maki and mai being basically being cursed by the magic of the world bc mai had a crazy good technique with too little cursed energy to use it while maki had heavenly restriction but with a little too much cursed energy to complete it was so interesting to me, like they were not only cursed by virtue of being born women in a misogynistic clan but also by virtue of being born as twin sorcerers, and there’s something so tragic about mai sacrificing herself bc it’s very clear that between the two of them, she’s the only one who would even think to make that decision. i think maki would die for mai but she would die fighting, bc she’s the more idealistic one. mai has always seen the writing on the wall. it’s all very sad