#and happy and wanting to watch httyd for the first time in almost a year

[verathena14]

I'm curious, are there any other fandoms your in besides Kingdom Hearts

Yeah! I do mostly post about KH because it's my current hyperfixation for over a year now whoops. I am in quite a few other fandoms, though I use the term "fandom" loosely; I enjoy the source material for most of these, but haven't really participated in any online communities (for the most part)

Warriors: My very first Internet fandom! I don't really participate often anymore but I still have Warriors OCs with a buttload of backstories. I've kinda lost interest in the series though.

Wings Of Fire: Again, don't participate too much and it's been a while since I've read the books. But gay dragons <333

Grishaverse: I love the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology!

TWEWY: I got introduced to TWEWY through DDD and now I love it almost as much as KH! Currently playing through NEO:TWEWY in my spare time :3

She-Ra (the 2018 remake): The 80's She-Ra was really popular when my mom and aunt were kids, so I had the DVDs for Season 1 and had nothing but fond memories of it, so I was really interested when Netflix announced SPOP. I watched the first season with my sister, forgot about it, and then finished watching it about a year ago. I shipped Catradora from the moment they showed up 😅and I was so happy when they confessed and kissed!

Spiderverse: Okay so I had heard of Spiderverse when it came out and I think my afterschool program played some of the movie but I hadn't really paid attention. About a year ago I decided that I finally wanted to watch it, and I'm so glad I did! It was very good, and the sequel was even better.

Crown of Feathers: This one's a bit more niche, but I read this series a little over a year ago. I had a good time with it (very good, much gay, also PHOENIXES) but I haven't really found anyone who's enjoyed it.

OH and HTTYD: I'm a *very* casual enjoyer of HTTYD. I only ever watched the main titles and RTTE, (sorry if you're reading this bev) but I do really want to watch some of the other stuff.

I think that's it? I'm still relatively new to online fandoms 😔

and the kh brainrot is still going strong

[akirameta84]

major spoilers for very future events of my httyd au fic in my answer to @crookedlyinnernightmare haha. i basically just spill a shit ton of the plot which will be written but not for a potentially very long ass time so this might be a good read if you like the au and are super impatient (like myself unfortunately)

they do fight in arc 2, but its hard to explain without ALL of the context. kuusuke...hates humans. and thats an understatement. his dad was killed by vikings before he hatched, and he watched his mom be killed in front of him, forcing him to raise his baby brother (who was so young at the time he barely remembers their parents) before he was so much as a teenager. and then, when kusuo was even younger than age he was when their mom died, kuusuke is captured by vikings and imprisoned, forced to fight and train their children.

he grew up in that cage. in my au dragons age the same as humans, and the general timeframe is: kusuo was 3 and kuusuke 7 when their mom died. kuusuke was captured at 10 when kusuo was 6. kuusuke escapes when hes 20, and kusuo is 16

thats half of his god damn life. unlike their mom who was much older raising her children, kuusuke didnt know what he was doing. kuusuke knew how to hunt and fly at close to an adult level by 7. kusuo was still iffy on both fronts by age 6 because kuusuke wasnt much more than a child himself.

their species is telepathic, but only for things that can be heard with regular ears at the same time (meaning a door can muffle it), so he was aware from hearing vikings talk when he was outside the cage that he was about to be given his final fight, made the prize match for the next group of trainees. he was going to let the kid kill him because he really didnt know what he was still living for

in his mind, kusuo had died not long after he was captured. either to humans or his own inexperience (in my own mind, young kusuo would probably have died of something like rabies if he never found young touma which is a whole different plotline im not rambling in this post. he really didnt know what he was doing)

so, when hes released into the arena with with a purple haired viking as his opponent, hes prepared to ruin the fun the vikings want to have and lie down to die instead of giving them the fight they want

but, in the massive amounts of verbal and mental noise, he can make out a vikings thoughts that gets his attention because he recognizes a name

"That dragon looks so much like Kusuo..."

kuusuke dispatches aren depressingly easily becauses hes 10 feet tall and pure muscle after all those years of fighting, struggling to fly due to not having done so in a decade but succeeding in clinging upside down on the upper chain net

he fits right through and escapes, jumping dangerously into the crowd and right on top of kaidou, the source of the thoughts he pinned down. he doesnt speak to kaidou or anything, he just sniffs until hes rewarded with the fact that kaidou actually DOES have aome of kusuos scent, rips off his jacket, and flies off with it to find his brother

their fight after a happy reunion a good bit after kuusuke escapes is when he figures out thats kusuos friend touma is a human. he feels almost betrayed and in his frustration tries to kill touma, and kusuo intervenes. thats when they start fighting. mikoto had to wrestle away touma who wanted to help his friend but would be mauled if he did, and reita was the one to separate them, as he was just barely able to overpower kuusuke when mikoto joined in, who flies off until later

kusuo suffers a broken rib and one of his wings being dislocated. the first one was from him getting in front of a charging kuusuke whod intended to slam touma against the solid stone behind him, who probably would have nearly died from the impact alone, but kusuo fares better being more on kuusukes size than a human. the wing was just from the direct fight itself.

and ill stop there because this is basically just plot events that im jumping around in time for <3 but i wanted to share because i love this au so dearly but i write so slowly that i cant publish it at a rate that will have things be shared in a timely manner. but i can ramble like this lol

i just realized, in my httyd au, kuusuke is 100% the stronger brother compared to canon.

hes significantly bigger and stronger than kusuo, he has a greater stamina because he has a slimmer coat of feathers as opposed to kusuos thick, heavy coat that gets exhausting in the heat, and hes been trained to fight by being used for viking training for years by the time they reunite. kusuo is the second smallest dragon of the main cast, Hii is the only one smaller

sizes of the main cast from smallest to largest: Hii, Kusuo, Mikoto, Kuusuke, Reita

so in a direct fight in this au, kuusuke has the advantage. if its a solo fight, he wins. hes the bigger and more powerful dragon with significantly more fighting skills than his brother.

his only major disadvantage as well is that hes half blind, but that happened years ago while he was still in the arena, and hes long adjusted. it doesnt disadvantage him in any significant way by the present au timeframe

[thanksfornothinguselessreptile]

It’s so painful now, going back and rewatching a lot of the television series episodes after HTTYD 3 came out, but so far in my experience, “We Are Family” parts 1 and 2 take the cake in just how much it hurts to rewatch with the third movie in mind.

More under the “Keep Reading” due to length and HTTYD 3 criticism.

I remember back before we knew much about the second movie, let alone the third, this two-part episode was still one of the most emotional moments in the season. However, now that HTTYD 3 is out, I almost feel like they are more sad than heartwarming in hindsight. 

From the beginning of the first episode, once Snotlout asks who Toothless will fly with in the air parade if all the dragons will be flying with others of their species, Hiccup seems to be more bothered with Toothless being the only Night Fury on Berk than Toothless himself is. While Hiccup stresses himself out about Toothless being lonely, even telling Astrid that Toothless has “no one” and not believing her when she tells him that Toothless has him, Toothless doesn’t really strike me as invested in the search. The only times he appears more than slightly invested is the single loop he does when Hiccup tells him that they’ll have found Night Furies by the next day to some mild disappointment when Hiccup senses something is wrong with the Night Fury luring Toothless away on the “Isle of Night” and calls him back. There is none of the desperate, slobbering obsession that Toothless has in the third movie, to the point where Toothless completely ignores the Light Fury nearly killing Hiccup and Astrid twice, once in nearly the same way that Stoick died a year before. Neither are there any snide implications, from characters within the story to the narrative itself, that the friends Toothless already has on Berk aren’t enough because they aren’t the same species or love interests. There’s just someone who’s concerned for his friend, even when his friend seems happy enough. 

And if the friendship that Hiccup shows trying to look out for Toothless isn’t enough, there is the entire second episode. Hiccup is given an ultimatum: either he trains the caged dragons for Alvin, or Toothless dies. We see Hiccup, usually one to think his way out of tight situations, trying to use a rock to tunnel his way out of a stone cell because he wants to save Toothless but is too panicked to think clearly. And the wish to save his friend isn’t onesided, either; Toothless, after his own escape, immediately sets out after Hiccup to rescue him. And despite his initial despair after Hiccup flies off on the Deadly Nadder without having seen him, he doesn’t give up, even when the scent trail he was following has been broken; when we next see him, he’s still searching for another trace of Hiccup’s scent. 

And their reunion toward the end of the episode is, in my opinion, the best moment in the series, and I fully admit to having rewound and watched this bit alone several times in a row. We see the joy on Toothless’s face when he sees Hiccup safe and sound, and the relief in Hiccup’s face when Toothless charges him for a hug and in his voice when he apologizes for his perceived role in the capture. And when Alvin angers Hiccup and Toothless into flying right into an ambush, the other dragons swoop in to save them without any prompting from their riders, even when one was just befriended that day. 

And if you needed it spelled out for you even after an hour’s worth of story, Hiccup outright says in the closing narration that family isn’t just something you’re born into, while showing Hiccup and Toothless flying with the other main riders, thus solving the question of who Toothless would fly with if not his species. Hiccup, his friends, and their dragons are all Toothless’s family, not through being the same species, but through their bonds. 

Overall, it’s just crushing to watch after having seen the third movie, which has a message which is the antithesis of everything these two episodes said. 

[emixion]

Creatures and Cryptids - Day 10 - Maribat March 2021

oh man, i really love this one. Here’s a HTTYD Au for today. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do. @maribatmarch-2k21 ao3 link

Marinette was worried about Damian.

She’d hardly seen him lately. The boy had increasingly become absent over the past few weeks, skipping out on meals, classes and even training.

It was so unlike Damian to skip training.

He was a dedicated warrior, more so than any other kid in their village, and the fact tat he even refused to show up for training was very troubling to her. And very suspicious.

Not only was he absent, but he was acting strange as well. He seemed very distracted. Never in the present on the rare occasion she did see him, which was incredibly unlike the ever vigilant boy.

Not to mention sneaking fish from the mess hall. What was that all about?

She’d tried asking his family about it, but they were just as clueless as she was. His older siblings had noticed his absence as well, but chalked it up to him going through his rebellious teenage years. She wasn’t so convinced.

Marinette had enough of all the mystery, so she decided to go investigate herself. She’d seen Damian scurry away during dinner, stuffing some food in his vest before taking off into the woods.

Marinette’s brows knit in confusion. What could he be doing in the woods?

Quietly, she began to follow him, grower more and more confused as they ventured further into the woods. It seemed as though he knew his way around this area. Like he’d been down this path many times.

Marinette had no idea what was so secretive that he couldn’t tell her or even his family about it.

Her mind flashed with hurt the more she thought about it. Wasn’t she his friend? Didn’t friends tell each other secrets?

She was pulled from her thoughts when they reached a clearing with a small pond. Marinette quickly hid behind a nearby tree and watched Damian intently as he took the fish from out of his vest and began calling into the empty clearing.

Wait, was that a..growl?

Dragon! her brain quickly alarmed her.

Marinette watched in shock and horror as a blood red Monstrous Nightmare flew into the clearing from nearby and parked itself in front of Damian.

Pushing herself away from the tree, she quickly ran into the clearing, pulling out her slingshot.

“Damian!” She yelled, making the boy whip around.

“Marinette?!” He yelled back in surprise.

“Run!” She exclaimed, loading up her slingshot. “Get away from it!” She was in a clear panic.

The Monstrous Nightmare immediately went into a defensive position and growled dangerously at her. Marinette gulped as she approached it, she knew Monstrous Nightmares were one of the most dangerous dragons around (besides Night Furies, of course.) They could light their skin on fire, for Odin’s sake! Still, Damian was her friend and she would be damned if she let a winged devil hurt him because she was afraid.

With a battle cry, she pulled back her slingshot-

-Only to be tackled to the side by Damian.

Marinette let out an “oof” as Damian pulled her down with his body. He then quickly stood up and faced the Nightmare, making Marinette panic more. She scrambled to her knees and looked around for her slingshot, only to groan in dismay as she saw it on the other side of the clearing.

She was about to attempt to sneak around the Nightmare to fetch it, but stopped dead in her tracks.

Damian had his arms out, and was…speaking to the dragon? Like he was trying to soothe it? What on Earth?!

“Damian..?” Marinette called, bewildered by the sight before her. Her jaw was practically on the floor.

“It’s alright, Goliath.” He murmured to the Nightmare. The dragon surprisingly stood down, but still eyed Marinette warily. Damian then turned to her.

“It’s okay.” He offered her his hand. She took it, letting him help her up. “You just scared him.”

“I scared him?!” She cried, looking at Damian like he’d grown a second head.

“Listen,” Damian began, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I can explain this.”

“Explain what?” Marinette asked. “That the reason you haven’t been around lately is because you have a secret dragon pet? That you’ve skipped out on training so you can hang out with a Monstrous Nightmare?!” She grew more and more panicked as she ranted, pacing in a line.

“Angel, please, you’re hyperventilating-“ Damian attempted to calm her down. All the while the Monstrous Nightmare munched at the fish Damian had left for it.

“Of course I’m hyperventilating! This is- this is crazy! You’re crazy!”

“Marinette, please, do you trust me?”

She stopped her pacing to face him.

“Of course I trust you. But this-“

“If you trust me, you trust him.”

“Trust him?! He was about to attack me! Who is “him’ anyway?”

“His name is Goliath and the only reason he got like that was because he thought you were going to attack first. He acted in self defense.”

Marinette faltered. She had run in armed and tried to shoot him. She couldn’t deny that.

“Listen to me.” Damian continued, gently taking her hands in his. “I know this sounds crazy, but just let me show you.” He walked her over to Goliath slowly. Marinette shook slightly as they grew closer and closer to the massive dragon.

“Watch.” He said, and before Marinette could protest, her hand was being held out to the dragon, Damian’s hand on top of hers. She tried to shrink away but Damian held her steady, whispering reassurance in her ear.

Goliath perked up and slowly sniffed the two humans’ hands. He paused for a moment before gently leaning into Marinette’s palm, Damian’s hand still placed over hers.

Marinette looked on in awe. She couldn’t believe her eyes, she was actually touching a dragon!

“He-he’s not going to attack me?” She stuttered in disbelief. Damian shook his head with a small laugh.

“No.” he said. “He won’t attack you.”

Marinette’s eyes were still glued to the dragon who she was now tentatively petting.  “I don’t understand…how did this happen?”

Damian stroked Goliath’s horn. “I found him here injured one day and nursed him back to health.” he explained. “I don’t know why, but I just..couldn’t kill him, Marinette. I looked at him and saw another living creature that didn’t want to die.”

“That’s…that’s amazing Damian.” She whispered, tearing her gaze away from Goliath back to him.

Damian looked almost bashful for a second, but quickly shook himself off. Typical Damian.

“I want to show you something else.” he said.

“Oh no, is there another one?” Marinette asked, panic starting to fill her voice again.

“No, no.” Damian laughed. “Come here.” He waved Marinette over to Goliath’s side.

“What are we doing?” She asked before yelping as Damian picked her up and boosted her onto the dragon.

“You’ll see.” He said as he hopped on in front of her. “Goliath, let’s go, pal.”

The Monstrous Nightmare stretched its wings and stood up.

“Damian..” Marinette began, her arms winding around his waist to secure herself. “Are we..?”

“Yep.” Damian replied just as Goliath took off into the sky.

Marinette screeched as they left the ground, watching the grass get further and further away. She buried her face against Damian’s shoulder, afraid to look.

He looked back at her fondly as they gained more altitude soaring into the clouds.

“Angel,” he called once they gained enough height. “You can look now.”

Marinette shook as she hesitantly pulled her head back and looked around. She gasped.

“Wow!” She exclaimed breathlessly, making Damian smile. The view was absolutely breathtaking. She could see the clouds within reaching distance, the pinks and oranges of the setting sun, the horizon as it sat dividing sky and sea. She’s never seen anything like it.

