#httyd book history

[companion-of-the-dragonmark]

When Was the First Kingdom of the Wilderwest Built? (HTTYD Books)

Hello, my fellow Dragonmarkers! It's been awhile! As promised, here's the article concerning the plausible timeline of the Kingdom of the Wilderwest. This article was actually a very old one of mine that I had written during this month in 2018. Why didn't I post it on here? Because I wasn't on Tumblr until 2020. And by then, I had forgotten to post this on here. Whoops. Teehee. 😜

When did Hiccup the First end the First Human-Dragon War and built the First Kingdom of the Wilderwest?

Many fans just go with what Wodensfang says in Book 11, supporting the 1000-Year Dynasty mentioned in Book 11 rather than the 500-700-Year Dynasty suggested in Book 9. In fact, it's everywhere in the HTTYD Wiki. I guess it's because fans view Book 11 to be more accurate because it's a later book? I don't know; maybe I'm thinking too hard about this.

But I want to talk through this and thoroughly go through the pros and cons of both sides of the argument and do this right. I'd love to know what you guys think about this.

Anyway, on to the topic!  

Possible Contradiction?:

In the First Book — the Book that we're all familiar with — in Chapter 6, Page 68, says that:

"The Dragon (speaking of the Green Death) had crawled down into the depths of the ocean and had gone into a Sleep Coma. Dragons can stay in this suspended state for eternity, half-dead, half-alive, buried under fathom after fathom of icy-cold seawater. Not a muscle of this particular Dragon had moved for six or seven centuries."

Wodensfang's account of Hiccup the First in Book 9 "How to Steal a Dragon's Sword", on Chapter 12, Page 203, seems to probably confirm this when he says: "Five or six centuries ago, when I was young, it was a very dark age, and the dragons and humans were at war."

He goes on further explanation in Page 208 concerning the Green Death: "...Merciless flew to the north, and to the Open Sea. He lived so long a loner that perhaps over the centuries he forgot his youth as leader of a dragon army and became quite an ordinary killer. Rumor was that several hundred years later, he was known only as the Green Death, one of the many monsters that terrorize the Deep Sea."

So you're probably saying, "Great! There it is! There's your answer! It was 600-700 years ago! Problem solved, right?"

Wrong.

In Book 11 "How to Betray a Dragon's Hero", on Chapter 6, Page 98, Wodensfang tells the story of how the Dragonmark came to be, as well as a more detailed history of the Kingdom of the Wilderwest and the story of Grimbeard the Ghastly as a boy, and how he changed the Mark. 

He says at the beginning of the story: "Once upon a time, Hiccup, a thousand or so years ago, when I was young and about the size of a Saber-Toothed Driver Dragon, I met your ancestor, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the First, and I gave him the Dragon Jewel and trusted him with the Jewel's Secret."

In Page 100, Wodensfang repeats this by saying: "For over a thousand years, it seemed like I had made the right decision to entrust the Secret of the Dragon Jewel to the humans."

I know right? I'm as confused as you are! Didn't he say in Book 9 that it was "five or six centuries ago"? Maybe even SEVEN centuries ago? Why the change? Did he suddenly get the Dragon equivalent of memory loss due to old age? Does he not know how to count?

Here's the confusing thing: if he was rounding, this might explain it. But the thing is that you can do it with small numbers, but as the number gets bigger, you can't round up in great jumps.

(Warning: Math Ahead!)

For example, say that the number is 8, you round it up to 10 (in certain circumstances) because 8 is closer to 10 than 5. However, if it's 6, then you have to round down to 5 because 6 is closer to 5. The only time that it doesn't is when you're rounding up in percentages (55.678594375 would be 56, for example).

You can't round up to 1000 years from 600, or even 700. That's too high of a jump. Especially when you're telling a historical account. For one thing, it's inaccurate, and for another, it's lazy. And it'll spread lots of confusion.

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A Roman Piece to a Nordic Puzzle | The Hint's in the Roman Numerals: 

So then, which is it? Was the Kingdom of the Wilderwest built 600-700 years ago or 1000-odd years ago? 

First off, allow me to redirect your attention once more to the references concerning the Green Death (also known as Merciless):

The Green Death Takes His Tea by Crownflame on DeviantArt

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"The Dragon (speaking of the Green Death) had crawled down into the depths of the ocean and had gone into a Sleep Coma. Dragons can stay in this suspended state for eternity, half-dead, half-alive, buried under fathom after fathom of icy-cold seawater. Not a muscle of this particular Dragon had moved for six or seven centuries." 

And this one:

  ". . .Merciless flew to the north, and to the Open Sea. He lived so long a loner that perhaps over the centuries he forgot his youth as leader of a dragon army and became quite an ordinary killer. Rumor was that several hundred years later, he was known only as the Green Death, one of the many monsters that terrorize the Deep Sea." 

According to these two quotes concerning the Dragon Merciless, it would appear that the events were about roughly 600 years ago. The problem is that the first quote says he had been in a Sleep Coma for six or seven centuries. I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem like a lot of time to me for him to have forgotten his past and about his nemesis Hiccup. It sounds like in the latter quote, Merciless lived and journeyed alone for a long time — about 100-200 years or more — before he fell into a Sleep Coma.

What might help support this is the mention of what he had eaten in Book 1, Page 129: "He was awake now, and he had coughed up the last thing he had eaten, the Eagle Standard of the Eighth Legion, with its pathetic ribbons still flying bravely."

Now, yes, the HTTYD books are exaggeratory and any historical references are "purely coincidental," and that the Roman Dragonrustlers were about during Hiccup the Third's time (but after Book 3 was said to have fled back to Rome — which is inaccurate because Hiccup's time was during the Viking Age, over 300 years after the fall of the Roman Empire. However, I have a theory that'll explain that in the future). 

But what if we DID get historical here? According to history, the only 8th Legion in Roman history was the Legio VIII Augusta, one of the oldest Roman legions in Rome's history (along with the Legio VI Feratta, Legio VII Claudia, and the (in)famous Legio IX Hispana). They were stationed in Gaul (modern France) near the modern-day Strasbourg area (called Argentoratum in Roman times). It was founded in 65 BC by Julius Caesar during the Gaul Wars. It continued service presumedly until either before or until the Fall of Rome (400-500 AD). 

Of course, since it continued service until that time period, then it's impossible for the Green Death to have eaten the Legion, right?

As Old Wrinkly used to say: "It's not im-POSSIBLE, only im-PROBABLE. The only thing that limits us are the limits to our imaginations." 

So, taking this sagely advice, let's think about this carefully.

According to Roman history, the Eighth Legion was disbanded during the first of Rome's Civil Wars (called Caesar's Civil War and the conflict was between Caesar and Scipio) soon after the Battle and Siege of Thapsus (modern-day Tunisia) in 46 BC for unknown reasons. It was reconstituted in 44 BC by Caesar's adopted son Augustus for Caesar's veterans who had loyally served him and helped him defeat Mark Antony and gain power as Rome's first Emperor.

So basically, there's a two-year gap between the disbandment and the reinstation of the Eighth Legion, which means that Merciless could've easily have eaten the Legion during that time and nobody would've been the wiser, and when Augustus reinstated the Legion two years later, he filled the ranks with other veterans who had served Caesar and Augustus.

What do you think? Plausible?

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Possible Connection to Dragon-Aging and Dates in the Book of Dragons:

Now, in Book 1, in the back of the How to Train Your Dragon book that Hiccup reads (similar to the Book of Dragons in the film) in Chapter 4 on Page 53-58, it says that the last stamped due-date was on "16 May 866 AD". The first and second due-dates stamped on there before that were "10 June 789 AD" and "9 April 835 AD".

However, there's no mention of when that book was borrowed, or when it was returned, or the gap between the date and when Gobber the Belch had burgled it from the Meathead "Public" Library. The Hooligans seemed to have had the book for a while. So the current date of the time of Hiccup's first memoir could be anywhere from 866-900 AD — if not later! 

Suffering Scallops, it could even be in the 1000s AD!!! In Book 7, Hiccup writes in his epilogue that: "Now I am an old, old man, and the world that I created has no need for dragons. They have retreated from the civilization that I brought, along with the wolves, and the Berserks, and the monsters of my childhood."

In 1015 AD, Berserkers were outlawed, and the practice of "going berserk" as a profession and the rituals involving their cults were forbidden until by the turn of the 12th century, Berserkers had all but disappeared from human history. The end of the Viking Age was considered to be between 1066-1100 AD, so, scallops, Hiccup could very well have lived during this time.

(This could explain the crossbows in the TV series, as they were beginning to show up around this time, as well as Hiccup's quote in the first film: "300 years and I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon!") 

And, in Book 12, Hiccup also explains in his epilogue that Sea-Dragons like Toothless can live for thousands of years, so maybe 1000-year period might be correct? There's no mention about the other sea dragons, apparently, so I guess they don't live nearly as long?

The problem is the period of growth in the Sea-Dragons. Wodensfang was probably of-age by the time he meets Hiccup the First, and he was "the size of a Saber-Toothed Driver Dragon" then. Then, as the decades and centuries went by and the Kingdom prospered, he grew to be "as large as a mountain". Then he says that hundreds of years ago, he began to "shrink in old age", as Sea-Dragons are small in young and old ages, but in adult stages they're colossal, until he shrunk to the "size of a large Viking hunting dog (probably a Norwegian Elkhound, which lived during this time and was used mainly as a guard and hunting dog)" during the time of Grimbeard the Ghastly. By Hiccup the Third's time a hundred years later, he shrunk to the size of Toothless.

Furious was still considered a baby during Hiccup the Second's time, but grew to be the size of a small elephant. Then 100 years later, he became the size of a mountain, when it doesn't seem that Wodensfang grew that big that quickly (though, to be fair, the Berserks had been feeding him well with human sacrifices for the past 100 years, among other foods, so he probably grew to be that big because of it.) He must've had an early growth spurt. lol 😂

That being said, the reason Furious and Wodensfang have different growing speeds may be likely due to Furious having been fed well since his hatchling days. Whereas it's hinted by Wodensfang himself that he's had a difficult life in his younger days, which is one of the reasons he joins Merciless' rebellion against the Vikings. So the struggle for food could've stunted his growth until he met Hiccup the First later on, at which point he grew faster as more food was available.

