DOORS?! DOORS TO ALTERNATE WORLDS?! Even if I never set FOOT through them, but only PEEK through, I've just seen the most awesome thing ever! Even if I step into Narnia and Aslan pops up and goes, "Nuh-uh. Only KIDS allowed in this convoluted pseudo-religious allegorical universe," I'd be like -- "ASLAN! I got tossed out of Narnia by ASLAN!" How awesome is THAT?! I mean, where would I even start or stop? As a good citizen, I should probably notify the authorities that, hey, there are some doors to other dimensions here. (Possibly a security concern, you know?) And their MERE EXISTENCE fundamentally alters my understanding of how reality works. I'd probably be making phone calls like crazy. Like, calling Koogrr, trying desperately to persuade him to come down here to (wherever these doors are), offering to foot the bill for the ticket or whatever because, like, this is WORLD-ALTERING STUFF (even if all we do is go bother Aslan again and get tossed out on our ears).
In case you wonder why I keep using the Narnia and Aslan example, it's not because I am hung up on pseudo-messianic lions. I confess that Wonderland has a certain appeal to it, but if I were really there, and I were experimentally choosing a world to go into, Narnia strikes me as the best choice for somewhere to visit where I wouldn't get killed outright. I imagine all my excitement of visiting new worlds would be considerably diminished if it were abruptly cut off by my SUDDEN AND VIOLENT DEATH.
But even if all the choices were hazardous, I would feel a certain OBLIGATION to pick one. I just might have to get my affairs in order, update my last will and testament, put considerable effort into preparing myself, and do so with the realization that it might very well be the last thing I ever do, so I'd better give it my best shot and make it count (and there'd be an awful lot more praying involved than usual). And of course there would be other factors: Can I tell anyone else? Gwendel's bound to have an opinion on the whole thing, to be sure! Is this a limited-time offer? Will the doors still be here? Can I visit ONLY one? Can I get BACK? Is there some sort of Narnia-esque time discrepancy between here and there I need to be aware of? Are there any other rules? And if I COULD tell the authorities, with any means of proving that I'm not a nutcase, I'd imagine the whole thing is going to be locked up like ... I dunno ... a UFO crash site.
Aaaanyway, I just mean that before I even get to the point of thinking "What would I do in {insert fantasy world here}?" I find myself tied up with the thoughts of all the implications of just being offered the CHOICE in the first place. I used to read stories about settings such as Narnia, with this business of "only kids can go to Fantasyland" and once you get too old you get rejected, etc., and thinking how unfair and cruel that was. But if I were able to visit a magical realm, then even if I got booted out, it would fundamentally alter my understanding of how the world works: If there is magic HERE, then there might be magic ELSEWHERE.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2014-05-15 02:15 pm (UTC)DOORS?! DOORS TO ALTERNATE WORLDS?! Even if I never set FOOT through them, but only PEEK through, I've just seen the most awesome thing ever! Even if I step into Narnia and Aslan pops up and goes, "Nuh-uh. Only KIDS allowed in this convoluted pseudo-religious allegorical universe," I'd be like -- "ASLAN! I got tossed out of Narnia by ASLAN!" How awesome is THAT?! I mean, where would I even start or stop? As a good citizen, I should probably notify the authorities that, hey, there are some doors to other dimensions here. (Possibly a security concern, you know?) And their MERE EXISTENCE fundamentally alters my understanding of how reality works. I'd probably be making phone calls like crazy. Like, calling Koogrr, trying desperately to persuade him to come down here to (wherever these doors are), offering to foot the bill for the ticket or whatever because, like, this is WORLD-ALTERING STUFF (even if all we do is go bother Aslan again and get tossed out on our ears).
In case you wonder why I keep using the Narnia and Aslan example, it's not because I am hung up on pseudo-messianic lions. I confess that Wonderland has a certain appeal to it, but if I were really there, and I were experimentally choosing a world to go into, Narnia strikes me as the best choice for somewhere to visit where I wouldn't get killed outright. I imagine all my excitement of visiting new worlds would be considerably diminished if it were abruptly cut off by my SUDDEN AND VIOLENT DEATH.
But even if all the choices were hazardous, I would feel a certain OBLIGATION to pick one. I just might have to get my affairs in order, update my last will and testament, put considerable effort into preparing myself, and do so with the realization that it might very well be the last thing I ever do, so I'd better give it my best shot and make it count (and there'd be an awful lot more praying involved than usual). And of course there would be other factors: Can I tell anyone else? Gwendel's bound to have an opinion on the whole thing, to be sure! Is this a limited-time offer? Will the doors still be here? Can I visit ONLY one? Can I get BACK? Is there some sort of Narnia-esque time discrepancy between here and there I need to be aware of? Are there any other rules? And if I COULD tell the authorities, with any means of proving that I'm not a nutcase, I'd imagine the whole thing is going to be locked up like ... I dunno ... a UFO crash site.
Aaaanyway, I just mean that before I even get to the point of thinking "What would I do in {insert fantasy world here}?" I find myself tied up with the thoughts of all the implications of just being offered the CHOICE in the first place. I used to read stories about settings such as Narnia, with this business of "only kids can go to Fantasyland" and once you get too old you get rejected, etc., and thinking how unfair and cruel that was. But if I were able to visit a magical realm, then even if I got booted out, it would fundamentally alter my understanding of how the world works: If there is magic HERE, then there might be magic ELSEWHERE.