#they just didn't need to show astrid or hiccup chiefing

[westwindy1]

Neither Hiccup nor Astrid would make a good Chief. Hiccup is an inventor and a wanderer; he's innovative but he's not particularly considerate when he's making decisions. He doesn't think about other people, he just jumps right into things and the other Vikings just have to tough it out and suffer the consequences.

Hiccup leading the Vikings away from Berk was stupid, he was displacing hundreds of Vikings and putting them at a tactical disadvantage, so was trying to befriend Drago in 2 and in HTTYD 1, he definitley was not thinking at all with the whole bola thing. It's really obviously implied that his inventing and trying to shoot down dragons caused problems before and his repeated efforts to the same end pre canon really shows a lack of thought and consideration for others.

Astrid is an amazing warrior; she's razor focused and determined and excels under whatever set of rules she's made to operate within, but being a good warrior does not mean having good leadership skills, expecially when part of being a good warrior means being good at deferring to other people. She leaves it to Hiccup to make the eccentric decisions, like in the first movie with the dragons.

When she takes initiative, things don't usually end up well, like when she was smack talking to Drago. She's not an out-of-the-box thinker; There's just not much sense to it.

Astrid also defers to Hiccup too much, even in the third movie where the decisions he makes are heavily led by her words; she never outright tells him to do something, just implies and implies and waits for him to get it, and the ends she's working towards aren't even for the best of the village; they are, in part, self motivated.

Neither of them listens to other people; Hiccup listens to himself and what he thinks is right even when it's not and Astrid listens to the lead. Everyone else just has to follow along.

Hiccup CAN'T lead.

Astrid can't, either.

A good Chief would consider the voices of the people, they wouldn't be trying to push people into working for their own personal motivations. It should be the opposite; they would instead take the improvement of the quality of life for everyone and their physical and mental health as their first priority.

A good Chief would WANT to do that, which is also why I don't think either Hiccup or Astrid would be great at it.

[serenefreakgeekao3]

Fear of Falling

CHAPTER THREE [Masterlist]

Pairing: Hiccup x ftm!reader

Summary: Hiccup recounts everything he's been thinking throughout his meeting with You, then is finally able to take you flying for the first (proper) time!

Tags: carpenter!reader, awkward!Hiccup, mutual pining, Hiccup's POV, first time flying, lunch date

Warnings: slightly obsessive behaviour(?), vague descriptions of dragons fighting

Author’s Note: Hey all! So sorry for my long break on writing this series, but I did recently complete one of the longest multi-chaptered fic I've ever written so I'm rather proud of myself. Anyway, here's the long-awaited Chapter Three! The beginning tends to rehash a little bit of what already happened, so I just hope everyone enjoys regardless!

Words: 5715

HICCUP’S POV

You were an enigma, that was for sure. A Viking with no feel for violence, with no dragon- even homeless until Hiccup finally met you. Really, wouldn't everyone take notice? Wouldn't everyone become borderline obsessed with you?

Hiccup thought he knew everyone his age in Berk. He thought they all flocked together naturally, that his choices of companionship were narrowed down to the few he grew up with. For some reason, the migrating Vikings taking refuge in Berk never seemed to spark the thought- maybe one of them would be his age. Whenever he thought of those incoming Vikings he pictured the big, the burly and old. He never pictured young, timid, and extremely fucking hot.

It was probably unfair of Hiccup to keep you hidden away. It was just that Hiccup needed to relax at some point, needed a place to get away so that everyone wouldn't find him, pester him and ask for more things that he couldn't quite deliver. Being Chief was a lot harder than his father made it out to be. Though, granted, his father had enough practice at it by the time Hiccup was born and was able to notice. He now just wished he'd spent more of his time and attention learning than admiring.

But that day- the first day he met you in that carpenter's shed- had been a complete accident. Hiccup couldn't help but take notice once his fear of Astrid discovering him slacking off died down. The way you held yourself, the mysterious aura surrounding you, the silence that portrayed real thought into the words you’d said; it all captured him. Enraptured him.

Suddenly Hiccup found himself a lot more willing to participate in the town’s rebuilding, if only he could have the chance to glance over and see you. He found himself almost unconsciously walking toward the shed constantly- sometimes entering to find it empty, other times turning himself around before he made it so he could just prove to himself that he had a modicum of self-control.

The day Astrid noticed you, Hiccup knew that his time was running short. He had wanted to keep things the way they were. A secret, someone to keep hidden away from the others so you wouldn’t realize just how awfully average Hiccup was compared to the rest of his friends. He didn't want to give up this newfound companionship, especially before it ever had a chance to grow into anything. So once Hiccup discovered your homelessness, suddenly he had a plan! If Hiccup helps you build a house, you'd have plenty of time together, and no one could argue that he was hiding away from his job!

The month it took to build your house was not only one of the most fun times he could remember for a long while, but it was also the longest stretch of time that he’d gone without riding Toothless. Hiccup could tell that Toothless was becoming antsy, and even Hiccup, himself, was itching for the freedom of flight. However, Hiccup didn’t want to lose any more time with you than he absolutely needed to, which was why he waited. Until he finally met your dragon- until he could oh-so-casually bring up flying and mention you both should ride together. Hiccup even had a few places he wanted to show off- beautiful locations that he thought you might admire.

Then, he proceeded to find out that you didn’t have a dragon, either! After this long living in Berk, who wouldn’t jump at the chance to have their own companion like that? But you didn’t want to, had some sort of notion that the right dragon would just ‘find you’ somehow. Even Hiccup, himself, had to shoot Toothless out of the sky for them to meet and grow any closer! It baffled him, but Hiccup didn’t really find himself minding all that much. If you didn’t have a dragon and ever needed to go anywhere, then he would jump at the chance to help you.

He didn’t really question his infatuation with you, at first. Being borderline obsessed with you, wanting to be near you all of the time, of course it wasn’t romantic. He’d felt romantic feelings before- with Astrid, even though it didn’t work out between the two of them- and this felt nowhere near the same. It took a couple- okay, maybe a few- people suggesting he did feel that way for him to sit down and think on it. That… Maybe his relationship with Astrid didn’t work out because he hadn’t actually liked her romantically, he’d just been envious of her skills and admired her absolute strength and resolve. That maybe his feelings for you might actually be more than just…

That was always where his brain stalled, halting his train of thought. He couldn’t put his finger quite on how he felt. There was so much going on inside his head when he’d thought of you. Protection, though you didn’t need any. Wanting to provide for you, anything you’d want or need, though you were perfectly capable of getting anything for yourself. He wanted to make you laugh, hear your thoughts, learn more about you. He wanted to learn so much about you, his curiosity was endless. The more he learned, the more he still yearned to know.

He ended up getting so distracted, though, that he was no longer just ‘taking breaks’ from being Chief to hang out with you. He finally had to admit he was completely neglecting his duties. He still did a few things here and there every day, but it was nowhere near the amount he was supposed to be doing. Astrid had finally cornered him in his house before he could sneak out, locking the door by knocking over a bookshelf in front of it. It was a hard wake-up call, but one he sorely needed. Berk was still being hunted, after all.

He’d wanted to say bye to you, but he couldn’t think of a way to do it without sounding too attached. Of course, he’d see you again, the scouting shouldn’t take too long. Or so he had thought. Once he was out flying again, everything else seemed to fade away. He scoured the entire area nearby- until he’d found what he was looking for, unfortunately. A raiding party sailing a tad too close to New Berk, and he knew he needed to throw them off their track. It’d taken a week, but he managed to plant enough false evidence that they’d switched their track and began sailing toward a separate island, far off.

He watched for another two days just to make sure- which was when he’d run into the man running the entire business. Grimmel the Grisly, the man who was responsible for wiping out the entirety of the Night Furies (or so he’d heard, during his stealthy informational gathering missions). He was a smart man, immediately clinging to the fact that they’d been led astray. Hiccup had to get creative if he wanted to lead them further away anymore, and it took a lot longer than he’d hoped.

All the while, every night that he’d finally camped out, curled against Toothless, he’d thought of you. Wondered what you were doing, if you’d been working that day or if you took the breaks that Hiccup had been trying to force you to take regularly. He wondered if you’d kept up your whittling, if you had made anything else since he’d last seen you. Of course, he’d intersperse those thoughts with wonderings of his friends, or the village. But your face was always the last thing in his mind’s eye before he fell asleep.

By the time he felt comfortable enough to come back home, he realized he’d been gone for nearly a month’s time. That’s what he’d figured, anyway, when he added all the tick marks he’d made every time he camped. As New Berk began to come into view, Hiccup leaned to the side, pushing Toothless to fly closer to the forest instead of the ocean. He’d just wanted to see your house, reassure himself that it hadn’t burnt down, and taken you with it, while he was gone. Of course, it was still standing. Toothless cried out as he flew above the house, and Hiccup laughed out loud, shaking his head.

“Can’t hide anything from you, bud, can I?”

Touching down in the town close to sunset, he was immediately swarmed. They’d decided on a feast in the Great Hall to celebrate their Chief’s return, so he was ushered inside with the crowd. He kept glancing over toward the footpath he knew led to your cabin, but it was dark and soon he was surrounded by the warmth and light of the Great Hall. He was pushed further to the back as more and more people entered the building, making way for everyone to feast. Drinks began to pour as meat was thrown onto the fire, and suddenly everything else fell away as Hiccup was ensconced in his typical home life. With how much everyone was celebrating his return, he began to wonder if he’d worried them all.

Meeting eyes with you across the Great Hall had nearly stopped his heart in his chest. You were here! After all the times he had offered and begged for you to come down here and eat with him- and his friends, of course- for you to just turn him down? Now you were here! Did you know he had returned? Had word gotten back to you so quickly? He stumbled as he rushed to stand, to at least try to meet you halfway, but he knocked his tankard over and he heard Astrid gasp in shock. He turned, cursing under his breath as he tried his best to clean up his spill and apologize to his friend. He knew his friends could see his awkward stumbling and rambling, something he thought he had grown out of already. He felt embarrassed, but he’d feel any sort of way if it meant you were there with him.

Dinner was distracting, but the thought of you walking home alone was even more so. As he’d stared into that darkness, down the forest path that led to your home, he knew he wouldn’t be able to get any sort of rest without knowing you were home safe. He said as much, looking deep into your eyes. He really missed your eyes- in fact he hadn’t realized the colour was quite that shade, like his mind had slowly began to forget about it in the time he’d been away. He didn’t quite know how he felt about that… (Bad. He felt very bad about that.)

After walking you home and having an intense discussion, he hadn’t quite wanted to leave. However, you had agreed to go flying the next day, finally! He couldn’t wait for tomorrow, so he was eager to sleep and pass the time. He hadn’t even bothered to walk home, jumping on the back of Toothless as soon as your door had closed behind him. He didn’t know you were watching him fly off from your window, but just the same, you didn’t know he was holding that little figurine of his father in his hands during the flight. It was amazingly crafted, so detailed and correct in its design. He was enamoured.

Sleep took him rather quickly once he’d settled down, having had a long day. As he woke, bright and early in the morning, Astrid was already trying to knock his door down with her pounding. He rushed over and opened the door before she genuinely knocked the door in, and he saw Toothless peaking at him over her shoulder. She informed him, correctly so, that he needed to give an update to her and the other riders. He agreed, making his way down toward town. The meeting was held toward the centre of town, closer to the cliffs than the Great Hall, and in the presence of their tight-knit group of dragon riders, along with their dragons.

Just as the meeting was ending, and Hiccup was petting Toothless as congratulations for not getting into any trouble while they were busy, he heard your voice. He turned quickly at the sound of his name, smiling brightly. You were dressed differently than normal- tighter clothes, with long sleeves to cover your arms, your tight pants tucked into your boots. You had gotten dressed for the occasion, and Hiccup was not complaining.

“You ready then?” He asked, unable to keep the excitement from his voice. The rest of the riders had been wandering away already, in groups or alone to their own destination, but Astrid stood nearby as she brushed Stormfly. He could tell she was eavesdropping, even if she did a good job of pretending she wasn’t. He could see the hesitancy in your eyes, dropping his hands from Toothless’ back and wandering closer to you.

“Uh,” You began, clearing your throat, “Yeah. Sure.”

“Hey,” Hiccup begins quietly, reaching forward to take your hand in his. “It’ll be okay, I promise. We’ll be there every step of the way.” You were staring deep into his eyes before suddenly bursting out laughing. Hiccup draws back slightly, confused.

