#I WANT TO SEE BERK EXPANDING

[westwiiind]

dean deblois listen to me. listen to me dean deblois. we don’t want a live action. we want a new series that serves the same function as rtte except instead of taking place between the first and second movie, it takes place between the second and third. please dean deblois save us dean deblois

[tillythemenace]

how do you think THW should've been like? or the ending of HTTYD?

Well for starters no Hidden World, no Light Fury and NO Grimmel. I think HTTYD3 should’ve focused on Hiccup and Toothless’s growth together, their world and actually BUILDING that new world they said they would. Yes, expanding on the world and its conflicts and actually changing it.

-If they were gonna make a point of the threats they’re facing maybe KEEP USING DRAGO? Like they were supposed to. Like where did his armada go? Maybe they did scatter, if u wanna explore other warlods maybe have them work together and actually challenge Hiccup. INTERACT with him.

-I like that Hiccup continued to raid dragon hunters and free dragons, keep that and expand on that. Again, make Hiccup actually interact with Warlords, challenge their viewpoints, show his power,and establish order in a much organic way instead of straight up RUNNING AWAY FROM EVERYTHING. Stupid ass migration pisses me off. Make Berk a base yes, but like in RTTE (which YES I WILL GIVE MERIT on the world building stuff), have some allies or maybe have Hiccup have examples of ppl that HAVE changed like Eret as his starting point. No overpopulation problem cause that’s stupid in the first place since dragons have different habitats, they have different islands, Berk being overpopulated is a problem created sorely for this movie and I hate it cause logically it makes NO SENSE for them to put them all in one place. The only dragons that live of Berk should’ve been the ones that bonded with their vikings. Yes they would be a lot but as HTTYD2 SHOWED US, it was never a problem cause they adapted in an organic way.

-Toothless’s arc about “needing” a mate is not necessary. I think if they wanted to explore his character more, they should’ve written him AND HICCUP (since ya know… “friendship of a lifetime 🙄) as more mature and struggling with the issues left in the second movie, like the trauma (surprised they completely went over it like nothing affected them) of losing stoick, like ACTUALLY, would’ve liked to see them actually explore other islands, yes recuing dragons and Toothless actually acting like an alpha, Berk’s “overpopulation” idea would he scratched, GRIMMEL and his stupid dragon killer ass also not existing. If u want to keep exploring maybe give a much more believable reason for Night Furies disappearing? Maybe they didn’t disappear and maybe if u wanna connect with the books, have them disperse or hiding somewhere for a believable reason instead of “one dude killed them all with no explanation for no compelling reason other than he’s a baddy”.

Start with NOT making Toothless a horny dog and sad because he’s the only one left (he never cared before about that) and maybe if u wanna challenge his and Hiccups relationship, make him discover his species or family or flock of Night Furies and have a conflict of interest between that and him being an Alpha in Berk.

-If they wanna tackle the “dragons are wild creatures” theme (which again unnecessary given the previous 2 movies and series), then Toothless can be a Hiccup parallel in that regard and bring wild Dragons that hate humans into this and Hiccup’s cause, bringing their world together like they were supposed to. THAT would give Toothless FAR more agency and character than him “choosing” a mate over Hiccup ever will. There NO NEED AT ALL to separate them, that was SORELY Dean’s decision because he wanted so badly to connect the books to the movies for no other reason other than cheap tear-jerks. Like it was NEVER a point of the movies to end with “dragons disappearing at the end” until THAT ONE LAST SCENE in THW…

-Don’t make Berk isolated, cause to me that was a huge as mistake. The series do such a great job at portraying the Archipelago, its conflicts, how Hiccup handles those in this new world he’s trying to build, how he made enemies and believable allies. In the third movie that could’ve all been brought together in a nice bow. (Not necessarily saying address the shows alltogether if u dont want to) but make a STATEMENT about the Archipelago’s position in this world. Cause in HTTYD3 everything seems so isolated, disperse, there’s no sense of world, no setting. Hiccup’s map is obsolete cause there are no PLACES to actually go. We don’t even know where Grimmel and the warlords ARE or where they came from. Unlike HTTYD2, we get a sense of emptiness in the world. I think the series at least gives us a sense of world building that THW lacks.

-Change the themes altogether, HTTYD was ALWAYS about bringing worlds together, not romantic love. It was about sacrifice, maybe up the stakes a lil bit? Show what actual war looks like, like in HTTYD2, maybe have some casualties but don’t make those weaken Hiccup’s resolve, cause if his DAD’S DEATH didn’t make him stop, then nothing will. Him and Toothless were relentless and they should’ve stayed that way.

-Give VALKA something to do instead of being a glorified vigilante (which could’ve been literally ANYONE ELSE in that role and nothing would’ve changed), Have HER help Hiccup, she believes in his cause, she told him he was the one to bring their world together, she came BACK TO BERK cause that was the future of humanity.

-Give the whole ass cast more time with their bonded dragons, have them be examples, have Astrid be the one that comes up with plans and war tactics, have her support Hiccup as chieftess, bring the people together.

Well I guess that would end been my ideal HTTYD3… have it actually conclude the whole franchise like it was supposed to instead of gaslighting me into thinking Hiccup was always wrong for having “dangerous thoughts” about peace…….. like god what the actual hell…

[hiccup-in-the-code]

How to train your dragon question (or I guess technically questions but related) that I want headcanon answers to because I'm interested in what y'all think, I'm currently watching Race to the Edge, and, so Gothi right? So in the movie the only time they acknowledge Gothi she only needs to nod or shake her head because that's all that her character is needed for, but in the show it's expanded upon that she doesn't speak and instead writes with her staff in dirt/sand/snow/etc. AND they make it a point that the ONLY people who can read her writing are Gobber, Hiccup, and Fishlegs.

We also know that it is not the regular written language as 1. We know that while there are definitely illiterate Vikings it does seem to be commonplace to learn to read and write on Berk, not just Stoick (and therefore extension Hiccup as heir) being a chief having to be able to read and write for treaties, Borks papers are a treasured and regularly displayed thing that are viewed, ALL of the teens are told to read the book of dragons meaning the expectation is that they are somewhat literate. 2. We get to see some of her writings and they are more so sketches, a "picture" language and occasional "chicken scratch".

Now my questions

1. Why specifically do you think Gothi doesn't speak? The two ways I've seen it explored in fanfics (that I unfortunately can't remember the names of at this time) were 1. Literally losing her ability to speak as a pack with the gods in exchange for her healer knowledge which, while very cool, is more based in mythology realm and Berk is definitely meant to be a bit more real (obviously minus the dragons, but for example they believe Thor doesn't like metal when the joke is that we know IRL the lightning is just attracted to metal as a conductor so the in world belief becomes silly to us, not fourth wall breaking but fourth wall joke writing kinda stuff) and 2. She had her tongue cut out as part of being the like, "level" of healer she is she needs to be "prevented from gossiping about her patients", which again, very cool. We know she's been nonspeaking and a healer since she was young so I think it may either be that she took a vow of silence similar to a monk, though this one would be related to her as a healer, maybe her "level" requires dedications such as a vow of silence OR maybe she was born mute and Berk had a belief of those with certain born disabilities were more spiritually tied to the gods and thus are put in positions such as healer.

2. What language specifically does she write in? Is it standardized across mute healers? Is it specific to her and if so how was it first translated? and on that note..

