On Writing: Elemental Magic Systems!

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Tim Hickson
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Stay nerdy!
Tim

[@HelloFutureMe]

I have decided to fully embrace my new vibe as "man who has lived alone in lighthouse for decades". patreon.com/hellofutureme ~ Tim

[@paniklewe]

Like in the movie with Defoe?

[@magnumx9189]

Just don't forget to take care of yourself, Tim!

[@masterofraw1175]

Do you think TV and films can be judged objectively

[@randomuser5443]

I completely forgot about your channel, but the new look was a pleasant surprise

[@steinbrosstein209]

3 days ago

[@nicobones9608]

For a moment, as you were describing the personality types associated with elements I thought, "What if you had a fire mage who just had a warm personality, like the kind of fire that's in your fireplace to keep your home warm?" Then I realized that's what they did with Uncle Iroh.

[@princessthyemis]

Aww oh yeah! 💕🫖🍵My college history teacher said something similar when explaining why he'd be a firebender.

[@corhydrae3238]

It's like red cards in Magic the Gathering. Not exactly an elemental system, but it does share traits. Red is aggressive, impulsive and reckless most of the time, but it can also represent passion, empathy and creativity.

[@Descanlin]

Maybe it's just me, but when I look at a flame, I get into a sort of meditative, serene state. That would be an interesting angle to pick up on for fire magic.

[@stoshpehowic3590]

@@Descanlin You basically just described the religion of R'hllor

[@acrowinabasketballhoop4452]

The idea of fire being warmth and comfort reminds me think of Hestia as well

[@The56CREW]

Me: "Tim has probably exhausted all his thinly-veiled excuses to talk about Avatar." Tim:

[@BlazingSteel]

Tim: Hold my Honor

[@jacobwiens659]

Insert Gandalf meme

[@gabriellevalentine2057]

🤣🤣🤣

[@gavinsmith9871]

With Avatar studios being a thing now he'll never run out of reasons.

[@uberlephrad8218]

Dude, that one was a classic trick.

[@klarathebat5619]

"you have the big guy" * Shows a picture of a little girl * I love avatar

[@pencils7351]

She is 100% the big guy of the group lol, I too love Avatar

[@abbaszaidi2615]

@@pencils7351 I mean yeah, she's a big ripped guy who uses sound to see

[@raiorai2]

@@abbaszaidi2615 Better than the last airbender movie

[@Noor-oh4jq]

@@raiorai2 we don’t talk about that

[@josephmorse3089]

@@Noor-oh4jq There is no live action movie in Ba Sing Se.

[@nickmalachai2227]

Ah yes, the four elements. Fire, ice, candy, and slime.

[@thomascorbett709]

Ahhh, I see you are a man of culture as well.

[@matthewplays7232]

Don't forget lumps, aka the anti-element

[@supercvnt]

I feel bad for people who don't understand the reference. Man they wasted their life.

[@nickmalachai2227]

@@supercvnt your username is the only response you should receive.

[@nickmalachai2227]

Oh wait you said don't nvm, sorry. Internet reading comprehension is horrible.

[@Taneth]

I like how Zuko eventually learns that fire isn't just anger and destruction: "It's energy, and light"

[@devildavin]

also kind of makes me think of G-Gundam, especially when Domon gets the burning Gundam, "This hand of mine is burning red, its loud roar is telling me to grasp victory" its not out of anger but its passion as a fighter and a drive for winning

[@jasonreed7522]

Zuko was originally taught that fire is an angry raging inferno, a wildfire destroying all in its path. Iroh and Aang helped him realize that Fire is also a calm woodstove keeping you warm and cooking your dinner. Fire burns the forest but lets it grow back stronger. But left untended it can burn your house down. (As shown when aang burned katara) Fire is a tool, its the release of energy as warmth and light. The other elements are potentially more destructive than fire. Water is a life giving well, its also a raging river or tsunami. Air is needed for life, it is mostly used for movement and "shoves" but it is possible to make a vacuum to suffocate your enemies. Earth can build buildings are level a mountain (i can see toph leveling a mountain).

[@stefansauvageonwhat-a-twis1369]

Same thing learned by lava girl in shark boy and lava girl

[@Ichigo90]

“It’s like the sun... but inside you. Did you guys know about this‽” “Well... our civilization is called the SUN WARRIORS... so yeah.”

[@Leto85]

Yes, that's some great example of character growth entangled with his personal element.

[@storyspren]

Tim: "...you give everyone a unique role." Sokka: *slides out of Appa's mouth*

[@marshmallowvampire8503]

I love Sokka.😄😄😄 The whole scene is funny. Zuko: 😠"Get out of the Bison's mouth, Sokka".

[@AxxLAfriku]

I am the cool kid from Germany making videos for the USA and the rest of the world. I will make your day so don't say nay to my videos today, dear sto

[@trent6319]

And he calls Sokka the smart guy

[@storyspren]

@@trent6319 Hey Sokka may be dumb, but he's not stupid :P

[@birbseesall1529]

@@AxxLAfriku _get out_

[@idigamstudios7463]

Concept: Fire mages that are precise cold and calculating because hot headed fire mages tend to blow themselves up. The most advanced techniques with the sharpest focus produce plasma. Edit: Between the book recs and the support and back and forth I've gotten on this comic it's official. Hello Future Me has best comment section.

[@malarkeylaboratories3658]

but what about the inverse the fire mage can reverse it and thus cool things down so if personality allows when they loose it all heat is gone not to anywhere just gone and instead if a large firey blast there is an arguably worse fate the slow creeping death each little drop of life slowly draining from them and it would give you an interesting twist on the old trope (i tend toward horror sorry if i got a bit carried away)

[@idigamstudios7463]

@@malarkeylaboratories3658 Oh no I appreciated. I was actually spitballing with a bud of mine and we did a horror vein thing too. Using the old idea of sickness being caused by bad air/ghosts in the air; Air mages being hexers able to use those ghosts to sicken and curse, or force them back into the corpse as a revenant.

[@heirofaniu]

I've always hated the lightning/fire connection. Lightning always struck me as an aspect of wind magic. I enjoy the connection of fire magic naturally lending itself to learning ice magic, since thermodynamics teaches us that "cold" and "hot" are actually the same thing, just a variation in the amount of heat in a given area.

[@malarkeylaboratories3658]

@@heirofaniu nice pun and yes out of the two i think it lends itself more toward air/wind but lightning and electricity always seemed like it's own thing

[@heirofaniu]

@@malarkeylaboratories3658 yeah, the last time I screwed around with a magic system I made lightning the "default" elemental magic since lightning represented pure energy in a raw form and had the other four elements as "specialist" schools.

[@eliscore]

I like how Zuko's bending reflects his character. First it's intense, predictable, linear, emotional. When he leaned the dancing dragon style it's calm, precise, creative, with defensive solutions not found in most other fire styles we're shown.

[@MrBlack0950]

That was one of my favorite things avatar did as a series. It gave each element a very complex and expansive set of aspects, most of which unique, but some commonalities between two or more elements. By simply changing their approach to fire, iroh and zuko learned to use it almost as if it were an entirely different element than what those around them were doing. Iroh took a lesson from water, and learned how to go through the flow of energy to not only redirect energy, but even bend it like fire. Zuko took a page from the dragons and learned to creat and protect, rather than destroy and harm, which created an elemental beauty he had never seen. Even seemingly normal benders, like toph, managed to defy the norms by looking at the world through a different perspective. She learned to see through the earth, and in doing so, paired with her blindness, learned to see through metal. This, like the lighting of iroh, created an entire subset of tgeir respective elements that almost became their own elements in some respects, simply because characters looked at an element in a different way.

[@marshmallowvampire8503]

Rise of the Guardians is so dang underrated.

[@thalmoragent9344]

Yeah, I thought it had pretty decent potential to it, hope DreamWorks can improve or expand on it someday.

[@CompassRoseCreates]

Not underrated. That fandom is still going strong.

[@FardtilUshid]

But, Guise of the Ruardians is so gang related.

[@vanwyngaardj2481]

True

[@Daemonworks]

Though some of the changes they made to the source material... Like steampunk ninja to... Australian?

[@groofay]

Tim: "Elemental magic systems!" [references AtLA] Katara: "It's NOT magic, it's waterbending!"

[@josheydubs]

An ancient art important part of our culture, blah blah blah....I'm just saying, if I had weird powers i'd keep my weirdness to myself.

[@archivist_13]

@@josheydubs Well at least I don't flex my muscles whenever I look at my reflection.

