#httyd hamish the first

[companion-of-the-dragonmark]

Are the Hamishes Based on Book Characters? (HTTYD)

(Special shout-out to @yv-sketches and the link to this particular fanart here. I'll never stop looking at their book drawings, they're so good!)

Well met, my fellow Dragonmarkers! Here's another article for Character Comparison series, where I try to find a plausible, even possible, comparison between show and book characters of HTTYD.

Today, we'll be diving into the Hamishes. Very well-timed, considering what I had found recently.

Shout-out to @noctusfury and his article on the Hamishes and the Mystery of the Missing Portrait(s). Very good read.

Now, for those of you who haven't watched DreamWorks Dragons, or have forgotten who these two are, they are two of several Chieftains of Berk that is seen in the Riders of Berk episode "Portrait of Hiccup as a Buff Man".

The portrait below is supposed to be that of the two Hamishes.

It must be said, of course, that there is some debate about that due to an apparent error that was made during production and that the portrait of the 1st chieftain and his son (the top left in beginning picture) was the real Hamishes, design-wise.

You'll have to read the post in the link above, since that gets into greater detail.

However, we're not here for that. We're here for who the Hamishes are and who are their closest comparison, in MY opinion.

Hamish the First was Berk's most successful and wealthiest chieftain, having been a raider and pirate and accumulated for himself a massive hoard of treasure. We can assume that his rule was a successful one based on the only description we have of this historic figure.

His son, Hamish the Second, was a Hiccup, in reality, and, after his father's death, and, presumedly after he was coronated as the new chief, he built a labyrinth of traps and riddles to protect his father's treasure, hoping that his successor, a future Hiccup, would be able to find it.

It must be noted that this young man was a rather masterful riddler and engineer — to the point that NOBODY was able to even FIND the labyrinth, much less REACH the treasure. He was also assumed to have been a friend of dragons, since it would've been impossible to build it without their help. Plus, he also knew dragon characteristics and intentionally built the labyrinth to be impossible to navigate without a dragon (you most certainly wouldn't have survived the fall without one).

Now, it is my belief that the two Hamishes — and this is rather obvious given their backstories — are based on Grimbeard the Ghastly and his son, Hiccup the Second.

Like Father, Like Son

When you think of it, everything fits — albeit, with SOME differences.

For instance, they were kings (Hiccup a prince), while the Hamishes were just chieftains — that we know of, anyway, from their VERY SPARCE backstory (come on, DreamWorks, get it together!). Hamish the First died before his son, while Grimbeard lived sometime after Hiccup (for certain - ahem! - reasons). Hamish the First had a successful reign as Chief while Grimbeard's rule as King ended literally in flames due to his crappy parenting. Hamish the Second was the one who hid his father's treasure, when in the books, Grimbeard hid his own treasure for his future Heir to find. Hamish the Second was also a genius engineer/architect, while Hiccup the Second was not, though both were excellent riddlers and writers.

And, while not proven, it is assumed that Hamish the Second wasn't your typical Viking, while Hiccup the Second, despite being a Runt, was your Viking's Viking, but with brains, beauty, and brawn (if yv-sketches' sketches are to be believed lol 😂).

That being said, there were several similarities.

1) Both Hamish the First and Grimbeard had successful reigns for the most part and were best known for their pirating and attaining massive wealth.

2) Both fathers had Runts for sons, but loved them dearly (probably at the expense of their thrones).

3) Both leaders had treasures that Vikings, greedy to acquire the hoard for themselves, tried to find but failed and even lost their lives over it. In fact, in both instances, the true locations of the hoards were hard to find in hard-to-reach places, were booby-trapped, and had dragon guardians watching over it.

4) Both Hamish the Second and Grimbeard had a LOVE for booby traps and hard riddles.

5) In both the show and in the books, it's shown how both Stoicks were greedy for the treasure, but later realize that their greatest treasure was their sons (Hiccup the Third).

6) Both pairs were Berkians and Hooligans.

7) Both Grimbeard and Hamish the First felt confined on Berk and preferred going to other places.

8) Both sons had a great love and loyalty for their fathers, and both, respectively, have shown that through their actions.

9) Both sons have had an ambiguous imprint on history that can't immediately be seen at first glance.

10) Both sons loved dragons very much.

11) Both likely met fatal ends due to schemes for the throne and the treasure. (There is no portrait of Hamish the Second and his son, so it's possible that, like Hiccup the Second, Hamish the Second could've either lost his life or was exiled because of the dragons he was friends with or simply due to the schemes of those who wanted the treasure and throne of Berk.)

12) While the TV show would've never had this in their content for viewer reasons, it would be interesting if both Hamish II and Hiccup II shared similar childhoods of being abandoned and then taken care of by dragons, only to be reunited by their fathers later.

13) Both pairs were likely succeeded after their deaths-cum-disappearances by their respective Chuckleheads as Chieftains of Berk, respectively.

The Viking portrait on the right kinda looks like Chucklehead, doesn't it? 👀

Okey-dokey, I think that's everything. Interesting how I had a point for every Wilderwest King in the books. There are 13 points for 13 kings.

Anywho, that's all for this article.

What do you guys think? Let me know if you have anything to add that I missed or needs correction.

Thank you so much for reading and for your support. It's been VERY fun writing these posts for you guys! 😁

Have a wonderful week!

Long Live the Wilderwest!

— Companion of the Dragonmark

[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

[howtodrawyourdragon]

So Grimbeard the Ghastly has a lost treasure of legends... Wondering if Hamish' treasure was based on this.

[frustrated-writer-skyeknight]

Me trying to figure out who Jamie's adopted parents should be before writing them into the story...

Of course I could just go with Jamie's canon mom and make up an original character for the dad.

But since my Httyd AU is like a fix-it of sorts, I wanted to have Astrid's parent have more role in the story. That's why I made them Merida and McGuffin....

... And in future oneshot fics, I want to write them interacting with Jamie's parents. So, I think it would be interesting to have them interact with existing Disney/Dreamwork characters, too.

In addition, I would also let Astrid' grandparents still be alive for the early parts of the Httyd AU. So, Elinor and Fergus could meet who could be their future in law, even if they won't live long enough to see it happen.

That said, Merida's brothers would be there, too. Much older, of course.

I would give them personalities too beyond this...

Like, they're all equally mischievous but in an attempt to make them more rounded...

Hamish (oldest) - Usually takes the lead in the pranks they pulled when they were young. As they got older, he would try to be more responsible but is easily convinced to pull something once Harris or Hubert wanted to drag him somewhere. His defense would either be "It was their idea" even if the plan was made by him whenever they got somewhere, or "Someone had to watch out for the two" even if he was just as guilty in any havoc they raised. Harris (middle) - Laziest when it came to the chores Elinor would assign them as the three were growing up along with Merida. He would often be the first to suggest sneaking off, dragging the other two with him. He totally knows his brother (Hamish) uses them as scapegoats and he's totally fine with that as long as he got to escape chores for a couple of hours. Sometimes, he intentionally gets himself injured so he could skip out on punishment chores after. Hubert (youngest) - Most sensitive one in the sense of pain, but he doesn't like to be left behind and is just as pull of mischief. He's also competitive like his older sister, so even if a prank/plan was Hamish's idea, he'd usually be eager to put it in motion.

I like to pretend that they named the order of the twins age by alphabetically so...

Anyway, I digressed long enough.

In the matter of Jamie's parents...

I was thinking Rapunzel and Eugene at first...

But I want them to be in the same generation of Jim and Dimitri haha.

Right now, playing around with the idea of Taran and Eilonwy.

[howtowhumpyourhiccup]

As for Hiccup's downward spiral in the post-Httyd 2 comic trilogy, really makes me think back to Stoick instilling the message in Hiccup to not seek vengeance in RttE's "The Longest Day."

"I won't lie to you, son. A good measure of vengeance can go down a treat-- But that feeling is short-lived and the violence only gets worse-"

This is what Stoick tells Hiccup in that episode and these words come from a man who has led himself be taken by vengeance. To the point even that he was almost named Chief Stoick the Vindictive.

And then a little later in that same season, in the episode "Shell Shocked: Part 1," when Stoick is face to face with Viggo for the very first time, his first instinct is to strangle him.

