#astrid thread;

[thethreefaes]

There was so much to get done. Kiara strolled through Berk as she thought over her long list. With Lyra and Ash’s courtship officially onto the betrothal step, the fae had to make sure everything would be perfect for her sister. Oh! And then there was the little star that had captured everyone’s hearts. Astrid and Hiccup’s little Zephyr was in need of some spoiling. Lyra could not stop talking about when she watched over the baby and Kiara was feeling a bit jealous.

Stopping at the chief’s home for a little visit would be a nice break from all her work. She knocked softly, not wanting to risk waking the little one if she was napping, but no sound met her ears. Were they not home? Well she could leave Zephyr’s new clothes for her. Walking in silently the fae had to fight back a chuckle.

Sitting on the couch, cuddled together were Astrid and Hiccup. Both parents sound asleep. Zephyr must have had a rough night. Speak of… Kiara moved around the couch to see two bright blue eyes staring up at her. Zephyr was very much awake between her parents. She lifted her arms up to Kia. And really? Who was she to deny that face?

Carefully the fae extracted the baby from her nest. Kia hushing the giggling girl. The chief and chieftess needed some rest. She would take little Zeph for a while. Taking the new little cloak she’d made for the baby, Kiara dressed her and carried her out of the house.

“We will let your parents rest. I believe a little cutie like you will enjoy a little flight. Oh, and I can show you some magic.” Kiara continued to speak low to her little charge as she headed out of Berk and towards her circle.

@dragonmasterhiccup

[timcsinfinity]

Astrid made a soft, frustrated sound and shifted to get more comfortable against their side. She was finally home from college for spring break and still reeling from the past week of exams. "No thank you, entle." She could sleep for about a year, after meeting with her parents and stowing her things. That didn't mean she was going to skip seeing the rest of her family if she could help it.

slump

@timcsinfinity

Loki felt a head on their shoulder and looked up from what they were reading, raising an eyebrow. They certainly weren't expecting any visitors to their room this evening. So he wondered who it could be at this time. They glanced to the side and spied blonde hair resting on their shoulder.

His niece had decided to join him, what a surprise for the evening. They had not realized she had come home to visit. They moved and shifted to allow more comfort to Astrid. They supposed they could offer comfort in these tiring days of a young adult.

They spoke up, knowing she could hear them, "I would suggest resting on a bed. I cannot imagine I would be suitable for a good night sleep."

[bluecichlid]

Astrid Dane As the Master of the Veil

This post is putting the evidence together for my personal favorite Shades of Magic theory - that Astrid Dane is back in the new books as the Master of the Veil. It hit me hard on the first read, and on re-reads I've seen more. Nothing is conclusive, but here it is...

As far back as ADSOM, there are suggestions Astrid may come back.  

As much as he wanted to leave her there in the broken garden with her brother’s corpse, he couldn’t.  Magic, like everything, faded.  Spells were broken.  Astrid could be free again, one day.  And he couldn’t let that happen.  

Kell thinks he killed Astrid by shattering the stone statute, but Astrid was possessing someone in Red London when she died.  The first time Kell meets her, she is wearing the red pendant and already possessing Rhy, so we know she can act in White London without breaking the connection.  So when her body dies in White London, her spirit may have lived on in Red.  

Most of what we know about the Master of the Veil points to Oren Rosec as the only real viable candidate from the characters introduced in Threads.  From the White Rose, we know that he’s male, noble, and not Veskan (since the White Rose is Veskan and knows he’s not a native speaker).  He’s also a water magician, since he uses ice.  From Berras, we know he’s male, young, and has a claim to the throne (meaning Vestra). 

The only other young noblemen introduced in Threads are Hok, who is Vestran, and Nero, presumably Lady Nassaro’s missing son from Rhy’s wedding, who is a bone magician.  Oren is a water magician and he was in the brothel right before Alucard met the White Rose, and not long before she meets the Master of the Veil.

But Oren, by himself, is not a very interesting option.  Schwab doesn’t give him any real depth of character.  The only real point of interest in him is the mention of his sister in his conversation with Alucard.  

“Oh, Hanara?”  Oren waved his hand.  “She stayed with the estate.  She was the oldest, after all.”

Alucard’s attention snagged on that word.  Was.