“Yeah,” You raise a hand, wiping your face. “I sure hope you’ll both be there every step of the way. You’re sort of my ride.” Hiccup chuckles too, embarrassed, and pulls his hand away. Of course, he fails at comforting you, saying the wrong thing-

You reached quickly to take his hand once again, taking a small step forward into his personal space. He breathes in a quiet gasp at the proximity as you begin to whisper. “No, but, thank you Hiccup. Your confidence is reassuring.” As you step back bashfully, taking your hand back to rub the back of your head, Hiccup lets out his breath slowly. He can feel his cheeks are hot- was he really blushing?

“Y-Yeah,” Hiccup tries, stuttering slightly before clearing his throat. “Of course.” He turns to look around awkwardly, unsure what to do. Then he meets Toothless’ eyes, who bobs his head up and down in encouragement. Taking a deep breath, he finally turns back to you with a large smile, holding his hand out. “Ready?”

You eye his hand for a moment, and he wonders what you’re thinking. Then you reach out, grasping his hand firmly with a resolute nod. Hiccup swallows, feeling butterflies fill his stomach as he begins to gently pull you by the hand, leading you closer to Toothless. He brings you to the front, looking at his giant doe eyes and smiling at him. “Hey bud,” Hiccup starts, pulling you closer. “You know him already, don’t you?” He brings their joined hands closer, and you both watch as Toothless sniffs them, then lowers his head. “Okay, flat palm, like this,” Hiccup whispers, unfolding your hand before gently pulling you forward again, placing your palm on his snout.

Hiccup watched as your pinched, nervous face slowly eased up. You were relaxing, and soon enough he let go of you to let you handle it on your own. You began to slowly pet Toothless, and Hiccup could tell his dragon was enjoying the attention. Tiny purrs emanated from him, his tail wagging slowly and his spines shimmying on the top. You moved closer, pulling your other hand up to scratch at his chin how Hiccup usually does, and he couldn’t hold back his smile. Hiccup watched, entranced, as you took to Toothless quicker than he’d ever seen. Maybe Hiccup’s own personal connection to you helped- though, he did quite remember Toothless being not so fond of Astrid back then when Hiccup thought he liked her.

Once you chuckled and finally backed away, there was a light in your eyes that Hiccup couldn’t place, but adored. He hoped he could find you your own dragon soon if only to see this light in your eyes more often. Nodding, he takes your hand quickly, excitedly, and leads you around to the side. He lifts his prosthetic leg, hooking it into its holder before swinging himself easily up and over onto the saddle. He leans over completely, holding a hand out to help you up. You look hesitant once again but take his hand easily. You’re unsure of your footing at first, but you inevitably make your way up onto the saddle, sitting close behind Hiccup.

Toothless looks back, sharing a look with Hiccup, and he can’t help but huff out a whisper, “Okay, gentle now, bud.”

That must’ve been the first time that Toothless actually listened.

Toothless began a gentle jaunt off toward the edge of the cliff, widening his wingspan out and letting himself just jog right off the edge of the cliff. Hiccup heard your gasp, felt your arms tightening around his torso- felt his own cheeks heat up again- but you didn’t seem scared, or panicked. Your grip slowly loosened during the glide, and eventually, he heard a soft little, “Oh,” Emanate from you that tightened his chest. You were enjoying it! You were enjoying flying, just like he thought you would, and now he was finally able to share the thing he was most passionate about with you!

The wind blew through his hair, and the feeling of flying was incredible. He felt free, even while your arms were wrapped around him. Even more so, knowing it was you. It was as if he could feel his heart growing more and more. He couldn’t get enough of this, of you. The sun was still rising over the horizon once they flew far enough over the expanse of the ocean, and he could hear your quiet amazement at the sight. Hiccup let go of the saddle in front of him, spreading his arms out wide.

The flight lasted a long time, mostly silent with bits and pieces of conversation thrown in. Mostly things like, “You do this all the time?” Or “I never realized how freeing this would feel!” Hiccup wanted to throw his arms up and dance around in victory, but with sitting on Toothless- and still wanting to look cool in front of you- he managed to restrain himself. Just barely. However, it was getting close to noon when he decided they should land somewhere nearby for lunch. They’d definitely flown out farther than Hiccup had meant to, realizing this just as the Fogfall came into view.

“What’s that?” He heard your question and drew in a tense breath, leaning back into you to speak clearer.

“We’ve taken to calling it the Fogfall.” The view was immaculate, in all honesty. At the top, of it all is a tall island- similar to New Berk in a way- but halfway down the mountain was an abnormally large cave opening, spewing a thick, roiling fog that fell all the way down toward the ocean. A large portion of the water is obscured, with just the hints of a large craggy bottom on the outskirts of the fog. “We try to stay away from it. No one that’s gone inside has ever come out.”

“Oh,” You mumble, but looking back Hiccup could tell how entranced you were by the sight. Directing Toothless, who seemed wary of the place himself but acquiesced, the group of you began to make your way down to a small and short island off to the side of Fogfall. The island- if you could even call it that- was mainly just a rock formation jutting out of the ocean, but it had a nice plush spot of grass on top, large enough for your group to make themselves at home comfortably. And it gave a great view of Fogfall, one that you seemed to immediately be interested in after you were helped off of Toothless’ back.

Hiccup busied himself while your back was turned, reaching into the saddlebag on Toothless’ side, tossing him a fish that he catches mid-air before pulling out the rest. The lunch that he had prepared for them- he wasn’t much of a cook himself, but he had hoped that you’d be out long enough to have a picnic. It was one of the things he most looked forward to if he was honest. It almost felt like a date- but he knew it wasn’t! He totally knew it wasn’t a date, as much as he wanted it to be. But he could at least pretend, in his own head, for a little bit.

You turned around just as Hiccup laid the last of the food out on a blanket he had spread on the ground. He heard your surprised gasp, and he felt himself preen under your gaze. “I just thought you might be hungry, after flying for so long?” He smiled, plopping down unsteadily onto one side of the blanket. He reaches over, grabs a leg of meat and waves it toward you in a come hither motion. “Well? What are you waiting for?”

“That looks delectable,” You whisper, and while the Fogfall was nearby it provided no noise so Hiccup was able to hear you easily. He could hear Toothless behind him, probably bending himself backwards trying to sniff at his saddlebag for more fish. Just as you made your way to sit down on the other side of the blanket, Toothless huffed and moved to plop down next to Hiccup. He laughed, pushing his dragon’s head playfully.

“Okay, you big brute. I might’ve brought a snack for you, but if you’re still hungry you can go hunt down below. There’s plenty of fish in the sea.” Toothless lifted a gaze and met his eyes, then ‘subtly’ flicked his gaze toward Y/N and back, as if asking Hiccup if he’ll be alright. Hiccup could feel his blush forming, hoping you hadn’t noticed the exchange. He just pushes against Toothless’ head again, awkwardly laughing. “Well, go on then, if you must.”

Toothless stood, giving himself a full body shake before taking a running leap off of the edge of the cliff. Hiccup grinned, looking over toward you from the corner of his eye. You were already digging in, pulling a bread roll apart to stuff with meat. He bit his lip, unsure of what to say or do. What do people usually do on dates? On non-dates, he reminded himself. Shaking his head, he sits up straighter and waves his drumstick about.

“Did I ever tell you the story of how Toothless and I met?”

Lunch has passed rather uneventfully, though absolutely pleasantly. Hiccup told stories of his past- of Old Berk, and his father, and how everyone always did the right thing in the end- and he had your rapt attention the entire time. You asked appropriate questions, in his opinion, and gasped at the right parts that made him feel like the best storyteller of all the Vikings. He felt like he could talk with you forever, but with your food as nothing but crumbs left between you, he didn’t know how else to prolong your time together. You didn’t exactly seem in any hurry to get going either, staring into Hiccup’s eyes with a look he couldn’t decipher, but wished he could.

You suddenly looked away, almost bashfully if he had to put an adjective to it, and Hiccup tilted his head in response. Your fingers began toying with your shirt, stretching and contracting in a way that Hiccup wondered if you were wishing for your whittling tools. He supposed you hadn’t expected to need them while out flying. You began to idly play with one of the straps along your legs, undoing the buckle and retightening it. The silence had been comfortable around the two of you for a few minutes, so the next words absolutely surprised Hiccup to no end.

“So what about you and Astrid?”

Hiccup had to blink a few times, letting that question sink in. You seemed to curl more and more into yourself the longer he was silent, so he jumped to answer without fully thinking it through. “What? What about me and Astrid? You mean why she’s my second in command?” Your shoulders slumped, and a pouting look crossed your face that absolutely didn’t send Hiccup’s heart fluttering in his chest (He’s decided to keep lying to himself about that).

“No,” You almost stuttered on the word, pulling the strap too tight before loosening it once again, buckling it and moving to the one on your other leg. No matter how far Hiccup ducked his head, he still couldn’t manage to meet your eyes. “Like,” You huffed, and Hiccup began to wonder if saying this was hard for you. He wondered why. “Everyone at the village, when I first arrived, was betting on when ‘Chief Hiccup’ would propose to Astrid. Then one day, it all suddenly stopped. It was jarring, honestly. It was all anyone ever talked about, then abruptly it was something everyone avoided.”

Hiccup blinked a few times. Then a few times more. His brain wasn’t processing what you were saying, what you were insinuating. Then, it hit him like a dragon to the face. He pulled in a deep breath, widening his eyes unconsciously. You thought he was still dating Astrid?

“No,” Hiccup practically shouted, then cleared his throat, and he could feel a massive blush lighting his face. Now he was glad you weren’t looking directly at him, it would only make his embarrassment worse. “No, we- uh,” He rubs the back of his head, furrowing his brows. “How do I say this…” You finished buckling the second strap, but your fingers idled on the leather without any real intention. You weren’t looking at him, but it was clear you were listening. “We were together, for a while. And, well, yeah- everyone kept trying to push us to get married quickly.

“I assume they wanted me to settle down, to stop flying out away from the town so much, and figured that’d do it? Or maybe they were just hoping for my happiness?” Hiccup huffs, shaking his head, “No, that’s not the point. We were together, and with everyone pushing and pushing for me to ask for her hand, even Astrid herself, it really got me thinking. I was complacent. I was with her because I had admired and envied her strength and resolve; she’s really a wonderful woman. But I didn’t-” He huffs, lowering his gaze to the grass, letting his fingers begin plucking them from the earth. “I don’t like her romantically. It took me a long time to realize that, as I hadn’t really felt romantic attraction before, at that point.”

You finally lifted your eyes, looking up at him through a hooded gaze. You bit your lip and Hiccup felt himself still entirely, tensing himself to be sure he didn’t jump forward to place those lips on his own. He really, definitely, never felt this way before. “At that point?” You repeated his last bit as a question, tilting your head to the side just slightly. Hiccup was breathless for a moment, unable to answer. Was this it? It certainly looked like this was it, that you might share what he was feeling. And why not ask? Why not just go ahead, go for it? Hiccup was nothing if not brave, he’s come to learn. Or, tries to be anyway.

He opens his mouth, unsure what was about to come out but ready for it anyway, when he’s suddenly tackled to the ground. A large dragon tongue licks up his body and he groans, pushing Toothless off of him. “Gah, bud! You know dragon spit doesn’t come out!” He sits up, moving to stand, and begins to flick his arms to the side to get rid of the globules. “And it smells like fish, really bud?” He huffs, shaking his head. He’d practically forgotten you were there until you sidled up right next to him, holding the picnic blanket the two of you had just been sitting on up toward him.

“May I?” Your voice is quiet, but it stilled Hiccup anyway. He nods, unsure what he’s agreeing to. You bring the blanket closer and press it against Hiccup’s chest and- oh, you were just offering to help clean his suit. His face heats, a blush deepening on his cheeks the more you rub that cloth against him, and eventually he places a hand on your own, stopping your movements. He watches your throat flex as you swallow hard from the contact.

“I think I can get the rest from here, thank you,” Hiccup whispers, his voice rough as he stares into your eyes. A brilliant shade of pink lights up your own cheeks, and Hiccup wishes he had his artbook with him so he could draw this moment. He wishes he could find the right leaves or rocks, anything to create the right pigment, the right shade of pink that would match. He takes his time cleaning himself up, then begins to finally make his way over to Toothless. The dragon was giving him a look that he hoped you wouldn’t be able to decipher. Toothless was finally realizing what he’d just interrupted and looked both bashful and gleeful at the opportunity to tease Hiccup about it later. “Not a word, bud,” Hiccup whispers as he passes, stuffing the blanket into Toothless’ soggy saddlebag.

