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rkin413 · 3 years

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All 77 of my current AUs

I’m probably going to instantly regret making this post but it’s four in the morning and also I desperately want to talk to people about these things.

This is just. Copypasted from my AU list page. Some stuff might be outdated in a week. Who knows. Not me.

Star Vs The Forces of Evil:

Monster Carvers (link) - Main Star Vs AU. Stomco endgame + Tom stays with Marco + Star raised by Monsters (specifically Buff Frog). The titular antagonists were originally going to disappear after the prologue what the heck happened???

Pretty Cure vs the Forces of Evil (link) - Exactly What It Says On the Tin, Pretty Cure x Star Vs.

unnamed Pirate AU - Star Butterfly has a perfectly nice, unbearably boring life as a high-class lady, with little to do other than wait to be married to her arranged fiancé that she’s never even met. A week before her wedding she sneaks on board a shipping vessel in the hopes of having an adventure. She gets a little more adventure than she bargained for when the ship is attacked by pirates.

“"Cannon”“ - A cannon-adjacent AU that started as a crossover with Monster Carvers

unnamed Infinity Train AU feat. human!Star and human!Tom.

unnamed Post-Cleaved AU featuring forced humanizations, amnesia, and one small time hiccup. Also Dave and Wrathmelior are missing, so that sucks for Tom.

unnamed AU where Marco goes to live with Tom for a while instead of Star during Lint Catcher

How to Train Your Dragon:

Outsiders (link) - Main HTTYD AU. Instead of watching the entire Berk fleet sail off to their dooms with Toothless, Hiccup and Astrid free the arena dragons and take Toothless while he’s being brought to the ship and then they all get the heck out of dodge. Dagur accidentally set himself adrift with Heather back when they were both small. Snotlout learns the hard way that being the Heir/responsibility kind of really sucks actually??? Stoick has to deal with his son going rouge. And Gobber and the Berk Teenagers have to deal with Stoick and Snotlout respectively.

Modern Riders/Time Travel AU - Modern!Hiccup is dragged by his cousin into an unwanted camping trip with the other riders and one electrical storm later, they find their cell phones aren’t working any more. Also are those flipping dragons?! On Berk, Stoick and the other vikings are shocked to find a group of teenagers in the woods who bear a shocking resemblance to some of the members of a dead generation of children.

Unsevered Bonds - Modern Riders (minus Hiccup) meet a time displaced Hiccup who recognize them as his reincarnated friends, even if they don’t remember their former lives.

How To Train Your Lusus - Everyone are trolls on Alternia. Hiccup is a brownblood who’s probably the only troll in existence to get a second Lusus (Toothless) after his first one (Stoick) is killed. Astrid is an oliveblood that Hiccup is flushed for, Fishlegs is a yellowblood, Snotlout is a blueblood, the Twins, Dagur, and Heather are all purplebloods. Dagur killed both his and Heather’s lusus so now he’s trying to take care of her even though she absolutely hates him (and not in a black way), and he had an unrequited pitch thing for Hiccup at one point before they flipped pale (and are actually Moirails now). That’s pretty much all I have for this one.

unnamed Harry Potter AU - Does not actually take place at Hogwarts. Everyone attends Dumstrang (possibly) and the topic everyone avoids is Care of Magical Creatures, because the local Dark Lord is Drago Bludvist. Main trio is Hiccup, Snotlout (Pureblood cousins), and Fishlegs (Muggleborn)… somehow.

Dragon Gang (link) - Mob/Mafia AU set in the vaguely 1920s in a Fake Country so no one can call me out on inaccurate geography.

Rebuilding Bridges - Set in a Multiverse where RTTE and The Hidden World are mutuality exclusive. (Pt.1): After dealing with Drago but before dealing with Grimmborn, Hiccup and Toothless once fought a witch intent on ‘harvesting’ dragons. Now ten years after the dragons have left her apprentice seeks revenge and kidnaps Zephyr and Nuffink, and a panicked Hiccup and Astrid are contacted by the Very Retired and Very Much Done With This Kid witch. Meanwhile in the RTTE-verse, The Dragon Riders only just got back from informing Berk about Johann’s treachery, when some crazy lady spontaneously appears in the middle of the Edge with two terrified children she intends to feed to dragons. Yeah, that’s not happening. (Pt.2, spoilers for this AU I guess???): Zephyr and Nuffink and their parents have safely returned to New Berk, but their world has been shaken by what was and could have been. Zephyr and Nuffink, after bonding with Dagur in the other timeline, decide they want to try and help him in theirs. This was perhaps not their best idea. Meanwhile, the Nightlights escape the watchful eye of their parents to go exploring outside the Hidden World, and quickly meet the hatchlings of their dad’s brother! (so… their cousins, then?)

Something Wild (name subject to change) - Several years after Berk (along with most of the Archipelago) is attacked and taken captive by a far more advanced foe, Stoick is able to free most of his people but what he finds when they get manage to regroup back to their island is less than a relief- Berk ravaged and their elderly and children, left behind by their captors, missing. To make matters worse, the dragons are still out there, now with some kind of devils riding and aiding them. Now Stoick, Gobber, and the rest of the people of Berk must find safety and a way to fight back against they’re new foe, find what happened to those who are missing, and figure out who these dragon riders are and whether they’re friend of foe (gee i wonder where the Berkians went and who the dragon riders are golly what a mystery). (aka the feral/semi-feral!dragon riders au i keep trying to create)

Lost (name subject to change) - Alternate attempt at the feral/semi-feral!dragon riders au. Several years before the events of the movie could happen, a raid on Berk not by dragons, but by other people, leads to the destruction of an entire generation when the raiders manage to capture the Teenagers of Berk and ship them away. While in captivity, they meet and ultimately befriend the dragons that in another life would be their partners and together they all escape. Unfortunately, they’re Thor-knows-where, and with no one they can trust (or understand) except each other, getting back to Berk might take a while…

The Lego Movie:

Hero with Two Faces of Yellow - Another ‘Emmet and Rex share a body like Good Cop Bad Cop’ AU

Peacemaker AU - Main Lego AU. About a year after the Duplo aliens attack, Emmet is attacked and presumed dead, but he’s actually been taken by General Mayhem to meet Queen Watevra Wana'bi, who remembered and missed her ‘father’. Later, Rex ends up jumping into an entirely different timeline by accident (this one) and decides to try and play the long game by befriending Emmet, who’s now living in the Systar System. That probably won’t work out for him the way he wanted.

Miraculous Ladybug

MiracuClass Knows AU - Prior to Volpina, each member of the MiracuClass finds out the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir, and just sort of collectively become their secret keepers. Inspired by Epiphanies by PFTones3582 on Fanfiction.net.

Miraculous Sburb AU - The MiracuClass play Sburb and end up dragging a good chunk of Paris in with them when they enter the Medium. Marinette is a Light player, Adrien is a Doom player, and that’s all I got. Gabriel probably definitely dies.

One Is Silver and the Other Gold - aka the Marikimno Brot3 AU. I headcannon that Marinette, Kim, and Nino were close friends as little kids that drifted apart a few years prior to the start of the show. In this AU, that never happened. Also, Alya becomes Adrien’s best friend instead of Nino, and Nathanel becomes their friend too somehow? (someone help Alya, she’s an extrovert and both her friends have social skill levels in the single digits.)

The Ladybug and the Monkey - Main Miraculous Ladybug AU. My take on the ‘Fu chooses Kim to be the second Miraculous wielder instead of Adrien’ AU that I’ve somehow seen multiple times.

Sleeper Miraculous - AU where instead of the Miraculous being handed out, they’re transported magically to their wielders after they’ve proved themselves somehow. The Miraculous still need to be ‘activated’ by the Guardian to be used on either a permanent or temporary basis, so Ladybug still has to go to Master Fu at first before she becomes the new Guardian, but she knows literally none of the other members of Team Miraculous’s identities. They have a chat group, too, where Ladybug updates team members on whose Miraculous she’s going to activate, and both Chloe and Kagami never blow their identities. Contains both mild Classmates + (even milder)Adrien salt and sugar. (define irony: wanting to punch someone in the face for being an a-hole only to realize that said a-hole is you).

Miraculous! Pretty Cure! - Another Pretty Cure AU. Yep.

Mesapia AU - Butterfly!Marinette AU with a few twists - 1) instead of just facing the villainous user of the Ladybug Miraculous, all of the Miraculous have been lost to villains (save for the rabbit). Marinette frequently empowers her classmates (+Adrien, who’s still under house-arrest in this AU, Luka, and Kagami) to fight the Miraculous Villains, who are also all fighting each other; and 2) This isn’t so much a Kwami Swap as a Kwami Scramble, no one uses their canon Miraculous here (except for Fu briefly, and Emilie had the peacock before what happened to her)!

Boys vs Girls AU (name subject to change) - Marinette vs Lila with the Boys (+Kagami) on Marinette’s side and the Girls on Lila’s.

Labyrinth - Almost the entirety of the MiracuClass go missing (+Lila, Luka, & Kagami, -Chloe) and on a related note, eight very young children wake up in an ever-shifting, monster-filled underground labyrinth and grow up together. And two of them have some special, appearance-shifting jewelry…

Mad Gabriel - Miraculous Ladybug x Mad Father, starring Adrien as Aya, Marinette as Dio, Gabriel as Alfred Drevis, Nathalie as Maria, and everyone else as the doctor’s victims (Lila is Ines).

Miraculous Royal AU - A fantasy AU starring the MiracuClass (shocker) spread out across three fantasy kingdoms.

Quartz Butterfly AU - AU in which Jagged Stone takes the role of (a significantly nicer but still villainous) Hawkmoth as Quartz Butterfly, with Penny taking on Mayura’s role as Songbird. (yes i know peacocks aren’t songbirds SHHHH).

MiracuTrio AU - AU based on fanofanimation’s submission to terrible-miraculous-ladybug-aus, where Kim becomes a permanent member of the team after Party Crasher.

Mitterlicht - horror-ish AU inspired partially by various horror games, Lucidstuck, and Underbright (no, really). After receiving their Miraculous for the first time, the temporary heroes start having less-than-restful nights. Things quickly go from bad to worse when fragmented, panic-inducing dreams turn into nightly (and solitary) trips into a dark world full of monsters that want to take something referred to just as their ‘light’- a bright light that acts as both a beacon to the hostile creatures and the only way to return to consciousness every night -which just so happen to be in the exact spot (and in many cases, are also vaguely the same shape) of their Miraculouses.

Mirakatsu - Aikatsu AU

Ladybug: Don’t Deal With Hawkmoth - (aka the result of listening to the Cuphead Rap Battle 50 million times) Cuphead AU where Ladybug and Chat Noir have to go around beating up akumas and collecting their butterflies to avoid getting akumatized by Hawkmoth.

Miracle Thieves - a phantom/gentleman thief au where Marinette and Adrien (who have been thieves for years) unwittingly steal a pair of magical artifacts and decide to team up afterwards. Includes Fox!Nino, Journalist-determined-to-expose-their-identities!Alya, and possibly Tiger!Markov.

Homestuck:

unnamed AU inspired by To Live a Normal Life

unnamed Harry Potter AU

Merged Sessions AU - An AU where our favorite trolls and the Beta Kids are all part of the same session

Same Side of the Scratch AU - AU where the Beforus Trolls replace the Alternian ones, and when both sessions get scratched the Alternian Trolls end up in communication with the Alpha Kids

Same Side, Same Session AU - Combines both of the two immediately above AUs, The Beta Kids and Beforus Trolls have a session together that fails and gets Scratched, then the Alternians and Alphas play the game together while the pre-scratch players (all alive) travel to their session and have Meteorstuck Shenanigans.

Relief Was Just a Dream (name subject to change) - aka the mandatory Troll Rebellion AU, inspired by a fic I don’t remember the name of on A03. Sweeps after Karkat and Feferi are (seemingly) culled, Ace Legislacerator Terezi Pyrope -one of the best despite knowing she’s one wrong move away from being culled for her disability- is called in to investigate a series of traitorous attacks on more and more ships. Weirdly, the trolls seen most in the attacks don’t even seem to exist, all seem to bleed a painfully familiar cherry red, and have powers that even Her Imperial Condescension doesn’t seem to have. (not a no-game au)

Freetime AU (name subject to change) - AU where Bro leaves Dave on Dad Egbert’s doorstep, and Dave and John grow up as brothers.

Megaman:

Pokemon Network - Hub lives Pokemon AU with at least two protagonist teams. Team A: Lan, Hub, Mayl, Dex & Yai in Kanto. Team B: Roll, Glyde, Gutsman (Gus) in Kalos. What are Chaud and Protoman/Blues up to? ~Secrets~

Sailor Moon:

Inverse Corruption - When Beryl scours the Earth looking for her reincarnated generals she fails to find them, but she does manage to find the senshi instead. Sailor Moon has to unknowingly face the very girls who were supposed to protect her, fighting side-by-side with the Shitennou instead. (the boys are highschoolers to the girls middleschoolers)

Hazbin Hotel:

Infernal Relations - Why did Lucifer and Lilith wait so long to have a child? Simple; they didn’t. Unbeknownst to Charlie, her parents both had and lost a child thousands of years before she was born, a fact that will have far more of an effect on her hotel than she could possibly realize (even if she had known).

Apprentice Charlie AU - AU where Charlie gets into a fight with Lucifer and leaves before she ever thinks to create her hotel and Alastor ends up finding amusement by taking on an apprentice. (inspired by Helluva Teacher by Sol_Victoria on A03)

Phineas and Ferb:

Cursed Cats AU - AU based on the song Black Cats of Halloween. Phineas, Ferb, and their friends are cursed by a demon who turns them into black cats, save for on Halloween night. They’re then thrown into a world of magic and have to find each other, their way back home, and a way to break their curse, preferably in that order.

Danganronpa:

Online Gamer AU - no one dies/non-despair AU where no one is a super/ultra highschool level anything, no one has met each other in person, and they all play Among Us together. Junko always dies first and she’s low-key going to hurt someone over it.

unnamed AU where the murders of the killing game happen differently (aka the mandatory dr au)

unnamed AU inspired by ask-the-dr-reset-kids - After an incident that forces Hope’s Peak to temporarily close it’s doors, Class 78 all transfer to a different school. Junko is in jail, Mukuro is coping, Izuru is looming somewhere, the Ultimate Despair are waiting like sleeper agents to cause the The Most Despair Inducing Event in History, and Makoto is straight up not having a good time (and has very good reasons not to tell anyone).

unnamed AU where both Class 77 and Class 78, including both Junko and Mukuro but without Chiaki end up playing the Killing Game together.

Double Mastermind AU - similar to the above, both Class 77 and Class 78 wake up one day with no memories of their school lives. They’ll have to work together, somehow, to find out where they are, how to get back to civilization, and how to get back their memories. Meanwhile in the control room, Makoto and a sort-of-but-not-really-reformed Junko are working together as the Masterminds behind the mystery. Well, Makoto’s working, anyway. Junko just kind of wants to give Makoto daily migraines. Contains Junko/Makoto hateshipping.

unnamed Taka Lives AU where instead of switching roles with Hiro during the third trial he just manages to survive the murder attempt. He does not, however, get out unscathed…

another unnamed Taka Lives AU where Makoto, at Kyoko’s urging, decides to stay with Kiyondo the night he would have died, throwing a huge wrench into the would-be-blackeneds’ plans.

Asassain!Makoto AU: The Killing School Life - an au where Makoto is secretly the Ultimate Assassin.

Assasain!Makoto AU: The Killing Mystery - au that’s basically the one directly above but takes place in a non-despair (or maybe averted despair would be more accurate) timeline. After receiving and turning down a job to assassinate a certain up-and-coming politician, The Black Mask (Makoto) alerts his would-be victim, an old former friend, that someone is out for his life.

Remnants of Hope AU - AU that takes place after the end of School Mode, with the class not being picked up by the future foundation right away. (does this. does this actually qualify as an au i’m not sure.)

unnamed Class Swap AU

unnamed AU where Makoto and Kiyotaka are brainwashed into Ultimate Despair in addition to Class 77. Contains both sweet and very effed up Naeishi, as well as Despair!Makoto+Izuru friendship (or as close as Izuru can get, anyway). Technically another 2 (or 3, sort of) masterminds au.

Soulmates AU - In a world where most people are colorblind until meeting their soulmate, Makoto Naegi walks into Hope’s Peak Academy colorblind, blacks out, and wakes up to color. As it turns out, the same thing happened to everyone else!

Scrapbook AU - After entering into Hope’s Peak Academy, Makoto started a scrapbook/photo album of himself, his classmates, and eventually even the class above his own during their time on and off school. It soon became a class diary of sorts after being discovered, shared among everyone… then a chronicle of the events leading up to Class 77 going missing, The Tragedy starting, and Class 78 sealing themselves inside the school bunker, before returning to it’s original purpose as Class 78 lived inside their homemade bunker. In canon, Junko found and burned it. In this timeline, it’s an amnesiac Makoto and his classmates who find it, hidden under the floor in Makoto’s room.

Amnesia AU - A boy wakes up in a school(?) with no memories of where he is, how he got here, or even who he is. As it turns out, there are fourteen other people here… and all of them have the same memory loss he does! (may or may not be an IF Bad End AU)

Polychain AU - Another different Victims and Blackends au, that extends well beyond the original Killing Game. The Tragedy occurs very differently in this one… initially. Also features Junko escaping after the Killing Game, and Hajime and Shuichi being half-brothers and kids of the survivors.

Unnamed AU where Leon and Taka also attended Makoto and Sayaka’s middle school.

Ghost AU - After being killed, the victims and blackened are forced to stick around and watch the Killing Game happen, believing they'll be allowed to move on after they leave. Turns out, they're very much wrong- but at least after it's over their classmates can see them! Too bad they're the only ones.

Teachers Assistant AU - inspired by a fic I don’t remember the name of on fanfiction.net. After Nagito blows up a building and gets suspended, Chisa is forced to take a Teacher’s Assistant or be fired. Somehow, a very reluctant Makoto gets the job, despite being in the class below her own. Cross-class shenanigans ensue.

Unnamed Timetravel AU inspired by a fic I don’t remember the name of on fanfiction.net where Makoto and Alter Ego, the only survivors of the Killing Game, are sent back in time to Makoto’s first day attending Hope’s Peak - Makoto mentally and Alter Ego physically. Not as dark as the premise sounds, at least theoretically.

