Ask Pangaea

[Caustizer]

If you could have any of the villains in past Land Before Time movies return for another one, who would it be?

Remember that as of yet no LBT villian (apart from Chompers parents, but thats subjective to opinion) has ever appeared in another installment.

[Amaranthine]

This might be an odd question, but do you believe in the term "guilty pleasure" as in having "LBT as a guilty pleasure" due to certain circumstances of what seems to be socially acceptable in society, or do you kick out the labels and just like what you like even if other people would call them guilty pleasures?

[Caustizer]

In Far Away Home, do you view Glide as a villian hooked by chance, or as a misguided hero?

Also, when are you going to start reviewing again?  The next chapter is nearly ready to go up  

Gratz on finishing school too.

Caustizer.

[Pangaea]

Anyway, not sure if this question was asked already, but what comedy shows/movies/comics do you like the most, Pangaea?

Someone did ask about what movies I liked, but the list I gave is in need of updating by now (though I'm not sure whether I should bother editing it), and anyway, it's not the same as your question.

There are plenty of movies and shows with comedy in them that I like, but the ones I go for when I specifically want a laugh (not all would necessarily be considered comedies) include the following:

Movies
The Ice Age series
Pixar films
Kung Fu Panda
The Princess and the Frog
The Marx Brothers movies

Shows
The Three Stooges
Classic Disney cartoons (mostly ones with Donald Duck and Goofy)
MythBusters
Dirty Jobs
America's Funniest Home Videos (haven't watched it in ages, though)
Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Comics
Garfield
The Far Side

If you could have any of the villains in past Land Before Time movies return for another one, who would it be?

Definitely between Ozzy and Strut, Sierra and Rinkus, and Ichy and Dil. All three of those duos made me laugh. Ozzy and Strut might be my first choice, seeing as Ichy and Dil split up (and having them get back together and return to their previous routine of simply hunting the gang might be a bit awkward), and a lot of the humor from Sierra and Rinkus came from their conflicts with Pterano, who I doubt would be willing to associate with them again.

This might be an odd question, but do you believe in the term "guilty pleasure" as in having "LBT as a guilty pleasure" due to certain circumstances of what seems to be socially acceptable in society, or do you kick out the labels and just like what you like even if other people would call them guilty pleasures?

I used to think the term “guilty pleasure” simply referred to a fandom (or just a subject of interest) you were shy and/or embarrassed about sharing, but for a while now I've been confused about what it actually means, so I don't really use it. If the definition I gave is basically what you're talking about, then, unfortunately to say, yes, I do have many interests that I am reluctant to express openly. It depends on the subject, of course; I'll be quite open about the fact that I love science and nature, and enjoy writing, but I don't think I'd ever spontaneously state “I like The Land Before Time”, because I figure most people probably think of it as a musical children's cartoon with too many sequels, and fear that some might judge me as weird, immature, creepy, or whatever for liking it. (Yeah, I know; I'm a wimp.) On the other hand, if someone else were to bring up the subject first, and ask me if I liked LBT, I wouldn't lie. I'm much more comfortable with sharing my interests with someone if I feel reasonably certain that that person will share them (or, at least, not denigrate them).

In Far Away Home, do you view Glide as a villian hooked by chance, or as a misguided hero?

He sure felt a lot like a villain early on, but since then he's become more of an antihero (not sure if that's quite the right term; “grudging hero”, perhaps?). I think the second option would probably be closer.

Also, when are you going to start reviewing again?  The next chapter is nearly ready to go up 

I don't feel like I can apologize enough for the delay. Finishing all of my schoolwork, preparing for my graduation, attending the graduation itself, having my uncle over, helping clean the house in preparation for his arrival, and still finding time to sleep has left me with a lot less time and energy for extensive GOF activity than I would like. Tomorrow's shaping up to be another busy day for me, so I'll do my best to read and review Act III, Part II tonight. (Of course, if I'm successful, you'll probably know before you see the answer to this question. )

Gratz on finishing school too.

Thanks.

[Amaranthine]

I figured I would ask you this, since you love science and whatnot.

