Been playing World of Final Fantasy where there are two main characters, so one of them constantly setting up jokes by being stupid gets repetitive after a while.
Cliches you can't stand
- Thread starter Mithras
- Start date
Been playing World of Final Fantasy where there are two main characters, so one of them constantly setting up jokes by being stupid gets repetitive after a while.
Yeah, to me a "hamburger" is the patty of ground beef itself. You can have it with bread or without bread, you can have your lettuce as a side dish or on top of it, whatever - you're still eating a hamburger.
I'm from Indonesia and that still feels wrong.
IIRC in the first Dark Tower novel Roland enters a diner and orders hamburgers, meaning the patties.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
- Location
- New Delhi, India
Why should the Djinn be wish granters at all, really?
I mean, that sounds kind of boring.
Because otherwise they wouldn't be Djinn?
'Creature capable of granting wishes' is kind of their definition as mythical beings. Take it away and they've lost the one thing that sets them apart.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
- Location
- Somewhere
Try the Al Qadim setting for D&D 2e. Genies of various types (Djinn are just one race/tribe) are much more than just wish granters, and they only fuck with the wishes if forced to grant them, or if they think you deserve it/would learn a lesson (except the Efreet, they are just assholes). The Genies are their own nations, complete with an Ambassador at the Caliph's court. Child genies (gen) are the familiars of the local mage kit, the Sha'ir and are the source of their magic. And you really don't want to deal with the consequences of mistreating your gen. (The genies essentially farm out the raising of the children this way, and pay by making the babysitters mages)
Hykal94
Orange Estus Kitteh
- Location
- Firelink Shrine
Right okay, djinni must be analyses from a mythological perspective and a literary perspective.
In the mythological origin, djinni are spirits from pagan Arabia that made its way into Islam (one of the major deviations from Judeo-Christianity) and are creatures made of "smokeless fire". They are presumably made around the same time angels are and before humans existed (Adam). In Islamic belief, God made angels, djinni and man to worship Him.
Djinni are said to have far different views of morality from humanity's, and a common saying of them is that "the worst of man is better than the best of djinn". Which goes to show their morality operates on a far different plane from ours. Djinni, like humans, are able to choose their own faiths because they have free will, which technically means djinni can be of different religions (just like humans). They are also said to be able to move at great distances. Satan in Islam wasn't an angel, but in fact a djinn. Djinn may also translate to demons but the Quran makes reference that djinni and djinni who backed Satan are two differemt groups.
Basically djinni are Daedra from Elder Scrolls.
The idea that of djinni granting wishes basically came from Aladdin, who himself was a character from a story in 1001 Nights, a piece of literature and a famous one at that. And while interesting in itself should not mean that all djinni grant wishes.
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I don't know if they're all capable of granting wishes, but they're certainly not all willing to do so in the 1001 Nights. IIRC there was the djinn that got trapped in a bottle and promised to reward whomever released it with wishes, but then when after a hundred years nobody turned up decided it'd just kill whoever let it out, instead.
Djinn would often grant favors too, but this was just an offer, not a bound thing, and not rarely it was a 'grant enough rope to let them hang themselves,' type favor.
What the protagonist did in response to the offer normally determines whether they go home happy or as another cautionary tale.
Plus Djinn didn't have 'wish powers,' they were just strong and could use their innate abilities to do a lot.
What the protagonist did in response to the offer normally determines whether they go home happy or as another cautionary tale.
Plus Djinn didn't have 'wish powers,' they were just strong and could use their innate abilities to do a lot.
- Location
- Somewhere
That's how it works in Al Qadim/Zakhara as well. They "grant wishes" by doing whatever is necessary. The only ones with genuine reality warping powers are the high ranking noble ones like the Grand Sultan of the Efreeti, the Padishah of the Maridan, and the Caliph of the Djinni.
A lot of the "jackass genie" reputation comes from the fact that they take the most direct method possible for fulfilling the request. "I want to be rich" *steals all the money of the nearest rich man*
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- Location
- secret base
- Pronouns
- She/Her
The cliche I can't stand is when someone subverts a trope while bringing attention towards how they're subverting a trope. I don't have a problem when this serves some kind of a higher narrative purpose, but when it's done for the sake of doing it, that makes the whole thing useless.
