String of Adventure (Happy Birthday Inhonoredglory!)

Well happy birthday Inhonoredglory! Also, happy boxing day to the rest of the world :D

I made this art piece as a gift to my amazing friend and fellow HTTYD fan, Inhonoredglory. It's supposed to be a string of her favorite characters from her many different fandoms, all being pulled whimsically along by the TARDIS. I'll go into the details about the piece in the post bellow, and I'll also put text free versions.

Merry Christmas (Happy Snoggletog! To quote Calvin "LOOT!")

Well, it's that day again! Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you had a lovely holiday. I plan to use this blog post to show the cool stuff I got as well as thank the people who gave me such fun gifts! Anyway, let's hop to it!

The Drastically Unusual Nature of HTTYD2

So, it’s been a while since I’ve done a full blown analysis post on HTTYD or HTTYD2, but I hope to make up for it with this one! I’ve wanted to write it ever since 2014, but I’ve always been too intimidated or too busy. In this post, I want to talk about to mold-breaking nature of the HTTYD movies, particularly in their “teen vs parent” theme. I think the How To Train Your Dragon franchise has actually pulled off something that most other animated movies treat in a very one-dimensional, almost naive fashion. So, let’s hit this thing running!

New Sub Blog!

Well, the Dsplash RPG that I based my Chronicles off is back and hopefully better than ever! I've made a blog to keep up with characters and stats, and if any of you are interested, I'll post a link to it at the bottom of this page!

Lego Toothless (With Instructions!)

Way back when, I was a HUGE fan of Legos. I actually built a pretty cool model of Toothless around a year after the first film, and I decided I'd share the instructions for it on this blog!

If you'd like to see more pictures of the model, you can visit the my mocpages account by going to this address: http://www.moc-pages.com/moc.php/306897

Also, here is a link to some instructions. They are... kinda janky, but if you would rather have a BIG file with my screenshots of how to build this, just leave me a comment below. As moderator of the blog, I can get the email address that is linked to your Disqus account. I'll try and send you a zipped file or something... Idk... there are so many pics!

Instructions File

Ok, so once you download that file, you'll need to download "Lego Digital Designer" to open it. This program can be found pretty easily, it's the first thing that comes up if you search for it in Google. Once you download the application, open this file. You'll be able to generate instructions by clicking a button on the top far left with brick and a 1 and 2 beside them. Use your arrow keys to step through the instructions.

Hope you guys enjoy the model. Let me know if anyone manages to build another one.

Special thanks to Stormbringer for inspiration on the head design!

Why it's a Good Thing for Toothless to be Scary

Well, it's Halloween again, so I've managed to crank down and actually get another post out! I was actually really hoping to do an art piece, but I just didn't have the time. Still, hopefully you'll find this analysis interesting. I hope to take a look at the darker, scarier side of the best dragon of all time and to then explain how that is one of the many elements that makes Toothless great. So, turn off your lights, and let's just dive right in.

How Strong Is Toothless?

Just when I think I might be growing up a little, the eight year old in me jumps up and starts making demands. I've always had this habit of comparing and contrasting characters on the basis of... well... how powerful they are! It's kinda silly and immature, but I have fun with it. Heck, it was one of the driving forces behind the creation of my old Dsplash role playing game. So, in this post, I want to try and break Toothless down and gauge just how powerful he is. Obviously he's not on tier with many protagonists from many series... or is he?

Grad School Doodles

I know it isn't good art... but I thought I might as well show you guys a few of the doodles I've done in grad school! Now, I have done a LOT more than what I'm showing you, and unfortunately all of those are also probably better quality. The problem is that they are concept art doodles of my original story, and I'm not posting any of the details about that story online. So, here are the other doodles I've done. I hope you guys will enjoy them.

HTTYD vs LoZ Pokemon Showdown

Well, school is still crushing me under it's tyrannical boot (I feel like Hookfang vs Drago in HTTYD2!), so I haven't had much time to work on any creative projects for my blog. However, I have started playing a little bit of Pokemon online at Pokemon Showdown, a site published by smogon. It's pretty fun, and it allows me to do something with my little brother even if we are a living pretty far from one another. In this battle we both decided to make teams based on our favorites franchises! Mine was HTTYD, and he did Zelda. We didn't hold any bars on how competitive or strong our Pokemon were, we just wanted to be sure to pick ones that we felt represented our characters! Soooo... we had some super strong ones (Like Primal Groudon and Yveltal), and some that were pretty puny. It was a lot of fun to build the teams and to battle each other! So, if you'd like to see the replay, the video is posted above.

Hope you guys are having a good time. I've got to get back to studying!

(The artwork in the first image isn't mine. I wish it was! That Latios Toothless is awesome!)

