#i just started s4 and i am excited to analyse that season too. knowing what we now know

[theyarebothgunshot]

what really struck me during my season 3 rewatch is how many buddie and buckley-diaz family related moments happen off screen:

buck becoming close to chris, to the point where chris gives him a card with 'bff' written on it, eddie says chris is hanging out with 'his buck', eddie insists there is no one he trusts more with his son than him, and gets actively mad at buck for not being there for him and chris during lawsuit era. before season 3 we have only seen buck, eddie and chris hang out outside of work related stuff once, in 2x10

eddie knowing that buck has been obsessed with natural disasters ever since the tsunami

buck knowing about eddie's fight club era

buck throwing a surprise christmas party at the fire house and inviting eddie's family

eddie and buck building chris a skateboard together

eddie telling buck about ana

and, of course....

eddie putting buck in his will, making him chris' legal guardian in case something happens to eddie

all of this to say that they really managed to create a story there of two people growing closer and closer by the day, without having to show every single interaction between them, and they made it work so well that the audience can easily connect the dots and fill in the blanks

[will80sbyers]

I'm one of the minority of bylers who really didn't want any of s4 scripts to be released tbh and now I'm even more convinced that we shouldn't have asked and donated for them. I wanted to go into the final season completely oblivious of what's in there. We spoiled it for ourselves hard imo (though to be fair, knowing bylers' big brains, an eye for the smallest details and exceptional analysing skills would've probably happened anyway without scripts lol??), not that it makes me less excited for s5, not at all, but still it's a bit :/ and like some of the mystery and surprise is gone you know? Or is it just me? Am I being too dramatic? I really want to hear from you guys what do y'all think? And now that this shit exploded and byler got popular (i hope this sudden hype and popularity dies down over these 2 years until s5 and it becomes calm and quiet again I REALLY DO WE DON'T NEED THIS IDK ABOUT YALL) who knows what the writers will pull? They really panicked now and very undertandably don't want ANYTHING leaked and spoiled. I seriously doubt they'll rewrite and change what they've already planned out but djdksjls idk. They'll start intentionally misleading fans and throwing red herring after red herring lol the marketing for s5 will be…. interesting for sure, to say the least

but like for now we can't take the scripts as evidence so it's like we never had them!

I think tumblr will stay active but I don't know about twitter, I hope things get more quiet because I am worried about the marketing and red herrings too... I feel like they will start to post a lot of Mike x El content 👁️👄👁️

[somilkyshaky]

S4 Trailer analysis

You wanted analyses? Well, here you go!

I don’t pretend to see everything and know everything; I’m just sharing with you my interpretation and my thoughts (and a lot of my excitment too).

I already did this kind of “analysis” for all the clips of the first episode of season 2, so if you already read them, it’s clearly the same kind of thing.

Anyway, hope you’ll enjoy!

(I allowed myself to take the trailer’s screenshots from @inmyarmswrappedin, thank you for sharing them in the tag!)

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I don’t want to take to much time with the date changing color because a lot of people already talked about it. Just, it’s really symbolic to pass the 9th April from yellow to white to say that this date is long gone; and then showing the 3rd September in yellow to say that it’s the new date.

ANYWAY! Let’s get into it!

--

Okay, first row of quick extracts:

First shot and we have a worried Amira, walking alone. “The season is about her and the problems she needs to deal with, alone”, that’s clearly what they’re telling us here. (I love this light scarf btw)

Okay, first I thought she was smoking and I was like “EXCUSE ME? What the hell is happening?” but then I just opened my eyes and breathed again. We have Cris, maybe Viri in the background? The two other hands I’m like “I don’t know but maybe Eva/Joana and Lucas?”.

We have Amira in the middle of the shot, as if the world was turning around her, but she’s not “a part of it” you know? She again clearly seems worried. We understand here that she doesn’t feel that comfortable in her group of friends.

