Goose and Toothless

But would Dad be allergic to the Flerkin?

Yes, we saw “How To Train Your Dragon:The Hidden World” and “Captain Marvel”

How could we not?

The HTTYD franchise presents a marvelously compelling fantasy of the ultimate pet: Very intelligent, powerful, rideable, flying and breathing fire. So much better than your average dog, cat or even horse.

The only other things we could look for in the ultimate pet might be hidden tentacles and a pocket dimension. 

Goose the Cat/ Flerkin in “Captain Marvel” certainly did not disappoint. 

If you live with a cat and you haven’t seen the movie yet, I can only advise you to be sure to hang around for the post credit scene. 

Sadly, our house does not have accommodations for dragons or felines, but we could sure use a pocket dimension.

Toothless

Archer asked for a drawing of himself with Toothless.  My rendering of both of them, unfortunately, was not particularly successful.

Fortunately, Archer is more easy going than his brother when it comes to mediocre portraits by mom.  Ansel has recoiled in horror and refused to take nearly every napkin drawing I've done of him to school.  Archer kindly reassured me this morning that he would take the napkin even though the drawing of him wasn't very good.

Hiccup And Toothless With Snow Dragon

How to Make Your Snow Dragon: Hiccup works while Toothless models....or maybe just lurks.

Should we ever get a significant snowfall this winter, I may regret this drawing. Previous snowman attempts in years past (most notably, Captain Rex from the Clone Wars) have always ended badly, and I doubt we would be able to pull off a convincing snow dragon.

"Bone"s Red Dragon and Thorn with Hiccup and Toothless

We are working our way back through the entire excellent "Bone" series by Jeff Smith as Ansel is old enough to really appreciate them this time around:  There's slapstick cartoon characters, scary monsters, a cute girl, and of course, a dragon who smokes... What more could we possibly ask for?

I left the dangling cigarette out of this one for first grade lunch.

Simpsonized Hiccup, Astrid and Toothless

The boys have been very interested in The Simpsons lately, on the lookout for age-inappropriate jokes and references.

Not that they have lost interest in "Dragons: Defenders of Berk." Not at all...One is just much less likely to hear the word "penis" used on the dragons show.

Regular Show's Mordecai and Rigby on Toothless

"Dude! Watch out, we're going to fall off!"

Episodes of "Regular Show" usually take a turn for the weirdly implausible somewhere around the midpoint, so the idea of Mordecai and Rigby riding on a dragon is no more unreasonable than most of their adventures.

While our sons may not want to be the slackers from "Regular Show" as much as they would like to be Hiccup, Rigby and Mordecai's behavior is certainly influential.

Toothless and Hiccup Are Confused By Candy Corn

It's still "Post Halloween" at our house.

My kids requested an image of Hiccup being confused by candy corn.  They hypothesize that there is not probably not mass-produced candy in Berk.

Our older son has given some careful thought to the quality of Hiccup's life.  He told me that he thinks that Hiccup has it better:  He has a dragon, doesn't seem to go to school, and is pretty independent. I pointed out the likely lack of video games and refined sugar in Hiccup's environment. (I think the napkin request hails from this point in the conversation)  Archer offered that he would be willing to trade the iPad for a real dragon.  That seemed more or less reasonable, but I added that, at least in the Dreamworks version, Hiccup does not appear to have a mother.  Archer replied, "He seems to do well enough without one."  So there Mom.

Toothless With Werewolf Hiccup

Halloween & Dragons #6: WereHiccup:  No doubt, Toothless is hoping that is a mask.

I think I might have reached the end of this particular series.  Perhaps we will try something else Halloween themed for the last two days before the actual trick or treating.

Which is not to say that the kids have lost any enthusiasm for "How to Train Your Dragon" or for their Hiccup costumes....I have already stated that last minute costume switching will not be tolerated this year.  I set a horrible precedent a few years back when Archer changed his mind and I somehow managed to cobble together a homemade Captain Rex costume in 48 hours.  And Ansel has a history of boycotting his intended costume at the last moment and going as "A guy in dark clothing" or the like.

This year it is going to be Hiccup for both, with no last minute changes.  Really.... Only 48 hours to go....


Here's that Rex costume from 2009.  It's amazing what you can do with a sharpie, masking tape and a freshdirect box if you are insane....

