#Wraith UI

[spockvarietyhour]

Wraith UI "Outsiders"

[kithj]

i open this file and my laptop immediately combusts

tnp update this weekend 👍

[ironclark]

The next set of Halloween Keyblades are done! This time we go to Nosgoth with Blood Omen, Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2, Blood Omen 2, Defiance, and Nosgoth! 

Special shoutout to @INazeerudin for sending me to this series! 

VAE VICTIS-

A Keyblade modeled after the bloodiness of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain! This Keyblade is designed to increase the amount of health drops a target has! The handle is designed after a blood vial, and will move as the blade swings. The hilt guard is designed after the skull of the Soul Reaver, with various gold bat designs found in the menus of Blood Omen. The Shaft of the blade is designed after the Blood Save Alters found in the game, with the "blood" portion of it forming a bat-like wing for the teeth. The token is a blood health potion.  The world logo shows the Pillars of Nosgoth, with various vampire fangs beneath. The name of the keyblade comes from the line that Kain would often say, death to the conquered. 

PREDESTINED SOUL-

A Keyblade modeled after the amazing look of Raziel from Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver! This Keyblade is designed to increase the lightning damage from spells. The crossguard is designed after Raziel's scarf, with the sides being his tattered wings. The shaft of the blade is designed after the Wraith Blade, with the teeth being a representation of Raziel's health UI. The keychain follows the same look of the Wraith Blade, with the token being the health upgrade. The world logo shows the destroyed Pillars of Nosgoth with the Elder God beneath it. 

PARADOX PILLARS-

A Keyblade modeled after the pillars of Nosgoth as seen in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2! This Keyblade is designed to have Time Stop last longer. The hilt guard and shaft features the destoryed pillars, with the Pillar of Balance being front and center. The pommel and bottom of the hilt is the Elder God gripping the pillars. The shaft of the blade, formed of the Pillar of Balance, forms into the wing of Janus Aldron to form the teeth as well. The chain being that of another tentacle of Elder God. The token being Janus Aldron's Heart of Darkness. The world logo shows the prestined Pillars of Nosgoth, as well as the corrupted and destroyed pillars. The name comes from the fact that Raziel continued to become a paradox, as well as the various pillars. 

HIDDEN GLYPHS-

A Keyblade modeled after the Glyph technology seen throughout Meridian in Blood Omen 2! This keyblade is designed to have high knockback on enemies. The entire keyblade is designed after the various piping and technology powered by the Glyphs used by the Sarafan. The teeth of the blade is the gasous form of the Glyphs with the head of the Hyldan. The token is that of the Nexus Stone. The World Logo is that of Meridian, where most of the game takes place. The name comes from the fact that the Glyphs hold a lot of secrets. 

BLOODBOUND SOULS-

A Keyblade modeled after the dual nature of Legacy of Kain: Defiance! This keyblade is designed to have life steal and can stun a target. The hilt of the blade is designed after the Soul Reaver, with a dual helix of Raziel's Soul energy and Kain's blood powers. The helix forms a wing for the teeth. The token is a half and half symbol combining both vampire's symbols. The world logo has a combination of bats and soul frays. The name comes from the fact that Kain was the one to turn Raziel into a vampire (Bloodbound), and their souls seemingly are tied by faith. 

DEATH TO THE DEAD-

A Keyblade modeled after the elements of the cancelled Nosgoth game! This keyblade is designed to have extended combos. The hilt guard is designed after the Nosgoth pillars logo, with the shaft of the blade being from the Key item found for the external chests. The teeth of the blade is designed after the Rune symbol. The token is said Rune. The World logo has the symbol of both the human hunters and the vampires. The name comes from one of the achievements of the game, as well as the fact that the game is cancelled. 

[degreesoflunacy]

i love you ivory wraith…

(found under “ui”)

[dragon-communion]

Further notes: spirit summoning

Spirit summoning: The UI symbol for the ability to summon spirits in an area is some form of arch or gateway with lines of unintelligible script inside. While this is usually indicative of the presence of a rebirth monument, not every area this appears in seems to have a rebirth monument (ex: boss rooms). This may imply the physical presence of a rebirth monument does in fact have a meaning beyond facilitating gameplay, and can be treated like any other visual storytelling element. Spirit summoning involves the use of a bell and spirit ashes, both of which must be acquired as items to use. Spirit ashes are in fact a literal item, as seen in the arrangement of Roderika the spirit-tuner's workplace and the rudimentary clay urn we hold up when we summon. While it is unclear where the image is meant to be from (perhaps imprinted on the urns?) the icons for the spirit summons involve a stone bas-relief carving of a gateway, with additional decorative details that may imply something about their origins judging by the difference between puppets and spirits. The gateway is notably the same style as the UI icon, with two columns supporting the arch. Barring the starry blue influence of the Nox, all spirit summoning via this method seems to involve light purple magic.

Rebirth monuments: Small obelisks, six-sided. The two notable carving designs are some sort of diamond shape with two "eyes", and an entwined vine motif that I swear I recognize from some other architectural structure. It has two intricately framed depressions, one on either side, that match the rebirth gate pattern of two columns supporting an unbroken arch. The depression in the lip of the base of the structure makes the whole thing a bit reminiscent of a fountain, but none of them seem particularly involved with water. The diamond motif repeats on two of the three layers of carvings, as well as on every facet of the base. Maybe it's meant to be a kind of infinity symbol? It also looks a bit like a fleur-de-lis.

Spirit calling bell: The lip of the bell is lined with twisting designs very similar to the vines on the rebirth monuments, and covered in text that presumably matches the text of the UI rebirth gates. It also seems to have six distinct "sides", though the stem of it is entirely in the round. After much intense and thankless squinting, I believe the design directly at the "crossguard" of the bell is some kind of knotted bow, with another at the end of the handle directly bordering the "pommel". It is topped by yet another of the diamondlike motifs, and the length of the handle itself might be either carved vines or carved ribbons.

Spirit Ashes: Ashes unreturned to the Erdtree. A very strange description considering the Golden Order seems violently opposed to the concept of cremation, and yet some of their heroes have become ash. Nox Puppets are a distinct starry blue, and the carvings of their gateways involve organic flowing vine shapes and half-sun imagery. Ordinary (and legendary) spirit ashes are framed by more blocky geometric designs akin to Celtic knots. Framing aside, the gateways and their text remain identical. Considering the physicality of the image, I'm inclined to think these carvings come from the sides of their urns. The rudimentary quality of the urns as items in-game, and the utter lack of lids, mystifies me.

Additional thoughts:

Why on earth do all of the stationary phantoms around the Lands Between have ghost mushrooms growing around them?

What's the difference between the white spirits we summon, the blue puppets, and the teal particle effects of the Ancestral Worshippers and their related spirits? Torrent seems more comparable to something like the Regal Ancestral Spirit than any other entity. I need to look more closely at his particle effect.

