This story is a sequel to The Bridge: A Godzilla-MLP Crossover
"Everyone knows dinosaurs are extinct... but what if they're wrong?"
Maia Search of Canterlot High School, after spending a year in recovery from a gymnastics injury and longer time recovering from grief; goes to her mother's summer camp to serve as a counselor. While there, she and her friends, Babs Seed's older sister Sunflower Orange and nature lover Sandalwood, find themselves wrapped up in a mystery 65 million years in the making. It's between five and six feet tall, covered in feathers, and much smarter than they could have imagined. And it's not alone...
===========================
A retelling of the original Discovery Kids' 2007 show, DinoSapien, set in the Equestria Girls universe along with elements of the IDW comics, with background characters leading the roles as well as updated paleontological science.
This takes place in the same Equestria Girls altered continuity as The Bridge after it's version of Rainbow Rocks, however that is not required reading as it deals with different characters in a remote area and will not star any of the kaiju roster.
This, I think, is foreshadowing for The Bridge.
Just to take a stab at a guess, Junior is likely the blue-fire spitting dude, weird pale guys could be either Legion or Antiverse Kaiju, and giant glowy things either the Rainboom's "lightshow" or a thematic equivalent. That said, calling it a Musical Showcase instead of a Battle of the Bands may well indicate the Dazzlings will play a very different role... just as indicated with the changes in the story so far.
I am unfamiliar with the original source material, so I cannot judge the ways you are improving upon it. For that reason alone, I am hesitant to comment on the story itself. What is up so far looks to be the beginning of a fun read, so I will be keeping up to date on this tale. Of course, anything Bridge related will be fair game...
That all said...
First Comment! Yey!
Good start Tarbosaurus.
Wow, this series seems interesting. It's sweet that Paleo and Gentle had such a caring daughter and made a park to make families have a great time, though I do feel bad about Maia's accident and hoe Paleo's disappearance is affecting her. Love your portrayal of Sandalwood and Sunflower and Maia's first encounter with a mysterious dinosaur. I'll be tracking this.
ACH! Right in the childhood.
My childhood, right here
8122672 Your childhood was in 2007? oh, man...
8122798 Yes. I was 10-11 back then. Believe it or not, people exist who were born in the mid-90s.
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Well if someone was born in mid to early 1990s (so like, 1993-1997), they'd have been around 14-10 when Dinosapien first aired. I was 12. Plus it was kinda the star show for a channel that was pretty common in a lot of households due to being pretty well promoted and solid rerun schedule past the initial airdate for years, extending all the way up to The Hub. I remember this show having multiple airing a day two years after the finale. It had a kinda unique role as a fiction show that was still pretty entrenched in science topics, whereas the other shows on Discovery Kids tended to be one or the other entirely.
So while it's not too well known, lots of us dino dorks grew up watching it
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Oh, and in case you want a trip down memory lane
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Lovely to see my Bridge Buddies following suit and this is a great first review. I wanted to try and make sure the status quo was established quickly and firmly so people understood what was going on. This was especially important given I was working with a main trio which is composed of an OC (Maia), an IDW exclusive (Sunflower), and a minor character (Sandalwood). Good to see it seems to be working
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Thanks for piling in man, hope to entertain!
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Congrats on first to the comment-trigger buddy
Three for four guesses ain't half bad either!
What I'll be mostly doing is a total rewrite of the series. It's not to say the original plot is bad, just stuff will be changed as I wanted to do a few things differently as well as tweak the pacing and tone in some spots. For example the show has Maia's equivalent, Lauren, already at the camp with mention of a gymnastics accident and later us seeing her struggling to repeat an act, but we never actually saw what happened. Works fine for Show!Dinosapien's pacing, I just wanted to be a bit more direct with EG!Dinosapien as well as tie it to her father going missing. So while elements of the show will be there (such as this chapter sharing a name with the first episode, the main dino still being called "Eno", setting, etc.), the plots will diverge. So watching the show won't be necessary.
