#Source: Dragons: Defenders of Berk

[waterfire1848]

Charlie: I don’t know what to do about Husk and Alastor. They can’t go five minutes without an argument. Angel: There’s three ways to deal with Sinners who aren’t getting along. Vaggie: We’re all ears. Angel: Option one: give them both guns and you let them fight to the end. Charlie: That one seems a tad…permanent. What’s option two? Angel: You give them both axes and let them fight to the end.

[evilwriter37]

Okay I was thinking on this:

You know how in Rtte S1 E3 where Hiccup meets the Thunderdrum after running from the Death Song? And where Hiccup puts the fact the Death Song uses its melody to lure dragons in and the fact that Thunderdrums have weak hearing together?

Take note that a baby Thunderdrum was also shown caught in the episode and I believe the reasoning behind this is:

Babies can make as loud as blasts so their hearing isn’t as bad as that of a fully grown Thunderdrum, making the younger Thunderdrums non immune to the Death Songs call!

Quoting The Httyd Wiki Fandom as well: The Thunderdrum's weak hearing is both their weakness, and their strength: being almost deaf leaves them immune to their own sonic blasts.

Did I think of this when I should have been studying? Yes.

Worth it? Also yes.

I think they went over something like your thoughts in Defenders of Berk, but I can’t remember. (It’s been too long. I need a rewatch.) But that makes sense. Weaker blasts = stronger hearing = trapped by Death Song.

Though I stay away from the Fandom Wiki because it can be edited by just about anyone. It’s not a good source for some things.

And noooo, go study, lol.

[zel-shadedreviews]

So, here’s the start of a franchise that wowed the audiences upon release, especially in IMAX theatres. Based on a large book series, each movie featured all types of amazing aspects such as character development, flying scenes, drama and of course, the titular dragons. For someone who loves the species, I found myself enjoying this franchise for their presentation and depth.

The island of Berk is infested with dragons that steal their livestock where the Vikings defend themselves through violence. One night, the chief’s son, Hiccup, sets out to catch his own dragon for once to prove that he’s not a weakling. Surprisingly, he captures one that no-one in Berk has ever done so and goes to find it. From that point, Hiccup’s whole life changes where he studies the dragon and is enrolled in a Viking class, further showing new skills to gently defeat the dragons gently instead of using violence. With Hiccup winning the respect of his peers and his father, he bonds with the secret dragon, but reasons for their thievery are soon revealed.

Now, in preparations, I’ve actually read the first book to compare both the source and adaptation, where this ironically had nothing to do with it. Meant as a fresh new perspective, Hiccup was more as the failing underachieving student, though could talk to dragons, with Fishlegs as his only friend and Snotloud was the school bully. But, the two biggest aspects were that they already featured dragons to train for their companions and that Toothless was a disobedient little imp who only helped when needed. There’s also the facts that Hiccup could communicate with dragons. No matter the changes, the author loved the movie franchise, even promoting it on her website.

From the absolute start, this film used a ton of tropes that were ever so popular in a lot of family films, ranging stock characters of the main underdog and the ignorant father, while its storyline reeked off the kid meeting an alien creature. Fortunately to its greatest advantage, this utilised a lot of generic ideas and blended them with spins galore. When the film began to progress, so did the main character, Hiccup, developing more from the dragon’s point-of-view, beginning their journey to trusting each-other. The dragons weren’t exactly treated as antagonistic beasts but slaves fighting for survival as when the third act proceeded, we see a dive into their own perspectives.

The climax and ending captured the thrilling adventure, bringing the main characters into fruition to save both of their kinds, before the dragon dived to save the only one who trusted him. There is one important aspect that you rarely see in lost media where character suffer injuries and it remains permanently; I grew tired of characters coming out of battles without a scratch, but this clearly showed that there are consequences.

I think I can say for anyone that the flying scenes are absolutely breathtaking, easily winning the greatest aspect of the movie. All had that sense of exhilaration whenever Hiccup takes flight, only occurring when he earned the right all after his days of studying the dragons. Whenever the two fly, we’re gifted astounding angles from the perspective of the dragon and their manoeuvres across the mountaintops. With every flying montage, this allowed Hiccup to construct a harness and assist his new companion with a way to overcome his injury. The climax helped deliver the amp of danger with its scope of the dragon’s leader and how someone so minuscule compared towards its monstrous size. Above all, this was a flowing theme of each movie, where they kept the momentum and pushed for more potential involving its new atmospheres.

Something I love about films are how believable they made these flying scenes, giving the experience that you’re there. This was the rightful way to present 3D effects in a movie rather than show imagery to scream it themselves.

Each dragon design wasn’t a rehash, baring their own names, behaviours, strengths and weaknesses. Dragons ranged from utilising elemental powers like rocks or fire, or those that need each-other’s help for deadlier attacks. I was impressed by how much they wanted to tell which dragon was which, managing to give Hiccup the opportunities to overcome their powers and pacify each one by studying the one he captured. The main dragon, who Hiccup dubs as Toothless, had an adorable design, baring animalistic behaviour like the lone wolf and curious cat. It’s the dragon’s quick movements across his hideout that gave off that intimidating stance, but then it’s with every moment that Hiccup attempts a truce that makes him drop his guard. Their unique designs were thanks to the director, Chris Sanders, who also worked on Lilo & Stitch.

These characters were stock cookie cutter at first, but they bared believable demeanours and development that made them stand out, especially as the franchise went on. At first glance, Hiccup was seen as the standard weakling, but there’s some likability and identity to him. He acts as the pacifist of the Vikings, which doesn’t make him stand out in a bad way, where they all grow to respect him for his fresher manoeuvres on defeating the dragons. Throughout his enrolment into the tryouts, Hiccup takes the time to study about the dragons and spark an adorable connection with one, helping him out with his injury and then becoming a team. At first, his voice was grating to hear, which emphasised on the current breaks in his tone, similar to Ron Stoppable’s actor, Will Friedle; eventually, you’ll get used to Jay Baruchel’s performance, where it’s the progression in his character that made it worthwhile.

With Hiccup’s involvement, he was able to learn more about the rarest dragon, Toothless; standoffish at first towards his prime enemy, the dragon allows trust when he sees more to the gentle nature of Hiccup, before allowing his guard to drop afterwards. Toothless himself is an adorable and expressive character, beginning a blooming friendship with Hiccup, both helping out with each-other’s permanent injuries. Who performed his growls and noises was Skywalker Sound’s sound designer, Randy Thom.

Stoick the Vast was also a stock character the ever so typically mean-spirited father, but his view of Hiccup changes throughout. At first, he sees him as a screw-up, but then when he has the chance to talk to him, he doesn’t have much to say as the two never really had anything in common. You do receive a genuine care from this character with an awkward relationship between the two as they’ve had anything to say due to their time spent away. Eventually, we receive the third act breakup, involving the father harshly disowning Hiccup, but the way they show his instant regret afterwards brings a realistic spin to his character. You can see how words can affect himself even in anger and how he painfully reflects on his actions in the climax.

As for the other characters, some were memorable or were just there for the sake of additional tagalongs. The best of the class, Astrid, is a great character where she does disbelieve Hiccup’s sudden progression, showing some realistic jealousy increasing over his victories. Later on, she eventually warms up to his own perspective of dragons and starts caring for his wellbeing, becoming a love interest that felt earned and not forced. Through the franchise, my favourite character was Gobber, Stoick’s best friend and weapons dealer, a sarcastic yet acknowledgeable teacher of Hiccup. likeable character with some humorous dialogue.

The students were passable enough, presented as the typical underachieving students that each had a flaw which matched their chosen dragons. They more so remind me of the teammates of Big Hero 6 where they don’t have to be in the movie, but serve their roles decently enough: consisted of Rough and Tough Nut the bickering twins; Snotlout the jock by default; the only one I actually didn’t mind as much was the enlarged nerdy coward, Fishlegs. A little disclaimer for the franchise, which I would have saved, but I never really cared for these side-characters as they’re just there to have some banter and mostly make their mark during the climatic final battle.

This film became a staple of DreamWorks Animation, earning the critical acclaim it deserved, but sadly losing towards Pixar, which was ironic how the same would occur nine years later. Nonetheless, it was the right way to start a franchise, similar to another masterpiece, Kung Fu Panda.

Final Rating: A

10/10

[10blue10]

Draconic Sociality

Many species of dragon are social. However, there are different levels of sociality, and dragons, like most animals, fall into various categories. 

Level 0 - Solitary 

Several species, such as Skrills and Armorwings, are highly territorial and do not tolerate the presence of other dragons. They likely only tolerate the presence of their own kind, as adults, if there is an opportunity to mate. 

Level 1 - Gregarious 

Many species, including Nadders, Gronckles and Terrors, are gregarious. They congregate, either naturally or under certain conditions, for the sake of protection, company, easier access to mates etc. These groups are referred to as flocks. There are single-species flocks, such as those of Smokebreaths, and there are multi-species flocks. Within flocks, a loose hierarchy often forms. 

