#grimmel is evil

[useless-moss]

Getting back into my shenanigans and a 'Dagur working through prison trauma w/ Hiccup' fic reminded me of an old angsty idea @reallyprofoundkryptonite and I had for the Kin All the Same AU. Also nutmeg idea inspired by that one @evilwriter37 Heather fic. (I'm almost certain it was one of their fics at least-)

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TW: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Referenced Kidnapping, Implied/Referenced Rape, Rape Aftermath, Implied Pregnancy and Abortion

Characters: Original Trans Male Character (Magnus), Viggo, Krogan, Dagur. Other characters mentioned.

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The last few weeks have been... Hell, to put it lightly. The panic of Magnus' initial disappearance, followed by the anger and fear of learning he'd been taken by Grimmel, and then the fight to get him back. A fight that was doomed to be a bloodbath from the second the hunter dared lay his hands on Magnus. For rather obvious reasons, in retrospect. No sane person, or person even vaguely aware of the consequences, would reasonably try. And for good reason.

Viggo, Dagur, and Krogan saw Magnus as their own. They'd worked together to raise the boy, and they didn't tolerate their son so much as being insulted. Dagur has thrown men overboard for challenging what Magnus says in regards to the dragons he handled. He's struck a few idiots with an axe for suggesting the boy be used as 'stress relief' during some particularly rough weeks at sea. Krogan has outright killed a few men, his own flyers and Viggo's hunters alike, for similar reasons. One poor bastard thought it would be funny to grab the boys chest once. There wasn't enough left of him to even throw to the fishes, and Krogan's clothes were soaked in so much blood you'd believe they had always been that red. Viggo, ever the voice of reason (about 90% of the time at least), was less violent. But he's still fired men on the spot for making the wrong comment, even jokingly, about Magnus.

The battle, the raid of Grimmel's camp, had been a gory mess. A vague plan of action, but endless violence otherwise. Men had been ripped apart like paper or gutted like fish. Broken bones, charred bodies. Even Hiccup refused to hold back, letting the dragons fight however they thought best. Letting the dragons, for a few moments at least, sink back into their wild nature. Some men had bites taken out of them, courtesy of Krogan and Hookfang. Grimmel himself had barely escaped, and even when he had he'd been one arm and almost an entire camp short. Those that survived the attack would be permanently scarred. Permanently mutilated, and carrying the memory of violence they've probably never even imagined before.

Magnus wasn't in good condition, physically or mentally. He was blind in one eye now, a fact that made both Viggo and Krogan's hearts ache. They both knew what that was like, of course. The scales around his left eye that created a birthmark-like appearance, that marked Magnus as having Lycanwing blood like Krogan did, had also been flayed off. Cut and pulled. Separated from skin and muscle in a manner that was grotesque, yet neat. Showing Grimmel had drawn out the process. Broken bones that had begun healing wrong and needed to be painfully readjusted. Dehydration. The list seemed extensive, yet far too short, considering this was Grimmel who did it.

"Do you need anything else?" The voice is soft and smooth. Very characteristic of Viggo, but lacking the usual edge it carried. There's a pause. A moment of silent consideration, then a shuddering breath.

"Nutmeg. A large dose." The answer is straightforward, like Magnus has been thinking about it for a while now. Which, in retrospect, he probably has. He'd picked up a fair bit of Viggo's planning ahead habit over the years. And, of course, being the resident healer of the hunter's gave him plenty of knowledge.

The younger ones in the room, helping monitor and tend to Magnus's injuries and mental state, don't understand the implications. But Viggo does. It makes him feel nauseous and enraged all at once. It makes him feel guilty as well.

"... Grimmel..?" The question is asked by Krogan this time, in a clipped manner. Like the dark skinned man is just barely holding himself back from screaming and punching a wall in a mix of grief and rage. A simple nod is the answer, and then Krogan is storming out. Ryker follows. Viggo swallows the lump forming in his throat, and nods to Hiccup and Fishlegs. A silent gesture for them to go get what Magnus requested. Dagur and Viggo stick with the boy. Until Krogan's yelling grows audible, at least, and then Viggo leaves to try and help his brother calm the man.

Dagur refuses to leave the boys' side. He sticks by Magnus like a tick to a dog, fingers carding through reddish brown hair. They sit mostly in silence. There isn't much to say. No amount of comforting words or promises seemed to be enough. No vows for revenge felt right. The thought of telling the boy about his time in prison doesn't seem right at the moment either, and Dagur highly doubts Magnus wants to hear how his adoptive father had gone through a similar thing in the first place. It would likely hurt the boy more than anything else.

Krogan and Viggo returned at some point. Ryker left to go make some food and to give the immediate family some time. It's been weeks since they've all been together, after all. So they're given time to just be there for each other. Krogan, the man was surprisingly cuddly when he trusted someone, kept Magnus up against his side in a protective embrace. Dagur crowded the boys' other side, resting his head on Magnus's shoulder. Viggo sits next to Krogan, fingers lightly interlocked with the boys own as a reminder that he's here as well.

And when the bleeding starts, when it's clear Magnus needs his dad's more than anything else right now, they stay. They wouldn't dare leave, no matter how much the evidence of the horror their son experienced hurt. Their pain is miniscule in comparison.

[countlessofvoids]

The only way I'd accept THW's dragon romance plot is if instead of a light fury, it was a deathgripper.

[dorykinny]

[fantasylover300]

also it's such a shame about grimmel because HE COULD'VE SLAPPED.

Like, imagine this for a sec.

The villain of HTTYD 3 is a foil for Hiccup, yes? And like OP said, it's not really expanded on and for that we were robbed because imagine if Grimmel was just like Hiccup just evil.

Like, what if Grimmel WAS just like Hiccup at some point?? The underdog, desperate to prove himself, always underestimated, skinny, scrawny, never enough, never enough, never enough. He's just as inventive as Hiccup, as determined, as stubborn, he's gonna kill a dragon, he's gonna kill a dragon, he's gonna kill a dragon--

And so, he sets up the same dragon trapping device that Hiccup does to capture one. And just like Hiccup, young Grimmel sees a Night Fury in the sky and immediately, traps it. He tries to tell the others, he caught a dragon, he caught a dragon, look he's worthy, he caught a dragon! No one listens. Fine. Guess he has to prove himself. He stumbles through the forest on his own angrily and sees the dragon and it's a Night Fury.

He stumbles and he stutters. He has his dagger in his hand and he mirrors young Hiccup's actions perfectly, an impeccable parallel to the main character himself and he gets ready. He holds his dagger up high and he cracks open an eye to take a final look at the Night Fury. It's accepted its fate, lying down, downcast, accepting, finish it off, finish it off, finish it off.