[@simonsays7578]

It's NOT MAGIC, it's ALCHEMY

[@cedartheyeah.justyeah.3967]

Lol

[@jasonreed7522]

Its not magic its _______. Translates to its magic. I would argue that sufficiently advanced technology is still magic for the purpose of analysis. (FTL, teleporters, Cure cancer with a flashlight, ect) I consider magic to ba anytime someone does something outside the bounds of our understanding of reality. Like forming a fist and become a flamethrower (Zuko), or creating a pillar of stone (Ed Elric). But i get naming your magic/power system something else to help stand out more than just being a story where magic is powered by martial arts or follows the scientific method.

[@jonathansmith1281]

Gandalf: He protec He attac but most importantly... He got his saxophone bac!

[@Tyxaar]

A WIZARD DID IT.

[@vaughnjohnson8767]

A WIZARD DID IT

[@kimberlybogert7031]

🎷..am sorry 😅

[@Tyxaar]

@@kimberlybogert7031 🎷

[@Odiumiumium16]

at 7:49, where would the fire come from? out of the saxophone, or the wizard? that would be one cool street magic show if it came from the saxophone. 🔥🎷. and maybe string instruments control air or water, and percussion controls earth?(pianos are string and percussion, and organs are the supreme elemental overlords of the entire world, capable of controlling all elements.)

[@jamesengland5694]

I like that Jack Frost represents the fun side of ice and snow, but he also struggles with loneliness which I can see being used in ice often, but not in the same way

[@origionalnamehereok]

Toph is the biggest guy, we know this because the play showed just how massive Toph is.

[@jaredwalley5692]

Nah, that's just the size of her ego.

[@yakudde]

That was the biggest person they could find for the play hahaha

[@shadowofchaos8932]

The creators said originally Toph was going to be a large, powerful earth bender. Then King Bumi became that character, just old.

[@illoney5663]

@@shadowofchaos8932 Actually, I believe it was the Boulder.

[@Tethloach1]

Characters make it easy for readers to follow the story, Toph is a great character . A lot of great characters in that show.

[@headcanon6408]

Why would anyone need to make an elemental magic system when it's already been done perfectly? In *NINJAGO* of course

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

Palladium RPG.

[@ianpage2509]

But when the ninjas use it we can’t see it!

[@benjaminhuether3846]

If I could think of a Bionicle joke right now, I'd put it here. Seriously though, it did have a very interesting approach to the element system.

[@benjaminstiles]

I SECOND THAT MOTION!!

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

@@benjaminhuether3846 I'll check it.

[@bthanbeethan5590]

4 body elements: stamina, agility, strength, mind. Was thinking about a magic system based on body manipulation

[@ruga-ventoj]

Cool idea but it would need to be explained or expanded because I don't see many "spells" to beyond boosting certain aspects. Like what can Stamina magic do other than extend your stamina and endurance. Will it be the "healing" category since it deals with the bodies energy?

[@Cosmik60]

*Agility proceeds to move at mach 20*

[@trillerkiller9839]

Like others have said very cool concept, but I think mind would be totally OP compared to the other three... but perhaps you already have limitations set up for each element

[@henrypaleveda7760]

I was thinking about magic being rediscovered and people usually use motion to help with using it (gestures, posture, etc.), and having a former paralytic be a profound magic user.

[@ruga-ventoj]

@@henrypaleveda7760 while not fully in it, but you are touching on the Wushu genre of magic (a mix of Chinese martial arts and daoism) where marital art forms and breathing techniques activate magical energies strengthen the body and/or do magic techniques.

[@countgeekula3046]

When the Percy Jackson Disney+ show comes out he will finally have better reference scenes, this is like referencing Avatar by using Shayamalan's movie

[@beckyjmcc]

It is painful to see scenes from that movie :(

[@pencils7351]

I didn't even realize at first that was percy bc I've only seen the movie once 7 years ago and only bc I was forced to by school. I'm also so deep into the fandom I completely forget it exists for long periods of time, and that scene ruined my most recent time of forgetfulness

[@iclyn78]

Show?

[@princessjuliana7309]

@LUCAS SASSER Oh thank goodness finally the authors are getting involved in their own work!

[@thearcanian5921]

@@princessjuliana7309 From what I have heard, it did not work out well for the Artimis Fowl movie.

[@davidecarusone3333]

The Dragon Prince: So the elements are... Me: are the elements gonna be Earth, Water, Air and Fire? TDP: ...e-earth, Ocean, Sky, the Sun... Me: dude do you realize those are basically the same thing? TDP: ...t-the Moon and the Stars Me: ugh... *fine* Jokes aside, I really like that show

[@biojal]

I always automatically translate it in my head, but something just occurred to me. In TDP, it’s not technically about the elements themselves, but where they come from. That’s the important distinction the show makes, with its talk of primal sources. Yes, it’s fire, but it’s drawn from the might of the sun through our connection to it, and in this world that’s the most important detail.

[@Janoha17]

@@biojal Sky magic doesn't just include air, it also covers lightning, and as revealed in Season 3, ice. Air magic also includes physical transformations such as (Spoiler Alert): . . . . . Spells that give the caster wings.

[@naomitheminion6275]

@@Janoha17 it isn't really ice magic. Just the ability to freeze things with really cold air.

[@parrisxsummers]

Earth ocean sky sun and moon actually relate closer to Greek mythology than you’d think, the 3 brothers technically represent earth ocean and sky, only sometimes posideon is earth and ocean and hades is just the underworld. Sun and moon represent Selene and Helios. Our notion of the 4 elements earth wind fire and water coke from the Greeks so it makes sense.

[@parrisxsummers]

@WhiteTowerGuard the other 3 are rare and star magic is powerful I’m guessing.

[@justsomeguywithahandlebarm2456]

As a person who snorts power systems like cocaine this was really fun

[@DqwertyC]

Writing prompt: One class of mages in the world have the ability to temporarily gain the powers of a fictional character by physically ingesting a story that they're part of. Most people with this ability carefully dissolve pages into various tonics for safe, easy consumption. Recently, teen mages have started a new, dangerous trend of powdered book-snorting to more quickly access these powers.

[@justsomeguywithahandlebarm2456]

@@DqwertyC i mean I would probably do that if it worked lol

[@admontblanc]

@@DqwertyC sounds like the powers/devices from "Doomsday Wonderland".

[@ollie2111]

Why did this make me burst out laughing I was NOT expecting this comment at all

[@eliburry-schnepp6012]

What if the power system comes from snorting cocaine? SNOWFLAME FEELS NO PAIN

[@_somerandomguyontheinternet_]

“And everyone knows that books that sell well must be good.” *laughs in Twilight* *cries in Fifty Shades of Grey*

[@carlosroo5460]

I would switch the first "F" for a "Sh" and erase the second "f" of the latter.

[@Vo_Siri]

“Winter is better and you all damn well know it” is Tim’s most based take yet.

[@zr3755]

Clearly a kiwi. Come to MN and tell me winter is better

[@Vo_Siri]

@@zr3755 Winter is better because you can do more about cold than heat. You've got a wide range of options. If it's hot and you don't have air-con, you're shit out of luck.

[@dylandarnell3657]

@@zr3755 I'm from Canada. Winter is better.

[@margaretkolcinskimartin474]

Tims rly rocking that "I haven't slept in three days, I havn't showered in five, and the only thing holding my sanity together is cracking shitty puns to relieve the existential terror of being alive" vibe huh

[@samuelphilips5373]

its a vibe tho

[@MultiWar22]

Honestly, same

[@anthonydavis5288]

6:08 being a good example

[@waxwingsfall]

The facial hair really adds to it

[@puddlel1ama327]

Don't do this to me.

[@Blechg]

"eat my cat and call me wally" I've never heard that one before either, Tim

[@aceatlasska4343]

Those were my thoughts also.

[@SuperSGFreak49]

Why does he sound like Richard Ayoade when he says it?

[@StarshineStranger]

The way a small part of me died when he said that Irma controlled earth in W.I.T.C.H. when that's Cornelia's element. 😔 Honestly, though, I like what W.I.T.C.H. did with the elements and matching them to the personalities of the characters who use them. Taranee, the fire guardian, is actually very even-tempered, intelligent, shy, and sweet, and it's explicitly said that she was given her fire powers because they're very difficult to use and therefore needed to be entrusted to someone who wouldn't fly off the handle at every given opportunity. However, when she *does* get mad, she's very, very scary, so she still fits the archetype to an extant, just not stereotypically, if that makes sense.