Oren speaks of his sister as if she is dead, and doesn’t seem distressed.  Oren’s father was dying at Rhy’s wedding, five years before.  The Rosecs live in the far north.  So nobody is around and alive who knew the original Oren Rosec.

Then there is the Master’s meeting with the White Rose.  The language Schwab uses parallels the description of Astrid’s first appearance.

Kell’s POV from DSOM:  Astrid had draped herself over one of the two thrones… “  

Ciara’s POV in FTOP: She noticed the way he draped himself across the chair …

Kell in DSOM: ..her hand slid past the paper and closed around his wrist … lightning danced up Kell’s arm, followed almost instantly by pain.  

Ciara in FTOP: ... his hand closed around her wrist, his fingers burning cold.

Kell in DSOM: Kell did not realize she had risen from her seat until he felt her there beside him, running a finger down the silver buttons of his coat.  

Ciara in FTOP: …the Master of the Veil was right there, no longer behind the desk but in front of it, in front of her … [and later] It left an awful, eerie feeling, like his fingers sliding over her skin.

Schwab is too good and too creative a writer for this to be accidental.

Lila and Alucard together come to the conclusion that the Hand is not Arnesian.  

“Do you have no suspicions?”

“I have many-but that is all they are.”

“Care to share your strongest angle?”

“That for all their talk, they’re not Arnesian at all.”

Lila’s steps didn’t slow.  It had occurred to her already, of course.  “You think they’re being funded by a foreign power.”

“The best war is the one your enemy fights with itself.”

The Master relishes physical pleasure.  From Berras’s POV, he appears in the meeting at the Veil having just had sex, and bringing drinks. When Ezril doesn’t want hers, he drinks both.  This could be hedonism, or someone who came from a world of deprivation.

Then, there is a sadistic element to the Master:

Ciara: She flinched, but his grip tightened, seeming to enjoy her discomfort.  She’d handled enough patrons to recognize the ones who took pleasure in another’s pain.

Berras:  “We can say he fled, and left his family to the wolves.”  The humor in his voice was clear.  “I do wish I could be there. It is only so much fun to watch.”  He rolled his empty glass.  “I take it no one should be spared.”

Finally, there is the man at the door of the Veil when Lila, and then later Kell and Alucard, arrive.  

A host stood waiting to greet each guest as they arrived.   He was dressed head to toe in white: a fitted suit beneath a pale, pearl cloak …

White being particularly associated with the Danes.

The man seems to have been the one to have recognized Lila and alerted Berras that she was there.  Nobody else had a good opportunity to see her face because she put the mask on immediately after speaking to him.  Berras says she isn’t as anonymous as she was, so it could have been chance.  

But then man also seems to recognize Kell, and he behaves strangely.  

“Walk away,” said Kell softly, and perhaps the host caught the glint of his black eye, and guessed at the identity of Alucard’s companion, or perhaps he simply did not think it was worth dying for, because as soon as Kell withdrew the point of the knife, the host turned, and strode down the stairs, tearing off his mask and casting it into the bushes as he went.

Kell’s eyes don’t seem visible from the earlier description of his mask.  But Astrid would be able to recognise his voice.  And she’d have reason to avoid Kell, the one person in Red London who knows her well enough to realise it is her.

Finally, and bringing things back to the Doylian rather than Wastonian analysis, there is Holland.  In ACOL, he makes it very clear that he is mad that he does not get to have the chance to take revenge on the Danes.  There is unfinished business there.  Why did Schwab make such a point of it, when she knew Holland was going to die?  Just to rub our noses in the tragedy of Holland’s life?  But she’s said she always planned to come back to the world … if Astrid is still around, and so is Holland, then he has the chance to take her down.  

And Holland deserves nice things. 

[wefxundwonderland]

for @remnantscfdevastation

Wren had given Astrid space. After everything he had dumped on her, he thought that it was the least that she deserved. He had wanted to check on her. So many times, he had his phone out, ready to text her ... but he'd stopped himself at the last possible moment. He needed to respect her wishes. He had meant what he'd said to her. If she decided that she didn't want him around anymore, then he would listen to her. So when he got her text, asking him to meet her, he had practically chomped at the bit.

He had arrived at her place early and whilst Wren wanted to wait - until at least a couple minutes before - he was too eager to see her. He knocked quickly and once she opened the door and he had stepped inside, he turned to look at her, "Is everything okay?" He asked, eyes full on concern. There was a part of him that had managed to convince himself that she would have decided that she just didn't want him around and that she was going to tell him that. "Are you okay?"