Grimmel then pauses. Hesitation in his eyes. And for a second, for a second, you don't see Grimmel, you see Hiccup. His eyes have the same expression Hiccup's did, his posture, his stance, even his face. The emotion in his eyes is almost pity and he's one second away from giving up and letting the dragon free and he almost does it, he almost does it, he almost does it--

He decapitates the dragon. He was once a Hiccup. Not anymore.

kay ngl kinda tempted to write this as a fanfic...

HTTYD 3 Criticism

I watched all 3 httyd movies last weekend and since it’s still on my mind I figured I’d post a few little reasons on why I and some others didn’t enjoy the 3rd movie as much as the other 2. I read a few reviews on the School of Dragons website and watched FatalGlory128′s YouTube criticism. While I do agree with some points, I didn’t agree with others, so if anyone references these, they’ll notice there’s a few differences. Plus, I wanted to explain what I could in further depth. In a brief summary, forcing plot progression, forcing a cohesive ending, and forcing bland humor sacrificed a lot of what made httyd special, and here are ways that it butchered the 3rd movie. Word count: 3595

5 ways How to Train Your Dragon 3: Hidden World failed its predecessors

1) first impressions matter

Right off the bat the first scene sets up disappointment by firmly establishing the next 2 points; plot and character inconsistency. Both of the first 2 movies would set the scene with a reminiscent and captivating exposition, explaining what Berk is and what makes it special. Not only did the 3rd movie’s introduction lack this tradition, but it showed the worst of the dragon riders, messy incompetence, solely for the sake of comedic value that, according to other reviews, didn’t fully reach its audience. Essentially, its weak execution sets up lowered expectations for an even weaker remainder of the entire movie.

2) plot inconsistency, plot dullness, thematic inconsistency, storytelling flaws

To summarize, the general plot of the movie entailed:

A- hiccup had to grow as a leader, he couldn’t be both dragon liberator and chief of the village without neglecting one

A2- Berk is overrun by dragons due to the constant dragon liberation and they need a new home if they want to keep dragons

A3- they go west bc there are enemies south n east + night furies can’t survive in the cold

B- Toothless and Hiccup were growing up, therefore explaining changes and leading to their departures for their respective worlds

B2- Toothless wants to leave for the sake of the sighting of a light fury, supposedly the last other of his kind, that he met within 3 days

B3- Toothless becomes king of all wild dragons in the Hidden world

B4- all dragons leave Berk

C- a new baddie poses threat to Hiccup, Toothless, and the other dragons, and he’s set up to seem like he’s a smarter manipulative villain

A is a character inconsistency issue that will be expanded in 3) and C will be explained in 4).

A2 retracts what was established in HTTYD 2 - that there were countless uninhabited islands, mapped out by Hiccup himself, and studied in more depth by Valka. Logically, there are other nearby islands that they could have settled on for the sake of their dragons. Even with potential Berkian stubbornness (a notable HTTYD 1 characteristic not exemplified in this movie) they would have moved for the sake of their dragons, the ones they hold dear. After all, protecting their families and those they love was an honorable attribute of the Berkians. If not that, there is also the larger expanse of the forest region on Berk that was not shown to be inhabited.

A3 is a lore inconsistency. Toothless has lived with Hiccup for 6 years (being 15 in the first movie, 20 by the second, and another year said to have passed by the time of the 3rd movie). In the first movie’s introductory description of Berk, their island was described as “12 days North of hopeless and a few days south of freezing to death.” 1 of the strongest character and thematic points of the movie series is the strength of a bond, overcoming the worst odds, exemplified by the inseparable duo of Toothless and Hiccup. In the first movie, they were set up as an impossible duo, a dragon and a boy from a community where killing dragons was not only a highly honored tradition, but a day to day occurrence. A boy born to the war between Dragons and Vikings that dated back centuries before him. A boy whose peers and family recognized this, pushed this. A boy who himself recognized this, seeking the opportunity to kill a dragon. A boy who, even when every step of their rivalry was set up for him, opposed his idea of the natural order, and did something far more courageous than any other viking before him- befriend a dragon. This was the essence of the movie series. In the second movie, the Alpha, who could control all other dragons at his whim without struggle, failed to keep Toothless in his rule, solely because of the unstoppable bond between Toothless and Hiccup. In the Christmas special, How To Train Your Dragon: Gift of the Night Fury, Toothless was gifted a self-sufficient tail by Hiccup, allowing him his freedom, which allowed him to fly solo on his own accord long enough to find Hiccup’s viking helmet. After his act of service, he went as far as to break the tail in front of Hiccup to prove that he preferred their bond over anything else. This was a major driving moment in their relationship, emphasizing and strengthening their bond. Ironically, this major scene was referenced in the 3rd movie, but was passively dismissed, the very point of this scene to be disregarded.

All of this was dismantled within seconds by a dragon Toothless met in a day. B and B2 are issues, not only because it was unrealistic and inconsistent to their established characters, but because this repealed one of the strongest themes of the movie series. The relationship between Toothless and the Lightfury should not have carried that level of importance so early; it was rushed and forced, therefore lacking the same depth as the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless. A bond made in days would not so easily override the bond that Hiccup and Toothless had shared and built for 6 years. It would have formed some conflict, after all this was Toothless’s first encounter with romance, but not enough for Toothless to forget and completely abandon Hiccup. For Toothless’s relationship with the Lightfury to be stronger there should have been established bonding moments, resolved conflicts, and time. Not to mention, there were sightings of other Lightfuries in the Hidden World, therefore nullifying the potential theory that they had a special connection due to being the last of the Light and Nightfuries.

B3 is an issue because Toothless knows little to nothing about the customs of wild dragons, much less the customs of the dragons who live in the Hidden World. This was firmly established in the courting attempt scene of the movie and encounters with wild dragons in the show. His coronation scene, as amazing as it could have been, had no emotional meaning. Toothless is a leader, as established by the end of the second movie, but that’s with a community of dragons that he was already a part of (he knew the customs and dealt with those dragons everyday interpersonally). In addition to knowing nothing about the customs of Hidden World dragons, the trust of the Hidden World dragons had to be earned for him to be crowned. This implies that either their trusts were earned off screen or not earned at all, simply guaranteed to Toothless. Which, in turn, could have been done because he was the last Nightfury or simply because it was forced to happen for the sake of plot progression. Moreover, the fact that none of these things were shown to the audience and just expected to be inferred by the audience is, by itself, a storytelling flaw.