Finally, we see our queen SMILING! I kind of feel that the entire trailer is composed by parallels between two worlds (like for the poster of the season). We were with the girl/boy squad and now we have a new character that I suppose to be a girl from Amira’s association (the “morocco” poster). We also were with a group and here there’s something more intimate with only one person. The colors were cold, here they’re warm. Clearly, this shot is here in opposition, in contrast, with the one before (AND DAMN I’M HERE FOR THAT).

Amira alone again, it closes the loop and the first “row of quick extracts”. She seems confident, maybe she does her makeup or something?

Oh, I haven’t said it yet, but GOD ALL THOSE SHOTS ARE *chef kiss*.

--

“I know we said we'd see each other. / I know we accorded a meeting.” when the old date appears, come on… Stop being so amazing would you? Plus, the fact that she starts talking when the dates appear is just the kind of small details in the editing that I love.

--

Okay… We’re back here. I first wanted to compare the two trailers, but it seems that they removed the old one… so, let’s use my messy memory.

Amira is confident, looking straight to the camera, even a small (really small) smile/smirk, but the chin still a little down, so… I have mixed feelings about this shot (confident but not THAT much).

Anyway, I think they just wanted to connect the two trailers. Btw I think that anyway we were supposed to have a second trailer since we have the same shot? In the first trailer Amira is strong and confident about her beliefs and she’s even “angry” at all the comments she receives, but as we’ll see, in this trailer, she seems pretty lost.

--

Second row of extracts:

Lucas spilling his drink on Amira… I don’t know what it could mean, but since we kind of “know” what will happen, I would say that it’s another way to show the “I don’t know if I feel that accepted/comfortable in my group of friends anymore.”

Okay, THIS, this is brilliant. (Plus, I guess this is our Spanish Yousef? Ok, OK, he’s cute.)

Both boys in the same side of the shot with Amira’s back and both looking at her with heart-eyes and with a more than cute smile; well, it’s just brilliant to introduce them that way.

AND AGAIN, the shots are showed as parallels/opposition.

(I don’t know if this shot is an extend of the shot with Dani just before, because in a way, I think it could fit, I really don’t know. All I can say is that she’s opening the door at someone she doesn’t want to see.)

I think that all the quick extracts are in Amira’s head (the Amira who’s looking at us in the trailer). Because after seeing the boys, we have again Amira alone and, in her room, kind of thinking about all of this and even praying. I think that it’s a way to show us, the kind of guidance that her religion is for Amira; when she doubts, she turns toward it. I LOVE THAT. They’re showing us so many things.

--

“Sorry I stood you up / I'm sorry for not showing up.” when this face appears. Damn, she seems so lost, confused and scared… The mouth is falling, she doesn’t look at us anymore, the frown and her eyes… phew… I’m not ready to see her suffer…

If I keep my theory that this Amira is reacting to her own thoughts (the extracts), it clearly shows that the boys are confusing her, like, A LOT.

(Oh, and maybe if we try to fit the sentence with the shots, maybe she stood up one or the two boys?)

--

Third row of extracts:

I don’t know how to interpret this shot, but DAMN IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL. (Maybe it’s the Koran? So the symbolism of the religion is back)

Some Amiris content. I’m here for that, like, I’M HERE FOR THAT. Just a quick thought though. It’s like Amira is cheering up Cris (I’m not ready to see her also suffer).

Um… Is it from the same scene? Are we really gonna have a friendship between Amira and Alejandro? Damn Skam España, I’m not ready for that. Btw, I have nothing to say because it’s clear that they’re smiling and happy (Just, Alejandro with teary eyes, that’s cute).

A Mosque with a wonderful shot again, wow… We still have the really important place of religion in Amira’s life, and the fact that it shows up after some moments with her friends, and maybe her role of “advisor”? I like that.

And then we’re back at something “dark” and “negative” feelings. It seems that she’s doubting, scared? Just look at her eyes… (small parallel to s2 and Cris in the car)

Is it a symbolism that shows that even if there’s her friends and religion, she’s still troubled? Confused?

