Off-topic? Ha! No such thing! :)

May 14, 2010 22:20

So this is sort of an overall off-topic post for all other random things that don't quite fit the purpose of the request post.

You know, questions you'd like answered, random other bits of fluff, discussions about how thus-and-such pairing rocks way hardcore ...

So ... *claps* Get to it! Post to your Disney-loving heart's content! ♥

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I Continue Doing The Thing {6/6} afterandalasia May 12 2014, 12:57:26 UTC
He slipped the knife into his belt and extended one hand towards her. Elsa looked down at her ankle, then pulled a rag out of her top and wrapped it around her hand before taking hold of Hiccup’s. Her grip was surprisingly tight, though her fingers were very cold even through the fabric. She got her good foot underneath her, and tried to push upwards with her foot and her other hand braced against the rock. Another whimper of pain left her lips.

“Okay, let’s try again,” said Hiccup. He looked his other arm underneath her shoulder and pulled her straight to her feet, earning a yelp which might have been surprise, pain, or a combination of the two. Turning, he slung her arm over his shoulders and pulled his weight onto her before she had a chance to pull away. “That’s better.”

It was only a few steps back to the lean-to, and Elsa seemed to weigh barely anything. That made a change after living in Berk for so long. He helped her sit back down, then picked up the net and slung it back over his shoulder.

“Tomorrow, all right?”

“Tomorrow,” said Elsa.

It wasn’t until he stumbled out of the firethorn bush that he actually stopped to wonder what in the hell he was doing.

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Re: I Continue Doing The Thing {6/6} ashleybenlove May 12 2014, 14:17:59 UTC
Gosh, this fic is really excellent, omg.

Hiccup's a precious sweetie and so helpful. And hah, his interaction with Gobber is perfect.

Now I have an image in my head of post-HTTYD (or even tv series timeframe) Hiccup having to help Snotlout (or someone else) with a dislocation. I sort of picture it like in the Prince Caspian film where Peter (with a dislocated arm) is sort of about to get sentimental with Edmund and Edmund just sort of puts the arm back in place. I can see Hiccup being like, talk about something Snotlout, so he can keep Snotlout distracted from pain.

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Re: I Continue Doing The Thing {6/6} afterandalasia May 12 2014, 14:33:15 UTC
Lmao, thank you. Although I do not know where I am going with it right now. And apparently I am developing a terrible taste for Elsa whump, oh god.

And Gobber is the mom in this family, I'm afraid. Sorry, Gobber. You and your silk skivvies.

Oh man, Hiccup would totally do that. And it would have to be Snotlout, because Astrid would just man up and the twins would be arguing with each other, and Fishlegs has the sense not to get himself into those sort of situations. Either that, or it would be Astrid setting a dislocation for Hiccup, because he does get himself into those sort of situations.

I had the most terrible image today of Snotlout trying to hit on Elsa, either before he knows that she's wildling or further down the line one everything is getting more peaceful on the island. Because she's this ridiculously hot older woman and... well, he's Snotlout. And it's either going to end with Anna punching him, Hookfang setting him on fire (for the hell of it, but also because I can see Elsa being the friend-to-all-dragons sort almost as much as Hiccup is) or Elsa freezing his ass. Not sure which would be funniest.

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Re: I Continue Doing The Thing {6/6} ashleybenlove May 12 2014, 16:05:51 UTC
I'm sure Gobber doesn't mind.

And Hiccup would probably be running his mouth as Astrid is working on his dislocation and she just keeps letting him talk because the more distracted he is, the better. And then it goes back into place, and oop, he curses and then apologizes.

I feel like Astrid's probably going to end up getting some medical training from Gothi or whoever has the skills for that because Hiccup's reckless and he probably gets hurt all the time. Plus, she probably tends to his amputated leg fairly regularly.

Hiccup's sort of like Harry Potter in that way. I just keep thinking of Ginny's comment about "He's covered in blood. Why is he always covered in blood." in the Half-Blood Prince film.

Hell, Hiccup is basically Viking Harry Potter with no magic.

Wouldn't be funniest if ALL of those things happen to him? Anna punches him, and then Hookfang sets him on fire, and then Elsa freezes him.