As he spun around, ready to clap his hands, he stopped before making a noise. You had your back turned once more, staring up toward the Fogfall. Seeing the thick moisture gave Hiccup an uneasy feeling he couldn’t quite place, even through his knowledge of its danger. He approaches you slowly, placing a hand on your shoulder. You still jump, but relax once meeting his eyes, turning to look back at the view.

“I don’t know why,” You begin, biting your lip before continuing, “But I seem drawn to it. It’s beautiful.” Hiccup shifted uneasily on his feet, shooting it one last glance before turning to face you directly.

“We should get going. It’s a long way back.” You nodded slowly, then sighed and turned to face Hiccup with a sweet smile.

“I’m ready.”

It was much the same as before, with Hiccup hopping on first and hoisting you up behind him. He felt the pressure of you wrapping your arms around his chest and hoped you wouldn’t feel the fluttering of his heart underneath your hands. He commanded Toothless to take flight, who ran toward the edge and glided off gently, still keeping his flight speed lowered as an act of kindness for you. Toothless began a wide arc, flying higher into the air without jarring you, and Hiccup couldn’t help but look back down toward Fogfall one last time.

Looking at that powerful fog, Hiccup flashes back to being a kid, the first time that he’d really met Toothless. That first ride with Astrid, when Toothless was summoned back to the alpha’s cave, flying through that thick fog that he could only see the nearest dragons to him, rather than the entire horde that had surrounded him. It was terrifying, in all honesty, the idea that while inside a fog so thick, you wouldn’t be able to see anything coming. Toothless slowly flew overhead, everyone looking down to admire the beautiful but deadly view. That must’ve been why no one had noticed his approach.

It was happening before anyone knew it- a large dragon, bigger than Toothless and crimson red in colour- had flown strikingly fast down toward them from their blind spot. As Toothless and Hiccup tried to regain their balance, Hiccup realized something rather quickly- they were trying to knock Hiccup off of his back! He took a firmer hold, glaring up toward this hostile newcomer. He heard your terrifying yelp, reaching back to steady you before slinking low toward the saddle. Then, he saw who was riding the red dragon.

“Didn’t realize any Nightfuries survived!” The antagonistic man called down, standing on the large dragon with a cruel smile on his face, hanging at an angle with a staff in hand curved around his dragon’s horn. Grimmel the Grisly. “Time to fix that.”

The dragon, while large, was still quite nimble. Toothless was faster, but with the added weight of an additional body other than Hiccup, he couldn’t fight or dodge to his fullest potential. Your face was buried into Hiccup’s back, arms tight around Hiccup’s torso as Toothless dodged around, the gleaming claws of the red dragon aiming directly for Hiccup every time. Toothless’ screech fills the air as he readies a bolt toward them, but just as he manages to aim and release, the dragon flies downward, then back up toward them with added speed.

They manage to knock into Toothless, the claws reaching out and coming close to Hiccup but just missing. However, that’s when Hiccup feels something that stops his heart. He felt lighter, colder- your grip had disappeared. Hiccup looked frantically around, spotting you at last. You were falling. Falling. The thing he’d promised you wouldn’t do- the thing he said he’d absolutely always protect you from! Ignoring Grimmel, he immediately directed Toothless downward. Faster, and faster, but you were falling too quick and he wouldn’t make it- Toothless wasn’t quick enough! Your arms were outstretched toward Hiccup, and he wanted more than anything to grab them and hoist you back up but you were too far away.

“Y/N!” Hiccup screamed, just as you were swallowed by the whiteness of the fog. Toothless pulled up short, stopping just above the fog. “No! No, go get him!” Hiccup tries to urge Toothless forward, but the dragon refuses to obey, scanning the whiteness around them with searching eyes. Hiccup growls out, they’re wasting time! He unhooks his prosthetic from the stirrup, swinging over and making to jump off of his back. He didn’t expect Toothless to catch him immediately, yelping out in fear. “No! Let go!” Hiccup kicked his legs around, pounding at Toothless’ arms. “Let me go! Let me save him!”

You were swallowed by the fog, descending into the abyss that no one had ever escaped from. And Hiccup was powerless to save you…

TAG LIST: *lecoindetobi , *gored-to-be-here , @am3nic , @ohdeersthings

[howtodrawyourdragon]

Rewatched Midnight Scrum and find myself thinking about this scene.

Because the reason why Hiccup didn't tell his father about the bounty isn't because his pride was bigger than his brain. Not in this instance. The reason he didn't tell him is exactly as Stoick thinks, it's because of what he told him.

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

When trying to convince him to tell his dad about the bounty that's exactly the answer Astrid gets, putting an end to their conversation. It's literally how the scene ends, the next second Hiccup has been kidnapped off Berk. So she, too, knows that this is the real reason why Hiccup didn't inform Stoick. He didn't want to be a bother when he'd already caused his father so much trouble.

(I wonder if Hiccup still would've thought it more important to show up to a crowded celebration than it was to think of his own safety if Berk's gold hadn't been lost.)

But Astrid knows that's not what Stoick needs to hear. Hiccup carries such guilt over losing Berk's gold, it probably helped convince him to not tell his dad about the bounty and add to his already full plate as chief. And just like someone probably should've told him that no problem or mistake could ever outweigh the fact that Stoick's own son was in danger, Astrid will take one look at this father's look of guilt and tell him that, no, he wasn't the one who caused this.

[raayllum]

Callum 🤝 Stoick

“For you, my dear, anything.”

Everyone loves to draw comparisons between Callum and Hiccup (when they’re pretty fundamentally different people beyond the obvious surface level similarities) but sleep on this comparison! Love it

Gonna go on a deep dive cause Hiccup is one of my favourite characters ever but I've never written meta about him so

In some ways, Hiccup and Callum are similar - especially in terms of how they present. They're both goofy, more than a little awkward, deeply curious and compassionate, extremely loyal once you've earned/have their loyalty, a bit flighty and sometimes focused too much on the big picture in lieu of missing the little things. They both grew up feeling like the wrong fit for their environment/culture and it takes bonding with a mysterious, dangerous enemy and subsequent life changing adventure for them to start figuring out where they belong (and how). I think they'd get along splendidly and would absolutely show off flying tricks

However, they are also radically different, mostly because Hiccup is far more rebellious (and particularly in early HTTYD1) far more selfish than Callum is.

Due to a vicious cycle of "I want to prove myself to the village" -> "I mess up" -> "Village is annoyed by me" and a lack of other tangible options of places and circumstances to go into, Hiccup is about as bullheaded as it gets. Even before he meets Toothless, he's not super concerned about being a Viking according to his people's standards, and we don't know if he actually tried at being a traditional Viking very hard before he switched to machinery and inventing (I've also leaned towards not, but that's up for interpretation). He simply wants them to recognize that he can be a Viking, too, by his own standards - and in some ways better and more effectively than they can because he's using his smarts and not just his ('nonexistent') brawn. He's effectively beholden to no one but himself, especially since his relationship with his father is so strained and Gobber does his best, but is understandably not a perfect substitute / cannot be everything a 15 year old boy needs or wants to have socially. This is also why Stoic's scoldings are so ineffective, because pre-Toothless Hiccup doesn't really care that much if he royally mucks things up for the Village time and time again if it's in pursuit of praise/recognition - which is not entirely unreasonable (we all want attention/positive reinforcement) particularly for a teenager, but it is short sighted and immature.

Then he meets Toothless, and learns 1) how to put something and someone else heavily above his own wants & needs, and 2) how to contribute to the village in a way that would be beneficial for everyone, not just the people (beginning of the movie)/himself, or for the dragons/himself (when he was planning to run away), but for all of them, irregardless of himself. This journey is ultimately what's culminated in the third movie by finally living up to his father ("How do you become someone that great, that brave, that selfless?") by willing to do with Toothless what Stoic was willing to do with him: to let him go, so that he'd be Safe. The first thing Hiccup ever did, that set him on an entirely new path after all, was to set a dragon free. I always thought it was very fitting that was his final act as well.

And it's this journey from selfish slightly sarcastic but intelligent, sympathetically immature teenager to a wiser, selfless, less independent but more reliable adult, aided by the events of the films, the memory/inspiration of his father, everything about Toothless and his love/support of Hiccup, and Astrid being about as devoted to Berk as it gets (which is absolutely something Hiccup needs) that allows him to be a great Chief. He's able to put the greater good of his family and people above what he may personally want in the short term ("I was so busy thinking about the world that I wanted, I didn't think about what you needed") to prioritize his goals in the long term ("And we'll guard the secret until the time comes that dragons can return in peace").

And due to all of this, Callum starts out in a fundamentally different place, because he always has an internal and externally imposed responsibility from the start: Ezran. "Take care of your brother," are Harrow's final, parting words to him, after all, and we see Callum take this with him throughout the series, whether it's trying to be assassinated in Ezran's place, promising to return and help him once Zym is brought home, or rushing to defend him when he thinks there's another plot against the king. This is also where we see Callum's selective loyalty creep in. While Callum would make a great general due to his tactician skills and ability to think ahead, he is ultimately too reckless and obsessive to make a good king - or in the Hiccup comparison, Chief. Although both are leadership roles, having Ezran / others there to temper him occasionally as a general is crucial - he needs that safety net (or someone to tell him to keep his eyes on the road) which him being the final authority on the throne would not provide ("I may be queen but even I can't stop those two when they've set their minds on something") that not being on the throne can marginally provide. This is also one of the reasons why I don't think either Callum or Rayla are really suited to a long term life at court / as royalty, but post for another day <3

Callum also has more of a temper and more of a nasty temper toward his loved ones as well that Hiccup really doesn't have a shred of - he'll be sarcastic and a bit snippy but he'll never aim for the jugular, y'know? (Hiccup is also more marginally prone to self blame probably because he's grown up enough to take full responsibility for his actions after a childhood of mostly shirking/dismissing them, but like side tangent)

So like Callum's consistent sense of responsibility keeps him tempered and more mild mannered and less rebellious (and him and Harrow have a much better relationship than pre-HTTYD1 Hiccup and Stoick, which absolutely helps; each may have resembled each other more in HTTYD2 esque dynamic if Harrow had lived to see Callum mature / grow into himself a bit more) but also leaves him far more selectively loyal / focused on his own bubble most of the time.

Like Hiccup is just loyal enough (aided by Astrid) to his People to like be able to do the ins and outs and enjoy it overall? And I've never gotten the same sense from Callum at any point in the series (which "I'm beholden to my inner circle, not some silly kingdom" - thank you TOX). And I do think the way Callum would want to change the world is more magic based - teaching other people how to connect and harness magic - is more in line for him overall but again: post for another day (and we'll have to see where canon goes). Because of Toothless, Hiccup's bubble expands to Astrid and the gang and his father, fully, and stays expanded; Toothless gave him the family & support he needed to no longer need Toothless to stay in the same manner. For Callum, his bubble is Ezran, expands to Rayla as well over the course of arc 1 at first because of Ezran and because of their own bond - and it doesn't really expand with the same intensity to basically anyone else (see Callum being worried, sure, about Soren in 4x06/4x07 but also a lot more focused in general in how Soren's absence is affecting Rayla and thereby focusing on reassuring her)

Callum is also just way more of a loose canon, at least to me. Trying out the lightning spell just because in 1x05 with no safety net, staying way too long at the Great Bookery in 5x04 when they absolutely could've just come back after stopping Aaravos and co., and again: he just has an edge to him that Hiccup doesn't? It's hard to describe and I don't think there's necessarily a reason behind besides "they're two different characters with accordingly different characterizations" but I can't see Hiccup doing dark magic or being tempted by it - even if it was to save Toothless, or something? He's just too much of a bleeding heart/animal lover and a lot more Ezran on that level

Long characterization aside, I actually think Rayla and Hiccup are probably more similar in that rebellious / witty streak to your disappointed more restrictive tougher mentor (Runaan, Stoick) but that Callum 100% has Stoick's devotion to Valka down pat. "For you my dear, anything," the slow approach in asking but not assuming she'll be his wife again, the forgiveness and understanding of Valka and Rayla staying away all that time, the "I don't want another. Your mother was the only woman for me. She was the love of my life" excuse me while I go cry.

[dragonmasterhiccup]

Panic seized her. She… she’d been found out?! No. Nonono, this couldn’t be happening, she…-

Safe? She wasn’t safe anywhere, not with the people of Berk after her, probably hunting her down right this very moment.