A good comparison would be think of this as a series reboot with the TV show being the original. There's similar DNA, but the plots, characters, and themes might differ. Plus I'm working with 10 more years of paleontology know-how and not limited by a TV budget.
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Heatseeker's joking around Europa, it's okay dude
8122885 I was born in 93 myself. TV was awesome back then.
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Lol, tell me about it you icy moon you. Sometimes I have to stop and digest the fact that people could be in highschool now, who were born when I was in high school. Considering I was in Iraq in 2007, your comment just struck a chord with me.
Gotta level with you Tarb, I've literally never even heard of "Dino Sapien" before, but I trust that won't be an issue here. I'd chalk it up to the show being on after my time. I liked dino shows, I remember back in the day(a Tuesday BTW) I used to love Disney's "Dinosaurs".
So the dinos are gonna be exclusively dromeosaurs?
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Eno's not, and more may come
8122950 So what is Eno's species?
And also, does Bridge! Rainbow Rocks take place after the main story?
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As a child of the '70's, before the age of home computers (never mind internet), before the time when one could hope to have more then a dozen channels on a cable TV (2-13), before the age of VHS, during the dark times of Disco, 8-Track tapes and bellbottoms, I must say, you young'uns have no idea how lucky you are. I remember a time when a portable phone was something the richest of the rich had installed in their cars, when computers took up large rooms with their own AC systems, and wireframe graphics were the pinnacle of CG imagery.
My childhood was defined by the Brady Bunch, Starblazers, and Battle of the Planets. Land of the Lost was the first series I watched featuring dinosaurs, and it's effects were amazing at the time. I remember getting excited when my family got a game system that let us play Pong. Never mind that ultra-expensive, newfangled Atari crap...
When I was edging into my teens, GI Joe and Transformers were the new big thing for after school entertainment. That, and on rare occasions, when I was home from school, about half an hour before the normal school day ended, I would watch a show intended for younger girls called My Little Pony....
On the plus side, most Saturday afternoons would see a Godzilla movie on Channel 9 (the local ABC affiliate.)
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3 out of 4, eh? Don't tell me which is wrong; I'd like the surprise when it comes up...
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I can think of exactly zero instances of an animal from even half that far back being the same genus, much less the same species, as it's modern decedents. Whatever any of these dinos may be descended from, they will be very different animals then any known non-avian dinosaurs. At best they may belong to the same family as the prehistoric raptors, but even if one can trace it's lineage back to the theropod from the "Fighting Dinos" fossil, it will not be a velociraptor.
So, Eno is Eno. What more matters?
8122995 Perhaps Eno descended from the recently discovered species Dakotaraptor?
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of narrowing down the genus, not happening.
Perhaps. Then again, after more then 60 million years of evolution, with a maximum likely generational period of 20 years, thus no less then 3 million generations of cumulative genetic drift, how would we tell? Identify which family this character belongs to, sure. Having a chance in h
If Tarb wants to use a specific Dino as a basis, then fine. That said, Eno is as likely to resemble said ancestor in much the same way that Kaprosuchus, Notosuchus, and Armadillosuchus resemble modern crocs.
8123095 Part of me was just wondering if our dinosaurs would compose exclusively of creatures that resemble dromeosaurs.
Oh, you cannot be serious. Hehehe
I had never even heard of this show before I read this. I looked it up and am sad that it was cut short.
I like these hints about what happened in the main story and am liking Maia and her friends.
Well i looked up TV! Eno and I'm not gonna lie, he looks kinda creepy.
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Yah I changed the design up on both him and the aggressive species. Aside from name and coloration, EG!Eno looks more realistic and less freaky looking (partially due to ancestor shift and partially due to not having TV budget limit. TV!Eno would look much less creepy if he had a feather coat).
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Ulti! Hey buddy
And yah, shame it didn't get a second season but at least we got a complete story with the 15 episodes.
8123194 Will we get an illustration by Faith?
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Faithy's idea
Well, looks like I've found something new to check out on YouTube after finishing reading this.
