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I thought it might be fun to completely over-analyze the Valentine art that Shirahama put together for several of the characters to see what we might glean. I’m including the art in the post since I couldn’t find anything on her Twitter account saying not to, but if anyone knows otherwise, please let me know and I’ll just include links. ^^
The first one is Coco! She has a lot of Valentine’s hearts, which makes perfect sense. Just about everyone around her holds her in high regard, even Agott, who took a little longer to come around, but once she did there was no turning back. Furthermore, Coco doesn’t withhold her affections from anyone, so there’s lots to go around.
The hearts themselves are located within her witch’s hat, which also makes sense. What does Coco love most in this series? Magic, naturally! Our resident brushbuddy is also located within her hat and I think it’s safe to say she cares a great deal about it as well. In other words, her Valentine picture depicts her love of magic and the innocence that surrounds her despite the hardships she’s endured.
Qifrey has only the one Valentine heart compared to Coco and his smile seems to be on the sadder side in my opinion. This makes sense as Qifrey’s headspace has been a little all over the place in the series; he genuinely cares for his students and friends, but he appears to prioritize his own goals as well.
Speaking of his own goals, the heart in question is placed over his missing eye, a loss that he’s been trying to rectify since he was a child and a pursuit that’s given him nothing but trouble. It could also be that he can’t see the affections aimed at him due to how blinded he is by his own goal.There are lots of people that care for him, but he’s not reaching out. Perhaps that’s where the slightly melancholic vibe in this one comes from.
Agott only has one little Valentine’s heart and she’s keeping it close to herself. This is such a good depiction of how Agott operates. She does care about others, and she’s grown to care a lot about Coco in particular, but she can’t yet bring herself to fully admit it (especially not to the people in question) and so she guards her feelings and keeps them close. She’s also a little flustered by the whole thing; she’s been so used to focusing only on magic and scholarly pursuits thanks to her family’s mistreatment that her ability to socialize has been a little hampered. Hopefully we’ll get to see her continue to open up as the series progresses! Coco has done her a world of good.
Tetia has one giant heart that’s so big it fills up the whole picture, and that is how Tetia sees the world; she wants to go out there and spread good will and cheer to all she meets and she’s not going to hold back. This is the girl that wants to give thanks and hear thanks in every language of the world and she’s the one who accepted Coco into the atelier with the most readiness, so it only makes sense her Valentine’s picture would be so joyous. She’s a true friend who’s loyal to her core and I can’t wait to learn more about her backstory.
Riche’s Valentine’s heart is held tightly over her mouth. Riche has a hard time with openly expressing herself and she doesn’t trust easily, but when she does choose to say something, it’s earnest and from the heart. This is best depicted in her interactions with Euini and her brother, Riliphin. She is utterly devoted to her brother and has been for years; while she doesn’t speak of him to others, we know from her recollections how important he is. I think she spoke up about her previous atelier’s conditions largely for his sake and it’s thanks to her change happened.
As for Euini, they quickly formed a close bond and it was through her words alone that Euini was finally able to see he wasn’t a useless person. That’s quite an ability and it’s at it’s strongest with those she cares about.
Olruggio’s picture is the only one that’s in profile. There’s a closed-off feeling to it despite how casually he’s holding the Valentine’s heart. He also appears a bit flustered. This indicates to me that Olruggio has a hard time openly saying that he cares, but he will show it one way or another. In his case, he usually shows it through magic. Qifrey is showing signs of insomnia and the girls need to rest up before a test? He’ll make a new invention called the snugstone and claim he only did it for work while also reminding everyone how important a good night’s sleep is while he’s at it.
Tartah is definitely the most embarrassed out of this set. XD I’d say he’s been taken entirely off-guard by the fact he’s grown to care so much for someone, i.e. Coco. Still, while he’s holding the heart close, he appears to be making eye contact, so he’s probably the kind that would confess in one go and then run away before he got an answer. ^^“
Euini appears to be in awe and looks more like he was just given a heart rather than he was about to give one away. I’d say that would make sense for him; he wasn’t the kind of person that was withholding his care, he was just constantly belittled and felt he wasn’t worthy of other people’s affection. Riche showed him he can be a good witch, and likewise showed him he’s worthy of respect and kindness, so it’s no wonder he looks so happy. There’s the ominous scalewolf in the background, but even that doesn’t damper his cheer. I’m looking forward to his plot being resumed. ^^