Writing Tips and Reviews

Deus Ex Machina

Everything about this subject is in the text I wrote to a friend. Apparently psychokinesis is a deus ex machina because it can force some valve shut in your throat, and I don't even know. Do I look like I know the human anatomy well enough to know the body on a molecular scale? The answer is no.

Deus ex machina in short is just making up a lame excuse to end a scene that had been built up to. I can't explain what it is specifically, and  frankly, I don't care. I don't even know how to use it.

"In my version of psychokinesis, say, a world that is ruled by tech. Magic and artes are rare besides in some places and a mutation happens in power. Some powers like illusions and mind control have been  shown to exist in ancient times. Maybe they could mutate, like genes do, and come up with a new power. This is limited to picking up and throwing things. Where you got the valve thing is still beyond me.

Even if a character has this power, say, Sephira from the test story Eltaria, she'd be useless if all she had was metal around her and she went against a mage who could use fire. They'd melt the metal and leave her defenseless. There's an area limitation here as well, like Silver, she can't pick up something from too far away, it's too much stress. If she's hit, she looses concentration, in game terms, she's stunned. A power like Essokinesis (reality manipulation) could be that way, unless it's been hinted or described before.

The way I see it, deus ex machina happens for the reason of resolving a conflict by bringing something not explained beforehand and is just to make an easy get away. If a power or character has been introduced and explained before hand, does it count? I don't think so. The force is this way in Star Wars, while powerful, it was described and has been in play since the beginning of the series. If a battle ends with the force, does it count? Does it count for a character to be using the force the whole time then be able to kill their opponent?

The same is with psychokinesis. If Sephira has been using it since she was little and uses in combat often, why does it turn into deus ex machina when she kills something with it?

The same can be said of artes, it's stronger than magic, has less limitations and is used more often. It's a power over the elements and the weapons that harness those elements. Why is it okay but psychokinesis not? A mage can take down a monster easily since normal weapons can't do damage, is that a deus ex machina? It's part of the world and has been established. Even in the beginning when a character uses it, it's later explained and used in future battles."

The Silver I mention is from the Sonic series. He's adorable. I want to hear nothing about how the magic system is set up in my series, not every fantasy world needs magic to live, there are other things that can control the elements. When I said elemental control I did not mean magic.