scratchedrecord

Latest Posts by scratchedrecord

Technoblade is, to this day, one of my favorite youtubers of all time. He was hilarious and driven with his goals, however silly they may have seemed. He was thorough in his planning and strategizing, which was admirable. He had a flare for the dramatic in a theatre-esque way. He was a huge dork, with his elaborate speeches, and mythological references. I remember excitedly waiting for him on his streams, although usually he was late. Putting on the potato wars videos as I did my homework.

Even after his fame, he had such great humility and respect for both his fans and coworkers. His content and humor brought smiles and laughter to many of those who watched. He inspired so many, and he left a positive impact on the world. Even when he knew his end was drawing near, he went out of his way thinking of what to say in his goodbye to us. I've never really mourned a "celebrity death" before, even with Stan Lee and Chadwick Boseman, but seeing his time reach an end, hearing that he was giving his streaming money to his siblings, hit so hard. He really was a great person until the end.

So long, Techno, Alex, and may you rest in peace. You died too young, we'll miss you, and you may be gone, but your legacy will live on in our hearts. After all, "Technoblade never dies."

June 1, 1999 - 2022

Got into hetalia the first time ‘bout 7 years ago and now I’m back- Anyways, I've been doing a 100+ slide presentation (it’ll prolly be 200+ when i finish) about hetalia for fun and here's a list of my favorite characters.

Childhood favorites (not anymore): Pirate England S Italy England Spain

Favorites (old and new in this order): Canada 2p Canada Norway Romania Hungary Australia Netherlands Scotland Switzerland Greece Ecuador Portugal

HTTYD 3 Criticism

I watched all 3 httyd movies last weekend and since it’s still on my mind I figured I’d post a few little reasons on why I and some others didn’t enjoy the 3rd movie as much as the other 2. I read a few reviews on the School of Dragons website and watched FatalGlory128′s YouTube criticism. While I do agree with some points, I didn’t agree with others, so if anyone references these, they’ll notice there’s a few differences. Plus, I wanted to explain what I could in further depth. In a brief summary, forcing plot progression, forcing a cohesive ending, and forcing bland humor sacrificed a lot of what made httyd special, and here are ways that it butchered the 3rd movie. Word count: 3595

5 ways How to Train Your Dragon 3: Hidden World failed its predecessors

1) first impressions matter

Right off the bat the first scene sets up disappointment by firmly establishing the next 2 points; plot and character inconsistency. Both of the first 2 movies would set the scene with a reminiscent and captivating exposition, explaining what Berk is and what makes it special. Not only did the 3rd movie’s introduction lack this tradition, but it showed the worst of the dragon riders, messy incompetence, solely for the sake of comedic value that, according to other reviews, didn’t fully reach its audience. Essentially, its weak execution sets up lowered expectations for an even weaker remainder of the entire movie.

2) plot inconsistency, plot dullness, thematic inconsistency, storytelling flaws

To summarize, the general plot of the movie entailed:

A- hiccup had to grow as a leader, he couldn't be both dragon liberator and chief of the village without neglecting one

A2- Berk is overrun by dragons due to the constant dragon liberation and they need a new home if they want to keep dragons

A3- they go west bc there are enemies south n east + night furies can’t survive in the cold

B- Toothless and Hiccup were growing up, therefore explaining changes and leading to their departures for their respective worlds

B2- Toothless wants to leave for the sake of the sighting of a light fury, supposedly the last other of his kind, that he met within 3 days

B3- Toothless becomes king of all wild dragons in the Hidden world

B4- all dragons leave Berk

C- a new baddie poses threat to Hiccup, Toothless, and the other dragons, and he's set up to seem like he's a smarter manipulative villain

A is a character inconsistency issue that will be expanded in 3) and C will be explained in 4).

A2 retracts what was established in HTTYD 2 - that there were countless uninhabited islands, mapped out by Hiccup himself, and studied in more depth by Valka. Logically, there are other nearby islands that they could have settled on for the sake of their dragons. Even with potential Berkian stubbornness (a notable HTTYD 1 characteristic not exemplified in this movie) they would have moved for the sake of their dragons, the ones they hold dear. After all, protecting their families and those they love was an honorable attribute of the Berkians. If not that, there is also the larger expanse of the forest region on Berk that was not shown to be inhabited.