--

The more we progress in the trailer, the more we see Amira in distress… It’s so at the opposite from the first one when she was strong against all the comments. Here, all those thoughts are really invasive and are confusing her so much. Her eyes were closed and now she even covers them, she can’t hold all this pressure anymore.

--

Fourth row of quick extracts, which is clearly shorter than the others:

Okay, these three shots clearly need to be analyzed with each other. It’s kind of a mirror. We have Amiris, we have Amira-Cris-and the girl from the beginning (I guess?) and then we have Amira and again this girl (I’m really not sure).

The first picture, we have an Amiris hug but… it’s like Amira doesn’t want it? So maybe a not that positive moment?

The second picture, it seems like Amira is in the middle of a conversation between the new character and Cris. And again, it doesn’t seem like a “good moment” you know? Amira is like “My goodness what am I doing here? I don’t want to be here. Send help.” (pinched lips, raised eyebrows and a little too opened eye.) The new character is like “Sorry but, it doesn’t work like that” and Cris is like “Oh… I really don’t know what to say right now…” (not sad, but… lost?). It’s not an argument, but it’s not a calm nor joyous, nor friendly conversation you see?

The last shot is with the new character (I guess) taking pictures of Amira in an AMAZING place what the? I LOVE THAT.

What I’m trying to say with all of this is that in the first picture Amira doesn’t feel good with Cris, then we have kind of a ““conflict””, the moment when the two worlds collide, and then we have a positive (?) moment with the new character, but not Cris. Meaning that Amira is starting maybe to choose one of her two worlds? THIS IS SO INTERESTING AAAAAHHH.

--

Still a completely confused Amira here. She’s still talking while the extracts stop, maybe meaning that she’s completely overwhelmed.

--

Fifth row of extracts:

These two shots follow each other and we have a clearly happy Amira with Spanish Yousef.

We ALSO have a clearly happy Amira with Dani, which is YES a parallel with the two shots from before (interesting, Dani always shows up after the other boy).

“I needed time to process everything that's happened. / I needed time to process everything that has happened to me.” stops here.

“I needed time” was present while we had Cris and the other girl on screen. She needed time with her friends (most important friend) “to process what happened” with the two boys? With 6 pictures and a well-placed sentence, the producers show us one of the most important plot (I guess) of the season (a freaking love triangle, aaaaaaah).

A confused and clearly overwhelmed Amira here… As I said, the more we go through the trailer, the more we see a completely lost Amira.

Those are clearly judging eyes my girls (or at least, not understanding eyes? angry? disappointed?). Maybe it’s showing the fact that the girls are not going to help her? Are going to left her? (there’s not Cris here btw, good sign? I hope.)

And here the distress at its highest point… Teary eyes, her mother (I guess) holding her, since most of the time it’s Amira who’s holding and supportive everyone, it’s… har to watch (I’m going to cry so much with this season I’m not ready). An opposition? The girls are leaving, but her family is here for her?

--

To reinforce my theory that this Amira is thinking about the extracts is her looking to the right, it’s the sign of someone trying to remember or I don’t know, thinking about something.

--

Sixth row of quick extracts:

Amira’s reaction to Ruben coming to kiss her cheek is the entire fandom when a clip with him will show up. No but more seriously, I can’t wait to see this scene (and everything that his presence implies for Crisana/Croana, because, come on, why would they make him come back then?)

I AM NOT READY TO SEE THIS WONDERFUL WOMAN SUFFER.

This shot is beautiful… And I think it’s Amira and Dani up there. (I think it’s from the same clip than a another shot with Dani a little higher, in the fourth row of extracts.)

Again, these two shots are mirroring each other. Amira is talking with both boys and to be honest, I think that’s great, communication. (And come one… a talk on swings? Aaaaaaaah) Something I just noticed, for the first picture, it’s like Amira doesn’t want to talk with Spanish Yousef and he seems a little disappointed? (it’s like his smile/mouth is falling.)

--

I don’t have a lot to say here. Juts the fact that she’s silent and just remembering/thinking? about everything that happened.