3. Why can only Gobber Hiccup and Fishlegs read it? Fishlegs I understand, he's an academic, he would be interested just because. Hiccup I understand, both from a character perspective of like Fishlegs, being kinda an academic, wanting to learn for the sake of having the knowledge, but also as heir to the chiefdom, it would be insanely important to be able to understand your best healer. Which leads to WHY CANT STOICK READ IT? Idk just feels weird (I remember him asking Gobber what she was saying which is how I know he can't read it) and on that note, why is it Gobber of all people who can also read it? (Obviously the IRL writing perspective reason is that stoick is busy doing Chief stuff and we need a familiar character that is not one of the main characters sometimes to be able to read it) but like in universe why do you think it's him of all people? do you think it has to do with him being a descendant of Bork?

Just something I think about while I'm watching the very beginning of Race To The Edge again

[blue-flare-arts]

Guess who has no self control and is making another AU? This time I’m making a complete rewrite. My main AU mostly has the same story beats as THW, just with some adjustments. This time I want to make a completely new story, featuring Toothless’ new love interest, Midnight Wrath:

Some facts about her in this AU:

- Her markings are only gold in the Hidden World. Outside of the Hidden World they’re a deep black

- She’s a variation of Night Fury. An offshoot. This breed of Night Fury is able to harness lightning during thunderstorms and use it to amplify their plasma blasts (Toothless is not able to cloak in this AU or control lightning at all)

- Her plasma blasts are orange instead of purple

- She has pupils in this AU

As far as the story goes, I don’t have it all figured out yet, but I do have a basic concept that I want to expand on. For starters, Grimmel and Drago are both the antagonists. Grimmel finds out about Toothless through Drago, who wants revenge on Hiccup. Grimmel wants to kill Toothless and wipe out the Night Furies for good. They agree to form a temporary alliance so they can both get what they want.

Meanwhile Hiccup and Toothless discover Midnight, a wild and elusive Night Fury that comes from the Hidden World (also, Hiccup doesn’t know about the Hidden World in this AU. He doesn’t take everyone and leave to try to find it. They stay on Berk). Hiccup tries to help Toothless win her over and hopefully coax her to stay on Berk.

I imagine that Grimmel, upon seeing Midnight, realizes he hasn’t successfully killed off the Night Furies after all, and the handful that are left are hiding in the Hidden Word. The final battle would be the Berkians protecting the Hidden World from Grimmel and Drago.

Obviously there would be other stuff that happens in between, but I haven’t figured that all out yet. This is essentially just a concept. A simple first draft. I’m eager to expand on it, though

[the-jason-todd-murder-weapon]

Warning: essay rant about the third httyd movie below

Okay so like, with the httyd live action dropping soon, I figured I should go back and rewatch the series and oh my god I forgot how poorly written the third movie was. first thing, hiccup is apparently overcrowding the island. the incredibly big island. does he have literally every dragon under the sun on that island or did the writers just forget how big the island is?? and before someone goes "oh they couldn't have expanded more because they would be too undefensive!" they have. dragons. that they can train. into being look outs. also they've already partially expanded past the main village, we see a grumpy old man that lives outside of the main village because nobody likes him in riders of berk. all they would have to do is start building houses over there and boom, more village, less overcrowding (or, at the very least they could make stables for the dragons over there, and the few houses over there could be for anyone who wants to take care of the dragons. anyway, moving on from the overcrowding thing, we meet the next villain who has dragon eating dragons (I am eternally sad they made a new dragon eating dragon instead of using the one we already have, but I suppose a death song wouldn't have fit in with his whole personality, considering he seems to be more of a tracker while deathsongs lure their prey) anyway, we learn he killed all the nightfuries expect for toothless and then immediately get introduced to the lightfury who he doesn't seem all that shocked to see, despite her only being a female of toothless's species and not an entirely new dragon species which...what?? we literally just got told he killed them all and then it immediately gets reconned by them implying he only killed the males and that makes zero sense?? the females would have been just as deadly to his village- if not more, considering they can GO INVISIBLE but no, he just kills the males, okay. also I'm pretty sure it's implied the lightfuries are a subspecies and not actually just sexual dimorphism (there is a baby lightfury and the nightlights look different from it so) but that still makes no sense? you're telling me a man hellbent on revenge for his village killed JUST the nightfuries, learned about one of the subspecies and...didn't hunt them down? because, remember: he isn't surprised to see the lightfury, he KNEW they existed, but okay, sure. I'm not even going to get into how bad the lightfuries design is, by the way, they can't handle the cold but she's fucking pure white and GLITTERY? the literal only place she could hide is in snow if she wasn't given the ability to go invisible, and then, once the main villain finds them they decide to flee instead of just. staying and fighting?? bro you overpopulated a big ass island with DRAGONS he has maybe twelve at most fight him?? like. all you would have to do is smash the vials on their heads but noo, he's obviously a horror unknown and we can't fight him despite winning against a dude with a fucking bewilder beast and a dragon army literally last movie- they push him up like he's scarier then drago but he just. isn't. like, he's a better hunter sure, but that wouldn't have even mattered if hiccup was actually smart about the situation. Also snotloud hitting on valka was weird as fuck and I do not know why they included it when snotloud has objectively better, more consistent personality traits you can make a joke out of (he and his dragon literally lovingly bully each other and you had to make him hit on hiccup's mom to make jokes??) also I feel like all of the personality was stripped from every dragon except toothless, and they just become fucking cars to tote them around until we get to the sad ending where they all have to leave :((( also the ending made no sense either, what do you mean ALL the dragons are leaving to the hidden world?? babes there are three different dragon eating dragons they literally cannot co-exist like that. also how are you explaining that to the several different villages who rely on their dragon(s) to live??

"yeah sorry guys, we decided nobody can know they exist so you've gotta give them up, yes we know you rely on them but you have to" like genuinely, fucking hiccup from the original movie was smarter then this hiccup, his ass was dumb as a fucking rock. I do actually like the fact that he gave toothless the tail to let him fly without him, but not the context as to why it happened. or the whole "oh noo, what if he doesn't come back now that he doesn't need me :((" YOU'VE KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR 10 FUCKING YEARS YOU SHOULD KNOW HE WONT. like they shot his character dead behind a denny's just so the plot of this movie actually worked. because like- babes you're dragon has nearly died for your ass fifty fucking times if that wasn't enough to prove he wouldn't leave you I genuinely do not know what would. I feel like they also killed toothlesses character just to make him a love sick puppy

[itsybitsybatsyspider]

The Dragon Prince Au Masterpost

So since i got so many ideas and thoughts for this au, imma just make a masterpost for this since i plan on expanding and adding more to it in the future. Thought it’d make context a bit easier to understand. There's quite a bit so buckle in fellas

Berk is an outpost village that lies along the border of Katolis and Xadia. The people and battalion there are known for their duty to ward off dragons and drakes when they get too close to the border, and they are based right on the edge of the border where both lands meet at the Gulf of Tenebris. 

The events from the first movie still kind of play out. Hiccup shoots down Toothless and hides it from everyone, but after learning about dragons and seeing that they’re misunderstood and that Berk has been provoking them, he then creates a disguise to help the dragons.

Of course, now everyone thinks that there’s a Sunfire elf out there fighting against them and why do they think he’s a Sunfire elf?? Because he creates Inferno in an attempt to mimic a Sunforge blade and paints his helmet to look like elf markings and builds in horns.

Jack is a Skywing elf, and a mage-in-training. He’s doing his best and lives with his mother and sister, Emily. Their village is to the north of the Ruins of Elarion and resides in the mountains.