B4 has 2 major faults. To begin with, Hiccup pushed the dragons away and said they may return eventually, because he thought dragons would be safer away from humanity. However, Hiccup is the highest example of human-dragon relations, his bond with Toothless revolutionized the war between dragons and Berk, the land of the most stubborn vikings, as they know it. He changed the mind of his father, one of the major chiefs of the archipelago they live on, and made a mini human-dragon utopia. By pushing the dragons away to the Hidden World, he’s giving up the best chance that dragons have of living with humans in peace on the mere whim that maybe things will get better naturally with time. Hiccup failed to see that he had to be the change he wanted to see in the world, and in order for it to spread farther he could not stop. Change does not occur by hiding, avoiding, and self-preservation, but takes commitment, effort, and at times, sacrifice. Unions form for workers rights. Strikes, marches, and protests were done for suffrage and desegregation. Not only is the ending a terrible life lesson, teaching the audience to give up on what they love, but goes against the endearing character of Hiccup established in the first 2 movies- the same stubborn character who refused to kill a dragon when everyone else would, willing to do the most ludicrous things like teach his friends to ride dragons in a few hours and fly on babies just to protect that which he loved. He and the Berkians fought for their human-dragon life and bonds in the previous 2 movies only for the leader of it to give up. This is a failure, not only as a friend and as an inspirational figure, but as chief.

Secondly, another motivation for the dragons leaving was simply because Toothless said so. The other dragons and other Berkians didn’t even want to leave each other- they were shown with teary faces of sorrow. There would have, at least, been a few protests instead of a rushed but solemn acceptance, changing their 6 year way of life because of 1 person’s, Hiccup’s, pessimism. Just because Toothless and Hiccup wanted to depart, didn’t mean that all the others had to leave as well. They themselves were denied their own feelings and opinions, and were treated less as characters but as objects or tools to be controlled or held hostage.

3) character complexities were turned to watered down caricatures

Hiccup was a strategizer, planner, and creative thinker. He was self taught in flying techniques with Toothless, built his saddle and tailfin, and taught the other dragon riders not only to ride but to battle with their dragons all as a teenager. By 20 he had already been the leader of his dragon riding teams for around 5 years, as proven in the shows. Being 21 years old and the acting chief for 1 year in the time of the 3rd movie, one would think Hiccup would be able to have solved his balancing issue to some degree. Instead, he was portrayed as an irresponsible and careless leader. The complaints of overcrowding in Berk was brushed off with a simple remark, “Oh, we’ll make some room.” The Hiccup from the previous 2 movies would not have reacted with that level of thoughtlessness, nor would he have allowed Berk’s overcrowding to have accumulated to that extent. In this movie, he set the entire village on a journey for the Hidden World, unsure if it even existed. After giving Toothless the new solo flight tail, Hiccup’s screen time is spent worrying and overthinking Toothless rather than taking care of New Berk.

Toothless was an emotionally sophisticated creature. His trust had to be earned by Hiccup for a reason, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do when Hiccup was in Hookfang’s danger, and to recall, he used his solo flight tail only to find Hiccup’s helmet. In the 2nd scene of the next movie, he had playful yet intelligent communication and banter with Hiccup; Hiccup, asking Toothless for names for the new islands, and Toothless expressing when he was feeling unheard through facial expressions and by taunting Hiccup lightly. Toothless and Hiccup were a team, but this partnership was lost by the 3rd movie. He felt less like a friend and more like a pet, no longer included in decisions and his character reduced to an oversized horny dog.

In Valka’s first scene, during the raid in which she was supposed to help out the team, she simply watched and waited for the others to get organized. Rather than help them get back on track and do something to help out, she just watched. Throughout the movie, she repeatedly enables Snotlaut’s obnoxious narcissism by encouraging the boy for bad behavior instead of calling him out for unnecessarily rude and flirtatious comments. This is most likely done for comedic purposes, but by this point it is weak and, according to some reviews, did not reach the audience well. Any growth of her relationship with her son, Hiccup, is also missing. There are no signs that she taught Hiccup more about dragon anatomy like promised in the 2nd movie, and she is no more a role model or parental figure than any of the other Berkians are. There are no signs of bonding, no deeply heartfelt advice, or otherwise, leaving a weak relationship with her son. She’s also pushed away from the rest of the group for a large portion of the movie for the sake of plot progression.

Gobber, despite being another fatherly figure for Hiccup, lacks interactions with Hiccup. Hiccup was his apprentice for Instead, he was also benched for most of the movie, either busy because of his work or because of his paranoia of the newfound Hobgobbler for the sake of comedic effect. However, even while Gobber had been a source of occasional comedy in both of the previous movies, this was still balanced out with him having more substance as a character, in the 3rd movie he loses that balance.

Snotlout’s narcissism was overdone to the point where it was not only his main attribute, but his worst attribute. In the first 2 movies and the shows, Snotlout’s narcissism had a karmic comedic effect as his pride would often be his source of embarrassment. In the deadly nadder training scene of the first movie, he was overconfident in aiming a good hit on the dragon. Instead, he misses, and proceeds to spend his time defending himself desperately. His pride would then shed slightly later when he showed his fear of the dragons and had to learn to overcome it by befriending Hookfang. In the shows, there are numerous examples of this, one example being when he taunted Hiccup to punch him repeatedly, only for Hiccup to relent with his non-dominant arm, leaving Snotlout screeching in agony. In the 3rd movie, his pride and narcissism is overdone until it is unnecessary. He even makes a joke about Hiccup on New Berk saying, “Who died and made you chief?” in reference to Stoick’s death. His excessive obnoxiousness only gets worse as he tries to impress Valka by tearing down Eret’s image, restating Hiccup’s ideas as his own, and overall simply tearing down the 2 men. Valka’s failure to call him out on his behavior also takes away the main source of comedy in his character in the first 2 movies, the karmic effect of his pride being his own downfall. He was never funny because he was mean, but because people enjoy seeing antagonists suffer.

Fishlegs was an endearing, sensitive boy with studious habits. He memorized the classifications of every type of dragon in the Dragon Book before it was assigned for reading for the students of the 1st movie. When nervous he would fumble and speedily give out information on their reptilian foes. Nonetheless, by the 3rd movie he was simplified to nothing but a run-on gag about being a dragon babysitter. From his first scene to his last, he is nothing but comedic value.

The Lightfury shows very little personality, having close to no interest with Toothless and mostly restricted to faces of confusion and boredom up until toothless was crowned. This implies that either their love was formed sometime offscreen which is another storytelling flaw, or she only liked Toothless once he became king. With this, the basis of her personality was simply an object to Toothless’s character progression as she had no real defining traits besides being a female of Toothless’s species. To repeat, her bond with Toothless lacked depth due to her very limited rushed screen time and she was not even the last of her kind like she was implied to be. Her one redeeming trait in giving her a personality was being a dragon that distrusted Hiccup on first encounter, which by itself is an old and natural reaction as seen time and time again in the shows.

