BIIIIIIG smile! River does a lot of Gesturing while she explains, excited and trying not to talk to fast. "So like, from a professional perspective 'putting magic in' is like, nonsense? Helpful nonsense but it's like how people say they 'put a hold in' something, it's useful but technically wrong. Magic is sympathy, it's -"

So. Much. Gesturing.

"It's the idea that everything is in some way like other things, and ultimately in some way like its creators! If you can move stone 'by magic' it's because you're a bit like stone, and you can make stone a bit like you. A flaming sword is a bit like wood and a bit like fire, right? Even the stuff people think of as sketchy comes back to this. You can summon demons because you're a bit like them, you can raise the dead because you have a mortal nature."

River beams.