A3 is a lore inconsistency. Toothless has lived with Hiccup for 6 years (being 15 in the first movie, 20 by the second, and another year said to have passed by the time of the 3rd movie). In the first movie’s introductory description of Berk, their island was described as "12 days North of hopeless and a few days south of freezing to death.” 1 of the strongest character and thematic points of the movie series is the strength of a bond, overcoming the worst odds, exemplified by the inseparable duo of Toothless and Hiccup. In the first movie, they were set up as an impossible duo, a dragon and a boy from a community where killing dragons was not only a highly honored tradition, but a day to day occurrence. A boy born to the war between Dragons and Vikings that dated back centuries before him. A boy whose peers and family recognized this, pushed this. A boy who himself recognized this, seeking the opportunity to kill a dragon. A boy who, even when every step of their rivalry was set up for him, opposed his idea of the natural order, and did something far more courageous than any other viking before him- befriend a dragon. This was the essence of the movie series. In the second movie, the Alpha, who could control all other dragons at his whim without struggle, failed to keep Toothless in his rule, solely because of the unstoppable bond between Toothless and Hiccup. In the Christmas special, How To Train Your Dragon: Gift of the Night Fury, Toothless was gifted a self-sufficient tail by Hiccup, allowing him his freedom, which allowed him to fly solo on his own accord long enough to find Hiccup’s viking helmet. After his act of service, he went as far as to break the tail in front of Hiccup to prove that he preferred their bond over anything else. This was a major driving moment in their relationship, emphasizing and strengthening their bond. Ironically, this major scene was referenced in the 3rd movie, but was passively dismissed, the very point of this scene to be disregarded.

All of this was dismantled within seconds by a dragon Toothless met in a day. B and B2 are issues, not only because it was unrealistic and inconsistent to their established characters, but because this repealed one of the strongest themes of the movie series. The relationship between Toothless and the Lightfury should not have carried that level of importance so early; it was rushed and forced, therefore lacking the same depth as the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless. A bond made in days would not so easily override the bond that Hiccup and Toothless had shared and built for 6 years. It would have formed some conflict, after all this was Toothless’s first encounter with romance, but not enough for Toothless to forget and completely abandon Hiccup. For Toothless’s relationship with the Lightfury to be stronger there should have been established bonding moments, resolved conflicts, and time. Not to mention, there were sightings of other Lightfuries in the Hidden World, therefore nullifying the potential theory that they had a special connection due to being the last of the Light and Nightfuries.

B3 is an issue because Toothless knows little to nothing about the customs of wild dragons, much less the customs of the dragons who live in the Hidden World. This was firmly established in the courting attempt scene of the movie and encounters with wild dragons in the show. His coronation scene, as amazing as it could have been, had no emotional meaning. Toothless is a leader, as established by the end of the second movie, but that's with a community of dragons that he was already a part of (he knew the customs and dealt with those dragons everyday interpersonally). In addition to knowing nothing about the customs of Hidden World dragons, the trust of the Hidden World dragons had to be earned for him to be crowned. This implies that either their trusts were earned off screen or not earned at all, simply guaranteed to Toothless. Which, in turn, could have been done because he was the last Nightfury or simply because it was forced to happen for the sake of plot progression. Moreover, the fact that none of these things were shown to the audience and just expected to be inferred by the audience is, by itself, a storytelling flaw.

B4 has 2 major faults. To begin with, Hiccup pushed the dragons away and said they may return eventually, because he thought dragons would be safer away from humanity. However, Hiccup is the highest example of human-dragon relations, his bond with Toothless revolutionized the war between dragons and Berk, the land of the most stubborn vikings, as they know it. He changed the mind of his father, one of the major chiefs of the archipelago they live on, and made a mini human-dragon utopia. By pushing the dragons away to the Hidden World, he's giving up the best chance that dragons have of living with humans in peace on the mere whim that maybe things will get better naturally with time. Hiccup failed to see that he had to be the change he wanted to see in the world, and in order for it to spread farther he could not stop. Change does not occur by hiding, avoiding, and self-preservation, but takes commitment, effort, and at times, sacrifice. Unions form for workers rights. Strikes, marches, and protests were done for suffrage and desegregation. Not only is the ending a terrible life lesson, teaching the audience to give up on what they love, but goes against the endearing character of Hiccup established in the first 2 movies- the same stubborn character who refused to kill a dragon when everyone else would, willing to do the most ludicrous things like teach his friends to ride dragons in a few hours and fly on babies just to protect that which he loved. He and the Berkians fought for their human-dragon life and bonds in the previous 2 movies only for the leader of it to give up. This is a failure, not only as a friend and as an inspirational figure, but as chief.

