#httyd rambles

[reluctantlyanimating]

Movie/rtte httyd fans watching Nine Realms for httyd content instead of reading/listening to the books simply will never make sense to me. If you were willing to take something wildly different, why did you take the disappointing choice. The books are right there bro

#httyd #httyd books #httyd rambles

[unfortunatelyfuckingstupid]

My only criticism of the httyd franchise is that we somehow live in a world where grimmel is a cannon part of the world building but viggo grimborn somehow isnt ???!!!!

#httyd #httyd franchise #how to train your dragon #viggo grimborn #grimmel the grisly #httyd 3 #httyd rtte #httyd race to the edge #httyd rambles

[aingeal98]

The httyd books being a foundational part of my childhood and then blowing up into a movie series with so much changed is surreal. You say Toothless I think of an asshole little green dragon who snarks at hiccup. You say Fishlegs I think of a dweeby bard with athsma and eczema. You say Astrid I think of a tiny little bog burglar who looks like this.

You say Hiccup I think of the boy who almost died due to poison but got saved by an arrow with potato juices on it, the boy who almost discovered America and got branded as a slave in the process, the boy who became King and made peace between not just humans and dragons, but vikings and other humans.

Idk man these books were buckwild but they also had a lot going on thematically and now I want to reread. Also Hiccups mom was alive the entire time and he knew it she was just off questing. Love that for her.

#Httyd #Httyd rambles

[jackie-q]

Don't Make Toothless Mad

Since Toothless shoots plasma, which is in the sun, he's throwing a bit of the sun -which by the way is MILLIONS OF DEGREES HOT- at anyone he is upset at.

#httyd #httyd rambles #ao3 quotes #toothless #bamf toothless #plasma #the sun

[reallyprofoundkryptonite]

I had a relevation for my multishipper mind!! Since I have been neglecting my thoughts on Astrid/Krogan and Heather/Krogan since I’ve thought Krogan is more attracted to men, I had the relevation is that his type is people who are paitent, but who will also not put up with his shit. Or anyone else’s for that matter. Which includes Astrid and Heather.

I might work on some Heathgan soon… tbh. Idk when but I will try to. If you wanna send me ideas feel free to do so. Heather x Krogan was actually one of my very first romantic pairings in this fandoms so I do kinda wanna do something special for them.

I headcanon Krogan as intersex now too so that opens up more ideas for me… because not only can they bond over sweet little nothings like enemies to lovers, but it can start with Krogan revealing the fact that he is both genders to her and her being open and welcoming to him so!!

@serrantsaloto (I think it was you that mentioned you liked Heather x Krogan so eeee I might have someone to talk to this about instead of yelling into the void)

#httyd #krogan #httyd rtte #krogan rtte #krogan httyd #rtte #httyd fanart #httyd fandom #httyd au #fanart #heather #heather the unhinged #ship rambling #httyd rambles #maea rambles #Heather/krogan #astrid hofferson #astrid/krogan

[earthenhollow]

Drago Bludvist: my one problem with How To Train Your Dragon 2

I love the How To Train Your Dragon (Httyd) stories in all its endeavors.

The shows, the movies, the fan made community, the art, it’s all been a very important part of my life. I started watching the shows and movies in my childhood, and am now rewatching the movies and joining the fandom as I grow older. It brings me joy in all aspects.

However. Both despite and because it’s a media I so much adore, I do not want to overlook its issues.

Or more specifically, one issue.

Drago Bludvist.

Goodness gracious I love this man’s design.

If you don’t know, Drago Bludvist is the main villain in Httyd 2. He is described as a “cruel, ruthless and twisted warlord whose main goal is to conquer the world with his enormous army of both humans and dragons. He is feared by all and destroys anyone who gets in his way.” By howtotrainyourdragon.fandom.com

Drago is a gorgeous example of good character design in my books. A tall, broad, imposing figure helped out by his asymmetrical dragon skin cloak. Light amounts of armor cover his exposed side, and beneath his dragon skin cloak is his prosthetic metal arm. His main weapon we see him use is his bullhook (something found in real life, it looks like a cross between a spear and a metal hook). Drago does use his spear in fighting, but we mostly see him using it to control the Bewilderbeast. (A huge dragon known to be the “alpha species” of all dragons. It’s integral to this movies plot as both the protagonists and antagonists each have a Bewilderbeast on their team.)

Drago has backstory, mystery, character history, motive, a good outfit, a powerful army, and challenges both the protagonists physical strength and the strength of their integrity. He is the opposite of Berk’s fairly new-found beliefs of dragon-human-harmony, and has a lot of dangerous power and therefor influence to back those ideas up.

But then where’s the problem?

The problem is that he is the only character in the whole first and second movies (to my knowledge) who isn’t white. Or at the very least is designed with physical traits of non white people. A list of examples; he has an olive skin tone, curly black hair and beard that he wears in dreadlocks, a dramatically hooked nose, and is voiced by Djimon Hounsou, who is one of if not the only black voice actor for the characters. So yes, he looks badass with his scars and deep voice and intimidating attitude, but they could have achieved this without designing his physical character this way.

