#the wings of magius

[neptunemagia]

Magia Record anime endcards pt 1

[crownsandbishops]

Bishop Shamura, what did your disciples have to do to earn their rank? Are there more ways than one?

( Funfact, I made Shamuras disciples' outfits vaguely based on a moth because I am woefully obsessed with madoka and I unintentionally based them on the wings of the magius robes, turns out a group of Moths is called an Eclipse, which is very fitting for Shamura and the Old Faith.)

[sayakube]

Since we did the sayaka and homura magius polls, we might aswell round it out with

[necroye]

DESIGN COMMISSION 🔥 PUELLA MAGI

A commission I'm currently working on!!

Akira is the punk rebel girl. Every night sneaking out from her protective parents to perform her solo!

Bianca and Pietro (WIP):

Pietro born from Bianca wish to "always have someone by her side." But now Pietro has found his own path... Would that desire to follow his dreams separate they two? 👀

[abarero]

𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕨 𝕞𝕖 𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕣, 𝕒𝕤 𝕚𝕗 𝕨𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕨𝕠 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕟𝕖𝕥𝕤,

𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕗 𝕨𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖, 𝕨𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕣𝕖𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟.

For @magitober Day 9: Crossover

[automatic-purification-system]

Magitober Day XIV - Wings of the Magius

"Everyone will be saved. It's our right."

[deltaruiner]

AGHGFCCV LISTEN.

I have a theory-----

So it always bothered ne how despite there being so many witches in Mitakihara, there only seem to be Mami (and kinda Homura) as magical girls in the city at the start of the show, like surely these witches come from an equivalent amount of magical girls right???

Welll what if- magical girls and witches cone in some sort of "waves" of despair- basically, kind of like highs and lows in stuff like market economics

Heres how i think it might work- Kyubey reveals himself to a girl, and there are 2 options-

1- She is a lonely person and has therefore a higher likelyhood of witching out or dying without a support network, or-

2- She has, to some kind of degree, close friends she can talk to about stuff like being a magical girl.

If option 2 happens, then even if the girl herself is the only one out of her friend group (or out of whoever is eligible in it anyway) who becomes a magical girl, then eventually when she inevitably enters into a dangerous situation, Kyubey will manipulate any eligible friends she has into making a wish for her (which constantly happens in the show)

Then, if a wish wasn't made, a new witch or at least dead magical girl wouldve been created without any friends joining as magical girls

The more likely situation i suspect though, is that a wish DOES get made, and then, when one of the friends gets into a dangerous situation again and none is there to make a wish to save them (which will inevitably happen because being meguca is suffering)-

One of them will die or witch out, starting a chain reaction because well, your friend just died in front of you, probably brutally, or instead went the non gorey (if nothing else) way of becoming a witch- both highlighting the futility of your cause AND making you use energy to defeat a new witch in an already bad for you situation.

Both cases are highly likely to make the entire friend group witch out this way, because of the collective downward spiral.

And again, lonely girls are known to be preyed on because they do not last long.

In short i suspect the show takes place right after these kind of "chain witchification" happened to many magical girls in Mitakihara, which Mami was not affected by because she is a lone veteran (despite her efforts)

Basically, I think Gertrude, H.N. Elly, Elsa Maria, and maybe one of the other less significant witches (not Charlotte tho we know what happened There...) were part of a magical girl squad that fell to despair

Heck, this chain reaction is even shown to happen in alternate tinelines the Quintet was together, Sayaka witches out, Mami breaks down bc of it and kills Kyouko and then dies (to Madoka), and then Madoka becomes a witch, and so too would have Homura if she could not time travel most likely, resulting in net 0 magical girls and only witches for a short amount of time.

Mitakihara could also just actually be really small and all the witches immigrate from Kazumino or something. idk. that would be boring though

[thornswoggled]

something that kinda sux is that one of my hobbies is making earrings out of wood and acrylic n stuff, ive made a lot of earrings pertaining to different interests, but i have no idea how i would apply that to tamb. like i dont think theres a symbol or logo that could translate into an earring that wouldnt make someone say "where is that from"

[opalwatch]

YES THIS IS THE CONTENT I LIVE FOR

Not enough Shizuku art in the world

[muffinrecord]

Also I'm a little harsh on Magia Record's storyline being a little... soft? On the hostilities between characters. But I also understand why things are resolved the way they are.