Secondly, another motivation for the dragons leaving was simply because Toothless said so. The other dragons and other Berkians didn’t even want to leave each other- they were shown with teary faces of sorrow. There would have, at least, been a few protests instead of a rushed but solemn acceptance, changing their 6 year way of life because of 1 person’s, Hiccup’s, pessimism. Just because Toothless and Hiccup wanted to depart, didn’t mean that all the others had to leave as well. They themselves were denied their own feelings and opinions, and were treated less as characters but as objects or tools to be controlled or held hostage.

3) character complexities were turned to watered down caricatures

Hiccup was a strategizer, planner, and creative thinker. He was self taught in flying techniques with Toothless, built his saddle and tailfin, and taught the other dragon riders not only to ride but to battle with their dragons all as a teenager. By 20 he had already been the leader of his dragon riding teams for around 5 years, as proven in the shows. Being 21 years old and the acting chief for 1 year in the time of the 3rd movie, one would think Hiccup would be able to have solved his balancing issue to some degree. Instead, he was portrayed as an irresponsible and careless leader. The complaints of overcrowding in Berk was brushed off with a simple remark, “Oh, we’ll make some room.” The Hiccup from the previous 2 movies would not have reacted with that level of thoughtlessness, nor would he have allowed Berk’s overcrowding to have accumulated to that extent. In this movie, he set the entire village on a journey for the Hidden World, unsure if it even existed. After giving Toothless the new solo flight tail, Hiccup’s screen time is spent worrying and overthinking Toothless rather than taking care of New Berk.

Toothless was an emotionally sophisticated creature. His trust had to be earned by Hiccup for a reason, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do when Hiccup was in Hookfang’s danger, and to recall, he used his solo flight tail only to find Hiccup’s helmet. In the 2nd scene of the next movie, he had playful yet intelligent communication and banter with Hiccup; Hiccup, asking Toothless for names for the new islands, and Toothless expressing when he was feeling unheard through facial expressions and by taunting Hiccup lightly. Toothless and Hiccup were a team, but this partnership was lost by the 3rd movie. He felt less like a friend and more like a pet, no longer included in decisions and his character reduced to an oversized horny dog.

In Valka’s first scene, during the raid in which she was supposed to help out the team, she simply watched and waited for the others to get organized. Rather than help them get back on track and do something to help out, she just watched. Throughout the movie, she repeatedly enables Snotlaut’s obnoxious narcissism by encouraging the boy for bad behavior instead of calling him out for unnecessarily rude and flirtatious comments. This is most likely done for comedic purposes, but by this point it is weak and, according to some reviews, did not reach the audience well. Any growth of her relationship with her son, Hiccup, is also missing. There are no signs that she taught Hiccup more about dragon anatomy like promised in the 2nd movie, and she is no more a role model or parental figure than any of the other Berkians are. There are no signs of bonding, no deeply heartfelt advice, or otherwise, leaving a weak relationship with her son. She’s also pushed away from the rest of the group for a large portion of the movie for the sake of plot progression.

Gobber, despite being another fatherly figure for Hiccup, lacks interactions with Hiccup. Hiccup was his apprentice for Instead, he was also benched for most of the movie, either busy because of his work or because of his paranoia of the newfound Hobgobbler for the sake of comedic effect. However, even while Gobber had been a source of occasional comedy in both of the previous movies, this was still balanced out with him having more substance as a character, in the 3rd movie he loses that balance.

