#doomsday 2018

[arduennas]

Twelve Days of Doomsday 2018 → Day 1: How to Train Your Dragon

“The thing is, we are all, in a sense, supper. Walking, talking, breathing suppers, that’s what we are. Take you, for instance. YOU are about to be eaten by ME, so that makes you supper. That’s obvious. But even a murderous carnivore like myself will be supper for worms one day. We’re all snatching precious moments from the peaceful jaws of time...”

[kingofthewilderwest]

Do you think, given the chance to go back in time and prevent the dragon-human war, would Book!Hiccup have any qualms about freeing/not freeing Furious in the forests of Beserk?

Ooo this is good food for thought.

My thought is that Hiccup would free Furious regardless. 

Hiccup is the young man who believes in forgiving someone a third time, a fourth time, a fifth time, and a sixth time… even if there’s a high likelihood that he’ll get hurt again. Hiccup isn’t a fool and knows that Snotlout might harm him again and never change, but Hiccup isn’t going to change his own thoughtfulness either. Hiccup still believes his own actions are the right way to go. Any time that someone is in trouble, even an enemy who could betray him, Hiccup still believes it’s his duty to help them.

It’s part of what makes Hiccup such a memorable hero in the book series. Whatever your own ethical framework, whatever you think would be the ethical thing to do yourself, how Hiccup is written is memorable. He’s not going to stoop down to something that might make him momentarily dirty for some end good. It’s an idealistic framework with very little sense of realism in a world where realistic horrors abound. And yet in the end, that unending idealism provides changes to the Barbaric Archipelago.

Even in the case that Hiccup could go back in time and knows what the future will bring with Furious, Hiccup’s morality isn’t based upon a utilitarian / consequentialist framework. It’s based upon the idea that we should always act with thoughtfulness, respect, and kindness to everyone we come across. For Hiccup not to free Furious in his miserable state (when Hiccup and Furious first meet) would be a failing on Hiccup’s end, according to Hiccup’s feelings.

The fact that Furious would later go off to kill people and wreak a war would grate upon Hiccup’s thoughts, of course. It would legitimately disturb Hiccup because he doesn’t want other people to suffer. He knows that freeing Furious will bring about that suffering. He may ask himself if this would make him fully culpable for their misfortune. He may ask himself if that means it would be “okay” to leave Furious in the forest of Berserk. 

But Hiccup is someone who believes that our kind actions have meaning. That  someone else may harm you later doesn’t give you an excuse not to give them this kindness now. Leaving a dragon like this would be unaccepted to Hiccup.

I think Hiccup would, if anything, try to talk with Furious more before freeing him. But he’d still release Furious. 

[historyrepeatsitself]

this was gonna be a part of a larger piece but it turns out it fits todays prompt so here ya go  

[mrsnaildood]

Doomsday 2018,,,,

Fallen flat on my face on that one for a number of reasons....

Would you guys mind if I did it late(as in in 2019 because there's only a couple hours of 2018 left)? 😓

[historyrepeatsitself]

 Doomsday Drabble- Day 8 

this is a SUPER short drabble for day 8 but i’m trying to get my crap together a do a little more writing. im hopefully planning to catch up on the other days too (ill probably post them to AO3 if i do them!) 

summary: brief drabble from fishlegs’ POV as he’s hanging (haha literally) with the fiancés and Furious

“Sing!” shouted the voice from the treetops that sounded like Camicazi, “Sing!” Fishlegs scanned the crowd of Berserks and even the cages of fiancés, but he saw no one. Yet, the idea dug itself into Fishlegs’ brain, sing your tribal anthem, the voice had said. Sing.

It had been exactly what Hiccup had done atop the volcano back on Lava-Lout Island when HE had been about to die. Perhaps, Fishlegs pondered, it was worth a shot. He cautiously raised his head once again towards the crowd and slowly drew himself from the darkness of the back of his cage. He pushed himself forward into a standing position, trying to keep his cage from rocking since the rocking reminded him that he was currently suspended far too many feet in the air over an angry dragon. Nevertheless, he pushed himself forward until the sun shone through the bars of his cage onto his skin. He opened his mouth. The first several words cracked on his dry, tired throat, but then the anthem rang clear.

“I didn’t mean to come here

And I didn’t mean to stay

It’s just where the sea blew me

ONE ACCIDENTAL DAY”

Fishlegs watched as the Scarers that had previously surrounded his cage lessened as the words brought courage to his heart. Fishlegs felt his body stop its tremors, the chill of anxiety abruptly halted by the words pouring from his mouth.

“It wasn’t where I meant to be,

And it wasn’t where I had my start.

But now I’ll never leave these rain-soaked bogs

Because Berk is where I LEFT MY HEART!”

For the first time in his life, as Fishlegs gazed down upon the people below him, he heard their cheers and whoops of joy (for even people as mad as the Berserks can appreciate bravery), he felt as though he, himself were a hero. The fiancés and the Berserks began raucous applause, the noise of which carried with Fishlegs as he was lowered farther and farther down.

