#sky fury

[artist-issues]

Birds do it, bees do it, educated fleas do it,

let’s do it, let’s 

REMAKE THE LIGHT FURY

Toothless used to be a realistic creature, designed to balance on the visual knife blade’s edge between appealing and terrifying. He borrowed his coloration from panthers and manta rays and his movement from cats because they are real animals that master that cute-fierce combo, too. He could look menacing and then loveable at the drop of a hat. 

Then in HTTYD 2 somebody hit him with the Puppy Stick. I haven’t seen any better explanation of the visual problems with Toothless from HTTYD 1 to HTTYD 3 other than this Reddit user’s, so we’re just going to skip trying. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/httyd/comments/qasmwo/toothless_head_comparison_by_durkishdragon/

Read that. Anyway. Let’s move on to the Light Fury.  Everyone’s talked over and over the problems with the Light Fury’s design. So I don’t think I need to go into depth with that, either. Suffice to say, I believe that the way a character is designed should reflect their purpose in the story. She was never meant to be a species that was exciting to learn more about, unlike the Bewilderbeast or the Night Fury. She was just meant for cute interactions with Toothless. I think her design, sad as it is, reflects that lazy story direction. 

BUT NOT OUR REDESIGNS. And mine is no exception! If I’m going to change the story structure of HTTYD 3 (and I am) then the Light Fury has to change, big time. 

First we’ll talk about the species. 

We all know there are more than one Light Fury visible in the third film, and that’s the idea I hinged my little “fix it” re-write of HTTYD3 on in this post. I’m not going to restate it, but a lot of it focuses on Hiccup and Toothless discovering a whole Fury Flock who has migrated out of distant, hostile lands and is resting near Berk on their way to the Hidden World.

This way, instead of the Love Interest Fury just serving as Catnip that makes Toothless act dippy and cuddly, they actually have a purpose—because they’re tied to a mystery. They’re the whole plot. This way, instead of Toothless waking through the woods and happening upon a single personality-bland version of himself with no build-up, the Light Furies are a whole community and species that the story spends as much time on as they did the Night Fury in the first film.  Anyway. So while our heroes are uncovering all the interesting quirks and hierarchy of the Fury Flock, we’ll do the same!

So without further ado—bum-ba-da-dum, let me introduce you to—

The Sky Fury! 

(Click for better view)

Yeah, okay, I know it’s a different name and not too terribly different a design, but hear me out below the cut

I don’t think that just because Toothless, is straight black with faintly darker markings (basically only visible in the first movie) that means every other Fury has to be one solid color either. And why should it be white? Most white animals in the wild who don’t live in snowy environments straight up die because of their lack of pigmentation. It makes them a target and it lets reptiles get sunburnt.

But we all know that white contrasted with Toothless’ black has a certain appeal. It’s more visually interesting than a samey-same color pairing between him and any would-be Love Interest. So I kept the white, like most re-designers do.

And then I thought, well, why would Furies have to worry about being spotted by enemies—they’re up in the sky all the time anyway. So instead of having the Furies be completely black and only able to blend in with shadows and the night sky, our Furies will be mottled.

Their markings will be more visible to let them camouflage against cloudscapes in the daytime—and just like black panthers are simply leopards with overwhelming black in their coats, Sky Furies are kind of like what Night Furies might look like if you could fade back some of that intense black and see the patterns underneath. 

 So our Sky Furies are mostly white, but with hints of blue and stormy gray underneath. The youngest Sky Furies are sky-blue around their horns—which, yes, they have horns and spiny spikes, not just smooth aquatic ridges.  I basically leaned into what the original design for the Light Fury was supposed to be; rougher like an axolotl, with influences from a naturally-pale master of camouflage in the wild like the Snow Leopard or Clouded Leopard. We keep all the potential for cuteness without losing the fierceness.

Because you can’t tell me this:

Is nailing the fierce-end of the spectrum as perfectly as THIS DID: 

So the Sky Furies are called Sky Furies because one, Light Fury is a dumb name. It sounds super made-up. Like they were really just trying to rhyme with “Night.” But “Sky” Fury indicates that there’s more to know about this type of Fury besides the fact that they’re associated with Toothless. 

