This week's Poll Position question is:
{democracy:51}
I'll run down the options after the jump.
The first question on all of these choices is "But WHEN in the fictional world?!" And the answer is, whichever one you choose, this is supposed to be fun and thought-provoking, people!
- The DC Universe: Life in the DC Universe isn't that bad. If you've got super powers, you rarely die. If you don't have super powers, you rarely die. And even if you do, you don't stay dead long. Nothing TOO horrible happens, and the good guys always win. So that's nice.
- The Marvel Universe: Not so much with the Marvel Universe. Odds are you're broke, or you have some horrific disease, or everyone's trying to kill your favorite relative, or the whole world despises your kind, or something equally unpleasant is in store for you. The Marvel Universe is a tough place to make a living, my friends.
- The Star Trek: Next Generation Universe: I bet the Federation is what the DCU turns into in the future. Everyone has enough to eat, violence in Federation space is rare, technology exists to make your everyday life wonderful, and you still get to shoot the snot out of aliens if that's what strikes your fancy. It's all a bit stuffy and conformist, though ... I'd be tempted to join the Romulans or the Klingons.
- The Battlestar Galactica Universe (current series): I don't actually watch this show, so I don't have much to say about it beyond noting that alien cybernetic babes are always super hot.
- The Harry Potter Universe: If I could be a wizard, sign me up! If I had to suffer through as a Muggle, though, that wouldn't be nearly as much fun. They tend to get wasted at a rather disheartening rate by evil magic users. And worse, they have no idea what a cool world they live in. Which, come to think of it, isn't all that different than the way most people live their lives today ...
- The Lord of the Rings Universe: Medieval life seems all sunshine and hobbit magic from a distance, but I doubt it'd be all that great up close. I'd be missing indoor plumbing, modern health care, and the steam engine a whole lot.
- The Halo Universe: I didn't play Halo, so again I don't have much to say except that humans seem to end up on the menu for aliens an awful lot. That doesn't sound like my cup of tea.
- World of Warcraft Universe: WoW, on the other hand, would be pretty neat. Everyone's as attractive as they want to be, you can't die permanently, and you get to beat the tar out of the other guy whenever you want. Plus, Night-Elf chicks.
- The Star Wars Universe: This would largely depend on when in the saga I had to live. The Clone Wars period doesn't seem to be all that fun for most people. And no matter which chapter you're joining, it's probably best to be a Jedi. Of course if you were, you'd have a huge Jedicide waiting in your future, which puts a bit of a damper on the whole thing.
- The Wheel of Time Universe: I couldn't even finish reading the whole thing, much less live in it. Although slogging through each of the nine novels I did read felt like a lifetime, so maybe I already qualify.
So looking over the list, I'd probably join the Star Trek universe if I could. The original vision was for a place where most fundamental human needs were met through fantastic technology, and people could largely become whatever they were willing to work to be.
What would you pick, and why?