[@ayanhart]

Oh same at the Irma thing. I had to pause the video and rewind to check I heard it right haha. And I fully agree. Irma is the hot-tempered one that got Water (also applies to Cornelia and Earth). Hay-Lin is the closest to stereotypical, being a bit of a cloud cuckoo lander and having the Air element.

[@kerimbabic6124]

@@ayanhart yeah but Hay Lin is an air guardian because of her grandma so i guess it can pass

[@spambaconeggspamspam]

"JuSt UsE tHe PeRiOdIc TaBlE" - some smartass, probably

[@andrewdiaz3529]

Uranium Benders rule the world in a neverending feudal Cold War where things like the Cuban missile Crisis happen a dozen times a year because someone went out for a walk too long and they go HOT just as often.

[@franklinz8098]

In some ways, Full Metal Alchemist.

[@wilhemtehlynx]

Periodic Table based magic is actually a really cool concept.

[@henrypaleveda7760]

what about using the zodiac just for the lols

[@itsalily_lei_lei]

@@wilhemtehlynx If a hydrogen a child with an oxygen, their child will be oxygen from genetic genes, heavier elements being dominant genes. If this oxygen had a child with another hydrogen, this would create a water. If water had a child with another oxygen, this would create hydrogen peroxide.

[@riverzebra]

"...who could all control one element and called Guardians..." I feel attacked.

[@oscarpeck8492]

Okay but sprit bending totally felt like A WIZARD DID IT

[@TsulaAngenati2292]

It was kinda in ATLA where it seemed more grounded, but yeah, it does

[@escapismatitsworst8838]

@@TsulaAngenati2292 I really didn't like how they did it. Before the lion turtle (super powerful, super ancient, able to talk with humans being not shown before the very end) showed up, there was not one mention of it. no foreshadowing, no acknowledgment it was possible. Aang has a problem, his morals and his duty are contradictory on what he has to do, whatever shall he do? Then Energybending suddenly exists and what do you know, this new, never heard of power is exactly the solution to Aang's dilemma! Wonderful. It just feels shoved in cause they couldn't be bothered to think how to actually solve the problem Aang faces. In all ATLA this might be one of the few things that are actually bad about the show, not "not as good as others", just bad.

[@princessthyemis]

YES!!!! they NEVER explained that in LOK book 2 and I kept expecting them to and they.never.did. IT DROVE ME NUTS. and still does!!!

[@kanduyog1182]

@@escapismatitsworst8838 _"there was not one mention of it. no foreshadowing, no acknowledgment it was possible."_ While it might seem like a deux ex machina, lion turtles were definitely referenced a few times in the show. The best I could remember was when the Gaang went to Wan Shi Tong's library. There were also a lot of lion turtle statues in Piandao's mansion. Also, the creators mentioned that the concept of lion turtles were already present when the story was being made.

[@nanoblast5748]

I'm kind of writing my own avatar story, and the main villain is the dark water spirit, yes the guy who is zuko's mask, and he holds the avatar's individual spirits hostage, preventing the avatar state from being as powerfull as it ought to be. as the previous avatar is meant to hold off the spirit, the new one has to find a way to fight back too, spiritbending being the only tool to actually break the dark water spirit's hold over the previous avatars.

[@SanFranFan30]

Fate: The Winx Saga, is the perfect way to not do an elemental magic system.

[@deinogreenstreet8631]

why? I haven't watched it

[@kira-dk2mx]

I haven't watched it yet, but I heard it was sub-par at best. I'm mad at them ditching Techna and Flora though. That rustled my jimmies.

[@violetfionaduncan1481]

@@kira-dk2mx Yeah, the series was bad but the magic scenes have potential. I loved the class scenes but they were too short :(

[@aey8737]

I kind of liked it

[@Vinsmokesanji790]

I liked it,its only hated by the fans of the old animated series

[@iclyn78]

"You're all hard work and deadlines, and I'm snowballs and fun times." - Jack Frost, Rise of the Guardians

[@navetal]

The four seasons as "four elements" (rather than just winter as a force of evil, death and decay against the forces of good, life and rebirth being obviously the "spring that comes after winter") is something I've seen surprisingly little of, and when I did see it's always interesting to see the different associations different cultures around the world have with the different seasons For example, in some cultures winter and spring/summer are protraied as I mentioned above - winter is cold and ruthless, summer is warm and loving - while in other societies summer is the evil one, bringing droughts and what not while winter is the "good season" bringing rain and thus restoring life, and in other societies there are no "good" or "bad" season at all since they find them all equally necessary or equally sh*tty.

[@aeaeeaoiauea]

Don't forget that not everyone has four seasons, we only have two. Edit: actually idk if anyone needs that information I'm not a writer KZbin just recommended this video for some reason

[@zidaryn]

Check out "Ascendance Of A Bookworm." Once Myne (the MC) gets into learning about the magic system there is a lot of that sort of thing. The magic in that world, (as far as I can tell) is derived from chanting prayers to the different gods, and each god has a different one season as well as the gods of light and darkness. There are more gods on top of that as well.

[@aeaeeaoiauea]

@@valhatan3907 Correction: Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well.

[@AnyssaBall]

A Court of Thorns and Roses sort of does this with Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter and Day/Night/Dawn courts that are associated with certain powers.

[@AleXanDraPR369]

I’m having Tinker Bell vibes from this comment. Each group of ‘seasonal’ faeries has its own set of elements that relates to the season or something something

[@madiz4228]

When he said “maybe they can only lift their body weight” when he was talking about limitations to power, my first thought was like someone who has telekinesis but can only lift his body weight and so he just doesn’t bother with hygiene, health, and body weight so that he can lift larger things as he gains weight. That idea was both amusing, and interesting.

[@thebolas000]

And on that day, telekinetic sumo wrestlers took over the land

[@haku8135]

Mine went to Mistborn.............. Should we be concerned what yours went to?

[@madiz4228]

@@haku8135 I.... Don't know

[@Amy_the_Lizard]

@@thebolas000 Not gonna lie, telekinetic sumo wrestlers would be legitimately terrifying...

[@zidaryn]

When he was talking "lift your bodyweight" I went to Jumper where the Jumpers can only jump what they can move. So if they're driving a car = easy. Parked car = really really hard.

[@relicking9207]

I'm sad that there aren't more stories with the Chinese Elements(Fire, Water, Earth, Wood, Metal)

[@qwormuli77]

There are. In Chinese literature. There just haven't been good translations of many of the classic stories in wider circulation for those to catch on, yet. That and also the, lets go with strange, strange way of writing characters, settings and morality for the more western audience. Takes a bit of getting used to.

[@relicking9207]

@@qwormuli77 I figured there'd be more in Chinese, I was just going off what I've seen

[@burner555]

Honestly, I wish people would came up with more interesting elements, rather than reusing the same ones over and over again (fire/water/earth/air/thunder/ice/etc.)

[@nicholas-jasonroache1526]

@@burner555 In fairness, there are only so many elements and most can be traced back to one or more of the ones you mentioned in some way

[@kupkakekrazi]

I mean there’s this game called choices that has a story called the Elementalists. They have people that can control those elements. You should check it out. You can even cheat and search up how to get the element that you want.

[@prince_nocturne]

A favorite idea of mine is to have characters that display their 'element' but... corrupted. Blood-bending is a good example of this in Avatar. The typically healing water bending can be used to devastating effect. Another is a character from one of my stories. Powerful in healing magic, but as a child she experienced severe trauma as she watched her village get massacred. She uses a child's view of 'healing' on everyone, but instead uses necromancy. And healing in reverse is harming, draining life instead of giving it.

[@malarkeylaboratories3658]

another interesting way it can be done is the emotional angle. using the different cultural interpretations of a given element. to run straight to my favorite example water is commonly viewed as sad slow and melancholy, until you live by the sea. if you use water in anger, like a sea storm (by the by there is a very good reason sailors are so superstitious, you do not want to mess with that) you can get a hefty emotional punch out of that. it's fun effective and a fun puzzle to solve just don't overuse it.

[@sias_rat_friend_dulapeep2123]

A great example of this is six of crows where one of the characters Nina is a healer and basically uses a drug to enhances her powers to save her friends but it is highly addictive. When she eventually becomes clean she thinks she loses her powers but she still has abilities except their 'corrupted' so she gains the ability to control dead bodies. Really interesting use of the idea of corruption of magic

[@maravreloaded]

Isn't the second one Redo of the Healer?

[@calebh373]

My cat is also named Momo. Yes, we also named him after the Avatar character.

