Questions 3: Altering Reality

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Orihime from Bleach

Well, this has been a rather niche topic, so let’s jump right into the questions.

  1. As an author, how would you use a reality-altering character?
  2. As a reader, what do you think of characters who can alter reality?
  3. If you were a character, how would you deal with an enemy who can alter reality?
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About Charles Yallowitz

Charles E. Yallowitz was born, raised, and educated in New York. Then he spent a few years in Florida, realized his fear of alligators, and moved back to the Empire State. When he isn't working hard on his epic fantasy stories, Charles can be found cooking or going on whatever adventure his son has planned for the day. 'Legends of Windemere' is his first series, but it certainly won't be his last.
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18 Responses to Questions 3: Altering Reality

  1. noelleg44's avatar noelleg44 says:
    March 21, 2025 at 10:09 am

    Gosh, Charles, I’ve never thought about this before. I don’t write fantasy which may be the problem!

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  2. L. Marie's avatar L. Marie says:
    March 21, 2025 at 10:32 am
    1. Most likely no. But never say never, right?
    2. I’ve enjoyed some of these characters and disliked others. The original Star Trek series had an episode called Charlie X in which a character could alternate reality. That was a very poignant episode. A good example of how a character like that feels remorse and loneliness.
    3. That’s a tough one if the person with the power is evil. Unless you can kill or seriously injure this person before he or she does anything, you are toast. I can see a lot of placating being done like in the Twilight Zone episode, “It’s a Good Life.” I would search for a way to banish the power user to a place where he or she can’t harm the helpless (and from which he or she can’t return) or search for someone with more power than the person who can alternate reality.

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  3. John W. Howell's avatar John W. Howell says:
    March 21, 2025 at 5:27 pm
    1. I think I would have the character slow time for the world and then travel at will to accomplish the quest..
    2. Characters who can alter reality are fascinating.
    3. When faced with a character who can alter reality I hope that I have a power that can circumvent the altered state.

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  4. DebyFredericks's avatar DebyFredericks says:
    March 22, 2025 at 11:07 am
    1. As an author, how would you use a reality-altering character? I don’t think I would. My characters usually are the ordinary person and their challenges are not so cosmic.
    2. As a reader, what do you think of characters who can alter reality? They make me think the author has issues.
    3. If you were a character, how would you deal with an enemy who can alter reality? You would have to knock them out as quickly as possible, and maybe do that by swarming them with too many attackers to cope with them all.

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    • Charles Yallowitz's avatar Charles Yallowitz says:
      March 22, 2025 at 11:45 am

      Curious as to the reasoning behind your second answer.

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      • DebyFredericks's avatar DebyFredericks says:
        March 22, 2025 at 12:04 pm

        Certain authors always seem to have a character who is so powerful that they are almost gods. Like, they feel powerless in real life, so they write these over-powered characters.

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      • Charles Yallowitz's avatar Charles Yallowitz says:
        March 22, 2025 at 12:37 pm

        Authors do tend to put some of their desires into characters. Guess it can go too far without them realizing it. Though, I now wonder if villains like this are born from a desire to overcome potentially impossible situations obstacles.

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      • DebyFredericks's avatar DebyFredericks says:
        March 22, 2025 at 7:08 pm

        Not only authors, though. One of my friends has been pressured by family into doing elder care for over 5 years without respite. When we game online, her characters are always combat monsters regardless of what class they’re supposed to be. Her helplessness in her family life is reversed with her powerful characters.

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      • Charles Yallowitz's avatar Charles Yallowitz says:
        March 22, 2025 at 9:38 pm

        Is that something she’s aware of? It begs the question on if we’re all doing that on some level. At least if we write stories or create/act out characters in some medium.

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      • DebyFredericks's avatar DebyFredericks says:
        March 23, 2025 at 11:30 am

        I don’t think it’s a conscious choice. And the elder passed away recently, so my friend now has to rediscover her own life without that 24-hour commitment. It will be interesting to see if her gaming changes as time goes on.

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  5. coldhandboyack's avatar coldhandboyack says:
    March 23, 2025 at 11:11 am

    Never say never, but this is a hard one to use. It would take some deep thought, and dealing with the fallout would be the bigger story. Readers get to have their own ideas about things. It usually poses question along the lines of why didn’t they just… Dealing with an enemy who has this power would probably involve a lot of hiding and staying out of the way.

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    • Charles Yallowitz's avatar Charles Yallowitz says:
      March 23, 2025 at 11:27 am

      I do find the ‘why didn’t they just’ questions rather interesting. They ignore the possibility that the character might not think of taking such an action. Reality warping is powerful, but I’m realizing that a constant limitation is the imagination and experience of the person who has it. An obvious action by someone might not even be on the list for the person with such power.

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