Having more diversity in Httyd would not be a problem. If the producers had chosen to add more ethnic or racial diversity to characters, awesome! The series is set in what seems to be a land of white Vikings (nearly all characters with red, brown, or blond hair), but it’s also fantasy where they have dragons and flaming swords, there is no reason sticking to that detail should be important.

But they didn’t. The important thing is that they designed one character this way. The important thing is which character it is. The important thing is that they only designed a character like this when it was the big evil villain of the movie.

I get the “oh the unknown is scary.” With someone like Drago Bludvist who is meant to hold mystery, using his “from another land” background is a good reason as to why we haven’t heard about him before. As described in the movie, Drago is seen as “a stranger, from a strange land. Covered in scars and draped in a cloak of dragon skin.“

In my mind there were two good ways to make new character designs work in Httyd 2. One, follow the form of the first movie and have everyone be some form of white Viking. This would continue following with the last movie as all the characters we met for this description. Two, diversity in all sides of the characters. Show that it’s not important to this movies plot to make your characters different races and cultures, affecting protagonists and antagonists alike. It being a movie to be enjoyed by kids and adults, there’s no harm in going into the second movie with the mindset of “hey, we know this concept works now, there’s no harm in making our characters more diverse because it’s not the sole point of the story, and it will reflect the diversity of our watchers more.”

However they chose to do neither. And made a badass character whom I love, but cannot ignore that the designers made Drago a standout unnecessarily.

Were I designing him, I would not take away these traits. I would not redesign him without dreadlocks, the stylish beads in his beard, his intimidating personality or his role as the villain. But to do this successfully you need to look at the design of your protagonists too. Think, “who is getting an strong accent? Who is seen differently because of where they came from? Who is being seen differently because of how they look?” And if the answer to that is always the villains, then you’re doing something wrong.

And that could be that. It’s about where my knowledge of the series ends, and thus most of my critiques. I’ve watched most parts of the third Httyd movie but not all of it, so my takes on it are less rounded. But I couldn’t help but notice when watching what parts I did…

Huh. The villain Grimmel the Grisly. Wow. I mean. They did it again. They didn’t do as much physical design coding... But. He’s one of the only main characters they gave a heavy accent (again) and an implied different ethnicity (again). To me it felt like he had less personality than Httyd 2’s villain, so I preferred Drago, but he was a stylishly designed man with stark white hair and an impatient attitude. That kind of villain can be fun for a lot of people and I get that. The fact that it’s only the villains being designed as anything but blond-red-brown haired white Vikings is a problem.

And hey. It might only be one problem with the series but it is a big one, and I’d hope it doesn’t become any more of a pattern.

To conclude; go fan over Drago Bludvist, hate him as a person whilst loving his character, notice the lack of diversity in films, and if you’re an aspiring film maker then start taking your own notes of how to do it better. Or at least learn how to hire a competent team of people to do it for you.

And fuck Grimmel the Grisly. Me and my homies all hate Grimmel the Grisly.

*Bonus Thoughts and Feelings*

On a similar topic which thankfully needs less explaining, this series of movies are an instance where disability isn’t shown as a horrid punishment. Protagonists and antagonists alike get scarred, burned, injured, and disabled. Hiccup loses a leg, Toothless loses part of his tail, Gobber always lacked his hand and leg (we learn the story behind it in Legend of the Boneknapper), Gothi is mute, and Drago Bludvist is missing an arm. Wether or not these are good representation of disability in media I’m not sure, but the attitude of this series towards it is a great start on its own. Hiccup choosing to customize his leg prosthetic in Httyd 2 was the most badass thing childhood me could’ve ever seen.

Passionately concluding,

G’bye!

[Feel free to add on or leave suggested edits/critique! I’d love an excuse to discuss more about the film or be corrected on spots I might’ve missed!]

#httyd #how to train your dragon #httyd 2 #httyd rambles #earthen rambles

[neytui]

BeholLD MY TINKER HICCUP FAIRY DESIGN!!

Been having this on my head for a whilee and really wanted to give the desing a go. Why? I don't know, but a Neverland au sure it's fucking cool

#httyd #how to train your dragon #hiccup haddock #httyd hiccup #hiccup #art #my art #tinkerbell #psd thinking the design of the prosthetic was hard cuz I wanted to make it good #something that he would actually do #I'll give you guys a kiss if you know what the missing object is #ANYWAY CAN YALL RAMBLE ABOUT THIS SO I CAN TOO

[eebie]

httyd 1’s design for toothless was the best one IMO . there is just something so Creature about it that is missing from the second movie onward

this was b4 they changed his face to be blockier, have bigger brows. they made him more traditionally cute, and exaggerated his expressions. it’s not a bad thing, but something that isn’t as appealing to me personally. to me He started looking less n less Animal and more Human , n i feel like something was lost there

#my rambles #httyd

[spacenintendogs]

don't talk to me or my son ever again

#httyd #hiccup haddock #stoick the vast #him tiny #rose rambles

[sky665]

Just found out there’s apparently a super amazing HTTYD show out in the Beijing Universal Studios. And it’s got some really nice 2D animated bits to it! Gif-ified-em!