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Personally, from the images I've looked up, Eno's eyes are by far the freakiest part of the design. Mostly in a "human style expressiveness in otherwise reptilian body" sort of way; it kind of hits the uncanny valley for me.
Frankly, with how hard that face spiked my "weird out" meter, I ended up killing the video right when the school bus showed up.
If I might impose upon your significant other, would it be possible for her to produce, if not full illustrations, then at least reference images for the non-human characters? Thank you.
8123311 For some reason I'm not surprised
Ooooh, this out to be good.
And, would watching the Dinosapien series help with this stories context and jokes?
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Good sign, good sign!
And it's strictly optional, I'll be making it self explanatory or explain it in author's notes. Still a good show, I'll just be doing a lot of the plot myself or tweaking things from the show.
When the hell did G.J. visited the Human World of Equestria
That actually sounds interesting. I've never watched Dinosapiens (I was starting college and I kinda stopped watching TV at the time). But this sounds interesting. And considering that it's only 15 episodes (and all of them are on YouTube), I might just binge-watch them this weekend.
I might be a 90s kid, but the dinosaur boom kinda went over my head. I even missed on Jurassic Park. The only dinosaur-related things I clearly remember from my childhood is "We're back! A dinosaur story. (Which isn't very good in retrospect) and both (animated and live-action) Lost World series (which I remember loving, but I'm not sure if they can be considered good).
I really look forward for the next chapter.
As a fan of Dinosapian growing up, this has my stamp of approval!!! This story had such a feel for the the show that I instantly remembered the scenes it was going for. Loved that. Really brought on the nostalgia. The ending shows that these new raptors, while still a threat, still have the same chances of mucking it up as the Diggers. Great use of her backstory as well. Overall, a masterpiece when compared to most Dinosapian fanfics... which sadly I've never been able to find, but this more then makes up for it. I can't wait to read more.
8122969 tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.ksrHAVWiOcDSvOWZ-I47sgEsDH&pid=15.1
I admit, I remember Dinosapians very vaguely. I believe I watched it a few times growing up.
Our story begins three years prior from the start of this story. Of course, this story still takes place IN THE FUTURE!! So hey, at least Grogar and Bagan didn't kill everyone...maybe. This is the human world, Equus might still be Empress Flurry Heart's bad future. Kinda the clever thing about setting things up this way. Anyway, Maia Heart Search is about to do her performance, and is doing well...until she sees her parents' seating and realizes they're not there. Also, if I'm not entirely mistaken, aren't Gentle Heart and Paleo Search your and Faith's ponysonas? Creator Cameo!...or not, given you're missing for some reason.
Unfortunately, this distraction proves disastrous for Maia, who ends up having an incredibly bad fall and breaking her leg.
Nice introduction here, as it's very concise and gives a good set up to the character.
We cut to three years later and find Maia has healed fairly well, but isn't going back to the competitive circuit anytime soon, if ever...and that's not really comparable to the reason her parents missed the meeting. Namely her father mysteriously disappeared. Yikes...that day is one of the worst to ever happen to a person. I will compliment this: this is concise and doesn't dwell too much on the tragedy to feel as if the story is screaming 'notice my tragic backstory!' which is a mistake many an OC story make. A tragedy needs to MAKE us feel sorry for a character, not TELL us to feel sorry for the character.
Anyway, Gentle Heart wants her daughter to go to summer camp in hopes of cheering her up. What could possibly go wrong? *Looks at every other time a character in this universe has gone to a summer camp* ...To be fair, meeting Anguirus was probably the most awesome moment of Gentle Leaf's life up to that point and she met her idol.
And thankfully for her, Gentle Heart is here, which probably will make this quite a bit more enjoyable here. Also, given what I know of Faith, personality seems spot on.
And she also has a friend here: Sunflower. Babs Seed's elder sister and heiress to the Orange Family. And also a close personal friend of hers. Which is nice. Rich people are PEOPLE. This is something fiction needs to LEARN. Why is it that so hard for some people?
