Inspired by an ongoing thread with @themisfitmouse -- Hallowe'en Town is a strange place (as I'm sure you all know). There are plenty of mysteries and confusing things to be found. But this focuses on magic. Or rather, the 'magical personality'. I imagine this brings forth the idea of someone dressed like a stage magician with rabbits in their hat and a majestic cape. Take that mental image, draw it later, and put it aside for now. Instead, focus on the meaning: a personality that can be described as 'magical'. I go against canon here and say that magic can be found in Hallowe'en Town, I've always stood by this. The Town's focus is always on the physical magic, the practical magic. These would include (but are certainly not limited to) spells, heres, curses, potions, talents (such as Jack's fire) and skills (such as the monsters who hide under beds and in closets being able to travel through shadows). But the non-practical side is just as important. It's known locally as the subtle magics, as 'non-practical' gives the impression they're not as important. The magical personality is the most well-known of the subtle magics. The Hallowe'en Town definition states that someone with a magical personality is 'one who can change their atmosphere simply by being there‘. Think about it: have you ever not wanted to meet someone because being in the same room as them makes you feel ill or grumpy all of a sudden? It's the same idea, but on a stronger scale (and not always negative!). There are a few cases of it in Hallowe'en Town, and as a result the individuals in question usually work in positions to help them use their natural talents in an effective way. For example, the Mummy Boy that is the Mayor's Assistant has a magical personality, but it was only discovered after he got the job. He is a calming beacon, and can help reduce the Mayor's freakouts. Add to this the boy's natural logical intelligence and you are assured a calm Mayor 85% of the time (according to Jack). In a sense, he's like a service dog trained to help people to manage better in day-to-day settings. Bringing it back to the thread mentioned, @themisfitmouse's character also has a magical personality (according to Jack). Her one is a mood-lifter, who can make someone happy by simply talking to her for a little while. Jack isn't sure if the effects are as strong outside of Hallowe'en Town (and he certainly isn't going to perform tests on his poor friend). Mood-lifters are special in that the subtle magic only works if they have that mood. Using Savie as an example, it could be assumed that no one will suddenly feel happy around her if she is sad (and if they are happy because she's sad they need to be slapped). I suppose the human explanation of how it works is more like... 'I'm happy because she's happy', or that she would have an infectious personality and people can't help but be happy if she's in a good mood. But as I said before, it's stronger than what we know (how strong depends on the individual. It is said there used to be citizens who could focus their magic to affect only one individual within a group.) Another quick example is the idea of the charmer - "that boy could charm your socks off". In Hallowe'en Town, there's only been one reported example from about 30 years ago. It was said the ghoul in question was very good at sweet-talking others to get his way. There are other forms of subtle magic in Hallowe'en Town but at this stage I've written loads! If people are interested in my world-building ideas I could always write more one day.
