#also i just love the httyd shows and its been too long

[fore-seer]

[fresh-new-yoik-watah]

so, I think The Hidden World gets a lot of unnecessary hate. I definitely don’t think it’s better than the first two, but it has its own very distinct feel that separates it from the others too, and it’s very raw, and actually very real, and I think that’s why I disliked it so much when I first saw it, but i’m older now, and there’s beauty in how real it is. And there’s no reality besides an inevitable separation of Toothless and Hiccup, besides of course, a for eternity tv show just about their adventures forever and ever and ever. But, the one guarantee all of us have in life, everything ends.

First of all, that opening shot of Berk is beautiful, because as Hiccup narrates, you see the reality of living on a small island with an overflow of dragons: overcrowding and chaos. Like honest to god the first maybe like 20 minutes of this film is so perfect. Also, Hiccup interacts with other characters a lot more, a lot more chatting, and I actually felt like I was watching a fifteen year old Hiccup in an older body, like they really wrote him perfectly aged up. I didn’t even realize how little we got to really see his personality in the second film in comparison to the first and third one. I felt the movie was kinda shot a little like a tv show, in terms of camera work, it felt very off putting. it also felt off putting to have a HTTYD movie and have Hiccup mainly on the ground for most of it, but I understand why. But god is it animated beautifully, like sooooooo beautifully. 

I think the existence of the Hidden World as like a concept is dumb, and if I read that in a book I’d be like ugh no that’s so lame for story, so they’re lucky that waterfall shot is just insanely crazy gorgeous. I saw it in theaters, and that shot was mesmerizing, of them on Stormfly flying over the ocean and rocks and waterfall, like where they’re sooooo small and you really feel size, it’s so beautiful. I hate Grimmel, I hate him, he’s so stupid. I know you need a villain bla bla bla, but honestly, if it was the same movie without him and they still eventually left to the hidden world, it still would’ve worked and been a way better movie. I really wish they had written the film without an outer conflict/villain besides just like dragon raids. Really focus on Hiccup’s feelings as he navigates the new world of being chief around him, like there’s a reason he was not up in the sky for a lot of this movie, I think it would’ve been really strong to focus on how he has to come to terms that he has to let Toothless go. I hate the light fury design, I don’t hate the existence of her, and I would’ve loved tk see Hiccup get to know her and like how much he would adore her because he literally spent the last 6 years searching the world for another night fury. No problem with that. Hate that damn glitter white sparkle. I hate that she’s a my little pony doll. Why does she have to be so ROUNd????? Couldn’t have just made like a smaller version of Toothless, maybe nose is smaller and eyes are thinner, ears aren’t as long, but different eye color and keep her black like Toothless. She’s got nubs bro. Damn beluga. The end scene of this movie is like, top best clips in cinema alone. It’s perfect. So perfect. When Hiccup takes a deep breath once he’s up in the air, GOD it’s so perfect. It makes everything that isn’t great about this movie and just makes it all so worth it. Also the whimsy feel of this movie, it’s so fun. The soundtrack really brings ouch such a whimsy feeling. I also don’t like how everyone was all lowkey bullying Hiccup, but like, especially the whole, them being shocked Hiccup is surprised Toothless wouldn’t come back. Like wdym, be so for real. Of course Hiccup didn’t expect Toothless to stay away. “You have him his freedom” my ass. Also, what’s up with Valka, they yassified her. Why does she move like that. Were they trying to be, this is where Hiccup gets his gesturing from??? It just didn’t work for her, especially since she did NOT act like that in the second film. That was so strange. Also they did something to Toothless. Like they made him act like a dog, he seemed so strange. And why was he grey?????? And such a wide neck. Idk he was funky, I have no idea but it was weird. Lowkey, I loved the Hiccup and Tuffnut scenes because they’re so true to character, but yall just wanna be haters. That’s all my thoughts for now. Hiccup is yummy in this movie😮‍💨

[reviewinghiccup]

I really love this blog and I know its focus is to analyze Hiccup’s character from what we are given from the films and shows but do you think he felt some sort of resentment towards the other teens, the village, and even Stoick shortly after the events of the first movie? I don’t recall seeing anything like this from Hiccup (correct me if I’m wrong) since it’s just in his nature to be very selfless and forgiving. However, I’m sure that with the lost of his leg and the people suddenly treating him with respect (aside from Stoick, I don’t think we’ve seen any other character formally apologizing for treating him so poorly before), it must have been a very difficult time for him to adjust to, both physically and emotionally. I might be missing a lot things as I write this but I’m sure Hiccup has plenty of scars under the surface that will take lots of time to heal. I’d love to know what are your thoughts about this, thanks!

Wow, that's a really interesting question. @per4mancecheck noted in my post that the reason Hiccup was able to sympathise w Astrid in the episode Blindsided [Episode 11, Season 4 (Race to the Edge)] is because of his own disability. And that got me thinking about what it was possibly like when he woke up and saw his leg missing.

We know that at the end of the 1st movie, he sorta just accepts it. I reckon that was more a pacing issue and the show had to finish on a congratulatory note. It would be a bit too heavy perhaps to go into his disability thereafter. But the shows don't go into it much either. And from what I know and recall of the episodes thus far, no one has apologised for their mistreatment towards him or that he lost his leg. At least not verbally and not written into the shows.

I have a few theories:

(1) THE PRIDE OF BATTLE SCARS

Maybe it wasn't something he dwelled on, because to lose a leg was better than to lose a life. It could be Hiccup was a glass half full kinda person and he was just glad to be alive.

We know from the franchise that the Vikings take glory in battle scars. And they love a good story that comes with it. And losing a leg battling the Red Death is a damn good one.

I also think Hiccup isn't someone who dwells on things, because in HTTYD 2, it didn't take him long to forgive his mother who left him motherless to rescue dragons. He was just happy to have her back again (like Stoick). No resentment towards her or the dragons. Or even Toothless who killed Stoick. It's like his level of understanding reaches undefinable strides. [Granted he was angry, but not for long. He just gets it.]

A) IT WAS NORMAL TO LOSE A LIMB

Further, it is possible that it wasn't something to think about because it was normal for them to lose a limb back then. Many of them have or know someone who has lost a limb (or their minds). When its normalised, the sting of stigma is neutralised.

B) THE FIGHTING SPIRIT

Its that fighting spirit, that even though they suffer from some sort of physical impediment, that isn't going to stop them from fighting Outcasts / Berserkers or serving the community.

Hiccup must've also been used to "coming short" if you get me. And in a way, he supplements his short comings w gadgets. Like the shield, Inferno/Dragon Blade and lots of training.

(2) THE NO HARD FEELINGS CULTURE

Most of the people around him are pretty unapologetic. They're Vikings. It might be in their constitution to not apologise, with words. Maybe they might w actions. We know in the series "When Lightning Strikes" [Episode 13, Season 1 (Riders of Berk)] when the town mistakenly accused Toothless for the fierce lightning storms, they apologised to him by giving loads of peace offerings. Maybe they did the same with Hiccup and we didn't see it because the episodes only began after he was able to walk on the peg-leg, which could've taken some time.

A) ACTIONS SPOKE LOUDER

For example, when he wakes up, dragons could roam freely. They didn't fight dragons anymore. They believed him. I also like to think, their image of him had taken a drastic turn for the better. He gained a lot of respect and that could mean more to him than an apology. Especially since he's the son of the chief and heir to the title. He needs that respect.

B) SORRY, NOT SORRY

In certain cultures, to say sorry might mean nothing much to them. My cousin is half Chinese, and her mother is not much of a "saying sorry" to fix things type. She might, make your favourite meal or buy a snack you like to make up for it and my cousins accepts that as an apology. Live and let live? Yannow?

But as for Snotlout and Tuff/Ruff (can't recall which) I don't think they would've said sorry or even knew they did something wrong. Either because they were too proud to realise (Snotlout) or too dense to notice (the Twins). In fact, they do make fun of him for it.

BUT HAVING SAID THAT...

I believe you have a solid point. Regardless of what society you live in and what type of person you are, when you lose a limb it is counted as a great loss. Especially, if you could've saved it if the people around you had listened. In a natural sense, I'm sure he must've been at least angry. Life without a limb is tough.

Because of his metal leg, he attracts lightning during a storm when flying Toothless. Sometimes during an adventure, he might lose his leg or an enemy might take it away from him to impede him. I mean, it is weakness in the strictest sense, cumbersome if anything else. But I don't think he held it against the other teens on the island for long because whatever he did during the show for them came from a position of genuine friendship.

Emotion wise though, I too wonder if he has completely healed. You see, Hiccup is very attached to Toothless. Toothless is like an extension of himself. He serves like an emotional support animal. The Dragon Academy, Alvin, Dagur, the Grimborn brothers, etc. they also serve as distractions. When he hyper-fixates on these things, he doesn't seem so interested in his own personal issues. That's probably where the phrase "an idle mind is the devil's playground" came from. And why adults asks us to keep busy, cause when you don't your thoughts could run wild.

That may explain why in HTTYD: The Hidden World, Astrid said "but he thinks he is nothing without Toothless." Because for the longest time, Toothless has made things easier for him. Instead of just walking, Hiccup can now fly.

This statement might be an indication that Hiccup hadn't fully resolved his internal conflict and insecurity. I mean, how many of us young adults have issues that date back to childhood?

I think the internal struggle branches out in the final movie because of the loss of his father. That could be why he wasn't ready for marriage, as Astrid knew the case to be. Because before he can transition into a new position, he needed to first know who he is, independent of Toothless. Leg or no leg.

He also needed to believe in the strength he now had with Astrid. And maybe even why it had to be with just Astrid.

I think he must've carried some sort of scar, that only letting go of Toothless could heal. Because, while Toothless resembled strength and adventure, he also signified dependence. And the only way to know you have recovered completely is to let go of your crutch.

I may be overstepping here, but this is just my two-cents.

Thank you so much for asking this question. I had a wonderful time answering it. Gave me a chance to think about things I haven't yet given enough consideration. Above all, I really hope this answer helps.

[trashlama]

hi I’ve been rewatching httyd (the movies and the shows) and I was wondering, would u write for them ? If not no worries hope your doing ok 💗

Oh most definitely, I love that fandom! It would be pretty radical to write something for httyd~

Tbh I'm not as familiar with the TV shows as I am with the movies however I'm not against writing for the cartoon as well. Just let me know of course if its Yan or not , if you want like a one-shot or some Headcanons and lastly just a general idea and I'll do my best to get it done when I can. (To warn you I'm working on quite a bit so it can be sooner or later depending on my writing mood.)

Also thank you for your concern! I'm doing fine, physically. Mentally I've been pretty stressed out the last few weeks.... It's partially the reason why I haven't posted any actual writings/drawings for a while aside from just in general not having the time. Though hopefully after this vacation I just recently took, I can get back in the saddle and get some of your guys' requests done. Sorry about the wait btw and again thank you guys for being patient with me and these requests.

Sorry about the rabbling! Thank you guys for sticking around this far and I hope you guys have a great week!

Sorry this is long↓ I don't own these memes. I've never claimed to do so. I just come across them on Pinterest when I'm on break at work and think they're funny so I like to share them. If I mistakenly put one on here that I shouldn't have please let me know! I like to respect people's wishes. And if you could add the creator names too that would be great so the same mistake isn't made twice. Sorry for the inconvenience that my sharing may cause. I hope you have a good day.

[space-anon-writes]

"Weekly" Fic Recs

Once again brought to you completely unbiased

House of Gold by Drhair76

A Percy Jackson crossover, featuring Tommy trying to figure out who his godly parent is. Things go about as well as expected. (Do not let this child try to set two people up on a date to prove he's Aphrodite's kid)

Chapter 1/1 - 11k words - complete

If I Was Your Hero, Would You Be Mine? by FractalFiction

Wilbur has been on the streets with nothing but his voice and his guitar for a long time now, his dreams for the future fading away. Yet, he's helped unexpectedly by a young hero, and the two rely on each other more than they'd like to admit. Everything sort of changes from there.

Chapter 1/1 - 12k words - complete

In the Arms of an Angel by Impala_Cherry_Trickster

Tommy, also known as the Executioner, is the son of a ruthless tyrant, and he's just been captured by the enemy in an attempt to negotiate peace. The enemy, for their part, find out that he's just a kid, and don't realize just how dangerous he really is.

Chapter 1/1 - 12k words

icing those hurts by Drhair76, plantform

Wilbur is part of an Olympic hockey team, and he's excited to compete. That's before he realizes there might be more going on with the resident figure ice skater than he originally thought. The entire hockey team trying to adopt one traumatized child ensues.