Meanwhile, there's Toothless, who's a baby, and has been the size of Wodensfang since the first book, and, according to Hiccup in his epilogue in Book 12, hasn't really grown up at all despite it being 62 years since the events of Book 12 (which if Hiccup was 10-11 when he got Toothless in Book 1, this would make Toothless 65-66 years old by Hiccup's death) and is still able to sleep on his chest. 

He must be a late bloomer. lol 😂

Then there's the Green Death — or Merciless — to consider. While he was Furious's size during Hiccup the First's time, and was considered to be a young dragon, then several centuries later, if not more, when he meets Hiccup the Third, he's still the same size! Do Sleep Comas delay aging and growth or something?

So basically we have FOUR Sea-Dragons who grow and age at various speeds! So I don't think we can glean anything from this.

So . . . 1000 years or 600-700 years? Honestly, I seem to get more confused the further I try to explain it! I hope you're having better luck keeping up than I am at the moment! lol 😂

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Time For a Little More Math! (cue the groans!):

Okay, I'm going to do a little more math. To be honest, graphs, charts, and basic math is the only math I love. If you don't like it, then skip if you'd like, though you'll miss out on the cool part. 😉🧐

I've done the calculations and I'll do my best with it. If there are any mistakes, please let me know and I'll correct them. 

I'll be using current time from 866-1100 AD and then add the date to when the Kingdom of the Wilderwest could've been established in Hiccup the First's time. 

I will be using the terms CTP (Current Time Period) and DFP (Dynasty Foundation Period) to avoid confusion.

Whew! Okay! Now that THAT'S done and over with, let's get to the average ages of the Kings of the Wilderwest to further prove (hopefully) which date it might've been. 

I've organized it into different sections. Before Hiccup the Third, there were 12 Kings of the Wilderwest. So I'll divide the number of years that the Dynasty could've lasted to the number of Kings to get the average lifespan that each of the Kings have to be in order for this to become plausible.

Now granted, some of these Kings could've died young (20s-30s), or very old, or in their middle-ages (pun not intended). This is the AVERAGE lifespan for each king -- not a literal statistic for each and every King. 

Unless, of course, if we were fanciful people, we might've theorized that there's some sort of magic spell in the Dragon Jewel that Wodensfang didn't mention that causes all of the Twelve Kings to die at the same age. 

In that case, if true, and if every King DOES INDEED die at the same age, then since Hiccup the Third dies at the age of 75/76, it would've been 900 years since the foundation of the Kingdom of the Wilderwest since every King would've died at the same age that Hiccup had died.

But we're not fanciful people . . . and that would be ridiculous. lol 😜

However, you're probably noticing that there are no 1000 Years among the statistics that I just showed above. That's because I had just remembered that the Kingdom of the Wilderwest collapsed a hundred years before Hiccup the Third's time. Meaning that if the Dynasty and Kingdom lasted for 1000 years, then only 900 years of that has passed as a kingdom.

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Conclusion:

So . . . WHEW! That took a long time to write (5-6 hours, though the time could've been cut in half had I not done the statistics, but then where'd be the fun in that? lol 😜)

I apologize if any of this went over your head or overwhelmed you with informational overload. If it did, then I sympathize because I'm feeling this as well — and I'm WRITING THIS! 

So my conclusion is that, basically speaking, regardless of the Kingdom being anywhere from 600-1000 years old, 100 of those years need to be subtracted since the Kingdom fell apart when Grimbeard dissolved it a hundred years prior to the current events of the Second Dragon War. So, realistically, the Kingdom — and the 12 Kings (including Grimbeard) — lasted around 500-900 years, and when Wodensfang tells Hiccup the Third about the history of the Wilderwest, he includes the 100 years into the timeframe when the Kingdom of the Wilderwest was first founded.

So I guess that, in the end, the actual date and timeline will be left up to the fans to headcanon for themselves.

If you could take anything from this, what would it be?

What current timeline do you think Hiccup the Third could be living in during the Viking Age? 900s? 1000s? 1100?

And how many years do you think that the Kingdom of the Wilderwest was established (including the 100-year gap)? 1000 years? 800? 700? 600? 

Please share your thoughts! I'd LOVE to hear from you!!! ^_^ 

Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to read this and I am looking forward to reading any theories, corrections, suggestions, discussions, answers, and/or questions you may have. 

I hope this article finds you well, and I hope you have a splendid weekend! 

Long Live the Wilderwest!

— Companion of the Dragonmark

[eman-cosplay]

IT S MY HICCUP COSPLAY I OOVE IT SOO MUCH

[panicked-herb]

Some post cannon character designs and head cannons for Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Camicazi.

Bonus: Alvin the Treacherous

[midnightcoffes]

can I be rlly honest rn?

I think the name Hiccup fits more for book Hiccup than the movie Hiccup.

Not that it doesnt fit at all, but just............ykow

[noctusfury]

The Story Behind the Portraits (A HTTYD/Riders of Berk Theory)

Hello, my fellow Furians! And welcome to another HTTYD article!

Today, we’ll be diving into the background and mystery behind the Portraits of the Chieftains and their Heirs!

This is a continuation, sequel, and expansion of my original post here.

We know very little about Berkian history aside from the fact that Berk has been around for 7 generations (8 if you include the Gang... maybe?) and that Berk celebrated their 400th Anniversary (more on that in my previous article here).

Other events and people in Berkian history that were mentioned were the Dragon Wars (for 300 years), the Berserker Wars (during Stoick’s father’s and grandfather’s time), the skirmishes with the Outcasts, the Rise of Alvin the Treacherous, even about the fame of Hamish the First. There are mentions of other noteworthy people that were part of Berk’s history (at least, I assume they’re part of Berkian history since Fishlegs mentions them), but to regale you of them when I haven’t watched the series in a while isn’t worth it.

However, there is one glaring absence among the row of portraits on the wall: there is no portrait of Hamish the Second and his son. Why?

Let us go through the events of the Riders of Berk episode “Portrait of Hiccup as a Buff Man” to find out, since that is where we will receive the story of Hiccup the Second.

We know that Hamish the First was a famous chieftain in Berkian history, said by Fishlegs to have been: “the most successful and wealthiest chieftain in Berk’s history, who amassed a fabulous and massive treasury.” 

However, there may be some conflict over who was actually Hamish the First, since according to the Wiki, the blonde Viking is NOT Hamish the First, but actually the first portrait on the wall, the dark-haired Viking, and that Hamish the Second was named after him.

Of course, I’m not sure if the animation error is true or not. If Hamish the First, according to the Wiki, truly was the first chieftain to take his portrait in this, then it doesn’t make sense that Hamish the Second would put the treasury spanning from the First Chieftain into a secret place several generations later. But could it be that his (the first chieftain’s) son is really Hamish the Second?

I don’t know. It’s difficult to tell. I’ll leave that to you guys, and I’ll think about it a little more. I might even write another article about this apparent discrepancy.

While it may be a stretch, it's possible that Hamish the Second switched the portraits and that the first chieftain’s portrait was actually the portrait posing as the two Hamishes (the blonds) while the true portrait of the Hamishes was put into the First Chieftain’s portrait spot.

Anyway, back to Hamish the Second’s background.

After leaving behind a literal golden and colorful legacy, Hamish the First stepped down (or died), leaving Hamish the Second to succeed him as the 5th-Generation Chieftain of Berk. After that, he hid the majority of his father’s treasure hoards and created the labyrinth and riddles for the next “hiccup” to find in the future. We don’t know the later events or accomplishments of his reign — or anything else about him, for that matter — before the succession of either Stoick’s grandfather or father.

But here’s where it’s gets even more hazy.

The Case of the Missing Portraits

If you count all of the portraits in total, there are only SIX of them, including Hiccup’s portrait! We’re missing Hamish the Second’s portrait with his son.

Where is it? What happened to it? Why is it missing?!

In the intro to the HTTYD 1 film, Hiccup stated that they have lived on Berk for “seven generations,” so whether you include his own generation as the 7th generation, or if the 7th generation is Stoick’s generation while Hiccup’s generation is the 8th is its own topic altogether.

Though you could argue that only Hamish the Second's portrait is missing, since if you HAD included that, it would've been 7 generations of portraits, including Hiccup's portrait with Stoick, and, even IF Hiccup was the 8th generation instead of the 7th, there wouldn't be an 8th portrait until the coming-of-age of Hiccup's OWN children.

We get an interesting hint by Fishlegs as they observe the line of portraits:

So according to him, Hiccup is one of the “few” who wasn’t killed by their successors  — which usually implies that regicide was somewhat commonplace. Of course, “few” could just imply more than 3-4 individuals, and it’s possible that only a few in their history were actually killed by their successor.

Another theory is that Fishlegs is talking about successors and predecessors in general throughout the Archipelago in all of Viking history.

It’s not really stated what “the elite few” is referencing, whether it’s concerning the Berkian chieftain bloodline, or is including the chieftain bloodlines of other Tribes as well.

What do you guys think?

At any rate, let’s start with Hamish the Second.

Hamish the Second

Hamish the Second is definitely a curious individual in Berkian history, shown to be a nod to Grimbeard the Ghastly's son, Hiccup the Second, in the Books. Both are friends to dragons, both were Runts, both loved their fathers despite their grievances, and both their fathers were successful pirates who collecting a massive hoard of treasures.

Since after his father's death, Hamish the Second, being a brilliant engineer and nasty trapper and riddler, used his (presumedly) secret relationship with dragons to build a massive complex to hide his father's treasure (most likely due to the infighting over the said treasure, as was seen in HTTYD Book 2) and protect it from thieves and raiders.

That was his first job and project as the 5th(?) Chieftain of Berk.

So, if Hamish II became the next Chief, what happened to him and why isn't there a portrait of himself with his own son?

