Fantastic?

[RJ Dalton]

I have already come to accept that Hollywood cant do Doom. I think they are scared off by the very concept of magic, thinking that it will scare and confuse people. At least when it isn't contained in a move solely about magic (e.g. Harry Potter). Hollywood thinks if we see magic and science in the same movie, that our little monkey brains wont be able to make sense of it, and we will end up hating the movie.

It's sad how true this is. But, really, I've been seeing magic and science mixed together in great works for a long time. Hell, I write tons of stuff that mixes the two. It leads to all sorts of interesting dilemmas.

But Hollywood has always lagged behind on everything, so it's no surprise they haven't picked up on this possibility.

You've written on the subject of science and magic mixed together? Do tell. I find the ideas of Functional Magic, and/or MagiTech fascinating. The knowledge and technology of science, combined with the raw power and potential of magic...wonderful, yet potentially devastating. I say that, because when people get a new resource, tool, or invention...we eventually find SOME way of either hurting people with it, or using it in a way it wasn't originally meant to be used. Like say, the atom bomb or the creation of dynamite. But that isn't to say all innovations are bad. After all, what are most inventors? Dreamers, creators. Dream lead to divine discoveries, wouldn't you say? An idea for story I'm trying to come with is one wherein Magic either shows up, or "comes back" into modern society. After a celestial event in which the signs of the zodiac appear in the night sky [or something, I'm thinking of it returning due to an experiment the government does shortly after, and be it intentionally or not, it creates a channel to the realm of the supernatural, or spiritual. Basically, it's an energy that can be used to defy the laws of the universe. I'm...probably either over-thinking it or under-thinking it.]

That goes a bit off-topic. Let's see if anyone notices. >.>

Mostly, I've just written the two as existing side-by-side. I've hinted that the two mixed in the past, but after certain cataclysmic cultural fall-outs, the two were divided and now nobody mixes the two anymore. Or knows how to mix the two anymore, at least in a meaningful way. It's been a long time since I've written anything specifically set in a world where the two are mixed together.
Or you have a society that was highly scientifically advanced and then some kind of dimensional breach occurred and out of that breach came interstellar beings capable of "magic." Some scientists study the magic in a scientific way, but so far the theories are somewhat inadequate to explain everything because the principles magic follow are . . . well, like Dark Matter: we don't know for certain what it is, or how it works, we only know it exists because of its effects on the world around it.
And in some senses, I treat one form of magic - "wizardry" - as being like technology and science in its own way. Magic, on its own, is a sort of raw, chaotic force that does stuff, but you can lock magic into specific effects - "spells" - through the use of mathematical formula, alchemy (basically, chemistry that taps magical power), and mental discipline. Wands and wizard staffs are just technology powered by magic instead of physics. And, just like science and technology, magic has its limitations and risks. There are things magic can do that blow scientific technology out of the water, but then again, technology is easier to master and use repeatably because it follows more persistent laws, whereas magic always has a certain amount of chaos to it and thus is more subject to entropy. And the fallout of magical accidents are way worse than the fallout of industrial accidents. Every magical accident is its own, miniature nuclear explosion, complete with linger effects (magical radiation/pollution), whereas most industrial accidents can be cleaned up in a matter of weeks or months.

It varies depending on the setting I write in.

 

[VikingKing]

So, it's the Fantastic Four origin story where they have to learn to work together to stop someone they thought was a friend who also gained superhuman abilities...gee, this sounds so familiar.

Because it's just like the first one. With more grit than a diner in Missouri.

 

[ArcaneGamer]

I have already come to accept that Hollywood cant do Doom. I think they are scared off by the very concept of magic, thinking that it will scare and confuse people. At least when it isn't contained in a move solely about magic (e.g. Harry Potter). Hollywood thinks if we see magic and science in the same movie, that our little monkey brains wont be able to make sense of it, and we will end up hating the movie.

It's sad how true this is. But, really, I've been seeing magic and science mixed together in great works for a long time. Hell, I write tons of stuff that mixes the two. It leads to all sorts of interesting dilemmas.