Crossover

Dagla!Adrien AU - Adrien isn’t the son of Gabriel and Emilie Agreste, but instead his parents are a Modern Dagur and Mala. He still works for Gabriel as a model, but otherwise has had a very different upbringing (most notably the inclusion of a lot of people who have cared about him for his entire life, such as his best friend Zephyr Haddock) and acts more like Chat Noir both with and without the mask. He still befriends his canon friends, becomes Chat Noir, and falls in love with Ladybug. (HTTYD x Miraculous Ladybug)

unnamed Adventure Time x Star Vs AU

Miracutale - Lila pushes Marinette down a hole, Adrien tries to catch her but fails. Undertale ensues. (Miraculous Ladybug x Undertale)

Sailor Bella (name subject to change) - AU inspired by some art from Turning-the-Tides, Princess Serenity reincarnates not into Usagi Tsukino, but Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, and her Senshi are reincarnated into the boys. I have no idea who Endymion became if he exists at all in this AU. (Sailor Moon x Phineas and Ferb)

unnamed three-way crossover between Harry Potter, Miraculous Ladybug, and How to Train Your Dragon.

unnamed Steven Universe x Undertale AU - After returning from the Jungle Moon, Steven and Connie end up stranded in an alternate timeline where they meet what appears to be another half-gem going by the name of False Topaz (Frisk). Things get a little more tricky when it turns out that gems and humans coexist somewhat… on one side of a giant, seemingly uncross-able mountain range live humans, on the other gems, and after a war between the two a few centuries ago, both cultures have a kill on sight policy. To make things more complicated, gems seem to be very different in this timeline. (note: Frisk is not actually a gem, just disguised as one)

unnamed Undertale x Star Vs AU - There’s a new face at the Silver Bell Ball - Frisk, heir and ambassador for the Kingdom of… Monsters?! Star and Frisk are quick to befriend each other, but despite that, Star can’t help but feel that Frisk doesn’t like her… And Frisk may have more than one secret to share… or maybe to keep.

unnamed Miraculous Ladybug x Danganronpa AU - The Worst Most Despair Inducing Event In History was localized to Japan (but the effects are spreading), and the six survivors of Hope’s Peek, aided by Kagami’s father, whom Byakuya naturally has connections to, immigrate to France to pick up the pieces of their lives. Meanwhile in France, Ms. Bustier’s class gain five new transfer students after the events of Miracle Queen.

Games - (everything)

Wild Things - (everything)

#LONG post #Star Vs #HTTYD #Lego Movie #Miraculous Ladybug #Homestuck #Megaman Battle Network #Sailor Moon #Hazbin Hotel #Phineas and Ferb #Danganronpa #Undertale #Harry Potter and Adventure Time don't get their own tags because they only show up once each #and only in crossovers

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revive-the-fandom · 3 years

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I think the httyd characters are diverse enough that you don't even realize that the girls end up falling into specific niches until you ONLY focus on the girls. There's more male characters within the series quantity wise, so in total the guys get more personality and character diversity from person to person that you can focus on throughout the story. A lot of them are great characters too! But, again, the vast majority are GUYS. Meanwhile, while Astrid and Ruffnut are incredibly fun on their own and definitely don't fall into the background, they end up falling into specific roles and following specific tropes either for relationship drama or comedy. Their characters end up bending the wrong way or are temporarily watered down so that they can fulfill the roles of smart, capable women even though everyone knows they already ARE that. (Well, Ruffnutt is certainly capable anyways...) And the thing is, they're both incredibly tough characters that live and survive in a world of fighting and Vikings, which kind of automatically makes them more subversive women characters in some people's eyes (not that they aren't but still). Due to them simply living in such a chaotic world, I think people end up subconsciously forgiving moments where the girls are only written to be girls.

The girls are good characters and definitely play their roles well. They were most certainly written and created with care and thoughtfulness. It's just when small moments pile up and you start paying attention to what exactly they do in relation to other characters that you start finding some issues in not only misogyny, but character consistency as well.

(This was just a long way of saying I agree with you lol. I love Httyd but there are definitely moments where I side-eye what I'm looking at, and until you brought this up, I was just kind of wondering if I was overanalyzing some parts)

yup i totally agree! httyd has an awesome cast of characters, a lot of whom i love watching in the franchise and would never change (however badly i wish Viggo's character specifically had been female, i wouldn't want to give up his voice or general charm - i love a charming villain). It's just sad that httyd 1 built this awesome world where woman are encouraged to become incredible fighters and yet we get to see almost none of that on screen. httyd 1 even set up valka to be a warrior (as valhallarama was in the books) yet httyd 2 retconned this entirely and now we get skinny valka running around crying that we should spare the dragons, and for what reason, what evidence does she have that the dragons should be spared? if wolves continuously stole food, injured and killed people around me i would not be too empathetic towards them.

so yeah, glad im not the only one!

#asks #im kinda tired from travelling rn so sorry if this isnt very coherent #asks always make my day!

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frustrated-writer-skyeknight · 3 years

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Excerpt, the assigned guardian

Read Plotbunnies here 1, 2, 3, 4

Summary: Stoick mulls over what he must do about his son and the his being prone to getting into trouble. Jack gets wrapped up into it.

Jack was in the Meade hall, where half the town were convening about what to do about the constant dragon attacks after the rather spectacular bout of trouble tonight, not counting Hiccup’s own blunder. He gets the feeling the town are starting to accept it as something that can no longer be helped.

“Either we finish them, or they’ll finish us! It’s the only way we’ll be rid of them!”

Admittedly, Jack didn’t really want to be here and listen to some doom and gloom meeting. He usually likes keeping things light and fun, but Gobber was a part of this meeting and the man dragged him along to help clean blood off the weapons.

Now if only the man, who was simply drinking a mug of Meade, would help him out.

“If we find the nest and destroy it, the dragons will leave.” Jack watched as Stoick pierced a map with a dagger. Why do people do that, he wondered. Somebody must’ve worked hard in making a detailed map of places; tearing it that way seems a little rude to the shepherd boy. “They’ll find another home! One more search.” Stoick goes on, “Before the ice sets in.”

Jack looked towards a Viking nearby, at his side, who remarked, “Those ships never come back.”

“We’re Vikings!” Stoick intoned, and stressed firmly. “It’s an occupational hazard!”

Jack huffed, “Lemme tell you what’s an occupational hazard,” he muttered lowly to himself, as he rubbed at a particular thick coat of blood, at the handle of an axe, that refused to be cleansed away. “This.” It was laundry day for him tomorrow, it seemed.

“Now who’s with me?”

The rest of the town started murmuring reluctantly,

“Alright.” Stoick started, with a bit of an eye roll. “Those who stay will look after Hiccup.”

"To the ships!”

"I’m with you, Stoick!”

“I’ll take the front line, chief!”

“Me, for back up!”

“Well,” Jack snorted, tossing the rag to the wash dish next to him, soaking it up before another attempt to remove the thick coat of blood. “Rude.”

Stoick hummed in satisfaction, “That’s more like it.” He raised his chin high, find a specific mop of brown hair behind some seated Vikings. “Jack, that means the job’s yours.”

“Yes, sir…” Jack chimed absently, grinning as he finally got the coat removed. Then he stopped short as the command registered, “Wait, what does that–”

“Meeting adjourned.”

The townspeople started filing out, talking among themselves what they’re going to be taking with them to the journey that may not come back from. Jack left the weapons and started to make his way up front where Stoick and his unofficial boss remained. Gobber cleaned out his mug at last, adjusting the waist band of his trousers before clearing his throat.

"Right, I’ll pack my undies.”

“No,” Stoick shook his head, “I need you to stay and train some new recruits.”

The blond man made a look, “Oh, perfect.” Gobber started sarcastically, “And while I’m busy, Hiccup can cover the stall. Molten steel, razor sharp blades, lots of time to himself…” He hummed lazily as he listed all those, “what could possibly go wrong?”

“Jack would be keeping an eye on him.” The chief said, gesturing to the brunette. “Won’t you, lad?”

Jack cleared his throat, and started tentatively “Right, well, sir...” Despite the months he’s been living with them, the chief’s size still intimidated him to an extent, especially when the guy was just in front of him. “Can we talk about how that isn’t necessarily a good plan?”

“Lad’s got a point.” Gobber said in support, “Jack’s gotta watch the sheep and tykes sometimes, too.”

Jack narrowed his eyes, “Not really the point I’m driving it, but…”

"Jackson, give us a moment.” Stoick interjected “Go… watch the sheep or something.”

Gobber added his own input, “But before ya do, mind gettin’ us a refill?” He waved his mug, “Might be here a while.”

Jack rolled his eyes, before taking the man’s mug and another one for the chief. He went off the the barrels of mead. Gobber and Stoick continues to talk about Hiccup, and what to do about him. The blond Viking suggested letting him join the rest of the recruits.

Stoick didn’t seem like a fan of that idea. He and Gobber argued about it for a while. Jack swore, sometimes he thought they were like some married old couple with how they argued over Stoick’s son.

“I take him fishing and he goes hunting for… for trolls!”

“Trolls exist! They steal your socks. But only the left ones. What’s with that?”

Jack shrugged, as he made his way back to them. “It really didn’t go as bad as it sounds.” he justified.

“I suppose.” Stoick granted, “He made a friend but still.”

“Okay, yeah, that too but that wasn’t what I–”

“When I was a boy…” Stoick went on, and Jack sighed. Seemed like no one was hearing him out tonight; he might as well be invisible.

Gobber groaned dramatically, “Oh, here we go.”

“My father told me to bang my head against a rock, and I did it.” Stoick continued. “I thought it was crazy, but I didn’t question him.”

Jack settle the chief’s mug with down. Stoick took it, drank a sip, and went on, gesturing his his arms dramatically and caused some mead to spill a bit on Jack as the gesture jostled the mug.

“And you know what happened, lad?”

Jack narrowed his eyes, wiping the mead off his cheek. He already heard this story, in the same dramatic tone Hiccup when Hiccup told him, “The rock splits it two.” he deadpanned.

“That rock split in two!” Stoick confirmed.

Gobber looked to Jack, “I highly don’t recommend ye trying it though, Jack.” he said. “We need ye in your best condition.”

“Wasn’t planning to sir…” Jack said, before heading off to go watch him, as initially requested.

HiJack AU [HTTYD, ROTG]

#ChildOfSolace Plotbunnies #HiJack AU #HiJack #Hiccup x Jack #Stoick #Stoick the Vast #Gobber the Belch #Gobber #Httyd AU

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howtowhumpyourhiccup · 4 years

Text

Whumptober Day 26: More Then A Simple Headache

Summary: Written for Whumptober Day 26. Post-RttE, Pre-Httyd 2. When ice and snow come to Berk, it means Hiccup's home will be covered in boobytraps he cannot see. And that means the occasional accident cannot be avoided.

Rating: General

Characters: Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless, Stoick

Pairing: Hiccstrid

Words: 1 397

Fandom: How to Train Your Dragon

Prompt: Concussion

Whumpee: Hiccup

Author’s Notes: Definitely a lighter Whumptober submission, probably more h/c than actual whump. But I had a lot of fun writing this one.

Constructive criticism is appreciated!

Enjoy

Ao3

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The hit is instantaneous and so is the pain in his skull. So are the worried rumbling and the gasp that follows his fall. It briefly becomes black before his eyes and Hiccup doesn't make an immediate attempt to get back up.

"Oh no, Hiccup! Are you okay?" Much like Toothless, Astrid is a witness to Hiccup's fall and comes over to help him back up to his feet. There's a smile on her face, though he can't tell if it's out of sympathy or slight amusement or both. Probably both.

"Stupid ice, stupid prosthetic." Hiccup mumbles under his breath as he takes Astrid's hand to get up, rubbing the back of his head as it pounds.

"Wow, I guess your hair isn't as helpful as I thought it'd be." She teases and wipes the snow off his person.

"Oh, making jokes, are we? Didn't think you'd take enjoyment out of my pain." Hiccup responds, dusting himself off. Toothless hovers around him, circling him and crooning.

"I'm-I'm okay, Bud. That was just a little embarrassing, is all." He tells him and pets his nose, though his pounding brain would like to disagree. This is why he doesn't like the cold. Everything freezes over and when you get as much snow as they do, you can't always see the patches of ice until your pegleg slips on them.

And it happened in the middle of the village, too.

"Ah, happens to the best of us, lad." A Berkian man tells him and claps him on the shoulder as he passes. Hiccup gives him a friendly smile, though it does nothing to lessen his embarrassment.

"He's right, this can happen to anyone." Astrid agrees and then watches him appear to taste something funny, his brows knitting together.

"What's wrong?"

"I think I bit on my tongue." Hiccup replies, tasting the uncomfortably metallic tang of blood on his tastebuds.

"Today is not your day, is it?" Astrid wonders out loud.

"Not my day to take a walk, apparently." Hiccup replies, resisting the urge to spit out the blood in his mouth as he continues on his way.

"You don't want to go by Gothi for a second? Have her take a look at that?" Astrid suggests as she follows, Toothless rumbles in agreement as he walks by Hiccup's other side.

"For something as trivial as that? I don't really see the point. Besides, what skull is thicker than a Haddock's?" Attempting to divert their concern elsewhere, Hiccup jokes and pretends like a hellish throbbing isn't currently knocking on the back of his head.

"A Thorston's is. And we don't say that you have thick skulls, we say that you are thickheaded." Hiccup gazes at Astrid in overly exaggerated offense.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Hofferson! You can't just go around insulting my entire clan like that! All two of us!" Astrid laughs and Toothless speaks up.

"Toothless, Bud, stop agreeing to everything she says."

As they walk away and push the incident to the back of their minds, a Terror by the name of Sharpshot lands on the spot where he'd just seen his human friend fall. He'd been in the area when he saw it happen and he needed to take a look.

He sees that he's right, that his eyes aren't deceiving him, as he notices tiny specks of red on the frozen ground.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Hours later, Hiccup sits at the dinner table with his head in his hands. The pounding inside has gotten worse throughout the day and he's begun to suffer from the light. Every time he just looks at a torch there's a sharp pain behind his eyes.

A block of ice drops on the table, making him jump.

"Ah, sorry, son." Stoick apologizes and comes to sit on the opposite side of the table.

"So what manner of trouble were you in today?" He asks.

"Trouble me? Since when?" Hiccup asks in return, already squinting in the dim light of his home.

Sharpshot jumps down from the rafters and makes a fuss on the table.

"Sharpshot, off the table! Hiccup!"

"Sharpshot, we don't have any leftovers for you, Buddy." Hiccup picks the Terror up like a cat and places him on his lap.

Feeling misunderstood, he starts yipping at Toothless instead, who raises his head in question from his spot by the fire. He murrs back and gets up, understanding the little one's plight. He trods over to Hiccup and starts sniffing his hair.

"Toothless, what're you doing?" Hiccup asks, drawing away and holding the spot he'd hit earlier.

"Hiccup, how hard did you fall this afternoon?" His father asks, probably having heard about it from someone else because why would his son tell him anything?

"I didn't hit the ground that hard." Hiccup tells him, but Sharpshot and Toothless both disagree as they protest.

"Your dragons seem to think otherwise," Stoick states, their reaction not lost on him.

Not finding any way to dispute that, Hiccup instead holds the back of his head quietly.

"And I noticed you've barely eaten. Feeling sick, do we?" So that about the leftovers is clearly a lie and Hiccup hadn't missed the way his stomach churned with nausea.

"It's not a big deal!"

"Clearly it is. Gothi should still be up at this hour, you're paying her a visit." Stoick decides and already gets up from his seat.

"Oh, I don't want to bother her at this hour," Hiccup speaks, watching his dad march towards the door.

"You should've thought of that before you decided to be stubborn." He tells him and grabs his cloak and Hiccup's furs.

"Oh great," Hiccup mutters and leaves his chair.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day, Hiccup still lies in bed late in the morning on Gothi's orders. He has only just woken up, but still feels just as tired as the evening before. Toothless lies in bed with him and is taking up the majority of the space. The dragon's head rests on his shoulder while Hiccup lies on his side.

He's looking up at Astrid through tired eyes as she leans against the post near the stairs to the ground floor.

"So what did she say?" She asks with a knowing, but still sympathetic, smile.

"Concussion." Hiccup sighs. Astrid nods to show him she heard him, barely fighting the smugness she feels.

"You want to tell me "I told you so"?" Hiccup asks, able to read it off her face.

"I do, but I won't." She says and approaches, sitting on the edge of the bed on what little space he has left. Hiccup watches her sit down, but then he closes his eyes. The candlelight on his bedside table might not be bright enough to hurt, but the pounding still demands that he not see a thing.

"How bad is it?" She asks, leaning on a hand.

"Bad enough that Gothi wants me to stay in bed?" Hiccup attempts to turn onto his back before he answers, but Toothless' size doesn't allow him that much luxury and so he has to settle for this.

"In that case," Astrid says and decides to divide Hiccup's space by half as she comes to lie in front of him.

"Oh come on, Astrid." Hiccup groans in dismay, but does take her in his arms.

"Don't you dare groan, I know you don't entirely oppose of this." She scolds him, pressing her ear against his chest.

"That's a really long way of saying that you see this as an excuse for a nap and you're not taking 'no' for an answer." Hiccup retorts. Doesn't matter if his head pounds or not, the sass must come.

Astrid laughs, but doesn't dispute that. Hiccup opens his eyes again, his concussion not stopping him from gazing at his girlfriend. Toothless' snoring fills the silence.

"Good night, Babe," Astrid tells him, not blind to the fact that it isn't even midday yet, and Hiccup nods to show her that he will in just a second. He takes a lock and puts it behind her ear. He does like having her here.

But then Hiccup closes his eyes to get the sleep that he needs. Not even half an hour later, Hiccup is asleep with his head on Astrid's chest. Astrid is still awake and running her fingers through her boyfriend's hair absentmindedly. She's content staying like this for a little while longer.