He's out flying one day when he hears a dragon's roar and when he flies down to investigate he sees a human trying to catch a dragon. Filled with anger he jumps down and pulls up a spell, aiming it at the human, who stares back with his eyes wide and hands raised.

Hiccup was only trying to wrangle Toothless to try and put on a new and improved tailfin when out of nowhere a Skywing elf leaps out and points lightning at him???

So they get off on the wrong foot. But after seeing that Hiccup wasn't harming Toothless and Toothless was friendly towards Hiccup, did Jack lower his staff. He truly thought the human was going to try to kill the dragon to take it apart to send to the dark mages of the Katolin court. He'd heard stories of human "mages'' and their brand of "magic". But no. All that was in front of him was a startled human who had only been wanting to help a creature of Xadia.

and from there, their friendship begins.

Jack tells Hiccup about Xadia and Hiccup tells Jack about his home. They sneak off to hang out and take Toothless out flying. Jack uses Sky magic to make them go faster and higher and blows snow flurries their way to mess with Hiccup.

Hiccup brings pastries and food for Jack to try from home and gets him to try brown morning potion. It ends with Hiccup laughing on the ground and a cup frozen to the ground as Jack sputters in distaste at the bitterness

Jack manages to find a real Sunforge blade and gifts it to Hiccup. "Now you can pass off as a real Sunfire elf. Or at least close enough."

Toothiana is a Skywing elf. One of Jack’s friends and a family friend to the Frost-Overlands. She’s helped teach Jack some Sky magic but it’s not much. She tries to help him by hunting down books, tomes, and scrolls in her free time when she’s not busy

Bunny is an Earthblood elf who doesn’t stay in one place too long. But he does have a place on the outskirts of their village and sometimes lingers for a few weeks at a time before going back to his travels. His real home is in the Uncharted Forest.

Sandy is a Sunfire elf who passes through occasionally and is Tooth's source for magic books for Jack. Sandy lives near Lux Aurea but his work keeps him traveling around. He's a Sun mage and is currently hunting for the source of whatever magic has been corrupting creatures in Xadia and turning them into monsters made of nothing but shade and decay.

North is a human dwelling in Berk. He and Gobber run the smithy and create the defenses for the outpost and take turns running the shop. But North is actually a friend to Xadia (*cough* Bunny *cough cough* Tooth *cough* Sandy). It was the time before he came to Berk and he keeps these opinions to himself until he discovers what Hiccup has been doing in his spare time.

Astrid is the top-cadet in the training program at the outpost. Best in her class and has the highest chance of joining the Outpost Guard right off the bat. She and Hiccup are friends and she has trouble understanding his sudden reluctance to want to fight dragons and keep enemy forces at bay. This is their home. Doesn’t he want to protect it? Surely he must understand what’s at stake if creatures from Xadia were to invade. 

the rest of the teenagers are in the training program a well. Snotlout has aspirations to join the Katolin army at the Breach, Fishlegs just wants to study the flora and fauna of Xadia without it trying to kill him, and the twins... well they're the twins. They want to learn primal magic for pranks and get chased by a drake and cause havoc in general.

Jamie Bennett and his family live in Berk and Jamie has a secret that he's never told anyone. His best friend's an elf.

Jamie and Emily become friends before the events of the story start. And have been friends for months at this point. They've been lying to everyone to keep their friendship. So when Jack starts acting suspicious at home, claiming to go see some friends (he doesn’t have friends aside from her and Tooth) she starts paying attention to what he’s trying to hide. She fills Jamie in on it as well during one of their hangouts and he’s like “Oh weird, you know I've been noticing the Commander’s son has been disappearing as well.”

At one point Jack manages to get his hands on an illusion necklace, and gives it to Hiccup so that he can be fully disguised as an Earthblood elf. He wants to show him the beauty of his home and Xadia without the worry that he’ll get captured or killed and they spend a whole day going through Jack’s village and showing him everything. Emily follows along and keeps a sharp eye on Hiccup. 

She brings it up in their following recap. "So my brother had a friend over the other day... it was an Earthblood elf i had never seen before... he acted really weird." "Huh that's weird... Hiccup was gone the other day... no one could find him..." ".... Hiccup?"

and Pitch is a dark mage :)

At some point i may add more, but for now this is the base context for the Au. it was hard not to get carried away with adding even more but i think that about sums it up for now! Below is the art that's been posted already. I'll edit it as i post more but for now that's it!

Jack, Hiccup, and Toothless designs

Sunfire Elf Hiccup disguise

Jack's Wing Maintenance

First Meeting (and misunderstandings)

Questions Ask

Ask #2

Jack and His Sister

Astrid, Jamie, and Tooth Designs

Earthblood Elf Hiccup Illusion

Some Plot

[revive-the-fandom]

Johann's villain arc was piss poor writing

tbh I don't come to RTTE for good writing, I go here for mediocre writing with flecks of greatness in it. But Johann's villain arc is a stinking pile of shit muddying the waters of the rest of the show and I'm tired of seeing people praising it.

If you're writing a twist villain the truth needs to make more sense than the lie. and Johann just has so many inconsistencies and plotholes and godawful dialogue. He feels more fake as the villain than he ever did as the Comic Relief Plot Mover.

What is his end game?

So he gets the King of Dragons, now what? Do what with it? Is he selling it to Drago through Krogan? If he does this then he loses the King of Dragons, his Allies, and the Dragon Flyers?? Then why does Krogan need Johann of all people?

What does he bring to the table that Krogan and the Grimborns haven't already provided?

Krogan brings the Flyers, an air force, and he's an accomplished fighter with an exotic style that the Archipelago is unfamiliar with. He's also bringing the Buyer and the Funds.

The Grimborns bring the Hunters, a naval force highly skilled at capturing Dragons alive (something Berk, the Outcasts, and the Berserkers couldn't manage after 300 years of experience) and selling their parts. They also bring the Dragon Eye - it's a decades (maybe even centuries) old artifact created by the Hunters for use by the Hunters.

Then why do Viggo and Krogan work for him?

No fucking clue! It doesn't make sense! He's been undercover for at least 15 - 20 years (the man recognises by sight the gift Valka made for Hiccup, which he threw into the ocean when he was a toddler). Any reputation he had in his homeland or even the archipelago is void.

Johann is also rarely ever shown fighting, and when he does fight he loses, so he's pretty shit. He loses to Hiccup twice, and he loses to Viggo. He's not inspiring confidence or fear so what the fuck is even his deal? How is he gaining loyalty?

He doesn't bring knowledge, or hell even an insider perspective of the Riders. Viggo has the information on the Dragon Eye and how to use it, Krogan has the information on what the King of Dragons looks like and acts like from Drago.

Johann throws out his one and only advantage, his alliance (and spy status) with Berk, the Outcasts, and the Berserkers, as soon as he starts to really need it (the Hunters are defeated and absorbed into the Flyers. Ryker, a highly competent general, is dead. Viggo is horrifically injured. The Shellfire is defeated. Krogan, his main general is combative, impulsive and desperate. The Flyers are loyal out of fear not camaraderie. Hiccup has a second Dragon Eye. etc).

He doesn't even have any good reason to hate dragons for christs sake!

Stoick lost his wife.

Gobber lost his limbs.

Drago also lost his limb.

So did Hiccup.

Astrid lost her uncle.

Fishlegs' ancestry is built on dragon hunting.

