History Literature / ImpracticalMagic

''[[https://impracticalmagic.org Impractical Magic]]'' is a WebSerialNovel published in 2020 by three authors using the pseudonyms Creator/{{SBB}}, Creator/{{Oberon}}, and Creator/{{Nalta}}. Each writes a main character in the MagicSchool Istima, (AKA The Six Court Academy). The three viewpoint characters, Yam Hist of the Ken Seekers, Fen Calton, and Lyssana Terasu, each join a different court with a different magic system and its own culture. Godhood is considered a reasonable career path, corporate espionage between students and teachers is encouraged, and students trying to become healers are prone to causing serious accidents so they can get extra practice.

* BigLabyrinthineBuilding : Istima is a floating city where the MagicSchool built upwards and downwards until the entire island is riddled with buried city blocks, strange rooms, natural canals, and other microcosms. Most buildings are in an of themselves hidden labyrinths. For instance, the Understacks.
%%* BoardingSchool: Istima is a MagicSchool.

* ExtraordinaryWorldOrdinaryProblems: Istima is a MagicSchool, but the students struggle with overwork, FantasticRacism, the cost of books, sleep deprivation, the addictive properties of cheap stamina potions (amphetamines), and magically horrible public restrooms in college dormitories. It's also noted that species with different body plans are great for books until you have to imagine how an institution would bulk order desks.

* MageTower: Istima, the Six Court Academy, is a MagicSchool. Part of scholarships, status, and work studies include lodging on the school grounds. One of the many subtle status/power indicators at Istima is to be given lodgings in the towers, the higher the better.
* TheMagocracy: Istima, the Six Court Academy, is both a wildly powerful MagicSchool and a city-state unto itself. Though all the leaders are mages, and powerful, the trope is subverted. At some point, wizards become so powerful that having a job, needing to afford food, and the approval of regular mortals means nothing to them. As such, they stop teaching and abandon their important influential jobs to take the best parts of the BigLabyrinthineBuilding and slowly fade into history as they do incomprehensible things. No one is sure if they died, become gods, teleported away, are on multi-millennia astral projection trips, or if there are higher levels of the school. They just know that it's dangerous, booby-trapped, and anytime orders comes down from a high tower that it must be obeyed.

* MagicPotion: Each court at the MagicSchool has its own magic system, and the Summer Court includes potion-making. On one occasion, a student asks a professor about a partially filled glass bottle that they didn't learn about in her lesson. She answers that it's alcohol.

!! "Impractical Magic" contains examples of:

''[[https://impracticalmagic.org Impractical Magic]]'' is a WebSerialNovel published in 2020 by three authors using the pseudonyms Creator/{{SBB}}, Creator/{{Oberon}},and Creator/{{Nalta}}. Each writes a main character in the MagicSchool Istima, (AKA The Six Court Academy). The three viewpoint characters, Yam Hist of the Ken Seekers, Fen Calton, and Lyssana Terasu, each join a different court with a different magic system and its own culture. Godhood is considered a reasonable career path, corporate espionage between students and teachers is encouraged, and students trying to become healers are prone to causing serious accidents so they can get extra practice.

Cal is a LoveableRogue impersonating a young, wealthy noblewoman she found dead when attempting to burglarize a room. She only hopes to rob the rich mages and maybe pick up a trick or two before she inevitably has to skip town. Lyssana was born with the wrong kind of abilities and was exiled to a faraway island of ElementalPowers users. She has been called back by her wealthy family and placed in Istima for a purpose she has yet to learn. Yam is a [[FantasticRacism minority species]] of nomads whose culture values truth and community above all else. He has decided that the only way to restore his family's honor is to become indistinguishable from a god and retroactively make his father a prophet instead of a lying cult leader. But they need to find out what can set them apart from the competition in the world of Apaernore's most famous school of magic.

* BoardingSchool: Istima is a MagicSchool.

* FantasticRacism: The Len being discriminated against is a reoccurring theme in Yam's chapters. Yam also discriminated against non-Len by calling them barbaric and assume they do not have "Virtue" when, in reality, they just don't follow his cultural ideals. (https://impracticalmagic.org/2020/12/18/interlude-a-study-on-human-culture/)

* GroupedForYourconvenience: Each court teaches a different kind of magic. Because students must train their minds and worldviews to enhance their particular magic usage, they tend to develop similar traits. For instance, the rule-bound, very technical magic of the Autumn Court leads to more by-the-book bureaucrats. The Spring Court's collaborative magic produces a collectivist meritocracy and the Summer Court tends to make devious thieves because they have to keep up with everyone else without being able to throw fireballs at will. Also, you can steal other people's magic formula and get rich if you file for a patent before them.
* HiveMind: The Spring Court does "complex systems magic", often by using their trademark mind magic called the Collective. Dependant on the skill of the spell caster and what version of the spell they use, The Collective creates various temporary hive minds. The lowest level is described as creating a shared mental room where all participants can choose to put/share thoughts, knowledge, plans, and even their senses. This is how the many complexities of surgery are handled by a teams of specialized healers-in-training.

