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The Wishing Game

Mister Remington Finn

10:01 / 20.11.01

This is a game inspired by reading a story with the same title, written Larry Niven in his Warlock shared universe.

In this story he makes use of the fact that Djinni´s grant wishes but make sure the net-gain is the same: You start out as worse as you began.

Wishing, therefore is (and has always been, to my opinion) a double-edged sword.

It is also a mind game to play: think up a wish and find a way to twist it. Twisting also has a kind of morality in it, but the twist is not used to get out under the wish itself. Sometimes it follows exactly the wording of the wish itself.

Keep in mind that djinni´s are the angels who Allah cast out of Heaven because they refused to bow their heads to humans, as Allah commanded. They have reasons to point out the fact that we´re mere monkeys.

I envision three threads:
1. Post a wish and let others post how its
going to get down.
2. Post a wish and its outcome, maybe even
by experience....
3. Why is wishing such a double-edge sword?
Why all the morality? Is beholding the
powers that only gods has lest a moral
sin? Why can´t we have our cake and keep
it too? Fairytales are told when we´re
young...and impresionable...? I await
your opinion.....

Have fun.....

23:15 / 21.11.01

Well, I can give you an example:

After ending with my fiancée (well, almost my fiancée

), I became so depressed that I charged "meditations" looking for the perfect girl: blonde, beautiful, tall, blue eyes, caring, intelligent etc etc...

15 days later, I found the girl, on the net (in a chat room!!!)

But, the problems: she was engaged, with a rich guy from her land, and she lives 1200km away from me. We were able to mantain our relationship for 6 months, but the distance and the fact that she was going to marry ended our date.

I did not end worse than before the "wish"; and I got exactly what I wanted. But, like you said, all the points that I didn't think about (distance, her "date status"...) weren't favorable to me.

Wish is really a trick game: you really have to think about what you want, and how you want...

Cass

08:31 / 22.11.01

Collateral effects aren´t always bad, I believe you can learn from them and make more specific wishes the next time you try.

Maybe SOME things aren´t supposed to happen in your life, so the result of a sigil isn´t always exactly what you wanted. And it makes you start looking for other ways of action, other possibilities, or other whishes - and who knows what comes next? Could be someting better than what you wanted in the beggining.

I know, this is like talking about 'destiny', but some things just don´t fix in the whole, while others seem to be... in harmony. Take intuition: it makes us know when something´s not right, and, sometimes, what is the best possible decision in a range of choices.

(Cass; if she was in a chat room, how did you know she wasn´t lying?)

Mister Remington Finn

16:09 / 22.11.01

I see your point, Pacha. Indeed, somethings don´´t HAVE to happen, and much is leaned by achieving things on your own power.But in the wishing game, the collateral efects aren´t that collateral. It may appear so, but they are alwys included by the Djinni. He knows exactly what he´s doing.

But thats just in The Wishing Game.

New thread Idea.....are there other Wish `systems´...like fairy godmothers....?

Have fun pondering
(are you pondering what I´m pondering, Pinky? Yes, Brain, but where do we get the lederhosen.....?)

Mordant Carnival

16:29 / 22.11.01

Well, there was that time of recent memory that I sigilised for a job that would starting the following Monday and ended up picking up litter in Hyde Park. Feel the karma.

Mister Remington Finn

16:44 / 22.11.01

Those whom the gods destroy first they make proud...

Mordant Carnival

17:28 / 22.11.01

quote:Originally posted by Mister Remington Finn:
Those whom the gods destroy first they make proud...

...and then they give them a litter-picking job.

Mister Remington Finn

17:31 / 22.11.01

...you plucked the pebble right out of my hand, Mordant

00:11 / 25.11.01

I wish for two more wishes.

Mister Remington Finn

14:19 / 25.11.01

Ixnay on the more wishes

15:44 / 25.11.01

Huh?

18:38 / 26.11.01

Lionheart: It's an Aladdin (Disney movie) quote.

One of my favorite stories of this kind was part of Ursula K. LeGuin's "The Lathe of Heaven."
the short novel was about this guy who realizes he can dream new realities into being, and the psychologist/sleep researcher who tries using the talent for his own ends.

At one point, the dreamer & psychologist decide to eliminate racism. He goes to sleep, and wakes up in a world where everyone is basically alike - no great beauties, no exotic or unusual faces, just uniform gray faces, with barely enough distinguishing features to tell individuals apart. His gorgeous Latina girlfriend no longer exists.

And when he tries to get world peace together, he conjures up this terrifying race of alien invaders.

Mister Remington Finn

15:51 / 27.11.01

First of all, two points for Grant for naming that quote....there is a thread by the ways with that topic...try your luck there....
Nice story....nice example......Reminds me of this X-files episode where they find this djinni.....Mulder also whishes for worldpeace and ends up with a world without humans...everyone gone except him

[ 27-11-2001: Message edited by: Mister Remington Finn ]