Snotlout’s narcissism was overdone to the point where it was not only his main attribute, but his worst attribute. In the first 2 movies and the shows, Snotlout’s narcissism had a karmic comedic effect as his pride would often be his source of embarrassment. In the deadly nadder training scene of the first movie, he was overconfident in aiming a good hit on the dragon. Instead, he misses, and proceeds to spend his time defending himself desperately. His pride would then shed slightly later when he showed his fear of the dragons and had to learn to overcome it by befriending Hookfang. In the shows, there are numerous examples of this, one example being when he taunted Hiccup to punch him repeatedly, only for Hiccup to relent with his non-dominant arm, leaving Snotlout screeching in agony. In the 3rd movie, his pride and narcissism is overdone until it is unnecessary. He even makes a joke about Hiccup on New Berk saying, “Who died and made you chief?” in reference to Stoick’s death. His excessive obnoxiousness only gets worse as he tries to impress Valka by tearing down Eret’s image, restating Hiccup’s ideas as his own, and overall simply tearing down the 2 men. Valka’s failure to call him out on his behavior also takes away the main source of comedy in his character in the first 2 movies, the karmic effect of his pride being his own downfall. He was never funny because he was mean, but because people enjoy seeing antagonists suffer.

Fishlegs was an endearing, sensitive boy with studious habits. He memorized the classifications of every type of dragon in the Dragon Book before it was assigned for reading for the students of the 1st movie. When nervous he would fumble and speedily give out information on their reptilian foes. Nonetheless, by the 3rd movie he was simplified to nothing but a run-on gag about being a dragon babysitter. From his first scene to his last, he is nothing but comedic value.

The Lightfury shows very little personality, having close to no interest with Toothless and mostly restricted to faces of confusion and boredom up until toothless was crowned. This implies that either their love was formed sometime offscreen which is another storytelling flaw, or she only liked Toothless once he became king. With this, the basis of her personality was simply an object to Toothless’s character progression as she had no real defining traits besides being a female of Toothless’s species. To repeat, her bond with Toothless lacked depth due to her very limited rushed screen time and she was not even the last of her kind like she was implied to be. Her one redeeming trait in giving her a personality was being a dragon that distrusted Hiccup on first encounter, which by itself is an old and natural reaction as seen time and time again in the shows.

Tuffnut and Ruffnut are both depicted as complete idiots. While they were crazy in the other movies and shows, they were still able to function well. Part of what made their comedic effect work wasn’t the fact that they would be idiots, but specifically that they would do idiotic things and it would somehow work. Not only that, but they were mischievous, snarky pranksters that would not hold back heckling the enemy in any way they could. Instead, Tuffnut is obsessed with his fake beard and tries to wingman Hiccup unnecessarily. For context, the issue of Hiccup and Astrid’s relationship was implied to be a significant plot factor but never actually became a relevant problem as both of the pair were in a happy agreement of where they wanted to be in the moment. Ruffnut, meanwhile, wasn't careful enough to check if she was followed, which is what led Grimmel to New Berk in the first place. Basically, what little intelligence the twins still had was thrown away, making their characters bland.

Typically, when authors write off specific attributes from their characters, it’s for them to learn valuable lessons that would be of use in the future, but in this case that was not the goal. Character after character were turned to caricatures of their former selves for the same 2 reasons, forced plot progression and stale comedy that, according to more reviews, didn’t hit home for as many audiences.

4) the villain was even less threatening and interesting than the others

Grimmel is introduced as someone with the reputation of being nothing the dragon riders had ever experienced before. However, his motivations are mostly the same as Drago Bludvist, the villain of the 2nd movie, aiming to help in the making of the dragon army and turning other dragons to nothing but weapons to be used. Not only that but one of his notable tactics was similar to that of Drago’s, controlling the dragons’s minds. Although, this time, in place of the Alpha, it was through drug use. With such significant similarities, Hiccup’s statement that Grimmel is unlike anyone they had faced before is, frankly, a lie. Additionally, his character was explained to be that of a cold strategist, remarkable tactician, and hunter- less flashy but more intimidating by character, someone who will always find their mark. Nonetheless, his assumed intelligence was displayed poorly. He was only threatening by comparison to his colleagues who were shown to have IQs lower than room temperature, most likely for comedic effect but sacrificing his own portrayal. Moreover, his other 2 tactics shown didn’t require that of a brilliant mind, but could be issued by a simple one. First, his goal was to lure out Toothless with the Lightfury, a typical bait and snatch. Then, he figured out where new Berk was by letting Ruffnut go and following suit, trailing. One of his few redemption features could have been the fact that he was meant to act as a foil for Hiccup. His backstory entailed a history of hunting and murdering every last Nightfury and he was a representation of what Hiccup could have been had he simply taken the opportunity to kill Toothless in the first movie. Unfortunately, with so little focus on this aspect, the execution was left too weak to appear as a defining trait of the character. The failure to display the character of an intelligent tactician and stark similarity to Drago Bludvist makes Grimmel appear less like a terrifying foil for Hiccup but rather a paler version of Drago.

