Your character is granted three wishes, but the third wish...

[Nero]

...must inflict harm on the individual they care about the most.

 

Apologies if the title ellipses seemed needlessly dramatic, but the subject line for threads was too short, and I couldn't think of a way to condense it properly. @_@

 

Anyway, it's a slow Wednesday for me, so I figured I'd try my hand at a character development prompt thing (wow such eloquence). This is a pretty generic one as far as prompts go, but it might be fun for some people to do.

 

For the sake of simplicity, harm inflicted should be roughly proportional to the other two wishes. Example: "I wish for a sandwich and a single sunny day" can be followed up with "I wish stubs their toe particularly hard." Conversely, "I wish for immortality and infinite riches" should be followed up with "I wish suffers torment for eternity," or something along those lines.  

 

Harm does not need to be purely physical or mental, so long as it is unambiguously detrimental. "I wish loses all of their worldly wealth", or "I wish loses all of their skill in " would be applicable.

 

If your character, for whatever reason, has multiple "people s/he cares for most", then they will have to choose among them.

 

For selfish, sociopathic, or narcissistic characters, the third wish must inflict harm on themselves. This also applies to characters who are isolationists or characters who otherwise have no person who could be defined as the one your character cares about most.

 

Also, no loopholes or paradoxes.

 

Anyway, the purpose of this prompt is less about the actual wishes, and more about answering a few of the following questions.

 

EDIT--Alternate Premise: Your character must make two wishes that harm themselves, but may grant the benefits of the third wish to someone else. Bring out the masochists!

 

-Would your character use the wishes to begin with? If yes, how would they justify it? If no, would your character feel regretful of not taking the wishes in the future?

 

-What would your character wish for? Is there anything they believe worth sacrificing or harming themselves or others for? Does your character believe in ideals? Does your character hold their goals above the wellbeing of those they care about? What does your character value? Why would they obtain it through a wish, rather than traditional means?

 

-Does your character believe that the ends justify the means? If yes, when? If no, do they believe that good results from contemptible methods have no value, regardless of the circumstances? Why? 

 

-Does your character believe that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few? Would they make large wishes for the fortune of all, sacrificing the few for the many, or small wishes for the sake of their loved one's health? For selfish characters, do they believe that their own wellbeing and health comes before other personal advancements such as wealth or social status?

 

-How would your character contend with the knowledge of what they are responsible for? How does your character cope with guilt or loss? How do they react to the injury or damage that their loved one, or they themselves, must endure?

 

-What harm would they inflict, and why? Would they make the harm mild but lasting, so as to minimise the effects, or intense and instant so that it is over quickly? What aspects about their lives or the lives of others do they consider expendable?

[Warren Castille]

Unacceptable terms!

 

...but I'll mull it over and get back to you when I come up with something appropriately tragic.

[QueenFrejyalen]

I do not believe that Queen would utilize the three wishes; she would not be able to justify, in her heart, that hurting another was worth the personal reward.

 

Now, if her companions are involved, they would have a few things to say.  Keyu, her best friend, would be trying to change her mind:  "C'mon, m'lady!  I can withstand it, use me and reap the benefits!  Just don't scar up my face, and I'll be fine!"

 

Her fiance Rahdias and her preceptor Waaruna would likely counter that "such powers are too unpredictable and dangerous to chance" and that "we do not know the origin of this wish-granter, and thus cannot trust it."

 

Overall, Queen would probably just tell them all:  "If I were a woman who waited on wishes, I would not have come so far as I have!"

 

Intriguing question, thanks for that!  =3

[Faye]

Faye Covington was a practical woman. Most of the time, at least. Enough so that if someone offered her a limitless wish, she'd stare at him incredulously, wonder if he were mad, and ask what the catch was. Of course, in this case, she had no reason to ask. The stipulation was made loud and clear. She peered down at the parchment laid out over the surface of her polished, mahogany desk, sky blue eyes sweeping over the neatly printed words.