Tuffnut and Ruffnut are both depicted as complete idiots. While they were crazy in the other movies and shows, they were still able to function well. Part of what made their comedic effect work wasn’t the fact that they would be idiots, but specifically that they would do idiotic things and it would somehow work. Not only that, but they were mischievous, snarky pranksters that would not hold back heckling the enemy in any way they could. Instead, Tuffnut is obsessed with his fake beard and tries to wingman Hiccup unnecessarily. For context, the issue of Hiccup and Astrid’s relationship was implied to be a significant plot factor but never actually became a relevant problem as both of the pair were in a happy agreement of where they wanted to be in the moment. Ruffnut, meanwhile, wasn’t careful enough to check if she was followed, which is what led Grimmel to New Berk in the first place. Basically, what little intelligence the twins still had was thrown away, making their characters bland.

Typically, when authors write off specific attributes from their characters, it’s for them to learn valuable lessons that would be of use in the future, but in this case that was not the goal. Character after character were turned to caricatures of their former selves for the same 2 reasons, forced plot progression and stale comedy that, according to more reviews, didn’t hit home for as many audiences.

4) the villain was even less threatening and interesting than the others

Grimmel is introduced as someone with the reputation of being nothing the dragon riders had ever experienced before. However, his motivations are mostly the same as Drago Bludvist, the villain of the 2nd movie, aiming to help in the making of the dragon army and turning other dragons to nothing but weapons to be used. Not only that but one of his notable tactics was similar to that of Drago’s, controlling the dragons’s minds. Although, this time, in place of the Alpha, it was through drug use. With such significant similarities, Hiccup’s statement that Grimmel is unlike anyone they had faced before is, frankly, a lie. Additionally, his character was explained to be that of a cold strategist, remarkable tactician, and hunter- less flashy but more intimidating by character, someone who will always find their mark. Nonetheless, his assumed intelligence was displayed poorly. He was only threatening by comparison to his colleagues who were shown to have IQs lower than room temperature, most likely for comedic effect but sacrificing his own portrayal. Moreover, his other 2 tactics shown didn’t require that of a brilliant mind, but could be issued by a simple one. First, his goal was to lure out Toothless with the Lightfury, a typical bait and snatch. Then, he figured out where new Berk was by letting Ruffnut go and following suit, trailing. One of his few redemption features could have been the fact that he was meant to act as a foil for Hiccup. His backstory entailed a history of hunting and murdering every last Nightfury and he was a representation of what Hiccup could have been had he simply taken the opportunity to kill Toothless in the first movie. Unfortunately, with so little focus on this aspect, the execution was left too weak to appear as a defining trait of the character. The failure to display the character of an intelligent tactician and stark similarity to Drago Bludvist makes Grimmel appear less like a terrifying foil for Hiccup but rather a paler version of Drago.

5) action, and lack thereof

While the action of the movies isn’t the main focus, it still plays a huge part in the storytelling and the captivation of the audience. The first movie had the small but highly significant test drive scene, where Toothless and Hiccup learned to completely trust each other in the skies, and the dramatically tense scene where Hiccup and Toothless faced off Hookfang, thusly separating Toothless from Hiccup and leaving Hiccup’s father, Stoick, in disappointment. Then the high stakes of the fight against Red Death kept the audience thrilled, having slowly built anticipation throughout the movie. In the 2nd movie, there were 2 major Alpha battle scenes emotionally meaningful in their own ways- The 1st scene killing the good alpha and Stoick the Vast, and the 2nd scene snapping Toothless from the bad alpha’s control, proving his bond with Hiccup. The few smaller action scenes in the 3rd movie, however, lack the same emotional significance each time and feel rushed, making them forgettable. What little action that was saved for the end was not only motivated weakly with a pep talk that was immediately ignored, but was consistently and excessively interrupted with weak humor. Even despite the giant armada of ships, the fight still lacked the grandiose of the last 2 movies, disappointing the natural expectations as it was meant to uphold its legacy.

Conclusion

Overall, the strongest points of the last 2 movies weren’t just the action, but world building, emotionally complex characters, thrilling antagonists, amazing storytelling with great pacing, and their inspirational themes. All of these attributes were lost in the 3rd movie for the sake of bland comedic value, forcing plot progression, and rushing a conclusion to the movie series. Of course, this isn’t to say there is nothing good about it. Seeing HiccStrid’s wedding and children were more than sweet. However, these plotholes and lack of cohesive explanation embedded in the storytelling fumble the execution of the movie even more, leaving an unsatisfying, uninspirational, pale ghost of ruined potential. After Notes-

another extremely great point, I didn’t even think about the water dragons or leftover eggs, curious about more additional points

[duoatomica]

"An angel makes itself look scary to pry away evil."

Grimmel's nightmare

(and very much the reason he has avoided killing light furies in 40+ years and only hunts night furies)

"Bloodstain"

"Once a common light fury, now something terrible, oh the things that I've done and deeply regret, hunting this one is the top one.

As I've said, a common light fury despite its reddish tones, a contrast to the blue standard of the species, this should've been enough of a sign that the creature wasn't just a normal, ordinary dragon such as the ones I've hunted for years.

I found it in the forest, drinking some water, at that time I was only about twenty years old, I was young, careless and proud, I decided to use my dragons to attack him. Again, I was careless, I just wanted to kill as many of the strongest, biggest, most dangerous dragons out there and seek my village's praise.

My deathgrippers pounced, the white dragon screeched and fought back, bit and scratched, it was also young and weak, it couldn't escape, atleast not with a wing, its eyes and its left front paw.

The dragon flew away with what was rest of its left wing, it surprisingly managed to take off with that little nub of bones and membranes the Deathgrippers had left behind.

I cursed, spat harsh words at myself and did something I wish I had kept my mouth shut not to do.

I swore, to Odin and above, that we'd meet again, one day, didn't know when. But one day I surely would see the dragon once more.

Three years passed, I had evolved little, but enough to develop some hunting skills here and there, I studied like a damned man, I improved some of my weapons, felt like a new man.

I was once again in the forests with my eight dragons, controlled by no one other than me. So I stood by a berry bush, feeling hungry, I bent down to pick some.

Why did I do that, for Thor's sake.

I heard something approaching, quickly, before I could react I was under a mass of snow-white flesh, being stared at by those empty eye sockets, drooled at by that mouth full of sharp teeth. That demon, it was back. I swore it would come back. And it did, but not how I've expected it to.