He did not know what was down there. He doubted he would make it out of this predicament alive, but the cheers from the Berserks and fiancés above had instilled him with courage. He was brave. He was a hero. He was a Hooligan, if not by birth, then by adoption. Either way, for the first time in Fishlegs’ short life, he was the hero, even though he had lost, even though he had failed, he was still a hero.

[historyrepeatsitself]

Doomsday Day 3

so i missed the first two because finals s u c k  but here’s a short fic i wrote for day 3 bc the third book is the camicazi book and therefore the best book-- 

“Unhand me you Roman scumbags! You worthless mollusks! You decrepit rocks! You-“ A hand was roughly placed over the furious girl’s mouth only to be removed seconds later with a shout.

               “She bit me!” exclaimed the man.

               “She’s bitten me too!” yelled his partner exasperatedly, “just grab her so we can go, and the boss won’t be disappointed.”

               “Regardless of what we do, he’s going to be disappointed when she bites him!” the first man returned. He moved to get a stronger grip on the girl before howling in pain.

               It appeared the girl had managed to pickpocket one of his extra knives and had stabbed him in the thigh with it. She quickly withdrew the knife before brandishing it at him and his partner. Now that she was standing upright, he realized that she was, in fact, quite a small child. However, she only stayed still for a moment, before beginning to jump around waving her knife shouting.

“Take that you cowardly Roman scum!” The girl exclaimed, brandishing her knife in his face, “you boys are all so stupid, imagine thinking you can cage a Bog-Burglar! Now who’s this boss of yours, you pathetic moron, take me to him and I’ll unzip him from his breadbasket to his oystergobbler!”  

While the man had absolutely no idea what the girl meant, he was definitely concerned. He shared a glance with his partner before quickly drawing his sword to prevent the small girl from stabbing him again. “Listen,” he pleaded, “just come quietly and you won’t get hurt.”

“Oh, I won’t be getting hurt, I would be more concerned for you,” she replied with a mischievous smile. The man was having trouble accepting that this girl was probably around ten. She parried his blow with ease and quickly followed her parry with a series of fiercely delivered strikes that were exceptionally impressive considering that she was holding a small knife. The man likely would have lost the fight had it not been for his companion.

His partner stepped up behind the girl and hit her over the head with the hilt of his sword. The girl shouted in pain before falling forward. The man immediately sheathed his sword and drew rope from his bag to wrap around the girl’s wrists. He then confiscated her knife, while his partner frisked the girl for any other weapons. Once they had made sure the girl was securely tied and clear of all weapons; the man lifted her over his shoulder and the two Roman soldiers began their descent towards their boat that was docked at the Bog-Burglar shore.

It appeared the two had made the right call coming at night. None of the Bog-Burglars seemed aware that their young heir had just been kidnapped. None of them were aware that she was being taken out to sea. None of them would know, in the morning when they awoke to realize that she was gone when she would return, for not even the soldiers on the ship knew that.

***

In the darkness of the belly of the ship, the heir of the Bog-Burglars awoke. Her long blonde hair was matted from being thrown into the ship and she had a splitting headache. She felt her waist hoping to find her sword, but when she felt nothing, she quickly moved downward searching for weaponry until she eventually reached her boot. She removed her boot and felt her breath catch her throat when she realized that her emergency dagger wasn’t there.

Cautiously, she began to look around the belly of the ship. A dim silver light illuminated her as she gazed upward through the bars of the trapdoor that separated her from the rest of the ship. She could see the sliver of the moon peaking around the sail. She watched as occasionally a cloud would drift over the moon and she would be left in darkness again until the light of the moon returned. The young heir spent the night staring at the sky, desperately trying to decipher her direction from the stars above her.

When she realized that she had no idea what direction she was heading in, nor where she was, the heir to the Bog-Burglar crown began to cry. Kidnapping was, by no means, unfamiliar to heirs, but Camicazi knew that she was heading out of the archipelago this time, and outside the archipelago, she didn’t know what would happen. Outside the archipelago, she wasn’t entirely sure that they wouldn’t kill her. Outside the archipelago, she wasn’t entirely sure she could escape. Outside the archipelago, she wasn’t entirely sure her mother could find her, and that was the thought that truly terrified her.

***

Finally, when she saw the golden peak of dawn through the bars of the trapdoor, she reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes. She straightened her clothing and did her best to comb through her hair, fixing it to its normal outrageous mess. When one of the men descended through the trapdoor to come retrieve her, she stood before him, mustering as much fire as she could into her bright blue eyes. “We’ve arrived,” the man said, looking at her with uncertainty, as though she might assault him.

“Good,” Camicazi chirped, “I’ve got a word or two to say to your boss. I don’t know what kind of fool thinks he can mess with the Bog-Burglars, but I’ll teach him a thing or two.” She walked over to where the man was standing and hoped upwards, using the man as a foothold to pull herself onto the deck. The other man stood agape as he watched her climb through the trapdoor, Camicazi turned to him, “You can’t cage a Bog-Burglar, you know,” she said with a laugh, before brushing her hands together briskly. “Now let’s get going,” she ordered, as she gestured to the dock before them, “Shall we?” she smiled, though internally her stomach was doing cartwheels as she stared upward at the looming towers before her. 