Chapter 1/1 - 33k words - complete

I Want To Be Friends! (I Want To Be Equals) by FractalFiction

In a world where robots, unable to empathize with humans, have taken over and decided to keep humans as pets, Wilbur is excited to adopt his first human. The human in question is less than enthused.

Chapter 1/1 - 10k words - complete

The Cell that isn't Empty by Impala_Cherry_Trickster

Techno got himself captured, but it's fine. He assumes Phil will break him out eventually. However, things get more complicated when he realizes there's a small avian boy placed in the cell next to him.

Chapter 1/1 - 4k words - complete

When the curtains fall by Drhair76

Tommy is an child actor on a TV show, and he loves his television family. Maybe. Maybe more than he should, considering they're not his real family, but they feel like one. He's just not sure anyone feels the same.

Chapter 1/1 - 28k words - complete

I Love You Beary Much by FractalFiction

Wilbur, a bear hybrid, is excited to meet the new kid his family decided to adopt. Then it turns out the kid in question is also a bear hybrid. Fluff ensues.

Chapter 1/1 - 4k words - complete

Breaking a Binding by Impala_Cherry_Trickster

Phil, Techno, and Wilbur are very old and very powerful gods that have been summoned and bound by a king. A very bold move to make indeed. However, things get more complicated when they realize they've been bound in order to help a young boy learn the full potential of his powers. Both murder and adoption are now on the agenda.

Chapter 2/2 - 7k words - complete

sticks & stones by Drhair76

Httyd crossover featuring Tubbo capturing an Enderdragon, and proceeding to befriend him. All the while keeping it a secret from his best friend.

Chapter 6/? - 16k words

Little Siren by FractalFiction

Wilbur works at a pet store, which is not the best, at least not until he discovers a creature in the gold fish tank that is very much not a goldfish, but instead a very tiny baby siren.

Chapter 1/1 - 8k words - complete

Don't leave me by Impala_Cherry_Trickster

Tommy is an angel, that gets stuck when the gates to heaven are closed before he can make it through them. It's fine thought, someone will realize he's missing and come back for him. They wouldn't just abandon him. Now if only this demon could fuck off while he waits.

Chapter 1/1 - 5k words - complete

You Were In The Darkness Too (So I Stayed In The Darkness With You) by FractalFiction

A human Wilbur, considered one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe, gets abducted from Earth. Somehow, this gives him the opportunity to befriend a space dragon. Life now has its ups and downs.

Chapter 1/1 - 13k words - complete

The Smallest Voices Cause The Largest Tidal Waves by FractalFiction

Siren Wilbur decides to adopt a small human child he finds in a shipwreck. Even with a magic pendent so he can live underwater, Tommy is very different from the other kids. He just wants to feel like he belongs, but how can he when no one gives him the chance.

Chapter 3/? - 9k words

[deepdarkdelights]

Content Tag Game!

Thank you @yoongsisbae for tagging me! I love Handshakes of a Lifetime, by the way, it feeds my need for OT7 wonderfully 😫💜

1. what fandoms have you written for (but do not currently)?

Oh boy, okay: Twilight, Black Butler, Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, Teen Wolf, Young Justice, Batman Arkham Knight (video game), Marvel, Once Upon A Time, Narnia, Doctor Who, Rise of The Guardians, HTTYD, Fable (video game series), Percy Jackson

2. what fandoms are you currently writing for?

BTS 💜

3. how long have you been writing?

Okay, this is kind of weird, I wrote my first fanfiction when I was nine but never published it, when I was twelve I began posting to Quotev and Wattpad so I would say...eight years? I refuse to look back at either accounts because my writing was horrendous...I was a child.

4. on which platforms do you post your stories?

At this point in time, Tumblr and ao3.

5. what is your favorite genre to write?

Dark / Yandere / Horror. Anything that would make you freaked out I guess 😅

6. are you a pantser or a planner?

Uh, a bit of both? I usually have an idea of what I want to happen in a story so I have a vague outline, but as I am writing I tend to add more things and branch out from the plan. When I first started writing and posting to Tumblr, I used automatic writing and was a full-fledged pantser.

7. one-shot or multi-chapter?

If I had to choose, one shot. I feel less tied down and not as pressured to write when it comes to a one-shot. I would like to make a multi-chapter story one day though!

8. what is the perfect chapter length in your opinion?

I like usually something longer, so anywhere from 6-10k is good for me.

9. what is your longest published story? is it complete?

Actually, 10 Seconds is my longest story because it has multiple chapters. At this point in time, it is 38,250k.

10. which story did you enjoy working on the most?

Hmmmmm, probably Predator. It was my first fic after the end of The Bouquet Series and I got to flex more of my creativity and relax with it. It was fun to play with more classic horror tropes as well.

11. favorite request you’ve written and why?

I don't really take requests, I did ask for help in writing Tae's fic for The Bouquet Series and I had two asks that suggested an actor element and that was how Cut was made! So, that 😂

12. are there reoccurring themes in your stories?

Hm, the concept of time is rather prevalent in a lot of my fics now that I think about it. Weather and location are reoccurring, I like to write scenes in forests or scenes with rain. I think another common theme is not to trust grandmothers as funny as that is, in two fics we have had grandmas with bad intentions! Also, references to good and evil, Hades and Persephone, Adam and Eve, temptation, as well as predator and prey dynamics.

13. current number of wips?

Three! One is currently being written, and the other two are in the planning phases.

14. three things you have noticed about your own writing?

(1) It's fucking long 😂. I always go in with a plan to write something shorter, 8k max, and I always end with a fucking monster of a story. I also tend to overexplain, I think. (2) A lot of my writing is describing an action, facial expressions, scenes, and inner monologue. I think that is my way of trying to immerse readers or make them see my exact vision. But it can be pretty tedious and probably boring to read. I need more dialogue too, I feel like I spend too much time showing instead of telling. (3) Sometimes I think I sound like a high and mighty asshole like I am trying too hard to be profound or something so I try to dial it back a bit.

15. a quote you like from a published story.

"He could tell she had injured her head as well, scarlet drops of blood had streamed down the contours of her face and a pool of blood had formed beneath her sprawled tresses. She looked like she had a crimson halo beneath her head, carving its way into the soft, white snow under her. She was ethereal, like an angel that he had found just after they had been dropped from heaven. Forever resting, forever beautiful, and forever young." (The Stranger)

16. a quote from an unpublished story.

"Loving you has been the one pain I always want to endure. Being with you sets my heart on fire, it makes my muscles ache, it makes my lungs burn, and everything so much more complicated. But it’s the best brand of pain I could ask for.”

17. a space for you to say something to your readers.

Hi! I hope you enjoyed learning more about me and my writing if you stopped by and read this! I have been having a tough time writing as of late, but doing little things like this has made me very happy and has made me want to write more often! I am still working on my next fic, progress is going a little slower though. School starts soon too and I am going to be working two jobs and hopefully going back to cheerleading. So let's spend as much time together as we can before I get busy again! I am still aiming to write during the school year so wish me luck! Thank you for reading 💜

I tag: @chummywchimmy @chimchimsauce @chaoticpuff17 @sinning-on-a-sunday @celestial-moonlight @unfurlingtwinklingstarx @scribblemetaetwo

[geekgirles]

Goodbye & Broppy

After the song was released, I felt the need of doing something I haven't done in a while for the Trolls fandom: an in-depth analysis.

The lyrics of the song were a real tearjerker; the separation, the longing, the sadness, the impression of giving up as the only option... And, considering it said Justin Timberlake was supposed to sing it, and the mentions of "My queen", "My love"; it totally sounds like a Broppy song.

Now, I know @georgebeard mentioned they'd talked to an animator who confirmed the scene was indeed deleted from the film. However, as a loyal and experienced member of the Miraculous fandom, I know better than to cross out the possibility of being misled in order to avoid spoilers (I'm looking at you guys, Chloé redemption, Félix , and Chat Blanc). So, there's that.

And even if the song did not make it in the end, we must not forget the first movie and its extra content.

If you purchased a DVD copy (like myself), or were obsessed enough to search for every possible Trolls-related video on YouTube (like myself), you must have surely found the deleted scenes from the film.

Poppy's dresses.

Poppy's storytelling.

"Bringing Back Happy."

And that's what I wanna talk about!

Bringing Back Happy was a, rather early (considering its storyboard stage), villain song that Chef was supposed to sing. So, even if Goodbye doesn't make it into Trolls World Tour, the chances of it appearing as extra content are pretty high, considering it was even mentioned before the release of the movie.

If that weren't enough for ya, there's more. Don't worry.

As I mentioned earlier, if you're familiar with the deleted scenes, you'll know 2/3 were in a very advanced stage of animation before being scrapped. Not to mention, the one major change we got no info about: turning Poppy's coronation party to the 20 year anniversary since they escaped the bergens. Again, a scene so advanced in its animation stage that even made it to the trailer!

Moreover, there's this detail in the very first trailer of Trolls World Tour that stuck with me: Branch's quote "This is a terrible idea that will blow up in your face!"

Which, if we compare it to his supportive attitude in the latest trailer ("I'm coming with you"), is completely different and even unexpected.

And that leads me to this: there are many reasons why a scene would be deleted; it gives a character a quality they didn't want, Chef didn't get to sing because it made her too funny, while Poppy didn't wear her dresses because it made her look spoiled; it becomes longer than they expected, another reason for the dresses and, I think, for the storytelling; or it changes the vibe of the movie greatly (if you guys knew the original script for How to train your dragon 2...).

On a side note, I remember a post from long ago that explained that one of the reasons its OP liked trolls so much was because, unlike the vast majority of films, Poppy and Branch never really had a fall out. They were always together.

What do I mean with this?

What if their fall out happens in this movie? What if Branch says that line out of frustration and Poppy and him, both devastated, are forced to go their separate ways?

That would be the perfect cue for a song as romantic and heartbreaking as Goodbye.

Not to mention, it would also explain how on Earth Poppy could be captured by Barb, alone. Because there's no way Branch wouldn't go down with her otherwise, and you know it.

Now that the song analysis and theorizing is out of the way, let's move on to the deeper part of the analysis: Broppy itself.

As someone who's been a hardcore Broppy shipper even before watching the movie, you can believe me when I say that it'll devastate me if they killed Broppy.

Even so, I also consider myself as someone both highly emotional and analytical, hence, why I create such analysis on the things I love. Trolls being no exception.

Something I want to talk about to make you all understand my point of view is the way Dreamworks works (as I see it). And for that, I'd like to compare Trolls, HTTYD, their tv shows, and their main ships, Broppy and Hiccstrid; respectively.

If there's something I've noticed about Dreamworks and Disney, that's that Disney movies have a much greater stand-alone value than Dreamworks'. That's why 95% of its films end with an extra-official couple or why their sequels are either shitty compared to the original (Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Mulan...) or a fucking masterpiece. I mean, take Frozen, for instance. The film made a major point on criticising Disney's "I get together with someone I barely know and we live happily ever after" trope. And yet, even if it was much subtler and less intense than usual, that's exactly what happened with Anna and Kristoff. Maybe they weren't married, but they got officially together. And as for Frozen II... I haven't seen it, but I've been told it's very, very different than the first one, and very, very good.

So, yeah. Stand-alone value.

But Dreamworks... Dreamworks manages to reach beautiful conclusions that, at the same time, let the plot perfectly open for more stories to be told.

Seriously, just watch How to Train your Dragon!

Every film had its ending, but it also made you wonder what was gonna happen next. It made you understand that the saga wasn't over, just a part of it. And I think that's what they're trying to achieve with Trolls.

I mean, sure. The plot of the sequel wasn't what we expected at all and made many of us think about the astounding amount of fanfics that delved in the possible existence of different kinds of trolls... But it left us all with one question in our minds, "what now?" And, at the same time, the film had reached a beautiful conclusion.

See what I mean?

I wholeheartedly believe this is something Dreamworks aim to achieve with its pairings. They don't want them to be rushed, they want to develop them. Sure, they want us to see there are ships, but they strive to form deep, strong relationships with much more meaning behind than just sharing an adventure together.

And that, that is something I can clearly see with Hiccstrid and Broppy.

If we take HTTYD, the hints on the romantic relationship between Hiccup and Astrid were even greater than Poppy and Branch's. Heck, they even kissed. And you know what was their official description for Riders of Berk to half of Race to the Edge? Not-so-platonic best friends.

But that's because they took the time to naturally develop and strengthen their bond!

Which is what I think is supposed to happen to Poppy and Branch.

