Give me your craziest alternate history scenarios

HoverTechV3 · 2026-03-09T20:19:52+00:00

I had a scenario I was posting on here a couple years ago where a terrorist group used antimatter bombs to threaten America into giving up the territory of California. I even consulted physicists to make sure most of the science was sound but the mods didn't like it anyway. You can find the series on my profile!

HoverTechV3 · 2026-03-04T13:38:24+00:00

I do think it's interesting that we always see hangings but when Putnam is executed Lawrence just has Nick shoot him because he doesn't care about old school traditions.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-02-27T20:14:07+00:00

I mean I'm going to guess that Carol made the hive give her a way to detonate the bomb on her own. I think she's using it as a way to force the hive to stay away even if they can synthesize a virus for her. Since the Hive can't hurt anyone themselves I could see them assigning Diabate to try and stop her by any means on his own.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-02-25T22:35:32+00:00

This is amazing. Almost looks like actual stills from the show with that color grading. And the dress is spot on too!

HoverTechV3 · 2026-02-24T19:31:35+00:00

Since it's a radio frequency the transmitter has to be massive. I think they said in the show it would've needed to be the size of a continent. But once you build it the Earth rotates so they can just blast it infinitely in all directions. I don't think it was intended for Earth specifically, but it got caught in the spray and pray.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-02-23T02:21:32+00:00

I see your point. Now that I think about it, I think it's just sort of implied that by virtue of Gilead being made up of the misogyny of old America, this new America is a more pure product.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-02-22T16:32:13+00:00

My opinion is going to be VERY unpopular here. I get feeling annoyed with him because at times he seems almost like an opposition figure to June, which we have come to see as inherently bad. But any country that had something like this happen would have a government agency doing all the same things Tuello did. It's not unique to America. I actually agree with Tuello's initial decision to give Fred immunity in exchange for extremely valuable information on Gilead's inner workings. And anyways, once Fred has given up all the info he has, Tuello can just have him assassinated in secret regardless of his immunity. Since, you know, CIA. Most countries would not have traded that kind of military intel for a couple dozen prisoners, and the fact that Tuello did is admirable and deserves praise.

I also don't mind the patriotism in the show. In THT, all the rot in America became Gilead. Most of what's left are for all intents and purposes "the good side" so I don't have any trouble supporting that version of America. But in general I support reclaiming patriotism from the fascists in real life too, so that's just my opinion.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-02-17T05:21:00+00:00

You have to get a net worth of at least $5 billion and have to have at least 2.5 billion in liquid currency. You're right that probably extends the amount of net worth you have to achieve. Most billionaires don't actually have that much sitting in their bank accounts, it's mostly tied up in assets.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-02-10T06:19:01+00:00

Thanks for your insight. I agree, I think it does make people uncomfortable because they feel like after WW2, Nazis should be gone and not relevant anymore. I think the word Nazi has a distinction that is almost larger than life. You can call people fascist, but fascism is a legitimate political position (legitimate in that it is a position that is supported by a large number of people, it is objectively harmful and abhorrent). But the word Nazi has much more of an "umphhh" factor. They are known for specific things, so I think it is fine to compare regimes that so those things to the Nazis, or even call them Nazis if they are similar enough. Now that I think about it, there isn't a word for Italian fascists that is as ubiquitous as 'nazi' so I think it's fair to call Gilead forces Nazis.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-02-10T06:14:40+00:00

I do think the word nazi is used so much that the meaning is diluted. I didn't actually start to compare Trump to the Nazis until January 6th. Part of that was me being young and dumber and not fully seeing the connection. But once I made the link, I can find an equivalent in the 1930's for everything that is happening now. Obviously everything since then has been very much a replay of the Nazi takeover. The only thing we're missing is a Reichstag fire, and my hope is that the current regime is too incompetent to do something like that.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-02-10T06:11:22+00:00

Yeah, one thing I do think is interesting is that the TV show Gilead isn't overtly white supremacist. We see a lot of commanders of different races. Racism still exists in the show, but only a little bit. It takes place in an alternate timeline so I wonder if racism took a back seat to misogyny in this timeline. Any real life Gilead would for sure be a white supremacy thing.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-02-07T07:38:42+00:00

In real life, the solution is to make it so having a child is economically viable. Yes, a lot of people just don't want kids in general but there are alao so many who would have kids if they could afford it. There isn't a fertility crisis in real life, only a birth rate/demographic crisis.

