#heather watches fmab

[beepadoobop]

could ed wear al (as a suit of armor)?

[kingofthewilderwest]

In Race to the edge, I do think that Heather is a good character in terms of being well developed and contributing to the storylines, but there are just certain aspects about her that stop me liking her. She just comes across as full of herself and really boar headed. I know that Hiccup is boar headed as well, but unlike him, Heather never listens to anyone. She talks down to the other characters as well, albeit not in a comical way like Snotlout and the twins do. With her it is more nasty.

I think it’s perfectly fine to recognize a character is a well-developed, good character, but at the same time not enjoy her presence on screen! In many cases, writing a good character means that the audience will hate them (Solf J. Kimblee and Shou Tucker from FMAB come to mind). Regardless, whatever the writer’s intent for characters, we all have the right to dislike or like the characters we do. Even if we fully understand why the character was written into a story, that doesn’t mean we have to connect and fawn over them. So you do you with Heather! That’s chill!

That said, I do think there’s an important distinction to make between Heather and Hiccup’s personalities and life choices. These two characters might both be boar-headed, but they come from very different life circumstances. 

Heather is a character who lacks trust in others. She’s gone through many traumatic events, from being separated from her birth parents, to watching the Outcasts kidnap her adoptive parents, to watching invaders destroy her hometown and kill many people including her adoptive parents, to fending for herself with no humans to support her, to learning that the sociopath behind her misery is her biological brother. All these circumstances have scarred Heather to the point that trusting others is legitimately challenging - even daunting. 

There gets to be a point in peoples’ lives that, when they’ve been repeatedly harmed by others… they lack the innate ability to form meaningful trusting relationships, even when they yearn to connect. There’s this constant internal dialogue taunting you, saying that you’re destined to be alone, that everyone will leave you because everyone always has. It becomes a game of fighting yourself and somehow reversing negative beliefs you’ve held for years.

Now, it’s not that Hiccup hasn’t had hard points in life too. I mean, he lost a freaking leg as a teenager! He had rough differences of opinion with his father, too. But he didn’t develop the trauma and vast insecurities Heather did. And while Hiccup’s had harrowing escapades with enemies like Alvin and Dagur, Hiccup’s emotionally improved throughout his teenaged years because his social network has increasingly supported him. Hiccup has become more confident, more comfortable, and happier. Hiccup has been able to trust his peers; he has a close-knit social network he knows he can count on, a father who believes in him, and a best friend dragon who stays by his side through anything.

Hiccup isn’t in a psychological situation where trust is hard to understand. He hasn’t been conditioned by negative experiences to the point that his internal dialogue is telling him his friends can never be reliable. Hiccup makes his boar-headed decisions for different reasons than Heather does. When Heather acts in her own interests, it’s not that she’s justified doing those things… she’s still making wrong choices that hurt others… but I think it’s understandable given her painful background. And frankly, that fear you’ll always be alone, that suspicion even the nicest people will have to leave you behind… it is HARD AS HELHEIM to unlearn.

We see this struggle in Heather throughout Race to the Edge. Heather doesn’t listen to the others because she’s scared to trust them. Heather acts on her own self-interests because she thinks that no one else will take care of her.

In Have Dragons, Will Travel, Heather says that she believes she’s destined to be alone. She’s gotten to such a low point that, even though she’s in the company of friendly people, she doesn’t think she belongs with them. She believes she’s been cast out alone, and that’s how life will continue.

Hiccup: I talked to Johann. He told me Dagur wiped out your village… and your family. I’m sorry.Heather: Then you know why he has to pay.Hiccup: I do. But you don’t have to do this alone.Heather: I don’t know. It seems that I’m destined to be alone.

Heather is unable to trust the dragon riding gang. She’s skittish. Even though she’s touched that they’re trying to do well for her, she’s also so accustomed to fighting for herself. Fearful that these people will turn against her, she can’t trust them with basic friendship instincts. She locks up their dragons, which is definitely for her own self-interest and their harm… and she’s doing it out of fear, from lack of trust.

Heather: Look, I’m sorry I locked up your dragons. I just didn’t trust that you guys would let me go after Dagur.

