#alternate season possibility

[galactic-pirates]

I just posted this in my favourite Trek discord but I am going to post my ramble here as well for posterity :)

I still haven’t seen this weeks episode of Picard. Give me a couple of hours.

BUT I have seen some gifsets and it appears the era appropriate Enterprise returns. Between that and the ready room scene I am half convinced that getting those fanservice shots of “look they are back together just how they were!!!” is the only point of the season and whatever crap they had to fling at the wall to get those shots didn’t matter to them.

Anyway I would like to propose an alternate season 3 pitch that would achieve those exact same shots.

It’s Frontier Day. Between the synth ban reversal (and now being a synth! The first human to synth?), and of course the new Borg showing up/narrow averting the Galaxy catastrophe of the season 2 finale Picard’s star is on the rise again. He is enjoying a resurgence in reputation. Therefore it’s only natural, especially with Geordi in charge of the museum that as a special show (for the kids maybe as some kind of living history?) they put the Enterprise-D crew back together. It is supposed to be a performance. Perhaps for StarFleet recruitment even. A little reenactment of one of their famous missions.

But then. Something plotty happens like maybe the Borg watching over the new wormhole thing sound the alarm as “something is coming through” duh duh duh. All hands on deck. No time to change ships. Picard isn’t about to sit this out so they warp into action. More plotty stuff like maybe to beat whatever comes through they need to understand it, so to explore/negotiate etc. they go through to learn things.

Anyway the Enterprise-D and crew are on mission. Alone in a strange new part of the Galaxy dealing with this new threat.

So stakes are high check. Have to work as a team check. Everyone is back and on the Enterprise check.

A plot like this would have

a) allowed the characters to express discomfort at having to adopt roles that haven’t been theirs for 30 years. Show how they have grown, but also allow for nostalgia and what remains the same.

b) drawn on previous seasons of Picard, for better continuity

c) who has experience in a Federation unknown part of the Galaxy? Seven from her time on Voyager allowing her to both have her own nostalgia trip, and also have something really concrete to contribute.

d) allowed for some interesting conflicts because if Seven and Raffi had been deployed as the “starfleet officers kinda ‘in charge’ as they are active StarFleet and none of the Enterprise crew really is (they got the gig due to working with Picard so closely before) then with this unexpected adventure what’s the chain of command? What’s the protocols? Especially if said regulations had changed over the years.

e) finally it would break some new ground and give future Trek new plots to explore. Maybe introduce a whole new alien type. It could also do some heartwarming Federation stuff about ruefully acknowledging past mistakes, at the same time as trying to do better and show these new people the best of who the Federation can be

Worf and Raffi could have still teamed up for ‘away missions’ as two of the fittest/most able crew members. I still remember what Riker said about his knees 😂

Riker and Picard still could have butted heads over how to handle stuff. Like I said with the discomfort of having grown away from the roles they are now being forced back into.

Deanna’s abilities could have been vital. I’m sure all of them could have had a chance to shine.

The only kinda question mark as to whether this could have fitted in somehow is Data’s resurrection. I guess perhaps they could have rebuilt him and then ‘unveiled him’ as part of a “look a Federation hero has returned” as a Frontier Day celebration cue Picard’s horror that they are treating Data like a prop not a person, that they had revived him potentially against his wishes, and maybe even allow Data to consider his future and what he wants from his newfound life. Does he still want to be StarFleet/their poster boy synth? Does he want to explore other aspects of life? Will they let him go if that’s what he wants?

Anyway I think something like this could have ticked the boxes and egotistically I think it’s a better premise than the season 3 we had. So thought experiment time!

If you were a Trek writer how would you have written season three? What direction would you have gone given the parameters of the nostalgia TNG focus?

[ghafahey]

I want to stand with you in front of all the Daturma Ox things to come.

JESPER FAHEY and WYLAN HENDRICKS in Shadow and Bone ( 2021- )

[halyasgirl]

Not sure how organized my thoughts on this are, but after rewatching the "To Ashes and Blood" fight in 2x03 "Finally Got the Name Right," I'm really thinking about the connections between Jinx and Janna.

