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You extend your hand. “I noticed you’re new here. What’s your name?”

Clark’s introducing her around.  “This is my good friend, Diana, she’s in from out of town.”

Clark stops a few feet away and squints at you worriedly from behind those ridiculous glasses you’re 99% sure he doesn’t actually need, and asks tentatively, “Everything all right?”

You ignore him in favor of staring at the inky dark numerals hovering over the beaming fool gesticulating some fantastic yacht story for a gaggle of secretaries and minor columnists.

(also, she was never judgey - if my meal was a single potato chip she would simply say good job eating a potato chip today <3 )

⭒ Two characters sit in the same room, both fully aware that if either of them speaks honestly, the relationship will never be the same again.

⭒ One character practices a confession over and over in their head, then says something completely meaningless out loud instead.

⭒ A character overhears a conversation that confirms their worst fear, and chooses to pretend they never heard it.

⭒ Someone writes a letter they never intend to send, then hides it somewhere the other character almost finds.

⭒ A character asks a harmless question, already knowing the answer, just to see if the other person will lie.

⭒ One character is desperately waiting for an apology that will never come, while the other assumes enough time has passed to forget it.

⭒ A character realizes the other one has been protecting them from the truth, and can’t decide whether to feel grateful or betrayed.

⭒ Two characters share a private joke in public, using humor to avoid acknowledging the fracture underneath.

⭒ Someone almost says “I need you,” but replaces it with something safer, smaller, and far more dishonest.

⭒ A character chooses to leave the room instead of finishing the sentence they started.

I won’t watch very much right now. I’m honestly just gonna watch some Calamidade while I eat some supper before bed but I got nothing better to do with my time so here we go.

I’m not sure if I totally understand what it is you’re asking since there’s a lot of directions we could go in for “how magic in TWST works” 😅 but I’ll quickly summarize what I can recall in general:

According to Lilia, magic was originally a miracle born from a strong desire in one’s heart. If your desire is strong enough, you could theoretically overpower someone else’s magic.

You must be born with the aptitude for magic. However, even if your parents or your grandparents were able to use magic, it does not guarantee that you will as well. We see many examples of this in TWST's main cast; plenty of the boys have family members who are non-mages.

People develop their magic and UM at different ages. For example, Riddle perfected his unique magic by age 10, but Sebek is said to be a late bloomer with his magic.

Only 10% of the human population in Twisted Wonderland is even capable of using magic at the basic level (enough to lift a cup). We do not know what this percentage is for other races such as fae, beastmen, and merpeople. To attend a prestigious magic school like Night Raven College, you must be the cream of the crop of this 10%.

It is believed (implied, not outright confirmed to my knowledge) that fae are specifically more magically inclined than the others (as the Briar Valley, which boasts a population of mainly fae, rely on magic for everyday things).

Magic education is not typically offered in most schools; you’d need to go to a specialized program like NRC, have a private tutor, or self-train.

According to Trey, most magic schools require a fourth year spent off-campus at an internship(s). The only time fourth years return to campus is for cultural festivals.

At NRC, first years study the theory behind magic; upper level courses involve more actual usage of magic in the classroom.

Students are not authorized to use magic combat unless formally granted permission by a faculty member or any dorm leader.

Imagination or visualization of one’s magic is apparently important for spells to be successful. This is most likely why NRC invests in classes like Music(ology) and the (Visual) Arts.

Magic is stated to be temporary. Even the incredibly powerful Malleus cannot permanently change the color of fabric (a very basic spell).

Curses and blessings have more long-lasting effects (usually a period of hundreds of years) that may wear away with time.

Blessings and curses are defined as magic bestowed upon someone. They are technically the same thing, and differ only by whether the intention is positive or negative.

It is considered rude to cast a spell on a person without their consent, especially if said spell is typically cast on objects.

It's implied you need to be conscious to maintain magic (excluding curses and blessings). For example, when you go to sleep, your magical fire will go out.

Autonomous magic also exists, though it requires considerably more power to maintain.

Every magic user is capable of manifesting a magic unique to them (which appears to be tied to the user’s personality and/or life experiences); this is known as “unique magic” (or a “signature spell” in the localization). Like with normal magic, UM manifests at different times for each mage.

The name for a UM and its chant appear to come “from within”; they are not names the mage consciously decide.

UM typically requires more magic to cast than a standard spell. However, there are also UMs which require less magic than the average spell, such as Kalim and Silver’s.

Some UM (like the Shroud family’s Gate to (the) Underworld) seems to be hereditary.

Incantations are not always required; sometimes UM chants are said and other times they are not. This is also true of general spells. For example, Sebek and Silver chant “fire” and “light” to summon those elements but we don’t see Grim doing the same for his own fire magic.

Magical pens (or rather, the magestones in them) act as conduits through which a magician can channel their magic, though they are not required to cast spells.

Magestones were not always standardized; this affected quality and therefore the spells that resulted.

Using magic produces a dangerous and highly toxic byproduct known as “blot”. With proper rest and nutrition, blot naturally goes away.

