Taken from a sea of scents,
unforgiven for past trespasses,
she hides herself,
makes herself invisible to my touch

I am not afraid,
only confused by her distance, by her coolness.
I long to feel her breathing next to mine.

Note: This writeup pertains to the game of Nethack.

A wish is a handy opportunity resulting from zapping a wand of wishing or rubbing a magic lamp. You can occasionally get a wish by quaffing a smoky potion, sitting on a throne, or (very rarely) drinking from a fountain. It isn't a true, abstract wish, because all you can do is ask for an object, but it is still quite a boon.

Unless you feel very lucky, wish for no more than 2 of the item you want -- there is a 60% chance of actually receiving two; otherwise, you just get one. Chances of getting 3, 4, or more of an item (except zorkmids) rapidly approach zero. Similar logic holds for enchantments greater than +3.

What to wish for? If you are using a wand of wishing, the first thing you wish for should be 2 blessed scrolls of charging. Otherwise, popular items to wish for include:

Needless to say, wishes are highly useful in saving yourself from imminent death. Under those circumstances, wish for a unicorn horn, a potion of full healing, a scroll of genocide, a scroll of fire, a ring of slow digestion, whatever it is you need, because all those stockpiled wishes don't do you any good if you're dead.

The WIndowing SHell. A scripting shell used with Tcl. wish allows fairly easy hello, world application programming to build GUIs, but is very weak on computation power.

wish is a useful piece of middleware between a GUI and a CLI application. More information on wish can be found in Tcl and the Tk Toolkit by John Ousterhout.

The Cure • Wish

° ° °

The Cure released what was to be their swan song, Wish, on April 21, 1992. Incidentally, that date has another historical significance; it was also frontman Robert Smith's thirty-third birthday. Following Disintegration, Robert had (for the umpteenth time) said that The Cure would disband, but obviously the release of Wish proves otherwise. While much of it is infinitely more upbeat that its predecessor, it does retain the trademark Cure melancholy, most notably on the latter half of the album. In many ways it is as pure a pop album as you could want; the pop songs are light, infectious, and uppity, but at the same time, the darker half of the album rears its manic-depressive head, and most of the darker songs are more guitar-driven and hard rocking than their lighthearted counterparts. If Distegration was Robert's submersion into bottomless depression, than Wish appears to indicate that he's started seeing a therapist, but hasn't let go of all that angst he's kept bundled up for so long just yet.

Tracklist:
01. open 6:51
· · · Right at the start, Robert lets us know that he's sick of doing this, yet the music industry, the fans and the press keep pushing him back into it. The opening line, I really don't know what I'm doing here tonight / I really think I should've gone to bed tonight, but... is quite similar to statements Robert made in interviews during the Wish era.
 
02. high* 3:37
· · · From the depressive, alcoholic tones of Open, we cut straight into High, a playful pop tune guaranteed to make the listener think of kittens and flying kites and birthday parties. This is somewhat of a recurring theme throughout the album; playtime then downtime then playtime again.
 
03. apart 6:38
· · · Apart is a fairly simple, low-key song about a failing relationship. Definitely the most detached song on the album, yet at the same time quite engrossing due to the memories that it forces to the surface (at least for me).
 
04. from the edge of the deep green sea 7:44
· · · The obligatory drugs song. Possibly the most musically concise composition on Wish, it does ramble on a bit at nearly eight minutes long. During concerts in the late 1990s, an abridged version of this song was played, which omitted all the drug references and turned it into a (wait for it...) song about a failed relationship.
 
05. wendy time 5:13
· · · I'm totally unsure of what to make of this song. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's about an annoying fan called Wendy.
 
06. doing the unstuck 4:24
· · · Another voyage into Wish playtime, Doing the Unstuck manages to make most people want to dance (like we can't hear the beat) upon hearing it, myself included. It's a very un-Robert sort of song, and I can only imagine that some amphetamines were involved in its recording.
 
07. friday i'm in love* 3:38
· · · The Cure's most commercially successful single, Friday had Electra Records executives dancing atop their desks, shouting "It's gotta be! It's gotta be!" Robert himself took a simple view of the song, describing it simply as "happiness."
 