 

Three wishes; two limitless, the stipulation being that the third harmed the person she cared for the most equivalent to the complexity of her wishes. She didn't bother to wonder how or why yet. Instead, the first question to spring to her mind was yes or no?

 

She had plenty of things, material and otherwise, but the Midlander was ever ambitious; there were even more things that she wanted. Her desires were so numerous she couldn't even list them all. There were selfish things: vengeance to be had, talents and wealth and power beyond what she already possessed. And there were more selfless things: to deliver Eorzea from suffering at the hands of Garleans and Primals, to watch the people she loved flourish in happiness and success.

 

But who did she care for the most? Her husband, of course--the only person to truly understand her and love her unconditionally, the man she was blessed to come home to every night. Yes, she would burn the world to save him, and not the other way around. She would not harm him; not for the grandest wish in the world. She'd sooner plunge Eorzea into misery than to do it to the man she loved. Besides, what had wishing ever done for the fair lady? It was true that good fortune had granted her many boons, but most of the things she possessed she had clawed and fought and bled for herself. That was her mantra, after all--"If you want something done right, do it yourself." And she certainly did.

 

If she relied on wishes, where would she be today? She'd be a spoiled brat of a noblewoman, depressed and alone back in the Black Shroud with no home, no family, no friends, no job, nothing to her name but a pile of ash and rubble. It was a far cry from the privileged life she held now.

 

In her mind, there was no hesitation, no deliberation; she processed all these thoughts in a matter of milliseconds, giving the parchment the same cursory look-over and brief moment of contemplation anyone would give their every-day junk mail. She crumpled the piece of parchment, tossing it haphazardly into the small wastebasket next to the foot of her desk without a second thought. She then returned her attention to the tall stack idle paperwork piled onto her desk, her rosy lips resting in a faint smile.

 

She would achieve all the things for which she yearned, and she would do it herself, as always. She didn't need anyone's help, and she certainly did not need to wish on stars.

[Roswyn]

...must inflict harm on the individual they care about the most.

 

 

 

Her wishes would be to help the person she cares about most so there would be no point to accepting the wishes since they would hurt that person in the end.

[Sophia_Grave]

Sophia would definitely use it. Sacrificing one for the needs of many is practically an automatic choice. Problem is, I have no idea what the exact wish would be. Wishes tend to be messy since there's so much involved with making them happen

[Val]

Val's.. .. well. Val's wishes would be incredibly easy. He'd want an unlimited amount of wealth and the ability to sleep with any woman he wanted--assuming he didn't already have Faye.

 

If he was currently with Faye, then he'd never take them for mostly the same reasons as listed above by her. While the two characters are vastly different in nature and mannerisms, they are both very much the same when you get down to it. She was, and has been, the only individual that didn't turn him away or seek to use him or gain any benefits from him. She didn't try to take advantage of his ignorance, constantly does everything she can to make him a better person, and failing that she'd be perfectly fine with keeping him how he is. What's more, she asks for nothing in return aside from his faithfulness--and he happily delivers.

 

Val once told someone that if Faye asked him to drown everyone in the world in the ocean, he'd find a way to do it. He'd spend the rest of his life trying to find a way to do it. He would far rather she be happy than himself, especially if the consequence is that he'd no longer have her.

[Nebbs]

My character (Nebula) being a witch and beleving in such things, gave her love (Ilwe'ran) a wish that he had to use before midnight. She then granted that wish to the best of her ability. The consequences of that wish have provide ongoing RP for months. Ask Ilwe if it was worth it

[Faye]

I'm not going to bother writing up a scenario for my other characters as it would be too brief/vague or much too similar in Faye's, but I'll give some insight into the others:

 

Much like Sophia, Ael would use the wishes. I don't really know if the person he cares for most would be himself or any member of his family; it's a toss up. Either way, though, he'd follow through, no matter how severe the consequence. (That s, assuming he actually believed wishes truly worked and with no more strings attached--though I can't imagine that would be the case). He believes the needs of the many--or the will of Garlemald, rather--outweigh the needs of the few, himself included. I don't know what exactly he wished for, but at least one wish would be for the benefit of Garlemald. If the second wish wasn't used on that, he would then surely use it to wish for something nice for himself.

