Writing "The Midab War"

Essentially, I want to know how to handle The Midab War, an event that takes place in my 'verse, and deals with how the modern world deals with the emerging magical forces that come up after a certain point.

The central point is a pair of households in the American South, one being owned by a family from Maryland that just moved in, and the other owned by an old man and his family.

The two families are at each other's throats due to misunderstandings and mutual failings, the land being divided in two along a line that one person named "The Midab Line". Problem is, the Midab Line runs through a large alleyway between the houses that goes out into wilderness.

The other problem is who showed up for all of this. For some odd reason, people from the magic side started siding with one family against the other. On the side of the Marylanders, the Fairbrook Family, are people from Phantom Claw and other anti-Sharon's Order groups.

Sharon's Order's old officers and enforcers have lined up with the old man Tobias, and are downright enthusiastic about getting to settle their grudges.

Both of these sides have been angling to find a plausible reason to take aim and kill one another. To increase the odd irony of this circumstance, everyone on one side is an expy of someone on the other side. The two sides each have 13 people ready to fight.

So we have two battalions of unstable young officers who have no love for one another, possibly only surpassed in animosity by the two families, who prove to be something like a modern iteration of the Hatfields and Mccoys.

This can only end badly - and it does.

By the end of things, I have every intention of there only being around 3 people living from the two Magic Side factions, the local police got caught in the crossfire to lethal effect, and Old Tobias, who ultimately started the "war", is also dead.

I have planned out how the war is going to go, but I have relatively little idea how to realistically frame news coverage of the fighting and the end result. I know its gonna be a public relations nightmare for someone, and in all likelihood it will strengthen the Anti-Magical Faction.

So, how to construct reports on the events ensuing, what treatment will the news networks give the events, and what kind of "bad journalism" can I realistically add in?

What repercussions might come about as a result of this? Who would be blamed for it? Who would be held responsible, ultimately?

edited 5th May '14 5:28:13 PM by NickTheSwing

I think any kind of magic or superheroes (or villains) will be seen as weapons of mass destruction (even if they are not). It's the first thing any journalist will say. So... you have a lot of paranoia on the subject. Bad journalism will just "predict" violent behavior in the near future.

You can have a journalist as a satellite character and put his or her column on the subject. Or several journalists. I think it will help.

In the other hand, you can have a subculture (maybe for teens and people in their early 20's) trying to "study" de magic, something like neo-magical-hippies.

And you can have some fanatics in the right wind trying to actually make weapons of mass destruction based in your magic (like magic bullets). They don't need to succed, just to try.

Given some of the power levels, magic users being treated as weapons of mass destruction is inevitable. I was thinking of having an Expy of Sean Hannity on the air basically drumming up fear and paranoia, including claiming; "If they'd mow down our men in blue, what will they do to you?"

There will be three different journalists who report on the events. Including one who jeopardizes her career to tell the truth of what happened at the Midab War - that it was caused by all too mortal men's stubbornness and animosity.

One of those gets created around this time, a Mana Accelerator Cannon.

Now, on to creating a sense that the individual participants are actually each sympathetic, but heavily flawed characters, and ending them without making my audience get frustrated.

edited 5th May '14 11:29:15 PM by NickTheSwing

Well, considering I ultimately decided to make there be two Midab Wars with the survivors of one ultimately ending up on the same side, I was wondering if this would incur a reaction of "Really? One wasn't enough"? Either in or out of universe.

I mean, considering that these wars started up as spats between neighbours, and because of cultural tendencies within the Magical World to basically be okay with murder if its done by people on opposing "sides". Hence, these people could be considered "Side-Seekers", they basically were looking for plausible sides because their consciences would not have let them just straight up kill each other in the street.

Matthew at least thinks everyone involved in it are all extremely immature.

What is the consensus otherwise, on here?

Given the first one and some of the second were started by the Muggles who "led" (technically. They "led" the side, but could not control the "membership") the "sides".

Also given the fact that most of the fighters are in the range of 14 to 25...

edited 8th Jun '14 9:01:16 PM by NickTheSwing