Well, we simply don't know, unfortunately. There are some theories and plausibilities that could explain its disappearance.

1. Hamish, much like his Book counterpart, perished at a young age — most likely as the victim of what Fishlegs mentioned as "being one of those killed by their successor."

2. Hamish could've died as a result of an accident, disease, injuries, battle, or even a shipwreck or a storm.

3. Hamish's secret of befriending dragons could've been discovered and was either killed or exiled for "betraying Berk". (Of course, this is assuming that Berk hadn't tamed dragons back then since Hamish the First obviously had time to raid and pillage to get this massive hoard of treasure without much problems with dragon raids. And the flashback with Stoick and Hiccup in HTTYD 2 and HTTYD 3 seem to support that.)

4. Hamish could've been killed or forced to leave due to people seeking his father's treasure.

5. Hamish could've had a son but, like Thugheart from the Books, decided to overthrow Hamish II and got rid of him.

6. Hamish, not wanting to endanger his dragon friends, pulled a Valka-move and either made it look like dragons killed him, or, like what Hiccup tried to do in HTTYD 1, decided to quietly leave Berk without telling anyone.

There might be more, but those are the main ones.

Heck, perhaps even one of these two portraits IS Hamish the Second and his son, presumedly Stoick's grandfather. Who knows? 🤷‍♂️

At any rate, for any or a combination of these reasons, this resulted in a tragic early death before having an heir, or he did have an heir but died before his son came of-age, thus the portrait couldn't be made.

Considering Hamish the Second is based off of Hiccup the Second from the Books, let's just assume the chieftainship was left vacant after his disappearance, for whatever reason it may be.

Of course, if this is true, does this simply mean that the portraits got switched? If so, then we can continue with the theory that a relative of Hamish the Second, Stoick's grandfather or father, became the new Chief of Berk — assuming there wasn't an upstart before that who tried to take advantage and take the throne for himself.

This would effectively make Stoick's family a new dynasty, even if they're part of the same family. Assuming that they're not just a family of Vikings that the residents voted in and that the official line of Berk ended with Hamish the Second.

If it's TRUE that the Hamishes WERE, in fact, the FIRST and SECOND Chiefs of Berk, then that would change things a bit.

For instance, if we were to be loyal to the Books, after the deaths of Grimbeard and Hiccup the Second, and the disownment and exile of Thugheart, Chucklehead would become the new Chieftain of Berk.

Meaning that after Hamish the First's death, and Hamish the Second's early death/disappearance, Chucklehead would be the next Chieftain of Berk.

And if you look at the portraits, the one on the right looks like what Chucklehead would look like, doesn't he? 👀

Conclusion

To conclude with this rather long article, regardless of Hamish the Second's fate, or what timeline he truly hails from, he left a seat vacant, and the absence of his theoretical portrait of himself and his heir is likely due to his early death or disappearance, or, if he HAD an heir, or contenders, they might've dealt with him and got rid of the portrait.

The only reason why I didn't mention the possibility of his secret — that of his friendship with dragons — being found out, and that's what caused his downfall, is that if that had been the case, then why didn't they destroy the portrait of Hamish the First and Hamish the Second as well?

If the Hamishes were the First- and Second-Generation Chieftains, then the next chieftain would've been [insert Viking] (I'm going with "Chucklehead").

If not, and it was during Stoick's grandfather's or father's time, then it's possible that Stoick's grandfather and father were part of the continuation of the dynasty left vacant by Hamish the Second. Assuming they're not a new dynasty altogether, which is unlikely.

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Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this article. If you have any thoughts about this mystery, or about Berkian history, please feel free to give your thoughts.

Thank you for reading. I hope you have a good weekend.

Long Live the Night!

— Noctus Fury

[quiet-art-kid]

Httyd realization

I know that the books were never meant to be 100% historically accurate but that never stopped me from thinking about why this worlds dark ages were different from ours. That is when I realized that the world of httyd’s past diverts from ours due to the existence of dragons. So here are some things that dragons simply existing created

1 either they made vikings come about faster or they prolonged the Roman empire

2 for some reason horned viking helmet were developed because of dragons

3 dragons resulted in more available paper and writing materials

4 dragons changed viking clothing

5 hear me out, in order to have badd spelling you need good spelling, and in order to have good spelling you need standardized spelling. This means that the existence of dragons somehow lead to the standardization of written norse

[poibynt]

The earlier HTTYD books occasionally refer to Hiccup as 'the last great viking hero' which is already a bit melancholy but grows even more so with the context of the later books. I doubt viking society as it was known and understood just totally imploded into dust during Hiccup's lifetime, it's even implied in his old man monologues that that doesn't happen. But it does imply that the end of the viking age, the death of the viking world and way of life is rapidly approaching. Just as the dragon time is over, and the dragons are slowly, slowly leaving as Hiccup grows up and old, the Viking time ends and they too slowy, slowly, die out. I wonder if Hiccup saw this coming decline and thought it was because the vikings couldn't live without dragons, economically and spiritually. How awful, to lose the thing you fought to save and sent away and then your culture year after year.

[neutrondivergent]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hiccup Series - Cressida Cowell Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Camicazi & Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Fishlegs No-Name Characters: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Camicazi (How to Train Your Dragon), Fishlegs No-Name (How to Train Your Dragon) Additional Tags: Platonic Relationships, aftermath of war, history repeats itself Summary:

Aftermath of HTTYD Book 12 (Spoilers!)

King Hiccup on the Island of Tomorrow

Title from Pompeii by Bastille

[howtodrawyourdragon]

The mention of molasses reminds me of the Great Molasses Flood in the early 1900s, which in turn reminds me of Puppet History!

[companion-of-the-dragonmark]

It's strange though, because I think Cressida Cowell had forgotten about this bit. Or maybe not.

In Book 2, Alvin says that he lost his hand due to the trap in the coffin when he found it, while in Book 10, he obviously lost his hand AND found the coffin with the necklace before Fishlegs was born — about roughly 14 years prior.

Of course, that's what happened, but it happened many years ago, as opposed to being a recent event. However, it's obvious that he still treats it like it's recent. That's how much of a grudge he had against Grimbeard for being SLY.

Of course, when you think about it, Alvin was lying the whole time in Book 2, including being a potato-growing farmer from the Peaceable Tribe, so he could've lied about his hand. Honestly, that would explain the lack of description of blood throughout that scene.

Looks like I, too, got pulled in by Alvin's narrative. Whoops. 😅

N2O is laughing gas but that didn't fit so I abbreviated it.

No, you don't get to fall into a nice, cool lake while Beserk burns up, that's far too easy.

[platinumink]

Who the hell was in charge of casting the actors for HTTYD (live action version)?

sooo... i've finally seen the cast forbthe live action version of httyd... and I am not impressed. (Keep in mind this is my personal opinon. Also, I apologize for the bad quality of those photos, someone sent them to me and I was too lazy to find themnin a better quality online)

Let's start with the man, the myth, the legend, Hiccup himself. In one word: no. They cast for a post puberty!Hiccup to portray 15 year old Hiccup. Just no.

They officially destroyed one of the greatest characters in advance. Someone please tell me how they look even relotely similar. The hair color is the worst part.

Yeah okay, I actually like this casting. : )

I'd rather say no. But then I saw the ears and leaned towards yes. Then the hair color changed my mind again.

Anyone who has seen Deadpool 2 will agree with me that a-splash-of-diabetes Firefist is actually a good casting here. I can totally see him doing an amazing job. : ) But please someone give him a wig.

In one word: wtf happened here?!??!?! Did they just roll up to a random gas station and abducted a guy?

I would like to say a thousand mean and hurtful things. Let's just say these things: The hair color and I don't know how they did it but how they managed to cast an obese actor for the scrawniest character is beyond me. : /

After The Acolyte, I definitely disliked the actor but I will 100% give him a clean slate because they finally managed to cast someone who looked remotely similar to the character thwy were going to portray.

What the hell... This character had all but 3 lines in the movie ("What are you doing out here, get back inside", "To the ships" and "Everyone is so relieved") and they felt the need to cast someone for her. I am begging you all, don't even give her a costume. Just give her the hat. It'd gonna be great comedic relief. xD

To finish this off: I really hope this movie doesn't flop, though I have no confidence in it. Not a single live action movie was ever good in the history of live action versions. I grew up with the books/movies. They were perfection. To the producers: please don't destroy a perfectly good franchise in a hope for abgood money grab...

[companion-of-the-dragonmark]

Outlawry and the Outcast Lands (HTTYD Books)

(I’m sorry in advance for any blurry map images, but I can only do so much. If you guys have clearer copies of this, please let me know.)

Hello everyone! Today I’ll write another article that I think you’ll find interesting. I know I haven’t written an article for the Books in, like, a very long time, but now I’ve got myself a topic to talk about. 

As you know, Outlawry and Outcasts are among the main antagonists and themes in the Books. That being said, and in spite of it, there isn’t really a whole lot of info concerning this, aside from the few hints, theories, and mentions we get from it.

In the Books, Outlawry and Piracy kinda go hand-in-hand, though they’re not exactly the same thing. 

In the Viking Age, there was a complicated yet integral system in Viking society called “Outlawry”. For minor crimes — stealing, injuring, insulting someone’s honor, perjury, non-violent treason (disobeying orders and the like), etc, or if the person exiled himself — they sentenced a person to “Lesser Outlawry”.

Lesser Outlaws had safe zones to live in for up to 3 years, and their family and friends could give them supplies and support if needed. His family could even join him if they so wished. However, if the person ever stepped out of these safe zones for whatever reason, it was fair game if somebody killed him, since he is technically an outlaw, and the killer was exempt from any punishment since the outlaw stepped out of the sanctioned safe zones.

“Greater Outlawry” was when a man or woman committed the following major crimes: assault, rape, manslaughter (accidental or intentional), the harming or killing of a chieftain or lord (or “violent treason”), breaking the terms of the lesser outlawry sentence, and other terrible crimes. If anyone committed these crimes, they were sentenced to “Greater Outlawry”, which was permanent, and could never be revoked once sentenced.