 

Unmei would absolutely not use the wishes. Unlike Ael she'd probably blindly assume they really work, with or without more in the fine print, but she could never bring herself to hurt anyone, especially not the person she cares for the most--Cyrus. If it weren't for the stipulation of hurting someone else, she could contemplate using the wish to helps others, but she could never validate using any wish on herself. Even if Cyrus was willing to face whatever punishment to let her use the wishes to help herself or help othes, Unmei would still refuse.

 

Shadiyah would not use the wishes, either. Her only real motives in life are to try to make others miserable, and try to find some peace for herself. Melfice is the person she cares for the most, and her desire to please him far outweighs her need to make others unhappy, and she incidentally finds some peace in her life with him. If the wishes had no stipulation, Shade would likely use one wish to make others miserable and another to make herself happy. But then again, I think she's had enough experiences with wishes and the like to know it's never something to dabble in; the last time she tried to summon a Voidsent to do her bidding didn't really end well for her.

[Ilwe'ran]

In fact, Nebula gave three wishes to Ilwe to use before midnight. While Nebbs Nelieves in such a thing, Ilwe is a really drown to earth man and instead of thinking that she would really grant those wishes, he thought that she wanted him to talk about what was important for him. So, without being conscious they would be granted, he did two wishes (the third one came after midnight, but I can say that it has been granted as well in its own way).

First wish was to allow him to love her. They had some tough moment and they were almost separated by differents events more than once. Though, Nebbs never rejected his feelings and nobody ever managed to separate them in the end.

Second wish was to.. Have a family with her within a year. And she granted that wish, IC Nebbs just gave birth to twins (IRL Nebbs asked Ilwe about his wishes in febuary).

Third wish wasn't detrimental, he wished to see her smile every morning as he would wake up. Even though this wish was done after midnight, she still smile to him.

 

No harmful wish there, but if that had to happen, I think he wouldn't use any wish, he cares too much of the people he likes for accepting to hurt them selfishly.

[Berrod Armstrong]

"Uh. Can't wish for more wishes or nothin' like that? Well awright...I wish we always have a lotta gil on hand so that we never run out. It sounds greedy but in Ul'Dah, it's how life goes. Fer a second one...I wish the Eggheads'd stop tryin' ta invade us an' cause trouble. I bet that'd fix a lot in th'world. Third, I wish I kick Caleb's arse the next time we spar, he won th'last two an' it's gettin' annoyin'!"

 

 

Simple man, simple wants.

Third wish requirement fulfilled!

[Dogberry]

The most important person in Dogberry's life right now is Dhemgeim. His wish, however, would be for Laughing Bird, his ex-fiancee and mother of his child, to come back to life (this is assuming Alladin rules don't apply). Dogberry isn't really sure that he'd go back with her, (in fact, seeing what Dogberry has become might make Laughing Bird not want to get back with him) but he would absolutely want to raise his child with her. I'm sure for Dhemgeim, watching her boyfriend raise a child with another woman would not be pleasant. Especially since he wouldn't even hesitate in making the wish.

 

Ultimately, Dogberry would do it for his son. He is a terrible deadbeat father, but he does care about him in his own way. If Laughing Bird were around, she would at least shame him into doing the right thing.

[Mercurias]

"Counter-question. If I wish for two shit things to happen to me, will my loved one have the chance at something good? 

 

If so, then I wish for the inanimate object with the most sentimental value to me destroyed irreparably, in front of me, because of something I did. The next wish is for someone from my past to show up and just...Damage me. Damage my standing with others, damage how I feel about myself these days, and tear open all the old wounds so that I feel just like I used to all that time ago.

 

In return, I wish for her family to start to remember her the next time they see her. REALLY remember who is and that she's their's. It doesn't have to be all at once, but het her have the chance to get back a little of what Carteneau took from her."

