howtoditchyourdragon

[howtoditchyourdragon]

I can't stop thinking about how Hiccup and Toothless' relationship is built on trust and has been built on trust the whole time. But more than that, it was built on trust from their very first scene.

Hiccup holds Toothless' life in his hands and he chooses to let him go, even though Toothless could very well (and might) kill him.

Toothless then has the power and he could easily kill Hiccup. He probably considers it just like Hiccup did, but he responds to Hiccup's kindness with kindness of his own, and he lets him live.

So when Hiccup goes down into the cove, there is already a tentative understanding between them that neither means to bring the other any harm. You have spared me, I have spared you, we are equal.

But both are still wary.

So Hiccup makes a decision to trust Toothless with his life again when he throws the knife into the lake. Not that the knife would have protected him much from Toothless, but it is presumably the same weapon that Hiccup would have taken his life with to begin with, and it's more about what it represents. So Hiccup gives the power in the situation over to Toothless when he throws the knife away. Now that Toothless doesn't see Hiccup as a threat to him, he calms down.

Toothless trusts Hiccup when he eats the fish Hiccup brought with him the first time, and the basket of fish the next time. Eventually, both of them are relaxed. Hiccup can just sit on a stump and draw in the dirt, Toothless can nap, there is no worry that one will kill the other. There is mutual trust.

They bond, Toothless shares his fish, Hiccup smiles (which Toothless clearly understands to some extent bc he smiles back), Toothless draws, Hiccup plays along w Toothless' game, until finally Hiccup decides to reach out to touch him.

He tried before, when Toothless was resting in the sun, but that didn't go very far, bc Toothless didn't trust him. But NOW, things have changed. They have spent enough time together that Toothless is less wary. But not entirely.

Hiccup sees this, that he is asking for trust from Toothless, so he puts his trust in Toothless first. He closes his eyes and turns away, and just like that, Hiccup once again shifts the power from himself to Toothless. (Cutting the ropes, throwing the knife). And so Toothless trusts him.

[howtoditchyourdragon]

canon tidbits i think people who've only seen the httyd movies should know that are confirmed in the shows:

tuffnut and snotlout are canonically talented seamsters

we see the prototype versions of hiccup's flaming sword and the flightsuit in race to the edge

hiccstrid's first kiss is in rtte and its perfect

VIGGO GRIMBORN aka the best httyd villain and the "hiccup's evil mirror" concept actually done right

there are multiple societies dedicated to protecting dragons other than berk

snotlout's assholish disposition is a consequence of his deeply held insecurities that if he can't be the best he's the worst, which is encouraged by his father

the other riders (namely snoutlout) have used the ship name hiccstrid to refer to hiccup and astrid

hiccup redeems so many villains in the shows (alvin, dagur, viggo - one of them later performing a heroic sacrifice to save him) that it's completely unsurprising he thought he could change drago's mind

hiccup punched snotlout in the face and knocked him out cold

the shows let the twins be smarter, snotlout be more thoughtful, and astrid more deranged

snotlout's middle name is gary

[howtoditchyourdragon]

I’ll never forgive the writers of Httyd 3 for making Snotlout look Hiccup in the eye and say “who died and made you Chief?”

It probably would have been funny from any other character that wasn’t there when Stoick was killed. But coming from Snotlout was like 1) undoing all character growth he had over the series. 2) ignoring the fact that he cried at Stoick’s funeral

Just tacky

[howtoditchyourdragon]

No???

I think the fuck not, netflix, you take that back

Edit: this was posted on the httyd facebook page (for FATHER'S DAY WHICH IS WILD) so I guess not netlfix's fault but uhh still a bad take

Imagine making a httyd post for Father's day and not making it about Hiccup and Stoick

[howtoditchyourdragon]

Guess who just saw a deleted scene from httyd2 with Hiccup breaking Toothless out of Drago’s control by saying the words “I won’t leave you, I won’t let you go” and now wants to violently sob…

It’s me.

[howtoditchyourdragon]

you know what i hate the most about httyd thw?

they tried to recreate the iconic moment from the first movie, one that was special for TOOTHLESS AND HICCUP, and making it happen with toothless and the light fury.

the drawing scene? sure, drawing for her would've been fine, but when she stepped on it and he growled, referencing movie one? no.

that was their special scene, where hiccup and toothless officially bonded, and they tried to recreate that for romantic purposes, which pisses me off so much.

of course, she ends up growling back and toothless' jaw drops (literally), allowing her to step on his artwork (bitch), but that scene was such a big part of hiccup and toothless' relationship turning for the better.

it was obvious that the writers wanted us to like toothless and the light fury being together, by making a parallel to the original scene that everyone knows and loves, but it just makes me so angry.

get an original experience for these two. i don't care if you switched it up, let them have their own romantic moments, and don't reuse the iconic ones from the past.