Typically this is a case of Might makes Right. The bigger, stronger and more aggressive dragons tend to dominate over the smaller, weaker and less aggressive ones. Therefore, it follows logically that the biggest dragon in a flock, especially if they have no competition from their own kind, will become the ‘leader’ of the flock (also known as a Queen, King, alpha, defender etc.)

However, dragons do not behave solely based on instinct. They can and will recognise other qualities as being worthy of high status. (For example, Toothless is the de facto leader of the Berk flock not because he’s the biggest dragon, but because he killed the Red Death.) Dragons will naturally have friends and rivals within the larger social network of the flock. 

Level 2 - Hierarchical 

Several species, such as Changewings or Speed Stingers, live in single-species packs. A pack is distinguished from a flock by the more rigid social hierarchy and distinct pecking order they develop. The kind of hierarchy varies between species. For instance, Changewings have a social hierarchy similar to that of spotted hyenas, where females are dominant over males. 

‘Pack’ used to refer to single-species groups and ‘flock’ to multi-species groups. However, further research into the social dynamics of dragons has revealed that a more accurate distinction would be that packs have a pecking order, whereas flocks are more generalised. The norm is to have multi-species flocks and single-species packs, but of course there are always exceptions. 

Level 3 - Eusocial 

Firewyrms (and possibly Prickleboggles) are unusual amongst dragons as they are eusocial. Eusociality is characterised by the following: Reproductive division of labor (with or without sterile castes), overlapping generations, and cooperative care of young. It is considered the highest form of sociality. 

The Firewyrm Queen is the sole reproductive female within a colony. She reproduces parthenogenically, laying hundreds of unfertilised eggs that develop into non-reproductive drones. Genetically speaking, these are male, though functionally speaking they are sexless. The workers care for future generations, defend the colony and scout out new territory or food sources. 

When a colony starts to get too large, the resident Queen will produce a special type of fire-comb gel called drottninghunang (lit: ‘queen honey’) that is laced with hormones. This gel is fed to one of the hatchling drones, though the mechanism behind which this individual is chosen is not yet understood. 

The drottninghunang basically triggers their transformation into another reproductively-capable female, known as a Firewyrm Princess. When this female is large enough to fend for herself (and before she gets large enough to be a potential rival to her mother), she will leave the colony to start her own. 

[tqgincorrectquotes]

Jolene: Be safe, Beth.

Beth: When am I not safe?

Jolene: ...

Beth: ...

Jolene: ...

Beth: Don't answer that.

[incorrectone-piece]

Usopp: How 'bout we all play twenty questions?

Luffy: Oh oh! Okay! First question!!

Luffy: How do you play "Twenty Questions"?

Nami: *Face palms*

[glassnightfury]

Hiccup: Listen, you're my friends, and I love you. But you're all terrible at what you do here.

Hiccup: I feel like I should tell you: I'd fire all of you if I could.

Astrid: Hiccup.

Hiccup: Alright, hands in!

[incorrectsdsins]

Estarossa: And make a fool out of me?!

Meliodas: You don't really need a lot of help with that.

[i-hate-spitelout-jorgenson]

Nonononono I would love to hear you get into why you despise the hidden world i am always ready to add more reasons to my list

This is gonna be super messy and infodumpy but you asked and I deliver. fueled by rage, 40°c/100°f weather and no aircon.

First of all, The Hidden World was NOT exactl up for success. The first two films had two people workin together: Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. in the first film they were both directors, in the second one was a director and one was an executive producer. The first two are regarded generally as some of Dreamworks' best work, only really tailing films like Shrek and Shrek 2. The Hidden World isn't. I cant say I know a lot about what Sanders and DeBlois individually contributed to the films, but I can say this with confidence: DeBlois does not understand the dragons on a fundamental level. Time and time again the dragons are shown to be intelligent, capable understanding human speech and sarcasm, being fully sentient and sapient just as we are. For whatever reason, DeBlois never seemed to get this. Thats why The Hidden World treats the dragons like wild animals with instincts and a call for the wild when theyre shown to not be like that at all. At some point during the film, Astrid says, "What did you expect? You gave him his freedom, Hiccup." (paraphrased). Thats bullshit. And thats not even headcanon, its just bullshit. The whole idea of dragons being called away by their instincts to start a family and move on was already done in Gift Of The Nightfury, and it did it better! Literally the entire point of that short was that the dragons CHOSE to come back. They didn't want freedom, they wanted companionship - which clearly they understand as deeply as we do. Toothless is a special case, because its debateable that he never had those instincts to begin with. To that I say: Why didn't he have them to begin with? What was different about this time? That he SAW the lightfury? Gift Of The Nightfury was made to explore the idea of dragons laying eggs as a part of their instincts. If laying eggs is part of the instinct, why did Toothless and the Lightfury only do that like fifteen-twenty years later? And I dont have an answer for that. DeBlois did not direct Gift Of The Nightfury, but he worked on it. He watched the project grow and go through all of its developmental stages and came out of it learning apparently nothing. How To Train Your Dragon and How To Train Your Dragon 2 (as well as its respective TV shows) recognised the dragons as a very expressive, very complex part of the universe that have friends, familial ties, personalities, morals, emotions, understanding of human language. They dont get this treatment in The Hidden World. In The Hidden World Toothless is reduced to a romanticised, horny house dog.

DeBlois also doesn't seem to fully grasp the bond that the dragons and riders have. Toothless specifically has repeatedly risked his life for Hiccup. Off the top of my head, he saved him from that avalanche and risked being buried alive or dying of hypothermia; he (several times) swims far too deep to attempt to rescue Hiccup; he dives into the Red Death's fire to save hiccup; he deters, oh I don't know, a BEWILDERBEAST in order to protect hiccup. He has never truly in his life chose something over Hiccup. And you're telling me the Lightfury shows up, SHOOTS AT HICCUP, and Toothless still risks it all for some pussy? Like seriously? That bitch would have been GONE within seconds.

Now, I can't find a source for this, so take it with a grain of salt, but just like how the original villain of the second film was Valka, apparently the original pitch for the third was that they find a cave full of Nightfuries. First of all this wouldve been so much more interesting. I cant speak for Race To The Edge, but the ENTIRETY of Riders of Berk, Defenders of Berk, and even How To Train Your Dragon 2 lead up to the idea that maybe Toothless wasn't the last of his kind. I couldnt tell you how many times its alluded to in the show alone. And you're telling me, after, what, seven years, your answer is just, "That guy killed them all"? Which brings me onto Grimmel.

The selling point of Grimmel is that he's smart. He's the most intelligent villain they've fought yet. Personally I think thats fucking stupid. Thats not only blatantly untrue in regards to the actually intelligent antagonists they HAVE faced, hes also just not that smart. When he presents the ultimatum, among other things, Toothless could literally just shoot him. When he shows up in Hiccup's hut, Toothless could literally just shoot him. Even if hes fireproof (which i dont remember if he is) hes not momentum proof. A better point of interest on Grimmel would have been, "Hes the first villain weve really seen actively murder dragons." (Unincluding the red death). Which, ok, maybe. Hes still boring.

The designs. the designsbfurghensnebdndbd d

OKOK SO. Lets start simple. Toothless is so chunky. They really didn't understand what makes Toothless intimidating. Hes scary because hes sleek and aerodynamic and not because hes a beefy macho wrestler. Hes a panther! Thats the intimidation!!! And i guess I cant put it off anymore so lets talk about the Kids Youtube monstrosity this film gave us i guess.

The lightfury is... a mess. in every way. The dragons in the series are very dramatic and stylised, sure, but in a very intentional way. A Monstrous Nightmare's teeth are in no way practical but they go with the big bad carnivore idea. A Deadly Nadder is not at all expressive compared to other dragons but neither are birds, which it resembles. Most boulder class dragons would in no way be able to fly, but it adds to the idea that they are heavily armoured and underestimated. In the case of the Nightfury, it makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint. It has large eyes because it lives in dark coastal caves. Its black because it is mostly nocturnal with hunting. It has echolocation BECAUSE of said dark coastal caves. However, when it comes to the lightfury, the design is... lacking. Smushed face not at all practical for fishing. Certain bird of prey and even dinosaurs (e.g spinosaurus) have distinctively long, thin mouths/beaks FOR FISHING. Lightfuries are not aquatic, and since they are presumably an evolution branch away from nightfuries, they probably cant spend too long in the water. Lightfuries have strangely smooth, round features. Its tail fins and wings being round make. next to zero sense. For the first film the creators took a pilots class to understand how flying works. I didnt. but i dont think that work, especially not for one of the fastest dragons. Its legs are weirdly shaped and It. Fucking. Sparkles. Its sparkly. Its 2019 fella I thought we learnt our lesson with Twilight. Shes so unneccessarily feminine its gross. And sure, The idea of variation between sex is shown but in very minor incidences. For example, The main differences between male and female Nadders are the curvature of the horn on the nose and which jaw is out more (overbite/underbite but idk which is which).

