#gothi httyd

[ratladysarah]

If i am not like her as an old lady then i dont wanna be one

I freaking love her she’s the cutest sassiest old lady ever

I just now realized i forgor the snake tattoo just act like its there

[garussy]

I headcanon Gobber as an orphan who was raised by Gothi

He never talks about having any other family and he’s the only one who can understand her scribbles

Also Gothi would see a dirty kid running around Berk and just snatch him up and take him home for a bath and a nice dinner

He also talks about her favorite yak noddle soup in the show

[revive-the-fandom]

the dragons series had a lot of inconsistencies tbh and I've yet to see anyone spell some of them out? so I'm gonna be the critic i need in my life

Gothi

this childless Grandma is not a healer.

she is a Seeress or a Wise Woman. the Berkians canonically refer to her as The Elder.

A Seeress' job is to commune with gods and spirits (mostly thru getting high) and give advice to their King or Jarl (or Chief). Gothi does this canonically by being the final judge for whether Hiccup or Astrid got to graduate/get the honour of killing the Monstrous Nightmare.

Seeress' were almost always women, although men did occasionally become Seers, it was considered emasculating and unnatural.

Seeress' may also live in high, isolated places in order to be closer to the Gods, which Gothi most definitely does. They could also take vows of silence, which is most likely what Gothi has done, if she isn't physically mute.

Seeress' were highly respected and had a considerably amount of influence over their clan.

Berk's attitude towards the dragons

The end of Httyd 1 showed multiple people riding and co-habituating with Dragons. They had feeding stations (made out of old braziers), stables etc:

But RoB/DoB opens with the village seriously struggling to assimilate the Dragons into their lives, with the Dragons stealing food and shitting in the town square.

Fishlegs & Hiccup

Fishlegs is not Hiccup's friend in Httyd 1, he's one of Hiccup's bullies.

Fishlegs hangs out with Snotlout, the twins and Astrid and laughs along with them when teasing Hiccup. He may be a conflicted or opportunistic bully rather than a flat out asshole, but he's still participating.

Fishlegs is one above Hiccup in the pecking order, if Hiccup's not around to be bullied then Fishlegs is next in line. But as it stands Fishlegs is allowed into the friend circle, whereas Hiccup is not.

Fishlegs is the bully that needs Hiccup around so that he doesn't get bullied himself. He for sure wants to be friends with Hiccup too, but he's not going to risk his position in the group for Hiccup.

Snotlout & bullying Fishlegs

the series (The Iron Gronckle ep mostly) makes out that Snotlout has been terrorising specifically Fishlegs (both physically and verbally) to the point that Fishlegs has become meek and anxious because of him.

which is just blatantly not true, see my above point on Fishlegs being one of the bullies.

Snotlout is mean to Fishlegs, sure. but he's also mean to Hiccup, and on occasion to the Twins. Snotlout is second in command of this group's/generation's pecking order, and he only bows his head to Astrid because she is sitting solidly at the top (and he has a crush on her).

As soon as Astrid is booted off of her pedestal by Hiccup, Snotlout starts acting friendly to Hiccup. So does everyone save Astrid.

and once Hiccup is top dog, Snotlout takes orders from Hiccup, because Hiccup is the most successful and respected of their group. Even when they lead him into dangerous situations like the final battle against the Red/Green Death.

Snotlout is not The Bully TM he's just one of many bullies. He wasn't trying to single people out, he was just trying to fit in with the standard the adults of Berk had set, and one of those standards was bullying the weak.

Astrid & bullying hiccup

the series loves to forget that Astrid was the Leader of the group for most of Httyd 1, and she was at best a passive observer of their bullying Hiccup, and at worst an active participant. She shared Berk's views on "get tough or get out" and applied them to Hiccup.

Astrid took things a step further and started stalking Hiccup as soon as he started out pacing her in training. She pushed him around and hit him, while even Snotlout had only teased him.

Saying that Astrid and Hiccup have "known each other all [their] lives" in RTTE is true in that they have lived in the same village and grown up at the same time, but they most definitely weren't close in Httyd 1.

[dragoneyemysteries]

Okay, this is a bit late, but I've finally gotten a review of the live action done.

To sum it up, it was good. Legitimately good, fun, enjoyable, nostalgic, faithful to the original movie, and honestly just really fun to watch. Not quite as good as the original (because nothing can ever beat that), but it came pretty damn close. Detailed review below, be warned, there are spoilers. It's also long, so I put it under a read more just to be nice. You're welcome :)

While it was similar to the original film, there were also a whole lot of changes, most of which felt like a refinement of the original film. Some scenes got more in-depth, there was more development of the characters, themes from future movies and the shows were tied in. The movie subtly expanded on parts that didn't get touched on in the original film, while keeping the same feelings as the original. The best way I can describe it is that it felt bigger. You could sense there was more to the characters, more to Berk, than was ever explicitly stated on screen. And I really liked that sense of scale!

