Subject: Press that button forever!
Author:
Posted on: 2015-11-15 21:47:00 UTC
Let's face it: getting close to a main character in the middle of their plot could be fatal for background characters like us. Just getting to go to another world would be worth everything to me.
—doctorlit would never come home, honestly.
I'm sure most of you guys know Will You Press the Button?. It's a website game which gives you an option of something great and wonderful (e.g. 'You own a motorcycle that never crashes') BUT there's always a catch (e.g. 'you can never ride in anything else with wheels, or fly a plane). And now the question is asked, would you press the button to make it happen?
So, I've been playing it for a while now while this question popped out:
You will go into the world of your favorite series
BUT
You will not be able to interact with your favorite character
Now a question for you, darlings... Will You Press the Button?
Personally, I'm still torn apart because going into the Harry Potter world would be amazing, but not being able to meet and talk to Tonks? NO! Then, on the other hand she dies in Book 7 ('Spoilers') so... basically I'm hesitant with this :D What about you guys?
Considering that right now my favorite fandoms are tied pretty equally between Harry Potter and Doctor Who, I run the risk of ending up in one or the other.
Harry Potter, if I can become a witch for the duration of my stay, then yes, yes, absolutely yes. I wouldn't be able to keep myself from crying if I met Lupin in real life, so I'm sold.
Doctor Who, on the other hand... considering my favorite character is the Doctor, hands-down, I'd basically end up getting killed off as an extra to show how dangerous the Monster of the Week is. Not getting to be a companion, and never even getting to say thank you for being awesome to the Doctor? I'll pass.
Gimme now.
Upon being chucked into Middle-earth, I wouldn't be able to interact with Nienna, but that's not much lost, honestly; she wouldn't have spoken to me anyways.
Now, here's a question: what do I do? I can't go the classic Mary Sue route and recklessly join the Fellowship (I have no useful skills in a medieval context. Literally none. I can boil water: that's it), but if I managed not to die straight off I might be able to find a way to Rivendell (hey, it could happen. Maybe. If I have an immense amount of Valar-given luck on my side) and give Elrond some relevant info. Pretend to be a Seer, write down some cool-sounding stuff in private to spout off later as prophecy, and bam! I'm in business. Course, he'd have to trust me, and I hopefully wouldn't doom all of Middle-earth by getting something wrong and/or changing the plot so much that new and unforeseen dangers overcome the Company, but if all goes well I've saved countless lives and might even get to stay with the Elves for a while. Or in Gondor, maybe. Just anyplace remotely civilized.
But I'd probably just die; Middle-earth isn't exactly the safest place in the multiverse. Just watch: I'd get some crucial verb or noun wrong and end up getting myself killed. I'm horrible with foreign languages.
It'd be totally worth it, though. ^_^
-Alleb
We can... well, I was going to say we can hang out in Nargothrond, but I'm not allowed there because Finrod. Ehm... if you're going to be mortal, you can't get into Doriath... how about the Havens of the Falas? Cirdan's a pretty awesome ruler, and provided we head out to Balar ahead of the orc hordes, it should be pretty safe.
(The alternative is Gondolin, which is awesome, but, uh, has rather an abrupt cut-off in survivability.)
Or there's always early Numenor...
hS
Falas seems good to me, although I've always wanted to see Gondolin. Gosh, and Doriath too; there's so much sightseeing to do in Beleriand! I suppose it would probably be better if we were both Elves; otherwise I'd miss a lot.
Hey, could we visit pre-Sun-and-Moon Doriath? Back then, they'd let me in even if I were mortal, wouldn't they? That could be fun. Plus stars. So many stars. All the stars. Numenor would be really fun as well; from there we could catch a ship to wherever, and I love sailing.
You'll have to get one of those backpack kiddie leashes for me though, or I'll end up glomping a Feanorian or something equally disastrous.
(Oh, kinda OT: did you get that last email I sent you?)
-Alleb
Well, they wouldn't bar you for being mortal, and if it's before the First Battle the Girdle wouldn't have gone up... but you'd get some very strange looks, and probably freak a few people out. Mortals hadn't awoken yet, remember. ^_~
The trouble with Gondolin is that once you get in, there's no way out; the only times people left were a) Aredhel, b) to go fight at the Nirnaeth, and c) during the Fall of Gondolin. I'm... not too keen on any of those options, to be honest.
(Um... dunno. Send it again?)
hS
And we'd probably get an audience with Thingol and Melian in the bargain.
Yeah, Gondolin is unfortunately difficult. I wonder if we could convince an eagle to just fly us by one time...
So, assuming I have one average human lifespan on me, what's the best time period to see as much of Beleriand as possible without dying?