The Lightfury is also. Mean? Literally a softcore manic pixie dream girl? Its not even the cliche of like, she teaches him about the wild while he teaches her about stuff he learnt in "captivity" and theyre both endeared by the others ideas and home lives. She actively puts him down for everything and leads him on at the same time? its very strange. Also, Toothless' mating dances couldve worked on a Nightfury. We dont know. Theyre different species at the end of the day.

And the worst part about the Lightfury to me is that all of these issues are so easily solvable. For design, you have at least 2 options:

1. Make her a Nightfury.

I recognise they made her white so they were easy to tell apart. solution: Albino. done.

2. Make her a variation of Nightfury.

Plenty of people on this site have pointed out itd be plausible that there are, for example, Northern Nightfuries that live in harshly cold environments and are bulky and stong! Toothless seems like a wifeguy anyway let the man have a beefy wife

I've expressed this before, but I think that the ending is very lazy. Just tacking it on at the end that they have to leave bc they dont want more films. I have read the books before. I dont remember a lot about them, but I do remember that very little tracks. Like a couple of character names and thats basically it. Theyve NEVER attempted to replicate the books before, why start at the end of the final film? Its not even like there was very much motivation behind it. The dragon riders always win. I genuinely believe that the third film would have benefited from killing off Snotlout.

And yeah. I love him, hes my favourite character, this blog is centered around how much i hate his shitty dad. But his character went NO WHERE in the last film. Id even argue he got worse. Snotlout is a character where a lot of the appeal comes from the hope that he will be better. And he is! Compare his behaviour from The first few episodes of Riders Of Berk to the end of Defenders Of Berk. There is probably less than a year between them and it is night and day. He goes from being a school ground bully who neglects and actively deprives his dragon of sleep to someone who would maim, kill, die for him. You get to Race To The Edge and he is still the same cocky asshole, but he cares so deeply about his friends. He is inconsolable for days when Hookfang is thought to be leaving him. He cries of happiness at the wedding of his cousin and the girl he liked. He shows, more than probably anyone in the series, incredible growth. And then The Hidden World happens. To name a few things, he:

- Flirts relentlessly with his aunt

- Mocks his cousin's recently dead father ("Who died and made you chief?)

- Competes for power with Hiccup

And I think that killing him off would check the boxes of being closer tied with the books, Giving him a full redemption, and giving Hiccup a (albeit extreme) reason to send the dragons away. At that point Hiccup would have lost his mother (although she lived), his father, his leg, and his cousin (or best friend depending on interpretation) to dragons or to fighting FOR dragons. Thats got to be enough at some point.

Back on the subject of Hiccup, he was so... off. He's an absolute nerd when it comes to dragons (/pos)! He would never find a species of dragon and get upset that Toothless spent time with it, especially not A FURY???? He spends the whole film talking about Toothless and the Lightfury as if hes an over protective dad which again leads back to the ides of DeBlois not understanding the dragons fundamentally. The joke, to my understanding, is meant to be that he is treating his pet like his son that just started dating. But Toothless isnt his pet. Toothless is his friend. Thats not the relationship at all. And again, Hiccup wouldn'nt be??? upset???over that???

Ruffnut lost ALL of her nuance and interest and is now just "stupid." Tuff is... okay, i guess. Fishlegs is reduced to being motherly and feminine when hes otherwise CONSTANTLY shown being extremely intelligent and would also NEVER leave out Meatlug???? Ive already spoken about Snotlout, and Astrid is now just kind of. Hiccup's sidekick?? What happened she was literally so cool and stern and cutthroat and genuinely had chemistry with Hiccup. Now shes just there to give him advice. Dont get me wrong, I love the conversational parallels that have with the first movie, but they dont feel earned. they feel like its trying to leech off of nostalgia of the first movie. She also looks physically very different for some reason.

TL:DR, The Hidden World is a movie aimed at kids for a franchise that was always aimed at families. the themes are dull, characters are ooc, designs are ugly, and the problems are easy fixes

[waterfire1848]

Katara: I don’t know what to do about Zuko and Azula. They can’t go five minutes without an argument.

Iroh: There’s three ways to deal with Fire Nationals who aren’t getting along.

Sokka: We’re all ears.

Iroh: Option one: give them both swords and you let them fight to the end.

Katara: That one seems a tad…permanent. What’s option two?

Iroh: You give them both fire and let them fight to the end.

[incorrectokagequotes]

Stan: There's three ways to deal with followers who aren't getting along.

Ari: I'm all ears.

Stan: Option one: give them both axes and you let them fight to the end.

Ari: That one seems a tad... permanent. What's option number two?

Stan: You give them both maces and let them fight to the end.

Ari: Do I even want to know what option three is?

[ashleybenlove]

Title: Terrible Terrors and Their Belly Traps

Prompt: None

Summary: One of the occupational hazards of being a Dragon Rider: Terrible Terror Belly Traps.

Fandom: How To Train Your Dragon

Pairing: None

Word Count: 1246

Rating: General

Warnings: Mild blood and scratches

Disclaimer: I don’t own the source material in this fanfic. That’s to whatever company or person owns it. I would never claim to own it.

Notes: There are probable influences from fandom and whatnot in this story. Shoutout to @jayalaw who made a comment about belly traps and Terrible Terrors in a Discord that made me want to write this. The setting is during HTTYD1, post-Defenders of Berk’s Worst in Show, and during Race to the Edge. AO3.

And it is below.

Hiccup sat with his back against Toothless, the little Terrible Terror cuddled up to him. Hiccup gave soft pets to the little dragon, pleased that the dragon trusted him enough to be practically napping.

 The little Terror eventually yawned and stretched in front of Hiccup, showing the dragon’s belly.

 “Are you sunning yourself, huh?” Hiccup asked.

 Hiccup gently placed one hesitant, careful hand on the dragon’s soft scaly belly and—

 Wham!

 Talons and mouth grabbed his hand.

 Hiccup yelped and Toothless growled deeply at the Terror.

 “Toothless!” Hiccup scolded, as he pulled away from the Terror.

 Hiccup checked his hand and arm. He was fine. Scratches maybe but not enough to draw any blood.

 “Set a little belly trap, huh?” Hiccup asked, holding out the hand, and letting the dragon headbutt him.

    Sometime after the Dragon Riders’ competition with Terrible Terrors, Astrid was in the Academy with her axe and whetstone while Stormfly napped next to Meatlug. Fishlegs was nearby.

 Also nearby, Terrible Terrors.

 Several of them were lying on their back, clearly intent on sunning their bellies.

 Setting aside both axe and whetstone, Astrid carefully approached the nearest Terrible Terror, wanting to give the dragon a pat. These dragons knew them well.

 Seconds after her hand started to move across the belly, the Terrible Terror grabbed her hand with their claws and their mouth, sharp teeth and sharp talons biting against her skin.

 “Ow,” Astrid said, flatly. “No, you stop that.”

 Fishlegs looked up from reading his book and gasped.

 “Oh dear,” Fishlegs said softly.

 “Give me my hand back, please,” Astrid said, patiently.

 “Are you okay?” Fishlegs asked.

 “This?” Astrid said to him, before directing her next comments to the dragon. “Hey, come on, you quit that.”

 Astrid then carefully but quickly pulled her hand away from the dragon.

 She showed Fishlegs her scratched up hand like it was a trophy to her. There were a few droplets of blood with some scratches but nothing that would necessitate stitches.

 “It’s only fun if you get a scar out of it,” Astrid said.

 “You saying that again?” Hiccup said, having flown into the Academy with Toothless.

 She showed him her hand and with the other hand, pointed at the offending Terror that was still hanging around her.

 “You got belly trapped, huh?” Hiccup said.

 “Yup!” Astrid said.

 The two of them looked at Fishlegs, who looked back at them.

 “What?” Fishlegs asked.

 A pause.

 “Wait, you guys want me to give my hand to a Terrible Terror? That sounds like something Snotlout and the twins would have concocted,” Fishlegs said.

 “Well, if memory serves, Tuffnut’s been attacked on the nose by Terrors, so has Ruff, and Snotlout seems to be a magnet for Terrors being bitey,” Hiccup said. “And Astrid and I have been recipients of the Terrible Terror belly trap. Kind of an occupational hazard at this point.”

 Hiccup paused.

 “And their bellies look so enticing, too,” Hiccup said.

 There were at least three Terrors that were showing off their bellies to them.

 Astrid watched as Hiccup and Fishlegs stared at each other and then at the same time, reached out to touch a Terror on the belly (not the same Terror), and both Terrors went for the hand.

 “Thank you,” Hiccup said, very kindly, to the Terror.

 Toothless was growling at the Terror.

 Astrid and Hiccup both looked at Fishlegs, who was watching the Terror go for his hand with interest.

 “They’re bitey about it but they’re clearly engaging in play with us,” Fishlegs said.

 “Yeah!” Hiccup said, nodding. “It’s kind of a game for them.”

 Astrid chuckled.

 “Okay, stop growling, you,” Hiccup said, to Toothless, after he pulled his hand away from the Terror.

 Fishlegs pulled his hand away, and left the Terror to their business.

 Hiccup looked at Fishlegs’ hand. The scratches did not break skin.

