One of my favorite things to do is imagine myself living my best life as a citizen of some fictional world.
What would life be like if I had super powers? Or magic? Or could water-bend?
But with my luck I'd just be a regular-degular-shmegular person surrounded by supers...
Reddit user aggravated_rub_3575 asked:
"If you could choose to live in one fictional universe/world, which one would you choose and why?"
and obviously I'm not the only one to spend time daydreaming about this sort of thing. I'm also not the only one who's pretty sure they're NOT getting whatever fictional world bonuses exist.
Even we power-pessimists have some pretty dope options, though. Take a look!
The Shire
the lord of the rings party GIFGiphy"Middle Earth, so I could be in the Shire (except for during the Scourge of course). Seems so unbelievably peaceful to be a hobbit"
- novascotia3898
"Being a hobbit would be great. You live longer, only have to deal with superficial stressors, wizards roll into town like the circus"
- TheExtraMayo
"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."
- Babstana
"I'd love to party with hobbits in the best years."
- DuncanDickson
"The Shire."
"You farm a little, eat seven times a day, drink ale, and smoke the Hobbits Leaf."
"Maybe have a run in with a wizard, but otherwise, life is peaceful and calm. Your house is built into a hill that's covered in soft, green grass."
- Qu33nM4ry
Statistically A Peasant
fox news GIFGiphy"Depends if I can choose my role in that world."
"The vast majority of options mean that statistically, I'd be a peasant in terrible conditions worse than my actual life lol."
- dizzlefoshizzle02
"Exactly, I'm loving the super power worlds but would suck if I'm the civilian person"
- NuttyDuckyYT
"Everyone always assumes they get to live like the hero of he story they are entering, but in reality they could get to live as a peasant."
- Hutch25
Only One Answer
Picard Role Model GIF by Star TrekGiphy"There is only one answer: the Federation in Star Trek is as utopian as it gets (I ignore JJ's Mirror Universes wherever I can)."
"There are little real threats for the federation itself. If you live in a nice place, probably a metropolitan area on Earth or someplace else nice, it is probably as good as it can ever get without becoming a god or something in some other Universe."
"Even if you go to a rural place you have locally so much advanced tech (even in your cottage!) that you're probably far better taken care of than anything we might even imagine today."
"Free time for hobbies en masse, Holodecks, nature, lots of cool people, free high-tier education of all sorts, replicators, spaceflight if you want to go somewhere, absolutely stunning medical care, teleporters connecting major places even cross-continent on a planet, nearly no serious crime, no major wars that threaten the core of it..."
"Sure, it is also not 100% perfect, but probably as perfect as it can get."
"And the important part: it is that for LITERALLY EVERYONE, not just 'Live at Universe X and if you are one of the few Chosen Ones it is awesome.' "
- Deals_With_Dragons
A Peaceful Valley
stardew valley steam GIFGiphy"Stardew Valley. You get a house and a farm and apparently no bills to pay, which is pretty nice."
"You can work as much or as little as you want. You can fish, farm, mine, or just wander around talking to people. You can even just forage or raid people's garbage cans and sell the items for cash."
"There are monsters and such, but you never die. At the worst, you get knocked out and wake up at home minus fifty coins because I guess they have socialized healthcare or something."
"There are even festivals you can go to. You can even get a pet for free."
- eddyathome
The Last Airbender
Animated GIFGiphy"Avatar: the Last Airbender. I think infrastructure would be a lot better, and being a bender would be cool in a boring dystopia."
- retinasearedliketuna
"Considering even non-benders can train to be anime character running up walls and doing all sorts of crazy sh*t, I'd still think of it as a complete upgrade."
"A setting where I can literally abandon all human interaction to learn with a sage sounds amazing."
"I wish I could do that in real life sometimes. I'm not religious, but I've seriously considered becoming a friar or someone who lives at a church and leads a very modest life of just helping people."
- Darkwoth81Dyoni
"Just don't become a cabbage merchant."
- Bamboozle_
"My cabbages!"
- Dinokkid
We're Wizards, Harry! But Do We Want To Be?
Sad Harry Potter GIFGiphy"As a kid I always thought about Harry Potter and the Wizards World it would be fantastic to be a part of it and experience the magic"
- ObjectiveSquirrel820
"Why the hell isn't this the top answer? I had to scroll down so far to find it, because this is obviously the right answer."
"Sure, others sound cool too, but we grew up watching/reading these and it's one of the most popular series in the world because people adore it so much."
"I still hear adults talking about their Hogwarts house, there's a whole ass Harry Potter World, and they even recently built a huge ass multi level store in New York City that sells only Potter merchandise."