[thefvrious]

@dvstbvnnies said -> "I'm fine, just a scratch."

Astrid pauses in her careful ministrations and slowly, slowly drags her icy blue gaze up to meet Charlie's. "Sugar." She drawls with that Southern implication behind the term of endearment. "If it was just a scratch, d'ya honestly think I'd be fussin' over it so much? Who's the professional here?" She asked, arching an eyebrow before going back to the task at hand. "Just sit still, I'm almost done, in the meantime, you can tell me how you got this 'scratch'."

[mackmontgomery]

mack 📲 astrid.

Mack: Hello gay person in my phone 😍 what if I told you there was another gay person in my phone that I think would be perfect for you 👀 @astridlius

[dragonriderastrid]

@dragonmasterhiccup || Continued from asks

"A-Astrid? Come on, say something?" Watching her fall felt as if it had been in slow motion, and he couldn't get to her fast enough. Even Toothless hadn't caught it in time, being too far away to break her fall. When she spoke, he let out a sigh of relief. "You had me worried." Cupping her cheek with her hand, his expression changed, becoming more questioning. "What happened? You never fall off your dragon..." He held his arms out towards her, wordlessly offering assistance if she needed it. Hiccup knew she wasn't one to accept it typically, but there have been enough times she had for him to know to offer it. Of course, he would either way. "No, you're not. Something is hurting you, I can see that much." That grimace didn't go unnoticed by him, and while Astrid was tough, it's not always the best idea to push through the pain and ignore it. "Toothless is working on getting her attention. But I think she'll notice you're not there and come looking for you soon enough..."

Astrid took a deep breath, trying to ignore the sharp sting radiating up her leg as she shifted her weight. She met Hiccup's concerned gaze, the worry in his voice tugging at something deep inside her. Still, she was as stubborn as always, she wasn't about to crumble. Not at a time like this.

She appreciated his offer to help, but waved it off with a small smirk, "Hiccup, really. I'm fine!" she said, her voice firm, though the strain behind it was hard to miss. She wasn't one to usually let a fall get to her, but this time it had been different and just thinking about it caused her to be hit by a wave of nausea and dizziness.

"I - I don't know. Something spooked her. I don't know what it was, but I have never seen her react like that before" she said, thinking back to the sudden, frantic jolt mid - flight that had sent her spiraling down to the ground.

Her hand moved instinctively to the axe she always carried, as her eyes quickly flickered back to the sky intently searching for her dragon, before she once again turned her attention to Hiccup.

"Whatever it was, we need to figure out what we are dealing with. Stormfly doesn't get scared like that for no reason." Astrid's voice was more steady now, her determination cutting through the lingering pain. She may be hurt, but she wasn't about to let it slow her down and she didn't want Hiccup to worry anymore than he already had.

[biblicallyaccuratemcuarchive]

I see all yall liking that post of Rumlow “arresting” Steve…Yeah, I see you

And now I ask — who’s gonna give it to me?

[fightingdragcnswithycu]

closed starter : astrid & wednesday ( @drvcxrys ) venue : anywhere

"whoa," astrid said, looking at the woman who she was handing a coffee order to in surprise, "you look just like me," she said, "i'm pretty sure i don't have a twin though. this is weird."

[moondustlings]

continued from here | @ofcrxwns

the challenge was small but it was there and mari had never been one to back down. without saying another word, she moved to kneel on the bed, almost at eye-level with astrid's standing position, and hooked her fingers into the edge of the shirt. with one quick tug, it was up and over her head, leaving her upper half bare. "oops," she said as she tossed the shirt in astrid's face before relaxing against her pillows as if it were the most natural thing in the world. and to mari — and any roommate of hers — it was. "guess i forgot to wear a bra today. silly me."

[dragonmasterhiccup]

Maybe Astrid instead? That would honestly be a lot easier. Also, can we share Toothless?

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

"Great! See you lat-" Alesi and Eret were about to run off each own direction.

"Hold up!" Eret Sr called, making his kids stop on the spot and turn around.

"Each of you better return the sun sets to the Mead Hall, where we meet for a family dinner. Both families." He told them seriously, leaving no room for an argument. The siblings sighed a bit but nodded and then finally ran off.