* LanguageOfMagic: The Autumn and Summer court each use a language of magic. The Summer Court uses a strict written language that causes whatever is written/drawn to happen exactly as the runes describe. Much like a programming language. The Autumn court uses spoken languages and dialects that have more complex rules and room for interpretation.
* LampshadeHanging: The main characters all notice odd and seemingly illogical things about Istima and call them out. Particularly Yam who is compulsively honest (though some might describe him as compulsively rude).
* LoveableRogue: Cal is a thief who starts showing her heart of gold as she makes friends with her fellow classmates
* MageTower: Istima, the Six Court Academy, is a MagicSchool. Part of scholarships, status, and work studies include lodging on the school grounds. One of the many subtle status/power indicators at Istima is to be given lodgings in the towers. The higher the better.
* TheMagocracy: Istima, the Six Court Academy, is both a wildly powerful MagicSchool and a city-state unto itself. Though all the leaders are mages, and powerful, the trope is subverted. At some point wizards become so powerful that having a job, needing to afford food, and the approval of regular mortals means nothing to them. As such they stop teaching and abandon their important influential jobs to take the best parts of the BigLabyrinthineBuilding and slowly fade into history as they do incomprehensible things. No one is sure if they died, become gods, teleported away, are on multi-millennia astral projection trips, or if there are higher levels of the school. They just know that it's dangerous, boobie trapped, and anytime orders comes down from a high tower that it must be obeyed.

* MagicPotion: Each court at the MagicSchool has its own magic system, and the Summer court includes potion-making. On one occasion, a student asks a professor about a partially filled glass bottle that they didn't learn about in her lesson. She answers that it's alcohol.

* WorldBuilding : The world is built out very rationally and expands slowly from the central school setting outwards. Authors have created maps, economic systems, population dynamic calculations, partial languages, and even run the numbers behind the physics/chemistry of magical interventions. Much of this happens off-camera and is only hinted at in story or in [=Q&As=].

''[[https://impracticalmagic.org Impractical Magic]]'' is a WebSerialNovel published in 2020 by three authors using the pseudonyms Creator/{{SBB}}, Creator/{{Oberon}},and Creator/{{Nalta}}. Each writes a main character in the MagicSchool Istima, (AKA The Six Court Academy). The three viewpoint characters, Yam Hist of the Ken Seekers, Fen Calton, and Lyssana Terasu, each join a different court with a different magic system and it's own culture. Godhood is considered a reasonable career path, corporate espionage between students and teachers is encouraged, and students trying to become healers are prone to causing serious accidents so they can get extra practice.

* MagicIsMental: Though each court has it's own magic the Spring Court and Night Court in particular use magic that is based on their minds and focus.

Cal is a LoveableRogue impersonating a wealthy young noblewoman she found dead when attempting to burglarize a room. She only hopes to rob the rich mages blind and maybe pick up a trick or two before she inevitably has to skip town. Lyssana was born with the wrong kind of abilities and was exiled to a faraway island of ElementalPowers users. She has been called back by her wealthy family and placed in Istima for a purpose she has yet to learn. Yam is a [[FantasticRacism minority species]] of nomads whose culture values truth and community above all else. He has decided that the only way to restore his family's honor is to become indistinguishable from a god and retroactively make his father a prophet instead of a lying cult leader. But they need to find out what can set them apart from the competition in the world of Apaernore's most famous school of magic.

* PunishedForSympathy: Yam tries to help Jaxton, who is a NobleBigot, and becomes the victim of FantasticRacism

* AnimalLover: See the entry about Yam under NaiveAnimalLover .

* CulturalPosturing : Yam is the victim of FantasticRacism. As such he overcompensates by being too proud of the Len's concept of a 'Virtue'. He frequently dismisses humans as being unaware bigots while simultaneously calling all humans uncultured savages.

* ElementalPowers: The entire Winter Court teaches the use of elemental magic

* ExtraordinaryWorldOrdinaryProblems : Istima is a MagicSchool but the student's struggle with overwork, FantasticRacism, the cost of books, sleep deprivation, the addictive properties of cheap stamina potions (amphetamines), and magically horrible public restrooms in college dormitories. It's also noted that species with different body plans are great for books until you have to imagine how an institution would bulk order desks.

* FunctionalMagic: The way each Courts Magic is explained in the series and follows it's own rules.

* FantasticRacism: The Len being discriminated against is a reoccurring theme in Yam's chapters. Yam also discriminated against non-Len by calling them barbaric and assume they do not have 'Virtue' when, in reality, they just don't follow his cultural ideals. (https://impracticalmagic.org/2020/12/18/interlude-a-study-on-human-culture/)

* FantasticScience: Istima is a MagicSchool that has courts teaching and studying the various approaches to magic. This includes studies of magical resonance, magic reserve recovery, energy calculations, and various other aspects of applied magic.

* GroupedForYourconvenience :Istima is a MagicSchool that has several 'courts'. Each teaches a different kind of magic. Because students must train their minds and worldviews to enhance their particular magic usage, they tend to develop similar traits. For instance, the rule-bound, very technical magic of the Autumn Court leads to more by-the-book bureaucrats. The Spring Court's collaborative magic produces a collectivist meritocracy and the Summer Court tends to make devious thieves because they have to keep up with everyone else without being able to throw fireballs at will. Also, you can steal other people's magic formula and get rich if you file for a patent before them.

* HiveMind: Istima is a MagicSchool called the Six Court Academy. The Spring Court does "complex systems magic" often by using their trademark mind magic called The Collective. Dependant on the skill of the spell caster and what version of the spell they use, The Collective creates various temporary hive minds. The lowest level is described as creating a shared mental room where all participants can choose to put/share thoughts, knowledge, plans, and even their senses. This is how the many complexities of surgery are handled by a teams of specialized healers-in-training.

* WorldBuilding : The world is built out very rationally and expands slowly from the central school setting outwards. Authors have created maps, economic systems, population dynamic calculations, partial languages, and even run the numbers behind the physics/chemistry of magical interventions. Much of this happens off-camera and is only hinted at in story or in Q&A's.

* FantasticRacism: The Len being discriminated against is a reoccurring theme in Yam's chapters. Yam also discriminated against non-Len by calling them barbaric and assume they do not have 'Virtue' when, in reality, they just don't follow his cultural ideals.