Happy MerMay Everyone!!

I was referring to the psychological observations, which I figured would not be classified by the gov’t, since they are of a personal nature. I suppose I forgot that freedom of information is not something that really exists in your galaxy. Loose lips sink ships, and whatnot. It’s a shame. Nobody’s really done this sort of research in our world, either due to ethics or the cultural shame surrounding the topic, even if the participants consent. The insight would be interesting.

Out of curiosity, do you have any theories on what it is about being an Imperial that makes you so much more attractive to people? The Rogue Clone Tech doesn’t seem to have half as many thirsty people following him around, but nearly every one of your asks involves something. I suppose it could be that the non-imperial Tech has just as many and doesn’t respond to them all. I don’t know what his ask-box looks like. But you also flirt back far more often, which I suspects helps to fuel it. Any thoughts?

Do you not think any iteration of my exceptional self would attract as many loyal followers? @exceptionally-minded is just as capable of drawing attention, though he chooses to do so by playing do-gooder while frolicking around the galaxy Riot Racing and interfering with Imperial operations.

I am of a different mindset. This mindset also requires the use of a disclaimer on the HoloNet so as to insure nosey younglings below eighteen years of age are not tempted to embrace the dark side before it is permissible. You will find that @imperial-sniper, @imperial-strategist, @imperial-demolition-expert, and @imperial-tracker do the same.

Our differences are what makes us both unique. Perhaps my abundant magnetism and my affinity for what some may consider atrocious or perverse has something to do with it. Human beings are known to have a tendency to be fascinated with that which both frightens and excites them.

But do take a moment to reflect. What seems like flirting to you may very well be the fine art of coercion in practice. Affecting someone's mind without them being aware of it - and filling said person with the supposition that their thoughts and feelings are indeed their own - is a tactic that is easily employed in part because they so desire to be subverted willingly.

Food for thought: It is not I you should be questioning, but those who wish to grovel at my feet.

My latest piece of Bad Batch fanart, a digital portrait of Hunter.

Everyone say hello to dragon grandpa!! I’ve really missed drawing and thinking about my Gorn Trek OC :)

The Gorn have been done dirty in the new Trek shows. The concept of Star Trek, at its most basic, has always been to teach tolerance by example. Every time there has been a “villain” species, we are unequivocally shown that they are neither a monolith, nor are they evil.

The Klingons may be proud and brutal, but they also have a rich culture, and by learning to understand them and treating them with the dignity they seek (and perhaps deserve in many cases) they can be passionate allies and friends.

The cardassians tend towards corruption and their culture encourages oppression of others. They conquer, pillage, and kill, but through the actions of individuals, we see that the Cardassians are a people broken by their own systems, not a people innately morally evil. And the actions of those individuals within their corrupt institutions have helped many who suffered under Cardassian tyranny, even if only a little.

The Ferengi are another example of a people trapped by their own systems. Their culture encourages greed, overindulgence and profit while avoiding all the consequences possible. But once more, individuals within this system are shown to be more moderate, or become more moderate, and this begins improving the state of their empire. They are capable of change, and that change is being influenced to become more equal, less destructive, and more cooperative without promise of reward.

There are no true evil species in Star Trek’s prime timeline (unless they come from the mirror universe, and even that is debatable). So… what the hell happened to the Gorn???

The only thing we knew about them from their first appearance was that they wanted to defend their space from invasion by aliens, and they were stubborn about it to the point of being unreasonable. We also learned that at least their captain was a brutal and dangerous warrior who seemed to enjoy the challenge of fighting Kirk man to man. How is that any different from the Klingons, whose species started out as literal space terrorists in TOS, but were later developed into a rich and beautiful warrior culture? The basic premise has the potential to build a narrative of a people who have spent the last centuries defending their space from the Klingon Empire’s expansion, having to fight tooth and nail against the galaxy’s most formidable species. Of course they’re paranoid and reactive when another civilization comes barging into their territory! They must be ruthless if they want to survive in this galaxy. And their story could be about their xenophobic culture slowly adapting to the climate of the kinder galaxy that the Federation has created, and learning to be allies with an enemy whom they have demonized for literal centuries. That would be an extremely poignant and topical story for us in the modern political climate. Especially in America!

Why were the Gorn turned into irredeemable monsters? Because it’s easier. Because producers and film companies no longer trust their audiences with nuance. Because a political message about compassion for an enemy that we’ve feared for centuries undermines the narrative that the US government and media have spent centuries crafting about the Middle East. Because tolerance for anyone is not welcome in our current political climate, and I’m not just talking about tolerance for those who lean towards liberal ideology. I mean tolerance for everyone.

I try not to get political on this blog, because it’s about art. It’s supposed to be fun and sometimes educational. But Star Trek is very dear to my heart, and seeing it being funded, written, and directed in ways that betray its essential nature hurts. It hurts in a way I don’t really know how to express. And I needed to vent.

Anyway, the Gorn will always be one of my favorite concepts from TOS. I love them, and you can pry the original idea of them from my cold, dead fingers, Paramount.

Colonel de-stressing by visiting his best girl <333

Well… this started out as a portrait of Death

Tech found a bug fren <3

New pfp in honor of Bad Batch: the Final Season coming soon!!!

Okay okay… so what I’m gettin from this is: nematodes and fungi are mostly uninteresting, but human body facts are.

