It is Not Down in Any Map; True Places Never Are - TT's Top 50 Fictional Settings

[Falselogic]

Falselogic's Journey to Nowheres - Top 50 Fictional Settings

What's this all about?

Originally Posted by Day 0

“No, mom I didn’t lose my job.”

She called right as I finished packing, I was only half listening at first, as she went through the rote concerns parents never seem to overcome regardless of how old their children are. But, when the subtle accusations started stopped packing for a moment.

“No, this isn’t a midlife crisis either. Yes, Yes, Yes. You got the itinerary, didn’t you? Then what are all these questions?”

I asked as I rolled up the old towel and tucked it down the side of the weekend bag. I pushed the contents down a final time before throwing a couple of thin, old paperbacks on top and closing it all up.

“Is this a nerd thing? Yes. Yes, it is about the forum. Yes, the same people. But, it’s more than that too. I just need to get away from here, form all of this, for a while. If only for a short time. Everything is fine mom, I promise. Yes. No, thank you for offering but I don’t think I’ll need your help this time. I’ll send you and dad some postcards if I can. Some of these places though, I don’t know how reliable their postal services are.”

With the bag packed. I set it by the door

“Tomorrow morning, early. I promise I’ll keep in touch. I love you too mom, good night.”

The last thing I needed to do before bed was to look over the itinerary one more time. It was exciting letting friends decide where I would be spending my vacation. But scary too. I’d never heard of some of these places. I had to go though; I wouldn’t want people on the internet to think I was a liar.

Places Travelled to

50. Thra (The Dark Crystal)
49. Babylon 5 (Babylon 5)
48. The Universe (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)
47. Alpha Complex (Paranoia)
46. Song of Ice and Fire Universe (Game of Thrones)
45. Half-Life Universe (Half-Life series)
44. Fantastica/Fantasia (The Neverending Story)
43. The Labyrinth (Labyrinth)
42. Star Trek Universe (Star Trek series)
41. Thedas (Dragon Age series)
40. Mega Man Universe (Mega Man series)
39. The Land of the Dead (Grim Fandango)
38. The Galactic Empire (Foundation series)
37. The Dreaming (Sandman)
36. Your Own Personal Setting/Your Imagination (You)
35. Silent Hill (Silent Hill series)
34. World of Final Fantasy VIII (Final Fantasy VIII)
33. The Bionis (Xenoblade Chronicles)
32. Dragonball Universe (Dragonball series)
31. The Forbidden Land (Shadow of the Colossus)
30. Cybertron (Transformers)
29. The Land of Ooo (Adventure Time)
28. Lovecraft Universe (works of H.P. Lovecraft)
27. Spira (Final Fantasy X)
26. The Northern Continent (Suikoden series)
25. Tamriel (Elder Scrolls series)
24. Planescape (D&D setting/Planescape: Torment)
23. Arrakis (Dune)
22. Chrono Universe (Chrono Trigger/Cross/Radical Dreamers
21. Warcraft Universe (Warcraft/World of Warcraft/Hearthstone)
20. Springfield (The Simpsons)
19. New New York (Futurama)
18. Amala Universe (Shin Megami Tensei series)
17. The Milky Way (Mass Effect series)
16. Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass (Alice in Wonderland)
15. Lordran (Dark Souls)
14. Metroid Universe (Metroid series)
13. Rapture (BioShock 1 & 2)
12. Marvel Universe (Marvel Comics/Movies/Video Games)
11. Oz (Wizard of Oz series)
10. Ivalice (Final Fantasy Tactics series/Vagrant Story/Final Fantasy XII)
9. Harry Potter Universe (Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts series)
8. Mushroom Universe (Mario series)
7. Pokemon Universe (Pokemon series)
6. The Four Nations (Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra)
5. DC Universe (DC Comics/Movies/Video Games)
4. Discworld (Discworld series)
3. Zelda Universe (Legend of Zelda series)
2. Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings et. al)
1. Star Wars Universe (Star Wars)

Joke 1. the OASIS (Ready Player One)

[Loki]

sounds like a midlife crisis tbh

[Falselogic]

Originally Posted by Loki

sounds like a midlife crisis tbh

yeah, but you wouldn't tell your mother that!

[JBear]

I for one would have no problem telling Loki's mother about my mid-life crisis.

Man, if I'd known that I was sending Falselogic to these places, I would have chosen places way worse. And colder!

[aturtledoesbite]

Originally Posted by JBear

I for one would have no problem telling Loki's mother about my mid-life crisis.

Man, if I'd known that I was sending Falselogic to these places, I would have chosen places way worse. And colder!

no, you should have chosen warmer places

places that would cook his hot dogs via ambient heat before he could consume them

[Torzelbaum]

Oh. So the presentation "gimmick" for this is

"How I Spent My Summer Winter Vacation
by Falselogic, age ??"

Interesting.

[Kirin]

Happy travels, Falsey!

[Falselogic]

Originally Posted by Torzelbaum

Oh. So the presentation "gimmick" for this is

"How I Spent My Summer Winter Vacation
by Falselogic, age ??"

Interesting.

Please enjoy my bad fanfic!

[conchobhar]

This is a clever framing device. I'm looking forward to this!

[Sensenic]

Originally Posted by Falselogic

Please enjoy my bad fanfic!

Falsefic!


Also dis:

Originally Posted by conchobhar

This is a clever framing device. I'm looking forward to this!