Sure, they are close. Sure, they were on a life-changing adventure together. Sure, they are countless hints on their romantic feelings.

But they still spent 20 years being practically strangers.

They still need to learn how to be a team together. They still need to learn how the other works. They still need some basic ground.

If we keep on comparing the two films, we must not forget that HTTYD 2, despite having Hiccup and Astrid as betrothed, wasn't as heavy on their romance as the first and third movie were.

Because the focus of the film was Hiccup becoming a leader. Not becoming Astrid's husband.

And, considering the plot of Trolls World Tour, it's still very possible that it won't be as heavy on Broppy as it was the prequel. After all, TWT is more about diversity and harmony than happiness, which is what made the contrast between the optimistic princess and the cynical survivalist so important for Trolls.

But, please, fear not. This does not necessarily mean that Broppy is dead. It just means we might have to be careful about letting our hopes up and, more importantly, in case nothing is conclusive about these two in Trolls World Tour, that we just have to be a little more patient.

After all, a good written ship never disappoints.

[philocake]

Yep, you guessed it, more HTTYD Homecoming salt

I am feeling extra salty today after rewatching the thing and reading the comment sections of the clips shown on Youtube. Today, I’m going to complain about worldbuilding. And some other stuff, cause every second of this short is wrong.

Alright, let me remind myself how rushed this thing is before I get into tearing it apart. It’s not even funny. All the dialogue feels forced and out of character like half of the time, and the pacing is just really strange. Yes, yes, it’s a short, it has lower budget, blah, blah, blah... Not a valid excuse. One, they made the same mistake they made in HTTYD3: too much plot for too little screentime. Two, Gift of the Night Fury had several things to say and yet the pacing was not awkward at all. It really felt like part of the first movie instead of something with less budget thrown into it.

Gift of the Night Fury was nice and heartwarming, and every single character and all they said and did stayed true to the film’s canon. They actually show us how the characters have been doing and give us a little bit of development, and every funny and cute moment is perfectly balanced. Homecoming has none of that. It tries to be charming and its attempts come across as desperate and weird, and man, don’t get me started on how much they clung to comedy - yet again, same mistake with HTTYD3. The jokes and funny comments are just so out of character, so unnecessary, so sudden, so repetitive and so half-hearted that I can’t even force a smile and give the writers any pity for trying.

I’m sorry, but the “and then it hit me” joke was only funny the first time. When a 20 minute short starts milking jokes, you know they have no idea what they’re doing and just want to make you laugh so you can ignore their fatal flaws.

Anyway, let me talk about character development and worldbuilding, because man Homecoming completely smashed these two very important concepts that Gift of the Night Fury treated with impeccable respect.

The characters have been destroyed. The whole play thing was a mess and no one should’ve acted they way they did. Why is Hiccup okay with that disaster? He’s the chief, he should have a little more saying in what they do and don’t do. Yes, he’s Hiccup, he’s gonna be goofy and all... but being goofy does not equal to being a helpless idiot. Actually, HTTYD3 and Homecoming both seem to have deemed it a good idea to turn perfectly good, stable characters into idiots for the sake of comedy. Take Tuffnut, for example. Yes, we all know the twins. We all know how they are. We also know that Tuffnut is not that big of a moron. And omfg, don’t even get me started on Gobber. I’ve always liked his character, but in Homecoming... I don’t even have the words. He’s awful. He’s annoying. He’s stupid. He’s not Gobber. I didn’t think you could destroy a character this badly after HTTYD3, but here we are. I don’t even want to talk more about what he does in detail because it pisses me off so much. That person is just not Gobber. Nothing else to say.

Speaking of characters... Where the absolute hell is Valka. They destroyed her enough in HTTYD3 (physically, too) and now they just throw her out of the picture and offer no explanations? Not a single mention? The yak-nog got a cameo and she didn’t? Fantastic! I want to think she did the most sensible thing and ran off to live with the dragons, somehow. Would be better than the freakshow Berk is. I would do the same if I lived surrounded by 1-dimensional morons, Val.

More problems on Berk, let’s see... Why don’t the kids know about Stoick and are allowed to trash his statue without being called out? Shouldn’t he be talked about like he’s the stuff of legends (which he is) to every kid? Hiccup was told countless stories about him when he was little. Yes, he’s his son, but that shouldn’t give only him the privilege of listening to stories. And speaking of telling kids things, why have Hiccup and Astrid not told their kids about the dragons sooner? You’d think these two, of all people, would be so excited to educate their little ones about the marvels of those creatures. They look like they’re at least 6+ both, they should have already known about Berk’s history with dragons. But of course, Homecoming couldn’t afford that. Gotta have some sort of plot going on!

Now, to the Hidden World... I’ll be honest with you, I found that scene with Toothless drawing Hiccup to be absolutely depressing. Not because he’s longing his best friend (which he shouldn’t, because the damn director stated he forgot about him), but because he should feel miserable trapped in that place. He and his kids should feel miserable. For one, the Light Fury is literally a controlling ass. Did you see how offended she looked when Toothless dared to remember his past life with the human that changed his life? Oh, how dare he! His life must only be centered around her and her numb skull! After all, she’s this random dragon he fell in love with in 3 seconds! Gotta love how she acted all bitchy until he was forced to comfort her. My headcanon is that she’s literally controlling him with pheromones. The real Toothless is too smart to stay with such a plain, useless, unaccepting dragon for the rest of his life.

As for his kids, yes I did say they should be unhappy. The only thing they can do is wrestle each other and play with whatever those floating orb thingies are supposed to be. Wow, how fun... They’re little baby dragons, trying to enjoy their early years of life! In the outside world, they would have been able to see the sky, interact with the environment, discover all the animals that surround them, travel back and forth with their parents... but they’re stuck on that pretty cage, bored out of their lives. The Hidden World is literally captivity.

Look at it, this poor thing is so miserable... No wonder it was so desperate to look for adventures, so much that even a drawing of a creature it has never seen gave it the magical abilities to find New Berk.

Which brings me to another point, how did the Night Lights find New Berk? How did they know they were supposeed to find something outside the Hidden World only via a drawing? And how were they able to fly for so long? And how did Toothless and the Light Fury know exactly where to find them? Also, earlier on, why did the Light Fury even light up that glowing rock thingie when they were in the Hidden World? She’s that awful, controlling of a dragon that she can’t even let her kids sleep in peace. And she huffed out green fire? What is happening?

The plot of Homecoming is just forced, and it’s really stinkin’ obvious this thing was done for money and nothing more. You’ve got cute little Toothless babies (I find the Night Lights to be rather hideous, but that’s just me) and you’ve got cute little Hiccstrid kids. Obviously you want to make money off of that, because more than half the fandom won’t give a shit if they make sense or not.

These people just went right ahead and trashed the third movie’s canon to make this cashgrab. Let’s ignore the fact that the director explicitly stated that Toothless had forgotten about Hiccup for a second and focus on what happens on the short. Toothless immediately recognizes Hiccup while he’s in a suit just by his scent and voice, but in the third movie he just has to wait till the hand trick comes up to recgonize him. Toothless was also totally cool with people, and that smug look he gave his family after letting Gobber touch him just proves he was there to make them see how great humans are. And yet he acts like he will murder a few unarmed humans that came slightly close to his home, with no way in? Suuuure.

Actually, let me vent a little here about what I said earlier - HTTYD3 and Homecoming both just destroyed the hand touch thing and I will never forgive them for that. It was supposed to be a unique moment, a special and unforgettable action that started it all, but now they’ve gotta milk it for the feels. The reverse hand touch in HTTYD3 was so forced I actually sighed, and then they just kept forcing it throughout. Shame on y’all.

I could go on for days tearing this thing apart... but I don’t want to give this thing more of my time than it deserves.

[professorspork]

Frozen 2: first impressions

Hello friends! As you know, Frozen was a HUGE part of my fandom life ~back in the day.~ So of course I saw the sequel opening night and of course I have thoughts after ruminating on it for 24 hours. I’m sure there will be many things I forget or don’t cover--after all, I’ve only seen it the once. And I make no guarantees that my thoughts are coherent or consistent. (If I contradict myself, I contradict myself-- I am large, I contain multitudes.) I’m also sure my opinions will evolve upon rewatch. Lord knows they did last time.

Is that enough disclaimer yet? OKAY. Some of my thoughts are negative! Some are positive! It’s a grab bag! Here we go!

Spoilers under the cut, pals.

IN SHORT: As an expansion on the world and the characters I adore, I pretty much loved it! As an extension of uh Big Capitalism and what it means in terms of real world ramifications... I have questions/comments/concerns!

IN LONG: I think I’ll start with what didn’t work for me and work my way around to fangirling at the end.

the meh

I feel like... part of it is that Disney has just gotten worse and power-grabbier in way more blatant ways in the last few years, and part of it is that I’m ever-more cognizant of these things. And the fine line they want to walk of “We can tell stories about progressive concepts! Princesses are woke now, actually!” without taking a single financial risk when it comes to alienating foreign markets, homophobes abroad or Nazis domestically is just a fundamentally untenable position to be in. You don’t get to retcon Elsa and Anna as being somehow less white than they clearly are and then try to tell a story about reparations in which no one actually gets reparations. You don’t get to get points for that. It’s in some ways admirable to want to try, but all you do when you’re coming at it from the position of being Disney when you tell this story is show the cracks in it.

I can see how, on a purely storytelling level, having Papa King Arendelle Agnarr be of Arendelle and Iduna be of the Northuldra and having their daughters be the bridge between the two communities is a really tempting, tidy, tie-a-bow-on-it narrative. And I also see how creating the backstory of the war and the mist neatly explains the absence of indigenous faces in the first film. But like... come on. Introducing an indigenous group like the Northuldra and then declaring that Elsa and Anna are a part of it is insulting. There’s no other way to say it. It just feels gross. I’m glad that Disney consulted with the Sámi on the movie, and I acknowledge that both real-life Sámi folks and the onscreen Northuldra come in a broad variety of skin tones and phenotypes. But even with the most generous possible reading of the choice-- that it’s well-intentioned, albeit misguided-- falls flat for me. It feels like Disney trying to have their cake and eat it too. And I don’t really see any way around that. It just... gives me tremendous pause, and it’s so core to so many of the things the movie chooses to be that it’s really disquieting and disappointing.

But then again, Disney being racist isn’t exactly news, and there’s still plenty of flaws to tackle even when we put this (massive) issue aside.

This movie is... weirdly allergic to stakes? It’s not like I wanted Elsa to stay dead, or that I expected Olaf to (more on that in a minute). But Anna’s decision to go full Thor Ragnarok and, as @theseerasures​ jokingly put it to me last night, “throw the first brick at Stonewall” and destroy Arendelle felt right. It felt appropriate to the story they were telling, and it would have had the film put its money where its mouth is re: how atoning for the sins of our forebears requires massive systemic change. So having Elsa charge to the rescue on her water-type Rapidash extremely queer steed daemon Gay Horse and save the city felt cheap. (Also, side note: is Arendelle really just... that one seaside port town and nothing else? Are there only like fifty people in Arendelle?) The citizens had already been taken to safety. The society would live on; they’d all get to rebuild. What was the point of saving the castle, just for saving the castle’s sake? To what end? I don’t see how that’s more inspiring or reassuring or worth it than watching the sisters lead their people from the ground up and starting anew. I don’t understand what they thought was worth protecting, when, again, all of the people were safe. Stories need stakes in order to have meaning! HTTYD has impact because Hiccup loses his leg in his attempt to save his dragon and his people. You know? You don’t get to just... keep everything the way it is and call that restorative justice, and the film clearly wants us to. And I don’t understand why. The only reason that makes any sense at all to me is that they thought it would scare little kids, but like. THIS COMPANY HAS PORTRAYED WAY MORE TRAUMATIZING THINGS THAN THAT. MANY TIMES.

Point in fact: Olaf’s death! Genuinely disturbing! Sad! For the most part I really liked the way it was handled, but it also felt very. Y’know. “Mister Stark, I don’t feel so good.” This is perhaps my most uncharitable nitpick, so I’ll keep it brief, but having Olaf drift away Snap-style just felt like an extremely synergistic, Disney+ nod at Infinity War instead of an organic decision. Which maybe isn’t fair, because it makes more sense for Olaf to become a flurry than for the Snap to make people dust! But nevertheless, the weird wink-and-a-nudge feeling of it totally pulled me out of what should have been an extremely poignant moment. Elsa’s revelation during “Show Yourself” felt similar--like. Not to take away from your moment, Elsa, but the call isn’t out there at all, it’s inside me was already covered by this larger canon, and in a more elegant and eloquent manner.