Nevertheless, she was a Bog-Burglar, and Bog-Burglars are strong.

[kingofthewilderwest]

What's sadder for you from the HTTYD books: the story of Hiccup II, or Hiccup keeping Snotlout's medallion as an old man? (Thinking of drawing the dream Hiccup has from book eight)

I saw your drawing of the dream - I love the colors you chose!!! Very much the sense of a dark, unsettling dream.

So personally, I think that the story of Hiccup the Second is very different narratively/conceptually from Hiccup’s relation to post-death Snotlout. One of these is a story wherein we get to know about character and see him killed off in sixteen pages. He’s a story within the story, a historic character in the Barbaric Archipelago, but an individual of the past whom we never interact with directly. The other is our main character mourning the death of his cousin after eleven solid books of shaky familial relations, character growth, plot developments, emotional struggles, bullying, horrors, wars, betrayals, sword fights, and finished redemption arcs. It’s totally fun to talk about which is more sad, but given that one of these is the end of a story that takes place in less than twenty pages, and another is the end of an arc that takes place over several thousand pages... there’s going to be different levels of impact simply through the nature of what each is.

Hiccup the Second is, as I’m sure you well-know, a character I rave over. I love him. He’s a unique and memorable personality. His story is memorable, noteworthy, tragic. Cressida Cowell is able to weave together a tale and get us gripped in who Hiccup the Second is... only to kill him and make us gasp the second Grimbeard’s sword strikes. I was shocked that he would die from his father’s sword - I was clearly caught up in Hiccup’s tale.It’s a testament to Cowell’s storytelling prowess that she can do this in the course of one short chapter. She wrote this effectively. Extremely effectively. And the fact someone like me bonded over Hiccup the Second so fast and was distraught over his death... means nothing but applause to our HTTYD novelist.

It’s as effective as you can make such a short tale hit.

And that short tale... weaves into the narrative of the current story arc. Knowing this is where Furious came from, knowing this is Hiccup’s ancestor, makes the tale all the worse.

Now, nothing to me can compare to the fact that Snotlout bullies Hiccup, undermines Hiccup, competes against Hiccup, turns increasingly nasty to Hiccup, endangers Hiccup, destroys Hiccup’s tribe and leads family members to slavery, betrays Hiccup to be tortured, fights Hiccup at sword point in emotional desperation......... For ten and a half books we hated Snotlout because of the constant damage he made our protagonist suffer. We understand why Snotlout made his choices, what with his feelings of bitterness and insecurity and desire for respect and strength and recognition. That just makes his mistakes hurt more. Snotlout made increasingly poor choices that led him into ruin for himself, Hiccup, and his tribe. We get so much baggage in this relationship between cousins, which has fraught us start to end of the book series’ journey. 

For Snotlout to finally redeem himself is an incredibly POWERFUL moment. Forgiveness is meaningful after the third and fourth and fifth and sixth and seventh times. All the horrors and hate for Snotlout, all his conflict and increasingly bad choices that led him astray... turn to triumph as he reforges himself into a valiant hero. He emotionally acknowledges his wrongdoings and finally turns himself around to help himself, Hiccup, his tribe. The plot arc which has been developing dramatically over the course of eleven books takes an amazing pivot. We feel ourselves soaring in excitement that now - now - things have turned for the better. Snotlout’s days of destruction are over! On to become a......!!!

And then we stare in horror as his one first act for Hiccup’s favor becomes his last.

After so much time where Snotlout hurts Hiccup... it’s such a PAIN that when he FINALLY starts to turn himself around... is the shocking moment he dies on Hiccup’s behalf. To see him plunge from the sky, a burning arrow in his chest, suddenly smash into the sea and disappear to us forever.

It’s longterm storytelling development at its most painfully finest.

So Hiccup cherishing Snotlout’s Black Star at the end is powerful. Old man Hiccup remembers everything Snotlout has done, and resolve to carry him with him, every breath he takes, every decision he makes, until they meet again in a better world than this. Wow. Ouch. Wow. My heart. Snotlout’s death and Hiccup’s closing words in book eleven made me cry good - the best cry I’ve had throughout the HTTYD franchise. 

Both the story of Hiccup the Second, and Hiccup the Third choosing to remember Snotlout’s passing, are extremely effective and strengths of Cowell’s writing. Both deserve applause for being the utmost effective for what they are. But they are two different things. Hiccup the Second’s death is a gasp moment for me. Snotlout dying and Old Man Hiccup reflecting on his cousin’s parting is a cry moment. These two events have extremely different purposes in the narrative structure, and different proportions, which is why the Snotlout stuff hurts so, so, so much more. There’s no fair contest for which is “worse”.

But of course... both of these moments are Cowell at her best.

[ruetherae]

Kind of looking forward to my follower count going down as the porn bots get deleted, but hoping all the people I actually like and don’t deserve it don’t get kicked out...