"You come after my son. You come after my home. Now you get to deal with me!"- Stoick

"Dad, wait! Revenge is not a plan. Remember." - Hiccup

"That was for you. For me, it goes down a treat." - Stoick

That is the interaction between father and son as Stoick is seconds away from dishing some of that famous cold dish on Viggo after bringing both his son and his people harm. It's very obvious that these lessons Stoick has been instilling into his son don't seem to count for him.

And probably for a good reason, too. Stoick makes a comment that Hiccup "is just like his mother" when it comes to stubbornness, but I would make the unsurprising argument that Hiccup takes just as much after his father as he does his mother.

That sense of duty to his village as he grows older? His father. His patience and ability to hold back? His father. His pride? His father. Even Gobber says during the battle with the Red Death; "Every bit the boar-headed stubborn Viking you ever were." So while Stoick likens Hiccup to his mother, Gobber likens Hiccup to his father.

So what about that vindictive streak in Stoick that has popped up in Hiccup from time to time in the franchise?

Tl,dr: Hiccup has a history of getting back at people in some way or other and does it more often when he's under stress. Stoick knows about this side to his son. This side of him gets cranked up to 11 after his father's death.

The long story is under the "keep reading."

RoB

The very first example that comes to mind is; "In Dragons We Trust."

In this episode Hiccup and the Riders have this exchange:

The episode then cuts to the next scene and, lo and behold, Astrid is wearing a sash that says "Dragon United Monitoring Brigade," a.k.a "D.U.M.B." A name a Berkian woman points out, to which Astrid says "Yes, that is correct. Not my idea." and this is then followed up by Astrid giving the woman to instruction to yell "DUMB" at the top of the lungs in case of dragon problems.

"Permission to shoot first and ask questions later!" - Ruffnut

"Permission to skip the questions!" - Tuffnut

"We're just patrolling! Nobody is shooting anyone." - Hiccup

"Okay, I have a question; what's fun about that?" - Tuffnut

"It's not supposed to be fun it's a Hiccup idea." - Astrid

"Exactly- What?!" - Hiccup

So after calling all of Hiccup's plans boring, he got back at her by having her wear an embarrassing sash and give out embarrassing instructions.

Want more evidence? Then I suggest you look back at that episode and see who's actually wearing the sash.

Astrid, we've already established that. Snotlout, but Hiccup always finds a reason to be upset with him at this point in their friendship.... And that's it. Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Hiccup himself? They're all on patrol, but only two of the six Riders are wearing a sash that says "Dumb."

Then there's RoB's "Portrait of Hiccup as a buff young man," in which Hiccup's search for Hamish's treasure is entirely because he wants to prove that skinny smart Hiccup is better than buff Portrait!Hiccup. He even asks at some point; "How's that for a Hiccup?"

You could make the argument that's what Httyd 1 is all about. Hiccup proving once and for all that he's just fine the way he is, that he doesn't need to be their ideal of a Viking, but that was about acceptance and not vindictiveness.

In this episode, this feels very much more like a "oh, I'll show you!" type of thing specifically because of that line and because Hiccup chose to one-up his father in something he failed to do. A.k.a find Hamish' treasure.

Then there is the famous "Thawfest" episode, which is entirely Hiccup getting back at Snotlout for past Thawfests during the dragon portion until Snotlout's fears of failing in his father's eyes snap him out of it.

Another episode that comes to mind is "When Lightning Strikes," in which Hiccup gets himself hurt in a desperate attempt to prove Toothless' innocence when Mildew has everyone convinced that he's to blame for the recent massive storms on Berk.

This is more of an act of vengeance on the part of Snotlout and the twins as they blame Mildew for the harm that befell Hiccup. They were the ones to come up with and enact this plan, but Hiccup certainly didn't stop them from getting it. He just gave them a "I'm not sure that's what my dad had in mind, guys" and just leaves it at that.

Another good example is "Defiant One," in which Hiccup is once again getting back at Snotlout, this time for getting them crashlanded inside enemy territory and for doing everything in his power to be a nuisance. And what better way to get back at him than to give him a bowl of Toothless' spit and tell him that Night Fury saliva has healing properties after Snotlout has a reaction to eating berries? Again, this is reminiscent of "In Dragons We Trust."

And then there's a part 2 to this particular example as Hiccup brings it up three years later in RttE season 2's "Snotlout Gets the Axe."

"What about flying us into the waterspout and crashlanding us on Outcast Island? That was terrific." - Hiccup

So yeah, great at convincing people to let things go, not so great at letting things go himself.

And who can forget "We Are Family, Part 2," in which Alvin's heckling of Hiccup convinces both him and Toothless to attack him, almost ruining their escape as an ambush was lying in wait. And the specific comment that did it was "That's what I would expect from Stoick's little runt," referring to leaving their business unfinished.

Interestingly enough, it's once again Stoick who tries to stop Hiccup from going, reminding him that they got what they came for (saving Hiccup and Toothless) and that they should just leave. He even tries to stop Hiccup before he even made a move to climb up in Toothless' saddle, because he knew Hiccup was going to go after Alvin for that comment.

Alvin makes his comment, Gobber says "Oh boy," followed immediately by Stoick looking at his son and calling his name. Stoick knew.

DoB

After that two-parter, I think Hiccup must've gotten a scare, because the vindictive streak that was very present in the first season is almost completely absent here.

You could make an argument for "The Night and The Fury"s "You don't need a lot of help with that, Dagur," in response to Dagur's "By making a fool? Out of me?!" But otherwise, very little avenging going on here.

As a matter of fact, I can't remember anytime in which Hiccup makes an attempt at getting back at Dagur, certainly not in DoB. That season he spends more time trying to delegate and even spends time trying to keep Astrid away from the Flightmare that ruined her family's name until she convinces him to help her cut them of before they reach Berk.

This is similar to how Hiccup was also the one to tell Toothless to leave the Whispering Death alive in the RoB episode "What Flies Beneath," long before his conversation with Stoick in RttE.

RttE

Three years later, Hiccup's streak makes a little bit of a return.

For example:

Astrid asks him what "he's up to" when Hiccup suggests they should all make a design for the dragon base and vote on it. Literally she asks him "what are you up to?" as she wasn't expecting Hiccup to agree to any of their ideas. Not a vindictive sign, perse, but definitely a sign that Astrid always expects him to be up to something.

He almost preferred to let the twins burn down their island just so they could see what it's like to be a leader.

He reminds Snotlout of the time he crashlanded them on enemy territory.

Almost takes out Heather for siding with the enemy, not knowing she's acting as a double agent.

Biting sarcasm, which was also very much present in RoB/DoB.

But all of this is pretty low-level, nothing like making a friend wear a sash that says "Dumb" for the entire village to read.

And then Viggo comes along and he gets to Hiccup to the point that he grows obsessed with the need to one him up and take him down.

The Riders call him out on it, Dagur calls him out on it, Stoick feels the need to give him that piece of advice in season 4 that I've stated at the top of this post.

Dagur even has a conversation with Hiccup about how revenge changes a person in season 3's "Enemy of My Enemy."

"Hmm. That stuff can kill you from the inside, Hiccup. Revenge. Anger. Obsession. Trust me, I know. It can make you do things you never thought you were capable of. Cause you to take chances, make mistakes. If that doesn't end you, it'll eat away at you slowly."

Dagur is basically telling Hiccup to let his obsession with Viggo go. But he doesn't. He certainly tries to lighten up when he notices that his obsession at getting back at Viggo causes him to work his friends to the bone. (Which they do. Because they love him and they can see what this obsession is doing to him.) But the need for vengeance doesn't disappear until Viggo's supposed death during the Shell Shocked two-parter. The only one he holds a grudge against then is Gruffnut.

The most notable episode left to talk about then is "No Bark, All Bite." In this episode, Stoick projects his frustrations with Johann onto Hiccup, who gets the brunt of it and who in turn gets frustrated and angry as well. At some point, he even calls his own father a complete idiot. Beyond this episode, nothing of note.

Httyd 2 and Comics

It's in the second movie that we can see that war after war has taken a bit of a toll on Hiccup. By the time he's 20 years old, he has ended four to five of them, so naturally, when Drago comes knocking and immediately proves himself a threat, all Hiccup wants is to avoid conflict as much as possible.

Unfortunately, this original path ends in Stoick's death, even though Hiccup implies a change of mind just before Drago's attack, a diplomatic approach as a last resort ended up fatal for one of his loved ones.