"Come on now. We know this is the real answer."
- RynnChronicles
"Oof no thank you. The Wizard world is f*cked up."
"A school, next to an evil forest, where children are regularly killed? Check."
"An inept, corrupt government thoroughly infested with dark wizards, who is the primary employer in the region, with no system of checks or balances other than regular elections? Check."
"A broken legal system with a prison that literally drains your soul, where you can be sent without a trial and without bail for any reason? Check."
"Everybody has easy access to rape drugs and it's perfectly legal to use them? Check."
"Everyone has access to polyjuice potions and can easily impersonate anyone? Check."
"A world where innovation has stagnated because magic solves so many problems, and therefore there hasn't been any real technological progress since the 1700s? Check."
"I mean shit, so many of the problems in Harry Potter could have easily been solved if they just had cell phones. Or, as the meme goes, a freaking gun."
"I could go on. Have fun in the wizarding world, I'm happy being a muggle."
- livious1
The Matrix
Keanu Reeves No GIFGiphy"This all seems hard, I'm going to stay here and be an accountant."
"Screw it, my fictional universe is The Matrix. But I don't do anything, I just go to work every day in a modern but pre-9/11 world."
- burn-babies-burn
"Lol great answer. We choose the Matrix thinking we will be the next Neo but instead it's just life as usual. I'm laughing too hard at this, thanks for that imagery."
- tykogars
"Can I just be put into the Matrix and not deal with the robots? A peaceful simulation would be nice."
- SwingSoHigh
Well... There's The Whole Dragon Thing...
time feels GIFGiphy"Skyrim."
"I know everything that's going to happen in almost every quest, I know lore tidbits and facts about Tamriel that even the most learned scholars wouldn't know."
"I've been every type of character from thief to noble warrior, I know how to talk and how to say the right things to the right characters."
"Plus if mods are allowed I have the cheat room, impossible armors, I can save Miraak, I can give myself horns and wings and the character editor would completely eliminate my body dysphoria."
"I use Skyrim as an escapism because I can control almost everything in that world but can control next to nothing in this life so yeah :) "
- SapphicsAndStilettos
Nice, Even As A Regular Citizen
elated twin peaks the return GIF by Twin Peaks on ShowtimeGiphy"Anno 2205."
"Life would be great even as a regular citizen. The only things that there really is to object to is a corporation having a private, armed navy, and this same corporation having essentially as much power and influence as a government with its ability to build entire cities and establish colonies on the moon."
"Having said that though, the reality of the situation seems to be that despite all this power and influence, the corporations of Anno 2205 have nothing but utmost respect for the environment."
"They fully embrace automation but create lots of highly skilled jobs and build enormous, aesthetically pleasing (to me anyway) and environmentally friendly cities. They have near limitless ability to abuse and exploit to create the worst cyberpunk dystopia you could ask for, but they have gone in the opposite direction by actively caring for their environment and people."
"The big unknown is what the social and healthcare services are like in these corporate cities and it could go several ways."
"Best case is there is a full social safety net paid for by taxes diligently paid by these megacorps to the remaining governing body due to lessons learned from the previous centuries."
"The worst is that its completely sink or swim. However, it can be assumed that by living in these cities you are guaranteed to have some form of job, but we'll never know for sure."
"The population seems healthy, happy, professionally fulfilled and has come off the cusp of near apocalyptic environmental disaster (from 2070). They've finally cracked Fusion power as well, so from there its only a matter of time (and in fact well within their capability) before they start building starships to build colonies on Mars and the rest of the solar system."
"The main barrier is propulsion technology, but if they can figure out some kind of working EM Drive or even FTL travel then the galaxy is theirs for the taking."
"Being a citizen in Anno 2205 is to be part of a future of incredible technological development and optimism, with plenty of work to be done and no real military threats to worry about as Orbital Watch as a terrorist organization are pretty pathetic."
- Crembels
What's Up, Aslan?
the witch narnia GIFGiphy"Narnia."
"I'm a zoologist and my job would be a Helluva lot easier if animals could talk."
"Like instead of observing them for months to figure out why they're doing something, I could just go 'Yo, why you doing that?' and they could tell me."
- Frantastic79
I'm not even about to try and lie. My answer was the Shire, but I'm 4'9" (almost 4'11" if my hair is being amazing that day) and I really like plants and food, so I'm pretty much a hobbit already.
Of COURSE I said the Shire.
What about you?
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- People Share Which Fictional Character They Wish Would Be The ... ›
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Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.