But Hollywood has always lagged behind on everything, so it's no surprise they haven't picked up on this possibility.

You've written on the subject of science and magic mixed together? Do tell. I find the ideas of Functional Magic, and/or MagiTech fascinating. The knowledge and technology of science, combined with the raw power and potential of magic...wonderful, yet potentially devastating. I say that, because when people get a new resource, tool, or invention...we eventually find SOME way of either hurting people with it, or using it in a way it wasn't originally meant to be used. Like say, the atom bomb or the creation of dynamite. But that isn't to say all innovations are bad. After all, what are most inventors? Dreamers, creators. Dream lead to divine discoveries, wouldn't you say? An idea for story I'm trying to come with is one wherein Magic either shows up, or "comes back" into modern society. After a celestial event in which the signs of the zodiac appear in the night sky [or something, I'm thinking of it returning due to an experiment the government does shortly after, and be it intentionally or not, it creates a channel to the realm of the supernatural, or spiritual. Basically, it's an energy that can be used to defy the laws of the universe. I'm...probably either over-thinking it or under-thinking it.]

That goes a bit off-topic. Let's see if anyone notices. >.>

Mostly, I've just written the two as existing side-by-side. I've hinted that the two mixed in the past, but after certain cataclysmic cultural fall-outs, the two were divided and now nobody mixes the two anymore. Or knows how to mix the two anymore, at least in a meaningful way. It's been a long time since I've written anything specifically set in a world where the two are mixed together.
Or you have a society that was highly scientifically advanced and then some kind of dimensional breach occurred and out of that breach came interstellar beings capable of "magic." Some scientists study the magic in a scientific way, but so far the theories are somewhat inadequate to explain everything because the principles magic follow are . . . well, like Dark Matter: we don't know for certain what it is, or how it works, we only know it exists because of its effects on the world around it.
And in some senses, I treat one form of magic - "wizardry" - as being like technology and science in its own way. Magic, on its own, is a sort of raw, chaotic force that does stuff, but you can lock magic into specific effects - "spells" - through the use of mathematical formula, alchemy (basically, chemistry that taps magical power), and mental discipline. Wands and wizard staffs are just technology powered by magic instead of physics. And, just like science and technology, magic has its limitations and risks. There are things magic can do that blow scientific technology out of the water, but then again, technology is easier to master and use repeatably because it follows more persistent laws, whereas magic always has a certain amount of chaos to it and thus is more subject to entropy. And the fallout of magical accidents are way worse than the fallout of industrial accidents. Every magical accident is its own, miniature nuclear explosion, complete with linger effects (magical radiation/pollution), whereas most industrial accidents can be cleaned up in a matter of weeks or months.

It varies depending on the setting I write in.

That's a good point. That's kind of what I want to go for, a setting in which magic is discovered, yet instead of the public freaking the heck out, it is welcomed after the government displays how much we can benefit from it. What crystal do you think would be good for containing a concentrated form of the stuff? Like a lacrima?

 

[malestrithe]

The original concept for the FF the way Stan Lee wrote it is monsters in daily life. The characters were treated like social outcasts and pariahs for the first 10 years worth of stories. The group was hated by the people they were meant to protect.

Everything you come to associate with the FF did not come about until the late 70s. They fought in their street clothes early on.

Forgive Fox for trying to stay close to that original vision of the characters.

 

[RJ Dalton]

That's a good point. That's kind of what I want to go for, a setting in which magic is discovered, yet instead of the public freaking the heck out, it is welcomed after the government displays how much we can benefit from it. What crystal do you think would be good for containing a concentrated form of the stuff? Like a lacrima?

I'm not sure what a lacrima is, except as a kind of grape used for wine-making. And I haven't really used crystals as a focus because it feels too new-age to me. I usually have magic, at least as far as wizards are concerned, work more like Hermeticism.

 

[verdant monkai]

I just love the fact the human torch is a black guy with a blonde sister. I am praying that they have amusing family photos of their family where everyone is all the same ethnicity as each other apart from either Susan or Johnny.

This sort of thing is what I'd expect from a film like scary movie or epic movie.