#Nettlebrand

[atlas-of-the-mind]

Recently, I stumbled across the Netflix movie “Firedrake the Silver Dragon”, based off of the book Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. With Dragon Rider being one of my favorite childhood books, I was interested to see what they did in translating it into a movie…. And was incredibly insulted by what they did to literally everything. My rant on the movie is an essay in itself, so for now I offer to you some concept sketches of Firedrake and Nettlebrand :) On the bright side, the movie got me to go back and listen to the audiobook

There’ll probably be more from me about this book… would anyone wanna hear a grumpy old man rant about a children’s book?

[et-2112]

OH MY GOD PLEASE OH MY HOF PLEASE if you care at all you should rlly … draw them mor….. ogh my god

Missing my childhood favs…💕 I used to read Dragon Rider over and over and over and ov

[thestalkerbunny]

It's him, Mammon. (and of course, his daughter, Want.)

Part of my inspo for him besides you know, American Consumerism, CEOS, Every Evil Capitalist in movies, and American Psycho-It's Nettlebrand from the book, Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. Who was a terrifying monster made of solid gold made to look like a dragon so it could hunt dragons....but beneath it all-he's but a frog.

[zellkernchen]

I GENUINELY WANT TO KNOW YOUR IDEAS ON GRIEVOUS REMANING FAMILY

I was having a convo with a friend the other day about it and like?? Do they think of him? Does he think of them? It's stated he probably doesn't miss them because of his transformation, but he still cares about Gor so I believe he could think of them.

Idk all rhetorical questions I do want to hear someone's ideas.

OMGGG THANK YOU AND @alenchikova FOR ASKING! I actually do have lots of stuff on Grievous' remaining family, who they are what roles they'll play in my series and all that but I'll just write down everything that requires the least amount of spoilers for everything. (I might however expand more on them if it's specifically requested and because I love to infodump on anything related to my headcanons and ocs/my fanfic series).

I'll post an introduction to them before answering @nettlebrand's questions and expanding a bit on them.

TW: Death mention

Who is part of Grievous' remaining family?

Out of ten wives and thirty children only 3 wives and 4 children survived. There is however a child of Grievous' who has been missing since around 43 BBY. Their fate remains unknown to the family for a loooong time.

His three surviving wive's names are: Ouhlma kel Pokitstrej (1st wife), Noonaklis san Kvetik (6th wife and Bentilais' sister), Gahnzi pot Braviir (10th wife).

Ouhlma became his wife some months after Ronderu's death, ca. end of 45 to start of 44 BBY and they had their first and only child who was born on the day Ronderu died. Ouhlma's child hasn't been seen on Kalee since around 43 BBY. Ouhlma was born on the year of 64 BBY and is the distant relative of Grievous' Izvorsha Tshoat kel Nejilneski. Ever since the disappearance of her child, Ouhlma isolated herself, refused to bear any more children and now carries her child's favourite doll wherever she goes. She named her child after the woman who raised her.

Noonkalis was given to Grievous' as a way to represent comradeship between Grievous and Bentilais' cousins after half a decade of small conflicts. Noonkalis bore him three children (all of them were born in 39 BBY), however one died at the age of 8 years old. Noonkalis was born on the year of 65 BBY, she and Grievous are the same age. She was part of Grievous' Izvorsha until she unfortunately developed chronic back pain and couldn't fight anymore. Noonkalis sometimes trained her surviving son in sword fighting and was her daughter's biggets supporter whenever it came to her marksman skills, despite not knowing much about guns herself.

Gahnzi's marriage with Grievous was the result of his drunkenness and impulsive decisions, some weeks before he was sent off to work for the IGBC. They didn't have any children together until the year of 24 BBY, the same year the Shuttle crash occurred. She's the youngest of the three, being born in the year 59 BBY. She somehow managed to become Ouhlma's best friend and is always there for her whenever she needs it. The same goes for vice versa. Gahnzi used to be a waitress and dancer at the restaurant- bar she worked in before getting married to Grievous. The children, except her biological child, all know how to dance fluently thanks to her.

