Q: What happens after the overblots?

Were Riddle and Leona even awake inside of their own minds when they tried to kill Ace and Ruggie? Did Azul consciously start stealing everyone’s magic, or had he already been taken over on the inside and the physical transformation was the final step?

Riddle does not seem to remember his overblot but it is possible that he remembered his flashback, as he references it when he regains consciousness in dialogue that is identical across the game, manga and novel versions of Riddle’s story.

Thanks to the second novel we might get more insight into Riddle’s overblot that any other (as of this writing):

“‘I can manage my own health just fine.’
He says this, but in reality, quite a bit of time had passed before he had been able to so much as stand on his own feet after overblotting.
He had felt so heavy; been in so much pain. It had been as if his entire body had burned itself out, along with his magical power.”

-Twisted Wonderland the Second Novel (fan translation)

It seems Riddle had not been even able to stand upright for a while in the novel, though we do see him standing shortly afterwards in the manga (due to the limitations of the visual novel medium, whether he was able to ever stand or not in the game is a little vague. He is escorted out of the scene by Trey and Crowley, and Trey is described as physically supporting him to the nurse’s office in the novel).

Leona’s first line in the novel is “What did I…,” but the lines above are otherwise identical and, like Riddle, Leona does not seem to remember what happened.

When Leona wakes up in the novel, Riddle explains to the others that Leona’s consciousness may not have wholly returned yet and he is likely confused about what is going on.

Leona is also described as being physically spent in the novel: he refuses an offer from Crowley to help him up, but he repeatedly braces his hands against the ground as he struggles and fails to stand on his own in a sight that is described as “painful to behold.” (He does eventually manage to rise to his feet without help.)

As Leona then suffers through several vengefully violent rounds of Spelldrive (it is explained that, aside from Cater and Trey, the other Spelldrive players like Jamil were unaware of his overblot), it will be interesting to read about his recovery if/when a third novel is released.

Azul doesn’t seem to remember that he went “berserk” at all, presumably meaning that he doesn’t remember the overblot. But this does not really answer the question of when, exactly, an overblot counts as an overblot: is the physical transformation necessary, or did losing his mind and using his unique magic without his contracts count?

(Azul does not need his contracts to enable his unique magic: he needs them to limit it, as his own magic is too powerful for him to control.)

Much like the others Jamil also seems confused about what happened when he awakes, but unlike the others we receive a little bit more follow up.

Jamil says that he has been able to successfully hide the real reason why he overblotted from his parents and Kalim’s family, so while they know it happened, they don’t know why.

But Jamil does know, and I think he might be the only overblotter who has come close to insinuating, “Not only is it possible to pinpoint the exact reason why I overblotted, but I know what it was.”

It is insinuated in-game that Jamil also required time to recover off screen.

If the “overblotting happens internally over time as blot accumulates, prior the physical transformation that reflects it” theory is true, Vil reaching his point of no return might be easier to pinpoint than others.

(Vil’s reaction upon awakening was localized as “How am I…?” on EN, but I would also suggest the alternative of, “Why am I…?”)

Vil, too, seems confused about his situation upon regaining consciousness, but we find out later that he seems to remember a surprising amount about what happened post-transformation: he describes the phantom that appeared behind him in Book 5 as though he remembers seeing it for himself.

This is a fascinating revelation–do the other overblotters also remember what happened after they were overtaken, watching the events play out as if they were trapped inside of their own minds?

Idia’s reaction upon waking up is identical to Riddle’s (in the original game), and–also like Riddle–he might also show signs of remembering something, immediately asking after Ortho (with whom he’s been conversing in between being defeated and waking up).

In summary: memory issues seem to be one side effect of overblotting, and it might also be the only effect that gets referenced in the game.

While post-overblot “medical treatment” is referenced it is not specified what kind of treatment was needed for what ailments.

There are many things in the novel that vary from the game and thus I would not recommend using the canon of one as proof in favor of or against the canon of the other. But we do get more details there about the physical toll that overblotting takes upon a mage’s body, which might be of use for fanfic purposes?