Another post about, well... Toothless's drool.

My readers: "Is he seriously going to post about Toothless's saliva/tongue again?

Me: "You betcha! We've got new info!"

Funny enough, this post will mostly be based off of a conversation I had with a fellow dragon fan concerning Hiccup's use of Toothless's drool in the thirty second clip. It is kind of an expansion on my last post about his saliva. That one was mostly about the healing properties, this one will deal more with it's consistency.

In the clip, we see Hiccup get Toothless to lick a small piece of parchment that Hiccup then attaches to his ever growing map. The fact that me and the fellow fan discussed was, is Toothless's saliva actually sticky? Why does it work as an adhesive to hold a map together. I tried to put a little thought into it, and I came up with some interesting conclusions concerning the drool of that darling dragon.

First off, I don't think Toothless's drool is sticky. If you stuck your hand in his mouth or if he licked your face, I don't think it would feel anything like sap or glue or other strongly adhesive liquids. My reasons for thinking this come from the actual visuals we have gotten of the drool (from both HTTYD, GotNF and HTTYD2 clips) and simple reptile biology. In GotNF, we see a lot of it get dumped onto Hiccup's head, and it looks remotely watery. In the trailer for HTTYD2, when Toothless begins his merciless licky onslaught you can see drips of it breaking loose and shooting at the camera. All of this makes me think that the drool is not particularly sticky. More importantly, if Toothless's saliva was actually very glue like, it would be a physical disadvantage. The only reptiles with very thick, sticky saliva use that saliva to hunt with (like chameleons and other lizards that predate with their tongues). It is clear that Toothless does not do that. As far as we have seen, Toothless is happy eating fish. He doesn't chew them (though he may slice them up), so he is forced to swallow his food whole. Reptiles that do that have slick saliva. They have to! You need the prey item to go down your throat without much drag and certainly without getting stuck. So, as a predator who mostly eats fish and certainly does not use his tongue to hunt, I imagine that Toothless would have drool that is very slick and lubricant. If Toothless had sticky saliva, it would be annoying to have say scales or hair sticking to his tongue, or if he bit at something and missed, he could get leaves, twigs, and other unpleasant things kinda stuck in his mouth. In the end, I really don't think Toothless's saliva is sticky.

But then the question comes, how does a slick liquid work so well as an adhesive? It's a great question! I had to think a while on it, but in the end I think it makes sense. Though Toothless's drool is slick and not sticky, I would say it has a certain amount of clinginess to it. It likes to cling to objects, especially dry ones, that it comes in contact with. This is again useful for a predator who doesn't chew. It would allow him to sort of easily slather his food as he bites onto it, and because it would cling to the prey item, it would make it easier for him to swallow. So, the stuff clings, but it doesn't have strong adhesive properties. Here's where I think the rub is on having paper stuck together by it: When it dries, any solids or enzymes in the saliva would harden and actually function as a natural, crystal-like adhesive. Kinda like when a soap bar hardens to the edge of your tub. Though soap isn't sticky, when it hardens, it can actually take a good tug to get loose. So, I think that property would help Toothless's saliva hold the sheets of paper together. But, that's not all. This is where I really start liking the idea of using Toothless's spit to hold paper together. Saliva has digestive properties. It is slightly acidic. Not a lot, not enough to sting or even tickle when he's licking Hiccup, but enough to slightly break down the natural fibers in the parchment. If both pieces of parchment were ever so slightly melting (and I mean ever so slightly) while pressed together, once Toothless's drool dried and the acidic reaction stopped completely, the fibers in the paper would indeed have practically intertwined and the two faces of the sheets would have melted ever so minutely into one another.

Final conclusion: Toothless's drool is normally slick and clingy, not glue-like. The acidity and drying solids allow it to work great as an adhesive once dry nonetheless. 

So, it works as glue and it's still super adorable to be licked by :)

HTTYD2... the darkest step in the trilogy?

So, Empire went to DreamWorks to take a peak at HTTYD2, and what they have to say is pretty exciting. Now, I'll just give you the high points and some personal thoughts for those of you who don't want to slog through the article... I was a bit put off by the language in some direct quotes.

Now, it's not dark in ways like decapitation or psychopathic and bizarre crimes... I would imagine taking kids to it will still be completely fine, BUT this isn't RoB anymore folks. The stakes are high, and according to the article things get tense in a lot of ways.

Quote from Dean Deblouis: "I want How To Train Your Dragon to be able to live on a shelf next to your Blu-rays of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars and earn its own place. None of it is pandering to children."

Dang, talk about vision and ambition! HTTYD is, to be fair, an animated movie that most people consider to be a children's story. I don't see it as that, but others do, and I don't blame them. Wow, this is just fabulous. LotR and Star Wars are some of my all time favorite trilogies, and to have HTTYD stuck in their... almost a bridge between them... how awesome is that! But seriously, "None of it is pandering to children."? That is one heck of a bold statement! It gives me confidence that the director will do what he must to make this a good story... even if it kinda bugs small kids. I mean, one way he's already done that is by aging the teens. I've yet to meet a young kid who liked that, but for the sake of the story I think that is marvelous. Plus, if you're not stuck trying to please the kiddies you are able to delve into deeper themes and more serious conflicts. If HTTYD2 is anything like the Lord of The Rings, I'll totally do a backflip. The fact that Dean wants to see his trilogy stand up tall amongst others is really something, and who says an animated film can't achieve that legendary status? The first one certainly laid the groundwork, so I am confident that if the second one is good, we may get a really incredible story. And, as the artcicle points out, Dean saved HTTYD when it was on a literally impossible schedule. The man has talent, and he looks like he's pouring it all out onto the sequel. 