Here are their height differences:

(Their colours pretty much represent their skintones)

The four surviving children of Grievous are: Skashnilla jai Namesda, Baldruga jai Sanigbasa, Ziszgo jai Nigdu and the young Qymaen jai Dumu ("Dumu" is the equivalent of "child" which is in this case used to represent a title we would label as "Junior". Basically his name is Qymaen Junior).

Starting off with the two oldest siblings Skashnilla and Baldruga. The two of them were, as mentioned earlier, born on the year of 39 BBY and are super protective of their family. Since they were the ones who got to interact the most with Grievous out of their alive siblings, Skashnilla and Baldruga have learned how to deal with weapons from their father. Skashnilla specialises in the Outland Rifle, meanwhile Baldruga in Lig Swords. However, it wasn't just Grievous and his wives who raised them, Bentilais also played a big role. I mean, he's their uncle afterall. Baldruga and Skashnilla absolutely adore their uncle, though they are a bit upset that he's been rarely able to visit them over the last few years. Skashnilla despises the Yam'rii, Jedi and Republic, even directly blaming her late brother's death on them. Baldruga does hate the Yam'rii but can't bring himself to hate all the Jedi and the whole Republic. He doesn't forgive them for their deeds but still feels as if only the Yam'rii are to fully blame of this. Occaisonally, the two siblings lead out small troops to combat Yam'rii forces who, since the shuttle crash, have immigrated back to Kalee.

Ziszgo is the quiet and "weird" child out of the four and there are several reasons for this; Ziszgo suffers from Hypotropia, is (what we would label as) Autistic and super introverted. As a child she always spoke too much and tried to befriend every child near her, but their discomfort and bullying towards her made her introverted and a bit "nocturnal" (as in she only shows herself at night). Unlike her siblings, Ziszgo's mother isn't alive, she was Grievous' 8th wife who died of puerperal fever. Ziszgo had three other siblings, none of which survived past 2 years of age. As a result, Ziszgo was raised by Gahnzi. Her special interests are anything related to technology, bombs and a specific carnivorous plant on Kalee known as "Poljiaccsi". Her room is full of those plants. Ziszgo aids Baldruga and Skashnilla during all of their campaigns by either helping them convieve battle plans or small bombs. She never attends any of their campaigns because she knows that, physically, she's useless for a battle and will only get herself killed. (I forgot to mention but she was born in the year 30 BBY)

Born some short months after the infamous shuttle crash incident and named to honour his father, Qymaen is only a young pup. He loves being around his mothers and siblings. His favourite activity is eating. The boy learns words rather quickly and loves to shout them at random times. He had two other siblings who were unfortunately stillborn, the factor of Gahnzi being stressed was a major factor in this.

Here are their height differences:

Nowww onto the questions!

Does Grievous' family think about him?

Oh absolutely. It's always a worry at least in the back of their minds. Well... except for Qymaen. He's a literal toddler by the time of the clone wars. All he knows is that his father is somewhere, fighting. But he's sure he'll come back. He does sometimes ask questions about Grievous.

Skashnilla and Gahnzi think the most about Grievous (and are the most worried about him). For one, Skashnilla has always been a massive "Daddy's girl" and he's her idol. Second, Gahnzi hopes that Grievous will return so Qymaen can at least get to know his father. Pictures, Video footage and Holograms can only do so much.

Baldruga, Zizsgo and Noonkalis wonder occaisonally where he is, how he's doing. But they've given up hope on contacting him as their calls always goes unanswered. Almost as if their calls can't even reach Grievous, weird.

Ouhlma does think about Grievous, but she's more worried on her child. It was said that they would be something great, just like the Shaman said for Baldruga, Skashnilla, Ziszgo and Qymaen. There's no way they're dead, no matter how much others think against it.

Does Grievous think about his family?