    “Hey, look!” Tuffnut exclaimed. “The Terrors are showing their bellies!”

 Hiccup looked up from rereading their current notations from their version of the Book of Dragons.

 Some of the local Terrible Terrors were all relaxing in the Academy, and all of the Terrors were lying on their backs, showing off their bellies.

 Ruffnut and Tuffnut were both near the dragons.

 Hiccup mentally debated between daring the twins to do it and telling them not to.

 But Hiccup was starting to come around to the idea that telling the twins not to do something was almost the same as daring them.

 He watched as Ruffnut and Tuffnut sat down near some Terrors, who seemed perfectly happy to be near them, and held out their hands towards two separate Terrible Terror bellies.

 “I wouldn’t do that,” Hiccup said.

 Ruffnut scoffed and then chuckled.

 “And why not?” Tuffnut said.

 Hiccup watched carefully, as in almost unison, both of them brought their hands onto the belly of the Terrible Terror of their choosing and just as he expected, the Terrible Terrors grabbed them with talons and teeth.

 Ruffnut let out a high-pitched but very brief shriek and Tuffnut exclaimed something he said a lot: “I am hurt! I am very much hurt!”

 Hiccup let out a sigh, but continue to watch them.

 Ruffnut was now giggling a little, and moving her hand around.

 Tuffnut was not doing either but he seemed amused by the Terror.

 After a few more moments of this, Hiccup said, “Alright, that’s enough.”

 “Aww,” Ruffnut said.

 But both she and Tuffnut stopped what they were doing.

 Hiccup watched as the Terrors righted themselves and then climbed into each of their laps, looking for pats.

 All he found himself thinking of was the Terror that had cuddled up to him, that had been his “everything we know about you guys is wrong” epiphany with dragons.

 He watched them happily for a moment.

 “That right there?” Hiccup said softly. “The Terrors just… sitting in your laps? That’s why we train dragons.”

    “Again!” Snotlout shouted.

 Hiccup looked up from his doodling to see Snotlout with his hand touching a Terrible Terror belly, who was happily grabbing his hand with talons and teeth.

 They were in the Clubhouse on Dragon’s Edge.

 Hiccup sighed.

 “It’s been years, Snotlout,” Hiccup said. “You know that they do that. It’s a game with them.”

 Toothless made a laughing noise from his throat.

 “Oh, you laugh when it happens to him? But if it’s my hand, you get all growly?” Hiccup said to the Night Fury. He made a tsking sound at the dragon.  

 Snotlout huffed.

 Snotlout half-considered calling the Night Fury a mean name but Hiccup would likely object.

 “Hey, stop biting already!” Snotlout said, soon afterwards to the Terror.

 Hiccup sighed again.

 “Pull your hand away!” Hiccup exclaimed.

 “You pull your hand away!” Snotlout retorted.

 Hiccup shook his head and got up to where Snotlout was sitting.

 “Hey, there, that’s enough, huh?” Hiccup said, to the dragon.

 Hiccup pulled Snotlout’s hand away from the dragon. Hiccup followed this up by picking the dragon up and setting the dragon on his own shoulders.

 “Let me see your hand,” Hiccup said, gently.

 Snotlout showed him his hand. His hand was fine.

 “Hey, there, you going to let us pet your little head, hmm?” Hiccup asked the Terror.

 Hiccup reach out with his opposite side hand, his palm open and once the dragon accepted his hand, he gave the dragon’s head a pat.

 “Don’t bite Snotlout,” Hiccup told the dragon as Snotlout’s hand slowly moved towards the dragon.

 The little dragon made a chuckling sound.

[ephyla]

March of Dragons ‘21 : Fan content prompt: Flying Free

Flying Free

WARNING: Violence

So, this prompt gave me the idea of how Astrid met Axewing. He’s a dragon that appears in the Rise of Berk game. I find this dragon absolutely beautiful and who doesn’t like a dragon with wings that act like axes? That dragon suits Astrid perfectly, after Stormfly of course. 

I couldn’t help myself, I had to add a pinch of Hiccstrid at the end because I love them so much.

Enjoy!

oOo

Astrid was on night patrol duty tonight. It was supposed to be the twins’ turn but Tuffnut has gotten himself injured during their last raid against the dragon hunters. She volunteered to take their place. Unlike Snotlout or Fishlegs, she enjoyed patrols to have some time to herself and would take any opportunity to fly with Stormfly. They were a match made in Valhalla; a pair of warriors with a sense of duty to match.

She scouted all the areas and ticked them off her map, completing her round. Normally, she would be flying back to her hut and get a good night's sleep so she can wake up early and train her stealth skills with Stormfly. Tonight, however, she felt the need to remain in the sky a little while longer. She patted her dragon’s head, gaining her attention. She seemed to be happy gliding through the sky. They were blessed with a warm night, a clear sky, and a full moon; one would be a fool to remain indoors.

“What do you say we take a small detour and enjoy this beautiful night a bit more girl?” Her Nadder squawked in reply, as in to say yes.

Stormfly changed the course of her direction and headed north, opposite from where the Edge was. The gang rarely ventured north, they would’ve but the war against the hunters was most often waging south, not letting them have too much time on their hands to explore much anymore. Saving the dragons and getting rid of the hunters were their main priorities. Occasionally, to save themselves from being overworked and from the constant fear of a new attack, they would go into small groups to explore the nearby islands close to the edge; unless they have a breakthrough with the Dragon Eye, revealing a new species.

The pair were flying over a couple of islands they’ve already discovered before. They practiced some tricks that could be used in battle, but they were also having fun. They started to let their guards down a bit, fully aware that the hunters rarely treaded those waters...Rarely...

Stormfly stiffened, her quills stood upright. Astrid observed the area, fully trusting in her dragon’s instincts. She sensed danger in one of the two islands in proximity.

“What is it, girl?” Before Stormfly could react, a loud roar resounded at the large island to their left. The Nadder waited for her friend’s orders, ready to defend her at a moment’s notice.  

Astrid took out her spyglass to observe the island and frowned. She spotted two ships with the hunters’ insignia. She looked back and knew she was too far from the Edge for a distress call. Not only that, but it would also alert the hunters of a rider’s presence. Right now, she had to assess the situation and only had the element of surprise as an advantage.

“Let’s go Stormfly. We need to be as stealthy as possible for now.” She said as she patted her dragon’s shoulder. She made a noise of acknowledgment and flew in the direction of the distressed dragon.

They made sure they weren’t spotted as they landed close to the source of the sound. They moved within the bushes as Astrid counted the number of hunters. The roars were getting louder but were followed by the hunters’ yells, tormenting the poor dragon. Astrid couldn’t identify it by the sound it made, meaning it was either an undiscovered dragon or a dragon she rarely saw. Curiosity took over and signalled Stormfly to stay still and lay low, to which she complied, eyeing her trainer’s surroundings.

Astrid got closer to the last bush coverage and delicately separated the leaves to spy on the little clearing within the thick forest. Her eyes widened at the sight. The dragon wasn’t just an ordinary dragon. It was a titanwing Timberjack. It donned the radiant red and yellow colours of autumn. The moonlight reflecting on those vibrant scales. She couldn’t imagine how mesmerising would that dragon be under the sunlight, flying high above the clouds. It was beautiful.

A whipping sound resonated followed by the Timberjack’s agonising cries. Astrid frowned at the hunters’ cruelty. The dragon had chains wrapped around his snout, neck, and tail, keeping him grounded. She noticed a couple of dragonroot arrows stuck in his side, but it seemed that being a titanwing helped him not succumb completely to its effects in one shot. She reached behind her back and grab her axe’s handle, ready to attack.

Before she was able to do anything, the Timberjack frenziedly struggled, his razor-sharp wings cutting all the trees in proximity, some falling on the hunters. She saw in the corner of her eye Stormfly dashing towards her, projecting her in the clearing. Astrid landed ungraciously in front of the Timberjack, who suddenly stopped to look at the peculiar Viking.

Astrid got up and looked back at Stormfly and saw her crushed under a large tree. The same tree that was going to land on her. Her heart wrenched. Stormfly just saved her life.

“Stormfly!” She ran towards her dragon but was surrounded by some of the hunters. She took a battle stance and gripped her axe as if her life depended on it.

“Kill ‘er!” She heard.

An arrow flew towards her but she managed to parry it with her blade. She launched an attack, slicing her axe across one of the hunter’s chest. A couple of arrows flew towards her again, and used the injured hunter as a shield, killing him. When the hunters at the back had to reload their crossbows, Astrid saw an opportunity to launch herself towards the sword-wielding hunters with a battle cry that made them look at her in fear.

She was trained her whole life to kill dragons, she was always first in her class until Hiccup showed the tribe a brighter future. A couple of hunters wasn’t going to faze her. She was a fearless warrior, while she depended on the rest of the riders to watch her back during their many raids, she was very capable of fighting on her own.

She parried the many swords coming for her, never letting them have the upper hand, and slashed through the mass with ferocious dedication.