Of course, both in the real world and in this world, it’s natural and essential for outlaws to band together to increase their chances of survival. After all, life as an outlaw wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, as Hiccup hints at in Book 1, and mentions from time to time in later Books. In fact, such was the stress and isolation of becoming a permanent outlaw — becoming both socially and eventually physically executed — that there are many who commit suicide, unable to handle the drastic change to their circumstances. 

To be an Outlaw was to, bluntly speaking, metaphorically become the participant of the Hunger Games — except that everyone was coming to kill YOU, gaining glory and honor for themselves, and notoriety for you if you won instead.

Because of this, it was common for Outlaws to band together in order to protect themselves. This is probably how the Outcast Tribe came to be after Thugheart failed in his rebellion to claim the Throne of the Wilderwest for himself, bringing with him whomever got banished with him. Perhaps even with their families, if any went at all. Over the years, they grew to become a deadly force, and unfortunately devolved into a nasty, ferocious, and somewhat primitive Viking band known for cannibalism, human sacrifices, and other bad deeds. Of course, upon Alvin’s coronation as the new High Chieftain of the Outcasts 5-15 years before the events of Book 1, he reformed the Outcasts into a bit more sophisticated force and a bit more with the times, but he couldn’t change all of their traditions.

This Tribe consists mostly of descendants of pro-Thugheart rebels who wish for the descendants of Thugheart to reclaim the Throne of the Wilderwest and rule the Tribes (even though the rest of the Archipelago view them as nothing more than a family of Outcasts and dishonorable men).

While the Outcasts of the Wilderwest are the main groups, they’re by far not the only ones out there. The Archipelago has many Outcast warbands, large and small, spread out throughout the many isles that make up the Barbaric Archipelago. That being said, the Wilderwest Outcasts are by far the most populous and dangerous outlaw bands out there due to their organization, history, resolve, and semi-legitimacy. Other outlaw bands are mostly just warbands led by a leader or warlord rather than a legitimate chieftain or ruler. If they do, it’s self-made and far from legitimate.

But Vikings of the Archipelago who wish to sail through these waters must take heed to the potential danger of running into any bands of wandering Outcasts. Some bands are on dragons, others on ships, and still others with a mix of both. The life of a Viking is fraught with danger.

However, this isn’t the only path to becoming an Outcast. Nor is it the only fate of one, either. 

Regardless if you were Outlawed or not, if you have the misfortune and bad luck to run into the Uglithug Slave Ships, you may as well forget ever hoping for freedom again. To become a slave is the same as becoming an Outcast practically. Once they grab hold of you and gift you with the Slavemark, you can never hope to become a Free Viking ever again. (At least until the Dragonmarker Revolution led by Hiccup the Third brought it back into its original symbolic meaning.) 

But if you ever got lucky enough to escape (though few ever do), you would still be treated as if you were an Outcast and probably killed on the spot, or, if you were lucky, become someone else’s slave.

If you got caught by any Roman ships, then you’d meet the same fate and you’d end up becoming a slave or a gladiator for their Games.

Vikings who got banished from their homes as Outcasts would either go to 2 places: The Mainland, where they would have to deal with dragons AND Uglithugs, and try to avoid becoming a slave or just outright killed on the spot — and woe unto them if they got banished during the winter seasons (though anytime was bad when you’re in the Archipelago); and the second is being sent by UG the Uglithug to the Island of Berserk, where they’re imprisoned in the infamous Forest Dungeon until the time comes for their monthly human sacrifices to the Dragon (until, at least, Hiccup came along and spoilt the fun like the party-pooper he is. XD)

However, there was a THIRD option — one that most people probably don’t know about.

Cannibal Isle. The island where starving to death and dealing with dragons was the LEAST of your worries. 

This place was never mentioned in the Books, but you can find this in some maps in Book 1: How To Train Your Dragon and in the Complete Book of Dragons. That being said, it is mentioned in the Books about Vikings being banished having to face dangers such as being beset by cannibals. Book 1 is the most we get about it, but it is interesting to note that he says this. As he says this in lieu of talking about being banished to the Mainland, it might be that Cannibal Isle isn’t the only place where cannibals reside. That being said, we can’t be sure of such things, since Cowell never mentions the place nor about the banishment since it never happens after the Berkian and Meathead Youths’ victory over the Green Death.

I just happened to have seen this on the maps of Book 1 and the Book of Dragons and was very interested and started to wonder if this wasn’t a connection of some sort. If he mentions cannibals, then the other destination they might’ve been sent to other than the Mainland (which, to be honest, is a FAR DISTANCE from Berk) could’ve been Cannibal Isle.

Cannibal Isle might possibly be home to Outcasts who’ve been banished from society and driven to this island, which doesn’t have much in the way of food, and are lucky to get by on plants and fish and whatever they manage to scrounge up. But eventually the hunger drove them mad and caused them to look to man-flesh to sustain their needs. Thus, the island became known as “Cannibal Isle”, and would often be a place to send permanent outlaws to other than the Mainland.

Another area I thought would be an interesting hotspot for pirates, raiders, and outcasts was in the Mazy Multitudes. Only the bravest would enter these waters and make them their base of operations. Other than the weather, the Sharkworms, and the like, they’d also have to contend with the Romans who’ve made their stronghold there on one of the islands.

However, the Mazy Multitudes also make for a great base since not many Vikings would be crazy enough to risk entering the Mazy Multitudes to deal with any Outcasts or Raiders who’ve made themselves at home here, especially since the Romans have made their base here for hundreds of years.

Not only that, but it’s pretty close to several islands, such as Glum, Peaceable Country, Meatheads, Berk, Waterlands, Mystery, Swallow, and others. And much traffic enters near or into these waters, making it a lovely hotspot. Or one of them, at any point. It’s similar to the modern-day water trade routes in Indonesia.

All-in-all, it’s not a bad spot to hang out at -- though, admittedly, there are perhaps more safer areas to establish your base at.

Conclusion:

So there are many paths and many ways that one ends up becoming an Outcast of Viking society when concerning the lore of the Books. And we’ve learned that becoming an Outcast... is not fun’n’games. At all. It’s literally like Hunger Games, but with worse odds and even less support unless you luckily end up in one of the many Outcast bands or form one yourself.

What happens to Outcasts can vary: from going to the Mainland, to becoming a slave, to dying at the hands of Cannibals or some Dragon, to succumbing to the natural and unnatural elements, to getting killed by dragons... the possibilities are ENDLESS.

In fact, there should’ve been a book called “You Wouldn’t Want to be An Outcast in the Barbaric Archipelago”. lol XD (I might actually do a fanfic on this. Who knows?)

I hope you guys had fun reading this and learned a lot. It was definitely fun for me, and I enjoyed thinking up theories concerning Cannibal Isle and the Mazy Multitudes for this article.

Thank you guys for reading! Please reblog to share with others, and I hope to see you in the next article. 

Long Live the Wilderwest!

— Companion of the Dragonmark

[bookdragonideas]

I just finished rereading httyd.

Defiant optimism

That is how I would describe the overall tone of the last few books. (Read the first eight a few weeks ago, read the last four tonight.)

Again and again the story tells us that History Repeats Itself. That the future is doomed. The Doomsday is coming.

And again and again the heroes decide. "You know what? I don't care. I'm going to hope for the best anyways!"

again and again and again.

The Wodensfang decides to hope for the best. One last time, even if he really thinks they're all doomed. Hiccup will not stop looking for Fishlegs. Even when everyone tells him that he's probably dead and that they have other, bigger problems. Hiccup refuses to give up on Snotlout. Even though he has betrayed them so many times, Hiccup keeps giving him more chances. Camicazi refuses to believe that Hiccup is dead, no matter what the evidence would suggest.

Hiccup refuses to destroy the dragons. He keeps offering Furious peace. Keeps promising to try his best to fix this broken world.

Yes, the story tells us, Doomsday is Coming, History Repeats Itself, and sometimes even the greatest heroes will find their triumphs turned to tragedy.

But.

If it doesn't end well, it isn't the end.

And sometimes all it takes is someone saying "No."

"No. I dont care what you say, or how hopeless it is. I will keep fighting. I will keep trying. I will not let your hatred destory the world I love. I will always try."

That makes a hero. That makes a king.

Hiccup doesn't win because he's lucky or chosen or smart.

He wins because he never gives up hope. Even when his friends tell him it's hopeless he keeps going. Keeps trying. Keeps doing the right thing.

And that is what makes him a hero. A legend. A king.

And it's what wins the day.

Because no matter how many times his tries fail, Hiccup keeps trying.

Again and again and again.

Hiccup tells Furious that as long as there is even one human, humanity will keep fighting for those they have lost.

But I think that might be how Hiccup sees himself.

One last human fighting for what humanity has lost.

For the dragons, for freedom, for peace. For love.

Because at the heart of all that trying, is love.

Love for his dragons drives Hiccup to plead for their freedom. Love for Hiccup the Second leads Furious to choose peace. Love for her son leads Valhallarama to change the Slavemark back to the Dragonmark, and rally the tribes to try again. Love for her friends makes Camicazi fly to find Hiccup.

Sometimes all you can do is try your hardest.

But if you keep trying your hardest. And try your hardest out of love. Sometimes it will add up.

Its the smaller things of the world that change things. All those little acts of trying your hardest. Doing the right thing, no matter how small.

They add up.

And sometimes they add up so big...

That they make a hero.

And that hero could be you.

[savebatsfromscratch]

Hey hey! I just finished a ridiculously complicated and long UQuiz about fandoms! Please take it! :D

I put my heart and soul into this PLEASE play it!! I like sharing stuff I like, it's fun I promise. <3

Edit: This is kinda aimed a little at whump enjoyers btw, not entirely but a decent bit. Warning for swearing, possible spoilers for any/all included fandoms, vaguely mentioned drug use in one answer to one question, and violence. (Fictional.)