In my series and AU, yes, he does. His transformation and brain alterations didn't make him completely forget about them. He knows they should exist (surely he would be informed if one of them did die, no?) and does care about them as much as his alterations allow him to, but his brain and priorities have been twisted and manipulated. He'll get his revenge on the Jedi, that's his top priority. Though, on his worst days, he can't help but wonder how they're doing. But according to Dooku; his family hasn't contacted him since they last got to see him in that bacta tank (There's no way he would lie about this, right?). Perhaps it's best if he stays where he is and leaves them alone. However, he would never admit any of that to anybody.

That’s pretty much it for now. If anyone has any more questions please lmk!

[bloodsbane]

so i literally just listened to the dragon rider book again like, two weeks ago, right? and while doing that i found out they'd recently made an animated movie based on the book. watched the trailer, it didn't look great, but like who cares

anyways now im watching someone describe the movie and im like WHY the FUCK did they make these WEIRDASS CHANGES. they made it so firedrake cant use his fire? so he had never flown before they leave for the journey? so that ben is annoying and only cared about money...? nettlebrand uses SKYPE and is an IPAD baby????

like, i don't think modernizing the story a bit would be bad at all, or rather, putting the story in a more current-day setting. there's nothing that happens that's particularly hampered by that, or makes for any plot holes or anything. but these changes in character abilities and motivations is like... totally baffling to me. did they think they needed higher stakes or something? like the original story was too boring to utilize what was already there? if anything there's so much that goes on in the book that i could understand reworking things to REDUCE how much you need to cover, but even then, like.. so many weird changes for no reason

[adamwatchesmovies]

Firedrake the Silver Dragon (2020)

Firedrake the Silver Dragon a.k.a. Dragon Rider may have good intentions and serve as passable entertainment for young children but I can’t recommend it. Any way you look at this film, it’s just an inferior version of How to Train Your Dragon. Even it knows this, which is why it makes direct references to the 2010 DreamWorks production.

Ages ago, the world’s dragons were forced into hiding. As mankind approaches their home in the wilderness, Firedrake (voiced by Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and his friend, a forest brownie named Sorrell (Felicity Jones), decide to go searching for the legendary “Rim of Heaven”, where all winged firebreathers will be safe. Mistaking a common thief named Ben (Freddie Highmore) for the fabled “dragon rider”, they have no idea that Nettlebrand (Patrick Stewart), a mechanical dragon-eating monster, is on their trail.

The creatures in How to Train Your Dragon all looked unique when compared to every dragon we’d seen before and to each other. The ones in Firedrake are completely forgettable. They might as well be stock assets they’re so bland. It’s not necessarily a damnable flaw. In cases like this, I always go back to Hoodwinked, which looks super cheap but made up for it with songs, humor and a clever story. "Firedrake" is a wet noodle of a film not because of the passable-at-best visuals. It's the screenplay that makes it fall out of the sky like a parachute made of cement. The villain, for instance. He sucks. Nettlebrand is never intimidating. He’s an utter buffoon that any protagonist who was worth their weight in bricks would overcome effortlessly. The fact that Firedrake can't makes you angry.

I don’t want this whole review spent comparing this film to How to Train Your Dragon but it can’t be helped. Maybe director Tomer Eshed is a big fan of DreamWorks and they wanted to pay homage. Maybe they knew the comparisons would be made by audiences so they decided to roll with it. Whatever the reason, there is a movie-within-the-movie called Dragon Rider and when you see the billboards for it, they are basically stand-ins for “How to Train Your Dragon”, complete with the same font. It’s been modified since we first saw the "Easter Egg" in the trailer but in the movie itself, it’s still unmistakeable. We get another reference later when we see a bootleg of Scrat from Ice Age frozen in a glacier. These references are so glaring it’s kind of funny in a way but at best, they are temporary distractions from the profound boredom you will feel.

None of the characters have anything resembling depth and the jokes are lame. The gags are so bottom-of-the-barrel that most of them don’t even make sense under scrutiny. Nettlebrand is on a dating app that allows its users the option of enhancing their photos. Wouldn’t that just lead to loads of bad dates? and yes, I know it’s a gag and isn’t meant to be taken seriously, but it isn’t funny so why should I give it a pass?