The riders did their best to not directly kill unless necessary. They didn’t enjoy having their hands soiled in blood, especially Hiccup and Fishlegs. They were too soft-hearted, always trying to find another solution to their problems. Astrid, however, doesn’t hesitate. If a loved one was in danger, she will not back down from an enemy and isn’t afraid to slice them down with her trusty axe. She is fiercely loyal like that. It doesn’t mean she enjoys it, but she will handle the guilt and nightmares without any qualms if it meant that she doesn’t get to see the people she loves die because of her hesitance.

With some of the hunters out of her way, she managed to create a passage towards Stormfly. She tried to lift the tree, but it was obvious from the start that she needed the strength of ten Vikings to be able to do so.

“Yer not goin’ anywhere little girl.” One of the hunters sneered at her as another wave approached her. “Nice of ye to bring us another dragon though, Viggo will surely be pleased.” He said as he looked at Stormfly.

Astrid wiped some blood off her forehead and stood in front of Stormfly, ready to defend her with her life. She was covered in blood, mostly from those scums, but she could feel the stinging from a couple of shallow cuts. It wasn’t enough to deter her as she glared at the approaching enemy. She quickly stole a glance at the Timberjack, who laid still as a rock. It was observing her with curiosity. It looked like it didn’t associate her with his tormenters. Clever boy. Her eyes went back to the hunters. Some of them released the chains to provide backup as they seemingly couldn’t bring one Viking warrior down.

“Bring it on.” She jeered at them.

They all charged at her. Astrid managed to avoid their attacks and sent a coupled of them to the ground, ending them with an accurate slice to the throat or a classic chop to the skull. The hunters were heavy on their feet and attacked clumsily. While she was alone, Astrid was quick on her feet, all her moves were calculated; she looked like she was dancing on the battlefield, avoiding a sword here and parrying a rogue arrow there. She never let the hunters land a fatal blow. Her focus was impeccable.

It wasn’t until she heard Stormfly’s distressed cried that she lost her focus. She turned around to look at her and saw a hunter approaching the vulnerable Nadder. Astrid was knocked to the ground, dropping her axe in the process. A heavy boot on her chest held her to the ground. She squirmed and tried to pry the leg off, but she wasn’t strong enough. She looked at the hunter and glared at him with all her might. If she was going to die, she will not die with fear written on her face. She was a warrior through and through and stared at Death in the eye, challenging it.

A strident cry distracted her and the hunter above her. Astrid suddenly felt the weight being lifted from her chest, letting her breathe properly again. The Timberjack managed to partially free himself from the chains since less hunters were holding him down. With a quick swipe of his tail, he knocked the men down as well as the large trunk that crushed Stormfly.

Astrid rushed towards her dragon and looked for injuries. Unfortunately, the Nadder seemed to have a broken leg from the impact and she sported a couple of scratches all over her body. Astrid lovingly caressed her beak.

“I’m so sorry girl, I should’ve paid attention.” Stormfly nuzzled her as if to say it wasn’t her fault.

“Thank you for saving my life, I owe you one.” She hugged her tightly, rubbing her nose against her warm scales. The Nadder purred.

A series of yelling brought Astrid back to reality. She looked at the source of the noise and her eyes widened. The hunters have grown in numbers, probably back up from the ships. She desperately looked at the Timberjack struggling to set himself free from the new invasion back to her injured dragon.

“Stormfly, you need to go back to the Edge, get back up.” Stormfly croaked and nuzzled her. She didn’t want to leave her friend here. “Please Stormfly. This is our only chance for all of us to survive. Do you trust me?” Astrid asked as she raised her hand towards her dragon, she felt the gentle touch of her beak. The rider smiled at her Nadder, giving her a quick hug, silently thanking her.

“Go.” Stormfly took off with difficulty, flying back as fast as she could. Astrid thanked the Gods that her dragon didn’t get her wings or tail too injured.

She turned around and dashed towards her axe, avoiding more arrows. She looked at the Timberjack, hoping it would look at her. To get out of here alive, she needed his complete trust. To her luck, his eyes landed back on her. She nodded at him, almost trying to signal him something before dashing towards the hunters holding the chains. She knocked them down one by one, they were easier to kill as their hands were holding the chains.

The Timberjack felt the grip loosen up and checked the Viking warrior’s surroundings. He spotted a line of archers aiming at her. He swiftly swiped his wings at the tree behind the archers, cutting them down in one fell swoop, sending the large trees tumbling down on the helpless archers.  

Astrid ran closer to the dragon and beckoned him to lower his head, which he did, trusting the girl to help him. She pried the chains off his snout, hoping he had enough firepower to get rid of the remaining hunters. The dragon noticed some men rushing towards them, he did not hesitate to finally use his fire to burn them and deter the ones reimaging on the side-line. They didn’t look so tough anymore. Losing to a chained dragon and a girl with an axe was a major hit to their egos. They had all the advantages on their side and yet they were helpless. Viggo was not going to be happy.

The Timberjack nudged Astrid with its snout. She looked at him, he didn’t seem to have an aggressive personality, which is probably one of the reasons he was captured in the first place. She raised her hand towards him and let him close the gap between them. She heard him purr.

“You’re absolutely extraordinary.” She said, her eyes filled with wonder. The dragon seemed to like her from the start and hoped he liked her enough to let her climb onto his back.

“Yer not getting away with our prize, girl.” She heard an annoying voice sneer. She rolled her eyes and turned around. The remaining hunters regrouped and were ready for another round. Astrid was already tired after fighting alone and she assumed the Titanwing was too. She glanced back at him and then at his flank where two arrows were sticking out. She hastily grabbed the arrows, looking at the dragon for confirmation. He just stared at her, not doing anything. She considered this enough and pulled. The dragon roared in pain but didn’t attack her. She was surprised at how fast he trusted her despite having a bad time with humans.  She just hoped he trusted her enough for her to climb on his back. They were tired and outnumbered and their best option is to fly away from this wretched place.

Astrid placed her hands on his shoulders, ready to jump on, but the Timberjack was a smart one and lowered himself enough for her to climb on with ease. He spread his wings and took off with a bit of difficulty, probably due to his injuries. Astrid held on tight as he cut through the surrounding trees, falling on some unfortunate hunters. With a mighty beat of his broad wings, they flew towards the sky, finally free.

While they enjoyed nesting in forests, Timberjacks were known for flying at a considerably high altitude, to which Astrid wasn’t accustomed to with Stormfly. She felt a colder wind blow through her hair, her cheeks reddened, but she didn’t feel the cold. The dragon produced great heat underneath her as compensation and she felt completely at ease sitting on a wild dragon. It wasn’t often that she rode a dragon that wasn’t her Nadder, it felt strange. While she had to constantly lean forward and keep ahold of her saddle as a Nadder’s back curves downwards, the Timberjack didn’t have legs pulling itself down, keeping a straight back in flight. Astrid had more stability and his gigantic wings, bare of spines provided more room for her to sit. She felt the powerful beat of his wings as they soared majestically through the air. She felt so light. She felt free.

Astrid spread her arms, savouring the cool air, and let out a laugh as the dragon playfully cut through the clouds for fun.

“Oh my Gods, this is amazing! You’re amazing!” She blissfully shouted, giving the dragon a pat. “What I wouldn’t give to have wings acting as axes.” She joked. Her eyes widened, “Hey, that’s what I’ll call you. Axewing! How about that?” Axewing let out a shrill roar, expressing his approval. Astrid laughed again. “A fitting name for a warrior. Gods, for a moment I thought we were done for.” She admitted.

They soared for a while, enjoying their newly found freedom. Despite not knowing each other for very long, Astrid knew that she found a connection with this dragon. Of course, Stormfly will always be her dragon soulmate, her best friend, but she saw a fighting spirit in him that reminded her of Stormfly. She was sure they would get along great.

Suddenly, she heard the familiar strident whistling sound of a fast-approaching Night Fury. Toothless blended with the dark sky, so she was thankful that Hookfang was accompanying him, he was easier to spot thanks to his fire-coated scales illuminating the sky. Astrid beckoned Axewing to fly down and join them as the riders haven’t spotted her from up high.

They blocked their paths, forcing them to abruptly stop. The riders’ eyes widened as they saw who was riding the Titanwing Timberjack.

“What took you so long?” Astrid mused.

“Astrid! You’re okay!” Hiccup exclaimed; relief evident in his voice. “We were so worried something bad happened to you when Stormfly came back without you and a broken leg.”

“How is she?” She asked, a worried look etched on her face.

“Fishlegs is tending to her. He said she’ll be fine as long as we keep an eye on her recovery.” Hiccup answered. Astrid let out a relieved sigh.

“Ugh, by the way, who’s this and why are you covered in blood?” Snotlout pointed at the Timberjack and then back at the bloodstained Viking warrior.

Astrid patted her new friend, “That’s Axewing, and long story short we ran into a large group of hunters capturing this poor fella, I’ll explain more to you once we’re back at the Edge.” She nudged Axewing to resume their flight back home, Hiccup and Snotlout following on their tail.

Astrid turned around and asked, “By the way, how did you find me without Stormfly?”