Interestingly enough, something Viggo warned him against in the RttE episode "Triple Cross." The ruthlessness to deal with his foes is there, but so is his goodness, his purity, and that inevitably holds him back.

Until after his father's death and Hiccup falls into a downward spiral in the post-Httyd 2 comic trilogy.

In "The Serpent's Heir," he burns Calder alive, a very brutal way of dealing with a comparatively harmless villain. He also basically shames the Nepenthe's young King Mik into actually working for his village by shoving a shovel in his hands.

"Dragonvine" comes along and when said Dragonvine poisons Toothless and Silkspanners attempt to eat the vine off him and suck the poison out, Hiccup is so petrified by the idea of losing Toothless again that he almost kills the very young Silkspanners in order to save him from more pain.

A clear-headed Hiccup most likely would've noticed what the Silkspanners were trying to do, but this Hiccup didn't. He's mourning his father, angry, afraid. And he is especially afraid of someone taking Toothless away from him like Drago did when he took Toothless' mind and turned him on Hiccup and killed his father.

In "The Fire Tides" it would turn out that Drago had survived when Hiccup is forced to face him once again and pretty much alone as none of the other Riders are there. I don't remember if the interview directly mentions what was going to happen (I think Richard Hamilton left that out on purpose in case the comic ever got published) but I know that whatever happened in this comic was going to be the conclusion to Hiccup's downward spiral following the death of his father.

Either way, Hiccup went from giving his friends dumb sashes and saliva bowls to get back at them to burning an ill man alive. Viggo knew that ruthless was in there and Hiccup sure found it after Httyd 2.

And just like Viggo noticed that, Stoick has been seeing this vindictive streak inside of Hiccup for a long time now. And it's probably a side he's very familiar with as it's one Hiccup probably inherited from him. This led to the lesson he tried to impart to his son in an effort to keep him from going down that same path, but whether that worked or not... Calder would probably say "no."

Anyway, I guess here is where I'll conclude my analysis on Hiccup's more vengeful side.

[aleteia-ff]

I have three questions: 1.I was just wondering, when is the next update of your story 'A Decade To Find You'? I'm so excited about it!I know you are busy and all. I'm just curious. 2.Though you POTA 2 is currently WIP, are you planning on writing a trilogy for the series? 3.And if you are going to write another HTTYD fanfiction with another genre, what would it be? Thanks!😊 P.S I'm not that used to write you phantom series in abbr. because in our country 'POTA' is a curse word.(the f word)XD

Oh, nice ask! Thank you!

1. I was just wondering, when is the next update of your story 'A Decade To Find You'?

I hope to update A Decade To Find You this weekend, but it depends on how much writing I get done in the following days. If not, it’ll be the weekend after that at the latest. I’m very glad to hear you’re excited for it! :D So am I ^^

2. Though you POTA 2 is currently WIP, are you planning on writing a trilogy for the series?

Hahaha, all good things come in threes, right? 

I did once talk about the Phantomverse becoming a trilogy, which would include a prequel about Hiccup’s time in Constantinople. To explore his relationship with Alexander, his captivity and how his mentality twisted from mostly Canon!Hiccup to becoming Phantom!Hiccup. 

Currently, I think the odds of me writing that are quite low. It would be a long story, featuring only OC characters alongside Hiccup and Toothless. I therefore don’t think there’d be that much interest in it, and it’s ended up pretty low on my priority list as a result. Especially because I don’t have loads of time to write. 

The Phantom of the Archipelago comes first in the Phantomverse. After that one is done (and Gods, it’s a big one, it might even become larger than the original Phantom), I think I’d be more likely to write short stories within the Phantomverse. Either about characters other than Hiccstrid (Hamish comes to mind), or stories that take place years after the events of The Phantom of the Archipelago. I have quite some ideas for that I am really fond of ^^ 

I’m very happy you seem to like the idea of a trilogy though!

3.And if you are going to write another HTTYD fanfiction with another genre, what would it be?

Now that’s a difficult question... If we take genre to mean outside of the Phantomverse, then I have many many other AUs still on the shelf/halfway completed. If we are really talking genre, I would say Phantom falls within the romance/drama category. Almost all of my ideas fall into that category, because I’m just the most interested in it. I love exploring human emotions and complicated relationships, and that quickly veers into drama. Romance also implicates that. It’s just so satisfying to make two people grow towards each other and fall in love (it’s why I love Enemies-To-Lovers in particular). 

Looking more at one-shots though I have definitely done stuff that isn’t romance. Even though it’s not long, I am still quite fond of ficlets like Proving Your Worth, which features a heart-to-heart between Spitelout and Snotlout, Do You Want To Train A Dragon? and Chasing the Western Wind, which are mostly about Zephyr and her relationship with her father. I especially loved writing that second one.

On the other side of the spectrum there’s the start of No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, which I would put in the ‘whump’ category. There’s Hiccstrid in there, but in the two chapters written so far, and what I had planned next, their relationship is more context than the main force driving the story. 

I could definitely see myself writing more stuff like that; exploring non-romantic relationships between other characters (Phantom already does a lot of that with the Hiccup-Stoick interactions) or going towards darker stories...

Comedy/crack fics is something I’d also still like to try my hand on but that’s such a difficult genre to pull off. Could be a challenge though!

P.S I'm not that used to write you phantom series in abbr. because in our country 'POTA' is a curse word.(the f word)XD

Hihi, I’ve heard that before I think, in Spanish right? :D 

[noctusfury]

Fun Fact: “Behind the Scenes” Look into my Username and the Evolution and Story Idea Behind That.

How did I get the username “Noctus Fury”? Well it all started with a story idea that I created when I was... I don’t know... somewhere between 16-18 (I’m not sure if I did this before I got into the fandom universe on the internet or after.) Anyway, it was a typical Hiccup-Leaves-Berk AU (technically UA *Universe Alternation* or Canon Divergence, not AU), where Hiccup leaves Berk and names himself Noctus Fury to symbolize his connection to Toothless. And he eventually meets up with a clan who rides and protects Night Furies on the true Isle of Night. And he lives there and becomes second-in-command. Eventually, his past catches up with him when the Berkians land on the Isle, lost and gathering supplies, and then so on and so forth, the Furians take them to the leader and Hiccup and stuff. Basically, you’re run-of-the-mill, everyday, generic, typical Hiccup-Leaves-Berk AU.

However, by... 18-19, I guess, Noctus Fury went from Hiccup’s alias to a name of an OC, and over the years he’s gone through many changes and variations. He eventually became a descendant of Hiccup the Second, making him a distant cousin of Hiccup, and he had black hair and green eyes to symbolize his bond with the Night Furies. And he was 7′0 tall. Now, I have shrunk him down to 6′8 (may shrink him down a bit more eventually) while his brother is 7′0 (may shrink him down, too). He’s now lost the green eyes and black hair and has donned the blond hair and blue eyes of your typical Viking. And he’s now a direct descendant of Hamish II as well. His name has also gone through several changes and revisions. I’m now choosing Hamish V Hikstisson to be his name for the time being.

Another fun fact is that the Hiccup-Leaves-Berk story idea was one of my first ideas that I’ve had and has been morphing and evolving over the years as I occasionally made edits towards it. Of course, I didn’t expect to be able to work on it anytime soon because I hadn’t been able to figure it out or outline it, since I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go with it. Especially since I was trying to find ways to make it original against the 50 HLB AU stories that had been finished. But thanks to @autumnwoodsdreamer she’s helped me to flesh the outline out and I’m beginning to have confidence in the story now. And I’m not going to get into any spoilers, but I promise you that it’ll be MORE than unique. And Hiccup will be leaving Berk in a way nobody else has thought of (to my great surprise). There’s still some more things I need to outline and work on, and I’ve still got several OCs that I need to detail and figure out, but other than that, I feel like I can actually begin to work on it. Though, I’ll probably work on one-shots for my OCs so that they can speak to me and I’ll know who they are when I work on the story.

One more fun fact about this story, is that I’ll be combining the movie with the books and TV show to give it some dramatic flair. Book Tribes and characters will be used as well as those from the show. And this will also be an Arranged Marriage sub-plot in there and some various historical and HTTYD book references. I’m quite excited! ^_^

Trivia Tuesday

Creators: give a “behind the scenes” look at one of your works. This could be things that got removed or changed, the origins of ideas/details, whatever you like!