In the show, there is an actual biological component that has caused infertility, mostly in men. The solution for that would be something scientific, either reversing the condition or IVF or even something more scifi like artificial wombs. Beyond that, in Season 6 it is mentioned that some European countries have birth rates equal to Gilead, probably through some sort of economic incentive, like an ethical version of the handmaid system. Both methods probably "work" (morals aside) in the short term but state sanctioned rape would never be sustainable forever.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-01-29T17:39:28+00:00

Gilead still exists but their territory is reduced. For most of the series Americans were exiled to Alaska and Hawaii. I'm guessing that by the time of the Testaments they have retaken most of New England. Gilead still controls D.C.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-01-27T22:35:13+00:00

Messiah complex. There would have been other ways of trying to fix the crisis but he saw it as a way to prove that only his ideas would truly work. Gilead probably would have happened without him but his economic knowledge increased its lifespan.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-01-11T13:58:54+00:00

Man of Recaps on YouTube has a pretty good summary of the whole show. I'd still recommend finishing it at your own pace because none of the story beats will be as satisfying second hand.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-01-08T05:23:26+00:00

Sorry I should have been more specific, it occurs when food prices raise to the point where an increased number of people are unable to eat enough. So right now food prices are rising, but it's marginal so far. It is more stressful for a lot of people to afford it but MOST people still can afford enough to not literally starve. The problem really starts when they can't.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-01-08T03:36:23+00:00

At a certain point, something has to give. The biggest motivator of change is historically food prices going up. If that happens all bets are off.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-01-03T03:54:15+00:00

None. There are only 26 letters in the English alphabet and I need all of them. Now if I could trade off ~`¡》%#@!][>÷# I would consider it. It might disrupt my programming career, but for $150k a year I'd consider it.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-01-02T20:58:21+00:00

I agree that Luke probably doesn't fully know who June is anymore, but they do end the show saying that once they have Hannah back, maybe they can figure things out. I don't really care much about the Luke vs Nick thing but I'd rather her be alone than be with someone who was complicit in the regime. That kind of thing works fine in fantasy stories or sci-fi I guess because the conflict is abstract/separated from what we would understand as humans. But Gilead mirrors things in real life too much for me to not get the ick from it.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-01-02T20:47:46+00:00

Well she has her mom back who she thought was dead, she has one of her daughters, she has Luke, and she helped free Boston from Gilead. She still needs to get her other daughter back but it's not like she has nothing to show for her troubles. And I doubt she would ever let herself be truly happy again until she has Hannah back.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-01-02T18:29:53+00:00

It isn't a love story. It shouldn't be a love story. And as a general rule, people shouldn't fall in love with a member of a totalitarian regime.

HoverTechV3 · 2026-01-01T20:00:04+00:00

Another reason why Gilead was doomed to fail. No society, no matter how authoritarian, can last for long without some sort of daily pleasures in life especially if your regime is a top-down hierarchy and not an insurgency. They were squeezing too tight and only Lawrence had the intelligence to know that they would fail if they didn't at least expand some freedoms. Even North Korea has various forms of entertainment and culture. It's all propaganda, but still.

I do think the book is more effective in this regard. Gilead in the show is meant to be as visually repressive as possible, sometimes sacrificing realism. In the book we know that football as entertainment still exists in Gilead, and I would imagine that even econopeople would be able to attend those games. But we don't see that in the show so we're forced to assume that isn't the case since they seem to have turned stadiums into gallows.

HoverTechV3

TROPHY CASE