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#I’ll continue httyd3 looks later..
dragondingus · 6 years
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‪89 of 365: baby faced Toothy ~‬
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shipmistress9 · 5 years
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Could you do #19. “How are you feeling today?” for Hiccstrid, please? I loved your other one!
Okay, I’m not sure this is what you expected… But when do prompts ever behave? Anyway, this is what my mind came up with for that prompt, so I hope someone will like it. ^^”
HTTYD – Hiccstrid – canonverse/post HTTYD3 – T-rated – Angst/Fluff
A New Wind
Her screams were horrible.
With every single one, Hiccup felt as if his heart got ripped to shreds, and the worst part was that there was nothing he could do about it. All he could do was wait, hope, and, if he dared, hold her hand.
“You can do this,” he said encouragingly, repeating the same mantra he’d said so many times before already. It felt bleak and foul by now, not as if it helped at all. And judging by Astrid’s reaction, it didn’t.
“Stop- uh! Stop saying that!” she pressed out, groaning in pain and clutching at his hand. Her words were followed by another pained outcry that nearly tore him apart.
“Then tell me what else I can do,” he begged, desperate to do something to help her. This was a nightmare, all of it. And there seemed to be no end.
Astrid shook her head with a mixture of sobbing and hysterical laughter. “You can’t do anything. I-ngg… I’ve got to–”
“You could open the window, Chief,” Astrid’s aunt Helka, who also was the village’s midwife, ordered. “Not for long, we want to keep it warm and cosy in here, but some fresh air would help us all, I think.”
Hiccup nodded, carefully pried his hands loose from Astrid’s iron grip, and hurried to do as he was told. He took a deep breath of the cool and fresh breeze, only now noticing how stuffy it was inside. Outside, the sun was already setting. How strange… hadn’t it just been mid-morning? He hadn’t even noticed how much time had passed; no wonder Astrid was so exhausted. He turned to look at her again where she lay on the bench by the fire, her swollen body trembling and covered in sweat.
“Mmh, yes,” she whispered as he crouched back by her side. “I like the wind. It feels nice.”
Hiccup almost chuckled. The wind. It was something of a codeword between the two of them. The wind was the memory of soaring through the sky, of cool air tearing at their clothes.
The memory of their best friends.
But before those thoughts and memories could linger, Astrid asked out of the blue, “Ha-have you… already decided on… on a name?” Her voice was weak, eyes closed where her head was resting against his shoulder.
Torn between the urge to pull her closer and the fear of causing her even more pain, Hiccup just turned his head and buried his face in her entangled hair. “No, I haven’t,” he murmured. “I want us to do that together. We’ll wait and see whether it’s a boy or a girl, and then–”
Weak laughter shook her body, making her wince almost immediately. It didn’t sound reassuring at all. “Oh, Hiccup…” It seemed as if she wanted to say more but held back, and Hiccup was grateful for it. He didn’t want to hear it. That she might not be around to pick a name.
Instead, she just reached for his hand, her fingers shaking. “You’ll pick a good one. I trust you. I just hope it’s a boy…”
“Doesn’t matter,” Hiccup replied, even though he wasn’t sure whether Astrid had heard it.
For a while, everything was quiet safe for Astrid’s occasional cries or whimpering at a contraction, her body stiffening, and pain contorting her face.
“You can do this,” he murmured again, almost despite himself. Giving birth was never easy, he’d learned that much by now. But if there was one woman strong enough then it was Astrid… right?
. o O o .
Time was a tricky thing. The hours seemed to stretch endlessly, dusk turning into night and into dawn again. But when it was over, Hiccup barely remembered how it had happened. Awestruck, he kneeled at Astrid’s side, staring down at the tiny body in her arm. The girl was wrapped in a woollen blanket, only her head with the patch of dark hair visible.
“You did it,” he breathed, stunned. “You really did it. And she’s beautiful!”
Astrid was weeping, from exhaustion probably, or from how overwhelming everything was. For a short moment, she pulled the tiny girl closer to her chest, then let her head roll to the side. She was looking in his general direction, but her eyes seemed unable to focus on anything.