--

Seventh and last row of quick extract:

It’s the first time we see Dani without a parallel with Spanish Yousef. And COME ON, the CLOSENESS. It’s clearly here to show the “tension”, the attraction between these two (even if clearly I think that everyone already noticed it).

Again, it’s an Amiris scene but… there’s this kind of tension here? Like none of them seems joyous or cheerful. Amira doesn’t smile, her face is closed, we could even say that she’s lost (and not sad but kind of? Maybe even annoyed?), while Cris has the “I don’t know what to do/say” face.

NOPE- NOPE. Take it back, I’m not seeing her suffer again. NO WAY.

More seriously, this scene seems so… powerful? It’s like the camera his turning around her, or at least, the camera is clearly moving and um… she’s alone in the shot? I don’t like what’s happening. The mouth is falling, the eyebrows are down, the eyes are teary, I think you all understand it, she’s worried, maybe even lost. I don’t see anger though; it’s just pure worry and I have this feeling that she’s ready to burst into tears? (I don’t know why, just a feeling I’ve got, deep down).

Plus, the fact that Joana is shown just after a shot with Cris? I don’t like it (I already said that no?). And also, not all the characters are shown in the trailer (the boys), is it meaning that she’ll have something important to do in the season? We’ll see guys, but I really can’t wait discover her storyline.

Dani and Amira, again. I think it’s from the same clip with Ruben and MAYBE the party with Lucas spilling his drinks.

Okay… I’m not confused, but almost. This parallel is… strange. We see Dani at the party, we see Spanish Yousef (btw I think it’s also coming from a scene we already saw some shots before) and now we have Dani again, but this time we see AMIRA (and omg this shot is so beautiful with her bringing her hand near Dani’s cheek).

I really don’t know how to interpret that because it seems like Dani is taking more space than Spanish Yousef in this sequence of extracts, especially with the fact that we see his back and Amira smiling at him, AND ESPECIALLY if I follow my thinking about being in her thoughts. Are they already telling us Amira’s choice? (I don’t think so, but, it’s interesting).

And then, AND THEN, we have THIS, and omg I love that. Nora with a supportive and understanding gaze, both girls holding hands, Amira being vulnerable and clearly lost… It’s�� wow. Plus, the fact that the sequence of extracts stops with Amira confiding in a friend? (clearly showing that, even if all of this mess is happening around her, she will find someone to help or at least advise her) especially Nora? I love it, really. We all know the symbolism behind the Sana/Noora talk and if Skam Sspaña is really going to do THIS, I mean, it’s powerful.

--

The fact that she leaves the shot still confused shows us that there’s still a lot to come and that this trailer shows us nothing compared to what’s coming. I love that. Really.

And, “Should we meet up and I'll tell you about it? / What if we met and I tell you about it?" OOOOH, HELL YEAH, I’M HERE FOR THAT AMIRA!

More seriously, I like the fact that even if we have a clearly lost Amira in this trailer, the song closing the trailer says “I’m the boss”, showing that she’s going to be strong and that this season is gonna rock.

--

Soooo, what this trailer is telling us about season 4? SPOILER, it tells us A LOT of things.

We will have something with Amira not feeling accepted, or kind of having mixed feelings about the girl/boy squad; but she will also find new friends (aka the new girl character). Cris/Amiris will have an important role in this season since we saw her many times. We will see Amira’s life more in depth with her relation with religion, photography and we’ll also see her family (the hug with her mother). With Ruben and Joana’s worried face, I guess we’ll have to face some Crisana/Croana drama (wouhou). We will maybe also see Nora and her healing process after Miqhell (I really hope so). OF COURSE, we’ll see how Amira will deal with her feelings for two boys: Dani and Spanish Yousef (damn, if it’s not him, I think we’ll all be clowns).

And in a wider picture, we’ll see how a Muslim teenage girl is dealing with her emotions, her life problems, and her identity during ten WONDERFUL weeks.

--

Phew… It was long to write all of this. I surely missed A LOT of things, and a lot of ideas will come to me in the next two weeks (stay tune I might reblog and write some stuff), but it’s really something I wanted to write right now since this trailer is really amazing.