"“Hey, I brought plenty of Capri styles! I hear khaki is in.” Maia chuckled, patting Sunflower on the shoulder and speaking with a coyly raised eyebrow. “Movie night?”
"
I think there's a problem there.
Also, I like how Sunflower manages to be a fashionista without being a Rarity clone, she comes off as more energetic and outgoing.
And now we're introduced to our next character: Sandalwood. Who promptly gives them a big hug and a hearty laugh. Sandalwood is also one of the 'eco kids' from EG.
Also, good job on the chemistry between these characters. How they interact feels quite natural, which is important when assembling a cast the audience has never seen interact before.
And it's also nice that despite opening up with a tragedy, Maia ISN'T your typical angsty OC and is still happy to interact with her friends.
And we also find out the camp has gone big time on the prehistoric theme. Which conveniently explains the giant hand print left from Monster X vs Enijin. What was created by an Xilian/Ghidorah hybrid battling the avatar of a fallen god is now just part of the decoration!
Also, we find out that apparently Junior paid this world a video around the time of Rainbow Rocks from the sound of it.
Also, we find out that the mining baron in charge of the old abandoned mining town wasn't that bad a guy and helpful to the sciences.
While the badlands nearby are off limits, there is a dig going on there...which will probably be important to the plot, so our heroes will probably be involved. Then again, this IS the daughter of a pair of dinosaur lovers, so it's perfectly in character for her to be involved.
But meanwhile, a landslide in the badlands releases something from underground. Fortunately, it probably isn't a kaiju, given this is a dinosapians crossover and not a Godzilla crossover, just in the same universe as one, but still shows some pretty impressive agility.
And Sandalwood lays out the three rules of camp and tempts fate...I imagine at least two of those rules are going to be broken before this story ends.
And we learn one of the creatures that's been released is fleeing from two others. Good to know.
After this, while looking for some of her stuff, Maia finds her father's old study. Investigating, she finds little has changed...and refuses to believe her father is dead, merely missing. Considering this is a universe where portals to other universes are a thing, three gods exist, and several local girls have become magical girls, not that surprising if he's alive. Heck, maybe he found an Energem and will show up as a Power Ranger...wait, wrong dinosaur themed thing.
Well, if nothing else he found an unknown lifeform of some sort and the word Eno is written there...
So she does what any person would do: go to her father's last known whereabouts to find out what happened.
Also, to note, visiting an old mining town is kinda cool to me, given my dad's a retired miner and the town next door is a repurposed old mining town.
And we find out apparently one of the Riches was the coal baron. And apparently a much nicer one than many, even if he made some mistakes at times. Which is good, given a lot of coal barons were kinda nasty in real life due to greed.
And of course when you go to where a person saw a cryptid and are the main character, you run into said cryptid.
However, rather than attacking her in anyway, said creature ended up tripping and falling on an old paint can. Maia doesn't care and does the natural thing and run for it, much to the creature's confusion.
I like this scene as it manages to do a fairly good job of balancing serious and funny, since while the creature's POV shows Maia's not exactly in danger, she doesn't know that.
And when she reaches camp...she hears what sounds like her father's voice calling out to her. Uh, Maia, I don't know what your stand on horror films is, but...this sounds like a horror film.
But what finds her is a the same creature from before, who seems to identify himself as Eno...but he's not alone, and something out there makes her feel an instinctive dread.
It's only after she gets away that she puts two and two together and realizes that thing may be the same creature her father found years ago.
Unfortunately, Eno was not the one she should be afraid of, as Eno soon realizes the source of the voice is still around.
Thankfully, while two on one, Eno manages to send his pursuers floating downstream on a tree by outwitting them.
Also, we've got humanoid creatures capable of mimicking voices and actively trying to ambush humans away from civilization (the attackers, not Eno). I wonder if in this universe, these creatures inspired the legends of the Reptillians. For those that do not know, they're supposedly humanoid subterranian repitiles that abduct people. There's other versions that are just solitary cryptids with less sinister implications, like the Lizardman.
