#turtle evolution and turtle dissections and turtle development

[charcoaldustonmyfingers]

Raphael skeletal anatomy! Click for better quality

Turtle shells are really funky, and in real life turtles, their shoulders and hips are actually fused to the shell and form immobile shoulder and pelvic girdles. Their scapula (shoulder blades) therefore are pushed almost fully downwards to give turtle arms that elbow up look. Most of their muscles are attached via ligaments to their plastron and limbs, with their large neck muscles reaching back along their spine with very minimal muscles on their sides or back.

Because of how funky their bones are, I tried to find a good middle ground between the brothers’ humanoid shape and mobility vs. their original species limitations. Their shoulders are very human, with their collarbone instead connecting to the top of their plastron rather than a sternum (flat bone in the middle of the ribs) with the addition of their shoulder blades resting much lower than a humans and protecting the open space in the armpit of their shell (rather than being set on their back under their carapace). Their necks can stretch slightly longer than a humans and have some extra mobility, on account of how they usually sit curved and tucked into their shoulders. Their pelvises and lumbar vertebrae (hips and lower back) are not fused to their shell to enable them to twist their torsos some.

As for how flexible the show depicts their shells to be… suspension of disbelief! I like to keep the idea of their shells being turtle like, so even though they’re all bone, I’ll allow cartoon physics to bend them some.

Additional info on Raph: The spikes on his shell are mostly bone. Also (something I didn’t draw because it was only after I finished this that I was able to find a picture of an alligator snapper shell bone without its scutes) there are small gaps between his pleural bone plates (middle of shell) and his peripheral bone plates (edges of shell). The scar on his shell is probably from a bone deep injury, as broken scutes shed away, but because scars don’t grow with a person, the injury is small enough that it probably happened so long ago that Raph can’t even remember it.

This is all just my speculation, so feel free to disagree or expand upon these ideas!

[General][Donnie][Leo][Mikey][Splinter]

[hardcore-otaku]

I was asked how I felt about Pokemon Gen 5. This request has taken me an extensive amount of time researching, cross-referencing, and honestly just compiling my thoughts together in a way that would make sense for you normies.

For a bit of background, Gen 5 made its debut in Japan on September 18, 2010 in the form of Pokemon Black and White. This generation added 156 brand new Pokemon to the ultimate pokedex, with none of the 156 being pre-evolved or additional evolutions of pre-existing mons.

There's hundreds, thousands of threads and videos across the internet of different gamers giving their opinion on, specifically, Gen 5. I've seen people fighting in comment sections, telling each other their preferences are wrong. I'm not here to say that, or to tell you all how my opinion of Gen 5 is superior because I'm sure there will be people who won't agree with what I have to say. And you know what? That's okay!

Gaming preferences are subjective. Fighting amongst ourselves is only going to break apart the gaming community instead of fostering an environment that's welcome for veteran and beginner gamers.

That being said, let's get into how I feel about Gen 5 Pokemon.

I'm going to be honest, I don't play Pokemon for the plot or for the story line. I just don't. I will follow the story lime to advance in the game, obviously, but i have my own set goals and objectives to follow.

I'll say that again.

I don't pay that much attention to the plot and story line.

I can't tell you how many times I actually lose track of where I'm at in the story line because I spend so much time hunting Pokemon, leveling them up, and customizing their move sets.

Pokemon, to me, has been and always will be about completing the dex and becoming a Pokemon master. The more creative and fun the Pokemon designs and names are, the more fun I have. That's it.

I've seen people write dissertations dissecting every aspect of the plot, the characters, the inconsistencies and sure, I could get into that, but I save that level of analysis for other things, like TSL.

Pokemon designs and names have always been a test of creativity. Squirtle = squirrel + turtle. Torchic = torch + chick. Trubbish = trash + rubbish. I mean, look at Articuno (arctic/ice and 1), Zapdos (zap/electric and 2), and Moltres (molten/fire and 3). Some designs and some names are more inventive than others, sure. But I can still appreciate the dedication the developers put in for us to create batches of new pocket monsters.

TL;DR Pokemon Gen 5 is just as much a valid Pokemon game as the others and doesn't deserve the hate that it gets.

Let me share some of my own favorite Pokemon and their evolutions from Gen 5!

{Mun pulled individual mon pictures from bulpedia to create these. Credit goes to https://m.bulbapedia.bulbagarden }

[petty-crush]

I’m tickled to see the Snes Classic is officially announced, so let me get to dissecting some (electronic toy) frogs.

First off, that box design, with the red borders, fonts, and visual display is terrific. Much like the redesigned Weyland-Yutani design in “Prometheus”, the nail color changer in “Total Recall”, and the expanding bread in “Force Awakens”, this is a wonderful little attention to detail that is neat in its own way.