[@Ismael-kc3ry]

All hail lord Momo

[@ayannabranchcomb7535]

@@Ismael-kc3ry of the Momo Dynasty

[@SimonClarkstone]

Ah, that must be where Liana Kerzner got the name of her cat from too

[@punkitt]

Same, caught me off guard

[@doihavetohaveaname7427]

@@ayannabranchcomb7535 your momoness

[@user-hs1xb9tv6e]

"Control one element and they were called guardians" Me who has a similar concept: nervous sweating...

[@singletona082]

Dude I had a power rangers ripoff story for years that nobody will ever see. Don't feel bad. We all go through it. Embrace the suck and learn to be better.

[@user-hs1xb9tv6e]

@@singletona082 True, but I also believe that old concept can still be improved and twinkled instead of just plain out be thrown away. Also my things is not that similar to what tim described except maybe the elemental powers and the fact they are called guardians.

[@singletona082]

@@user-hs1xb9tv6e Keep refining. Keep writing. Learn. Enjoy the process.

[@Amy_the_Lizard]

I had something similar in elementary school, but I scraped it by early Jr high because it was getting out hand. Seriously, that cast had reached over a dozen element people because my elemental classifications were starting to rival that of Pokémon. (No, Bug, Poison, or Fairy though...) Edit: Oh, and they were anthropomorphic lizard people. Can't believe I almost left that part out.

[@TheDcraft]

It's okay to take inspiration from books or series you like. As others point out, just keep at it until it's uniquely yours. Right now I'm working on a story were the magic comes from 'relics' that right now, as this story is still in its infancy, is very much so based on the Magi's metal vessels combined with zanpaktos from Bleach. Characters have to clear a dungeon and fight a boss to obtain a relic. After this they have to enter their "inner world." Once here they are confronted by the "memory" of the God or Goddess that created the relic. Only after a confrontation where they have to win the "memory's" respect and cooperation do they start to have access to the relic's power. There's probably like 100 relics and their powers or magic are limited to the God's or Goddess's power which is elemental in nature, though some are combinations of elements. There's four standard or primary elements, water, wind, fire, and earth, then there's secondary elements which are combinations of elements. Storm is an example of a secondary element, being a combination of wind and water. In the story the hero will literally die a little over halfway through the story. The bad guy, who's greatest power is to syphon power from others making him immensely strong, will stab the hero through the gut, unwittingly unlocking the hero's ace in the hole. His power is to give other people portions of his power amplfing their powers. He planted 'seeds' into all his allies that increase their power 100 fold for a duration of time. Worse still, everyone of his allies now appears to be the hero to the bad guy. So when the hero gets stabbed he laughs hysterically and tells the bad guy he's sealed his fate, hell die at the hero's hands. The bad guy tells him I'll see you in hell and cuts the hero's head off. The hero's last words, just before the sword severs his head are oh it'll be much sooner then that.

[@catherinelunn8995]

A thought on winter magic is using it's association with Christmas. Christmas is never depicted as cold in a cruel sense. No Ice Queens or death and decay as the flowers die. It's depicted as a time for family, warmth and the home. And I don't mean to imply associating winter with Christmas because... southern hemisphere, but associate it with hot chocolates and blankets 😊

[@mariamann8292]

You just have to watch out that your world also has a readson for Christmas. I think often times, even with otherwise intricate worldbuliding, one can fall into the trap of just copying all of the real world holidays without thinking about how the worldbuilding would affect them. If your writing in an urban fantasy setting, Christmas magic would be great.

[@henrypaleveda7760]

I have a thing where ether is this wizard that uses storm ,and he taught four others how to use "pieces" of it. Rather than making four other storm wizards, There is one who uses mists (clouds, water, healing, the ability to obscure), one who has the winds (a strong connection to life, inspiration, outgoing), thunder (assertiveness, warnings/intuition, projects into the subconscious -and the normal lightning thing but more focus on utility), and frost ( -predictably - Ice, the ability top stall decay, creeping into the thoughts of others). they all have a fast travel of some kind and each person embodies a different theme. Water is absolution (mercy/redemption), wind is musicality and music in general (varying tone and wildly different based on circumstance), thunder is foresight and prophecy, and frost is fear.

[@chloej1611]

@@mariamann8292 I agree, though in Europe-inspired worlds, you can definitely use Christmas (everyone in medieval Europe was Catholic) or Yule (a celebration of the winter solstice and the return of the Sun, lots of similar traditions to Christmas).

[@valerianperuser1615]

Maybe it could be like an oasis in a desert. Winter is cold and unforgiving, but somewhere in there there is warmth and community.

[@maravreloaded]

Meanwhile Christmas in the south pole:

[@thatoneguy4504]

I’d love to see a water powers in fiction be portrayed as a of a raging typhoon or a flash flood that while being the thing that let’s life be possible it can also be harsh and destructive to things around it at the same time

[@malarkeylaboratories3658]

yes this is one of my favorite things to see a two edged sword like fire a little bit is warm and cozy but could turn into a raging forest fire, plants hold a great many secrets to medicine but also contain some of the most deadly toxins in the world stuff life that

[@js66613]

Noelle from Black Clover has both destructive capabilities with her water magic - Sea Dragon's Roar, Valkyrie Armour - and defensive, life protecting abilities - like her Sea Dragon's Cradle... Actually, a lot of Black Clover characters have magic that can be used both to protect and to destroy...

[@violetfionaduncan1481]

That's actually like the water-girl in my story. Don't know when will I finish it because I'm going to work on different projects for a while but when that story is finished it will be epic. One can hope

[@bebbization]

In my story, the magic is adaptable, thereby taking different forms based on the timeline, conflicts, culture, and individuals. It's like its own character, mirroring the people around it and turning into the elements best suited for them. When it's forgotten, it's a shadow. When approached, it's human. When there's a massacre, it's fire. And yayyy, I love The Dragon Prince!

[@princessthyemis]

WHOAAAA!!!!! DUUUUDE!! that's the coolest magic system I've ever heard!!!!! I'd love to read your story!!!!!!!

[@Deeegenerate]

YEP I AGREE WITH THE PERSON ABOVE ME

[@aceatlasska4343]

That's a really cool concept, good luck with your story!

[@mewboo3606]

That’s so cool

[@corvus_da]

That sounds awesome! Can you explain more?

[@camerongooch9606]

Empress momo is good But who here remembers the one, The master of cuddles, the fury of fluff, paws of darkness, whiskers of light and melter of hearts. All hail lord Mishka.

[@corvus_da]

All hail Lord Mishka.

[@primalaspie]

All hail lord Mishka

[@tikko1023]

All hail Lord Mishka! Long live Empress Momo!

[@Duiker36]

"The master of cuddles, the fury of fluff, paws of darkness, whiskers of light and melter of hearts. " Leader, Lancer, Big Guy, Smart Guy, Heart. You *nailed* that without even trying.

[@Shadow-zf3hv]

All hail lord mishka

[@ayanhart]

'Irma controls Earth' Oh man, you just really pissed off tween me there.

[@greaterthanthreee61]

Yasss! Glad you caught that too!

[@Plotbunnyhunter]

went looking for this comment.

[@quincy9908]

I don't get it 🔈🔉🔊 can some one explain

[@ayanhart]

@@quincy9908 Irma controls Water and Cornelia controls Earth - the statement he made was 'Irma controls Earth', which is blatantly incorrect. As for the second bit - adult me was mildly miffed (at most) at the incorrect statement, but if it was back when I was a tween (the age I was reading WITCH) I probably would have been much more annoyed.

[@lovalee8242]

I'm not a tween anymore but I'm still kinda pissed.

[@joshuaholdsworth3897]

The going deeper reminded me of Percy's control of Poison in House of Hades, such a cool extension of his abilities

[@salamadestron]

"Winter is better" says the guy who lives in New Zealand.

[@minerva9104]

I live in Massachusetts and fully agree with Tim. Past 70 is too damn hot.

[@captainbirch2.079]

I live in Georgia, where we dont get seasons, we just get temperatures. I think cold is my favorite 5 minutes of the year

[@ShadowEclipex]

@@minerva9104 I personally don't like having to spend 5-10 minutes every morning to get my car ready for work.

[@ApequH]

@@captainbirch2.079 It depends, if cold is -10 ad noon that's pretty intens

[@BrittanyMolloEccles]

@@captainbirch2.079 I live in South Florida. This sentiment speaks to me.

