Doc is someone who cares about helping people while not being that much of a people person himself. Once he does his heroic deed, he dryly comments on how ordinary and unremarkable it was (“Just passing through” “Eh, lucky break”), and attempts to extricate himself from attention as quickly as possible. While not rude, if someone engages him in conversation, his replies are simple and short. A lot of his actions seem to send the message, “I’m a boring Good Samaritan, please go away.” But since he often does this in such an effortlessly smooth and cool manner that it has the opposite effect. He doesn’t mind people, but he prefers to be to his own company.

Still, Doc seemed charmed by Littlefoot and does his best to help the boy. He gave advice on how to deal with Littlefoot’s bad luck problem drawing from his own experience. I think part of the reason he pushed Littlefoot to see his grandfather as a hero was to value what he had and make the boy happy…and to get attention off him. Doc can only take so much cute hero worship.

Nevertheless, Doc appeared to remember Littlefoot. Being a kid who get caught up in dangerous adventures with his friends does lend to making him more memorable. Since Littlefoot has a tendency to help people like he does and he has no kin of his own, it isn’t too much of a far shot that Doc would return to introduce his mate Dara to Littlefoot and his grandparents. I think his fondness for Littlefoot only strengthened when the boy called him out for judging the gang’s friendship with Chomper. He doesn’t much like the hero worship he can sometimes get and he appreciates that someone can straight talk to him when he’s being wrong about something.  

As for why Doc suddenly has a mate – well, even introverts like some romance. From what we hear, Dara doesn’t mind traveling with few companions either even if she seems the more sociable one of the two, so that must make having a relationship easier for Doc. For all we know, she might have the same restless spirit as he does in exploring the world.

And speaking of exploring the world, Doc seems to have seen enough of it to know some locations aren’t as unique as some might think. Doc mentions “This [Great] Valley’s nice, but there are others just as nice out there somewhere.” Knowing there are places equal to or greater than the valley, he can’t stay in one place for long and is always on a journey to find some place better. If he stays in one place too long, the wanderlust he built up all of his life starts to itch at him. He admitted this is somewhat out of habit but I think he does like exploring, seeing new places, and maybe a few times meeting new people. Though I also think he wanders because “Crud, being around these same people for too many days is making me stuffy, got to get away, byyyye!” (Now I have the amusing mental image of a storm pinning Doc in a community for days and weeks on end, which makes him all but crawl the walls by the time it ends and barreling out of the community before anyone can bid him farewell).

A revealing comment Doc made while giving Littlefoot advice on the bad luck issue is “Change what you can, accept what you can’t.” I’m under the impression Doc does his best to help and change others in unobstructive ways. If others are too stubborn about not changing, though, he isn’t going to attempt moving what he believes is a mountain and moves on. He’s not one to really cause waves unless it’s of supreme importance and he doesn’t feel it’s his place to change who people are. Experience has probably taught him being nosy and trying to change others only makes things worse, so he makes do with what he can accomplish. He seems to have a realistic, pragmatic view of how the world works. It isn’t negative but you have to pick and choose your battles, for not all of them are winnable or worth fighting.

I wonder how much of that might be influenced by that experience and how much of it by his solitary, wandering lifestyle. If he was a bit more social and established deep roots in a community, would he retain the same attitude or work harder to solve the seemingly insurmountable problems since he has a personal stake? I can picture Doc and Littlefoot musing this as they compare notes with how they deal with problems. It’d be interesting to see how Doc might react to such a conversation.

Whoops! I thought I read that name but when I checked the post later, my eyes somehow skipped over it. I already covered on how Shorty might relate to Ali and Rhett in a previous post, so for the others….