Secondly, it’s somewhat surreal to see this will be the official worldwide release of “Star Fox 2” so even Snes players from back in the day are getting something new. Congrats to the development team.

Thirdly, of course no selection of games would cover ever corner of the landscape, but I don’t want to take for granted how really really great the expected classics are.

I truly feel Nintendo had a far firmer grasp on making the best games for the Snes (while I definitely think Capcom and Konami stole their thunder quite often on the Nes).

It’s also interesting to me to see the evolution of the series and their play mechanics. The charming simplicity of “Super Mario Bros” and “The Legend of Zelda” get expanded beyond belief into epic, cosmic games like “Super Mario World” and “A Link to The Past”.

No to mention that “Super Metroid” and “Castlevania IV” just smoke their Nes counterpart. Like, it’s almost impossible to go back to the more embryonic (albeit good) 8 bit versions.

Essentially, the original game designers who were there from the beginning had a whole new sandbox to play in, and they appreciated the ways they could make the experience more engrossing.

This also represents the pinnacle of console 2-d programming. After this it was a different mindset for the third dimension, and I cherish this particular outlook.

And seriously, the sound design and orchestration in Snes games are still phenomenal, they stand the test of time.

So I’m excited. I also like that two controllers are included and that they are much longer (glad Nintendo was listening).

I will include two minor quibbles; I wish “Turtles in Time” was included (I know why not-licensing) because it was truly one of the most fun two player experiences in my life. The amount of time I put in that game borders on the insane. It also was a huge step up over the arcade game. Ask me of definitive game moments, and throwing foot soldiers at the screen in mode 7 context is one of them.

I also wonder why the other two “Donkey Kong Country” games could not have been included, as “3” is the equal, and “2” is in every possible way the superior game (reptile pirates? Oh yeah!).

In face it is a little surprising that it has significantly fewer games than the Nes classic. These games are clearly fundamentally longer and bigger, so I suppose it balances out.

I will certainly happily play “Super Mario RPG” over and over again.

And hey, a better save feature. (How many times did my Snes data get lost before; oh, the horror).

I have sentimental value for this era of Nintendo, so I hope this flourishes, and I truly hope that there is enough to go around.

So far everything gives the appearance of great care and thought (perhaps not divided by laughing the Switch), and hopefully the supply side walks neck and neck with it.

Please make the hardest thing about this be “Contra Hard Corps”, not obtaining it. I could use some of that watercolor fun of “Yoshi’s Island in my life”.

Because why re-release the greatest toy if the wanting cannot buy it?

[silverarrowdreamer]

#I had to skim through so many scientific articles for this#turtle evolution and turtle dissections and turtle development#my general understanding of anatomy for art was not prepared for the amount of scientific detail lol#looking at my search history thinking I’m an exotic pet veterinarian but I’m actually just drawing tmnt comics

Raphael skeletal anatomy! Click for better quality

Turtle shells are really funky, and in real life turtles, their shoulders and hips are actually fused to the shell and form immobile shoulder and pelvic girdles. Their scapula (shoulder blades) therefore are pushed almost fully downwards to give turtle arms that elbow up look. Most of their muscles are attached via ligaments to their plastron and limbs, with their large neck muscles reaching back along their spine with very minimal muscles on their sides or back.

Because of how funky their bones are, I tried to find a good middle ground between the brothers’ humanoid shape and mobility vs. their original species limitations. Their shoulders are very human, with their collarbone instead connecting to the top of their plastron rather than a sternum (flat bone in the middle of the ribs) with the addition of their shoulder blades resting much lower than a humans and protecting the open space in the armpit of their shell (rather than being set on their back under their carapace). Their necks can stretch slightly longer than a humans and have some extra mobility, on account of how they usually sit curved and tucked into their shoulders. Their pelvises and lumbar vertebrae (hips and lower back) are not fused to their shell to enable them to twist their torsos some.

As for how flexible the show depicts their shells to be… suspension of disbelief! I like to keep the idea of their shells being turtle like, so even though they’re all bone, I’ll allow cartoon physics to bend them some.

Additional info on Raph: The spikes on his shell are mostly bone. Also (something I didn’t draw because it was only after I finished this that I was able to find a picture of an alligator snapper shell bone without its scutes) there are small gaps between his pleural bone plates (middle of shell) and his peripheral bone plates (edges of shell). The scar on his shell is probably from a bone deep injury, as broken scutes shed away, but because scars don’t grow with a person, the injury is small enough that it probably happened so long ago that Raph can’t even remember it.

This is all just my speculation, so feel free to disagree or expand upon these ideas!

[General][Donnie][Leo][Mikey][Splinter]