“I saw you flying north while I was on a flight with Toothless. We’ve flown there a couple of times in the past and there aren’t a lot of islands nearby, so our best bet to find you was to check them all.” Her betrothed responded. Astrid nodded, facing forward again.

“Hey, Astrid?” She saw Hiccup guide Toothless next to her in the corner of her eye. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I’m glad you’re safe.” She smiled at him and nodded, still gazing at his beautiful green eyes.

“Ugh, enough eye-fucking already. I’m still here, do you have no sense of decency? Gods!” Snotlout’s voice resonated from behind the couple, who simply ignored him.

oOo

I don’t know if it completely fits the prompt, but that’s the idea I had. Hope you liked it!

[raayllum]

a fandom psa

as a treat. also because i know this is probably going to piss some people off, inevitably, just know that if it pisses you off you almost definitely would’ve been on the side of the grown ass adults who bullied me, a teenager at the time, for what two fictional characters i wanted to hold hands a couple of years ago. have fun. 

canon vs fanon

Ah, canon. The source material we all enjoy, with various levels of focus and specialized interest... and definitely not malleable or up to interpretation at all, right? Well, here’s the thing: it kind of is. And kind of always has been. 

Canon, in many cases, is a jumping off point. The thing is, everyone has different jumping off points and you can see this reflected most clearly in TDP in the sort of content that came out pre and post each season release. For a quick example that only people who have been in this fandom as long as I have will know: pre-s1, people shipped Soren/Runaan. Sounds wild, right? Then information about ages, coupled with ‘Tinker’ and s1′s characterizations came out, and the ship was dropped like a hot potato. 

Another, perhaps more applicable example, is that Rayla/Claudia was a more popular ship pre and post-s1 then it was post-s2. Now of course a ship’s popularity doesn’t necessarily correspond to screentime. Some Rayla/Claudia shippers may have just move onto other shows (Shera in particular comes to mind, I am very excited for s5), had inspiration naturally wane, or continued on like always. All three have happened to me in the 8+ years I’ve been in fandom. 

But the point I’m getting at is what’s considered canon largely lines up with two other things: Interest and Information. If you, for whatever reason, choose to not watch beyond TDP S3, nothing beyond TDP S3 is canon to you. You could also watch S4, and think it’s awesome, but it doesn’t line up with all the cool fics you read or imaginings you had about what the season would be like. You like your own stuff / those fics more! To you, those are canon, and TDP’s actual S4 release is like a fun offshoot. Pseudo-canon, if you will. 

What I mean by pseudo-canon is that basically, something is as canon to you as is convenient to you. Think of that one TV you hate, or one really let you down. (We all have one.) Probably did your fave(s) dirty? But there was like, one good scene or thing with them in the later seasons, some shining moment of when the show was good again and you decided to go

and take that and nothing else.

Rest under the read more because this got long, as my posts are prone to be.

For an example of how far pseudo-canon can go, I’m going to use the “How To Train Your Dragon” franchise. I’ve been in that fandom for seven years now, almost my entire time in fandom, and for those of you who do not know, it is a sprawling franchise. It is based off a 12-book long series of novels, although the movies are incredibly different (they kept the idea of vikings and dragons living together and having some conflict at some point and that it is it). In addition to the three movies, there are two Christmas-holiday themed shorts, two more shorts, graphic novels, and 118 episodes of a tv show that has three different titles (Riders of Berk, Defenders of Berk, and Race to the Edge) encompassed within it. For such a large franchise, the tv show in particular has impressive continuity. HTTYD2 and HTTYD3 both make allusions to it in some fun background details, RTTE actively fills the five year gap between HTTYD1 and HTTYD2, and HTTYD3 outright references the first Christmas short, “Gift of the Night Fury.” All in all, the franchise is amazing and fun. 

However, most fans, myself included, do not consider the TV show canon. When I go back and watch the first movie, I leave it with three routes I consider canon. The first is that HTTYD1, GOTNF and the tv show (by and large with like, two episodes as exceptions) are canon, but HTTYD2 and HTTYD3 are not. The second route is that the three movies and the Christmas short, GOTNF, are canon, and nothing else. The third is that only HTTYD1 and GOTNF are canon and leans heavily on fandom content and my own ideas from a pre-HTTYD2 / 2014 time. These three avenues of canon depend on various ideas of characterization, timeline (both with some inconsistencies), and personal preferences. But to me, they’re all equally canon. 

So if I want to write HTTYD meta, for example, and one of the tv shows helps prove my point? I may reference it. Because it is pseudo-canon. It is convenient for me. But another fan could easily come along and say, “I don’t consider that point canon because I don’t consider the tv show canon” and I have to be like, “You know what, that’s fair?” Because what is canon to every fan is different. Fandom is an inherently transformative and subjective space. Anything can be anything. I’ve read fics where the characterization was so far from what I considered in character it felt like the author had just kept the character’s names and slapped new personalities onto them. Obviously wasn’t my cup of tea, so I just exited out of the fic and found something else to read. Easy. 

And the reason I’m making this point now is because we’re now on the cusp of having two main avenues of TDP canon: the show itself and the extra related book materials (Callum’s Spellbook, novelizations, graphic novel). The video game will likely join in as an avenue at one point. And this is also where Information and Interest join Accessibility. Not everyone is going to have the money to dish out to get the new Information in those extra materials. Not everyone is going to have the Interest to care about what’s in those extra materials. They are not catch-alls. Even if someone does have the money, time, and interest in consuming those extra materials, that does not have to impact how they interact with canon or their content creation. 

For example, I bought Callum’s Spellbook and thought it was very fun and in some cases, even moving. However some of the feelings written down by him, like his sympathy towards Claudia even after s2, doesn’t quite fit with how I interpreted Callum feeling towards her based purely on the show following S2 and S3. I have lots of headcanons regarding S1 that the novelization may dispute and others they may confirm. And if I really like those headcanons or interpretations, I am allowed to keep them. I can take the quotes that confirm what I like, and say, “I don’t consider some of what’s written here to fit in my interpretation of the character” and leave it. 

In fandom spaces, you decide what’s canon. That has always been where fandom’s power has lied. Not in getting creators to confirm what you want, not in interaction or likes or reviews, not in having canon validate you, not in having canon include you, but in being able to make your own space that is whatever you want it to be, based on your own specific jumping off point, the rest of canon left in the dust at varying degrees, because you decided to ignore, transform, or adore it. 

Another avenue of canonicity has been interviews with content creators or things confirmed on twitter. I’m not going to be able to repeat everything I’ve learned in my university level Narrative Theory courses, where we talk a lot about Death of the Author, or intention versus interpretation, Derrida, De Saussure, and loads of other things, theories, and theorists. I have never been someone to operate under the All Knowing Author principle, in which their intentions, confirmed often as a Word of God post-canon moment, as anything that has to interfere what I do in fandom. Sure, it’s really nice to see things I’ve thought confirmed in interviews or tweets, and stuff like that! Or to have creators and VAs like stuff I’ve posted even here on tumblr. 

For some people, Word of God stuff is really important or does affect them, and that’s okay! That’s a valid perspective. But it’s just one perspective. Just like any content creator, in any way, is just one creator. Like I don’t know about you, but JK Rowling can say whatever she wants about Harry Potter on twitter, and I’m just gonna think it’s a load of bullshit. 

Word of God is pseudo-canon to me, but I can’t make it canon to anyone else. You cannot make anything canon to anyone else. And if you spend a lot of energy getting angry at people online for not conforming to what you think in fandom spaces, you’re the one making yourself not having a good time. It’s not anyone else’s responsibility to cater to whatever you want and you cannot expect everyone to adhere to canon in the ways you want. If I wanted to, I could consider only the novelizations or Callum’s Spellbook canon, and not the show. I could consider only tweets canon. I could consider only the show canon. 

But canon has always been empowering to fans because of its malleability, because it’s up to fans interpretation, not because we had to adhere to it. Even now as we grow into new stages of fandom, online community, and eras of representation, that doesn’t change. 

You know Achilles’ heel, AKA something we use as a big metaphor in modern Western society and like, the Thing of his myth in general? Yeah, wasn’t in “The Iliad.” It’s a fanon (or, depending on how you look it, Word of God) addition. The musical “Wicked” makes Elphaba the only green person in Oz, even though the movie that came out a long ass time ago shows her surrounded by other green skinned people in her fortress. So if Word of God came down and was like, “Hey, you know, Achilles shouldn’t have the heel and Elphaba can’t actually be shunned for being green because of [X]” well, there goes one of our favourite, society spanning metaphors and one of the most successful musicals of all time. 

Canon is informed by Information, Interest, Accessibility, and Preference. Shipping is a preference. (It is not activism. It is an exploration under an incredibly wide, varied spectrum. It is not dictated by gender; it is dictated by dynamic.) Which character is your favourite is a preference. Which characters and ships you write about are a preference, dictated by interest. Something could be your favourite ship in the whole world and you’ve never written a thing for it because you were just never inspired in that way. 

And if you think you wouldn’t have to be mean to people if they were just “nice and moral and shipped the right things” (aka 90% of the time whatever you ship) in “the right way,” if you are cruel to other people for the sake of inherently fictional characters, then congratulations, but you are someone making yourself miserable at best, and an angry asshole at worst. 

