I think the Ratiorine fandom really moved on too fast from the fact that Hoyo chose "charming audacity" and "dear gambler" as the first words players would hear from Ratio to Aventurine. Not the second scene. Not the third. The very first sentence players ever hear between those two.
And you know what, we also moved on much too quickly from the next scene too. Ratio was the one to start the whole "Aventurine is a peacock" thing. Why are you sitting around thinking about what alien animals your coworker reminds you of, Veritas? The joke is supposed to be that peacocks are noisy, but then they just drop that like a hot rock so the camera can do a slow pan on Aventurine's chest and Ratio can comment on Aventurine's clothing choices. Since when does Dr. Ratio care what people wear? Why were you looking?! Fellas, is it gay to compare your partner in crime to the symbol of male beauty???
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Interesting and, in my opinion, often overlooked thing about Hiccup is how he's like, not really a compassionate person by default. It was learned, not an innate trait like it seemingly was with Valka.
From things said in the first movie, we can presume he's always had a fairly intense interest in dragons, but it was solely with the intention of killing them – and very stubbornly his way at that, considering he hadn't even read the Book of Dragons yet – and it kind of makes sense considering, he's likely desensitized to violence with how often their village was repeatedly burnt to the ground then rebuilt. Like he got excited there was a raid, completely one-track minded on his plans to shoot something down for his own benefit with no regard for the danger everyone (and himself) was in (and yes! This is somewhat selfish, but he was also a child.) Again, a lot of people overlook the fact that while he was insecure about it, alienated by his peers, and looked down upon by adults, Hiccup is still a viking – or at least was raised as one. He still very much held the same, core dragon killing beliefs every one else on Berk did. The only thing that set him apart was his inability to follow directions due to his unwavering obstinacy when it came to doing things his way.
He had every intention of killing Toothless upon finding him, only changing his mind after seeing the dragons fear and realizing they're both trapped by circumstances outside of their control, and even then had no plans of seeing Toothless again after freeing him. He thought he lost his chance at killing a dragon, after uaving the realization he just didn't have the heart to look an animal in the eyes and take its life, he was fully prepared to return to his mundane routine of ignoring what adults want him to do in favor of his own, ironic and futile attempts at making his father proud.
He's never had any kind of 'natrual' connection with dragons, it was something he stubbornly worked towards. Like I said before; he was as set on killing one as any other person on Berk, I just think he had an easier time accepting they were wrong due to spending most of his life as an outcast.
He only went back to find Toothless after his first attempt at dragon training, it was with no intention to get closer, more of an almost childish curiosity, a fascination that grew out of hand, especially after Astrid yelled at him and forced him to confront what he was doing with the question: 'Whose side are you on?"
I know Forbidden Friendship is the moment we all talk about, but I don't think Hiccup and Toothless had any kind of solidified bond until they flew together, and from Toothless' point of view, the realization that Hiccup had now gone beyond just brief fascination and was actually invested enough to help him fly again.
And even then it wasn't until he met that Terror he realized that Toothless wasn't just a one off thing, that most dragons won't attack pointlessly unless pushed to. And even then his relationship with them is still very flawed, and remains that for a long time; I know we're mostly talking about movie Hiccup here, but would the 'do-no-wrong dragon whisperer' that some people act like he is really have trapped that Skrill in a glacier because it was the easy way out? (In his defense he was like sixteen and at least realizes it was pretty fucked up when he was older and did his best to fix things)
It took time for him to get to be the so called 'peace keeper' he is as an adult (though he always seems to prioritize dragons over people, especially Toothless which is a really interesting and fitting flaw but I digress).
tldr; Hiccup was kind of a selfish, maybe even insensitive kid in the beginning, his compassion took time to develop. I feel like people too often forget that, one of his best traits wasn't an innate thing; it was something he worked for.
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I’ve been reading a lot of Star Wars prequels time travel fix-its, and I really want one now where it’s Anakin and Trilla (aka Second Sister), who get sent back. Anakin from right after he finally kills Palpatine and Trilla from right after Vader killed her. Just two semi-kinda-maybe reformed sith jammed back into their teenage bodies and being like, “Well, that was an absolute shit show - let’s not do that again.” Only Anakin had just started his redemption arc when he died and Trilla had only just gotten the closure to maybe consider a starting a redemption arc when she died, so they have no idea what they’re doing. Aside from killing Palpatine - that is the one thing they definitely agree on. How? Not sure. Still working on that.
Anyway, Anakin is around 17; Trilla is almost 14. They’ve snuck out of the Temple and are on the run on Coruscant, so that they can complete their plan of “Murder the Supreme Chancellor with Extreme Prejudice” and also because Trilla maaaaay have reflexively kidnapped an initiate on their way out of the Temple. Listen, teeny Initiate Cal Kestis was right there, and he’s the one thing Trilla has roundabout positive associations with at the moment, and the sudden reintroduction of teenage hormones is hell on impulse control. So she’s keeping him. This is her tiny initiate now. Cere can’t have him. Neither can Anakin - go kidnap your own initiate if you want one so bad.
Cal thinks this is all an exciting adventure, though he doesn’t quite understand why Padawan Suduri and Padawan Skywalker keep arguing over whether just blowing up the entire Senate building is worth the effort. Maybe it’s an inside joke?
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“This Planet Needs a Name” is another fun one where the premise is fantastic and then the execution completely falls on its face.
TPNaN is the story of a cryo-ship launched from a dying Earth to try to re-populate humanity on another planet, out of the fear that Earth is not going to be habitable for much longer. It’s a one-way trip. The people who volunteered for this mission can never go back. It’s unclear if, when they wake up, there even will even be an Earth in any meaningful manner anymore. They’re going out of any reasonable communication range; they’ll never know.
This ship is flying to a distant, selected planet with a compatible atmosphere for humans. Aside from the atmosphere, though, it’s expected to be a bare lifeless rock. The core crew of seven are awoken from cryo-sleep once they arrive, preparing to spend the next decades terraforming the planet to meet human needs, and only then wake up the ten thousand humans in cold sleep below to have a new planet to live on.
But when they arrive at the planet, when the crew wake up… it’s not a lifeless rock at all. It’s a planet with a complex, vibrant, living ecosystem, full of complex, vibrant, living beings.
This is a GREAT setup. What a difficult story there is here about hope and horror, wonder and fear, trauma and duty, the realization that you’ve committed the rest of your life to a plan that’s been blown out of the water, that your responsibility to the people in your hold cannot be your only responsibility anymore, that you have so much to learn about this place and you can’t just change it to your will, it already exists. What is your duty to the people you brought with you for a promise of a new, better life, vs. your responsibility to the forests, the oceans, the animals, the whales and the dragons, that already live here? What do you do now when this is not what you planned for at all?
And TPNaN answers these questions by going :) it’s fine :) the fact that it’s already ready for them is awesome and great :) they’ll just terraform a LITTLE bit of the planet :) just enough for a human city :) they all compromise very quickly on this plan :) every conflict is resolved quickly and easily by being nice to each other :) these people do not owe jack squat to anything that already lives here and they are perfectly in their right to treat them like wild animals, curiosities at best and threats that need to be fought off at worst :) they never ever once wonder about their responsibility to learn about this place before they plop down and start terraforming it :) this is a wonderful gift just for them :) this planet needs a name. nobody ever once even slightly wonders if the inhabitants of this planet have a name for it. They’re not people after all
(when they learn that oops these native inhabitants are conscious, thinking people, this prompts a reckoning from nobody because hey look they’re friendly and happy to help)
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