Seriously.
Nov. 24th, 2010 09:45 amI am getting sick and tired of people whining about how all the grass starters are reptiles and how uncreative it is.
So when an artist I follow on dA made a whine entry about it, I had to reply.
Why does it get me so? Because, for one, Grass works for reptiles. Many reptiles need to sun themselves to regulate their body heat. Plants need light to initiate photosynthesis and produce more biomass. It's a match made in heaven. Granted, applying that assumption to dinosaurs (who may have been homeothermic like modern birds and mammals) is a bit of a stretch, but yeah.
Also, 'reptiles' is a very broad umbrella term to describe the Grass starters. The Bulbasaur line seems to have traits of Synapsids, a group that fissioned off from reptiles and eventually gave rise to mammals. The Chikorita line are Sauropod dinosaurs, a group that had quite a bit of internal diversity of its own right. Treecko starts off as a leaf-tailed gecko and proceeds to acquire traits of theropods, a large group of dinosaurs that a clade of, the Maniraptora, is believed to have given rise to modern birds. Turtwig starts as a Snapping Turtle and gradually transforms into a strange cross of a turtle and an ankylosaurid dinosaur and the newest critter, Tsutarja/Snivy, is a proto-snake that progresses gradually into full snake form in its final evolution. That is quite a lot of diversity.
In fact, if you're going to whine about how all grass starters are not creative because they fall under a broad umbrella term, take a broader look at all the starters. Notice a trend here? "Reptiles" including non-avian archosaurids (grass starters, Charmander, Squirtle and Totodile), Mammals (Cyndaquil, Chimchar, Pokabu/Tepig and Mijumaru/Oshawott), birds (Torchic and Piplup)and an amphibian (Mudkip).
OH SHIT. THEY ARE ALL TETRAPOD VERTEBRATES! IT'S NOT CREATIVE! In fact, it shows no creativity whatsoever! I call a Grass Elysia chlorotica, a Fire Bombardier Beetle and a Water Hallucigenia for the extinct wtf factor!
You know what, why limit ourselves to Metazoa only? Let's branch out even more! I call a Grass Cyanobacterium, a Fire Hyperthermophilic Archaeon and a Water Rotifer! How's that for diversity? Not just different classes, by three different DOMAINS! Is that creative enough for you?
Third version could be a special Electric Bacteriophage Edition.
...
The person I posted this rant at deleted the aforementioned journal entry. Bio-pwned, biyatch.
So when an artist I follow on dA made a whine entry about it, I had to reply.
Why does it get me so? Because, for one, Grass works for reptiles. Many reptiles need to sun themselves to regulate their body heat. Plants need light to initiate photosynthesis and produce more biomass. It's a match made in heaven. Granted, applying that assumption to dinosaurs (who may have been homeothermic like modern birds and mammals) is a bit of a stretch, but yeah.
Also, 'reptiles' is a very broad umbrella term to describe the Grass starters. The Bulbasaur line seems to have traits of Synapsids, a group that fissioned off from reptiles and eventually gave rise to mammals. The Chikorita line are Sauropod dinosaurs, a group that had quite a bit of internal diversity of its own right. Treecko starts off as a leaf-tailed gecko and proceeds to acquire traits of theropods, a large group of dinosaurs that a clade of, the Maniraptora, is believed to have given rise to modern birds. Turtwig starts as a Snapping Turtle and gradually transforms into a strange cross of a turtle and an ankylosaurid dinosaur and the newest critter, Tsutarja/Snivy, is a proto-snake that progresses gradually into full snake form in its final evolution. That is quite a lot of diversity.
In fact, if you're going to whine about how all grass starters are not creative because they fall under a broad umbrella term, take a broader look at all the starters. Notice a trend here? "Reptiles" including non-avian archosaurids (grass starters, Charmander, Squirtle and Totodile), Mammals (Cyndaquil, Chimchar, Pokabu/Tepig and Mijumaru/Oshawott), birds (Torchic and Piplup)and an amphibian (Mudkip).
OH SHIT. THEY ARE ALL TETRAPOD VERTEBRATES! IT'S NOT CREATIVE! In fact, it shows no creativity whatsoever! I call a Grass Elysia chlorotica, a Fire Bombardier Beetle and a Water Hallucigenia for the extinct wtf factor!
You know what, why limit ourselves to Metazoa only? Let's branch out even more! I call a Grass Cyanobacterium, a Fire Hyperthermophilic Archaeon and a Water Rotifer! How's that for diversity? Not just different classes, by three different DOMAINS! Is that creative enough for you?
Third version could be a special Electric Bacteriophage Edition.
...
The person I posted this rant at deleted the aforementioned journal entry. Bio-pwned, biyatch.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-24 05:10 pm (UTC)