“Take her,” she whispered, so low that he almost didn’t hear her. “Take… I…”
Hiccup jumped as Astrid suddenly fell limp. One hand shot up to steady her body as it threatened to topple off the bench, the other toward the bundle in her arms. But as it was, at least the baby was still safe and secure in her mother’s arms.
“Astrid? Astrid, wake up.” Hiccup shook her shoulder, gently but firmly, but got no answer. “Astrid!”
“Let her sleep,” Helka’s voice sounded from behind him. Hiccup threw her a quick glance where she was washing bloodied sheets and towels. “She is exhausted…” She bit her lip, then shook her head and continued. “There’s nothing you can do for her right now. Let her rest. All we can do is… is hope that that will be enough.”
“W-what are you saying?” He didn’t want to know the answer, didn’t want to hear it. But he had to.
“Astrid, she… she lost a lot of blood. Like, really a lot. I–” The elderly woman licked her lips, then her sad eyes met his directly. “I don’t know whether she’ll make it. This was one of the hardest births I ever witnessed. Astrid is strong, but… well, only time will show whether she’s strong enough.”
Hiccup felt as if the rug got pulled out from under his feet. “What?” he stammered. “No… No! This… this can’t be happening. I need her!”
“And that little girl needs her father,” Helka reminded him gently. “There’s nothing you can do for Astrid right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything.”
Hiccup felt hollow inside, but nodded. His eyes darted back to the little girl still lying in Astrid’s limp arms. Helka was right, his daughter needed him. Ever so carefully, he lifted the tiny body and took her into his arm. With his free hand, he reached for Astrid’s once more, but Helka motioned him out. “Leave her to me. I’ll move her to the bed, stay here to check on her, maybe see if I can feed her some soup. I’ll take care of her,” she promised.
For a while, Hiccup just sat on the steps in front of their new house on New Berk, his newborn daughter asleep in his arms. It was early morning, nobody awake yet, and Hiccup tried not to go crazy with worrying over Astrid. Helka was right, there was nothing he could do for her right now. But Gods, if he were to lose her now… then he wasn’t sure whether he’d be able to cope.
The bundle in his arms stirred, and, pushing all those troubling thoughts aside, he focused all his attention on the nameless girl.
“Hey there, little one,” he murmured as he lightly caressed her rosy cheek. Almost despite himself, a smile tugged at his lips as the girl yawned, her tiny pink lips forming a perfect O. Then she opened her eyes, somehow directly looking up at him, and Hiccup’s breath caught in his throat.
She had the same blue eyes as her mother.
. o O o .
When Astrid woke, she had trouble remembering where she was. This wasn’t her room in her parent’s house… was it? Her mind was dazed, her thoughts heavy. She tried to move, but everything hurt. What had happened? Had she been injured? Wounded in a fight?
For a minute or three, she just lay still, gathering strength and trying to get order into her head. She knew this room. Right… it was her and Hiccup’s bedroom in their new house. There were the trunks with their clothes, a shelve with a few of Hiccup’s books, and her beloved axe hanging from its hook on the wall. And there was the crib that Hiccup had build for–
From one moment to the other, Astrid’s mind became crystal clear. Her baby! Groaning, she lifted her head, trying to look around. But before she could move for real, there was shifting on the large bed next to her and a wonderfully familiar voice calling her name.
“Astrid?”
He sounded sleepy, but only for the fraction of a second. Then his head appeared above her, his pale features lighting up with a relieved smile. “Oh Gods, Astrid, you’re awake!”
“Uh, yeah, I think so?” she mumbled, already feeling her strength dwindling again. “What… where is she?” It was all that really mattered. Her little baby girl. She hadn’t imagined it all, hadn’t she? No, certainly not. Feeling her warm weight in her arms, that had to have been real.
“She’s here, don’t worry,” Hiccup reassured her. He reached to the side, and a moment later carefully placed their sleeping daughter onto her chest.
Astrid couldn’t help but stare at her, hard pressed to wrap her head around the fact that this wasn’t a dream. She wasn’t just an idea anymore, not their faceless child growing inside her, but real!