#whumptober2020 #no.26 #concussion #httyd #how to train your dragon #fanfics #hiccup haddock #hiccup whump #astrid hofferson #hiccstrid #toothless #hictooth #dragon bros #stoick the vast #the haddocks #my fanfics #more then a simple headache

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dangdiggitydang · 3 years

Text

rotbtd tag game

i was tagged by @hobie-brown :D

this could get long...

name/nickname? mags! my favourite one atm is magatron

how did you get into rotbtd? saw some fanart on google images while i was perusing through the httyd fanart as a ten year old and never looked back. deviant art and youtue amvs became my vices after that.

what made you stay/come back? httyd 3 actually! even though it's my least favourite of the trilogy, it made me so nostalgic for rotbtd. also the content now is so much better than it used to be imo.

out of the four movies, which one is your favourite? httyd1 definitely. i think its the most well written and constructed (tangled is a close second) and the soundtrack is amazing. while i think brave and rotg aren't as narratively strong, they have the same heart and loveable characters as the other two. tbh, i thoroughly enjoy watching all of them

dreamworks dragons or rapunzel’s tangled adventure? i ADORED rob and dob and i used to watch it episode by episode on abc3, but i haven't gotten around to watching all of rtte yet. tbh...i don't like the characterisation in rtte very much, something just feels off about it. character and plot wise, i don't have anything against rapunzel's tangled adventure, but some of it gets boring and repetitive after a while. this is a long winded way of saying i prefer dreamwork's dragons, but just rob and dob ig.

which one do you prefer to be made a sequel of, brave or rise of the guardians? like @hobie-brown said, disney should not be trusted with merida or any of her family. that being said! a rotg sequel would be a dream come true!! there's so much lore and world building that needs to be explored!! i have so many questions. how did the other guardians die? they mentioned the groundhog, are there other spirits?? are there different ones from other cultures?? and obviously there's will joyce's series to take inspiration from as well. imo, a series would work better to explore everything. (also give me a pitch black redemption arc. i LIVE for the villain-turned-awkward-relative trope)

otp/brotp(s)? my otp is hiccstrid and i think eugene and rapunzel is one of disney's most solid romances so there's that. jarida!! my beloved!! tbh, i was indifferent to jarida until like three months ago but now i cannot stop thinking abt them. in terms of brotps? all of them. literally any. the best thing abt the rotbtd revival is the lack of ship wars and the realisation that all of them have wonderful and distinct chemistry between any other member of the group.

favourite characters? httyd and brave were my gateways into this fandom, so i guess hiccup and merida?? but i actively kin rapunzel and jack has so many unexplored character traits beyond Ice Themed Bad Boy That Pulls Pranks. idk man, don't make me pick.

favourite au(s)? BAND AU. OMG i LOVE BAND AUs. @risoris made an awesome band au and a fic to go with it and i think i cried when i saw it. some of my other favourites are: office aus, superhero aus or camp counsellors aus (which @ven-finn has drawn art for ;))

pick one! favourite b4 house placement in hogwarts au? im not as into hp as i was before bc of reasons but my headcanons for house placements are: hiccup - ravenclaw, rapunzel - gryffindor, merida - slytherin, jack - hufflepuff

pick one! since this is 2021, any hot takes you want to give us? | what old fanon tropes that you still enjoyed to this day? hm. i think old fanon tropes were frustratingly heteronormative and surface-level. some hot takes... umm

when merida's old and her kingdom's passed onto her brothers or her heir (if she has one), her retirement plan is to go live in the woods and become the resident cryptid.

any aus that take away hiccup's disability is yuck.

i mentioned this in an earlier question, but jack has SO MUCH character beyond the basic bad boy arcetype everyone placed him in during early fandom. like, the boy needs therapy but not in the way wattpad boys need therapy y'know?

in general, i think old fandom lacked a lot of nuance when it came to the characters, especially when they were all together so im glad that's starting to change!

in a modern au, raps would DEFINITELY be on art tiktok. like those mirror painting trends and the cottagecore aesthetics remind me so much of her.

everyone thought that jack would play hockey bc he's ice themed and everything, when in fact 1) he uses his staff much more like a lacrosse stick than a hockey stick and 2) you think that twink isnt the resident smart ass who makes fun of the sports people at the risk of being punched in the face?

any fic recs? or if you couldn't think of any, what was the last rotbtd fanfiction that you read? the last one i think i read was @risoris 's 'Like A Fist In The Eye' which is a jarida soulmates au but with a twist that they hate eachother. it's only got one chapter and they haven't met yet, but im in love with it. a few i'd recommend are:

we cannot be friends (cannot pretend it makes sense) which is a platonic merida and hiccup fic with added hiccstrid and lesbian merida

Jack Frost and the Shadows of Van der Bor which is a jarida hogwarts fic!

im tagging @risoris and @therearedragonsindunbroch if they haven't already seen/done this!

#rotbtd

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nehswritesstuffs · 3 years

Text

Basil Oswald and the Caretaker of Dragons - Part 3

I got a lot of nutso stuff going on right now, but at least I was able to eventually crank out another chapter of this. It’s a bit long and infodumpy, but it’s been a while and everything flows fairly nice, so hopefully that helps.

Chapter 1 - 2 - FFN - AO3

Never had Basil, let alone Clara, thought such a reunion was possible, and yet the doors that it opens up are innumerable. [4308 words; a HTTYD!Whouffaldi AU]

Clara and Basil’s hearts skipped beats at the first word they’d heard the rider say. She stood before them a stranger, yet stared in great confusion as she seemed to very quickly piece things together. An awkward tension hung in the air as the three adult humans all processed the situation to the best of their abilities.

“…Bill…?” Basil breathed. He passed Aodh to Clara and stepped forward. Reaching out, he went to her by the sound of her heavy breathing, his eyes attempting to focus out of habit. He found her arm first, then went to touch her face, fingers tracing her features. “You… you… you’re alive…?”

“Where have you been?”

“I can ask the same for you, young lady.” He swallowed a laugh in an attempt to keep his composure as he continued to feel her face. “Gods… you look so much like Mels…”

“Dad… what are you doing here? How’d you get away from Aunt Velda? Why are you looking at me so weird and touching my face? Did you get to save Mum, or…?”

“I’m blind, Bill,” he explained, hitting the most immediate topic first. “I can’t see you because I’m blind… I have been for a few years now.”

“Blind…? But how are you…?”

“That is… a long story.” He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead into hers. “Clara? Can you put logs on the fire again? I think I owe her an explanation before anything.”

“I think you owe all of us one,” she stated, sheathing her sword. It was not a statement made of malice, yet it still hung heavily in the air as she placed her son down and went to stoke the fire again. Aodh looked curiously at his father and the newcomer, tilting his head in confusion.

“Dad…? Who is this?”

“This is your sister, Bill,” Basil said. “She’s been away since before you were born, but now she’s back.”

“You gonna stay now?” Aodh wondered, excitement bubbling in his voice.

“Let me hear what Dad has to say,” Bill said awkwardly. She tried to not resist as the small child took her by the hand and pulled her over to where the large, comfortable chairs sat. Aodh had her sit in one, pausing long enough to let her get comfortable before crawling into her lap and snuggling in, only knowing he felt cozy and safe. Clara came over with a blanket that she wrapped her son in, locking eyes with the stranger.

“You were the one I saw in the cave,” she noted.

“Yeah… but I didn’t realize that… you’re my stepmum…” Bill glanced over towards the dragons as they were sniffing at one another. “It’s been so long I couldn’t even recognize Idris.”

“How long has it been?” Basil wondered, embarrassed. “I lost track.”

“Sixteen years,” Bill replied. She watched him sit with Clara on a wide chair and tried to not frown. “You’ve been busy.”

“Only the past few,” Clara clarified. “I’ve heard bits and pieces about you and your mother, but never the whole story.” She held Basil’s hand in hers and saw how wet his eyes were. “It’s clearly painful, so I’ve never forced the matter. I…” She trailed off for a moment, the thought weighing heavily. “I didn’t even hear your names before now.”

“It’s true,” he confirmed. His shoulders sagged with the weight of the years piling on him at once. “All this time, I thought you were dead, and even thinking your names was too painful.”

“That makes two of us,” Bill said. “You fell off Idris from very high up… you didn’t move after that, and I hid, running to make sure I was never found…” She trailed off, then gestured at Basil.

“After I came to, I saw that your aunt had control of the dragons, and that she had them eating your mother,” he replied quietly. Clara stared at him, unsure what to do or say.

“You only said there had been nothing to bury,” she mentioned. He shook his head.

“There wasn’t,” he said. “Mels was readying to have another child in the summer, so I’m sure there was more incentive for the dragons to rip into her and eat what they could before dragging the rest away. With Bill being young and small, it was plausible she became a finished dish much quicker, and I’m sure it was something that Velda herself thought as well. I was allowed nothing to mourn with—I ran, and ran, and kept on running, and that is all.”

“How did you end up here?” Bill asked. She felt Aodh’s tiny hand clutch her shirt and she looked down at the boy; he had already fallen asleep in her grasp.

“Idris collided with one hell of a skua and we crashed in the forest on the outskirts of the village,” Basil said. “Clara fed us, made sure we stayed secret, and was ready to fight for us. In fact, she even fought your auntie after she kicked me off Idris again and…” He gestured towards his eyes. “Despite everything that’s happened, I haven’t felt like a calm like the one she’s given me since your mother was alive.”

“How did you even find us?” Clara wondered. Bill shrugged.

“It wasn’t terribly hard,” she claimed. “You aren’t exactly subtle. Then again, I’m sure Dad taught you how to ride Idris, and subtle he is not.” Clara stifled a snicker—with that sass, there was no way Bill wasn’t Basil’s daughter. “I’ve been hiding along the edge of the village these past two days, watching these people and how they are with the dragons. You didn’t just restart your family—you restarted Gallifrey.”

“Berk appreciates the dragons, now that they’ve gotten to know them,” Basil frowned. “Gallifrey took them for granted, which is why their legacy has crumbled to dust.”

“Still,” Bill said, “I now know where the dragons from my den have been going. They’ve been leaving and not coming back more often than returning. Sometimes they wander off for a while, but… not like this…”

Basil could hear the trepidation in his daughter’s voice and knew something was wrong. “What’s happening to your den? I imagine you personally wouldn't need much more than what a quick raid of a trade ship wouldn’t fix, meaning it has to be serious for you to wander.”

“It’s dying,” she admitted solemnly. “On my Promise as the Caretaker, I’ve been trying to find out what it is or what it could be, and I’ve been slowly going from village to village looking for information on dragons. When Pilot and I followed you here, at first I thought I was going to find it, considering how hostile Berk has been in the past towards dragons…”

“...because what better place to learn how to kill a dragon than here, where the children were taught to be dragon killers?” Clara posed. Bill nodded.

“If you know how to kill, then you know how to prevent.”

“So you remembered your lessons,” Basil nodded.

“The only problem is that I never was able to sit all of them.” Bill skritched Pilot on the nose and the dragon nuzzled her shins. “I never expected to find you; now I not only have my dad back, but my teacher as well. Come back to the den with me, please.”

“Do you think I can really be of any help in this state?”

“I remember you talking with dragons without uttering a single word! You were the alpha of the den when I was a kid! It wasn’t a dragon that was the alpha—it was all you! A human! That has to count for something!”

“We’ll do it,” Clara said. Both Basil and Bill turned their heads towards her in confusion. “We’re the alphas of Berk’s dragons—two beings as one—we can do it.”

“Are you sure?” Bill asked.

“Of course,” Clara said. “Basil has been sharing knowledge with me the entire time he’s been here. We can consider it a weird family holiday.”

“Clara,” Basil frowned. “What about Aodh?”

“We can leave him with Adrian, take Danny and the Riders with us as backup, like we were originally planning.”

“Are you sure?”

“Why wouldn’t I be, you daft old man?” she smirked. “Bill’s mostly self-taught in recent years, but we need a genuine, classically-trained Dragon Lord for this one.”

“Bill is a Dragon Lord,” he reasoned. “The kids in the school, Aodh, our children… they will be Dragon Lords. I am done.”

“Dad, please,” Bill pleaded. She passed Clara the sleeping child in order to take his hands in hers and tried to look into his eyes, knowing full-well he could not see her. “Please… I’m the Caretaker… help me fulfill my promise to care for the dragons who need our help.”

Basil considered that pensively. He closed his eyes leaned forward, pressing his forehead against his daughter’s. “Promise I won’t lose you again?”

“Never ever,” she said. He exhaled heavily.

“We’ll go.”

“Oh, thank you, Dad!” Bill threw her arms around his neck in a hug and clung to him happily. It brought them both vague memories of years ago, when she was little and he was less grey, to happier times now bittersweet with age. “I never thought I’d see you again, that all your knowledge was lost forever, and now…” Tears began to flow from the corners of her eyes—she was living in a faerie story.

“How about we all get some sleep, hm?” Clara offered. She gave her husband their son and gestured to Bill. “We still have a job to do with other dragon riders, and I think the chief will be more than willing to let us change our course. In the meantime I can get you set up in the room we use when my dad’s over. It’ll be yours while you’re here.”

“Thanks,” she replied. Bill gave Basil one more hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you in the morning, Dad.”

“Sounds good, Bill.”

He heard both his wife and eldest child go up the stairs, only for his young son to begin fussing in his arms after having been passed back and forth so much. Aodh whimpered and clung to him as he found his way up the stairs and into the nursery, where he knew the boy’s bed was waiting.

“Relax now—it’s not as bad as you think,” he assured. “You’ll love having Bill around, I can promise you that.”

“Yeah…?”

“Yeah.” He continued his attempt to soothe his son; after a few minutes, familiar footsteps entered the room. “Is she settled?”

“She is,” Clara confirmed. She closed the door and looked at Basil expectantly. “Are you alright?”

“Just a little shocked still,” he said. “I might be in shock for a while. Never in all these years did I think...”

“How did you meet Bill’s mum?” she wondered, sitting down in the nearby chair. The Doctor went quiet, stroking their son’s back as he bounced him gently.

“She tried to kill me,” he admitted, voice quiet as he sank himself into the reverie. “Mellan Potts sailed to the den Velda and I were living in at the time with the aim of killing the Dragon Lords she thought were sending their beasts of death and destruction to her village. We fell in love instead, and within a few years Bill was born. The three of us were so happy together… and then…” He kissed the side of Aodh’s head, the boy finally sleeping once again, and placed him down in his bed, drawing the child’s blanket over him. “If I could take back that night and do one thing different, it would have been to wait longer at the den, so that I would take my daughter with me and raise her properly.”

“Don’t do that,” Clara warned. He raised an eyebrow at her and she frowned. “Don’t get enveloped in the past—that was how Velda became the way she was.”

“I know, I know… it’s just…” He exhaled heavily and crossed the room, kneeling down in front of her. Placing his hands on either side of her, he turned his face towards her as the heels of his palms and his thumbs rested around their child while his fingers lay spread towards her hips. “One thing that I hope you never, ever have to endure is losing one of the children. Bill was lost to me for all those years—I would think it’s only natural for me to wonder what could have been different had I raised her as a father should his child.”

“I wish you had that time back as well, but the fact remains that you cannot change the past,” she reminded him. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead, showing the tender affection that lead to events that brought them both the child in the bed and the one in her womb. “Don’t be absent for Aodh and his sibling because you feel guilt over their elder sister.”

“Quite the gap between them, eh?” he laughed weakly. He paused pensively and frowned. “Mels changed me, you know, made me a better person. Our daughter made me a better person. I honestly think that because of them… I didn’t go down the same path as Velda.” He curled up and placed his head in her lap, something he knew was going to be barred from him soon as he hugged her loosely. “They made my life full instead of the loneliness it had been until then—you and the children now fill that void…”

“...and you’re worried that you won’t be able to care for Bill the same way as you did before,” she figured. He nodded silently in reply. “That’s silly—you will always worry for your children, just as you shall always mourn who came before. I’m not that much a fool to have ever thought that Mels no longer resides in your heart, or that our children and I completely fill the void. You still love her, and that’s a good thing.”

“You sure?”

“I thought I was the boss,” she teased. “Now let’s go to bed; chances are that tomorrow is going to be a big day.”

Taking her husband by the hand, Clara led Basil out of the nursery and across the floorboards to their bedroom. She could see him trembling as he attempted to take off his clothes, showing how shaken he still was. After helping him take off his day clothes and put on a nightshirt, she helped him to bed, knowing that it was more the residual shock than anything.

“Clara…?” he whispered, laying in bed as she changed for the night.

“Basil…?”

“This changes nothing about us, does it?”

“Of course it doesn’t,” she assured him. Climbing into bed, she pressed herself against his back as they laid there, sharing in each other’s warmth and company. “Let’s figure it all out tomorrow, hmm? Go to sleep.”

...and they did.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

By the time morning had broken, the rains had not yet stopped. Basil and Clara brought Bill with them to the Great Hall, heading straight up to the chief without even grabbing anything for breakfast yet, allowing Aodh to be accompanied by Idris and Pilot over to the food.

“Are you sure this woman says who she claims she is?” the chief asked once he was done listening to their story of the night before. Several hatchlings were competing over the coveted perch called his lap, and he was attempting to shoo them away the entire time. “It’s not like the one person who can confirm what she looks like is now blind…”

“Her face is similar to my first wife’s, whom she favored even as a child,” Basil said quietly. He could feel the stares of not only the chief, but of all the other people in the hall. “Her face, her hair, build… she’s said things that only my daughter can know… that I have not spoken of in a very long time. I believe this woman is my daughter despite the fact I can’t see her.”

“Please… my den is dying, and I need my dad to help me figure out why it is,” Bill pleaded. “Either I’m going to move my dragons here, or I’m going to care for them until none are left there so that the sickness doesn’t spread, and I need to know which it is I’m going to do.”

The chief considered it all for a moment, giving weight and credence to Basil and Clara’s words based on everything he had known them for and what they had brought the village, and sighed heavily. “Any deviation from the plan and I need you to abort the mission immediately. Danny and the Stealth Riders will have similar orders.” He then turned to Bill, his stare hardening intensely. “If you are not who you say you are, then believe me when I say that you will regret it.”

“I have regrets, but that’s not one of them,” she replied. The words cut through her father, though he hid his emotions well. “Please, let me bring your Riders to my den and see if we need to evacuate or I’m in for a sickness to run its course.”

“Half of the riders bring dragons, and those that go have to stay in the caves upon return until we’re sure they didn’t catch anything,” the chief said. “You can go the sunrise after the rains stop.”

“Thank you!” Bill beamed. “I am in your debt!”

“Make sure you don’t spread the disease to our dragons and bring me back our esteemed dragon-taming teachers and we will go from there.”

“Are you sure about that?” a member of council scowled. “There could be disease on her dragon now.”

“We’ll be the judge of that later,” the chief said. “For now, this woman and her dragons need our help. It would be a disgrace to our way of life to let her go without.”

“She is not one of us,” another council member reminded him.

“That is where you’re wrong: she is the Doctor’s daughter, and therefore is welcome in Berk along with all her dragons if need be,” he declared. “If the Doctor became one of us when Clara first took him in, then this…”

“Uilleam Potts, sir.”

“...then this Uilleam Potts is, by extension, one of us.” The chief looked at Basil and raised an eyebrow. “You named your daughter Uilleam…?”

“Her mother was persuasive,” Basil claimed, attempting to shrug the guilt away.

“Now go begin introducing her to some of the other Riders before you’re due in for classes.”

“That’s right, you’re both teachers,” Bill smirked. They began to walk away from the chief and his council as they began to squabble, moving to a safer location. “Do you think I could be one? If I move here permanently?”

“We’ll see how it goes before making that sort of decision,” Basil warned. “Now let’s get something to eat before Danny sees us and we have to explain everything all over again.”

“Hate to break it to you, Basil, but he’s already here,” Clara said. The other man in question was already making to intercept them at the food counter, and there were many a question within his confused stare.

There was no way they were going to make it out of this breakfast without a full-on grilling and none of them were entirely cross about it.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The rains finally stopped late in the afternoon, after classes had dismissed for the day. It had been rather exciting at the school building as Basil introduced his daughter to students and other members of the staff, and it had been enough of a commotion for Clara to push the two of them outside with Aodh once they returned home, saying it was going to be good for them to take a walk together. With Idris and Pilot off interacting with the other dragons of the village, it was just Basil, Bill, and Aodh as they walked along a quiet pathway in the woods.

“It still feels very much like I’m in a dream,” Bill said. Her father’s arm was hooked in hers as they walked, making sure he stayed on the path. Aodh scampered about just ahead of them, staying just within sight, while still just out of earshot. “Everyone is so nice here… it’s incredible to think that this is the Berk you warned me about.”

“One and the same,” Basil said. He felt the cool breeze run through his hair and he exhaled heavily. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be… not that way,” she said. “I’m not going to have the first whole day we’ve had together in years be filled with you being sorry.”

Silence passed between them as they walked, with fallen pine needles crunching beneath their boots and Aodh giggling just out of reach. It was awkward, but that was why Clara had sent them out there, wasn’t it? Gods, they hoped so.

“So, you married again? No more Basil Potts?”