Another quote by Dean... and a serious one concerning Hiccup and Toothless: "We really put that friendship to the test. While the first one had some bold ideas, in this film we go bolder. Their friendship takes a really interesting and dramatic turn... I'll say no more."

Now THAT is super incredibly scary and awesome. The article states that this is one of the ways that the angst and darkness of the movie really comes out... in a struggle that revolves around Hiccup and Toothless's friendship. I'm so pleased to see this. Yes, I am excited about the battles and epic scale... but I honestly worried that we would lose the heart of the first movie, and a big portion of the heart of the first film was that it revolved around Hiccup and Toothless's relationship. What will happen? Will it have to do with the fact that they are looking for other Night Furies? Will it be like the books in that Hiccup starts to have to choose between men and Dragons? What about Eret? What if Stoick is threatening to force Hiccup off of Toothless if Hiccup refuses to become chief? Seriously, I have no clue how they will challenge these two, but it's exciting. At the same time... it hurts. Even with both of them being physically broken at the end of the first film, at the soul it felt like they were healed. Everything was perfect, all their problems were behind them and now they could live in peace and continue in there incredible friendship. A happily ever after ending. However, age and circumstances both look like they will come and really break our heroes all over again. That makes for a great story... but it also sort of makes me sad. I so HOPE to see some AMAZING character/friendship/strength moments between them before the end of this!

The article also states that there are absolutely no plans for any HTTYD movies to go past the trilogy.

Am I ok with that? As much as it breaks my heart to think that someday there will be NO new HTTYD things to look forward, I'm actually happy. This way it can be an LotR... a story that ends when it was meant to and has a complete and beautiful arch. If they continued making films... they would gradually and gradually worse, and eventually it would make you almost have to dislike HTTYD. This way, you get it and get it good. Sure, it ends... and then you don't get anymore, but that is way better than a bunch of cheesy sequels taking the amazing characters of HTTYD and making cliche and stupid stories with them just for the sake of a buck. This helps insure that the story will be story oriented, not profit (though I'd love HTTYD2 to make a billion dollars. Probably not gonna happen, but we can hope!). So... sad as I am to think of an eventual end, I think that is better than a slow, horrible decay where we have to watch our characters until we grow sick from how OOC they are made.

Then, most heart-wrenching of all... the truth that we've all dreaded gets a bit more explanation by Dean. He wants the movie to end like the books: "To have Hiccup, a grown, wise Viking Chief standing on a cliff with his stalwart companions, looking at a sky that's no longer teaming with dragons, and over that, hear the first words you read in the How To Train Your Dragon book: 'There were dragons when I was a boy...' It just has this bittersweetness, but it's a satisfying conclusion to Hiccup's growth." 

Ok, that quote is enough to make me cry! It totally is doing it right now! Grrrrr... agh. Heart in rags. I totally wouldn't believe it if movie one hadn't chopped off Hiccup's foot! But Dean's gone and said it! The trilogy will explain why Dragons no longer exist. Ok, that's awful... but then there's one facet of it to be so awful as to be completely heartbreaking: Toothless. Ok, what one EARTH is gonna happen here? Will Hiccup be the first and last person to have that sort of friendship with a dragon? How horribly tragic. How will they be separated? Surely not death... but in it's own way a separation where they have to chose to leave each other is far, far worse. Imagine Hiccup forcing the GotNF tail onto Toothless and telling him goodbye forever... 

T.T

I am so pleased that HTTYD is going to be a mature trilogy, if only that people won't mock me for loving it to bits, but DANG. So much awesome news in that article, but at the same time it is chock full of heart-wrenchers. I am confident now that the second movie will be phenomenal... but will I be happy? I don't think I can cope knowing that Hiccup and Toothless's friendship, the thing I have always watched and wished was real, will eventually end. The most beautiful friendship in all of fiction... and it's not going to last? It's Frodo and Sam all over again.

75 days...

You know, since the last post that I made counting down the days until HTTYD2, an entire FORTH of our wait has vanished. I can remember when the first year passed and I was happy because we were a forth closer (though at that time we thought the sequel would be in 2013). So, when all this started, a forth was an entire year, and now that we've come so far, a forth has passed by so incredibly quickly! Yes! Haha! Keep on counting down little timers because the day is fast approaching!

HTTYD2/Gemwar Hiccup

After seeing the recent clip, I wanted to do one of two things... and in the end I will probably do both of them. I wanted to draw HTTYD2 Hiccup, and I wanted to draw Toothless itching his armpit XD Well, I wound up doing the Hiccup drawing. This isn't anything special by any standard, but I had fun trying to do it. Wow, people are always so hard to draw.