Mildew is a bitter old man clinging to his culture and influence (power).

Alvin wanted power through the Dragons, but didnt really hate them in the first place, just assigned them: enemy.

Johann just hates people allied with Dragons for the sake of it. It's never expanded on. It's his whole motivation for betraying Berk and it's not. explained. He's evil for the sake of evil. Johann the Trader at least could use the tribes of the archipelago for protection and profit, but Johann the Criminal Mastermind sacrifices this relationship for Viggo's Dragon Eye Lenses at the drop of pin. Why? Plot convenience and piss poor writing.

Johann's foreshadowing is another pile of shit to pick through.

His first appearance he sells poisonous flowers to Mildew.

This should be his first attempt to kill off Berk's Dragons, but he lists Breakneck Bog as his first attempt. His role in this plot is almost nonexistant - he delivers a custom order to Mildew and just, fucks off.

You could even argue that Johann, should he know what the flowers do to Dragons (which it's implied he doesn't) put the answer right into the Berkian's hands. The botany book he sells Fishlegs identifies the Blue Oleander, and because of it they're able to make a cure. Arguably this could be Johann's attempt to covertly save the Dragons.

And if he wasn't trying to covertly help, or he was in on it with Mildew from the beginning, then why on gods green earth did he even allow that book to be sold?? He sabotaged himself! If anything this is points against him as a "mastermind" bc it's a really fucking stupid move.

Johann kicks that one dragon

This is for all those people citing Johann kicking a Dragon away from his food/merchandise as proof that "there was evidence all along".

RoB spends half its screen time showing Dragons as pests, stealing food, burning shit down etc. That's the entire reason Mildew is able to succeed as much as he does.

Half of Berk is still violent to Dragons at this point. Johann is acting accordingly as Vikings are violent and angry culturally, and they get pissy at the Dragons for steal their already limited food and housing.

Breakneck Bog is apparently his first attempt to off the Riders.

So you're telling me that the grand, overarching, final villain, mastermind's plan to kill off a bunch of kids, at least two of whom are pretty crap fighters, and all of which trust him entirely, and all of which are fucking children! was to sail directly into Breakneck Bog, watch the Smokebreaths haul his big ass ship into a tree (all of which seemingly abandoned all of its metal wares ?), then swim into the ocean and HOPE that Berk would send specifically the Riders who again, are CHILDREN, to search for him so he can send them into a hoard of metal eating (not flesh, metal) dragons????

Does no one on the writing team remember that it was STOICK and GOBBER along with Hiccup who initially went searching for Johann? Hiccup went against Stoick's wishes to take the Riders out searching for Johann, it was PURE DUMB LUCK that Johann encountered the Riders at all!

Johann then proceeds to help berk and Stoick and Hiccup by smuggling them into Outcast Island on his own ship

If he wants Hiccup dead why even do this? If he wants the Dragons gone why even do this?

The only reason I can come up with is that he wants to remove the competition: Alvin. Which again, backfires horribly when he allies with Stoick. Great track record this mastermind has for felling his enemies. Really fearsome, round of applause.

Johann is saved by Hiccup during a freeze

He does very little in this ep aside from being fucking hilarious, but he is yet again rescued by Hiccup. Great motivator for hating him.

Johann then (accidentally) delivers Smokebreath metal to Berk

If he's doing this on purpose to help Dagur, rather than just getting tricked because he's the gullible Comic Relief Plot Mover, then why does he stick around to confirm Hiccup's theory? Just leave or lie, he's supposed to be an expert in deceit right?

All of Johann's RoB/DoB appearances consist of him doing something vaguely dodgy or stupid and then getting bailed out, or should he be a villain, hindered by Hiccup. If he's just a Trader, that's fine, he's here to be stupid. but if he's secretly The Villain of the series, then he's a really, really stupid one with no motivation and a habit of self-sabotage. Which I guess could be an interesting route if they played into his stupidity, but no, he's the ultra mega smartypants villain.

Dagur stealing his ship

Johann is a Trader of course he visits Outcast island. He's also Mr Comic Relief Plot Mover. He is the ideal choice for this type of Shenanigans.

But if Johann is the mastermind, then I guess he supposedly paid off that one Outcast guard? The same Outcast guard who then didn't direct Dagur to the ship or anything? So that he could sit and again HOPE that Dagur picked his ship instead of any of the armed and armoured Outcast ships docked nearby, which like, Dagur just defeated an entire prisons worth of guards singlehandedly after stewing in a tiny cell for what 3 years? and then he let Dagur throw him overboard so that said mastermind could once again mysteriously survive being lost at sea? What kind of supernatural powers does Johann have that allows him to swim in an arctic sea for days on end??

and on top of that Johann just decides, hey, lets warn the Berkians instead of maybe like, playing ill for a bit? so that Dagur doesn't get more than a few days headstart to raise an entire Armarda, bc ... fuck him I guess?

So, release the guy who you want to have kill Hiccup and the Riders, then set said Riders on this guy at your earliest convenience so they can swoop in and reduce his chances of doing the thing you want him to do??

Giving false information to Heather

Johann straight up tells Heather he can't confirm Dagur's whereabouts after his last tip, and that Dagur is on his way to get arms. It's not a big stretch to think Heather had good info, but bad timing.

otherwise this is one of the only solid points the Johann twist has going for it: send a single rider so that Dagur can get some practice killing them.

Johann distracting the Riders while the Hunters invade

Like the above point, not really a red flag, but also does hold up okay after the twist. As Johann did manage to fend off the Dragons proving he has some competence. but i say again, Comic Relief Plot Mover is much more likely given his track record.

Smuggling the Riders into the Auction

Why on God does Johann not warn Viggo or Ryker, who he is apparently in charge of, that the Auction is about to be sabotaged? Krogan is in the Auction too. If Johann is vying to sell the King of Dragons then impressing that guy should be priority numero uno or else his whole plan withers away. Instead he just licks Viggo's boots and stays quiet?

the whole Submarriper debacle

Johann, by your own admission you are currently in charge of Viggo and Ryker. Why are you sailing straight into Viggo's Submarriper Trap?

Also, why is he being nice to people he knows are about to die? He knows the Submarriper, so even if he's just like, idk scoping out the trap to check all's good then no need to a) be that close, or b) be fake friendly to your sacrifices?

The end of Season 4 is probably also the original end point, as they only had 4 seasons planned and they got given an extra 2. My theory is that Johann wasn't planned to be a villain until season 5 because they'd wrapped up 90% of the plot in Shell Shocked and needed a new threat.

Sandbuster

Ok, again, this is ok. He's just leading them into danger again. which I will still say could be Comic Relief Plot Mover shenanigans, but doesn't get in the way of his twist villain plot either.

Krogan invades the Edge

Again, this is ok. Lead Hiccup and Astrid away from the Edge so Krogan can now invade. But if Johann knows about Hiccup's secret project (Dragon Eye) why didn't he go to further measures to destroy it? Without it the race for the Lenses can never happen.

Getting the Lens from Heather

this one is ok. I guess. Makes the most sense out of all of them but it's also the ep where Johann is revealed to the audience (not the riders. I think this is called dramatic irony but don't quote me on that) so its gotta fit within the laws of the episode at the very least.

The Reveal

Just, why Johann? Hiccup has The Most Loyal Dragon who also happens to be The Most Intelligent Dragon. Hiccup is also the Dragon Master who can train/deal with any dragon and you choose to confront him in a Dragons lair that he already knows about and has escaped from before?