Included fandoms: Shark Wars, Warrior Cats, Pokemon Adventures, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Adventure, Hetalia, Percy Jackson, Gameknight999, Scratchcraft, the Pokemon Anime (with Ash as the protagonist), How to Train Your Dragon (books), How to Train Your Dragon (movies and shows), Spiderwicks Chronicles, and The Monkees.

Look under the cut for the "awnsers" to each question (after taking the quiz) if you want some context. XD This took me forever! (Warning, doing this will make this post very long.)

1. When your story gets serious, what do you want from it? 1. Pokemon DPA: A deeper meaning that gets the author in WAY over their head. 2. Warrior Cats: A deeper meaning that could be taken the exact wrong way if you so chose to. 3. Gameknight999: A deeper meaning that was probably not intentional. 4. Shark Wars: A deeper meaning that is mentioned explicitly once or twice and then never added to again. 5. Pokespe: A deeper meaning that needs a little thinking to make any god damn sense at all. 6. Pokeani: A deeper meaning that only seems to show up in half-canon material. 7. Spiderwicks: A deeper meaning that doesn't seem to have any actual bearings in reality. 8. HTTYD Books: A deeper meaning that CATCHES YOU OFF GAURD. LIKE, FUCK DUDE- 9. Scratchcraft: A deeper meaning that is pretty obvious if you ignore the fact that it doesn't actually exist. 10. Hetalia: A deeper meaning that is questionable at best. 11. Percy Jackson: A deeper meaning that hits really hard when you start growing up. 12. HTTYD movies: A deeper meaning that was better done somewhere else but I still cried. 13. The Monkees: A deeper meaning that just barely made it past the censors, and it as true to the real world as it could ever aim to be.

2. What do you want out of a protagonist? 1. Pokemon DPA: Overpowered. Also bites people on the ass. 2. Warrior Cats: I like to switch things up as the media progresses. :3 3. Gameknight999: Really traumatized but you wouldn't guess that at all from the concept of the story. 4. Shark Wars: Edgy but in a cringe way. 5. Pokespe: I like to switch things up as the media progresses. >:) 6. Pokeani: I can't tell if he's aroace or gay God Bless America. 7. Spiderwicks: I don't care. As long as they're in SOME SORT of a family- 8. HTTYD Books: Cursed by the repetition of history. 9. Scratchcraft: I want to pick my protagonist thank you very much. 10. Hetalia: Immortal, but silly. 11. Percy Jackson: Badass who everyone is scared of, but, like, they're so nice. :") 12. HTTYD movies: The more the merrier! 13. The Monkees: Someone funny, and maybe a little bit high.

3. What kind of antagonist really gets you going? 1. Pokemon DPA: Manipulators. 2. Warrior Cats: Just a little guy. :3 they kill people Just a little guy- 3. Gameknight999: At least a little edgy, preferably have motivations that don't make any sense. 4. Shark Wars: Kinda horny for no reason. lowkey 5. Pokespe: Utterly insane most of the time. 6. Pokeani: Idiots and/or common criminals. 7. Spiderwicks: Big scary beasts are good! Smart ones too! 8. HTTYD Books: Tumblr sexyman in a not-not-very-hot way. 9. Scratchcraft: Lowkey I could probably beat them up. 10. Hetalia: It's kinda weird to think of anyone as an antagonist. :( 11. Percy Jackson: Yeah. This guy would kill me and laugh about it. 12. HTTYD movies: Animal poachers are my favorite! 13. The Monkees: Is an antagonist really necessary? (Or is it the producer… hmm)

4. Pick a creature please! 1. Pokemon DPA: EXTREMLY overpowered magic penguin. 2. Warrior Cats: Cat who is cat-racist 3. Gameknight999: Minecraft wolf! 4. Shark Wars: Shark who is shark-racist 5. Pokespe: Traumatized rodent. 6. Pokeani: A weirdly athletic rodent 7. Spiderwicks: Fairies! 8. HTTYD Books: Dragon! (Sentient edition) 9. Scratchcraft: Cod God 10. Hetalia: A sentient piece of food. 11. Percy Jackson: Black Pegasus. 12. HTTYD movies: Dragon! (Pet cat editon) 13. The Monkees: Hmm... Monkee...

5. Pick an epic quote from one of the pieces of media in question. 1. Pokemon DPA: "I'm fine with being stupid!" 2. Warrior Cats: "Kill me. Kill me and live with the memory. Then tell the stars that you won." 3. Gameknight999: “You can only do what you believe you can do. I can do this,” 4. Shark Wars: “Let’s get you back where you belong before you catch your death.” 5. Pokespe: “If you can only achieve a dream by being deceitful, using others, and crushing their own hopes, that’s not called a dream, it’s called an ambition.” 6. Pokeani: "I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are." 7. Spiderwicks: "We call them 'fairy tales' for a reason, you know. They're not real." 8. HTTYD Books: “We're all snatching precious moments from the peaceful jaws of time.” 9. Scratchcraft: "Goodbye everybody! I'm going to the sky!" (Storm, S2E30) 10. Hetalia: “It seems as if Americans like to be the center of attention even after they're dead.” 11. Percy Jackson: "If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself," 12. HTTYD movies: "I wouldn't kill him, because he looked as frightened as I was. I looked at him… and I saw myself," 13. The Monkees: "If, uh, people say well, I can’t carry a note, I can’t, I can’t say, I can’t sing, I, I’m tone deaf. But nobody’s tone deaf, and if you love music, then you can play music."

6. How much violence are you feeling like looking at? 1. Pokemon DPA: The real fear happens when the comic relief finally stops. 2. Warrior Cats: Somehow the worst part is that hardly anyone seems to notice something is wrong. 3. Gameknight999: It's a game, but only to half of the participants in the conflict. 4. Shark Wars: Oh, that's torture and mass killings graphically detailed in a children's book, okay. 5. Pokespe: The blood was censored, but somehow you know it's there. 6. Pokeani: It's all fun and games until somebody randomly drops dead. 7. Spiderwicks: Everything is totally fine mom! My sister DIDN'T just get kidnapped by the fae! I promise! 8. HTTYD Books: Ultimately, it's never the violence that truly hurts, but the fact that you know it will happen again and again, and all you can do is try and make things marginally better while you are still here, crawling through the mud. 9. Scratchcraft: You get to choose how real any of this is. 10. Hetalia: A comedy with an underlying truth of extreme violence and war and the realization that none of these people can be friends forever. 11. Percy Jackson: Somehow we always seem to push through. ̶u̶n̶t̶i̶l̶ ̶w̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ 12. HTTYD movies: We will always keep fighting! (But there comes a time that sometimes fighting the good fight is not actually the good fight anymore.) 13. The Monkees: It entirely depends if we're talking about slapstick comedy or the real deal here. (If you look too deep you'll find both.)

7. How do you like your fandoms. 1. Pokemon DPA: I'm fine with a small fandom. I'm not bothered by the bones of a (slightly) bigger one. 2. Warrior Cats: This fandom feels like being surrounded by a pack of wolves! thumbs down 3. Gameknight999: I have never been in a worse fandom. Seriously. Imagine being in a fandom of twelve yearolds on WATTAPAD that then transitions to DISCORD. This is what Hell feels like. (And I'm Catholic.) /pos I luv you guys but STILL 4. Shark Wars: Literally no other person in the whole world is perfect for me. :3 (PLEASE JOIN ME. PLEASE. HELP!) 5. Pokespe: This fandom feels like being surrounded by a pack of wolves! thumbs up 6. Pokeani: Most god awful takes you've ever seen because half the people here don't even like the content and the other half are eight years old. 7. Spiderwicks: What fandom? 8. HTTYD Books: When the fandom is just the size that you can't argue with each other over media or you'll fall apart. ok symbol 9. Scratchcraft: Tight knit fandoms on almost exclusively Discord and a children's coding website are good enough for me! 10. Hetalia: Honestly, I love the discourse. I'M SORRY I KNOW, I JUST- gets jumped 11. Percy Jackson: The memes are so unfunny it feels like it's stuck in the 2000s. 12. HTTYD movies: I don't even care if half the fandom is crossovers with unrelated fandoms, I want to have fun! 13. The Monkees: Pretty big and dedicated, once you get there. (Might have to sort through the graves of 2014 first though.)

8. If you were my mutual in this fandoms (HYPOTHETICALLY) what sort of content of fandom stuff do you like from a mutual. 1. Pokemon DPA: This whump fic is NOT weird, I promise! (>:3) 2. Warrior Cats: Whump fics every october. thumbs up 3. Gameknight999: 1 (one) 66,000+ word crossover fic and basically nothing else. 4. Shark Wars: Stupid meme edits. 5. Pokespe: Memes? ? Gore? ? Animating the same scene eight times? Yep 6. Pokeani: Uh… I did a ship week once? 7. Spiderwicks: Fancontent? glups 8. HTTYD movies: 80 billion reblogs once in a blue moon 9. Scratchcraft: Fanart that has absolutely no relation to canon. 10. Hetalia: The occasional shitty animation. 11. Percy Jackson: Old art posting. 12. HTTYD books: Gore art of everyone's favorite buff teenager <3 13. The Monkees: Literally over 1000 reblogs in two weeks, and then shutting up for a month.

9. (Sorry if that last question almost made you click away lol.) Now, pick a SILLY quote completely out of context! :D (And further apologizes if none of them are funny out of context. lmao) 1. Pokemon DPA: "Nah…he probably started a rock band! He's got the hairdo for it!" 2. Warrior Cats: "Okay, I'll bring back your stupid stick. Keep your fur on." 3. Gameknight999: "Theres another sign, it says…COM?" 4. Shark Wars: "It was not a good whammo. Not good at all." 5. Pokespe: "I wish [corporation name] would have a lot of customers. Preferably a hundred thousand people on the first day," 6. Pokeani: "I'll use my trusty frying pan as a drying pan!" 7. Spiderwicks: "It just figured that Mom would get back from the store NOW." 8. HTTYD Books: "…she had once stunned a stag with one blow of her mighty bosoms, and many a smaller animal had suffocated in their stern depths." 9. Scratchcraft: "SLAM DUNK!" misses horrifically (Storm, S2E30) 10. Hetalia: "YOU PEED ON THE FLOOR??!?!" 11. Percy Jackson: "Tremble before the horror of Diet Coke!”" 12. HTTYD movies: "I knew it. I'm dead!" 13. The Monkees: "Nobody even lends money to a man with a sense of humor!"