5) action, and lack thereof

While the action of the movies isn't the main focus, it still plays a huge part in the storytelling and the captivation of the audience. The first movie had the small but highly significant test drive scene, where Toothless and Hiccup learned to completely trust each other in the skies, and the dramatically tense scene where Hiccup and Toothless faced off Hookfang, thusly separating Toothless from Hiccup and leaving Hiccup’s father, Stoick, in disappointment. Then the high stakes of the fight against Red Death kept the audience thrilled, having slowly built anticipation throughout the movie. In the 2nd movie, there were 2 major Alpha battle scenes emotionally meaningful in their own ways- The 1st scene killing the good alpha and Stoick the Vast, and the 2nd scene snapping Toothless from the bad alpha’s control, proving his bond with Hiccup. The few smaller action scenes in the 3rd movie, however, lack the same emotional significance each time and feel rushed, making them forgettable. What little action that was saved for the end was not only motivated weakly with a pep talk that was immediately ignored, but was consistently and excessively interrupted with weak humor. Even despite the giant armada of ships, the fight still lacked the grandiose of the last 2 movies, disappointing the natural expectations as it was meant to uphold its legacy.

Conclusion

Overall, the strongest points of the last 2 movies weren’t just the action, but world building, emotionally complex characters, thrilling antagonists, amazing storytelling with great pacing, and their inspirational themes. All of these attributes were lost in the 3rd movie for the sake of bland comedic value, forcing plot progression, and rushing a conclusion to the movie series. Of course, this isn’t to say there is nothing good about it. Seeing HiccStrid’s wedding and children were more than sweet. However, these plotholes and lack of cohesive explanation embedded in the storytelling fumble the execution of the movie even more, leaving an unsatisfying, uninspirational, pale ghost of ruined potential. After Notes-

another extremely great point, I didn’t even think about the water dragons or leftover eggs, curious about more additional points

Final Waltz's Wilbur scene appreciation

Final Waltz Appreciation p2

The upgrade in gradient lighting and the use of perspective (we've seen some good perspective use in Hog Hunt as well), not to mention the sun rays in Tommy's speech or the fires when Dream is backing away

The wispiness of Wilbur’s transitions, god the animation in this part and the battle was so beautifully smooth

SAD-ist’s Punz

comic panel -esque dynamic

Angri Niki and murder ready Tubbo

Technoblade :))

So SAD-ist's new vid dropped :))

Final Waltz Appreciation p1

((forgive me for the bad quality, it looks slightly better if you click on em))

Dream’s reflection in the music disk

The shards of the thumbnail falling towards the sides

The way Tubbo and Tommy both turned white when getting out of the ender pearls

the bright neon green lighting and web/string symbolism for Dream

Me @ every girl in media that i grew up with: guys, it's my bi awakening ✨

Just now realizing the middle school gender envy i had (and still have) for the fanarts of godforsaken human! Bill Cipher and pretty much every newsie

I bet it was the vests. And tail coats. And suspenders. And hair. I just want to be dashing with an awesome cane to trip inexperienced children, is that so much to ask?

Another appreciation post for the SAD-ist pig-man

Yes

Thank you :DDD This is amazing

I've never tried printing a book before but I'm so excited to give it a go- a furbished, physical copy of Passerine would be a dream come true

By popular demand, the Passerine Printing Tutorial!

This the link to the Google Drive folder, which has the instructions and files you need to print your own copy of Passerine. You can also use these instructions to print off a physical copy of any book you want – whether it be your own work or your favorite fan-fiction!

Tag me if use end up using this, I’d love to see your books!