“Clara kept the existence of Idris and I a secret, fed us, and made sure we were safe multiple times before Berk came around to us,” he admitted. “She accepted me for who and what I am, despite the fact I fell from the sky on a dragon and she was raised to hate them. It was an easy thing to nurture.” He turned towards Bill and could feel her theorizing. “What…?”

“This means I really do have a new mum, and a baby brother!” she claimed. They had come to the edge of a glen, where Aodh had stopped to stomp about in a couple puddles, giving them some time. “I remember how much you and Mum tried to give me a baby sibling and now you did!”

“Uilleam…”

“Dad…” She placed a hand on his shoulder and tried to look into his eyes, seeing that pain was still there despite the fact his vision was not. “I’m glad you fell in love with Clara, that you had Aodh, and that you did so while not forgetting about Mum and me. We’re all together now, and that’s what matters. How many people out there have stepmums and baby brothers by them? More than a few, I imagine. He gets to have a sister too, now that I’m here.”

“You might have a sister as well before the snows,” Basil admitted self-consciously. “It’s not clear to you since you’ve just met her, but Clara is beginning to show she is carrying a second child. If it is a girl, you might be getting that sister after all.”

“Dad, you idiot,” Bill smirked. She grabbed her father and brought him in for a close hug. “Family is not neat and tidy—it’s messy and complicated and full of weird things. You told me that once, remember?”

“I told you that because your aunt was insane and your sister was stillborn.”

“...and it applies now as much as it did then,” she claimed. She then grew quiet and let her grip on her father slack. “Then, if my math’s right, Clara’s almost as far along as Mum was when she died, isn’t she?”

“Nearly,” he confirmed. “I’m so terrified, Bill, but I can’t tell her that.”

“Why not?”

“People like Clara and I… there are things people like us don’t say.” He moved from his daughter’s grasp and leaned against a tree, using it as leverage as he sat down. “Have you been in a relationship? A romantic one?”

“Not really,” she shrugged. “Stared at some girls from afar, but I know I’m too involved with dragons for most of them to even give me a second thought.” Bill paused and flinched. “Oh yeah, uh… you should probably know that I’m into women.”

“I knew that when you were a child—don’t make it sound like you’re confessing,” he said with a laugh. “Your old dad doesn’t blame you on that.”

“Yeah…” Bill sat down and leaned over, allowing her head to rest on Basil’s shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and the two shared in one another’s strength for the moment. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

“I’m more glad for you,” he claimed. “If you ever find yourself with a wife and child, I hope you never have to go through what I did in regards to your mother and you. A great deal of me died that day, and despite the fact I have Clara and our children, nothing has been able to heal that wound.”

“I’ve felt the same about you and Mum...” Bill was about to continue when Aodh came over, jumping into her lap and trying to hug both adults at once.

“Big hug!” the boy declared. “It time for a big hug!”

“A hug with both my kids, yeah,” Basil agreed, placing his other arm around Aodh. He sat quietly, until a squelching noise came from his stomach.

“Dad! Your tummy’s loud!”

“I should hope it is—I’m hungry,” he said. “How about if we go back home and fetch Mum and the dragons so we can go get something to eat?”

“I’d like that!” Aodh decided. “Bill! Bill! Can I ride your shoulders?”

“I don’t see why not,” she said. She helped Basil up before grabbing her baby brother and putting him atop her shoulders, allowing him to sit nearly higher than eye-level with their father. “Having fun up there?”

“Yeah!” the boy cheered. “Today is the best day ever! Don’t you agree?”

“It is pretty neat, yeah,” Bill replied. She hooked her arm into Basil’s and smirked at him. “What do you think, Dad?”

“I think…” he mused, “...that you both are right.”

#Whouffaldi #Clara Oswald #Twelfth Doctor #Whouffle #Twelve x Clara #Doctor Who #HTTYD!AU #fan fiction #Aodh Oswald #trying to get the backstory dump just right was just absolutely driving me insane #and #down here #because spoilers #again #Bill Potts

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harley-style · 4 years

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Why do people not like HTTYD 2?

That movie happens to be my favorite out of the three. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the first one is warming up to me and while I originally adored the third one I’m slowly learning why I shouldn’t like it as much, but the second one has always been the special one for me. I was wondering why, to others, this movie didn’t hold a candle. To me, it certainly did.

Reasons why I love the second movie:

Hiccup aged WELL and TECHNICALLY this is the FIRST movie I’d seen out of all THREE. TECHNICALLY. (Because I’m a dumbass and forgot most of HTTYD 1 including faces.)

Toothless has a really great character here. Did you see that protectiveness? And the way the two just bantered back and forth.

Its super easy to expect a villain like Drago, but also wonder if Hiccup was going to win against a madman. After all, there’s no reasoning with one. It was hard for me to believe Hiccup would win. Stakes, to me, were actually quite dire. STOICK DIED.

As a narrative, it made sense to me for Hiccup to struggle accept growing into his responsibility.

From what I remember of the first movie, I’d always wondered if there were people who exploited the used of the dragons they killed since for generations Berk was a ‘dragon slaying’ village. This second movie answered that quite nicely.

I love Hiccup’s mom and how her character was presented. Do I think she made a dick move by leaving her son? Yes. Was it right? No. Do I think she’s a lovely morally grey character whose aspirations and decisions don’t necessarily fall into a ‘good’ category, and still manages to be a complex character nonetheless? Yes.

Two words. Toothless Found. You guys have NO idea how many times I’ve watched this stupid fucking scene and it makes me cry Every Damn Time.

DRAGON RACING

The bond between Hiccup and Toothless as it developed in 5 years, honestly. Look at how their bond just grew. They have conversations with each other!!!! I just!!!! What!!!!

brb still fucking sobbing that their bond was strong enough for Hiccup to get through to Toothless

honestly I could go on and on about the bond between these two dorks but!

Astrid and Eret, fucking comedy gold.

ingenuity of the dragons. Still can’t get over the Zippleback flame wheels, honestly.

KING!!! OF DRAGONS!!!! A BEWILDERBEAST!!!!! I LOVE!!!!

okay moving onto deuteragonists: the twins were as great as always; love the touch of Snotlout and Fishlegs fighting for Ruffnut (very subtle nod to courting a wife in Berkian culture I’m guessing); Astrid being a badass, as usual; “Dragon riders coming through” will always be my favorite line, forever; Valka walking on dragons; “ERET SON OF ERET”/Eret Eretson; Toothless’ increasingly catlike behavior tbh; “Stormfly, fetch!”

have I mentioned For the Dancing and the Dreaming? if it were a lullaby I’d listen to it forever

hell, I’d listen to STOICK singing me lullabies forever, holy FUCK

It STILL gets me that Hiccup tossed his sheep in ASTRID’S basket, the fuck

“We have...our DRAGONS” is the most iconic line in my humble opinion

basically I just love HTTYD 2 and its okay if you don’t but I’ve not heard of a simple reason as to why HTTYD 2 was not favored for the others other than the fact that it was leagues behind the first movie.

So like...there you have it. Most of the common reasons why I love the second movie a LOT. It’s still my favorite out of the trilogy, actually.

It might not surprise you that I also like Race to the Edge. Granted its the only TV series of the franchise that I happened to watch, but I actually enjoy it and consider it canon to my heart nonetheless.

#httyd #how to train your dragon #httyd 2 #how to train your dragon 2 #the hidden world #hiccup horrendous haddock lll #stoick the vast #valka #astrid hofferson #ruffnut #tuffnut #fishlegs #snotlout #toothless

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luxurystark-jackson · 3 years

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So, I was watching some YouTube videos on Peter Parker, and I noticed a comment:

This got me thinking (and yes, Tuffnut is the best), what if there was a crossover like that?

(The absolute adorkableness of these two combined omg)

Now, a few days later (aka today) I was watching a HTTYD video and noting the similarities between Hiccup and Peter, and I realised that I’d already made a comparison before. Percy Jackson and Hiccup.

(This is really cool I found it on Instagram :D)

And then I thought ‘what if there was a crossover in some way between these guys?’

I mean, if you think about it, Percy and Hiccup have a similar sort of shade of eye colour (in a way) and Hiccup and Peter (we’re focusing on Tom Holland’s version here if you didn’t realise) have a similar sort of hairstyle and hair colour (again, in a way).

So, I started thinking ‘what if they’re brothers?’

Now, at this point, you probably think I’m crazy, but hear me out. Peter Parker and Hiccup aren’t actually kids of their respective fathers (this is going into fanfic storyline mode but keep reading). They’re both sons of Poseidon. To be clearer, they’re the other two of the Jackson Triplets (really getting into fanfic mode here :D). And if you’re wondering, ‘then why don’t they have the powers of Poseidon like Percy?’, well, I have a theory for that too :D

Let’s start off with Hiccup. My theory is that he’s a time traveller, sent back to the Viking times when he was a baby because it wasn’t safe for him to be in his time period. Say if Hiccup and Peter were born about 10 minutes after Percy, then it would be so that since there was the prophecy and stuff, only one of the trio could be utilised by Kronos if that time came. So if Percy was born first, that would ultimately make him 16 first, and therefore the first possible dangerous prophecy child. Since we know that in the end he is the prophecy child, this kinda makes sense.

Because of the time travel stuff, Hiccup loses the ability to use the powers he inherits as a son of Poseidon, and he isn’t able to use them at all, and would live out his life as a normal Viking would. This sort of explains why we have the sudden growth spurt between HTTYD 1 and HTTYD 2. Yes, I know there’s a five year gap, but no normal human being grows an entire foot in the course of five years. Speaking of the growth spurt, if you search into Google for Hiccup’s height, you’ll find out that in the first movie, he’s approximately 5’1, and in the second movie, he ends up at 6’1. That a ridiculously huge growth spurt, and none of the other characters have such a sudden growth spurt (they all grow a few inches I guess, that’s pretty much it). The only plausible explanation is some sort of special power, or perhaps god genes? As we know from Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods, Apollo and Artemis grow to average adult age in DAYS, and if their kids (not that Artemis has kids) have their genes, then it would make sense for such a growth in such a short time.

Now to explain Peter Parker. You see, in the movies, they never mention how often Aunt May and Uncle Ben saw Peter before his parents passed. Most people assume that they saw each other on a day to day basis (I think), but that doesn’t nessecarily have to be the case, as we’ve seen with other people in the past (*cough* dursleys *cough cough*) and in general, it’s not that often that people visit nieces and nephews or vice versa. Sure, they probably knew he existed, but we don’t know when they found out he existed. At this point, you must be questioning ‘But if they adopted him why wouldn’t they tell them?’

See, this is where truth and lies come in. Peter’s supposed parents could’ve easily lied to Ben and May. Or even better, we know that there is magic in the PJO universe. Gods can easily use the Mist or modify their memories to make it seem like Peter was their son, hiding the weird stuff that he does like his brother, Percy, does. I have a slightly darker theory if we were to go to the lying to Ben and May option.

Say if Peter’s supposed mum (I’m British sorry) was actually pregnant. In the last few weeks, she goes into labour way too early and a miscarriage happens. Of course, the parents are depressed. Losing a child isn’t easy, especially your first child. They find out from the doctors that a baby that sorta has their features was left at the hospital last night, and he seems to be a little premature, and that maybe they could adopt the little guy. They don’t want Ben and May to know, so they lie and say that he’s just a bit premature and that he’s their son (like I said, dark).

Then the whole car crash incident happens and Peter is left with his supposed Aunt and Uncle, who he’s kinda close to. They’re the only family he has left as well, and they happily take him in. Peter doesn’t understand the weird stuff that happens to him, and nobody understands when he tells them about it. 14 year old Peter Parker lives this confused life, not knowing that one of his triplet brothers only lives a few towns away from him (idk if this is right. Like I said, I’m British, and I have no clue how far Manhattan is from Queens). Then one day, he gets bitten by a radioactive spider. Suddenly, he can’t seem to talk to sea animals anymore, he doesn’t have strange water powers. Instead, he can climb walls, has increased strength and he can shoot webs. He’s now a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

You might be wondering, ‘if that’s the case, why don’t they ever mention this Spider-Man in the PJO books?’

Well, (here we go again) I have an explanation. Percy just is never there when the headlines are blaring about Spider-Man. He’s at camp and going through multiple schools. He’s too busy to notice stuff about a guy who can shoot webs and climb walls. And his best friend (soon to be girlfriend 😏) hates spiders (the whole Athena and Arachne stuff). She won’t be wanting to know about a guy who has the powers of a spider. And the camp won’t mention that sort of stuff because A) they probably don’t have access to daily news channels from Queens, and B) this is a camp where the Athena cabin are a valued part of the camp. They (sorta) have some respect, and probably don’t have the guts to mention someone that meant to have spider powers where any Athena child could hear them. And at this camp, word travels fast (*cough* Minotaur *cough cough*).

Gosh, I’ve been ranting for a while. Anyways, there’s my (fan) theory on how Peter Parker, Hiccup Haddock and Percy Jackson are related, feel free to add on as you wish, and thank you for coming to my Ted Talk :D. Bye!

#how to train your dragon #peter parker #spiderman #percy jackson #time travel #hiccup haddock #crossover #brothers #triplets

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howtodrawyourdragon · 4 years

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Wondering if Berk and any other island within their Archipelago hasn’t just been very isolated this entire time.

I mean, there’s this fog bank surrounding everything that they know. But upon being confronted with the possibility that Dagur could’ve gone to that fog bank to this ship graveyard, Hiccup states that they’ve never gone out that far before. And this in spite of Astrid’s claim that they have explored everything in their Archipelago in search of dragons. It’s surprising that Astrid would make this statement and then have it revealed in the same episode that they’ve never explored this fog bank before.

It makes sense if you think about it. And I think the dragon raids have something to do with that.

They’ve been at war with the dragons for almost 400 years. (Literally talking about the tv-shows here, so it’s nearly 400 years.) They settled on Berk generations ago and then the Red Death instigated this war.

It’s possible that, with these raids taking such a huge toll on them and dragons being everywhere, that Berk would be somewhat confined to their little island. That every island inside the Archipelago would just be stuck there inside their little Archipelago.

If you lose people and resources on a weekly basis, there wouldn’t be much room left to continue on this nomadic traveling that made Vikings Vikings. Except for the occasional meeting, peace treaty, or war!

I’m wondering if this contributed to Berk believing that there was nothing out there at the other side of the fog bank. When Astrid asks if maybe she and Hiccup are done, if the Dragon Academy is done, it’s in reference to them having found everything that could possibly be found. That there could be dragons beyond the fog bank doesn’t even cross their mind.

And yeah, I can already hear you thinking.

According to the comics, movieverse Hiccup is multilingual as well, which means that they know there are other cultures and languages out there. The Dragon Riders even meet these people from other parts of the world.

And Johann has clearly been all over the place as well or has at least met people that have been all over the place. They know the world is much bigger than their little patch in the sea.

The movies don’t really shed any light on this either. Httyd 2 shows us that there are other tribes, A.K.A Drago’s army. But for being such a feared man that even Stoick the Vast himself fears him and locks down the island on the mere thought that Drago might know where they are, Hiccup and the Dragon Riders don’t know who this man is.

For all they’re traveling, they’ve never heard of this fearsome man with a dragon army before. Even if you count away the tv-shows, you’d think Hiccup and his dragon people would have heard about this dragon-enslaving man before Eret comes along.

The other tribes possibly didn’t know about him either since Stoick was the sole survivor.

As for the comics, it’s interesting to remember that they happen after Httyd 2. After RttE. When the Dragon Riders have already gone past the fog bank, when the raids with the dragons have been over for the past five years.

Hiccup’s opening monologue in Httyd 2 even states that Berk having dragons means that their world has suddenly become so much bigger! It would make sense for Berk to make all of these discoveries after the war has finally ended and the lack of raids and loss in people and resources allows them to travel again.

And as for Johann, nobody quite listens to his stories. They often think them too farfetched and don’t take them seriously.

So it makes sence that, when reaching that ship graveyard in RttE, that the Dragon Riders see ships and symbols from tribes they’ve never seen before.

That Berk not knowing all of these people and cultures were out there and having never met any of the tribes that aren’t that far away from home (by dragon) makes sense if they just couldn’t leave the fogbank because of dragon raids.

As for Hiccup still being multilingual, that can still be a thing thanks to his incredible memory combined with an interest in languages and dragons suddenly opening up a whole world of them to learn from.

Httyd 1 showcases Hiccup’s memory the best. When he creates Toothless’ very first prosthetic tailfin, it’s from just a couple of glances at Toothless’ tail! Hiccup created that thing, created a near perfect replica, on memory alone.

Toothless, at that time, wouldn’t have allowed Hiccup to come close enough and long enough for him to take measurements. Hiccup doesn’t even realize Toothless needs a second tailfin until Gobber mentions how an injured tail would down a dragon.

Yeah, Forbidden Friendship has already happened, but Gobber mentions this the very next scene and then it cuts to Hiccup making that tailfin. And when we see Hiccup put that tailfin on Toothless, it’s with a whole basket of fish to distract him. Toothless wouldn’t have let Hiccup go near him for measurements at this time.

I need you guys to understand how huge that actually is! Hiccup’s memory is insanely good.

A possible drive for such a good memory could in part be his passion for dragons. He’s lived in a world of dragons all his life, has watched dragons attack his home all his life, and he doesn’t even know the bare minimum on dragons before Toothless sparks his interest? And by the middle of the movie, he’s already an expert on dragons!

And since Hiccup is possibly multilingual in the comics and definitely multilingual in the books, is it farfetched for one of Hiccup’s other passions to be languages? His passion for inventing and creating and blacksmithing is definitely all over the series. His sole passion isn’t just dragons! Who knew!

What I’m saying is, having a passion in something can greatly help one’s drive in learning more about said passion. If Hiccup learns about other languages through Johann or by living on Dragon’s Edge, it wouldn’t be crazy to think that he’s learning quite a bit in such a short amount of time. Especially with the big brains he has in that head of his.

It’s also interesting to think about Berkians going wild whenever Johann comes around in R(D)oB. Because Johann brings all sorts of new stuff with them that they can trade for. Generations stuck on just one island with little new, anybody would go a little wild for the chance of something they’ve never seen before.

And although I still have my problems with Httyd 3, Berk thinking that the Earth is flat, HICCUP thinking that the Earth is flat, could conceivably be explained by their Archipelago being very isolated from the rest of the world. Can’t think there is more to the world than a flat disk if there’s a fog bank keeping you from finding out that the world is round.

And yeah, Vikings knew the world was round. But perhaps this Archipelago has been so isolated from other Viking societies that they just didn’t know. yet.

Httyd 3 has direct references to the tv-shows, so it wouldn’t be farfetched.

The very concept of that is on some mighty thin ice, though!

I refuse to believe that Hiccup, of all people, is a flat-earther beyond the age of 22.

But anyway, here’s my way too long theory/headcanon thing!

Long story short:

- The fogbank combined with the constant dragon raids kept Berk and other tribes from venturing outside of their region, effectively isolating them.

- This can explain Berk’s lack of knowledge on other tribes and cultures.

- Explains why Hiccup and the Dragon Riders haven’t heard of Drago and his dragon army before.

- Hiccup being multilingual is due to his smarts, his memory, and his passion for languages.