Despite all those colors to choose from, the Spirit Calling Bell and the UI rebirth gateway are distinctly purple.

The magic of the Wraith Calling Bell is black-and-gold, which I'm not even going to begin speculating on here.

[xcerizex]

9 R.I.P. Review Rambles

This is me mainly gushing about this game, everything is loosely spoiler friendly especially for the Secret LI so please proceed with caution. Beware of a bunch of text dump.

Art:

Long time otome lovers won't need an introduction to Yuuya and her works! The overall art was filled with gorgeous atmospheric lighting either filled with wonderfully saturated colours fitting the present setting, or something simpler when the situation calls for it.

The character designs are absolutely wonderful and well-crafted, brilliantly bringing out the desired theme for each character and their inspired legend, well most of them XD. Koharu's feels a bit more subjective since personally I would have liked him on the spookier side, but all in all looked amazing anyways!

Also holy shit the UI is freaking gorgeous. I remember how utterly captivated I was first playing the game, that itself is a piece of art I must say! It makes this game worth playing for the atmosphere it delivers alone! The creator knew what they were doing and delivered this spectacularly spooky and hauntingly beautiful GUI.

Music:

Please let me talk about the music because oh my gosh, it's fantastic! The character theme songs are all unique and made true to their respective characters and I love it! Hearing their theme song play as the characters make their entrance always made me giggle and kick my feet. Out of all of them, my favourite character soundtracks would be Koyo's, Sena's, and Minami's!

Plus, some of these soundtracks are super creepy too. My personal favourites would be "Footsteps", the super creepy one, and "Taruma" which is the funny soundtrack which I absolutely adored! What I adore the most of all was the Horizon OP as well as it's piano variant, which evokes a feeling of longing and attachment to a fading autumn season.

Overall, they did a fantastic job with the soundtrack in this game, managing to suit the entire vibe of the game, as well as giving not one, but FOUR ending songs, we've been spoiled! This game has exceeded my expectations for its design and you can clearly see how much effort they put into everything! May be my absolute favourite otome game in terms of system design.

School World common route:

This one lived up to the supposed "horror" theme they were trying to go for, and as a supernatural fan, it ticked all the right boxes! It was tense and somewhat scary (one scene scared me quite a bit 😅) with good world building and atmosphere, and I was surprised to see how much plot they were showing despite still being in the common route, not a bad thing tho personally. I loved meeting all the other ghosts here since I was a HUGE fan of this kind of thing.

One thing I really appreciated was how careful Misa was in this route, she doesn't make any stupid decisions on her own, and knows when to prioritize herself when the situation calls for it. The scene with the wraith left me quite satisfied, even if she did end up tripping and falling afterwards.🤣

The moments you get with the LIs are cute (sometimes with Hibiki tho things get a tad bit "crazy" 🥰), but I honestly don't have much else to say. Overall, it's not that spooky for me (minus that one scene which made me jump a lil) and a great introduction to the game's supernatural theme. Would replay if I want that spooky atmosphere again ☺️

Kureha:

Now Kureha is a little hard to talk about despite him being one of my faves. He's plain, but in a good way! His kind, golden-hearted, and normal personality is honestly the breath of fresh air I've been looking after for a while. It made me giggle and smile like an idiot whenever he popped up somewhere else that wasn't his own route, he was just too sweet! The way he consistently looks out for Misa and her well-being will never not make me melt into a puddle. 🥺 So many times I wanted to say "screw it" and go back to him when I was in other routes. 🤣 I was quite taken with him as you see.

His route was great imo! Even if there were dragging moments, the plot and development had me hooked. But wow his backstory was brutal, something I liked since that was exactly what I was expecting from this particular storyline. But I hadn't expected to cry as I did in BOTH of his endings, seriously! 😭 Before I knew it, tears just started streaming down my face, and I had to go off somewhere to cry into a pillow. 😭

His route didn't feel particularly scary to me other than that one jumpscare (I think I lost a few years of my life on that AHAHAHAHA 😭). So I do think anyone who wants a good bit of horror content can find it in the School World Ghost boys. I adore Kureha's design, and his bittersweet endings were lovely imo. A great poster boy! 🥰

Hibiki:

He scares the absolute crap out of me AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. And I think what makes him an even greater character is how he endears me all the while making me grip my sheets in fear. 🤣 It was a ride to see him switch between his adorable side to his more, uh...bone-chilling moments. (That one bad ending had me scared shitless at 12am in the morning. Seriously, do NOT play that at night.🤣) He ended up being the scariest part of this game.

Of course, the "scarier" aspects of him ended up being toned down a good bit, but that didn't stop me from being entertained by him as I was. What a fantastically well-executed, polarizing character! I was also quite surprised how reliable he ended up being in the common route.

Speaking of heartbreaking and traumatic experiences, Hibiki really takes the cake for saddest boy in this game without fail. His backstory disturbed me and made me cry, which was exactly what I wanted from this game! Hibiki is everything I wanted from the supernatural premise of 9RIP, something sweet, something scary, something sad, and something dark. But while his route was enjoyable for me, that was that. 😅 Overall, he is an experience I would recommend to anyone, if you'd like a decent spook that is. 🤣

Urban Legends common route:

I adore this common route to bits and it may as well be my favourite one of the game! Something about this common route was so warmly and intimately written, not just because of the relationships between Misa and the LIs, but between everyone else. Its a rare case of seeing the best friend of the game–aka Sayaka for 9RIP–actually be relevant and it elevated the entire storytelling for me!

The pacing was great and was always moving forward with something new to see with each revelation being executed well, and watching the relationship between Misa, Koyo, and Sena grow was heartwarming! I adore them and the friendship they've fostered so much, even when you're not pursuing one specific LI you can tell how much they mean to each other nonetheless.

I had zero qualms about replaying this common route and even went back for more! 🥰 Something so wonderfully heartwarming and yet, melancholy is something I wish others could experience too.

Koyo (looking at the length of this section, I realize how obvious my bias is):

Out of all the routes, this one had THE highest replay value and sugar content for me! Literally after finishing his route I went back for more, no joke, it was that good! It had moments that legitimately make me thrash around in bubbly excitement (which usually does NOT happen), only for those doki dokis to turn into a different type of heart racing due to the super tense moments that followed shortly after. I love Koyo's personality, his casual demeanor and natural kindness always making me feel comfortable with him. ☺️

To be honest, I was kind of surprised by the main plot of the route, considering I heard so much hype about it. Not in a bad way it was just like, "huh?". I also do think this may have my least favourite version of Misa, but I look at it as the writers' need to gently nudge the plot forward. (I love my girl Misa as always 🥺, she was great in her own way here too!) And I enjoyed the relationship between the two of them, how they naturally bantered and cared for one another was a strong point of the route's romance!

Ryota Suzuki also ended being the VA that surprised me the most in this game. His voice perfectly captured all sorts of strong emotions ranging from anger, disgust, worry, love, and more! It elevated the entire Koyo experience to an 11, and I couldn't think of a better fit between character and VA than this!