Full post can be found here, on my main. You’re not protecting anyone. You’re making a list of who it’s okay to mistreat. Sometimes it’s trans people who aren’t trans in “the right way”. Sometimes it’s ace people who aren’t “queer enough”. Because there’s only one right way to morally, engage with a text/be queer/exist in order to stay pure I mean, woke. Sometimes it’s dirty sinners, obviously, who can’t be teenagers or young adults writing about their own experiences or fantasies, and they obviously if they are they have to reveal all their personal info to you so you can make sure their content is Morally Okay, because OBVIOUSLY your opinion means everything. Because that doesn’t sound like Conservatism Protestantism with a gay hat on, now does it?

I know most likely some parts of this post are going to be taken out of context and used to discredit me on twitter or other social media sites. I rarely go on twitter, but sometimes I scroll back far enough to see, even if those things were posted weeks beforehand. To this, I will merely say

I have better things to do with my life and I already know I’m not going to change your opinions. I don’t need your approval and I don’t care about your opinion. Thank you for drastically proving my point about the issues in a lot of the negative, hostile behaviour addressed above, and for showing that you’re a part of it. I can guarantee you find yourself annoyed and angry in fandom spaces a lot more often than I do, because I enforce my own boundaries online and have a life outside of fandom. 

To anyone who made it to the end of this long post, thank you. I highly recommend clicking on the links above anyway, they include some very good reading. I know that most of you already know all this, but if you didn’t, hopefully this can help put somethings in perspective (or if it didn’t and you’re about angrily unfollow me and you think that I’m insufferable, just know that:

And I don’t sip tea, only hot chocolate.

[tqgincorrectquotes]

Weiss: Beth's mean, but in a nice way.

Weiss: Benny's mean, but in a mean way.

[strawberry-skies-xx]

a million reasons to let you go

C H A P T E R   F O U R

word count: 3254

tags: eventual hiccup/astrid, slow burn, fluff, angst, happy ending, feral hiccup, hiccup whump, bamf hiccup, protective astrid, protective hiccup, interrogation, aftermath of torture, implied/referenced torture, hurt/comfort, stoick’s a+ parenting, stoick’s bad parenting, hiccstrid fluff, hiccup and toothless friendship

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The next time Astrid sees the boy - Hiccup - it’s been three weeks, and she almost fears that he and Toothless have left Berk, that when she goes down to the cove, their cave will be empty and all she’ll have left of them is black scales and the spot where her singed hair was cut short.

She goes to escape from Snotlout, from his incessant, terrible flirting and the ever-nearing plans for the wedding, which is only a month away now, and which she has no escape from as far as she can tell. It’s not like the exiled heir of Berk will suddenly appear and take his place as Stoick’s son and she’ll be married off to him instead. Though, she can’t imagine he’d be any better than Snotlout.

Hiccup appears from behind a rock as she looks over the cove, his hood down for once and the sun highlighting his auburn hair, his Night Fury standing nearby and stepping lightly, as if it’s stalking something. She shrinks back against the rock she’s hiding behind, thinking that there’s some threat that she can’t see that they’re defending against.

The Fury’s head turns towards the rock Hiccup is hiding behind, and then it pounces, leaping over the rock, and Astrid breaks out into a helpless smile as she watches them roll together, the Night Fury batting its paws at Hiccup and the boy lightly hitting it in response, laughing and grinning. She recognizes it for what it is - a play fight - and is… endeared by the way Hiccup grins at his dragon, groaning when the Fury drops its chin on his chest, arms falling out to his sides.

And then her smile drops and she freezes as the Fury looks up, head raising from Hiccup’s chest, and even she can see the baring of teeth, the playful posture switching into that of a defensive one, crouched over Hiccup, eyes locked on her. Hiccup, in turn, rolls over so he leans on his elbows, scanning the cove until his eyes light on her too. He, however, leans to his side and taps lightly on the Night Fury’s black scales, decidedly more relaxed than he was last time by the simple fact that he doesn’t immediately move to a defensive position like his dragon.

She watches as the Fury backs slowly down, still glaring fiercely at her, and she makes her way hesitantly down to the cove. The Night Fury and Hiccup both walk over to the boulders they like to sit on, the Fury curling up at the base of the pile and Hiccup sitting in the curve of its body, leaning back against its scales like before, with his hood down and apparently waiting for her.

Astrid approaches slowly, stopping a few feet away. Hiccup doesn’t say anything, so she starts the conversation - it’s not as if it’s not normal, after all. She didn’t expect the boy to suddenly be a conversationalist when it took three meetings - and only one of those on her terms - to get him to say his name, but… she did expect a little more.

“Hey, Hiccup,” she says, still standing.

And then her hopes are dashed when he gives only a nod and a slight tilt of his lips, that same crooked half-smile he’d given her before. His face doesn’t light up like it did at his dragon earlier, but Astrid doesn’t want that anyway. She doesn’t - she has to remember that she’s getting close to him for a mission. It’s become far too easy to forget lately, to be lost in bright green eyes and messy auburn hair.

Gods, what is happening to her?

She knows exactly what’s happening, and she knows exactly why she attempts to do what she does next, but that part is shoved down in favor of reasoning away her actions. The faster she gets the boy to trust her, the faster she can kill his dragon and bring him back to Berk.

It’s not out of any sort of curiosity that she takes some hesitant steps forward, and it’s not out of any desire to touch and feel that she reaches a hand out partially towards the Night Fury and partially towards Hiccup.

The Fury’s eyes widen and he growls, teeth bared, tail flicking to circle around Hiccup and fins flipping up in front of him, as Hiccup himself rises into a crouch with such quick grace she envies it. His green eyes are hostile now, glaring at her with one hand on the sword at his hip and a similar growl to the Night Fury’s rumbling in his throat.

The Fury snaps at her hand, and Astrid yelps, yanking it back and jumping backwards in the same motion. Her heart rate picks up at the threat, both of them still glaring at her, and she keeps walking back, raising her hands in surrender.

Too much, too soon. Astrid is going to have to learn how to judge these two, if she’s ever going to build enough trust to get as close as she wants to.

For now, she takes a seat several feet away, watching with the last remnants of adrenaline making her tense as both of them calm down, Hiccup slowly sitting back down and his Night Fury lowering its tailfin, retracting its teeth and laying back down. It doesn’t move its tail from its protective circle around Hiccup, though, and the boy doesn’t seem to want it to leave anyway, putting one hand on the black fin near his leg and rubbing back and forth in small motions.

Astrid glances down, still feeling Hiccup’s distrustful gaze in the way he leans slightly away from her, no longer relaxed like he’d been last time they met, and she tentatively attempts to start conversation again. She doesn’t think it’ll be an actual conversation - not after her mistake just now - but she can at least talk at him, if not to him.

“Sorry,” she starts, quietly, and looks over at Hiccup. He’s still staring down at the grass, hand on his Fury’s tail, not looking at her.

“That was too much too quickly. I should’ve known better,” she continues.

No response. She sighs. “You’re really my only friend right now, you know,” she says.

She sees him twitch, the barest of movements, and keeps going without letting him know she saw it. “Everyone is either focused on my wedding to Snotlout, or focused on thinking that I lied to them about you. Even Fishlegs is avoiding me. He doesn’t really think that I lied, but he doesn’t really trust me either.”

“Sorry,” he says, a near whisper, and her head snaps up to look at him. He’s still staring at the grass, but he’s curled slightly in on himself as if in apology, the same way he’d been last time she brought it up.

She doesn’t say anything, and his voice is quieter when he speaks next. “For that trick.”

It takes a minute for Astrid to recover from the shock of him talking to her, and then she smiles, trying to keep the conversation going. To get close to him, she tells herself. That’s all her smile is. A war victory and nothing else.

“There’s nothing to forgive,” she says quickly. “If I had to choose between someone else’s reputation and my life, I’d choose my life too.”

He pulls his knees up to his chest, putting his chin on them and still staring at the grass, starting to pull it up with one hand. His Night Fury brings its tail in a tighter circle around him, opening its eyes and looking back at the dragon-boy, whistling a mournful question.

She watches as Hiccup puts his hand on the Fury’s nose, turning his head and paying attention to the dragon the way he hasn’t ever paid attention to her since she found him. The Night Fury closes its eyes, nuzzling up into the touch, and Hiccup smiles, rubbing the night-black scales.

And his eyes flick to her, and his smile drops as he pulls in on himself again, turning away.

The Fury lets out a soft whine, then, recognizing the source of Hiccup’s wariness, turns and glares at her, giving her a low growl.

Astrid sighs. She can’t get anywhere near Hiccup with his dragon there, and she can’t get anywhere near the dragon with Hiccup there. She’s going to have to separate them somehow, and she shoves down the dread in her stomach that rises at that thought. The dread she isn’t supposed to have, because she’s not supposed to care about them.

For now, she needs to keep this conversation going. This is the most he’s ever talked to her, however wary he is of her still.