Heather’s fragile fears break when all the riders are tell Heather that attacking Dagur is a bad idea. Heather’s response that they’re “all talk” rather than friends. Now, it’s true that real friends stop others from doing foolish things. Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Astrid aren’t wrong to question Heather here. Heather’s reaction is emotional rather than logical. However, I find it very realistic given her situation. It’s a response I have seen MANY TIMES by people who’ve been scarred by trust:

Fishlegs: Wait a minute. You want us to go into battle with Dagur and the Beserkers without Hiccup and Toothless?Heather: Guys, I wish Hiccup and Toothless were here, trust me. But they’re not. And we can’t wait. Fishlegs: I have to say any aerial assault of this magnitude would be foolish without Toothless. He’s the most powerful dragon in our arsenal. Heather: You heard Johann, Astrid. This is our last chance. Tell them.Astrid: Well… Look, Heather…Heather: You too?! Just forget it. All that stuff about trust and having my back… I guess that was just talk!

Heather is so accustomed to being alone that when she sees her friends being less-than-rosy to her, her fears kick in, and she believes they’re full-out against her (because everyone’s always been against her, she feels). 

Heather again demonstrates an inability to trust Hiccup in Snow Way Out. To be fair, she’s grown. She trusts Astrid enough to give Astrid information about the dragon hunters. At the same time, old habits and deep fears are hard to overcome. We see that Heather still is acting with limited trust, believing Hiccup wouldn’t react the right way to her spying, and that Astrid isn’t judging the situation right when she suggests they tell Hiccup.

Astrid: We should tell Hiccup what we’re doing, this doesn’t feel right.Heather: No. We agreed.Astrid: I’ve never lied to him before!Heather: I know. But this is the best way to take the Dragon Hunters down. From the inside.Astrid: Hiccup could help us! He’s really good at this stuff.Heather: He also cares too much. Astrid, if we told Hiccup that I was spying on the Hunters, we both know he’d try to pull me out of there.

To Heather or Not to Heather also shows Heather’s struggles continuing. Since she’s inclined to be alone, she’s quick to give up and believe she isn’t going to be part of the dragon riding gang. Windshear starts acting up, and Heather’s immediate response is that “this isn’t meant to be.”

Heather: Windshear doesn’t belong with other dragons. And no matter how much I love being on Dragon’s Edge, I’m not gonna choose all of you over her.Fishlegs: But you haven’t even given it a chance. Hiccup is the best dragon trainer there is. I’ve seen him do things I never thought were possible. Heather: I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. Really, I do. I just can’t take the risk.Fishlegs: Okay. I wasn’t gonna say this, but here it goes. I don’t want to go back to being long-distance Terror mail pals. I want you here.Heather: And I feel the same way. Believe me. But Windshear has spent her whole life with me. Protecting me, and watching over me. That’s all she knows how to do. I’m sorry, Fishlegs.Fishlegs: I have an idea. I’ll never ask you again, but please, just this once, trust me, Heather.

“Please, just this once, trust me, Heather.”

Even with the man Heather is starting to attach romantic affections with, she’s finding some difficulties trusting still.

I know I’m talking mostly about her in the first few seasons, but since this is the starting point of Heather (and her character arc conclusion is getting to the point she can even trust Dagur again in Gold Rush), I think this is the context whereby we can understand why she acts the way she does for the whole series.

It’s true that Heather is boar-headed at times, and it’s true that not all her boar-headed choices are based on lack of trust. It’s true sometimes she says things that are somewhat scathing to other dragon riders. But to be fair, the dialogue in the DreamWorks Dragons shows has Astrid and Hiccup saying some pretty scathing things to the twins and Snotlout, too. The friendship dynamic of the Edge is one of constantly haranguing on each other. In a weird way, the fact Heather starts dishing on the others has always felt to me like a depiction she’s finally part enough of the gang to understand their dynamics and get in on them. Doesn’t mean that all the insults the gang says to one another are justified, but it’s interesting to think that Heather starts picking up the crew’s interactions and becoming a part of them.

It’s also true that I don’t remember the middle seasons of rtte as well and am not talking about how she acts during those either! 

So it’s not that Heather’s always justified in how she treats others or how she acts in her own interests. However, I think that we do have to understand Heather in this light of her psychology. Lots of the times Heather charges out on her own is because her life’s been conditioned that way, and she’s stuck in a psychological rut fearing that only she can help herself. She does also have a growth arc where she gets better about these things.