I think Shorty and Hyp would have some tensions depending on if and how they’re trying to get over their times as former bullies. There might be some awkwardness as they find out the source of the behavior (The former from being orphaned and having difficulty finding new guardians, the latter due to imitating the behavior of his strict father). Shorty might feel grumbly since at least Hyp still had a parent with him but try to understand the challenges of a difficult guardian while Hyp would dance around and try not to poke at the topic of Shorty’s orphaning. I can see them getting along better enough to exchange jokes and snark as well as getting into some mischief with Ali.

Shorty might have a similar relationship with Nod, who might try to pull some weight in leading the longneck youth. But Shorty would likely have some resistance to that, with neither really following the other and maybe growing to respect one another. Mutt he’d in annoyed with in terms of his slowness and awkward nature. Shorty might warm up to Mutt’ well-meaning occasional sweetness and alternate between teasing him and pushing him to stand up for himself. Mutt would be at times annoyed and touched by Shorty’s mischief to him and attempts at kindness.

Shorty might be a bit annoyed with Guido since the latter seems older yet is nervous and bumbling. I can see Shorty asking Guido to do an important flying action and not understanding Gliders mightn’t be able to do the same things flyers do. Guido would try his best to ingratiate himself even if Shorty can be frustrating. After learning about Guido’s amnesia and search for who he was, Shorty might connect that with him trying to find his own place and be wanted. Shorty might ease with Guido and say he has a pretty good place in the valley. Guido would be touched by such sensitivity and attempt to tell Shorty’ll find where he fits in too in his own well-meaning clumsy way.

I believe I’ve read somewhere that Don Bluth said the first sharptooth might’ve been only trying to survive, though I don’t know the exact quote. You’re right the inconsistencies between the novelization and the final film make the former suspect and to have a more three-dimensional understanding of the meat eating characters. I can sort of understand why the first sharptooth went after Littlefoot for injuring his eye. Hunting and surviving became much more difficult and if word got out a child did damage to him, it might risk his standing. So he went after Littlefoot and the gang to salvage that pride. I sort of looked to the book because it seemed to have firmer characterization than depends-on-viewers-perspective portrayal in the film. Then again, I might just need to rewatch the first film a few times to get a firmer sense of who he is as a person. Whatever person he is, I do feel inclined that he’s more of a antagonist than villain.

-   Ruby’s family and the rest of the gang and their family

The fast runner family getting a firmer sense of who Ruby’s friends are would be great. I’d think they would like Littlefoot for his level-headed compassion and curiosity he shared with Ruby. Cera might ruffle some feathers (and they have feathers to ruffle, ohoho), but they have faced much worse from sharpteeth and they’d probably be charmed by her sarcasm and wit. Petrie might make them smile with his nervous and excitable antics. The gang might come to like Ruby’s family for how friendly and even-keel they are. I wonder if Ruby’s siblings might feel some jealously toward these friends she hangs around but I wouldn’t be surprised if they warmed up to them eventually too. I can see the siblings playing with the gang if they encounter one another and there’s time for such games.

-   Ali, Rhett, Hyp, Mutt, Nod, and Guido

Oh my, that’s quite an eclectic group of people. Ali might get along with Mutt and Guido, who are nervous and dorky but sweet. I can see Ali trying to steer Mutt away from Hyp’s more drastic shenanigans. Guido, meanwhile, would be glad there’s one level-headed mind among the group. Mutt, while touched, would resist that since he likes being Hyp and Nod’s friends. Ali might want to protect Rhett from Hyp’s posse’s shenanigans. Ali can stand up quite a bit toward Hyp, since she’s friends with Cera and can deal with someone of a similar temperament. Hyp might see her as an. annoying little upstart. But I believe they’d eventually warm up to each other and tease and play practical jokes on one another.

I think Rhett might be in turns wary up and enchanted by whatever Hyp’s posse cooks up. Those three are going through the adolescent struggle of how to be a grownup, and he might see the appeal in their bumbling attempts to be more independent. Still, those lies blowing up in his face so spectacularly might mean he’d check himself on being roped into their schemes.

Guido might get pulled along with the group even as he tries his best to look after them as the oldest person present (I kind of under the impression he’s an adult, albeit a bumbling kids’ show one). He might have his hands full with attempting to keep up with Hyp’s posse, who might be bemused and annoyed by such a weird person (Though I think Mutt might bond with Guido over their shared awkwardness). Nevertheless, I think they’d defend each other if the chips were down, though Guido would be terrified the whole way.

So there’d be conflict and awkwardness as these varying personalities attempt to adapt to one another but if the gang’s in trouble or if someone needs help, I’m sure they’ll try to act in the best way they can.

-   Bron and Mr. Threehorn

I’d think Mr. Threehorn might think that Bron’s parenting can be too permissive and Bron would think that Mr. Threehorn might be too stern and angry at times, though he could understand why the latter is like that. Surviving outside the Great Valley’s tough and sometimes people believe they have to be harsh to their kids so they’d make it to adulthood. I’d see Bron trying to understand Mr. Threehorn in that way, to defuse conflict, while they talk about parenting. Mr. Threehorn might be annoyed by this but he’d be grudgingly forced to see Bron’s parenting tactics (Which I guess involves explaining his reasoning for certain decisions and looking disapproving and disappointed at mischief) does have its own value. So I believe they’d ease into each other and come to get along.

Yeah, some of the writing I did while uninspired and/or not liking doesn’t read that bad when I returned to it days or weeks later. That’s why some writing advice says to wait a bit before reviewing your work.

The Writer’s Tale covers the showrunner of the revived Doctor Who who was in charge from revival in 2005 until the last episode broadcast on New Years Day 2010. It the development and writing of series 4, along with various other topics. If you don’t have much familiarity with the show, might be hard to follow but there’s an index I always skip that I think covers who’s who and what’s what. It mightn’t be for everyone but as I said, reading the book puts me to contemplate stories in a similar way, and I like it and it has been helpful.

As for questions for authors: are there any reviews you got or you’d like to get that make your day because they address certain things you tried to accomplish?

For me, it was the feedback indicated that my characterization was apparently on point. I’m very concerned about being faithful to the canon characters and those reviews made me pretty happy. I also liked a comment on ff.net that Familial Tour captured the essence of what made it a great series. Even though I go places the series can’t or won’t, I’m glad to hear I still hold onto the series’ core.

I’d hope to write a story good enough to make people comment “You know, I’m indifferent to/dislike Character X but here I enjoy them.” I’ve seen other writers receive those comments while remaining completely faithful to those characters, just making them more 3D and/or giving them another perspective. To shift someone’s perspective on a character for at least one story would be something that sounds fun to do.

(Hopefully, this question doesn’t sound too self-indulging. And no, I'm not asking for those kinds of comments, I'd hope to earn them.)

Are there any characters you’d want to see interact who have rarely or not deeply exchanged words with one another? Whose commonalities or differences would create some fun and interesting sparks if they were allowed the chance to bounce off of one another and make for an interesting story?

For example, I’d be interested to see Doc and Pterano meet face to face. They both have different thoughts about receiving and wanting attention and differing strategies on how they go about helping others. I think the clicking and clashing between the two about these thoughts and values would be both amusing and insightful to both of their characters.

I’d also like to see how Cera and Spike interact in a more focused manner. Apparently in a first movie deleted scene, she expresses disapproval of him joining the journey and even in the sequels where they get along much better, there are still the once in a while comments about his intelligence and her exasperation at his idiosyncrasies. However, I’d think some part of her might admire how unapologetically himself he is and he might enjoy the edge and mischief she brings to games. If they continue to relax in that mud spa place with Ruby and Tria, I can see them bonding more closely.

So what characters who rarely or not deeply interacted do you want to see, erm…interact?

This is a very excellent drawing. I like the way you captured Mo in his rare sweet and tender moments as he looks at the starfish. He’s still so recognizably Mo while in another drawing style. I like how the light shines through the surface and onto Mo. The starfish and the glimpse of ground are also great. I’m glad I saw this today.

