The WordPress/JetPack writing prompt for today is:
If you had to switch lives with a fictional character for a week, who would you choose?
I think most people would process this as “whose life would you like to be in?” Whereas the better approach might be “who would you like to take over your life for a week?” Remember it says “switch” not “occupy.” While you’re in their life, they’re in yours.
Plan accordingly.
I’d be tempted to create a to-do list for the week and then switch with a highly competent over-achiever. How many different ways could Spock, Tony Stark, or Sherlock Holmes improve my life by just occupying it for a week? What if I could get Rick Castle to do a rewrite of my problematic first novel?
Note, I am intentionally staying within my own gender just to simplify the discussion.
Another consideration is that yes, simultaneously, I’d have to occupy their space and, potentially, role, so again I’d have to choose carefully.
I feel like Spock would still be a good choice, as the crew of the Enterprise has faced enough weirdness that I could simply tell Kirk and McCoy (or Pike and M’Benga, depending upon era) what had happened and that it would all correct itself in seven days.
Of course, being an episodic TV show, a crisis would arrive that desperately needed Spock, and somehow the reversion would happen just in time.
Rick Castle might be a plausible second choice. His existence is close enough culturally to mine that I might be able to fit in, although I think I’d have to pretend to have been concussed to explain the gaps in my knowledge.
Over all, like most deals with the devil, the devil is hidden in the details. Who would I be ok sharing my house with my wife for a week? Again, Spock comes to mind, as I’d trust him to be honourable.
Another Star Trek character, Data, is almost interchangeable for Spock in this scenario, but I’d choose Spock still. Data’s only advantage is that I know he loves cats, and we have plenty. But I feel that his shipmates – Picard, Geordi et al – might be more problematic than Kirk’s or Pike’s crew.
That’s just a gut feeling. Something that Data wouldn’t have.