Fans: share bits of trivia from canon and challenge others to create something based on that trivia - fic, art, or something else! I once made a crossword puzzle :)

Feel free to repost this header!

[kingofthewilderwest]

I was wondering if you could do a list or something of everything from the books that’s in the movies and tv show universe? Like every detail, character, plot or influence no matter how small or big?

Unfortunately I’m never going to be able to get it all, and it’s be quite the time-consuming project to try! However, thankfully the httyd book fandom is very good about picking up parallels, and I’ve previously made a list on this same topic! Here’s a semi-updated list about many of the movie and tv show parallels. Friends, feel free to tack on if you think of other parallels! It’s fun to see all the parallels that there really are!

Obviously... this is going to be resplendent in spoilers across both the books and DreamWorks franchise.

FIRST MOVIE

The first movie has the general plot structure of the first book and is clearly inspired from it. It is the story of a young boy who trains with other youths his age in the ways of his tribe. By completing training, he can do a rite of passage and demonstrate he is one of the tribe. However, he fails this rite of passage and is cast out of the tribe by his father. Then an enormous dragon threatens the village. Hiccup leads the other youths to defeat the dragon. Ultimately, his own dragon Toothless saves his life and guarantees victory before he gets eaten. Hiccup’s relationship with Toothless grows throughout this adventure.  

Berk is a small island with unpleasant weather. Especially, it’s cold.

Lots of the same characters - Hiccup, Toothless, Stoick, Gobber, Tuffnut, Snotlout, Alvin, and Fishlegs. Gobber remains the teacher of the students and Snotlout remains a bit of a cocky, self-important nagger against Hiccup. Stoick’s design with an enormous beard is consistent. We also have a dragon named Stormfly and a Monstrous Nightmare named Hookfang in the books!

Monstrous Nightmares are seen as a status symbol in Berk. The Monstrous Nightmare is considered the dragon for the chief and his family in the books. The Monstrous Nightmare is the dragon only the bravest kill in the first movie.

Astrid is inspired off of Camicazi. Both are bold, blonde female characters with great fighting abilities who are close to Hiccup and own a dragon named Stormfly.

Berk owns a dragon manual written by a renowned Viking. In the books, Professor Yobbish wrote “How to Train Your Dragon,” the ultimate guide for the Hairy Hooligans. The Hairy Hooligans revere this book as the means of how to control dragons. In the DreamWorks movies, Bork the Bold wrote the Dragon Manual, the book the Hairy Hooligans respect as the authority for how to control dragons.

Dragon species with the same names - Nadders, Monstrous Nightmares, Gronckles, Purple Death. The Gronckle’s design is also notably similar between book and film, and while the Monstrous Nightmare is larger in the movies, but you can see the similarities in appearance to the ones in the books.

Hiccup confronts the Red/Green Death. Book!Hiccup fights the Green Death to protect Berk. DW!Hiccup fights the Red Death to protect Berk as well. Hiccup nearly dies from this encounter and is saved by Toothless. In the books he’s swallowed by the Green Death and saved by Toothless coming in to save the day… in the movies Hiccup is caught by Toothless before plunging into an explosion and crashing to the ground.

Hiccup loses part of a lower limb. DW!Hiccup loses a leg. Book!Hiccup loses a toe in How to Steal a Dragon’s Sword.

Gothi the elder is the movie’s version of Old Wrinkly, a wise elderly member of the tribe with magical connections. It’s to note DreamWorks was originally going to have much more magic in the early drafts of HTTYD.

Spitelout takes the same role as Baggybum. He is the spiteful, nagging Viking close to Stoick’s side who seems to question the chief. He’s the father of Snotlout. Spitelout was originally planned on having a larger role in early HTTYD drafts… back when those drafts were closer to the books. We can see in the resulting movie and shows the threads of Spitelout’s resemblance to Baggybum (and Snotlout and Hiccup being cousins).

The phrase “kill on sight.” Not an intentional parallel, but in the first HTTYD movie Hiccup reads in the dragon manual that every dragon is, “Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight.” Book!Hiccup’s wanted poster also has the phrase “Kill him on sight.”

One of the statues in the HTTYD movies has a helmet similar to book!Hiccup’s. This helmet has one broken horn. Some fans have considered this a parallel to book!Hiccup’s broken-horned helmet.

Toothless is a rare, powerful, “special,” and feared species. The Night Fury is a dragon regarded and feared because no one has seen it and lived to tell the tale. The Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus is the greatest, most powerful, and most feared species of dragon in the books.

Fishlegs was originally going to ride the Hideous Zippleback. And in the books, Fishlegs’ dragon has three heads!

RIDERS OF BERK / DEFENDERS OF BERK

Hiccup owns a small, obnoxious green dragon. The Terrible Terrors were initially designed to be book!Toothless, back when DreamWorks planned on making the movie closer to the books. In DOB, Hiccup gets a small, green Terrible Terror named Sharpshot… who acts similarly to the small, obnoxious green dragon Toothless in the books.

Viking students learn how to train small dragons. “Best in Show” is a story where Hiccup and the other Dragon Riders attempt to train Terrible Terrors and show their skills. It’s similar to the rite of passage in the first book, where Hiccup and the other students in Berk must show how they have mastered training a small hunting dragon.

Hiccup collects ancient family treasure. Both book!Hiccup and DW!Hiccup follow a map and other clues to locate an ancient family treasure, a treasure that only someone like Hiccup specifically could find. In ROB “Portrait of Hiccup as a Young Buff Man,” Hiccup follows Hamish the Second’s treasure trail - something “only a hiccup” could do. In the books Hiccup the Third collects The King’s Things from Grimbeard the Ghastly - something only Grimbeard the Ghastly’s prophecied heir could do.

Basically… all of “Portait of Hiccup as a Buff Young Man” gives off book vibes. It shows Hiccup insecure about how his father regards him, showing that Stoick sometimes gets carried away with ideas of his son as a stronger, more “typical” Viking. We also learn that Hiccup has an ancestor in the past, Hamish the Second, who was a runt… just like Hiccup in the books learns about Hiccup the Second and Hiccup the First.

Snotlout and Hiccup constantly bicker… and part of the reason is because Snotlout is jealous of Hiccup’s status and achievements.  These two do not get along. Snotlout often acts rudely toward Hiccup. In “Defiant One” Snotlout shows he is jealous of Hiccup, just like Snotlout reveals to Hiccup in How to Betray a Dragon’s Hero that he’s fought Hiccup much due to jealousy. But, in the end, Snotlout and Hiccup make up when Snotlout does a bold, heroic action (compare “Cast Out Part 2″ with the end of the eleventh book).

Alvin the Treacherous. He’s a chief of the Outcasts who battles against Hiccup in both show and book series! The presence of Alvin the Treacherous and the Outcast Tribe is a clear inspiration from the books.

The Berserker Tribe. This is a tribe from both the books and shows.

Dagur versus Norbert. Dagur the Deranged and Norbert the Nutjob are both chiefs with deep intelligence but a wild sense of “crazy” unpredictability.

Fishlegs is a wannabe poet and musician. Fishlegs writes his own poetry and sings songs during Riders and Defenders of Berk. Fishlegs in the books wishes to be a bard and writes his own (terrible) poetry.

Dragons demonstrate similar abilities between book and show. For example, Changewings are dragons that can turn themselves perfectly invisible, like multiple species from the books can (ex: Stealth Dragon).

The eggs explode! In both books and DreamWorks franchise, dragons hatch through exploding eggs.

RACE TO THE EDGE

Hiccup’s name. Hiccup Haddock the Third is mentioned in the show… referring to the full name of the book’s protagonist, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third.

Fishlegs is believed to have allergies against dragons. Fishlegs has allergies to dragons in the books. DW!Fishlegs is suspected to be allergic to Meatlug in “Big Man on Berk.”

Snotlout mentions wanting to be chief. Snotlout makes several comments about how he is almost like the chief. It’s an interesting call-out to the book’s Snotface Snotlout, who spends most of the series trying so hard to become chief himself.

Snotlout tries to become leader. Snotlout is always trying to become the chief of Berk in the books. Snotlout tries to take over Hiccup’’s leadership and become the leader of the dragon riders in “Not Lout.”