“You can’t fix this, they- they’re gonna find me, Hiccup, what if they try to kill me? I don’t… I can’t… no, nonononono- Hiccup, I’m not safe, you can’t leave me alone in some random cave, please…”

Despite her panicked protests, when they landed, she followed Hiccup into the cave, immediately going into the back corner and sitting down, unsheathing her dagger from her belt and holding it tightly with shaky hands. “What- what if they find me?! Am I allowed to… to stab them? Oh, but that’s just going to make everything worse!-“ She looked up at Hiccup, pleading him to help her in some way, any way.

Just because the cave hadn’t been discovered yet, doesn’t mean it couldn’t be discovered today, not if they searched for her hard enough.

———

Snotlout glared at Astrid, frustration evident in his tone. “What? You think this is my fault?!-“

His head snapped towards Hiccup as him and Toothless walked in. “Oh, so now you decide to finally show up, how great- Now what in Thors name is going on?!”

Eret stood up from his chair, holding a hand out to stop Snotlout. “Let him speak.” He looked at Hiccup. “What kind of problem, Chief?”

Snotlout crossed his arms over his chest and spoke, his voice casual, holding no care whatsoever. “Okay, and? She’s is the daughter of DRAGO. My dad is obviously going to be skeptical about it. I don’t see the issue here.”

Eret gave Snotlout a look, one that was silently telling him to shut up.

Snotlout’s eyes shot wide with surprise. What did Astrid mean, ‘she’s not a Bludvist anymore?’ Of course she was-

“Haddock?!” he spat out. “You gave her your last name?! Are you crazy?! You don’t just hand that out!-“

Eret cut him off, speaking in a much calmer voice, though he was still skeptical. “Well, yes, I believe there is something to be said about… chosen names, but with all due respect, she is a Bludvist by blood. That on its own can’t just be brushed off.”

Snotlout, who now wore an unamused scowl on his face, didn’t respond. He sided with his father on this one. Arms crossed over his chest, he took a step back, signaling that he had nothing else to be said, for now.

Eret, whose expression showed compassion and determination, spoke up once again. “What other choice do we have? We can all stand up for her as much as we like, but she might also need to defend herself.”

———

Meanwhile, Spitelout had been going through the village, rallying up the people of Berk, most of which agreed with him. Danny was a threat, and they couldn’t allow her to roam freely amongst them any longer.

The only Berkian who didn’t agree with him was Gothi. She refused to believe Danny was a threat. From what she’d seen, Danny was nothing but a kind, innocent girl, who had done nothing wrong whatsoever, other than being a little reckless, but that had nothing to do with her being malicious, in any sense.

Spitelout had sent a few of Berks warriors to go search the island and find her, bring her to the Great Hall so that they could hold a meeting, or rather a trial.

All he had to do now was find Hiccup and drag his pathetic self to the Great Hall as well. After the girl had been dealt with, he’d most certainly be next.

The last thing he wanted to do was leave her alone, especially like this, but he didn't know what else to do.

"If they find you, they won't kill you, I'm certain of that much. We have laws, you'd be brought to the Great Hall first, you might be questioned in that case...This cave, it's the only place I can think of. I can't bring you to Mom's, they'll look for you there, Gothi's is out of the question, he'll go to her as well. I'll disguise the entrance even more, so it'll be even more hidden, and we'll bring in some bushes, just in case..." He was rambling, and he knew it, but...

"Agh!" He groaned in frustration. "Why didn't I just call a meeting and explain? It'd be better if everyone had heard it from me first..."

Once they landed, Toothless helped gather what they needed to do as Hiccup said to further camouflage the cave.

He was in the cave with Danny once they finished, and he held her by her shoulders. "If they intend to harm you, defend yourself. Nothing fatal, that would definitely make things worse. And listen, don't be afraid to show that you're fearful. They...they think you're a threat, which we both know you aren't, but I know you don't like to show fear, and I understand, but I think you're going to need to." A thought occurred to him, and he turned his face away. "Oh, gods...we should have brought Twilight....I should have thought of that..." Jaw clenched, exhaling through his nose, he turned back to Danny.

"Here's what you need to do. Stay here, stay silent. If they find you, don't say anything...they can't hold what you don't say against you. What else? I will come back for you, as soon as I'm able. I'm gathering the council, and we're going to fix this."

Pulling her into a hug, he added, "I promise."

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

Hiccup whirled around, facing Snotlout. "She's innocent! She and Drago are not one and the same, you know. She loves dragons, she--she doesn't share any of the opinions of her father, she's said as much more times than I can count."

His anger started to dissipate, his tone turning solemn. "And she's terrified of what might happen to her if hunters got a hold of her again. She took the name Haddock because she wants to leave that past behind her. Shouldn't she be allowed that? A second chance? Think of Dagur, how he's our strongest ally now. Danny has done nothing anywhere close to what Dagur had done. She deserves a chance, doesn't she?"

He took in Eret's words, giving a resigned nod. "If it comes to that, then that's what we'll have to do."

Astrid chimed in, eyeing Snotlout. "And, if it does, she'll have all of us to back her up."

Valka turned her head. "We best get to the Great Hall. I hear many a footfall in that direction..."

[always-tired-lilbitch]

OKAY I'VE PROCRASTINATED THIS FOR LONG ENOUGH. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON HEADCANONS. NOW:

Valka is bisexual and Gobber is gay, they became friends before Valka met Stoick (of course she knew him, cause he was the chief's son, but they hadn't become friends/lovers yet).

Valka and Gobber had been in the same gay friend group since they were teens.

Gobber actually introduced Stoick to Valka after her girlfriend broke up with her. She was really heartbroken and swearing she would never date a woman again; in a way she was right.

Gobber, at some point between becoming Stoick's best friend and presenting him to Valka, had a crush on him and asked him out; Stoick was surprised and flattered by this, but politely declined. After that their friendship was completely unaffected by this.

Hiccup is trans, no doubt, and when he came out of the closet he chose his name based on the story of his Great Grand Uncle Hiccup Horrendous Haddock II, "the dragon whisperer". He was a dragon simpathiser that Hiccup admired and read about in his family's sagas; although the sagas don't say anything good about him and his story is quite tragic, Hiccup III felt some sort of connection that he didn't understand (he realised soon enough) and so he chose his name accordingly.

His coming out thing is lowkey hinted at (no, of course it's not canon, let me dream) during the movies and the series: he continously wants to be like other vikings, he talks about how he disappointed his father because he wanted a more vikingish son, he compares himself with other vikings, when he meets his mother she tells him how he takes after her (even physically, if you think about it), etc.

Valka instantly respects her son's new name and pronouns because she is also queer, and if you're thinking "there's no way she knew his new name, she wasn't there when he chose it" I'm just gonna remind you this particular viking won't shut up, so he surely told him "I'm Hiccup, son of Stoick the vast" or something like that while she was taking him to the nest and she brushed it off cause she knew it couldn't be possible, then she saw the scar and her queer little brain made everything fit together.

Hiccup gets both crushing gender dysphoria from seeing himself reflected in her mother and an incredible amount of gender euphoria as he realises his identity doesn't need to be that performatively masculine and that his mother is quite queer herself, so in the end being like her is something he prides himself on.

In the third movie we see flashbacks of Hiccup being a little boy and he is called by his chosen name already, so we know he wasn't closeted for a long time and also that he came out really young.

At some point in "Race to the edge" Tuffnut calls Hiccup "sister", this hints to the fact that Tuffnut is also trans, and they sometimes call each other "sister" jokingly. Before he came out of the closet his name was some other consonant followed by "uffnut", but he swapped it for the "t" (for trans).

The sentences "Excuse me, barmaid. I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra large boy with beefy arms. Extra guts and glory on the side. This here. This is a talking fish bone." are so trans of him, he even uses "offspring" instead of son. This is also why Stoick feels really bad after telling him "You're not my son", realising just after he closes the door (which doesn't even shut completely, like the closet's) that he has disrespected and disregarded his son's identity. He "fixes" this later in the movie when he tells him how proud he is (p r i d e).

Astrid is also trans, t4t, love wins!

In the third movie, Valka and Gobber have accepted Eret in their gay best friend squad; they even fight together as a team at the end. But there's more, because Gobber spends the movie flirting with Eret and it shows they are quite close. Furthermore, when the dragons leave, Eret and Gobber stand together, and then, during the wedding Gobber is holding the bouquet and when it flies out of his "grasp" Eret is the one who grabs it. They are gay, your honour, I rest my case.

Eret is sooo gay, he does not only like men, he actively dislikes women romantically and sexually. We can see this in the way he refuses to even pay attention to Ruffnut's attempts at seduction. In the third movie he has already told her that he is gay, and she has taken it badly in the "I'm going to take this personally, not as something that just is" cause she is a bit dumb (but we love her).

Last headcanon for today is the main characters' pronouns and sexualities: Stoick (straight (up) go/ne), Valka (She/they, demisexual bisexual), Gobber (He/him, gay ass), Eret (He/him, closeted gay until the last movie), Hiccup (He/him->He/they after the second movie, bisexual ace), Astrid (She/they, bisexual), Fishlegs (He/him, bisexual), Snotlout (He/him, deep-in-the-closet gay), Tuffnut (He/him, aroace), and Ruffnut (She/her, straight).

[empressofthesunwriter]

Second Chance

Hiccup has many regrets that are catching up with him. His marriage is a joke, his kids hate him, and Berk suffers under his leadership. Life was better when Toothless and Leandra were with him, and they flew together under the sky—just enjoyed being together. Yet even his dragon left him. And the girl he realized too late, he loved had moved on a long time ago. But sometimes life gives you a second chance. Unofficial Sequel from To Belong

Okay, I really have a problem, but when my plotbunnies plot I have to write it down and publish it to see if somebody likes it. Again if you liked To Belong, don't read it, but if you want Leandra and Hiccup together, that's the fic for you :D

Chapter 1: Regrete and Betrayel

Hiccup made a face as Astrid stormed out of the house with their kids.

They had (again) a fight over how they could expand the Trade Routes for New Berk.

Astrid wanted to do it the old Viking way and just pillage weaker tribes, but Hiccup wanted a more diplomatic approach.

It had worked for them in past.

This had made his wife's famous anger appear.

Why couldn't he do once something the Viking way?

No wonder the other chiefs took him not seriously.

Which in turn made Astrid as chieftess look bad and when something the proud Hofferson (in this moment she called herself not even Haddock anymore) hated was appearing weak.

Equally angry Hiccup shot back he never did things the Viking way, that's why they had made peace with the dragons and had lived good years with them.

And she...she really dared to say he should let go of this!

The dragons (Toothless, oh buddy) wouldn't return, Hiccup needed to become a real Viking now.

He had shouted back, that she knew he was never the perfect Viking, why did she then marry him?!

Why was she even together with him, if she hated so much his un-vikingness?

Astrid had been for a second still.

A second which was an eternity for Hiccup.

Till she answered...she didn't know anymore.

Punching him in the face would have been mercifully than her words.

Once, she said, he had been this cool boy who showed her another way of living, but he needed to grow up finally and lead the tribe like a real Viking.

Striking him down with her axt (the axt he so loving took care of for her) would have been merciful.

It was then that Hiccup realized...had he never taken Astrid on her first dragon flight with Toothless, she would never have taken an interest in him.

He was still the weak, dumb, useless fishbone in her eyes.

The young chief told her this and he saw for a moment the truth in her eyes, before she lied, saying how wrong he was.

She wanted to help him nothing more.

He just told her to get out.

Get out of the house.

The house he had built for them.

Astrid had been furious, they shouted and screamed at each other very unkind things, before she took the kids and slammed the door shut behind her.

Zephyr and Nuffink hadn't even looked at him or told their mother they wanted to stay with him.

Hiccup had noted how his kids came more after Astrid.

Of course, no love was lost on their side too.

Defeat Hiccup sit down on a chair and let the tears flow.

He hated all this.

He hated his life.

How he wished he could tell his younger self that the few years he had with Toothless would have been the best in his life and he should have never let his bud go.

What was he thinking?

They fought so long to live with dragons in peace and then just let them go to the Hidden World?

It sounded like a bad book!

The brunette man wiped his tears and signed.

He shouldn't think about this.

No one could change their past.

You could only move forward.

What a load of crap!

The gods really hated him.

Giving him a hellish life, a few wonderful years and then back at the hellish part.

What did he do to deserve this?

Oh you know why!, hissed a voice inside him. You chose Astrid over Leandra who truly loved you. Don't be surprised that is how it ended.