Goliath flew down closer to the ocean and let her graze the water’s surface with her fingertips while Damian kept a secure hold of her waist.

“This is…amazing.” She sighed, sitting back up and placing her chin on Damian’s shoulder. “He’s amazing.”

“He is.” Damian agreed, giving Goliath’s head a pat. The dragon cooed in response.

“I’m sorry.” Marinette said meekly. “I shouldn’t have tried to attack him. I was just-“

“Scared.” Damian finished for her. “It’s okay, Angel. I understand.” he reassured her.

“I’m glad I listened though. I’ve never thought about dragons like this, but…” she trailed off, hugging  Damian tighter. “You’re an odd kid, Damian.”

Damian laughed, lightly nuzzling his head against hers. “That’s fine with me, Angel. Just as long as you’re on my side. -

After the night grew dark and Goliath grew tired, he flew back to the clearing and returned to the ground. Marinette and Damian hopped off his back.

“I can’t believe we did that!” Marinette chattered excitedly. “We actually rode a dragon! How many people get to say they’ve done that?”

Damian listened on fondly as she expressed her excitement.

“Did you see how high we were?” She continued. “And when the stars started to come out, oh my Odin, it was incredible!”

In her giddiness, she moved in close to Damian and pulled him into a tight embrace.

“Thank you, Damian. I had a lot of fun.” her voice went soft and almost a bit shy.

Damian thanked the moonlight for concealing his red cheeks. “You’re welcome, Angel. Would you-“ his voice faltered for a moment. “Would you want to do this again sometime?”

Marinette beamed at him and Goliath.

“I’d love to.” -

The two bid farewell to Goliath and walked back to the village hand in hand.

“My parents are going to kill me.” Marinette groaned. Damian chuckled.

“I don’t think Father will be too happy with me either.”

“Does anyone else know about Goliath?”

“You’re the first one I’ve told.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea.”

Soon Marinette’s house came into view and she turned to say goodbye.

“I’m sure you’ll think of something.” She reassured .

“I can only hope.” Damian replied.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.” she said, hesitating for a moment before swooping in to kiss his cheek. “Goodnight.” She whispered against his skin. And with that she scurried to her front door, pausing to wave at him before slipping into her house.

Damian waved back, face burning, before heading in the direction of his own house. His grin lasted the entire way home.

He would have to thank Goliath the next time he saw him.

[crazy4dragons]

Gift of the Night Fury Appreciation!

March of Dragons ‘21 Prompt: Drop a happy rant about an episode, scene, character etc. that you love (Mar. 16-18).

The first thing that popped into my head when I read the prompt was Gift of the Night Fury! It’s been here since almost the beginning, but I feel like it sort of gets buried under all the (still good!) newer content. GOTNF is my favorite HTTYD short ever. In my opinion, it captures everything that made me love HTTYD to begin with: Hiccup and Toothless’ friendship, Hiccstrid, everyone on Berk coming to know and love dragons. It also fits into canon very well! Oh and let’s not forget that it literally foreshadows HTTYD3 with Hiccup creating a tail for Toothless to wear and fly on his own.

I like how GOTNF shows everyone on Berk learning and adjusting to dragons and I absolutely love that someone (probably Hiccup TBH) told Fishlegs that Meatlug was a boy and the twins had to explain to him why she was laying eggs. Also, I love Astrid with her Snoggletog traditions. I feel like GOTNF is one of the few times we get to see Astrid’s full personality. She’s always up for a battle and she’s definitely tough but she can also screw up and be just as much of a dork as Hiccup. I’d kill to see a raw, uncut version of their household after they have children, haha. Oh, and Hiccup making the tail for Toothless while pretending to like Astrid’s yaknog is priceless.

Also, the way Hiccup wants what’s best for Toothless but has a hard time coping when Toothless actually flies away is so parallel to HTTYD3. As much as I enjoy the fun shorts like Dawn of the Dragon Racers and the humor in some of RTTE, GOTNF just fucks me over in a whole different way. I think part of it is nostalgia and part of it is just that it captures what I love about the franchise and the characters perfectly. It’s not trying too hard or trying to add a bunch of new characters (absolutely no hate to fans who love all the new characters in RTTE/ROB/DOB! I personally had a couple I liked as well but for the most part they just didn’t click with me for some reason). It just exists and does a great job rounding out/building on the characters and relationships that I loved from the first movie.

Oh and let’s talk about that Hiccstrid kiss at the end! Absolutely adorable. I like older Hiccstrid and I love some good mature Hiccstrid smut interactions but there’s something just so heartwarming and sweet about 15-year-old Hiccstrid having innocent crushes on each other. Too cute!

Anyway, love GOTNF! I watch it every Christmas to celebrate; it’s become one of my go-to holiday specials and is probably my favorite!

[yv-sketches]

Why I did not like Never and Forever’s ending

I was the first person on tumblr to get it and I’m afraid I’ve scared multiple people by saying something happens at the end. I’m very sorry for that, so I’ll do my best to explain why.

First off, I don’t dislike this book, and I didn’t write this to convince people to dislike its ending. In fact, I’m incredibly happy for every singe person who liked the ending better than I did.

Secondly, I know it is me. I am too old for this. I really ought to quit drawing characters from a middle grade book and do more important things with my life.

MAJOR SPOILERS UNDER THE READ MORE. Please do not click here if you haven’t read the book. I mean it, don’t click.

In my last year of high school (yes I am that old, I feel old too), I followed program for people who might want to study English at university. There was a fancy professor with fancy books and everything. The subject was Arthurian legend, and almost all of the the medieval stories were incredibly depressing and/or disturbing, so I’m stuck with a lot of cursed knowledge about king Arthur I would rather forget.

There is no historical Arthur, or a definitive version of the myths including him. If anything it’s more like a bunch of fanfics about original characters that got lost over time. BBC had their interpretation, Guillermo Del Toro has his, Disney has theirs and now Cressida wrote one.

Unless you know that medieval depressing stuff, which the target audience probably doesn’t, twoo’s ending is actually pretty sweet. The witches are gone, the fules kissed and no one is confirmed dead. Not even Sychorax’s suitors.

~

My problem is not with the reveal itself, but the way it was done.

Httyd 1 started with the prologue that foreshadowed the ending that would follow 12 books later. The first httyd book is riddled with clues and messages that connect to the final story. The two dragons biting each others tail on Stoick’s shield, the injury on Toothless’s chest. Small things that have a major impact once you know what they mean.

Twoo does not have anything like that. In the first three books, there were no hints, no clues, no red herrings to conceal the twist at the end. Not once was there a joke about ‘Once and Future Magic’, or a mention of the city Camelot.

(The warrior capital could have been called Camelot in a random sentence no one would pay attention to, or Xar could joke about how the person of destiny was the once and future monarch of the entire Wildwoods.) All I found was a magic sword and a bird named Caliburn. Caliburn was already a character, so I did not expect the sword to be Excalibur/Caliburn too.

When Wish put the sword in the stone, I did expect a link to the Arthurian myths. A promise that the sword would get out of the stone once there was a peaceful kingdom of Wizards and Warriors together maybe? Like httyd, it would be a hopeful ending that one day there would be a king/queen to rule over a kingdom without slaves mining iron or droods with scary prisons. I did not expect the characters themselves to end up in the Arthurian myths.

~

The Arthurian ending would make some great character arcs if they’d been written in from the start. Xar never gets magic, but he becomes a wise king, with a round table with werewolves and hobs as equals. It’d be a perfect ending for him. Morgana used to be a benevolent magician watching over Arthur, and that sounds exactly like Wish. Yes, she is the person of destiny, but she stays Arthurs magic protector and best friend. Also perfect.

Bodkin gets over his fainting thing and becomes a honourable knight? Hmm... He spent three books disliking violence and wanting to be a storyteller. He might have overcome his fear and beat the Nuckalavee, but being good at something does not equal liking it. There’s also the ableist implication that you have to get over a condition to be a worthy hero, and that doesn’t feel right at all. However, he is the epitome of chivalry, and he’s a Fishlegs-like hopeless romantic whose crush might unintentionally start a war.

This all makes sense, and it would have been an amazing conclusion. I think I would have loved the ending if there were pages in book 1-3 showing that Cressida’s Camelot was far less creepy. The tales of arcadia and BBC versions each have a kid friendly version for their story. If the series was set in an entirely different Camelot, one Cressida specifically created for her story, it would be amazing to see Xar become a great king and Wish the most powerful Wizard. Instead, Camelot did not seem to exist until halfway into book 4, so the only Camelot I thought of was of the disturbing medieval variety.

~

The last pages just leave us with the names. This was an original world with original characters, no reason to assume they would grow up to be Arthur, Morgana and Lancelot until the last 15 pages. Then the entire series ends.

The httyd characters got an ending that leaves them right where they are. Three children on their way to a brighter future, happy to be alive and happy to be together, and perhaps dragons will return when the world is a better place.

From How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury:

So that is where we will leave them, Hiccup and his friends: forever young, forever hopeful, singing their hearts out on the island of Tomorrow. BECAUSE... If it doesn’t end well, then it isn’t THE END

This is not possible with the twoo trio. Cressida told me exactly which adults they will grow up to be, and with all the terrible things that medieval people wrote about their characters, I also know there is no reason to be hopeful. I feel bad closing the book if that is how their lives will continue.

It does NOT end well, and it IS the end.

These characters deserved better than the fates assigned to them in the last few pages.

[its-lovelyhappycollection]

Thunderbirds and httyd: gift of the nightfury

HERE IS THE HOLIDAY SPECIAL OF MY THUNDERBIRDS/HTTYD AU! I HOPE YOU ENJOY

Merry Christmas and Happy new year!

*Alan voice over*

This is Berk, boasting the kind of balmy, fun-in-the-sun climate that will give you frostbite on your spleen. The one upside is our annual holiday. We call it Snoggletog. Why we chose such a stupid name remains a mystery. But with the war long over and dragons living among us, this year's Snoggletog promises to be one to remember.

*Back to normal*

Alan slept soundly in his bed, dreaming of him and Tin-Tin sitting on a cliff overlooking the sunset. just the two of them. Alan looks back at Tin-Tin and gazes into her beautiful yellow-green eyes (I have no idea what her eye colours are), he leans closer and just as his lips are about to touch her's he is suddenly jolted out of his dream by a loud banging sound coming from the roof and a dragon moaning. Alan covers himself with his blanket, hoping to shut the noise out and return to his blissful sleep, but the banging continues and so does the moaning.

read on A03

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"ALAN! WILL YOU PLEASE GO AND SHUT THAT DRAGON UP!" Scott yelled, and Alan reluctantly gets out of bed and puts on his helmet, although his family had accepted that he named his dragon after their deceased brother, it still brought some tension between them. Alan lumbered down the stairs and put on the fur vest that he left to warm up by the glowing coals from the fire the previous night, pausing to gently brush Gordon's helmet that sat upon the fireplace. It was a tradition in the Tracy hut to brush the helmet before they left for luck and so that Gordon's spirit will be with them, Alan opened the door and was welcomed by a blast of cold air, shivering slightly he walked to the side of the house and looked up to the rook where his dragon 'Gordon' stared at him.

"well good morning, Mr. bossy" Gordon made a gurgling sound with his throat and Alan mockingly mimicked him as Gordon climbed down "do you always have to wake me up this early to go flying~!" Alan metal foot suddenly slipped on the ice but luckily Gordon caught him in time and set him back on his two feet. "Stupid leg" he muttered kicking it, Gordon made a noise of concern "oh thanks bud, I'm ok. We can go flying now" Alan said and patted Gordon's face, but at that time Gordon let out a burp and Alan got a breath of his fishy breath "Eww, eww, what? Eww! Argh! Gordon!" Alan moaned playfully and saddled Gordon up. Soon they were soaring high above the clouds, alone. Just how they liked it. "Ok, let's see what you got today," Alan said and Gordon dived down, making the all familiar screeching sound and opened his wings just before they hit the water. They soon came upon some rock formations and Alan decided to try something "ok, you ready?" Alan then unhooked his leg closing Gordon's prosthetic tail, and he stood up. As Gordon flew towards the rock, he then lept up from the saddle, flying over the rock and landing back on Gordon's back and opening the tail once more "yes! Finally!" Alan cheered, after many failed attempts they had finally perfected it.

Meanwhile back on Berk, the Vikings were using their dragons to help put up decorations, Tin-Tin stood next to the giant tree in the centre of the square holding three shields, "ready girl?" she asked her Deadly Nadder Stormfly, who squawked in response and readied her spines. Tin-Tin threw the shields up and Stormfly launched her spines, attaching the shields to the tree. A young Viking wearing a dragon costumed ran up to Max and roared and Max responded with a loud playful roar, the child giggled and ran off with Max chasing after them.

"atta boy Max!" Fermat called from where he was attaching decorations to his house

"Odin's beard Taylor. Vikings and Dragons spending the winter holiday together!" Jeff said as he walked around the square, watching his fellow Vikings put up decorations. "What would our fathers say?"

They'll say that we've lost our minds!" Taylor cheerfully responded and Jeff stood in front of the large tree and addressed everyone

"Hahahahaha. Well done. Well done, all of you! I've never thought I'd live to see this day. Peace on the island of Berk. This will surely be the greatest holiday, we've ever seen!" everyone cheered along with their dragons when a loud screeching sound from above caught their attention. They looked up and saw hundreds of dragons all flying in the same direction

"what in Thor's name?" Scott said, suddenly platinum let out a large roar from a rooftop and took off with the other dragon's following leaving their riders confused and calling after them.

"Platinum come back!"

"Sherbet! No-no-no! Don't leave!"

"where are you going?"

"Easy, Smasher!" Virgil cried as his dragon buckled violently sending him flying off, luckily he landed in a pile of hay, he surfaced just in time to see his dragon join the others

"where's Alan?" Tin-Tin questioned, recalling that she hasn't seen him all morning.

Meanwhile, Alan and Gordon were flying back to berk after their flight "what do you say bud, wanna do that again? WOAH!" Alan quickly turned Gordon to avoid crashing into Eos, they flew through the crowd of dragons trying to find out what was going on when a dragon accidentally knocked his helmet off with its wing. "oh no! my helmet!" Alan cried patting the empty spot on his head and Gordon immediately dived after it not listening to Alan protests "Gordon No, no, no, no! Whoa... Wait! Gordon! Stop!" Finally, Gordon stopped just before he could dive in "We'll get it later, bud. We need to get back and find out what's going on" Alan looked back at the direction from where the dragons were coming from, while Gordon looked at the sea, trying to find the helmet until Alan diverted him away and flew back to berk.

Meanwhile, everyone was still trying to get their dragons to stay, but to no avail. Stormfly had just taken off when Alan landed and was immediately surrounded by a horde of frantic Vikings, asking him questions that muddled together "alright, that's enough!" Jeff's voice cut through the chatter, he Vikings immediately made a path so he could get through "give the boy room to breathe! Alan, do have any idea what's going on?"

"I-I'm sorry dad. But I have no clue" Alan looked at him with sad eyes, a roar caught everyone's attention, the looked and saw Gordon talking to Storm Fly and Gordon standing up on his hind legs before Stormfly took off. Jeff immediately called for an emergency meeting in the great hall, Alan gathered at a dark corner of the hall with his friends and waited for his father to finish talking with his brothers. Meanwhile all around them, Vikings were shouting questions at each other.

"Where did they go?"

"What will we do?"

Eventually, Jeff stood up on a table and the crowd immediately silenced "everyone calm down. We will get through this, celebrations for Snoggletog will go on as usual" that caused an uproar from the Vikings

"but what about the dragons?"

"What will happen?"

Jeff held up his hand for silence "we're Vikings, we've survived fine before the dragons joined us. Now, we don't know where they've gone off to. But we need to have faith that they'll be back soon. Am I right?"