#rtte #race to the edge #dragon eye of the beholder part 1 #httyd comics #httyd movies #liveblogging #rtte liveblog #headcanons #long post

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professorspork · 5 years

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Frozen 2: first impressions

Hello friends! As you know, Frozen was a HUGE part of my fandom life ~back in the day.~ So of course I saw the sequel opening night and of course I have thoughts after ruminating on it for 24 hours. I’m sure there will be many things I forget or don’t cover--after all, I’ve only seen it the once. And I make no guarantees that my thoughts are coherent or consistent. (If I contradict myself, I contradict myself-- I am large, I contain multitudes.) I’m also sure my opinions will evolve upon rewatch. Lord knows they did last time.

Is that enough disclaimer yet? OKAY. Some of my thoughts are negative! Some are positive! It’s a grab bag! Here we go!

Spoilers under the cut, pals.

IN SHORT: As an expansion on the world and the characters I adore, I pretty much loved it! As an extension of uh Big Capitalism and what it means in terms of real world ramifications... I have questions/comments/concerns!

IN LONG: I think I’ll start with what didn’t work for me and work my way around to fangirling at the end.

the meh

I feel like... part of it is that Disney has just gotten worse and power-grabbier in way more blatant ways in the last few years, and part of it is that I’m ever-more cognizant of these things. And the fine line they want to walk of “We can tell stories about progressive concepts! Princesses are woke now, actually!” without taking a single financial risk when it comes to alienating foreign markets, homophobes abroad or Nazis domestically is just a fundamentally untenable position to be in. You don’t get to retcon Elsa and Anna as being somehow less white than they clearly are and then try to tell a story about reparations in which no one actually gets reparations. You don’t get to get points for that. It’s in some ways admirable to want to try, but all you do when you’re coming at it from the position of being Disney when you tell this story is show the cracks in it.

I can see how, on a purely storytelling level, having Papa King Arendelle Agnarr be of Arendelle and Iduna be of the Northuldra and having their daughters be the bridge between the two communities is a really tempting, tidy, tie-a-bow-on-it narrative. And I also see how creating the backstory of the war and the mist neatly explains the absence of indigenous faces in the first film. But like... come on. Introducing an indigenous group like the Northuldra and then declaring that Elsa and Anna are a part of it is insulting. There’s no other way to say it. It just feels gross. I’m glad that Disney consulted with the Sámi on the movie, and I acknowledge that both real-life Sámi folks and the onscreen Northuldra come in a broad variety of skin tones and phenotypes. But even with the most generous possible reading of the choice-- that it’s well-intentioned, albeit misguided-- falls flat for me. It feels like Disney trying to have their cake and eat it too. And I don’t really see any way around that. It just... gives me tremendous pause, and it’s so core to so many of the things the movie chooses to be that it’s really disquieting and disappointing.

But then again, Disney being racist isn’t exactly news, and there’s still plenty of flaws to tackle even when we put this (massive) issue aside.

This movie is... weirdly allergic to stakes? It’s not like I wanted Elsa to stay dead, or that I expected Olaf to (more on that in a minute). But Anna’s decision to go full Thor Ragnarok and, as @theseerasures jokingly put it to me last night, “throw the first brick at Stonewall” and destroy Arendelle felt right. It felt appropriate to the story they were telling, and it would have had the film put its money where its mouth is re: how atoning for the sins of our forebears requires massive systemic change. So having Elsa charge to the rescue on her water-type Rapidash extremely queer steed daemon Gay Horse and save the city felt cheap. (Also, side note: is Arendelle really just... that one seaside port town and nothing else? Are there only like fifty people in Arendelle?) The citizens had already been taken to safety. The society would live on; they’d all get to rebuild. What was the point of saving the castle, just for saving the castle’s sake? To what end? I don’t see how that’s more inspiring or reassuring or worth it than watching the sisters lead their people from the ground up and starting anew. I don’t understand what they thought was worth protecting, when, again, all of the people were safe. Stories need stakes in order to have meaning! HTTYD has impact because Hiccup loses his leg in his attempt to save his dragon and his people. You know? You don’t get to just... keep everything the way it is and call that restorative justice, and the film clearly wants us to. And I don’t understand why. The only reason that makes any sense at all to me is that they thought it would scare little kids, but like. THIS COMPANY HAS PORTRAYED WAY MORE TRAUMATIZING THINGS THAN THAT. MANY TIMES.

Point in fact: Olaf’s death! Genuinely disturbing! Sad! For the most part I really liked the way it was handled, but it also felt very. Y’know. “Mister Stark, I don’t feel so good.” This is perhaps my most uncharitable nitpick, so I’ll keep it brief, but having Olaf drift away Snap-style just felt like an extremely synergistic, Disney+ nod at Infinity War instead of an organic decision. Which maybe isn’t fair, because it makes more sense for Olaf to become a flurry than for the Snap to make people dust! But nevertheless, the weird wink-and-a-nudge feeling of it totally pulled me out of what should have been an extremely poignant moment. Elsa’s revelation during “Show Yourself” felt similar--like. Not to take away from your moment, Elsa, but the call isn’t out there at all, it’s inside me was already covered by this larger canon, and in a more elegant and eloquent manner.

Which--tbh, the music overall was a bit of a letdown (though “Into the Unknown” slaps and a boyband of five joshes “Lost in the Woods” was perhaps the best sequence in the whole movie). I respect that they clearly wanted to give everyone a solo this time around in a deliberate way, but the songs felt perfunctory for the most part--describing moments instead of advancing them. This film was such a departure from how Disney normally makes sequels (mostly in a good way, actually) and I couldn’t help but wonder what it would have looked like to make a version of this movie where no one sang at all. It didn’t feel cohesive.

And, though it would kill me to get rid of “Lost in the Woods” because it’s perfect... I kinda wish Anna and Kristoff had gotten engaged at the end of act 1, as I think they pretty clearly did in the first draft of this script. Their relationship drama felt like a hat on top of a hat, and they could still have addressed their codependency/insecurities while being engaged. Leaving the proposal for the end just made it an anticlimax after everyone’s been brought back from the literal dead. And it maybe would have left them with more options than having Kristoff just vanish from the narrative for the entire back half of the second act.

Also Honeymaren should have had at least two more scenes. I can’t justify this on a narrative level; the movie didn’t actually need more of her. But like. If you’re going to go out of your way to keep Elsa carefully single, and even give KRISTOFF a new boyfriend, I feel like the least you can do is let us get to know the obvious throw-us-a-bone offering a little bit better. Like. Literally. the actual least you can do.

anyway. all of that said.

the yay!

I can’t tell you how gratifying it was to me, personally to open with a flashback of the girls that demonstrates as clear as day that Elsa is an ace lesbian and Anna is bi and polyamorous. Thank you, snow action figures.

And like. Overall the way the movie tackled the sisters and their relationship was pure *chef’s kiss.* (And I think for me, the strength in this particular bullet point probably outweighs all of my complaints and concerns from above, in the end. At least from an “I still derive enjoyment from this flawed thing” standpoint, though perhaps not from an “I’d recommend this to anyone without caveats” standpoint.) THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH. THEY WERE SO THEMSELVES. I do think part of the fear of any sequel where there’s been a significant amount of time since the last one and you were so emotionally invested in it the first go-around is like... what if everyone feels OOC? What if what I saw wasn’t what was really in them after all? What if they feel like strangers? What if they let me down? And there was none of that, even for a second, with this movie. Their parallel journeys were character-appropriate and impactful. Elsa finally gets the freedom she’s always been looking for. Anna finally gets the responsibility she’s always been ready for. Anna, the caretaker, is positioned to take care of everyone. Elsa, the lesbian, runs away to the forest to hang out with beautiful powerful women. Elsa, the force of nature, is finally allowed to commune with it. The scene at their parents’ ship truly anchors the whole movie in the best possible way. And also, like... this movie showed how fucking weird Elsa is, and I feel so vindicated. SHE’S SUCH A DORK. I can’t believe I never realized that Elsa would totally choose Charmander as her starter, and the way she talked to the fire salamander was literally the most charming thing I have ever seen. “They’re staring at us, aren’t they?” GOSH. [IMDb says the salamander’s name is Bruni, and I’m very sad they never spoke it aloud.] [Someone do a rotoscope of the Tangled short where Pascal and Max almost ruin Rapunzel and Eugene’s wedding by losing the rings but it’s Bruni and Sven at Kristoff and Anna’s wedding, thank]

Anyway. All of that goes double for Olaf, because I really wasn’t sure they could pull off the miracle of him not being annoying twice. And they did! Olaf’s grappling with his burgeoning maturity was adorable and profound in equal measure, and his plot reenactments were sublime. And when he realized to Anna for the first time that he was feeling angry, that he was capable of feeling angry... what a tremendous moment. (Actually, I’ll extend what I said about the boat scene to include the Earth Giants river sequence in total, because. Again. Wow.)

And I have to say... as much as I am given real pause by their execution of the concept, “you just do the next right thing” is such beautiful (*cough* Jewish *cough*) praxis. I love that. In the broader Disney Revival canon of Tiana’s work ethic and Rapunzel’s abuse narrative and how Wreck-It Ralph talked about PTSD and all of the myriad things the first Frozen did, I might love “the next right thing” most of all. What a simple, powerful, evocative message. It’s so lovely. A perfect gem.

Also worth acknowledging that the animation was straight-up stunning. Which I expected, generally, but the water droplets in the ship? The way Elsa just loses it sobbing when she sees her mother’s face in the ice? The tender, shattered way Anna pulls Olaf in closer to her as he fades? W.O.W. And, y’know, while I stand by what I said above about stakes, I will say that the moment we first see that Elsa is experiencing cold, that Elsa is freezing? Genuinely--and please forgive the pun--genuinely chilling.

I love Gail the Gale. I love Mattias and Yelana and Ryder and Honeymaren. But mostly I just... loved the dialogue and these characters and that I got to spend a little more time with them. And I’m sure I’ll do so at least two more times before it leaves theaters.

... apparently this is over 2k words now so that seems as good a place to leave it as any. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

#does #anyone #use #tracked #tags #anymore?#either way #let's stay out of them #that should do it #frozen 2 #frozen 2 spoilers #frozen #frozen spoilers #spoilers

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anime-x-reader69 · 4 years

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Writing prompts

1. "Knowing you're different is only the beginning. If you accept these differences, you'll be able to get past them and grow even closer." (Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid)

2. "Sometimes, I do feel like I'm a failure. Like there's no hope for me. But even so, I'm not gonna give up. Ever!" (My Hero Academia)

3. "fifty bucks says I can."

4. " Can you remove your hand off my boob?"

5. " I dance fine, thank you, sir!"

6. "Protecting someone means giving them a place to belong. Giving them a place where they can be happy." (Log Horizon)

7. " You don't want her angry."

8. " You don't want him angry."

9. " Women are from Mars, and men are from Venus, I don't know about you, but I got one giant P###!" ( FLCL.)

10. " Don't hide who makes you, use it, its a power greater than your own."

11. "Even if we forget the faces of our friends, we will never forget the bonds that were carved into our souls." (Angel Beats)

12. "People with talent often have the wrong impression that things will go as they think." (Assassination Classroom)

13. "Remember the lesson, not the disappointment." (Spice And Wolf)

14. " If you don't take the risk, you can't create a future." ( One pice.)

15. "people's lives don't end when they die. It ends when they lose their faith." ( Naruto Shippuden.)

16. " Trying to forget someone you love is like trying to remember a person you ever met." ( Charlotte.)

17. " I never thought I would be able to see any of you again... but I did one more time. This, alone makes me happy." ( Fairy Tail.)

18. " Remember me when I'm gone." ( Coco.)

19. " So, ya in my earth, I'm the one and only Supergirl."

20. "Feelings of love are just a temporary lapse in judgment. Like some kind of mental illness." (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

21. "I'm not short! I'm fun-sized!" (Fullmetal Alchemist)

22. " How am I supposed to know he wasn't the guy?! He had a gun!!"

23. "Don't talk to me until I have my coffee."

24. " Wheres Wally?"

25. " No one is kissing me on the lips, ever!" ( Httyd.)

26. " Oh god, I feel we gone back to 2012."

27. " Today was about as much fun as a sandpaper di###." ( Deadpool.)

28. "Can we not talk about my nightly activities!"

29. " So, a lap dancer?"

30. "I'm a humanoid, not a robot."

31. "So, because I'm an omega, I'm supposed to me on my knees and beg!"

32. "You young lady are soo showing too much skin!"

33. " I'm a guy."

34. " Well, do I look like an Atlantean or what."

35. "I'm a humanoid, not a robot."

36. "Oh, your poor wife!" ( Deadpool.)

37. " You all be wondering why the red suit well that's so bad guys can't see me bleed, this guy got the right idea he wore the brown pants." ( Deadpool.)

38. " I never said this but don't swallow." ( Deadpool.)

39. " I'm supposed to be on the beach! With a tiny umbrella drink!" ( Flash.)

40. " My happiness comes from the kindness of those around me." (Fruits Basket)

41. " I'm not Superman. So I can't say anything big like I'll protect everyone on Earth. I'm not a modest guy who will say it's enough if I can protect as many people as my two hands can handle either. I want to protect... a mountain-load of people." ( Bleach)

42. "You're so adorable! I didn't even think you were a guy!"

43." Oh great, it's a kid! I thought I was rescuing a babe, a luscious damsel in distress, not some flat-chested little girl." (Slayers)

44. " Wake up my big strong alpha~"

45. "If humans don't want me, then why did they create me?." (Armitage III)

46. "I believe that two people are connected at the heart, and it doesn't matter what you do, or who you are or where you live; there are no boundaries or barriers if two people are destined to be together." (Julia Roberts)

47. "Our journey isn't perfect, but it's ours and I'll stick with you 'til the end." (The Fresh Quotes)

48. "I won't promise to be yours forever, because I won't live that long. But let me be yours for as long as I live." (The Fresh Quotes)

49. "If I get reincarnated.... I wanna become a clam." (One Piece)

50. "Stop complaining about fate and saying how it can't be changed!" (Naruto)

51. "The great question which I have not been able to answer is, "What does a woman want?" (Freud)

52. "I have a family, I have friends, but if you're gone...to me, ...it'll be the same as being alone!" (Naruto)

53. " Just because I'm an omega I suppose gey on my knees and beg!"

54. "Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother's was worth a pocket watch." (Ruta Sepetys)

55. "I wanted to kill someone and I wanted to die and I wanted to run as far and as fast as I could because she was never coming back. She had fallen off the face of the earth and she was never coming back." (Melissa Kantor)

56. "To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe." (Marilyn Vos Savant)

57. "Theatre is life. Cinema is art. Television is furniture." (TV Facts)

58. "Please don't tell people our bakery's motorbike ran you over." (FLCL (Fooly Cooly))

59. " Is this dress too much?"

60. "The world isn't perfect. But it's there for us, doing the best it can. And that's what makes it so damn beautiful." ( Fullmetal Alchemist)

61. "Would you like to see my daughter? I have some pictures right here!" ( Fullmetal Alchemist)

62. " I'm not a girl!

63. " Your skin is soo soft and smooth."

64. " Batman is god."

65. "Half the time when brothers wrestle, it's just an excuse to hug each other." (James Patterson)

66. "What strange creatures brothers are!" (Jane Austen)

67. " I don't get pay enough for this shit."

68. " If you even break her heart, I'll break your spine."

69. "Happiness – when your brothers act like your bodyguard." (The Fresh Quotes)

70. "It's National Siblings Day, so I just wanted to let you know you are lucky to have me as a sister." "What are you putting in your body?"(The Fresh Quotes)

71. "It's okay if you don't like me. Not everyone has good taste." (Your Tango)

72. "Not all girls are made of sugar, spice, and everything nice. I'm made of sarcasm, wine, and everything fine." (Your Tango)

73. "Oh~ someone excited."

74. "Nice pants can I test the zipper." (Quotes for Bros)

75. "I don't care if you have small boobs I still want to see them." (Quotes for Bros)

76. " Kissing burns 6.4 calories a minute. Wanna workout." (Quotes for Bros)

77. "Excuse me, but are you by any chance the oddball in your family?" (Pokemon)

78. "Don't tell me he wants to conquer the world? Can't he come up with something more original?" (Slayers)

79. " What are you putting in your body?" (The Fresh Quotes)

80. "Hurt me with the truth, but never comfort me with a lie." (fairy tail)

81. " Don't judge me unless you have looked through my eyes, experienced what I went through and cried as many tears as me. Until then back-off, cause you have no idea." (fairy tail)

82. " I want to become a man who treasures his friends." (fairy tail)

83. " Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something." (fairy tail)

84." Kiss me."

85. " I'm having one of those days where my middle finger is answering all my questions." (Emalie Newhall)

86. "When a man gives his opinion, he's a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she's a b*tch." (Bette Davis)

87." Be careful whose toes you step on today because they might be connected to the foot that kicks your *ss tomorrow!" (Big Hivemind)

88. " Your me!!"

89. " According to a new survey, women say they feel more comfortable undressing in front of men than they do undressing in front of other women. They say that women are too judgmental, where, of course, men are just grateful." (Robert De Niro)

90. " I'm having pups...I'm going to have pups babe!

91. " Don't stare you prev!"

92. " I cannot take any more; I'm so glad that I'll never fit in; that will never be me; outcasts and girls with ambition; That's what I wanna see." (Pink)

93. " You must look within yourself to save yourself from your other-self. Only then will your true self reveal itself." (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

94. " Is it your own destiny? Or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?" (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

95. " I love you, I always have."

96. " I want to swim in a pool of noodles." (Patch Adams)

97. " Look at those abs, yummy~"

98. " Does this look weird on me?

99. " Dude, what happens to bros before hoes."

100." I'm s.l.u.t!"

#writting prompt #anime #send me asks #ask me anything #ask me things #anime x reader

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shipmistress9 · 5 years

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FTLOAP: Chapter 44: Love Is A Shield To Hide Behind

Fandom: HTTYD

Theme: Hiccstrid - Medieval-style AU - Romance - Angst/Hurt/Comfort

Summary: Reduced to little more than a stable boy, Hiccup, despite his noble birth, has few prospects for more in life. But when he meets a girl who came to look at the horses, being a stable boy might not be enough anymore. Together, they have tough choices to make and great risks to navigate if they want to survive and be together.

Rating: Explicit

FF-net - AO3 -

Discord-server for discussions and questions

Part 1: Prologue; Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8; Chapter 9; Chapter 10; Chapter 11;

Part 2: Chapter 12; Chapter 13; Chapter 14; Interlude 1; Chapter 15; Chapter 16; Chapter 17; Chapter 18; Chapter 19; Chapter 20; Chapter 21; Chapter 22; Chapter 23; Chapter 24; Chapter 25; Chapter 26; Interlude 2; Chapter 27: Chapter 28 ; Chapter 29 ; Chapter 30; Chapter 31; Chapter 32; Interlude 3; Bonus 1; Chapter 33

Part 3: Chapter 34; Chapter 35; Chapter 36; Interlude 4; Chapter 37; Chapter 38; Chapter 39; Chapter 40; Interlude 5; Chapter 41; Chapter 42; Chapter 43

Alpha/Co-author: @athingofvikings

. – * – _ . o O o . _ – * – .

