The "Bride" of the "M'Ress Appreciation Thread"

[Redfern]

Wha...?! Am I suggesting something about the Caitian comm' officer's personal life? Hmm, that would probably prove popular in some cicrles, but that might be more appropriate for this site's adult forum. Nah, this is merely a sequel to my earlier thread "Post your M'Ress Masterpieces". that thread seems to have been the victim of a general culling due to age and activity (or lack thereof). Fortunately, the art forum's moderator, Ptrope, stated he would permit me to start another. Keeping it more in the spirit of Trek, maybe I should have titled it, "The Appreciation Thread II: the Wrath of M'Ress".

Anyway, as before, the theme is simple. I invite fans to post their artwork relating to M'Ress or even Caitians in general. The material can be drawn, painted, sculpted, rendered, whatever. It can be dramatic, humorous, futuristic, contemporary, historic...well, you get the idea.

I'll start with a couple of pieces some of you have seen, but hopefully will be new to other people's eyes.

This was a portrait I made for a fan site providing some on-line fan novels focusing upon M'Ress. The background came for a Corel clip art disk, but the figure itself I drew from scratch. At the time when I did this, I did not have a decent photo editing suite like PaintShop or PhotoShop. I matted the figure onto the background by using, would you believe it, a 3D modeling and rendering program, TrueSpace.

This more recent effort demonstrates just how versatile the 3D meshes from www.daz3d.com can be. The base figure is an Anime inspired character named Aiko. Using a variety of morphs, props and textures, I was able to transform the Manga type figure into the anthropomorphic felinoid Caitian comm' officer. She even possesses elongated canines though you can't see them in this specific render.

Now, who'd like to share their art?

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Q2UnME]

Ahhh, Bill. Good to see you around these parts again. Saw that "little humor" number you did over at Ptrope's Remastered site. Pretty funny actually. Perhaps you could be persuaded to post the full blurb with "film" scene over here? Perhaps Ptrope will post his M'Ress too. Don't forget to post the M'Ress in slave girl outfit picture too. William Thesis (sp?) would be proud of that one.

Q2UnME

 

[Redfern]

Q2UnME said: Perhaps you could be persuaded to post the full blurb with "film" scene over here?

My original intent was to tag that image and blurb to the existing thread. The only problem, the thread no longer exists. That's why I started this new one.

Q2UnME said: Don't forget to post the M'Ress in slave girl outfit picture too. William Thesis (sp?) would be proud of that one.

This one? Uhm, that's meant to be Caitian equivalent of a formal evening gown. I don't see her panting all day in the hot sun picking Kaferian apples in fancy garb like that.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Q2UnME]

Hey Bill, borrowed this from your post. Hope I got it right. This was a little bit of humor over Bill's M'Ress being replaced by Ptrope's version. All ment in the spirit of fun...

Redfern wrote: (elsewhere; and very well)


Upon hearing the news, Kioki K'Tee is crushed.

"What?! Someone else is getting the part?! Let me guess, she's a 'friend' of the producer! No, you're right. I shouldn't just assume that. It's me, isn't it? they found out about those films I did, didn't they?

"Look; I was broke! Waiting tables wasn't enough to pay the rent! I didn't 'perform', if you know what I mean. They were just a few 'topless' scenes. Besides, my fur hides 'everything'.

"You're right; you're right. They'll be other auditions. I understand they want to team the Doctor with Novice Hame as his new time traveling companion. The original actress doesn't want to wear the make-up again; I should be a 'shoe in'! you think I'll look good in a habit?"

*** *** ***

Sincerely,

Bill

and...Q2UnME

 

[Ptrope]

Well, since I was invited (and it's relevant to the last post ) ...

I need to do another angle that shows how cat-like her profile is - at this angle and in this light, she could easily be thought to be little more than makeup (except for those legs, of course ).

Wait 'til I lay her out across the table in the Klingon briefing room I'm working on ...

 

[sbk1234]

Meeee-Owwww!

 

[ThomastheCat]

So is it against Caitian custom to wear a bra?

 

[Ptrope]

The clasp catches in the fur ...

 

[Redfern]

Ptrope said:
The clasp catches in the fur ...