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Re: HTTYD Thread [Frozen Mention] afterandalasia May 13 2014, 09:47:01 UTC
Oh man, trying to write from Hiccup's POV is actually proving pretty difficult because he snarks pretty much all the time. When he's not trying to babysit the others, which isn't really an issue yet. Once they're around he sort of plays the straight man to everyone else's zaniness a bit more.

Psh, that's true. Hiccup is probably always getting himself injured in stupid ways. I was considering adding a line at the end about someone catching him appearing out of a thorn bush, but I might leave that for a chapter or two. And it'll probably be Astrid, because Astrid/Hiccup is definitely still happening as well.

Snotlout will probably also consider hitting on Anna, just the once, then remember the Elsa Incident and be like, "You know what, I'll skip to Ruff instead, it's probably safer for my health". Snotlout, finding a girlfriend is not process of elimination. I'll probably introduce Kristoff sooner or later, because I do find Anna/Kristoff cute, but it rather saddens me that I can't really think of anyone that would be suitable to pair Elsa with. Because I still struggle to pair her with guys (Jack Frost is an exception there) and Ruffnut... yeah, no, I just don't see that. Maybe Heather, though. Heather was cute.

This could turn into "my favourite plots from Dragons, with Elsa added for kicks". Shuffled around a bit in time, because Skrill. Although Elsa not being on a dragon would explain why she isn't involved in various of the stories. *innocent whistle*

And you have a point, and Snotlout should be used to that kind of abuse. So Anna punches him, he falls onto Hookfang who startles awake and sets him on fire, then Elsa freezes him to put the ice out, honestly. Looks like this is going to be further down the line, when Anna is around and when Elsa is recovering enough to have her mischevious streak back.

Oh man, what dragon should I give Anna?! I think she'd love any of them. My gut said Nadder, but that's just because I like Nadders. Maybe that cute green Monstrous Nightmare we see at the beginning of When Lightning Strikes. Though the Devilish Dervish from the books is pretty cool. Kristoff is just like, "Yeah, I'll stick with the reindeer, thanks."

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Re: HTTYD Thread [Frozen Mention] ashleybenlove May 14 2014, 23:20:22 UTC
Hiccup, you're such a pain with your sassiness (and yet, one of my favorite characters ever, oops!)

Ooh, good, yes, Astrid/Hiccup. Here's a clip of them being absolutely adorable sweeties in the sequel. I think the general fandom consensus is that the scene is longer, and has been shortened/cut and will probably be longer in the theater release, but it's still super cute.

I'm still in love with the fact that Astrid's reaction in Frozen upon seeing Hiccup after he's been gone for about a day or so and some major stuff has gone down in his absence is to run up to him and hug him.

Heather/Elsa would be great because her two episodes are basically just 40 minutes of most of the dragon riders just kind of crushing on her too varying degrees. Except Ruffnut. Ruffnut's just like, making comments about hens and roosters, finding the whole thing hilarious. And Heather and Astrid, it's just sort of like "Viking Lesbian Subtext: The Two Part Episode". Astrid even gets a hug from her. I still love when Astrid comes to tell Hiccup about Heather's deception and like, she opens the Haddock door, and Hiccup's lying next to the hearth, Toothless kinda stirs and looks at her and then just lets Astrid KICK Hiccup awake. Toothless, lying down on the job. Heck, even Stormfly liked Heather.

I'm still super fond of her having a Terrible Terror. It just sort of feels like it'd work with her character. Or maybe she and Elsa can ride a Zippleback together. Perhaps she and Elsa are way better at Zippleback riding than the twins are. Or worse. But you're probably right, she'd totally love any of them. Hopefully that cute green MN works better with Anna than Hookfang works with Snotlout.