A few things about the Sky Fury Species:

- Only their two largest ear-flaps can move.

- They are better swimmers than Night Furies.

- They can camouflage, but they can’t echolocate.

- They communicate by clicking more often than roaring or other vocalizations. This is why their Old Night Fury leader calls to them by clicking his back spines together, open and shut.

- They have a complex social hierarchy. In one Flock, the leader’s rule is always obeyed; unlike other Dragon species, Furies aren’t susceptible to being “controlled” by an alpha. (This explains why Toothless was able to block out the Bewilderbeast in HTTYD 2. And we can just say he just needed some practice doing it, since he didn’t grow up with his own kind.) They just obey the leader in charge.

- Sky Furies must migrate from the Hidden World to Grimmel’s Land every thirty years. It is an instinctual urge, like Sea Turtles going on land to give birth or Manta Rays migrating. Theory has it their first nesting grounds were on the land Grimmel’s people built their village on top of. Ever since then, Sky Furies and Grimmel’s Tribe have been at intense war. This leaves them with no tolerance at all for humans—in fact, they’ve begun viewing people as a particularly impressive part of their food chain.

- Sky Furies are strategic, team hunters. Rarely do they set out to hunt alone. Part of their social hierarchy is that the first Fury to strike prey (being the fastest) is generally the first to eat. If a Fury is eating alone, it is because that Fury is being punished or outcasted by the others. 

- Sky Furies have almost always been led by Night Furies, because Night Furies can echolocate and sense the underground routes to the Hidden World. In return for this, Sky Furies often hunt for their leader during the daytime hours, the same way lionesses hunt while male lions protects the group.  - Sky Furies sing! This is the only way they use their vocalization abilities, and they only do it when they feel safe. That’s all I’ve got for now. More art to come—more on the specific Love Interest Fury, too.

[rinaestel]

This is my first time making a reference sheet hope it looks okay^^

[aqua-regia009]

· Sturm und Drang · Sea Symphony · The Gathering Storm · In Harm's Way · Storm Fugue From Fury Series, 2012 - oil and charcoal on canvas.

― Stephen Hutchings (Canadian, b.1948)

https://stephenhutchings.com/

[shadowdaddies]

Juniper and Fury by elizianna.the.one on Instagram 💜

[bewilderbark]

back to your regular schedule

[rainingriversofyou]

Crescent City characters - Artist: elithienart / @elithien

[sunfloweraro]

Prompt: How do you wake a sleeping Sky? (Wrong answers only)

Wild makes a terrible choice, one he will come to regret soon.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .

“Are you sure this is safe?”

Wild waved Hyrule off. “Don’t worry so much. We’re almost there, we just need to move him a little farther.”

“If you’re sure…”

“You can try and wake him if you’d like?”

Hyrule, wisely, elected not to reply, focusing his efforts tenfold on carrying Sky, bedroll and all, toward the lake. Wild had drawn the short straw this morning, and it was his duty to wake Sky. Knowing better than to try and shake the trained knight awake—Legend had earned a dagger to the side once, and though the wound had been a mere graze, none of them had risked their lives like that again.

“Just in the sand here,” Wild said, and together, they set Sky down next to the water. Phase one of his plan was complete.

Next was getting the hell away from the ticking time-bomb that was an asleep Sky.

“Come on, we need to sit in a tree for this.” Hyrule looked at him funny, but followed, too curious to leave matters be. Together, they clambered up into a tree close enough to see Sky, but far enough away to be out of range when he awoke. Although, if Wild’s plan worked, Sky would have bigger problems than knifing one of them.

Wild pulled out his bow, and Hyrule paled. “Um, Champion, is that a good idea?”

“I won’t hit him,” Wild assured Hyrule. Hyrule did not seem reassured, more so when Wild pulled out a bomb arrow.

But he accepted he wouldn’t be able to stop Wild now. “He’s going to kill us.”