Plus, just something to conclude. The trailer is here to build the hype. Remember, they know that we know the storyline. They clearly can “““bait””” us, and try to make us see things that are completely different from the actual season. So, stay critical. But anyway, they did an amazing job with this trailer and I think we’re gonna have a wonderful last season for Eskam.

I hope you enjoyed reading me; have a nice day and try not to hyperventilate whenever new information about the season come. See you soon!

[kingofthewilderwest]

What do you think needs to happen in RTTE to make Hiccup as self-doubting as he is in HTTYD 2?

I’ve chatted about this before in depth, but because it’s been several seasons since I’ve done so, I’ll bring up some new points and thoughts, too - it’s about time to do that! First, though, mentioning the prior analyses:

Hiccup’s intricate five year characterization

Hiccup’s decreasing violent tendencies over the years

The difference in Hiccup’s mentality between leading a small group of dragon riders and leading the entire village

Hiccup’s characterization into being chief - and how believing “good chief” = being like his dad affects his restlessness

Hiccup interacting with dragons during RTTE teaches him leadership, but he does prolong thinking about acting with adult-like responsibility for his tribe because of them

One of the things I think is important to consider is that Hiccup is not self-doubting everywhere by HTTYD 2 times. I have seen some people write fascinating analyses about Hiccup’s overconfidence in HTTYD 2, and I think there is a point to that: Hiccup is very confident that he can diplomatically reason with Drago, despite the fact Stoick says they must go to war.

So there’s a very fascinating nuance to Hiccup’s character by HTTYD 2. He lacks confidence in the respect that he doesn’t believe he would make a good chief. He has confidence in the respect that he believes he can convince a man without reason to reason with him… believes he can stop a war before it starts.

Hiccup’s lack of confidence in himself in HTTYD 2 is related to him transitioning into adulthood. We actually see some of that hesitation in the first episode of RTTE; Hiccup is bummed that his companions appear to be settling into more adult roles, and that there are fewer dragons he can hunt after and study for funsies. But the thing with RTTE is that Hiccup finds new dragons to study at the Edge… and thus can prolong his questions of rising adulthood. Hiccup can continue to be a bit of a kid on Dragon’s Edge. He doesn’t have to tackle the sobering question of “Who am I?” just yet in the show. But by the time of HTTYD 2, Hiccup must face the reality that he is going to be an adult, he must have a place among the people of Berk, and he’s not sure what that place is.

Now, it’s not to say that Hiccup is all games in RTTE. As we’ve seen, Hiccup can get rather serious when he’s confronting dragon hunters, enemies, and antagonistic dragons. Hiccup acts as a responsible leader and asks the other dragon riders to be responsible individuals, too. But there is something to be said that chasing after dragons is what inspired Hiccup in his childhood, and it’s what is inspiring his stay on the Edge. Hiccup is willing to be a leader in situations where he’s with a small, core group of companions - the dragon riders - and where he’s handling something that he voluntarily studies - dragons. He’s happy to pursue dragons and fight for dragons and help dragons… even if it’s dangerous and serious, it’s his personal choice of where he wants to be. And it’s where he’s been since he was a teenager, still a child among the Hairy Hooligans.

Hiccup doesn’t see leading Berk as the same thing. It’s not just chasing after dragons in his free time with his friends like he enjoys doing. Being a chief, as he points out at the start of HTTYD 2, involves giving speeches, handling all the people of the tribe… things Hiccup doesn’t feel like he’s done. Especially, it’s to note that, from HTTYD to ROB to HTTYD 2, Hiccup feels like “a good chief” is equated to “someone like Stoick.” Hiccup doesn’t think he has what it takes to lead Berk because he’s nothing like his father. It’s what he says at the start of HTTYD 2:

Hiccup: It’s not me, Astrid. All those speeches, and planning, and running the village… that’s his thing.Astrid: I think you’re missing the point. I mean, chief. What an honor. I’d be pretty excited.Hiccup: I’m not like you. You know exactly who you are. You always have. But… I’m still looking. I know that I’m not my father… and I never met my mother…. so, what does that make me?