I guarantee that even if you see Firedrake the Silver Dragon “for free” on a streaming platform and make it all the way to the end credit scene that brings back the most unfunny of all the unfunny characters we encounter on this global adventure, you won’t remember this picture down the line. To me, that makes it worse than if it left audiences angry. Seeing "the worst movie ever" makes for a good story. This? It’s just diet water. (April 15, 2022)

[taldigi]

Thinking about dragon rider

[butchratchettruther]

If there are any fans of dragon rider by Cornelia Funke there please at me. I have not been able to stop thinking about it for the past week and I desperately need to talk to somebody about it or else my brain’s going to explode

[foofyarts]

The problem with loving obscure things is that you gotta make content for it yourself. Anyways have some messy drawings of an old interest that’s been rekindled

[random-stuff-incorrect-quotes]

Twigleg, to Nettlebrand: What was that? Sorry, I just thought someone above the national average height said something.

Twigleg: You’re disgusting, tall man. Shrink, perhaps.

[fuckabledragonoftheday]

Today's fuckable dragon of the day is...

(art by Cindy Soumeru)

NETTLEBRAND from DRAGON RIDER

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

some dragon rider gender headcanons, in no particular order:

(note: these are primarily for characters from the first book, as that’s the one i’m most familiar with; i may make a second post for griffin’s feather-specific characters at some point in the future.)

enchanted creatures tend to default to either agender, or whatever their creator assigns them; with time and exposure to one set of Gender Concepts or another, they may eventually go with one that they like instead

the ravens are never referred to with gendered language, and largely have either never bothered to experiment with gender or haven’t done so in a way that translates over to human languages

nettlebrand’s a binary dude in human terms, is still Genders because he’s an enchanted agender-by-default creature who pointed at one and went ‘that’s mine now’

if the homunculi had lived to be exposed to Genders(tm) over time, most of them would have been somewhere on the nb spectrum; they’d have used a range of different pronouns, instead of the alchemist’s blanket assignment of he/him. some of them would have been transfeminine with she/her pronouns, they/them pronouns, or sticking with he/him anyway because it’s what they’re used to and they don’t mind it. 

twigleg is vaguely-guy-flavored agender, and only that much because he just goes with it when people gender him male. it started with the alchemist designating all the homunculi male (which, y’know, obviously he’s not going to dare go against that), and then with nettlebrand being so enamored with Being Male that he projects it onto his servant as well. now he just kind of reflects what people expect him to be, and has only started to get more comfortable with his own internal perception of his gender after meeting ben and getting acquainted with his genderfeels.

speaking of which: ben is actually vaguely shrugs about gender, and doesn’t have any particular attachment to it. it’s one reason he’s drawn to (sapient) fabulous creatures--especially before he realizes he’s nb--just because in general they’re so much less stifling and binary about gender than humans usually are. it’s also a big reason he and twigleg connect to each other so much, as mentioned above.

guinevere is a trans girl who was sure about it very early on. the greenblooms happily put their full support behind her without ever looking back

silver dragons are all nonbinary by human standards; instead of lacking gender at all, though, their gender spectrum is just Alien to humans and vice versa. they have both nb and ‘’’binary’’’ trans folks, just by dragon standards and not ours.

firedrake and maia are both the dragon equivalent of binary trans (although they have more than two of the genders we would consider ‘binary,’ so it’s more like quaternary or thereabouts). slatebeard is Dragon Cis(tm)

gravelbeard and petrosius are the token human-standard cis. gilbert and lola are also cis, but they’re valid

sorrel is just the knuckles comic. what’s a pronoun

more to come if i forgot anyone, whoops

[grumpykawa]

sorrel:*turns around to twigleg in distrust* didn't you say he can't fly? twigleg: he's not flying, he's falling...

[kats-randomology]

NETFLIX WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO DRAGON RIDER YOU MONSTERS--

[cicadas-epiphany]

Not fond of the modernization stuff. Why are they using Skype.

[bloodsbane]

i forgot how delightfully pathetic nettlebrand is in this book