Friendship & Loyalty (video gift from Inhonoredglory and Toothlesslove)

Ok, so I'm gonna gush about this video below the read more. Be warned. 

23 years down... um... a few to go?

Well, I'm a year older! To be honest, turning twenty three makes me feel old, but at the same time I don't really think I'm old... I just feel old. I imagine it is partly do to the fact that I have moved away from home and started working in a full time medical PhD program. That'll make you feel like an adult overnight! Anyway, it's been another year that I can look back on and be really thankful for. I did get some nice gifts, so I think I'll go into detail about them bellow the "read more".

One Punch Dragon

This has to be one of the most random crossovers ever. But, there you have it, my head is random and weird! This is a completed digital painting of one of the doodles I made this weekend. I had a lot of fun fleshing it out, so I hope you like it. I also recorded myself painting this, so I will place the YouTube video down below the "read more"

I've been watching too much anime...

Sooooo... when I'm not working, I've spent a lot of time this year watching... anime. Ha, at first I didn't know if I'd really like it, but I've found several shows that were GREAT. This evening, I had a little too much free time, and the conglomeration of sketches I'm about to post is the result. Each is a spoof/crossover, a mixture of HTTYD and some of the more notable anime that I've actually watched. Who knows, I might digital paint a few of these, but for now I thought I'd share the sketches. 

HTTYD Alpha system pt 2 (video)

Well this has got to be a record! I could have sworn I wouldn't get the time to make this video, but here it is! I hope you enjoy it. To those of you who frequent my blog... this will probably be old news, but I'm kinda hoping to expand my blog's readership by reaching out on other sites. If you guys have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section. Also, if you enjoy it, feel free to go to my YouTube channel in order to like and subscribe. 

Also, I did a speed art for the sake of this video, and I'll include it under the "read more"

RttE Rant: Quit Breaking the Fourth-Wall!

In all honesty, I usually try to stay positive on my blog. I think this is because I know what it is like to love something, and then to find posts on it, and then to sit there and watch the writer rip the thing you enjoyed to shreds. It’s not a good feeling. Sooooo… when I watch RttE, I usually don’t come away thinking, “wow, that was great”. My feelings are almost always mixed or negative towards the television show (with the occasional episode that really does get my attention and make me appreciate it), but that doesn’t mean I want to constantly blog negative things about the show. I understand that people put a lot of work into making it, and at the bare minimum it is nice for HTTYD to still be getting love and attention. However, today I’m gonna take a little dive into the valley of criticism. If you just adore Race To The Edge, and you think the series is perfect, you might just want to cruise on by and skip this post. However, if you want to see me nitpick, feel free to click the “read more”.

HTTYD Alpha System pt 1 (video)

Well, I've done another YouTube video. It's nothing novel for anyone who frequents this blog, but you might be interested in hearing me ramble. This is just me introducing the topic, and it still took me 13 minutes! Also, if you'd like to like the video and subscribe to my YouTube account, that would be awesome. Please let me know what you guys think. It's kinda disorganized, and a little off the cuff, but hopefully it will still be interesting. 

RttE: Dawn of Destruction

Hi all! We have a new season of RttE, and I've been working my way through it. Sorry for the lack of recent posts. I'm in grad school working in a PhD program. I'm also working on an original story, and I'd really like to see that get published in one medium or another once I've finished it. Between those two things, I'll probably be a little more absent. Sorry about that. However, I will certainly write a lot about the third movie when it comes out, and I'll try and keep up with the series as well. 

Speaking of that, I've watched up to the episode Dawn of Destruction, and I'm gonna give you my random stream of thoughts that I wrote down while watching the episode. They aren't organized into pros and cons, just random things I thought while seeing the episode for the first time. Feel free to let me know what you thought of this episode! 

The World is Waiting to be Explored (Happy belated bday, Toothlesslove!)

This is an art piece I made for Toothlesslove's birthday. Unfortunately... I got confused and thought her birthday was on the 26th. It's the 23rd. GAH. I'm usually not late for stuff... at least I try to be very punctual. But, anyway, I do hope she will enjoy it, and I hope she had a great birthday.

This is one of my more complex paintings, so I went through a lot of different ideas on how to pull it off. If you want to read a detailed description of how I made this piece, click the read more. There will also be versions of the artwork without text if you want to download a copy for yourself :)

Happy Anniversary HTTYD2!

Man, this is one heck of a sequel. Today marks the third year anniversary of the theatrical release of HTTYD2 in theaters in the USA. I actually went to a pre-showing on the twelfth, so it's been just a little over three years since I first saw (and bawled through) this movie! I have just finished watching it, and WOW... I think I can barely handle watching this film once a year. I nostalgia cried, happy cried, touched cried, scared cried, and ugly cried! Ah, that was cathartic.