Tldr on personal thoughts, I think I'm a tsundere when it comes to him LMFAO. 😭 I've heard the hype for Koyo as both a character as well as his route, so I tried to keep my expectations as low as possible. But out of all the fanfic drafts I've done for this game, he got the most, so what does that say about me? 😭 Despite the fact I was trying to tell myself "oh yeah he's okay" my mind would just keep circling back to him after I was done with his route, making me smile like an idiot in public. It's sheer brainrot! 🤣 So like many others, I would agree that he is 100% boyfriend material! I spent a good time just hanging around after his route because I didn't want to move on! 😂

Sena:

Sena's central character theme was certainly a lovely story, and it made the relationship between him and Misa all the more precious. But his route was a uh...ride? Not necessarily in a bad way. The first half of his route was enjoyable, and you could really see the true extent of how hard it is when it comes to maintaining a relationship with a supernatural. But this was more of Misa being worried for Sena than it was trying to advance a relationship with him.

But when the second half of the route came, I had to sit upright and grip my sheets while severely questioning the sudden intrusion of the horror genre akwdjgkaw 🤣 It was enjoyable in its own right–even if it felt dragging at times–but it didn't really feel like it fit with the overall route.

Other than that, Sena is such a lovable LI for me and I can't help but adore his personality! There's something so bright, sincere, and reassuring about his easygoing nature that had me attracted, and every time his theme song popped up along with himself, I couldn't help but smile! I just wanted to give him a good bear hug whenever I saw him in someone else's route. If he were a real idol, I would definitely be a fan because how could you not love this beautifully bright man? 😂

The Other Realm common route:

This one was great and had some good moments overall, but nothing about it stood out in particular to me other than the moments you share with the LI's (ngl that one scene with Minami had me grinning from ear to ear).

It has quite a tense atmosphere as you are tugged around by this weird ass sense of...rivalry? Basically throughout the common route you'll encounter choices based on which LI your willing to romance trust. Definitely enjoyable in its own way, but it may be my least favourite common route.

Seiya:

To be honest I liked him better as a side character than an LI XD. I found his love spiels to be hilarious and I adore how genuinely determined he was to help Misa out, stemming from a deeper part of his character. But there was this strange mental gap between him and Misa (and me) which made it difficult for me to get romantically attached to him. Still, he wins top spot for most hilarious character in this game! 😂

The route at the very beginning was great, with super tense moments and giggling kicking my feet development, and the very ending matches in quality (his Heavenly end almost made me cry 😭) and I loved the conversation they had regarding Misa's mother.

But other than that, I didn't really enjoy the route as much. The huge chunk of the rest of the route felt eh to me because it didn't immediately pursue the tension it brought to my face, making me go "????". This is more because of personal preferences, but it really took me out of the moment. I guess it says something that my favourite moment of his route was a Kureha cameo 😭.

Minami:

I absolutely adore this unhinged piece of shit AHAHAHAHAHAHA🤣. Minami is hella unpredictable and was extremely entertaining as a result. Boy is he a hugeeee red flag but Misa doesn't care and matches his energy well, considering this is the one route where you need a high insanity to get to his route. What a riot, anytime he'd appear on screen I'd just shout and go, "YEAAHAHAHA!!!" and knew I was in for a good time. 😂

This route had my favourite version of Misa (my girlie was insane and we love to see it), and the banter between the both of them as well as Seiya always had me hollering and enjoying every second of it! But boy did things take turn after turn after turn, this route may be my favourite as it excellently balances out good tension and romance. The development of Minami's love also hooked me on greatly, because bro fell deep in love so hard and I adore every aspect of it! 🥰

I think this route surprised me a lot, which surprised me by how it surprised me 😂. Because while I was expecting chaos and unpredictability, I didn't expect this kind. But in a good way! One of the reasons this route may objectively be a 10/10 for me! This kind of route has been something I've been searching after for a long time ever since I first started playing otome games, and it delivered on all fronts!

Spirit World common route:

I played this common route before the Hell world while I was sick because I particularly craved a lighthearted and slice-of-life atmosphere, and it delivered! Another thing I liked about this common route is that it had greater focus on Misa's personal story, especially with her relationship with both her mom and Sayaka.

Don't ask me how this happened but I think I ended up crying about at least two times in this supposed lighthearted route SJISJXJSOAKKA. 😭 There was nothing particularly painful about it, but a few lines hit a bit too close to home and before I knew, my heart started to hurt and my tears fell on their own.

I heavily recommend leaving this common route for last, as it immediately spoils the big secret, as well as leaving a nice and cozy finish to the overall game. I played this third because I already knew about said big secret, but in the end, it's up to your preferences.

Koharu:

I want to eat his cooking LOL 🤣 I usually don't like tsunderes but I'll make an exception for Koharu, he's just too cute! And manly, and housewife worthy, and uh, you get what I mean! 😂 He was so gruffy and intimidating during Misa's first meet, which is why seeing his tough exterior melt away into something more vulnerable gave me such a wonderfully subtle feeling of cathartism. A true tsundere done right!

His route was light, but the trope they employed here is something I haven't seen in a long time and damn if I didn't enjoy it! 🥰 I also adore to bits how we got to expand more on his relationship with another LI, it was super wholesome, but at the same time, sad. I couldn't possibly imagine how horrified he felt during those...darker moments. Honestly. 😭

This route was light and fluffy, so there's really not much going on other than day to day life, which I don't mind. In fact, I like it! I would totally fistfight Yukimaro if he stole my Koharu-made cookies though, hmph! 😤 His endings were surprisingly bittersweet, honestly I just want the both of them to be happy, but I guess you can't have everything in a relationship with the supernatural. 😞

Yukimaro:

One thing I will say is how surprised I was by how natural the romantic progression felt between Yukimaro and Misa. Considering Yukimaro's character, I wondered how on earth would the writers be able make Misa see him as a man, and they made it work! Their first kiss caught me off-guard by how seamlessly it flowed in, keeping Yukimaro's personality intact while delivering on the promised romance.

I knew he would be more than the childish personality they initially showcased him with, but I was still surprised by how emotionally attentive he was when it came to helping Misa out with her career path. His backstory was light, which I appreciated with the route's overall vibe.

Overall, this route is light on the palate and good for anyone who wants something simple to pass the sick days with! Yukimaro as a character will give you more laughs than dokis, but he's such a funny and heartwarming character, making him lovable in his own way! Always hilariously funny (the niece scene had me giggling), Yukimaro is the main source of life between all the Ayakashi's shenanigans, and I can't help but feel grateful for meeting him. ☺️

Secret LI

(approach with caution as he's someone I want everyone to experience fresh 🥰)

Talk about a show stopper! I didn't expect to adore this character or his route as much as I did, having throttled Minami out of my top three faves like it was nothing! Now I hyper regret not buying his merch while I was in Japan.🤣

I love love LOVE his selfless and not really slightly unhinged love for Misa. The fact that it leans more into selfless love instead of romantic also scratches a personal interest of mine, how could I not love him? 🥺He may be the wildest console otome man I've ever met! Not that I've met a lot granted (in console, mobile otoge is a freaky world), but it's gonna be hard to outmatch the guy who tried throwing his crush into literal hell and etc with absolutely pure intentions all things considered.

