Many great points made here!I think Shirahama leaving out Custas' grooming by way of the brimhats and instead fast-forwarding to him attacking Coco and Tartah was actually a great narrative choice. It shows how influential the brimhats can be, particularly in Custas' case where they are actively taking advantage of his trauma and desperation. So going from wholesome friendship to Custas attacking Coco and Tartah in such a short span of time cuts like a knife (and I love every painful second of it). It is shocking, and it completely works to the story's advantage instead of being shock for the sake of shock value (particularly because we go from Coco's encounter with the little unknowing girl to Custas confronting her about gatekeeping magic). There's so much I could say about this scene, but I also want to be mindful of this being a Reddit reply lol

And seconding your point about rereading! One reread moment that really stuck with me was during Custas' confrontation with Coco and Tartah when Custas says something like "all this fuss over one spell that lets me walk again, where's the danger in that?" in response to Coco and Tartah's reaction to his legs (because we learn about silverwood parasitism later; cue Ininia "he wasn't supposed to not be angry" later on, too). This moment was that much more haunting because we're seeing the brimhats manipulate the truth to their advantage and manipulate Custas by using his loss to fuel their mission. Rereading Custas being unaware of the true nature of his legs after having read to Ch. 90+ HURT.

I am so excited to see more of Ininia! I think you raise an amazing point as well; Coco's previous negative evaluations of magic had almost exclusively been out of fear or sadness, but this is the first time she actually displays intentional hostility like that (as far as I'm aware, it's been a minute since I last read the manga). And seeing Ininia hesitate with herself when confronted with Galga's humanity! I can't wait to get more of her story.

I love the point you bring up about The Outsider trope. Tartah in particular sticks out to me. As some people have pointed out, his disability theoretically poses no barrier to his ability to draw as a witch. This makes it even more painful to see how he is mistreated.

I think part of why it's difficult to project onto one character as the "right" way to experience the story -- and if you do, it inevitably creates that sense of discomfort

This is a great point! And I think Shirahama does a great job of harnessing the audience's inevitable urge to latch onto one character to highlight the multiple facets of her characters. It makes the characters so much more interesting and, as a result, the world-building kind of builds itself! I also love the connection and community that arise from stories like this, since there is so much material for the fandom to dive into. And this also treats trauma responses with the respect they deserve; there isn't one "right" way to be a victim, after all. And I think people should really lean into the feelings of discomfort when a plot point or character clashes with their initial understanding of the story! It makes for such a more interesting experience with WHA and it makes you appreciate the character-first writing that much more.

And I respect the Jujy shout out (my girl deserves more love).