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Re: HTTYD Thread [Frozen Mention] afterandalasia May 15 2014, 14:19:07 UTC
First, oh man Stormfly and Toothless in the background cracked me. Doubly so because the new cat that I mentioned way back at the top of the thread looks like he's going to be staying, and he and existing cat are finally playing together! Which mostly involves scampering around like that. But still. Oh man, they are so cute. Hiccup impersonating his father and Astrid impersonating Hiccup, d'awww. It totally reminds me of that bit in Cast Out Part 2 as well where Astrid tries to help Hiccup calm down the townsfolk. Only hopefully they'll be more successful. *snorts*

And maybe it's partially because I've just remembered a fest I signed up for, and I'm trying to write Kida/Milo pregfic to meet the deadline (which is in three days, I'm such a dumbass), but I kinda hope that HTTYD3 features or ends with Astrid/Hiccup kids. Three generations of dragon riders would be the cutest goddamn thing ever.

The Heather episodes made me laugh like no other on that count. She is just obviously flirting with all of the boys to get information on dragons. Though I don't read Hiccup as flirting back or interested, just being friendly and, well, Hiccup. Though he did look disappointed at the lack of hug right at the end. I think he just likes having people talk to him nicely for once. Ruffnut finding it all hilarious was absolutely brilliant, and I consider it more evidence that she does have more (slightly rattled) brains than her brother. She knows what's going on. Nobody's even tagged for Heather yet on AO3, sadly, so there's no more fic about her. But I'd love to see her in a more active role (the stealing dragons was pretty cool, but she didn't seem to be even thinking of another way of getting her parents out of there).

Toothless, you fail as a guarddragon, I'm afraid.

Oh, Anna would totally have a Terror. Or possibly several. And just carry round loads of dragon nip and try to befriend every dragon that she came across, probably less successful than Hiccup "Dragon Whisperer" Haddock over there. Conqueror, no. Whisperer, yes. I don't think the dragons would have the same instinct to troll Anna as they seem to with Snotlout, but I foresee a few instances of running away from dragons that were tetchy when woken up.

I want to say better, but... I think it would depend where Elsa is at with riding dragons. If it's further down the line, they should be able to at least handle themselves because, sorry twins, you aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer. But if it's early on, I can see there being a certain level of fail because Elsa is still going "Oh stars, this is too far from the ground DOWN DOWN" and Anna is going "This is AWESOME, GO HIGHER!" and it ends in a Twinsanity-style mess. And Hiccup is just like, "Okay, Anna, let's find you your own dragon then..."

Okay, I'm now trying to plot how to get Anna out of Arendelle and into Berk. I'm guessing that the whole sneak into Berk, Elsa meets Anna, finds out about her parents' deaths, flees, Anna goes to find her, all happens. I'm thinking about maybe making Hans distantly related to the Arendelle royalty? Like, he's a cousin twice removed or something, through his mother? And he's spent a year or two planning this, not a few days, so he's already done some bribing among the ministers/whoever is holding the power until Anna turns 18 or 21 (Elsa is still believed dead at this point). So Hans manages to wrangle his way into taking control of Berk, and sends people to try to kill Anna, and Hiccup says that he'll protect Anna and they should go back to the village. As this all happened arount the time that the Berk/Arendelle treaty was supposed to be being signed, everything gets pretty fucked up. And Hans refuses to renew the treaty for... some reason that he'll come up with... and locks down Arendelle.

And really, I do not know where I'm going with this. But it's fun along the way.

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Re: HTTYD Thread [Frozen Mention] ashleybenlove May 15 2014, 23:19:17 UTC
I love that Toothless just sort of runs off to greet Stormfly with a sort of happy look on his face and they just sort of chase each other around while Hiccup and Astrid talk. Like, he's like, "Oh, good, Astrid's here, I can stop keeping Hiccup company, Hi Astrid, Bye Astrid and HEY STORMFLY, WHAT'S UP." Haha, yeah, hopefully they'll be more successful than that sad attempt in Cast Out Part 2. For some reason that line from Gobber how Hiccup is acting chief just tickles me because it's like, this 15-16 year old kid is now expected to deal with the whole island all upset about Stoick. I'm sure Stoick'll be right, and Hiccup will be one of the best Chiefs of Berk. Especially with Astrid by his side.

It'd be great to see three generations of dragonriders/Haddocks and super cute. I certainly hope to see it. Though, Dean DeBlois keeps talking about telling the story of why dragons are no more and Cressida Cowell's "There were dragons when I was a boy" remark that begins the first book of the series, and that just sort of... worries me deeply and I'm just like PROTECT TOOTHLESS AT ALL COSTS. Basically, all I want for the end of the series is Toothless and Hiccup living a long and happy life together. Seeing Hiccup and Astrid babies would be great as well.