I believe you know about the relationships species have with each other. Commensalism, mutualism, parasitism etc.

There is also a predator and prey relationship. Of course, this does not benefit the prey in anyway, but I was wondering two things, (first one I'll admit is pretty silly and morbid, the second one is a bit gross too):

1. If the prey was weak, old, or even depressed to the point of wanting to kill themselves, and wanted to be eaten, wouldn't it be mutualism then? Since the prey does not want to live anymore, and will give permission for the predator to eat them?

2. Wouldn't it be mutualism between the producers, (the plants) and the predator when the predator eats the prey, digests, excretes waste so the plants can grow?

I'm sorry if this confuses you or baffles you at all, I just was thinking this as I was reading about the relationships of species.

[Ptyra]

You have mentioned not seeing the Brave Little Toaster, however, you left some captions on my BLT caption this"es" that were surprisingly in-character. Did you see it/them from the links I put up?

[Pangaea]

I figured I would ask you this, since you love science and whatnot.

I believe you know about the relationships species have with each other. Commensalism, mutualism, parasitism etc.

There is also a predator and prey relationship. Of course, this does not benefit the prey in anyway, but I was wondering two things, (first one I'll admit is pretty silly and morbid, the second one is a bit gross too):

1. If the prey was weak, old, or even depressed to the point of wanting to kill themselves, and wanted to be eaten, wouldn't it be mutualism then? Since the prey does not want to live anymore, and will give permission for the predator to eat them?

2. Wouldn't it be mutualism between the producers, (the plants) and the predator when the predator eats the prey, digests, excretes waste so the plants can grow?

I'm sorry if this confuses you or baffles you at all, I just was thinking this as I was reading about the relationships of species.

Not at all. I was studying symbiotic relationships myself in my Animal Behavior class this past semester. We didn’t cover anything that related to what you’re talking about, and I didn’t learn much that I hadn’t known already, but I think I can still offer an answer to these.

1. Seeing as we do not know exactly what goes on inside the minds of non-humans, I am hesitant to say this, but as far as I’ve learned, it is very rare for animals to actually want to die, if this even occurs. (I remember reading that only humans are believed to be capable of deliberately committing suicide, though I’m a bit skeptical of this.) In any case, I think the different symbiotic relationships are defined by how they impact the participant organisms’ reproductive fitness (their ability to survive and produce descendants). For instance, predation provides food for the predator, improving its odds of surviving to produce another generation, while the prey’s reproductive fitness is not just reduced, but altogether obliterated. Even an animal that is past its reproductive prime can further its genes by helping relatives. If you had an animal that was suffering and was “put out of its misery” by a predator, I suppose it might be considered mutualism from a moral standpoint, but from a scientific perspective, that animal has had its reproductive fitness cut short (by its condition as well as the predator), so it would still be considered a one-sided relationship.

2. I think this would be considered commensalism. The plant benefits from the nutrients from the predator’s waste (as well as the possible fact that there’s one less herbivore around to eat it ), but the predator does not directly benefit. In the long run, the plant could end up feeding more herbivores for the predator to eat (either by growing bigger or by successfully reproducing), but it could be similarly argued that predation is mutualistic because every prey animal killed by the predator leaves more plants for the others to eat.

I have to say, I really liked that question. (Not that I like the others less, but this one was particularly interesting.) Thank you, Amy!

You have mentioned not seeing the Brave Little Toaster, however, you left some captions on my BLT caption this"es" that were surprisingly in-character. Did you see it/them from the links I put up?

Incredibly, no (though I have seen the links and am planning to watch it; I just haven't had time what with my graduation, my uncle visiting . . . oh, and my Internet not working :mad). I just came up with those captions based on what I saw in the images. For this one, I saw Lampy poking Radio in the clock with the two prongs of his plug, and immediately thought of Moe Howard’s two-finger eye-poke. As for the other ones, it started with just an irrestistible opportunity for a joke involving the literalization of light and light bulbs being used as metaphors for intellect, which I then lampshaded (yeah, that was intentional ) in the second caption by having Lampy state that having a dim bulb and being a dim bulb mean the same thing for him. As for the third, I think I kind of had the impression that there would be a lot of comic exchange between Lampy and Radio, and the idea of the kind of threat Lampy would make to Radio just popped into my head. (Come to think of it, Radio’s the only one of the main appliances who doesn’t have a face, isn’t he?)