[@DrewWutsit]

RIP to our supreme leader Mishka

[@chaosfire321]

Any magic system that includes ice as a distinct thing rather than a subset of water is always gonna get applause from me. - This message written by the Bionicle gang. -

[@ArgenteonYT]

it's always bothered me that ice is lumped in with water. Like yea chemically they're the same thing in the real world, but with magic systems I think they should be separate. Water is fluid and flowing whereas ice is rigid and crystalline. In my magic system the elements are related to aspects of humanity, Water being the element of Emotion. There is also a positive/negative expression when combined with other aspects. Emotion, when expressed neutrally, takes the shape of Water. When the Mind (Fire) mixes with Emotion it overcompensates and becomes the negative expression, Blood (or Acid, haven't decided). With the Soul/will (Air) they mix harmoniously and form the positive expression of Emotion, Ice (or crystal, haven't decided).

[@Marvelsdisneydreamuniverse]

The thing what confused me with the elements the most is that Earth, Stone and Plant is something i see as the same but Bionicle seperated it which kinda confusede because in W.I.T.C.H. for examble it was the same and i am busy with a bionicle fanfic i need to know the diffrence. Written by a Bionicle fan.

[@sebastiansanchez4590]

There is this series of books, "the secrets of nicholas flamel" where magic is like tipical magic where if you can imagine it, you can somehow do it. But the basis of all that is elemental magics, so most persons focus on one type in specific, and I like it, because, it's not that their personality are defined by their element, their elements are defined by their magic, and I like that

[@cOmAtOrAn]

That was a good series.

[@andrewfornes5458]

Great, Sax Gandalf is now stuck in my head for another 6 years.

[@krealyesitisbeta5642]

“...Expressions of these powers we haven’t seen before, the moon leads to invisibility!...” Me who has eaten lucky charms: “I’ve seen that!”

[@garfieldreal66]

Elemental cereal

[@TheDcraft]

I'm working on an element based magic system, it's kind of a mix of bleach's zanpaktos and the metal vessels in Magi and Sinbad. They're going to be called relics. Each relic contains a "memory" of the God or Goddess that created them. So a person would have to clear a dungeon and defeat a boss to obtain the relic. Once they have the relic to use it they'll have to enter their "inner world" were they'd be confronted by the relics "memory." If they can earn the "memory's" respect and cooperation they'll have access to some of it's power. If they have a relic that belongs to let's say the sun god the powers they have access to will only be fire based. There's usually 5 sort of levels to the relics power. There's probably going to be like 100 relics. Some people will probably have multiple relics. However, under most circumstances, only one relic can be used at a time because your body transforms more and more as the relics level your accessing increases, at level 5 your body becomes an avatar of the relic's "memory." The Sun God's relic is going to be particularly strong. Level 1 and 2 will just be basic offensive fire magic. Level 3 is were it really starts showing it's strength, here the person will get a fire shield like Gaara's sand. Level 4 the shield gets offensive capabilities. Level 5 though, Walking Nova, will kill the user of they keep it active for more than 30 seconds. This is because your body becomes flames. You can't take damage from enemies as long as it's active. In the first 30 seconds of use anyone within 20 feet of you will burst into flames from the heat, and anyone within let's say 100 feet of you takes damage as well. After 30 seconds, though you're effectively dead, you can keep fighting for another 3 minutes. Your powers will start to increase dramatically, at it's hight anyone within 100 feet of you will burst into flames.

[@deathandroses3861]

Sounds like something great for dnd or a video game : )

[@lunicode4983]

I think this is handled pretty interestingly in Genshin Impact, where getting ur elemental powers is litterally just a god throwing a marble at you and saying go play. I actually assumed Childe was a cryo(ice) user because of his bloodthirsty and ambiguous nature, which was something I’d never seen in a water magic character, and even then he still does have typical water character traits but used differently, like his love for his family etc. zhongli as well in that he was an earth character purposefully trying to change rather than being forced to adapt to change

[@witchqueen1296]

That's actually a good analysis. Ngl

[@Altarahhn]

And here I was wondering when I'd see a Genshin reference! And yeah, like the other commenter said, that's a good analysis of the two. When thinking about that, one thing that comes to mind is pretty much *every* Electro character so far. Electricity is usually associated with high-energy individuals who can't stay still (along with Fire or Wind) or with raw power (like Earth), but here, while they *are* there, it's very shallow. Razor is the closest to the latter, being a Claymore user, but personality wise, he's not a typical "Wild Boy". Then there's Fischl, the Gothic Lolita Chunnibyu: not something you'd (generally) associate with Lightning. Meanwhile, Lisa is kinda Lazy, which is pretty ironic for a Lightning character, and while Keqing *is* always on the move, it's not out of restlessness, it's just her job! Seriously, girl's a Workaholic! Other than her fighting style, I don't see much she has in common with Electricity/Lightning. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's just my own thoughts, really.

[@thatoneguy4504]

I also like how Pyro characters(Fire)are in Genshin as well as the characters appear to share some level of burning passion even if in strange things and in ways that makes them weirdos Hu Tao is extremely passionate about her Business, Diluc is fire wielding Batman, Bennett despite his bad luck never gives up on Adventuring showing it’s something he’s passionate about, Klee is literally obsessed with her Explosives Xiangling loves cooking and Xinyan loves music etc Which is interesting I actually expected Klee to be a lightning user since she can’t hold still is very destructive and prone to impulses but she was fire

[@CoolVictor2002]

@@thatoneguy4504 klee is like an out of control wild fire.

[@jamesumezaki8249]

Tim is slowly turning into a homeless guy because of The Last Airbender's hellish curse.

[@mistereiswolf70]

The drugs he used in the last vid were real and now he has a burnout.

[@lucasrh6910]

what is a "the last airbender'?

[@booksanimeenthusiast3802]

@@lucasrh6910 it's an animated series and recently it was recently made into a live action movie which was meh. He made a whole video about it

[@lucasrh6910]

@@booksanimeenthusiast3802 i know the series, ATLA, but theres no movie, right? :(

[@lucasrh6910]

@Elly van den Brink red pill.

[@qwormuli77]

The most important tip I could give on this subject is: Don't color code your world. Verisimilitude is everything, and if you have a fire mage/user/elementalist/whatever around that just happens to have the personality tropes typically associated with of fire, naturally red hair, name along the lines of "blaze" or "pyra" repeated to every character with their respective elements, your world doesn't have much life in it.

[@angeldude101]

_Looks over at the recent addition to Smash who's a red-haired girl named Pyra with predictable abilities and dressed in all red._ (She's actually less hot-headed than her "sister")

[@oqo3310]

@@angeldude101 nah pyra is a cool spin on the whole fire thing. She's more the warm aspect of fire. Play Xenoblade 2 btw, banger game.

[@angeldude101]

@@oqo3310 I have played Xenoblade 2 ^_^ And Xenoblade DE and Xenoblade 3. The only reason I haven't played Xenoblade X is because I don't have a Wii U.

[@a.d.w8385]

Avatar went deeper when it added blood bending. It was so spooky when I first saw it.

[@shafiurrahaman3396]

ha you missed the most powerful, story changing element of all the element of surprise

[@malarkeylaboratories3658]

take my upvote and leave

[@vaughnjohnson8767]

Yesssss

[@Panda-24]

Cost of void bending? Zaheer lost his lover. He had nothing else in the world to be attached to.

[@fuckel98]

Absolutely love how "The Big Guy" was Toph, so accurate

[@somerandomgal3915]

Tim? Are you alright? You look like you need someone to check on you, especially after that last airbender analysis... Seriously guys, I think we need to help Tim there

[@Cendar]

He does look a little deranged, doesn't he?

[@hawkticus_history_corner]

You have that perfect Disheveled Genius look going on Edit: I also love when Elemental Magic does something quirky with how the elements all interact on a magical level. Kinda like Wheel of Time

[@tedarcher9120]

There could be only one disheveled genius on writing youtube!

[@haku8135]

The simplicity that develops naturally into complexity in Avatar is something i've always really liked. We get introduced to water bending, and we quickly learn that it's not just water, you can also freeze it, phase shifting. This is also quite easy, as water is very malleable. Though, aiming isn't as easy. Sorry Sokka. Over the course of the series we learn more like phase shifting the OTHER way, creating steam or mist. Earthbending isn't just throwing rocks, you can also control grains of sand, however this requires a fair bit of practice as it's much more delicate work (Which the average earthbender isn't used to) You can bend the water INSIDE things, like vines or PEOPLE! You can also pull water from the air. Again, water is SUPER flexible, so it makes sense it's so versatile. Firebenders can strip their energy and refine their flames to be the ultimate form of firebending. Lightning generation. They surrender control, but gain incredible power that they can direct. Firebending is in one sense focused on POWER, and lightning is pretty damn powerful, and HOT, the burns it leaves are pretty gnarly. Earthbending also introduces becoming more CONNECTED to the earth and feeling the subtle vibrations through it, as Toph does. Then taking this to the highest level is Metalbending, feeling the traces of bendable earth in metal and pulling on it. THEN in Korra they introduce PHASE SHIFTING FOR EARTHBENDERS which was AWESOME cause LAVA GOD DAMN IT! I am still kicking myself for not thinking of that! I could go on, the bending system is just so pristine.