I have no other words for him except I adore him, and his adult voice got me good and swooning hard. It's unfair someone get him out of my head please, I need Amasaki Kohei to show his deep voice more! 😂(Nevermind the fact I replayed his voice lines over and over again like a person with withdrawals) I never thought I'd fall so hard for a man draped so lavishly in pink but here we are! And his glow up CG? (*cue loud squawking noises*) No doubt that he'll will stay in my mind as a special LI for a looooooong time to come. One of my top LIs ever for sure!

Route ranking:

Minami > Koyo = Secret LI > Kureha > Koharu > Hibiki = Yukimaro > Seiya > Sena

LIs Ranking:

Secret LI = Koyo > Kureha > Sena = Minami > Koharu > Hibiki > Yukimaro > Seiya

Thoughts?

I'll be the first to admit that this game has quite a few flaws. Ranging from a few unpolished routes, rushed endings, characters that could have used deeper writing, solutions and plotlines that could tick a few people's personal beliefs off but...

I love it all the same.

There's nothing better than a game that feels as if it was made for you, and that is exactly what 9RIP is to me, simply because I love the supernatural. And surprisingly (or maybe not, it's Otomate after all), they decided to take a more human approach with this particular genre instead of scary, which made me love it even more. It is a story of a young 17-year old girl thinking too hard about what she wants to do with her future, a story of those that never got the chance to live their lives, and more. So much more.

Gosh, I'm horrifically biased about this game. Sure, I would have adored something a little scarier, but overall I think they did a wonderful job with the given idea.

Another thing I love is the difference between the Heavenly and Godly endings, how they portray the severity of what it means to fall in love with the supernatural. The answer is as such; there will never be a truly happy ending for a love between different worlds.

There are some good happy endings of course, like Koyo and Secret LI's Godly ending, but those are about the happiest I can think of. Or maybe Minami's too. Other than that, it's all wonderfully bittersweet. It's kinda funny seeing Misa pledge her love to a spirit she won't be seeing in a long while until death though.

If I were to comment on it objectively, it is an entertaining title for sure. Having managed to carry ranges of genres within a single title while making it all stay cohesive into a single world, is something that I truly admire about this game. The LIs are all fantastic, and at least half of them are legitimately problematic, but are lovable nonetheless.🤣

This world is lovely to me, and if possible, I'd like to stay in the world of 9RIP for as long as possible. My final overall ranking doesn't quite represent my personal feelings on this game, as I'm trying to remain objective. But trust me when I say; is that this is a title you won't regret getting.

Overall Ranking:

8.5

[neptunes0cean]

Enter this cave... And you will pay the price...

(@echo-wraith-posting)

hmbnh ... ccave seem sfae eniugh ui think theres mant ofus now ...

[lgbtmi]

for both: 4, 10, 11, 19 :)

i'm assuming this is the meta oc questions post you're asking for! so here you go :> if you meant one of the other like two ask meme things i've reblogged yesterday, lmk, i'll edit!

4. Why did you give them the name they have? What is the in-universe reason for their name?

Willow got her name from a Taylor Swift-song, simply because her concept was sex worker in Amsterdam's red light district, and I thought it'd be so funny if her name was Willow because "Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind", and she's bendy in any direction her clientele wanted her. Her middle name was recently added, because I watched Barbie (2023) too often, and her last name is Turing, because sometimes you have to hide queer history in character names. In universe, her mom liked Willow as a name, and her middle name came from her grandmother. Clíodhna was named for the queen of the Banshees in Irish mythology. Her backstory and lore are heavily based in Shakespeare, Celtic mythology, and a little in Changeling the Dreaming, so when @kentuckycaverats suggested the name, I stuck with it. Clíodhna is plagued by the ghosts of her past, after all. Sure, they're not wraiths or bean sidhe, but they basically are just that to her. Additionally, her last name is Ó Neill, which is rooted in Celtic migration and history. What is a Scot if not just an Irish Dál Riata settler? And the Ui Neill clan was one of their allies, as well as one of the most prominent families back in those days. In universe, she was born as Kenna MacNeil to Irish immigrants. She was born in Scotland, but after her aging was stopped due to her Sire ghouling her, Kenna MacNeil has been declared dead. When her Sire moved her to Ireland to basically function as a spy, Irishifying her name to blend in better made sense... Besides, Kenna MacNeil had been dead for a long time. The court in Derry are Irish nationalists, her English or Scottish name would do worse in Ireland than Clíodhna would.

10. What is your favorite trait regarding your oc?

Willow is so fierce in how much she loves. She has a couple of people she'd quite literally do anything for, even if it puts herself in harm's way. My favourite Clíodhna-trait is something that happens when I play her. She has been raised in Scotland, but over the last century she's been forced into an RP English accent. As her emotional state changes, so does her accent. If she gets agitated, stressed, or scared, her accent will shift from RP English to her native accent. It's a lot of fun to flex my accent library on my friends /lh

11. What is your least favorite trait regarding your oc?

Willow's too nervous for her own good. Some shit has happened, and where she once was a stereotypical confident Toreador with the entire world at her disposal, she's now just chronically afraid of everything and losing touch with reality and she has no idea who she is anymore. It's a little bit stressful. She'll grow out of it <3 Clíodhna I haven't had the chance to play much, yet, but I have a sinking feeling I'm going to hate what she's like with her Sire. But hey, that's what being blood bound to a Ventrue will do to you, I suppose.

19. How might your oc react to finding out you are the one responsible for their life?

Willow would probably find it very weird to know that I'm literally chronically talking about her on the internet to the little gay people in my phone. But also, maybe she'd get some strength out of this? Who knows. She'd probably want nothing to do with me and hope that I never visit Amsterdam ever. Clíodhna? She sees ghosts all the time. If I tell her I'm responsible for her life, she'd probably consider me another one of the voices she hears sometimes that say things she doesn't quite understand. She might be a bit confused because I'm not her father, ex partner, or one of the two people she killed upon embrace, but it would be nothing out of her ordinary.

[skyboxeye]

Capturing the ambience of 007: Quantum of Solace (2008)

This James Bond adventure built on the Call of Duty engine also visits the major locales of Casino Royale. Many of the game's settings are presented with bonus atmosphere compared to their silver screen counterparts.

This guide will explore the PC and Xbox 360 releases.

Running the game

Obtain a valid DVD copy of QoS on eBay or another secondary seller. If this is impossible you can try your luck on trusted "Abandonware" download sites. According to the Project: Consolation community, Flatout keys can be used to activate QoS.