I have to say, I'm rather pleased to hear that my captions suited the characters so well. Thanks, Ptyra!

[Serris]

What is your favorite subject in school?

[Pangaea]

Biology. More specifically, biology relating to nature and living organisms. Some of my favorite biology classes I took during my time at college were Life's History, Microbiology, Plant Systematics, Ecology, Conversations with Naturalists, and Animal Behavior. (I think I enjoyed Plant Biology, too, but my memory of it is very dim.)

[Serris]

Biology. More specifically, biology relating to nature and living organisms. Some of my favorite biology classes I took during my time at college were Life's History, Microbiology, Plant Systematics, Ecology, Conversations with Naturalists, and Animal Behavior. (I think I enjoyed Plant Biology, too, but my memory of it is very dim.)

Hey, wait, that is my favorite subject too! Though I am more of a molecular biology person. Ecology is interesting too.

Do you like seafood?

[Pangaea]

Oh, yeah. Went to Red Lobster just this Sunday to celebrate my graduation. Crab legs, crab cakes, tilapia, Maine lobster tails, scallops, salmon, and shrimp are probably my favorites. (I am, however, worried about the environmental impacts of large-scale fishing and fish farming, so I'm rather hesitant about ordering some kinds of seafood, particularly the last two. :unsure:)

That reminds me, I have some additions to make to my list in the "Favorite Foods" thread.

[Ptyra]

Hmm...now that school is mentioned...
In your entire school career, which subject was the biggest pain in the neck for you?

[Pangaea]

Ohhh, that’s hard. :unsure: I despised Music class in middle school. Not only was it inanely boring (we didn’t even learn to play instruments; the most interesting thing I remember doing is copying musical notes ), but an event that is surely one of my my worst school memories occurred in that class. (It started with a few people throwing spitballs at me and making taunts from afar; before I knew it, half the class had surrounded me and was picking on me for no apparent reason, while the substitute teacher just stood by and did nothing. :mad Perhaps fortunately, I don’t remember much of what the other students said to me, but I do know that they upset me to the point that I broke down crying at my table . . . and received taunts for that as well. )

I suppose that doesn’t quite fit the criteria of which subject was the most frustrating for me to complete. I never liked gym class in middle school (I’m not even sure that counts), I had A TON of trouble with Algebra in high school, and in my first year of high school I had an exasperating Spanish teacher who assigned word finds as assignments every day. (As I recall, we had to find the Spanish words, while their English meanings were listed, so we had to know the meaning of every word in order to find it. That wouldn’t be so bad, except that the teacher didn’t give us all the words in the daily vocabulary list, and on the next day’s quiz there would be words that weren’t on the list OR the puzzle. )

In college, there was a mandatory course called Dignatas (a dignity-themed class). The instructor was wonderful, but the assignments and readings were very challenging. Furthermore, it was a year-long course, and the next year I had a full load of four additional courses, which proved to be very taxing on me. One of those courses was Fantasy Literature, which had some interesting reading, but A LOT of it, and the instructor (who was virtually unpleasable when it came to evaluating work) gave us ridiculously little time to read each of the books. Then there was Public Relations. The instructor was a nice guy, but the class was unbearably dull, and many of the assignments were challenging (the sort of work that seems to take forever to complete). And last fall I took Introduction to Hebrew Scriptures, which had many assignments (often large ones) that were far outside my usual realm of interests, and were a pain to complete. (Against all odds, I got out of that class with an A. :blink:)

So . . . yeah, probably one of those.

[Cancerian Tiger]

I like biology a lot, too .  I struggled a bit with algebra in high school as well, but excelled in phys ed and the performing arts.