(Aside: I find it interesting that two of your faves are Shorty, Littlefoot’s adopted brother and Mo, Littlefoot’s mud brother. It brought to mind the…awkwardness that might ensue if they meet. There might be some tension from Shorty and he might be a bit territorial over Littlefoot. Though Mo might head off any conflict by throwing mud on Shorty and declaring him a mud brother as well. I’m unsure of how Shorty might respond but I’m picturing him being both bemused and pleased.)

Since Land Before Time 3 was the first movie I saw, I have some nostalgic fondness for this trio even if they are children’s show bully archetypes. Though how they harassed the gang, they weren’t wholly bad and could be persuaded to be better people in the right circumstances.

I agree Hyp seems to be the smartest. I suppose with a strict father like his, it would take some brains to get out from under that thumb and not get caught in too much trouble. He’s going through the teenage rebellion phase exasperated by how he’s parented. Despite his disobedience and fears, it’s clear that Hyp also admires and loves his father. When his friends insulted his father, Hyp objected and made an attempt to come to his rescue. Hyp learned to how to relate to others through his father’s parenting. Prior to arriving the valley, I surmise Hyp’s father was strict in order so his son could survive their tough and unforgiving environment. From that, Hyp learned that to survive and have standing, he must dominate those smaller and less powerful than himself.

There are moments where he is concerned about appearing unafraid and dependent, which leads him and his friends to do reckless and mean things. When they see mushy and soft kids like the gang, he leads them to go on the attack and dominate. Hyp and his friends went around acting like how they believe grownups act, not needing help and operating by their own rules. When the mushy and soft gang ended up acting like actual grownups by rescuing their tormenters in the Mysterious Beyond, it began a transformation that led Hyp’s posse to become better people.

Hyp’s posse kind of reverted in his TV show appearance, but they aren’t as bad as before. The gang strong-arming them in helping to move the fast biter eggs, with Hyp depending on Littlefoot and vice versa to survive, led him to once again respect and appreciate the longneck youth. In the end, he appeared proud to have done the right thing.

In both of his appearances, he was still snarky and a bit posing even after he became a better person. I can see him keeping these qualities even if he continues to have friendlier relations to the gang. At his best, he could become the teasing older sibling to the gang, trying to look after them even if the gang is better and smarter at doing such a thing. With his and Cera’s parallels, I can see them having a snarky but friendlier relationship as they grow up. I read someone note that he might have a bit of a height complex for his species as shown when the gang pointed out they’ll grow up to be bigger than him and that might be a source of a bit of his bullying.

As he grows up, he might come to see his small size not as a weakness but an asset. He can hitch rides on bigger dinosaurs and I can see him asking his compatriots to hitch a ride, hopping on before they can answer, and kicking back on their heads or backs while sighing contently. Said compatriots would sigh fondly and dump him off (at a reasonable height) or commit some other mischief in retaliation. Whatever their adolescent misadventures, I can see Hyp’s posse getting along with kids and teenagers as they grow up, being still snarky and a bit posey while being more careful and responsible.

For the other two, I admit I don’t have much material about Nod. I’ve mentally tried to flesh him out but he’s challenging. I do agree he isn’t much of a thinker and does defer to Hyp but there are moments when he does question Hyp, especially if he feels the latter’s logic is dodgy or if they’re reputation or survival are at stake. When his bravery is questioned, though, he quickly falls in line with Hyp. In moments of danger, he panics and doesn’t know what to do as much as Mutt. It takes the prodding of the likes of Hyp to get him to do the right thing. I surmise he aligned with Hyp because they share a similar kind of mindset and humor, and Hyp says a lot of what comes to his mind. I do have the amusing headcanon that he has overly affectionate parents who embarrass him and who are in turns fond of and concerned about Hyp and Mutt, and the shenanigans they get involved in.