"That's right! We're tough!" Taylor answered waving his prosthetic hand that had bells on it, everyone stared at him. "Well, most of the time" he finished lamely, soon the Vikings left the hall and walked slowly back to their huts

"man, it's a bummer about our dragons," Penelope said as she dragged her feet, Kayo looked over to were Fermat look suspiciously happy. He was even whistling

"aren't you sad that your dragon is gone?!" She yelled at him

"oh, uh yeah of course!" he said and quickly became sad and quickly shuffled away, his friends stared after him when a roar caught their attention. They turned to see Gordon still on the ledge staring out to where the dragons had disappeared to.

"You're lucky. Your dragon can't leave without you" Penelope said to Alan glaring at him before leaving to go into her hut, and the others followed their families back to their huts. Hoping that this was just a dream.

The next day the Vikings slowly cleaned up the mess caused by the dragon's frantic escape, the village children slumped over a snow-dragon sadly.

"Yak-nog! Get your Yak-nog here!" Tin-Tin called cheerfully getting the attention of other Vikings, she walked over to where friends were standing with Virgil and John. "Hey, guys! Want to try my drink I just made?"

"What is that?" Kayo said not hiding her disgust as Tin-Tin poured out what appeared to be barf from her jug into a goblet.

"It's my new invention. It's called Yak-nog. You see last night I thought that instead of moaning about our dragon's being gone. We should create some new holiday traditions! Starting with Yak-nog! Who wants to try it first?"

"uhh...I would, but I had a really big breakfast today. So I'm stuffed!" Virgil said, patting his stomach

"and...I just remembered my mum wanted me to pick some berries for dinner!" Penelope said and quickly ran off in the direction of the forest

"oh, well maybe Alan would like some" Tin-Tin said

"he's in his workshop," John told her and watched her walk off "I feel so sorry for Alan"

"yeah," the others said

Meanwhile, Alan tightened a bolt on his invention and checked his blueprints again

"Hey Alan" Tin-Tin greeted him

"oh, hey Tin" Alan greeted her and grabbed a mug off her tray

"so what are you working on?" she asked him and he put down his mug so he could hold the invention in both hands

"well, I couldn't stop talking about what Penelope said last night. Gordon cant' fly like the other dragons so I was up all night and made him this" he opened the invention to show her that it was like Gordon's tail except that it could open on its own. He took a huge sip of his drink and almost spit it out at how disgusting it was, but being the polite Viking he was he held on and tried his best not to swallow it.

"no way! You built him and new tail?!" Alan nodded, and said a muffled agreement "but what if he never comes back?" Alan shrugged "oh, how am I kidding? Of course he'll come back. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to spread some more holiday cheer!" she called over her shoulder and ran off, Alan waited until she was out of sight before spitting the disgusting drink out and gagged

"Blegh!" he shuddered and looked over the tail once more before gathering up and left to find Gordon. He eventually found him on the roof and quickly called him down. "hey bud, check this out" he said holding out the invention and Gordon climbed down and sniffed it curiously "you like that huh?" he said as he walked around Gordon to put the tail on but Gordon turned to see what he was doing "would you just? Calm down!" Alan laughed as he finally managed to put the tail on Gordon. "You are going to love this"

Alan stood up and back off as Gordon brought his tail around and snarled at the new tail before banging his tail on the ground trying to get it off. "No! No! Easy bud!" Alan cried, trying to calm down his dragon but Gordon didn't listen until he managed it get the tail to open and stared at it curiously. "Pretty cool right?" Alan asked as Gordon continued to stare at his fixed tail, Gordon turned to stare at him before opening his wings and took off in the same direction the dragons had. Alan stared at the direction where Gordon disappeared from for a while before Scott came out and found him.

"Hey Al, what's wrong?" Scott asked leaning down so he was eye level with him

"I felt bad that Gordon was the only dragon left, so I built him a tail so he could fly on his own" Alan mumbled

"it's alright Al, Gordon will come back with all the other dragons" Scott reassured him and Alan nodded in agreement "by the way, dad's looking for your helmet"

"My helmet?"

"Yeah, you know. To put your Snoggletog treats in"

"oh, right. I'll get it out"

"Good. Now, do me a favour and take these down to the docks" Scott said to him and handed him an armful of oars.

"why?" Alan grunted as he took the weight of the oars

"cause dad asked me but I have a date. Later" Scott called as he ran off with Alan glaring after him, sighing Alan made his way to the docks but ran into Fermat who was carrying a huge basket of fish

"oh, Alan!" Fermat greeted him

"hey, Fermat. Wow, you've got enough fish there to feed a dragon!" Alan joked, Fermat stared at him before laughing nervously and quickly shuffling off. Alan frowned and followed him as he disappeared into one of the storage huts before quickly coming out and shutting the door. With a gleeful smile he ran off, so Alan leaned the oars against the hut and opened the doors wide open. Only to find himself being rammed by a Gronkle. "MAX?!" he explained in surprise, Max's eyes turned to him, just as surprised to see him as he was to see him, Max dove down before flying up high into the sky.

"Alan?! Where are you going?!" Tin-Tin yelled after him

"I have no idea..." he yelled back as Max flew further away from berk

"Max! What about presents?" Fermat yelled from up above, soon Penelope and Kayo arrived and joined them in the hut where Fermat had hidden Max "I can't believe him"

"you can't believe him?! You kidnapped your dragon!"

"I was 90% sure he wanted to stay"

"hey, guys!" Kayo called from inside the hut, both Tin-Tin and Fermat turned around to find both Kayo and Penelope inside the hut and staring at a pile of straw "check this out!"

"what is it?" Tin-Tin asked as she walked in, and gasped when she saw what kayo and Penelope had discovered

"Woah! Max barfed out a pile of rocks!"

"those aren't rocks. Your dragon laid eggs!" Kayo said in a 'duh' voice

"but boy dragons don't lay eggs"

"well, your 'boy' dragon is actually a 'girl'"

"well, that might explain a few things," Fermat said awkwardly

"Wait. That's it! That's why the dragons left. To lay their eggs!" Tin-Tin realized "hey, that's it! everyone misses their dragons right?"

"oh no" Penelope muttered as they watched Tin-Tin run over to a box of ribbons and tie a bow around an egg

"it could be a new Snoggletog tradition!" the others grinned at the idea and quickly set to work tying red ribbons around the eggs before sneaking into their fellow Vikings huts and putting the eggs in their helmets.

Meanwhile, Alan had managed to climb onto Max's saddle and watched the scenery change as Max flew them into a foggy area. Max seemed to know the area well as 'he' expertly flew through the rocky area expertly

"Max, where are you taking me?" Alan asked for the umpteenth time when he saw a strange shape in the fog, he leaned closer to try and see what it was and saw that it was an old abandoned Viking ship, Alan yelped and quickly pulled upwards on Max's saddle to avoid it. Max flew high above the clouds until they reached a beautiful cove that stole Alan's breath away. Max landed on the beach as he took that chance to climb off to explore, he only took a few steps before stopping and staring at the sight before him. All around him were dragons... With babies! "You guys come here to have babies," he said in awe. He looked to his left and saw a Gronkle pushing eggs into a small pool of water. Curiously he walked over and watched as baby Gronkles emerged from the pool yawning cutely. "Oh hey, you missed one," Alan said as he noticed a lone egg nearby and walked over to it, not noticing the red glow the egg had. He reached down to grab it when it suddenly exploded and sent him flying back, he recovered quickly and saw that the baby Gronkle was unharmed and wandered over to its parent. "Man, it's a good thing those don't hatch on Berk."

Meanwhile back on berk, the 4 teenagers had just finished putting the last of the eggs in the Vikings' home and gathered together in the courtyard

"wasn't this a great idea?" Tin-Tin said excitedly to them

"Yep. Everyone's going to be so surprised!" Fermat said excitedly before the Viking hut behind them suddenly exploded and something was shot at Fermat that caused him to fall over. The object turned out to be a baby Gronkle who yawned cutely

"awww!" Kayo and Penelope gushed at the baby dragon

"the eggs explode?" Tin-Tin said in shock when another two Viking hut suddenly exploded. "THE EGGS EXPLODE!" more Viking huts started to explode, all around them frantic Vikings were running around, trying to escape the flying debris from the huts, two baby Gronkles managed to land close together and they watched the frantic Vikings in curiosity. Just then some of the debris landed on the wooden tree causing it to go up in flames

"This is awesome!" Kayo said excitedly as the continued to watch the destruction of multiple Viking huts "this is your best idea yet" she said to Tin-Tin

"what in Thor's name is going on here!?" Jeff demanded to the teens as he entered the courtyard with Taylor and his sons

"the eggs explode," Tin-Tin said guiltily before another Viking hut exploded.

Back on the island, Alan wondered around thousands of dragons with their babies while calling out for Gordon. "Gordon! Where is he?" the last part was muttered as he came to the end of the section he was walking in and saw a familiar dragon. "Hookfang!" he called excitedly and Hookfang looked up at his voice, he ran over to give the dragon a hug who purred happily "Stormfly. Platinum!" the two sharp-classed dragons looked up and called their greetings as he ran over to hug them "oh it's so good to see you guys. And you have...babies!" he said as he reached down and patted a baby Deadly Nadder and Razorwhip. "I guess you have your own holiday tradition" he finished sadly as he remembered everyone preparing for Snoggletog back home, he looked back at Hookfang and asked if she would give him a ride which she answered by lowering her neck so he could climb on. As Hookfang hovered in the air he called back to the dragons saying that he'll see them when they go home. But at that moment all the adult dragons started to fly in the air "I think I just started the return migration" Alan said as the dragons flew to the edge of the island with the babies running after them. A few brave baby dragons lept over the edge and managed to get airborne but were blown back by the wind. Alan frowned, he knew the dragons wouldn't leave without their babies when he suddenly remembered the abandoned Viking boat. "I have an idea" he nudged Hookfang who reluctantly followed his commands and gathered a few other dragons who flew back to the boat. he lept off Hookfang and told the dragons to stay there before opening up the storage basins and found some rope, he smiled happily as his idea could just work.

Back on Berk, everyone was busy cleaning up the destruction the eggs had caused, the baby Gronkles had been gathered and were currently asleep.

"Argh! This is the worst holiday ever!" Jeff said to Taylor as they entered one the remains of a destroyed Viking hut

"oh, you don't say," Taylor said as they watched Tin-Tin fix the roof

"the village is destroyed. The dragons are gone. This holiday is a complete me- what are these people looking at?" Jeff asked as he saw that everyone was staring at something in the distance. A huge group of dark figures were flying above the clouds pulling something behind them

"What is that?" John wondered, just at the moment the moon came out from behind the clouds to reveal hundreds of dragons pulling an old Viking boat.

"it's Alan!" Scott realized

"and our dragons!" Tin-Tin said excitedly and the Vikings cheered as they watched the boat land on the ground and was pulled towards them, stopping a few feet in front of them. The Vikings quietened as they watched as a baby Rumblehorn poked in head out of the boat followed by many other baby dragons. The adult dragons released the ropes they had in their claws and dropped to the ground, the baby dragons clambered out of the boat and walked to their parents. The Vikings cheered and ran to find their dragons.

"Smasher!" Virgil cried happily as he hugged his dragon who nudged him with her horn playfully

"Stromfly!" Tin-Tin cried and quickly climbed down the ladder to greet her dragon "oh, you had me so worried girl! And you have babies!"

"good job son!" Jeff congratulated Alan and hugged him tight

"Thanks, dad" Alan wheezed out, gasping for air when he was released "Everyone! To the Great Hall! We finally have something to celebrate!"

Everyone cheered and made their way to the great hall which had been expanded over the months since the dragons started to live with them. They lit up the torches and talked amongst themselves as their dragons relaxed and watched their riders interact with their babies.

"This is the best holiday ever!" Fermat said happily as he hugged two of Max's babies, next to him Kayo was scratching one of Hookfang's babies and Penelope was playing with two of Sherbert's. Alan wondered around, smiling at the other Vikings as they interacted with their dragons happily, but he still felt sad that Gordon wasn't with him.

"Alan, I know this must be really hard for you seeing us with all of our dragons," Tin-Tin said as she walked over to him "but you really did a wonderful thing," she said giving him a kiss on the lips and hugging him

"Thanks, Tin" Alan muttered and wrapped his arms around him

Tin-Tin looked up when she heard the doors of the great hall open and a familiar black dragon walked in, his eyes roaming around to find one particular Viking. Tin-Tin grinned before breaking off the hug, much to Alan's surprise

"uhh, is there something wrong?"

"nope. It's something good" Tin-Tin grinned and shoved Alan around so he could see Gordon

"Gordon!" Alan said excitedly as Gordon ran up to him and pressed his head against him, purring happily. Alan hugged Gordon for a minute before stepping back and waved his finger "bad dragon. Very bad dragon!" he scolded, ignoring how Gordon followed his finger curiously "you had me worried sick! Don't ever disappear like that ever again. And what is in your mouth?" Alan demanded, just noticing that Gordon was holding something in his mouth, Gordon answered by placing a slobbered covered object on his head.

"eeewwww" everyone said

"great you found my helmet. Hey! you found my helmet! That's where you've been?" Alan asked as Gordon nudged him happily "thanks bud. You really are amazing" Alan said before wrapping his arms around Gordon's neck who looked surprised but leaned into it happily. The Vikings cheered, now that everyone's dragons were home safely it really did feel like Snoggletog.

"happy Snoggletog!" Tin-Tin cheered as Alan broke the hug and she greeted Gordon, around them the Vikings went back to their celebrations which went late into the night as everyone celebrated the holiday with their dragons before they all finally went home.

The next morning, Alan was happily awoken by the familiar thumping sound of Gordon bouncing on the roof, he climbed out of bed and ran down the stairs excitedly. "I'm coming bud!" he called and ran to the side of the house, but to his surprise, Gordon was no longer on the roof and was instead on the ground standing behind his old saddle and tail. "Gordon, why did you dig this stuff up? You don't need it anymore" Alan said, walking around it so he could climb on Gordon, but to his surprise Gordon kept moving away from him, walking around his old stuff. Would you stop messing around? you have your new tail now" Gordon looked at him before looking back and opening his tail, he looked back at Alan who still had no idea what was going on. Then to Alan's surprise Gordon stared the slam his tail on the ground "no, wait! Gordon stop!" Alan cried, but Gordon didn't listen and continued to bang his tail on the ground before flicking it hard, sending the new prophetic tail flying far away. He then brought his old saddle with hi teeth and looked at Alan with big eyes, he then nudged it with his paw and grunted.

Alan grinned as he finally got Gordon's message. Gordon didn't just want to fly with him. He wanted to fly with him. He liked being unique, Alan nodded to show that he understood the message and gathered up the items and saddle up on Gordon who took off excitedly.

*Alan voice over*

Winter and berk last most of the year (Gordon and Alan flying high above the clouds) it hangs on with both hand and won't let go, and the only comforts against the cold, are those you keep close to your heart ("you ready bud?" Alan asked and Gordon grunted happily, Alan unhooked himself from the saddle and his foot from the pedal. He then stood up on the saddle before leaping off with Gordon diving after him. When they were both at the same level, Gordon nudge Alan playfully with his paw causing him to spin in mid-air) turns out, that was the best Snoggletog ever, that year I gave my best friend a pretty great gift (Alan moved over to the saddle and opens up the tail, Gordon spreads his wings out slowly their decent as they speed past the trees, causing the snow on them to fall off) he gave me a better one (Gordon roars happily as he and Alan fly into the distance)

THE END

I know that baby Razorwhips are born blind, but in this story, they aren't

[inke-ri]

*winces* yea. see, I think this hits the nail on the head. After a year I finally found the post that really explains my big issue with the hidden world. I remember back when the movie came out, and I had a minor breakdown (okay, little more than minor, might have cried a bit) over the fact that Dean constantly called the dragons "wild animals" and that directly clashed with the way I saw them (as intelligent thinking creatures capable of making their own choices). I even quoted the exact two things in OP's post, but it was in the sense of "did I seriously misunderstand the plot so badly? were Valka and Hiccup just projecting onto the dragons after all?"