10. Pick a piece of an "outfit" 1. Pokemon DPA: A hairclip made with the symbol of a cult which brainwashed you 2. Warrior Cats: A cat collar. It's broken. 3. Gameknight999: Diamond leggings 4. Shark Wars: Tattoos put in place with sea urchin spines 5. Pokespe: Electricity proof (yet fingerless) gloves 6. Pokeani: An extremely rare baseball cap obtained by mailing in cereal box tops obsessively 7. Spiderwicks: A dress made by dwarves 8. HTTYD Books: A torn fire-proof suit (you must wear it to battle) 9. Scratchcraft: Red shirt with a watermelon (with a face) on the back. :) 10. Hetalia: Combat boots with questionable origins 11. Percy Jackson: A silver skull ring 12. HTTYD movies: A wing suit with a partially broken spring 13. The Monkees: Green wool hat.

11. Choose a location a protagonist (or perspective character) finds themselves 1. Pokemon DPA: A building rigged to explode, the only exits have malfunctioned 2. Warrior Cats: A dark forest. Bones crunch underfoot. 3. Gameknight999: A room full of gunpowder, lava sparks awfully close by 4. Shark Wars: Enemy territory, bodies float down around you 5. Pokespe: The rift of time, memories that you do not know fly by 6. Pokeani: A sunken ship on the bottom of the ocean, it is quickly filling with water 7. Spiderwicks: A dumbwaiter, it stops in a entirely closed off room 8. HTTYD Books: The mast of a sinking ship, lightning burns through the air 9. Scratchcraft: A mermaid gladiator arena, who needs to be serious? :3 10. Hetalia: An empty box of tomatoes, gunshots ring outside 11. Percy Jackson: A place so evil that you are too mortal to process it's true horror 12. HTTYD movies: The beach, making your final stand against someone you used to love 13. The Monkees: A large black box.

12. Choose an experience a protagonist has endured. 1. Pokemon DPA: You feel yourself begin to cry. No matter how evil this person is, you cannot help but forgive them. When will they understand? 2. Warrior Cats: You stand alone, suddenly in complete darkness. Overwhelmed by shame, you realize it is better for them all to think you are dead. 3. Gameknight999: You stand on a thin path under the world, your greatest enemy with a pickaxe in his hands. 4. Shark Wars: You find yourself in the deepest trench in the ocean as you are pulled down by a weight you cannot remove. 5. Pokespe: Ice freezes around you, crackling slowly up your arms as you scream for help. No one comes. 6. Pokeani: You feel your soul slowly begin to dissipate as your body turns to stone. 7. Spiderwicks: Your body shakes, skin burning as poison touches it. You lift your foot, revealing what is left of something you should have loved. 8. HTTYD Books: You have been kidnaped, and finally, your letter to your mother has been returned. You reach your skinny arms through the bars of your prison window to unravel the paper. You can't help but wonder what wonderfully army she might have sent to rescue you. What do you find? A resounding "No," you must save yourself after all. 9. Scratchcraft: Lightning rains down around you, but you smile. It's finally time to join the other gods in the sky. The people you once loved are nothing but shadows to you now. 10. Hetalia: You lock yourself in your room. Days, weeks, months, and years pass you by, but even three centuries of knowing your fate cannot prevent it from occurring. 11. Percy Jackson: As a person able to breath underwater, you are yanked into unfamiliar waves, for the first time ever, you know what it is like to drown. 12. HTTYD movies: The beautiful creature before you lays it's head on the earth, giving up. Your hands shake and the dagger falls to the ground. 13. The Monkees: You stagger through the desert, but when you have finally found a vending machine, standing there atop a drifting hill of sand, it doesn't give you what you wanted.

13. Pick another quote that made me feel emotions. (Side note, the HTTYD books series especially has a lot of great quotes. Just some unfair propaganda from me. :3 Can't be TOO serious can we?) 1. Pokemon DPA: "You're no big bad war machine? Y'know how I know that? … You're crying." 2. Warrior Cats: “My curse is to live forever, knowing what has been and what has yet to be, powerless to change anything.” 3. Gameknight999: “Sometimes we have to reach a little farther than we can, be a little stronger than we are, and do things that we normally wouldn’t be able to, because we must, to take care of those we love,” 4. Shark Wars: "You're a murderer!" "A realist," 5. Pokespe: "No matter how much I reach out to the brightness of the outside world… the darkness keeps dragging me back. No matter how hard I try, I never get to enjoy my freedom," 6. Pokeani: "We do have a lot in common. The same earth, the same air, the same sky. Maybe if we started looking at what's the same instead of always looking at what's different… well, who knows?" 7. Spiderwicks: "Don't you know me? Am I not your own self?" 8. HTTYD Books: "You, dear reader, I am sure cannot imagine what it might to be like to live in a world in which books are banned. For surely such things will never happen in the Future?" 9. Scratchcraft: "I'm am not smart and I should not have done that. Ha hA- Hope I didn't loose everything I own." (Saltyy) 10. Hetalia: "When I look into all of your stupid faces, I think how fun it will be to pound them into dust." 11. Percy Jackson: “Don't feel bad, I'm usually about to die.” 12. HTTYD movies: "A man will never how far he's willing to go until he steps to the edge and looks down" 13. The Monkees: "Um. Kidnapping man."

14. Window shopping! Pick a "iconic" cover/thumbnail with the name of the series cropped out! 1. Pokemon DPA: [A picture of the cover of the seventh book. It shows Hareta, Koya, Heataran, and Shaymin. It is mostly red.) 2. Warrior Cats: [A picture of the cover of Into The Wild. It shows an orange cat with green eyes among blades of sharp green grass.] 3. Gameknight999: [A cover of a book showing Gameknight brandishing a sword at a red Enderman. It looks weirdly off model for a minecraft book cover.] 4. Shark Wars: [A picture of the cover of the first book showing a very blue shark (Gray) with a smaller a green one (Barkley) next to him. There are others in the background. It is mostly blue.] 5. Pokespe: [A picture of the cover of book three in the Red and Blue arch. It shows Red and his pikachu Pika, as well as a few of his other Pokemon along the side. The background is green.] 6. Pokeani: [Part of a Poster showing Ash, Misty, Brock, and a whole lot of Pokemon. The background is white.] 7. Spiderwicks: [A picture of the first cover. It shows the three main characters looking down at a book with very different expressions. The drawing is brown tinted, but the area around it is blue.] 8. HTTYD Books: [A picture of one of the covers of How To Betray a Dragon's Hero, it shows Hiccup being carried above a lake by a red dragon.] 9. Scratchcraft: [The cover of StormLordZeus' final episode of season two. He is an armored minecraft man with glowing purple eyes floating in a lightning storm.] 10. Hetalia: [The cover of the first book in the series. It shows Italy, Germany, and japan on a white background.] 11. Percy Jackson: [The first cover of the first book. it shows a boy trudging towards New York City through the ocean, a golden sword in his hand. It is stormy.] 12. HTTYD movies: [A poster for the first movie. It shows a large black dragon (Toothless) reaching his nose out to touch Hiccup's outstretched hands. There is a wide moon in the background.] 13. The Monkees: [A screenshot from the Daydream Believer music video. Peter is playing piano, Davy is behind him, singing, Mike is playing guitar above them, and Micky is on the other side, also singing and playing tambourine. The room is rainbow striped.]

15. This quiz is all over the place, isn't it. Whatever. Time to pick the sort of media you would like to enjoy your chosen franchise/series in. 1. Pokemon DPA: A short(-ish) and sweet manga series. 2. Warrior Cats: It is critical that these books must have as many mistakes as possible. Also, there must be a LOT of them. 3. Gameknight999: Books where you eventually start wondering if the author proofread this stuff at all /pos 4. Shark Wars: Vaguely obscure children's books 5. Pokespe: A really fricking long manga series 6. Pokeani: This anime is WAY too long. 7. Spiderwicks: A short series of thin, but aesthetically pleasing books 8. HTTYD Books: Some surprisingly chunky books with a cool font! 9. Scratchcraft: Youtube videos where most of the series is deleted :( 10. Hetalia: Anything I can get my hands on. A webcomic, an anime, music, more than one musical for some reason, etc… 11. Percy Jackson: A book series that has several levels of optional other series to read with it :D 12. HTTYD movies: Movies and a whole lot of optional episodes if you want them 13. The Monkees: A two season TV sitcom from the 60s, a movie, several books from the people involved, and several albums of varying quality.

16. Pick a silly story I've had happen in relation to these stupid things. 1. Pokemon DPA: I thought it was a different series. Like, I picked it up and thought I was reading a different book series than I was. 2. Warrior Cats: I stayed up ALL NIGHT at Girl Scout Camp reading one of the books a few into a section of the series that I have never read before or since. 3. Gameknight999: I associate the smell of magazines with this fandom now, unfortunately. 4. Shark Wars: For some reason I could not find book two. Like. For four years. Why. I found everything else almost at once. What about book two makes it impossible to find. 5. Pokespe: I made it my mission to read through the entire series in a month every summer through middle AND high school. 6. Pokeani: My mother constantly apologizes for letting me watch this show. It's great. 7. Spiderwicks: On a four hour car trip, the only thing I brought to do was read this book. I get car sick when I read in a car. 8. HTTYD Books: When I was in like second grade I accidentally left one of the books out in the pouring rain at an aunt's house. It survived, shockingly. 9. Scratchcraft: I'm a thumbnail artist??? Idk how that happened woah 10. Hetalia: My friend and I were out watching this show in the middle of winter. She got minor frostbite. I wasn't even cold. skull 11. Percy Jackson: I read the first book instead of having Thanksgiving dinner with my family. It wasn't on purpose. Nobody could find me and I was too busy reading to notice how much time was passing until everyone was already gone and there wasn't food left. 12. HTTYD movies: This and Das Boot Directors Cut are my favorite things to watch on the TV. Yeah. 13. The Monkees: I was very upset in college and I prayed for any sort of distraction to make me feel better. A day later, I got so hyperfixated on this fandom that I could not think about anything BUT the fandom and began alternating between squeaking in joy and sobbing for about three days straight.