QoS uses the antiquated Games for Windows platform. You may need to set that up independently of the game before first run. There is also a 1.1 patch you should install - as always check PCGamingWiki for information on these, and other concerns.

Extracting PC sounds

You can decompress the PC version's FF ("fast file") archives with offzip.

offzip.exe -a common.ff 0

When opening and searching the results with a hex editor, you'll notice the names of level-specific sound effects e.g. vibrating_rattle.wav. These mark the starting point for the relevant asset's data.

You can copy-paste that data into a file, but of course the file will also need a proper header to become playable. According to the same guide, we can then use Audacity's "raw data" import, followed by an export, to give it one.

Another approach to adding headers is vgmstream's TXTH system. These files tell vgmstream how to interpret headerless binary data as audio. Here is the best TXTH I came up with for PC:

codec = IMA sample_rate = 44100 channels = 1 interleave = 0 num_samples = data_size

This almost works but it's not quite right - there's obvious clipping. Perhaps our decoding bit-depth is off. I suspect this has something to do with IMA being a 4-bit specification but couldn't figure it out. It's definitely some kind of ADPCM though. The Xbox 360 equivalent may use XMA2 - more investigation is needed.

Exploring CoD Tools

Reverse-engineering legend ID-Daemon created tools for extracting models from this game, but not sounds.

There's also a tool called Greyhound, which is a continuation of Wraith, a well-known Call of Duty asset extractor. From what I can tell, it's capable of recognizing models and animations from QoS but not sounds.

Tom Crowley's tool is a popular extractor for FF archives. He also offers a Black Ops Sound tool, but neither of these does anything when QoS's FF archives are dragged into it.

Another tool I found, Chronic's Black Ops WAV Extractor, is no longer available. There's no indication that it supports QoS anyway.

Extracting 360 sounds

Let's turn our attention to the 360 version's sounds. Fortuitously, we can find XMA ambient streams in the disc's amb folder. The game's common sound effects (e.g. impacts and footsteps) are also located here, in their respective directories.

However, *some* per-mission sounds are kept inside each zone's FF archive (example: while passenger_walla_01 from Montenegro Train is present, the martini rattling is not). FF tools written for Call of Duty games don't seem to be able to open 360's FFs, either (even after decompressing with offzip).

Since we only had most of the audio assets extracted, it arguably makes sense to record sound in-game, to make sure we don't miss something. If nothing else, the amb assets are still useful to help identify loop points - for example we know the Science Center rooftop is about 3mins of rain.

Capturing footage

Speedrun.com hosts a few tools that are useful for modifying camera parameters and position. Download CabooseSayzWTF's Mod Menu and use its noclip command to capture footage from any position on the map. Its somewhat unintuitive controls are documented in the archive's README file.

You should also use the FoV and FPS unlocker tool. Presumably this is the same one hosted on PCGamingWiki.

To hide the UI, press Tab to open Bond's phone and capture the first frame afterwards (easiest to do with a video capture). You can use portions of this HUD-less frame as an overlay to your footage. Of course this only works if the picture is static underneath.

This overlay trick can also be used to address flickering windows e.g. on White's Estate and Casino.

Alternatively, we can use the Reshade ShaderToggler add-on to disable the HUD shader from drawing. However, this seems to interfere with some shadow renders as well.

Because of these complexities and drawbacks, you may simply choose to crop out the HUD.

Putting it all together

Combine Xbox 360 ambient assets, image overlays, and captured footage as desired.

Appendix 1: Other notable QoS mods

There are other projects in-progress to improve the game.

Appendix 2: Other FF extraction tools

iw_ff_extract recognizes the mission scripts and some other files inside deflated FFs, but not sounds.

I could not get the IW3 toolchain for ZoneTool working with this game.

[monriatitans]

MonriaTitans

Let's Play Some Demos! - Part 6

Welcome to Part 5 of Let’s Play Some Demos | LPSD! In sum, these videos and streams aim to introduce gamers to, usually, Indie games! For this episode, I, once again, looked through my Steam Wishlist to see who had demos available.

Today, I played demos for 4 games:

Glorious Companions – Early Access Explore the open world of Terscara as you advance through the challenging and tactical encounters in this epic turn-based tactical RPG. Form and lead a group of battle-proven companions, delve into the ancient dungeons to collect the elusive vault crystals, and end Xandar’s Wraith once and for all.

Tales of Arise 300 years of tyranny. A mysterious mask. Lost pain and memories. Wield the Blazing Sword and join a mysterious, untouchable girl to fight your oppressors. Experience a tale of liberation, featuring characters with next-gen graphical expressiveness!

Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge Ultionus is a love-letter to the home computer arcade games of the late 80s and early 90s, with colorful 2D visuals, catchy chiptune music by the legendary Jake ‘Virt’ Kaufman, and 7 stages of hard-as-nails gameplay.

Cozy Island Take a relaxing walk around a surprise-filled island and build your own secret base! Explore the island, meet cute animals, play fun mini-games, and collect cool toys and furniture. Enjoy carefree and happy moments on the island! Play with your friends and share the fun together!

All links above are to the games’ Steam pages.

The verdict? Cozy Island was a bust. The sound design was annoying and grating and it was designed in such a fashion that one error and I couldn’t proceed with the story. The art style was cute in its simplicity, but the character animation had me tilting my head. Why? As my favorite game critic says, paraphrasing, “I don’t care how big the world is. I only care about what I can do.” And there was NOTHING to do. Just play Fae Farm. My favorite demo was Tales of Arise! And it reminded me a LOT of Visions of Mana! The design was GORGEOUS! I freaked out, excitedly, a few times at how it looked. I, also, freaked out a few times because I was being chased, but that’s another story… The combat tutorials could use some work; it should not have taken me as long as it did to figure out how to block/guard. And I could have SWORN, I was able to switch characters during combat, but couldn’t find how to do it. Unless I mistook it for something else, which is possible. Which is a problem. The combat was fun, despite my, temporary lack of blocking. Why biggest frustration with it, however, was when the character I was controlling went down in a fight, I wasn’t automatically switched to another one. Nor was there an option to switch. I was literally spectating the fight, waiting for it to be over, but I couldn’t remember how to flee if fleeing was even an option while downed. Ending out the Compliment Sandwich, the party banter was entertaining. The character design was sublime. The art style was anime tap dancing on realism. The UI was easy to follow. And it was one of a HANDFUL of games I can remember playing that made me WANT to explore! Normally, I want linear storylines and clear paths, but this one was an exception. Well done! Why had I not heard of this game before? Because I don’t pay enough attention to Bandai… Glorious Companions, which was in Early Access, looked and played GREAT! It was a decent example of Early Access done right! And it was my second favorite. It reminded me a lot of a game called Price of Freedom, NSFW, but was WAY simpler and more straightforward. Price of Freedom had you attacking separate body parts while Glorious Companions was straight-up attacking and defending. The tutorial was easy to follow. It was beautifully designed. Backing up a bit, I ACTUALLY had a tough time picking what class I wanted to play because 3 out of 4 were FANTASTIC! I wished there was character customization, but they might have locked it for either, a) demo and/or b) story reasons. My biggest issue was my inability to add things to the Inventory slots for battle. I was walking into fights with no bandages or potions with no understanding as to why. Which would have been fine had I been able to use them out of battle, outside of camping. And there was no explanation as to why I couldn’t. If I missed the explanation, that’s a problem. I shouldn’t be missing shit in a tutorial. To end on a high note, I LOVED the art design! I loved how it was animated! I definitely intend to recommend this one to my partner!