Taglist:

@burnorgetburned @dashynyan @gothattentionwhore @meowadog @oh-no-i-watch-dsmp @piano-boo @reblogsbutalmostneverposts @welcometomyreblogpalace

Yes, he is my favorite, how'd you know?

Favorite passerine (thcscus) quotes

1. (Art by SAD-ist)

"Tommy," Wilbur whispered into Tommy's hair, "you were six." - chapter 3

2. (Art by SAD-ist)

"Some part of him would always, unfailingly, be looking for him" - (Wilbur) chapter 4

3. (Art by SAD-ist)

"The years fell away like smoke, and Tommy was a boy again. There was no explosion. There was no war. There was no leaving. There was only a son, and his father." - (Tommy) chapter 4

4. (Art by doodlescherry)

"His mother's laughter had never sounded clearer" - (Tommy) chapter 4

5. (Art by rio/sqwigeon)

"I will love you forever, I will love you forever, I will love you forever" - (Wilbur) chapter 5

6. (Art by cowokie)

"A father's arms never forgot the shape of a child" - chapter 5

7. (Art by SAD-ist)

"My life was fulfilled the day I met you and Tommy" - (Techno) chapter 6

8. (Art by cowokie)

"I will love you. Without requisite or deadline, I will love you" - (Tommy) chapter 7

AY O WHA T

Where's the tutorial, I want this ;-;

i dm’d thcscus about a month ago asking for permission to work on a printed copy of passerine, and it's finally here!

full cover design under the cut! (also much love to @ups1gbt3f7op3dr for letting me use their art)

Every time SAD-ist makes a new animatic I cant help but admire the details, the lighting, the color usage, the camera-work, the transitions, and the way she makes the emotions of her scenes come to life. For "Sunsprite's Eulogy" I wanna highlight a few of my favorite tiny points-

1- the exaggeration of boy-king Wilbur, and the giant throne with the burden of adult responsibilities. He sits so small and sad on his lonesome, reminding the viewer that he was still a kid when he was crowned

2- the flawless transition between Tommy's flashback of watching Philza leave (traces of Philza's feathers in the air) and his confession to Wilbur. Perfect visual story-telling, altho I'm biased because that's my favorite scene lmao

3- the way the pacing sped up right at Mumza's death, just like the story itself. It really hit home how quickly they had to grow up and the speed feels nearly overwhelming, as though we're not ready for it

Like how Wilbur and Tommy weren't ready for it

Then the music and pacing slowing down right as Philza returns, subtly depicting how time felt like it froze for all 3 of the boys upon seeing Philza return

I stopped watching the dream smp a while ago but after the SAD-ist animation came out i had to go back. I read passerine a few nights ago, I managed to read the whole thing without crying altho i teared up a lot especially in chapters 3-5. Then i went to watch the vid and cried to all the quotes in the comment section. Even if I weren't a fan of dsmp or sbi or minecraft youtubers, I cant help but be awestruck at the beautiful writing. Passerine might be one of the best fanfictions I've ever read purely because of how it was written, probably better than some published books i've read too.

In spite of what I said about Warren having limited character in X-men:Apocalypse, I still really loved his introduction

The grandoise of the wing flex, the bloody angel aesthetic

The way anyone even glancing at him could recognize his strength, the proof that he was a survivor

How it almost felt like he was thriving, despite the cage

But we all know that he wasn't truly at peace

"There's nothing you can give me that I want"

Mentally, I've erased their deaths- Darwin, Havok, and Angel could've been so much more

Endless list of characters who deserved better

I read a relatively good fanfic on quotev sometime late last week- it was meant to center around Peter but honestly I ended up cheering for Warren, whom I had no interest for prior. Since then, I've been stuck with that kind, hesitant, and healing characterization of him. Even when he barely showed character in X-men:Apocalypse besides the angst that came with his cage-fighting past ._.

Low quality appreciation post for ya boi Speedy Gonzalez

Look at this goof, he would totally cheat on his tests

How are all the good fics only on tumblr???

Anyway I fell back into my x-men phase this week and I can't stop looking for stuff on this guy, it's driving me insane

No lie, the realization that I can say anything on this nearly abandoned platform is relieving because I can make appreciation posts with no judgment from irl peers