I’ll be sure to tailor to your tastes next time :)

HIII!!!

I have more horrifying biology to share, if you’re interested? Today’s fun facts involve fungi and nematodes, so if anyone is squeamish about creepy mushrooms doing creepy things, or lots of little bugs everywhere, they should look away now

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Everyone who doesn’t wanna know gone? Good!!

oKAY SO

The world is covered in woerms. Nematodes are a phylum of animals that live in the earth’s topsoil, rivers, lakes, oceans and seabeds. They’re EVERYWHERE!! They’re even in the polar regions!!! These lil suckers’ estimated biomass is about 4/5ths of all humans on earth. And these are microscopic little worms! Nematodes are a pretty important kind of critter because they’re decomposers, so they cycle nutrients back into food webs by consuming dead things. They’re also parasites and predators. They wear a lot of different hats! So cool!!

But nematodes aren’t the star of today’s show. Let me introduce you to the nematophageous fungi: fungi that actively hunt nematodes! Similar to predatory plants like the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) and the sundews (Drosera genus) these fungi set traps for our wormy little friends. But these fungi take it a step further than the plants do, and here’s the part that’s disturbing: instead of luring their prey in with a sweet-smelling promise of calories, the fungi eavesdrop on the chemical communicators that nematodes use to talk to one-another and set their traps in areas of high comms traffic. The fungi are stalking their prey. HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT???? A living thing that is not an animal and has no central intelligence actively stalks prey!!!

AUGH I just can’t get over it!!!

So anyway, the fungi build three different kinds of nematode trap: your classic tree-spring noose, a glue trap, and an even scarier glue trap. Hyphal rings are a kind of hyphae (essentially the fungus’ body: think plant roots but if the plant is the roots) that end in a loop. When a nematode wriggles on through, the fungus pushes water into the hyphal ring, causing it to swell shut around the worm. Then the fungus pierces the nematode’s cuticle (it’s skin, but woerm skin) with its hyphae and eats the worm from the inside. Yum!!

Adhesive hyphae are exactly what they sound like: sticky mushroom fingers!!! These hyphae grow nodes or form nets that secrete a glue when they sense a tasty treat. The nematode gets stuck and the fungus can pierce it’s cuticle and eat the worm at its leisure.

The last kind of trap is exactly the same as the sticky fingers, but it adds a nematotoxic chemical to the glue, which poisons the unfortunate wormie so it doesn’t struggle and damage the fungus when it’s caught. It’s the same concept as venomous predators which envenomate prey so they don’t have to hold onto an animal fighting for its life.

I hope you’re having a lovely day, and I hope this knowledge brings a smile to your face the same way it does for me!! Actually… I squealed and wiggled with excitement when I first learned about these guys, so maybe don’t. That might be a bit embarrassing, since we all know Echo is Always Watching.

You can learn more about nematophageous fungi here and here!!

It appears that @imperial-strategist infiltrated my personal communication channel and took it upon himself, alongside his "assistant," to discuss these items with you whilst I was busy with my research.

Since they are such experts on the subject matter, I will leave this in their capable hands. Far be it from me to interrupt.

GET ‘IM OMEGA!!!

gonna bite

AAAAAAAAAA

OH MY GOSH ITS SO TINY

It looks like a gumdrop. I wanna smoosh it so bad but it wouldn’t recover so I won’t.

Here’s the paper that describes this species holotype!! Mycena subcyanocephala from Latin, literally “little blue-head” (don’t quote me on that, it’s been a few years since I reviewed my Latin). It’s a new species, so we don’t know much about it yet. BUT they belong to the Mycena genus, which is potentially one of the coolest fungi clades around!! It’s one of the most prolific genera of fungi, and is native to nearly every continent! They’re also some of the smallest mushrooms in the world. They tend to be no bigger than a few centimeters in cap diameter, so many species have cute common names like “pixie’s parasol”!

And if you thought being a common sort of mushroom made them boring, you’d be sorely mistaken because they’re one of the genera that contains bioluminescent species!!! Of the 500 known species, around 58 glow with this absolutely ethereal, chemically-generated glow called foxfire. They do this by introducing oxygen to luciferin, a protein that produces light when this reaction occurs using the enzyme luciferase as a reaction site. Absolutely magical!! I wonder if our littol gumdrop friend is one of the 58!!

I don’t wanna bore y’all with a lecture on bioluminescence, even though it’s one of THE COOLEST things in nature (and that’s saying a lot), so have some pictures of foxfire instead <3333

(pssssssstt thanks for sharing your shroom pics with me @blithe-imperial-underling and @imperial-strategist )

You can learn more about Mycena here (sorry it’s just Wikipedia, it was kinda hard to find an overview article quickly) and you can learn more about bioluminescence in fungi here!

You are correct, @theartgremlin​. I am always watching, and I found your biology lesson very interesting. My aide has a particular interest in mycology, and she was intrigued when I forwarded the information I intercepted about the microscopic predators from your planet. She shared an interesting bit of fungi with me as a result. This is one she thought I would appreciate due to its coloring resembling those of my old GAR legion.

But I should have known by the look on her face that Lieutenant Blithe had more to show me than just that one holopic. The next image she showed me was even better. Just like your microscopic worms, it was the size of this organism that was the most interesting.

The orginal post containing these extraordinary images can be found here.