Which--tbh, the music overall was a bit of a letdown (though “Into the Unknown” slaps and a boyband of five joshes “Lost in the Woods” was perhaps the best sequence in the whole movie). I respect that they clearly wanted to give everyone a solo this time around in a deliberate way, but the songs felt perfunctory for the most part--describing moments instead of advancing them. This film was such a departure from how Disney normally makes sequels (mostly in a good way, actually) and I couldn’t help but wonder what it would have looked like to make a version of this movie where no one sang at all. It didn’t feel cohesive.

And, though it would kill me to get rid of “Lost in the Woods” because it’s perfect... I kinda wish Anna and Kristoff had gotten engaged at the end of act 1, as I think they pretty clearly did in the first draft of this script. Their relationship drama felt like a hat on top of a hat, and they could still have addressed their codependency/insecurities while being engaged. Leaving the proposal for the end just made it an anticlimax after everyone’s been brought back from the literal dead. And it maybe would have left them with more options than having Kristoff just vanish from the narrative for the entire back half of the second act.

Also Honeymaren should have had at least two more scenes. I can’t justify this on a narrative level; the movie didn’t actually need more of her. But like. If you’re going to go out of your way to keep Elsa carefully single, and even give KRISTOFF a new boyfriend, I feel like the least you can do is let us get to know the obvious throw-us-a-bone offering a little bit better. Like. Literally. the actual least you can do.

anyway. all of that said.

the yay!

I can’t tell you how gratifying it was to me, personally to open with a flashback of the girls that demonstrates as clear as day that Elsa is an ace lesbian and Anna is bi and polyamorous. Thank you, snow action figures.

And like. Overall the way the movie tackled the sisters and their relationship was pure *chef’s kiss.* (And I think for me, the strength in this particular bullet point probably outweighs all of my complaints and concerns from above, in the end. At least from an “I still derive enjoyment from this flawed thing” standpoint, though perhaps not from an “I’d recommend this to anyone without caveats” standpoint.) THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH. THEY WERE SO THEMSELVES. I do think part of the fear of any sequel where there’s been a significant amount of time since the last one and you were so emotionally invested in it the first go-around is like... what if everyone feels OOC? What if what I saw wasn’t what was really in them after all? What if they feel like strangers? What if they let me down? And there was none of that, even for a second, with this movie. Their parallel journeys were character-appropriate and impactful. Elsa finally gets the freedom she’s always been looking for. Anna finally gets the responsibility she’s always been ready for. Anna, the caretaker, is positioned to take care of everyone. Elsa, the lesbian, runs away to the forest to hang out with beautiful powerful women. Elsa, the force of nature, is finally allowed to commune with it. The scene at their parents’ ship truly anchors the whole movie in the best possible way. And also, like... this movie showed how fucking weird Elsa is, and I feel so vindicated. SHE’S SUCH A DORK. I can’t believe I never realized that Elsa would totally choose Charmander as her starter, and the way she talked to the fire salamander was literally the most charming thing I have ever seen. “They’re staring at us, aren’t they?” GOSH. [IMDb says the salamander’s name is Bruni, and I’m very sad they never spoke it aloud.] [Someone do a rotoscope of the Tangled short where Pascal and Max almost ruin Rapunzel and Eugene’s wedding by losing the rings but it’s Bruni and Sven at Kristoff and Anna’s wedding, thank]

Anyway. All of that goes double for Olaf, because I really wasn’t sure they could pull off the miracle of him not being annoying twice. And they did! Olaf’s grappling with his burgeoning maturity was adorable and profound in equal measure, and his plot reenactments were sublime. And when he realized to Anna for the first time that he was feeling angry, that he was capable of feeling angry... what a tremendous moment. (Actually, I’ll extend what I said about the boat scene to include the Earth Giants river sequence in total, because. Again. Wow.)

And I have to say... as much as I am given real pause by their execution of the concept, “you just do the next right thing” is such beautiful (*cough* Jewish *cough*) praxis. I love that. In the broader Disney Revival canon of Tiana’s work ethic and Rapunzel’s abuse narrative and how Wreck-It Ralph talked about PTSD and all of the myriad things the first Frozen did, I might love “the next right thing” most of all. What a simple, powerful, evocative message. It’s so lovely. A perfect gem.

Also worth acknowledging that the animation was straight-up stunning. Which I expected, generally, but the water droplets in the ship? The way Elsa just loses it sobbing when she sees her mother’s face in the ice? The tender, shattered way Anna pulls Olaf in closer to her as he fades? W.O.W. And, y’know, while I stand by what I said above about stakes, I will say that the moment we first see that Elsa is experiencing cold, that Elsa is freezing? Genuinely--and please forgive the pun--genuinely chilling.

I love Gail the Gale. I love Mattias and Yelana and Ryder and Honeymaren. But mostly I just... loved the dialogue and these characters and that I got to spend a little more time with them. And I’m sure I’ll do so at least two more times before it leaves theaters.

... apparently this is over 2k words now so that seems as good a place to leave it as any. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[nightfurylover31]

2019 really came after my heart!

First was How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. Wrapping up my favorite franchise with its final film. Oh, how I laugh, cried, and cheered. Watching Hiccup, Toothless, and the rest of the gang grow up, and growing up with them, made my heart melt! And last month we got HTTYD: Homecoming to connect the time skip in the end. Just adorable! But I will keep this franchise alive with my videos! THIS MOVIE DESERVES AN OSCAR! VOTE FOR IT PEOPLE! 

And Avengers Endgame. Where to even begin?! I thought Infinity War was epic, but this one takes the cake! The final showdown, without a doubt my all time favorite battle in ANY movie EVER! We lost some wonderful characters, and again, broke my heart! But it was such a cool way to tie in previous films and see characters who were killed off again. My hat’s off to you, Marvel. 

Also, Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. That was a nail biter all the way through. Watching Clark Gregg act as someone totally different pulled me through a loop. And that was another twist ending! I’m sad it will be the last season next year, but I’m happy to have watched such an action packed and hilarious show. 

Detective Pikachu! After 20 years, we finally got a live action movie! AND I LOVED IT! I was filled with so much nostalgia! This show is my childhood, and have been a part of this fandom long before that word even existed. The way they brought Pokémon to life, making them look realistic but still look like how they do in the games is alone a spectacular accomplishment! It had many elements to the spin-off game, but also new ones. It is a perfect way to combine childhood with humor even adults will enjoy. So happy we’re getting a sequel, for the game and movie! 

Pokémon Sun and Moon anime wrapped up too. And I am so proud of Ash! He finally won the Pokémon League! And not only that, he was the first ever Champion in Alola! I was unsure of the art style at first, but that didn’t stop me from watching. And I am glad I did. Epic battles, amazing stories, and so many wonderful characters! We just started the new series, and I would do anything for Scorbunny! I love it so much! Looking forward for more! 

Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, the first Yugioh series I watched as it aired in Japan, and the first I watched all the original episodes, has concluded. The final season was cut short, but it hurt like hell! I woke up every Wednesday with an anxiety knot in my gut just thinking about what would happen. Yusaku and Ai… fate was cruel to both of them. Out of all the final Duels in each series, I thought this was the most heartbreaking. The dub is still going strong, and the extra humor and jokes will hopefully make things a bit easier when we get to Season 3. 

And Frozen 2! The effects, the music, the characters. I loved it so much, even more than the original! The expansion on Elsa’s character, Anna’s growth, it was all wonderful! 

And finally, this year I decided to watch Miraculous Ladybug. And I sure as hell picked one heck of a season to start. The third season finale was both amazing and kind of heartbreaking. And now we have to wait until fall next year for new episodes! At least we’re getting a special in the meantime. There were quite a few other episodes that really got me. Like “Oblivio” and “Cat Blanc.” And others from the previous seasons too. Planning on doing a Favorite Episodes post later. 

But the most devastating thing that happened this year, was that we had to put my cat Buttercup down. She was very sick, and very old. I… I’d rather not talk too much about this. It still hurts. We buried her next to her sister Scooter, so they’re together, just like they have been their whole lives. 

I managed to survive 2019! I hope I can make it through 2020. So far, nothing too big to expect that will rip my heart out again, but you never know. I wish you all a Happy New Year with my final post of the decade!

[zcldrizes-a]

— 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐬 : “ 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐝. ”

i. Yet that night she dreamt of one. Viserys was hitting her, hurting her. She was naked, clumsy with fear. She ran from him, but her body seemed thick and ungainly. He struck her again. She stumbled and fell. “You woke the dragon,” he screamed as he kicked her. “You woke the dragon, you woke the dragon.” Her thighs were slick with blood. She closed her eyes and whimpered. As if in answer, there was a hideous ripping sound and the crackling of some great fire. When she looked again, Viserys was gone, great columns of flame rose all around, and in the midst of them was the dragon. It turned its great head slowly. When its molten eyes found hers, she woke, shaking and covered with a fine sheen of sweat. She had never been so afraid.

ii. Yet when she slept that night, she dreamt the dragon dream again. Viserys was not in it this time. There was only her and the dragon. Its scales were black as night, wet and slick with blood. Her blood, Dany sensed. Its eyes were pools of molten magma, and when it opened its mouth, the flame came roaring out in a hot jet. She could hear it singing to her. She opened her arms to the fire, embraced it, let it swallow her whole, let it cleanse her and temper her and scour her clean. She could feel her flesh sear and blacken and slough away, could feel her blood boil and turn to steam, and yet there was no pain. She felt strong and new and fierce.

iii. Dany gave the silver over to the slaves for grooming and entered her tent. It was cool and dim beneath the silk. As she let the door flap close behind her, Dany saw a finger of dusty red light reach out to touch her dragon’s eggs across the tent. For an instant a thousand droplets of scarlet flame swam before her eyes. She blinked, and they were gone.

iv. Stone, she told herself. They are only stone, even Illyrio said so, the dragons are all dead. She put her palm against the black egg, fingers spread gently across the curve of the shell. The stone was warm. Almost hot. “The sun,” Dany whispered. “The sun warmed them as they rode.”

v. “Khaleesi, “ Jhiqui said, “what is wrong? Are you sick?” “I was,” she answered, standing over the dragon’s eggs that Illyrio had given her when she wed. She touched one, the largest of the three, running her hand lightly over the shelf. Black-and- scarlet, she thought, like the dragon in my dream. The stone felt strangely warm beneath her fingers… or was she still dreaming? She pulled her hand back nervously.

I think the first thing to note here is that, from very early on, we have it established to us that Daenerys is something unique. Not everyone bonded to dragons dreams of them – though we know that Aemon did ( I see them in my dreams, Sam. I see a red star bleeding in the sky. I still remember red. I see their shadows on the snow, hear the crack of leathern wings, feel their hot breath. My brothers dreamed of dragons too, and their dreams killed them, every one. ) but as the readers, we get no real indication that Viserys did. And given he’s presented to be the actual dragon at first, though we learn quickly that is not the case, I think the message here that we take from this is simple: Daenerys was always fated to be the mother of dragons, and Daenerys was always fated to be the first rider in centuries.

Firstly, I want to quickly clear something up: despite what the show neglected to portray, Daenerys loves all three of her children in equal form, even if in different ways. I won’t link all of the proof of that here – that can happen in another meta if someone really wants it – but I think the thing to note is that even though all three are her children, one of them is necessarily more equal to her in her own state of mind in the sense of him being her mount. She loves her children and wants to protect them, yes: but to protect them, she would need Drogon’s help, realistically. That means in her own mind, she will always view him as an equal, and someone she fights alongside, whilst Viserion and Rhaegal can’t be viewed in the same lense because she isn’t bonded to them in the way dragonlore states ( quickly on dragonlore: I mix my own canon for writing it, as most people know, from a concoction of asoiaf canon, Eragon, HTTYD, etc ). She can attempt to protect them: but Drogon protects her. Drogon is her equal, in that sense. It doesn’t mean she loves him more, it means she loves him differently. I’m happy to extend my thoughts on her actions in locking Viserion and Rhaegal up, but in my own state of mind, and I think established relatively decently in some forms of canon, Daenerys does regret what she had to do. With that in mind, it’s something she would have done to all three if she had a chance, for the sake of the people she was ruling.