#httyd #how to train your dragon #universal studios #animation #sky rambles #Not to mention amazing dragon puppets and a Toothless one that can fly over the audience #Such good things we got in the world today #dragons

[fanstuffrantings]

The comedy of Trolls getting its flowers finally and being recognized as a fun series after the most recent movie when the first one has had me in a chokehold for years. When I used to have Netflix I would just watch that whenever I wanted to have fun.

Sometimes adulthood is looking at a jukebox musical based on a kids toy, and just deciding "yeah actually this is a good movie."

#every time a trailer drops for a new movie in the trolls franchise i go “this looks stupid” and im always wrong #yes i have seen trolls band together #and im going again #the only thing stopping me from making fanart of trolls is my rwby obsession #trolls #molten rambles #trolls/porco rosso/king arthur legend of the sword/httyd trilogy/kfp trilogy/lord of the rings trilogy #movie list i love bug never talk about #rip to everyone who finds poppy annoying because i think shes delightful

[hiccupbutpurple]

Stoick’s face falling, when he’s like ‘we finally have something to talk about’ and Hiccup is silent, will never not hit me in the heart.

Stoick is absolutely in the wrong, but it’s scenes like that, that show he does care about Hiccup, he’s just not good at expressing it and hasn’t accepted Hiccup being himself quite yet. He still holds onto the old ideologies and hope that Hiccup will be his kind of Viking. He’s excited cause he thinks he’s got that now (especially after years of not), he can understand Hiccup, they can be a real father and son, they can communicate. That dream is suddenly coming true. Then Hiccup doesn’t reply and there’s that little moment of realisation that the obvious rift between them still exists. He obviously is still keeping his hope as the scene continues but that moment of his face falling and the awkward tension coming back, bringing him back to the reality between them. It hurts so much.

It’s also sad since it highlights to Hiccup, that his dad wouldn’t accept him as he is yet. He’s stuck on the vision of the perfect child that Hiccup isn’t. He can’t respond because how can he when they barely talk as is, and now he’s keeping a secret so big? There’s a bit more to it on Hiccup’s side, but Stoick’s reaction to his silence is really what gets me. He doesn’t know Hiccup can’t just tell him the truth, to him it’s just the plain old usual rift and Hiccup not being comfortable talking (or knowing how to talk) to him about something that could bring them together. From his perspective, in a way, it’s a rejection.

I think it’s such a real thing between parents and children. It’s just such a real and hard hitting one second moment in a real and hard hitting scene.

#analysis #or rather me being emotional about Hiccup and Stoick and needing to ramble about it #It’s probably why I love Hiccup and Stoick so much #because Stoick learns to lose that idea and just accept who his child is #I’m not crying you’re crying #httyd #hiccup haddock #stoick the vast

[jackie-q]

Brain Barf

Realistically speaking, any offspring of a Light Fury and a Night Fury with the colouring of both their parents would not survive in the wild or in their parents' natural habitats because the colouring for a Night Fury is made to blend in with the night and if a dragon hatchling had a mish mash of black and white scales, they would be unable to hide in shadows because their white scales counteract the affect of the black scales of the Night Fury and as such they would most likely die before adulthood due to night/shadow hunting being a main method of obtaining food for the Night Fury species. Vice versa for the Light Fury.

Not to mention that the Light Fury's camouflage technique is rendered utterly null due to the fact that any hatchlings' white scales would reflect like a mirror while their black ones would attempt to absorb any and all light.

The chances of survival are painfully low, which is why hybrids like this are typically bred, born and raised in captivity and under the care of humans.

#httyd #httyd rambles #taking things literally #cartoon realism #night fury #light fury #rant #dragon babies #captivity #animal hybrids

[kindaorangey]

so hiccup and toothless have to work together to fly right. toothless does something, hiccup adjusts his foot to accomodate for it. if they don't do the proper tail positionings, they immediately fall out of the sky. all of this is immensely funny if you think about it while watching the scene where toothless is doing spins and dunking into water and stuff in order to make astrid apologise.

#httyd #how to train your dragon #hiccup adjusting his foot for the 360 spin: i have to im sorry astrid hes forced my hand here! #astrid: [SCREAMING] #thunder rambles

[earthenhollow]

rewatching HTTYD 2 right now I’m so excited !!!!

#httyd rambles

[soni-dragon]

havent done much art lately but I did do a new phone case design! So here’s that!

[ID: A watercolor drawing of Hiccup and Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon. They’re flying above the ocean with brown and green cliffs behind them partly hidden in fog. /End ID.]

#every phone case it httyd themed cause ofc <333 #i felt like i wanted to see the first movie again lately so #soni rambles #my art #httyd #how to train your dragon #hiccup horrendous haddock iii #watercolor art