“Crosshair Wasn’t Expecting That. He Doesn’t Know What It Is She’s Proud Of, He’s Just The

A WIP for the merfolk au I’m working on! I decided to make Echo a war veteran who’s retired on the shores of Lake Superior. He fishes for a hobby, despite his disability, and also spends a lot of his time removing illegal gill nets/fish traps and abandoned fishing gear from his area. He has made friends with a shoal of the lake’s merfolk who spend their time doing similar work to help preserve the native species they herd.

I know it’s a little hard to tell, but this is how I think Omega’s introduction to the Batch will go: Echo comes across her caught in an illegal net, and wants to free her. But she certainly doesn’t make it easy! Although merfolk aren’t a secret in this au, there is animosity between humans and merfolk because the merfolk aren’t afraid to sabotage humans who treat their home waters disrespectfully. So there’s not a whole lot of trust between the two worlds. Omega doesn’t know Echo isn’t the owner for the net she was caught in, and it’s pretty scary being all tangled up like that! Echo’s hand will be fine. Though he’ll have a nice scar to remember the kid by XD

I’ve seen a lot of mermaid au’s where the characters are sea creatures. Freshwater fish often get overlooked. Which is a shame! There are a lot of really cool freshwater species, and I think they should get more love in these au’s! Last year for MerMay I designed a red-finned catfish Hunter mer, and this is kinda a continuation of that idea! I’ve got a lot of plans for this au, so stay tuned if you like it!!

So what had started out as a little silly merman!wrecker one shot is probably going to be a multi parter with a murder mystery sub plot concerning crosshair

Some refreshing, summertime drinks :)

When Wolffe meets Omega

Wolffe: looks between Omega and Rex with a stern look

Rex: ….

Wolffe: Rex, who did you fuck?

Rex: W-WHAT?!?!

Wolffe: Did I stutter?

Rex: ….I-

Wolffe: CT-7567. Who. Did. You. Fuck?

Rex: I didn’t-

Wolffe: We TALKED about this! You should ALWAYS use protection! Are you paying child support? Does her mother know about you taking her on dangerous missions? Is her mother still around? Are you a single father? WHO DID YOU FUCK REX?!?!

Rex: Who is still a virgin because he was too busy and dedicated to his job, and too much of a socially awkward penguin to bang anyone. I DIDN’T- SHE’S NOT MINE! SHE’S HIS! points to Hunter

Wolffe: Grabs Rex by the collar Don’t you dare lie to me you little shit!

Wolffe and Rex continue this back and forth while Gregor and Echo are laughing their asses off, Hunter is barely holding in his laughter.

Omega: I like Wolffe, he’s funny!

They’re all finished!!!

I’ve also linked the png images w/o backgrounds so y’all can make Discord emoji’s for yourselves with them too!!

SureThingCommander

WhatAreYouUpToNowDominoes

EheheSkyguy

Have fun with em!!!

Okay, but hear me out…

I’ve missed drawing Klingons too 🥺

@superiorsniper said I upset you with pushing the stone question further. I would like to sincerly apologies. please accept this carton of mantell mix as a peace offering

I get it, *nods* you didn't know. I'm not mad.

It's just... People see me and think "big dumb guy haha he is so stupid I bet he eats rocks!"

Clones age faster so we have to eat more, I'm bigger than the average clone, so I gotta eat even more.

And I'm not stupid cos I laugh a lot... I'm just happy and maybe I say my feelings and all my thoughts out loud. Doesn't make me dumb.

I guess... It got to me that day. *Shrugs and takes a piece of Mantell Mix*

Heh... As much as the food on Pabu is good, I miss this stuff.

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.