“You know, it was kinda smart,” she says, and sees the slight twitch that shows he’s listening, even as he uses his finger to draw patterns in the grass. “I know you don’t want to hurt me,” and she sees him flinch, as if saying I already did, and she keeps going, “and you didn’t,” she says firmly, “but at the same time, you saved yourself and your dragon.”

Astrid ignores the rumbling threat she gets at that, the flash of teeth from the Fury at the mention of him, and focuses on Hiccup.

And suddenly it dawns on her.

She glances at the Fury. “What’s it’s - his - name, anyway? You never told me,” she asks, quietly and as neutrally as she can get.

Hiccup tenses then, stilling entirely, but his head turns just slightly towards her. He’s interested, then, more than he was in what she was saying before. Progress, however small.

“I want to learn more, Hiccup,” she continues. “I know you care about him. I don’t want to hurt either of you.”

Somehow, it’s not a lie anymore. The job of capturing the boy and killing his Night Fury has become more of a weight than a goal, somewhere between being dropped at Berk and walking away from Hiccup with his voice saying Bye, Astrid in that quiet way of his and the crooked half-smile he’d given her.

“Toothless,” he says after a long moment, voice still that quiet near-whisper. Astrid can’t help the smile that breaks out across her face, and she turns her gaze to the Night Fury.

“Hi, Toothless,” she says. The dragon - he, not it, she tells herself - opens his eyes, and for once she doesn’t get a growl. Instead, Toothless blinks and lets out a soft noise, like a hello of his own.

Hiccup is looking at her, green eyes curious, but Astrid gets the feeling that she’s on trial, like she’s being judged for something. And she thinks she knows exactly what she’s being judged for.

She doesn’t drop her smile, instead glancing at the setting sun and standing up. The way Hiccup is tensing, like he’s ready to bolt, indicates that she’s almost overstayed her welcome.

“Well, I should be getting back,” she says, turning to look down at Hiccup as he sits with Toothless. She meets his eyes. “See you later, Hiccup,” she says quietly, the same as their last meeting.

He only stares back, silent. She turns around, resisting the urge to sigh, though she hoped that he would respond like he did before.

And then she hears it, barely audible.

“Bye, Astrid.”

She smiles, and keeps walking out of the cove.

Someone’s coming.

Toothless’s head lifts first, ear-flaps flicking up and his teeth baring. Hiccup is just behind him, glancing up and around at the walls of the cove, sitting up. Toothless’s tail lashes on the ground in front of him, and Hiccup pulls his hood up quickly and sets a hand on it, stilling it while he rises to a crouch, his other hand half-wrapped around the leather hilt of his sword.

It’s not the Viking girl, Astrid. She comes in quietly always, wary but mostly friendly, and Hiccup finds himself trusting her innately, without much thought to what humans have done to dragons in the past. All his well-taught reasons to distrust her seem to vanish when she glances at him, blue eyes alight with curiosity and friendliness and that desire to learn that makes her so interesting. Most Vikings don’t want to learn about Hiccup and Toothless.

This is not Astrid, though, and Hiccup and Toothless don’t need to talk to recognize each other’s signals. Hiccup knows the way Toothless shifts against him that he’s crouched just a bit lower, knows exactly the way his body is curved around Hiccup, and Toothless knows from the way Hiccup tenses that he’s planning on unsheathing his sword quickly and waving it off to his right, and that he should move so he doesn’t get burned.

The bushes crackle, and exactly that happens. Hiccup pulls his sword from its sheath and it flares to life, while Toothless sinks into a lower position, looking up at the cove walls, teeth bared and a low, threatening growl rumbling in his throat.

Toothless turns his head slightly to the right, following his sense of smell, and Hiccup’s eyes flick down towards him. He lets out a quiet hiss, more dragon than human, and it’s question.

Toothless’s growls change just slightly in tone, saying Viking-threat, and Hiccup waves his sword in front of him, glaring up at the trees.

Shadows shift in the branches, the bushes rustle, and Toothless fires at the trees.

There’s a loud scream, and three Vikings leap from the burning plant. Two are skinny - twins, Hiccup recognizes, a boy and a girl - and the other is broader, but short and definitely with no idea what he’s doing.

None of them have any idea what they’re doing, as the short one yells and charges, axe held above his head, and nearly trips on his way down to the cove.

Hiccup watches, unimpressed, and Toothless laughs quietly next to him. Idiot, he clicks, and Hiccup’s response is a hand on his scales, still crouched warily. They may be clumsy now, but Astrid was clumsy when she first met them as well, and now…

Hiccup doesn’t want to think about how much Astrid knows, and how easily she could destroy them.

Toothless recognizes Hiccup’s wariness, and he keeps up his steady growl, baring his teeth at the short Viking. Violet fire warms his scales and Hiccup’s hand, his body tensing and shifting as he fires and the Viking screams at the scorching threat.

“What was that for?” the short one asks in outrage, voice high and scared. Hiccup responds by slicing his flaming sword in front of him, letting out his own threatening growl, watching the Viking’s eyebrows raise in surprise.

There’s a yell from behind him, and Hiccup turns to see the twins with their axes raised against Toothless.

And suddenly the fight’s stakes raise to be so much higher, adrenaline shooting through Hiccup.

Hiccup’s growl gets more hostile at the threat to Toothless, and he leaps to Toothless’s saddle and off his back on the other side, meeting the twins’ axes with his flaming sword, glaring at them both. This wasn’t a fight until they threatened Toothless, and that has made them enemies in Hiccup’s eyes.

He twists, dragging his sword down to burn and slice through the wood of the axe handles, stepping aside to watch the blades drop at his feet. The twins look at him, then at the wooden stumps, and all Hiccup has to do is growl, slicing his sword threateningly close to them, to make them turn tail and run.

He turns to see the short Viking running as well, his helmet flaming and Toothless puffing smoke indignantly out of his nose, glaring at the retreating Viking.

Hiccup gives a short laugh and walks up beside Toothless, putting a hand on his scales. Toothless hisses one last time at the short Viking as he clumsily climbs out of the cove, the twins following, then turns to look at Hiccup. His face spreads into a smile, smug at his victory and nearly preening.

Hiccup doesn’t smile back. He presses his hand into Toothless’s scales, signaling threat and not-alone, and his sharp green eyes scan the trees. Toothless’s smile fades and he growls, baring his teeth and following Hiccup’s gaze around at the cove walls, body unconsciously curving protectively around Hiccup and tail flicking to complete the circle. The movement is so ingrained, Hiccup doesn’t notice that Toothless moved, and Toothless doesn’t need to think about the movement.

Hiccup’s fingers press into Toothless’s scales just so, and Toothless moves with him, tail flicking to the side to let Hiccup out of the circle to start into a run, so close to Toothless that the slightest change in direction could mean either of them crash into the other.

But they don’t crash, because when Toothless turns, Hiccup steps away, and when Hiccup turns, Toothless shifts and curves around him. They make it up the cove walls, into the forest, and then pause, both stepping lighter and stalking the Viking that Hiccup sensed.

Toothless hisses at the plants, green eyes darting around everywhere, suspicion and threat written in every line of his body.

One of the bushes rustles and Hiccup hisses, gaze locking on the plant, dropping to a crouch with one hand balanced on the ground and the other holding his flaming sword.

Toothless prowls up behind him, his low growl rumbling by Hiccup’s ear, and Hiccup doesn’t flinch as Toothless fires, violet blast warming his hood, but skimming past him and instead lighting the bush on fire.

There’s a high-pitched scream, and Hiccup feels Toothless’s head raise from near his shoulder, tilting and chirping confusion as another taller, heavier Viking runs out from the bush, screaming. He throws something up while he runs, and Hiccup leaps forward in a movement more dragon than human, picking up the small brown bundle.

Toothless growls from right beside him, worry coloring the tone of it, and Hiccup smiles, putting a hand on Toothless’s nose in reassurance.

Toothless whines, and Hiccup turns the book over, reading the title engraved in the leather.

Book of Dragons (Edition II)

Hiccup pulls open the latch and cover, flipping through the pages. It’s the same book as he remembers vaguely from eleven years ago, but there’s slightly messy annotations in the margins and neat notes written on the extra pages. Fishlegs is signed at the beginning of the book, and Hiccup glances up at where the Viking had sprinted off into the forest.

They’re too close, they’re all too close. Hiccup knows he shouldn’t have let Astrid get so close - now her and Fishlegs, and he assumes that was Snotlout and the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut that attacked him, know far too much about him. The simple knowledge of him and Toothless is too much for Hiccup’s liking, and Astrid…

Astrid knows far more about them than she realizes, and it’s only a matter of time before she does realize it and comes after them. Trusting her doesn’t matter if it’s Toothless’s life on the line - he will talk to her sometimes, and he’ll let her sit next to them, but he will not let her threaten Toothless. That is something that even she can’t stop him from preventing.

Hiccup’s brow furrows and he gives a soft growl, flipping the book closed and walking back to the cove. Toothless follows behind him, whimpering worry and question and comfort.

Hiccup doesn’t have an answer for him.

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