And I haven't even touched on the bullshit "evil smile in the background but only AFTER the audience has been handed the twist so it's impossible to deduce the truth before this moment"

Season 5:

Season 6:

This is the most dumbed down, babyish shit I've ever seen. I expect this from Cbeebies not Netflix. How many kids' shows these days are doing better than this!? (Adventure Time, Steven Universe, Over the Garden Wall, to name a few).

Like yes we get it! Johann is your twist villain. Except he wasn't even a good twist because it wasn't a twist, it was a flat out surprise attack with no clues and no warnings. It's not fun if you can't go back and connect the dots! which I've just spent maybe 1000 words proving you can't!

I just hate it! He has no clear motive, he has multiple actions that contradict his eventual reveal, most of his plots fail miserably, most his plots rely on complete and total luck, he brings nothing of value to the villain roster and yet he's our Leading Villain??

If Mildew is more convincing than your main villain, then something's gone horribly wrong with your writing, and maybe you should rethink this choice?

[shantyofme]

This is my own little family of Furies, I kind of want to dive deeper into their characters later but for now I can just talk about them surface level!

So baisically, because I hate the fact that the only way for nightlights to make more nightlights is inbreeding, I like to pretend that were more Nightfuries out there, and they came to the Hidden World when Toothless had them leave the humans (temporarily, i refuse to accept that they left permanently). And once Toothless and the Light Fury, Pearl, (I hc that as her name because it's my dogs name and I think it suits her too!) got together, it made the other night and light furies see that as a possibility. So Visionary, being apart of the small Nightfury pack the came to the HW, met Clouddancer.

Visionary is a fairly large male Nightfury, slightly older than Toothless but not by much. He is super shy at first, but very energetic once you open up that side of him. But he is also an insanely quick thinker because of how hard it is/was for Night furies to survive because they were constantly avoiding humans. Also I like to think that yes he has a pack, but nighfuries we’re probably independent hunters, but because of Grimmel mass hunting them, they formed a pack of however many nightfuries were left, because remember these dragons are super smart, and could definitely pull something like that off. I will definitely expand on his character another time.

Clouddancer is a female Lightfury and has more grayish blue eyes. Her scales aren’t as shiny and sparkly since she hasn't left the HW as much as Pearl has and hasn't needed to use her invisibility power as much. (I like to think that the reason Lightfuries are so sparkly is because of how often they coat themselves in fire hot enough to make themselves reflective). Anyways she’s super curious and kind of nosy, she’s very loyal though and gets snappy with the dragons that don’t agree with Toothless being king. I will expand on her character another time.

Now when they met it was strictly a misunderstanding, Visionary didn’t know there were any other nightfuries other than his pack, so he obviously went to see if the rumors of a nightfury alpha were true, and he did this cautiously. Clouddancer thought it could be an attempt to harm Toothless or something so she tackled him. After desperately explaining himself, she backed off, and they didn’t get along to well. Later down the line though, they bonded over Visionary wanting to be less apart of his pack and have more freedom, while Clouddancer wanted to go on more adventures, and just explore and see more. So obviously while sneaking out of the HW to do all that, they ran into eachother when Visionary is captured by some low life dragon hunters. Yes there are still dragon hunters, it hasn’t been that long since dragons left at this point. Anyways Clouddancer spots this and ends up saving him and he returns the favor by exploring with her to keep her safe. They visit Berk, secretly of course, and Clouddancer loves all the little people there. Anyways in this adventure they fall in love yada yada, it’s super cute and yah. There’s a whole lot more to this that I’ll develop later but that’s the gist of it ig.

They end up having two boys, Mighty and Hammer the twins. Mighty being more outgoing, playful and adventurous, while Hammer is more introverted but extremely brave and easily pissed off.

By the way, these names are given to them by the gang, because Hiccup ends up going to the HW way earlier than in the movie cus he misses Toothless too much, and the rest of the gang come too (they actually convinced him to go with them to find their dragons) he found out about all the nighfuries and he just had to meet them and name every single one, even though they all tried to kill him at first.

Lemme know if I should do more about these characters though!

(I know the Nighlights look similar to Ruffrunner but I originally made these characters with a Minecraft mod called Isle of Berk, and when Clouddancer and Visionary’s eggs hatched they both were the Ruffrunner modle, so I changed them a bit, but kept them pretty similar as to how they are in my mc world 💀👍)

(Also why is some of the text closer together than other parts????)

[evilwriter37]

I still don't know how I managed to have the first HTTYD movie as a major special interest in my childhood without ever realizing Riders of Berk and the later shows were a thing. I found your blog initially through general posts about whump, and I stayed because A) I didn't know there was actually a genre for whump so I could never find the type of content I was looking for and your writing is an absolute treasure trove and B) it reawakened my love of HTTYD. I'm finally watching the first season of Dreamworks Dragons because I am very curious to see Viggo in canon, and I just really love getting to see the show expand on all of the Riders and their dragons more. Not really a question here, it's more of a ramble

And I adored this ramble! Thank you!

I found the shows when I was in high school. I wanted to watch the first movie, so started searching up How to Train Your Dragon on Netflix, and it offered me Race to the Edge. I watched it, kind of confused at first, because I didn’t realize that Riders and Defenders of Berk existed.

Found those on some shady pirating site and watched all of it. Defenders of Berk is a big favorite of mine. I just love Dagur so much. (And the Screaming Death.)

Now I own all the shows on dvd and am quite happy about it. (I can still get my screenshots and don’t have to worry about losing access to them.)

And omg, I didn’t realize I was the one who introduced whump as a genre to you! That’s really cool! And thank you for the compliment to my writing!

I hope you enjoy the ride! Please feel free to drop a ramble about the shows in my inbox at any time!

[dragonmasterhiccup]

Honest question Hiccup. If you had a chance to drop the mantle of Chief, have someone else replace you with no consequence to the tribe's well-being and fly off to explore the world beyond the Archipelago you've grown to know, would you? I'm talking visit the mainland, explore different cultures, expand your horizons beyond the Nordic territories.

The catch would be, said people who are heading up the village are your team. Your mother, Eret, the Gang, because I'd imagine those would be the people who would best look after your kin. They are all of the opinion "You have given enough, Hiccup. Go see the world."

It be you and Toothless alone, similarly to how you would have wanted it at 15.

Would you?

"That's quite the question, greyface..." He scratched the back of his head, thinking of what to say. "On the one hand...that sounds amazing. I'd love to travel, to see more of the world with Toothless...but, on the other hand, my father entrusted me with taking care of our tribe...I can't just abandon it, can I? When the other riders and I were on the Edge, exploring everything the Dragon Eye had to show us, it was incredible, but we got into our fair share of trouble. I may be older, and hopefully wiser, but... knowing I had friends to look out for me helped me know it would all be fine, that we'd make it out alright. So....as appealing as that sounds, my place is here, on Berk, protecting my own."

[thejacksmit]

First Take: How To Train Your Dragon - the DreamWorks classic somehow nails the landing in live action

SYNOPSIS: As an ancient threat endangers both Vikings and dragons alike on the isle of Berk, the friendship between Hiccup, an inventive Viking, and Toothless, a Night Fury dragon, becomes the key to both species forging a new future together.