[@itsalily_lei_lei]

I hate it when there’s a magical power for water and a magical power for ice. They’re the same thing just in different states. Why is there no steam element if water and ice exist? This is what I like about Avatar, it actually knows what each four elements can actually extend to: Water (Ice, Water Vapor, and Steam) Earth (Metal and Magma/Lava) Fire (Lightning) Air (Uh… Aang can partially control clouds, I guess, which are just water)

[@Bardic_Knowledge]

In my setting "Ice" is used as the term, but it would be more accurate to call it "Cold" magic in the same way that Fire could be considered "Heat" magic.

[@enthurian100]

@@Bardic_Knowledge But if you think about it, couldn't heat and cold be one and the same (in order to draw heat something must be drained, and in order to create cold you must send that heat somewhere). That's just a thought I had though, you should definitely stick with what you have if you have narrative reason, or especially, if you just like it that way.

[@Bardic_Knowledge]

@@enthurian100 Yes, they could be considered the same in the same way the Light and Dark could, since one is merely the absence of the other. There's a book I read wherein the main character freezes a bunch of monsters in ice, but, in doing so, causes the air around him to become super hot. It's just that in my setting's magic system, Water beats Fire, Fire Beats Ice, and Ice beats Earth (and so on for another five elements)

[@n00bplayer72]

Reminds me of Bionicle's element system. It had water and ice as separate elements, and somehow earth and stone were separate elements, too

[@infernomaster1030]

I actually love this, cause the imply completely different things. In my story, the powers of Ice come with it's creation and the power of water comes with its control.

[@acerba]

When "best seller" means "best of the books that are being sold"

[@shadyspot8284]

For my magic system, each element is associated with a few concepts that attach themselves to people. Fire might attach to someone who's angry and hot-headed, sure, but it could just as easily appear in someone who is dangerously self-destructive and likely to burn themselves out. In general, the associations are: Light: Truth, Justice Shadow: Fear, Protection Fire: Destruction, Creativity Water: Knowledge, Intuition Earth: Law, Order Wind: Freedom, Chaos Electricity: Life, Passion Poison: Death, Inevitability

[@sakuraogami6885]

.....Law & Order? DUN DUN sorry, had to.

[@franklinz8098]

@@sakuraogami6885 "I will have order!"

[@mariamann8292]

Maybe poison could also be a part of Healing and Health, because most drugs are poison, but help in the right dosis.

[@Drip_Wooper]

​@@mariamann8292 there is a manga where "Poison" and "Healing" is the same thing: Life magic, you can use to take life or to give life, I like this idea of death and life being the same thing, but used in different ways

[@wolfishpotato6978]

Wow, I really like that that's cool. However I'm a little mad at you because I now immediately want to write something with that but you already have it, ur mean XD

[@JoriamRamos]

I feel that elemental magic has a sort of 'power trip' feel associated with it - the audience will immediately understand and project a sense of power when they see somebody breathing fire. It's so... picturable. There's value in that, in being ready for the imagination to play with. When I think elemental magic, I immediately think of Magic the Gathering's system - which is a clever work around it. It's not the element that grants power, it's the land, the type of terrain. All mountains give red mana, but some of it is translated into rock magic, or fire magic, or lightning magic, or salt magic. So while red mana carries some personality, the situation shapes it into one or another direction. Good stuff! When you mentioned the Ice and Fire magic in Game of Thrones (which was a great reference btw), I thought it was interesting how I never associated the series with elemental magic. Yes, it is magic. Yes it is elemental. It's just that there's no people throwing lightning around, so my brain didn't make the association. Congrats on the audiobook! I'm a huge audiobook enthusiast, will get it for sure :)

[@iBenjamin1000]

I love elemental magic. It’s primarily anime and video games I see it in. Whether it’s something simple like Pokémon or some other battle anime, it’s just cool to see characters fight with fire ice lightning and other elements. The one that I wish I saw more of is something like plant. Pokémon has the grass type but not a lot of systems deal with specifically plants and nature. Usually just a part of earth magic

[@skyskater7909]

I love the dragon prince and seeing it get acknowledged is great. Also he talks about both of Aaron Ehaz’s shows in a positive light, showing how great a writer he is

[@michalgeppert5373]

Tim: Limitations are more important than powers. Escanor: Who decided that? Palpatine: Unlimited power!

[@pyrosianheir]

Brandon Sanderson, that's who. XD

[@backbiter8787]

Ironically, I think Escanor is actually a perfect example of that rule. He is a character who can get away with being exactly as strong as the plot needs him to be at any moment because his nigh-infinite power has such a hard limit baked into it. His power rises and falls with the sun so he is only at his strongest for a very limited time each day and he can't actually choose when to fight at full strength. This forces the writer to use him sparingly and the characters to plan the timing of their quests perfectly if they want access to their biggest trump-card.

[@michalgeppert5373]

​@@backbiter8787 He definately is. That's why this quote (adding his personality) is even more funny there. Actually such characters with "unlimited power" are always quite tricky, because it's not funny for viewers (or readers) when such character always comes and solves every problem. Escanor has only one minute per day, and every night he becomes the weakest character - that's why "it works" :D

[@PJammaGod]

Always glad to see the Lion's Sin of Pride make a showing.

[@saajiddaya2152]

You know, Rise of the Guardians is SO underrated for an animated movie. It's an AWESOME movie. Also, I think I still have a bit of kid still in me cuz I was laughing at his puns.

[@carlosroo5460]

I have a message to spread: PUNS ARE THE BEST THING EVER SINCE JESUS AND HAMBURGERS, AND YOU ALL KNOW IT!!!

[@vineshgujral686]

I always liked the Fire Force option of just having one elemental power in the universe and building around that

[@erinjackson8119]

I think one of my favorite things about ATLA is that the "big guy" character is a blind girl who's the youngest in the group but the title "big guy" is the perfect description for Toph

[@jaysutter9934]

9:29 Adventure Time’s elements; Fire, Ice, Slime and Candy were a great self aware example of this

[@Great_Olaf5]

Physical exhaustion is so common a cost for magic, elemental or otherwise, either that or some explicit secondary energy source (basically mana) that when it's depleted just so happens to manifest similarly to physical exertion. I can understand to an extent where this problem comes from, a lot of people struggle to relate to more abstract costs, Fullmetal Alchemist's equivalent exchange is one good way to do it, it still feels tangible, but I've that I feel is most often overlooked, and when it is used, the magic system is treated like its on the far end of the soft side of the hardness scale, is frontloaded effort, or learning, and given just how modern society functions with our education system, I don't understand why this one is so difficult to understand for some people. I can respect the principle that magic has to be costly, I like my soft magic systems perhaps a bit more than is popular these days, but I can respect the desire for cost and consequence, but the effort that goes into learning cannot be understated, learning to do something difficult is a cost, however distant from its use it may be. And let's be honest, if you have an actual functioning society composed primarily or exclusively of people who can use magic, then what better way to do it? Mana or exertion are fine, but if you want to be creative... If you need to justify it to the audience, maybe you could argue there's some psychic resonance between the effort put into learning a spell and the magic field of the world or something, which could actually lead to an interesting situation, if your ability with magic is directly linked with the effort you put into learning it in general, or on the basis of every spell, that would actually put prodigies at a disadvantage, sure they might technically be able to cast the spell, but because it was so easy for them to learn it mechanically, they're ludicrously weak when they actually try to do anything. Can you imagine how that might flip the script for a cultural understanding of talent and effort?

[@haku8135]

In My Hero Academia there's a character that can generate electricity and make powerful electric shocks, but if he goes over his voltage limit he temporarily short circuits his brain and gets, really stupid.

[@mysaria7641]

i absolutely love that

[@TheDcraft]

I think a way to make "learning" more effective is to structure it based on magic the gathering. In this card game you are a wizard or sorcerer. Your cards, or library, represent all the spells you know. Your hand represents the spells you currently can recall in the moment or off the top of your head. I think the other thing you have to do to make "learning" effective is to show us the character working hard and maybe even struggling to learn the magic, especially if it's strong magic. Kind of like how Naruto eventually learns to spam his rasengan but we also see him really struggle and work hard to learn it.