[Clover]

Would your character use the wishes to begin with? Clover, no. K'mih would be very confused as to what to wish for, and very scared to try. So no.

 

-What would your character wish for? There's only one thing Clover wants: to see her grandpa again. Considering that the harm done must be equivalent to the wish, that means someone would have to die for her grandpa to come back to life *sweatdrops*. Which is why Clover wouldn't make a wish to begin with. She's not a murder and that's not the kind of person she wants her grandpa to see in her.

 

K'mih wishes for her family to have happy lives, and she thinks it can be done without magical wishes. What's more, the fact that someone (likely K'nahli) has to be harmed kinda defeats the purpose of her wish to start with *amused*.

 

 

Extra: My hyur Voyce would likely use the wishes and he'd likely harm himself. I don't know what he'd ask for, however, as I don't know him that well.

[K'nahli]

My hyur Voyce would likely use the wishes and he'd likely harm himself.

 

Oh God I can't stop laughing wwwwwwwwww

 

 

Edit:

Oh never mind, I just read this:

"For selfish, sociopathic, or narcissistic characters, the third wish must inflict harm on themselves."

 

 

Still..! >w<

[Nero]

Counter-question. If I wish for two shit things to happen to me, will my loved one have the chance at something good? 

 

Hmm. Let's go with "yes"; let's test how far people's masochism goes.

 

What I find interesting about the premise you followed up your counter-question with is that given the opportunity to have (for all intents and purposes) a foolproof and loophole free way to grant your loved one happiness, you don't give her the happiness as much as you grant the the opportunity to be happy. An opportunity that, however slim, has the possibility of backfiring or going wrong. Would your character not wish for something a bit more permanent, even if that meant harming himself even more?

[cuideag]

Jajara would definitely NOT go for it.

 

Delial, however, might think twice about it (the only true loved one she has left is her brother) but she is a pragmatic woman and a bit of suffering on the part of one would be well worth the betterment of others. She'd likely wish for the Resistance to finally fall so that Ala Mhigo might have peace, as well as for a lovely little cove on a beach somewhere that would remain unseen by others unless she willed it. The last wish would probably be for her brother to remain alone for the rest of his natural life.

[Warren Castille]

The DM blood in me wants to start "granting" wishes so badly.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

The DM blood in me wants to start "granting" wishes so badly.

 

Do you want to make a contract?

 

[Kage]

It would really depend on the situation, circumstance and opportunities. Kage can't always think of the best things... and his best intentions always go awry...

 

So he's an either or. If he truly thinks that it would help his loved one, he's not sure about it actually hurting them. In certain moments he is very much anything and everything for his loved ones but given time he'll think about the needs of the many over the few.

 

If that makes sense.

 

If all the harmful stuff is done to him, I'm pretty sure he'd do it. He'd die for any of his loved ones. He'd probably go to jail for any of them... not sure what else you could say that is harmful that he wouldn't gladly receive if it helped.

[Zyrusticae]

T'rahnu would not go for it. Besides the fact that most of her loved ones are already dead (from the cataclysm), she knows well enough that wishes have a tendency to go awry in unexpected ways. She's a learned woman, after all.

 

But beyond the technicalities of wishes themselves, she has no desire to remove personal goals from her life. Much of her life is defined by the pursuit of these seemingly unachievable (within a lifetime) goals, and the thought of having those goals achieved within the blink of an eye with no personal effort galls her. She'd much rather die than live a life devoid of that sort of purpose. No drive, no go.

 

"Uh. Can't wish for more wishes or nothin' like that? Well awright...I wish we always have a lotta gil on hand so that we never run out. It sounds greedy but in Ul'Dah, it's how life goes. Fer a second one...I wish the Eggheads'd stop tryin' ta invade us an' cause trouble. I bet that'd fix a lot in th'world. Third, I wish I kick Caleb's arse the next time we spar, he won th'last two an' it's gettin' annoyin'!"

 

Simple man, simple wants.