Magia Record is ultimately a story about characters coming together and saving each other. It's baked into the gameplay-- the connect was a big feature that even made its way into the anime.

You can tell the vibe of the game just by comparing it to the anime in fact. In the anime, a ton of characters die. Iroha is unable to save Kuroe, Mifuyu and Momoko have to die as penance in exchange for saving the ones they mislead, Homura fails to save Madoka (and possibly other PMMM original characters) and rewinds time, Ui dies, Touka dies, Nemu dies. Alina dies. Alina's interactions with Karin amount to mostly fan teasing. We see magical girls in the background who are working together against Walpy, but Kanagi is barely present, which means she doesn't have her moments of grouping up with Yachiyo (and all that represents for the east versus west conflicts).

In the anime, the girls fail.

In the game, they succeed. Characters like Mifuyu, who lead others astray, try to kill themselves for redemption but are prevented from doing so because her friends love her and want her to stay with them. Kanagi gets to work with Yachiyo, showing that they have bonds and similarities beyond their differences. Momoko's group never fractures and joins the Wings of Magius, so their friendship continues to keep them propped up and saved. Kuroe is introduced late in the game but she obviously survives and learns to live on. Homura gets to save Madoka and stay her Glasses self, continuing to deepen her friendships with the rest of the gang. Ui, Touka, and Nemu get to be friends again. Touka and Nemu are put on trial but still get to work to try and save humanity. Alina fails to kill people and has Karin more prominently present to remind you of her softer sides, Nemu fails to get herself killed, and blah blah blah, you get my point. This isn't even getting into arc 2, where characters start off very hostile to everyone but smooth at towards the end.

I've got my own personal dislikes of how conflict ends in Magia Record sometimes-- I feel like it takes the easy way out and ignores more interesting routes. I think ending a story so that everyone gets along can be boring and lazy sometimes.

At the same time, I do respect the writing direction for it. I think there's value in saying that everyone (or damn near everyone) can be saved, that people ultimately want to help each other. People want to connect with other people. Friendship can save all. Your friend might be going down a dark path but you can save them through the power of subtextual yuri companionship, compassion, and understanding.

Like, it's a fantasy because you shouldn't be burning yourself to help others, but also fantasy isn't always bad. Sometimes it's nice to have stories where things work out for the better.

I do think though this is why the darker stories in the game really stand out as fan-favorites. Glasses Homura failing to save Kuro is such a gut punch because it feels like that should be impossible in the world of Magia Record, where you can march into a cult and make the leaders into good guys again. Mikoto's pain and suffering stands out because Hanna is never coming back and Mikoto isn't going to get better again. Ryo and Ikumi stay dead. Jun stays dead. Sakuya stays dead. They don't come back.

I'd wager that one reason the story "Girls in the Hood" and its follow up "Dependence Blue" are so popular (besides good writing) is because the fantasy fails and has painfully realistic outcomes in it. Jun isn't able to prevent Mitsune from contracting, despite trying her best to show that you don't need magic to be strong. The two struggle with communicating with each other, despite how much they care for one another. And Jun dies without their feelings being resolved. In a story where so many characters get happy endings (or learn to accept their circumstances), stories like this stick out and have a painful resonance.

I'm meandering again, but yeah. I wish Magia Record was more brave with its writing and that it wouldn't chicken out on pursing conflict at the expense of making characters unlikeable, but I also feel like that wasn't what it wanted to do either. We can say that it's because they wanted to keep their characters as loveable as possible given that it's a gacha and they need to market it to you, but it's also just a storytelling direction that they preferred at the end of the day. I don't have a link but I remember hearing that the writers wanted to keep the game light, that they didn't want people to log in and feel miserable playing a phone game (I could be very badly remembering this).