17. Thank God that's over! Woah, speaking of Him, pick an afterlife! (If there is no such thing in the series in question, I picked the next closest thing that appears in the media.) 1. Pokemon DPA: Chunks of earth float in the twisted sky. Somewhere you cannot see, a shadowy creature roars. 2. Warrior Cats: A life just like yours, but none of you can grow anymore. 3. Gameknight999: It doesn't apply. My code will be gone before I get there. 4. Shark Wars: A sparkling ocean, uncannily blue and full of voices, but calm. 5. Pokespe: Time is paused here. Music floats through your ears. 6. Pokeani: Not sure. Every time I die, I seem to come back. I guess it'll be a surprise? 7. Spiderwicks: Suspended in time on the back of a magical creature. If I reach down to touch the ground, I will finally disappear. 8. HTTYD Books: My death doesn't matter. What matters is what I do in my life. 9. Scratchcraft: A comedically timed Minecraft "YOU DIED" screen. 10. Hetalia: Well, I'm not ever going to die, first of all. 11. Percy Jackson: You have to be a hero to even remember living once you get there. 12. HTTYD movies: Presumably Valhalla? 13. The Monkees: Can't. The writers won't let it end. (They crushed it anyway.)

18. What "bad end" would you like to be a very easy possibility in something you read? 1. Pokemon DPA: The world has been restarted, made into something devoid of love and emotions. But you'll never live to see it, in fact, it's as if you've never lived at all. 2. Warrior Cats: A horrible drought robs a society of water, slowly, they all wither away. 3. Gameknight999: The virus bleeds out of the game, infecting the real world turning it into a nightmare. 4. Shark Wars: A horrible emperor takes over the entire world, cannibalizing or enslaving anyone who stands in his way. 5. Pokespe: The protagonist stays frozen, and unfortunately, the second follows in his footsteps. There is no one to stop change now. 6. Pokeani: A creature beyond all of humanity has decided that people do not deserve to live free. 7. Spiderwicks: The fae continue killing, families are lost to their power, the town twists, crackling into the trash heap at its center. 8. HTTYD Books: As they say, "If it doesn't end well, then it isn't the end!" 9. Scratchcraft: [I've got nothing. Honestly. I don't know how I've managed anything serious so far. Feel free to pick this if you don't like the other options lol.] 10. Hetalia: Well. Honestly. The whole thing kind of feels like a bad end? 11. Percy Jackson: The Old Ones take over again. There is nothing but suffering for humanity now. 12. HTTYD movies: Everything will continue just as it was. 13. The Monkees: Well. The band broke up.

19. Okay, if there are any fandoms you DO NOT WANT to be recommended, speak you peace now. (This will give you one point for every other fandom. Picking "no," will give you one point for everything, to even them out.) 1-13: [self explanatory]

20. One more question! Time to pick your own. >^w^< 1. Pokemon DPA: If you had the choice to, would you forgive the man who hurt you so badly? 2. Warrior Cats: If you had to break the rules to find your true place, would you do it? 3. Gameknight999: If a day for you was 72 days for your friends, how often would you visit? 4. Shark Wars: If you were a fish, would you eat another fish if they asked you to very nicely? 5. Pokespe: If you had to conceal your true self if it meant love from others, would you do it? 6. Pokeani: Would you pick ̶c̶h̶a̶r̶m̶a̶n̶d̶e̶r̶,̶ ̶s̶q̶u̶i̶r̶t̶l̶e̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶l̶b̶a̶s̶a̶u̶r̶, or pikachu? 7. Spiderwicks: If you were to find out faries were real, would you put your life on the line in order to see them? 8. HTTYD Books: Do you believe that it can ever get better? 9. Scratchcraft: If you were a god, would you play a quick board game before ascending? 10. Hetalia: If you were to live forever, would you take it seriously? 11. Percy Jackson: If you had the choice to life forever or be a target for the rest of your life, would you take the offer? 12. HTTYD movies: Will you keep fighting? 13. The Monkees: "Hey! Who turned on the dark?"

Fandom descriptions:

Shark Wars: Hm. Did you get kicked out of YOUR Shiver too?? Shark Wars is a book series by EJ Altbacker which goes through increasingly violent and terrible events in the lives of the main characters, all while aiming at a relatively young audience. It's one of those series that takes like thirty minutes to want to start reading the book (even as it's in your hands), but once you do, you literally can't put it down. Truly a masterpiece, if I, the only Shark Wars fan on the planet, can convince you. I highly recommend this series! It's a lot of fun! (Don't worry about the Shark Magic, it's martial arts if they say it is.)

Warrior cats: May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather before highrock for a clan meeting! Warrior Cats is a book series written by a group of authors who, together, go by Erin Hunter. It follows the lives of a whole lot of cats, and it does so in a way that is shockingly gripping (and, let's face it, a little ridiculous), frankly, you couldn't really ask for a better middle school friend group roleplay. About a million characters, and about a million ways to interpret them… purrfect. (sorry) (The moon pool sure is cold at this time of night.)

Pokespe: The power of the Viridian Forest has bestowed upon you the ability to read something real good. The Pokemon Adventures (or Pokemon Special) manga is a very long running manga series written by Hidenori Kusaka. It currently goes from the Red and Blue games ALLL the way to Scarlet and Violet, and it does a great job too! It's characters are original and three dimensional (despite being based on game counterparts), and it's plots can be completely unexpected, even for someone who played the original games. I highly encourage getting into these series, or at least reading up to the third book. It's a lot of fun. Yes. We KNOW about the Arbok already, stop mentioning it!! Why do you think we're here!??!?

Pokemon DPA: …do you want to meet a god- Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Adventure is an eight book series by manga author and artist Shigekatsu Ihara. It centers around the travels of Hareta as he makes his way through the Sinnoh region. Very fast paced and with slightly odd humor, you may wonder why I like it so much, and to that I have to tell you that it is, in fact, my FAVORITE Pokemon media. I know. A little ridiculous. But who can blame me? The art, character designs, and story are all really good, and the action is nothing to scoff at. If you like something silly, just a wee bit violent, and a lot of fun, give this series a try! I could really use a friend in this fandom. XD We don't mind being a little stupid here. :3

Hetalia: Oh boy, here we are. Hetalia is a controversial manga, anime, and musical franchise started by Hidekaz Himaruya. It is a satirical telling of various points in history through humanized versions of the counties. It is absolutely not everyone's cup of tea, but it helped me to better understand (and find interest in) history, and if you like satire and historical situations, this may be the place for you. Uh… Make pasta not war?

Percy Jackson: Well. I didn't ASK to be a half blood. (And I guess neither did you.) Percy Jackson (which hardly needs an introduction) was originally a book series by Rick Riordan, and has since expanded into a (not very well liked) movie series, and a show, as well as many other connected series. Despite this, the original book series is by far my favorite, and if you are looking for something that is very funny, and very violent, it is the way to go. Have fun demigod! (PS: I think I saw the upstairs window glow, did you see that?)

Gameknight999: Ah. I see, you got hit with the digitalizer too! The Gameknight999 series is an unofficial "isekai" Minecraft novel series by Mark Cheverton. It can be considered childish, and most often found in book fairs at elementary schools, but it can have a much darker tone if you want to look into it. The fandom itself for this book series came at a difficult time in my life, and though I am unable to determine whether the fandom was an overall net positive or negative for me, the books were definitely a positive. They inspired creativity and community, while also being objectively hilarious in concept. Come, let's hold hands and frolic through our computer screens together. :)

Scratchcraft: Welcome new Scratcher! Click the "create" button to make a new project. :3 Scratchcraft is a Minecraft SMP that is currently in it's fourth season. What is interesting about this SMP, however, is that it was started on the website Scratch.mit.edu, and, also, that it is not very active. While the content itself in this fandom is few and far between, the community is incredible once you get your footing in it. The member who currently uploads the most goes by "StormLordZeus" on Youtube and went by "haunted_enderman" on Scratch. (His Minecraft skin is pictured in the result image above.) And NO, you can't ask to join Scratchcraft.

Pokeani: Sorry you woke up late, we've just got a Pikachu left! Oh well, no matter. The Pokemon Anime (starring Ash Ketchum as the lead character) was an anime that lasted for 25 years across 26 seasons and several movies. It is not my favorite Pokemon Media, but it is still one of my favorite fandoms of all time due to it's cast, great range of amazing to hilariously bad animation (only sparingly), and episodic nature. If you are looking for something fun that you can pretty much jump into whenever, the Pokemon Anime may be the right fit for you! Enjoy your journey, you hopeful Pokemon Master!

How To Train Your Dragon (movies and shows): Welcome to dragon training! The How To Train Your Dragon movies and shows were based on a wonderful series of the same name, but quickly fell completely off the mark. You may think, because I personally prefer the books, that this means that the movies are bad in some way. Absolutely not! Without spoilers, the first How To Train Your Dragon movie is my favorite movie of all time, and the second it's really all that far behind it. If you want something with incredible music, a great story, and a really nice message (not even to mention the characters and animation) try out at LEAST the first movie, and start branching out from there if it hooks you in like it did me. And, yeah, if you see that Night Fury, I heard pretty much everyone is looking for it.

Spiderwicks Chronicals: Must've taken the dumbwaiter up here huh? The Spiderwicks Chronicles is a short book series made by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. I must admit that I do not often post about this series, but despite that, it is one of my favorite fantasy series I have ever read. It's short, sweet, and very depressing when it wants to be. If that kind of thing sounds up your alley, who knows! Maybe someone just like you could encourage me and others to show more interest as well. (Don't forget to get some fairy bathwater in your eyes on the way out. Sorry if that's gross, it's kinda important.)