I was very confused and very upset but I kept putting the blame on ME, the viewer, thinking I had missed a key part of the way this story was written... But now, after having many months for this movie to settle in the back of my head, I can see that it... Wasnt really me. It wasnt my interpretation that was faulty. I had thought so, I think because it had been hammered into my brain that Dean had thought of the ending for so many years.

It's honestly kinda funny because I went off specifically about this several dozen times - how HTTYD1, GotNF and HTTY2's themes directly contradict 3's, that the WHOLE POINT was that love > instincts - but I always missed the fact that no, it isnt just love > instincts. Its the fact that those instincts were never violent in the first place.

The movies can sometimes throw you off, because of the Alpha's control on Toothless in 2 and the way the Queen was an aggressive little tyrant in HTTYD1. But the whole point of the movies was that "everything we know about you... is wrong" (or however the quote goes, it sucks that 3 has soured even my constant rewatching of the first movie). That dragons when left on their own arent naturally distrustful and aggressive, they're kind and curious and playful and respond to trust with trust of their own.

And I guess I had forgotten, I guess I took 3's canon as hard canon and thought the problem was with me as the one analyzing it. And now my tiny little brain was just blown once more, as I remember the lesson HTTYD 1 taught us all over again. Is this how the berkians felt when Hiccup showed them dragons werent inherently evil? hah! It's almost worth it, for the delight of feeling how they felt |D

I guess its just... good to know that the problem wasnt me, y'know? it takes a weight I didnt know I had off my shoulders. It isnt really us being salty for "no reason bc the movie was great you just dont see it". Its the fact that they literally changed the core of how dragons think and behave, and slapped a HTTYD-esque coat of paint and setting over it. Of course everything is gonna feel off and weird for a fan, because they're moving and talking like Hiccup and Toothless but theres a subtle underlying difference making them out of character. and thats it, thats exactly what made all these scenes feel so off! Its cause they changed the most important rule of HTTYD's universe. When you change the very core of your world lore, its literally impossible to keep the ripple effect of that from affecting every single character. And its just so freeing, to finally understand that it wasnt just a bunch of weird decisions and scenes that dont make sense. To stop wondering how all those changes were approved of when the message of THW is so contradicting of the rest of the series. Its literally just one change- a massive one, but so subtle that you dont really realize how much it impacts the plot until someone in tumblr whacks you over the head with it.

Valka: This wasn’t a vicious beast, but an intelligent, gentle creature whose soul reflected my own.

THW crew: 

[antihero-writings]

The Fall and the Fury

Fandom: How to Train Your Dragon

Fic Summary: Hiccup knew it was better to send the dragons away...but he may never fully recover from losing Toothless. The nights come with a fury unlike anything he knew before.

Notes: 

This fic actually has a story behind it, but it’s long and kinda spoils what happens in the fic, so check my reblog for that!!

I’d absolutely love to write more for this franchise, though, so if you’ve got any prompts, send ‘em over!! I just don’t know what to write on my own XD

Also * A group of dragons is called a "thunder." (Just learned that, and I love it XD)

I’d really really appreciate if you could leave a comment!!! They really do make my week, and motivate me to keep writing!!

The Fall and the Fury

“There were dragons, when I was a boy.” Hiccup tells his children dramatically.

“There were great, grim, sky dragons that nested on the cliff-tops like gigantic, scary birds.” He stands up holding his arm up high. “Little brown, scuttly dragons”—he scuttled his fingers along their legs, making them laugh—“that hunted down the mice and rats in well-organized packs.”—He mimicked a dragon chomping down on a mouse, by tickling their stomachs—“Preposterously huge sea dragons that were twenty times as big as the big blue whale.” He held his hands far apart.

“Did you have a dragon, daddy?” Nuffink asks softly.

He grins at the question. “Yes, I did.”—And behind the words is a joy unlike anything they’ve seen in their father before before—“He was the rarest of all. He was a Night Fury.” As the words rang, the wind seemed a little louder outside. “I called him—”

******

Everything is blue; deep and navy, almost black; the sky, dotted with sparks, the waves below bouncing moonlight back up to them.

The wind plays with his hair, and it seems the man in the moon is laughing. Hiccup lays on the dragon’s back, breathing out, staring up at the stars, and for a moment he is…perfectly happy.

But that’s the thing about moments, about happiness.

His breath is snatched from somewhere deep in his gut.

The fall. Abrupt, and unending. Navy and white flashing by, and the dizziness is not from the spinning, but the fact that somehow, his best friend isn’t there to catch him.

And as his dragon shrieks, looking, panicked, down at him, trying to catch up to him and, for once, failing… the two getting further and further away, until the dragon is but a black speck in the distance…it feels like Hiccup’s very heart is what’s being pulled from him. The strings between them unraveling, and they’ll surely sever.

And somehow he knows he’ll never see him again.

When he wakes up it is in a sweat that is somehow cold, and that breath that he couldn’t find seconds ago is back with a fervor. And for a brief second he… wishes it wasn’t. That he wasn’t breathing, wasn’t here, wasn’t now.

“You have the heart of a chief, and the soul of a dragon.”

That’s what his mother told him. One day. So long ago now.

There were dragons when he was a boy, but dragons…they’re not around anymore.

What is he now? The last of the dragons, left alone in this winter, unable to breathe the fire that will keep the cold at bay. It’s so very cold within this skin.

He wishes he could be there, with him.

He thought he was human. Once. Bred to kill dragons, when all this started, so long ago; on that night, when he shot down the most prized dragon of them all. That boy, all scrawny and weak, shaking as he held that knife, thought he was a killer. The thought is laughable now.

Though perhaps it is less laughable than the truth.

He thought he was human. He was wrong.

Maybe that’s what brought them together, what saved them both—(and perhaps it was what became their downfall too? Just how much he loved them, loved him—too much…)

He never thought their adventures would end. He didn’t think Neverland would come crashing down. …He was so young then.

Their lives were built around dragons. Killing them, then caring for them, befriending them, riding them. Without them their foundation cracked, their lives came crashing down. And he’s left here alone with a dragon’s soul, crying out for for his lost species. His thunder* left him here alone. The last of his kind.

And he wishes with everything inside him, that he could be human, for just one single day. Because it isn’t worth the way his soul burns.

“Sometimes I think I can hear him,” he says to his children, with a far-off look in his eye—which he casts out the window and into the night, hoping he’ll reel something in—telling them fairytales and ghost stories in tandem before bed. He hopes they don’t hear the pain lurking behind those words, the desperate longing fused to his irises.

He wants to introduce them to the dragons more than anything. He wanted them to grow up befriending the stars, and unafraid of the fall, too. This is perhaps the greatest tragedy of all; not what he lost, but what they never had.

Sometimes he thinks he can hear that fire and lightning, building power, violet in his throat, until it explodes. Sometimes he thinks he can hear that in the middle of the night.

Once it was such a terrifying sound; the sound of their doom, of houses exploding, of men and woman running for their lives, because this one wouldn’t come for the sheep…it would just shoot its blasts, and knock their world down, and glide away with the wind. Like the wrath of the gods. The fury of the night.

That sound became so comforting it makes his chest hurt to think of now. That longing becoming daggers through him.

So each time he hears it, he shoots up in bed, calling his name, only to find that it’s nothing. Just a figment of his yearning imagination.

Of course it’s nothing.

Sometimes he thinks he can feel it too—feel that fire burning in his own throat.

Until he realizes that’s just his own voice, burning out from screaming so long. And that his breath can create no more fire than words.

And make no mistake, words can be more flammable than a spark in a dry forest.

Sometimes he thinks he can feel him underneath him. His wings around him. Wind and fire and awestruck power. Chasing the daylight.

And everything is perfectly alright.

Until he falls. And falls, and falls. He falls a long time—and surely he will catch me, he always does… before he realizes…he’s not there. So he wakes up, trying to ignore the sting in his eyes, the tracks that have surely stained his cheeks after so many of these nights.

That’s how all his dreams end now: falling.

He never feared that before. With the dragon by your side, there isn’t much to fear. Falling was once exhilarating—at least it is when you know you have someone to catch you. Now he knows what it is to really fall.

And he wishes the dragon was still right there in front of him, to comfort him, nudge him out of his sadness. Make him laugh, no matter how sad he is. Wishes he would wake up to see him laying on that rock he would light up with his breath so it would be warm. Wish upon the stars that can’t surround him anymore. To say it was all a nightmare and they never left.

Is this what growing up is? Is childhood but a dream, to be so harshly severed by the sunrise?

Then he looks down at his leg, like he did the first day they made a difference. The part of himself that’s gone. And it reminds him of too much. Of how they broke each other—(after all, they were supposed to be enemies)—and fixed each other all the same—(but they knew they didn’t have to be).

But he can’t fashion the missing piece of himself out of metal and good intentions this time.

(Now he’d sacrifice the rest of his limbs, if only he could get back his wings.)

Some nights it’s too much to bear, and as the memories tear him up from the inside out, he holds tight to the empty sheets, and finally whispers aloud, to the tempo of hollow heartbeats, and the name he gave him;

“Toothless….Toothless…Toothless…”

[howtodrawyourdragon]

With Love

Summary: Post-Httyd 1 and post-RoB/DoB. Hiccup has seen dragons touch foreheads with each other before, but didn't quite know what it meant. One day Toothless does it to him and he finds out.

Rating: General

Words: 973

Author’s Notes: This is the fic I wrote a week ago that I was so excited to share! It’s also my 2k follower gift to you guys, inspired by Hiccup and Toothless touching foreheads in Httyd 2 and RttE.

Constructive criticism is appreciated.

Enjoy!

Ao3

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Entire lungfuls of laughter erupted from Hiccup's throat as he fell on his back, holding his stomach. Toothless followed his example as he set near him and let out a guttural sound from deep within his throat.

Hiccup's laugh was something special. It wasn't like other humans on Berk, who bellowed out their joy with every breath they took. It wasn't like dragons' either. Hiccup's were pure and they were rare. To hear him lose it like this has been lifting the Night Fury's heart ever since they first met almost a year ago now.

Toothless wasn't even sure why they were having such fun anymore.

They had crashed, which usually wasn't such a laughing matter, and they were in the cove because of it. Toothless was sure the other Dragon Riders were somehow involved. And... an eel?

It had all gone by so fast, though he was certain the twins were especially guilty in this case.

Toothless watched Hiccup as he completely lost it, probably more than he should.

"Ah, I can't breathe!" He spoke, struggling to regain his breath. Toothless' head cocked to the side as he gave him a noise.

Hiccup wiped at his eyes as he slowly collected himself and stared up to the sky through the treetops, there were tears in them. Toothless waited for him to do so.

Ever since the war ended, there were many days like these. Days that were just filled with laughter with both reason and no reason at all.

It was all because of Hiccup, the Viking boy now kneeling in front of him trying not to lose it again and the dragon wasn't even sure anymore if even he remembered why himself.

Toothless knew joyous days like these existed because of him.

Before, back when the Red Death had him and many other dragons under her control, his days were dark and filled with fear. And then Hiccup came along and showed him they could be happy, too.

Sometimes, during quieter moments, the Night Fury wondered if Hiccup even knew how much he meant to him. He knew he meant a lot to Hiccup, his Rider showed him often enough.

"Toothless? Bud?" Hiccup spoke his name, smiling brightly, when he noticed his best bud's staring.

It was as he stared at his human and felt his heart swell with love that Toothless decided on the spot to return the favor.

"Agh, Bud!" Hiccup yelped when Toothless decided, for seemingly no particular reason at all, to headbutt him. Their heads smashed together and nearly flattened Hiccup again. Maybe it was a bit harder than the dragon intended.

Toothless crooned, lowering his head as he tried to inspect where Hiccup held his forehead.

"What was that for?!" His giddiness was still there, so Hiccup's smile told Toothless. He was just fine. And though he didn't understand yet why the dragon decided to butt heads together, he didn't mind.

Warbling something as Hiccup was clearly okay, the Night Fury then swatted his hands away from his face and pressed his forehead against Hiccup's again, considerably more careful this time to prevent a repeat from a moment or two ago. Their noses were touching as well.

"Bud?" Hiccup called for him, smile fading as confusion took hold. His claws were still holding onto his hands, he didn't want Hiccup to draw away from him yet.

Briefly pulling back, Toothless purred something before repeating the action and this time he stayed there, eyes closed.

Hiccup quickly figured his dragon was trying to tell him something and it was up to him to figure out what.

He has seen dragons do this to each other before. They would give each other headbutts like these. Sometimes they were brief playful touches and on other, more rarer, occasions, they would be long and they would look almost intimate.

They would look almost exactly like this, except more two-sided.

Hiccup stared at his Night Fury, who patiently waited for him. The next time he pulled away again, Toothless warbled happily and let go of his hands. He chirped, barely able to sit still.

That's when Hiccup figured it out. He didn't quite know what it was that tipped him off, he just sort of knew. Somehow.

It was love. It was a way for the dragons to show that they loved each other and just now Toothless had done it to him. Hiccup was stunned.

He wasn't sure where it came from, what prompted Toothless to do this so suddenly, but he wasn't complaining. He was touched and he felt honored.

He'd seen it happen amongst mates, amongst family, amongst friends. What they all had in common was that Hiccup knew how close each and every one of them were, how special one was to the other.

In a way, it was almost like a kiss. Humans did it on the lips, on the cheeks, or on the forehead. And again, with lovers, with family, and with friends. Dragons usually licked whoever or whatever they liked, but this was something deeper than that.

Toothless hadn't given him that "Forehead Kiss" lightly and Hiccup needed to take a deep, deep breath in order to contain all of the emotions swirling inside of him. There was gratitude in there as well and a love as equal as the one Toothless apparently felt for him, too.

Unbeknownst to Hiccup, it first sparked when the day he'd shown a lonely Night Fury what "drawing" was and it has been growing ever since.

So Hiccup thought he should return it, he wanted to return it. Without another word spoken, he gently grabbed his best bud's face and pulled him closer to press their foreheads and noses together again. Their eyes closed together.

"I love you too, Bud." Hiccup spoke and Toothless purred contentedly in return.

[belleofhell]

So @jake-marshall didn’t technically tag me but I’m doing this anyway bc I like talking about myself and movies I like. Here’s seven movies I consider to be comfort movies!

Peter Pan

I could really pick just about any animated Disney movie from up to the early 2000s and it would be a comfort movie for me. Anything from The Rescuers to Beauty and the Beast to Lilo and Stitch. But Peter Pan has got to be the comfiest for me ❤️ At the ripe old age of 4 Peter Pan was my first crush and my favorite game was to pretend to be Wendy and make my mom play every other character and I’d get mad when she didn’t have her lines memorized like I did lol. Wendy and Peter are just Peak Romance for me and I love them. I’d kind of like to write a book using the Peter Pan characters/universe and I’ve got some ideas but we’ll see if I ever get around to it lol. Fun fact! My tattoo was almost Peter Pan related but I switched to a rose instead.

How to Train Your Dragon

I’m trying to incorporate movies that came out when I was a variety of ages rather than just choosing a bunch of movies that came out before I was born even though it is SO tempting to do that. I think I was 11 or 12 when httyd came out? That was such a crazy time in my life and not everything was good but I remember the night I first saw this movie so well and at least for that night everything was good. I was with new friends on the roof of a car at a drive in. This is probably the first movie I saw with Charly, who I’m still friends with today. What’s not to love about this movie? The dragons! The characters! The story! Everything is wonderful! I also loved the other two movies and even kinda got involved in the fandom after the 2nd one but the 1st movie will always be the best.

