A work of fiction with a very [[TheVerse immersive setting]] appears so idealistic and 'perfect' in comparison to boring, everyday life that it causes fans of a certain disposition to feel the need to emotionally invest themselves in it. Mild effects may be observed; particularly, a sense of removal from real life and depression. Fantasy may feel in some ways superior to RealLife. Fictional character may seems more [[EscapistCharacter "likable"]] and [[RealityIsUnrealistic "real"]] than actual people. A fan not only wishes there were NoFourthWall, but they would also like to become [[TrappedInTVLand a part]] of the world, or [[AscendedFanboy meet the character]] they love. {{Fan Fic}}s and {{Self Insert Fic}}s [[WishFulfillment can be a way to fulfill this desire]]. Contrast {{Demythtification}} for attempts to rationalize it. Unlike a DaydreamBeliever, this type of fan knows that what they want ''can never happen'' and are tortured by it. These fans are realistic, not delusional, but that won't stop them wishing for it to be true. When a fictional character gets his wish, see IWishItWereReal. Because, you know, ThisIsReality. Compare {{Mythopoeia}}. ---- (...) ---- !!Meta examples: [[AC:{{Film}}]] * ''Film/{{Avatar}}'': A film whose CGI and character motivation is so strong that it has caused a large amount of fans to become [[http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/ depressed]] after seeing the film and being unable to live in the perceived utopia of Pandora. Its classic HumansAreBastards plot and GreenAesop left people feeling disenchanted with their own race when they left the cinema. VisualEffectsOfAwesome the likes of which God has never seen also helped the DreamLand portrayal of Pandora. ** Disney's looking to take advantage of this with a Pandora themed area for [[DisneyThemeParks Disney's Animal Kingdom]] * ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'': Thanks to the gratuitous SceneryPorn, New Zealand has seen an increase in tourism and has used the film to encourage immigration. * Hilarious {{subversion}} with the Australian film ''WolfCreek''. The film took measures to showcase the beauty of the Australian outback and some of its funding originated in the hopes that it would increase tourism. So what's the film about? Three young pack-backers get lost in the outback and are systematically hunted, tortured and killed by a crazy mass-murderer. And it's (supposedly) ''based on true events.'' Pack your bags, kids! [[AC:{{Literature}}]] * The other TropeCodifier is the original ''TheLordOfTheRings'' novels, although older examples exist. As Peter S. Beagle put it in his introduction to the Ballantine edition: -->Lovers of Middle-Earth want to go there. I would myself, like a shot. ** GeorgeRRMartin: --->They can keep their Heaven. When I die, I want to go to Middle-Earth. * MarkTwain famously said that the AmericanCivilWar happened because too many people in the DeepSouth had read too much WalterScott, whose {{Swashbuckler}} novels harked back sentimentally to the [[KnightInShiningArmor chivalrous era]]. Much like ''DonQuixote'', only he actually [[DaydreamBeliever believed it]]. * ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': Edward Cullen is the ultimate heartthrob for teenage girls. Levels of devotion to Edward are so high, they have spawned a huge range of "I love Edward" and "Mr. and Mrs. Cullen" merchandise. * ''TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' has caused large numbers of people to check their closet doors in hope of getting into Narnia. TheVerse itself is apparently available [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence as an afterlife]], because CSLewis wrote extensively about how religion was, for him, the RealLife escape from LongingForFictionland. He even used it as a famous [[AuthorFilibuster apologia about atheism]]: -->'''[[TheEeyore Puddleglum]]''': ''[[BeneathTheEarth (in the Underworld)]]'' One word, [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Ma'am]],' he said... 'One word. All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things--trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Supose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. [[YouHaveNoChanceToSurvive Not that our lives will be very long]], I should think; but that's small loss if the world's as dull a place as you say. * If you had started reading ''HarryPotter'' before the age of eleven, at least a tiny bit of you was probably hoping for a letter from Hogwarts on the morning of your birthday. ** There's now a Harry Potter theme park, complete with real Butterbeer, for fans who want to pretend. * Plenty of readers of ''WarriorCats'' go searching for actual Clans of cats in their local woods. * The DragonridersOfPern. Who'd want a [[GiantFlyer dragon]] that [[DragonRider they can ride]], [[SapientSteed talk to,]] and [[BondCreature who will always love them from the minute they're born]]? ''[[TheInheritanceCycle Lots]] [[MercedesLackey of]] [[{{Dragonlance}} people.]]'' [[FollowTheLeader That's who.]] * There are plenty who have fancied moving to the island of [[TheRailwaySeries Sodor]]. Nice scenery, pleasant people, stable economy, {{Cool Train}}s that run on time and [[MechanicalLifeforms whose components think and talk]]. * A twisted example is the Warhammer 40k universe. It's NOT a nice place to live by ''any'' means, but people still think it would be awesome to fight in their favorite army. [[AC:LiveActionTV]] * Ask any ''Series/DoctorWho'' fan if they wouldn't love to hear the [[MostWonderfulSound sound of the TARDIS materialising]] so they could jump at the opportunity to travel with the Doctor. ** One of the scenes in "Survival", the final broadcast episode of the original series, was specifically designed for this, with the TARDIS materialising on a driveway in a typical English suburban neighbourhood. And the new series, being [[RunningTheAsylum run by fans of the original]], uses every chance it can to show characters who recognise the sound dropping everything and rushing towards it if they hear it. * Many fans of ''StarTrek'' wish they could live in TheFederation (and a smaller number wish they could live in the Klingon Empire.) [[AC:TabletopGames]] * ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' may be the perfect inverse example. It's reassuring that you aren't there. [[AC:VideoGames]] * Let's face it - everyone wants to live in the ''{{Pokemon}}'' universe. * Nearly every ''{{Touhou}}'' fan desperately wants Gensoukyou to be real just so they can got there, if only for a visit (it doesn't help that one character, Maribel, lives outside the Barrier and is searching for a way into Gensoukyou to escape her CrapsackWorld). There are ''reams'' of fan-made stories featuring {{Author Avatar}}s, self-inserts, or even a Generic Faceless Person - for that extra AudienceSurrogate goodness - accidentally finding themselves in Gensoukyou and causing ensuing hilarity. The remainder of fans, however, are more concerned with how a non-powered human in a place where [[ToServeMan humans are at the bottom of the food chain]] wouldn't last long -- or with the resident miko's tendency to [[DisproportionateRetribution render uninvited tourists homeless.]] * A fair share of players have admitted wanting to live in the peaceful world of ''AnimalCrossing''. But who can blame them? [[AC:{{Webcomics}}]] * If given the opportunity, quite a few fans of GirlGenius would not mind relocating to Europa, and to the Wulfenbach Empire in particular. All the fun of a [[InsistentTerminology Gaslamp Fantasy]] combined with a ruler who does not tolerate excessively destructive MadScientist shenanigans. [[AC:WebOriginal]] * People on [[http://fandomsecrets.livejournal.com/ Fandom Secrets]] are often known to submit secrets that they have always wanted to join the members of XYZ continuity in whatever they're doing, knowing full well that a) they're fictional and b) the anonymous people in question are "too old to believe in such things". [[AC: WesternAnimation]] * This is ''very'' common within the fandom of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' if the amount of fanart, stories and the typical reactions to them say anything. ** Then there are fans like [[http://www.ponychan.net/chan/arch/res/16458.html those in here]], who ascribe a near-religious meaning to the show and its setting. Your mileage may vary on whether it's disturbing or beautiful.