AN: Ah, here we finally are with the new chapter. Again sorry that I couldn't update last week, but well... Life...

Anyway, a huge THANK YOU to you all and your congratulations on my pregnancy! I really didn't expect that strong a response and it completely overwhelmed me. But also on this point and maybe to soothe some worries: this is already my third pregnancy; I already have to kids at the age of 6 and 8. So this isn't my first and I already have a good idea of what awaits me once the baby is there. Yes, I'm probably going to have even less time and nerves to write for a while. But I picked writing as a hobby because of my kids. Because it gives me the chance to be something else than just a mother all day. So I definitely won't stop writing! :)

And also: Another BIG Thank you to @ mintyfreshness ,@hey-its-laura-again ,@tally21112 ,@oneleggeddork , @thepixiedustfactory , @heathenvampires ,@haddocktree and @angelstar1st for your support and your kind words a little while ago. I still struggle with those same issues, but thanks to you all, I’m doing a lot better now. :)

In this chapter now, things happen that have been planned for ages again, and I'm really excited that we've reached this point by now.

This chapter's title comes from 'Love Is A Shield' by Camouflage. It wasn't a title I'd decided on before and for a while, I actually struggled with how to name this chapter. But when I heard the song on the radio a few days back, it all clicked into place and afterwards, the chapter went through some heavy editing again. xD But I really like how it turned out now.

Furthermore on the topic music: I also stumbled across the song 'Brother' by Kodaline (again, I should add. I know that I've heard it before). And I feel like it's the perfect song to describe our Chaos Squad.

. o O o .

Only slowly, awareness seeped back into Astrid’s mind as she woke. She was someplace soft, with someone holding her, and a familiar scent in her nose. Denial almost rose in her, but then the memories of the previous night came back as well. She wasn’t dreaming that she was in Hiccup’s arms, his warmth seeping into her, his shallow breathing ruffling her hair.

With a sigh, she turned in his arms and cuddled closer against his chest, basking in his closeness. Everything would be okay. These horrible two weeks of separation were over, and from now on, they wouldn’t let go of each other ever again. She didn’t know how they’d manage that yet and last night’s discussion hadn’t brought up anything either, as far as she’d noticed at least. But she just knew that it would work out. Everything else was unacceptable.

For a short while, Astrid just watched him sleep. It was something she’d rarely seen before, with how they’d usually been equally exhausted when falling asleep and in a hurry when they’d woken up. But now, she had the time to really look at him, the light of early dawn falling through the window. He looked so peaceful and soft, as if nothing could bother him, and she wasn’t able to put into words how… how soothing that sight was. There had been so much pain and hurt and desperation on his face lately, so much sorrow – but now, it was all gone.

Unable to hold back, she reached up and brushed a strand of his unruly hair out of his face. At her touch, Hiccup stirred with a soft grunt. His arms around her tightened as if on reflex, before he slowly opened his eyes, his lips stretching into a warm smile at her sight.

“Good morning,” he mumbled, blinking a few times before his eyes were truly able to focus and his mind seemed to clear a little. “So last night wasn’t a dream after all. Or am I still dreaming?”

Chuckling, Astrid shook her head. “No, you’re not,” she murmured back and caressed his face to prove that she was real.

His smile widened and he leaned closer to place a soft kiss on her forehead. Astrid closed her eyes, humming at the intimate gesture, before she stretched to seek his lips with her own. When they kissed, it was calm and reassuring, his hand eventually roaming upwards to cradle her face. Smiling against his lips, she basked in the familiar touch, content in the perfection of this moment.

But just like every moment, it had to end eventually.

Too soon, a knock sounded from the door before it carefully got pushed open and Rachel poked her head inside. “Milady, it’s time,” she said in a low but urgent voice. “It won’t be long now before the rest of the castle wakes up.”

Astrid didn’t want to go, but she understood why it was necessary. Reluctantly, she peeled herself out of the nest of blankets and limbs she and Hiccup had slept in. It didn’t take her too long to get ready to leave, despite frequently getting distracted by his hands on her arms or his lips on her skin. And if Ruff minded the delay, she didn’t say anything for which Astrid was incredibly grateful.

“When can we meet like this again?” she eventually asked as they were about to leave, unsure whether she’d meant to ask Hiccup or Ruff. Since Hiccup could only shrug with a somewhat insecure expression, it was Ruff who answered after a short pause.

“Dagur and Eret suggested to meet again in two or three nights; we all need rest tonight and also need time to think or look up other options. And don’t look at me like that, young lady,” she added when Astrid’s face fell, “I know perfectly well that you can’t wait to get under his clothes again.” With a sly smirk, she glanced from her to Hiccup and back again. “I mean, I know that we won’t be able to keep you apart. But after all the sneaking through the castle you already did, I’d rather you’re meeting somewhere safe from now on. Tuff and I are looking into options there. The easiest would probably be to sneak him,” she nodded at Hiccup who had a somewhat stony expression on his face, ”into your rooms. Nobody goes into your bedroom without my say-so anyway.”

“And what if someone does?” Hiccup asked.

“Well, there’s space under the bed. I’ll knock and give you time to hide, and sneak you out later.”

Tuff snorted from outside the room. “Putting the cart before the horse, sis. How do you plan to get him in there in the first place?”

“I have an idea. But no promises for tonight,” Ruff rebutted.

Astrid nodded, trying to express her gratefulness, even as waiting for another day or two felt like an eternity. But at least she would be able to spend more time in Hiccup’s arms again. That was all that mattered. She turned to Hiccup again and stretched to give him a hurried kiss goodbye, giggling at the contrast of his soft lips and the rough scraping of his stubbles.

His hands held her tight though, unwilling to let her go just yet. “See you later,” he rasped into her ear, his fingers at her waist twitching.

Again, Astrid nodded as she retreated enough to look at him, her fingers raised to trace his lower lip. “Yes, later,” she breathed before she retreated for good.

Later meant today’s tournament. They wouldn’t be able to interact in any meaningful way, but at least they would see each other. That – and the memories of this wonderful and peaceful morning – would have to be enough for now.

. o O o .

Yes, she was certain that, eventually, she would need the reminder of waking up in Hiccup’s arms to cheer herself up. But for a while, everything was fine. After Ruff had escorted her back into her rooms, she’d lain down to get a little more sleep, before she was to meet everyone for breakfast again.

“I can’t believe how much your mood improved,” Tuff muttered as they walked down the corridors and stairs, her steps lighter than she’d felt in a very long time. “I mean, it’s not as if you’ve actually found a solution to your problem yet.”

He spoke quietly so as not to risk anyone overhearing them, and Astrid replied in the same manner. “Oh, I know we haven’t yet. But I’m positive that we will find one eventually.” Despite Eret’s warning and Hiccup’s reluctance, she hadn’t yet ruled out simply running away. Maybe Eret was right and they would have to somehow prepare their disappearance – somehow avert all the consequences he’d painted out – but that would certainly be manageable… somehow. Either way, she would not let anything come between her and Hiccup ever again, would trust in their love and in the certainty that it would overcome everything. Besides, it wasn’t as if she was important. She wasn’t the heir to the throne, the one who would have to lead the Kingdom one day. No, she was only the spare, nothing less – but also nothing more.

With something of a fond snort, Tuff shook his head but didn’t comment further. They’d almost reached the breakfast room by now, and from some side corridor in front of them, hissed voices could be heard. Curiously, Astrid threw a glance in that direction as they passed the opening and was surprised to spot Snot and his father standing a little distance away. From the way Spitelout towered over his son and Snot’s stony expression, it looked like a scolding. The sight surprised her, but Astrid quickly averted her gaze and hurried on. What happened between Snot and his father wasn’t her business. Although… maybe, if Snot’s behaviour really had returned to that of her joking and funny brother, she’d ask him about it later.

With the truest smile in what felt like ages, she entered the breakfast room and found everyone else already in their seats. After cheerfully greeting the assembled men, she took her seat next to Eret, and gladly accepted the bread roll, butter, and honey as he handed her one after the other. It wasn’t that much different from how he’d usually behaved, but she was aware of the fond smiles the older men threw them, of how their interactions would look to them. When she tore into her food with gusto – not even remembering when she’d last eaten, much less when she’d enjoyed eating anything – it even earned her some low but friendly chuckling from the end of the table where her father and the Grand Dukes sat. But she didn’t pay them any attention either. Of course, they thought her good mood originated from Eret, and for now, Astrid was happy to keep it that way. Well… it wasn’t her fault when they drew the wrong conclusions, was it? It meant that nobody would pay Hiccup any mind, that he was safe.

Thinking about him made her smile even brighter, remembering how she’d spend this night, short as it was, safely encased in his arms. She really hoped Ruff’s idea to get them more nights like this together again would work. She couldn’t wait to go back to him, his warmth, the soothing reassurance that they wouldn’t part again. And, to be honest, she also couldn’t wait to feel him again, his hands and lips on her skin, searching and exploring, pouring heat and pleasure into her body until she couldn’t take any more. She didn’t fool herself, knew that they would need a little time to reconnect to that part of their relationship – not to mention the mortifying realisation about how Tuff must have overheard them in the past and how she wouldn’t want to risk that again. But all that were questions for later.

“I’m glad to see you smile like this again, Astrid,” came her father’s voice, tearing her out of her daydreaming. “Up until yesterday, I was truly worried about you.”

His words made her grimace, which she quickly hid behind taking a sip of her tea. Yesterday… The ride… Markor… Her heart stuttered painfully at the reminder, but she quickly fought down the pain and instead retrieved the happy memory of her morning with Hiccup, of his kisses and caresses, his smile. She even preferred thinking about the awkward ride back to the castle, about how much easier that could have been if only she’d given in to the urge to lean back against him and let his closeness comfort her.

The distraction helped her focus again. With everything else that happened, she didn’t yet have time to truly mourn Markor’s death, the loss like a bitter taste in the back of her throat now. But now was not the right time either.

With a bit of effort and Eret nudging her beneath the table, she managed to smile back at her father and reassure him that she felt much better than yesterday too. Which was true in its own way. And… she had to admit to herself that lying to her father didn’t bother her as much as it used to. Deep down in her heart, she understood that he hadn’t meant to hurt her. But that didn’t mean that she was yet ready to forgive him or forget about it.

After this small exchange, the breakfast continued uneventful for another couple of minutes, until the door opened again and Snot and his father entered the room.

“Good morning, everyone,” Spite greeted them as they looked up, a tired smile on his face. ”I apologise for the delay; looks like I slept in. Though, after last night, I don’t think you can blame me.” He laughed, followed by consenting chuckling from all around the table.

Astrid, however, frowned. Why was he lying? Her eyes wandered to Snotlout behind his father; his expression was plain, not showing any reaction, not as they walked along the table and not as he took his seat next to her.

Well, maybe Uncle Spite was just being lenient, she mused as she reached for another roll. Whatever he’d scolded Snot for, there probably was no reason to expatiate on that here in front of everyone again.

Her gaze glided over the table, trying to decide what to put on her roll this time, when Snot all of a sudden held out a pot filled with red jam to her.

“Here, I recommend you try this,” he said with a smile that was too smooth for her taste. “It only arrived last week with a merchant. The berries used for this only grow in the higher regions of Westhill and are considered a delicacy.”

Astrid took the pot, even if a little hesitant. The jam smelled delicious, sweet with a slightly tart note in it, and she wasn’t averse to giving it a try. However, what bothered her was the way Snot was again advertising his home – and thus himself – with this recommendation. Was he still trying to flirt with her? She’d thought that, after last night, he’d given up, that she’d made it clear that she wouldn’t choose him. But apparently, she’d been wrong…

The jam was as tasty as it smelled, and with a tense smile, she thanked Snot, but then directly turned toward Eret on her other side, engaging him in some Smalltalk or other. Hopefully, Snot would eventually stop these fruitless advances. Last night, she’d been happy to have him back as simply her brother, but that seemed to have been a little premature.

. o O o .

The tournament that day was a good opportunity to talk to Eret in relative privacy. Though talking about any sensitive topics in her open pavilion still wouldn’t be prudent, and even though Astrid wished she could also invite Dagur and Hiccup, she couldn’t do that without it seeming odd. So instead, she brought up another topic, hoping to get some clarification from Eret. But it seemed as if he was just as bewildered by their brother’s behaviour as she was.

“I don’t really know what’s up with Snot either,” Eret said with a shrug. “He hasn’t really talked to either of us since all this started, and only runs around in a bad mood all the time. He’s not his usual self.”

Astrid nodded, noticing the deep-seated confusion on Eret’s face. Apparently, Snot’s behaviour didn’t make any sense to him either and was possibly even more confusing to him. She knew that the boys had always been a tight group; Snot not talking to anyone these days was just weird.

“I just don’t get it,” she eventually sighed. “I didn’t have the impression that he was in love with me, not like that. There never were any indications, were there?”

Eret shook his head, though hesitantly. “I… don’t think so. But from what I’ve got, he hasn’t flirted with a single woman except for you these past two weeks – which is odd as you have to admit. And even though I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, it almost seems as if he’s serious about wanting to marry you, for… for better reasons than mine or Dagur’s…” He sighed, a sad expression on his face, but then frowned. “Except... that makes even less sense given his past behaviour. I mean, he vehemently refused to spend a night with Cami, and...” he trailed off, frowning at that memory, but then shook his head again. “No, I can’t even guess what’s on his mind lately.”

The thought made Astrid sad somehow. Had Snot, her brother, really harboured some hidden crush on her all these years? The idea felt weird, but given how little experience Astrid had had on that matter before she’d met Hiccup, who was she to tell? But even if… Even if her heart wasn’t bound to Hiccup’s in so many ways, the idea of marrying Snot of all people had never even crossed her mind.

She kept brooding over the thought in silence, comparing Snot’s too-smooth smile this morning with Hiccup’s warm and loving one, until Eret sitting up straighter drew her attention. He was avidly watching the fighting ground below them, making Astrid pay it more attention for once, too. Today, the participants got paired randomly and were supposed to fight two versus two, showing how well they worked with a partner. And now, it apparently was Dagur’s turn. They watched him entering the arena with three other men, watched them pull coloured marbles from a small bag to decide on the pairings, watched the men take their positions.

Next to her, Eret grew visibly tense, and Astrid couldn’t help herself but place a comforting hand on his upper arm. Dagur was a good fighter; surely he would make it out of this unscathed.

And he did. He and his partner fought well, working together to keep each other’s backs clear while the other two just tried to gain their own advantage. The duel was over quickly, Dagur and his partner the undisputed winners of the match.

“Did you really doubt his skills?” Astrid teased Eret as he relaxed again.

Eret snorted. “These fights aren’t just about skill,” he emphasised. “Sure, having it helps, but it’s also a lot about luck. And, in this case especially, about your partner and how well you work together. And no matter how much luck or skill one has, injuries or worse are always a possibility.”

Astrid nodded, grimacing at the point. She’d grown a little numb in this regard over the last two weeks but that reminder had torn off the bandage anew. Eret was right, of course. Injuries and accidents were possible; she’d even seen them happening practically every day during this tournament; one man just this morning had slipped in the mud and gotten run through by his opponent’s sword. Said opponent had been shocked and jumped back from the dying man as if burned. And in the melee the day before yesterday, another man had lost his eye, gashed open by his opponent’s shield. Still others had lost fingers or toes or worse. Fortunately – if such a word could be used to describe such waste – these accidents mainly seemed to happen to men she didn’t care about at all, and who weren’t the most loyal vassals anyway, according to Eret.

“Right, I need to get ready now,” Eret interrupted her musings as he got up from his seat. “It’s supposed to be my turn soon. Wish me luck that I get a sensible partner,” he added with a wink that probably was meant to be reassuring and cheerful.

Astrid grimaced; after his words from only minutes before, this now wasn’t exactly encouraging. But she played along, if only to not make him nervous now. “Oh, don’t you dare get killed on me now, Sir Eret,” she called after him, making him grin before he slipped out of sight and into the tent where Hiccup would be waiting with his gear.

Exhaling deeply, she sat back into her comfortable armchair and watched the current fight with little interest. Oh, how she wished these fights and tournaments and hunts would stop now that she’d supposedly chosen her future husband. She wasn’t going to change her mind, not because of some man or other proving to be an impressive fighter, at least. If only Hiccup could somehow be allowed to participate. It would be a long shot; to make her change of mind believable, he’d have to be outstanding – which, according to his own words, he wasn’t. But it would at least be a possibility.

With a soft shake of her head, she let out a sigh. There had to be a way! Hiccup had yet to tell her what exactly he’d seen in his vision, but if it had been enough to revive his hope, then it was enough for her, too. There was a way, a solution. They just had to find it.

For a little while longer, she pondered and brooded until Eret entered the arena, followed by Hiccup who carried his spare shield and weapon – and also followed by Snot and his squire Gustav!

Astrid felt herself sit up straighter in surprise at that; she hadn’t thought it possible for two of the ducal heirs to end up together in one of these duels. But then, even that decision came by drawing lots, and it had happened before already with Eret and Dagur fighting together in that melee a week ago.

However, she had a bad feeling about this, somehow. If they ended up as opponents, would Eret be able to fight Snot for real? Only last months, she would have laughed about such a coincidence; her brothers were used to sparring with each other, after all. They’d probably knock out the other two fighters and turn it into one of their usual training fights.

But that had been then. Today, Astrid had no idea how Snot would behave. Anxiously, she awaited the drawing of the marbles – and exhaled in relief when it turned out that Snot and Eret would fight together instead of against each other. A little calmer now, she leaned forward, watching as all four men took their places and the referee gave them the go to begin. This was the best option she could’ve hoped for. She didn’t want her brothers to actually fight against each other, especially not with Snot’s weird behaviour lately. But if they stood together to fight, then nothing could go wrong, right?

Except that Snot didn’t stand with Eret.

It only took a couple of seconds before it became clear that Snot had no intentions to work with Eret in this. He charged forward at his opponent, leaving Eret to fend on his own against his. She could even hear Eret’s curse as he realised what had happened, saw the surprise and then the anger on his face, even through his helmet’s visor. Yes, fights like these didn’t only depend on skill, but also on luck and on your partner. And at least in that last regard, Eret had just lost.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid!” Astrid hissed under her breath, her eyes never leaving the fighting men below her. Anxiously, her hands clenched at her skirts, her whole body moving along with every one of Eret’s parries, dodges, and strikes. Damn it, this wasn’t the first time she had to watch him fight, and so far, he had yet to be beaten by anyone. Why was she so nervous now? But even though Snot’s stupidity gave the match a bad taste, Eret seemed to stand his ground just as well as usual – in the beginning, at least.

Astrid only saw it from the corner of her eye, her focus on Eret. But from one moment to the other, Snot was on the ground. He wasn’t bleeding, wasn’t even unconscious. But he’d lost his weapon, and judging by the uncoordinated way he tried to get back on his feet, his head must have been hit pretty hard. His opponent didn’t waste any time. He kicked Snot into the side, sending him back to the ground, then charged to where Eret and the other man were still fighting. Before anyone truly realised what had happened, he attacked Eret’s unguarded back. Astrid yelled out a warning, but it came too late, was only enough for Eret to turn but not enough for him to fully evade the blow.