As for Mutt, I think he’s one who joined Hyp and Mutt because he found being with them exciting and their snark funny. There’s a bit of a youthful soul in him that might or mightn’t be related to whatever disability he might have. He follows along to his friends beat more than anything else, and even then he kind of struggles with that. Every once in a while, he does offer objections, like with Hyp’s suggestion to go to the Mysterious Beyond to get water, but like with Nod he can’t stand being called a coward. He does seem the most affable among the trio. When Spike licked him to indicate he liked him and Nod, Mutt appeared delighted.

His TV appearance did build a sweet friendship between him and Chomper. Mutt was nervous about swimming across a lake and admitting he can’t swim but Chomper was nice and patient with him even when he panicked and bumbled in the water. Mutt became fond of him for this kindness, as shown when Mutt later rescued him from the Fast Biter. He shown in that scene he can be good-naturedly cheeky as well. In that episode, I felt we learned a bit more about him as a person even if he wasn’t the sole focus by any stretch and I became even fonder of him.  

Anyway, these are my deep feelings about the trio.

Ah, I don’t remember talk of their herd only being recently migratory. Now that you mention it, the first question Old One asks is if there has been any change in the land. That recent experience must explain Old One’s cool mood. All of them must have been still reeling from being forced to leave their home and that contributed to the cynical mindset about any one environment remaining the same.

I can also see the lack of contact with other dinosaurs making her wary but I could also see how the changing land and the new residents made them cautious of anyone who wasn’t a longneck (and even then, there might still be caution there). Maybe after Old One remained traveling for several cold times and probably met other kinds of herds did she loosen up, which might have contributed to her having a more open view of Chomper’s presence in the valley.

I don’t know where she might have gotten the scar either. Inter-longneck conflict? From a predator when she was younger? An unfortunate encounter with a particularly sharp rock or tree branch? Whatever its origin, I wonder if it contributed to her cool and cautious attitude.

I don’t know wordlengths, whatever the story length, whether a one-shot or a multichapter story, I usually have a plot outline. For multi-chapter stories, each chapter is summarized in eighteen lines each. For one-shots, the line length and number of paragraphs are far more varying, to do with scene or theme change. I usually summarize things in a balance between being specific enough to know where I’m going, but vague enough to have wiggle room for creativity. Sometimes I got very specific to make a point clear and go vague because I don’t know what’ll happen. Sometimes vaguing can trip me up (choreographing fight scenes AAAAH!) but other times it does allow me to make some great things up on the spot.

As an example of how I plot and summarize my stories, here’s my outline for Familial Tour:

Summary: When Bron and Shorty make their first visit to the Great Valley, Littlefoot is delighted to introduce them to his friends and the amazing sights. With two new companions and old and new tensions, shall this tour go as smoothly as Littlefoot hopes?
Story Goals: Have Bron and Shorty get to know and better appreciate Littlefoot’s accomplishments and his friends. Get along with friends. Shorty better fits into the family. Story
Summary: Littlefoot’s on his way to play with his friends when he notices a commotion. He’s delighted to see Bron and Shorty leading the herd in. He nuzzles Bron and then Shorty, which embarrasses the latter. The grandparents greet them and help marshal the herd in what would be done in their stay. Some mutter about Bron just favoring his son but Bron said there are genuine positives to stopping in the Great Valley. Shorty was pleased to be welcomed by the grandparents. Littlefoot had a quiet conversation about how to introduce Ruby and especially Chomper. Littlefoot puts it off until later, worrying about how Bron will take to other dinosaurs. Cera and the others arrive, offering to leave Littlefoot with his family but Littlefoot insists they come along.