-Alleb
There's two ways to answer it: the tourist version, and the Morgoth-junkie version.
Tourist: You'll want to visit Beleriand during the Siege of Angband, between YSI 60 and 455. To narrow it down more than that, you need to decide what - and who - you want to see.
-If you're interested in the Eldar to the exclusion of mortals, try and arrive in ~YSI 63. That will let you sneak in a quick visit to Nevrast before Turgon leaves for Gondolin the following year. You can spend four years hearing Quenya spoken before Thingol bans it in 67; you should probably pay your visit to Doriath in this time period, too, since Thingol gets a lot more wary after that.
Then you have a bit of a wait. Most of the Elven cities are built by this time, so wander where you will, but keep an eye on the calender. You'll be pretty old by 102, when Finrod finishes Nargothrond, but you ought to make it. If you can manage to latch onto Turgon's group between then and 116 - by which time you'll have spent about 50 years in Beleriand - you can possibly live out your twilight years in Gondolin itself.
-If you're interested in mortal men, come in a bit later - during the Long Peace (260-455). I recommend timing your arrival to shortly before 355 - that way you can meet Beor before he dies. You'll have a lot to look forward to - Andreth the Wise will be born in 361, so you can meet her in her prime; Haleth the axe-wielding chieftan was born in 341, and in 375 she will claim leadership of one of the Houses of Men. Er, try not to be in their camp when that happens. Also, try not to be anywhere near Estolad and House Beor in 369, when Bereg gets tricked by Morgoth.
This timeframe won't let you visit the mortal realms of Dorthonion (founded 410) and Dor-lomin (416), unless you're very luck. The last major event you're likely to get a chance to see is Aredhel's return to Gondolin in 400 - and actually, if you can follow them, you might be able to sneak in yourself. If not, you can still witness the birth of Barahir, father of Beren.
As an alternative to the above, if you show up in the late 300s, you can still meet everyone except Beor himself. You can visit Dor-lomin and Dorthonion, witness the conversation of Finrod and Andreth, meet Beren (born 432) as a child, and maybe just about meet Hurin (441), Morwen (443), Huor (444) and Rian (450). But then you're risking being around for the Sudden Flame... not really recommended.
Unless, of course, you're a...
Morgoth Junkie: You want to arrive in 453. Make a lightning tour of Beleriand, but be absolutely sure to be in Barad Eithel (Fingon's fortress) for 455. You will have a front-row seat for the Battle of Sudden Flame, and receive eyewitness accounts of the death of Fingolfin. You will, admittedly, be trapped in Hithlum for the next 17 years, but, y'know, sacrifices.
Next up, join Fingon's army by 472. You can be present at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and then choose your future: either join up with Orodreth's army from Nargothrond, or (when he shows up) with Turgon. Either way, you get a decent chance of retreating to a hidden city - which you then get to watch be destroyed! Well, you can definitely survive to the fall of Nargothrond in 495, and perhaps move on to Doriath to see the Battle of the Thousand Caves in 503 (and even the Second Kinslaying in 506!); it'll be a little harder if you choose the Gondolin route, because you'll have to live until 510, a full 57 years after your arrival. If you do go that way, make sure to befriend Idril, so she can show you the secret way out!
Regrettably, there is no way for you to live long enough to witness the Third Kinslaying at the Havens of Sirion, or the War of Wrath. Sorry about that. ^_^
hS
Each side's only allowed fifteen people on it plus substitutes. =]
The World of Ice and Fire sucks to live in, and without the consolation of Tyrion's razor-sharp wit? Yeah, I'll pass.
The MonMusuverse, though... that's a good one. While Polt is my favorite character, she's also the one I'd probably get along with the least (I'm lazy). I'd press the button there.
Hey, I might even meet a minotaur...
Especially if it was red, with 'Do Not Press' written all over it (I'm assuming I'm not the only person here that immediately wants to press such buttons to find out what they do).
As for the downside, it doesn't seem that bad in comparison for what you get out of it. I can't think of any series that I like solely because of one character, so there'd be plenty of other shiny things to see and do.
Hmm, if I had to pick just one series to be my favourite, at the moment it'd be Star Wars, - my anticipation for the new film is slowly building, and The Old Republic is one of the few games that I keep coming back to. But that means that I wouldn't be able to hang out with Vette (the Sith warrior's first companion), and she's brilliant! Not impressed with you, little button. Still, I'm sure I could find interesting things to do to pass the time.
... wait, do I get to return home after this visit? I guess I'll only find that out after pressing the button, right? Why do I get the feeling this button is the worst kind of schmuck bait?