Now, you might catch some differences in the uniform, and if you do, good. This technically is Hiccup at HTTYD2 age, but he is in his Dsplash armor. During the upcoming Gemwar this the outfit and equipment he will carry. I guess I'll just go through and point out the few changes I made to his AMAZING HTTYD2 outfit.

Ok, the compass isn't a compass. It's actually a silverlight (extremely hard metal) casing that holds Hiccup's shrouding sphere, making him very difficult to track in any dimension.

The knife on his arm is Deathquencher, the knife which brought him back from deletion. He can use this in a choice few dimensions to heal wounds that would prove fatal, and in the Gemnodes' world he can use it to bring characters back from deletion. However, if used too many times, the blade with melt away.

Hiccup's sword is actually his remodeled Endeavor (I have a digital painting of that sword waaaaaay back in the blog somewhere). That is why the dragon head is of a Night Fury. Also, the huge ball of fire at the end is being caused by a bit of Gemshard which is giving off energy. Hiccup can use Endeavor to cleave dimensions, and Link actually used this sword in order to get to Hiccup and save him from Sardilic (technically Toothless was the one who saved him...).

Hiccup has a leaf of Lorien of his chest. This is a keepsake that he has had for a while since he and Frodo destroyed the Ring of Power.

Hiccup does not have the cool skull logo on his left shoulder. That hasn't been the life he's been given. His life has been hard, and there are not fun racing logos. He has a black strike-class symbol, and he wants that symbol to be a beacon to everyone who is willing to strike against the Purpose even if it means certain death. He wishes he could have fun logos and bright red colors... but he is in war.

Finally, he is wearing the Night Fury scale necklace still. Now currently he has lost it in the story, and currently he hasn't even finished this suit, but this is sort of a teaser I suppose as to what he will look like for the rest of the plot. Hiccup, Frodo, Link, and Astrid are the only characters with the scale necklaces. 

So... none of that is all that important or interesting, and I actually tried to change the outfit as little as possible because Hiccup does look so great in HTTYD2. Hopefully... coming up next; Itchy Armpit Toothless! 

Clip... Clip... CLIP!!!

WOW! This HTTYD day just became the best one ever! Not only did I massively enjoy re-watching the first film, I get to see a thirty second clip of the second one. AND IT IS THE ONE FROM COMIC CON THAT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL! Ok, I'll calm down. *calms down* 

This clip... it wasn't in HD, so the screenshots I have gotten are not exactly as stunning as they could be. Also, I think the animation may not be quite finished (like in the teaser trailer) and it is reusing older soundtrack pieces. BUT that's the negatives, and the negatives pale in comparison to the positives.

Below I have made a compilation of 43 screenshots. Feel free to take them and use them. Also, if you click the "read more" and scroll to the bottom you can get my opinions on some of what happens in the trailer.

Today's the day!!

Well, this is my forth time in a row to celebrate HTTYD day! On this day, in 2010, my favorite movie of all time hit theater screens. I've been in love with the characters (primarily Hiccup and Toothless) for four years straight, and I don't see much to make me think I'll ever stop! So... today DreamWorks is actually doing a streaming and holding a contest on twitter. Sadly, I can't do either because of my swamped schedule. Me and my brother were literally planning a month in advance for this, but apparently school and schedule got the better of me... the saddest thing is that he won't even be around when I watch it today! Boo. Yeah, that stinks. Oh well, he says he kinda wants to make it up on Saturday, so that could be fun.

But, even though I can't make as big of a splash as I would like, I'm still going to celebrate it! I've got to go to my lab soon, but when I get back I'm going to get comfortable and watch this film again... approximately for the 79th time! I'm super excited about it! I haven't watched the straight through yet this year, so it's pretty exciting to get back to it and be reminded why I love it so much. Oh, and I've been doodling in anticipation for it XD

Yep, smile, it's HTTYD day! Seriously folks, this is so strange because by next year we will have TWO HTTYD films, and so I suppose I'll need to celebrate two HTTYD days. It's been tricky to mess with my schedule even enough to get two hours of free-time, but it will be worth it I am sure! I can't wait to sit back down. I've purchased myself some drinks and snacks, and I brought one of my Night Furies from home (Haha, Toothless is now exploring my dormitory) along with my Night Fury mug. I wanted to get swedish fish for my dragon to munch, but the store didn't have any! It's not a big celebration... I'm doing it alone because I can't join in with the rest of the fandom or even have my brother around, but I still think this is going to be great fun.

 Just two hours away now! Ah, I love this movie! I hope you will all enjoy HTTYD day! If you do anything fun, please let me know!

Toothless Party!

Little did Dagur know...

This is actually a quote from Dagur in the second to last episode of DoB. I actually found that quote incredibly funny because Dagur has NO IDEA how accurately he is describing things! He's trying to be mocking and condescending, but little does he grasp the beauty of what he is describing. So, I decided to take the quote and give it a sequel twist. How's Toothless been feeling? How've the last five years treated him? Hiccupy good, that's for sure! But... that may change very, very soon.