Wild grinned. Drew back the string on his bow and aimed carefully—close enough to Sky that his plan would be effective, while not maiming him in the slightest. A deep breath in—and a brief check to ensure no one else was watching them—and Wild loosed the arrow.

The lake exploded. Water flew into the air unceremoniously, and what goes up must always come down—in this instance, straight onto their dreaming Skyloftian. Sky awoke instantly with a shriek as ice-cold water thundered down on him. “Why?!” he demanded.

Hyrule hummed approvingly. “Good work, Champion. If we’re lucky, he won’t notice us—”

“You two!”

“Hyrule,” Wild said, turning to his friend with a pleasant smile. “Run.”

[the-darkestminds]

If the age gap in SJM novels upsets you, consider this: it takes 500 years for a man to reach emotional maturity, and only around 20 years for women.

[ravenoftheskyes]

My favorite genre of Power Rangers is when the perfectionist nerd Blue Ranger turns into a kicked puppy

[rainmacaroni]

“To the people who look at the stars and wish. To the stars who listen – and the dreams that are answered.” ~ Sarah J. Mass, A Court of Mist and Fury

[angstandhappiness]

INTERESTING

Some head-profile-study things for the characters of my HTTYD3 rewrite, because ya’ll have me on a creative kick, apparently. The idea ran away with me and not one of you have lifted a finger to stop it

Anyway!

Here’s our three main dragon characters (I think there might be one or two others, but only one is another Fury, and he’s more of a presence than an actual character 🤷‍♀️)

You’ve got our beloved Toothless. I purposely kept his head narrow and his eyes catlike here because I would have kept his design largely similar to the first (best) film. By the time of this reimagined movie, I would’ve had Toothless enjoying his life as the Alpha with Hiccup to the fullest. No boredom or “oh no, Berk is overcrowded.” He gets his kicks from pulling new flying stunts and baffling kids who are learning to ride their own dragons—no “duhr hurr guess playing Fetch is my new favorite pastime, -slobber slobber pant pant-”

Because Toothless’ story always mirrors whatever is happening with Hiccup, my HTTYD rewrite would deal with the fact that while Hiccup has found acceptance and hope for a future among his own kind (Vikings) Toothless has not. Sure, he’s leader of the other dragons—but how many times did you see Toothless spending one-on-one time with any dragons, the way Hiccup spends one on one time with Astrid for support and help? I mean, outside of the television shows. So he begins his interest in the Fury Flock because, a-la Call of the Wild, there’s an opportunity for him to be accepted by his own kind even after being raised apart from them.

But I want to be clear—Toothless would not be desperate for their approval. He’d instinctively start to pick up on the Fury Flock’s social hierarchy and, just as instinctively, start to climb that ladder because he’s a highly skilled Night Fury. When Hiccup and his Riders first find the Flock, they realize how incredibly dangerous it is to try their usual methods of taming a whole group of dragons who are Furies, can camouflage, and are loyal to a ridiculously human-hostile leader. So Valka sort of coaches Hiccup on how to shadow Toothless, from a safe, observant distance, while Toothless gets closer and closer to his own kind. Hiccup hopes to get some questions answered this way: like, why are the Furies so covered in scars and signs of human/dragon conflict? And who are the mysterious human scouting ships, newly entering Berk’s territory, that the Furies keep raiding? 

(It’s Grimmel and his people, but you guys knew that)