Like, "I'm not going to slowly descend this monster-filled tower. I'll use this rope to go down the window and avoid all monsters. Am I smart or am I smart?"
Like, "I'm not going to slowly descend this monster-filled tower. I'll use this rope to go down the window and avoid all monsters. Am I smart or am I smart?"
- Location
- Somewhere
Except when it turns out that the person is wrong-genre-savvy and it just makes it worse on them. Then it's funny.
galahad
Seeker of Truths
- Location
- Searching for a better world
Peri - Wikipedia
Also the Aladdin kind of Genie isn't the only type in local folklore. In the area from Iran to India the other most recognized form of the Jinn is the Peri. Which are kind of like fair folk/fairies of European mythology, often portrayed as an angelically beautiful female, and usually (but not always) less likely to be malevolent than Jinn. Like the Jinn the Peri derive from pre-Islamic Persian myth, that after Islamization of Iran and surrounding lands was integrated into the local Islamic inspired folklore.
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- Location
- Malaysia
Peri, or pari-pari as it is called here in Malaysia is non-existent in the local folklore. Most of the supernatural beings that are mentioned in most local myths are djinns, bunian (spirits populating thick jungles) and of course, syaitan. Most of the supposed ghosts are lumped inside the djinn and syaitan territory, with distinction given to Islamic djinn and kaffir ones. Bunian is just another name for djinns with their own settlement. At least, I think they are.
I have only ever heard of pari-pari/fairies being mentioned in western medias.
I have only ever heard of pari-pari/fairies being mentioned in western medias.
I feel there is so much unexplored fantasy to be had using Djinni folklore. They explicitly have their own separate culture largely invisible to us with some Muslim and some not.
I only know of a few Genie-centric fantasy made recently, and they tend to be either wish-granting type or focusing heavily on them being bound to a lamp/servants of someone, rather than using the possibilities their own culture has.
I only know of a few Genie-centric fantasy made recently, and they tend to be either wish-granting type or focusing heavily on them being bound to a lamp/servants of someone, rather than using the possibilities their own culture has.
- Location
- Somewhere
Again, Al Qadim. There are 5 main tribes, based on the 4 elements with the 5th being a sort of half mortal weaker amalgamation of the 5. Each has it's own culture, air(Djinni) and fire(Efreeti) hate each other, Earth(Dao) were all enslaved by the setting's only pure evil race. Water (Maridan) are the most powerful and most arrogant. The hybrids (Jann) are the only ones living primarily in the Material plane, and mimic the lifestyle of desert tribesmen.
There are Enlightened and Unenlightened (this is a polytheistic setting, so no Islam)
- Location
- Somewhere
And now I want to play in an Al Qadim campaign. But I'm the only 2e DM in Tampa as far as I know.
DJINN ARE MOTHERFUCKING DAEDRA AND THE FACT MUSLIM AND NON-MUSLIM WRITERS DO NOT USE THIS MAKES ME SAD
Step one- Get a ton of money and a publishing house.
Step two- Give writing prompts to a variety of culturally Muslim, Arabic, Persian, etc. writers of the concept.
Step three- publish short-story and novel collections of the above.
Other programs will be 'get Native North Americans doing stories specific to their tribe's mythology and culture,' and getting cultural experts to try and come up with ideas on what Inca and Nazca mythology *might've* been like *without* just going 'Aztec'.
- Location
- The Old Dominion
Hmm plus a program in using European folk creatures in a matter closer to their folktale origins like lets say elves being malevolent, the fae operating on orange and blue morality, hobgoblins not being evil but helpful, unicorns being vicious creatures that murder anything that is not a virgin maiden, the wild hunt plus invulnerable in wolf form werewolves that only come out on the night of the new moon not the full moon and making use of figures of Slavic folklore...
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The Victorian
Elven Supremacist
- Location
- Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Just be sure to avoid the mistake made by the creators of Star Trek: Voyager and make sure your indigenous consultant isn't a total fraud.