oh no! you've been hit by a truck in a fatal accident! thankfully, a divine administrative assistant sneakily offers to reincarnate you in the fictional setting of your choice, with some stipulations so they don't get caught:
- it cannot be a setting where this has happened before
- it cannot be a setting where they're aware of this trope (no existing isekai fiction)
- it cannot be a setting where they're even aware of reincarnation at all (you can be the first)
- you pick the place and time, the assistant picks the parents
- you will regain the memories of your past, pre-trucked life once you're in mid-childhood and will be able to make full use of your current knowledge and skills
where would you choose to go and why?
This was a fun one to think about. I'm not really looking to become a hero or be in a place where my current skills (uh... photography, programming, jokes?) are critical to the world or unlock some vast amount of money and power. I kind of want to be a world where I can relax and feel fullfilled living my own tiny life.
That said, my first thought was, having not seen the movie, getting reincarnated into the Yesterday universe and inventing the Beatles from first principles before the guy in Yesterday can. Imagine suddenly waking up in a world without the Beatles but also someone scooped you on inventing them. What a good bit.
My first more-serious thought was maybe in one of the universe of one of the books by Banana Yoshimoto. Magical realism world seems kind of ideal. Like everything's basically the same so I can just be myself but also there are non-frightening ghosts that just sort chill out and let me reflect on my own choices and desires and also help ground me to the world and the past. Sign me up.
My alternate choice is: The world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I would adore the real-life version of just chilling out on an island with animal friends growing flowers and taking pictures and feeling like a real part of a community. I could go visit friends still, my job is just like hunting bugs or fishing, and even though it's a tropical island I still get to enjoy the joys of winter. What could be better?