In the same way, when Hiccup acts boar-headed, stubborn, and aggressive in RTTE, it’s because of underlying insecurity. He feels uncomfortable being bested by Viggo. It starts to eat at him. Hiccup makes riskier, daring, and sometimes more stubbornly foolish choices… because of what he’s internally fighting through. It doesn’t take away the fact this is a character weakness for him. Faults are faults. But it does mean we can understand why he’s in this mental framework, too.

Whether or not we like Hiccup for acting that aggressive, or Heather for acting in her own self-defense, it’s up to us how we feel about them. And liking or hating them, even when we understand their dynamics, is a part of us being humans with opinions. No opinion of “I like this character” or “I dislike this character” is wrong! I suppose I personally don’t call Heather “nasty,” but “scarred and struggling.” She’s also a character I connect with and love in RTTE. That said, even if she didn’t have a background reason for being a little harsher in the story, it doesn’t change the fact that we can acknowledge characters who are good for storylines but might not be our personal faves. We all have different relationships with characters, and we don’t have to love all of them! For me, I’m happy to love Heather. For you, you might not connect, and there are other characters you enjoy seeing on screen!

Take care and stay awesome. Have a good one!

[mcschnuggles]

My memory of what u actually reblog has suddenly vanished, so Im just gonna say Moomins jic u have ever reblogged that (I dont think u have but Im sleepy so idk), also more heathers, Beetlejuice, more taz, Encanto, gravity falls, I see u reblogged smth fma & ngl that could b rly cute, I would literally b happy w/ most things, Ive followed u thru multiple fandoms & none of them were my own b4 reading ur fics. Hope u have a good day! <3 -MoominsAnon

Oooo!

I JUST finished watching FMAB for the first time and let me tell you it has been On My Mind. And I dooo kind of want to watch Encanto, but I'm sure that my choices for tinies in both would be the opposite of what everyone would want from me LOL

And I am planning a Moomins watch with my friend! And I'm rewatching Gravity Falls right now!!

Beetlejuice was so fun to write for aaaaa ngl I'm still really proud of that fic I wrote. I've always kind of wanted to revisit but I've never been sure what I'd ever write about haha

Also not to give too much away but I do have a commissioned TAZ fic I'll be posting this weekend!

[artsyrean]

Artpoll for 03.08

Reblogs are greatly appreciated

Click HERE to vote for the following themes for the next Fanart between:

Heathers

Fmab(Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood)

Gravityfalls(in its respective style)

Cuphead(in its respective style)

Marvel

Mogeko Castle(in its respective style)

Steven Universe

Ppg(Powerpuffgirls in its respective style)

Soul Eater

Overlord

And to avoid the amalgamation that happened last week, I actually found an online spinning wheel. I'd reeeeally appreciate it if that didn't hapoen again. I mean, if you want to see everything I might as well just spin the wheel myself and where please is the fun in that? XD

For those who might be curious about why I'm not including hamilton, despite having said to wanting to watch it twice...it wasn't my cup of tea ^^'. Music was great, don't get me wrong, but since they didn't take a break from singing non stop I had a hard time to understand anything inbetween the raps X'D. Also I'm salty about "congratulations" to have only bern "referenced" in the play XD

[yuuuji]

random facts tag

tagged by @enchiladax thanks!

relationship status: single

fav colors: forest green, persian blue and any pastel color

lipstick or chapstick: chapstick

three fav foods: asian, mexican, moroccan (i don’t have specific dishes i like so here’s my fav types)

song stuck in my head: none at the moment

last song i listened to: the heavy - how you like me now (to be fair it really makes me wanna dance everytime i hear it so yall can’t judge me ok)

last movie i watched: Heathers

top 3 tv shows: b99 and the good place are the only tv shows i really like, and if that includes anime i’d say the top 3 are HxH, fmab and jjba

books i’m currently reading: i’m not reading any book atm but i’ve been planning on reading Howl’s Moving Castle so i guess that’s what i’m gonna read next

last thing i googled: a color chart of the different shades of blue so i could find the name of my favorite shade in english rip

how many blankets do i sleep with: one

dream trip: is it too greedy if i say all around the world ? i’m def planning on traveling to a lot of places

anything you want: money and no need for a visa

i tag whoever wants to do this

[brickerbeetle]

Get To Know Me Tag

Tagged by @tachinanabananase tysm! :D

Nicknames: Bricker (online) Cor (irl by friends) V (by family....long story....)