Anyway, the second movie is just amazing. I hope you all get the chance to watch it every once in a while. I was sooooooo worried during this film's development that it wouldn't be able to live up the magic of the first film, but HTTYD2 surpassed my expectations in every way. The story is brilliant, the visuals are gorgeous, the soundtrack is a work of art. It has every bit as much thematic depth as the first film, and that truly impressed me. I'm very thankful that we got such a great continuation of HTTYD... now all we have to do is buckle down and wait for the third film! 

Dsplash Duel: Smaug v Toothless

It's time for the first Dsplash Duel! This one will pit Toothless, my favorite dragon of all time, against Smaug, the first true dragon I ever fell in love with! Special thanks to "Mr.NightFury" for the suggestion. The short story is about three pages long, and you can find it under the "read more". I did record my painting the Smaug sprite, and if you are interested, you can find that video on my YouTube channel. I plan to also potentially, make a video explaining why the fight turns out the way it does, giving the nitty-gritty details about the physics of the Gemnode's world. Now, I probably won't make a blog post for that, so stay tuned to my YouTube channel. I am not 100% sure I'll get the chance to make the analysis vid, so talons crossed. Anyway, onto the battle!

Sideshow: Toothless Statue

So, I suppose I could call this a teaser, but I have just preordered this AMAZING Sideshow statue of Toothless. It is supposed to be a foot tall, and it is literally perfect. I looked over this thing from every angle the company gave me, and I can't find a flaw. It wasn't cheap, but I feel that this thing would be worth its weight in gold! I will certainly be giving it a full review and taking dozens of photos for the blog once this thing comes in (it should be finished and arrive some time between November and December... Merry Christmas for me!). Anyway, I can't really give a full review without owning the product, but feel free to check it out at the Sideshow website. 

This is my first real "Fine Art" collectible. Have any of you ever dabbled in this (expensive) type of merchandise? I've wanted to before, but the price has always dissuaded me. What's your favorite piece of HTTYD paraphernalia that you own? Feel free to leave comments under the "read more"!

Toothless Sprite Speed Paint

Well, I've started working on the sprite arts for the upcoming Dsplash Duels. First off, unsurprisingly, is Toothless. Even if you are completely uninterested in the Dsplash story, you might at least find this somewhat fun. It's just pixel art, but I do love that art form, and it was fun to play around with. Since I was doing the painting anyway, I figured I might as well make a quick video. Consider this a teaser of more to come.

Introducing: Dsplash DUELS

I'm gonna be honest, the Dsplash story is nearly over. I imagine I will have it finished in 5-6 more Chronicles. After my long break, I've finally gotten back into the groove of writing this story. However, I'm gonna say that I'm really attached to the world of Dsplash, and after years of tinkering with it, I'm sorta sad to be wrapping it up. That's why I've decided to do this (along with other potential Dsplash spin offs). This is a page in which I will take requests for duels between the most notable characters in Dsplash. Click the "read more" to see the details.

Artwork for the Chronicle: The Courage of Link Flashblade Haddock

The following artwork actually kinda contains spoilers about the new Chronicle, so if you haven't read it, I'd save the art until later. The spoilers are in no way major, but still. This is actually a sketch that I made over two years ago! Like... before HTTYD2. This was when I first came up with the plot of the Chronicle, so it is probably not 100% accurate to the events. Click the "read more" to see the full image.

The Courage of Link Flashblade Haddock

So, I know it took me AGES to actually write and publish this, but hopefully I've actually gotten enough steam to finally wrap up this story. I do love Dsplash, so I want it to have a fitting end, but I am just so short on free time, and these Chronicles take a lot of work and heart to compose. So, what I suppose I am saying is that I plan to finish the story out, but the Chronicles may (I'm not saying this for sure) start to hop around like they did at the beginning. We'll just have to wait and see what my schedule allows for.

So, as for the Chronicle itself, I'd advise re-reading the last one I published just to get a reminder of where we are in the story. Heck, if you'd like to read ones even further back, that would probably be good. This one is a MAJOR plot event, so be prepared. It was so hard to write this... because I knew it was one of my most defining plot moments, so I didn't want to mess it up. Hopefully it will have been worth the wait!

Analysis Request for Oencie

I've mentioned before that I am more than happy to take requests for this blog, and just recently a user named Oencie asked me to do one. It concerns two techniques Toothless has used in the RttE series. Now, since this is a request, it means I may or may not have actually given much thought to this before I was asked about it, but I will do my best to give you guys a short analysis! If anyone wishes to add to what I come up with in the comments, that would be great. Now, onto the analysis!