He had to agree with his inner thoughts.

He had realized way too late and did nothing when he admitted his feelings for the Spanish girl to himself.

Her Goodbye Letter was still his most precious possession, along with scales from Toothless.

Tired emotionally from the day, Hiccup decides to go to bed.

You couldn't change the past.

(*)

On the other side of the globe, Leandra was facing a storm with Starchaser, but the storm in her heart was worse.

How could Xia do this?

How could have she been so stupid?

Her wife had betrayed her.

Xia's family had never liked how Leandra had "seduced" Xia to a life of sin. That was what same-sex relationships were for them.

But...but Xia had chosen her.

They had married and adopted children.

Six girls and four boys!

They had lived years with Starchaser happily in a little village near the Silk Road where they were accepted.

Then as all the kids were grown she thought, she and Xia would continue to be happy.

Yet, after Ulf, Leandra's brother, visited them, the next days her wife had been weird.

Asking her about Hiccup, if she still had feelings for him...Leandra was speechless.

And maybe that moment in which she stared in disbelief at her wife, had made Xia lose trust in her.

Other than that she couldn't explain why she found her wife, with the owner of the noodle shop in their bed!

Leandra had screamed, nearly returned to her old ways as an assassin, but Starchaser stopped her.

They grabbed their things and left China.

Her wedding ring she had thrown into the ocean.

Shall Xia be happy with her noodle guy!

Leandra was done.

She should have never left the brotherhood and lived a normal life. In her veins flowed the blood of the First Civilization, making her a perfect assasin.

And how she had loved the Levithan Brotherhood and Syria.

Her mentor, her brothers and sisters in arms.

She had been born for this life...but for her Xia, she had given it up.

Because she loved her.

What a foul she had been.

Now she and Starchaser were homeless.

Flying from one place to another.

Leandra was unsure if she could join the Assassin Ranks again.

She may still train, but wasn't she too old now?

Or didn't want her to face her once family after she left them?

Signing Leandra told Starchaser to dive down.

She had seen a cave where they could rest.

After they made themselves comfortable, the last dragon rider and her dragon fell asleep.

While Leandra was thrifting off she remembered Ulf's words: "Come visit me and father and Sigrùn. They miss you, Leandra."

Back then she had laughed, why should she return to the Barbaric Archipelago?

Why should she step foot in New Berk?

She was happy, so she sent Ulf with words of love back there.

However...maybe seeing family would be good again.

Leandra decides to talk with Starchaser in the morning about this.

For now, she dreams of a time were she was still young, for the first time experience flying on Starchaser...with Hiccup and Toothless by their side.

[rosiethedragongeek]

Hi, I have kinda weird question, but I think about it a lot. How do you think when main characters (and their parents plus Gobber) have birthdays? I don't know why, but I didn't see anything of this. I need it for full picture in my scenarios in my head lol, but I can't do it myself, so I decided to ask you. If you don't want to write this, it's okay. Englisch isn't my language btw

OHHHH OKAY THIS SOUNDS LIKE FUN

Hiccup: Hiccup tries to keep his birthday a quieter affair, but at any given point in time he is the chief or the chief’s son, and that’s not really an option. Add onto that the fact that he has five best friends, Gobber, and Stoick or Valka who are always excited to do something for it, he doesn’t get to gloss over it. They all pull together each year to give him some sort of present, and they throw a huge party on Berk (where he receives a lot of food and gifts from the villagers.

Astrid: She also likes to keep her birthday a little quieter. She tries to get some time to herself for a ride with Stormfly or to train. But eventually she comes back to the gang in the late afternoon/evening and they have drinks around a fire somewhere and they give her a gift.

Snotlout: Everyone knows his birthday is coming weeks before, and he makes a HUGE deal of it when it actually comes around. He’s just showing off and making a big deal about himself all day and he uses it to get his way whenever he can. He’s very full of himself all day, really, but after his RTTE development, it’s a little more of a part he’s jokingly playing, he’s more self aware than he was before. Still a pain in the butt though lol.

Fishlegs: He gets a little awkward receiving presents. What he really wants is a quiet day he can spend meditating, reading, or gardening. He loves spending time with the gang, though, and they try to do that kinda stuff with him. They’re not all very good at it, and it normally descends into chaos, but it means a lot to him that they try and he’s just happy to be spending time with them. Ruff & Tuff: Unlike everyone else, we actually see an episode on the twins’ birthday. (Late RTTE, it’s the Thorston Trials episode. I don’t actually remember the name of the episode, but Gruffnut is there) Based on that, they make a big deal out of it, and they organize a big celebration, and they walk around talking in weird fancy voices the whole time. They have so much fun, and they definitely use their birthdays to get stuff like Snotlout. (Like if they want someone to get up and get something for them bc they’re comfortable or smth and the gang is like no they’re like ??? on our birthday??? do you even care about us?)

Gobber: Pre-HTTYD 2, he and Stoick would have drinks in the evenings, the gang would get him a present and Hiccup would try and handle more chores around the shop to get him some more time to relax. After HTTYD 2, everything looks basically the same, except he’s having drinks with Valka, Eret, and the gang. His birthday is one of the days where he misses Stoick the most, and they go out of there way to distract him and spend lots of time with him.

This was so much fun, I really loved doing this omg. I’m so sorry it took me forever to get around to this, my ask box has been a little backed up lately, and for some reason I haven’t been doing them in any kind of order, I’m just jumping around them. I’m an idiot lol.

[heliianth]

hi Helii i dunno if you already made a post about this, but I'm curious if u thought of a different plot and ending for httyd 3 cause recently i've been thinking about that a lot and i like to hear people's opinions about the movie!

hi nonnie !! ive made 2 posts abt my opinion of httyd3 (ein) (zwei) but since then ive read things like directors commentaries and excerpts from the art book so theyre not Very complete (but still representative—i just give some of the people who worked on it too much leeway LMAO)

honestly i havent thought of a different plot or ending that much, mainly because there are a Lot of things that bug me about the movie and changing all of them would kinda make the fixed version™ almost unrecognizable, but i can give u some quickfire easy decisions i think wouldve made the movie better

replace the Light Fury with a pack of Night Furies that escaped to THW. i dont understand the fascination with making Toothless the last NF because the "propogation of the species" genetically cant happen if he is, despite what Dreamworks REALLY wants u to believe by having Nightlights be a thing 1300 years later. every single NL u see after the 3rd movie is horrifically inbred !!

scrap New Berk. the "Old Berk" location was so important to its people that they defended it from dragons for 400 years, they wouldn't just pick up and move. also, the overcrowding problem is a non-issue because there's so much room on that island to expand onto and Hiccup is not that much of a dumbass*

show Toothless struggling with leaving Hiccup to chase the LF (or NFs)—maybe he tries to drag him along and theres something that forces them to separate for Hiccup's safety

in that vein ^ there are like 3 total scenes where Hiccup and Toothless are together and that really cheapens the emotional followthrough so... have them be friends again. the 2nd movie, the first time we see them goofing off and chatting alone with each other, showing the audience how strong their bond is and what their dynamic is like. i dont remember if the 3rd movie has Anything like that

speaking of which LOSE THE "dragons are wild animals" POINT. this is a major inspiration for the movie so its one of the things that would change the Whole Story but Dean needs to make up his fucking mind over whether the dragons are gentle, intelligent, sapient creatures who know how to perfectly understand human speech and body language or wild, dangerous animals who need to be "free" from humans (the former is how dragons have been treated by every piece of httyd media until the third movie and the latter contradicts everything, is less interesting, and destroys the previous themes entirely so guess which i prefer)

adding on, stop treating Hiccup like garbage. he didn't find Toothless when he was a baby dragon and nursed him back to health before keeping him and thats all Toothless has ever known. Toothless had spent 15 years prior to befriending Hiccup being a dangerous. wild dragon and blowing up Berk. He's been "free" almost twice as long as he's been friends with Hiccup. LAY OFF, his concerns about Toothless are valid.

i've talked about this before but Hiccup is a terrible chief in this movie and the role shouldve gone to someone better qualified, like Astrid. unlike what some of the directors would have u believe, it IS mature to recognize ur bad at something and hand it off to someone who is more competent (especially if its a job like leadership) bc usually sticking to it gets u Fired. *he makes dumbass decisions so the villain can look smart and this is literally the only reason why he makes them i promise u

same point: Toothless is also a bad alpha in this movie. the premise of a single dragon ruling over all other dragons in the world is Really Bad in of itself, but we don't see Toothless do anything like what Valka's Bewilderbeast did in httyd2—sure he's smaller, but give us a few scenes of him being kind and patient with his people. don't have him order everyone into cages because his girlfriend might get hurt

REDEEM THE DEATHGRIPPERS none of them did anything wrong

treat the side characters with some modicum of respect. this movie does absolutely jackshit with Valka other than make Snotlout have a creepy crush on her and everyone has caught brainworms to make Hiccup and Astrid look competent in comparison.

do not. focus on Hiccup and Astrid's relationship as much as u did. u already failed to deliver a "call to the wild" story in Toothless and the LF, the audience does not need more ammo to get "romance is more important than friendship" out of your movie. having Astrid's role completely reduced to "supportive girlfriend" and "Hiccup's True support", along with how Valka was treated (god that goodbye scene with her and Cloudjumper makes me so sad and angry and NOT for the reasons the writers want) and the LF's design being Like That on PURPOSE (also every single model being airbrushed for Prettyness reasons) kind of shows what Some People making the movie think of women

even discounting ALL of these ^ gripes, of which i have More, trust me (i didnt even get into my problems with Grimmel because honestly i do not remember enough of that twat to properly articulate my issues w him), i would be happy if the end went 1 of 2 ways:

Berk moves inside or near THW in order to keep being the defenders of the dragons, and the LF growing closer to Hiccup is representative of the hidden world dragons growing closer to Berk, illustrating that yes, coexistence is possible and good and benefits them both

the dragons gradually leave on a case-by-case basis, but Toothless never leaves Hiccup, and Hiccup grows old always waiting for him to visit. Hiccup writes a memoir of his experiences with dragons to hopefully educate the younger generation when they decide to come back. this mirrors the books' ending far better and gives the dragons the agency they deserve

i do not think there is a world where every dragon on earth leaves to THW and is simultaneously a good ending which portrays the right themes. Dean's fascination with "there were dragons when i was a boy" kneecapped the entire plot. you do not write stories starting from how you want them to end, especially if they're stories based off a beloved franchise with already established dynamics and themes. the Reason why so many plot elements are so contrived, why so much character development is lost, why httyd's theme of tolerance, cooperation, and the power of love is hamstrung, is because they Really Wanted an end where there are no dragons and they were Completely willing to do anything to get there (also Dreamworks is shit to its artists but whats new)

anyway. NONNIE. if u ever end up thinking More about an alternative version of httyd3 tell me!!!! i'd love to hear YOUR ideas and if u cannot tell talking abt this is so fun and engaging for me so i will listen !!!!! i love u for talking to me have a good day <3 <3 <3 <3

[zozophoenixxx]

Serotonin Booster :D🐉

How to train your dragon edition

Here are some things I had forgotten or little details I just noticed on my rewatch, maybe even Unpopular Opinions 🤭👀

✨Defenders of Berk✨

Not Astrid being pissed bc Fishlegs called her mean lmaooo

OMGGG "I would never call my father ridiculous. I'm calling my chief ridiculous" THE POWER OF THIS SCENE

The way Toothless just sat to look at the sunset.. Me too bby me too 🥺

Toothless and Thornado's shots combined was amazing!

"The first rule about the dragon flight club is that there is no dragon flight club"

Istg Meatlug and Fishlegs are made for each other

Baby whispering deaths!

OMG THEY JUST CAME UP WITH GRONCKLE IRON

I love seeing the origin of things ☺️

Wowww I just realized that Gobber has a unibrow

Sandstone makes glass

That shiny black rock makes another shiny black Rock, it also has Meatlug boiling

WOW a combination of multiple rock makes Meatlug a magnet

The way Hookfang pays more attention to Fishlegs than Snotlout is funny

Fishlegs on Toothless!!!!