It’s been a good few weeks for Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. Two of their most well known animated projects have been adapted into live action, and somehow, I ended up seeing them back to back as part of a 4 film marathon. 2010’s How To Train Your Dragon spawned a brilliant trilogy for Dreamworks, alongside many TV series, so understandably taking it into an in-camera setting made fans worried - one look at how the various ‘rival’ adaptations have performed with audiences can make a studio executive worried too. They didn’t need to be, because it retains a lot of what made the original so good.

As he did on the original trilogy it is DeBlois writing and directing (this time on his own), and for the remake he’s gone back into the Cressida Cowell books, expanded backstories for characters who didn’t get time in the original film, and eliminated elements of the plot which, if you’ve seen 2 and The Hidden World, do get resolved in future entries. All of this, in just 2 hours 4 minutes, with all killer and no filler. A lot of the iconic setpieces from the original are recreated faithfully, from the first meetings with Toothless, the flight sequences, and having Bill Pope as the DOP really helped with this - understandably it is a very CG heavy film so his knowledge (especially elements he learned making The Jungle Book with Jon Favreau) as a cinematographer definitely enhanced production, alongside the trusty John Powell returning to take his orchestrations from 15 years ago, polish them up, and make them sound even better for the soundtrack.

Understandably the big changes are in the cast for fairly obvious reasons, and they picked some good talents. Mason Thames leads the film incredibly well at just 17 years of age, Nico Parker (daughter of Thandiwe Newton) will only grow as a talent too, and flanked by Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Peter Serafinowicz and a big cast of supporting performers, they got the look, tone, and feel of the film pretty much spot on. Saying that… there’s one character who naturally had to remain unchanged between animation and practical filmmaking: you simply cannot do the Dragons series without Gerard Butler. They used his voice back in 2010 for Stoick, and of course they wanted him back for the live action remake. In essence, this film flies on its own, despite it being an adapation of an adaptation - which is some going for DreamWorks.

THE VERDICT

If you loved the original, you’ll love the remake, and if you’ve never seen the originals, you’ll want to go and watch them while they develop part 2 for a live action release in 2027. Undeniably the strongest possible start to DreamWorks Animation’s adventures in live action, and quitte rightly worth seeing on the big screen.

RATING: 4/5

[rogue-vigilante]

WIP Tag Game

Rules: Share a snippet from whatever you’re currently working on, and then tag 5 people.

tagged by @carrotsofthepirabbean

I also genuinely don't know 5 people I can tag so here's one and if anyone else wants to, go for it!

From a slowly expanding AU I've been planning for far longer than I should where Hiccup successfully runs away from Berk during HTTYD 1

Staying means that he’ll have to kill a dragon.

It's a sobering thought, and Hiccup is steeped in melancholy by the time he reaches the little glade. Back in his home, the idea of leaving seemed so different, the concept of running away both too big and an insignificant choice. He would have thought that alone in the woods, the thought would have solidified into a more optimistic reality. Instead, it just leaves him sadder and confused, plagued by everything he’s leaving behind. Running away isn’t a small decision, it means leaving everything he knows behind, venturing out into the archipelago with no future and a blank hole that he’s leaving behind.

Perhaps he should just stay, find another way out of the final exam tomorrow. There were some berries around here that made someone violently ill and he could just pretend that he'd eaten a bad piece of fish last night. Surely his father wouldn't make him fight in that condition.

But even that would only delay the inevitable.

“Toothless,” Hiccup calls out to his friend, heart not in his words. “We’re so leaving. We’re leaving. Let’s pack up. Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation, forever.”

He drops his basket and checks the straps on his riding harness, sighing as he does so. The closer he gets to leaving, the less he actually wants to go. He wants to find another solution, find another way to get out of the mess he’s in.

“Oh man.”

At this moment, Toothless bounds towards him and Hiccup remembers that he’s not leaving everything behind. Toothless had this strange ability to cheer him up when things seemed hopeless and lost. Maybe it was the hints of a toothless smile, maybe it the way he bounced towards him, so full of possibilities and the chance of an evening flight. He does seem to catch some of Hiccups melancholy though, stopping with the question loaded in his head tilt.

Then he buries his head into Hiccup’s chest, knocking him to the ground. Taking advantage of the window of opportunity he’s just created, Toothless continues to press his advantage and nuzzle into Hiccup, still asking that same question.

Why?

He’s not asking why he’s leaving, but why he’s sad about it. Toothless had seen himself in Hiccup the same way the Hiccup had seen himself in Toothless. He’d always known that Hiccup is different compared to the rest of Berk. Perhaps his leaving was inevitable. Besides, he’s not going alone, he’ll have his best friend by his side. Together, they could achieve anything.

“You’re right bud,” Hiccup says, wrapping his arms around Toothless’s neck and burying his face into the cool scales.

He’s still sad about leaving all this behind, but the future is starting to look a little brighter. He’s not alone, and while it would be hard in the beginning, they’d find a way. Together. Besides, once he’s away from Berk, maybe he could start finding out all the little truths about dragons that he never would have seen otherwise. Maybe this is who he was always supposed to be.

Vikings would always hate dragons; it's a fact of life. The same way the sun rises in the morning and eel leaves a nasty taste in your mouth. Vikings and dragons would never get along. They would never listen to the truth that they weren’t so different from each other. That they could get along, could teach each other so much more if they weren't constantly fighting. If they weren't bound by old traditions and the fearmongering of their ancestors, if they just took a chance then maybe they'd see. But no, vikings are a stubborn lot, and Hiccup knows that they'll never change.

Leaving might hurt, but maybe in the skies he’d finally be free from the chains he’d never realised he is wearing until now. His denial at how different he was from them holding him back and down for so long now. And taking the first step away from them and everything he'd knows was always going to be painful, along with the realisation that he’ll probably never see any of these people again. But maybe this step was inevitable. If not today, then sometime in the future. The first step would always be this hard, only he’d be plagued with regrets about all the things that he did in the meantime.

He needs to say goodbye and leave.

Only he would never really get to say goodbye. Not really. To the rest of Berk, Hiccup would just vanish in the forests the night before his big moment. What would his father think? He’ll wake up tomorrow and find that his son has disappeared. Just a neat bed and a space in his home. How long would he take to fill it? Would it even be filled, or would it be like his mother, gaps in the home and a presence that was never quite there?

The guilt from that realisation winds its way through Hiccups stomach and he gives Toothless another pat. It hurts to leave, but his father doesn’t deserve that. Doesn’t deserve to not know what happened to his only son. Besides, he’d probably authorise some sort of search party, which would mean that he’d have to fly further away to avoid getting found. But Hiccup couldn’t just fly by the Main Hall on his way out, not without getting shot at and maybe risking Berk to the wrath of the Chieftain Alliance. Not without risking Toothless, which he isn’t willing to do.

He's not going to tell Stoick to his face either, that would be an unmitigated disaster and Hiccup doesn’t want to be anywhere near him when he finds out. Having Gobber pass on the message would probably have a similar result. Which leaves him with the only option of writing a letter and leaving it for his father to find. It would delay his departure, but it would give him the chance to say goodbye.

Unfortunately, writing such a letter is harder than it seems, and many pages found themselves thrown in the water for Toothless to excitedly chase. He didn’t know if it should just be a simple goodbye or if he should tell his father about Toothless. And if he does tell him about Toothless, then how much does he want to reveal? Eventually, he decides on the whole truth. His father needs to know that they’re wrong about dragons, needs to know that whatever happens Hiccup will be alright. Needs to know that, one day, maybe, he might return.

It's late by the time he finishes a letter that he’s happy with.