I can't help but say that I really admire the restraint you'd practiced on that day in music class.  I'm really saddened by stories like that.  Thank goodness (probably 'cuz I'm female) I was never in a situation that severe.  There probably would've been several peers in the nurse's office, and I probably would've been in really deep s*** :blink:.  I can take a LOT more crap than the average person, but there's only so much I can take.  This leads me to ask:

Do ya consider yourself short-tempered or high-tempered?

[Serris]

Which RP's have you read/followed on this forum?

[Pangaea]

I can't help but say that I really admire the restraint you'd practiced on that day in music class.  I'm really saddened by stories like that.

Thank you. Although it might not have been so much a matter of restraint as the fact that one of my personal rules was to never hitóor even insultóanyone in school, for fear of getting in trouble for it (Or would that still count as restraint? ). Fortunately for me there were very few occasions when someone else hit me, so I never really had to physically defend myself.

Do ya consider yourself short-tempered or high-tempered?

I’m not entirely sure what kind of temper I have. :unsure: In general I think I’m pretty tolerant, but there are some things that get on my nerves very quickly. Often, I’m more likely to become irate at a repeated source of irritation, such as if someone is singing an annoying song and continues to do so even after I have asked them several times to stop. I also tend to be crankier if I’ve had a bad or stressful day, and I’m quicker to snap if I’m being bothered by a loud or irritating noise if I have a headache. On the other hand, there are probably things that I have above-average tolerance for (though I can’t think of any examples at the moment ).

Which RP's have you read/followed on this forum?

Let's see . . . there was “Sleep and Remember”, the first and part of the second “Insane CafÈ”, the first 20 pages or so of “New Surroundings” (a Jurassic Park/LBT crossover), the first three pages of “The Wish”, and “In The Land Before Time” (which I joined ). I might have glanced at a couple of others, but I think that's about it.

[pokeplayer984]

Okay, here's a question...

I know you do like dinosaurs, but is there any particular one you hate for any reason at all?

[Pangaea]

Not really. Even if you extend the definition of “dinosaur” to include modern-day birds, there really aren't any I particularly dislike. There are some birds in some places that I wish weren't there (such as starlings in North America), because they are invasive species that cause problems for native wildlife, but I don't hate them for it.

EDIT: Well, unless you count Barney.

[pokeplayer984]

EDIT: Well, unless you count Barney.

I think we can all agree with that one. :

If your favorite Dinosaur was put into The Land Before Time, what kind of personality do you think it would have?  And would you have it be male or female?

[Pangaea]

Surprisingly enough, no one has yet asked me about my favorite dinosaur in this thread. My response, of course, would be that I can’t really choose a favorite. However, for the purposes of this question, I’ll go with Therizinosaurus, since it’s a dinosaur I’m very fond of that I’d really love to see in LBT.

I’ve always imagined a LBT Therizinosaurus character (or any fictional Therizinosaurus character) as being misunderstood; popularly assumed to be more dangerous than he or she really is. (The paradox that Therizinosaurus was a theropod, related to T. rex and nearly as big, with the largest known claws in natural history, but was most likely a herbivore, has always fascinated me.) The two personality types I envision the character having are as follows:

ï Openly friendly and sociable, but feared by most creatures he/she meets due to his/her imposing physical appearance. May be aware that he/she is frightening to others, and is therefore cautious when it comes to seeking friends, or oblivious to it, in which case his/her attempts to be outgoing would often get him/her into trouble.

ï Outwardly gruff and reclusive by nature (probably in response to being shunned and/or feared by everyone he/she meets), possibly even making empty threats when annoyed, but kind and harmless underneath it all. (I have a certain fondness for characters like that, examples including Manny the mammoth from the Ice Age movies, and Kirby the vacuum cleaner from The Brave Little Toaster.)

I suppose the character would more likely be male, but I can’t really explain why (I’ve always had trouble with the dichotomy of gender in characters I design, and how it influences the way I portray them).

By the way, I know of at least two artists who have already come up with LBT Therizinosaurus characters (IsisMasshiro and theblazinggecko), the latter of which has a character profile which is coincidentally very similar to the first of the two I came up with. :blink: