#wilderwest

When I first read that Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was the last king of the Wilderwest and the last great Viking hero, I always thought that meant the Wilderwest fell apart after his death, unable to endure without a Hiccup at the helm, but that is admittedly a very pessimistic take.

Right now, I have a slightly more hopeful point of view. What if Hiccup was the last great Viking hero, not because no one else could ever be as great a hero as him, but because no one ever needed to be?

Despite the awesomeness of daring quests and clever plans, underneath it all, it were the suffering people who needed Hiccup. It is never wise to rest the fate of society on one person. Hiccup was an exception to this rule, though he chose to be the exception. He really was that fantastical good king who is wise, fair, and just. But a good king does not necessarily mean a good bloodline. Grimbeard the Ghastly hailed from Hiccup the First’s lineage, and yet the two could not be further apart. Hiccup knows that he cannot control what his descendants become.

I think that during his life, Hiccup phased out the monarchy, as he did with the dragons, in favor of a more republic/democratic system, where instead of there being one glorious hero tasked with saving everyone, problems were solved collectively, with each person doing their own small part.

This solution lacks the romance of the epic tales of heroes of old (which might explain the slightly wistful tone of the books)

Robin Hood peacefully filling out forms for state-provided aid to feed the poor and helping pass legislation that limits taxation on low-income individuals just does not hit the same as Robin Hood bravely robbing the greedy rich and challenging evil sheriffs to sword fights. Still, it is a much more realistic solution.

SPOILERS FOR THE LATTER BOOKS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Wilderwest

In regards to this post. :)

Hi, thanks so much for the ask! I don't actually have any snippets to share just yet, as I'm still in the planning/outlining phase. But it's going to be a kind of fusion of the Westerwild plot from the books and RTTE.

It's going to start with the Riders finding a new island, one with a thick, black forest and a rocky beach upon which sits, half-buried in sand, a great bloodstained throne with a mysterious prophecy etched in the back - a prophecy intended for the true heir of legendary Viking pirate and king Grimbeard the Ghastly. And in those woods, they accidentally find (and free) a terrifying witch from her hollow-tree prison, setting off a chain of events where Hiccup is forced to follow the prophecy and become King of the Wilderwest before the witch Excellinor, allied with Ryker Grimborn (Viggo is going to have his own thing going on; lots of tension in the dragon hunters and division between the brothers), gets there first. Because if Ryker becomes king, he will turn the archipelago into a dark and terrible place, a place of slavery and pain and fear. A place where dragons might be wiped out - forever.

Jaguar refs from @animalphotorefs

It has been 24 days but I am finally done with this stupid lineup. I do have a file with all of them lined up nicely together but tumblr refuses to upload it so! You get individual pictures!

Usually I color lineart but on the dawn of the 24th day I opened this file and went, "God I can't do this anymore. Just color the lines black."

Anyways, I wanted to figure out how the sphinx in my comic look and finalize some character designs.

All of the sphinx have names that are basically reverse riddles, where they go by the answer in their day-to-day life, and only their family, close friends, and partners get to learn the riddle behind their name.

From left to right:

Valiente - The brother of Dorado, an adventurer and treasure hunter of great renown. He used to travel with his brother, but now he travels alone, always on the hunt for the next great adventure.

Dorado - Named for his golden fur, Dorado is a retired adventurer and treasure hunter. He used to travel the world with his brother but after getting Patience pregnant, he decided to settle down and raise his daughters. Not that he had much choice after Patience left. His coloration is based on a strawberry (erythristic) leopard.

Patience - A princess of the Andadia kingdom, Patience's brother (who is not pictured here) was the heir to the throne. When her daughters were very young her brother and her nephew were killed by a wyvern, and she mysteriously vanished shortly after their deaths, refusing to tell Dorado where she was going.

Luck - Daughter of Dorado and Patience, and captain of the Royal Andadian Navy. In her father's culture, being born with black fur is considered lucky, and in her mother's culture, black fur is considered unlucky. She had a rough childhood, with her peers viewing her as bad luck and blaming her any time something went wrong. She became obsessed with luck and now constantly wears good luck charms, and performs little luck rituals (like knocking on wood) before doing anything important. She needs to get tested for OCD but she refuses to go to the doctor.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, King of the Wilderwest!!

For a Hero cannot triumph all the time. Sometimes he will be defeated, and how he faces that defeat is a test of his character.