - agatto didn't think coco would actually attempt the test. she figured coco would return after not being able to do anything - in the scene where coco imagines her younger self with the other 3 girls appearing, the young tetia design was created specifically by shirahama for the anime as tetia hasn't had her younger self drawn in the manga yet - tetia and the others (riche, qifrey, and probs orugio since he wasn't aware of these events at all) didn't know that agatto made coco go to the dada range. they thought she went there of her own accord after being told about it, which is why agatto didn't get any flack for her actions here episode 4 - the figures shown in the book at the beginning are considered the same sort of "fantasy existence" as fairies and other kinds of mystical spirits in our world. elves and dwarves also don't exist in wha, they're only there because shirahama loves fantasy lol - you can't really fly for long distances in sylph shoes because your legs will end up getting really tired from keeping them together enough to activate the magic seal. - shirahama notes that qifrey is actually pretty muscular despite his slender appearance since he's able to carry two kids while flying all the way to kalhn - only witches can live on the island off the city of kalhn, and since there's no bridge to it they can talk openly about magic and sell things related to it without issue - while we can clearly see that coco and agatto don't have the smoothest relationship so far, shirahama notes that's the kind of thing that adults fail to notice (which is probably why qifrey hasn't really intervened). though she also throws some shade at him by mentioning that qifrey has quite a few memories about relationships where you end up fighting on sight - magic stationer's like the starry sword tend to build their shops around or near silver leaf trees - magic stationers also tend to favor shorter robes that are easier to move in or take their arms out of. they'd probably need to draw magic or appear before normal people less often so there's maybe less focus on hiding their hands - shirahama based the fake city coco and the others get trapped in after surrealist art and works by Escher - shirahama can't spin pens with their fingers (like tartah is shown doing)

[kirbypoyopoyo]

commentary tidbits from wha episodes 5-6

episode 5 - magic is apparently copyrightable in the wha universe. some magic is unique to certain witches who hold authority to draw that specific magic (like a patent perhaps?) while the rest is under public domain that anyone can draw. public magic goes through a process where it's examined and, if approved, then added to textbooks used to teach foundational magic - shirahama intentionally draws agatto as being "bad mannered" compared to her more refined style of speaking (as she comes from a high ranking family). bad manners in this case is more about the fact that agatto can carry herself in a rough manner, such as not caring about sitting criss-cross while wearing a skirt - it seems that the reason the carriage broke in the first episode was probably due to the kids accidentally erasing part of the magic seal, which prevents it from working

episode 6 - qifery's atelier lets the students study wherever they want, since when they become working witches they'll rarely need to sit in front of a desk to draw their magic - thanks to magic allowing for long-term preservation of food, the cuisine in the wha universe is quite diverse and developed. shirahama doesn't forget to drop in a mention about the kitchen of witch hat spinoff manga - carapace yams are like a mix between potatoes, japanese taro (sato'imo), and pumpkins. they're viscous, fluffy, and have a slight sweetness. eaten widely across the wha universe. - it's often recommended witches learn cooking because it has many similarities with the process of magic (both having workflows that focus on preparation and creativity) - the bridge everyone eats lunch under is used by nearby shepherds as a rest area. travelers occasionally also camp there - watchful eyes are meant to act as a third party where teaching is done behind closed doors or in more secluded areas to prevent abuse. it's also practical to have more than one adult during times of sickness or emergency. however, it's a relatively new system - the struggle of the poor recent grad exists even in fantasy witch universe. many newly graduated witches will share an atelier space to save money, but many also do so to collaborate on their magic or watch over apprentices together. it's similar to our real life apprenticeship systems under various craftsmen - i wrote about this already in a previous post, but the glowstone path was a very early work that was instantly popular of orugio's that debuted when he was still an apprentice. it caused quite the stir at the great hall at the time

[sighcomics]

bring back stare at flame

[soleiltido]

some recent critter finds out in the field :)

Look at these beauties 🩷 What adorable friends you have

[free-my-mindd]

[thegolddig]

Audiowood Custom Turntable

(more information, more etsy gold)

[mywingsaremadeofplastic]

[maxbytes]