Zombie Hiccup With Toothless

Halloween with Dragons #5:

No Halloween series could be complete without zombie representation.

I thought maybe a decomposing dragon might be a bit much for lunchtime, so I left Toothless among the living.  Perhaps I was just being lazy.  At any rate, given Toothless's unflagging devotion to Hiccup, no doubt he would remain loyal even if the boy were an ambulatory corpse.

Astrid, Toothless and Hiccup in Teen Titans Costumes

Halloween with Dragons #4:  Starfire and Robin with a Dragon wearing a Batman mask.

While the kids are much less fixated on Teen Titans Robin and Batman right now than they have been in the past (see all the Robin napkins, or the Batman napkins) I was pretty sure that Hiccup in a Robin costume was going to be an acceptable concept.

While Ansel chuckled when he looked at this, he did ask me what Toothless was wearing, so obviously I failed to sell the Batman mask.

Astrid, Toothless and Hiccup in Star Wars Costumes

Halloween with Dragons #3:  Today Leia and Luke pose with Yoda.

Our kids aren't all that interested in the original Star Wars movie lately, so I am pretty sure this one would not have gone to school today had Toothless not been wearing Yoda's ears.

I briefly considered dressing Hiccup as Han Solo because of the whole sibling thing... and there's the vest parallel...But despite all the online fan girl enthusiasm for him, Hiccup just didn't seem like he could pull off the dashing scoundrel look.

Let's just hope he isn't really Astrid's brother. 

Hiccup and Toothless with Carved Halloween Pumpkins

Halloween anticipation is building around here.  I already dread the let down that will arrive on November 1st.

The kids' costumes for Hiccup before and after the foot amputation are almost done.  There are some unresolved issues about representing the metal prosthetic foot and the strings at the neckline of his tunic, but otherwise we have most of it pulled together.  And by "we" of course I mean me.  The kids have contributed a great deal of art direction by way of strategic nagging, but have yet to actually make anything.

Perhaps there will be some more Halloween themed napkins between now and the actual evening when the Hiccups go out to demand candy.  I'm not sure if I can come up with anything interesting... much less 8 days of Halloween imagery, but it seems the kids can barely think about anything else.

  

Rabbit Hiccup and Toothless

The heroes of the "How To Train Your Dragon" / "Dragons:  Riders of Berk" fall victim to the ridiculous rabbit treatment.

As Ansel would say: not one of my better efforts. 

Dark Spyro, Jellaby and Toothlesss

Sandwiched between Skylanders' Dark Spyro and Dreamworks Dragons: Riders of Berk's Toothless, Jellaby might be concerned about whether he actually qualifies as a dragon.

Ansel tells me that he is making a book at school today about dragons, and he wanted to include these three.  Archer pointed out that Jellaby is a monster and not necessarily a dragon, but Ansel wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.  

Dark Spyro from Skylanders and Toothless

Two dark dragons on one napkin: Dark Spyro irritates Toothless, perhaps? 

While I have seen a good bit of the Dreamworks dragon franchise, I am not very familiar with the various personalities of the Skylanders.

Astrid, Stormfly, Toothless and Hiccup

Too many characters from "Dragons: Riders of Berk" squeezed onto one napkin.  I am seriously considering reactivating my "one character per napkin" rule.  Ansel originally asked for the entire cast of the show at once, so he was unsatisfied anyway.

Toothless and Lego Ninjago Ninjas for Ansel

 

My attempt to make up for TV deprivation on a napkin:  New episodes of "Lego Ninjago" and "Dragons: Riders of Berk" were back to back on Wednesday night this week in a schedule unfriendly to 5 year olds who get home late and need to go to bed early. 

Toothless and Hiccup for Ansel

Ansel remains completely committed to Toothless. I could not convince him that any other character from last night's "Dragons: Riders of Berk" should be featured on his napkin today.

Equinox Dragon from DragonVale and Toothless for Archer

The Equinox Dragon from DragonVale is upstaging all other dragons in Archer's mind this week. But he has not yet managed to get one.  Perhaps Toothless is wondering just how that dragon gets around with no wings and only two legs. 

Batman Offers Toothless a Fish for Ansel

Ansel came to the conclusion yesterday that Batman was slightly more popular than Toothless with more Kindergarteners (or at least with those who mattered to him)  Or perhaps it is easier to get a Batman backpack?  At any rate, we are covering both bases today.