Life of Pi

I’m such a nerd for animated moves and they’re by far my favorite but there’s a few live action movies I love and Life of Pi is one of them. Although I’m not really religious now, I grew up in a really religious family and somewhere around my teens I got really fed up with religious movies. They always seemed so fake and trying too hard to be inspirational. I first saw Life of Pi when it was assigned to us in a film studies class I was taking as a sophomore in college. And oh my god it’s how you do a religious movie right. This movie is stunning from start to finish and and heart wrenching in the best way. I guess it’s kinda weird to call a comfort movie heart wrenching but hey sometimes you need your heart to be wrenched.

My Hero Academia: Two Heroes

A couple years ago my brother introduced me to mha and we started watching it together. I didn’t really get into it until the 2nd season when things really started picking up and now it’s definitely one of my top favorite anime. Most of the time when my family goes to see movies we typically are all interested in the same movies so we all go together. When Two Heroes came out it was a really fun opportunity for just me and my brother to go out and see a movie. I love superhero stuff so much and this movie is just so much fun.

Harry Potter

I can’t really pick a single movie from the series since the whole thing is so comforting to me. This is turning into Oversharing Hour but it’s almost 5am as I’m writing this one so fuck it!! My sister was diagnosed with really really bad Multiple Sclerosis back when I was in high school. Most people can live a pretty normal life with MS but her’s is bad enough that she has to live in a nursing home and she’s pretty confused all the time. She loved Harry Potter and still does. I didn’t really get into Harry Potter until after she got sick, which is something I regret everyday, but seeing her smile when I give her Harry Potter socks or something equally silly makes me so happy. So when I watch a Harry Potter movie, not only do I get to enjoy a world and characters I absolutely love, but I get to feel a little closer to my sister too. ❤️

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

I love me some superhero shit and Spider-Man has been my fave superhero since I was a kid. Peter Parker is such a huge comfort character for me in any version. Marvel, Sony, comics, cartoons, whatever. You could probably call any Spider-Man movie a comfort movie for me but I decided to go with spider-verse bc it’s just so good. So, so good. It’s beautiful to look at and a wonderful story with such fun characters and I just love seeing Peter as a sad middle aged man.

Birds of Prey

I saw this movie in theaters three times. Three times. I love it so much. It has to be one of the craziest, funnest movies on the planet. I’m in love with every woman in this movie. I’m just hopelessly gay, really. I love antiheroes and I love ladies and I love creatively choreographed fight scenes and this movie has plenty of all of them. It’s great if you want to turn something on and not think for a while but it’s also great if you want to actually sit down and think hard about it bc there’s plenty to dissect if you feel like it. The protagonists are great, the antagonists are great, the aesthetic is great. Everything is great.

There we go! I think that’s seven! I tried to pick a large variety of different types of movies but I’m now realizing I picked a lot of superhero stuff lmao oh well. I guess that’s accurate to me. Superheroes and animation.

If you managed to read this massive wall of text all the way to the end congrats! And thanks for tuning in I guess lol. I tag anyone who happens to see this and feels like doing it!

[zcldrizes-a]

— 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐬 : “ 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐝. ”

i. Yet that night she dreamt of one. Viserys was hitting her, hurting her. She was naked, clumsy with fear. She ran from him, but her body seemed thick and ungainly. He struck her again. She stumbled and fell. “You woke the dragon,” he screamed as he kicked her. “You woke the dragon, you woke the dragon.” Her thighs were slick with blood. She closed her eyes and whimpered. As if in answer, there was a hideous ripping sound and the crackling of some great fire. When she looked again, Viserys was gone, great columns of flame rose all around, and in the midst of them was the dragon. It turned its great head slowly. When its molten eyes found hers, she woke, shaking and covered with a fine sheen of sweat. She had never been so afraid.

ii. Yet when she slept that night, she dreamt the dragon dream again. Viserys was not in it this time. There was only her and the dragon. Its scales were black as night, wet and slick with blood. Her blood, Dany sensed. Its eyes were pools of molten magma, and when it opened its mouth, the flame came roaring out in a hot jet. She could hear it singing to her. She opened her arms to the fire, embraced it, let it swallow her whole, let it cleanse her and temper her and scour her clean. She could feel her flesh sear and blacken and slough away, could feel her blood boil and turn to steam, and yet there was no pain. She felt strong and new and fierce.

iii. Dany gave the silver over to the slaves for grooming and entered her tent. It was cool and dim beneath the silk. As she let the door flap close behind her, Dany saw a finger of dusty red light reach out to touch her dragon’s eggs across the tent. For an instant a thousand droplets of scarlet flame swam before her eyes. She blinked, and they were gone.

iv. Stone, she told herself. They are only stone, even Illyrio said so, the dragons are all dead. She put her palm against the black egg, fingers spread gently across the curve of the shell. The stone was warm. Almost hot. “The sun,” Dany whispered. “The sun warmed them as they rode.”

v. “Khaleesi, “ Jhiqui said, “what is wrong? Are you sick?” “I was,” she answered, standing over the dragon’s eggs that Illyrio had given her when she wed. She touched one, the largest of the three, running her hand lightly over the shelf. Black-and- scarlet, she thought, like the dragon in my dream. The stone felt strangely warm beneath her fingers… or was she still dreaming? She pulled her hand back nervously.

I think the first thing to note here is that, from very early on, we have it established to us that Daenerys is something unique. Not everyone bonded to dragons dreams of them – though we know that Aemon did ( I see them in my dreams, Sam. I see a red star bleeding in the sky. I still remember red. I see their shadows on the snow, hear the crack of leathern wings, feel their hot breath. My brothers dreamed of dragons too, and their dreams killed them, every one. ) but as the readers, we get no real indication that Viserys did. And given he’s presented to be the actual dragon at first, though we learn quickly that is not the case, I think the message here that we take from this is simple: Daenerys was always fated to be the mother of dragons, and Daenerys was always fated to be the first rider in centuries.

Firstly, I want to quickly clear something up: despite what the show neglected to portray, Daenerys loves all three of her children in equal form, even if in different ways. I won’t link all of the proof of that here – that can happen in another meta if someone really wants it – but I think the thing to note is that even though all three are her children, one of them is necessarily more equal to her in her own state of mind in the sense of him being her mount. She loves her children and wants to protect them, yes: but to protect them, she would need Drogon’s help, realistically. That means in her own mind, she will always view him as an equal, and someone she fights alongside, whilst Viserion and Rhaegal can’t be viewed in the same lense because she isn’t bonded to them in the way dragonlore states ( quickly on dragonlore: I mix my own canon for writing it, as most people know, from a concoction of asoiaf canon, Eragon, HTTYD, etc ). She can attempt to protect them: but Drogon protects her. Drogon is her equal, in that sense. It doesn’t mean she loves him more, it means she loves him differently. I’m happy to extend my thoughts on her actions in locking Viserion and Rhaegal up, but in my own state of mind, and I think established relatively decently in some forms of canon, Daenerys does regret what she had to do. With that in mind, it’s something she would have done to all three if she had a chance, for the sake of the people she was ruling.

Secondly, before I go into specifics about her bond with Drogon, a general note about the dragons bonding: I do prescribe to the very established canon that only those with Valyrian blood have the ability to ride dragons. We know from Martin’s canon that Valyrian Dragonlords used magic to bind the dragons to them – and that can explain the many references to the blood of the dragon, specifically. That’s to suggest that the blood carried on from Valyrian descendants still contains that bond, however diluted through the ages. There are of course some exceptions to this, and those usually come from extenuating circumstances: but with Dany’s dragons, we see in canon that they are resistant to just anyone riding them. Quentyn Martell’s death after trying to mount Viserion – admittedly at the hands of Rhaegal – confirms that they don’t tolerate just anyone, and it’s also important to note that Daenerys was the first dragonrider in a century and a half. The exception I make for my own canon is @killthebxy and his Jon riding Rhaegal, and the explanation for this is simple: after months of bonding, and under the canon where no other Valyrian blooded people exist, and also in a context where Viserion is dead and Drogon has a rider already, it makes sense that Rhaegal would crave a rider so badly that he would bond with another. With that being said, we also know from canon that a dragon once bonded will not allow anyone else to ride them ( unless their rider is also present ). That means no, your muse cannot ride Drogon without Daenerys there. He doesn’t want it, and she wouldn’t allow it, so don’t try it.

…it was said that even Aegon the Conquerer never dared mount Vhagar or Meraxes, nor did his sisters mount Balerion the Black Dread. Dragons live longer than men, some for hundreds of years, so Balerion had other riders after Aegon died… but no rider ever flew two dragons.

Now, I’m going to break this up into a few different sections to write.

- oo1. BOND FORMATION.

The important thing to note here is that I personally think the bond began long before Daenerys actually rode Drogon. We see within canon in her dreaming days that when dreaming of the dragons, Dany always dreams of the black. It’s no coincidence that Drogon was born to bear her House colours, nor is it coincidence that he is often called Balerion ( Khaleesi … there sits Balerion, come again. ) whilst she herself is paralleled to Aegon the Conqueror ( She is the widow of a Dothraki khal, a mother of dragons and sacker of cities, Aegon the Conqueror with teats. ) – this sets up in a very visceral manner that this is what Martin’s intention was, to establish this bond very early on. We know that in hatching the dragons, Daenerys had known for an incredibly long time what she was going to do to hatch those dragons, and we can see that in the following few passages, that she references her intent and the pre-emptive nature of what she’s about to do, before it’s DROGON’S egg that she lifts first. ( This is madness, she told herself as she lifted the black-and-scarlet egg from the velvet. It will only crack and burn, and it’s so beautiful, Ser Jorah will call me a fool if I ruin it, and yet, and yet… Cradling the egg with both hands, she carried it to the fire and pushed it down amongst the burning coals. The black scales seemed to glow as they drank the heat. Flames licked against the stone with small red tongues. Dany placed the other two eggs beside the black one in the fire. ) Between the dreams and the following few pieces of evidence, we know her intent was established early on.

i. “You will not hear me scream,” Mirri responded as the oil dripped from her hair and soaked her clothing. “I will,” Dany said, “but it is not your screams I want, only your life. I remember what you told me. Only death can pay for life.” Mirri Maz Duur opened her mouth, but made no reply. As she stepped away, Dany saw that the contempt was gone from the maegi’s flat black eyes; in its place was something that might have been fear. Then there was nothing to be done but watch the sun and look for the first star.

ii. Jhogo spied it first. “There, “ he said in a hushed voice. Dany looked and saw it, low in the east. The first star was a comet, burning red. Bloodred; fire red; the dragon’s tail. She could not have asked for a stronger sign.

iii. She had sensed the truth of it long ago, Dany thought as she took a step closer to the conflagration, but the brazier had not been hot enough.

Throughout the younger years of the dragon’s development, both book and show canon seems to build the hatchlings to some degree, but it is Drogon we so often get more of a glimpse into. Very often, it is Drogon who is perched on her shoulder ( as he in in the arrival to Qarth ) or on her lap ( as he is when she is informed of Robert Baratheon’s death ). We also know in the House of the Undying that it is Drogon who accompanies her, and who protects her and allows her to escape, in book canon – and in show canon, that it is Drogon who is the first to respond to her command for fire in burning those who leave her in chains. By the time we get to the Sack of Astapor, I think the fact it is Drogon who she offers up as part of her plan speaks volumes: she knows that he will respond to her command, and she knows that he will not hesitate to do so. By this point, it’s very established that of all three dragons, he is the one already utilised the most in her plans, and the one who she clearly gravitates to most centrally.

We then reach the stages of Drogon’s rebellious years. Regardless of whether or not he intended to burn the child – dragons are intelligent, he likely knew what he did – we can either read Drogon’s absence as one of two things. Either he can tell that Daenerys is disappointed in him for what happened, or perhaps horrified with himself; or more likely, he knows that as much as Daenerys is on the cusp of becoming a woman, she is not ready to be his rider yet. I think the show gives us a really beautiful moment here, where she reaches for him, and she is unsure and he flies away before she can touch him; he knows that she isn’t ready for him yet. By default, by this point I believe Drogon knew that she was supposed to ride him – and that is confirmed when he comes to save her at the fighting pits. Now, here’s where I take issue with the books: the only way that I will accept the necessity of Drogon needing to be beaten into command is if he was truly so confused and feral after months away that it took him several moments to recognise her. In my own canon, I do think the show had the better iteration here: he trusted her, and their bond allowed her to mount him, because that was what he was born for.

By the time we get the first flight, it’s not the bond being formed: it’s the final step to formation. When we talk about dragon bonds, I think it means more than a human and pet; dragons are intelligent, and they are magical. For them to bond with a human means something special: Daenerys and Drogon are the literal entity of soulmates, because their souls were born to be connected. He is an ever present feeling at the back of her mind, and likewise, she is with him always, no matter how far apart they are. That goes deeper than any love, any kind of familiar connection; they are part of each other, and this journey up until now was just about finding their way to that point and establishing / building it.

- oo2. EMOTIONS / COMMUNICATION.

Drogon raised his head, blood dripping from his teeth. The hero leapt onto his back and drove the iron spearpoint down at the base of the dragon’s long scaled neck. Dany and Drogon screamed as one.

As an extension of the headcanon that they are soulmates, I think this reads very simple as follows: they understand the emotions that the other is feeling. They feel pain, that the other is feeling. It isn’t as tangible as Drogon getting hurt and Daenerys aching in the same spot – but more that she feels that he is suffering, and there’s an overwhelming desire to help. We get some of that again, from the show, where he is struck in 7.04 and her first instinct upon landing is to remove the spear – and even in the pain addled state of mind that follows for him, the moment she sees Jaime and we see her fear, Drogon responds. We get it again in 7.06, when Viserion is killed; on Dany’s face, we get shock, and though she is mourning clearly in the later parts of the episode, her reaction is reserved. For Drogon, whilst she is silent, he is screaming for his fallen sibling. And yes, that be construed as part of his grief – but likely, it’s because he is feeling for the both of them.And lastly, we get a beautiful moment of this in 8.03, when Dany is crying for Jorah, and Drogon’s response is to curl around her and coo to her. This isn’t a protective stance - the battle has ended, and he’s low, not on alert. He’s close to her, making soft noises, and that body language communicates comfort, not anything else. He feels her grief, and he feels it himself, and so he lays close to her to offer whatever he can.

Communication between them is not quite so blatant as thinking commands to the other, but simply instead, that they can sense what the other wants. Likely, Dany was idly chattering to Drogon before handing him to the Masters at the Sack of Astapor, because she knew he would know what to do without command. And though she talks to the dragons in Valyrian, it’s not a language they were likely born knowing ( and if they did, likely, they knew others to ) – so more than likely, it’s not the words that Drogon responds to, but the intent behind each of them. And the deeper that bond goes, the more we see ( again, more viscerally on the show ) that he responds without question – in executing enemies, or even in the gentleness by which he carries her, lets her down, by the way he bristles when people disrespect her. The communication between them is far more primal and intimate than language; it’s spoken by hearts and minds forged together in the flames.

- oo3. FLIGHT NAVIGATION.

Again, an extension of the above, but when it comes to flight navigations, we have no need here for the way that Daenerys commanded Drogon in the books ( The dragonlords of old Valyria had controlled their mounts with binding spells and sorcerous horns. Daenerys made do with a word and a whip. Mounted on the dragon’s back, she oft felt as if she were learning to ride all over again. When she whipped her silver mare on her right flank the mare went left, for a horse’s first instinct is to flee from danger. When she laid the whip across Drogon’s right side he veered right, for a dragon’s first instinct is always to attack. Sometimes it did not seem to matter where she struck him, though; sometimes he went where he would and took her with him. Neither whip nor words could turn Drogon if he did not wish to be turned. The whip annoyed him more than it hurt him, she had come to see; his scales had grown harder than horn. ) – this implies that Drogon needed to be beat into submission, and while he was more stubborn and juvenile then, he was still her intended and her bonded.