[howtoditchyourdragon]

I don’t think I’ll ever get over how hiccup choosing to save toothless is him also choosing himself. It is him looking at his awkward kind self and actively deciding not to fit into the mold everyone wants him to be

Like they really peaked with cinema with hiccup and toothless huh

[howtoditchyourdragon]

Random Wiki Trivia pt.2 (S2)

I’m back babyyyy - my last post of this got a weirdly large number of likes so here’s season 2, I guess. My streak of finding random historical references in rtte continues apparently:

Returning for the random US history references is this: Astrid’s speech to the auxiliary riders in Team Astrid (2x1) is almost word for word of the Rifleman’s Creed, a WWII speech given my General William H. Rupertus of the U.S. Marine Corps so I guess the streak of US history related facts continue

The Twins hug each other for the first time ever on screen in the whole franchise in Bad Moon Rising (2x4)

In real life both Tuff and Snotlout would have died because of the events of Bad Moon Rising - Tuff from the wolf bite and Snotlout from his several bites one of which was a sea snake which are apparently VERY venomous and almost impossible to cure

Ruffnut’s middle name is Eugene

There are several references to classic movies in this season: the first is the ropes being soaked in nightmare gel in Edge of Disaster (2x9) while the Hunters are climbing up them is a reference to Home Alone when Kevin does this with kerosene

In the same episode Tuff says the line "We've been expecting you” while petting Chicken which is a direct copy of a scene and line in James Bond

In A Time to Skrill Hiccup (2x11) mentions the Dragon Hunters have a new net launcher which are exactly the same design as the one Eret uses in httyd2

[howtoditchyourdragon]

i really need more of them

[howtoditchyourdragon]

I love how the Dragon Legends shorts were entirely based off the premise of someone new joining the Dragon Riders as if this group of five teenagers weren’t the only known people on Berk who weren’t either very small or 30+

[howtoditchyourdragon]

no literally, the timeline makes absolutely no sense.

Plus if you think about it canon-wise from what we know about httyd 2 there’s literally no way that there was only a few months time span between rtte and the movie.

Look at all the changes on Berk that there are in httyd2 - most of the infrastructure of the entire island is changed. How did they have time to do this?? They were all on the Edge up until a few months before and it wasn’t like the greater population of Berk was going to up and redesign the island to be more dragon friendly without the Riders actually being there.

ok NOBODY talks about this but it’s been pissing me off lately race to the edge takes place over the course of multiple years not one or two. the writers clearly forgot that they only gave themselves a 5 year time gap between movies 1 and 2. they wasted 3 of those years for a time skip when really they shouldn’t have because it threw off the time line. months pass in rtte where nothing happens they literally say it themselves plus in the buffilord soldier episode about a month passes just over the course of that one episode. plus during riders of berk and defenders of berk (plus all the other short specials they did) take place over the course of at least a year based on how much the whispering deaths grew and how long it generally takes for a dragon to grow. the baby eruptadon takes about 6 months to grow to almost full size so that’s about how long the whispering deaths were probably under berk without anybody noticing. like i get that they probably added the three year time jump so that they would be adults when rtte started but it messed the timeline up. honestly i’d estimate that at least 6-8 years passed between the first and second movies and not 5. because no way did all 6 seasons happen in only a year or less it is literally impossible. anyways pls tell me your opinions on this bc i wanna know if anyone else has ever thought about this :)

[howtoditchyourdragon]

This is the best addition you could have possibly put here and from the bottom of my heart I thank you for it.

Funny facts from the httyd wiki page (S1)

Okay so a couple of days ago I completely remembered that this is even a thing and I wanted to go through the like ‘trivia’ sections to see if I found anything good and well, enjoy I guess…

(Also I should mention that I got these all from the website and I don’t know if they’re viable so take that with a grain of salt)

Tom Kenny, so you know, SpongeBob, has the same voice actor as Mulch - this franchise really was getting the biggest voice actors to do the smallest bit parts

apparently When Darkness Falls (1x4) is the first time the Twin’s last name is mentioned??