And you know what, sometimes that kind of cozy friendship-defies-all was very comforting. I dunno. Yeah.

[atamascolily]

Last year, I wrote an essay discussing how the Law of Cycles could be considered an Uwasa (Rumor) by Magia Record lore logic, but it wasn't until my rewatch of the MR anime that I realized the same could also be said of Walpurgisnacht. We literally have a Rumor introducing her into the narrative at the end of S2x05, "I Won't Forgive Anyone"!

"Did you see it? Did you see her? The greatest, most terrible, the most powerful Witch of them all? If summoned by the power of the Uwasa, she would turn the land to ash and the skies to empty void, and civilization would cease to exist. That's what everyone in the Wings of Magius says! All hope will die on this day, and on this day a new hope will be born. Despair itself was created for this witch. For magical girls to change their fate!"

This "Rumor of Walpurgisnacht" not only succinctly introduces Walpurgisnacht to the narrative, it also provides an additional reason why Walpurgisnacht is coming to Kamihama in this iteration beyond the witch-luring macguffin the Wings of Magius are using to draw them in. In this sense, this Rumor is an MR-only addition that doesn't exist in the context of the original series.

For those not familiar with Magia Record, Rumors/Uwasa are witch-like entities created by Nemu Hiiragi's unique magic which obey certain rules in order to function. In that sense, Walpurgisnacht is definitely not an Uwasa sensu stricto, as her existence predates Nemu's.

However, just like the Law of Cycles--a promised savior which magical girls know about via rumors--Walpurgisnacht is also known through rumors well before she arrives in the narrative. In the original anime, Mami already knows this witch coming in the first timeline, and Touka and Nemu already know about her in this particular MR timeline as well. Stories about a massively destructive witch have been passed down from magical girl to magical girl over time... just like knowledge of the Uwasa are "transmitted" in Magia Record and just like the Law of Cycles at the end of the original anime.

In addition to setting up yet another parallel between Walpurgisnacht and the Law of Cycles, this would also explain why Walpurgisnacht does not appear to drop a grief seed when defeated by Madoka in earlier timelines (which leads directly to Homura being forced to kill her in a particularly traumatic iteration). (There is a grief seed in the PSP game, which is pre-Rebellion/Magia Record, but we'll see if that particular detail ends up being retconned out in Walpurgis no Kaiten.) Walpurgisnacht as an Uwasa-like being would explain why she acts and appears differently from other witches, despite ostensibly being a witch herself.

One other interesting thing about Uwasa is that they have the ability to "possess" magical girls--as seen with Tsuruno and Mami in Magia Record, and arguably Madoka in Rebellion. It is possible to forcibly separate the two after fusing, but only if the person attempting it truly understands the heart of the one who is possessed. It's easy to see how this could potentially be a key plot point in Walpurgis no Kaiten, with a tidy bit of symmetry--just as Homura wrested Madoka from the Law of Cycles, perhaps Madoka will return the favor in the future.

Rebellion also has other instances of proto-MR mechanics, such as Mami's use of Connect magic in her joint "Tiro Duet" attack with Madoka. It's not impossible there will be other carryovers from MR in Walpurgis no Kaiten, especially since Inu Curry was heavily involved in all three productions and has been extremely consistent with their symbolism thus far. This is just a tentative theory at the moment, but file this one under the "I am watching closely" tab.

[silvermoon424]

What are your thoughts on each major faction from Magia Record?

I love all the factions, they each represent some really cool ideas!

Kamihama Magia Union:

Love them!! I really do like the idea of an entire city full of magical girls banding together to share resources and support each other. Magical girl mutual aid, we love to see it.

Wings of the Magius:

THEY GOT DONE SO DIRTY!!! I hate how the Wings of Magius are often vilified by the story because like.... they're not wrong. Madokami doesn't exist in their universe, so all magical girls are screwed the moment they make their contracts. The Magius are the only ones trying to do something to end the Incubator's exploitation, and the Doppel system is even better than Madokami's solution.