Secondly, before I go into specifics about her bond with Drogon, a general note about the dragons bonding: I do prescribe to the very established canon that only those with Valyrian blood have the ability to ride dragons. We know from Martin’s canon that Valyrian Dragonlords used magic to bind the dragons to them – and that can explain the many references to the blood of the dragon, specifically. That’s to suggest that the blood carried on from Valyrian descendants still contains that bond, however diluted through the ages. There are of course some exceptions to this, and those usually come from extenuating circumstances: but with Dany’s dragons, we see in canon that they are resistant to just anyone riding them. Quentyn Martell’s death after trying to mount Viserion – admittedly at the hands of Rhaegal – confirms that they don’t tolerate just anyone, and it’s also important to note that Daenerys was the first dragonrider in a century and a half. The exception I make for my own canon is @killthebxy and his Jon riding Rhaegal, and the explanation for this is simple: after months of bonding, and under the canon where no other Valyrian blooded people exist, and also in a context where Viserion is dead and Drogon has a rider already, it makes sense that Rhaegal would crave a rider so badly that he would bond with another. With that being said, we also know from canon that a dragon once bonded will not allow anyone else to ride them ( unless their rider is also present ). That means no, your muse cannot ride Drogon without Daenerys there. He doesn’t want it, and she wouldn’t allow it, so don’t try it.

…it was said that even Aegon the Conquerer never dared mount Vhagar or Meraxes, nor did his sisters mount Balerion the Black Dread. Dragons live longer than men, some for hundreds of years, so Balerion had other riders after Aegon died… but no rider ever flew two dragons.

Now, I’m going to break this up into a few different sections to write.

- oo1. BOND FORMATION.

The important thing to note here is that I personally think the bond began long before Daenerys actually rode Drogon. We see within canon in her dreaming days that when dreaming of the dragons, Dany always dreams of the black. It’s no coincidence that Drogon was born to bear her House colours, nor is it coincidence that he is often called Balerion ( Khaleesi … there sits Balerion, come again. ) whilst she herself is paralleled to Aegon the Conqueror ( She is the widow of a Dothraki khal, a mother of dragons and sacker of cities, Aegon the Conqueror with teats. ) – this sets up in a very visceral manner that this is what Martin’s intention was, to establish this bond very early on. We know that in hatching the dragons, Daenerys had known for an incredibly long time what she was going to do to hatch those dragons, and we can see that in the following few passages, that she references her intent and the pre-emptive nature of what she’s about to do, before it’s DROGON’S egg that she lifts first. ( This is madness, she told herself as she lifted the black-and-scarlet egg from the velvet. It will only crack and burn, and it’s so beautiful, Ser Jorah will call me a fool if I ruin it, and yet, and yet… Cradling the egg with both hands, she carried it to the fire and pushed it down amongst the burning coals. The black scales seemed to glow as they drank the heat. Flames licked against the stone with small red tongues. Dany placed the other two eggs beside the black one in the fire. ) Between the dreams and the following few pieces of evidence, we know her intent was established early on.

i. “You will not hear me scream,” Mirri responded as the oil dripped from her hair and soaked her clothing. “I will,” Dany said, “but it is not your screams I want, only your life. I remember what you told me. Only death can pay for life.” Mirri Maz Duur opened her mouth, but made no reply. As she stepped away, Dany saw that the contempt was gone from the maegi’s flat black eyes; in its place was something that might have been fear. Then there was nothing to be done but watch the sun and look for the first star.

ii. Jhogo spied it first. “There, “ he said in a hushed voice. Dany looked and saw it, low in the east. The first star was a comet, burning red. Bloodred; fire red; the dragon’s tail. She could not have asked for a stronger sign.

iii. She had sensed the truth of it long ago, Dany thought as she took a step closer to the conflagration, but the brazier had not been hot enough.

Throughout the younger years of the dragon’s development, both book and show canon seems to build the hatchlings to some degree, but it is Drogon we so often get more of a glimpse into. Very often, it is Drogon who is perched on her shoulder ( as he in in the arrival to Qarth ) or on her lap ( as he is when she is informed of Robert Baratheon’s death ). We also know in the House of the Undying that it is Drogon who accompanies her, and who protects her and allows her to escape, in book canon – and in show canon, that it is Drogon who is the first to respond to her command for fire in burning those who leave her in chains. By the time we get to the Sack of Astapor, I think the fact it is Drogon who she offers up as part of her plan speaks volumes: she knows that he will respond to her command, and she knows that he will not hesitate to do so. By this point, it’s very established that of all three dragons, he is the one already utilised the most in her plans, and the one who she clearly gravitates to most centrally.

We then reach the stages of Drogon’s rebellious years. Regardless of whether or not he intended to burn the child – dragons are intelligent, he likely knew what he did – we can either read Drogon’s absence as one of two things. Either he can tell that Daenerys is disappointed in him for what happened, or perhaps horrified with himself; or more likely, he knows that as much as Daenerys is on the cusp of becoming a woman, she is not ready to be his rider yet. I think the show gives us a really beautiful moment here, where she reaches for him, and she is unsure and he flies away before she can touch him; he knows that she isn’t ready for him yet. By default, by this point I believe Drogon knew that she was supposed to ride him – and that is confirmed when he comes to save her at the fighting pits. Now, here’s where I take issue with the books: the only way that I will accept the necessity of Drogon needing to be beaten into command is if he was truly so confused and feral after months away that it took him several moments to recognise her. In my own canon, I do think the show had the better iteration here: he trusted her, and their bond allowed her to mount him, because that was what he was born for.

By the time we get the first flight, it’s not the bond being formed: it’s the final step to formation. When we talk about dragon bonds, I think it means more than a human and pet; dragons are intelligent, and they are magical. For them to bond with a human means something special: Daenerys and Drogon are the literal entity of soulmates, because their souls were born to be connected. He is an ever present feeling at the back of her mind, and likewise, she is with him always, no matter how far apart they are. That goes deeper than any love, any kind of familiar connection; they are part of each other, and this journey up until now was just about finding their way to that point and establishing / building it.

- oo2. EMOTIONS / COMMUNICATION.

Drogon raised his head, blood dripping from his teeth. The hero leapt onto his back and drove the iron spearpoint down at the base of the dragon’s long scaled neck. Dany and Drogon screamed as one.

As an extension of the headcanon that they are soulmates, I think this reads very simple as follows: they understand the emotions that the other is feeling. They feel pain, that the other is feeling. It isn’t as tangible as Drogon getting hurt and Daenerys aching in the same spot – but more that she feels that he is suffering, and there’s an overwhelming desire to help. We get some of that again, from the show, where he is struck in 7.04 and her first instinct upon landing is to remove the spear – and even in the pain addled state of mind that follows for him, the moment she sees Jaime and we see her fear, Drogon responds. We get it again in 7.06, when Viserion is killed; on Dany’s face, we get shock, and though she is mourning clearly in the later parts of the episode, her reaction is reserved. For Drogon, whilst she is silent, he is screaming for his fallen sibling. And yes, that be construed as part of his grief – but likely, it’s because he is feeling for the both of them.And lastly, we get a beautiful moment of this in 8.03, when Dany is crying for Jorah, and Drogon’s response is to curl around her and coo to her. This isn’t a protective stance - the battle has ended, and he’s low, not on alert. He’s close to her, making soft noises, and that body language communicates comfort, not anything else. He feels her grief, and he feels it himself, and so he lays close to her to offer whatever he can.

Communication between them is not quite so blatant as thinking commands to the other, but simply instead, that they can sense what the other wants. Likely, Dany was idly chattering to Drogon before handing him to the Masters at the Sack of Astapor, because she knew he would know what to do without command. And though she talks to the dragons in Valyrian, it’s not a language they were likely born knowing ( and if they did, likely, they knew others to ) – so more than likely, it’s not the words that Drogon responds to, but the intent behind each of them. And the deeper that bond goes, the more we see ( again, more viscerally on the show ) that he responds without question – in executing enemies, or even in the gentleness by which he carries her, lets her down, by the way he bristles when people disrespect her. The communication between them is far more primal and intimate than language; it’s spoken by hearts and minds forged together in the flames.

- oo3. FLIGHT NAVIGATION.

Again, an extension of the above, but when it comes to flight navigations, we have no need here for the way that Daenerys commanded Drogon in the books ( The dragonlords of old Valyria had controlled their mounts with binding spells and sorcerous horns. Daenerys made do with a word and a whip. Mounted on the dragon’s back, she oft felt as if she were learning to ride all over again. When she whipped her silver mare on her right flank the mare went left, for a horse’s first instinct is to flee from danger. When she laid the whip across Drogon’s right side he veered right, for a dragon’s first instinct is always to attack. Sometimes it did not seem to matter where she struck him, though; sometimes he went where he would and took her with him. Neither whip nor words could turn Drogon if he did not wish to be turned. The whip annoyed him more than it hurt him, she had come to see; his scales had grown harder than horn. ) – this implies that Drogon needed to be beat into submission, and while he was more stubborn and juvenile then, he was still her intended and her bonded.

So when we talk about flight navigation, my canon is as follows: they work together. Dany knows, mostly, where she wants to go – and Drogon knows how to get them there. For the most, he follows what she wants if it is specifically the reason they’re travelling; but in situations in battles, etc, he will also move without need of command, always to protect his mother. The one (1) time that she falls from him in my canon, it is not his fault, and he never forgives himself for it. Drogon’s flying style is rougher than most other dragons would be – he’s large, he’s animalistic, and he’s never truly understood how fragile she is when it comes to him, because he perceives his mother as so strong. Hence why she cuts her hands from holding on, or bruises so badly from him thrashing around, or her thighs get cut from the way she grips his scales through her clothes. They work together, and for the most part, neither think twice about it.

- oo4. EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS.

It’s as simple as this – if Daenerys doesn’t like someone, Drogon likely hates that someone. In no world does he ever give a moment’s time to someone who she has no connection with; which is why it can be construed that Drogon tolerates people like Doreah, or Jorah, or Jon. Because of the emotional connection between them, this transfers to the way he connects with people she loves: by default, he feels at the least some sort of loyalty, or urge to protect them. Firstly, this is because he knows that she cares for them, and that if anything happened to them, she would be sad. Secondly, because he feels that emotion for them himself as a result of the bond. And thirdly, because he has likely had some further interactions as a result, which formulate his own bond with them independent of his mother’s emotions.

With that being said, there is never, ever a situation where Drogon would chose another person over his mother. It doesn’t matter what she becomes or what she does to anyone else – no singular person, or groups of people are as important as a rider to a dragon. And likewise, even if Daenerys were to have human children, she would never stop viewing the dragons as her own children too, or treating them as such. Those relationships, even to her, come beneath the bond she has with Drogon. And even when it comes to the other dragons, she loves them with all of her heart, but she will never feel the closeness she does with Drogon because he’s not just in her heart, he’s in her mind.

- oo5. IF EITHER DIED.

Lastly, talking about the potential of death for either of them. For dragons, their life span far outlasts their riders – and Daenerys hopes that long after she is gone, he will find someone ( in her own bloodline, or other ) whom he might feel that bond with. With that being said, she isn’t just his rider to him, but also his mother, which means if she died, that grief would transcend what a dragon might normally feel for their rider’s death. Unlike what we see in the series finale, if someone were to cause her death, then regardless of who that person was to Drogon, he would not hold back his revenge from the person who took her from him – this bond is more than a normal dragon and rider, he was born to be with her, birthed by her, raised by her, and lived by her side for all of his life. This would be the first time he wouldn’t feel her with him, and that would cripple him, to know that he would live for centuries with that presence void in his life.

If the situation were flipped, and Drogon was lost to her, I believe Daenerys would feel that grief on a physical level, as well as emotional. Drogon is warmth and strength at the back of her mind and thoughts – she would not feel warm again, without him there. Would never feel as strong, without him there. Would never be able to replicate that emotional bond with another being or entity, without him there. Would constantly be calling for him, constantly searching for him in the skies. That would be a loss that she would never, ever recover from – and I believe in that instance, she would crave the reunion with him in death, though she might not go so far as harming herself. It would transcend her desire to see anyone else in the afterlife – she would be focused exclusively on seeing her child again, and being with him again.

Having a part of one’s soul ripped away would physically hurt, and that is what they would both feel.

[inke-ri]

A HTTYD 3 AU

@hiccup-is-left-handed did a thing (which I cannot link because mobile) and I really don’t wanna hijack their post but credit where credit is due ok? Ok.

This got way out of hand, I apologize for the long post… Idk how to put it under a read more on mobile, heh <3

—

So. The Hidden World AU where Toothless and the Light Fury are friends/“just like me” sort of situation + Hiccup is the one captured:

• That add on where the beginning was dark and grimy, yes. • The Grimmel scene happens between him and a fallen drago. Drago desperately needs a new Alpha to control his dragon army, so he enlists Grimmel. • The Light Fury in the cage is not in fact our LF girl, but a young male, about Toothless’ age in HTTYD 1 • Grimmel’s comment about him is around the line of “Furies are social creatures”, so through that line we learn that Toothless would in fact crave a “pack” (I keep calling a group of furies a pack bear with me), except he doesn’t really know that yet.