They meet Topsy, Tria, and Tricia. Bron and Topsy have a brief verbal scuffle over the validity of the longneck migration but Bron smooths it over by cooing over Tricia. Cera brings up Tria being her stepmother to Shorty. The gang’s adventures and tangling with Redclaw get brought up. Mama Flyer comes along and she and Bron briefly commiserate on the difficulty of being a single parent. Petrie returns informing the gang he couldn’t track Ruby and Chomper. Littlefoot decides to play it by ear as an apology to Petrie. Shorty finds the gang’s behavior suspicious but says nothing. Littlefoot got reassured he didn’t need to press himself so much in the tour. Bron and Mama Swimmer talk about adoption, Spike’s delight over their parents making Shorty feel better. They decide to get a view of the valley when Ruby and Chomper arrive.

Littlefoot allows the pair to decide to meet Bron and Shorty while Littlefoot prepares his family for the reveal. They are still shocked by Chomper and Ruby. Some innocent comments from Chomper about “pest control” cause tension but the others move to their defense. Chomper and Ruby offer to lead the route to the valley view. Littlefoot had a quiet conversation with Bron and Shorty about why he’s friends with the pair, Bron and Shorty thinking the pair were deceptive and their needs presented a danger, Littlefoot assuring the pair were good, how his mother’s death influenced his friendship with Chomper, and filling in some of their past. Guilty when Littlefoot breaks down, Bron and Shorty decide to give Ruby and Chomper a chance.

They get some great views, mentioning the many dangers the valley had. Shorty wryly says the Valley wasn’t as safe as said. The gang point out the valley, though sometimes at each other’s throats, worked together to survive these disasters. The gang expresses exasperation in the adventures they get into but stick by Littlefoot. The valley and the gang’s example make Bron consider integrating his herd one day. Shorty wondered when he could made such a contribution.

After a few more stops, they decide to pause the tour and play hide and seek. While they hide, Littlefoot asked Ducky for advice on how to act around adoptive brothers. Just as Bron found them, Littlefoot slides down to a steam shooter are and Chomper tackled him out of the way of a steam shooter. Bron rescued Chomper and Littlefoot. Bron warms up to Chomper. He does the same for Ruby after finding her and Petrie, where they talk about her learning interests. Shorty talks with Cera and Spike, learning it was okay to find to both like Littlefoot and find him annoying. They plot how to get back at Littlefoot.

With Ruby suggesting they use Bron’s tail as a slid, Cera and Shorty step in to suggest the risk of falling into a nearby mud put. The others slide down Bron’s tail and enjoy themselves. With Spike pretending to be stuck in the mud, Shorty and Cera offer to help Littlefoot pull Spike out. Teasing Littlefoot, they shove him into the mud. Happy Shorty was happy, Littlefoot laughed, and a mud fight ensued, briefly paused when Shorty struck Chomper. He was relieved to find Chomper laugh and join in the fun. Shorty throws mud at Bron to invite him into the game and Bron send a wave of mud at the gang. They are stunned but fall over laughing.

Bidding a warm farewell to Cera and the others, Littlefoot, Bron, and Shorty return to the grandparents. Bron briefly goes to have a meeting with his herd about whether to go through the valley or not in the future. Shorty reassured Littlefoot he understood why the latter chose to stay in the valley, even joking he could have Bron to himself. Though nervous, Littlefoot is delighted when Bron return with news the herd was more receptive to stopping here as part of their migratory route. Though Bron and Shorty could only stay for a few days, Littlefoot assures they could make the most of that time. With the grandparents were invited, the family trade humorous stories and enjoy each other’s company.

To Edit: When Littlefoot decides not to tell Bron and Shorty about Ruby and Chomper with his grandparents, hint at more selfish intentions. When they meet with the family of Littlefoot’s friends, have the parents mention even in passing the good Littlefoot’s done. Thus, not only would Bron and Shorty become closer to Cera and the others but the same would happen for Littlefoot, whose pride would rise. So when Ruby and Chomper come around, there would be a blowup that centers a bit more on Littlefoot’s judgement which had been so praised. Plot and Character Threads
- Littlefoot’s nervous about Bron interacting with other dinosaurs, fearing he would have some subtle prejudices, but that fear goes away as he interacts with the others’ parents. He wants Bron to approve of his life and doesn’t want to disappoint him, so when Ruby and Chomper go around, it’s a bit of a shock.