[@dr.cliche7560]

The idea of mana/exhaustion can also be a bit of a headscratcher, depending on the power of the magic. 'Oh blast, I can only raise the dead six more times today.' 'Yeah, I'll probably have to rest as well. I'm so spent I can only incinerate a moderately-sized town, rather than a whole city.'

[@rainbowrose8802]

FMA/FMAB is also an elemental magic system with scinces

[@kinbarkly1165]

Loved that you metioned W.I.T.C.H.! It's such an underrated show and I absolutely love the worldbuilding in it especially in season two when they introduce the concept of mystic hearts and permission magic. Though I have to point out that it's Cornelia who controls earth, Irma is the water guardian. :)

[@Calebgoblin]

Ever since I was a kid, elemental systems were really the only kind of magic that enraptured my attention. So I am hyped for this vid

[@shreyasvenkatesh4712]

I'm almost certain now that Tim is a genie brought here to give me exactly the advice I need whenever I'm stuck.

[@emisor9272]

... for a price

[@Rockets777]

As a kid playing old school rpgs, I was always fascinated with the idea of elemental magic. I liked the idea that everything in the world had it's own hidden powers and properties, and they countered each other in an infinite loop.

[@michaelcheng9987]

Can I just say that I find it interesting how many associations you can make with elements that will _absolutely_ fit without being completely out of the blue? Like, the elements are all around us so there's plenty inspiration and connections to draw from. Truly amazing to think about!

[@slightlyembittered]

With Elemental magic it's very easy to make one element good and one bad. (Fire destroys vs. Water heals) A more creative way to use the elements is to look at both their positive and negative aspects. For example: in the elements of emotion, Fear is usually thought to be a "bad emotion". However, Fear can have positive traits like caution and self preservation. Characters who have no fear are often reckless and can hurt others. Remember Courage is acting despite of fear, not the lack of it.

[@TsulaAngenati2292]

Fear can act like a spider sense and may give someone super reaction speed, meanwhile to much courage can be a death sentence

[@pallydan893]

Fire = Hearth/warmth Water = Flood/Drowning

[@zackeryjohnston5757]

Idea: a story about 4 element users that all have elements diametrically opposed to their personalities and they have to learn from eachother how to adopt the attitudes and emotions to master their own elements

[@protondium_8927]

I think they did this in a Tinkerbell movie

[@helloill672]

@@protondium_8927 yeah, the Pirate Fairy one

[@an_amazing_ace7810]

Me and some friends did a thing once where it's assumed, yet never explicitly stated that each elemental character already went through their stereotypical character arcs before meeting each other. For example, the fire guy was calm and rational, whereas the metal and earth cousins were wild cards who always adapted to the situation.

[@m.i.a.826]

Tim!! Irma isn't the Guardian of Earth, that would be Cornelia! Irma is the Guardian of Water and works as the comedic, compassionate member of the group. Her passion, temper, stubborness, and impulsiveness demonstrates the volatility of water. Cornelia is the grounded, sensible, and just as stubborn member of the group. It's why she and Irma clash a lot. But she's also kind, nourishing, even as she's strong and enduring, like Earth. Ps. Thank you so much for talking about Elemental Magic systems! I love them to bits, and I 100% believe they aren't done enough. I love the flexibility and wonder of manipulating an element more than I like hard magic systems, though I love reading those too. This will definitely help me with my writing. Thank you!

[@bebel9]

Rise of the Guardians is one of my favorite movies. Thank you for giving the recognition it deserves!!

[@egalomon]

Yay more love for Rise of the Guardians! Criminally underrated movie!

[@liampittman6591]

I’m currently working on a story with an “elemental magic system” but in mine the “elements” are zoology, botany, geology, astronomy, and philosophy.

[@LeFlamel]

Was Aristotle the first Avatar?

[@ijmillares9005]

God dang geology, everything change when geology majors attack.

[@mariamann8292]

sounds cool. I have always thought about using magic in a mathematical way, where you have to prove stuff and solve equations, but my math skills aren't the best.

[@CammyFrostbite14]

@@mariamann8292 I think that for magic based on maths, the users would use mathematical equations in a similar fashion to transmutation circles in Fullmetal Alchemist- the difference being that if your good with doing maths in your head you don’t need this ‘equation circle’

[@SuperMaster000X]

You throw a philosophy lazer to someone, and the dude has a existencial crisis.

[@inanimatesum4945]

Thank you for all of this, I'm still wrestling with how important the magic system is with my characters and the narrative but not trying too hard to focus so much on it while the theme and characters are also very important.

[@stopmotiongarage220]

One your timing is impeccable, and two this did wonders for helping me rethink the fundamentals of the magic system im currently working on, thank you!!!

[@garrettlaturski6703]

"Winter is better, you all know it" I mean, it depends, do you like -40° weather, or do you like the sidewalks being ice

[@aceatlasska4343]

-40? Wow that's pretty cold, what country is that?

[@hayatobun]

@@aceatlasska4343 MOTHEЯ ЯЦSSIД, I would presume btw, it's -40°C and not F, just thought that would need to be mentioned unless it is Fahrenheit and the person is commenting from space, which is valid

[@aceatlasska4343]

@@hayatobun yeah ik it's celcius lol, I live in the UK, wish it could be a colder and snowier winter here 😂

[@Jojrre]

@@hayatobun -40° is the same in Celsius and Fahrenheit....

[@garrettlaturski6703]

@AceAtLasska Canada. It isn't bad now, but usually we get -30 to -40°C

[@GiubileiFernando]

I try to include Elemental magic in my worldbuilding, but I feel it always ends up feeling too much like the element-limited telekinesis of Avatar.

[@TsulaAngenati2292]

Same

[@nathanbrown8680]

You might go back to the original elemental idea. Each element represents some property of matter. An Earth Mage might be able to make his armor lighter by making it *less* Earthy and then turn around and make it more Earthy when he wants the gauntleted punch he's just thrown to hit with a lot more inertia. A Water mage might make his enemy's sword flow like quicksilver by adding metaphysical water or make his enemy himself stiffen up by taking away metaphysical water A Fire mage might burn or freeze his enemies by taking or giving heat or remove just the right amount of heat from his backpack to keep his food fresher longer. I'm not quite sure what air is supposed to represent. You can do a wiki walk on alchemy for your own ideas. In any case, the elements don't need to represent what the mage manipulates, they can represent how the mage manipulates any substance including those traditionally associated with other elements.

[@tibot4228]

Having seen WITCH before ATLA, I didn't think it was possible for the elements to feel original again, but there is hope.

[@GiubileiFernando]

@@nathanbrown8680 I did that research to add more elements and stuff, by mixing western elements with eastern elements. And it ended up looking a lot like D&D. which is a problem I've encountered every time I try to base things on real mythology. I'm now more focused on the egyptian components of the soul, which were coincidentaly very similar to what I was trying to do. The components of the self are going to be the powersource of magic, defining what you can do with each source, and elements are just going to be an external aspect of magic. So the elements are the magic of the world and are separate from the magic of living beings.

[@NotABot-px7ky]

i just read a fantastic book which im now realizing I forgot the name of. but essentially, the elemental magic of this book takes the properties of each element, so water is the magic of motion, fire is the magic of temperature, earth is the magic of gravity, metal is the magic of electricity, and forest is the magic of life/healing. i think thats a much more eastern concept of elemental magic, and Im excited to read the second book in that series. edit: its called "The Black Tides of Heaven" by Neon Yang

[@sylvanwhatcott3280]

Actually the light sound kinetic shadow system makes some sense! They're types of energy, and the lack thereof (just expand shadow to include silence, cold, stillness). Your friend would have to justify why they're breaking energy down into these categories, and why they're excluding certain types, but there's a version of this that is really cool!

[@truekurayami]

Many of the points brought up in this are why I think some of the best Elemental Magic Systems come from stories where the Elements are just one piece of the Magic Systems. In a story you can have a family overwhelmingly known for their Fire based magic but each member of the family has their own Magical Prowess where fire just happens to be the most natural element for them to use with the elemental based magic. Another thing that can be done to help keep systems from being to tropish is adding in other factors that change how the system works for each character, such as a star-sign or region based adaptation that could change if a a character is more physical based in the system for it's expression where another might be more typical.

[@parrisxsummers]

Cornelia does earth margin, Irma does water

[@MsSenna95]

I was hoping somebody pointed this out already :D

[@figaroismycat]

Was just about to comment, did he just screw up who is what?

[@brittanyeastep4866]

He may have screwed it up but, I was hoping he would mention them.