[empressofthesunwriter]

Second Chance

Hiccup has many regrets that are catching up with him. His marriage is a joke, his kids hate him, and Berk suffers under his leadership. Life was better when Toothless and Leandra were with him, and they flew together under the sky—just enjoyed being together. Yet even his dragon left him. And the girl he realized too late, he loved had moved on a long time ago. But sometimes life gives you a second chance. Unofficial Sequel from To Belong

Okay, I really have a problem, but when my plotbunnies plot I have to write it down and publish it to see if somebody likes it. Again if you liked To Belong, don't read it, but if you want Leandra and Hiccup together, that's the fic for you :D

Chapter 1: Regrete and Betrayel

Hiccup made a face as Astrid stormed out of the house with their kids.

They had (again) a fight over how they could expand the Trade Routes for New Berk.

Astrid wanted to do it the old Viking way and just pillage weaker tribes, but Hiccup wanted a more diplomatic approach.

It had worked for them in past.

This had made his wife's famous anger appear.

Why couldn't he do once something the Viking way?

No wonder the other chiefs took him not seriously.

Which in turn made Astrid as chieftess look bad and when something the proud Hofferson (in this moment she called herself not even Haddock anymore) hated was appearing weak.

Equally angry Hiccup shot back he never did things the Viking way, that's why they had made peace with the dragons and had lived good years with them.

And she...she really dared to say he should let go of this!

The dragons (Toothless, oh buddy) wouldn't return, Hiccup needed to become a real Viking now.

He had shouted back, that she knew he was never the perfect Viking, why did she then marry him?!

Why was she even together with him, if she hated so much his un-vikingness?

Astrid had been for a second still.

A second which was an eternity for Hiccup.

Till she answered...she didn't know anymore.

Punching him in the face would have been mercifully than her words.

Once, she said, he had been this cool boy who showed her another way of living, but he needed to grow up finally and lead the tribe like a real Viking.

Striking him down with her axt (the axt he so loving took care of for her) would have been merciful.

It was then that Hiccup realized...had he never taken Astrid on her first dragon flight with Toothless, she would never have taken an interest in him.

He was still the weak, dumb, useless fishbone in her eyes.

The young chief told her this and he saw for a moment the truth in her eyes, before she lied, saying how wrong he was.

She wanted to help him nothing more.

He just told her to get out.

Get out of the house.

The house he had built for them.

Astrid had been furious, they shouted and screamed at each other very unkind things, before she took the kids and slammed the door shut behind her.

Zephyr and Nuffink hadn't even looked at him or told their mother they wanted to stay with him.

Hiccup had noted how his kids came more after Astrid.

Of course, no love was lost on their side too.

Defeat Hiccup sit down on a chair and let the tears flow.

He hated all this.

He hated his life.

How he wished he could tell his younger self that the few years he had with Toothless would have been the best in his life and he should have never let his bud go.

What was he thinking?

They fought so long to live with dragons in peace and then just let them go to the Hidden World?

It sounded like a bad book!

The brunette man wiped his tears and signed.

He shouldn't think about this.

No one could change their past.

You could only move forward.

What a load of crap!

The gods really hated him.

Giving him a hellish life, a few wonderful years and then back at the hellish part.

What did he do to deserve this?

Oh you know why!, hissed a voice inside him. You chose Astrid over Leandra who truly loved you. Don't be surprised that is how it ended.

He had to agree with his inner thoughts.

He had realized way too late and did nothing when he admitted his feelings for the Spanish girl to himself.

Her Goodbye Letter was still his most precious possession, along with scales from Toothless.

Tired emotionally from the day, Hiccup decides to go to bed.

You couldn't change the past.

(*)

On the other side of the globe, Leandra was facing a storm with Starchaser, but the storm in her heart was worse.

How could Xia do this?

How could have she been so stupid?

Her wife had betrayed her.

Xia's family had never liked how Leandra had "seduced" Xia to a life of sin. That was what same-sex relationships were for them.

But...but Xia had chosen her.

They had married and adopted children.

Six girls and four boys!

They had lived years with Starchaser happily in a little village near the Silk Road where they were accepted.

Then as all the kids were grown she thought, she and Xia would continue to be happy.

Yet, after Ulf, Leandra's brother, visited them, the next days her wife had been weird.

Asking her about Hiccup, if she still had feelings for him...Leandra was speechless.

And maybe that moment in which she stared in disbelief at her wife, had made Xia lose trust in her.

Other than that she couldn't explain why she found her wife, with the owner of the noodle shop in their bed!

Leandra had screamed, nearly returned to her old ways as an assassin, but Starchaser stopped her.

They grabbed their things and left China.

Her wedding ring she had thrown into the ocean.

Shall Xia be happy with her noodle guy!

Leandra was done.

She should have never left the brotherhood and lived a normal life. In her veins flowed the blood of the First Civilization, making her a perfect assasin.

And how she had loved the Levithan Brotherhood and Syria.

Her mentor, her brothers and sisters in arms.

She had been born for this life...but for her Xia, she had given it up.

Because she loved her.

What a foul she had been.

Now she and Starchaser were homeless.

Flying from one place to another.

Leandra was unsure if she could join the Assassin Ranks again.

She may still train, but wasn't she too old now?

Or didn't want her to face her once family after she left them?

Signing Leandra told Starchaser to dive down.

She had seen a cave where they could rest.

After they made themselves comfortable, the last dragon rider and her dragon fell asleep.

While Leandra was thrifting off she remembered Ulf's words: "Come visit me and father and Sigrùn. They miss you, Leandra."

Back then she had laughed, why should she return to the Barbaric Archipelago?

Why should she step foot in New Berk?

She was happy, so she sent Ulf with words of love back there.

However...maybe seeing family would be good again.

Leandra decides to talk with Starchaser in the morning about this.

For now, she dreams of a time were she was still young, for the first time experience flying on Starchaser...with Hiccup and Toothless by their side.

[empressofdiamonds]

Do you have any tips on being consistent with a weight loss journey ? I have to loose weight but whenever I start eating healthy I always go back to my old ways.

Honestly what helped me the most is to accept that new mentality:

I'm a person that leads a healthy lifestyle.

I love doing excercises, esp walking, running, and yoga which are my favourite ever activities.

I enjoy being in line with my body.

The old lifestyle is what led you to the weight gain, so it is irrealistic to think the weight loss lifestyle is gonna be a temporary one. You gotta gain a healthy lifestyle that both enables you to lose weight, AND to keep it off.

If you haven't found a sport or a excercise that makes you happy, continue seeking. Pointless to run if you freaking hate running.

For the food, only keep what enables you into that healthy lifestyle. You know keeping 6 bags of chips at home won't help you much, you know a bit of chips at parties or at movies wont hurt much, but you know eating a whole bag a day ain't gonna help you on the long term.

I never keep candies or less great snacks at home. I just keep what I need for my meal-prepping.

Find some recipes that both align with what you WANT and what you LIKE. Per example I freaking love ice cream, it's like my sin. I wish I could eat the super super rich gelato every day so much I love it. What I do instead is keep the gelato treat for when I am with my friends, or family, enjoying my gelato with them. I'm not holed up in my bedroom eating a whole tub of shitty 2$ ice crap watching the 4th season of whatever show. So if I find myself craving intensely ice cream, I make myself some frozen banana ice cream with my mixer, or I throw some frozen blueberries and a bit of yogurt in the mixer.

