I know. The animation in the Golden Age films is something else and everything in Fantasia and Bambi especially is unbelievable. There was a reason I got several books concerning the issue back in the day as learning about those films and their creators was beyond intriguing.

Congratulations to all of the winners and runner-ups! You guys deserved your awards.

It seems to be up to me to start the voting. Here are my five first votes and considering we have quite few participants, there'll be need for only one more post which I should have ready in a few days.

Fanfiction: The Battle Before Time

I rate it: 7/10

Because: This fic is a bit hard to evaluate but I’ll try my best. You are a pretty good writer and clearly capable of creating an original and interesting narrative. You had a very personal plot going on here and it was built quite nicely. It was deliberately outlandish and you knew how to make it work that way. Yet, this tale was perhaps even too outlandish for most readers and it was pretty tiring stuff to read through. That isn’t to say it was bad but the way I see it, there could have been room for improvement.

The premise of Littlefoot training under Doc while also having with Cera is pretty fun and something that is easy to see in LBT. However, the stuff that follows gets pretty outlandish. It is a testament to your skills as an author but the Baby Moon and supernatural fight gets pretty intense. The story has its good parts and the characterizations work quite well but the way I see it, the high tempo gets tiring. The fic is long as it is and it had pretty much no more silent scenes where to catch my breath. It was pretty much all action which made it quite heavy to read. This genre has its own appeal but it isn’t my piece of cake.

That being said, I still give you a rather high score for simply your abilities and fluidness in fusing LBT, fighting and comedy together quite nicely. I hope you won’t mind my criticism but I want to be as fair as I can. It will be interesting to see where this fic will go next as the battle for the Valley isn’t over. Overall, you did a good job in the genre you went with but magic and comedy just aren't my nr. 1 things.

Fanfiction: Weathered Gorge

I rate it: 8/10

Because: I liked many aspects of this fic. The first chapter portraying the demise of Petrie’s father in the first chapter was portrayed pretty believably. Likewise, it was good to see another take on Petrie’s issues with his family and how he tries to get over the bullying. This tale was written nicely as your stuff is but the quick ending to this fic left me with bit of a empty feeling. It just felt like there was potential for far more here but your compromise was good enough as well.

As I said, the first chapter was good as was the second one. At that point, the plot moved forward quite smoothly with certain tension hanging in the air. Petrie’s willingness to prove his worth is understandable and in-character though it was also foolish considering his young age. The premise of this story was thus established very effectively and I was left waiting for a real spectacle and a really intense conclusion.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad, it just felt sudden. Petrie just flew there, almost dies after which his mother gives him a much-needed lesson. I had expected a longer story and that made the ending even more interesting but in the end, I didn’t really feel we got much feeling for Petrie’s dad, for the Gorge itself or for the whole lesson. The whole fic felt like a 100k fic compressed into 20k.

However, I still give this a decent rating as I understand it was a prompt and you still provided us with memorable moments and places. Even if I can find stuff to point out, the overall picture is still positive and your skill as an author certainly helped in making this at least a bit more complete tale. So in the end, good job as always.

Fanfiction: Snowballed Lies

I rate it: 9/10

Because: I think this was your strongest prompt entry this year. Not only did it have a closer look on the main char but it also had the best plot. Of course it was a bit easier to build on top of your breakthrough story as Five Stages of Grief still stands as one of the best LBT short stories. This time we got a close look to Mr. Thicknose and really, you did a good job on fleshing out why he did what he did as despite everything, he wasn’t handled too well in the film.

It was a good decision to have a glance to Thicknose’s childhood as that laid the foundations for his rather eccentric personality. It makes sense he was a curious and analytical kid who wasn’t spectacularly well received by everyone. Even then, he loved to gather knowledge and grew to want to share it with others as well. Later on, that became the basis for his identity as we saw in the film. You showed his point of view on his mistakes very effectively and that’s one of the strong points of the story. Especially his hurt at being unable to answer to Mr. Threehorn was tangible.

The latter parts might have dragged on a bit as this story was a very long one for an introspective fic. Most of the scenes served their purpose, though, and the strict focus on Arbor/Mr. Thicknose was a good decision. Overall, it’s a very good sibling to Five Stages of Grief as you’ve shown that there were really many strong emotions around the events of the film that were completely cut out of it. It is nice that you’ve done so much to give us a more complete view of it and for that, this fic deserves this rating.

Fanfiction: Panicky Plumed Predicament

I rate it: 7,5/10

Because: This was a pretty simple and fun fic for sure. Guido was put in a very alien situation for him and considering the circumstances, he did pretty well. The premise worked even if Petrie had a pretty odd thought process when he implied that Guido’s day is worth less than his. Then again, I guess that’s understandable but it felt a bit bruh to me. It spoke a lot of the glider’s appreciation for jis friend to accept the job.

The latter parts were fun as well with Mr. Threehorn being just a bit apprehensive at the new babysitter. It’s clear that he doesn’t trust the glider but he has to accept the reality. Guido’s time with Tricia was quite well done (yeah, Greeny is a very good name for him) and his meeting with Ruby and Chomper was very nice. The shock at seeing Chomper was very easy to see coming and while the trio’s meeting wasn’t too long, it was good to see the secondary characters’ interacting for a while. I’m obviously biased towards that duo but their presence makes almost any fic even better. Overall, this story wasn’t the most ambitious one but it was chill and entertaining for sure.

Fanfiction: The Tragic Cycle

I rate it: 9/10

Because: Thus far I’ve greatly enjoyed this story. It has presented us with a great version about Petrie’s early life and it has already offered us with many emotional scenes from Petrie’s point of view as well as Cerusa. It’s clear that both of them are having a hard time and it has been tough not to feel bad at them. The plot itself has been satisfactory too even if I have had a few issues with it.