*Snicker!* Clever!

Remember when DC Comics had the publishing rights for Star Trek in the mid '80s? The title, taking place aboard the Enterprise after Khan's self destructive wrath, went through a number of writers until Peter David signed onto the project. By the time of his arrival, DC had obtained a broader license to include material from the animated series. Peter took advantage of this to create a subplot involving M'Ress. At a bachelor party, several crewmembers get drunk because Bones, Scotty and Chekov each give the punch a lil' extra "kick". M'Ress and Sulu are seen strolling away arm in arm before the excess booze incites a brawl.

While we never see exactly what happens, we can pretty well guess. Afterwards, we see M'Ress wanting to cozy with Sulu while the helmsman seems uncomfortable with the situation. M'Ress eventually becomes frustrated with Hikaru's aloof attitude and so she "corners" in in a turbo-lift, demanding an explanation. I liked the encounter, but to be frank, I was not satisfied with the art. I won't say it was bad, but the style wasn't really suited for Trek. You know the ol' expression, "Yeah? Well, can you do any better?" I decided to see if I could.

I won't be so arrogant as to claim I did better, but I will say I opted for a variety of cinematic styled angles. The original comic art had a series of somewhat static side by side poses. You can see my version below.

Why didn't I complete it by inking and coloring the illustration? I was fortunate enough to have George Takei autograph my layout. I presented him with the still just penciled selections. Afterwards, I felt I shouldn't alter or update the material. Fortunately, Mr. Takei signed his name below my panels as opposed to across the drawings, so I was able to crop and paste the two drawings into a cohesive whole.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[regemet]

Could you possibly do a pic of M,ress in Nemesis uniform as I first found out about het in New Frontier and love her as a charecter.

 

[Redfern]

As I have not seen "Nemesis", could someone point me to a decent reference of the uniform?

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Redfern]

Regemet, I accessed TrekCore and saw it had screen-caps from "Nemesis". The characters wore several uniform styles. It so happens I do have a Caitian portrait sporting the "standard duty" uniform depicted in that production. (Actually, didn't that variation appear several movies earlier, also to be used in the later episodes of DS9?) Regardless, here ya' go.

I hope a conventionl graphite illustration is satisfactory, at least until I can track down some appropriate clothing textures.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[uss_griffin]

A little off-topic:

Is there a Caitian / Kzinti connection? Or are they just two completely different species of cat-people with no relation?

What about that silly three-breasted cat creature in TFF?

Wasn't there also a cat-person in ST IV?

I'm curious about all types of Trek cat people.


Back on topic:
M'Ress's hands in the first (and perhaps the last) pictures in this thread (so far) look the most believably cat-like. The human-like hands in the others don't really work for me, especially in contrast to her feline feet.

I'd also like to see more of her tail (that sounded wrong -- or did it? ) I'm curious to see how the feline tail joins the more human-looking derriere.

 

[Masao]

I apologize in advance for her being out of uniform: THE REAL M'RESS

 

[Ptrope]

uss_griffin said:
Back on topic:
M'Ress's hands in the first (and perhaps the last) pictures in this thread (so far) look the most believably cat-like. The human-like hands in the others don't really work for me, especially in contrast to her feline feet.

I'll go back to my old standby 'argument': M'Ress is an alien, not a cat that became a person. If she and her species vary in detail from felines, such as having hands instead of paws, I'm okay with it - it makes more sense to me that an evolved tool-using species which has gotten to the point of interstellar space travel (supposedly a condition of membership in the Federation) doesn't have to fumble with switches and controls, rather than preserving big, fluffy padded mitts. And I can even reconcile that with more classically-styled cat feet, as long as they aren't also supposed to be prehensile - we humans get along pretty well with short, stubby toes and long, solid feet, as opposed to, say, apes that have long fingers on their feet that they can grip and climb with.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it :thumbsup:. My name is Ptrope and I approved this message.

 

[Redfern]

Is there a Caitian / Kzinti connection? Or are they just two completely different species of cat-people with no relation?

I don't know. Do you want a link to exist? I'm not typing that just to be flippant. Every Trek fan has his own ideas about that kind of thing. I remember some publications suggested they splintered from a common ancestor, others implied coincidental, parallel evolution. I suspect Larry Niven would like to keep them separate if only to avoid legal issues. But go with what you personally like.