08. trust 5:33
· · · Trust is almost an instrumental, as the first three minutes of the song consists only of the haunting piano melody and Porl Thompson's rhythm guitar, while the vocals kick in towards the end with a two-verse poem, of sorts, spoken/sung by Robert. The piano goes perfectly with the lyrics.
 
09. a letter to elise* 5:14
· · · I think of being let down when I hear this song: I thought you were the girl I'd always dreamed about / but I let the dream go / Elise, believe I never wanted this. Though it couldn't have been applicable at the time the song was written, I find it rather appropriate when the subject of online romance comes up; instant letdown.
 
10. cut 5:55
· · · The rocking-est number on the whole album. The lyrics are typically depicting a failing relationship.
 
11. to wish impossible things 4:43
· · · This track is what I take to be Robert's would-be goodbye to Simon, Porl, Perry and Boris. It's downbeat, wholly depressing and 100% Cure.
 
12. end 6:46
· · · If To Wish Impossible Things was Robert's goodbye to the band, then End is his goodbye to the fans. Please stop loving me / I am none of these things.

* indicates that a video was made for this song, and, ergo, a seperate single release

Of course, The Cure did not disband following the release of Wish, despite Robert's threats to the contrary. They followed it up with appearances on the soundtracks for The Crow and Judge Dredd in 1994 and 1995, respectively; with the full-length album Wild Mood Swings in 1996; with a new greatest hits compilation called Galore in 1997; with a contribution to the soundtrack for The X-Files movie and a Depeche Mode tribute album in 1998; and with (supposedly) the real final Cure album, Bloodflowers, in 2000, though two new single-only releases have since followed Bloodflowers, perhaps indicating that Robert was just yanking our collective chain once again. A new full-length, self-titled album appeared in mid-2004, as well.

There was a world tour with Portsmouth's own Cranes in 1992/1993 to support Wish, which went swimmingly well and produced two live albums: Paris, recorded at Le Zenith in Paris, France, in October 1992; and Show, recorded at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA in August 1993. At the recording of Show, eighteen encores were performed for the sold-out crowd, so the band would be able to pick and choose an albums-worth of songs for the CD. A video compiled from this concert was made, also entitled Show.

An EP of instrumental tracks were also recorded during the Wish sessions, called Lost Wishes, which never saw proper release (very limited edition) and is now extremely rare.

Wish was recorded over the course of 1991 at The Manor, Oxfordshire, UK. The album cover and inlay booklet was designed by Parched Art. It was released on CD, casette and vinyl, by Fiction Records/Electra Records in the USA and elsewhere, and by Fiction Records in the UK.

<--- back to Everything Quests: Albums and CDs!

Background info on Friday I'm in Love recycled from http://www.musicfanclubs.org/cure/lyrics/fridayiminlove.html

A Wish spell is THE example of how a gamemaster in a Dungeons and Dragons game can mess with the twentieth-level half-dragon half-demon psionic ninja magic-user and the entire universe supporting him. As a ninth level spell whose mere casting ages the magic-user by five years, Wish is both a boon and a bane to those who would use it.

Essentially, the person who has the Wish can make one single-sentence demand of the universe, which must immediately fulfill it. However, the universe gets to interpret the demand however it wants to- sometimes, the better phrase would be "twist the demand." Merely saying "I wish for a thousand gold coins" is likely to teleport you into the middle of a massive coin pile that's still actually in the airtight vault of the gawd Throthgar, the gawd of Exquisite Pain- thus, anyone who wants to use a wish must word it as exactly as they can, lest the castle of the wish "I wish I had a castle!" appear twenty feet over their heads, and by falling the remainder of the way to the ground turn them into a pasty stain on the underside of the masonry. As a general rule, though, wishes used for heroic purposes (healing the party in a last stand against your enemies) are less often deliberately misinterpreted (if at all), while wishes used to further a character's greed are twisted to the letter- however, the GM is the final arbiter of what happens, so tread carefully in any case.