I was attacked ferociously, oh, the agony, only I knew the pain of those sharp claws like blades tearing my skin, those teeth trying their best to split my neck in two. I screamed.

My deathgrippers, as loyal as they are, showed up in an instant and again jumped at the light fury, mangling it, but that dragon was no longer a little cub. The battle between one and the eight was fierce, surprisingly the white dragon managed to kill two of them, leaving only six for me to keep.

I almost died that night, my body so mangled it was bordering unrecognizable, I still have a lotta scars, some awful pains here and there.

From that day on, the one who swore we'd meet again was the dragon. This demon has been in my mind since then, in my dreams, terrifying me, making me fear even the slightest movement in the corner of my room.

This bastard knows, it knows very well where I am now, he always knew, all its attacks are very precise and cautious, therefore brutal. I have grown older, stronger and smarter, I have found ways to penetrate that creature's mind, I can also know where it is, but by the gods, the migraines after these little mind-connecting rituals are nearly deadly.

This has been causing me constant paranoia, I may not know if this light fury is right behind me right now.

I've just checked, it isn't.

Ah, the name? I know it doesn't make sense for a cloud-white dragon to be named Bloodstain, considering the crimson red left in many fabrics and anywhere slightly stainable.

But the fool is the one who thinks that the name refers to it, me as the self-centered person that I painfully admit to be, it is a reference to myself.

Me and the blood pools that formed around my body after the attack, the stains on my long discarded clothes, I remember them as I remember my mother's name.

I concluded a long time ago that this is more than a living being."

-Grimmel the Grisly.

[pumpedsheep8015]

Httydhcau so far. Everything under cut because it's a lot

Elytra is like Hiccup's glider

It takes place in Berk

Bdubs is Skullcrusher, Stoick's secondary dragon

Beef is Thornado, Stoick's first dragon

JoeHills is Valka's bewilderbeast

Cleo is Stormfly, Astrid's dragon

Cub is Belch, Tuffnut's dragon

Doc is Stoick

Etho is Hookfang, Snotlout's dragon

False is Astrid

Grian is Tootless (I'm slightly sorry)

Impulse is Barf, Ruffnut's dragon

Joel is Snotlout

Keralis is Cloudjumper, Valka's dragon

Mumbo is Hiccup

Pearl is Grump, Gobber's dragon

Ren is Gobber

Scar is Tuffnut

Skizz is Ruffnut

Tango is Meatlegs, Fishlegs's dragon

Xisuma is Valka

Zedaph is Fishlegs

Herobrine is Grimmel

Jeff the Minion is Drago

Illagers are dragon trappers/killers

Elder Guardians are the screaming death

Ender dragon is the bewilderbeast

Evil Xisuma is Eret

Endermen are light furies

Endermite are night lights

Farlanders are the night furies

Ghast is thunderdrum

Guardians are the whispering death

Wither Storm is the purple death

Phantoms are night terrors

Warden is the flightmare

Wither is the red death

Wither skeleton is the green death

[fanfic-lover-girl]

I finally watched HTTYD 3 and I am still in shock

I knew I would likely dislike the movie but I wanted to watch the entire trilogy. I feel robbed when I remember I paid $4 to rent the movie. I even watched it a second time (which I don't usually do) by myself to make sure I never had first watch bias or something.

There are several posts already about the flaws of the movie. I want to do something different. I went into this movie with a lot of prejudice from Youtube reviews, Tumblr posts and even some fanfics. So I will highlight how these prejudices were challenged when I watched the movie.

Let's start with the positivies:

How the movie was not as bad as I thought

The fate of the Death grippers

I don't care much about animals. In fact, I am not too fond of how the movies paint the dragons as innocent victims all the time (except for the dragon queen) and the humans as the evil ones. Not all dragons can cohabitate with humans and some are genuinely dangerous. The death grippers are vile creatures and I felt little pity when Toothless barbequed them. Grimmel using their venom to control them was so dumb.

Gobber and Eret

People made it seem like Gobber was hitting on Eret. Sure, he said Eret had the body of a norse god but that was basically it. It's easily forgettable. In fact, when I first watched the movie it didn't even sound like flirting but Gobber making a quip in response to Snotlout's idiocy.

Hiccstrid peptalk

I don't agree with Astrid that Hiccup was back where he started. However, the scene where she agrees that Hiccup is a screw-up was not as bad as I thought. There was more levity than people give credit for.

The animation

Hiccup and the others looked way too pretty but it didn't bother me much.

Light fury and Toothless' relationship

I have seen people describe it as shallow. Meh, it was ok. It never got me emotionally invested but I didn't hate it. They had three fairly adorable courting scenes and the light fury was obviously interested. I was confused why she was pursuing Toothless instead of trying to get as far away from Grimmel as possible. When I first watched the movie, I thought Grimmel was forcing her to chase Toothless as part of his plan. I guess that was not the case. I don't agree that she only likes him because he's an alpha. Even if she did, she's a wild animal. Given that Toothless and she are animals, I am not fussy that their relationship was not given more depth. It just meant that I hardly cared when Grimmel was holding her hostage to control Toothless. In fact, I kissed my teeth when Toothless sacrificed Berk's dragons for her. All I could think was 'Berk has TWO crap leaders'.

Toothless not defending Hiccup from the Light Fury

I was not a fan of this scene. At all. But I surprisingly had more grace for this scene for some reason. The light fury is aggressive because she's frightened and after Toothless growls at her she backs off. It just sucks that Toothless shows little to no concern about Hiccup.

Who died and made you chief

Not as bad because everyone on screen reacted appropriately and Gothi whacked him on the head :)

This is Berk

Not too bothered that this movie lacked the classic Hiccup intro and outro. Hiccup's perky intro tied in nicely with the complete chaos of the Berk opening scene (still not over the monstrosity Berk became - glad they left that dump behind). I hated Hiccup's message in the outro but at least there was something. I wish there was more exploration about New Berk though :(

How the movie was worse than I thought

The gang was annoying as hell

Tuffnut was the top offender. His marriage pep talks made me want to tear my hair out. So cringe and unnecessary. What a waste of screentime. Fishlegs and Fishmeat were annoying too. Everytime I saw Fishmeat on screen, I felt slightly angry. Snotlout's crush on Valka was also unnecessary and the triangle with Eret made me roll my eyes. Why is Valka entertaining this fool? Ruffnut was not as frustrating given her minimal screentime.

The intro scene

The intro scene was so bad. The gang have been dragon riders for 6 years now so why are they acting so sloppy?? Hiccup ruined the scene the minute he shushed the guard and opened his mouth.