First of all, you’ve done very well in portraying Petrie’s issues and his struggles to take even the first steps in his life. His inability to speak, his future fear of flying… all is very clear to the reader as are Cerusa’s efforts to both support her son and also trying to show him the cold truths of life he simply cannot escape. Petrie’s doubts about her words were also clear and it was rather sad to see him that fearful about his own future.

Another thing I liked was Rantyl but I still am not completely happy with his fate. We’ve gone through this but I still think he had a lot more to offer us than dying in chapter 2. It just felt like it happened unnecessarily fast. Also, some aspects of storytelling feel a bit too self-indulging, most noticeably the emphasis on Petrie’s alleged autism. It just didn’t feel natural to put it so noticeably on display in a LBT fic.

But overall, this fic is a good one and it has much further potential. I hope we’ll see a careful, close development of Petrie’s character as he turns from a hatchling to what he was in the film. With Donnie’s presence and the dark, awesome world of the original movie, I’m sure we will be up for a treat later on. For that, I give this story one of the year’s best ratings.

Very well done, Jassy. The colors look phenomenal and I love the hatchlings' expressions.

Here's my next LBT pic and it's my OC from Separate Ways called Ortin. Hope you like it.




Mumbling: Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, I liked the face too but you're right about the tail. Sometimes I'm too eager to call a pic finished that I overlook such details but I'll keep the critique in mind.

StardustSoldier: Thank you as well. And i'm not sure about Ducky, they're all really difficult. Also, I used GIMP.

Flathead770: I'll certainly keep it up, no worries. 

RainbowFaceProtege: That's understandable considering I spent a lot of time with it and it's my biggest LBT pic of all. I'm certainly happy it turned out well after all the effort. As for the shading, could be, it seems quite simple but of course I need to get better in it too. Thanks for the comments, everyone!

Yeah, this chapter seems like a clear harbinger to a change in this story’s future. Not only is Petrie starting to get a small reprieve from his torture but we are also beginning to get glimpses on the larger picture behind everything that has happened. And I’d say it’s about time for that considering we’re past 100k words and the other main char is still herself. There were some pacing issues here, imo, but more about those later.

I must admit, Ferris is a far better loser than I had expected. I had thought he would storm away immediately to plan some kind of revenge or even get violent but he could accept defeat quite well, actually. Valent’s teasing was quite fun to read and he and Jovi were portrayed very well here. As for Petrie, swimming lessons with Ducky might just well be something out of his dreams and it isn’t hard to see which way his mind is going to go regarding his transformation. Yet, all of that is obviously going to fall on its head after Ducky changes too.

About the ending, it isn’t exactly surprising that there is a bigger organization behind the stones. Cirrus seems like a danger to Vekal and obviously as a result to Petrie and eventually Ducky. Their struggle for power will obviously have wide-ranging results but as it is, we still know quite little of this mysterious clan. But you did a good job building up the hype and tension. It seems unlikely that Vekal isn’t prepared for challenges to his position anyways.

As for the pacing comment, the first part of the chapter seemed excessively long even if it obviously was a game-changer for Petrie. I just personally prefer to have relatively balanced chapters regarding action and dialogue but even then, you did a good here. The stage is set for a change to Ducky’s pow and the clan’s increasing internal instability. The next chapter will be an interesting one to see.

Stardisk: Thanks for the comment but i really hope that isn't the case as in that case I would have just gotten worse.

Mumbling: Thanks for the detailed answers. Yeah, in the Chomper pic the spikes were a clear afterthought and i actually forgot them at first. I didn't give them enough attention as I just wanted to move on. As for the cave pic, maybe... I spent a lot of time with it and I had to make many compromises to make it look even decent. I think it's fine in the end, however. But again, I'm glad you thought those drawings were good and here's the next one.

This chapter was good stuff. Not only did it lay even more foundations on the upcoming Trials but it also created room for new conflict and drama. I really like how you’ve introduced the OCs as they don’t seem forced or unfitting to the story in any way. Likewise, Ruphus’ backstory was an interesting one though within it also lies my one major piece of criticism.

Nishir and Takari’s scene was quite fun and their chat with Echo and Opal was nice to read overall. While the duo’s denied love stuff was quite cliché, it still served as a good introduction to what they’re about in this story and I’ll follow their developments with pleasure. As for Whirlpool, you did justice to her. At first she seems like a complete jerk and someone you’d never want to meet and once she can see that you’re nice and capable, she turns into a more ordinary kid. I was happy to contribute to this fic and her fate in this story will be something to wait for.

As for Ruphus’ tale, it was good overall. It is now clear to us why he hates his own father with such passion as what Aophous did was horrible. In fact, it’s surprising Ruphus didn’t just kill him immediately as that’s what he would have deserved. That being said, the way their relationship is being built, it feels like there is some kind of reconciliation coming between the two, possibly as part of a future uprising against Sculra.

But that story also highlighted the way you handle traditions here. It makes little sense for someone to uphold purely bad traditions and tbh, Sura and Ruphus’ “tradition bad, anti-tradition good” preaches are really annoying. But I hope there will be more nuance coming to it in the future and overall, it wasn’t a huge point anyway. This was a good chapter and I hope we’ll see the next one soon enough.

An amazing starday to both of you!

You clearly understand how LBT works. It was nice to have that extra screen of Littlefoot trying to process that monstrous a question before the ending as who could ever even expect such a question? But overall, good job with the drawing and with the screenplay.