If I crave a snack, I get myself some popcorn, there's low salt low fat versions of bagged popcorn that help satisfy that craving. I sometimes even make my very own popcorn, by using about 1/4 to 1/8 cup of corn seeds, in a small pot, a little bit of butter at the bottom, I put a lid on top, while it pops I shake the pot until I don't hear anymore popping.

For my main meals, I bulk up my meals with vegetables and good quality proteins, the carbs are like not the majority of my meal. And if I have carbs, I try to get as much whole grains ans fibers as possible. Think multigrain boosted in fiber versus the shitty wonderbread.

Making your own meals is much more efficient both for nutrition and self-control, meaning, I'll make myself just enough for one portion, or maybe two if I'm prepping for another meal, then if I'm "fake hungry" (what this means: I'm hungry for more but I don't wanna eat an apple or some healthy snack), if I wanna eat more I have to go through the effort of making it again. Generally it just turns me off.

Another solution is to prep a huge meal then immediately freeze the remnants in individual dishes. I have to go through the effort of defreezing then microwaving. Berk. I'd rather just eat an apple. Or nothing, because I'm "fake hungry".

See how I constantly outsmart my lazy self 😂

Also! I drink shittons of water!! It helps me being satisfied with my meals. Like think if you soak cereal in milk, it expands. Think the same in the stomach, the water is helping my meal expand and stretch my stomach. The stomach tells the brain "ok we're done, stop eating!".

I let treats be treats. I have fun while excercising. I drink water. This didn't use to be my normal.

[pinksilvace]

Did you see How to Train your Dragon is getting a live action remake???

Alas... yes.

Iirc some of the folks that worked on the animated films (writer, director, and composer???) are returning for this project. It would be really neat if they did a more direct adaptation of the books, but I sincerely doubt that, all things considered, which raises the question: WHY???

Granted, there are aspects of the second and third films I don't like; the villains, especially, could stand to be fleshed out. Maybe going live action will encourage the creative team to push for a PG-13 rating or a more serious tone overall. Going live action will allow the dragons to have more consistent designs/textures (I'm partial to the grittiness of them in the first film) and the precedent of the animated films will allow more opportunities for foreshadowing. It would be fun to see some of the characters from the various television shows, especially Heather and Dagur. There are so many directions in which this world can be expanded.

THAT SAID, there are a few immediate problems I can imagine:

A lesser suspension of disbelief. This one is pretty self-explanatory; fantastical stuff just works better in animated form with the technology used in the film industry today. If the actors and dragons can really sell the performance, that would be fantastic, but it still won't feel as seamless as it does in animation.

Eternal comparison. Again, self-explanatory; it would take a miracle for the live action films to exist within their own bubble. Maybe the director doesn't want them to. Adding onto that,

Nostalgia. There's a decent chance that this project is just a way to continue profiting off of the franchise. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but if that's all it does, it'll be immensely disappointing. The presence of some of the creative team hopefully hints toward this being a product of passion, but only time will tell.

Bland design. This is probably the thing I'm most worried about. The world of Berk and the Barbaric Archipelago have been established as colorful places bursting with life. Each dragon design is distinct - enough that they stretch the definition of what a single species can evolve into. It seems to be a trend in live action to make things toned down for the sake of "realism," and in this case, I'm especially concerned about the dragons losing the strong shape language of their animated counterparts. Actually, you know what? Everything in this franchise is dripping with shape language - even the main characters. Oh, gosh, the characters will all lose their shape languages unless the costume department is allowed to go wild (as they SHOULD). Color is a different matter entirely. I'm almost certain that the live action films will be less saturated than the animated ones, and there's definitely a reasonable degree to this, but knowing that the premise of this story is a low fantasy set at least 600 years ago, there's a non-zero chance that everything will be gray, brown, and maroon.

The most baffling thing, however, is the fact that the HTTYD films are being remade in the first place. The third one came out in 2019. The first film, dated as the graphics are compared to those of the other two, is an absolute masterpiece. While I have more (hopefully not misplaced) hope for these films than any of The Mouse's live action remakes, they just don't feel necessary. Not yet, anyway, and as much as I would love animated remakes instead, I can't imagine such a thing ever happening. Hopefully, the creative team uses this as an opportunity to fix the prior films' problems (or make new plots in this world entirely!) and not just as another leap for money.

[inksansfangirl]

I really liked your in-depth analysis of a hypothetical httyd x kirby crossover! It definitely reminded me of Forgotten Land’s plot. I do agree that it can be kinda tricky to see how a crossover would play out when magic is pretty much absent in the httyd universe as opposed to Kirby’s universe being filled with dreams, magic, and ancient technology beyond our wildest imaginations. The closest we’ve ever seen “magic” in the franchise was in one of the Riders of Berk comics where a “witch” casted an eternal night on Berk when all she did was predict when the next solar eclipse would happen, but that wasn’t even magic at all until the gang realized it was all scientific. I do think it’s fun to discuss how magic would interact in the httyd world! Let me know of what other ideas you may have!

Thank you so much! Its been ever so long to speak out my mind about ideas and crossovers like this. It allows me to expand upon my creativity and I humbly thank you for enlightening me on such an interesting concept, my head has been throughly wrapped all around this after the day you introduced the idea!

And I very much agree, with a world that Toothless hailed from where magic is absent it’s no surprise that he’ll also view it as some sort of threat which creates an ever larger wedge between him and the residents of Dreamland. In truth he just doesn’t understand, his fear and confusion is what makes him irrationally stubborn that he cannot begin to fathom or gather the hell hole that he’s in and without Hiccup he feels useless.

As days go by, Toothless becomes weaker and weaker, his hopes on finding Hiccup was waning thin and he was becoming more and more exhausted as days go on. His claws were becoming dull and cracked from his constant searches, muscles tightening till they cramped because he wouldn’t stop from dusk till dawn. No matter how much his stomach pained him from starvation he heaved himself through the thickets of the planet until he finally crashed within a cave, as if his weight was the last thing he’d need to let him know that he couldn’t go on. That he has given up.

It was then as he spent hours laying on the cold floor that Toothless begins to realize of how co-dependent and how incapable he was of making decisions himself without Hiccup’s command to initiate them. Toothless knew from the get-go that he is incapable to fly without hiccup and the many times they have been separated were brief but never has it been longer than this.

He never thought he’d be like this, so helpless, so useless, and it wasn’t like his Alpha status would mean anything in this world that he was in with no dragons to his will.

Toothless felt the same way as he did when he was shot down and lost his fin except he lost something greater and far more painful than loosing flight.

It’s…very depressing I know- at first I’d imagined that’s how it would be for him, but Toothless would soon learn that he wouldn’t get anywhere on this desolate planet without engaging contact with those who lived there. However it left him with fewer options as all the other animals and by-standing enemies fear him of his intimidating stature and raw power. He was a Night Fury after all. It is something that cannot be helped.

For the first time, he makes a decision for himself without having hiccup by his side. He picked himself up from the ground with little strength he had and traveled yet again on a journey to find the four he had encountered previously:

One of roundness and pink hue of a thistle.

One of darkness with wings that resembled his.

One of peaches that wore blue to distinguish himself from the rest of his people.

And the big blue bird who bore red and has such an obnoxious tune…

Despite Toothless’s previous hostility towards them, he wants to make it right. He still doesn’t trust them of course, but they know more than he does and he’ll die if he doesn’t do something about it even if doing so will be difficult on how he dealt with them before.