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Intergalactic Explorer

@intergalacticexplorer / intergalacticexplorer.tumblr.com

on some kind of star trek

please take a moment to imagine the Federation version of Eurovision as @swordfern and I have envisioned it, in a post-DS9 peaceful future: -Bajor does something very soothing with hand percussion and like…. background eurythmy dancing but the lyrics are utterly heart-wrenching. -Betazed is always a fan favorite- they really get into the pop ballads and impressive choreography, and of course aim to inspire ~feelings~ -Romulans do the super intimidating acts like that one song about Moscow Germany did one year. -Klingons just do fucking opera every time, with intense choreography, generally involving weaponry. -Andorians do… whatever the andorian version of death metal is. imagine andorian headbanging. with those antennae. imagine. -the new Cardassian Republic, when it finally gains admittance, is intensely earnest and a bit disco. No one really knows how to react to this. -Vulcan sends one person with a Vulcan lute and they play an extremely logical arrangement extremely well, with no dancers or any illogical frippery… and they repeat this each year. No one ever votes for Vulcan.

But is it still called Eurovision…

Unifvision?

if australia can join eurovision, anyone can

The borg will put out some electro rock song that is just “resistance is futile” repeated 572 times

I love everything about this except 

there is no way Vulcan would be the boring entry. It’s completely illogical to not get into the spirit of things, or to enter a contest one does not intend to win.

It’s obvious logical really, Vulcan enters with the equivalent of Love Love Peace Peace every year, each performance carefully calculated and constructed based on what has appealed the most in previous years. 

They win three years in a row.

Absolutely true. Maybe they send a guy with a lute the first year, but after they see Earth’s entry there’s a flurry of raised eyebrows and they begin to reassess

Also I feel like the Klingons would sent some sort of heavy metal too, Finland’s 2006 entry (I think 2006) kind of looks like what I’d imagine a Klingon Eurovision entry to be.

The Vulcans realise straightaway, that first year, that they have misunderstood what was meant by ‘song contest’. The Federation News Service is filled with teasing and jokes about the Vulcan entry (and the likelihood of them entering with the same thing next year) for months.

The second year, their predictions appear to have come true. The exact same singer, wearing even bulkier Vulcan robes and again playing the lute, begins their performance. 

Then, after 30 seconds of beautiful lute music and singing, the singer dramatically sheds their robes to reveal the most outrageous glittering jumpsuit and cape. And in a shower of fireworks and lasers, the zero-g Vulcan acrobats soar onstage to begin the most flawlessly choreographed routine the audience has ever seen.

Another singer is flown carried in by the acrobats, wearing a stunning white dress, and the two singers begin a duet about love, peace and infinite diversity in infinite combinations that is both emotionally moving and the catchiest song in the Federation music industry in a decade.

After the second key change, in the build up to the soaring high notes that finish the song, the lute catches fire.

Every single planet scores Vulcan douze points.

You know, if we DO make contact with aliens within the next hundred years-ish, enough people are going to give the Vulcan salute to the first alien they see in real life (whether out of quivering excitement, lol memeitude, or sheer awkward, panicked grasping for the one prominent alien greeting nested in the social conscious) that there's a solid chance that it becomes a thing we're known for as humans.

Live Long and Prosper, my friends.

When I last posted my Star Trek speedpaints I got a suggestion for Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard) from First Contact 

I also added Lieutenant Palmer (Dr. Mae Jemison) - Dr. Jemison was invited to cameo on TNG by LeVar Burton. She was the first black woman in space, aboard the Endeavour

I’m still so behind on the new Treks but I recently finished the 2nd season of Disco, and gotta say I kind of love it ^^

Star Trek has always been a symbol of hope for a better, pluralistic future. One where differences are embraced, and diversity is recognized as a good in and of itself. It's depressing to see the way things are nowadays, but it's important to remember it's possible to hope for better. To me, Star Trek is a big part of that. So I drew this back in 2020, at the time of the BLM protests. I wish I had been in a position to participate, but I wasn't. Still, I meant this as a symbol of hope for a future where the fight for equality has succeeded.

“Our Lady of New Frontiers, Nichelle Nichols”

My last painting of 2022, and I wanted it to be a painting carrying me into the new year, a tribute to an amazing and inspirational woman.

Star Trek has been a show I have watched since I was a wee one. I started with TNG as a child, but when I finally watched TOS in college, its impact was undeniable, both today and especially during the time it aired.

Although the famous speech says “final frontier”, Nichelle Nichols was a woman leading the way onto new frontiers, a beacon of hope, resilience and possibility. So that is what I wish to carry with me into the new year.

prints can be found through my site: www.lindsayvanek.com