- Bron genuinely enjoys seeing Littlefoot’s home and friends, and does his best to ingratiate himself with others. Though he worried about the adventures Littlefoot gets in, he sees they make Littlefoot happy and doesn’t want to rock the bout. That gets challenged when Ruby and Chomper show up. He must struggle with his distrust and trusting Littlefoot and wanting them to be happy.

- Shorty struggles with being fond of Littlefoot, wanting to express his gratitude, and being jealous of him. He doesn’t want to rock the boat but learns through Cera and Spike it’s okay to be somewhat himself by teasing Littlefoot (Even if he can’t be fully honest about his feelings). He does appreciate the others trying to ingratiate them into the family but the sight of what Littlefoot and his friends have still inspires some envy.

- Littlefoot does his best to ingratiate himself so Shorty would be comfortable, sometimes succeeding and sometimes not. Ducky gives him advice and he decides to follow it when Shorty and Cera prank him, believing that’s one aspect of siblinghood – playing mischief on each other. Shorty would find this both touching and annoying.

Note that after I write the story, I sometimes go back and adjust the outline to put it more in alignment of the story I wrote. Those Editing Notes were to myself as I reviewed and rewrite things, though I wasn’t always faithful to them. The Story Goals were basically what the character’s going to learn and/or accomplish in the story, which’s usually written before I start plotting and writing

As for how much I plan…I usually complete the plot outline like above before I start writing. I often check back on the outline to refresh my memory as I write but I as often write the story from memory and things can deviate. I do have some idea for many of the plots and the goals for each lead character, but sometimes I have to elaborate on things and come up with goals for the other characters. For example, as I’ve been writing a future chaptered LBT story, Mr. Threehorn’s character path became clearer and more elaborated as I went along.

Sometimes, a scene or chapter grabs me so much I’d jump ahead and write it. Though it’d be redone later, it does clarify things like location, where and when characters should be, and make me discover part of characters I didn’t think before. Might as well get the energy and mood of a scene done now without worrying about forgetting it later.

And speaking of that, when I do my one or two pages per day, I often write what’s going to happen next in brackets so I wouldn’t forget and keep up some of the momentum. I came up with that after being on a roll, knowing where I’m going, and coming back the next day not knowing what was going to happen next. This is how I’ve done it for Familial Tour:

[Cera told him not to be ashamed. Her friends and family annoy her all the time yet she still loved them. The issue was to find a way to deal with it. Spike nodded with agreement. Shorty was surprised at such honesty. He wasn’t sure if he could be that honest yet he saw he could both love and be annoyed by his loved ones. He wondered what he was supposed to do about those feelings. Cera whispered up a plan that Shorty liked and Spike giggled along. A few minutes later, Bron would discover them.

While Shorty took advantage of Littlefoot apologizing to Petrie, he accidentally struck, Chomper. He froze, wary. But Chomper laughed and Ruby slung mud at Shorty in “revenge.” As Shorty engaged Littlefoot in a brotherly brawl, Littlefoot thought he fit right in, bringing energy and passion into a family of even-keeled temperaments.]

I'm still not good with deadlines. Still trying to have a steadier schedule so I can actually post stuff on a more regular basis. But as I write but often while writing later chapters, there's something that ends up not working or can be improved in the earlier chapters I want to fix.

As for where I get my ideas from…often times, I forget. For those times I do, I sometimes take a concept from other shows and twist them to serve my purpose. Often times, it’s Doctor Who and it’s spinoffs, which weirdly have a few things in common with LBT than first thought. I also get ideas from trailers, which are different from the show. For example, an audio drama trailer about a conspiracy speaker can be twisted to Littlefoot and a huffy Mr. Thicknose meet a conspiracy speaker or Littlefoot and his grandparents listening to a story speaker whose tales weirdly twist minds and/or the environment. Don’t know if I’ll ever write that, but those ideas occur to me as I consume other media.