Astrid’s scream of denial was drowned out in the general uproar that ran through the crowd as blood splattered the ground. It all happened incredibly fast. Eret whirled at her shout and saw the man coming up at him. He parried, desperately, and the man’s sword, which would have buried itself in his back, cut across his chest instead. Astrid saw his chainmail part under the blow.

But Eret’s parry was a masterstroke. Operating on what had to be reflex, his blade sliced open the other man’s arm down to the red-stained bone from his wrist to his elbow.

Gasping, Eret stood, his blade at the ready, even as his shirt and mail were stained with his own blood, and watched his other opponent warily. The man that had attacked him was bleeding profusely and had dropped his sword.

Dimly, Astrid became aware of the referee’s horn blowing, and he and his men, members of the King’s Guard, waded in to separate the fighters, as they always did when the tournament turned bloody, followed by Hiccup and Dagur. They carried Eret off to the healer’s tent, his arms slung over their shoulders, Eret’s opponent getting similar treatment from the guards, as the judges conferred on the scoring.

As order was restored, she was, at first, stunned and shocked. This shouldn’t have happened! Eret had said it so often, had been so sure that his rank as ducal heir would keep him safe from such an open attack. But the risk had come from ‘accidents and injuries happened.’ And not even men of high rank were safe from those.

And that hadn’t been an accident, anyway.

With her head spinning, she got up on shaky legs, her arms reaching out for something to stabilise her as she stumbled away from her chair. She had to get to Eret, had to know that he was okay. This was her fault; by singling him out, she’d painted a target on his back. A target the man he’d fought – some firstborn son of a count from Westhill, she vaguely recalled – had tried to score on.

“I have to get to the healer’s tent,” she muttered as Tuff tried to bar her from leaving her pavilion.

He didn’t seem happy about that idea. “Milady, I don’t think–”

But she cut him off directly with a determined gesture of her hand. She could imagine all the reasons he might come up with for why that wasn’t a good idea. This tournament was for her, and she should stay here and watch. A healer’s workspace could be an ugly place with blood everywhere – not the right surroundings for a lady. And since the patient was her public betrothed-to-be, she would do good at staying away when he very likely got stripped to get treated – for both propriety’s sake and to keep that target from getting bigger.

But none of that mattered.

“Get me to Eret!” she ordered, and there had to have been something in her voice or her expression that kept Tuff from objecting further. It also kept any guards and servants from blocking her way, even made the men outside the healer’s tent step aside as she approached with sure strides.

“How bad is it?” she blurted out as soon as she entered the tent, even before she could take in anything else. Offhandedly, she registered the scene in front of her; Eret was lying on a bench in the middle of the room, naked from the waist upwards and groaning in pain, with Fishlegs examining the gash on his upper chest and Hiccup hurrying about, his arms laden with healing supplies – while Dagur was sitting on Eret’s other side, holding his hand and murmuring encouragements.

Right… Fishlegs might not officially know about Eret’s and Dagur’s feelings for each other, but thanks to Heather they certainly weren’t a secret to him either. At least in this regard, they wouldn’t have to keep up appearances around him.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Fishlegs commented absentmindedly, still entirely concentrated on his work at hand as he reached for a piece of cloth to clean the wound. “It’s a deep cut, but luckily nothing but a flesh wound. The ribs beneath are unharmed and no sinews or major blood vessels were hit, either. It’ll scar, but he’ll live, barring infection."

The words were reassuring and part of her former tension floated out of her. She stepped a little closer, her eyes trying to examine the wound herself. But even though she understood the meaning of Fishlegs’ explanations, all of his lessons had only been theoretical so far, and all she saw was a gaping wound and too much blood. She thought about sitting down at his side as well to lend him support and comfort, but quickly decided against it. Dagur was doing a great job there already, clearly enough.

So there was little she could do but watch in silence as Fishlegs cleaned the wound, flinching every time Eret grunted or groaned in pain. A part of her, the part that she’d tried to ignore during the past two weeks and that now was stronger than ever, was acutely aware of Hiccup’s presence, of him standing only a few steps away now that Fishlegs had everything he needed to treat his patient. But this wasn’t really the moment to seek his closeness, not while Fishlegs could notice and not when all she could worry about was Eret and his wound.

The only warning then was Fishlegs throwing a quick telling glance up at Dagur before he applied a good amount of willow bark tincture onto the wound. Before, Eret had been able to stay relatively quiet despite the pain he had to be in, but with the sting and burn of the tincture, he couldn't do so any longer.

"Oh, fuck!" he cursed, his entire body going rigid, trembling with the effort to at least hold still.

Astrid whimpered, her hands clenching at her skirts. "I'm so sorry!" she whined once Eret’s shouting had calmed down to laboured panting only. "This is my fault. If I hadn't chosen you, hadn’t put that target on–"

"Nonsense," Eret interrupted her through gritted teeth. “Accidents happen in tournaments.”

“Bullshit,” she spat. “I know that, but that's not what I'm talking about. This man, he was trying to kill you. I saw him! He went straight for you after he knocked Snot down.”

“Given that I was fighting his partner, of course he did! He’d already taken Snot out, as you said–”

“Eret, you didn’t see him, he was going to stab you in the back!”

Eret scowled. “Maybe. And thanks for the warning, by the way. But it could have just been the heat of the moment, with his blood up. It wasn’t necessarily about you.”

She scowled and crossed her arms. “Uh-huh. Complete coincidence that the man publically favoured as the Princess’ betrothed-to-be almost comes down with a bad case of ‘sword in the back’? Pull the other one, it’s got bells on it.”

“He is right in one thing, though,” Fishlegs threw in, and she turned to glare at him. He met her gaze with equanimity. "It could have just been the heat of the fight," he continued, rummaging about with his tools. "I've certainly seen worse wounds lately, without such a possible motivation. It’s pure luck that neither of you got injured before, if you ask me."

"That’s true. Or if that’s not good enough for you, Swanja: it also could have been purely politically motivated," Eret added, grimacing as Fishlegs probed his chest. "Could you be a little more gentle there, my good healer?”

“I’ll go get my feather-needles,” Fishlegs deadpanned, and Eret snorted.

“Just keep the red stuff on the inside,” he joked, and Astrid rolled her eyes.

Dagur smirked. “This is an excellent opportunity to prove something I’ve been wondering for a while, actually.”

“What’s that?” Astrid asked. She threw Dagur a quick glance, and saw that he was feeling just like she did: not in the mood for joking at all, but playing along for Eret’s sake.

“Well, we know his granddad doesn’t have a heart, and his dad has pragmatism instead of blood, so...”

“I think I can say that I have both,” Eret grunted, and looked back to Astrid. “Look, it might have just been someone stupid enough to think that taking out a ducal heir would gain him some recognition. Instead, he'll probably get excluded from the tournaments, maybe even punished further.”

Fishlegs, threading a needle with a focused look, said, “No need for that.”

“What do you mean?” Eret asked.

“I saw his arm when he was carried in,” Fishlegs said. “Why do you think the junior healer is attending to you, Sir Eret, ducal heir of a grand duchy, and not the senior healer? t��s near-certain that the man who attacked you will lose the arm, and also possibly his life if the bleeding can’t be brought under control,” Fishlegs said grimly.

Silence reigned for a moment, and Astrid wasn’t sure how to feel about this. Another unnecessary death, one that also might or might not be her fault… but it certainly wasn’t hitting an innocent man!

Then Eret coughed, thankfully breaking the silence. “Either way, the only one to blame for me getting hurt is that man, and probably myself – but definitely not you, Swanja. I should have paid better attention to the entire fight and not just my opponent."

"Or, if you want to put the blame on somebody else," Dagur growled, "then my suggestion would be Snot. What was that idiot thinking? It's not as if he doesn't know how duels like these work. Thor, we've done play fights like this with Daniel ever since we were able to hold sticks. There's literally no sane reason for why he fought on his own like that. Gods, I want to head over and punch him in the face for this idiocy!" At that, everyone just grunted in agreement.

Biting her lip, Astrid didn't object any further; she knew that they would only come up with more reassurances anyway. But that sense of guilt still lingered.

When Fishlegs was done with his preparations, he handed Eret a sturdy piece of leather with bite marks on it already, and when she spotted him holding a needle and a thread covered in more willow bark tincture in his hand, she realised what would come next. Her anxiety grew as she saw Eret bracing himself against the pain, clutching more firmly at Dagur’s hand, and she tensed as well.

“I’m so sorry,” she repeated, urgently, half expecting to get told off again. But with the leather already between his teeth, Eret couldn’t say anything, only rolled his eyes and threw a strange nod in her general direction. Astrid didn’t know what to make of it, but as soon as Fishlegs had turned all his attention to Eret’s wound again, she understood that the gesture hadn’t been meant for her at all.

She jumped as a pair of arms wound around her shoulders and waist and pulled her to the back of the tent, though not out of direct fear as she recognised them as Hiccup’s right away. No, it was the fear of how Fishlegs would react as Hiccup pulled her into his arms and against his chest that made her want to draw back at first. But, of course, Fishlegs was too absorbed by his work to notice anything else right now and he had his back toward them anyway, so she gave in.

Hiccup held her tightly, turning her so she couldn’t watch and murmuring reassurances into her ear to drown out Eret’s noises of pain. They all knew that it was necessary to suture the gash, but that didn’t make it any easier – for anyone. No, all she could do was try to not make it harder for Eret by showing how much his pain affected her too.

Instead, she pressed harder into Hiccup’s embrace, clinging to his formal squire outfit, and let his presence soothe her. A small voice inside her head was scolding her for this, for seeking Hiccup’s comfort when Eret was suffering because of her, of them. But she vehemently pushed it aside; Eret’s pain certainly wasn’t Hiccup’s fault. The target on Eret’s back was there, regardless of whether her choosing him was real or not.

She fought to calm herself, but no matter how sensible all their reasoning before had sounded, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that Eret getting wounded today was her fault, and hers alone. It didn’t matter whether one wanted to put the blame on Snot or Eret's attacker; in both cases, the reason behind it certainly was Astrid’s choice. She didn’t believe in an otherwise politically motivated attack, not with this impeccable timing.

Thuggory had even warned her that something would happen to her chosen if she didn’t choose him. Was it possible that he somehow was behind this? Eret had been lucky in that the attack had only caused such a relatively light wound, but so easily it could have been a lethal blow. And obviously, his high rank wouldn’t have saved him either.

She didn’t get the chance to further ponder on this, though. Hiccup did his best to distract her from such gloomy thoughts. Despite her worries over Eret’s well-being and flinching at every muffled noise of pain, she eventually gave in to Hiccup’s efforts. She made herself focus on every single one of his light touches and even enjoyed the way he caressed her and covered her face and hair with soft soothing kisses. It wasn’t enough to forget what was happening behind her or why – but it felt good nonetheless.

She wasn’t sure for how long she stood like this, closely encased in Hiccup’s arms and with his lips on her ear murmuring sweet nothings, with Fishlegs patching up the wound with moss and a tight bandage, with Dagur and Eret engaging him in a conversation to keep him from paying much attention to his surroundings, and with Tuff conveniently standing in the way should Fishlegs turn around anyway. It could have been only minutes or maybe it was over an hour. She knew that she was pushing her luck by refusing to step away, but she just felt as if she needed Hiccup’s closeness to cope. Last night and this morning had been good, but it had been far from enough to fully chase away the anxiousness and the pain of their separation before. It might have been her worries for Eret that had made her come here, but now that she knew he would be okay – and already was fairly okay with Dagur comforting him – she couldn’t help but give in and bask in Hiccup’s warmth. Their love was like a shield to ward off all the pain and misery around them, impenetrable and keeping them safe no matter what.

But she really shouldn’t have pushed her luck.

She didn’t even notice as the entrance of the tent flapped open and someone came in. In fact, nobody seemed to notice at first, the men caught up in their conversation, until a loud exclamation and the noise of a plate breaking on the floor drew all their attention.

“No!”

With a spark of her old panic, Astrid whirled around and away from Hiccup, just as everyone else turned toward the newcomer as well. Tuff even made a hasty step to the side to stand between her and Hiccup and the entrance, but it was too late.

Heather had seen enough to understand and, judging by the anger on her face, didn’t like what she saw. Before anyone could react, she stormed through the tent and grabbed Astrid by her arm. “Don’t you dare,” she shrieked, apparently not caring for her rank in the slightest as she pulled her away from Hiccup’s side with enough force that it hurt. “Don’t you dare ruin this.”

Astrid could do little but stumble along, bewildered when she spotted tears forming in Heather’s eyes, accusation and a kind of pain on her face that made her tremble. But before she could even try to make any rhyme or reason of her behaviour, Heather let go of her arm, nearly causing her to fall if Tuff hadn’t caught her, and turned toward Hiccup instead.

“And you,” she continued without pause, making a baffled Hiccup take a step backwards at her approach. “Stay away from the Princess. I don’t care how impressive your seduction skills might be; she’s not for you! Do you hear me? Get lost, there’s nothing to gain here for you except the noose!”

At that, Astrid froze, eyes wide in panic. No! No, Heather couldn’t tell anyone, couldn’t get Hiccup punished, not now. She couldn’t! She wanted to interrupt Heather’s tirade, wanted to order her to be quiet, to make her understand. She wasn’t sure why Heather was reacting that strongly or what it was exactly she could do to keep her from running directly to her father, but she just had to do something. However, before she could make any attempt at getting her body to react as it was supposed to, Dagur beat her to it.

“Heather, what–” he tried to interfere, to distract or even to calm his half-sister. But all it gained him was her turning on him and Eret next. Her angry expression grew even more intense as she stomped through the tent until she loomed over them, ignoring her brother and glaring down at Eret instead.

“I can’t believe it,” she hissed. “I know it’s all just an act, but still. Setting your squire up to seduce your bride, using him as some kind of bait or toyboy for her to fool around with, and all just because you’re not interested and don’t want to face reality – you should be ashamed of yourself!”

“Heather, calm down,” Dagur interrupted her again, more firmly this time. “That’s not what this is about at all. Listen, I–”

But he got no chance to explain further.

From one second to the other, Heather became eerily quiet, and even though Astrid couldn’t see her face, it had to be quite intimidating as not only Dagur but also Eret and even Fishlegs clamped their mouths shut as she turned toward him.

“Don’t you dare!” she spat. She was shaking now with livid rage. “Don’t you dare tell me to calm down or that this is not what it looks like. I know exactly what this is about. It’s about you being a selfish ass, about to ruin my life without even batting an eye. Or can you look me in the eye and swear on all that’s sacred to you that this is not about you all pretending for Astrid and Eret to get married, when in truth, you’re only looking for a way to circumvent your responsibilities.”

A stunned silence spread through the tent. Dagur had his mouth open to protest, but couldn’t get a single word out. And Astrid couldn’t even blame him. Heather had nailed it – even though in a completely different way than she thought. His eyes darted from Heather to Eret then to her and Hiccup and back to Heather before he closed his mouth again

“That’s what I thought,” she said bitterly. “But if you think I’m just going to stand and watch then you’re wrong.”

She turned and was about to leave when Dagur caught himself again. “No, wait!” he exclaimed, reaching out and catching her by the arm. She fought against his hold, but he wouldn’t budge, even pulled her back until he had his arms around her.

“Let me go,” she wailed. She was still fighting her brother, but without any true force anymore. Instead, she looked as if she was about to burst out into tears at any moment.

“Not until you tell me what all this is about,” he grunted. “What do you mean by ‘ruining your life’? I’d never do something to harm you, don’t you know that?” Still holding her tight, Dagur turned her around in his arms as Heather seemed to deflate until her head leaned against his chest and her tears were soaking his tunic.

After all of these years married, Astrid guessed that Fishlegs knew by now that it was better for him to keep out of any arguments between the siblings. But even as he’d clearly wanted to support his wife just now, still being busy with Eret’s wound had kept him from interfering – until now. “It’s… because of your father,” he threw in, cautiously. “And the succession.”

Astrid was on edge, watching the scene in front of her intently. Dagur seemed to have Heather under control for now and he certainly was the best one suited here to talk sense into her anyway – but that didn’t mean that Astrid would let her ruin everything. She was tense, trembling even, and ready to jump in should Heather make another attempt to run away.

So, at first, she didn’t quite appreciate Hiccup approaching her again, much less wrapping one arm around her waist from where he stood half behind her and half to her side. Didn’t he understand how much was at stake right not? But when she turned to look at him, to make him understand why she had to interfere, he shook his head.

“Let Dagur handle this,” he whispered with a strange expression in his eyes. “If it’s about their father, you can’t do anything here.”

She wanted to argue – but after only one heartbeat, she closed her mouth again and nodded. He was right; if this was in some way about House Berserker and their family, then they had to clear this up themselves.

Still ready to interfere if needed, she let Hiccup pull her closer to him. It wasn’t an obvious gesture that would draw Heather’s attention again, but still soothing enough, and only now did Astrid realise how much she’d been shaking. And despite the disturbing scene in front of them, she couldn’t help but lean even more into him, seeking his closeness as she tried to make sense.

What was all this about? House Berserker’s line of succession? How was there any room for arguments? Dagur was the sole heir and that was it. Wasn’t it? Astrid was relieved that Heather didn’t seem to care about her and Hiccup directly, but that only eased the situation so much.

Dagur seemed equally puzzled though. “What?” he asked, bewildered, and kept glancing from Fishlegs to Heather and back again. “What’s that supposed to mean? What has Father to do with any of this?”

Heather scoffed, her eyes growing hooded and angry. "You don’t get it, do you?” She pushed herself away from him again, and this time he let her as it was clear that she wasn’t about to run away again. Not yet at least. “If you know how and where to listen, the rumours are clear enough. Even I have heard about you moaning into a cup of ale by now, about how you’d rather get a clean death on the battlefield then die slowly of a broken heart married to someone you don’t love.” She laughed bitterly. “So, of course, Father heard about that too, that you’re considering taking the warrior way out. He even came up with an emergency plan already, a loophole. And a while ago, he came to our home to tell me about it.” She made a subconscious step toward Fishlegs, one arm wrapped tightly around herself. “If you died or,” she glanced at Eret, “did something else that would keep you from inheriting, then my child will be on hook to take your place.”

Astrid’s eyes widened in disbelief, and judging by the silence that followed her words, she wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

“Y-your child?” Dagur eventually inquired, puzzled. “But that doesn’t make any sense. If you or any other of our sibling could inherit then there wouldn’t be a problem at all. Aren alone would make for an excellent leader in my stead,” he went on, referring to their younger brother who’d joined the Order of Odin, if Astrid remembered correctly.

Heather sobbed, even though she still sounded angry. “Yeah, we can’t inherit. We might be his acknowledged children, but the Law says that any child born out of wedlock or by an Ástir cannot inherit, or be a part of a noble House,” she spat bitterly.

Dagur shook his head, confused. “But… you’ve known that, and you’ve even told me that you’re happy about that. Haven’t you said – more than once if I recall – that you’re even glad not to be noble, with all those puffed-up lords and ladies in Southshore?”

“Aye. And that’s still true,” Heather huffed. “But think it through, brother. Children born out of wedlock or by an Ástir can’t inherit.”