So when we talk about flight navigation, my canon is as follows: they work together. Dany knows, mostly, where she wants to go – and Drogon knows how to get them there. For the most, he follows what she wants if it is specifically the reason they’re travelling; but in situations in battles, etc, he will also move without need of command, always to protect his mother. The one (1) time that she falls from him in my canon, it is not his fault, and he never forgives himself for it. Drogon’s flying style is rougher than most other dragons would be – he’s large, he’s animalistic, and he’s never truly understood how fragile she is when it comes to him, because he perceives his mother as so strong. Hence why she cuts her hands from holding on, or bruises so badly from him thrashing around, or her thighs get cut from the way she grips his scales through her clothes. They work together, and for the most part, neither think twice about it.

- oo4. EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS.

It’s as simple as this – if Daenerys doesn’t like someone, Drogon likely hates that someone. In no world does he ever give a moment’s time to someone who she has no connection with; which is why it can be construed that Drogon tolerates people like Doreah, or Jorah, or Jon. Because of the emotional connection between them, this transfers to the way he connects with people she loves: by default, he feels at the least some sort of loyalty, or urge to protect them. Firstly, this is because he knows that she cares for them, and that if anything happened to them, she would be sad. Secondly, because he feels that emotion for them himself as a result of the bond. And thirdly, because he has likely had some further interactions as a result, which formulate his own bond with them independent of his mother’s emotions.

With that being said, there is never, ever a situation where Drogon would chose another person over his mother. It doesn’t matter what she becomes or what she does to anyone else – no singular person, or groups of people are as important as a rider to a dragon. And likewise, even if Daenerys were to have human children, she would never stop viewing the dragons as her own children too, or treating them as such. Those relationships, even to her, come beneath the bond she has with Drogon. And even when it comes to the other dragons, she loves them with all of her heart, but she will never feel the closeness she does with Drogon because he’s not just in her heart, he’s in her mind.

- oo5. IF EITHER DIED.

Lastly, talking about the potential of death for either of them. For dragons, their life span far outlasts their riders – and Daenerys hopes that long after she is gone, he will find someone ( in her own bloodline, or other ) whom he might feel that bond with. With that being said, she isn’t just his rider to him, but also his mother, which means if she died, that grief would transcend what a dragon might normally feel for their rider’s death. Unlike what we see in the series finale, if someone were to cause her death, then regardless of who that person was to Drogon, he would not hold back his revenge from the person who took her from him – this bond is more than a normal dragon and rider, he was born to be with her, birthed by her, raised by her, and lived by her side for all of his life. This would be the first time he wouldn’t feel her with him, and that would cripple him, to know that he would live for centuries with that presence void in his life.

If the situation were flipped, and Drogon was lost to her, I believe Daenerys would feel that grief on a physical level, as well as emotional. Drogon is warmth and strength at the back of her mind and thoughts – she would not feel warm again, without him there. Would never feel as strong, without him there. Would never be able to replicate that emotional bond with another being or entity, without him there. Would constantly be calling for him, constantly searching for him in the skies. That would be a loss that she would never, ever recover from – and I believe in that instance, she would crave the reunion with him in death, though she might not go so far as harming herself. It would transcend her desire to see anyone else in the afterlife – she would be focused exclusively on seeing her child again, and being with him again.

Having a part of one’s soul ripped away would physically hurt, and that is what they would both feel.

[shen-gong-oops]

2019 in review

I was tagged by @kindclaws​ for a year in review! Also, this made me realize how little I have been reading recently D:

top 5 films

How To Train Your Dragon 3. I saw this in theaters twice and cried my eyes out both times. I'm so mad it lost at the Oscars to the film that should not be named.

Booksmart. It's a great movie. That's it. I recommend everyone watch it… just not with your mom like I did. It's a bit awkward.

Someone Great. This was adorable and sad at the same time.

The Laundromat. I really enjoyed the style of this film! Antonio Banderas and Gary Oldman, with a German accent, narrating a biographical comedy explaining the intricacies of money laundering? Brilliant.

Avengers: Endgame... but only until the fight ends. Anything after that doesn't exist. I screamed and threw my popcorn when Cap used Mjolnir. This girl has been waiting so long for him to wield Mjolnir and she finally got it! And my heart swelled when he told the Avengers to assemble.

I didn’t see 1917 and Parasite until after the new year. Both are so good!!!

top 5 tv shows

I haven't watched a lot of shows that came out in 2019 so this was hard. Most of the shows I watched this year were either shows that have been on/off the air for a while and I only just started watching it (ie: Good Girls or Life Unexpected) or I was watching the most recent season of a show (ie: the 100 or Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

Good Omens. I love this show. It's weird and I like weird. And the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale is beautifully done.

The Mandalorian. I relate to the excessive amounts of sighing he does.

Fruits Basket. This was one of my favorite mangas growing up and I'm so excited they decided to reboot the anime. This time we're getting the whole series!

Tacoma FD... I'm a sucker for Broken Lizard, there I said it.

Whiskey Cavalier was cute but they already canceled the show.

top 5 songs

Apparently more than half of the songs I thought of came out in 2018...

I Don't Care by Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber

Here With Me by Marshmello ft. Chvrches

Adore You by Harry Styles

Nice to Meet You by Niall Horan

Can I say the HTTYD 3 score? John Powell is amazing

top 5 books

I didn't read as much as I should have this year and none were published in 2019...

The Crazy, Rich Asians trilogy

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Dreamland by Sam Quinones (I learned to run a drug cartel)

5 positive or happy things that happened this year

Last January I was accepted into grad school and I should be graduating this semester!

The same weekend Beliza announced their marriage, I got to stand beside one of my best friends as she married the love of her life. Plus I got to yell at the groomsman I walked down the aisle with cause he was an asshole who almost left the ceremony for a booty call so that was fun. (And as we were making the menus for the reception, the bride jokingly said they had to cancel the wedding because obviously Beliza's wedding was more important.)

The night before the wedding, my grandpa had a stroke after working in the backyard and survived. He's 81 mind you and should not have been doing what he was doing. My mom and my grandma wanted no one to tell me until after the wedding and I was in the hospital room first thing the next morning. I sat there with him and he happily showed me the progress he had made so far. How he could move the cube they gave him, and how far he could walk. Since the stroke, he has been on a diet (and my grandma as well), they go on walks, and they try to be healthier people.

Someone I love dearly got their one year chip. Let me tell you I cried, he cried, we all cried. It was beautiful and I have never been more proud of anyone.

They dismantled my unit at work but they relocated us to a different unit. While I hate what I’m doing, at least I’m still getting a paycheck so there’s the positive.

tagging a few people. If you don’t want to do this please just ignore me: @wolfheartgirl, @important-metaphors  @thelittlefanpire, @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold , @dylanobrienisbatman

[fulltimeviking]

Hoppípolla

Summary: Hiccup is a semi-stressed out chief and Nuffink is just a hyper active ball of energy wanting to play in some rain puddles with his Dad - Takes place a year before the epilogue in httyd 3 and is based off of a Sigur Rós song. 

Imma be real with you chief - this is 100% unapologetic fluff, written purely for the reason that I just needed some more fluffy fics about the Haddock family in my life and decided to provide some myself no matter how badly written or rusty my fanfic writing skills are 🤷🏻‍♀️

Also forgive me if it seems a bit unpolished or kind of rushed, I’ve been trying to get this done for weeks and yesterday I finally put my foot down and decided I was going to finish it this week, and I managed to wrap it all up this evening. I’m also lowkey drugged up on medication atm so I wrote the last paragraph and edited the entire thing through half lidded eyes, so if you see a spelling mistake, that’s probably why. 

Anyway I could make up excuses about my writing and keep putting off posting this all day but I’m going to stfu now - I hope you like it!

“So you have all the plans? Nothing else you need or-” “I’ve got everything I need to start right here” Fishlegs patted the scrolls “I promise you’ve got nothing to worry about chief, I’ve got it all under control” “right” Hiccup sighed a little, another weight off his shoulders “great, thank you”. 

A passing storm had done some wreckage to a few houses and whatnot and everyone else had been preoccupied with their own reconstructions, the chief being left with the bulk of it all, but his council members had been willing to help out and for that he couldn’t be more grateful.

Nuffink was sat down fidgeting with the hem of his oversized tunic, swinging his legs on a chair ten times too big for him in the Ingerman’s living room, it wasn’t an anomaly for the chief and chieftess to bring the kids on errands with them and at this point Zephyr and Nuffink were fully accustomed to it. That didn’t stop them from being boring sometimes though, especially when the rain had calmed down and there were over a hundred puddles outside with his name on them. “Nuffink?” Hiccup called from the door “we’re done now!” the little boy perked up and slid down from the seat, running to the to meet his father who picked him up and rested him on his hip “now what do we say?” he asked him as they stepped outside. Nuffink looked blank for a second “umm- oh, thank you for letting me sit in your house Uncle Fishlegs”

“Awwww the pleasure is all mine little guy” Fishlegs cooed “you’re welcome round any time” “thank you again” Hiccup said “they just grow up so fast don’t they?” the ingerman carried on “Little kids, I swear he was getting carried around like a baby not that long ago” he said a little tearily “… you okay there?” “yep!” he answered too quickly and rubbed at his eyes “it’s the humidity… because of the rain, and allergy seasons coming...  makes my eyes misty” he shuffled awkwardly for a second before quickly turning on his heel and going back inside “see you around chief!” he didn’t wait for a response as he shut the front door hastily behind him.

“Well” Hiccup looked at his son with a smile and Nuffink showed off his own toothy little grin “guess we’re heading home now bud” Hiccup moved to start walking down the steps but Nuffink wriggled around in protest “I want to walk!” he insisted “okay okay” his dad chuckled and put him down “hold my hand while we walk down the stairs though, yeah?” he offered his hand and Nuffink instinctively took hold of it - just one of the upsides to having such a cuddly child “don’t want you to faceplant in the floor again” Hiccup mumbled under his breath cringing a little at the memory - stairs had never been such a menace.

He kept his eye on his son as they walked carefully down the slippery stone steps, the little boy walking one at a time and looking intently at the big rain puddle at the bottom. Hiccup grinned “big step down here buddy, you’ll have to jump!” Nuffink’s face lit up instantly and Hiccup kept hold of his hand, helping him jump up a little higher so he splashed down hard into the puddle, making him giggle in delight. He let go of his father’s hand and ran ahead, splashing around in all the massive rain puddles the small storm had left behind, the actual rain now just mere droplets so he didn’t need to worry about the boy catching a cold.

The two stayed that way for a while, Nuffink running ahead and splashing in all the puddles before him, his dad not too far behind with a small smile on his face that he couldn’t contain.

Maybe it was just because he was still a relatively new parent, only 5 years in the game and whatnot - but Nuffink although a little quiet, was an adventurous and turbulent kid, and seeing his offspring so joyful and carefree made him ridiculously happy. “Daddy!” the 3 year old snapped him from his thoughts and tugged on his sleeve, pulling him as best as he could towards the small pools of water ahead of them “oh no, no can do buddy” Hiccup pulled back a little and laughed awkwardly - he always tried to deny it when his wife, or his friends, or his village accused it of being so, but he had to admit he really hated to say no to either of his children.

Nuffink cocked his eyebrow, puzzled “why?”

“Because I could hurt myself”

“Why?”

Hiccup knelt down to his level and pointed at his prosthetic “because of my leg, you know my fake leg?” Nuffink nodded knowingly “It’s metal see” Hiccup gave it a knock to prove his point “so it makes it easier for me to slip-” “I won’t let you slip!” he insisted and took a tight hold of his father’s hand, pulling him along. The chief nearly fell forward on his face but caught himself last minute, walking hunched over at a low level as his youngest child dragged him onwards “I’ll hold your hand daddy and you won’t fall!” “Nuffink!” Hiccup tried to sound firm but laughed heartily instead, great job Hiccup, very disciplinary, he thought. Without warning the toddler gave him another tug and pulled his father into one of the multiple shallow puddles on their path home. Before his dad could get in a word of protest Nuffink grabbed at his free hand, jumping up and down. Hiccup sighed, though truthfully he had no intention of not indulging him, he took a slightly tighter hold of his hands as he raised him up and let him drop back down with an almighty splash “Again!” his son kept demanding eagerly grinning “Okay! Up again!” Hiccup obliged everytime and lifted him up. One time he lifted him with a bit more gusto, and dropped him down hard sending water up in both their faces making Nuffink laugh and wipe at his face with his hands.

Hiccup forgot that it was his son that was the small support that kept him in one place as he took a step forward, accidentally placed his prosthetic on a small rock in the floor and slipped, landing on his backside in the water cursing and making his son laugh even harder. “Oh it’s funny is it? my pain is funny to you?” He joked as he moved onto his knees and Nuffink giggled “it is?!” Hiccup said in pretend shock and the young boy shrieked in laughter “oh my gods, of all people, my own son!” he dramatised “the betrayal!”

Nuffink pulled at his arm “stoooppp” he whined guiltily “I’m sorry” “Buddy I’m just joking” He smiled reassuringly and ruffled the boys dampened hair “okay” his son was unable to hide the mischievous smirk on his face before completely splashing his father in the face and running off “what- you tricked me!” Hiccup said in disbelief, albeit a little impressed. Oh yeah, he’s his mother’s son. He gathered himself and set off in a careful run so he wouldn’t slip, and tried to catch up to him, the two laughing ridiculously. They carried on like that for what felt like nowhere near enough time, messing around in the rain puddles, Hiccup enjoying it almost as much as his son, but more because he was spending time with his child and less because he enjoyed getting splashed in the face with cold water.

Every time there was a long puddle Nuffink ran straight at it and went sliding on his tummy, his dad only a pace behind him ready to help him up so the little boy could set off looking for more. Whenever Hiccup thought he was going to slip and fall again he’d slide to the ground on his knees before his prosthetic got its chance, Nuffink took to habit of using this opportunity to kick a bit of water at him and even though it barely reached him, Hiccup would act appalled, get up and catch him by his arms and swing him around, his boots skimming the water on the ground and the boy screaming in delight.

His father couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off of his face, it’d probably been the most relaxed  and happy he’d felt in a while - although the storm was passing, it was a big one and probably wouldn’t die out for another few days or so if the elder was right, and she was always right. The thought gave the young chief a migraine, he hated to admit it, it felt like admitting defeat in a way, but the workload seemed to pile up easy for him so easy these days and he’d be lying if he said it never got on top of him.

Then ironically enough, it was the thing that should have been one of the most stress-inducing things that turned out to be a source of relief. Zephyr and Nuffink. Not even just playing, but spending time with and being around his children made him feel like he himself was a young boy - spending time with his own father… it dwindled as he got older, the war between dragon and viking taking its toll. They grew apart. From the minute Hiccup found out he was going to become a father with his first he had had been slightly fearful of history repeating itself, but hearing his youngest laugh and watching him look up at him with those familiar green eyes made him 100% certain of one thing. He would never let that happen, not in a million years.

He shook his head and scoffed at himself. Thor almighty, he was turning way too soft.

The wind started to pick up - it blew by not too bad but enough to make Hiccup and the boy shiver in their drenched clothes. Hiccup looked up at the sky and saw the storm clouds getting darker, covering up the what would’ve been a nice sunset. He grimaced, more bad weather meant more damage to occur and more work to be done, though the toddler’s sniffling snapped him back to his current situation. Nuffink’s clothes were entirely soaked through, his boots making funny sounding squelching noises as he walked and his long-ish blonde hair hung dripping down his face.

Hiccup stopped and knelt down to try sort him out a bit, he brushed his hair back with his fingers so it didn’t hang over his eyes and tried to wring out the bottom of his tunic best he could without taking it off him and making the poor bugger shiver any more then he was.