Yeah, Hiccup's more like HEY NICE PERSON TO TALK TO but aw man I don't get a hug like Astrid got? And plus, he actually says this to Heather that amuses me to no end because of reasons: "We're trying to get some extra speed so we can stay on top of Astrid and Stormfly." Hiccup's too busy wanting to be on top of Astrid to be into Heather, apparently.

Tumblr user avannak has a whole Heather/Astrid tag that might be relevant to your interests. :)

Anna with like 20 Terrors would be funny. She'd be like a cat lady. In fact there's a videoout there where Gothi is shown with a shit ton of Terrors. Here's the video and here's a gifset I've reblogged on Tumblr. That video also has two cheek kisses between Hiccup and Astrid that's just GLORIOUS.

Anna, no don't wake up a sleeping dragon that's bad, come on. Sigh. And Hiccup is totally a Dragon Whisperer. He probably even actually whispers to dragons.

Yeah, early on it's probably not going to go well because as you note, Elsa would want to be on the ground and Anna would want to be higher, haha.

Ooh, political intrigue and backstabbing, I love it. Excellent. Hans you sneaky jerk. And having Hans being related to Arendelle royalty would mean he'd be somewhere on that line of succession anyway and boom.

It certainly sounds like a lot of fun.

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Re: HTTYD Thread [Frozen Mention] afterandalasia May 16 2014, 11:01:44 UTC
I think Vikings are just still trying to get used to the idea that brains are the important thing now, because the 'brawn' is provided by dragons. Hiccup doesn't need to be 400lb and able to throw trees around, because he was smart enough to train Toothless to be the muscles for him. So hopefully in like five years they're starting to get that idea.

That tumblr is so cute and glorious. There goes my afternoon.

Yeah, some of the things that Hiccup says to or about Astrid do make me laugh. Especially that "on top of" line. Also the one from Frightmare, which is "I don't just think about training dragons"/"Are you really saying that to me with a straight face?" because look, Astrid, babe, I think you get some room in that head of his as well.

Oh my god. "That's my future daughter in law". STOICK THE MATCHMAKER I love it.

Anna totally sort of collects Terrors. Like somehow they either find her somewhere to live or she and Elsa end up living with Stoick and Hiccup. Viking houses usually had extended families, though the ones on Berk look sort of small, but there might be enough room for them as well. Only Hiccup is like, "But I liked having a workroom. :(" When he loses it to be Anna's bedroom or something. And then there's Stoick, Gobber, Hiccup, Elsa, Anna, Toothless, and whatever dragons Anna has adopted this week. Stoick, your one dragon policy is completely going up in, er, smoke, I'm afraid. Like they're trying to do something in the house and there's just Terrors on the chairs, Terrors in the fireplace, Terrors sleeping in the saucepans, Terrors on Stoick's bed...

I realised something as well that having Elsa and Anna be 18 and 15 would work really well for lining up with the Flightmare. Because you see the aurora that night when they were 8 and 5, and apparently "Arvindell's Fire" or however you spell it comes every ten years. So that would totally be the time period for Elsa on a Flightmare oh my god.

On AO3, I wrangle Frozen, and I have the tags Hans Being An Asshole and Hans Being Less of an Asshole, which cracks me up. Also, it was the first fandom in the archive to get a lesbian X canonical, with Lesbian Elsa. I mean, we managed it before Sherlock and their canonically lesbian Irene. So I love Frozen fandom right now.

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Re: HTTYD Thread [Frozen Mention] ashleybenlove May 16 2014, 23:50:48 UTC
I like that: Toothless is the brawn of the team, while Hiccup is the brains. For some reason, I'm thinking about how in Defiant One, Snotlout and Toothless work together to fight off some Outcasts and Snotlout's like "We make a pretty good team!" and then says he might not give Toothless back to Hiccup and Toothless is not pleased by that comment. That episode is pretty great, too. Two teenage boys and a dragon stranded on a hostile island for apparently days and they manage to get out alive. I still love that apparently Toothless's saliva has healing properties. Hiccup says it in such a way that it feels like Hiccup's being a sassy jerk and lying but Snotlout's tongue is better later so, yeah. I wonder how Hiccup figured that shit out.