Next up is Old Night Fury! I’ve already said a lot about him. Basically, this Old Night Fury is the only Night Fury who survived this last thirty-year-long migration season from the Hidden World to Grimmel’s land. In fact, apart from Toothless, Old Night Fury might actually be the last of his own kind.  Think Kerchak from Tarzan, but more murderous of humans and accepting of Toothless. Old Night Fury shoots human beings first, and usually doesn’t bother hiding or running away if directly confronted. He is fiercely protective of the Fury Flock and they obey his every spine-click (that’s how they communicate) command. Old Night Fury is just as willing to accept Toothless into the Flock as he would be any new Fury seeking to join—but he has to prove himself a valuable member of the hunt, first.  Old Night Fury is the only Fury alive who knows how to get to the Hidden World, and uses his echolocation to lead the group. Eventually he poses a threat directly to Hiccup, leading Toothless to drop the covert-act and defend his master. The Old Night Fury is ultimately killed by Grimmel, making Toothless the only echolocating dragon alive capable of leading the Fury Flock back to the Hidden World for the next 30 years.  And Finally, our Love Interest Fury, Ambush! This is the Light Fury’s redesign. I call her species “‘Sky Furies.” They can blend in with their surroundings for a short period of time (Night Furies cannot, in this rewrite), they live in complex social hierarchy systems led by the bigger, stronger Night Furies, and they breathe smaller, smokier plasma bolts. They communicate by dolphin-esque clicks, swim as fast as Night Furies can fly, and most of their lives revolve around either migrating or participating in high-octane community hunts.  For more on Sky Furies you can check out my other posts (because apparently I’m doing a lot of them ^^”) But this particular Sky Fury is named Ambush. She is the best hunter, the quickest flier, and at the very top of the Sky Furies’ social ladder when Toothless meets her. Hiccup names her, quietly to himself, after noticing that she’s gained a deadly reputation among the mysterious (Grimmel’s people) ocean voyagers. 

Unlike the canon Light Fury, Ambush has a personality. She definitely still hates humans, but it’s less in a blank, skittish-cat way and more in a ferocious, that’s-my-natural-hated-enemy-and-I’m-going-to-get-first-dibs way. Because Sky Furies decide who gets to eat first by who brought down the prey. And after their war, Sky Furies don’t just view people as prey, they view them as war enemies.  Other aspects of her personality: competitive. Ambush has been leading the hunt for basically her whole life. She’s been eating first and enjoying the deference of her Flock-mates, uninterrupted. But when Toothless shows up, and thanks to Hiccup’s secret help, he beats her at just about every feat of speed or strength. At first this makes her mad. Then she’s attracted to him—because another aspect of her personality is insatiable curiosity. It’s what gets her hit by one of Grimmel’s traps. Toothless and Hiccup save her—specifically, Hiccup himself, whom she personally tried to eat three or four times beforehand.   From that moment on, Ambush is eager to see more of the funny little human community and is cautiously observant of all things Hiccup, whenever he’s on the scene. Basically, Ambush is Dragon-Astrid—emphasis on “‘Dragon.” Because they should’ve stuck to the whole “everything that happens to Hiccup should be mirrored in Toothless and vice versa.”

Once Ambush has chosen Toothless and learned to not just trust, but actually like Berkian humans, she supports him against the Fury Flock. When Old Night Fury tries to kill Hiccup and winds up getting them both captured by Grimmel—leaving Toothless grounded—it’s Ambush who rallies the other Furies to trust Toothless’ leadership and mount a rescue mission. 

[rinaestel]

sorry I haven't posted in a while, I got artblock so I took a break to recover from that but now I'm back!(probably not for long)

[biggestqiblifan]

Hold Up.

Was I the only one who noticed this?

Those 2 excerpts were from House of Earth and Blood and Court of Mist and Fury.

make of it what you will.

[sarahjmaasbooktalks]

The Funny Thing About Mates

I love how different the mates of this fandom are. According to Sarah herself, mates are supposed to be protective.

I love how in TOG and CC this is the case, but in ACOTAR it's widily different.

TOG and CC: I will go to the ends of the earth to find you and ensure your safety.

ACOTAR: Go retrieve your wedding ring from this creature (and nearly die in the process), and go climb an entire mountain when you're weak and su1c1dal.

Anyway, this just proves my point that ACOTAR is Sarah's weakest series. Live laugh love <3

[rainingriversofyou]

Lysandra, Morrigan & Fury - TOG, ACOTAR & CC

“The Fearless” - Artist: bookishkoda

[eshidu]

Shadows fall, and hope has fled

Steel your heart, the dawn will come

—

Some vent art, given recent news.

I won’t stop