And that’s it for Part 6! If this series of videos is something you’re interested in, don’t forget to hit the Subscribe and/or Follow buttons!

—

“Let’s Play Some Demos!” Playlist

—

TIMESTAMPS 0:00 – Welcome Gamers! 2:17 – Demos’ Intro 2:40 – Glorious Companions – Early Access 54:45 – Tales of Arise 1:53:26 – Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge 2:12:19 – Cozy Island 2:29:46 – Mini Critique/Thank You 2:37:38 – Rendezvous Point Bookshop Plug 2:41:58 – Farewell

—

MORE INFO & TO SUPPORT – MonriaTitans Summarized – Rendezvous Point Bookshop – Artist Shout-Outs Criteria – Throne Wishlist – #SubOffTwitch – YouTube – Rumble – Odysee – Twitch – Steam

—

[spockvarietyhour]

Wraith UI looks like winamp visualization "InfectioN"

[the-blaze-empress]

oh yeah should probably list the mods/datapacks/resource packs im using huh

under the cut bc the list is. long

Java Minecraft 1.20.1 Fabric

BSL v8.1.02.1 Shaders

Mods: - Appleskin - Traveler's Backpack - Supplementaries - Better End - Better Nether - Towns and Towers - Farmer's Delight - Expanded Delight - Chef's Delight - Nether's Delight - Coffee Delight - Farmer's Respite - Handcrafted - Repurposed Structures - More Mob Variants - Creeper Overhaul - Enderman Overhaul - Bountiful - Immersive Paintings - Mythic Mounts - Wildlife - Wilder Wild - Friends and Foes - Flowery Mooblooms - Friends and Foes Beekeeper's Hut - Decorative Blocks - Lovely Snails - Duckling - Night Lights - Sky Villages - Immersive Melodies - Wraith Waystones - Chimes - Structory - All required dependencies - Sodium - Iris Shaders - Lithium - Mod Menu - Indium - Xaero's Minimap, Worldmap - Lamb Dynamic Lights - Sound Physics Remastered - Better F3 - REI - Phosphor - WI Zoom - Old Potions Datapacks: - Repurposed Structures - Friends and Foes Compat - Vanilla Tweaks Bat Membranes - Vanilla Tweaks Double Shulker Shells - Vanilla Tweaks More Mob Heads - Vanilla Tweaks Silence Mobs - Vanilla Tweaks Wandering Trades (for mini blocks) - Vanilla Tweaks Crafting Tweaks: craftable nametags, rotten flesh to leather, universal dyeing, straight to shapeless

Resource Packs: - Official Ph1LzA Pack - Custom Crow Elytra by ATOMICthecrow - Better Crops 3d 16x with tall wheat by Ensis - All Flowers in one Flower Bundle by ikuyuk - Minimito's Flowers by minimito (adjusted only for flower pots, tall flowers, and tulips) - Personal custom textures for bees, endermen, cream rabbits, allays, and mooblooms

Vanilla Tweaks Resource Packs: - Old Enchant Glint - Warm Glow - Red Iron Golem Flowers - Unique Dyes - Golden Crown - Twinkling Stars - Circle Log Tops - Variated Bricks, Logs, Mushroom Blocks, Planks, Bookshelves, Grass, Terracotta - Random Moss Rotation - Lower Grass, Mycelium, Paths, Podzol, Snow - Quieter Allays, Chickens - Ore, Suspicious Sand/Gravel, Budding Amethyst Borders - Age 25 Kelp - Hunger Preview - Music Disc Redstone Preview - Unobtrusive Rain, Snow - Borderless Glass, Stained Glass, Tinted Glass - Lower Fire, Shield - No Pumpkin Overlay - No Fog - 3D Chiseled Bookshelves, Pointed Dripstone, Amethyst, Sugarcane, Mushrooms - Ping Colour Indicator - What Spyglass Meme - Smiley Axolotls - Spinning Burning Skull Painting - Item Stitching, Dripleaf Big, Dripleaf Small, Cactus bottom, Consistent Bucket, Consistent Tadpole Bucket, Blaze, Item Hold, Cloud Fog Fixes - Pixel Consistent Signs - Numbered Hotbar - Dark UI - Brewing Guide

modded singleplayer world ive been playing recently <3

[disenchantedif]

The MC wakes up from a terrible nightmare, sweating and crying. They turn to look at the RO laying next to them and calm down, saying "You're still here...". Turns out their nightmare was the RO abandoning them. How would the ROs react/handle this?

Luci

The nightmare is sudden and you’re heaving when you wake. Gentle hands grasp your shoulders and you nearly sob.

"You're still here..." You breathe out, voice cracking and shaky.

Luci, who was hovering above you having woken you just seconds before, flinches back at the words as if you’d struck them. They immediately lean back in, pulling you into a tight hug.

They can't say they'd never leave you. That's not true, because they did, and it hurts them worse than anything knowing the repercussions it's had.

"I'm here," They say instead because it's all they can say. They hope you hear the promise in the words anyways.

Penny

She’s hovering close when you wake and the instant your eyes open, you’re in her arms.

"You're still here..." You whisper into her neck, clinging to her shoulders.

She grips you tightly, careful of her sharp nails against the bare skin of your arms, "Always. You won't get rid of me so easily."

"Thank you." You whisper into the darkness.

"Hush, love. Get some more rest."

Her voice is melodic, soothing, the lilt of her accent making it easy for you to sink back into sleep. She's definitely using her song to achieve it, but you can't be anything but grateful right now.

She cradles you in her arms for the rest of the night.

Cameron

"You're still here..." You say, hoarse, staring at them from where they're tangled in your sheets, looking concerned.

Their eyebrows draw together before their face falls. They look so upset you almost apologize, but they gather you in their arms before you can even attempt it.

"I am. I always will be." They swallow thickly, "I love you."

Your fingers twist in their t-shirt, the soft fabric grounding, the floral scent of their shampoo filling your senses. When you pull back, they bring a hand up to stroke your cheek, still wet from tears.

"Are you okay to go back to sleep?" They ask softly.

"Yeah." You answer, laying beside them and practically curling into their body.

You don't have any more nightmares.

