What do you think about people saying Astrid was OCC in the Mi Amore Wing Episode? I just saw her as opening up with her feelings more. I remember even hiccup telling her to promise to tell him how she feels. Also this is their first relationship so not everything is gonna be perfect. Its just sad seeing the hate she gets for this.

Omg so excited you asked me this!!

In my opinion, this reaction was not out of character. However, I understand why other fans may disagree because in Mi Amore Wing, we see a different, more vulnerable side of Astrid that's not highly explored in other parts of the series.

Astrid is a reactive person and reactive people, even if they put up hard exteriors, also contain softer depths. Let me be clear: I am not discounting how fierce and strong this woman truly is. And maybe I’m projecting onto her (but if you didn’t know that I project onto this homegirl and have been for the past 13 years, then why are you reading this? ANYWAY) but I would imagine that hearing your betrothed, the LOVE OF YOUR LIFE, who you would do ANYTHING TO PROTECT, downplay the significance of your relationship in front of your friends, (“Astrid and I have a different kind of relationship built in years of friendship.”) that would certainly sting. It would make you reflect.

(Side note: I do not mean that friendships are insignificant. In fact, in the case of Hiccup and Astrid’s relationship, friendship is an instrumental foundational pillar! But to go from years of telling people “No! Seriously! Just friends.” into an extra layer of attraction to each other for it to only be referred to as a friendship once again could feel hurtful. I don’t know about you, but one time my ex-boyfriend (whom I had been dating for multiple years and was living with at the time) referred to me offhandedly in a conversation as "his roommate", not his girlfriend. As strong as you are, and no matter how strong the wall you've built is, that instance is going to hurt, if not in the moment, then later. MOVING ON!)

Her reaction, however, was not based on solely Hiccup’s near dismissal of their romantic involvement in Mi Amore Wing. Up until that episode, Hiccup and Astrid spent much of season 6 on separate missions away from each other. How long had it been since the two of them had a genuine moment to connect alone with each other? Possibly, the feeling of neglect could have festered over time, only to come to a head when Hiccup OBLIVIOUSLY delivers the most LEGENDARY LINE IN ALL OF DRAGONS HISTORY:

In Hiccup’s defense, he likely didn’t intend to neglect Astrid. As the question asker mentioned, yes, it is their first relationship. In any relationship, it can be hard to find a balance of prioritizing your time spent with your significant other. (This conflict is explored more in-depth in season 5 in Dawn of Destruction.) And in your first, when you have absolutely no frame of reference, it is INCREDIBLY difficult. Add in the layer of Hiccup is their leader. He has to look out for every member of their team. Add responsibility for everyone’s lives into the mix and of course some priorities will shift and some things will fall through the cracks. Unfortunate that Astrid was one of them.

Question asker, I agree with you. She has a more sensitive side which we don’t often see but we know it exists. For example in Dawn of Destruction, she wraps Hiccup in an enormous hug and applauds his sensitivity, telling him it makes him “a great boyfriend”.

Also (not to get super analytical about a Y7 show about dragons but I’m gonna do it anyway), let’s talk about LOVE LANGUAGES! For those of you who are unfamiliar, the five love languages are Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Gift-Giving, Quality Time, and Physical Touch. Recently in a post, @reviewinghiccup suggested that Hiccup’s love language was Words of Affirmation (which tracks, given the big speech he gives to her at the end of Mi Amore Wing also unrelated THATS MY LOVE LANGUAGE 😱😭😍👌❤️👏🙌). And for YEARS I have always thought Astrid’s love language was Physical Touch. To me, this explains why she is the one to initiate any sort of physical connection between the two of them (when she kisses him on the cheek in the cove in the first film to thank him for their flight, and later when she first kisses him on the lips at its end, in the second film when she braids his hair). Yes, even her punches and thrown elbows! Come on now, that looks like a teenager who doesn’t know how to flirt so she just punches the guy.

I mention her love language because we see Astrid get uncomfortable when Mala and Dagur are so physically affectionate with each other. Yes, Astrid retreated into herself in this situation, but that was likely because Hiccup was not meeting her emotional needs.

Observe these instances after the episode in which Hiccup becomes more physical in his expressions of his affection towards Astrid.

TLDR; Astrid’s reaction to Hiccup downplaying their relationship and feeling like her emotional needs were not met was not out of character in Mi Amore Wing.

Could you please tell us if there are any points in the new series that those of us with photosensitivity and all need to be aware of? Particularly those of us prone to seizures, who have problems with fast flashing colors and all? I couldn't get through any of the spiderverse movies or the second Incredibles.

Not that I can think of.