What about that silly three-breasted cat creature in TFF?

From a totally personal and admittedly biased standpoint, silly is the operative word. I see her and all I can think about is the Mars colony hooker from "Total Recall". Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the same make-up artist involved with both productions? I just don't see her as a Caitian, felinoid, yeah, but not a Caitian. The only fur she had was upon her scalp and tail. She had plantigrade feet. But if you see her as one, fine, doesn't bother me. Maybe she's yet another one of these cross-species offsprings that are never adequately explained in Trek. Or maybe she's the infamous Eccentrica Gallumbits, the triple-breasted wh*re of Eroticon 6 repeatedly mentioned in Douglas Adams' "Hitchhikers' Guide".

Wasn't there also a cat-person in ST IV?

Yes, actually two. They both appeared at Kirk's "trial". They appeared to have been cast from the same molds, but they had different hair applied. One had longer reddish fur with bobcat type cheek "tufts", while the other had short, black hair, suggesting more of a black leopard motif. Since we didn't see their feet, we can imagine they may have possessed digitigrade paws.

I'm curious about all types of Trek cat people.

One of the earlier Pocket Books novels, "Uhura's Song" featured two feline species with a common history. Uhura realized there was a connection when she observed both strains had prehensile tails, rather like monkeys. Vonda McIntyre introduced her own feline species in the first publish Pocket Books Trek novel, "The Entropy Effect". Lt. "Snarl" (a nickname never mentioned within her range of hearing) had spots like a leopard and ruby colored fangs. She also tended to go on all fours when flat out running. She served on security detail and few were foolish enough to try fighting her.

M'Ress's hands in the first (and perhaps the last) pictures in this thread (so far) look the most believably cat-like. The human-like hands in the others don't really work for me, especially in contrast to her feline feet.

Well, graphite drawings naturally allows one greater control of the details. The figure in the 3D renderings is derived from an Anime/Manga inspired mesh called Aiko 3, available at the www.daz3d.com on-line store. A third-party vendor created an "add-on" package that reshapes the geometry of the shins, feet and toes to create an anthropomorphic styled character. The vendor did not provide any features that would morph Aiko's delicate human fingers into thicker, stubbier paw-like digits. I freely admit I am not an organic modeler. I had to make do with what I had.

I'd also like to see more of her tail (that sounded wrong -- or did it? ) I'm curious to see how the feline tail joins the more human-looking derriere.

In short, it doesn't. The tail is a separate "conforming figure" that is "parented" to the hip region. If I were to depict a scene with M'Ress "in the fur" using the 3D model, I'd have to "cheat" by using "post-work" to blend the tail with the hip. Wearing her uniform, the tail simply extends below her skirt. The Bros. Grinn of the web-comic "SuperMegatopia" did realize an occupational hazard for M'ress while wearing the "classic" mini-skirt uniform. What happens should the poor kit' raise her tail? This:

http://www.supermegatopia.com/gallery/gallery.php?thisLink=skirttail.jpg

Oops!

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[uss_griffin]

Redfern said:
The Bros. Grinn of the web-comic "SuperMegatopia" did realize an occupational hazard for M'ress while wearing the "classic" mini-skirt uniform. What happens should the poor kit' raise her tail? This:

http://www.supermegatopia.com/gallery/gallery.php?thisLink=skirttail.jpg

Oops!

LMTO!

 

[Redfern]

Another saucy entry from superMegatopia's Bros. Grinn. Just how hot is M'Ress? Let's find out.

http://www.supermegatopia.com/gallery/gallery.php?thisLink=arena.jpg

Hmm, a philosophy few sane men would debate. :thumbsup:

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Q2UnME]

^^ Uhm, Bill ....

That boy ain't right..

Q2UnME

 

[Redfern]

I can just hear that in a "Hank Hill" ("King of the Hill", animated series) voice. Trust me, that is tame for SuperMegatopia. If one is easily embarrassed, much of the Bros. Grinn's material will make your toes curl.

But the Gorn's observation has become something of a meme in some cirlces.

Sincerely,

Bill