Dsplash "Warriors"

So, I have made another music video! This one is a tribute to Dimension Splash, the long running rpg and web chronicle crafted primarily by me and my younger brother (Link). I actually had this video sitting around for a long time, but I never published it because I didn't have a YouTube account. I do now, and if you'd like to subscribe to my channel, that would be great! Feel free to comment on the blog or on YouTube. I do hope to continue writing my Dsplash Chronicles, and I have one that is almost finished right now. So, hope you enjoy it! Ha... unfortunately my editing skills are not really on par with most other video makers, but hopefully it will be fun all the same!

Speculation: Could a Human Become the Alpha...?

Ok, so I am going to go out on a limb here... because this entire speculation is already based on a running theory. A speculation based on a theory is pretty shaky, but it will be fun to play around with. Based on my theory of how and why the Alpha system works, is it possible for a human to become the Alpha?

I just Graduated!

Well, it's finally here! I have now officially graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Biology! I plan to enter a PhD program this office, but for one small period of time, I am out of school! I may get the chance to blog a bit more frequently now! 

Special thanks to all my friends, family, and teachers who helped me along the way. You guys are the best!

We have NEWS. (Update: Actually, I just fell for an April fools joke...)

Warning: The following post has some minor spoilers about the next HTTYD film. Read at your own discretion.

Usertoothless's Top 10 Story Recomendations

Ok! So, I'm hoping to do a somewhat different post this time around. I'm planning on listing 10 stories that I absolutely love, and if you have access to them, I would totally recommend watching/reading/playing through them! Also, if any of you have recommendations, or would like to share your top ten faves, please do so in the comments. Now, onto the list!

RttE: Season Four Microreview (part 2. The Cons!)

So, I assume I am not the only one who had a few issues with the new season. In this post, I'll list the things that I recall in the season that I felt were not the best. So, if you LOVED this season, please don't hate me for my opinions! They are just my take on things, so you don't have to read this post, and you also certainly don't have to agree with me! Without further ado, let's get to the cons:

7 years of HTTYD!

It's March 26 again! This marks the seven year anniversary of the release of HTTYD into theaters. Sadly, I did not watch it on opening day, but I still try and watch it every year when the 26th rolls around! I've bought myself some soda and theater candy, and tonight I plan to watch the first film again on a nice, big, flat screen tv. I haven't actually watched through the first film in a while, so it should be a lot of fun! I also plan to write a full post about how HTTYD has gone from one great film to being very developed franchise. I'll rate how much I've enjoyed each installment to the HTTYD universe, and hopefully it will be a fun read.

My first impression of "The Serpent's Heir"!

So, I have now purchased and read the new HTTYD comic "The Serpent's Heir". To be honest, I have read very few of the RoB and DoB comics... mostly because they felt a lot like the show and I din't really care that much to go out of my way to find them. This story, however, is written in part by Dean DeBlois, AND it come directly after the events of HTTYD 2. Since the director had a hand in crafting the story, I felt that it would feel much more "canon" than most of the tv episodes. I've been really anticipating getting to read this plot... after all I've been dying to know how Hiccup and Toothless function together after the events of the second movie (to see my short story about how I envisioned events directly after the film, click here). Well, I will say that this comic is different than I expected, but I did really enjoy it and it helped answer two MAJOR questions that I have been curious about and that I know have bounced around in the fandom for quite a while. So, wanna know my thoughts of the comic in detail? Click the read more! 

RttE: Season Four Microreview (part 1. The Pros!)

So, season four is finally out! I'm sure most of you who have Netflix have already seen it, and I've logged back into the HTTYD world in order to actually finally write something on my blog! I'm going to be honest in all my opinions about this season, but they really are just my opinions, and I', totally open to discussion. Click the read more to see the review.

Season four of RTTE is out now!

Ok, I have now finished watching the newest season! I did enjoy it, and I am considering doing another micro review of the entire season like what I did for season three. Here's the catch... I will be completely honest if I do make a review... and my opinion on certain developments may not match up with the vast majority of people who are enjoying the show. I don't want to come across as a hater or anything, but if you guys are interested in a review, please just pop me a comment to let me know :)

In other news, the reason I am so infrequent in my blog posts is because I am working (as a pizza delivery driver) and trying to finish up my last semester of college. I'm almost done! Man, delivering pizza would be so much more fun with a Night Fury...

I have also been strongly considering writing a completely original story. Not fan fiction, no borrowed characters, everything coming 100% from my own brain. It's pretty daunting, but I thought I'd toss the idea out to you guys. Haha, who knows... maybe one day I could actually get published and paid for writing stories! That would be nice.

Anyway, I'm going back and looking over the episodes now so as to get a good feel for them. Hope you all are having dragon-y good times :)