"TOO MUCH FURY, TOO MUCH FURY!" JAHDHDHAH

Awwww love how Fishlegs feels happy abt being needed

DAGUR'S BACK AHH

I never understood why Dagur called Hiccup his brother but it's kinda funny

Young hiccup actually fighting is pretty badass and that shield 🥴

The way they were all trying to get Gobber to shower lmaooo

Gobber saved Gustav's life and Fishleg saved Astrid's

Am I the only one that finds the whispering deaths kinda funny, like yes they're scary but these mfs have tiny wings, a big ass head, are covered in spines and can't see like-

Newly hatched whispering deaths can be more deadly that adults bc they can't control their jaws or spines

WOW WOW WOWWWW A WHITE WHISPERING DEATH - Titanwing whispering death with red eyes OMG NO NO THIS IS THE SCREAMING DEATH I KNEW IT ‼️‼️

Wow but the pain in Snotlout's eyes 🥺

Monstrous nightmares are stoker-class dragons

Fireworms get brighter the closer they get to each other

Ohhhhh now I get the history behind Hookfang and the fireworms queen's connection

"You're not just another sword, Hookfang"

Awww the fireworm queen saved Hookfang, I ship them now JSHDHSHS

BABY ASTRID!! 🥺🥺🥺 AWWW

Flightmare - follows the glowing algae caused by Aurvandil's fire, sprays a paralyzing mist to those who it considers a threat to its survival

Aurvandil's fire = Aurora Borealis

YES ASTRID BEAT SNOTLOUT UP

Hiccup: Well, you know, Astrid, uh, training dragons isn't the only thing I think about.

Astrid: Are you actually saying that to me with a straight face?

JAHSHAHAJAJ I SWEAR I LOVE THESE TWO the way both of them said these lines I can't ✋🏼😂

The way she said the exact same thing as her uncle and even took on the name I-

I have this headcanon that bc I'm pretty sure Astrid's parents were barely mentioned in the shows or movies that her uncle was the person that was there for her the most which is another reason why it upset her to see people making fun of him

Why does whenever Astrid gets shot by a dragon she always tries to hit it off like her axe is a baseball bat? 😂

Hiccup saving Astrid in the flightmare ep🥺🥺🥺🥺

GLOWY TOOTHLESS AND GLOWY STORMFLY AND GLOWY MEATLUG ARE ADORABLE

Awww I love how Hiccup makes sure to mention the fact that "Fearless Fin Hofferson was indeed fearless, just like all the Hoffersons" 🥺🥺🥺 STOP AND THEN SHE SMILES AND HE PROCEEDS TO PUT HIS HAND ON HER SHOULDER I-🥴🥴🥴

I love how they're always interrupted whenever they're about to say a bad word

Lil terrible terrors are adorable 🥺

The fact that what they were trained for was actually useful it's crazy

Astrid: "no one is kissing me on the lips ever!!" HHSHAHAH ASTRID WHY U LYING

I feel like we don't appreciate how smart Hiccup actually is, and I don't mean that dragon-wise or building stuff-wise I mean in general. I'm in ep9 and they're finding old dragon traps to get rid of them and there was a lil breeze and he was like "there's a dry hot wind coming in from the north. It hasn't rained in 2 months. This is definitely fire weather." like how- am I the only one that would've been like okok a nice warm breeze 😩

Dude the typhoomerangs are so scary and huge wtf

I KNEW HE WAS TORCH

Torch actually built a lil relationship with Tuff just for that but of time I love it

WE'RE FINALLY GONNA SEE THE SKRILL!! I love it it's one of my favorite dragons :D

I never understood why fishlegs says his name when he's excited

Skrills - The skrill was first found frozen, it's the symbol of the Berserkers, it can stay safely frozen for decades because of their internal body temperature, can't redirect any lightning if it's in the water 😳

Y'all the skrill and the nightfury have gotta be related somehow, they're probably like cousins or sum. I mean the night fury is the "unholy offspring of lighting and death" and the skrill can control lightning AND TECHNICALLY TOOTHLESS CAN TOO REMEMBER HTTYD 3 + they also have similar physical characteristics at least Imo.

Dude this dragon is so badass 😌🤩🥰😩🥴❣️🤍🤝 I'm literally so obsessed

Wow one of the first times I see the twins actually doing sum useful

The way the shots combine🥴

Dagur has misophonia - condition where people experience intense negative emotions for sounds such as eating, chewing, loud breathing or even repeated pen-clicking [ep11]

Oh wow so they originally trapped the skrill in this show i didn't know

Wait but baby Gustav is actually adorable wtf and the fact that he and Snotlout have matching Viking hats

OMG SEE NOW I'M SEEING GUSTAV'S ORIGIN WITH HIS DRAGON AND HIS DESIRE TO BECOME A RIDER

Fanghook🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Ruff puts fish oil on her hair to get "a greasy unwashed look"

Really hate when Snotlout doesn't accept no for an answer

THE HAND THING AHHHH I LOVE IT this time is Ruff and a scauldron

Ok guys so I did this with mi friend's puppy who I accidentally scared enough to make him piss himself and I'm pretty sure I traumatized him and now when I'm around the poor dog tries to get as far away from me as possible but one day we were kinda bonding although he still wouldn't let me pet it AND I DID THE HAND THING BECAUSE WHY NOT AND THIS LIL MF ACTUALLY PUTS HIS FACE IN MY HAND- I screamed and he left again🥺😂 BUT IT DID WORK

Scauldy🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥰😌☺️🤩🤍

Ok but ruffnut with short hair 🤩

Speedstingers

Also the way Astrid ran up to Hiccup in the ep14

Wait but the scene whenever they're fighting the Speedstingers and Fishlegs says they're too fast but Hiccup's like "not for a nightfury" and then they show Toothless dodging the Speedstinger's attack AND THEN THEY SHOW HICCUP PROTECTING HIMSELF WITH HIS SHIELD WHICH GETS THROWN AWAY BUT RIGHT THERE TOOTHLESS CATCHES IT AND THROWS IT BACK TO HICCUP who's like "Thanks bud" 🤩🤩🤩 literally so badass go watch it!! It's ep14 frozen min 17:40

I really liked the relationship Snotlout and Astrid created with each other's dragon 🥺

HOOKFANG'S WINGBLAST AND STORMFLY'S SINGLE-SPINESHOT ARE HELLA BADASS... I love how they worked together this time 🥺

DUDE JAHDHSJAJJJSA ppl really underestimate Ruff's cleverness, this bish really gets Tuff to do the dumbest things just to enjoy looking at him hurting himself JAHDHSJAH😂

TOOTHLESS REALLY JUST BIT AN EEL'S HEAD OFF TO SAVE HICCUP🥺

Baby toothless is high🥺

"Uh, okay. That one was a little close to the one good leg" JAHDHAHSHA ISTG I LOVE THIS DUDE

Johan hates Snotlout for breaking his stuff

Tuff got Macey the Mace from Trader Johan

Astrid looks hot without her shoulder pads

Ok but Dagur looks so weird without his viking hat in this show

The baby thunderdrums are adorable - BING BAM AND BOOM

NOOO STOICK JUST LEFT THORNADO 🥺

OHHH SO ALVIN WAS ACTUALLY FROM BERK and he was Stoick's best friend

Snotlout and Hiccup are parallels of Alvin and Stoick

Ok but that trick Snotlout did was amazing, he really had Hookfang do a lil typhoomerangs move and then the wingblast🤩

I FINISHED IT OMG NOW ONTO RTTE!!

[raflovestuffs]

Promise~

Hey there People! I’m so glad that I’m finally able to present you the first os of a two parts story I wrote and called "Upcoming Age". I have this in mind since a long time but wasn’t able to write it!

@poppysfanworld gave me the idea of the flashback and I also was inspired by the artbook and the piece of art of @looneylolita!

I hope you’ll enjoy this chapter :)

...

Like a dancing ballet, the dragons flew to the hidden world. The spectacle of their flapping wings showed the greatness of these majestic beings. Hiccup had spent five years of his life with them and witnessing their departure was by far the most difficult thing he had ever faced. Toothless’ glanced down even more. He looked at his human friend from the edge of the cliff with his big sad eyes, still hesitating to take off. The auburn-haired man smiled through his tears to reassure him, as if to say, ‘It's going to be alright’, and Toothless gave him one last look before flying off to his freedom.

The Berkians stayed long in front of this cliff, gazing at the sky, even after all the dragons had left. Thereafter, everyone had finally returned to the camp. The dragon riders had wanted to stay a little longer, but eventually did the same. Only the chief remained.

In the absence of his artificial leg to support him, he had taken a seat at the edge of the cliff and remained there until nightfall, lost in thought. The tears he had let flow earlier, had dried on his cheeks.

He heard footsteps behind him. Someone crouched down by putting their hand on his shoulder. Without having to turn around, he knew it was Astrid. His gaze crossed hers and the young man's face relaxed. His features softened as he smiled at her.

"Come on, it's time to join the others."

Hiccup sighed before agreeing. She helped him to get up and he leaned on her shoulder to walk. Astrid supported him in his steps to where the villagers had gathered. Small groups had formed around improvised campfires.

The couple passed through them, stepping over a few people. They watched the men rub their hands to warm themselves by the fire. They told each other stories from the good old days, smiling at the memory of the dragons.

Berk obviously needed to gather after the sad event that had just taken place. Sharing the happy memories that their friendship with the dragons had given them seemed like good therapy.

The further he went, the more amazement could be seen on the young leader's face. Seeing his people gather in this way made them happy despite everything that had happened.

Astrid turned to him.

"What should we do when our loved ones are not with us?"

"We celebrate them," he replied without hesitation.

That's what his father always said. He always had the right words in difficult times. Hiccup was happy to have Astrid at his side for this, among other reasons. She reminded him a lot of his father and it helped him to move forward.

They finally found their old friends sitting in a circle around a fire. The gang was complete. Fishlegs was crying in Ruffnut’s arms as she gave her brother a sadden glance. Snotlout, who was next to Tuffnut, watched the scene unfold without saying anything. They looked really bad. They looked up when their group leader and friend arrived. He smiled at them before sitting beside them.

"So what are you doing out here?" he said to them.

"Well, like everyone else... " Tuffnut replied.

"We’re telling each other stories," her sister added.

"We were recalling the time when the twins almost burned down the shoreline with the fireworms fiasco," explained Snotlout, somewhat amused.

"And I was explaining to them that it wasn't completely my fault... maybe Ruffnut’s," retorted the male twin.

Snotlout was about to say something, but Hiccup cut him off.

"The Edge... it was the good old days, wasn't it?"

"We were young and free," Astrid agreed.

The others then let themselves go to their good memories.

"The Dragon Eye... when we discovered it, it changed everything. It allowed us to explore the world... a world so vast... " his voice broke when he realized that he could never explore this world in this way anymore.

Astrid grabbed his hand and squeezed it into hers, as if to testify to his presence, she was there for him.

"It also allowed us to expand our knowledge of dragons! " exclaimed Fishlegs, who had just dried his tears. "We've discovered so much! Between the Night Terrors, the Death Songs, the Sentinels, the Eruptodons, the Razorwhips..."

This last evocation inevitably reminded him of Heather, for whom he had been of particular interest for some time. As he looked at others, he realized that they had thought of her too. Astrid put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"I miss her too," she sighed, trying to smile.

"Ah... she still had the coolest dragon of all," exclaimed Tuffnut, looking nostalgic.

Everyone laughed at his dreamy gaze.

"We experienced a lot of things there, though... " said Ruffnut. "We learned to work as a team, didn't we, Astrid?" she said while giving a light punch to Astrid’s shoulder.

"Aha, that's right."

"And we have met so many different people, different cultures, different places..." added the chief.

"The last few years have been really rich," concluded his girlfriend.

"Rich in twists and turns, yeah," Snotlout suddenly exclaimed. "Don't forget that we almost got killed, I don't know how many times, by dragon hunters! Not to mention the volcano on the shore, which almost destroyed the entire island! And do you remember the time you and Fishlegs almost-"

Astrid had presented him with her axe in front of his eyes and Hiccup had hastened to lower it down gently.

"And you forget how many dragons we were able to save because of our recklessness," Hiccup reminded him.

The brown-haired man looked down, grumbling, and Hiccup continued his speech.

"We left Berk to live new adventures, to learn how to manage on our own. And that's what we did. We've been through... so much there. These last six years have undoubtedly been the best years of my life. I've been through... incredible things with Toothless, with all of you. We learned to help each other, to support each other in the most difficult times."

He turned to Astrid and looked into her eyes.

"To love each other."

The blonde's blue eyes grew larger; a smile appeared on the corners of her lips. Hiccup took her hand, squeezed it, and kissed her, before facing the gang once again.

"And as for today, we left Berk to offer a better life to our dragons and new adventures that await us."