• Toothless meeting this equivalent of yearling male would go the same way except the dynamic would be (as hiccup-is-left-handed mentioned) similar to spiderverse’s “you’re like me”– a connection but not a romantic one

• Grimmel would still attack Hiccup’s home, but his deathgrippers actually torch down a good deal of the village • Because of the grimy beginning we see this is just another attack and Berk’s people have been suffering (injuries, slings and stuff in the great hall scene) • a bigger deal is made out of them leaving, there’s probably a scene where Hiccup is sitting next to his father’s statue after the meeting and talking to it, asking for advice • Astrid comforts Hiccup there– you’d have time for this since we’d cut most of the Hesitant To Get Married subplot, it’s in fact treated as something to happen someday in the future but both agree with the current situation it’s best to postpone it • or maybe Valka, since because we’re removing the marriage subplot, she could still get One Good Scene with Hiccup. It would still be a little stiff between them, since she’s still relatively new at this mom thing, but they both try. It’s up to you. Either way, Hiccup is convinced they must leave now. • Personally, because I’m a nerd, I’d make the beginning of the scene about Hiccup telling one of them (Valka or Astrid, your call), about how when he were little he always wanted the glory, and to be a Hero to his tribe… But he has so many difficult choices to make and it’s hard. And Valka/Astrid comments that yes, indeed, some people win glory “easily”, how Hiccup would have gotten had he killed that Night Fury, others… Well, others like him need to become Heroes the Hard Way <3 • Probably a scene of the Berkians sadly looking back to their old island and and then forward to their new future

• The yearling doesn’t go back for Toothless, but (in Nova Berk) Toothless does pick up his scent and follows him to that beachy area Toothless tries to woo the LF in the actual movie • There we find out the yearling male has a sibling, a sister, and THAT would be our girl. He calls out to the mountains and she appears and makes a huge fuss about him being back (which gives them both some nice personalities as well as showing their devotion to each other)

• Toothless is in fact attracted to her, but it’s a very minor thing in the grand scheme of him meeting others like him • Toothless tries to join them, and like in the movie Hiccup tries to coach him through befriending these dragons which are so like him • LF girl still gets offended, Toothless still falls down from the tree. yearling LF is very amused at this but also very curious about the branch, so he picks it up and starts playing with it in a rather catlike fashion • Toothless decides to show them how HE plays with the branch, so he picks it up and starts drawing • It’s no big fancy drawing, just his usual scribbles, but both siblings are very intrigued and impressed by it • Toothless still growls at the LF when she tries to step on it, and she growls back (they do NOT get started on the best terms despite Toothless’ original attraction– it could even be read as him just being curious about the fact that she’s a female), but the young male does get it, so he hops around the lines like Hiccup did, grabs the stick and flies away • Following her brother’s example, the LF tries to get to Toothless by hopping around the scribbly lines • We’d get a similar scene to Hiccup hitting his back on toothless and looking up at him, except the LF just gazes at him and Toothless smiles a little at her • She in turn tried to copy his facial expression and smiles as well, and it’s -then- that they click • The siblings still find Hiccup, but Toothless stands between them and his friend so they just choose to leave instead • Toothless still falls on the water trying to follow them but he doesn’t glare at his lack of tail, just looks longingly up at them

• Hiccup does NOT make a new tailfin right away for Toothless. Instead, we get a very “See You Tomorrow” montage, except it’s with Toothless going between the dragons and Hiccup, and each time he learns something new about himself • You could also show Hiccup looking a bit down/feeling left off during this montage, but trying to be happy for Toothless • Eventually, Hiccup decides to make the new tailfin. The scene would go basically the same way except there’s a bigger moment for Toothless not wanting to leave Hiccup, he smells the old saddle and Hiccup comforts him, saying it’s okay. He would have explained to astrid the reason why he made the new tail is not cause Toothless “never had a reason to leave”, it’s just cause Toothless is discovering a new side of him and Hiccup wants him to be happy

• the “third date” scene would be mostly be a platonic scene between the three furies, where Toothless learns to harness lightning • The difference would be the young male gets separated from them for a bit, chasing after some bird or something (he’s young and excitable, also a personality point for him) • You’d then get a smaller version of a romantic scene, but you can clearly see that after that wrong first impression the LF and Toothless do seem to like each other. Still would get the scene of them flying up into the moon and Toothless kissing her, and the “wing holding”. That was cute, and I like that scene, but the romance would still be comparatively secondary • The young male would interrupt the “hand holding”, and that’s where they’d find the hidden world. Male goes in excitedly and toothless hesitates but LF cheerfully drags him down after her brother

• The Hiccup side of it remains the same. They go after Grimmel, there’s an emphasis on all the anti-dragon humans banding together to take down berk. • Grimmel’s villain speech gets a flashback in which we get a scene more akin to the one of the first Dragons movie, there’s a slight discrepancy compared to Grimmel’s words. In the flashback, Grimmel -hesitates- before killing a wounded, sleeping night fury (it could even be faking its sleep, kinda like how Toothless just closed his eyes and waited for death, but that might be too much for a kid’s movie), but eventually does kill it • All the riders make it out of Grimmel’s trap.

• Hiccup and Astrid still go after Toothless • the Hidden World scene is expanded upon. We actually get two things that Hiccup sees: one (and this is optional but a personal headcanon of mine) being the LF siblings introducing Toothless to small, wary, scarred group of night furies (complete with Hiccup’s awe at finding more of them but also his realization that HUMANS did that to those dragons, they’re scarred and crippled because of them) • The other would be that Toothless doesn’t have the time to meet them properly, he gets distracted by squabble between two groups of wild dragons over food. Toothless instinctively uses his alpha command to take one of the groups to another feeding location, avoiding a fight. • The dragons recognize Toothless as a benevolent Alpha, and bow to him. It’s then that Astrid says that “now that’s a king” line.

• Hiccup chooses to leave Toothless there (the shock and pain of the Night Fury survivors being a factor of Hiccup deciding Toothless is better off without him, and besides, we’ve been building up on that “Toothless prefers his new friends over me” issue Hiccup is dealing with) • The whole rumblehorn thing happens and Toothless still brings Hiccup home, but Toothless isn’t angry or anything. The two light Furies do follow them. Seeing them actually only hardens Hiccup’s resolve, and he essentially kicks Toothless out, but he’s lashing out out of hurt, worry, rejection, and overall being overwhelmed by his duties as a Chief (namely the very large group of vikings bent on destroying Berk due to their philosophy) and his love and worry for Toothless • Toothless does leave, looking hurt but he does. • Astrid tries to comfort Hiccup again, but this time he just wants to be alone. Once she leaves, Hiccup mourns a little, but then he’s suddenly shot with one of Grimmel's darts. Astrid sees him be taken, but it’s too late to rescue him

• Hiccup wakes up in a ship of the armada his mother had seen on Cloudjumper, and is surprised in a very angry way to see Drago there (we hadn’t seen him since the moment he lashes at Grimmel for letting the Berkians get away– but he does so in a logical and tactical way) • Drago wants the location of the Hidden World – something he probably got from Grimmel who overheard it during the raid on his lair – and he plans to use Hiccup for it • Remember when Hiccup was called a devil in the beginning of the movie? This scene would get its payback here!! In a very clear parallel to Dragons 1, Drago would shackle Hiccup and sail east, and in a very Stoick-esque way, tells him to “lead the way, [to the nest], little devil” • Y'know like what happened to Toothless in HTTYD 1

• Cut to Toothless in the Hidden World. He’s looking at his tail, rather forlorn and lost • The Lightfury comes to see him, looking rather affectionate- they’re a couple, it seems. Toothless looks to her and then to behind him, where the other Light/Night furies (and some other dragons in the background) are waiting for him • Toothless isn’t ready yet. He licks the LF (think of a “I have to” kiss on the cheek Hiccup gave Astrid in HTTYD 2), and flies towards the waterfall and out of the hidden world, back to Hiccup.

• Drago is sailing towards the general direction of the hidden world, guided by the direction Toothless flew off before he captured Hiccup • Hiccup is unable to free himself, but then he (and the antagonists) is surprised to see that Berk is flying towards the armada to free him, en masse. All seem determined to defend the Hidden World’s entrance from Drago’s fleet • It’s a nice shout out to both HTTYD 1, where that small team fought the read death, but also to how the vikings have changed, how Hiccup has changed them. A small team has become a whole village. • no one can quite get to Hiccup tho, but then Drago is surprised to find Toothless there, looking very very angry • Grimmel still threatens someone Toothless loves, but it’s Hiccup this time. For a brief moment, Toothless controls the dragons away from the fight, so Hiccup isn’t killed. Toothless cannot let Hiccup die. He can’t. He loves him too much. • Drago and Grimmel however, are distracted long enough for Toothless to grab Hiccup and flee– not by humans but by the whole group of light and night furies. It seems as though Furies are a very territorial species, and act as protectors of the hidden world.

• Grimmel still grabs the LF, Toothless still follows him with Hiccup. The whole thing that went down in the movie happens here. Grimmel dies. Toothless is rescued by the young, excitable LF Male, while our girl, who has always been more distrustful of Hiccup, saves his life. She does smile crookedly at him, that very Toothless smile she learned from him.

• Drago is still out there, though. Hiccup, Toothless and the dragon gang regroup while most of Berk still fights. Hiccup is alive, but feels lost, he always wanted to prevent a war and now a war has happened anyway • This is where Astrid comes in again, and where she repeats that “what are you going to do about it” line • The gang goes after drago– and surprise: Hiccup is using the old saddle, but Toothless still wears the new tailfin, one last big fight for the two of them: this time, while they’re still connected, they’re able to fight apart from each other– maybe it’s here that we get that sword/explosion/look between Hiccup and Astrid. Toothless is flying on his own, and Hiccup is fighting on his own as well. By mutual choice this time, knowing how their differences don’t affect their devotion to each other • The furies fight alongside Hiccup, Toothless and the Berkians, showing the beauty of cooperation and mutual respect between humans and dragons that do decide to work together… As well as allowing Hiccup one big flight with Toothless and other night furies, as was his dream for his friend. • Drago is defeated, and the army scatters (how it’s up to you, I’m still fond of the jailed idea, except Drago falls under water and drowns, or something. Idk. For a man who’s so determined to control and dominate, dying in a cage designed to control and rip freedom away would be pretty good poetic justice, but idk.)

• Hiccup and Toothless still part ways. Hiccup’s speech isn’t really about how his dream wasn’t the dragons’ dream. Instead, much like the books, he says that Humanity isn’t quite ready to share the world with them, and that Toothless needs to take them away for their own safety (basically the same message of the movie but sans the weird “hiccup is clinging to toothless” subplot.) • That heart-wrenching scene still happens pretty much the same way.

• The ending is also very much the same, the babies and stuff. We’d probably see more light furies and one or two night furies on the other rocks surrounding the hidden world– they still act as protectors. • the ending goes very much the same way: I’d just tweak the words a little to explain that this isn’t just about hiding the hidden world’s secret (though you do see that in a way, Hiccup and Berk = the Furies’ role, all are guardians of the Hidden World, kinda binding them together even if they are away), but also about spreading the message that one day humans and dragons (wildlife?) can coexist someday, and when We’re ready, the Dragons will one day return.

— ……. Well that was long. I’ve been furiously typing on my phone for a good hour and a half actually. My fingers are dead but I just love this idea so much.

Also very much Not Revised so forgive any grammar/spelling mistakes!

Sorry for like. Making this way too big, Hiccup-is-left-handed. I got way too excited about it :’D

[reviewinghiccup]

I'm in love with your blog. No one ever goes into this much detail about Riders of Berk or Defenders of Berk and it's long overdue. I'm not too good with words, so I'm really thankful you're able to explain so clearly what makes these shows amazing. Every post is so well written! Can't wait to read more 😊

Hey! Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me.

I revisited this series, following a transition in my personal life, and felt like I needed some space for fun. I love reviewing shows / breaking down characters and when I latched back on to this series, I thought I would be alone in the fandom because, frankly, its a pretty old show.

ROB and DOB isn’t as easily available like RTTE on Netflix. And it was my brother’s subscription to HULU and PEACOCK that got me the chance to rewatch them. So, I thought, who else would wanna read or know about this show given the chance, yannow?