Viktor

You're in his arms before you're even fully awake. He strikes a thumb across the curve of your cheekbone and you shudder in relief.

“You’re still here…” You sigh, your eyes slipping shut at his touch.

“That’s never up for debate,” He says wryly, and you open your eyes to see a faint smile on his lips.

You shift in his arms, curling closer, “I…it was a nightmare.”

“I know,” Viktor leans down, pressing a kiss to your forehead, “It’s okay, though. I’ll always be here to wake you up.”

You fall asleep pressed against his chest, his body a warm and comforting weight. He tosses an arm around you, tugging you as close as possible, and plays with the hair along the nape of your neck until you drift off under the soothing touches.

Theo

You think you might be crying, you’re not honestly sure. You sit up sharply, and hands are stroking up and down your arms in a comforting motion.

“Hey,” Theo whispers, raising a hand to tilt your chin up, “Where’s my sunshine, huh?”

You heave a shuddering sigh, leaning forward into their arms, “You’re still here…”

They freeze for a moment, as if not comprehending the words, and then their arms wrap you in a hug.

“Yeah, babe, I’m still here.” Theo rests their chin on your shoulder, “Don’t have any plans on letting you go, either.”

You both lay back down, curled into one another, entwined completely. Theo’s tail ends up wrapped around your waist, as if to pull you closer, and they press their lips to yours in a brief kiss before you go back to sleep.

Amri

You wake to gentle hands carding through your hair. You breathe deep, trying to shake off the terror of the nightmare, looking up to see Amri’s worried face.

Your head has somehow ended up in their lap, their wings coming to circle around the both of you protectively.

Amri tilts their head, their hair brushing their bare shoulder, “What’s the matter, hm?”

“You’re still here…” You say, eyes flush with tears.

They blink, eyes widening, before a hand brushes across your cheek and reaches down to cup your jaw. They press a firm kiss to your lips, before leaning back to look you in the eyes.

“I’m lucky,” They say, clear and concise, “To have you. Anyone would be. Whoever doesn’t realize that is an idiot and it’s not your fault.”

They wrap you in a hug, their breath warm on your skin as you slowly begin to doze off once more.

Charlie

You jerk upward, your pulse racing from your nightmare. Charlie follows suit, gasping awake as they’re startled by your sudden movements.

“Wha-?” They blink, looking at you in concern, “Cariño, I love you, but you just took a year off my life.”

“You’re still here…” You sigh, slumping back against the headboard.

They pause before reaching an arm over to pull you in and tuck you into their side. Turning their head, they press one kiss into the crown of your head. It’s followed by another, and then another, then they’re kissing your forehead and the tip of your nose.

They finally press a kiss to your lips, pulling back to smile gentle, “I’ll always be here.”

Harlow

Typically, you’re not the one being shaken awake from nightmares, but it seems the roles are reversed tonight.

You gasp, nearly choking on air as you wake, and are met with Harlow’s pale face staring back. They reach out a shaking hand, gripping your own tightly.

“You’re…still here.” You say, your chest sore with panic and harsh breathing.

“I am,” Harlow says quietly.

They’re never one for grand declarations, but they squeeze your hand three times. It’s a comfortable silence, one you could float in forever as you lean back against your pillows once more.

Harlow lays beside you, breaking their grasp on your hand in favor of resting their head in the crook of your shoulder. It’s a timid touch, something shy, but you’re used to it. You understand.

“Goodnight,” You whisper.

“Night,” They say in response, their breath ghosting across your skin.

Avery

It’s obvious Avery is quite familiar with panic attacks, and they soothe you quite effectively until the weight isn’t so heavy on your chest.

You bury yourself in their arms, curling close. They’re soft; softer than you ever thought they’d be, before you actually knew them.

“You’re still here,” Your breath catches as you try and speak.

They bury their face in your neck, hungry for any kind of touch. Pressing a kiss along your pulse point, they wrap an arm around you and pull you close. Their hand settles on the small or your back, warm and comforting.

“I’m here, and I’ll remain here.” They say, “You shouldn’t have let me stay so long. I’m…you’re very easy to need.”

“Says you,” You tease back, pressing closer.

You can hardly tell who is laying on who by the time you fall asleep again, limbs entwined in a perfect tangle.

Wraith

Their touch feels like a breeze on your skin as you wake, and you nearly choke on a sob.

“You’re…still here…” You reach out, borderline desperate.

They’re like an apparition until they slowly solidify, their incorporeality fading as you touch them.

“I am,” They say, voice sad, “I wish-“

They don’t finish. They wish a lot of things. You do, too.

[dakotawritesif]

Plans for July!

A rough little outline for the month of July over on Patreon (also the polls are officially live and end at midnight est on 7/10/23 wink wink)!

First, the jealousy stories will continue and wrap up this month. That means the next poll for themed stories will be held in August for the Archmage tier and up.

Secondly, I’m announcing the biggest change here. From now on, Wraith and Fae tiers will be able to request a commission story every other month. I plan on getting a stricter schedule so I can have a bit of rhyme and reason as to when those get done, as well.

The Spicy Side Story poll for Wraith tier and up will also be posted, as will the RO POV poll for Archmage tier and up.

Wraith and Fae tier stories are getting worked on tomorrow because I have the whole day off work, so I plan on knocking some of those out.

As for dates on updates and content;

✨Fallen Lights patron-only is TOMORROW. I have officially fixed the UI and added the extra flirt options.

I have my beta tester going over it one final time tonight to be sure, and then the update will be available tomorrow.

🕯️Disenchanted Mini-Update…isn’t really so mini anymore lol. I added in quite a few options and fleshed out the morning after the nightmare per the recommendation of some patrons, which ended up being a lot higher of a word count than I anticipated once I got into it.

This should be coming later this week after it finishes beta (again, taking a bit longer cause it’s not very mini anymore).

🌶️ Theo’s Spicy Side Story…ALSO tomorrow for Wraith tier and up. I added some tail stuff last minute, and I just need to finish up the variables to actually make the story work now lol.

🌻 Ezrah’s June story is TONIGHT exclusively for the Fae tier! It’s been edited and I’ll actually be posting that soon.

⏳ Reaper’s Bay is looking like it will be done mid to late July, but there’s no set date yet. I’ll keep you updated on that one, but I’m hopeful I’ll get some of the coding knocked out these next few weeks.

Aside from that, any nsfw commissions will be posted here (once again not comfortable just putting those on tumblr lol) with permission of the requester. Also the usual early access art.