The official lyrics for "To Ashes and Blood" include translations for the chanted bits, Shuriman prayers to the goddess Jan’ahrem (Janna):

Beyond these walls, the storm's fury grows Over land and sea, the storm's fury grows But I have nothing to fear! For the blue bird is with me

Janna is the patron goddess of Zaun, revered for blowing away the toxic Grey smog as it choked the Zaunite miners. And I think it's interesting that Jinx confronts Vi and Caitlyn in Janna's old cathedral, and their final confrontation happens under her watching gaze.

In the literal sense, Vi and Caitlyn are blown away when Sevika opens the turbines, but symbolically they're swept away after violating Janna's protection of the people of Zaun, and the three Zaunites (Sevika, Jinx, and Isha) remain, clinging to Janna's alter.

It seems like Jinx is taking on a maybe not exactly religious symbolism to the people of Zaun, but a similar role as a powerful entity who stood up for Zaun and its people when no one else would; Zaun's patron saint if not patron goddess.

The Arcane is waking up and new prophets are arising, and in a world where magic is real and genuine belief is very powerful, I'm wondering what might happen.

[env0]

How comic artist pose women to get their ass and tits in the same angle.

[tender-emotional-music]

I think the sooner people learn that we don’t really know how s5 is gonna go down, and that byler can happen in a hundred different ways so it doesn’t really matter if certain theories are debunked the better

[columboscreens]

[jonathanbyersphd]

Jonathan's 'Need to be with Nancy' instinct is so strong not even their divorce (or Will being possessed again) is gonna stop him

[streets-in-paradise]

Preparing for tomorrow

[jor-elsemissary]

Fall

Summary: Set some time during/after the last season, the real Lionel Luthor survived his son’s attempt on his life and seeks vengeance against those who wronged him. They wanted a villain, he would give it to them. He just needs to overcome his feelings for a certain widow.

———

When he came back from prison, his enemies thought his fangs had been pulled, what with the way he had tried to seek redemption through charitable foundations and such. But his son’s evil twin had merely proven them wrong, that the old wolf was still in there waiting to claw its way back to the surface and onto center stage.

Then his son believed him to have grown sentimental and weak over his obsession with a certain farmer’s widow and her son. But the younger Luthor simply was not aware of the truth about him and the son, and how much stronger his conviction was with that knowledge.

It hadn’t been enough to spare him the pain of a eighty story fall though. Barely alive. Declared dead to protect him from his murderer. It took years for him to recover. Years lost in a hospital far away from Metropolis and Smallville. And when he finally returned to get his revenge, his son had gotten himself killed and a doppelgänger tried to take his place.

It all could have been avoided, of course.

All they had to do was simply listen to him. But they chose to believe in the lies his son had crafted. Ignored his warnings and his pleading for clemency. They wanted to paint him as the villain, believing he had never truly changed, and so now, that is what he will give them.

With Kal-el gone and John Jones too busy elsewhere, and Jor-el’s construct no longer wracking his brain with head splitting migraines, he could easily slip into the role of the treacherous and ruthless CEO of LuthorCorp again. He would give them what they wanted.

A villain to fear and hate.

He just needed to overcome his feelings for a certain widow first.

“I don’t know what happened to you, Lionel,” Martha Kent firmly spoke but there was a sadness in her eyes that he could see. Behind him were two of her son’s friends, bound and gagged, though the latter was to grant him some peace and quiet from Miss Lane’s insistent chatter. “But I know this isn’t you.”

“It’s always been me,” he answered back nonchalantly. He dismissively gestured with the gun he held while he paced back and forth in front of the Senator. “I’ve simply allowed sentimentality to rule my judgement. That ends now, Martha.”

“It doesn’t have to. You have friends here, people who care…”

“No one cares about me! Not even you!” he snarled and whirled around unexpectedly at her, the cold steel now pointing at her. “The only person to dare defy my murderer and come to my funeral was your son. Where were these so called friends? Where were you?!”

She fell quiet and he felt a pang of guilt. He knew where she had been. She did not have her son’s gifts to traverse the distance quickly. There hadn’t been enough time from his death to the funeral to allow her to come.

Lionel lowered the weapon and looked away, knowing that if he continued to meet her gaze, her will would overcome his own. He chose to glare at Miss Sullivan who returned it with a look of defiant bravado. “It doesn’t matter anymore. They want a villain, they will have one. Go back to Washington, Martha. Forget about me.”