How To Train Your Dragon (books): Well, suffering swordfish, you've found your way here. The How To Train Your Dragon books series is a twelve book series by Cressida Cowell that follows Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third and his friends as they go on wacky misadventures through the Barbaric Archipelago. At least, it is until the true extent of everything becomes clearer and clearer. If you want something that becomes surprisingly serious (while still remaining rather funny), and is incredible and exciting all the way through, try on these books for size. Isn't fate artistic?

The Monkees: Hey hey! We're the Monkees fandom! Some people say we Monkee around! The Monkees was a 1966 show about four people who wanted to be a band, but it was also a band made up of four people who wanted to be in a band. Depending on what you want, this fandom can provide you from anything from sitcom antics, to Real Person Fiction, to a really weird movie. -and of course, save the Texas Prairie Chicken.

[mahoganyrust]

So Im new to the httyd fandom and I was curious about the hijack ship. I don’t think Jack Frost is in httyd. Was it just one of those things where you saw Rise of the Guardians and thought Jack would go well with Hiccup? I’m just curious. ☺️

Hiiii. So I’m definitely not the one that came up with Hijack XD The ship has been around for over a decade now it’s not exactly news. But I understand when ppl first come across it it seems strange so I’ll give you a rundown.

And you’d be right. Jack isn’t in httyd and nor is Hiccup in Rotg. So in the fanon community, this is what we call a ‘rare pair’ or aka, a ship that crosses fandoms and is made up mostly of fanon content. It might seem strange but it happens a lot. It’s fanon. And crossovers are the traditional crux fun of fanfiction so it’s not that weird.

Hijack is heavily associated with a very popular quadruple crossover known as ROTBTD or Rise of The Brave Tangled Dragons. This is an intersection between Disney Merida and Rapunzel with Dreamworks Jack and Hiccup. Rotbtd went craaaazyy in the 2010s and there’s a lot of different content with fics and fanart.

From this, some ppl often ship Jackunzel or Mericup or etc etc you get the idea there’s a lot of different dynamics.

I never really dove too heavily into the rotbtd stuff but I’m still familiar.

So that’s the history. As for Jack and Hiccup? They’re weird as hell I get it lmao. Like wtf is this? XD.

Hiccup’s married with kids. Jack’s in the modern era etc. They have a lot of canon hurdles so why do people ship them?

My answer?

They work.

They work together so well in so many different ways that it takes over your brain. Hijack grows on you bit by bit.

As for what they have in common. They’re both big fliers and adrenaline junkies. They both question their purpose. They both know what it’s like to lose family. They both have gone through years of loneliness. Jack is a guardian, Hiccup is a chief - they’re both protectors. They’re both fighters. They’ve both been suddenly shunned after feeling like they were finally beginning to belong. They both have issues with footwear (lmao sorry). Hiccup creates inventions, Jack creates frosty art and fun with his powers. They both do their character development by a lake in a forest lol. They both have burly accented father figures XD. Jack is the boy who fell into icy water. Hiccup is the boy who fell into blazing fire.

There’s a beautiful parallel in lines here.

Rotg: “Jack Frost is many things, but he is not a guardian.”

Httyd: “You are many things Hiccup, but a dragon killer is not one of them.”

And they both originate each from their own book series that got adapted.

And that’s just the factual stuff. When it comes to their personalities whooowheeeeee.

Over the last decade I’ve seen lots of stuff that does them a disservice when ppl reduce Jack to the outgoing ‘jokester’ and Hiccup to the introvert ‘nerdy guy’. In the earlier days some ppl were shipping httyd1 Hiccup, which personally I find extremely weird. Never engaged with that lol. After httyd2 came out that disappeared mostly but still it’s unsettling.

Anyways I don’t like the simplification of their characters and prefer when maybe older creators can take them in a more emotionally complex direction and when they do ohhhh my goddddddd. You end up with storytelling masterpieces with amazing character dimensionality.

I could go on for hours. There’s just something about them. It’s hard to put it into a single word but when they’re done right they just work.

[noctusfury]

Contradictory Anniversary? (RTTE)

Hello, everyone! Welcome to a new article! Today’s topic is on this perplexing issue surrounding Berk’s anniversary.

Now I’m sure many of you were as perplexed by the seemingly obvious error in the HTTYD lore. I mean, we’ve all seen the first film, and it’s only said “300 years”. But Stoick and Gobber CLEARLY SAY “400 years”.

(Race to the Edge, Season 4, Episode 3 “Midnight Scrum”)

So, which is it? Is it an error or is this actually truth disguised as misinformation? We’ll find out, right after this! *Cues 5 minutes of commercials*

Just kidding! We’re finding out NOW. Duh. XD

Anyway, so the film AND the show (not to mention the short films) clearly states by both Stoick, Hiccup, and other characters that it’s been 300 years.

However, there’s a VERY important detail in the film that the Wiki probably missed. What was it?

This!

The Wiki says, as stated in the first snip above, that it’s been 300 years since Vikings first arrived on Berk. But in the film, Hiccup adds an important detail that the Wiki didn’t have.

Hiccup: “300 years, and I’m the first Viking who has never killed a dragon!”

While this may be something unrelated at first, it seems to imply that Vikings have been fighting dragons for 300 years, not living on Berk for 300 years. (That being said, he could be talking about Vikings archipelago-wide, not just on Berk.) Which means that Berkians could’ve been living here for 400 years, but have been fighting dragons for 300 years.

However, just as I say this, Astrid says an interesting quote to Hiccup after they find the Red Death:

Astrid: “Hiccup we’ve just discovered the Dragons’ Nest! The thing we’ve been after since Vikings first sailed here! And you wanna keep it a secret?!”

So which is it, Noctus? Is it 300 years or 400 years?

Well, what the Wiki said about Vikings having arrived on Berk 300 years prior could’ve been assumed from Astrid’s quote here. Which, when you think about it, is a logical one to make.

That being said though, it’s never stated whether she, like Hiccup, was talking about the Berkian Vikings, or about Vikings in general throughout the archipelago. We also can’t be sure what “here” means, whether it implies Berk or the Archipelago.

So... how can we be sure, then?

Well, I have found that when all else fails, turn to math! ^_^

So in the film, Hiccup states in his narration at the very beginning of the film that the settlement of Berk has been here “for seven generations.”

If you look at the portraits of Berk’s line of chieftains, there’s about 7 generations of them (sans Hamish the Second’s and Stoick’s Father’s portraits for unknown reasons, which I’ll get to in another article), and Hiccup’s portrait with Stoick makes it the 8th, meaning that Hiccup and the others are the 8th generation.

A generation is factually accepted to be around 20-40 years. And since Hiccup’s generation has been around for 20 or less, I’ll add that into consideration. 

40 x 7 = 280 + 20 = 300

So seven generations would give us about 280 years, which makes sense. When we add the 8th generations 15-20 years, it gives us 295-300 years, exactly. So it all checks out.

So, at face value, it has been 300 years since the Berkian Vikings have lived on the Isle of Berk.

Since RTTE, having been produced by Netflix and not Cartoon Network like the Riders of Berk and Defenders of Berk seasons have been, it was inevitable that there’d be several errors in the lore (don’t even get me STARTED on the many plot holes and plot teasers they’ve never followed through with).

But what if the Berkians weren’t celebrating the 400-Year Anniversary of Berk as a village, but as an island? Then things would make a little more sense.

After all, what if Berk had been an island that was claimed by their ancestors well before they themselves actually settled there? Granted, it’s a pretty big stretch, until you consider the BOOKS! 

That’s right, the BOOKS.

The story of Hiccup the Third and Toothless isn’t an old one. In fact, the plot of HTTYD 1 is greatly inspired and influenced by Hiccup the First and Wodensfang’s story in the books. In it (Book 9 specifically), Wodensfang talks of Hiccup the First’s saga, where not long after his birth, the Vikings of the Mainland (later to be known as the Vikings of Berk) were driven out of their fertile lands by the Uglithugs, a Viking horde who’ll control the Mainland up to current times (aside from the period where Grimbeard the Ghastly reclaimed it from UG’s ancestor for a time until after his death). From the Mainland, they sailed to Berk and made their colony there. During this time, they were also in a bloody war with the dragons, where the King of the Dragons, Merciless (also known as the Green Death [Red Death in the film]), once he hears that a Viking named Hiccup will kill him, seeks to kill everyone on the island to prevent the prophecy from coming true. He sends Wodensfang, who, at the time, was the most dangerous dragon in Merciless’s army, to complete this task. Unfortunately, a storm hits and leaves him entangled in the tree, and grows weak from his wounds. Fortunately, Hiccup the First, a child at the time, came to his aid and healed him, and they became fast friends. Wodensfang would end up helping Hiccup steal the Dragon Jewel from Merciless, forcing the latter to capitulate before Hiccup, who has the Jewel now, forcing him to disband his forces, and be exiled from the Archipelago.

Anyway, I’m digressing, hehe.

Long-story short, the Berkians are forced from their original lands and they sail to Berk and settle there. This could’ve very well been what happened in the HTTYD film lore: the Berkians claimed Berk as a territory belonging to the Kingdom 400 years prior as an outpost for both exploration and wartime purposes, but then 100 years later, a fierce war against another Viking faction broke out, ending in their defeat, and forcing the Vikings of the Mainland (or wherever) to sail to Berk, later becoming the Vikings of Berk. And it isn’t long after they settled that they had to deal with the dragons, many of which had made their nests on the island long before. Then came the dragon raids from Dragon Island, which wouldn’t end until Hiccup the Third defeated the Red Death 300 years later.

Another option is that Berk has just purely existed for 400 years and that they’ve been fighting dragons for 300 once the Red Death came along.

So that’s my hypothesis explaining the 400-Year Anniversary despite the 300 years of settlement. Because the Berkians had the island for 400 years, but didn’t settle it until a hundred years later.

What do you think? Plausible? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter! Do you think this could be the case, or is this another thing RTTE goofed up in lore-wise?

Thank you for reading, my fellow Furians! See you in the next article! ^_^

Long Live the Night!

— Noctus Fury