With trembling fingers, Astrid reached for her, caressing her back, her head, her face. “She’s beautiful,” she sobbed, overwhelmed.
“She really is,” Hiccup agreed. “Just like you.”
Astrid laughed. She wanted to swat his arm, but didn’t feel as if she had the strength for it. Instead, she looked back at her daughter, at the tiny nose, the patch of reddish brown hair. She really was beautiful. And yet…
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She didn’t dare to meet Hiccup’s eyes, didn’t want to see the possible disappointment there. “I’m sorry that it’s not a boy. But we–”
“What?” Hiccup interrupted her.
Astrid pressed her lips together, but didn’t fight him when he turned her head to look at him. “Astrid, I don’t care whether it’s a boy or a girl!”
“But you need an heir! We can try again, and I’m sure… I mean…”
“No!”
The tone in Hiccup’s voice surprised her and made her look at him after all. There was determination in his eyes, in an intensity she’d barely ever seen before. “But…” she began, but Hiccup cut her off right away.
“I don’t care whether my heir is a boy or a girl. I meant what I said, it doesn’t matter. We both know that women can lead just as well as men. She is my firstborn, and my heir. I…” He gulped, and averted his eyes after all.
Touched, Astrid relaxed a little, hummed with her hand on her daughter’s back. She wasn’t surprised by his decision, not really. But it was good to have it settled nonetheless. “Will she make it though?” she mused, absentmindedly. “She’s so tiny, so small…”
At that, Hiccup chuckled, if reluctantly. “Don’t worry. She’s perfectly healthy. And one day, she’ll be the strongest of them all.”
Astrid joined in on the chuckling, giggling weakly, and almost missed Hiccup turning serious again.
“How are you feeling today?” he asked, weirdly earnest.
She could feel that the question meant more to Hiccup than just polite conversation, so she took the time to listen into her body. “A little weak?” she eventually replied. “Not yet ready to chase after a flock of sheep, at least.” She chuckled. “And everything kinda hurts. All my muscles are sore, as if I’ve worked out for far too long. But all in all… I feel okay?”
Hiccup nodded, sighing. She gave him a confused look, which he returned with a pained one. He seemed reluctant to say more, but in the end, gave in to the silent question in her eyes.
“Astrid… I meant what I said. We don’t need to get more children, or not actively aim for more at least.”
“Well, that’s not really in our hands,” Astrid replied, bemused. “Unless you want to refrain from ever having sex again? Or was that you telling me you don’t find me attractive anymore?” It was meant as a joke, and judging by Hiccup’s brief snort and rolling of his eyes, he took it as such as well. But then, he turned serious again.
“Astrid,” he murmured, reaching for her free hand and idly playing with her finger. “I’m not sure how much you remember… But you almost died giving birth to her. You were unconscious for over two days, and I… I can’t stand the thought of losing you. I love you, more than ever, and… Well, I can’t imagine a world without you in it.”
Smiling at the quote, Astrid gave her husband a loving look. “You won’t lose me,” she promised. She tugged at his arm until he lay down beside her and let her cuddle into his arms. She knew that this wouldn’t be the last word exchanged about that topic, but she didn’t want to argue with him, not now. Instead, she just focused on the moment, on them all three cuddling together, she, Hiccup, and their little baby daughter. Whose name she still didn’t know.
“What did you name her?” she asked, shuffling to encourage him to lay his arm around them both.
“I…” he began, and Astrid could feel how he turned a little self-conscious.
“What, is it that bad?” she teased. She knew that he was prone to ridiculous names, but she’d also meant what she’d told him before. She trusted him not to pick an awful name for their child. That was a tradition, New Berk didn’t need anymore.
“I… don’t think so?” he said, laughing a little nervously. “It’s… Well, it comes from a faraway language originated somewhere deep in the South. Fishlegs found that book in a trader’s vault a while back, and, well… I thought it fits.”
She turned, to give him a curious look. But instead of directly replying, Hiccup reached for the girl’s miniscule hand and carefully placed it against Astrid’s cheek. Closing her eyes, she hummed. That felt good.