Dean DeBlois made Hiccup wander throughout the Barbaric Archipelago to try to search for answers about who he is. Hiccup is restless about being an adult and what his future identity will be. Note that Hiccup going around traveling and searching is something he’s done when he was younger to have fun. But now, Hiccup realizes he cannot do that forever for fun… and he has to start seeking out a real, solid answer about who he can be for Berk.

So Hiccup lacks confidence in HTTYD 2 about being a chief because 1). he thinks he’s not appropriately “chiefly” like Stoick and 2). he considers his time on Dragon’s Edge child-like free time rather than being a responsible adult. We audience members see Hiccup has developed responsibility and leadership skills during his time at the Dragon Academy and Dragon’s Edge… but Hiccup doesn’t see it that way. He sees himself as staring into the wide, scary world of adulthood, leaving behind everything he’s been comfortable with, and forging into something he doesn’t think he has the nature or background to do.

All of this is already set up and developed decently enough in RTTE already. Ideally in the last season we might see Hiccup realizing he needs to transition into adulthood in Berk. At this point, Hiccup realizes that his fun vacation chasing after dragons is done. Just like the start of RTTE where Hiccup worries about his future and what he needs to do as an adult, so may RTTE’s end lead to HTTYD 2. Hiccup prolonged the question “Who am I?” when he went to adventure on Dragon’s Edge. But now he’s back on Berk and needs to figure out his place as an adult… not a kid going around having fun with dragons.

In truth, I think what RTTE has to do moreof is develop Hiccup’s confidence by HTTYD 2 times. We have to get to the point where Hiccup is confident about his diplomatic and peacekeeping abilities. Hiccup has to be so confident that he can change peoples’ minds about dragons that he believes he can convince Drago to halt an army.

There are multiple ways we can go about this. One of the things I have suggested in other posts is that we can write the story such that Hiccup receives experiences that make him more averse to violence. Hiccup actually becomes increasingly peaceful in his solutions with enemies from HTTYD to ROB to DOB to RTTE to HTTYD 2, which is in line with who he becomes by the second movie. But this should be developed further before we get to HTTYD 2 for the transition to occur seamlessly. 

Either by seeing an unpleasant violent event happen that goes poorly… or seeing more peaceful events happen that go splendidly… can Hiccup become in tune with his beliefs by HTTYD 2 times. This way, Hiccup gets steered more towards the ideology he stands so firmly with in HTTYD 2 (to the point it’s impractical). If Hiccup tries to do something very violent and fails, he’ll remember his successful peaceful acts like convincing Stoick to befriend dragons. Then he’ll steer toward doing things like that by HTTYD 2 times. Or, if Hiccup does another peaceful, diplomatic act and it works, then that would reinforce his ideology that peace is the way to go. Anyone can be changed to be peaceful, so he believes.

We could maybe say that RTTE is helping that ideological path already. It all depends on their follow-up with Viggo events from S4′s finale. Hiccup might see how Viggo and Ryker’s violent antagonism led to unfortunate ends, and Hiccup emotionally might want to steer clear from doing anything like that himself. I don’t think the writers will go that way, but technically, it could be one way to reinforce the ideology he embraces by HTTYD 2.

So personally I think the ideal characterization to focus on for Hiccup is showing a little bit of his hesitance to enter Adult Land (thus showing his lack of confidence in himself being chief)… but also develop where he is confident. Hiccup needs to demonstrate confidence not in violent situations, but in diplomatic and peaceful ones, to seamlessly transition from RTTE to HTTYD 2. These situations ideally should to be extreme enough that Hiccup would prefer diplomatic conversation even above practical self-defense measures.

But even if the story doesn’t fill in all those gaps explicitly for us by S6′s conclusion, it’s probably going to be easy enough for us fans to interpret the material and fill in the gaps logically ourselves.