- Irish
I mean, my favourite character in Middle-earth is probably Finrod Felagund, but that's fine - there's loads of other stuff to do. But... there have been several convincing arguments made that Middle-earth itself is the main character of large parts of Tolkien's writing, and if so, it's definitely my favourite. In which case I'd just get chucked into the Void to hang out with Morgoth, or maybe (if the button is feeling nice) onto Vingilot to chill with Earendil. Neither of which are worth the trouble.
(Also, does the button let you come back? Because, while obviously I'm immortal and would get back to the present eventually, it'd be a long journey, and there's people I'd miss. Also there's a lot of wars back there to die in.)
hS
I'm leaning more toward pressing the button - after all, as others have said before me, actually meeting a favourite character would most likely result in a lot of unwanted awkwardness (and that's in a best case scenario), so it probably wouldn't be that much of a loss.
However, it also depends on exactly where and when you end up in the world: for example, my favourite series at the moment would probably be Doctor Who. However, if I were to press that button, and then simply ended up in modern-day Earth (with no way off it, given that it's impossible for me to interact with the Doctor, and presumably his companion(s))... well, that would probably make for a rather disappointing experience. I mean, certainly there are the various alien threats, and organisations such as UNIT or Torchwood, but I somehow doubt I'd be able to get as near to them as I'd like.
But if I were to end up on Gallifrey instead...
... what good would be to meet you favourite character that way? Weird explanations would ensue.
And, depending on the character, they might not take a liking to you. Or even kill you outright.
So... I'm gonna mash that button.
(A point: I think it's supposed to be "favourite character from that series", but what for people like me whose favourite character doesn't match their favourite series? See, my favourite character is Homura Akemi, but I prefer Detective Conan, Card Cator Sakura and other series over PMMM. That way, it would be a win-win situation as the favourite character isn't part of that world.)
Wait!
Would this turn me into a wizard? Being a Muggle in the Potterverse wouldn’t make much difference to where I’m now.
HG
It might still be interesting to see how Hogwarts looks to a Muggle (supposed I can find the place), or to find out whether I can see the Leaky Cauldron when I know that it's right there in front of me, between the big book shop and the record shop. But would this justify abandoning my family in case I can't return?
Considering that the Harry Potter books don't exist in the Potterverse, not being able to interact with my favourite character probably manifests as not even remembering her existence, or anything else Potterverse-Muggle-me couldn't have read in the non-existing books. So I might not even know what I wanted to look for.
That's a big catch.
HG, reluctantly walking away
Being a normal person in Unadministrated World #97 wouldn't be much of a change for me. But if actually turned me into a Nanohaverse Mage and sent me to Mid-Childa...
It is probably the safest option for me.
My favourite series is the SCP Foundation, and interact with one of my favourite super natural objects......I am going to be doomed for sure.
Watching at the side during a testing as a nameless level-2 researcher is already the best thing for me.
My favourite series? Worm. It counts shaddap.
Worm is very much Not A Happy Place.
I don't wanna go in there unless I can pull Skitter out and feed her candy and give her a spot on the Titans roster. =]
...would kinda be for the best, both for their sake and for yours'. I'd either make them upset by acting a fanbrat around them or end up being killed when bad things happen to them and I'm in the vicinity.
As for actually lasting long enough in the continuum to enjoy it, well, that depends on what continuum it is. Pokémon? Since you can potentially make everything you come across like you with a good battle and a couple dozen Poké Balls, probably. Jurassic Park/World? Unless you enjoy being snatched up by a pterosaur or eaten alive by a raptor/T. rex/whatever, I rather doubt it.
Ah, well. Whatever happens to me after the fact, Imma mash that button anyway like there's no tomorrow. XD
Being unable to meet my favorite character? Not a problem; as already said, you can have your own adventures and experience for yourself those things that make the world so great (unless it's one of those worlds where the greatness is character-driven, such as mystery stories). The major question is whether I'd have the wherewithal to handle the dangers of the world. (For example, Pokémon can be scary, you know? A dog that can give you a burn whose pain will never go away? Dream-eating, child-kidnapping tapirs?) As long as I can survive in that world, *presses button*.
Let's face it: getting close to a main character in the middle of their plot could be fatal for background characters like us. Just getting to go to another world would be worth everything to me.
—doctorlit would never come home, honestly.
I see almost no downside. Even if you can't interact with your favorite character, you can talk to LITERALLY EVERYONE ELSE or just go along for the ride as a normal Hogwarts student.
Visiting other worlds, like RWBYverse? Hell yes! Not interacting with our favorite character could be harsh, but it's not keeping anyone else out, right? Besides, it's also an opportunity for having your own story.