Third wish requirement fulfilled!

Thus Caleb dies in a horrifying freak accident during the sparring session and a strange series of coincidences and misunderstandings occur, marking him for life as a murderer and a fugitive from the law.

 

Hey, the third wish had to be proportional to the first two, after all.

[Berrod Armstrong]

T'rahnu would not go for it. Besides the fact that most of her loved ones are already dead (from the cataclysm), she knows well enough that wishes have a tendency to go awry in unexpected ways. She's a learned woman, after all.

 

But beyond the technicalities of wishes themselves, she has no desire to remove personal goals from her life. Much of her life is defined by the pursuit of these seemingly unachievable (within a lifetime) goals, and the thought of having those goals achieved within the blink of an eye with no personal effort galls her. She'd much rather die than live a life devoid of that sort of purpose. No drive, no go.

 

"Uh. Can't wish for more wishes or nothin' like that? Well awright...I wish we always have a lotta gil on hand so that we never run out. It sounds greedy but in Ul'Dah, it's how life goes. Fer a second one...I wish the Eggheads'd stop tryin' ta invade us an' cause trouble. I bet that'd fix a lot in th'world. Third, I wish I kick Caleb's arse the next time we spar, he won th'last two an' it's gettin' annoyin'!"

 

Simple man, simple wants.

Third wish requirement fulfilled!

Thus Caleb dies in a horrifying freak accident during the sparring session and a strange series of coincidences and misunderstandings occur, marking him for life as a murderer and a fugitive from the law.

 

Hey, the third wish had to be proportional to the first two, after all.

 

Except, when one of them loses to the other, it's the PRIDE that's harmed more than anything else. Notwithstanding whatever effect it has on their...'friendship', a Highlander's devastated pride is more than enough to satisfy the proportion. 8-)

[Roen]

Roen would not choose either options.

 

She would never wish harm on her loved ones no matter what good she can accomplish with the other two. She would never be able to make that choice.

 

But even wishing harm on herself for the good of others... would not be something she would accept. Because she does not trust or believe in wishes.

 

She is a firm believer in that you carve your path and your fate. But then when life throws a curveball at you despite your best efforts, you deal with it as it comes. This last belief has been really tested in her latest ordeals. She deals with things as best as she can, sometimes leaving things to others, having faith in what she believes them to be, and sometimes taking things on herself to make things as she believes they should be. (vague I know)

 

To wish something for someone else, it is almost as if you take their fate and their path away from them to wish them a certain end. That would not be something she would ever wish for, or believe it is the right thing to do. Even if she loved them dearly.

[FreelanceWizard]

Original premise: Nope, L'yhta wouldn't use the wishes, though not for the reason you might think. L'yhta dislikes being backed into a corner and would probably say "no" just because she can't break the rules to her advantage (without the "no loopholes" requirement, she'd make wish 1 "the rule that any wish causes harm to myself or a loved one is void" and wish 2 "infinite wishes following the rules established pursuant to wish 1." ). Even if she got past her childish refusal on the basis of not liking being told what to do, she'd probably still say no because she's selfish enough that she'd hate losing the company and happiness of the person/people she cares for most. That they might be willing to suffer to do a great good is immaterial.

 

Would she regret it later? She'd regret not being able to figure out how to abuse the opportunity, most likely, and would probably spend time researching how to get it again on terms that she prefers.

 

Alternate premise: L'yhta might just hurt herself to save the world. She does have a bit of martyr complex due to her self-image issues, despite her significant cover of overconfidence. Plus, self-sacrifice in the name of a greater good fits nicely with her belief that she has a Great Destiny to Fulfill. Her justification for it would be, "the world's more important than just one stupid girl!"

