Mixing science fiction and magic can be tricky; if everyone in the world is capable of teleporting anywhere at anytime, it probably won’t make much sense for people to own cars, for example. Blending these two forces leads to countless exciting possibilities, but it can also end up creating some inconsistencies that your audience will pick up on if you don’t think things through well.
I have several tips and things you should think about if you want to build a world that mixes sci-fi and fantasy. Ultimately how detailed you get with it is up to you; maybe you want to plot out ever single tiny aspect of how your world works, or maybe you just want to have robot dragons and to hell with whoever disagrees! It’s a story of your making; if you and your audience are having fun with it, that’s what I consider most important.
Either way, here’s some things to think about!
- Of course, it helps to start off with the usual integral factors that tend to define societies; things like geography, language, religion, laws, agriculture, philosophy, etc. Before you even start throwing magic/tech into the mix, what does your world look like? What does it sound like? What does it taste like??
- How does magic work in your world? Is it a gift only available to a select few, or can pretty much any Average Joe summon a fireball? Are all mages Clerics (with magic derived from a powerful entity), Wizards (with magic learned from studying), Sorcerers (with magic just as an innate trait), or a mixture of these (and other?) things?
- How does technology (generally) work in your world? How widely available is it? How well is it understood? What level is it at; are there nanobots in everyone’s bloodstreams, or is a bronze sword considered “high technology”?
- How well do magic and technology (generally) mix in your world? Are they both just two different tools for solving problems, or opposed forces? Can one be used to study the other? Can someone be an expert on both things? What problems have been solved (and created) from blending the two?
- Are either things taboo? How much social friction do either things cause? Is the use of one meant to be secret or forbidden? Why?
- Are tech-favoring people/societies generally on equal footing with magic-favoring ones? They don’t have to be! The world being skewed in one side’s favor could be a great source of conflict!
- What can only be done with magic? What can only be done with technology? Consider the limitations of both forces in the world. Does one force typically work better in some or most ways than the other? What things simply can’t be replicated by one side?
- Consider how advanced each side is. What methods of communication, transportation, education, fuel consumption, medical care, etc are available to magic-favoring societies and which ones are available to tech-favoring societies? One side may not be exclusively better than the other; a tech-favoring society might have much faster land transportation in the form of huge cars, but a magic-favoring one might be able to magically tame huge creatures that can walk on walls and reach places tech can’t easily get to.
- (When it can,) how does magic solve the same problems as tech and vice versa? A magical stone of far-speech can fill the magic-equivalent role of a phone, for example. A manufactured chemical packet could function like a certain spell. Of course, if one side’s method is so ubiquitous and accessible, it’s more likely that all people’s will favor it.
- On the other hand, the different perspectives will likely produce entirely different problems and methods of solving them. Beyond one side being unable to replicate certain things from another, they may not want to. Mages may have no interest in creating an internet analogue they instead have access to some great collective unconscious tech-favoring people can’t access. How might one describe these things to the other? This is where the real creative world-building comes in; not every problem should be solved by just having an equally viable magic or tech version of it. Different cultures will value things differently, and exploring that leads to lots of creative worldbuilding and conflict!
- Consider what divisions might exist within societies. There are always subdivisions within groups; not all mages are as powerful, knowledgeable, or experienced as one another. Some subgroups may think themselves superior in some way, and/or might look down upon others within their own circle for all kinds of reasons. No group is a hivemind (unless they literally are); groups are made up individuals!
- Lastly (but possibly most importantly), DON’T GET TOO CAUGHT UP WITH HOW COOL YOUR WORLD IS! Consider exactly what information is relevant to the audience and what interesting ways you can show/explain it. Remember that the focus should generally remain on the characters; there’s nothing wrong with having lots of extra world-building details, but they can bog down the story in minutia if you get too off track! You can always explore and explain deeper lore in side material!
That’s so me omg i have a book -new- that I haven’t read it even once for two years
im a simple girl.. i see book, i buy book, i let book sit on my shelf for months unread
Gryffindor
listens to anime osts while studying
highlights everything, gOD
acts like a roman orator during class reports
“pisses off” the teacher with their jokes but is secretly probably the teacher’s fave student
mnemonics
either studies ahead of time or DOESN’T SLEEP FOR 48 HOURS BECAUSE THEY PROCRASTINATED (there is no in between)
flashcards galore
gets elected as class president because their friends thought it would be funny (but is actually pretty good at the job??)
determination to succeed even when they’re already too done with everything
Ravenclaw
has 100 highlighters and a system for how to use them
“do you think i’ll still have to take the exam if i die from caffeine overdose?”
really creative bullet journals (or minimalist layouts)
“how do you have such perfect handwriting?” “oh, it’s always been that way.” *actually spent 1000 hours perfecting it*
scrolls through the studyblr tag and calls it studying
posts something on studyblr and calls it studying
procrastinates a lot tbh.
classical music
gets anxious about not studying. still not studying because they’re too anxious to start. (relatable?)
always getting irrational thoughts about their “failing” grades
Hufflepuff
lots of colorful pens
a e s t h e t i c study spaces
extra af when it comes to projects (they’ll probably wear a mammoth costume during their report about the ice age. y’know, for authenticity)
working really hard for a subject they are not good at. feeling very satisfied when they get a high grade on that subject.
probably expects the worst so they don’t get disappointed
helping others study
sharing their notes
comforts other students who are having nervous breakdowns but they probably need comforting as well
all-nighters.