Zodiac sign: Libra

Height: 5'3(?) might be 5'4

Last thing you googled: oerifneofi my little sister was over and using my computer today so the first thing in my history is "cool dog photos."

Favorite music artist: Ahh so many. really like halsey, fatm, ed sheeran, BTS, a lot of classical music.... my taste is all over the place

Song stuck in your head: Big Fun from the Heathers musical

Last movie you watched: Tangled! 

What are you wearing right now: purple sweatpants and a really soft cuddly shirt covered in flowers

Why did you choose your URL: i like bricks, i like beetles. you do the math. lol but in all honesty I took bricker from the name of a place that’s very associated with my childhood and tacked beetle onto it for the sake of alliteration. 

What did your last relationship teach you: shit happens.

Religious or Spiritual: Spiritual...? i dont have a clue tbh, im just tryin to exist in peace over here

Favorite color: blue is nice. yellow is nice. anything pastel is nice.

Average hours of sleep: 5-7 hours?

Lucky number: 22 is a trust-worthy number. i trust 22 over the others

Favorite characters: Greed from fmab will and forever be bae.

How many blankets do you sleep with: HA. every time i do one of these tag memes i get asked this question, and every time i cri. One. if it's a good night. Sometimes just a sheet, sometimes none at all. 

Dream job: animator would be hella cool. *gazes wistfully off into the distance* someday.

[nerdy-nonbinary]

1, 3, and 6

This is very long so I’m going to put it under Keep Reading if you’re interested.

1. if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?

Oh shit this will be long.

Read:

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Help

Fullmetal Alchemist

Wandering Son

Rain

Rock and Riot

Watch:

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Madoka Magica

Cowboy Bebop

Wandering Son

Steven Universe

Gravity Falls

Princess Bride

Moana

Prince of Egypt

Listen:

Hamilton Soundtrack

Moana Soundtrack

I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie

Two Birds by Regina Spektor

All Steven Universe songs

Undertale Soundtrack (especially, Undertale, His Theme, and Bonetrousle)

Sugar Song to Bitter Step by Unison Square Garden

Rain, The Real Folk Blues, and Tank! from Cowboy Bebop

All FMAB OPs and EDs

For you by Rie Fu

Hikari to Kage by Shinji Kuno

99 by Mob Choir

Ichiban no Takaramono (Yui’s vers.) by LiSA

Kimi no Gin no Niwa by Kalafina

And I’m Home by Ai Nonaka and Eri Kitamura

Lifeboat from Heathers

Rainbow Connections by Garfunkel and Oates

Hey Jude, Yesterday, and Let it be by The Beatles

Somebody to Love, You’re my Best Friend, and Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

Dango Daikazoku by Chata

Secret Base from Anohana

Bonus:

3. list your fandoms and one character from each that you identify with.

Why did you pick the longest questions.

Fullmetal Alchemist (Alphonse Elric/Lan Fan)

Gravity Falls (Dipper)

Steven Universe (Stevonnie/Connie)

RWBY (Blake)

Wandering Son (Takatsuki)

Madoka Magica (Sayaka)

I’ll leave it there before I go in to deep

6.are you religious/spiritual?

Nope. I’m Jewish culturally and I have a connection to it, but not in a religious way. I don’t believe in God and I don’t think anything could convince me too.

[beepadoobop]

YES BITCH LETS GO

[beepadoobop]

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH MR TUCKER

[beepadoobop]

is he just handsome squidward with three strands of hair

[beepadoobop]

I don’t know what it is about this guy that makes me love him. He looks like rich uncle pennybags from monopoly mixed with statler and waldorf, but also a pirate somehow. I love him.

[beepadoobop]

no context

[beepadoobop]

edphonse and alward elric

[beepadoobop]

hoW DARE THEY

[beepadoobop]

on the one hand, scar is a hardcore anarchist.

on the other hand,

wait nvm just the one hand for now

[beepadoobop]

this litlle dood im in love