I distinctly remember Iroha and the gang talking to one of the Black Feathers and the Feather was like "I saw my sister turn into a Witch. I don't want to end up like her and I don't want her death to be in vain" and Iroha is just like "I understand but the Magius are still wrong :("

Like for the record, I don't condone destroying an entire city to implement the Doppel system but it's really hard not to sympathize with these girls. The Magius are their one and only hope. I will say that I do appreciate what the story did with them later, with them joining the Kamihama Magia Union in order to find a peaceful way to impliment the Doppel system.

Promised Blood:

I'm glad Promised Blood was introduced because they cause Arc 1 to have stakes and consequences. The Kamihama magical girls have been (unknowingly) benefiting from the suffering of neighboring magical girls. If you didn't know, Kamihama has a surplus of Witches because Witches from surrounding areas are being drawn to the city. This in turn leaves a drought of Witches and Grief Seeds in neighboring towns. The drought got so bad in Futatsugi City that it led to a civil war and multiple magical girl deaths.

So yeah, very cool concept and I love how they introduce a lot of conflict and nuance in Arc 2.

Tokime Tribe:

I absolutely love the concept behind them and all their lore. The idea of a hidden village that produces magical girls whose wishes can be bought by the rich and powerful is so cool. I love how the entire clan is aware of magical girls, to the point where some families choose to move because they're worried about their daughters contracting.

Folklore of Zero:

Their background and motivations are so interesting. Their nihilism and resignation to their fates is very intriguing, especially compared to the optimism and perseverance displayed by the KMU. I absolutely love all the lore they introduce about the role of magical girls and the intentions the universe itself has for them. I also love how each member wants to publicize the truth about magical girls, a plan I wholeheartedly agree with.

Puella Care:

They're so cool! In Arc 1 Mitama introduced the really interesting concept of Coordinators (or Adjusters, depending on your translation) and I love how that idea was expanded on in Arc 2. I also appreciate how their neutrality is constantly tested and questioned.

Neo-Magius:

Probably my least favorite faction, although I don't dislike them by any means. The concept of magical girl supremacy is a very interesting one. I also like how their opinions and goals are just plain wrong, compared to how nuanced the rest of the factions are.

[sayakube]

I had this idea floating in my mind for awhile,

suspending disbelief for a moment for a hypothetical

[flipperdipper10]

I find Shigure Miyabi to be incredibly fascinating

girl made her wish to stop her mother from falling into pyramid schemes, only to go around and immediately join a pyramid scheme herself in the wings of the magius, get repeatedly exploited by the Magius (just like her mom did), possibly even get brainwashed since it's implied that Shigure's main loyalty is with the Magius themselves and feathers whose loyalty was to the magius got hit with the rumor of the receiver pendant, frequently lose to the main cast (even in the anime since we see yachiyo choking her for information on magius's base)

even after founding neo magius she still gets attacked, demolished, used by promised blood, responsible for assisting in the kidnapping of a child, failed in their plan to get the magius back on their side which lead to the group initially falling apart, and even then she still gets used by himena for various plots like getting a witch from alina and trying to convince tokime clan (and also being forced to continuously speak in public about magius until himena got back from hanging out with sasha when they tried to brainwash tokime- there's a lot of brainwashing in this series)

Shigure's main character trait is that she sucks and her only solace in this is that due to magical girl supremacy and her friend who she wallows in misery with. We also know the supremacy is really just a cover to wanting to be accepted by people, so like. girl's probably dealing a lot just from her typical loner nature (she probably has some kind of depression and or anxiety) and that's not even including the fact she has to fight monsters in her spare time

you don't need a cult, you need a coordinator and you need therapy.

[honouredsnakeprincess]

Please consider joining the wings of the magius!

[abarero]

Holy Mami

{You needn’t worry. Past the liberation we believe in lies a bright future for all Magical Girls. So don’t be afraid. Don’t give in to fear. Relax, and entrust yourself to me. I will take everyone’s hands and lead the feathers along the path to salvation.}

For @magitober Day 14: Wings of the Magius