Stoick looked at Hiccup and nodded approvingly "You may go too, I got this from here. But I wish to see you and Toothless at the Mead Hall too."

Hiccup gave his dad a grateful look. "Thanks, dad. We'll be there."

He went to go meet up with Toothless, but remembering his manners, he faced the Saami Chief and Chieftess. "Oh! Uh, it was nice to meet you both. I'll see you all at dinner!"

With a small wave, he was off, and it wasn't long before a black streak soared through the sky above them.

--------

In the free time he had before sunset, Hiccup and Toothless decided to perch on a sea stack. He enjoyed the open air and the breeze as he looked over the ocean.

But now, they were entering the Great Hall, and finding Stoick, the boy and his dragon approached.

"Hey, dad. We're not late, are we?"

[apxstle]

Closed Starter.

@ofholocenemuses

Fernando had just left Astrid in the woods a few days prior, vowing to love and to keep loving her until he returned from the war. It was only a cold morning in fall, did the Baron get a letter, calling his second son to the front. Sam protested and his parents wouldn't meet his eyes, yet Fernando chose to honor his calling. This would bring some credibility to their house no doubt. Fernando understood that his family wished to spare him the same fate as his brother.

His father wanted his spare heir here.

But Fernando was never one to back down from doing what he felt was right. And now, as he stood under Astrid's window, rose in hand, he intended to say goodbye properly. He would only hope that she had gotten his raven. Her room stood just above a secluded part of the garden, so in those shadows, Fernando thought of the woman he wished to marry. A woman who had seen him before she ever saw his brother. Sergio was a good man, there was no room for doubt, but Fernando was sick of living in his shadow.

No matter how much he tried, lords would wed their daughters to him and Fernando would have been paid no mind. As Fernando twirled the flower in his hands, he knew that Astrid would be his. And he would fight...if need be.

[eremington]

@astrid-lundquist

After his encounter with Divya at Absynthia a few weeks ago, Elijah had a suspicion that something was up with the younger witch, but he didn't want to confront her - gently or otherwise - until he knew for sure. It had brought him to Astrid's office in Absynthia. She had to know what was happening in her club, or at the very least she would have seen Divya more. The sound of voices inside made him pause, and he waited for a moment of quiet before knocking. "Astrid? I wanted to talk with you."

[boypussydilf]

you can say that casper & nova aren’t meant to Perfectly parallel simon & betty’s relationship and behavior, and maybe that was what the writers intended - that this is a Vaguely Similar dynamic, not the Exact Same one. but in the absence of seeing any truly comparable interactions with simon & betty, or any interactions from when they were actually in a relationship, the casper & nova scenes are basically all we have to go off of for what the episodes are trying to tell us about simon & betty’s relationship, and kind of have to be taken as “accurate to them” whether the writers intended it or not.

[thefvrious]

@theknifeinyou said -> "I've had worse. This is nothing."

"Doesn't look like nothing. And I'd appreciate if people quit saying that to me when I see horrible gashes in their flesh! This needs stitches, Briar!" She sighed, shaking her head as she cleaned the wound, leveling a motherly gaze at the brunette. "I don't care if you've had worse, let me take care of this, yeah?" Astrid suggested as she inspected the wound more closely. "What even happened?"

[bellatrix-lestrxnge]

Starter for: Astrid Avery @astridavery Where: the Selwyns' NYE party When: the beginning

Sidling beside Astrid, Bellatrix swept her dress aside with a flippant swish of her hand. The crimson gown brushed the floor and she narrowed her eyes at the other witch for a fleeting instant. "Has Rodolphus been helpful?" Getting straight to the point, Bellatrix never bothered to hide the truth - not when it suited her, anyway. Here among friends, she had no qualms about discussing darker affairs openly.

Raising her champagne flute to lips of equally bright red, she arched her eyebrows expectantly, awaiting Astrid's honest answer. Then she took a deep drink, downing a good large portion of the sparkling liquid and feeling it rushing directly to her head, just where she wanted it. What was the point in drinking, if not to get a little high?

"I won't be offended if you don't like him." The thought was amusing. Her stern glance morphed into something wryer, eyes snapping wider and a sly smile snaking her mouth. "Sometimes I don't like him, either. But I do think he could teach you well, if this is really what you want."