Nuffink wasn’t one to complain too much, he was a relatively well behaved child, but the look of discomfort on his face at being wet and cold was unmistakable, the puddles suddenly seeming a lot less appealing then his warm comfortable house. “I think we better hurry on home now bud” his dad noted as the rain started again. Hiccup took off the fur chiefs cloak he wore and wrapped it snug around Nuffink before picking him up to carry him -  it was so big on him it hung down by such a margin that if you looked from a distance you would think he were carrying a baby “better not catch a cold eh?”

The chief picked up the pace, sticking to the dry bits of grass as the rain picked up and came down heavier, fortunately the bulk of the storm only kicking in once they finally entered the Haddock household.

Zephyr was sat at the table, drawing something in one of her many little notebooks, whilst Astrid tended to dinner, which by the look of their seemingly clean little kitchen area, must have been prepared by somebody else (thank odin). The boys presence became known when Hiccup shut the door behind him hastily before any rain could fly in, Zephyr looked up from her drawing and laughed a little at the sight of them “aha! Momma look! They’re all wet!” the girls mother turned around and stared a little

Astrid stood back, taking in the sopping wet mess before her, hands on her hips looking them both up in down in question “what in Thor’s name have you two been doing?” Nuffink tugged on one of his dad’s braids as he nuzzled his head into the crook of his shoulder, tired from his days ventures. Hiccup looked at Astrid with a daft grin “puddle hopping”.

[aceofstars16]

“Mason”

Happy Birthday @mandaloriandragontrainer!!! Thanks for being my partner in crime coming up with angsty and fun AUs, for crying with me over HTTYD 3 and Marvel and Ford I mean wat, and for making me laugh so much! You are amazing and I hope you have an awesome birthday! <333

I wanted to do something for you, and after hearing your headcanon about Ford calling Dipper Mason I just...had to write a little something! Hope you enjoy it! <3

AO3

“Nice roll, Mason!”

Dipper looked up from the game, wondering why in the world Ford had used his real name. But his grunkle was still studying at the board, marking down the roll and calculating points. Shrugging it off as a slip of the tongue, Dipper picked the dice up to roll again. They were in the final dungeon and it was crucial to stay focused.

“Come on thirty…” Dipper whispered as he rolled the die, pumping his fist as a 31 flashed up at him. All thought of his real name diminishing as the game continued.

 ----------

“Fascinating,” Ford mumbled under his breath as he flipped through Dipper’s journal, his hand occasionally stroking his chin as he read.

A smile grew on Dipper’s face and he leaned over so he could see what anomaly Ford was reading about now – he had managed to find quite a few inn California. Granted, not as many as in Gravity Falls, but far more than he had been expecting.

“A science project?”

Ford had flipped the page and Dipper felt his smile falter a little.

“Yeah I uh…I had to change it…the teachers insisted on ‘real’ projects.” As if the supernatural wasn’t real, he had seen it with his own eyes!

“Ah, I see…” Silence for a moment then, “Well they missed out, this really is great work, Mason.”

Dipper froze as he heard the name, one he barely heard, one he wasn’t used to in the slightest. He opened his mouth, wanting to ask why Ford used it – this was hardly the first time, but he found his mouth closing. There was no one else around, and it wasn’t…terrible. The way Ford said it almost made it feel…cool.

Looking back to his journal, Dipper spotted one of his favorite discoveries on the page and quickly pointed it out. “Oh, now this is cool…”

 ---------

“I think they are asleep.” Dipper kept his voice quiet as he glanced at Mabel, who looked to be totally out of it. Probably a sugar crash – though she hadn’t had that much sugar compared to normal. Maybe it was a growing up thing. Who knew?

A quiet chuckle sounded from the other side of Stan. “It seems so, I guess some things never change.”

Dipper tilted his head, despite knowing that Ford couldn’t see him. “How so?”

“Oh, ha, Stan almost always fell asleep when we stargazed as kids. Though back then I usually fell asleep not long after, but now…I don’t even feel tired yet.” There was a wistfulness to Ford’s voice, almost as if he wished he could sleep like he had when he was a kid. Dipper knew Stan complained about how Ford didn’t sleep enough. Dipper always thought it was because his research was so interesting but now he couldn’t help but wonder if there were other factors that effected it.

“Is there anything you can take to help? I mean…sleep is important…as Mabel reminds me all the time.” Okay, maybe he was being a little hypocritical, because he tended to stay up late, but that was only during finals weeks or when something was taking all of his attention. It didn’t happen too often.

Silence, then, “Maybe, but pills can only do so much. And my body is used to it by now, as I’ve told Stan.”

“Are you sure?” Dipper couldn’t help but be a little worried. After all, he knew how terrible he could feel after a long night and he knew Ford wasn’t exactly young anymore.

“I’m positive, you don’t need to worry about me Mason.”

The name reverberated in the air, but Dipper barely noticed it. Over the past few years, he had realized that Ford used his real name every time it was just the two of them. At first it was…odd, but by now, Dipper was used to it. It was just, normal. A sign that it was just him and his great uncle, talking or playing DD& more D, or comparing notes. And, if he was honest, those times had made his name feel more…him. When teachers called on him in class, he didn’t frown and whisper ‘Dipper’ under his breath, he would just say ‘here’ and not give it a second thought.

“Ah, there it is.” Ford’s voice broke through Dipper’s thoughts and he quickly focused on the sky again, catching sight of a particularly long shooting star. In fact, it lasted almost a minute after he had first seen it.

“What was that?”

“Not quite sure, but it shows up every year, at the exact same time. And only in Gravity Falls, I never saw it when me and Stan were on the ocean. I think it might be some sort of residual energy from Weirdmageddon.”

Just the name made Dipper’s hair stand on end, but he shook it away. That mess was over, and besides – he glanced at Mabel - in Gravity Falls, shootings stars were a good thing.

“Grunkle Ford?”

“Yes, my boy?”

Dipper realized he didn’t quite know what he wanted to say, all he knew was that he wished moments like this lasted forever. Of course they couldn’t but… “Thanks for…everything.” Okay, that was broad, but how else could Dipper describe it all? The summers of adventuring, the quiet nights where he fell asleep to the sound of a pen scribbling, the games of DD& More D, the quiet encouragement. And of course, making him realize that Mason wasn’t such a bad name after all.

“I should be the one thanking you, Mason.”

Dipper sat up a little and caught the sight of Ford smiling at him, and he smiled back.

“You’re supposed to say your welcome, dork.”

Stan’s voice was barely audible, but it made Dipper jumped and Ford stare at his brother, who was sitting up and blinking at the sky, stretching his back.

“Well, my back hates me. I’m going in before it despises me any more. And you two should sleep soon too.”

Dipper watched in embarrassment as Stan got up and made his way inside, picking up Mabel and taking her in as well – the fact that he could still pick her up was kind of crazy, but hey it was Stan, crazy was kind of his thing.

As the door closed, Dipper looked at Ford again, trying to figure out what to say, and what all Stan might have heard. But then Ford started laughing. It was just a quiet chuckle, but it broke all of the fear and tension that had been building up in Dipper’s body, resulting in a small laugh escaping his mouth as well. Who cares what Stan heard? It was Stan. Dipper was used to his teasing by now. It was worth it just to have this night, getting to be with his family, talking, laughing, and living – not caring if someone called him Dipper or Mason.

[itsasumbrella]

West Wind | Post-HTTYD 3 One-Shot

This is the first one-shot I translate from Spanish to English, so I apologize in advance for the possible mistakes. I wrote his one-shot to fill the gap it was left in my heart after watching How to train your dragon: The Hidden World. It’s been a roller coaster, mostly it was like writing it twice. Never experienced translating my own work before and it was great. 

Summary: [Post-HTTYD3] The dragons are gone and the vikings of New Berk have to start from scratch. Hiccup Haddock not only has to bear with his best friend's loss, but also with the responsibility of guiding his people to a new life without dragons on a foreign land, even if he's not sure if he's someone without his dragon. How did Hiccup manage ten years without Toothless?

Everything was going to be fine.

That phrase became Hiccup’s mantra after the dragons left. Everything was fine. It was okay, he repeated to himself. They were vikings. They would move forward, as always.

Everything was going to be fine.

But, damn it, it was so difficult.

The dragons’ departure supposed a blow to everyone. The first days were awful and Hiccup realised that both he and his people had depended too much on the dragons and now, back to being self-sufficient again, was a calamity for the whole village. The atmosphere was depressing and full of anger, to the point of almost organising a riot against Hiccup.

Many blame him of dragons’ leaving, or that they were now on an island surrounded by cliffs with an almost impossible access to open sea. The phrase ‘you are nothing without your dragon’ came out more than once during the Council meetings, awakening Astrid’s and his friends’ rage. Hiccup would remember those days as the worst he lived as a Chief: he was devastated by Toothless’ absence and he wasn’t dragging out his loss, but also the whole village’s. He was constantly questioned by every step, decision or proposal he made and the security and self-esteem he’d gained through years were now at rock bottom. Hiccup couldn’t remember feeling like this since he was fifteen, before meeting Toothless.

He couldn’t have managed without Astrid.

She was always there for him. Even when Hiccup was certain that he was too annoying with his depression and his anxieties caused by Berk’s situation and the dragons, she was still by his side. Cheering him up. Comforting him. Supporting him. At the beginning, he made a great effort by not showing his desolation, but he wasn’t as strong as he thought he was. He cried every night in the loneliness of his tent and later on his hut. He never denied his weakness. Why? Toothless deserved every single tear he could drop for him.

As soon as she knew, Astrid started sleeping with him.

Hiccup insisted he was fine, that he could stay on his own. He couldn't stand the idea of Astrid’s reputation being questioned by his fault, on top of knowing that she had no intention of marrying him for the moment. But Astrid was stubborn and she insisted:

“Cry as much as you need and remember that you have every right to feel sad, you more than anyone. But every morning get up with your head held high. You are not a worthless viking. You are Hiccup Haddock, Chief of New Berk. Show them that you are more than the kid who trained and rode a Night Fury, because you have always been so much more than that, Hiccup.”

Astrid had always been his right hand and Hiccup surprised himself by finding in her the authority he needed to stabilize Berk’s situation. Houses and ships were built, sources of freshwater and new hunting places were found, secret accesses were made to get to the beaches… Hiccup attended every demand his people ask for while they were building the village that Berk was dreaming for generations. New Berk had more resources than its former location, its climate was warmer, but windier, and its location was strategic and advantageous against any attack.

That place became soon their new home. The best one anyone could ever wish for.

People moved from being furious with him to being delighted and grateful to him.

Your dad would be proud, they repeated over and over again.

Hiccup just smile with sadness and carried on with his job, without an ounce of resentment against the people who doubt him a while before.

But, at least now, everything was fine.

New Berk was a large island. Maybe too much in comparison with their former home. It took months till Hiccup could draw a decent map. A task that could have taken days if he could have flown over the island with Toothless. He tried not to think about it, convincing himself that if there were cartographers who could do their job without dragons, he could do the same.

Astrid joined him to his expeditions when she wasn’t training, along with Spitelout, the New Berk’s guard. Their home was almost impregnable, but they were vikings: they should be ready in case they were attacked. However, it was a necessity to get back in touch with the old allies, as a simple matter of exchanging resources or strengthening ancient alliances. Astrid volunteered to sail till their old territory before Hiccup would ask for a volunteer. He wanted to oppose, but who better than Astrid for the task? She was his right hand, his general and his fiancé. It would have been a nonsense denying it.

“What am I going to do without you?”, he asked her desperate the night before her departure.

“You will be fine, Hiccup”

“I can’t do this alone”

“You are not”, she insisted holding a hand against his chest, “You have so much vision and bravery in you that is amazing. Whatever you choose to do, Hiccup, you’ll be great.”

Astrid left with a party formed by Eret and other viking and, during her absence, Hiccup finished his last invention. It was a propeller system installed throughout the whole village. It used the force of the wind and water to do tasks that would have taken days in hours, like milling cereals or improving the running of the forge. He called it “Milling system of wind and tide”, but at the end everyone just called them “mills”. Thanks to his invention, along with the boost of fishing and the amazing amount of flora and fauna of the island, the Berkians were thrilled that they wouldn’t have to be exposed to a possible famine in a near future.

Despite all the work which needed to be done and his great effort to move on, Hiccup couldn’t avoid feeling empty. Astrid’s absence increased that feeling. Yes, he was fine in that place. He knew his dad would have been pleased too and his people, even the gang, looked that they had already got over the dragons. But was he happy? Everyday, he ended in the cliff where he saw Toothless for the last time, wandering if his friend was okay, if his tail was working properly, if he was happy in the Hidden World with the Light Fury, if he had already forgotten him… In those occasions, his mum always came by his side. Valka understood him more than anyone and he knew how awful it was for her to be separated from Cloudjumper after being more than twenty years together. He felt stupid for being the one who was being consoled and not being able to do the same for her. But Valka was a strong woman, she’d always been.

“You know it was the best for them, son, even if we don’t like it”, she reminded him warmly while she was stroking his hair.

“I know, but I would have loved to spend a little more time with them. Just a little”

“Holding to that idea will never help you to move on, Hiccup”, she said with sadness, “The fact that you move forward, doesn’t mean you have to forget him.”

It took time for him to process her words until one night he accidentally broke his prosthesis. Hiccup only had two when they came to New Berk: the one he lost when he fought against Grimmel and the one he was wearing now. Both had three functions: metal leg, ice leg and… the leg he used for Toothless’ tail. He considered to recreate an exact replica, but he stopped himself.

For what?

That night, after making his new prosthesis, he took everything that belonged to Toothless: his saddle, his tails, the old sketches full of designs and drawings of his friend, and he kept them in a trunk. He didn’t hide it, just left it in a corner, accessible when he considered necessary to comfort himself with those memories. He swore by himself that he would never forget him, although he knew it was impossible. But it was time to move on and he had to do it for himself. He kept the Night Fury symbol on his shoulder pad, because Toothless would always be part of him and, while he wouldn’t know, the Night Fury would be New Berk’s Chieftain’s crest for many generations after him.

Astrid came back from her trip with a dislocated shoulder, a slashed lip and a black eye. Hiccup freaked out when he saw her so badly injured, but she smiled tired and said:

“You should have seen how we left them after kicking their asses.”

The trip went as it was expected and soon they would restart the trade relationships with other tribes. The dragon trappers were just an exception within a profitable trip, but nothing they couldn’t fight against, and without dragons to manipulate, they were weak. His fiancé looked happy to be back and she was thrilled with the changes Hiccup applied to the island. She didn’t overlook either that he had a new prosthetic. Nevertheless, Hiccup realised that something was odd in her. Her mind was somewhere else and she was constantly distracted.

“What’s wrong, Astrid?”, he asked.

She always answered with excuses. Everything was fine, she repeated, everything was going to be fine, but Hiccup knew she was lying. He didn’t pressure her, he waited till she was ready, as he did many times in the past. A week after her arrival, she exploded:

“I think we should marry.”

It was evening and they were alone in the forge. It was bucketing down and the village was deserted. Astrid was soaked and she was shaking like a leaf, but her eyes were full of determination. Hiccup was bewildered by her sudden proposal. They haven’t talked about marriage since before the dragons departure, even Tuffnut didn’t bring him up the subject again. Hiccup’s heart pounded strong against his chest, full of happiness because she finally made her mind up. But the ghost of his insecurities appeared in the back of his mind.

“Are you sure you want this, Astrid?”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve made my choice”

Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

“Weren’t you the one who told me that we weren’t nearly ready to marry?”

Astrid sighed.

“I didn’t want to tell you this because I know you had too much on your shoulders, but after your dad’s death, the reconstruction of Old Berk, your new role as a Chief, the trappers, the exodus to New Berk and… their leaving, I wasn’t sure you were ready to assume a new burden, no matter how many times you repeated you wanted to marry me.”

“Burden?”, ask Hiccup troubled, “Astrid, you are very far from being a burden for me. Nothing in this world could make me happier than being your husband, not even…”

His voice faded. Unable to pronounce aloud that fleeting thought. Astrid smile with sadness and hold his hand tightly.