“Her name is Zephyr,” Hiccup murmured. “It means light wind or breeze. A little odd, I guess, but I thought–”
“No, it’s good,” Astrid interrupted him, smiling up at him. Then she glanced back at her little girl, at Zephyr, and couldn’t help grinning. The old stronger winds might be gone. But certainly, this new lighter wind would be enough to keep them occupied. “It’s perfect.” 
. o O o .
In here, a trope comes up, something large parts of the fandom seem fond of, but I’m not. So bear with me that I have my own opinion on the part of how Hiccup picks names and whether Astrid agrees with them or not…
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tazzykiki · 5 years
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Snoutlout for your character (Oi oi oi!)
Why I like them
He’s super funny and fun to watch. His character is interesting and so is his background. In the series it’s revealed he’s a lot more like Hiccup than we think. He just wants to prove himself to his dad and he tends to fail a lot. The introduction of dragon training just made that harder.
Why I don’t
Sometimes he can be annoying, but other than that I don’t really despise him.Favorite episode (scene if movie)
The first movie where he’s describing how he’ll take down a dragon and defend Gobber’s missing limbs. That has to be one of my fave scenes in all of the first movie tbh.Favorite season/movie
RTTE because he was a lot more mature and once he realized Hiccup and Astrid were dating he backed off. He also seems a bit more confident in himself.Favorite line
“Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi!” and “I swear I'm so angry right now.  I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight, with my face!”
Favorite outfit
He doesn’t have many but his rtte outfit. It fits him super well.OTP
Okay okay okay listen. I don’t have a proper otp but but but but but buuuuuuttttttttttt did you see the part where he catches the bouquet or whatever in HTTYD3 and then looks over at Eret? I know that scene is real, fight me on it. I totally wasn’t hallucinating.
Brotp
I wish him and Hiccup had interacted more because I feel like they’d have so many crazy adventures. I also think him and Gustav are like practically brothers. Snotlout finally has someone who looks UP to him and it’s super sweet.
Head Canon
He’s hella Bi. His love of Fishlegs when he was hypnotized was crazy(plus the fact he kissed him more than once). He flirted with Astrid and then later Ruffnut and very weirdly Hiccup’s mom...also the bouquet thing with Eret that I totally didn’t hallucinate.Unpopular opinion
I don’t know much of an unpopular opinion, but I think he’s kinda cute? Especially in HTTYD 2 and RTTE.A wish
For him and Hiccup to just, hang out more and chat more.An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happenSeries is over but if he continued to get cast aside and verbally abused with no remorse and it’s thrown off as a joke, then yeah Imma have to shoot somebody.Or, he ends up with Ruffnut for some reason.5 words to best describe them
Obnoxious, Funny, Short, Brute, and Jock.My nickname for them
I don’t have one but I’d def call him Chew Toy.
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f-nodragonart · 5 years
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alright, so I saw HTTYD3 the other day, and I have a few thoughtsss abt it and the franchise as a whole. below the cut for spoilers
HTTYD3 is..... a strange conclusion to the series....
