Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4519633-20141022032431/@comment-25536775-20160517003857

Once has a decent budget, they could afford better special effects. Ugh. It makes it hard to suspend disbelief. If they want to use magic so constantly, they should try to use the smoke effect more often. It kind of looks good, and gives Once a sort of unique representation of magic, rather than the average beam of light.

On another note, Once magic works like fairytale magic, it's innaccurate and foggy, and we get a basic idea of what it is, but we don't delve into the details. This makes it hard to compare with magic systems from Harry Potter, in which magic is basically scientifically studied, or The Vampire Diaries, or Supernatural; Once magic, just like fairytale magic, does what the plot needs it to do.

Zelena, for example, has been majorly de-powered as of Last Rites; seriously, all she did was throw a fireball at the guy?! And Regina has been consistently de-powered from Season Two onwards.

Another issue I have is wether people can learn magic or not. The one thing I liked about the Onceverse is that people can apparently learn magic like any other skill. It's refreshing, considering how latest media has been treating magic as an inborn (and often unwanted, cue Wicked, Frozen, and their spiritual successors) trait. I like stories that put emphasis on effort instead of ''birth status. However, ever since we saw Cora do it, no one thought to use it. ''Rumpel could've taught himself magic in 5A. Belle seems to be on the fence about this; we see her threatening people with potions and using books of magic, as well as fairy dust, and she does seem to be quite good at it to threaten the QoD like it was no big deal, but wenever actually see her casting a spell. 3.16 says Regina was born with magic, but all evidence from before it contradicts that.