I do pour my heart and soul into writing, editing, framing the show into posts and I do feel a little exposed when I talk candidly. I think the HTTYD series speaks to me on a deeper level than just an adventure movie, and I trust it is the same for many of us. It means the world that many of you have been responding so kindly and encouragingly on this platform. We can never have too much of this type of positivity.

Hiccup is a lost boy in a forgotten age, Toothless is a totem of his courage. He is finding himself, in a world where he shouldn’t succeed (naturally), in a world that only wants to take from him, to take from anyone. A world greedy for power, influence and money. Similar to ours.

But Hiccup isn’t interested in that. Though a born leader, he comes into his purpose from the angle of kindness, and it is that angle that makes him such a great heir / chief to Berk. Berk is in a transition. They don’t need a large, strong Viking chief anymore. They need an innovator, a listener, an inventor. Someone smart. He is exactly what Berk needs for the future, the village is just beginning to know that.

The thing about ROB and DOB is, it is where it all started. It is a show portraying the incremental developments of Hiccup from boy to man. His temperament is still immature. His goals, a little superficial. But his heart, it grows larger and larger, because he is open to making mistakes and correcting them. Forgiving and moving on. Sure, it is about training dragons, but it is also about parenthood, friendships, family, relationships, responsibilities. Growth. To miss out on ROB and DOB is to miss out on a lot.

He becomes a strong leader of Dragon’s Edge because of his compassion. He becomes a man worthy of Astrid, because of the same. And that spoke to me, because for a long time, I wondered what the point was in being considered “the nice one”. For many years, I thought it was always weakness to be nice, because you get bullied for it / made fun of for it. But, I see now, that kindness is strength. And in time it will reap benefits. What kind? Too soon to say.

I get that this is a cartoon, it might just be for kids. But as a girl, in my early 20s, still growing, finding myself as I navigate through the cusps of adulthood, I am beginning to realise why we need nice people. I can see how this show relates to me, even if I am no longer the target audience it was created for. But having watched this as a kid, and then revisit it and finding different messages and take-aways can we consider this show timeless? Apt?

Be kind. There will be a few, those treasured few, who would pierce beyond the veil of our compassion and realise, that there is more to life than just gold, treasures, power and titles. It is all about community. And that is in essence, what Hiccup is, a man born to serve his community, the son of a chief. The impetus of change.

I believe that his father saw it, and that’s what lead him to say, at the end of DOB :

P/S : @hiccstridshipper19 thanks for reaching out. I bet if you ever wanted to write anything, you would do amazingly. Tag me, if you ever do any write-ups. I wasn’t too good w words too when I started other blogs, but w time and practice, I started to find my own rhythm and style. A writing voice takes time. I’m still very much honing my skills. One thing I’m working on is keeping things concise (which, as you can tell, am failing terribly at).

All my love to you. Take care.

[shipmistress9]

For the fanfiction ask: 6, 13, 14, 15, 27, 28, 31, 34, 41, 43, 45, 48. I that too much?

From this ask

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

Uh, okay. Really involved in any fandom was I ever only with the HTTYD fandom. Hiccstrid is my unchallenged OTP, with Hicretstrid as my favourite OT3 addition. 

But that's mostly because I didn't know fandoms existed before that. So other ships that I had without knowing the terms were…

Richard/Kahlan from the Sword of Truth TV show

Mark/Nathaniel from Miraculous

Tris/Four from the Divergent series

Marron/Chiaki or Jeanne/Sindbad from Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne (My top OTP after Hiccstrid/Hicretstrid)

Sailor Moon/Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon (Wow, that’s been over 20 years ago now xD)

Jordan/Woody from Crossing Jordan

Stiles/Derek from Teen Wolf

And probably many more, but these were the ones where I spend hours daydreaming and imagining other scenarios for them or looking up fanmade content for.

13. Any NoTPs?

Yep. Heather/Astrid. Because the way I see her, Heather is manipulative and egoistic. All she does is always only to futher her own interests, and her 'friendship' with Astrid specifically has an abusive taste for me. ("No, you can't tell them, Hiccup specifically. You have to lie to your closest friends for me!" anyone?) So I hate to imagine them in a relationship where that abusive streak could get so much worse.

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

Hiccup & Toothless, Stormfly & Astrid. Or if we talk non-dragon pairings, I like Dagur & Hiccup (I know many ship them. I don't.) and also Eret & Hiccstrid (for stories where they aren't together)

15. Is there an obscure ship which you love?

Dagur/Eret for sure! @taketheshot21 and I used to man that little rowboat alone. By now, I've heard others like them too after reading them as side ship in my story. They're just so unbelievably cute together! Always teasing and challenging, and at least in public, you'll hardly ever get a serious comment from them.

27. What do you hate more: Coming up with titles or writing summaries?

Neither, to be honest. Sometimes, I get these great epiphanies for titles or summaries and am in awe at my weird mind. But when that doesn't happen, I don't bother too much and just put in something generic.

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

Oh, I'd love every bit of fanart for any of my stories and already love the pieces of fanart I got so far. They are so lovely! 

But if I could choose? I'd love to see a picture of 'For The Love Of A Princess' from their time of separation. Maybe from the ball, shortly before they get back together or where Astrid blacks out in the ball room. Or from the ride back to the castles, both on Hiccup's horse but careful not to touch each other and with the pain  and longing all over their face. Or maybe from later when they're back together and hugging, tight and desperate. Like in the healers' tent after Eret got attacked. 🥰 Or really just any scene that people enjoyed or had strong feelings about.

31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?

Hmm, I got many lovely comments over time. 

I'm always flustered when people are surprised that I'm not a native speaker. (Take this former English teacher who told me to pick another language because English clearly isn’t for me. And you too, family member who told me my English skils aren’t valid because I don’t use them professionally for work like they do (poorly).)

And I'm glad when people tell me that I keep them guessing and they can't predict what happens now. I try to not go the most obvious way, so if that works (not in a 'but that makes no sense!' way), I'm happy. 

34. What’s the word count on your longest fic?

Currently… 345 619 words. And counting.

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

Huh, I'm not reading all that many fics, actually. But I'll try.

Making A Killing 

Rumours 

Changed

All by @heathenvampires

When Lightning Strikes by @seagreen-meets-grey

Riptide by alejandrathemexican

43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you?

Well, that would be @heathenvampires  His open and accepting attitude toward sexuality and sex in general inspired me to try things and think about things that wouldn't have crossed my mind otherwise. In writing and RL.

But I also want to add @athingofvikings who's a great inspiration when it comes to writing in general, and his help is priceless.

And @deathberryhime who's enthusiasm and own creativity is a great inspiration on its own.

And while she's not active in this fandom anymore, I also want to mention @taketheshot21 She’s a great comfort and inspiration, not only for my writing but also to just make it through the day without running in circles screaming.

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

That's easy. 

Engineering An Awkward Romance by @heathenvampires

This will never not be my favourite story. ^^

48. Do you leave reviews when you read fanfiction? Why/Why not?

Yes, I try to always leave a comment on everything I read.

I know what it costs to write, so when I read and enjoyed something, then it's important to me to let the author know that I appreciate their effort.

_____________________

That was a lot of fun, thank you so much for the ask! ^^

[kingofthewilderwest]

I totally get what you're saying about fandom and canon (or at least I think I do) and that what's really important is a love of the material, and I agree to that respect, but personally, reading the words "canon doesn't matter" kind of rustles my jimmies, because for some people (like me) and in some spaces, canon is extremely important. 1/?

People will find importance in canon for whatever reasons that are individual to them, and I think it’s important to consider that. There are also spaces where discussion of canon IS important, like when it comes to issues of representation. I think you’ve read my post about the phrase “there is no heterosexual explanation for this” and my rebuttal of “not every emotionally intimate relationship between two characters of the same gender is inherently gay” in response to people claiming that 2/

certain same gender pairings are “obviously” “gay for each other”, when there’s nothing in the canon that points to anything beyond an emotionally intimate relationship. One of the people who commented on it made a really good point that while it’s fine to ship something regardless of canon, it’s a different thing entirely to claim that something IS canon when there’s no evidence for it, or evidence that’s up to too much interpretation, because claiming that such a relationship IS canon 3/?

when in fact it’s barely hinted at and interpretable at best, it means that it’s much more difficult to call for better representation, when someone who is against representation can go “see? look at all the people who say [interpretable pairing] is canon. they don’t need anything more explicit!” 4/?

I think that there ARE spaces in fandom where that’s an important discussion to have. So I disagree with you that canon doesn’t matter, because there are places for it, and for individual people, it’s very important. But I agree entirely that there shouldn’t be arguments in fandom about what is or is not canon that basically involves gatekeeping “canon” or being mean to others because of what they think is or is not canon. 5/?

In a perfect world, people would be willing to agree to disagree about what is or is not canon and accept that other people have different opinions of how far canon goes. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, so I definitely agree that it’s bad for people to assert that their view of canon is the “correct” view, and - if I may be so audacious as to assume intent - is really the point you’re trying to make. 6/? (I think?)

I think that not caring about canon has its place in certain fandom contexts, but not all of them. It’s kind of like it’s a different analytical framework, one that’s useful sometimes but not other times. 7/? 

And certainly, I think canon has importance in places that exist at the boundaries of fandom, like when canon is considered in historical studies or in literature reviews. Though that’s also getting into discussions of where fandom ends and other disciplines begin, so it’s probably a moot point, and probably depends on someone’s perspective and intent. 9/? (or 8?)

I’m gonna stop myself here from going into literary theory/criticism/whatever about when and where canon matters, but I think I’ve made my point that while I agree with the sentiment of what you’re saying, I disagree with the statement that “canon doesn’t matter” in fandom. Because I think it does, but just not in every context. 10/10 (or whatever number)

From this.

As always, you’ve got a wealth of thoughtful and well-worded discussion here. You’re a brilliant human being, and one of the reasons I love talking to you is because of your deep analytical perspectives. I think another reason I jive with you as a friend is because we tend to hold similar perspectives. It’s fun, because we both entertain creative or emotional discussions extrapolated from source materials, and we both acknowledge what canon objectively contains. 

I apologize: I thought I’d been more clear with the context of what I was criticizing regarding fandom’s relationship with canon. I think I also banked on followers knowing I’m a logically centered individual who cares deeply about facts and not just heart. I suppose not, and I’m sorry if I were misleading. My mistake! How you disagree with my phrase “canon doesn’t matter” is not what I was intending to suggest and it’s not the values I have regarding canon. That one sentence wasn’t meant to stand on its own that much. We do in truth consider canon’s importance the same way!

My critique intended to be about the discussion of “What are the canon materials?” rather than “What information is in the canon?” As I read it, your response goes through both, and where you say you disagreed is mostly when you looked at the latter (but I was intentionally honing in only on the former). Maybe it’s a good idea for us to separate these concepts rather than conflate it into a large debate of “what is canon?” from too broad an angle.

My critique was about how fans police others’ engagement for things like Watsonian interpretations, headcanons, speculative meta, and fanfiction writing. If people want to analyze Edward Elric’s personality only from FMAB, or if they want to include minor tie-ins (ex: Prince of the Dawn, Sacred Star of Milos, omake, etc.), either perspective provides interesting analytical angles. They’re both valid ways of handling the character’s personality.

Especially since I experience the “What is canon materials?” conversation with the HTTYD fandom, I tend to see the debate centered on continuity and OOC/IC interactions. Also, at times, how “big” a material is - like video games being “less authoritative” than the films. These conversations are more about how people do or don’t emotionally reject RTTE for their personal headcanon/discussion space. These are people who acknowledge the show’s implications rather than deny RTTE’s existence or the implications of the content. It’s exactly because people engage and examine its contents, that some people might like to talk about Hiccup through RTTE lenses, and others will never entertain such speculations. 

(You know this stuff, I’m sure, but I’m spelling it all out to be clear, and for other readers to follow.)

What I’m saying is that in angles like these, what is or is not canon doesn’t matter, because we have the right to recreationally interact with Hiccup through some of the officially licensed materials, or through all of them. We have the right to completely ignore ALL canon and imagine him as something else, too!

That discussion that I focused on is about what people accept as “the most official materials” versus “unofficial materials.” Your focus for the majority of your message looks to me like a nuanced angle on something else - the other “spaces,” “places,” “frameworks” you bring up. That’s about whether or not people acknowledge what’s inside those materials. It’s about whether or not people are able to acknowledge that things happen in official materials, or are able to correctly discern objective versus subjective information within that media. That’s not something I was covering in that conversation because it wasn’t contextually relevant, but yes, you’re absolutely right that these distinctions are important!