Snotlout and Hiccup physically fight. Snotlout tries to fight and kill Hiccup in multiple books. In “The Zippleback Experience,” Snotlout is supposed to attack Hiccup to make Barf and Belch believe Hiccup’s life is in danger. The result is Hiccup punching Snotlout.

Snotlout death references. They’re everywhere. Snotlout making a comment, “What’s one little arrow going to do?” - when he gets shot by an arrow in the books. Snotlout flying to take a hit from an arrow/quarrel for Hiccup in the skies during “Not Lout.” Snotlout falling from his dragon into the ocean and believing he’s dead in “Snotlout’s Angels.”

Dagur’s false death goes down similar to Snotlout’s book death. Dagur becomes a protagonist after trying to kill Hiccup for eons. When he is finally accepted as an ally, he goes forth to tackle an enormous enemy in a sacrifice to protect Hiccup. He is downed from his dragon and plunges into ocean waters.

An enemy falls into a volcano, gets burnt, but survives. Alvin the Treacherous falls into a volcano at the end of “How to Twist a Dragon’s Tale” when he tries to take the Fire Stone from Hiccup. Viggo falls into a volcano at the end of “Shell Shocked Part 2″ when he tries to take the Dragon Eye. Both enemies come back to fight Hiccup another day.

An enemy infiltrates Berk to learn information by pretending to be a friendly, common worker. Alvin the Treacherous pretends to be Alvin the Poor-But-Honest Farmer. Trader Johann pretends to be a foppish ally to the Hairy Hooligans. But both are seeking a more sinister gain.

The brand of a slave. Hiccup is marked as a slave in the book series. In Race to the Edge, the dragon hunters almost brand Hiccup on the face with what would basically have been a mark of ownership.

Hiccup fights with a sword. Hiccup spars with Inferno during Race to the Edge, and of course he has epic battles with Endeavor throughout the book series.

Potatoes. There are lots of hidden potatoes in RTTE. Potatoes are quite important in the books, naturally, and this is a silly call-out to that!

A gladiator ring with dragons. In “Stryke Out,” dragons are forced to fight one another in the ring. In How to Speak Dragonese, Hiccup, Camicazi, and Fishlegs are part of a gladiator spectacle that involves dragons eating other dragons. 

Hiccup is pulled beneath sand by a dangerous dragon. Hiccup is pulled underground in How to Seize a Dragon’s Jewel by the Monster of the Amber Slavelands. Hiccup is pulled underground from a sandy beach in “Sandbusted.”

One of Hiccup’s closest companions will die unless a cure can be found from an impossible-to-find ingredient. There are marked similarities between the ideas of “Buffalord Soldier” and How to Cheat a Dragon’s Curse. In the books, Fishlegs is believed to be dying from the sting of a Venomous Vorpent. The cure involves finding a potato, a legendary vegetable that is not believed to exist by most people… and which is said to only be found in America by others. In the show, Astrid is becoming increasingly ill from the deadly Scourge of Odin. The cure requires the gang to find the Buffalord, a dragon believed to be extinct.

Hiccup and Fishlegs are best friends.

Hiccup gets kidnapped. This is the central plot of “Midnight Scrum.” Hiccup gets kidnapped as a child - mentioned in How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury - and he also has an unpleasant hostage situation with the Romans in How to Speak Dragonese.

More dragon species similarities. The Riproarer feels like the Cavern Crasher. The Grimoras feel somewhat like Nanodragons. The Snow Wraith feels a little bit like Sabre-Tooth Driver Dragons. Some fans feel like the Slitherwing looks somewhat like the dragon of the Slavemark.

Dragons hatching from volcanoes. The Eruptodon egg must be placed in a ceremonial location in the center of a volcano to hatch properly. The Fire Dragon also can only hatch from a volcano’s eruption.

Characters seeking out their fathers. Dagur and Heather search for clues of Oswald the Agreeable. Fishlegs spends the majority of the book series trying to find his family and home tribe. Both Dagur and Fishlegs receive disappointing news about their father’s status.

Vikings build inventions far beyond their time. Norbert the Nutjob creates a steamboat. Hiccup builds equipment that can take him to the bottom of the ocean.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2

Eret’s brand versus the Slavemark.

Northern non-Viking tribes. The Northern Wanderers from the books could be compared to Eret’s people, the Sami.

Stoick jumps in front of a deadly shot to save Hiccup’s life. Stoick jumps in front of an arrow to try to save Hiccup’s life in How to Cheat a Dragon’s Curse, somewhat akin to how Stoick jumps in front of Toothless’ blast in How to Train Your Dragon 2.

Hiccup’s butt-kicking mothers neglecting parental duties through quests far from home… quests that their son ultimately fulfills. Valhallarama constantly quests away from Berk to find the King’s Things rather than spending time with her son. In the end, Hiccup collects the King’s Things. Valka leaves Berk entirely to protect dragons. She is not there to raise her son. In the end, Hiccup becomes the chief of Berk, the link between humans and dragons this world needs. In the end, both mothers realize that they have spent too little time with their son when he was growing up, and end up supporting him in his heroic endeavors.

Dragons that change color by mood. The Hobblegrunt changes its color depending on its mood, just like the Mood Dragon.

Sea dragons that breathe ice. The Doomfang is a giant Sea Dragon with a freezing breath. The Bewilderbeast is an enormous “ice spitter.”

Toothless shields Hiccup from an enormous dragon. In HTTYD 2, Toothless jumps in front of the Bewilderbeast’s ice blast and shields Hiccup last-second with his wing. In How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury, Toothless jumps in front of Furious to shield Hiccup. It’s to note that even the Bewilderbeast and Furious have parallels!

A chief sacrifices himself to save Hiccup… and Hiccup goes on to become leader. In How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury, Hiccup’s cousin Snotlout had become chief of the Hairy Hooligans before dying to save Hiccup. Hiccup’s father Stoick in the movies dies to save his son.

Villain!Valka versus Furious. The initial script for HTTYD 2 pitted Valka as an antagonist who believed that humans and dragons could not live together in harmony, so she attacked Berk and waged war against humans to free the dragon species. She commanded an enormous, behemoth Bewilderbeast in her fights - the King of all Dragons. Sound familiar? Furious is an enormous, behemoth dragon - the King of all Dragons - who wages war against humanity and attacks Berk because he believed that humans and dragons could not live together in harmony. Even the Valka that appears in our final HTTYD 2 bears similarities to Furious. She still does have the mentality humans and dragons cannot coexist in peace.

Drago and Drago’s Bewilderbeast versus Furious. Drago ultimately still has a lot of the same parallels to Furious that villain!Valka does. He commands an enormous dragon army against Berk with the King of all Dragons. Drago + his Bewilderbeast fill somewhat similar roles to Furious in the books. 

A potential three way war. The original plan of HTTYD 2 has some interesting set-ups that seem parallel to the final conflict in the books. In the books, there is a three-way war between dragon-friendly humans, dragon-hating humans, and human-hating dragons. In HTTYD 2, Valka was going to be pro-dragon and anti-human life Furious; Drago was going to be pro-human and anti-dragon like the Alvinsmen; and Hiccup was pro-human, pro-dragon like he is in the books. The reason I say potential three-way war is that it’s said Drago was going to be brought up, but not necessarily fleshed out or built upon in the original second movie drafts… the main battle scenes we see of the early storyboards are all seemingly between Berk and Valka.

The Red Rage versus the Bewilderbeast’s control. The dragon kings lead dragons in a mind-altered stated. The Red Rage causes dragons to angrily attack humans. Drago’s Bewilderbeast can control dragon minds - even to the point of dragons attacking their friends. Book!Toothless falls under the Red Rage briefly, and of course DW!Toothless is forced to shoot at Hiccup.

Berk is attacked and destroyed. Furious’ dragons blaze Berk down in fire. Drago, Furious’ equivalent, sends his Bewilderbeast to Berk. The village is wrecked by the dragon’s ice. 

Becoming a Hero the Hard Way.��Both stories are about Hiccup becoming a Hero the Hard Way. Hiccup becomes a chief in HTTYD 2, while in the books, Hiccup becomes King of the Wilderwest. Both of them are initially unwilling to take up this leadership role, but ultimately fulfill it. And both Hiccups’ ideal is to create a world where humans and dragons live together in peace.