To write dialogue, I often watch those other shows to imitate their mood and speaking beats because that’s the mood and beats I want in my stories. For LBT, I most often go to Doctor Who and the Tales Of video game series, the former because I like how characters speak and interact and the latter because I can be a bit grim a times and I think the cute, silly banter in Tales skits gives the gang some welcome in-character lighter moments.

Anyway, I hope this was helpful and coherent. It’s what I do to write.

As an autistic person, I can see and support headcanons about Spike being nonverbal and autistic. Some have noted he buries or covers his head when scared or stressed at times. There are moments where he doesn’t grasp the social mood and is sheepish when called out on it. He’s social but there’re autistic people who are social. He does often hover at the edge of the gang and go on his own sometimes to do his own thing.

He could be nonverbal because he has no interest in talking and/or that talking is a stressful endeavor. Thankfully, the gang doesn’t press Spike much about not speaking, so he’s mostly a laidback sort. That one time they did press him near the 4th film’s end, Spike did have a momentary nervous “Oh crud” expression before he smoothly covered himself by chomping on grass. As he grows up, I do wonder if he would feel social pressure to become verbal, or become interested in being verbal on his own. Googling around does indicate nonverbal individuals becoming verbal is possible, and has been explored with Spike in a few fan stories. But though Spike might be able to speak a few words, it’s also possible he’ll never become fully verbal. Sometimes with a disability, there’s no “getting better.” Spike might struggle in his older years but come to self-acceptance again and believe there’s nothing for him to “get better” from. And that’s okay. As I’m going to stay Autistic for life, I find that encouraging.

The “Through The Eyes of a Spiketail” episode doesn’t seem that strange to me. I’m not nonverbal but his thought process were similar to mine. I’ve checked a few articles where nonverbal autistic adolescents communicate through computers and it’s not that different either. From what I research, nonverbal people do have rich thoughts and opinions they have difficulty communicating with others.  

I can see Mutt from Hyp’s gang being disabled as well. I know he’s the “Dim” Archetype often found in kids’ show Bully Gangs, but he still interest me. I don’t know of a specific disability but he can be a bit slow on the uptake and doesn’t appear to act his age. He seems pretty agreeable until prodded by Hyp and Nod. As for why he fell with that kind of crowd, well…disabled people have a huge variety of interests like everyone else. And some of them like being punks (Even if not successful ones). I surmise Mutt could have found how Hyp and Nod’s antics amusing and exciting, and wanted to be part of that action. He seems pretty used to the occasional insult or slap directed at him but I wonder if there’s a point where that would affect him.

I do see the yellow bellies, or the herd Foobie leads, as disabled. They can only concentrate on one subject at a time and can have a hard time grasping the magnitude of certain situations. Foobie is different but he’s nonverbal and tends to go with the flow of his herd (I do like the small, cute friendship he shares with fellow green nonverbal Spike). I’ve seen one or two interpret them having more severe autism that leaves them with little choice but to depend upon Foobie and others for survival. I do like that though Littlefoot and the gang do find them in turns weird, annoying, and/or frustrating, they don’t value their lives any less because of whatever disability they might have causes them to have difficulty taking care of themselves (Though Littlefoot was a bit patronizing about it).

I would caution against diagnosing antagonists and villains. Not that they can’t be disabled but it can lead to trying to explain their badness through their disability, which has a bad history. Though unintentional, it can paint disabled people as violent even though we’re far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violence. Neurotypical people have been logiced and logiced themselves into doing all sorts of terrible things just fine on their own throughout history. I’m probably being a bit paranoid but it’s something I’ve become aware in my disability readings.  

That was fun. One of the things I’ve liked about The Land Before Time are the characters that can be interpreted as having disabilities and I hope I explored them well.