 

Wish 1 would be to lose all of her knowledge and ability with magic, but always be aware of what she'd lost. For L'yhta, that's really a fate worse than death, as she ties so much of her worth into her magical skill. Wish 2 would be to waste away but never be able to die, essentially becoming an impoverished mind stuck in a useless husk of a body for eternity. She'd figure combining those two horrific fates would be enough to power the third wish, the permanent banishment of Ascians, Zodiark, and the Void from all aspects of reality. The way she sees it, these three forces are behind everything bad that's happened to Hydaelyn, and eliminating them will achieve a lasting peace. If that wouldn't work, she'd wish for a wise, peaceful, and brilliant ruler to ascend the Garlean throne and be protected from perfidy, in the hopes that bringing a golden age to the Empire would allow for a lasting peace between Eorzea and Garlemald.

 

Does your character believe that the ends justify the means? If yes, when? If no, do they believe that good results from contemptible methods have no value, regardless of the circumstances? Why?

 

Since this is a more generic question, I'll answer it separately. Yes, L'yhta absolutely believes the ends always justify the means; she's been known to casually suggest the genocide of all beast tribes to stop the Primal threat, for instance. However, some of her ends (the protection of Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Love) are incompatible with some horrible means, so things like torture aren't something she's typically willing to accept, even if she may talk a big game about using them. Interestingly, murder in the service of a higher goal is something she's okay with. She sees killing someone as substantially less morally wrong than torturing them.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Hmm...this is an interesting concept. For the Unnamed Mercenary/Franz I think it'd really hinge on if he knew who was most important to him. I think he'd probably take the two wishes in return for the last wish, if he didn't know.

 

He thought over the details of the arrangement. He would receive two unlimited wishes, at the cost of having to wish something of equal, but opposite fortune to the person he cared most for. His memory was still fragmented at best. He knew he loved Lydia, his wife, but what if there was someone else more important to him? What if there wasn't?

 

It was a gamble he'd be willing to take. The wish-making was simple. He had a parchment in front of him, on it was three sections. He'd write in each wish, and then decide whether to have them happen in a particular order, or all at once. He mumbled to himself a phrase he'd come to say a lot. "I'm not a good man, but am I really that bad?"

 

First Wish: "I wish to regain the memories I've lost."

Second Wish: "I wish to return home, to Garlemald, safely."

Third Wish: "I wish for the equivalent opposite fortune of the other wishes be dealt to the person I care most for."

 

He left the third one vague on purpose. Not as a loophole, but as a way to protect himself from what may happen. He would decide to have all three granted simultaneously. As instructed, he put the parchment underneath his pillow that night and went to sleep, thinking about the wishes he'd written.

 

When he woke up the following morning, he was in a distinctly different, but familiar setting. It wasn't the bed he'd gone to sleep in, he wasn't in the room he'd entered the night before, a quick look out the window immediately confirmed he was not in Eorzea. And that wasn't all. He...he remembered everything. The past he'd lost, the time in Eorzea, and the wishes. Although the inside had changed with the addition of new things, it was his house. The same house in Garlemald he'd lived in, before the experiment. But...where was Lydia? Was this not their room? At that moment, there was a knock on his door. He made sure the glamour he'd previously needed to survive in Erozea was gone.

 

As the door opened, he recognized exactly who it was. His daughter. But the words that came out after were enough to make him regret everything. She looked right into his eyes. "You're...you're the man who was in all the pictures with mother, even some with me. But...", she paused. "Who are you? And why is mother gone?"

 

 

There. At that moment it became clear. 

 

His wishes were granted, in the most painful of ways. What he'd traded to remember and return, had been taken from the two people he cared most for. Lydia was gone, as were his own daughter's memories of him. "???", he whispered her name softly, breaking down. "Is it true you cannot remember your own father?" He wouldn't be able to cope with the response if it were "no".

 

 

 

 

If the Unnamed Mercenary went about using the wishes, I think it'd happen as described in the spoiler block. Would the ends justify the means? It's hard to say. While he'd certainly have gotten what he wanted, maintaining that balance means taking it away from the very reason he wanted it back.

 

If confronted with the idea that a wish could hold such power, I think he'd turn it down, because at the end of the day, he wants to reclaim those things through his own efforts. Stealing them away would defeat the purpose for him.