Hiccup is shown to be the one, unique individual who can fulfill the leadership role of his people. Hiccup is prophecied to be Grimbeard the Ghastly’s Heir in the books. Valka in the movies says, “You have the heart of a chief and the soul of a dragon. Only you can bring our worlds together.”

OTHER MATERIALS

Reference to Old Wrinkly. Old Wrinkly’s Cauldron is available for sale in School of Dragons.

Wartihog, Speedifist, and Clueless are residents of Berk. Several of Hiccup’s classmates from the books are NPCs in School of Dragons: Wartihog, Speedifist, and Clueless.

Dragon species. The Devilish Dervish and Windwalker are dragons available to hatch and ride in School of Dragons.

Hiccup’s far-traveled ancestor. In School of Dragons, Stoick is mentioned as having a great-grandfather who traveled far and wide. His great-grandfather in the books, Grimbeard the Ghastly, is someone who definitely sailed great distances. Furthermore, the family name is called the “Horrendous Haddocks.”

Rise of Berk introduces the Green Death.

The comic book “The Legend of Ragnarok” is about the Purple Death attacking Berk. Not only that, but Hiccup makes a reference to the dragon sleeping thousands of years under the sea. The Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus dragons (including the Purple Death) slept underneath the sea for thousands of years before coming to Berk’s shore in the first book.

The comic book “The Endless Night” introduces a female sorceress villain. Skuld doesn’t have much in common with Excellinor, but it is still to note this similarity.

How to Train Your Dragon 3 will be about the dragons disappearing, Hiccup making a choice that will affect humans and dragon’s future, and Hiccup actualizing as a leader. The books are of course about the dragons disappearing, Hiccup trying to unite humans and dragons, and Hiccup becoming King of the Wilderwest.

[p-artsypants]

Mute (HTTYD One Shot)

I wanted to write another slavery fic without….all the slavery. So I came up with this.

This fic is rated T+ for gross misuse of needle and thread.

—

Trader Johan was a man with an eye for the deal. Everything had an equivalent exchange. Whether it was gold, animals, or weapons, everything had a price.

“Johan! Johan!” A man cried, running to the front of the crowd.

“Ah, Hamish!” The trader responded, at attention. “What can I do for you?”

“Do you have any of these?” He held up a list of ingredients written on a piece of parchment.

Johan took it, and looked it over in kind. “Well, yes. I have all but the blue oleander.”

“I’ll take it all.”

“Wonderful! That will cost you…two goats and a chicken.”

The man grimaced. “I only have one goat, and she’s pregnant, I can’t give her up.”

“Well, that is a pity. Well, we can come up with another form of payment, easily. There’s gold, and weapons, I’ll even take hair.”

“How about my boy?” Hamish gestured over the crowd and a young man in rags and a bandage over his eye hurried over. His head was shaved, and a nail pierced through his ear lobe.

“Nope, I’m sorry, I do not take payment in slaves. Far too much controversy.”

Hamish begged the man, “please, Johan. He’s all I’ve got, and I have to have those herbs for my wife! She’s so sick and…” He shook his head to rid himself of the thought. “Don’t think of him as a slave, think of him as an apprentice or an indentured servant. Just make him work for a couple years and then he can be free.”

Johan looked over the young man, seeing his many scars and emaciated form. This was not the first time that he had been offered a slave as payment, but it was the first time he had seen one in such poor condition. He was even missing a leg.

“Alright,” Johan conceded, thinking that maybe he could improve the boys life by this. “But know this,” he called to the crowd. “This changes nothing. I will continue to refuse slaves for trade.”

Then he returned to Hamish, “his name?”

The man shrugged. “He hasn’t got one. Doesn’t say a word. We just call him Sven, since he didn’t object to it. I won him in a raffle, or else I never would have gotten one, but with Martha sick…I needed someone to help around the house. But if this medicine works, then surely, we won’t need him anymore.”

Johan nodded in understanding. “I see…”

“I’ve treated him as well as I could, but we don’t have a lot of food to spare. He gave most of his meals up for little Lilith.”

“So then…he was like this when you got him?” Johan inspected the huge scars across his arms, imagining worse on his back. There were small, irritated wounds and black lines around his lips as well. “Has he lost his eye, too?”

“He was much worse, actually, and no, he just had an infected scratch over it. I don’t know the whole story, but he was previously owned by Viggo Grimborn.”

Johan turned up his nose. “I always hated that man. Well, a couple of months at sea should settle the payment.”

“Thank you! Oh thank you Johan!”

“Always a pleasure doing business!”

—

The trader sailed away from the island, a richer man. The rest of the trades had gone smoothly. Most people paid with gold or weapons.

Johan looked at the slave, the boy dubbed Sven, and wondered. It was the first time in a long time that the man was struck completely silent in contemplation. Sven sat on a crate, still as the grave, his hands in his lap and his feet, or foot and peg leg, together. He hunched over slightly, probably cold, and stared at the ground.

His eye held so much fear.

If Johan was being honest with himself, he would say the boy looked a little like Master Hiccup. But only slightly. It was true that the young dragon rider had gone missing several months ago when he was separated from his Nightfury, but for him to be this young man was too good to be true. Besides, if this was Hiccup, he would have said something about it by now.

He would have said something, period. Hiccup wasn’t the quiet type.

Johan went to his goods, found a blanket, and draped it over the young man. “Here, it can get quite cold on the open sea.”

The boy just huddled further into it.

“So, Viggo Grimborn eh? He’s a fierce one. Him and his brother. They are ruthless! I have had many encounters with the two of them in the trade world. If fact, there’s a great story about a time I faced a deadly Submaripper in the Straights of Dire…”

The rest of the day passed like that. Johan would tell a story of his lofty adventures, and Sven would sit with his fearful eye riveted to the floor. Johan couldn’t tell if he was listening or not, but he continued his stories regardless.

Dinner time rolled around and Johan went to his wares. “I usually eat a light dinner, since I can’t cook on the ship.” He explained, handing Sven an apple. “Tomorrow we’ll go to the village of the Gauls, and they’ll treat us to a nice big lunch. But for now, you can have another apple if you want.”

Johan took his own fruit and sat by him.

Sven eyed the apple longingly, and made a gesture like he was whittling.

“What is it?” He watched his hands. “I’m afraid I can’t make a fire on the ship. You can go down in the hull to get out of the wind, if you prefer.”

Sven shook his head and tried again.

“You want…a knife?”

He nodded with vigor.

“A knife it is!” And he found a little one in his supplies, certainly one that was too small to hurt a person.

Sven took it with gratitude. Then he opened his lips very slightly and stuck the blade in his mouth.

Johan was quick to grab it and pull it away from him. “What are you doing!?”

Sven backed away like a frightened deer, leaving the apple behind.

“Alright, alright…look, you can use the knife, just don’t put it in your mouth, okay?”

Sven nodded meekly, and retook his seat. Now that he had the knife, he cut the fruit into thin strips and slid them through his lips.

The next day, they landed at another island for trade. Johan had his new apprentice wear a clean tunic, which he was swimming in, but it was better then the ratty cloth he had before. Sven helped in anyway he could, bringing stuff in and out of the ship with haste. All the time he stayed silent, just as Hamish had warned.

More than one person asked about him, but Johan only assured them that no, he wasn’t a slave anymore, and no he wasn’t for trade, and yes it was very kind of him to give the boy work to get back on his feet—or foot.

A week passed. Johan would stop at a port and then him and Sven would get a meal before the going back to work. Sven always mashed whatever meal was given into a paste before slurping on it carefully.

Johan began to wonder if his new friend had use of his jaw.

Finally, one Frigg’s day, Johan’s ship rolled into the bay of Berk.

“Ah, Berk! My favorite place of trade. Full of very kind people. Not to mention wealthy.” He laughed. “Maybe you’ve heard of Berk? You know, this village has actually befriended dragons! Imagine that! If someone had told me ten years ago, that we’d be living in peace with the beasts, I would have thought him mad! But, here I am, receiving mail from the use of a terrible terror! Isn’t that just astounding?”

Sven just stared at him with his ever wide, fear-filled eye.

“Don’t worry, the dragons are all well controlled, there’s nothing to worry about.”

It didn’t seem to calm him down, as he turned and looked to the island. His hands clenched the railing of the boat until his knuckles turn white.

This was puzzling. Sven hadn’t been like this to any of the other islands they visited, but Berk had him trapped in anxiety.

