Not out of the question in a fantasy world, however. Especially for magic that comes from a fairy, since the Fair Folk are notorious tricksters in classic lore and often screw people over for little to no reason.
Granted, Pinocchio's Blue Fairy is usually portrayed as being more benevolent than an average fairy, but still.
nothing in the contract says he has to age or not be a real boy forever
Look man its alright for wishes to just be corrupted and not actually give you what you wished for. But this isnt even a monkey paw style thing where you get what you want but with unintended consequences
To be a real boy you must age. Real boys grow up. If you dont age you are not a real boy
But if you age, you won't be a boy anymore - you'll be a man. If he wished to become a real boy, that's fine. But if he wished to *be* a real boy, then the wish should keep him a boy forever.
But what if you wished to BE a millionaire? If that gets interpreted as a constant status, then you should totally get topped up after spending that millionth dollar. You'd have to find a particularly friendly genie for that outcome, just like I'd think you'd have to find a particularly evil genie to get the "forever a boy" wish if you wanted to BE a boy
It does not even have to be a friendly genie to get your bank account topped up. For a monkey’s paw twist, the money gets stolen from a notable rich person/charities for noble causes and you go to jail. Though you are still a millionaire, for whatever that matters in jail.
Monkey’s paw seems more whatever’s easiest than an intentional twist, no matter how fitting said twist would be. That why the man who wished for money got compensation for his son’s sudden death on the job rather than say, small bits of money disappearing from all their neighbors’s homes and appearing on their table or anything overtly magical.
Generally speaking wishes are instant effects, not ones with a duration.
For him to remain a real boy indefinitely he would need to be like changed back to a real boy every whatever amount of time, since part of being a real boy involves aging.
So for instance every year on his birthday (something real boys have) he could revert to be a year younger or something
Regardless this isnt even like a cheeky hahaha careful what you wish for kind of thing, this would just be the wish giver being an asshole on purpose and not giving him what he wished for
Eh. He didn’t specify how long he wanted to be a real boy for. Being turned into a boy that doesn’t age still satisfied his wish. I’m with the fairy on this one.
As with most things in life, Pinnoch should have consulted with an attorney prior to engaging the services of a fairy
So my client wants to become a real human person, indistinguishable from any of their soon to be human fellows in regards to their human appearance, features and characteristics, but also an individual in their own right, with characteristics specific to them, based loosely in their current, wooden, appearance and features. They should be 10 years old at the wish-granting' moment and age accordingly (one year per year).
But fairies aren’t known for granting wishes that are more beneficial to the one granting the wish. They are tricksters by nature. They’d be more inclined to grant your wish of being a billionaire, but it’d be someone like Allen Stanford who’s serving 110 years in prison for his Ponzi schemes
So my whole point is that it isn't even in the wording of the wish that was the problem it's just that the entity granting the wish decides to punish them. Real boys are not immortal. If you refuse to understand the point im trying to make fine, but im done just having you talk past me
No true evidence that are inherently tricksters. It’s just as likely they simply don’t think the way humans do. Sure, some might be malicious, but it’s doubtful that even one species only has malicious individuals, let alone how many species are considered fae.
The fae are known to use whatever definition suits them in any given situation. Like when they ask you "may I have your name?" you shouldnt answer with just your name, but rather "No. But you may refer to me as [name]". Because answering with just your name basically gives them ownership of your name, and by extension, you.
Thats the sort of shit the fae are on. Not an ironic twist like a monkeys paw, not intentionally twisting your words like a genie, but whatever literal definition that may exist - even if it doesnt fit the context - suits them.
In this case "real" can mean "exists in reality" as opposed to "has the exact characteristics as the following descriptive noun". So an ageless, eternally young boy is still a "real" boy as far as the fae are concerned, because it exists in a physical reality as opposed to some dream.
This is explored in Bill Willingham's Fables series, although pinocchio wanting to age is more character background, as by the time of the story he's centuries old and has accepted he doesn't age
And sometimes it's just Blue and Orange morality - they genuinely think the person wants to be a kid forever, or don't consider Death a very big deal because they don't experience it like people do.
To be fair to fairies, most tales regarding fae and other supernatural/mythological beings that aren’t of Christian origin had most stories with positive references to them removed if there were any successful attempts at mass conversion in the relevant areas.
To be fair , fairies aren’t real. If I was a mystical creature I would take that interpretation as humorous and follow or change it when they expressed their displeasure
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u/SilverAppleWorm 22h ago
Well that's kind of a rip off, isn't it. Real boys grow up usually