While there were a lot of changes like this, there are a couple I'd like to talk about in more detail. Let's start with Astrid. I feel like a lot of the additions to Astrid's character were already things that were subtly there in the film, and that a lot of the fandom has picked up on already. Her determination and anger is more potent. It's made clear that she had to work to get where she is -- she didn't become the best overnight, she trained until she got there. She has dreams, and ambitions, and hates that Hiccup can steal it all from her. All of these things were there in the original. The live action just brought it into the light. Which I loved, because it makes the detail of her character more apparent. (The live action also came at it from a bit of a different angle, with introducing the idea that Astrid wants to be chief. Not sure what this will do for the rest of the movies, but it's an interesting twist and I'm excited to see where it goes.) The only thing I was disappointed by was that she didn't get her classic explosion-in-the-background introduction. However there was an explosion in the background after she chopped up the Red Death's teeth (that was EPIC, by the way) do I guess I can't be too mad.

I could probably talk for days about Astrid so let's move on to some other changes. Having Berk be made up of people of all different races from all around the world really added to the scale of things, like I mentioned earlier. Hearing that that all these people came together to fight dragons -- and that they all had dragons where they're from -- gave me the chills when I heard it in the theaters. I also loved how they gave Gothi a bigger presence. Unlike in the original, she's involved in the meeting where they decide to search for the nest again. Everyone shows her so much reverence in that scene, it's clear that she's an incredibly important person -- which makes her later moments, like declaring Hiccup gets to kill the dragon, so much more impactful.

I also appreciated the depth they gave to the riders -- not just Astrid. They pulled in a lot of the riders' character traits from the shows, and it made them feel more fleshed out that they did in the original. Snotlout is a standout example of this. The live action gives Spitelout a bigger presence, and throughout the movie, there are small scenes where Snotlout is seeking his father's approval. It's a subtle but notable nod to his strained relationship with his father in the shows that I really appreciated. Another little thing I liked was that the twins are supposed to be a few years older than the other teens (they flunked dragon training a few times). It makes sense for the characters (like Hiccup, the twins are unique and Berk probably didn't appreciate them for a lot of their lives), and with the fact that all the teens on the island shouldn't be the exact same age.

However, there were some changes I don't agree with. All of them are related to Hiccup, and all of them are about things that were cut. I'll start with the minor ones. First, Hiccup never did his Stoick impersonation when walking home with Gobber after the raid. It just cuts straight to "I just want to be one of you guys" after a little Gobber pep talk. Second, when he finds Toothless, he never says "I'm a Viking!" or any of the other lines in that scene. My issues with these cuts are pretty much the same. The moments don't hit as hard without these lines. The messages if them are still there, but you have to look for them, instead of it being obvious.

The big cut that I didn't agree with is that they removed the Terrible Terror scene that happens right after Test Drive. For me, that scene serves three main purposes and is super important to the movie, so I'm very upset that it got cut. The first and most obvious is that the scene foreshadows the ending and how Hiccup defeats the Red Death. Without this scene, the Red Death's defeat doesn't feel clever or earned, it just... happens seemingly out of nowhere. The second is that one of Hiccup's lines from that scene, "Everything we know about you... is wrong" is just so important to the movie and its themes. That moment is finally when Hiccup takes the step towards caring about all dragons. It's a very critical part of Hiccup's character development. The third reason is less significant, but I've always seen that scene as a little nod to book Toothless, which I love.

As for the dragons, I'll be honest. When the first promotional materials were released, I was pretty skeptical of a lot of the designs. Toothless and Meatlug especially. However, all the dragons look much more appropriately frightening and dangerous when they're flying around shooting fire at the characters. Despite looking more like a pug than a Gronckle, Meatlug was great during the first day of dragon training. Totally terrifying. Toothless never really looked scary, which was disappointing, because he looked scary a lot in the original. But for the most part, he acted like Toothless, and that allowed me to (mostly) look past his awkwardly proportioned face. The other dragon designs were outstanding! The Red Death felt even bigger in the live action, somehow. So overall, the dragons were pretty good!

And I think that sums everything up! Overall, a very good movie (that doesn't deserve a lot of the hate it's been given). It doesn't beat the original, but it expands upon it and opens up a lot of new paths. I'm excited to see where the next one will go!

[lilliths-matori-blog]

i headcanon that Gothi knows how to speak in sign language and that several other people (Hiccup, Fishlegs) know it too, except she prefers to communicate via dirt drawing because it gives her an excuse to smack people with her staff (Hiccup and Fishlegs are in on this and greatly approve)

[verdart]

Someone on pinterest commented "Gothi is a menace to society, she is the queen elisabeth of the archipelago" and i cant unsee it now its so true

[amyrafierceblade]

Okay

My mom keeps insisting that Gobber is the child of Mildew and Gothi and I'm tired of being alone in hearing it.

Suffering upon ye

[smallfrogpleasedtomeetyou]

Gothi is an eldritch godess