Overall, really nice introduction to the story, with a good balance of comedy, seriousness, and horror.
And also makes the characters pretty likeable. Looking forward to see where this goes.
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LOVE the review man! Working on proper response-
Just to clarify, the first scene is three years ago in the past, story proper takes place a month or two in the future, right after Bridge!RR so about 2 months ahead of chapter 36
This is also not in Everfree national park, but another place. It's an easy oversight, Everfree is mentioned as another place a few times. I'll be more clear later.
judging by the comment about the hospital blowing up, I can tell this is taking place in the same EG universe as the one Iris and X visited. But, what was that comment about a guy spitting blue fire and some pale guys, was that another story that I missed, or has that not happened yet?
Also, I'm currently writing a story of my own with everyone's speech text a different color, how do you change the colors they give you?
8128287 Tarb already said this story happens after The Bridge's version of Rainbow Rocks, so it's referring to future events.
Never heard of Dinosapiens till the blog post teasing this story. While I don't yet have an opinion of the show, the start of this story is certainly a good one.
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The fact Dinosapien was what it was is why I felt it was a perfect subject for a fusion fic. All too often in fusion fics it feels like the tone or setting of one story has been sacrificed just to stick the characters of story A into series B. Dinosapien is pretty simple and doesn't radically reshape the world around it; with just enough unique parts to make it stick out while not overtaking the EG side. It also is obscure enough that it gave me room to change without ruining people's sacred cow, but given how well promoted it was and how frequent the rerun schedule was it was likely most folks who watched Discovery Kids would have some recollection of it.
I've put a bit more info the header to make things a bit clearer, but the opening scene is 3 years before The Bridge's events and the events of EG1 with the main story taking place a month or so ahead of Bridge's current place as of chapter 36; just after Bridge's version of Rainbow Rocks. So how it goes in rough chronological order is
Opening Scene of EG:Ds
EG IDW specials
EG1
Bridge's current EG scenes (Holiday special to Enjin arc)
Bridge's EG2
The rest of EG:Ds
I could have done better on making it easier to understand, so I went back and tweaked it to make it a bit more clear. Thanks for pointing it out!
And thanks, I was worrying it was being too quick paced on some sequences and doing the literary version of frantic editing. Good to see my attempts to just make it concise were well founded. I was wanting to be briefer but clearer to get the status quo and characters set up as clear as possible without dragging or risking it seem like I was trying to give Maia a pitty-party. Nothing is more annoying to me than an edgy, angsty character who's turmoil is laid out so thick it's like the author wanted to write "PITY ME!" for them on a neon sign.
Character cohesion was also pretty important given of our core cast, none of them at A-Listers or likely even B-Listers in either Equestria Girls or MLP proper. Maia and Gentle Heart are OCs, Sunflower was an IDW comics character only mentioned in the show, Sandalwood is largely a background character not often known by name; and Eno is an import from a series many folks don't know of or have seen in years. So I wanted to keep things simple for expansion later. Maia is someone with some pain, but she's not letting it stop her from acting nor enjoying time with her loved ones. Gentle Heart is a caring parent who loves children and is trying to help her daughter feel better. Sunflower is a fashion minded valley-girl whom does still have a good heart for her friend. Sandalwood is a fun minded life-of-the-party who jumped at the chance to be where he is. And Eno, while intentionally kept mysterious, one can tell is much smarter than he might seem and is more curious than dangerous.
Also fixed that part you mentioned, thanks for the point-out and I can see how it's confusing
I see my Bridge nods as well as hints as to what happened during Bridge's version of Rainbow Rocks haven't gone unnoticed
Though just to clarify, this is not camp Everfree nor is it in the same national park. The references were in relation to the odd happenings at the camp being talk of the town since someone drove by the next day and found a crater, a wrecked bridge, and a big handprint in solid rock.