Hicctooth in shambles

The friendship between Hiccup and Toothless was severely lacking in this movie. Toothless spent most of the movie not giving a damn about Hiccup. Toothless runs off to the hidden world without even a goodbye. I had thought Hiccup had let Toothless go permanently at that point but nope! Hiccup was expecting him back and it's heartbreaking how Toothless immediately moves on from Hiccup for his new mate. Being with Hiccup seems like a total chore to Toothless.

Romance means the end of friendship

What I love about Hiccstrid is how Hiccup is able to love Astrid and Toothless without any conflicts. He doesn't put one before the other and Toothless and Astrid share a bond too. Why is this not the case with Toothless? Why does mating with the light fury mean leaving Hiccup in the dust? Why is the light fury not given the chance to bond with Hiccup? I would hope that my future significant other would be relatively close with my friends. I think the Hiccstrid marriage happening after the dragons leave also leaves a sour taste in my mouth. The whole argument about not being ready for marriage was a waste of time. What exactly made them not ready for marriage!?

Grimmel as a villain

I have mixed feelings about him. He's simultaneously fun and boring. I can't explain it. I thought the scene within Hiccup's house was badass. But other than that, he fell flat for me. Maybe it's because everyone around him was so stupid. Not sure why Grimmel never killed Toothless when he had the chance instead of taking the light fury on a joyride.

HW!Toothless is not my Toothless

What made this point worse for me was how Toothless dropped the ball as Berk's alpha. He abandoned his pack for the dragons in the hidden world - makes no sense how he became king of dragons btw. I don't know why the dragons are compelled to follow him when he is not a true alpha dragon and he easily traded their freedoms for the life of this light fury he practically met yesterday. Also, Toothless was a lot uglier than I expected him to be. Toothless showed more anger over the light fury stepping on his drawing than he did the THREE times the light fury attacked Hiccup. Toothless was a total disgrace! Toothless had more regality as a lone wolf dragon than he does as an alpha simping over this nobody dragon.

The plot was boring

I feel like the threat Grimmel posed was ruined by the dragon romance. Berk is under threat by a dragon hunter and Toothless is more concerned about chasing tail. Plus, the hidden world was a concept with wasted potential. There was no point in the movie where I felt a sense of awe like the first two. From the first movie, test flight and Hiccotooth bonding. From the second movie, Hicctooth intro flight and Toothless breaking Drago's control because his bond with Hiccup was that powerful. The third movie left me with an agape mouth and millions of questions. I just felt sad at the end. The departure from Berk was too rushed. Toothless' departure was too rushed. The dragons leaving Berk was too rushed. The movie was too rushed and too slow at the same time.

These are the major points for me. There are other disappointing things about the movie but I am glad I watched it so that I have my own opinion of what a letdown this movie was.

[im-jesus]

so maybe Grimmel is evil, but-

you have to admit that saying, "Would you prefer to be called Chief Hiccup or Chief-" *literally hiccups* was iconic as shit.

[emperorverse]

RWBY: Saints of Remnant - The Storyteller

(Art done by the wonderful @magiesheartlove)

One of the many personas of The Celestial King

The Storyteller, who is worshiped in Remnant as the creator of the world and all life in it

The People of Remnant know very little of him, what is known he was sent by the even more mysterious Author Allfather to 'tell' the world of Remnant, or at the time Omnibus, into existence.

From there he had brought humans in, or I should have had stumble in, from another world that is known to those of Remnant as "The Other World" and the Deep Magic of Omnibus, known as 'Lore', had gifted them the potential of Aura and Semblance, and even transformed some humans into Faunus. And unfortunately some time after as a result of the fallen nature of humans and Faunus, evil was brought into Omnibus.

From there the fallen servant of The Author Allfather, Grimmel The Black and formerly known as Lux of Many Colors, had used it to manifest a vile ink that exists as a corruption and negation of creation which the Grimm are spawned.

Sometime after, The Storyteller appeared to a bookish sheepherder named Ozma with his wife and made him his prophet and gave him the power of The Patron Saints, with Ozma himself taking the role of The Time Wizard and gave the other powers to those who he found worthy. From there they rallied the four ancient tribes and raised four holy and mighty kingdoms in The Storyteller's honor until Ragnarok which the Saints were slaughtered and the world and moon were shattered, thus Remnant was born.

The Storyteller is described as many things besides his title, a creator, a healer, a poet

But one description is recurrent of him, and the Patron Saints that served him

'Not safe, but good'

Also idea borrowed from @vitamaeternum

[nightfury-2001]

The Deathgripper dogpile might've made sting attempts awkward, but Toothless & Hiccup really would've come out of that with a few less appendages. And this is *before* we factor whether or not Hiccup's prosthetic conducts electricity. As for Grimmel being gobsmacked by said voltage, maaaybe none of the Furies he ganked had time to juice up, but still.

(context [1] [2])

It really is ridiculous that Hiccup and Toothless came out of that unscathed. Like the Deathgrippers are supposed to be these SUPER SCARY EVIL DRAGON KILLERS trained by/under the control of the man that wiped out the Night Furies and yet.....they can't seem to take out one Night Fury and his viking pal even after catching up and piling onto them?

And yeah I've said this before but it's strange how Hiccup was 100% okay after being hit by Toothless' lightning ability, like those poor Deathgrippers were FRIED by it but Hiccup was totally fine...? I know the canon explanation is that his armor is made from Toothless' scales or whatever and so that protected him but idk it just breaks my suspension of disbelief a bit I think, especially since he didn't know about it beforehand and specifically design his armor/outfit with it in mind.

Also yeah I still find it silly that Grimmel was SO shocked about Toothless' lightning shit, like this guy is supposed to be THE Night Fury killer that knows all about them? lmao

[countlessofvoids]

I saw a post once that brought up the possibility of the dragon hunters being sexist. This assumption is mostly based on the henchmen such as Berserker soldiers, Viggo's dragon hunters, Krogan's dragon fliers etc. having no women. My take on this is: I doubt it's actually a thing.

The reason for every unnamed hunter/flier/soldier being male is simple; all of them are just one reused model. What's the point of making multiple designs for characters who are pretty much insignificant outside of being a small obstacle for the protagonist? This pretty common thing in animated media especially - it's to save time and resources. Could they have made a female model though? Definetly.

On an individual level; the possibility of hunters being bigots towards women is definetly there, but the system as a whole? I don't think so. Although If it is, I feel like RTTE hunters have slightly higher chance of that being true than the trilogy hunters. RTTE as a series had more opportunity for development and introduced five whole villains, yet none of those was a woman. However, does that imply dragon hunting is ran by a bunch of sexists or does it say something about the people working behind the scenes?