Negative emotions speed up blot accumulation.

Different people accumulate blot at different speeds, just as different people have different magic pools to begin with (as determined by genetics, but apparently can be artificially inflated by magic training).

It is implied that the larger your magic pool, the longer blot remains in your system.

Letting blot build up from straining one’s magic or not allowing time for recovery will result in a state known as “Overblot”, in which the blot consumes the user and gives birth to a physical manifestation known as a “Phantom”.

You must sever the connection between the mage and their Phantom to snap them out of Overblot.

Phantoms will drain the vitality out of its host until they are dead; the Phantom will continue to exist afterwards.

“Overblot” is supposedly an uncommon occurrence. 

Blot is made of strong toxins and stagnant magic. It condenses and crystallizes once it is expelled from the body.

Being in the presence of blot for extended period of time can make a mage feel ill. It’s not clear if blot can corrupt other mages just by touching it, but this appears to happen with Idia.

Blot appears to be caustic.

According to Idia, magic has no classifications like blood types do.

Magic circuits are like fingerprints; each mage has their own and it is unique to them, even blood relatives have different ones.

Even if one mage gives their magic to another person, the target’s output is still considered their own magic.

Magic can be naturally present in nature; magestones form as a result of crystals absorbing magic from the earth and air.

S.T.Y.X. is an organization that dedicates itself to studying blot and Overblots; they have captured a number of Phantoms and use them as test subjects for their research.

Anti-magic armor is able to be manufactured, but extremely powerful magic such as Malleus's can overwhelm the anti-magic quality of said armor. This implies a limit to how much magic can feasibly be blocked by armor made to keep it out.

It is the magic gemstone/magestone in the magical pens that absorbs blot; these gems are easily mined from certain caves.

It is possible to perform magic without a magic gemstone, but blot will build up in the body instead. The blot will also accumulate much faster, making normal spell casting take a much heavier toll, let alone unique magic.

Reiterating on the last point, it seems to take considerably more magic to use one’s UM. However, we also know of cases where this is not true, such as Kalim’s Oasis Maker (requiring only a little magic power to produce a ton of water).

Magical pens are not always pens. The NRC staff appear to have fashioned their gemstones into other items, and RSA students wear their magical gemstones as brooches instead of as pens. According to Lilia, the form of magical pens has changed a lot over the years. Sometimes they were super big, other times they were very small (see Lilia’s School Uniform vignette for more information on this).

Potion making does not seem to require magical input (unless, as the previous bullet point states, you need to infuse magic into an ingredient or into the potion itself), but flying a broom seems to (as Yuu is told they cannot play Magical Shift/Spelldrive, which requires riding a broom).

There is some level of chemistry involved with making potions; elements (the ones on the Periodic Table) are sometimes mentioned in reference to lab work.

Transformation potions are said to be outlawed. (This is why everyone was shocked when Jack’s unique magic allowed him to turn into a wolf.)

Merpeople that go to work and study on land are given free potions from a special organization first established by the Mermaid Princess; these potions grant merpeople human forms for anywhere from 7 to 10 days and need to be continuously consumed in order to maintain its effects.

Potions apparently all taste bad.

There are special jobs related to magic, such as magical healers/medical mages (like Riddle’s parents) and magic policemen/magic marshals, something Deuce hopes to become in the future).

Magical engineering/technomancy (that is to say, the cross between magic and technology) is also a thing; Idia and students in Ignihyde generally excel in this field.

Magic must be infused in order to harvest certain ingredients, such as mandrake (see Cater’s Labwear vignettes for more information on this).

There are equations necessary to cast certain spells, such as “autocleaning via implement magic infusion” (see Riddle’s Dorm Uniform vignettes for more information on this).

There are items infused with magic that even non-magicians can use with ease (such as Yuu’s Ghost Camera), as they do not necessarily require magical input to operate.

It is also possible to infuse clothing with magic; this is the case for the NRC ceremonial robes and dorm leader uniforms. Infusing magic helps to protect the wearer.

Malleus is considered one of the “top 5 magicians in the world”, implying that there is some kind of ranking system in place. It's not clear how these spots are calculated or determined.

Ghosts are prone to gather in places with a lot of magical energy, such as NRC grounds on Halloween night.

Excess magic harms humans but heals fae.

Fae can draw magic from nature; fae are more magically inclined than other races.

Hundreds of years ago, mages were called “witches” and “wizards”, which were derogatory phrases. People feared them and magic.

You need a license to fly in cities.

Age 9-10 is considered “not that early” for magic to manifest. 14 is considered “late bloomer” status.

Anything that had has a spell cast on it has a magic trace.

Experienced mages can sense magical traces.

In recent years, the term “mage” was adopted to refer to magic-users.

Defense magic can protect you against the cold.

Losing one’s UM is treated as a very serious thing.

Mage licenses are international and mages are recognized as working toward the betterment of society.

There are laws and special agencies dedicated to disciplining those who would abuse their magic.

Focus and/or an adrenaline rush may temporarily enhance the accuracy and potency of spellcasting.