GPedia t1_ivnypa9 wrote
Reply to comment by troutlegs1 in [SP] "I wish for supernatural charisma." "Done! You have two wishes left." "Only two?" by SpookieSkelly
A djinn considering morality is real pot-and-kettle business what with their penchant for playing with wishers.
Good story though
SnowMantra t1_ivol87o wrote
> ‘To suffer no consequence of my actions from here on out.’
Okay, done. Nobody will ever react to anything you say or do. Ever.
DomHE553 t1_ivom4e6 wrote
Damn that would be great! Setting him up for a loooooong road to eventually come back begging, searching for the genie
Landis963 t1_ivp77s8 wrote
To be ignored, in accordance with the terms of the wish. Probably willfully, given the genie's distaste, but still.
Junk4Brains t1_ivp6g12 wrote
Well there are two mildly better twists to his wishes you could play on. That both play on that.
Asking for unlimited wealth without clarifying or asking the origin of said wealth is a foolish act. John could be given a magical bank account that is linked too all accounts across the world. Whenever he uses this account it pulls money from random sources. Pulling money from world governments, crime organizations, billionaires, you name it his account can pull money directly from it and into his own.
The caveat is that this action is not done covertly at all so these people can look at their bank statement and see withdrawals from their accounts going directly to this guy name John something or other. Within a week John becomes the most wanted man in the world. Cartels wanting to murder him, governments wanting to apprehend him, oganizations wanting to capture him to learn how to managed to hack into all these accounts for their own personal gain.
He'll need every ounce of his charisma to survive being the worlds most hunted man.
On the flip side the reason this works is because he specifically requests to suffer no consequences for his ACTIONS. But inaction can have their consequences too. Its not just the things we do that have an effect on the world around us but also the things we choose NOT to do.
If I had to end this the story would end with John getting to live a few months or years with his newfound ease of living only to suddenly wake up in a dark room, tied naked to some kind of table. Standing over him is his ex-wife asking a dark figure in the room "Are you sure he won't die no matter what I do?" the figure reassures her "He will not die, he will not loose consciousness, he will feel everything you want him to feel and possibly more I imagine..."
The voice of the figure is familiar, it is that of the genie. The very same that granted him his wishes. He askes what is going on, he pleads with his wife using his supernatural charm...but like the genie she too knows who he truly is and her eyes hold no mercy in the tears that fall down her face. He is greeted with silence, the light clank of small metal objects... surgical tools... she looks up at him and smiles. A quiet but immense rage hidden in her soft expression.
"I'm going to cut you open John. Every surgery, every procedure our child had to endure without you, every medical intervention that could have saved his life..... I'm going to show you...You're going to see... you're going to feel...."
The scalpel pressed against the middle of his chest... she preseed hard but not hard enough. The dark figure speaking out from the shadows....
"That won't cut through the bone Alice, you have to use the saw..." The woman mutter a soft "Oh..." as she nodded to tone as casual as if she just realized she forgt her keys.
John them screams to the genie. "You liar... she can't do this.... you said I wouldn't suffer any consequences! She can't do this! You can't let her... you we agreed to no consequences...."
"For your actions." the genie interrupted. "Your actions John. The things you choose to do. But there are consequences for the things you choose NOT to do. For every time you chose not to tell the true, for every time you could have told your child you loved him, for everytime you could have consoled or comforted, for even with your infinite wealth not a penny was spared for your family... You didn't tell the true, you didn't love, you didn't console, you didn't help....those have consequences too John..."
The genie's voice was cold emotionless. Everything in the room was still, too still... a stillness broken by the revving of the bonesaw as its steel toothed wheel started to spin. A sound soon drowned out by his screaming, frantic, bloody, panicked, pained. Inhuman sounds coming from his body as they both just watched. He could feel his mind fog and cloud with pain but his consciousness never waivered.
She paused as the blade got caught. Panting and whimpering he pleaded her to stop, he begged, he apologized maybe for the first time in his life he truthfully and honestly apologized. But it fell on def ears as the saw started again.
timn1717 t1_ivpwvhr wrote
No
Castlegardener t1_ivqyks4 wrote
By that point in time John would already be dead. Simply because drinking, moving etc are actions. Actions which don't lead to the desired outcomes anymore because there are no consequences to them.
E1lySym t1_ivroan0 wrote
That doesn't make sense. Isn't inaction still a form of action? His choice to ignore all those things still counts as an action that he consciously took. So there should be no consequences for turning a blind eye
TheDisapprovingBrit t1_ivscvvv wrote
I would have just had him die as a result of the third wish. No more consequences.
DarthMaw23 t1_ivov8ui wrote
I mean it could be argued that itself is a consequence, couldn't it? And if so, that wish becomes a paradox, doesn't it?
Strange_Bedfellow t1_ivoz76s wrote
That would have been the consequence of graining that power. From then on, no consequences would befall him.
DarthMaw23 t1_ivp27x6 wrote
My argument is "no consequences" (or more accurately, no reactions) itself is a consequence to every action.
Strange_Bedfellow t1_ivp4yvk wrote
But he took that action before he had the power of no consequences.
starfyredragon t1_ivqeajl wrote
But wouldn't suffering nobody responding to him be a consequence of his bad wish making?
painstream t1_ivqfnz3 wrote
Good consequences are still consequences!
Castlegardener t1_ivqy5cr wrote
It's even worse than that. Without medical intervention John will die of dehydration after a few days because the action of drinking water now doesn't lead to the consequence of rehydration, the action of moving his limbs won't lead to the consequence of moving forward in space and so on. John is royally fucked.
SnowMantra t1_ivqygsz wrote
I didn't think of it like that. Everything has consequences, no matter how small you break it down. Maybe he just ceases to exist?
Dragonhaunt t1_ivsdw6l wrote
This is one part of the premise of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, she can't leave her mark on anything in the world and people only remember her for as long as they are looking at her.
SnowMantra t1_ivtbdi4 wrote
That sounds terrible, and nice at the same time. I'm sure that life would be incredibly lonely
Demonologist013 t1_ivqff6b wrote
He then procedes to stab a government official to death on live tv
TheAero1221 t1_ivqygjp wrote
The only way not to experience consequences of one's actions is to no longer be alive, and/or be able to perceive them.
SomeRandomPyro t1_ivrfxis wrote
I took it as child support and alimony for the family he walked out on. That was a prior action, not one "from here on out".
unicornlocostacos t1_ivrre1r wrote
No kids either.
Taeyx t1_ivrzmz6 wrote
yea he neglected to mention “negative consequences”. there are good consequences too. semantics, but that’s where genies live
GeneralLeoESQ t1_ivzopx7 wrote
To be even more pedantic, Physics doesn't affect him anymore and his body separates.
Loathsome_Diggersby t1_ivrtn8u wrote
New to this, why did the genie react that way to the last wish?
GPedia t1_ivrut4n wrote
Ok that one's easy, the wisher wasn't a very nice guy.
The traditional image of a djinn wouldn't have reacted in that way, they don't care about morals, usually. They are unknowable entities (sometimes called demons or devils or lesser gods depending on the specific myth) bound to grant the letter of any request made to them by a human in possession of their prison. They don't care about human morals or codes, and mostly will just try to find any way to subvert your desire while remaining true to their binding.
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