He squeezed the hand of the young Hofferson, once more. The rest of the dragon riders looked disconcerted. They were stunned by the words of their leader. They all nodded with big eyes. All except Tuffnut.

"That's all well and good, but can you tell me who's going to take me to see Chicken now?!" he exclaimed.

The others looked at him strangely before laughing with a good heart.

Hiccup felt as if a breath of fresh air was invading him. Like he could breathe again. As if any tension had dissipated. His friends had managed to cheer him up. He felt good in their presence. And he knew he owed it to one person.

"Thank you," he said, turning to the one he loved.

This one smiles at him. With a glance, he invited her to get up to escape from the group. She took him under her arm and they left the others with a last nod.

As they moved away from the crowd to their respective tents, they observed the landscape around them. They had a whole village to rebuild, a whole life.

In front of the distracted look of her boyfriend, the blonde called him by name.

"Hiccup, are you all right?"

"I feel better. Thank you again for taking me to see them. I needed this."

The girl looked down and smiled.

"You had to make a serious decision today. It was essential to the survival of the dragons and to ours as well."

She raised his head and looked into his eyes.

"I just want you to know that even though it was hard for all of us, you made the right decision, Hiccup."

Hearing Astrid say it aloud reassured him somewhat because it was true that he had asked himself the question and had turned it over several times in his head after the fact. But Astrid knew him too well and she already knew all that.

"I'm going to miss him," the young leader whispered.

They had just arrived in front of his tent. Astrid helped him to sit on the floor while keeping a comforting hand on his shoulder. In his saddened look, she held his head in her hands.

"I'm going to miss him too, just as much as Stormfly, but you did it for their own good."

The young woman lowered her hands down along his chest.

"And, they'll always be there," she had finished saying by placing a hand on his heart.

She managed to get a smile from Berk’s chief, who covered her hand with his. His other hand caressed her face by releasing it from the golden strands that concealed it.

"You've always been there for me, Astrid."

He kissed her on her forehead.

"Toothless is my best friend. He helped me to become the man I am today. But none of this would have been possible without your support."

The girl's eyes opened wide.

"Living without him will be a difficult ordeal, but you know what, Astrid?"

He paused.

"When I picture myself happy, it's with you."

Hiccup’s face relaxed. He smiled, with misty eyes:

"Do you remember the promise I made to you when we were children?"

"As if it was yesterday," the young woman agreed.

"So I’m asking you Astrid Hofferson, do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

Winter was already well settled in when young Hiccup Haddock decided to leave home. As usual, he had left without permission. Anyway, his father Stoick the Vast wasn't there to stop him. And with Gobber as his only babysitter, he could get away.

At just ten years old, the future village chief was an intrepid boy, in love with nature and its beauty. He liked to get lost in the woods. He didn't really have any friends among the children in the village, but he claimed to love his solitude. The truth is that he was only looking for recognition from his village, and for them to stop treating him a ball and chain.

He soon arrived at the entrance to the forest. He rubbed his arms to warm himself up a little before venturing inward. His feet treaded on the snow-covered ground, leaving footprints behind him, sinking deeper into the forest. The young boy had planned to land in a quiet place to observe the few birds that would hide in the hollows of the trees. In this period of extreme cold, the dragons had left as they did every time the Snoggletog period arrived. The small animals could therefore find a quiet life where they did not have to constantly escape from their dangerous flames.

Hiccup then took a position on a tree trunk from which he could observe some birds coming out to wash themselves. He grabbed his notebook and, with his left hand, began to scribble some sketches. Despite the cold and his red cheeks, he continued to draw for nearly half an hour. After a while of staying in the same position, he decided to move to another place. He went a bit further into a more densely wooded area, and settled again. He began to draw the trees around him and the white carpet at their feet. A noise, however, made him lift his head from his notebook. He closed it with one hand and approached the sound he had just heard. It sounded like cracking wood. He then, continued to walk a little further.

"Ah!"

Someone seemed to be making a physical effort. He approached again.

Tchuc!

It was a girl cutting wood. She seemed to be his age. Two blond strands of hair protruded from her white fur hat. A wolf's skin as a coat, the little girl didn't seem to feel the cold.

Tchuc!

She chopped one more log. Hiccup was watching her closely. This figure looked familiar to him, but he was not sure of himself until she turned around. Without realizing it, he had laid a hand on a branch that had broken under the pressure of the latter. The noise had alerted the blonde. He instantly stooped down to hide.

"Is anyone there?"

That voice. That authoritarian voice that could only belong to one person. Astrid Hofferson. The girl had always occupied a very large place in his heart. So much so that he fell in love with it. He had fallen in love with her fiery temperament, her ability to handle the axe like no one else and her beautiful blue eyes. Hiccup was desperately in love with this girl but he was too shy to confess it to her. Yet he wanted to, but he was too afraid of being ridiculed.

"Have you been here long?!"

The young boy jumped. He hadn't seen it coming. He immediately got up to face her. She crossed her arms on her stomach and raised an eyebrow. And Hiccup knew what it meant; she wanted answers.

"Well... that is to say..."

"What exactly were you doing?"

He gulped with difficulty.

"Well, it's just... I was in the forest and... you were there and..."

"And what Haddock?"

He was stuck. She would never want to believe it. He had to invent something. Or not. Why not go for it?

"There, I followed you because... I love you Astrid Hofferson. Since forever and... one day I will marry you."

He had done it. He had said what he had on his mind.

"It‘s never gonna happen."

And she had dashed all his hopes in less than five seconds. Hiccup stood still in front of her, wondering why he had said all these things. The poor boy didn't know where to put himself. He finally regained his senses and turned back.

"Goodbye, Hiccup."

She had said his name. Astrid had said his name. And she said goodbye to him. The young boy's legs became all shaky. He smiled a little stupidly at her before leaving, red cheeked, for his hut. Gobber could lecture him tonight, it wouldn't change anything about what happened earlier in the forest.

Astrid had tears in her eyes.

"Of course, Hiccup."

He took her in his arms and held her very tightly against him. They were both so happy. They had come a long way. Astrid was so proud of what he had become. By doing that, Hiccup was finally taking full responsibility for himself.

Astrid slipped her hand over his cheek. She looked at his face.

"I love you Hiccup Haddock," she said before kissing him tenderly.

...

Huddled together in the chief's bed, Hiccup and Astrid were not asleep. They didn't need to talk either. One look was enough. And Hiccup looked her in the eye. He had a question.

"When?" he asked, clasping her hand.

"When what?"

"When are you going to be my wife?"

She smiled.

"In winter, just like when we got engaged."

[kingofthewilderwest]

Maybe I'm too late to ask this, but I found a hater recently that said Stoick's death was too cheap or too convenient there. Your thoughts? (Mind you, I didn't watch the rest of his argument againts other things in httyd2 that, while valid, hurt too much to continue)

It’s never too late to ask something or discuss topics! Honestly? I’m very emotionally invested in this topic, so I’m excited you gave me the excuse to talk about it! I’ve seen these critiques, too, around the internet, and while I understand the angle, my personal take is that Stoick’s death isn’t cheap or convenient - but a crucial and powerful storytelling element.

I talked about this years ago here, here, and ESPECIALLY here, but there’s still more to talk about and/or be said again.

So here we go!

Of course there are many ways to write a successful story,but well-structured narrative plots often include a protagonist with an internal conflict. During the story, they learn the difference between whatthey think they need versus what they actually need. This may also tie into how they interpret and act upon their sense of identity. Bothinternal character struggles and external dangers drive story forward… in theend helping our protagonist realize that what they thought the solution totheir internal conflict might not be right.

Oftentimes, our protagonist will develop and changethroughout the story, but there will be several key impacting scenes - takeawaymoments, if you will, that are formulative in what they end up learning. There’sno takeaway moment more important than their deepest low, which usually occurs about twothirds to three quarters through a narrative. During the deepest low, the character is at theirworst - everything seems hopeless, everything’s going for the worst,everything points to the villain winning and the protagonist losing hope. Theprotagonist will probably feel like they can’t conquer the big external badguy, and they question their identity and internal sense of beliefs. In short: everything’s collapsed around them.

This Big, Dark, Emotional Low is a HIGHLY effective storytellingdevice. I mean, we sometimes call it a TURNING POINT for a reason. This is a dramatic,climactic event which takes us from the worst to the best. Deep lows:

Tie together the entire story: the centraltakeaway of the narrative, the character’s internal struggle, and the story’sexternal conflict.

Have the character triumphing out of the deeplow, finding a revelation that may be central to the story’s narrative theme / moral message.

Have the character triumphing out of the deeplow, realizing what they actually need, and getting a key to who their identityIS. The character may question everything of who they are, even the things they thought they believed… before coming together into a stronger, more resolute person who’s found their answer.

Have the character triumphing out of the deeplow, finding the strength and solution on how to defeat their external enemy. They become our hero.

Give a realistic sense of vulnerability audiences relate to. We know what it’s like to hit rock bottom. This can give us “enjoyable” relatable pain in story. When the hero climbs out of the pit… it also gives a sense of inspirationfor how we ourselves can triumph past life’s struggles.

Provide a sense of heightened danger before theclimax. The darker and more hopeless the low point, the more successful anddramatic the moment our hero triumphs. Without a sense of hardship, it’sdifficult to find a “FUCK YEAH!!!” moment for our hero winning. Ergo, theentire story feels more satisfying and successful when our hero saves the day.

In short: deep lows are GREAT storytellingdevices.

The best “deep lows” are those that combine the drama of theouter conflict in a story… and integrate it with a protagonist’s internalconflict of identity. Triumphing from the deep low allows our protagonist to understand what they actually need (rather than what they firstwanted), and it gives them the power to defeat our Big Bad. This alsocan tie to the moral theme of a story, the takeaway message of the fiction.

Stoick’s death is that deep low.

I’ve talked before, in posts three and four years old, abouthow I believe Stoick’s death is necessary to make HTTYD 2 as effectiveof a story as it is. It’s not a contrived plot device or unnecessary death, butsomething I find central to everything HTTYD 2 is about.

In HTTYD 2, Hiccup’s internal conflict is his identity.Specifically, it’s the question about who he is and how he can change the world. Stoick believes it’s time forHiccup to become chief, but Hiccup doesn’t feel ready. Hiccup can’t see himselfas a good leader in part because he doesn’t connect to Stoick’s brand ofleadership. Hiccup knows he loves dragons, but he can’t piece together aboutwhere he’s headed in his life. As Hiccup tells Astrid, “I’m not like you. Youknow exactly who you are. You always have. But… I’m still looking. I knowthat I’m not my father… and I never met my mother…. so, what does that makeme?”

Astrid tells Hiccup that the answer is in his heart - and she’sright - and that’s the exact journey HTTYD 2 will take. Hiccup’s centralinternal conflict is that he doesn’t know what his identity is; what he thinks heneeds is to understand himself since he’s “different” from his father and not “fit”to be chief.

Throughout HTTYD 2, this is developed. Hiccup and Stoickquarrel about how to handle Drago. Stoick’s brand of chiefly leadership believesthat “a chief must protect his own.” But Hiccup wants to change Drago’s mind in the same way how he tamed dragons in the first movie changed Hairy Hooligans’minds. Hiccup, the dragon trainer, thinks he can peacefully reach diplomacy withDrago, a dragon conqueror. Hiccup tries to use his connection to dragons as away to change the mind of one of Drago’s subordinates, Eret. But Stoickdisagrees with Hiccup’s philosophy so much that, in the end, Hiccup runs away…

…and meets Valka.

First in the movie, we see how Hiccup isn’t Stoick, Hiccup isn’tthe same brand of chief. The next part of HTTYD 2 shows how Hiccup is both likehis mother… but also not her, either.

Valka is Hiccup’s second half, a dragon lover and dragonprotector. She and Hiccup both see this. They both want tocreate a better world for dragons. This excites Hiccup, so he thinks he’s foundsomeone who will side with him and confront Drago in the same way he wants. Instead, his conversation with Valka bears striking similarities to how hedisagreed with his dad:

Valka: This gift we share, Hiccup, it bondsus. This is who you are, son. Who we are. We will change the world for alldragons. We will make it a better, safer place.Hiccup: That sounds… amazing. This is so great! Now you andI can go talk to Drago together.Valka: What? There’s no talking to Drago.Hiccup: But we have to…Valka: No. We must protect our own. 

Hiccup is learning that he’s not his father, who stands toprotect human Vikings and will fight a man who conquers dragons. Hiccup also gets a hint here he’s not his mother, who stands to protect dragons but won’tconnect to humans.

