Most Fantasy Worlds Are Pretty Crappy, Actually

[rowyn]

I first saw this meme on Twitter via Geoge Takei, but here's the image:



And I had to stop and think: would I actually want to LIVE in any of these places?

Let's start with places I definitely don't want to go to:

* Westeros: are you INSANE? It'd be like moving to medieval England during the War of the Roses. No. Hell no. Why is this even on here?
* Camelot: Okay, now it's medieval England just BEFORE the War of Roses, which will ruin everything forever. Still hell no.
* Wonderland: I think mixing LSD and mescaline would be safer and less terrifying. Pass.
* Neverland: The fairies only liked little kids, and I am not one. So I probably wouldn't get to fly. This setting was at best rustic and primitive for adults, assuming the pirates don't get you. Pass.
* Middle Earth: Elves get to be immortal or nearly so, which is cool if you're an elf. But the general society is still rustic and primitive and I'm still going to be a human. I don't think women even get to be wizards in this world. Also, is this before or after Sauron trashes everything just prior to his defeat? Either way ... I think I have to pass.

That leaves:

* Narnia: It's been about thirty years since I read the Narnia books. The biggest plus here was the talking animals, and IIRC magic usage was not confined to a tiny number of people. I think I need a refresher course before I can decide if I'd want to live here or not. Do I get to go to perfected version of Narnia that exists after the last book or do I have to survive the war in it first? I am not sure I like my odds.
* Hogwarts: am I going to be a Muggle? Then pass. If I can learn magic -- is this before or after the final confrontation with Voldemort? If it's before, maybe I can warn Harry et al before various disasters hit. Well, Harry probably wouldn't listen. Dumbledore might, though. Anyway, this setting is slightly suckier than the real world if you can't use magic (because you will randomly get killed by Death Eaters and whatnot), and perhaps slightly better if you can, assuming you don't get tortured by Death Eaters or those happiness-devouring jailers or killed during a brutal wizard war that decimates the population. Umm.

I have the bad feeling that I'd be happier staying home. The modern world is surprisingly awesome. I think I'd probably take the Hogwarts option, though. I'd never forgive myself if I wimped out on seeing magic at ALL, just because it was dangerous and I might be horribly tortured or possessed or compelled to kill my friends or ... yeah. I don't think those were *normal* fates in the setting. Maybe. It was hard to tell. Anyway. I'd re-read both sets of books first and make sure I don't want to go for Narnia, and try Hogwarts if not. Wish me luck. I'd need it. O_O;;;

Comments

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Wonderland might be fun to visit, but you'd have to be crazy to want to live there.

Hogwarts is someplace you could commute to. It's supposed to exist in the real world.

Narnia would be interesting just for the bit where you can live your entire life there, then return to the real world and no time passed and you didn't age. So regardless of the quality of your life there, the quantity is hard to argue with.

[rowyn]

Yeah, the advantage to Hogwarts is you could still get to the Internet, or at least go home and get internet access. n.n

I forgot that the no-time-lapsed effect applied to all the protagonists, not just in the first book. OK, I clearly need to go to Narnia.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I'm not sure it was spelled out but each time they had recurring characters all the aging seemed to happen on the Earth side. Of course, you had to be a kid to start with. :/ One of them grew to high school age and Aslan rejected her.

[whitefangedwolf.livejournal.com]

Um, all four of the Pevensies became too old to return Narnia; Peter and Susan at the end of "Prince Caspian", Edmund and Lucy at the end of "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader". The only reason Susan didn't return to Narnia in "The Last Battle" was because she had rejected Narnia as a silly child's game, so she wasn't killed in the train wreck that killed the rest of her family. :\