“You know, you can stay in the hull, if you’d like. I’ll bring you back some stew.”

Sven shook his head vehemently, as tears threatened to fall.

“Alright, then do whatever you feel most comfortable with.”

The boat docked, and Sven got to work tying all appropriate knots. Johan saw determination and nervousness on his face.

“I wish you could speak,” Johan says, “I wish you could tell me what’s wrong.”

Sven shook his head, as if to say nothing was wrong.

Bucket and Mulch were quick to dock next to them. “Oh Johan! Is it Frigg’s day already?”

“It seems like it only yesterday that I was here!”

“Say…” Mulch spoke as he looked over to the boy, “You’ve got a little helper, don’t you?”

“Ah yes, this is Sven. My new apprentice, for a couple months at least.”

“Well, kid, you’ve got your work cut out for you. Johan’s been around the world three times! He’s the best trader in the archipelago!”

Sven raised his head and met the man’s gaze. Emotion poured out of his face as he stared.

Mulch whistled lowly, “Johan…is this kid okay?”

The trader only shrugged.

—

They made their way through town and up to the great hall. Calls of greeting came from the villagers as they passed and Johan responded to them all with vigor. Sven walked a couple of paces behind his master.

“As I had said, Berk is full of wonderful, kind, and gentle people. You know, once your time is done, I think this would be a great place to call home.” Then he noticed that Sven wasn’t keeping up with him. “Is your leg bothering you, my friend? You never walk this slow.”

As he turned around, he saw fat, hot tears rolling down his cheeks. The gauze over his eyes was stained.

“Oh dear! Let’s sit here! Are you in pain? Should we call for Gothi?”

The boy fell in the dirt and shook his head, then grimaced, then cried harder. Not once did he open his mouth.

“What’s going on over here?” A familiar voice called.

“Chief Stoick! It’s wonderful to see you again.”

“And you, Johan. Who’s this?”

The sad, puny, little slave looked up to the man the size of a mountain. He begged and pleaded with his eye, but no recognition came to the chief.

“I thought he was in pain, but he insists he doesn’t need a healer…he’s had a rough life, Stoick. I must admit…I went back on one of my own rules and got him in a trade.”

“So…he’s a slave?”

“Was, I guess he might still be…” Johan looked sheepishly down to the ground. “He’s apprenticing under me for a few months for his freedom.”

“How much does he cost?” Stoick said suddenly.

“Oh, he’s not for sale.”

“I’ll give you twenty gold.”

Johan hardly made a profit of one gold a week, considering he usually broke even. “You’re willing to spend that much on a boy that you’ve never met?”

“Look at him, Johan! He’s starving, exhausted, and…mentally unstable. He needs rest and some good food.”

Johan scratched his beard nervously. “He can’t eat much. I’m not sure why, but…”

“But?”

“I’ve never seen his teeth.”

Gobber came up behind the boy, joining the conversation. “Then I say, we pry his mouth open and shovel him full of mutton. That’ll fatten him right up.” He squeezed the boy’s shoulder affectionately.

But instead, Sven sunk out of the man’s grasp with a whimper, holding his hands over his mouth.  

Gobber chuckled awkwardly, “I’m only kidding boy-o. I’m not going to hurt you.”  

Stoick watched the exchange with a speculative glance. “We’ll keep him here. I’m sure some time outside among some friendly faces will do him good.”

“But I must warn you, Chief Stoick. You must keep sharp objects away from him.” He leaned in closer and attempted to whisper. “He sticks them in his mouth as a form of self harm.”

Stoick cringed as he took in the angry scars around his mouth.

“Then we’ll put him in one of the old dragon stables at night, when no one can watch him.”

The boy closed in on himself, hugging his arms to his chest. Then he watched as Stoick handed over the gold and shook Johan’s hand. He fell forward, forehead in the dirt as he shook with sobs.

“Now, now,” Gobber comforted. “You’re free! No use of crying.”      

Sven looked up at him, with a painful smile on his face.

Gobber helped him to stand, and noticed he leaned heavily on one side. “I think the most pressing thing we need to do is get you cleaned up and fix up that leg so you can stand up properly. Come on, to the forge.”

—

Inside, Sven sat on a table and removed his leg. Gobber set to work immediately. Johan and Stoick had tagged along, interested in him, if not worried.

“The man I got him from said he was previously held by Viggo Grimborn.”

Stoick furrowed his brow. “Is that so? Who know’s what that mad man did to him.”

Gobber brought a bucket of water and a wash cloth over to the boy, “It’s not a full bath, but you can clean yourself up a little.”

Sven nodded, very grateful, and took his tunic off.

The assembled men cringed at the mutilation underneath.

Sven noticed and hurried to put it back on, but Gobber stopped him. “It’s okay lad, we just…weren’t expecting it.”

“Hey Gobber, have you finished my—“ Astrid started into the forge, but halted in word and motion as soon as she locked eyes with him. “Who…who is this?”

“This is Sven,” Stoick answered, calmly. “He’s going to be living with us here in the village.”

Sven had stopped what he was doing and stared at her, just as he had stared at everyone else in the village.

All the people that should of known him, but didn’t.

He held a hand out towards her and moaned.

It unsettled her, to be honest. But she just stood a little bit taller and walked up to him. “It’s…it’s nice to meet you, I’m Astrid.” She stated cordially.

He took the bandage off his eye, and then placed his other hand on top of hers. He whined loudly, pulling her closer.

“Uh…I’m not a healer. Sorry.” She pulled away.

“He doesn’t need a healer,” added in Johan, “we saw one the last time we came to port. She said it was just scarring.” He looked pointy to Sven, “now, if you want to get better, you have to leave the bandage on.”

Gobber scratched his chin. “Maybe he was trying to say something.”

Sven moaned again, reaching out for her.

Astrid approached him again, and leaned in to listen. He was muttering something, very quietly. “I’m sorry, I can’t understand you.”

He shook his head, frustrated. Then he mimed out that he wanted something to write on.

“A knife!” Johan nearly shouted. “He just wants a knife!”

“Now, Sven,” Stoick scolded. “As long as you’re here in my village, I will not allow you to hurt yourself.”

He was going to hurt somebody if someone didn’t get him some parchment.

Instead, more frustrated, sad, lonely tears fell from his eyes.

“I wonder…” mused Johan, “If he’s so used to feeling pain, that he inflicts it on himself now to feel normal.”

Astrid held his hand gently. “Don’t worry. In a little while, things will start to make sense again.”

Sven closed his eyes, his brows upturned in anguish. He doubted anything would be normal again. For now, he just enjoyed the sensation of Astrid’s hand in his and pretended that everything was how it used to be. That this was was like old times on the edge, before he was captured. He often wondered what would have happened if he hadn’t gone fishing that day, and instead went flying with Toothless.

Toothless. He thought often of his best friend. That’s were it hurt the most. Because without him, he couldn’t fly. Toothless couldn’t even look for him. It was unfair. But if no one else remembered him, surely Toothless would. He just had to find him first. And without being able to call for him, it would be hard.

What did his family think of him now? Did they think he was dead? They must have, or else they’d be out there looking for him.

Wouldn’t they?

He didn’t dwell on it long as Astrid pulled her hand away and he was left with emptiness again.  

“Well, Astrid, I have your axe right here, all ready to go.”

She shouldered it. “Thanks Gobber, I’ll bring payment next time.”

“Don’t worry about payment, lass. Your boyfriend paid for everything you could ever want.”

Sven watched Astrid wither in front of him, as she rested the head of her axe on the ground and placed her hands on the handle. “I miss him.” She answered honestly.

“We all do.” Stoick agreed, then his eyes widened. “Wait, Sven, you spent time under Viggo Grimborn, right? Did he ever say anything about Hiccup? Hiccup Haddock from Berk?”

The boy sat with wide eyes, shaking his head slowly in disbelief. They really didn’t recognize him. He was sitting right in front of him, and they still couldn’t see.

They took it as a no, and resigned. “Well, thanks anyway.”

He shook his head again and put a hand on his chest. But no one noticed. He would have to find Toothless.

—

Gobber finished his leg, and he tried it on. It was still a wooden peg leg, but it felt so much better. He stood and walked a couple steps.

“Well, there you go. Feels better eh?”

He nodded.

“Good, well…why don’t you mosey your way up to the great hall. I heard there’s some sort of meal going on up there. I’m sure you can find it.”

