thejosiebird

[thejosiebird]

I feel like this is an unpopular opinion, but more people should read incomplete/unfinished/in-progress fanfics.

I've noticed this huge trend where creators on tiktok and tumblr who will be explaining how to use Archive Of Our Own to new users and they always say "and make sure to scroll down and click completed only" or how people will go out of their way to mention they only read completed fics 'because they were traumatized when they forgot to check the dates and didn't realize this fic hadn't been updated since 2012'.

The thing is - I think by not engaging with and/or actively avoiding writer's WIPs readers are potentially adding to the aggregate of abandoned works. Now this obviously isn't the case for all abandoned fics, anything from major life events, to loss of interest, to getting busy can be a reason for a fic getting abandoned - but at least on some level I just know that writers are quitting while they're ahead when they aren't garnering any response or feedback because reading WIPs has become unpopular. If you're worried about reading something that hasn't been updated since 2012 then you can use the date updated function to sort out old fics.

Anyways, support your favorite fanfic writers by engaging with their WIPs.

[thejosiebird]

Ive been seeing a lot of posts about how the "live action" httyd movie is actually really good because it's basically a one-for-one shot of the original minus some key scenes and "who cares if its a cash grab cuz I enjoyed it" and like. Correct me if im wrong but shouldn't we not support blatant cash grab remakes who prey on your feelings of nostalgia and make a lazy attempt to take your money? Didn't we condemn a lot of Disney remakes for being soulless rehashes of the original?

How to train your dragon is a beautiful movie and it deserves better than a pointless remake to take your money. You deserve better. Put yout dollar where your mouth is.

[thejosiebird]

Storm

Yesterday, Esmeray was not far away... I could hear Rayla singing her lullaby.

Though the sky is dark tonight

I still shine for you my dear

The Moon is more than just her light

I am near, my love is here

Though you feel so much alone

Oh, my darling do not fear

Hold to what you've always known

I am near, my love is here

Though my face cannot be seen

The answer in your heart is clear

I am the Moon, the silver queen

I am near, my love is here

Aaravos spirit was also in the air...

[thejosiebird]

Viren’s Path

This line here is probably the most significant for Arc 2 Viren.

“The path of freedom is the path of truth.”

On the surface, it seems counterintuitive. Freedom and truth shouldn’t have much to do with each other—especially when, in Viren’s case, choosing truth led him to willingly surrender himself and accept imprisonment in Katolis.

But the freedom that Viren is talking about goes beyond this. It isn’t about following desires or having unlimited options. It’s the freedom to act in accordance with who you truly are—its authentic autonomy.

Viren wielded more power than perhaps any human in history. Yet he was completely enslaved: by his desires (protecting family, serving humanity), his fears (losing Soren, losing control), and external manipulation (Aaravos’s influence). Even his original embrace of dark magic was driven by desperation to save his dying son. Every choice emerged from compulsion, not genuine freedom.

But after entering his dark magic coma and being forced to wrestle with his own mind, Viren finally comes to know himself—his own truth. In realizing this truth, he becomes free to act according to his principles: returning to Katolis to face justice, and ultimately correcting his cowardly decision from Season 1 by sacrificing his own life for the kingdom. And this is honestly one of the biggest parallels he has with Callum - Callum has been walking the path of freedom for over two years now, since learning the Sky Arcanum or at least since Harrow’s letter. With Callum, this freedom leads directly to truth - Once Callum determines what's morally right, he acts with remarkable consistency and integrity, even when it's difficult or dangerous. Even when it would cost him his life.

In both instances, Callum and Viren are willing to sacrifice their lives entirely on principle, demonstrating that they do have free will. Aaravos’s manipulation depends entirely on exploiting basic drives—hunger, curiosity, fear, desire. His control works by making his targets predictable through their compulsions. But as both Callum and Viren show, morality confounds and breaks this dynamic completely.

When someone acts on principle rather than impulse, they become genuinely unpredictable because they’re operating according to internal moral logic that Aaravos cannot account for nor understand. This is why when Callum attempts to use dark magic in a way that would sacrifice his life, Aaravos is genuinely surprised and caught off guard

The deeper question these characters explore isn’t whether humans have free will in the abstract, but whether we can exercise free will when resisting systems of control and oppression. The series reveals how those with power maintain dominance: by controlling both sides of conflicts, creating the illusion of eternal struggle, and convincing dissenters they are powerless—caught in loops without end.

The show’s radical conclusion is that through freedom, truth, and moral courage, you can indeed choose your own destiny. But only by stepping entirely outside the predetermined scripts that power depends on.

[thejosiebird]

4x06 / 4x08 / 4x09 / 7x02 / 7x03 / 7x05 / 7x08 / 7x09

Season 4 x Season 7 Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12  - Part 13  - Part 14

[thejosiebird]

mentally i'm past the 7 year timeskip.......

[thejosiebird]

[thejosiebird]

WE HAVE HD TURNAROUNDS!!!

[thejosiebird]

ROLL CALL TDP GANG

sequel to this post

[thejosiebird]

Man went through the five stages of grief in one expression

[thejosiebird]

Pst wake up, we got new merch drop

[thejosiebird]

New TDP Merch!

[thejosiebird]

We are so back!!!!!

https://x.com/thedragonprince/status/1933571214142026139?t=BX5eNKJxyE3SRaFc9TTGbw&s=19

[thejosiebird]

👀

[thejosiebird]

Finance your local wannabe femboy

Donate and ask for a sketch if you want one! Or a short story if you'd prefer those 1,000 words.

For ART

$5 for head

$20 for torsos and up.

#30 for full body.

+5 additional onto one of the above prices will get you full color and shading.

+10 additional onto one of the above prices for a full background, such as the one(s) in the example image below.

If you donate some random number like 17 or 45 that isn't covered here, feel free to shoot me a message for what you want me to draw. If you prefer to email or discord message those, you can DM me at rowan3170 or email me at avyatorsaurus@gmail.com.

Yes I am severely lowballing these prices.

For WRITING

Whether or not characters share names/similarities with popular (or unpopular) characters from other things is none of my business. If you have a short story you'd like me to write, I'll write it.

$5 per 3,000 words, up to a cap of 15,000 words for $15.

I will write anything. Literally, anything.

Except underage sexual content. Besides that literally anything.

Anything.

Examples of my writing found in my AO3:

https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saraptor

Examples of my art:

[thejosiebird]

Me every time I remember Rayla, Janai, and Soren all took their favorite person to their favorite spot because they desperately wanted to share this part of themselves with them

[thejosiebird]

Aaaugh the trying to write a meta about Aaravos and potentially having some deeply complex feelings around losing Leola but it's not quite coming together.

Things like. What he wants (striking back at the Council and not letting them get away with killing her) against what he W A N T S (peace? rest? eternal rest? to stop grieving?) His degree of self-awareness (recognizing that he is not the person he was before Leola's death; knowing that he would be unrecognizable to her; that even if he could have her back, absolutely nothing would be the same. It's not just Leola that his grieving, it's the entire life he had while she was alive, even beyond her; he just doesn't have that anymore)

But those are just. Small thoughts and I can't quite put them together.