Gustav is canonically 16 which is older than all the Riders were when they started riding their dragons but they still say he’s too young?? Like guys? I’m not sure y’all are the best people to say who’s too immature to do something considering Hiccup is 19 and throwing himself off cliffs

this is my favourite so far: in Reign of Fireworms (1x7) when Tuff is reading the piece of paper that says all the Riders’ new jobs on the island apparently the literal translation of this is the beginning of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address I-

Crushing It (1x8)‘s title name is a reference to a Brad Paisley song bahaha

Before she came back in rtte Heather knew the riders for literally only two days

But yeah this is what I found for season 1 of rtte so maybe I’ll do more because I had way too much fun with this

[howtoditchyourdragon]

You know, I think it's funny how Viggo seems to have hooked the Edge on Maces and Talons. Previous to meeting Viggo, the riders never mention it, nor play it on screen. But after Viggo shows up? They seem to make playing it a regular past-time. Heather, Astrid, Fishlegs, even Snotlout! The whole edge gets together and plays this game regularly with the board and set Viggo literally gave them.

I think Viggo would find that hilarious. I know I do.

[howtoditchyourdragon]

Funny facts from the httyd wiki page (S1)

Okay so a couple of days ago I completely remembered that this is even a thing and I wanted to go through the like ‘trivia’ sections to see if I found anything good and well, enjoy I guess…

(Also I should mention that I got these all from the website and I don’t know if they’re viable so take that with a grain of salt)

Tom Kenny, so you know, SpongeBob, has the same voice actor as Mulch - this franchise really was getting the biggest voice actors to do the smallest bit parts

apparently When Darkness Falls (1x4) is the first time the Twin’s last name is mentioned??

Gustav is canonically 16 which is older than all the Riders were when they started riding their dragons but they still say he’s too young?? Like guys? I’m not sure y’all are the best people to say who’s too immature to do something considering Hiccup is 19 and throwing himself off cliffs

this is my favourite so far: in Reign of Fireworms (1x7) when Tuff is reading the piece of paper that says all the Riders’ new jobs on the island apparently the literal translation of this is the beginning of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address I-

Crushing It (1x8)‘s title name is a reference to a Brad Paisley song bahaha

Before she came back in rtte Heather knew the riders for literally only two days

But yeah this is what I found for season 1 of rtte so maybe I’ll do more because I had way too much fun with this

[howtoditchyourdragon]

Thinking about how Hiccup is considered The Dragon Rider by friend and foe alike, including his Dragon Riders.

Thinking about how he's the Dragon Master. Even when facing Drago Bludfist, the other Riders were fearless because they knew Hiccup and Toothless ("The best Dragon Master this world has ever seen!") were coming.

About how Hiccup trained the Riders' dragons and he retains that relationship all throughout RoB through RttE. How he's still considered the best rider and trainer, though he has taught many others his tricks and skills. He's even indirectly helped teach Heather!

The Riders consider the Hand Thing his Hand Thing! Before the twins ask if they can do it, too, in RttE, no one thought they could do that as well.

Heather and Astrid talk about how he can train any dragon minus a few. Mala, Queen of the Defenders, believes only Hiccup can truly train a dragon.

And when Hiccup returns home in Httyd 2, the people cheer because Berk's Pride has come home and he'll deal with Drago for them.

Tonight, I'm just having a lot of feelings about the boy who no one thought would be anything other than a nuisance (they literally chose a dangerous possibly very fatal and potentially USELESS expedition over spending time with Hiccup!) becoming so revered by almost anyone he knows.

[howtoditchyourdragon]

I’m just curious but what dragon would you want (besides a night fury). I want a Monstrous Nightmare.

[howtoditchyourdragon]

Adding to this bc I was watching Dire Straits today and when Hiccup almost drowns the first time in the trial run, he and Toothless have this like genuine almost conversation with Toothless getting annoyed and leaving and Hiccups response just being,

‘Oh, don’t be so harsh’.

I love them.

One thing I absolutely love about this franchise is how the characters include their respective dragons into literally every conversation both casual and serious. It's never just, "Where is Hiccup?" It's always, "Where are Hiccup and Toothless." It's never, "The ingredients are in your satchel." It's, "The ingredients are in Toothless' saddle bag." Not just, "How are you holding up?" but always, "How are you guys holding up?" It's not, "How about an impartial judge for the Thorsten challenge? For the love of Thor take me with you." Instead it is, "How about a couple of impartial judges for the Thoston challenge? For the love of Thor, take us with you."

In most other media that involve an animal best friend, this is usually absent or not displayed as thoughtfully, the animal is usually missed in discussion or not included in such dialogue pieces but Httyd never does that. Dragons are always treated and included as equal individuals instead of just pets and I love that.