I’m A Little Nervous To Post These Because I’m Aware There’s Some Drama Going On In This Fandom,

MORE DISCORD SHENANIGANS!!! My friends and I had a lil bit of a freakout about the idea of Crosshair and an OC in a modern au getting brought together by Crosshair’s three dogs: Wrecker, Tech and Hunter! It was such a cute idea that I had to make some art.

(We decided that Hunter was a German Shepherd, but I love dobies and I couldn’t help myself. Maybe I’ll make a shepherd Hunter later)

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.

Sometimes I question the clone wars artists for how they decided to make armor. It’s cool as all get out, but why do the elbow and knee pads open outwards when the men are running into battle with their arms and legs bent most of the time? it leaves a big gap. It’s a wonder we don’t see more guys shot in the elbows and knees!

Anyway, the Alpha sketch is progressing nicely! Now for his silly pantaloon-kama

A redraw of my favorite scene from The Outpost. As usual, I am blown away by every episode of The bad Batch. To see Crosshair not only be vulnerable but to turn a new leaf was captivating.

As an artist, I take umbrage with this!! Crayons are so much fun to work with! They blend in a really different way because they’re wax-based and you can melt them to make drippy, wet textures!!

What we know as crayons actually got their start around the late 1400s. These were more similar to compressed charcoals and chalk pastels, though. Artists like DaVinci and Michaelangelo used them primarily in the sketching stage of paintings, and for DaVinci in his journals. In the 1800s the charcoal pigment was replaced with colors and the crayons started being able to be mass produced thanks to the Industrial Revolution, and that’s when they first started making their way into classrooms. But they were still primarily marketed towards artists. It’s really only in recent years that they’ve been excluded from the artist’s toolbox, for whatever reason.

They’re very good for us because they’re relatively cheap (if you’re an artist, you know how important this is to us XD) and they’re good for filling in large areas with color or texture. And for those of us who work on unusual canvases (leather, plastics, drywall) they’re very helpful because their wax and oil binders let them stick to weird surfaces pretty well. You’d probably actually appreciate them if you used ‘em, Tech! They don’t conduct electricity, so it’s be safe to write with on wires and they’re waterproof, so you can use them in wet environments like underwater or in a storm!

Do you like crayons?

Do your parents know that you're on the holonet, little one?

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.

A little Luca-style Omega, because the curls are too cuteeeee

APPLICATIONS OPEN!

Thank you all so much for your patience! Applications for page artists, writers, chefs and merch designers are now open! In addition, the mods have decided to expand applications to include spot artists and writers! These contributors would be paired with someone else to create text like notes on a recipe (spot writer) or small art to illustrate a story or recipe (spot artist).

NOT ONLY THAT but there will also be TWO digital add-on portions to the zine! One for recipes that are all things baking, desserts, brunch, drinks and more! (More information on what can be submitted in the application).

The second add-on will be a Clone OC Showcase! Following the theme of the zine, contributors will be allowed to create artwork or stories for their OC's! Spot artists may also apply for the OC add-on and be paired with a writer to illustrate their writing.

You can apply for however many positions you would like but may be limited to where you are accepted due to only a certain amount of spots being available in the physical zine. The digital add-ons will have open spots.

APPLY HERE!

Thank you all for sticking with us as we got things organized, we really appreciate it and are excited to get this project going!

-The Batched Mod Team

Background hell @~@

Anybody else remember that scene where Hunter teared up as Hemlock took Omega in season 2?