while I wouldn’t say I had necessarily high hopes for this film, considering how the 2nd was handled, I was at LEAST expecting more than we got here
tho I suppose the main reason I was expecting more was b/c I know the overall plot for this trilogy was more or less planned out after the 1st film came out. the director-- Dean DeBlois-- knew how this was all gonna go down b/c he only agreed to a 2nd film if it could be made into a trilogy. I’ve known this for at least 8yrs, so I was expecting careful planning and execution if he was so excited to do EXACTLY 3 films
in retrospect, this may have been what ruined the continuations. I’m p sure HTTYD1 wasn’t guaranteed to continue into a series initially, so it was made as a mostly standalone film. I think the following films were stunted by their need to fit into an overarching storyline, b/c if you look at the trilogy as a whole, it feels very much like the climax hit in the 2nd film, while the whole 3rd film was simply a wrap-up of the plot
and that’s what rly ruins this film for me-- even more than the Light Fury (which I will get to). Grimmel seems like a gr8 villain on paper (the guy who eliminated practically all Night Furies?? awesome!!), but in practice he isn’t very threatening. I’m p sure he doesn’t actually kill a single dragon in the whole film, nor does he even rly threaten the safety of any humans. he mayyyy have killed that one dragon that charged him at the very beginning b/c there was a discretion shot over the dragon’s head, but Grimmel literally never used deadly arrows in the rest of the film, so I can’t guarantee he didn’t just tranq the dragon instead
like, every scene where I thought there were going to be actual stakes leading to an actual climax, everything was just resolved a few moments later. oh no the main gang got trapped w/ the Deathgrippers! oh, they all escaped just fine. oh no, actually Ruffnut was left behind!! oh wait, Grimmel isn’t threatening her in any way, so she’s prolly gonna be fine
like, hell, if he at LEAST gave the implication that he had every intention to eliminate any obstacles, but was simply being held back by those side-villains he was working with, he would’ve been SO much more threatening. maybe if he had gone to stab Ruffnut in that scene, but the other folks there were like, “WHOA Grimmel, she’s just a kid, cool it!!” I would’ve LOVED a sort of Jumba reveal like, “Hiding behind your little friend won’t work anymore! We got fired this morning~” where all bets are off in the final battle and Grimmel’s strategies turn strictly deadly
on that note, it would’ve been fun to utilize the Deathgrippers’ poison to emphasize this point. like, make it clear that dosage levels change the effect of the poison, where a small dosage may simply paralyze or knock out, while a large dosage can kill. sadly this isn’t how the poison was used-- instead it was some vaguely-defined substance that in one instance could knock out a dragon completely, while in another could be used as a mind-control serum? what???
at the very least, the Deathgrippers themselves are VERY cool. prolly my fave dragon designs in the whole franchise, right after Toothless
my biggest worldbuilding complaint is actually something that transfers over from the second film-- Alphas.
I don’t think I’ve talked abt this much here, but I fucking HATE this stupid Alpha thing the 2nd film introduced. like, the power that the queen dragon had over all the other dragons in the 1st film was already a big stretch I didn’t particularly like, but this Alpha thing rly breaks any and all suspension of disbelief for me
like, the dragons in these films are designed to be incredibly unique, both physically AND behaviorally. there are water dragons designed for an exclusively aquatic lifestyle, tiny dragons that scuttle around the underbrush in little packs, ENORMOUS dragons that seem to live solitary lifestyles, dragons w/ 4 limbs or 6 limbs that must be separated by millions of years of evolution, etc. etc.
there’s just. there’s NO good reason ANY single dragon (any single SPECIES of dragon) should be considered an “Alpha” to ALL DRAGONS, when there’s no realistic indication that these dragons are even socially/physiologically bound to one another in any significant way. these are UNIQUE SPECIES built to live their UNIQUE LIVES in UNIQUE ENVIRONMENTS/SCENARIOS. sure, they may be social enough to intermingle, but why in the world would they all be grouped together??
like, if we’re rly gonna go for a “hivemind” approach, here, then what are the roles of each species? “hivemind” groups can be compared to a superorganism, where each caste performs a certain task comparable to an organ system, so what do Nadders do? Zipplebacks? Monstrous Nightmares? I mean, they HAVE to be built for a specific task in this scenario, b/c why else would each species be designed so differently??
not only that, but “Alpha” is such a Western human concept that rarely ever applies to the rest of the animal kingdom-- not actual “hiveminds” (go to the “swarm intelligence” section), and certainly not the wolf packs alphas are popularly associated with
hivemind simply doesn’t work here. it’s like saying all mammals are bound by a planet-wide “packmind”, and that there’s some “Alpha Mammal” out there we all have to answer to. it’s goddamn ludicrous 
but ok, let’s give this hivemind idea the benefit of the doubt-- who’s to say that this HTTYD planet has to be bound by the same rules as our Earth? so let’s say that HTTYD dragons are bound by “packmind”, ok sure
but the packmind present here isn’t even consistent w/in the narrative! 