[@fairycat23]

That's what I thought

[@HotDogTimeMachine385]

He watched a secret season 3 hahaha

[@minibuscus2]

my guy, we REALLY need volume 2 of the 'On Writing and Worldbuilding' like really badly needed

[@CharlesZane_]

The Codex Alera is one of my favorite series ever. I found it by pure chance and if not for that, I might not have ever found the Dresden Files. Another favorite. Jim Butcher is pretty solid.

[@snakejanders]

It was also cool to see fire used for healing in Legend of Korra

[@captainladybug8881]

The thing is, my magic system has the four elements to an extent (instead of earth bending, it's just plants like flowers and that), plus different kinds of magic altogether since I just like making cool things happen. That being said, I think I have my own twist on characters. For example, Morgan Clover is a fire mage, but he's not hot-tempered. He's a friendly and passionate guy who likes to party. Vesta, on the other hand, is a plant mage with a temper to the point you'd think she's a fire mage. Of course, there's a lot more to all of this, but this video did get me thinking more about my world and that.

[@protondium_8927]

Having somebody named Clover as a fire mage and somebody named Vesta as a plant mage is very interesting!

[@captainladybug8881]

Yeah, I mainly went with Morgan Clover because it sounded cool, but I also couldn't find a surname that sounded right. To make the names worse, I also have a random character named Knox and I'm pretty sure it has something to do with hills, but instead of plants he has water magic.

[@NotABot-px7ky]

My story has a fire mage who was raised in a culture in which she was expexted to fight and have a lot of anger but doesn't. My plan is to have her slowly build up frustration and anger, but keep it closely in check until it boils over and she discovers that she can be much more powerful than previously thought. then the cost of her magic becomes this sort of emotional turmoil and trauma, and a loss of control. idk, i like it, but I have a bunch of other characters to write and flesh out.

[@jameswest6232]

I really need to look up the Dragon Prince. I'm genuinely interested in a elemental system that actually looks at nature (sky, day, night, plant, etc.) instead of the admittedly well trodden earth, wind, and fire. I have heard that the "dark" magic in the series is more of a shortcut than something objectively evil, bypassing the requirement of understanding the other magics in favor of more expedient magical learning.

[@adamt7667]

Not really, in the Dragon Prince it's stealing the power of magical life to cast spells; basically demonstrates the willingness of humans to do terrible things to gain power. There's a scene where the main character has to use dark magic to save their lives, and it's pretty well established that even in that circumstance it was an evil action.

[@jameswest6232]

@@adamt7667 Oh. Like I said, I'm going of what I heard since I haven't seen the show yet.

[@kira-dk2mx]

@@jameswest6232 You definitely should. It was created by one of the main writers for Avatar and the show does not skimp on showing that Dark Magic can be pretty fucked up if pushed to its limits.

[@Amy_the_Lizard]

Dark magic is a shortcut, because it literally uses the life force of an elemental creature as fuel. As such the sentient elemental beings like the dragons and elves view it as incredibly disturbing and against the laws of nature. The human characters of the show (especially the ones who regularly use it) view it as simply a way of adapting to not having innate abilities of their own, and thus tend to be proud of it, even if other characters (even other human characters) are uncomfortable with it. Personally I can see both sides to some degree, so I wouldn't say that it's quite as simple as Dark Magic=100% Inherently Evil, even though it is indeed framed as corrupting and clearly not 'good'. On one hand why is killing a bug to cast a spell worse than killing a bug to eat it? Not much in the way of what elves and dragons eat is shown from what I remember, so they might not eat meat - but I distinctly remember an elf feeding bugs to her pet bird (and some people who didn't know they were bugs,) so to some elemental people, so killing bugs as food is definitely seen as acceptable. And there was one scene where someone used an elf's hair to cast a spell which didn't even seem to hurt the elf in question any. On the other hand, you could argue that literally using something's life energy is more invasive and violating to that creature, and is thus worse than simply eating their dead body. If that is the case, then the previously mentioned elf should feel very violated by the hair thing, which hasn't come up so far, but could still turn out to be the case. And obviously killing something sentient like a dragon or an elf for a spell isn't acceptable in the first place, which is usually where the discomfort some of the human characters have towards dark magic generally seems to come from. Then back to the first argument, some of the sentient elemental beings have also specifically stated that they believe that dark magic is a crime against nature because humans CLEARLY weren't meant to have magic in the first place, and thus shouldn't be allowed to even try to level the playing field between them and the powerful magical beings they live alongside, because that's reaching above their place in the food chain so to speak. So some of the animosity towards dark magic may actually be related to anti-human discrimination, but definitely not all of it.

[@kira-dk2mx]

@@Amy_the_Lizard It's the kind of morality question that comes to mind when dark magic comes up that makes it so interesting. Especially when you get hints about its origins later in the show.

[@thomasthecoolkid7228]

In this one story idea I had, the elemental magic (along with _any_ other magic stuff that I would've put into the story) feeds off of the storage of ether within the user's body, which they recharge by drawing ether from the envronment. Higher level magic costs more ether to use, and there's actually a level system integrated into the story that determines how much ether someone can hold within their bodies without it becoming detrimental. So the main drawbacks of exhaustion, injury, and possible death are more prominent in lower level magic users trying to pull off higher level magic, or trying to spam too much. On the other hand, it also has a take on summoning magic where you can use a little bit of your own ether and _a lot_ of that which is in the environment to summon an elemental creature. However, since elemental summoning draws from the ether in the environment, _and_ to such a degree, using it _drastically_ weakens both your own abilities and those of your enemies and allies, since ya'll are unable to recharge your reserves and are forced to be more efficient with your use of it so as to not be left defenseless.

[@danteslayer9455]

my favorited example of the same old four (five because they also have lighting) being used to great effect is in a story called Marked for Death. For example the group leader has earth aspect but does not actually use it offensively, mostly setting traps, moving underground, and building instant defences. but most importantly he is an idealist in a ruthless world, always using his wall-building abilities to protect the villages they move through from the monsters of the wild and encouraging everybody from his teammates, his to the world leaders (a very bad idea) to use their powers for the good of the common folk. the heart is a caring, very selflessness fire aspect girl, she is passionate and always looks after her teammates, to the point of confronting one of the most powerful people on the world for the sake of her teacher in what was effectively a pointless suicide mission just because she believed it needed to be done and no one else was willing to do it. What I like is that they are such great characters that their elemental magic complements their personalities, not vice versa. seriously, go read it. the community is very active, the writers are amazing and the world building is terrific

[@thecreatornooj1328]

Did you hear that Avatar is getting a couple of new animated series AND Movies?? Avatar Studios is being created Edit: Corrected the name

[@princessthyemis]

I KNOW RIGHT!!!! I'M SOOOOO EXCITED FOR MORE NEW STORIES IN THE AVATAR WORLD!!!!! SO MANY POSSIBILITIES FOR EXCELLENCE!!!!

[@train4292]

Wait, seriously?

[@thecreatornooj1328]

@@train4292 Yup

[@vlabla2559]

Wait actually? for real??

[@beingrkm]

The last time i was this early, the fire nation hadn't attacked

[@justsomeguywithahandlebarm2456]

Ow

[@princessthyemis]

Hahaha!!

[@emisor9272]

Then everything had yet to change?

[@jcplays5831]

10:04 for number three: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure says hi. And I do too. Awesome video and you really do help me understand more on writing a story while not trying to skew my style of writing in a way I don’t want to.

[@stevenneiman1554]

One other thing to note is that even if you don't really have much novelty, you can still create a cool setting by thinking through and fleshing out things that often tend to just be handwaved. One of my favorite webnovels, Mother of Learning, has an aggressively generic magic system that feels like it was stolen from an MMO, but it asks a lot of questions that rarely get asked and occasionally has interesting answers (for example, dungeons exist because mana is an energy source which creates ecosystems dependent on it just like sunlight, and this in turn creates a tradeoff where cities can have ready access to industrially useful magic by building near them but that comes at the cost of needing to devote resources to keeping monsters at bay), and because of that thoughtful worldbuilding the magic definitely feels lively and original despite the fact that almost all of the particulars are things we've seen a thousand times.

[@cosmoreverb3977]

Holy shit I haven't watched one of Hello Future Me's videos in ages. He's bloody jacked now.

[@hayatobun]

coupled with that disheveled, mad-scientisty look - I bet his plan to conquer the world in the name of Supreme Empress Momo is already in motion

[@no-vw9ib]

It's because of the movie

[@evangregory14]

Your and my ideas of "jacked" are quite different lol.