Sven nodded again and walked out of the forge.

When he left, he noticed people in the village looking his way, then hurrying away from him. He saw men taking knifes from cleaning their fish and hiding them under their shirts.

It seemed that everyone had gotten the memo, not to let the new kid play with sharp objects.

It didn’t matter. He snuck his way up to the Chief’s house, his house, and pulled on the door.

Locked. Of course.

Before he even had the chance to go toward the back, a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him into the air. “And just where do you think you’re going, little imp?”

He never imagined being afraid of his own father, but for that moment, he was just as scared as he had been when they locked him in a cage with a sea shocker.

Just as soon as he had been lifted, he was set back down again, and he crumpled into a ball for protection.

“Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you.”

The words didn’t dissuade the anxiety, but only made him curl closer in on himself.

“Come on, stand up.”

Sven did as he was told. He always did what he was told, no matter how much it hurt. He stood on wobbly legs and stared at the Chief with mournful eyes.

Stoick only smiled back, “I don’t know what you were looking for, but we’re going to the great hall. You see, Mrs. Hofferson has made you and Johan a nice meal. Some nice warm soup. Won’t that be nice?”

Soup. The easiest thing in the world to eat when you could barely open your mouth. His stomach rumbled impulsively.

“And there will be others too, you’ll get to meet the Hoffersons. You already met Astrid. And there’s some other kids up there.”

—

The first thing he saw when he entered the great hall, was not the group of friends he knew from his childhood, it was not his future in-laws, or the amazing smelling food they had spread out, but a black dragon that laid out on the floor by the fire.

He tried to call out to him, but it sounded like a shout instead. Toothless heard it, and sat up instantly.

Stoick grabbed the boy and pulled him away to a table. “Astrid, can you lead Toothless out? He’s scaring Sven.”

“On it chief.” She stood and went to Toothless. “Come on, let’s go.”

The Nightfury protested with a loud warble and started heading toward him.

“No, Toothless! You can meet him later! Right now, he has to stay calm!”

Sven also protested, reaching a hand out and moaning as loud as possible.

To the assembled, it looked like he was shouting, ‘Stay away!’

Stoick grabbed him by the shoulders and steered him toward the table and made him sit. “That was Toothless, even though he looks scary, he’s a very nice dragon.”

And could be a nightmare if you got on his bad side, he knew.

Astrid returned, closing the door behind her. “I got him outside Chief, but he seemed off. He really wants to be in here.”

“Oh the big baby,” Gobber laughed, tearing a biscuit in half. “It’s a wee bit cold outside, and he pitches a fit.”

If only.

Sven’s eyes scanned the room, taking in the questionable glances and the uneasy whispering. He had enough of this.

Then, he spotted it, a knife right in front of him, sticking out of a ham. But there were so many people, he just needed a distraction.

The Nightfury bursting in the door was perfect.

“Toothless! Down!” Stoick called in vain.

Sven lashed out and yanked the knife out of its spot before Gobber could stop him. “No! Sven! Drop it! Drop it!” He was commanding him like an animal. But he was done being talked down too.

Stoick was still behind him, trying to decide between a rampaging dragon and a boy trying to stick a knife in his mouth. He ended up just grabbing his wrist.

Sven was desperate as he flailed with the blade. He couldn’t take one more minute of silence, not even a second.

But Stoick’s grip turned painful and his eyes filled with tears.

No. Not when he was so close.

He shouted. It was muffled, and it tore at his lips, but it had the intended effect.

Astrid noticed what no else did. “Stoick! Give it to him!”

“What!?”

“Give him the knife! Let him go!”

“Are you crazy? He’s going to stab himself in the back of his throat!”

“No he won’t! Trust me!”

Stoick looked down into his tear-filled eyes, and saw that same begging look. He’s cheeks were flushed and his whole body trembled. The chief relaxed and let go.

“Okay, but I’m watching you, if you try anything…”

Sven placed a hand on his arm, in reassurance.

Then everyone watched carefully as the boy brought the knife to his lips and began to cut something.

Snotlout looked squeamish.

Finally, bit by bit, Sven pulled thread out and laid it on his plate.

Eight sutures.

Astrid covered her mouth with her hand. “His mouth was sewn shut the whole time.”

Gobber, Johan, and Stoick all felt awful.

Once free, Sven lowered the knife with shaky hands. Then sat with his hands as fists on the table. Nervousness rolled off of him in waves. Now that he could tell them everything, he couldn’t find the words.

Instead, he stood.

Toothless was not far away. The dragon sat patiently nearby, his tail swishing with untapped energy.

Sven smiled at him. “Hey bud,” then he all but collapsed on him, sobbing and crying.

As soon as everyone heard him speak, they were on their feet, running to him with open arms.

“I’m so sorry Hiccup!” Astrid cried, embracing him. “You were right in front of me…and I couldn’t see you! I’m so sorry…” She placed delicate kisses on his battered face.

“It’s not your fault, Astrid.” He croaked, his voice hollow from disuse. “It’s not anybody’s fault but Viggo’s.”

“But I thought…” she sobbed, rubbing her cheek against his. “I love you. I know everything about you, and I still couldn’t tell…I’m so sorry.”

“I’m just as bad,” Stoick grit. “You’re my son. I’m supposed to have a connection with you…and yet…”

Hiccup stood, as Toothless nudged against his leg and Astrid and Stoick held him. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m home.”

“And, you can speak.” Gobber added, petting his fuzzy head.

“Thank Thor, I thought I was going to go mad.” He sighed, “I still have a lot of healing to do though.”

Astrid wrapped her arms around him, “we’re with you, every step of the way.”

[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

[aleteia-ff]

What was your favorite thing about writing Phantom of the Arena? Is there anything you wanted to include, but then it didnt work for what ever reason? What are you looking forward to most in the sequel?

Gods, my favourite thing... Now that’s a hard question anon! 

I think my favourite thing was just the whole process of it all. Revealing more of the story week after week, seeing readers’ reactions, getting to know so many people within the fandom because they love my story... It was a first for me and that experience has been just so overwhelming. 

If I look more specifically at the story, I think my favourite parts to write were those in which we get full-out Phantom!Hiccup; those scenes were intense for me to write and it was a lot of fun to try to bring that intensity to paper! Especially in the later chapters because I had known where the story was going to go for a long time and it felt so rewarding to finally get there. 

Oh, there are many things I considered including but in the end decided not to. Most of those were fleeting ideas that I rejected pretty quickly, or ideas I had for the ending that I later decided were too extreme. For instance, in one of my earlier drafts Hiccup burnt down the entirety of Berserker Island in response to the insults Dagur threw his way. I decided that was too far and that it’d make Hiccup too irredeemable, so I veered away from that. 

Other ideas I had but had to scrap were mainly about whether I was going to bring in a particular character or not. Examples include the Light Fury, Viggo, Grimmel, Drago, Eret, more screentime for Dagur, and especially Valka. I was on the fence about Valka for quite a while, but in the end decided that she didn’t fit; Hiccup was already dealing with so much and introducing her would just be another piece of hurt for him to add to the list. I couldn’t find a way to give her a significant enough role, so I decided to leave her out. 

What I’m looking forward to most in the sequel is that while The Phantom of the Arena was a very focused story - it really only revolved around Astrid, Hiccup and Stoick - The Phantom of the Archipelago is going to extend beyond that, as the name already suggests. (for those of you who missed it, here’s an announcement and story summary)

On the one hand, I plan to tell this family story that focuses mostly around Astrid, Hiccup, Stoick and Hamish, what five years of separation meant for them and how they handle that. On the other hand, we finally get a bit of a view on what Hiccup being the Phantom meant for the rest of Berk, and the Archipelago, and how they respond to his return. With that, a lot of characters who didn’t make the cut in Phantom 1 do get a chance to appear now. And while I’m of course stoked to tell the story of Hiccstrid’s reunion and, for the first time, feature Hiccup himself as the main POV character, I’m also very excited to broaden the scope of the story to the rest of the HTTYD world. 

I hope that answers your questions! Thank you so much for your ask!

Oh, and keep your eyes open.. Because later tonight I will be posting something Phantom-related to celebrate hitting 1000 followers on Tumblr. It won’t be the first chapter - I’m not quite ready for that yet - but I hope it will make you happy nonetheless :)