Slytherin
motivational quotes
studying extra hard for a subject someone told them they’re not good at, purely for the satisfaction of proving them wrong
they’re e x t r a af, in general
getting really high grades, but only seeing that one grade that was lower than they expected
either really organized or really messy (but, like, in an organized way)
mind maps and flowcharts
look calm as fuck when it comes to tests but it’s probably because they’re disassociating lmao
working hard not just because they like it, but because they simply don’t like the thought of failing
really supportive of their friends but at the same time bitter when they get higher marks at something (but only because they see it as a sign of personal failure)
has high standards for them themselves. at the same time, they feel like everyone expects too much of them.
Wake up early : Running late isn’t cool. Wake up at a reasonable hour so that you have time to get ready,eat a healthy breakfast,exersice etc.
Make your bed : You should start your day by doing something productive. Something that ‘’gets you going’’ . Making your bed is a great option.
Try yoga/meditation : Take some time to reflect and de-stress. You can do this by trying yoga and/or meditation. There are several yoga ‘’flows’’ in pinterest and great meditation apps to try out!
Gratitude Journal : Happiness is about wanting the things that you already have. Take some time of your morning to write down the blessings that you’re grateful for. Learn to count the small wins in life.
Plan / visualize : Write down a simple to-do list with all the tasks that you want to finish that day. Visualize your short or long - term goals. Whether they are monthly or yearly goals. Remind yourself what you are working towards.
Affirmations : It could be just a simple phrase like ‘ I am powerful ‘ or ‘ I am healthy’. Affirmations are those little (or long) phrases of positivity (like mantras ) in present tense that motivate you throughout the day.
Breakfast : I MUST include this to the list.Make yourself a nice breakfast. Don’t have to be big just something healthy. It is the most important meal of the day. Don’t skip it!!
Take care of yourself : Do your hair,put on some comfy clothes that make you confident or out on makeup if you feel like it. Other acts of selfcare can be : taking a shower, having a skincare routine, brushing your teeth.
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Slytherin: Come on Huff, I wasn't that drunk.
Hufflepuff: You tried to color my face with a highlighter because you said I was important.
Slytherin: That's because you are.
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Well that’s adorable.
“I just feel like heaven and hell are a place that’s inside each of us and we’re the ones who choose which one to explore. I mean, like, you know, I think you have to have both to have an understanding of why they exist. Shit wouldn’t be balanced if we didn’t have hell. I don’t think you’d be able to appreciate how amazing it feels to sit on a rooftop with all your friends as you’re watching the sunset listening to your favorite Lorde song if you didn’t want to kill yourself sometimes. You know and I think we’re all like, you know, a step away from both. I feel like both universes are so near to us. I don’t really think that heaven is all the way up at the top of whatever all of this is, and that hell is all the way down at the bottom. I think it’s all right here in front of us. I think they layer onto our realities like filters on an Instagram image. We see our lives through heaven and hell, and I think we always have a say in which one we can choose. You know because, even when your life is dog shit, heaven is just as close as it was before. You don’t really get further away from it, you just lose the ability to take notice of it, I guess. But I know how you feel, man. I feel like God is really quiet sometimes in my stupid life. But I still know that it’s all still right there in front of my face. It’s not really a matter of looking or searching, it’s a matter of seeing things for what they are. It’s all so much closer to you than you think it is. It’s all just a breath away.”
— CAMERON BEYRENT
hey i'm creating a race of fairies and since they generally have small builds and metal such as iron cold steel are deadly to them what are some good materials to use for the fairies to craft their weapons, i considered gems but doing some research i realized substance like diamonds and crystal are utterly impractical even for the fairies.
Well, fairies are magic. If a fairy wanted to wield a diamond sword, they could and no audience would question it. Magic is the solution to a lot of problems. The weakness of a weapon forged with magic is, of course, a steel blade but that only matters if they’re encountering humans wielding steel on the regular. Fairies can do whatever they want and dance merrily on the graves of scientists the world over, so don’t let that stop you.
Blades of pure light.
Blades of diamond.
Blades from plants.
Fairies wielding magma blades or swords forged from stardust.
A sword of glass containing the beating heart and heat of the sun.
Futuristic fairies who behave like aliens in Iron Man style power armor formed from plastics/polymers wielding lightsabers and firing bolts of plasma.
They’re fairies. Sky’s the limit here. Except, it’s not because then we catapult ourselves out into space. Go however far your imagination takes you.
Look to myth for your solutions, especially the Celtic Sidhe. Unless you’re dealing with a modern setting (and even if you are) mythology has already developed solutions. It’s a great place to start your search.
However, here are some things I’ll point out:
Cold Iron/Cold Steel are a reference to a specific forging technique rather than a type of metal, though in folklore it can just mean steel swords. Still, this will open up your options some.
Cold Iron for fairies dates back to when iron forging was still mostly new, or less common. There’s certainly lore out there with mythological fairies fighting warriors wielding iron blades, but were unbeatable until new forging techniques were developed.
Ask yourself: is it the forging technique which makes these swords dangerous to your fairies or is it the metal itself? In which case, then you can cut out “cold” as it’s just steel.
Here’s the Wikipedia article about iron in folklore. It may help you some in your search.
If you want to write Urban Fantasy with fairies then I’d go with the forging process rather steel itself. The reason is that they couldn’t go anywhere. At least, not places like the US or Europe or anywhere there’s a high steel content in the buildings, cars, and sewer systems. Even with a shift to polymers too much of the major metropolitan centers in the developed world are built on steel bones. Science fiction fairies re-emerging in the future where all metals are polymers has more potential.
Honestly, any army from a period using steel or iron weapons could curb stomp fairies if they’re allergic to the metal. Using the forging process moves all to some and then down to almost none, making way for the future fairyocalypse of 2018.
-Michi
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