“No.” She was so stubborn. That strong will and determination was one of many traits he had come to cherish about her. Right now, though, it was becoming an inconvenience. “You were abandoned when you needed them the most. I will not do that to you.”

Lionel Luthor looked upon the one woman he had been willing to give his life for. She still amazed him even after he had gone cold and bitter with hatred. He wondered once more if she actually loved him but her loyalty to Jonathan kept her from acknowledging and exploring it.

“Why must you do this to me?” he demanded to know from her. Why was she willing to risk everything for him? He was a murderer, a liar, and a conman. He only protected Clark because that was what Jor-el wanted.

“Because I… do care about you, Lionel.” She dared to touch him, a gentle hand on his forearm and he could feel himself unraveling to that touch alone. He feared it wouldn’t take much for him to completely fall apart. She always had that effect on him.

“Do you?” he questioned, hazel eyes meeting blue in challenge. “Or is it Clark’s friends you’re more worried about?”

“Of course I’m worried,” she tells him while stepping closer to him. Lionel found himself swallowing thickly at her closeness. “But I still care for you as well. You must know that.”

She wasn’t wrong. It’s why he loved her in the first place. Despite all that he has said and done over the years, she still found it in herself to care about his wellbeing. He felt tender fingers brush across his cheek before a hand lovingly rested against his face.

“Let them go, Lionel,” she pleaded with him, her other hand gliding down his arm to the hand holding the gun. He didn’t want to let them off for what they had done to him, but he also wanted to make her happy. To be proud of him. To trust him again. He was hurting, he knew she could see that. She always seemed to know exactly how he was feeling and why. A mother’s intuition perhaps?

“They let him murder me.” The words came out in a quiet whisper and he felt his shoulders drop as he found himself leaning into her touch. “I didn’t deserve that fate, Martha.”

“No one does.” Her thumb caressed across his cheekbone and he felt himself close his eyes. Maybe, just maybe, he could forget everything and just be with her. “But this is not the way to get justice.” He let her take the weapon from him and he heard the safety click into place before it was discarded.

Martha Kent once more found a way to disarm him and he allowed it as she took him into her arms and simply held him. It took Lionel a few moments to overcome his own defensiveness to embrace this remarkable woman and rest his head against her own.

With eyes shut tightly, and Martha soothingly rubbing his back, Lionel Luthor came undone in her arms. Quiet sobs wracked his shoulders and his body trembled in her embrace. He needed help and Martha gave him her promise that she would, that he would not see the inside of a prison cell this time.

He didn’t resist when the police came in a few moments later and bound his arms behind him. He didn’t fight back when they took him away from her. He kept his eyes on Martha until he couldn’t see her anymore and his head lowered in defeat and despair.

The turmoil of betrayal and anger left him feeling hallow inside, except for that tiny spark of light that Martha Kent left behind in him. He decided then and there that he would endure whatever the courts decided. He would endure the mistrust and scornful tongues of Clark’s friends. He would endure the public humiliation he knows Lois Lane would put him through with her articles. He would endure it all so long as Martha Kent was there to guide him through it all.

He had set out to be the villain this time. Instead, he felt every bit as his son’s victim all over again.

[tev-the-random]

The boy band is real

[emisirrelevant]

WORKIN BOYS IS FINALLY HAPPENING?!!

Oh my god, Starkid fans we are WINNING!!!

Just when I'm still not over Pulp Musicals, and we're still waiting for the Nerdy Prudes proshot.

They give us the ultimate TRIO and say "here it is, workin boys is finally gonna be in your eager little hands"

THEY KNOW WHAT WE WANT.

I freaking love being in this fandom.

Now to get my headcanons/theories ready.

[wolfie180g]

Loki Crazy Credits s2 ep5

Did anyone else notice that the end credits themselves were different?  The lines were now seen to be curving slightly and getting more pronounced as the credits play out. The letters in the names and titles are also changing slightly and then more drastically. A letter would be lifted or lowered compared to the rest of the word or shifted to lay on its side. It is different than any other credit from this show. The normally straight lines start to resemble the sacred timeline which is branching off into multiple timelines. 

Resembling the destruction of the temporal loom

[neon-danger]

call me crazy but I don’t hate the umbrella academy season 4

[sporkandpringles]

I want alternate universes to be real, but only for the incredibly stupid and self-indulgent reason of having even more hours of star trek to watch

[sadhorsegirl]