[samble-moved]

so the thing about pmmm wishes is —

everyone says, "well, if i was a magical girl, id wish for x" or "why do the girls wish for x when they could wish for y, which would help more people?".

here's the thing. it's a multifaceted issue, but to break it down, the reasons are:

kyubey targets girls who are actively in distress (in some cases, while they are literally dying) who are not in the right state of mind to think through a wish or its consequences.

it's implied that if a girl were to wish away x bad thing, something would replace it that's just as bad.

kyubey (to my understanding) targets girls who are going through puberty...which can happen as young as 7-9 years old. girls that age aren't going to think through a massive world altering wish.

for one, think about some of the canon contracts seen in pmmm (or, in madoka's case, the times kyubey first attempts contracting her). mami is only approached after being in a car crash that killed both her parents, and the implication is that without kyubey, mami would have also died. due to the situation, mami made a wish without fully thinking it through ("i want to live"). kyoko is approached after her family is going through hard times and quite possibly starving (due to canon hints and her fixation on food and aggression when it's wasted) because of her abusive father's actions. homura is approached after watching her only real friend who ever cared about her die while homura was helpless to do anything. sayaka is approached after her childhood friend has had a breakdown, and after she sees her mentor-figure die right in front of her. kyubey targets madoka after she's in near death situations, when she's in mental or emotional distress and not thinking, and while manipulating her and trying to appeal to her morals and better nature.

and if you want to factor magia record into canon, more suspicious contract situations include kyubey approaching a girl who's about to attempt suicide, a girl whose sister is about to die, a girl being abused and neglected, a child who just accidentally killed her whole family, as well as several other characters who made wishes out of sheer desperation.

let's say you are a child and your younger sister is sick with something like cancer. you are distressed and, at your young age, probably not thinking of "big picture" ideas. and suddenly an alien approaches you, saying you can make any wish. it's not shocking that a young girl (or anyone, really) under stress due to something like that would be more likely to make a wish like "i want my sister to be healthy" and not "i wish cancer was cured/never existed". again, kyubey does not target girls who will make well thought out, well worded wishes. he targets those who will make spur of the moment ones that can be twisted or taken overly literal.

besides that, pmmm has a theme of "if x bad thing is gone, something equally bad may replace it". witches are gone in madoka's universe, but wraiths exist. if a girl wished to cure all forms of cancer, it's entirely possible another disease would suddenly pop up to "replace". remember, one of the in-universe "rules" is whatever hope you get out of something, you also get an equal measure of despair. getting rid of cancer breeds hope, another disease replacing it brings despair.

this is all not counting the age factor. kyubey canonically targets girls young enough to be in elementary school (nagisa, yuma, ui, etc). he does sometimes go after older girls, but only for a given factor of "older". he's not once (iirc?) ever shown to target an adult, who would likely think their wish through more. besides the obvious factors i mentioned (distress/hope despair balance), the age of the girls does little to help the fact that most wishes aren't some big picture thing. a little girl isn't going to be thinking of the ripple effect of her wish, she'll wish for something that affects her personally. and that's not a byproduct of stupidity, just being a child. this is especially true since children are unable to fully understand the consequences of their actions and don't have the fully developed brain and life experience of an adult.

it's all. so annoying to me because people sometimes act so weirdly smug about "that wish is so stupid, i could do better" as if they likely wouldn't wish similar things if they were the same age in the same situation! this isn't even counting the fact that the girls don't know magical girls = somewhat immortal (to a degree) or that the wish costs their soul. so you can't say "mami wishing to live is stupid, she'd live anyways after contracting" because she couldn't have possibly known such a thing. the girls are never told explicitly what happens once they make their wish at all, unless they ask extremely direct questions (and then again, kyubey can always lie wrt things like saying that nobody's ever tried during a witch back into a magical girl to kyoko, because i refuse to believe through millions of years she's the first to think of such a thing). if you're about to die in a house fire, you won't think to question the person saving you, or hesitate in accepting their aid. you'd likely accept the help immediately due to panic and survival instincts. yet people expect these children in similar life or death situations to clearly and logically think through every possible aspect of their wish, as well as any ripple effects or wider impacts of it. that's...not at all how anything works. and it's weird to have some sense of superiority because you, someone in a comfortable situation, who's not a child, who has all the time in the world to consider a wish, who knows the truth about magical girls can make a "better" wish than some middle school age girl who just went through a major trauma and who isn't thinking clearly with zero knowledge of what's to come.

[sayaberry]

finished magireco s3 and while i liveblogged it on my twitter i tried to summarize my thoughts here if you didn’t want to scroll through that (spoilers under the cut obvs)

the good:

they actively fixed the hospital tiro backstory so it not only flows better (ex: instead of alina showing up randomly when ui was turning into a witch she showed up bc she was hunting down kyubey bc he kept info from her) but it actually makes more sense now

animation was solid as per usual

speaking of animation the new transformations? great

i liked how even after remembering the whole truth touka and nemu still went ahead with their plan in order to save ui/iroha specifically, i think this was more in character for them compared to in game where they stopped the entire plan once they remembered

the mifuyu scene was really well done and thematically perfect for her character, as she is based on the bird catcher from galactic railroad, so what better way to showcase that by her saving the “birds” (magical girls) she lured into her “net” (magius) by “turning them into candy” (purifying them/giving them hope)

the stuff with mitama as well was really good too

OH and the rena/kaede stuff was great i love how rena finally found the words to tell kaede what she means to her (only took 3 seasons lol)

SPIN OFF CAMEOS I ACTUALLY YELLED SEEING TART AND KAZUMI

kuroe’s witch design is cool

i liked the speech iroha had with her doppel about hope (although i do wish anime iroha had more of game iroha’s development carried over as its less impactful, i don’t think its bad which is why im putting it here but i think it could've been better if she had it tbh)

i got my karin cameo :)

“NEO DOROTHY MOTHERFUCKER”

i was so absolutely right about godoka cameo-ing wow

the bad:

kuroe im so fucking sorry but im also not very surprised you got done dirty for what was ultimately sub-par character development for iroha

no seriously why was kuroe even THERE?? was her character only there for this moment of angst for iroha?? if so then wowww

why is momoko dead. no actually why tho. mifuyu i understand that i saw coming from like s1 but momoko??? why

why did alina’s plan change. like what was the point

i cannot believe they went ahead and killed the hospital trio, like touka and nemu i get BUT also ui?? wow

they kept holy alina (well. kinda) but no magical artist ost my biggest F

homura gets so screwed over in the end like actually tho im making another post about this (edit: i made the post here)

the ???:

touka is just like that bc she doom scrolls on twitter too much, incredible writing decision

“I AM THE RAGE OF MAGICAL GIRLS” bby ur 12 with a god complex

i find it extremely funny how now every spin off has been acknowledged before different story (excluding comedy spin offs and wraith arc for obvs reasons) what kinda monkey paw bs is this

given the final shots of the show im assuming that the anime is supposed to be the ‘bad’ end while the game timeline is the ‘true/good’ end? if this was the intention then props to shaft for having the balls to try and execute it (prob couldve been done better considering all the jp fans i saw giving out magireco app download links LMAO)

what the hell is going on with iroha at the end of the series no actually tho (EDIT: NEARLY 2 MONTHS LATER HERE IT IS)