when Valka first introduced the Bewilderbeast as the true “king of dragons”, the implication was that leadership is some kind of species-specific thing-- like only Bewilderbeasts (and possibly Red Deaths, to a lesser degree?) could be Alphas. alright, fair enough, that’s one way to approach the worldbuilding here. maybe this one species is very rare across the planet, and they feel an instinctual, almost parental pull towards other, smaller dragons
but then Toothless becomes alpha, so that theory is thrown out the window, and we come to realize this is a social thing. OK sure, that’s another approach to packmind. individuals compete, and the most capable takes on the role of Alpha
but then you realize it rly isn’t JUST a social thing b/c.... Toothless glows now. and Alphas in general are shown to have not JUST influence over dragons, but straight-up MIND CONTROL
WHAT. THE FUCK. DEFINES. AN ALPHA.
like, ok, physiological changes can make sense, our physiology is actively influenced by our environment, emotions, etc. I’ll even be forgiving and say that Toothless’ glow is an understandable, physiological change due to being Alpha. 
but if Alpha truly is a social/physiological role rather than a species-specific role, how the HELL does the straight-up mind control work? are all dragon species capable of it, but they have to get the Alpha role in order to use it? why is it straight-up mind control in the first place, that’s not even very practical? what is going on?????
and now we finally get to the problems this brings up in this final film, and how they complicate the problems we see b/t Toothless and the Light Fury in terms of design
see, Toothless is STILL the only black Fury in the whole franchise (besides his kids maybe, but we’ll get there). we only see the main Light Fury and two other Light Furies, but not any other NIGHT Furies
after Toothless goes Alpha, we don’t REALLY know what of his new traits are typical to a Night Fury, and what traits have been influenced by being Alpha. who’s to say that his glow isn’t simply a Night Fury thing he had to grow into, for instance?
so we get to one of the most egregious things in this new film-- to me, at least-- where Toothless gets fuckin........................................ lightning powers.......................................
HELLO??????????????????????????????
is this an Alpha thing? can alphas control lightning? or is this a Night Fury thing? the Light Fury certainly seemed surprised by it, so it seems that at least females can’t do it!!
at least if it was an Alpha thing, I could give this the tiniest of passes and say, “oh, Alpha-ness affects each species of dragon differently, so they unlock species-specific powers when they go Alpha.” it’s fucking DUMB, but at least it’s SOMETHING. but this rly feels like it was meant to further highlight male/female differences, and give Toothless a decidedly more “masculine” power compared to the Light Fury. which makes no goddamn sense in terms of sexual dimorphism, so it’s automatically more dumb than the Alpha explanation. we’ll never know for sure which reasoning it is, but either way I hate it.
and NOW we finally get to the meat of what ppl have prolly wanted to hear from this-- my thoughts on the Light Fury in-context
well, sadly, as folks have pointed out to us over the last few weeks, our aquatic theory was blown out of the water. the Light Fury (I’m just gonna call her LF for convenience), nor any of the other dragons in the “Hidden World” were any more aquatically-leaning than any of the other dragons in the film. Grimmel himself smacked cold climates out of the running for Furies, so LF’s not even white for arctic camouflage. all signs point to........ *sigh*............. ~~*sexual dimorphism*~~
the especially shitty thing is that there could’ve been a cool, semi-explanation for this, since Night Furies as a whole seem to have camouflage abilities. maybe LF just prefers to be white, or she goes light in certain scenes (like when they’re on the beach) to match her environment, but is actually black like Toothless. it still wouldn’t explain away her dainty build, but it’d at least be SOMETHING. but no, she’s dainty and white b/c ~~~feeeeeeeeemaleeee~~~
which is actually rly confusing, b/c this tweet suggests that LF actually IS a unique variation on the species, but almost nothing in the movie indicates such. the one scene that rly stuck out for this was when Grimmel saw the Light Fury for the first time and IMMEDIATELY was like, “A female?” now u could argue that he’s so familiar w/ Furies that he can tell at a glance the sex of a Fury even in just a few small details, but what this scene implied to me is that female Night Furies are obviously and recognizably white-- thus that Light Furies are actually just..... Night Furies...