“This trip was a nightmare without Stormfly. She was the best companion. There is no day I don’t think about her or I don’t look at the sky and wonder if she’s okay, or if… if she has already forgotten me.”

She burst into tears for the first time in months. Hiccup’s heart broke seeing her so inconsolable, but he realised that it wasn’t until then that Astrid dared to talk about how awful she was feeling since the dragons left. She cried. And did the same.

“Would you marry me then?”, she asked among tears.

“Gods Astrid! You don’t need to ask!”

They got married in February, a time after the first anniversary of their departure. The Berkians couldn’t understand why they should marry in the middle of the winter, but they felt it was the right moment to do it. Before the wedding, Hiccup submit a proposal to the Council that surprised everyone:

“I want Astrid to become the Chieftess of New Berk and not just my consort.”

Both talk about it and Hiccup insisted it should be in that way. A equal marriage. She was his right hand, his general. She couldn’t be in a position below him. Many wanted to discuss such a barbarism —”a woman as a lider of our tribe? are we crazy?”—, but Hiccup gave such hard punch against the Council table that everyone instantly shut up. That day everyone saw the fierce sparkle of Stoick Haddock in their Chief’s eyes.

The decision was made.

And no one dared to argue.

The wedding was simple, without many flourish in spite of being a Chief’s nuptials, but they didn’t need more. Before the ceremony, Hiccup spotted Gobber in the first line among the public and got close to him to ask:

“Why aren’t you beside my mum?”

The blacksmith blinked surprised and he was drawn into Valka’s side by his former apprentice. Gobber couldn’t hold his tears during the wedding, knowing that the fact that Hiccup allowed him being in the stairs along with Valka, taking up the place Stoick should have been, was the best way from Hiccup to tell him that he considered him a father.

The celebrations last at least a week, but Hiccup and Astrid only had eyes for each other. For the first time in months, Toothless was a secondary thought in his mind. Astrid and New Berk were his world now and, although there still was a feeling of emptiness inside him, he learned to live with that.

The first years of marriage were an eternal honeymoon. When they weren’t ruling the village, they perfected the art of sailing, studied the stars and seeked new corners of the island were they could spend time together alone. Their friends moved forward too: Ruffnut married Fishlegs and they had triplets six months after the wedding while Tuffnut established a chicken farm which was surprisingly efficient. Snotlout took Astrid’s place in New Berk’s guard with his father. Eret moved discreetly to Gobber’s forge, but no one ask why. If the Chief wasn’t complaining, why would they? Valka took the responsibility of exportations and she explored the surrounding islands. At least her new job relieved part of her wild spirit.

Everything was fine. At least, that was what Hiccup thought.

And then, Zephyr came.

And everything changed forever.

They took their time until they decided to have children, basing on both were too busy to think about babies. Moreover, they liked to have time for themselves, enjoying the company of each other and focusing their energy on the improvement of the village. They were twenty six when Astrid got pregnant. It was a remarkably easy pregnancy, although Astrid got horrible cravings that only Valka knew how to cook and Hiccup had to make a great effort for not throwing up everytime he smelled his wife’s food.

The delivery was slow and agonizing for Astrid and she demanded Hiccup’s presence during the whole birth, wrecking his hand terrified. Zephyr came to this world screaming and both parents were convinced that her weepings should be how the valkyries sounded when they sang.

Holding his daughter for the first time was the best moment of his life.

Better than his wedding.

Better than meeting his mother again.

Better than kissing Astrid for the first time.

Better than the first time he flew with Toothless.

It was painful the thought of Zephyr not knowing the dragons, but he didn’t doubt of telling her stories of Toothless, Stormfly and every dragon which lived one day with them. The eyes of the child, blue as her mother’s, had the same irrepressible passion her dad always had. Hiccup was devoted to her daughter, always taking her anywhere he went, even to the Council’s meetings. As they were both Chiefs, Hiccup and Astrid share their responsibilities as parents, so it wasn't weird to see Zephyr in her parent’s arms or giving her first steps through the village. Shortly before her second birthday, someone had the folly to ask Hiccup:

“When are you having a heir?”

Although years softed Astrid’s temperamental nature, she still was the one who brought order to the chaos and no one dared to question her because she was always right, while Hiccup was the more opened to discuss any matter. However, there was an unspoken rule in the village: don’t piss off the Chief. He had an appearance of being so serious with his hair combed and his short beard perfectly cut and clean, representing a very different image of what his dad was one day. However, Hiccup was a dork, even more with his daughter and other children of New Berk. He was easygoing and very nice to deal with. He was a wise and clever leader, supported by an amazing woman as Astrid was, who was constantly watching over the Berkians. The young and flighty viking who one day rode a Night Fury would have been forgotten if it wasn’t for the dragon which remained in his shoulder pad. But no one in New Berk —and it should be remarked: no one— was stupid enough to dare to awake the Chief’s rage, because his anger could be that great that even the hunkiest men trembled in his presence. For that reason, when he was asked about the Chieftain inheritance, Hiccup turned slowly to the poor guy and, with a tone colder than ice, ask:

“What heir? We already have one if she wants to one day.”

No one talked about it again and it wasn’t necessary to announce that Zephyr was Hiccup’s heir. However, not long after that incident, Astrid’s new pregnancy was announced.

Unlike Zephyr’s, Nuffink’s pregnancy was so difficult that, although the child bornt healthy, his mum almost died. Hiccup couldn’t remember having such a hard time in his life, not even when his father was killed or when Toothless was kidnapped by Grimmel. Astrid was dying in their bed and there was no way Hiccup could be separated from her side. He cleaned her, changed her, medicated her and hugged her when she was crying because she was cold.

“I would have loved to fly one last time before dying”, she whispered one night while she was with high fever.

“I can take you there, we can sail to the Hidden World with the children to see them again.”

“They won’t remember us.”, she grumbled with her eyes filling with tears.

“Of course they will. I’m sure that they always have us in mind, as well as we keep them in ours.”, Hiccup said with broken voice while he was cleaning his sweaty cheeks with his fingers.

“The kids would love them. I’d love to see them together with Stormfly and Toothless.”

“A dream come true.”, he agreed.

He could guess she was delirious when she touch his face with feverish eyes. Her hand was burning against his skin.

“Don’t leave me Astrid, please.”, he begged resting his forehead against hers, “I can’t live without you. I can’t stay alone, I’m nothing without you.”

“You have the kids”, she muttered resting her hand in his chest, “You have a spark on you that have guided us all. You will be fine.”

Astrid Haddock didn’t die that night. Neither the next one. Or the ones which came later. Against all odds, Astrid recovered thanks to Gothi’s cares, Hiccup’s support and her viking stubbornness. Three months after giving birth, Astrid was as great as always and full of energy, carrying Nuffink in her back and holding hands with her daughter.

The Haddock children grew up in an environment full of love and marvellous stories. Hiccup never forgot the words his father told him once when he was a boy:

Son, there is not greater gift than love.

Zephyr, in spite of having her mum’s serious and strong personality, she had inherited the dry sarcasm of her dad, love for books and the inability of staying still in just once place. Astrid burst out of laughing every time Hiccup complained that their daughter had sloped off again.

“For Gods’ sake, Hiccup! You’ve just sounded like your dad!”

Nuffink was more introverted than his sister, but he was curious, constantly laughing and he had inherited his mum’s fascination for weapons to such an extent that, although he was just a child, he ran every time to the forge to see Gobber and Eret working. His only problem —if that could be called ‘a problem’, because his parents persevered it wasn’t— was his stuttering. Because he was so shy with strangers, Nuffink stuttered that much that sometimes it was difficult to understand him, especially for a toddler like him. He was very attached to his mum of whom never separated from in any social event.

Both siblings got incredibly on well, even though Zephyr was too overprotective with his brother. It wasn’t strange that the Chief’s daughter got into a fight with other kids who dared to pick on her brother, even more if it was because of his stammering. Hiccup scolded her that violence wasn’t the solution, although he was secretly proud of her daughter’s sass. What it was more, he was grateful that Zephyr had the bravery and the cheek to tell her mum and grandmother off that their cooking was terrible.

Everything was fine in New Berk.

But Hiccup couldn’t stop thinking about the promise he made to Astrid.

So one night, shortly before Nuffink’s third birthday, Hiccup found his courage to bring up the subject to her.

“Are you sure, Hiccup? It’s almost certain that they won’t remember us.”, she reluctantly said, “We don’t even know if we are going to be able to find the entrance to the Hidden World.”

“Let’s try, Astrid.”, he begged, “The children are dying to see Toothless and Stormfly and it’s been years since we’ve been dreaming to sail to the Hidden World. Also, what if his tail isn’t working? I cannot stand the idea of him being unable to fly for himself.”

Astrid hold his gaze and, then, she sighed.

“Fine.”, she gave in, “But if something happens to the children…”

“It won’t.”

“Hiccup…”

“It won’t.”, he repeated convinced.

They left days later, guided by the west wind. They sailed during days, insecure if they were taking the right route, but the kids were excited with the trip, the first one of their lives. During the voyage, the children learned to sail and fish, arts that their parents learned not so long ago.

And then, they found the entrance to the Hidden World.

Hiccup didn’t remember being that nervous since Astrid got sick after Nuffink’s birth. What if Toothless didn’t recognize him? What if his tail was broken? He saw among the mist the Light Fury first and three small dragons by her side. Then, he saw him. Even before he could react, the Night Fury flew to them and landed in the poop of the ship. The dragon didn’t seem to recognise him.

“Hey Bud, it’s me”, he greeted anxiously.

The Night Fury narrowed his eyes with suspicion and looked to Astrid and the kids, who seem terrified of him. Hiccup looked away, closed his eyes and extended his hand to him, hoping he would recognised him by his smell. Before he could react, he felt the sticky lick on his face and Toothless pushed him against the floor jumping excited while he was licking him.

Hiccup laughed while Astrid smiled relieved, assuring to their kids that his dad wasn’t going to be eaten by a dragon. Hiccup petted his friend, unable to believe that he was finally seeing his friend after all those years separated.

But something was missing.

Hiccup called to his children who approached them afraid of the Night Fury. Toothless observed them curious and, then, he understood what Hiccup wanted. He bent his head while Hiccup took Zephyr’s and Nuffink’s hands and explained them how they should introduce themselves. Astrid kneeled behind them, excited to see the recreation of the moment her husband sealed his friendship with Toothless many years ago.

When Zephyr and Nuffink touched Toothless’ nose and they smiled, Hiccup finally felt that the emptiness in his heart, which had accompanied him for many years, was finally filled. The dragon licked the children exultant, aware that those little humans were his offsprings. Zephyr and Nuffink complained with disgust while Toothless surprised Astrid by licking her too. The woman welcomed him with a laugh and then the dragon jumped to the poop of the ship again and roared. Three small figures appeared from the waterfall mist and Hiccup’s heart skipped a beat. Toothless, like him, was a dad too. The Night Lights were extroverted creatures which showed a great curiosity on them. Encouraged by their dad, they played with them till the Light Fury came with another dragon.

“Stormfly!”, Astrid shouted.

The Nadder recognised Astrid’s voice and she landed so enthusiastically on the ship, swinging it wildly. The kids ran to the blue dragon fascinated as she observed them with curiosity. Astrid introduced them and Stormfly bent her nose to smell her friend’s offsprings.

“S-she’s be-eautiful”, Nuffink stammered amazed.

Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other and they had to contain the excitement that almost made them cry. This was happening. The dream they were cherishing for years it was finally becoming true.

They were giving their most special legacy to their children.

That day the whole Haddock family ploughed throughout the sky on Toothless and Stormfly. They spent a day that none of them would ever forget; not even Nuffink, who was just a toddler.

But every beginning had its end.

When the sun started to hide on the horizon, the children were trying to hide the exhaustion, but Hiccup decided it was time to return to the ship. There were complains, even from the dragons, but Toothless agreed with his friend.

It was time to say goodbye.

That farewell was less painful that the last one. Although Hiccup burst into tears again, he left in peace knowing that his best friend was happy. And, selfishly speaking, Hiccup was happy with his current life. More than happy. His children, wife and village were his whole world now.

He’d finally moved on.

Those reunions happened over the years. New Berk continued to flourish and it became one of the richest and safest islands of the Archipelago. Hiccup and Astrid agreed that only the Haddocks would keep on secret the location of the Hidden World. There were complains and arguments on the subject, but both Chiefs knew it was the best for all, convinced that Toothless wouldn’t like the approach of humans to his kingdom.

Valka accompanied them in the rest of their trips until she passed away many years later. She went to the Hidden World after the insistences of Cloudjumper to Toothless for letting her enter at least once to the paradise that Valka always wanted to meet. A time after her passing, Hiccup found out that Cloudjumper died from age and sorrow. Twenty years together had been many, even for a dragon, but the relationship between Valka and Cloudjumper was so special as Hiccup had with Toothless.

Hiccup and Astrid travelled to the Hidden World until Hiccup couldn’t make it anymore. Actually, it wasn’t shortly before his death that Hiccup accepted he couldn’t return. By that time, Zephyr was the Chief of New Berk and Nuffink was her right hand man, although he was working in the forge after having it inherited from Gobber and Eret after their passings. Despite her advanced age, Astrid was in great health, although her hair was white now and her face was marked by wrinkles and time.

Hiccup had it more difficult to walk with his prosthesis due to his rheumatism and when he got sick with pneumonia everyone knew that their former Chief, the longest and greatest ruler that Berk had ever had, wouldn’t survive.

It was late and Hiccup found it hard to keep his eyes open. His chest was whistling, a sign that showed that it was more and more difficult to breath on his own. Astrid was by his side, holding his hand and stroking his hair. She was smiling to her husband with tenderness, not allowing herself to break down in front of him. He deserved her best face until the end, later she would afford to cry for him. Hiccup thanked her effort by squeezing her hand with the little strength he had. Nuffink was seated on the floor, resting against the foot of his parents’ bed, tired of crying, while Zephyr was on the other side of the bed, weeping in silence and with bags under her eyes. His grandkids left a short while ago and Hiccup made a huge effort to tell them their favorite tale for one last time:

“There were dragons when I was boy…”

Now, they were just waiting till Hiccup fell sleep for not awakening again. Every now and then, he whispered words of love to his wife and he caressed her daughter’s hands with his fingers. They stayed like this until a gale hit against the windows and then Hiccup murmured:

“West wind.”

Suddenly, they heard a heavy knock on the roof, startling everyone in the room except for Hiccup. A weak smile creased in his lips and Astrid understood what was going on.

“Nuffink, open the door.”

“B-but m-mum…”, his son tried to argue.

“Do as I say and open it.”

Nuffink obeyed her and he held his breath when he found Toothless on the other side of the door. The Night Fury entered in the house without asking for permission and he approached to the bed with a sad look on his face, like if he perfectly knew what was going about to happen. Zephyr moved away to make way for the dragon and she placed next to her mother and brother on the other side of the bed.

“Hey Bud.”, Hiccup greeted in a thin voice, but smirking, “You must forgive me for not having gone this year to see you all, but I’m afraid I won’t be back.”, he turned to his family, “Don’t worry, the secret of the Hidden World will be safe. I couldn’t leave it in better hands.”

Toothless growled sadly and Hiccup put his hand on his nose, as he had done so many times before.

“Thank you for everything, Bud. I can leave this world knowing that I had the best friend I would have never dreamed of and a wonderful family that the Gods could give me.”, he coughed and a grin of pain drawn in his face, “My Dad wasn’t wrong when he said that there is no greater gift than love and all of you are the most precious treasure I’m taking with me to Valhalla. I love you all.”

Hiccup closed his eyes, holding his family by one hand and feeling the scaly skin of his best friend on the other one. He sighed his last breath with a smile on his lips, leaving this world with an encouraging thought:

Everything went well.

Xx.