PFFFTAHAHAHAHAHA I got that reference! Sadly my sona will not be appearing as the Aqua Ankylosaur Ranger.
This along with the next one was actually the hardest scenes to write in as I had to play with perspective. Maia only ever saw/heard Eno and understandably freaks out until she has a moment to understand what's going on. However I had to show she had good reason to freak out while also establishing Eno's character and showing any actions he took that seemed frightening were accidental. He was just surprised and then curious. On top of that, showing that there actually is a threat out there, it's just not Eno but Maia isn't even aware of it like he is. Hard to juggle perspectives like that, so I played the first scene for laughs to show how perspective shifts. Maia heard a crash and hiss, whereas we find out from Eno's POV, he just slipped on a paint can and banged his tail.
As fascinating to see you speculate is, and trust me I love stuff like this as well as Cryptozoology, one thing I will confirm right out is the intelligent dinosaurs in this are not lizard people. Far from it. Bit of a science ramble ahead, but just know it's coming from me knowing you'd like to read it and not me bashing you over the head buddy
Now if you want to be entirely green on future chapters when we get a good look at both Eno and his enemies, skip this.
Both the enemy duo and Eno are from families that are completely covered in feathers save for a few spots (like the feet), have a bipedal but still dinosaur/bird-like horizontal stance as opposed to an upright humanoid one, tails, and snouts. I'd say we can expect traits like slightly more bulbous heads (granted covered in feathers) and owl-like, forward facing eyes; but I'm trying to play is as accurately as possible. Eno and his enemies might be smart cookies, but intelligence doesn't know one set body form. Following recent speculation on what a very intelligent dinosaur from the families the story saurians belong to, expect something that looks much more like a giant, long-tailed, toothy bird of prey than a man. Certain traits humans lost from our great ape ancestors like lack of fur and a fully upright stance are unlikely in an Archosaur. The reason Eno looked vaguely human in outline when Maia saw him is she saw him under very low light and he was standing directly facing her, keeping his horizontal body and tail behind him.
Still extremely happy with the reception to this! This was something I had on the shelf for years but I finally got the motivation to dust it off recently.
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Wise choice. Fusion Fics CAN work if done well, but it takes a lot of care to do correctly. And you did a very good job of it here.
Welcome, and I gotcha. That is definitely helpful!
Agreed, which is such a rookie mistake a lot of writers make. The audience should feel bad because their situation invokes sympathy, not because a character is begging to be pitied.
And it all worked. The characters interact very naturally and you can see WHY they're friends with one another, and their personalities easy to pick up on.
Welcome!
Yeah, and it's also pretty organically added in, as it feels like a natural extension of the conversation.
Gotcha. Ironically, I imagine a special chapter of Ghost Story's tale revolving around EG Ghost Story going on a cryptozoological investigation of that whole thing then posting it on youtube.
Hehe, glad you got it. I couldn't resist myself, given the whole missing dad and dinosaurs thing here.
Well it definitely got that across, and overall managed to blend the perspectives very well.
Gotcha. Hmm...in that case, I could still very well see them inspiring various Cryptids, such as Tengu in Japan or the Garuda in India. I know in Terra those were likely now extinct magical races, but this is the EG world. Stretching it, there's the Owlman and Mothman (personal favorite) but those explicitly fly and have much more modern sightings that involve keeping pace with cars, not just jumping so high or around trees such as to be mistaken as flying.
Though the description of looking owl-like DOES fit those two cryptids.
And I'd still qualify them as Cryptids, given their existence in universe has not been scientifically proven yet, so they still qualify.
Well, it definitely is an enjoyable read, and very well written.
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Wonder how you'll do the Diggers?
Congrats on Maia realizing Eno wasn't dangerous. Nice touch on the kids being corrected about their preconceived notions on dinosaurs.
That little reference to the Spino-Rex fight in JP3 accurately summed up how people argued about it all those years ago.
