Chapter help needed.

[Garren Jacobsen]

Ok folks, so I have a problem. Mostly of live crowd reactions. My character is fighting in a Magic MMA league that allows him to use a dull magic sword. Metal in my world can conduct raw magic but not refined magic. Raw magic is just energy. Refined magic includes but is not limited to spells, Magical manipulation of elements, or talismanic expressions that approximate spells and so forth. This is a hard and fast rule. However my MC figured out that a special metal ("Blood Iron") made by a small subset of magic users can channel both raw and refined magic. My MC discovered this exception to the rule by accident. Then he refined the results and decided to make a Blood Iron sword that can hold talismans. This kind of thing impossible. It would be like seeing people shoot energy blasts out of their hands in an MMA fight.

This begs the question of what should the crowd reaction be? I'm planning on it being in a hostile environment. What would it be? Shocked silemce? Angry boos? A mix? And what about the post game commentary? Rage? Incredulity? Holy shit this kid just broke magic?

 

[TheCrystallineEntity]

I'm thinking gasps of disbelief and stunned silence, and then incredulity afterwards, myself.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

Seems like at first everybody would be like "holy shit!" And then some people would start getting angry and accusing him of cheating.

 

[skip.knox]

What reaction do you want, and how important is the reaction to the story? Is this a Snake Plisskin sort of moment? Or is the audience reaction just a line or two for atmosphere?

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

What reaction do you want, and how important is the reaction to the story? Is this a Snake Plisskin sort of moment? Or is the audience reaction just a line or two for atmosphere?

This is a big moment. But also atmospheric. It's game changing in lot of ways to channel refined magic through metal.
But it's also a big thing because being able to make Blood Iron is a badge of shame. At the same time it's not super major because there's no paper supporting the theory. This fight is the first evidence of it.

 

[skip.knox]

Then I would go for a diversity of reactions--multiple voices, with the voice you want to emphasize emerging to dominate the others, whether that is condemnation, abhorrence, or whatever. But let it emerge naturally; tease the reader, don't conk them on the head.

Feeling awfully prescriptive tonight. Been grading too many student papers.

 

[Penpilot]

Funny thing, my last book was basically about a magic MMA fighter. Hahha. Let's hope this is the next big thing.

Any way, I agree with skip. Part of it is how do you want the crowd to react? In addion, part of the reactions will play off how your fighter reacts to the crowd too.

For example, there can be stunned silence, then one person yells WTF was that, now you can have them cheer because your fighter won them over by being awesome, or you can have them start yelling that what your fighter did was horse poop, or you can retain the silence.

What happens next will depend on how your fighter reacts to the crowd and his big take down. Are they cocky? Are they shocked too? Are they nonchalant or a little embarrassed?

Your fighter can exit the ring giving everyone the finger as they drop f-bombs on him. Or the fighter can exit without say a word. Maybe they're ashamed or they just don't care, but the crowd can remain stunned silent.

What you choose should IMHO reflect the impact this makes on the fighting world and how the fighting world will feel about this blood iron in general.

 

[Alyssa]

Can he start by just appearing to channel low level refined magic that can be mistaken for very powerful raw magic? And just lead them along, letting them get more and more confused until their cheers fade away and they realise something isn't quite right, as his spells become more refined and powerful.


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[DragonOfTheAerie]

Btw magic MMA fighting is an awesome and badass idea.

 

[K.S. Crooks]

The promotor may see the use of refined magic as a breach of contract and not give your character their winnings...unless your character shows the promotor how to repeat what he did.