the only thing that convinces me that LF rly is a subspecies rather than just a female Night Fury is that Toothless’ and LF’s kids turn out all patchy, which wouldn’t make a whole lotta sense w/ sexual dimorphism. now u could argue that juveniles of a lot of species usually have to grow into their adult coats/patterns, or maybe even that Night Furies start out unisex/nonsexed then grow into a sex depending on hormones (or could even change their sex over their lifetime!). that would actually be interesting lore to make up for some of the shitty dimorphism! 
but I get the feeling that these hatchling designs are supposed to be the designers’ get-out-of-jail card, like, “see, their kids are CLEARLY hybrids, so this explains away LF’s design as a subspecies, so u can’t actually get mad at us for it!!!” despite the fact that there’s no real explanation for why she looks like...... that. the coloration I can see for that weird technicolor Hidden World, but the smoothness? the daintiness? only an aquatic lifestyle could’ve saved that for me, and that was trashed hard
there’s just no good reason for a Light Fury subspecies to look the way they do, and there’s even less reason for female Night Furies to look that way, so either explanation is trash
so y’know. real nice to see HTTYD continue their tradition of crappy treatment of their main female characters. Valka’s sudden decline from a strong, mysterious warrior, to a damsel in distress when she’s revealed to be feeeeemaleeeee in the 2nd film. that HORRIFIC, “but THIS is a KING,” line in that same film. Astrid’s unrealistic nosedive into love straight from apathy in the first film. actually, Astrid’s presence in the whole franchise feels.... some weird kinda way to me, but I can’t rly put my finger on it. someone else will have to deep-dive analyze her for me b/c I can’t rly get a grasp on why I don’t like her much as a character, but something feels off abt her, esp after she falls in love w/ Hiccup...
anyways, all those specific critiques in mind, here are my synthesized thoughts on the trilogy:
I’m tempted to call HTTYD1 a practically perfect film. the plot is solid and takes the “boy and his dog” approach in a new direction, most of the characters feel real and relatable, there’s so much unique charm in the world/aesthetic/characters/etc., and most importantly it has so much heart that shines through every interaction (particularly b/t Toothless and Hiccup) and the general theme of the film. I think my only real complaint abt this first film is how quickly Astrid flips from feeling nothing for Hiccup to being in love w/ him, that was p ridiculous
HTTYD2 has a lot of faults. a LOT. a lot of weird sexism involving the Valka and the comparisons b/t “kings” and “queens”, weird motivations for Valka, a lot of weird racism involving Drago (which didn’t rly transfer to the 3rd film so it didn’t feel relevant to this discussion earlier), and absolute NONSENSE Alpha plot convenience. however, even if HTTYD2 lacks in plot/worldbuilding (and, more disappointingly, appropriate handling of certain characters...), it still has all the heart and charm of the first film imo. this film is absolutely BURSTING w/ emotions b/t different characters (Stoick/Valka of particular note, of course), and most every scene hit hard enough to stick w/ me longgg after I’d seen the film. it’s far from perfect, but I think the heart and charm can make up for a lot of its faults
HTTYD3 is. not great. the plot isn’t bad on paper, but in practice it lacks any real stakes due to a fangless villain. for as much as I hate the Light Fury’s design and the heavy sexism associated w/ her whole plot, I would honestly say it’s the flat villain and lack of any real stakes that make this film most unenjoyable. this fear of real stakes scooped out all the heart that should transfer from the first two films, leaving a rather empty film where even the emotional moments (like the reverse callback to Hiccup first touching Toothless’ face) don’t hit nearly as hard as they should, nor do they stick w/ me at all after leaving the theater. the only thing I’ll give this film is that it at LEAST has the charm of the original characters to carry it (Hiccup and Toothless are still great, Ruffnut’s imprisonment was prolly my favorite scene in the film, etc.), but that’s not rly saying much when the film SHOULD be able to stand on its own and not simply rely on the crutch of already well-loved characters to pull it thru
-Mod Spiral
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