D'awww. This was a cute chapter. Even though it has been a while since I've seen the show, and trust me I will rewatch soon enough, I still remember it vividly enough that this plays out similar but adds its own flare to the whole thing. Again, you make it just so enjoyable. Eno is a cutie, no matter the form.
.... Which is why I sort of shipped him with the girl protagonist... even as a kid. What? I thought it would be cute.
Great chapter as always, bud.
I can't believe the feed didn't inform me of this update, WiFi is going crazy on me again!
Anyway, i like this chapter. I haven't finished watching the original DinoSapien but it seems like Petunia Paleo is taking the role of that glory hound paleontologist guy if i remember correctly?
Hmm i wonder if the "diggers" are a different species like Troodon?(not exactly Troodon but you get what i mean) or Carnosaur?
We'll find out on the next episode of Dino Ball Z!
I liked this series whenever I could catch it in TV, so I must say this is a story I'm gonna enjoy :D
Great, now I wanna watch this show.
I like that Maia doesn't instantly assume the creature she met is bad, and instead thinks about things rationally. Which makes sense, given we've seen her parents. It would give her insight into how animals behave.
That and knowing her father's notes on the creature don't exactly add up to it being malevolent.
And of course Sunflower snuck aboard. Which complicates things a little bit for her.
"
“... Um, why are you steering us onto the set of a slasher movie?”
"
Hehe. love that line.
I do also like that she decides to avoid Poor Communication Kills from square one and just TELL HER about Eno. Maia's a smart kid.
And while she reacts naturally at first, friendship wins out. Also, like the bit of genre savvy on her part here.
Back with Eno, we find out a few facts. Namely his enemies are nocternal and don't like to come out during the day. nice to know.
" Smelled-Familiar human was back and with a-... Eno sniffed again, puzzling as he sensed two different things. His eyes told him there was another human but his nose told him it was a walking pile of orange fruit. When he saw the device Smelled-Familiar was holding however, Eno chirped in surprise and made himself scarce. "
I like that description of Sunflower's perfume.
Back at camp, Gentle Heart seems to have noticed her daughter is missing, but has to introduce Petunia Paleo , a paleontologist, to the campers. I do like that Gentle Heart isn't like super oblivious here. That's a good change of pace from some typical ways this kind of thing plays out.
Back at the ghost town, they discover Eno's intelligence may be higher than they thought, and of course has fully functioning hands, which is obviously not normal for a bird. I do like the build up. We've seen Eno's intelligence and such, but they haven't, and the build up is just kinda awesome.
And I love Eno's parts for how he sees humans. It really sells the fact he's not human and sees things from a completely different perspective. It's even different from that of the kaiju for the most part, and it really stands out.
While the humans exploration of his nest shows how unanimal like he is in some regards. Just love this over all situation of seeing how two different species see each other.
Of course Eno still has instincts, and they're what give him away...and this is FUN. I like how this is playing out. Just the whole situation makes me laugh.
Back at camp, I do like this over all bit. Gives us exposition on why Eno acts as he does, but at the same time is natural. And very informative over all.
And we find out long before they do that Maia and Sunflower's boat didn't stay where they wanted it to and has drifted downstream...well, that's an issue.
Unfortunately for Eno, falling from the ceiling can be misunderstood as pouncing, so they reacted as expected. Fortunately, Maia is quick to realize he'd been waiting up there for awhile, something a predator trying to kill them wouldn't do. As is his other behavior.
I like the scene of her coaxing him out, it's really kinda sweet and also does a lot to show what she's thinking.
Especially when he moves to return her necklace...and Sandalwood shows up and scares him off. Well at least first contact has been made.
I do like like the little argument about the T-Rex and Spinosaurus. And that fossil Petunia found is probably going to be important later from the sound of it.
I do also like the interactions between the three friends here. Particularly that they clearly know one another well enough to not run into the 'you're nuts!' problem.
And aww, Eno gave her her locket back anyway. That's sweet.
Overall, good chapter. I like seeing these characters work off of one another.