Why do I say movie exclusive hunters are less likely to be raging misogynists? (For the record, I don't actually believe either of them are). In the trilogy hunters' (assumed) hierarchy, on it's peak are warlords/conquerors like Drago and experienced, well-known hunters like Grimmel. Only the best out there or ones with family connections can be in such position. How is this relevant exactly? I'd like to bring attention to one character:

You definetly have no idea who she is, since she has like a minute of screentime. But her being a side character is not important right now - what is however, is the fact she is a warlord who happens to be a woman. Dragon hunting being a sexist field of work where only men are hired based on the fact all lesser hunters/soldiers are men is contradicted by the existence of a female warlord. Would they even allow this to happen if that were true?

Which is more likely? Griselda being an untold feminist tale of a woman defying all odds and succeeding in a system working against her? Or is there no such thing as only men being able to become hunters and it's simply a case of creators reusing models to save time?

Now, what would even be the narrative reason for this decision? Historical accuracy is immediately out of the window - HTTYD was never concerned with such thing. It'd be strange to say the least to stay accurate for this one thing. There's just no point in adding this outside of making the antagonists even more evil.

So my conclusion goes:

Dragon hunters are not sexist. Dragon hunting is not a male dominated field because of worldbuilding reasons, but due to the creators reusing models and them deciding to not give us a female villain with actual importance. Should we have gotten one? Absolutely. But we didn't and reasons for that are purely outside of this universe.

Disclaimer: I don't mean this as an attack on whoever brought up the possibility of this being a thing in HTTYD's universe. Neither am I saying makers of HTTYD/RTTE are sexists just because they didn't give us female villains.

[differentandalterantestoryending]

Equilibrium circle, triangle and square in character design

Shapes in character design can silently change the way the player feels about the character like a character having sharp features and triangle design can result in them being a villain or a evil character.

Grimmel the Grisly in how to train your dragon has very sharp features like his face resembling a triangle, he was also given a long thin body to make him look more menacing. Grimmles clothing also resembles triangle and there is not may other shapes of significance to suggest anything else.

The circle is more of a natural shape and can mean that someone is more friendly, the features of circular glasses can make a character seem less intimidating and more timed. Animals are given different shaped eye pupal to show weather they like some one or not. The circle can also mean information as mot game use coracles as points of interest.

The square is used to represent a characters strength or size and can change what the player thinks about them. In the lorax o hares security guards have square based bodies and other square features.

[indigo-flightly-falls]

Watcher's Clutch AU - basic info

Soooooo... this is a mcyt X httyd crossover AU! (it's the 3rd of my mcytXhttyd AUs lol, more on those later)

It's vaguely inspired by the fanfics The Orphan's Ballade and The Hermit's Refuge, which are fanfics for the dsmp and hermitcraft fandoms respectively and feature one character adopting all the others. So uh, yeah. The basic idea is from those, go check them out they're fun to read.

In this AU, it's mostly about the Watchers/Listeners (and a few others), as they get adopted by a stray Watcher who is the protector of children. It all starts when a kid winds up on her doorstep at night, covered in blood (some of it not his own), and begging to be killed. That night, the Watcher takes him in, and slowly starts to draw more kids into the mix.

Under the cut is the details about who are the stray children adopted, and what dragon hybrid they are! I won't go into backstory details because I actually want to write this soon. With in two months at least. Maybe. Don't hold me to it.

Grian - sentinel If you don't know what sentinel dragons are, you probably won't understand why this works so well. It's because sentinels in httyd exist to watch over a dragon graveyard. What better dragon for Grian? On top of that, this adds an interesting idea, because sentinels are blind. So hybrids would probably be born with vision problems or develop them during childhood. So the idea that Grian, even as a teenager, still has relatively good eyesight despite being a species that would've lost it at that point is rather interesting!

Etho - whispering death/sand wraith Weirdly fucked up mouth. That's my main reasoning. Try to put a whispering death mouth on a human. It would looked really fucked up. Idk I almost went with changewing but figured whispering death was a better choice for a hybrid. No I will not explain why he's a hybrid of two dragons <3

Exion (Evil Xisuma) - night fury This one will make zero sense unless you've read my helsmit headcanons post so I'll sum up why I chose this: I headcanon Ex and X to be two of the last voidwalkers, similar to night furies in httyd. Main reasoning tbh.

Helsknight - singetail Arson chameleon.

Skizz - triple stryke Skizz gets the cool scorpion dragon. Also because the only triple stryke we see in canon gives off 3rd Life!Skizz vibes. No I will not explain Sluther could be Skizz and nothing would change.

Chicken - thornridge This one will also not make sense unless you've read the helsmit heacanons post (also included in this category are Echo, 13, Adubs & Grain) But basically Chicken is one of the most peaceful helsmits, and I though he'd fit a thornridge!

Adubs - prickleboggle Funky dragon that casts healing fireballs. Idk I just wanted something vaguely plant themed for this guy.

Grain - dramillion Parrot dragon parrot dragon parrot dragon- Basically the dramillion can mimic any blast it sees, and I thought that it would be cool if hybrids could also mimic voices!

BigB - speed stinger Don't blink or he will zip past you can suddenly you can't move. I like the raptor dragons alright :) He could also be a dreadstrider, which is a hybrid between a speed stinger and a flightmare, but I like basic speed stinger for now!

Echoslab - egg biter Honestly it is simply the vibes

Martyn - slithersong Listen, this dragon lures it prey in by singing. And Martyn is widely regarded as a Listener in headcanons. It's perfect.

Jimmy - razorwhip A) Jimmy is a toy would work great with the dragon that looks like it's made of metal B) Jimmy can have poisonous tears and breath for fun :)

Scott - snow wraith I am channeling Empires season 1 for this. Es1!Scott is so snow wraith coded.

Bad - flightmare Idk he's Scar's counterpart and sibling. Don't know what else you need

Xornoth - deathgripper Xornoth is so deathgripper coded. I am correct about this btw. I'm thinking Exor is like Grimmel and basically drugged deathgripper hybrids to use for his own purposes, and Xornoth is one of the few who escaped!

13 - sword stealer Metal dragons that steals stuff and looks scary :)

Joel - small shadow Small shadows are the wolves of the dragon world alright. Also I think it'd be cool of Joel just goes missing for days at a time and nobody's really worried because he can fight when he needs to, and the entire time he's building a small shadow pack!

Ren - scuttleclaw Again, vibes. Scuttleclaw's have dog vibes and it is Rendog.

----------------------------

Anyways, those are the main children, with others appearing in cameos or backgrounds. Pearl, Joe, and Keralis have all been excluded from this group despite being Watchers (in my headcanons at least), due to possibly having different roles in this AU.