While wish is a ninth-level spell and thus only attainable on a regular basis by the most powerful wizard-types, items that convey a wish will often find themselves in the hands of a player-character- a Ring of Three Wishes, the infamous Deck of Many Things, a Luckblade, or even a scroll bearing the spell itself might make themselves available. The most reliable way to get the most out of a wish is as a last gasp, last resort, doomsday-button weapon- that way, even if the universe decides to screw you over, you can rest content in the fact that you would have been dead anyway.

Of course, if you've always wanted a keep of your own and don't have the patience to gather your own resources, manpower, and permission from the local lord, I won't stop you...

JarickCWAL's writeup is correct for 1st and 2nd Edition AD&D. However, in Dungeons and Dragons Third Edition the spell has some actual limits. Which I find somewhat refreshing as a game master, and the spell has actually become one that I wouldn't cringe to hear one of my players cast.

  • Wish can duplicate any spell cast by an arcane spellcaster of eighth level or less. (as long as its not from a prohibited school, such as a specialist wizard would have.)
  • It can duplicate any spell (arcane or divine) of sixth level or lower. (as long as its not a prohibited school.)
  • It can duplicate any spell, even a prohibited school spell, of fifth level or lower.
  • It can undo the harmful effects of a geas/quest spell, or insanity, remove injuries or afflictions (one wish per type, so one wish removes all poisons in all your party, and another can cure them all of all hit point damage), revive the dead (the person raised loses a level of experience, or a constitution point if only first level), or undo the misfortune of a single event (allowing you to reroll a save, damage roll, etc).
  • It can create an item (permanently) of 15,000gp value or less (it doesn't seem like a lot, but it's well within the power of a ninth level spell)
  • It can transport people
  • Give a permanent +1 bonus to any stat (two applications together can give +2, three applications together can give +3, and so on.) This is an "inherent bonus", and the rule in D&D 3ed is that same-named bonuses do not stack. So, if something else were to grant an inherent bonus (such as various books that you can find), only the highest bonus takes effect

Anything that is outside of this rather impressive list would require a ruling by the GM. He can feel free to just say "no" or to have it fulfilled in a devious fashion. The description for the spell actually says that anything not on the list would be dangerous to wish for.

The spell requires a permanent expenditure of 5000xp, which is no trivial amount. It is a powerful spell for sure, but considering that it is only available to a 17th level wizard, or an 18th level sorcerer, and even then only to one with a 19 ability score (intelligence for wizards, charisma for sorcerers), it has definitely become a balanced spell.

Wish (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Wished (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Wishing.] [OE. wischen, weschen, wuschen, AS. wscan; akin to D. wenschen, G. wunschen, Icel. aeeskja, Dan. onske, Sw. onska; from AS. wsc a wish; akin to OD. & G. wunsch, OHG. wunsc, Icel. sk, Skr. vacha a wish, vach to wish; also to Skr. van to like, to wish. . See Winsome, Win, v. t., and cf. Wistful.]

1.

To have a desire or yearning; to long; to hanker.

They cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day. Acts xxvii. 29.

This is as good an argument as an antiquary could wish for. Arbuthnot.

 

© Webster 1913.


Wish (?), v. t.

1.

To desire; to long for; to hanker after; to have a mind or disposition toward.

I would not wish Any companion in the world but you. Shak.

I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper. 3. John 2.

2.

To frame or express desires concerning; to invoke in favor of, or against, any one; to attribute, or cal down, in desire; to invoke; to imprecate.

I would not wish them to a fairer death. Shak.

I wish it may not prove some ominous foretoken of misfortune to have met with such a miser as I am. Sir P. Sidney.

Let them be driven backward, and put to shame, that wish me evil. Ps. xl. 14.

3.

To recommend; to seek confidence or favor in behalf of.

[Obs.]

Shak.

I would be glad to thrive, sir, And I was wished to your worship by a gentleman. B. Jonson.

Syn. -- See Desire.

 

© Webster 1913.


Wish, n.

1.

Desire; eager desire; longing.

Behold, I am according to thy wish in God a stead. Job xxxiii. 6.

2.

Expression of desire; request; petition; hence, invocation or imprecation.

Blistered be thy tongue for such a wish. Shak.

3.

A thing desired; an object of desire.

Will he, wise, let loose at once his ire . . . To give his enemies their wish! Milton.

 

© Webster 1913.

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