The viral post you mentioned is one I’ll never forget from you, because I agree with it 100%. It’s the same frustration I hold, so it was so enthralling to see it put to words. It’s poor thinking for fans to subjectively interpret canon materials and try to push it as The One Truth… when it is not objectively what the source material contains. Feel free to tie things together how you want for funsies, that doesn’t make it what the source ACTUALLY says.

This is why I mentioned, at the start of my discussion, that I get uncomfortable when people dismiss officially licensed materials as “fanfiction” or “not real.” These exist whether we like them to or not. The reason it’s important to distinguish fandom from canon is because canon is what feeds us, and is what provides authority for what the franchise is. Whether or not you like the materials or engage with them for things like headcanoning, they’re there, and you have to be able to acknowledge: these materials exist. The companies gave them to us.

Because a product exists, you can’t say “bye” to the consequences of its existence. You have to know it exists, and what it does/doesn’t contain. It’s poor thinking for individuals to extrapolate materials from canon that were objectively not intended by the creators, but fans still try to push it as “the true story.” What the source material objectively contains cannot be replaced by emotional wants or denials. That’s where things like representation or romance come into play, as you mentioned: it’s (usually) fine to relate to and interpret the characters as you want, so long as you can separate that from the objective reality of the source material. You have to be able to acknowledge what the source material contains.

I want to make it very clear:

There’s an enormous difference between emotionally deciding which canonical materials you engage with for your creative frameworking…

…versus denying the existence of what officially licensed products contain, or insisting that your subjective interpretation is objectively true. 

For the former: canon doesn’t matter. That’s my discussion of the previous post. Policing fans by telling them one source is canon and one isn’t… when it’s all licensed materials… is forcing people to engage with canon a certain way. We all have the right to engage with all licensed materials to the depth we want. If I want to accept RTTE and analyze Hiccup from RTTE to GOTNF to THW… let me enjoy that! Don’t tell me to quit analyzing RTTE!Hiccup because it doesn’t feel like he’s IC to you (and ergo, outside of your own mental “canon”). It’s fiiiiine! I can write analyses about RTTE!Hiccup!

For something like the “what is canon materials?” discussion you mentioned as far as academic documentation of a body of works, that is a REALLY interesting discussion, but yeah, as you pointed out, a little outside the boundaries of this current conversation. But I’d love to talk to you sometime about it!!!

For the latter: you better be able to know what the licensed materials actually contain. You shouldn’t deny something exists. Whether or not you call it “canon,” you should be able to acknowledge it’s an official product and not something a fan put on AO3. You should be able to objectively understand what’s in officially released products. If the books have problematic elements, if a show lacks explicit queer representation, if there’s a racial stereotype that’s handled poorly, that’s a truth that you can’t imagine your way out of! You can reinterpret characters for fun in your fandom discussions, but you can’t deny the reality of what the creators produced. Ignoring the truth of these issues, or making your interpretations “reality” you force on others… is dangerous illogical thought that has severe consequences for how you interact with the world and its issues.

As you say, there’s value in all these discussions. We’ve known each other a long time, so I know you know I’m a logic-oriented individual, someone who isn’t going to say “everything is okay!” and let subjectivity fly over objective information in source materials. When I say “canon doesn’t matter,” it’s not about subjectively letting our feelings erase what is objectively presented on screen / on paper. When I say “canon doesn’t matter,” it’s about whether or not someone wants to talk about tie-ins, or only select portions of officially released products. But when I say “canon doesn’t matter,” it is also with the assumption people are smart enough to distinguish subjective interpretation from objective observation, the angle which you brought up with the nuanced discussion we’ve seen. Thanks for speaking with such finesse again on why we can’t lets fans’ desires get in the way of what they call “truth.”

I love to both discuss things from a creative speculative angle and let my imagination wander or reinterpret characters… or discuss materials from a Doylist acknowledgement of how something gets sociologically presented. Hell, I hold such a huge value to official products and canon materials that I engage with almost no fandom content (fanfictions, comics, etc.). So yeah! I also believe that canon is very, very important, and is something to be talked about! 

I think it’s important to understand the impacts that official materials have, and I get frustrated when people pretend something DreamWorks or Disney officially sanctioned is “fanfiction.” I think it’s important for fans to discuss back and forth about what they think objectively happened when there’s a lack of clarity. For the romance thing, again, as you said, it’s a good discussion to have of “what is WITHIN canon?” when looking at whether or not it’s obviously queer, or if you’re reading into it. 

I also love to create synthesized interpretations for what characters are like and I get frustrated when people try to police me on what I can/can’t include into my canon analyses. 

I just have no patience for laypersons who debate “what is canon MATERIAL?” when looking at whether or not a video game should be considered “okay” to synthesize with a movie, and gatekeeping in the sense of what fans can include in our creative engagements. Whether or not X is “as canon” as Y doesn’t matter at the end of the day if you disagree with [insert username here]. It’s your recreation. It’s still a franchise product. Know it exists, know the objective materials, and move on. Do with it as you will and let your friends do with it as they will. 

[soulcastermindset]

Oscars Predictions 2020

So, I’ve been following the Oscar nominees this year far more closely than in the past, even though I watch the awards show every year. This year I decided to actually take note of what movies I think deserve and/or will receive the title beforehand, as well as provide some of my unfiltered thoughts on why I think that way. I’ll start with Best Picture and work my way down the list (I won’t be mentioning the Documentary or Short Film sections, though, as I haven’t seen them and I’ll just make some educated guesses on the actual day).

BEST PICTURE: Once Upon a Time In Hollywood

     - There are only two movies that I think could upset this one when it comes to winning the award, and those are Parasite and 1917, but I honestly think Parasite is out of the running for reasons I’ll discuss later. The often-proclaimed “love letter to Hollywood” SCREAMS Oscar Winner. And I can’t say I disagree with that sentiment. I’m also admittedly biased; this was my favorite movie I saw in theatres this year, and I could list any number of reasons I think it’s worthy, but anything I would spout has probably been said already. For people who aren’t into the two-and-a-half-hour-slice-of-life-detail-oriented--rewriting-Hollywood-history schtick, this one will probably not be on top of their list, but I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and say it’ll come out on top. 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

     - So this category is probably the one I have the strongest feelings about in this year’s lineup. As with the first movie, HTTYD is up against Toy Story. Now, in 2010, even though the original HTTYD remains my favorite movie to this day, I can completely understand why it lost to the amazing Toy Story 3. I’m not even mad about it. HTTYD 2, however, was robbed when its turn came around, which is why I’m a bit wary of how the final installment will do. While I enjoyed Toy Story 4 (and if I’m being completely honest, I think it IS more likely to take home the Oscar than HTTYD 3), I got significantly more satisfaction and emotional investment out of this film. It’s beautifully animated, as always, and was an end that I felt completed what the trilogy set out to do in a respectful and well-thought-out manner. If Toy Story 4 wasn’t in the running this year, I would have no hesitation on proclaiming this the far and away winner. As it stands, though? I have suspicions that Pixar may snatch the award again.

BEST DIRECTOR: Sam Mendes, 1917

     - As much as I love Quentin Tarantino’s movies, Sam Mendes outdid himself with this one. As the obligatory war movie of the year, there’s always a chance that it will feel too formulaic or uninspired, and I... didn’t get that with this film. Yes, it used some of the tropes we’ve come to be familiar with, but I never felt like the movie dragged or needed to explain the choices it made. It just went and did its thing and didn’t stop. I’d also like to throw Bong Joon Ho (Parasite) in as my second pick, because I’d actually like to see him win it the most, but I’d be happy either way.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Knives Out

     - I am SO UPSET this movie only got one nomination for this entire award season. Y’all have NO IDEA. It has been so long since I saw a murder mystery film that intrigued me like this one did. I liked all the characters, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the story laid out the path for the main character, and I didn’t guess the twist ending the way I thought I would going in. I honestly don’t think this one will win; it’s got too many good competitors, but I’ll hold out hope if only because I’d like to see a movie I was so invested in do well.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Jojo Rabbit

     - I don’t have much to say about this category other than it was a super close call between this and Little Women. Still, I think Jojo will pull through with the win; I think this is the category where it’ll get some well-deserved recognition.

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM: Parasite

     - I just... don’t know how Parasite wouldn’t win this category. It’s unfathomable to think of any other outcome. And assuming that it wins here, I don’t think it’ll take home Best Picture because it’ll get the landslide victory in this department. As awesome as it would be to have it win both (it would most certainly deserve it), I just don’t see it happening, sadly. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised? I guess I’ll see on Sunday.

BEST LEADING ACTOR: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker

     - Even though I want to throw Leo to the forefront of this category, I think it’s been pretty much universally agreed by everyone that this is who the Oscar goes to, and I’m not going to sow dissent now. While I don’t think he’ll ever beat Heath Ledger in my mind as the Joker, I’m more than pleased with his performance and apparently enough other people are too. Here’s hoping you come out on top, Joaquin.

BEST LEADING ACTRESS: Saoirse Ronan, Little Women

     - Perhaps a bit of a longshot pick, but I’d love it if Saoirse won this one. It just... feels right to me for some reason. I love Scarlett and Renee, but I’m gonna make this my gut feeling pick of the year. Something about her performance just immersed me in this story so much more than I expected. 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood

     - This is a category where in any other year I could see it going any way, but Brad Pitt has this one in the bag. I forgot sometimes that it was Brad Pitt on screen and not someone really named Cliff Booth, and that’s. the. way. it. should. be. I could say the same thing for Leo’s performance, but damn it, Brad, you’ve earned every bit of this award and if you don’t get it I just don’t understand (sorry everyone else, y’all were great, but... c’mon).

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Margot Robbie, Bombshell

     - This is the only category where I genuinely have zero idea who to pick because I can see it going any one of these ladies’ ways and I’d be like, “yeah, I get that 100%.” While I admit that Scarlett Johansson deserves an award for all the great performances she’s been a part of this year, this is another longshot pick that I think will come as a pleasant surprise. I think I’ll be in the minority with this one, but here’s hoping my hunch plays out lol

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Joker

     - Is it bad that this and 1917 are the only two on this list where the score really stood out to me among these five? I mean, I’m sure none of them were bad by any means, but I just don’t remember them (maybe it’s just been too long?). I don’t think 1917 has as strong a grip on this category as it does on some of the others, so I’m gonna go with Joker.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” Rocketman

     - I guess “Into the Unknown” could take this one, but honestly? Nah. Disney? You’ve been usurped by Elton John, just accept it and move on. Elton John is the way to go this awards season, y’all. Just let it happen.

BEST SOUND EDITING: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

     - This is 100% a blockbuster movie’s category to win. I could see 1917 getting it also, but if Star Wars is gonna pull through in any category, it’ll be this one. Maybe the Star Wars series can go out on a high note (though I’m sure there will be people on both sides, if the last two movies in the series have taught me anything).

BEST SOUND MIXING: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

     - Lol I forgot Ad Astra somehow found its way into the nominations this year so maybe that one’ll pull a huge upset and everyone’ll lose their minds. Again, 1917 could take anything sound related, but I’m hoping for my fav movie of the year in this category. Fingers crossed. (side note, I may change my mind on this one before Sunday, who knows)

BEST FILM EDITING: Parasite

     - This is a hard one because film editing is admittedly not a thing I pay a ton of attention to for the most part, but I’m willing to bet that Parasite has a good shot over anything else in this category. I can’t think of any other movie on the list that just immediately stands out as a clear choice, I guess.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Avengers: Endgame

     - Yet another blockbuster’s category (at least in my eyes), and honestly, I don’t think I need to give justification for this one. The battle we’ve all been waiting for? Over ten years of waiting for this moment? I find that pretty hard to beat. I’m kind of shocked this movie wasn’t nominated for more of the technical effects awards, but I guess no one asked me.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: 1917

     - If anything else wins this category I call complete and utter bullshit. Enough said. Next one.

BEST COSTUMES: Once Upon a Time In Hollywood

     - Maybe I just love the aesthetic of this film so much that I’m biased. Jojo Rabbit and Little Women are both VERY strong contenders in this category as well (honestly, I think Little Women will get the win), but... it’s 1960s Hollywood. I can’t not love the costumes.

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIR: 1917

     - Making people look war-torn and worn-down by the stresses of life at the front is a feat that I am constantly awed by. 1917 was immersive in its visuals just as much as it was everywhere else, and I really felt like these actors had been through Hell and back. That’s the way it should feel, and that’s why this one gets my vote.

Let me know how y’all see this award season playing out! Do you agree? Disagree? Tell me why! Leave your thoughts in the Soulspace, I wanna see what people are thinking!