-----------------

@kamishirosss here's the tag! Sorry this took so long, I got busy-

[dagursb1tch]

also another random thought i had about tnr while i was watching the finale episode. i wondered how different it would be if the humans and the dragons actually decided to keep living together instead of it basically having the same outcome as in the 3rd movie, where they separated and took on their own separate lives? ( this post became long asf so im just gonna put it under a cut oop, & it also contains spoilers for tnr s8!! )

lemme explain — when httyd 3 came out, i remember that there were (and still are) a lot of disagreements with its ending since the whole message of the franchise seemed to be about two different species living in harmony and working together especially after their centuries-long history of being enemies, and a lot of fans voiced that the ending of the 3rd movie kind of betrayed that message. of course, the franchise's argument was that it wasn't safe for the dragons and the humans to be together because there will always be greedy humans out there to harm the dragons — in the context of the show, sledkin's and buzzsaw's "arcs" (if you can even call them that) were sort of modern reflections of that danger that could come to the dragons with their existence being public knowledge. of course, we can see this throughout the original franchise as well, from viggo and ryker to drago and grimmel and their respective allies and armies.

basically what i'm trying to get at here is if this series decided to take an alternate route and have the dragons and the humans live in harmony together instead of separating (again), would that have been a chance to "undo" the 3rd movie's "mistakes"? or was it better for the series to go the more "traditional" route and take after the 3rd movie, expressing that even after over 1000 years of humans and dragons living apart, it's simply not safe for the humans and dragons to live together because of the loss of the secrets of the dragons, for the world not knowing about them and in turn not knowing how to take care of them and protect them from the evil of some humans? (of course, i'm putting everything in quotes here because i am attempting to describe everything from a non-objective standpoint, including opinions about the 3rd movie in particular which i am still grappling to come to any conclusions with for myself.)

my views retain a considerable separation between the original franchise and this show, mostly because, in this series in particular, we have. ahem. capitalism. particularly the really nasty late stage "i'm gonna control every aspect of your life" capitalism. as many of us may know, many capitalists will stop at nothing to procure their earnings, even if it means exploiting living beings for their profits and developments. sledkin's whole "arc" was a demonstration of this, her desire for fame and money and profit leading to an eventual disregard for the well-being of the subjects she was studying — and eventually using — to get her fame and her profit. her lack of ethics in her practice shows just how much she was influenced by this system, and in turn caused her to develop a disregard for the well-being of the dragons, the subjects of her study (besides the dragonsite ofc). to me, it kind of demonstrated how these systems make the ethics within scientific research very difficult. like sledkin, if you only care about the money, it's likely that you probably don't care about the safety and well-being of the subjects you're studying. which in a sense, is also a reflection of the villains of the original franchise — they wanted something so badly that they didn't care who they hurt in order to get it.

anyways i didn't mean for this to turn into a whole fucking essay, just a post for me to explore my thoughts about this show now that it's finally ended. and idk to those who bothered to watch this last season what are y'all's thoughts??? lol

[tenebrius-excellium]

This is how Grimmel "W-w-w-West" "Night Furies can't survive in the cold" "plotting in my evil fort Stonehenge" read maps tbh and it's only thanks to Ruffnut riding ahead of him, playing a literal live beacon to spice things up, that he found New Berk at all

Why is this so funny to meeeee

Dude can't read maps and still is wayyy too serious about it bwaha!

Tuffnut, looking at a map: It’s a barren, featureless wasteland out there, isn't it?

Hiccup: Other side, Tuffnut...

[dragonmasterhiccup]

“She’s already completed thorough training! She graduated archery months ago, meaning she should be able to properly defend herself in situations such as these!”

Danny, even surprising herself, interjected, “I wasn’t sleeping with a bow under my pillow! And even if I was, how was I supposed to draw an arrow that fast?!”

He glared at the young teen. “A real archer knows how to react fast enough for that! Hell, they would’ve seen it coming from a mile away!”

Gothi nodded and stepped forwards, Danny watching nervously as she did so.

Over the time she’s been on Berk, Gothi had helped nurse her back to health more times than she could count, and she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t grown to care about her. Even though they couldn’t really communicate, Danny knew she could go to the elder if she ever needed anything at all.

As Gothi stepped up, both Snotlout and Spitelout sat back down, both displaying very different emotions.

Sprinkling a hefty amount of sand on the floor, Gothi wrote, ‘I believe wholeheartedly that Danielle is innocent.’

She continued, ‘When she was brought back, I’ll admit I was shook, I hadn’t ever seen anything like what she was ill with in my entire life, and I’ve been alive for a while. But what I did see, what I had saw multiple times before was the worry and care she had for her family; how she was staying close by her mothers side, seeking her comfort, and how she was frequently asking to see if her brother, our Chief, was okay. The question that I ask, mainly to Spitelout, is why would she have ever acted like that if she was evil? Why would she check to see if Hiccup was okay if all she wanted was him to be dead? It doesn’t make sense.’

Danny had been anxious the entire time, not being able to read what Gothi was saying, so she had to wait for her brother to translate.

After Gothi had spoken though, Spitelout decided to interject one last time. “I believe that we as a people are softening, weakening even. Something like this would have never passed under Stoick’s rule. Imagine if it was you who died, Chief. Do you think he would’ve spared her?”

Astrid let out a frustrated groan. "Really? A mile away? In their own home? Come on! You know archery is for long range, right?"

After Hiccup translated Gothi's writings, he thanked her, letting her know she could sit back down if she chose to.

Hearing Spitelout's question, Hiccup let out a breath, thinking hard about what his dad would have done.

After a few moments, he spoke deliberately, concisely, "I run Berk differently than my father did, that's true. I know I'm not Stoick, and I never can measure up to the standard he set. But I know this: my father knew where to draw the line, to stop the bloodshed."

Standing back up, he continued, "There is a fine line that sets us apart from people like Grimmel and Drago. It's mercy. We aim to set things right, not seek revenge. Revenge does nothing but make you lose yourself...you become blinded by rage."

"If my father were standing here in my place, I believe he would agree that she is innocent, that Grimmel was the mastermind behind all of this. He certainly was tough to say the least, yes, but he wasn't heartless."

"You think we're weakening, softening? I think we're becoming stronger. And what separates us from them is knowing where the fault truly lies."

He let his words hang in the air, allowing time for them to be taken in.

Astrid, after a few moments, said, "Let's call for a vote. Those who see Danielle Haddock as innocent, raise your hand."

She raised her hand, along with Hiccup, Valka, and Fishlegs.

Hiccup looked to the others, waiting to see what they chose.