Oh gosh, I love that line about how he doesn't just think about training dragons and she's like, yeah right are you for real? Astrid, he certainly thinks about you, I'm sure. And that scene just sort of makes me think of this one scene in Gravity Falls where Dipper is like "It's not like I stay up thinking about her [Wendy]" cue cut to him lying in bed and he's like "Uh oh."

I love Stoick calling her his future daughter-in-law. Because of that line I'm just sort of assuming/headcanoning that Hiccup and Astrid are engaged by the time we see them again. Like, they (probably more like Hiccup) are putting off marriage for a few more years or something. They just seem the type to have a long ass engagement.

Haha, that's going to be one crazy household. Stoick and Gobber, Hiccup, Elsa, Anna, Toothless, and 100 Terrible Terrors. Three teenagers, a shit ton of dragons, and Stoick and Gobber.

I'm sure Stoick's one dragon policy/limit pretty much fell the moment he and Thornado bonded. Because, Stoick just fell in love hard with Thornado. Gosh, especially that line in Dragon Flower, "I spent my whole life trying to kill them. Now look at me." You beautiful man, Stoick. And gosh, his face when Hiccup tells him he did the right thing in setting him free to take care of the little Thunderdrums in Bing! Bam! Boom!, he looks so sad and turns back to wave goodbye and I just love Stoick so much. It should be interesting to see how he interacts with Skullcrusher in the sequel.

Stoick probably is just like, well, at least they're smaller than Toothless.

Ooh, that's even more excellent. Making that aurora be the one in Fright of Passage, Arven-whatever-it's-spelled.

That is super awesome. And speaking of canonically gay characters, apparently we have a canonically gay character in HTTYD2. Oh hell, I'll just say it: it's Gobber. Which is super awesome. Hiccup actually has a gay dad!

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Return of The Thing {1/5} afterandalasia May 17 2014, 16:54:16 UTC
The trick to life in general, Hiccup had found, was to appear completely nonchalant about everything. Even if that still left Gobber looking at him rather suspiciously when he wandered back in at sunset, with slightly scratched hands and a willingness to eat anything that was put in front of him. The former was not that unusual; the latter, more so, at least where Gobber’s mutton stew was concerned. When it came to cooking, Gobber was generally all right, and he could gut a fish in ten seconds flat, but mutton stew used up the last bits of the most recent sheep and Hiccup was always wary of eyeballs.

“So, how was the chiefing today?” he asked his father, ripping into another loaf of bread. Stoick looked surprised, and slightly flattered, to see Hiccup taking such an interest.

“Well, pretty busy,” said Stoick. “I had to look over to see what that wildling had stolen, then lead the search party to see if we could find any tracks.”

Luckily, he didn’t seem to see Hiccup jab himself in the cheek with a spoon at that point.

“Then it was up to the Arena to check out the new Gronckle that we’ve got to replace the last one, and down to the docks to see in the latest fishing boats. Seems like everything happens in the same day sometimes.”

“Oh, I hear you there,” said Hiccup.

“So...” Stoick looked a little bit uncomfortable as he realised he would actually need to continue the conversation. “How was your day, son?”

Hiccup probably should have seen that coming. He ate another spoonful of stew to buy himself time, swallowed, an answered. “Checked out a new sinkhole up in the foothills. It’s a dead end, we won’t need to worry about it.”

“Huh.” There was actually a note of being impressed in his voice, which Hiccup had far from expected. “Well, that’s good to know. Probably best to let Spitelout know anyway, so he and the men can keep an eye on it.”

“Will do, Dad,” said Hiccup. He might have to find an actual sinkhole to tell them about now, he figured. Although he could always claim that he couldn’t find it again. They’d probably believe him. “Hey, Gobber, did you want me at the forge tomorrow?”

“Eh, only in the afternoon,” said Gobber. “I’ve got to muck out the Monstrous Nightmare. That one’s a right bugger when he’s testy.”

