Reader Reactions and Other Questions (Old to New Conversions)

[J. S. Elliot]

Long story short, one of my side projects is converting a project that's nearly as old as I've been writing. Being that I started with writing fanfiction, though, that's where the conversion comes in.

One of the most important questions is in regards to the canon material favoring the destiny route, while I do not. However, being I built up the half-baked mythology of the games, the bearers and guardians have become central to the story. What I'm trying to figure out is why a handful of people would have such massive deposits* of magic within their essences, without relying on the "handwave of fate". So far I have a couple vague ideas, but I wouldn't mind hearing your two cents' worth on the current favorite.

• The hit-and-miss reincarnation that is part of the beliefs system, and the fact that the main characters may have had previous lives (though decades, if not centuries apart), combined with a strong potential regardless of that.

* Deposits: Labeled as such because one character in particular has earned quite the reputation as a "mage killer" in that he's learned how to remove one's inborn capabilities. Even if that means unraveling someone's essence and shredding it in the process. (Being the essence is more or less the baseline of the soul in this world, and a mage's capabilities are intertwined, it is often fatal.)


Another question is in regards to the love triangle. I know that most people, myself included, typically avoid them. They can, on occasion, prove interesting, though. But considering this story is as old as I've been writing, I can't seem to bring myself to remove it this one time.

In order to accurately portray the issue, though, I'll have to give a bit of a run-down on the situation. While both of the "options" are decidedly lethal in their own right, I also don't want to present a "good" or "risk" one to immediately be shuffled into the reader's predetermined stereotypes. (Further complicating the matter, though, is that Selena is only sixteen by the skin of her teeth while the rest of the cast is in their twenties; be it early or late. Meaning that inexperience makes the relationships fumble, when you take into account that she's never stayed in one place long enough to develop a crush on anyone.) A somewhat over simplified explanation of Kent and Ilucien, though:

• Being that Kent was part of the Royal Guard, it would be sugar-coating it to say he "can but does not" kill if he can avoid it. But he's still had fifteen years of training under his belt, even if he is more honor-bound than another recently knighted character.
• Ilucien, on the other hand, is an individual created by magic. Considering he was created with the intention of being something of an assassin, he's well backed with force, finesse, and cunning. While he had since betrayed his former master, he's also wading into completely new territory with Selena, and frustration of not knowing how to approach the situation causes him to fall back onto force. Not to the extremes, no, but enough to express his point. (IE: "Stealing" a kiss.)

Problem is, because Shades [which will probably be renamed] are seen as a mockery of life, I don't want that faucet to be seen as a stalker/crutch combination. Considering Selena's empathy is quite advanced, it doesn't take much prodding for her to see that his essence is complete rather than only part. In that, she accepts his presence without much fuss.

So ... Overall, the second issue is more time consuming to explain, but I've still had to leave a fair bit out. I'll expand if you'd like.

 

[J. S. Elliot]

Apologies about the double post, but I would like to add that - while someone has pointed out that the second portion has a very unfortunate "Twilight" vibe ...blech... the relationship is far more developed than the watered down format allows. I apologize for the poor-sounding format of the question, there just aren't very many ways to put that sort of thing without it sounding eyeroll-worthy. >_>

 

[Ankari]

Hello Selene,

I emailed you my suggestion for part one of your question. Let me know if you have any questions on my response.

Thanks!

 

[J. S. Elliot]

Oh, thanks! Just checked my email, and I do have some things I'd like to bat back and forth with you. Would you prefer it to be on this thread, PM, or email?

 

[Ankari]

You can put it on this thread

 

[J. S. Elliot]

All right, then I'll post my thoughts in response to your points later today.

 

[J. S. Elliot]

I can't seem to edit my posts all of the sudden, but I made far less progress than I wanted in NaNo/homework both. I'll have to post this tomorrow. My apologies.

 

[J. S. Elliot]

Seems that I ran out of time twice. In response to Ankari's suggestions on the magic system:

1. You state your magic is semi-sentient.
2. You don't want to use "destiny" as a way to determine who gets the most magic.
3. You need certain characters to have more magic than others.

Here's how I would approach this.

1. Magic is under assault. To spice it up, you'll have two threats to magic. A) Less users. You can make whatever reason you want for why this is happening. Most authors will use technology. B) Some people, like your mage killer, want to hoard magic to themselves or deny the spread of magic to others to keep competition slim

2. Magic seeks to establish a balance and grow it's use. It deposits more of it into people it thinks will create the balance.

3. This is different from destiny because destiny assumes that the the character will succeed. Magic doesn't know the future. It just "bets" on certain people.

4. The overall goal isn't to have the world fall into a golden age of rule, it's to have magic thrive. Whether that's through good people or bad, it doesn't matter.

5. Mage killers can belong to the faction that seeks to limit who has magic. You'll have to come up with a cool way of extracting magic from people.

I. Although technology is an option, there isn't enough of it to justify the complete decline. On the other hand, the second point you bring up, I have already put into action. Compared to the last time a character had an incarnation, the population of mages is less than a fourth of what it was.

II. Definitely something to think about. A portion of a mage's capabilities is based in genetics, but not all of them. (IE: If the coupling of a mage and non-mage were to happen, it'd be possible, but less likely than two mages. It can also skip generations, kind of like recessive traits in appearance. There are also cases in which a character could be a dormant mage, but never actually tap into their power. There are more variables, but I won't get into them unless someone has a question about it.)

III. Touche.

IV. "Good" or "bad" is subjective, but I can see where this would come into play. With characters that have large enough deposits to take on the mentioned semi-sentience, it can be said that it has few - if any - connections to the character and their morals or relations. If brought entirely to the surface, rather than resting at a middling point, it wouldn't blink at killing someone in order to preserve it's host. Even if doing so could potentially put their host in a coma, so to speak. (If the host's endurance is overspent, there are consequences. Sometimes death.)

V. Well, unless I shuffle things around more, I'll be debating about having an entire fraction of mage killers. The very few people who know how to dig into someone's essence are revered, and even feared, because that's walking on cracked ice. Or, simply put, edging into territory not meant for man.