thinking about how the aspects to create praecantatio is vacuous (void) + potentia (energy). obssessed, even. in thaumcraft’s lore, magic canonically comes from the void between worlds, but you dont learn this ingame until youre balls deep into research and yet the hint was right there in the aspects.
you realize nodes are not something leaking in but points where the void touches the world and are sucking energy out. hypercondensed miniature black holes. sometimes nodes become hungry and start to not just pull in magic but items. blocks. mobs. you can break nodes too, dispersing the magic it was collecting everywhere into a semi-solid, semi-gas form.
the fact magic has different states of matter and is both wildly unstable to the point it phases through most blocks and yet inert enough to form crystalline structures that can be safely mined without exploding. vacuous is made from chaos and air and potentia is made from order and fire. magic is inherently conflicting and yet synthesizing.
air and fire make light. order and chaos make exchange. magic in thaumcraft frequently presents as points of light and there is always a price for it, no matter how small or great.
azanor baby please come back you were such a clever writer and game designer