seems the creature "attacks" people with affinity for magic, and why so attached to violet and not jasmine.
It's interesting in general who it lunges at and who it ignores. Pounces on Jasmine, Zoe, Chise, and Philomela (that might be the most interesting one to me - is it sensing traces of the Old One's curse on Mela? Or does Mela have any innate magic of her own?), mostly ignores Violet, Rian, and Lucy. Something to keep an eye on.
I know I've beaten this drum before, but at this point I'd be shocked if Rian's mom isn't trying to get him and Philomela in an arranged marriage. On a meta-level Yamazaki's been teasing us with it so long that you kind of have to assume it's important, we know RianMom's sick which I suspect has her thinking about ~The Bloodline~, people have been awkwardly pushing Rian and Mela on-and-off since like midway through the college arc, and when Chise asked how they were doing all we got was "well, they're not
fighting but uh....you had better ask them yourself." So they're "not fighting", but not on good terms either. Getting pressured into a relationship that they both agree that they don't want seems like it would fit the bill, and seems like it would fit thematically with the stuff we seem to be cooking about coming of age and the kids (Mela in particular now that she's free from Lizbeth's yoke) having to decide what they want their futures to look like.
Eager to see how things shape up going forwards. Lots of interesting threads being laid down.