[Falselogic]

Originally Posted by Day 1 – Thra

What a quaint and strange place. No airline will fly you into Thra. I couldn’t even charter a private jet. In fact, the only way into this obscure and insular nation is Landstrider service through the Swamp of the Black River. For those accustomed to the ease of modern travel, riding a landstrider may prove too much. These large animals, some nearing more than twenty feet at the shoulder, appear to be mealybugs whose legs never stopped growing. If one can get past the appearance of the creatures you will enjoy a wonderfully swift ride. By the end of the trip mine seemed quite protective of me and I was sad to say good bye to the thing when I arrived the border crossing.

The customs house was a rundown building that most resembled a triangular tent made of shabby, crumbling stone. A fierce looking moss covered statue of some sort of monstrous arthropod stood guard at the door. Inside, I showed my papers to a Skeksis functionary who refused me entry until I had passed several coins into his hand. Venal dealings appear to be the norm here in Thra

The Skeksis are the native inhabitants of Thra. These bird like reptiles are uniformly gross and twisted. It seems both in body and mind. I can tell you little of their physiology Skeksis covers themselves in several, elaborate layers of tattered clothing, dark reds and purples being most common. When I asked the fellow what was worth seeing he grumbled something about the crystal tower and then went back to shuffling papers and complaining…

#50 – Thra – The Dark Crystal
3 votes, 62 points, Highest voter: NavelsAreNeat (9)

The Dark Crystal is a 1982 high fantasy adventure film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. The plot revolves around Jen, an elf-like 'Gelfling' on a quest to restore balance to his alien world, Thra, by returning a lost shard to a powerful but broken gem.

Notable for being one of, if not, the first movies to solely contain puppets on screen the movie was groundbreaking in its use of animatronics. The movie is also known for its strong, and strikingly original, concept design done by Brian Froud.

[JBear]

Wait, so did you go to the crystal tower or not? If you don't sign up for the tour by 9AM then they're usually booked up for the day, so you should probably get on that.

[Ixo]

Off to an en-thra-lling start.

[Doctor Nerd]

Fun movie. I liked the screaming dog-ball thing.

[Loki]

I too, would like to live in a land with only muppets

[Falselogic]

tru-facts - Dark Crystal is a legit fucked up movie.

[Dracula]

I really want to visit Thra but I'm made uncomfortable by the lengthy forms you have to sign regarding control of the Gelfling population. The Skeksis marketing claims they are an invasive species, but something feels really off about it. And do they really need the big "NO GELFLING" logos on every advertisement? What are they hiding?

[Octopus Prime]

I did the movie no favours by watching it immediately after Labyrinth, but Dark Crystal has some quite fine visuals going on with itself.

[Doctor Nerd]

Shout-out to these big stupid bugs who literally fall to pieces as soon as shit hits the fan near the end of the movie. I hope someone kept those receipts, am I right??

[Falselogic]

Originally Posted by Doctor Nerd

Shout-out to these big stupid bugs who literally fall to pieces as soon as shit hits the fan near the end of the movie. I hope someone kept those receipts, am I right??

Those are the Garthim.

[Pizzarino Sbarro]

Originally Posted by Doctor Nerd

Fun movie. I liked the screaming dog-ball thing.

His first appearance scared the shit out me as a child.

Probably the first thing I can remember training me to fear jump scares, which I still haven’t gotten over.

Anyway, it’s an amazing fantasy world which makes no sense and I wanted to be all of the fantasy creatures as a child. Okay, not the podlings.

[Pizzarino Sbarro]

Elves? Good. Elves with a twist? (they’re muppets) Even better.

[Pizzarino Sbarro]

Yesssssss

Of course I want to know What’s Up With That, Aughra, yet to this very day, I have no idea. I just get lost in your pleasant shoutings!

More!

Spooky.

This is maybe the first movie I distinctly remember feeling sorrier for the villains than I think I was supposed to. But actually, the filmmakers probably knew what they were doing??

[Octopus Prime]

Well they all look like they’re starving to death and their entire Kingdom is in shambles.

They engender just as much pity as scorn

[Kirin]

The secret to enjoying Thra is to ditch your Skeksi functionaries (discretely, of course.. they get very cross about the forms they have to fill out to account for you) and meet up with some of the other locals - Gelflings are pleasant if you can gain their trust, and of course the Mystics are a hoot if you can put up with their general inscrutability. Or go hang with Aughra, just try not to annoy her too much. Also if you see any Garthim, go the other way.

(I had Thra at #15. Fun place.)

[Issun]

I did not vote for Thra (didn't even know what it was called until I saw it on one of the lists), but I'm glad it made it on the list. Beautifully designed, and The Dark Crystal is a fantastic story. The Garthim scared the bejeezus out of me as a wee one.

[Johnny Unusual]

Originally Posted by NavelsAreNeat

His first appearance scared the shit out me as a child.

[Sensenic]

Oh-ho!
So this is how it feels to read these lists with the anticipation to see if any of your choices made it in... followed by the despair of realizing they never ever will, and the anger at Talking Time's clearly poor taste.
(Poe's law disclaimer: 2 out of the 3 previous statements are satire).

And with the first one, already comes a reminder of another setting I completely forgot about, dang! >_<

As for Thra/TDC itself, this is one of the many many classic movies I have pending to see, but despite knowing it to be a labor of love I've always found the puppets' designs themselves to be kinda off putting, uncanny-valley-ish and that pulls me back from getting to watching it. Some day I guess.

I do happen to have a (poor quality) photo of Jim Henson's own design documents for the world and the movie, from an exposition in Seattle's EMP, that I thought might be relevant to this thread:
https://i.imgur.com/vRVbSeE.jpg (link for BIG)

[Patrick]

Seeing options that I didn't even think of is my favorite part of these contests. We're off to a good start! (also, did Loki draw that map?)

[JBear]

Originally Posted by Patrick

(also, did Loki draw that map?)

You have a good eye for quality. He did! I love it already, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of it.