Dagur nodded hesitantly, obviously trying to find what the loophole was. Then Astrid had to muffle a gasp when it hit her.

“Yes, the Princess got it,” Heather said sourly. “My child wouldn’t be the child of an Ástir.”

“Just a former one,” Astrid said numbly.

“And born in wedlock and an undisputed descendant of our father... apparently that’s good enough,” Heather confirmed in a bleak voice before it grew thick with tears. “He said he’d only... only take them if you were to die on the battlefield before you produced an heir, but…” again, her eyes flickered to Eret, “but we both know that’s not the main problem. You don’t want to marry, ever, so it’s inevitable. He’ll take my baby away from me! Justin and I wouldn’t even be allowed to come too; he’d just take them away and raise them as his own. And all just because you are too selfish to stand up to your responsibilities!”

Her voice had become thinner with every word, and for another heartbeat or three, all that could be heard was her sobbing before Dagur apparently caught himself again. “I didn’t know that,” he muttered, a troubled grimace on his face. Then he shook his head. “It’s true that I said something like that once, but… but I didn’t mean it!” Heather just stared at him with teary eyes, and he started to babble. “Odin! I’d never actively try to kill myself, no matter what. And even though I’m not exactly looking forward to a political marriage, I know about my responsibilities. But with knowing this, I have even more reason to stand up to them. I-I will take my place and prove to Father that he doesn’t need to bother you with this. Believe me, Heather, I won’t let anyone take your child away should you ever have one; not even our father!”

Another sob tore itself from her throat, louder and more urgent. Fishlegs, who’d just finished patching Eret up and had cleaned his hands, finally stood up, and Heather accepted his embrace gladly. She muttered something that sounded like “But that’ll be too late,” though Astrid wasn’t quite sure whether she’d understood it right. Dagur seemed equally confused, but before he could react, Eret preempted him.

“You’re already pregnant, aren’t you?” he said quietly. His skin was still covered in cold sweat from before, but despite the slightly dazed expression on his face, there was a clarity in his eyes that left no room for doubts. And it made sense, Astrid realised. The way Heather had begged her to marry Dagur or Eret, to separate them so that they would focus on their duties as heir instead. But also how she’d been overly tired, how she would wrap her arm around her midst in something of a protective gesture, how Fishlegs would jump up and prepare a cup of tea for her whenever he thought she needed one, and even the fact that he hadn’t needed that box of moss meant to deal with moonblood anymore – it all made sense now.

Weakly, Heather nodded. “Five months now,” she breathed. “We didn’t even plan for it to happen, knew how risky it was ever since he visited us. But when it did happen… we were so happy.” She leaned closer against Fishlegs, snuggling into his embrace in a way Astrid could emphasise all too well. “We were worried how Father would react if he learned about it, but when Astrid’s wedding was announced… I thought that was a sign from my Goddess herself, a reassurance that I wouldn’t need to be afraid anymore. That everything would be fine, that I would get to keep my child. But now…” She broke off again as fresh tears welled up in her eyes.

With a heavy sigh, Dagur stepped closer to them, his hand reaching for that of his sister. “I’m truly sorry, Heather. I didn’t know any of that. But… but I promise you don’t need to be afraid, okay? You’re my sister and I’d do everything for you. I meant what I said and I gladly repeat it again for you. I vow, by the life of the woman who raised us both and who we both love dearly, that I won’t let anyone take your child away from you!”

A faint smile crossed Heather’s face but didn’t reach her eyes. “I’d like to believe you,” she whispered, and then glanced at Eret on his bench. “And yet, here you are, still holding on to your impossible feelings for each other and even luring Astrid into your charade to cover for you. All just to stave off the only option that won’t end in even more people getting hurt. It’s only a few months now, why-why can’t you just accept it?”

Dagur opened his mouth to reply but closed it again right away. And what was he supposed to say anyway? Astrid vividly remembered Dagur placing his weapon to Eret’s feet during the tournament a week ago, remembered the short conversation they’d had afterwards. Eret and Dagur already had accepted their fate, long ago. Their love wasn’t what Heather needed to be concerned about...

“But he’s right,” she interjected on Dagur’s behalf, drawing everyone’s attention. Maybe it would be better to let Heather believe what she’d just said… but she owed it to Eret and Dagur to set this right. “What you saw… that wasn’t about Dagur and Eret at all. It… it’s my fault. It’s me who…” She trailed off again, unsure what she even wanted to say. It was her fault that everything was so complicated – because she couldn’t bear the thought of a life other than at Hiccup’s side.

Trying to make a point, she blindly reached for his hand on her shoulder, weaving her fingers through his as she held Heather’s gaze. She wanted her to understand. That she loved Hiccup, that he was more than just a distraction, her end of a deal. He was her soulmate. They loved each other, couldn’t live without each other. This had nothing to do with Eret or Dagur or her or anyone else.

And really, there was understanding in Heather’s eyes – but not the slightest hint of compassion. Mutely, she wound herself out of her husband’s arms, crouched down to pick up the shards of the plate she’d dropped earlier, and then turned to leave.

“Wait!” Dagur quickly caught her by the arm again, not with as much force as before but still enough to make her pause. “What are you going to do now? Will you… tell anyone?”

Oh, please not! Astrid prayed inwardly. If Heather told anyone… No, that couldn’t be happening. They had to stop her, somehow, just–

But Heather shook her head. “No,” she said in a bleak voice. “No, I won’t spill your secrets. I… I trust in your integrity, Dagur, that I can rely on your promise. But just to make this clear: if I ever have to choose between my hard-earned happiness and my loyalty to you nobles who wouldn’t stand up to your responsibilities… then I know my choice already.” She gave them all a last hard glare, then pulled her arm out of Dagur’s hold and left the tent. And even though Astrid wanted to be angry at her for this clear show of defiance... some deeply buried part of her couldn’t even blame her.

Responsibilities…

Yes, they all had a lot of them. Their lives came with many privileges compared to those of lower birth, and even though it wasn’t always easy, it certainly was simpler than that of many others. But this life came with a price, with responsibilities they all had to the people. They had to keep up stability and peace, had to follow the rules…

Needing his support, she turned to look at Hiccup again. She hoped to find comfort in his eyes, the reassurance that their love would endure every storm. As long as they had each other, nothing could go wrong, their love shielding them from everything.

But instead of that reassurance and comfort, all she could find in his eyes were desperation and pain.

He didn’t give her the chance to drown in those emotions, though. Instead, he pulled her into a tight embrace, his panted breaths heaving against her neck – but Astrid had seen enough, understood.

What had just happened with Heather… it didn’t affect her and Hiccup, not directly at least. Marrying Dagur had never really been an option and she fully trusted in his integrity anyway, so her and Hiccup looking for a way to be together didn’t make a difference there.

But that wasn’t the point anyway.

Their last resort… it wasn’t something they could do for real, she understood that now. Hiccup’s reluctance and Eret’s warning from last night, it all made sense to her now. No matter how strong her love for Hiccup was, it wasn’t worth everything. Even though she might want to, she couldn’t just run away from her responsibilities, not when that meant putting others in harm’s way.

And Eret had been right. Eloping just like that would not just be risky and most likely not work; it would also cause some serious political consequences, for House Jag’r but also for the Crown in general. Maybe things were different, maybe nobody would suffer from her actions as directly as Heather might suffer if Dagur wouldn’t be able to keep his promise. But that didn’t mean that she could take that risk lightly. There would be accusations and possibly even actions against Eret and his House, and people would lose their trust in House Hofferson too, in her Father and in Daniel. No, those weren’t things she could risk. Their love might be like a shield, but that didn’t mean she could hide behind it and ignore everything else.

With a low whimper, she pressed herself closer to Hiccup’s chest, felt how his arms around her tightened. A future without him wasn’t an option, but how could they reach it, that vision of their simple home?

More of Eret’s words from last night crossed her mind, about how there might be ways to prepare their disappearance. So far, she hadn’t let herself think about that too much, but now… How could they prepare her running away with Hiccup without it causing such a political uproar?

The answer was as simple as it was impossible. The only way for her to escape her golden cage was the same Dagur had apparently also already thought about. She’d have to die – except not for real, of course. Because in opposition to Dagur, her death wouldn’t harm anyone. She’d only have to fake it convincingly enough so that nobody would have any doubts.

Something like a hysterical laugh escaped her, one that directly changed into quiet sobbing. How were they supposed to pull that off? How could she make people believe that she was dead without a body? Because killing someone else who vaguely resembled her and mutilate their body to hide the differences was out of the question.

No, this wasn’t a sensible option either. She’d probably ponder more on this, but…

She pulled back, catching Hiccup’s wondering gaze for a heartbeat before she stretched to press her lips to his. He caught up to her mood without a pause, hurling her as close as was physically possible and kissing her with the same desperation she felt, too.

There had to be a solution! There had to be a way to make her choosing Hiccup as her husband possible. There still would be people who’d complain, but as long as he was legally eligible that wouldn’t matter.

They just had to find it…

. o O o .

So, erm... that was that. I honestly never thought the day would come where I shed even one tear for Heather... But writing this chapter certainly made me do so a lot!

#FTLOAP #For The Love Of A Princess #Hiccstrid #Hiccstrid fanfiction #fanfiction #httyd #httyd fanfiction #medieval au #Hiccstrid Medieval AU #royalty au #hiccstrid royal au #angst #fluff #hurt/comfort #httyd romance

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httyd2014 · 5 years

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Character Review of HTTYD 3

This is Part 1 of a two part movie review of How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. Next up is the plot review.

As of March 3, I've seen it four times. The first was the February 2 early showing, the second and third were on opening weekend in a regular AMC theater, and the fourth was in IMAX yesterday, which, like, I'm bothered by the fact that this third movie in the franchise only has limited IMAX screenings whereas the first two were released in all IMAX theaters, and released in 3D to boot. But anyway, character review: (Also, spoilers abound, so only read this if you've seen it already)

He was at his BEST. That speech he gives to the Vikings in the great hall after Grimmel burns his house down gets more chilling and chilling with each viewing. Years ago when Dean Deblois was dropping hints over what to expect in the sequel, I got the impression that the arch of the trilogy would end with Hiccup's coronation as Chief at the end of the third. Instead, not only is he thrust into the role early thanks to Stoick's heartbreaking death, but we get to see him grow and struggle in the role of Chief, and I thought that character arch was pulled off sensationally. Although he takes after his mother's idealism in his attempts to save all innocent dragons from the hostile Trappers, he also embraces his father's lesson from the sequel that his first duty is to protect his people from harm and danger. His speech in the great hall encapsulates that beautifully with one powerful line after another.

Hiccup is truly the leader of his people by the end of this movie, and not only that, but at least from my perspective, he's also imminently relatable. He genuinely struggles with himself and questions whether he's capable of doing what needs to be done as Grimmel and the legion of Trappers advance on New Berk. That lack of internal belief he carried around inside him as a scrawny 15 year old boy before he shot down the Night Fury is still there, six years later, as a handsome 21 year old chief. His internal struggle really showed his humanity, and in my opinion, it was Hiccup's journey that drove this third movie more than any other character, including Toothless. Which brings me to our beloved Night Fury:

Ok, so I must confess, I wasn't totally satisfied with how his character was portrayed. What made Toothless so amazingly endearing in the first one was how he struck such a PERFECT balance between being this fierce, ferocious beast on one hand, and being this adorable little puppy dog on the other hand. For the most part, he kept that balance in the sequel, particularly at the end when he challenges Drago's Bewildabeast and becomes the new Alpha of all dragons. In this one, however, I honestly didn't get the sense that Toothless truly was the "Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death Itself" like the Viking legends said Night Furies were. Even during the above scene in the clouds where he does the Lightning Bolt thing and goes into stealth mode, it felt more like a cheap trick to impress Luna than a symbol of how utterly deadly he can be, and sure enough, he only uses it that one time to get those four Deathgrippers off his back. To me, all those puppy dog moments - of which there are MANY in this one - are less adorable because they aren't contrasted with enough moments of genuine fierceness. Simply put: I liked Toothless a lot more in the first and second movies than in the third one.

That being said - and I'm going to repeat this in the plot review - the flaws in his character are made up for by the ending. He does the most human thing we've EVER seen him do when he literally gives Hiccup a big bear hug as they say good by. I put my hand over my mouth to control my emotions when I saw that! And then during the final scene where Hiccup visits him after 5 or 6 years, Toothless does a very animal like thing by failing to recognize Hiccup at first, which, as a big fan of the Jurassic World movies, reminded me of how the velociraptor Blue didn't recognize Owen after not seeing him for a year, thus putting Owen in a dangerous situation. But then as soon as Hiccup does the Forbidden Friendship thing, BOOM, Toothless's eyes widen like the sea, and he embraces his dear friend that he can't see every day anymore. To me, that was totally in character of who Toothless is as both a deadly Night Fury, but also the best friend a human could ask for.

I'm gonna say this straight up: If Captain Marvel, or Star Wars, or Ghostbusters, or whoever, is going for the narrative of Strong, Female, Characters that do Strong, Female, Things, they already have an archetype that everyone loves, and her name is Astrid Hofferson. She is the true embodiment of a strong, female character, and I thought everything that made HTTYD fans love her in the first one was on display again in the third one. I was worried about this too, because in the trailers, it looked like Deblois might have been relying too heavily on the mythos of the first one, specifically the talk on the cliff, which from the trailers looked copied and pasted into the third one. However, it came off SO much better on film than it looked in the trailer, including one of my favorite lines from the entire franchise:

"But you know what? I am the person I am today because of you. And I have watched you doubt yourself every day ever since."

Astrid does what a good woman is supposed to do for her man: Be there for him when he falls down, comfort him with kind words, and remind him of who he is and what he can do. And she does all that in addition to being the warrior princess that Tuffnut correctly described her as. She fulfills the old saying, "behind every great man, stands a great woman." The talk on the cliff in this one is JUST AS GOOD as the same talk in the first one. It didn't come off as contrived or forced like I thought it would. Another favorite part of mine was during Hiccup's speech where she throws her axe on the table and demands that the Vikings hear out his plan to abandon Berk. She does that despite explicitly disagreeing with that plan earlier, which means that she was willing to stand by her man and her Chief even though she herself wasn't enthusiastic about the plan at first. Overall, I felt that the Hiccstrid relationship drove this story almost as much as the friendship between Hiccup and Toothless, and it did it without devolving into cliched romance.

She was good...at least when she had actual time onscreen (more on that in the plot review). I LOVED how she developed a relationship of sorts with her future daughter-in-law by encouraging Astrid to comfort Hiccup when he was doubting himself. I remember thinking to myself in the theater, "wow, Hiccup has two incredible women in his life! What a gift." I also liked how she automatically became an authority figure on Berk despite being gone for 20 years. She basically plays the role of General by scouting out Grimmel's advances towards New Berk and by bailing out Hiccup and the gang when Grimmel outfoxes Hiccup by trapping him on his ship. Between Valka, Eret, Astrid, and Gobber, it's really cool to see how Hiccup has a good leadership council behind him.

Believe me, his character is SO much cooler if you've seen Game of Thrones. I can't emphasize enough how Kit Herrington's personality comes alive in Eret. In this one, my only complaint is that I wish we saw him more in combat fighting along side Gobber and Valka, although even as an adviser to Hiccup, he plays the role really well. A part of me wishes he gave Hiccup and Stoick more of a challenge when he was working for Drago in the 2nd one, because his knowledge of the world outside Berk is impressive, not to mention he's a natural leader, as he demonstrates during the speech in the great hall when he augments Hiccup's points. Whatever goofball traits he had in the sequel are gone in this one, and I liked that. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about...

Ugh. The teens could have disappeared entirely and it wouldn't have effected the plot at all (Grimmel would have found New Berk eventually. Ruffnut's stupidity simply allowed him to find it faster). There was absolutely no character development from any of them, and in Snotlout's case, he outright devolved. The primary reason I didn't think HTTYD 3 was an A+ movie is because the teens would not shut the hell up. I did NOT find most of their lines or antics funny, I found them distracting and annoying. These characters reached their apex in Gift of the Night Fury, and they never got better after that.

Is Gobber. Good man, good leader, kind of paranoid. His shining moment in this franchise remains his eulogy during Stoick's funeral. In this one, you could tell that Deblois didn't really have anywhere to go with his character, so he added a subplot with the constantly appearing Hob Gobblers, which to me was what Legend of the Boneknapper should have looked like. One thing I do wish is that we saw one quick appearance of the Trolls alongside the Hob Gobblers on New Berk, as that would have been an amusing validation of his line to Stoick from the first one.

He gets two WONDERFUL flashbacks with Little Hiccup.* But, there's one error that was made during those flashbacks, and I apologize in advance to everyone who has already pointed it out: Stoick's beard should have looked scruffier and redder like it does in the first one when he's younger, as opposed to straight with grey spots like in the second when he's older. His beard is straight with grey spots during the flashbacks. Assuming that wasn't an oversight by Dreamworks, I'm guessing they did it that way because it was easier to animate. Which is understandable, but still, I'm a stickler for consistency. (The missing tree branch in front of Hiccup's face in the first one still jars me every time I see it).

*My gods, every animation studio from Dreamworks to Disney to Pixar has MASTERED the art of creating adorable children. It never ceases to amaze me

Ok, WOW, I loved him as a villain! He was everything Drago Bludvist wasn't: Cunning, crafty, smart, and above all, relatable. Grimmel is what Hiccup possibly WOULD have become if he stuck his knife into the downed Night Fury. Both of them are cerebral, and both of them play this delightful mind game where they try to anticipate each other's moves and countermoves, which Grimmel wins more often than not. As Gobber said to Hiccup, "one day, you're going to pick a fight you can't win." If Drago made Hiccup pay for his idealism by costing him his fathers life, than Grimmel makes Hiccup pay by costing him his Dragon-Human utopia. Grimmel's actions cause Hiccup to eventually accept the painful truth that humans living with dragons every day is not possible without resorting to war and death to keep that utopia a reality. When a villain can change things like that, then you have a damn good villain, and not just a guy who gets in the way periodically like Alvin and Dagur from the TV show.

Additionally, I thought Grimmel was so much more personable than Drago. His talk to Hiccup in the house evoked the same feelings in me as the talk between Evelyn Deavor and Elastigirl in Incredibles 2, which is to say, I was relating to what BOTH of them were saying to each other. It was like the Light and Dark sides that exist inside all of us were speaking to each other. Whereas Drago was just pure evil and brute force, Grimmel was genuinely compelling and interesting. I would have liked Deblois to take a different story arch with this third film than just throwing another disposable villain in the mix, but as it is, Grimmel was a worthy character.

In Summary

Hiccup and Astrid were spectacular, Toothless was very good but could have been better, Valka, Eret, and Gobber played their roles well, and Grimmel was an excellent bad guy. The only downside was the Teens. If their comic relief was cut, or if they were actual characters, this could have been an A+ movie from start to finish as opposed to A+ at the end and at specific parts in between (like the speech and the talks on the cliff).

#httyd 3 #the hidden world #hiccup #toothless #astrid #valka #stoick #eret #Gobber #grimmel #characters #review #hiccstrid #night fury #dean deblois

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