The external conflict of HTTYD 2 is the fact that Drago is adangerous warlord who will crush Berk, the Bewilderbeast’s sanctuary, andanything in his path. The inner conflict of HTTYD 2 is Hiccup trying to findhis identity - specifically his passion for how he can change the world. Bothof these conflicts are developed in how Hiccup interacts with his parents and Hiccupwants to handle Drago. Hiccup believes that, because he convinced the HairyHooligans that dragons are safe, he can also negotiate with Drago and convincethe warlord to preside in peace.

In fact, one of the things Hiccup clings to the mostis that he believes he can negotiate with Drago and change his mind.

And then… he meets Drago.

Hiccup will find out that both his parents are right - Dragois a danger to humans, Drago is a danger to dragons, and Drago cannot bereasoned with.

It’s then our Deep Low Event happens.

Toothless. Kills. Stoick.

And Hiccup, crying, suffer through his father’s funeral.

This is the moment where EVERYTHING about HTTYD 2′s narrative comestogether.

Hiccup is destabilized. Entirely destabilized. He’s been ina quest to understand his identity and what he can do to change the world forthe better. In the midst of his self-searching and self-questioning, the fewthings he thought he understood about his identity have been wiped fromhim. Hiccup thought that his revolutionary friendship with dragons could givehim the background experience to negotiate peace with Drago. Hiccup thoughtthat he was right and his father was wrong about how to handle Drago. Hiccupthought that he couldn’t be chief. And yet here he is: he’s going to be forcedinto leadership on account of his father’s death. He didn’t just fail tonegotiate with Drago, but his relationship with dragons was cut away from him:TOOTHLESS was used to kill his FATHER. All the stabilizing elements in Hiccup’slife - that Stoick could keep being chief, that Hiccup’s identity was connectedto his peace with dragons, that Hiccup could be a peace-creating diplomat - these have been stripped away exactly because of what happened betweenDrago, Stoick, Hiccup, and Toothless on the battlefield.

This is Hiccup’s giant questioning moment. It’s destabilizingand effective because it tackles EVERYTHING Hiccup has been going through inthe story. It’s about the external baddie, Drago, who turns out to be even MOREformidable and deadly than Hiccup could have imagined. It’s about the internalconflict, in which Hiccup’s quest for identity and impact have been cut outfrom under him. What he thought he wanted - negotiations of peace - aren’t possible. And this giant questioning moment ties in every other important plotthread - Hiccup’s relationship with his father thinking he’s not a chiefly son;Hiccup’s relationship with his mother and their passion for protecting dragons; Hiccup’s relationship with Toothless and believing theirfriendship is inseparable.

We get this Deep Low clearly stated in Hiccup’s tear-felt mourning: “I’mnot the chief that you wanted me to be. And I’m not the peacekeeper I thought Iwas. I don’t know…”

This moment even ties together what Astrid told him at thestart of the film. The solution to who Hiccup is, and what he’s meant to do, isalready inside him.

In the midst of this darkness, Hiccup finds his turningpoint. The solution to his problems: both his questions of identity, and how tohandle Drago.

The solution is that Hiccup is both his parents.Hiccup has already subconsciously found who he is. He has “the heart ofa chief and the soul of a dragon.” Exactly because he’s a mix of hisfather and mother, he’s able to do what they couldn’t alone: unite humanity anddragons in a way that can defeat Drago. Hiccup didn’t think he wanted to bechief because he wasn’t like his father - that’s what Hiccup thought -but the truth isn’t what he wanted or expected. Hiccup is someonepassionate enough to take on the mantle of chiefdom… because he’s his ownrevolutionary, unique self who’s willing to take a stand for what he believesin. Hiccup finds his identity here as a man of BOTH human and dragon worlds. Hiccup will learn that a chief protects his own, like his father says, andthat the Alpha protects them all, like his mother says. This together helps him realize the story’s moral theme: protect them all. Know when you can negotiate peacefully (save mind-controlled Toothless) and know when you need to stand your ground (fight Drago) to protect everyone you can.

This turn around moment is the bindingglue that will allow Hiccup to pierce the Bewilderbeast’s mind control, reunitewith Toothless, become chief, and use humans and dragons both to fight off Drago’sarmy, and triumphantly declare, “This is what it is to earn a dragon’s loyalty!”

Thus, Stoick’s Ship is the turning point that gives Hiccupthe strength to say that he’s going to try to be a great chief, and that he andhis friends are going to go back and tackle Drago a second time. It’s thesolution to everything: that Hiccup can find out who he is, and that Hiccup canfind a way to beat Drago – albeit by a different way than he first thought.

So. If you take away Stoick’s death, you’re taking away theculmination of everything the story has been building up to, and you’re takingaway Hiccup’s momentous turning point that leads to the story’s conclusion.

Awesomely enough, the turning point is the moment he turns around to face his companions, a fiery look in his eyes, and the determination to do what he knows needs be done.

While you could try to generate other possibleturning points as substitutions to Stoick’s death, I honestly don’t think any substitute could be this effective (not without reworking the story’s scaffolding). If Stoick werestill alive, Hiccup wouldn’t be as driven to become chief. If Toothless didn’tkill anyone, or if Drago just took Toothless away, then Hiccup wouldn’tstruggle through the same destabilizing he needed to go through to in hisDarkest Hour. Hiccup’s beliefs wouldn’t have been as challenged as so obviouslycrushed. Stoick’s death is what leads our hero to his heroism - dark as that truth may be.

Dean DeBlois wrote HTTYD 2 thinking about his own coming ofage and loss of his father. He would have scripted this storyspecifically around the psychological turns that happen when you lose a parentand have to be forced into adulthood. Dean didn’t write this as a contrivedshock value death (though of course there’s shock), but as an intentional cruxpoint for the emotions he wanted to impart in this narrative. It’s a story about what happens when you must step into adulthood and be your own.

I’ve seen people say Stoick’s death wasunnecessary and that Hiccup could have learned to become chief while his fatherstill lived. We audience members are all going to interact and respond to mediadifferently. As for me, I think that Stoick’s death isn’t just a good writing element, but what MAKES the film.

This is the REASON why I love HTTYD 2 so much. It’s why I CONNECT. I love good narratives, and this part is apowerful, culminating narrative moment. I’m also someone who love emotionallyresonant and painful moments in fiction - and it struck me hard to seeour main protagonist go through a real loss that couldn’t be “fixed” and“forgotten” by the end of the film. HTTYD 2 was willing to write our herosobbing on his father’s body, and to carry that weight with himeven after he conquered our villain. The realness of it - while still being aninspiring rather than cynical story - is why HTTYD 2 remains one of my favoritemovies today.

[dragonmasterhiccup]

She smiled back at him. “Of course. Anytime.”

She sharply inhaled as she was about to reply to Hiccups ‘yes,’ but then he started going off about his armor and all the things that she was going to need. She shook her head, chuckling lightly. “Yeah, I’m gonna have to pass on that. You have so much random stuff attached to your armor, it probably makes you weigh like an extra… twenty pounds, maybe more.” She grinned. “And besides, I can just hold all that stuff in a satchel or something.”

A mischievous smirk came to her face. “‘Especially Astrid,’ huh? What, are you scared of her? Your own girlfriend?”

She gave him a very offended look. “Snotlout? Shut your mouth-“ She was cut off by him announcing that he was ‘just kidding,’ but she didn’t believe it. “I don’t think you are ‘just kidding,’” she said, putting up air quotes. “If you even try to pull something like that, I will not be showing up.”

Her eyes widened at the mention of her standing by his mom. “Seriously? But that’s like, the front front row, are- are you sure? I mean, if you and Astrid were both okay with it, I wouldn’t turn it down, but… like… I dunno, are you sure? Like a hundred percent positive?” She was at a complete loss for words, completely taken aback at just the mere thought of her standing by Valka.

Scoffing, she replied, “Well, that’s good, I’m not as useless as I thought. Who knows, maybe I’ll start giving out my expert advice out to others?”

“That’s so embarrassing though!” she exclaimed, placing her head into her hands. “What if I mess up big time, and just, completely miss the target or something?! Or- or place dead last in a drill?! Because the only drills that I’m actually good at are the stealth ones!” She groaned in a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance. “Y’know what? The day I find out that you’re coming to ‘monitor’ or whatever, I’m not showing up. I’d rather do all the push-ups in the entire world than suffer through that.”

Laughing, he shook his head. "It does not! It's all very compact and functional, but hey, if you want a satchel, then that can be arranged!"

Raising an eyebrow at her, he gave her a look. "Really? That's your assumption? I don't want to hurt Astrid, because I love her. Being a jerk would, in fact, hurt her. That being said...I don't want to be on her bad side, either. I was when we were kids, and I'd prefer not to revisit those days, after everything we've been through."

"I swear to you, I was kidding. You'll be nowhere near him, I'll make sure of it!" He noticed that she seemed a little struck by the idea of being towards the front, so he had a new suggestion. "To me, you're family. You belong in the front. But, if you prefer, you can always stick with Camicazi. She'll be towards the front, but probably a few rows back."

"How is it embarrassing?" He really didn't understand, so he listened as Danny continued. "Oh, I see. But...you're still learning. So what if you mess up?" He gestured towards himself. "You're looking at the past village disappointment, I don't think you have anything to worry about." Letting out a sigh of resignation, he continued. "But, if that's how you really feel, I won't drop by, alright? At least until your class graduates. The chief does have to be present at that ceremony, and a couple classes leading up to it."

[dragonmasterhiccup]

She let out a shaky breath. She wasn’t deserving of being considered his family, not before and most definitely not now. “No, I didn’t, I just meant like family family, y’know? You and Astrid are betrothed and your mom is, well, your mom. I’m just kind of…there- But if you want me to learn how to play Maces and Talons with you, I will.” She was barely able to keep the smile on her face as she spoke.

‘Of course not.’ That was all she needed to hear, but she continued listening anyways, even though the guilt consumed her even more with every sentence he spoke. She had almost succeeded in killing Berks Chief. She would be the one who could potentially make the village feel unsafe. This was all her. “Yeah, I understand, that wouldn’t be good if everybody was freaking out.”

She nodded. “No problem.” They had fallen into silence for a few minutes, Danny getting lost in her thoughts once again. As of right now, she would consider Hiccup to be lucky. He was oblivious to the fact that the person who had literally shot him was sitting directly next to him on the ground. And he had so many people whom he could lean on when needed. Astrid, Valka, heck, even Toothless, and that wasn’t mentioning that he had the entire villages support. Gods, if only she could be him.

Danny on the other hand, only had Hiccup to lean on, and even then, he was only there as a last resort, for when things got so bad that she was scared of her own mind. Other than that, she literally had no one else. She would’ve counted Valka, and maybe even Astrid, but she was in no way close enough to them for that.

Looking out the window, she could see the sun setting over the horizon, and that was her sign that it was time to go. Standing up, she looked over at Hiccup. “I… I should go. I’ll uh, I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe.” She couldn’t guarantee that she would show up tomorrow, not if a short visit like today’s was enough to make her feel this bad.

She said a quick goodbye to both Hiccup and Toothless before making her departure, closing the door softly behind her.

(So, so, so sorry for not doing the time skip ☹️, I promise I’ll do it in the next response, I just wanted to get this one in before I went to bed. It’ll be good though!)

"They can't be with me all the time, they're helping me to run things until I can take it over again. They will visit, of course, but they're going to be pretty busy in the meantime..." That, and he hadn't been able to play Maces and Talons for ages, he thought it could be fun, teaching Danny.

He let out a sigh, shaking his head. "I don't like doing it, but the important thing is that I'm okay," Well, relatively okay-- "...that the attempt was a failure, and we'll find a way to keep Berk safe, without causing a panic."

He leaned back, starting to feel more drained, exhausted than before. He didn't realize how much of his energy it took just to talk. Of course, the momentary panic from a few minutes before didn't help in the slightest.

He looked over at her. "Oh, yeah, I should get some rest. Thank you, for coming. It means a lot." He gave her a soft smile, and he and Toothless watched her leave.

Toothless tilted his head, he'd sensed her mixed emotions, and didn't know what to make of it. He looked at Hiccup, who'd gotten a little paler again.

Hiccup was trying to recline back, without irritating his wounds, and adjust his pillow so he could lay down. Toothless walked over, letting Hiccup lean with his good arm on his head, and the dragon batted at the pillow until it fell, landing perfectly. He helped Hiccup lay back. "Thanks, bud!"

Exhaustion took over, and he was asleep before the sun finished setting.