“And with that charming mental image...” Maybe the thought of eyeballs in the stew wasn’t so bad after all. But at least it meant that he would be free tomorrow morning. “Say, is it all right if I do some work at the forge tonight? I want to work on my drawing out. We always need more nails, right?”

“Ah, help yourself,” said Gobber, waving his left arm vaguely. He had attached a knife to it for the evening meal, and there was a piece of bread impaled on the end. “You know how to work the bellows. Just keep to the medium quality, leave the good stuff.”

“Will do.” Well, he’d leave the good stuff, anyway. Gobber didn’t keep such tight track of the lowest quality scrap, which was actually what Hiccup was after. He was already trying to design in his head some way of encasing Elsa’s ankle so that she would still be able to move around, but which he could put together without needing to go and ask Gothi any questions. There were only a handful of people who could actually understand her, after all.

There was a sliding scale of what Hiccup was and was not allowed to get himself involved with. Wildlings were right out, considering how often Hiccup had managed to run into them, and when the dragons were about he was only allowed in the smithy with Gobber. But when wildlings and dragons were a part of everyday life, the smithy was relatively low on the danger scale, and he was allowed to work in there in the evening.

He drew out a dozen or so nails before actually turning his attention to the lower-quality metal. Normally, Gothi would use a mixture of eggs and flour to make a paste for the bandages, and just use stout wood for the splints. But Hiccup wasn’t exactly sure how that translated to the ankle, and it had definitely been around the joint that Elsa had seemed to be in most pain.

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Return of The Thing {2/5} afterandalasia May 17 2014, 16:54:57 UTC
He drew out and flattened the metal until it was a thin strip, a little over an inch wide and about a foot long, and bent it halfway down. Elsa had been about his height... he slipped off one boot and held the cooling metal by his foot, seeing if it would look reasonable. A couple of knocks to curve around the heel, and he set that piece aside. He produced two thinner rods to go down either side of her leg, and then went rooting around in the scraps of leather to find something that would hold them all together.

Mercifully, but Stoick and Gobber had obviously given up for the evening and gone to bed by the time that he got home. He occasionally bought things back from the smithy, but sometimes Gobber was actually interested in them, and Hiccup was honestly too tired by now to think of a good lie as to what he had bundled up under his arm.

The next morning, he bolted his breakfast fast enough for Stoick to look at him curiously, and made an escape while the sun was still coming up. This time, he had made sure to grab a pair of gloves to protect his hands, and a bag in which to carry everything. There were storm clouds already rolling in overhead as he made his way to the firethorn bush, slipped underneath, and climbed down into the tunnel once again.

“Elsa?” He called, as soon as he felt far enough away from the entrance that people would not notice a talking firethorn bush. “Elsa?”

He steadfastly refused to add are you still down here or anything of that sort. It felt quite ridiculous enough calling out to someone with whom you did not share a language and who, technically, you were supposed to either kill or capture, and take to the chief anyway. Hiccup was really, really trying not to think about that part.

It wasn’t as light in the sinkhole as it had been yesterday, and there was no response as he made his way in. Hiccup paused at the entrance to the tunnel, frowning, until he caught sight of a patch of white down by the edge of the pool.

“Elsa!” He broke into a run, trying not to drop the bundle under his arm, to where Elsa lay at the edge of the water. A path of ice ran from her tent to her current form; her head was on one arm, face-down, not moving.

Skidding to his knees, Hiccup grabbed Elsa’s shoulder. Ice spread up his hand and over his wrist as quick as a blink, stabbing cold into his skin, and he gave a sharp gasp. With a cry of her own, Elsa snapped away, rolling over onto her back and sitting up. Tiny flakes of snow formed in the air between them.

“It’s okay,” said Hiccup. He rubbed his hands together; the ice was already melting away and flaking off. “It’s fine. Look!” He held up his hands, wiggling his fingers. They were red, but unharmed. “I live on Berk, I can handle a bit of cold. But what... what are you doing down here?”

Though the panic was leaving her eyes, Elsa was still looking at him in faint bewilderment. He’d probably gone and thrown too many words about again. He pointed to her, then to the ground where she sat. “Why are you over here? You should be in your tent!” he pointed to the lean-to.

Elsa’s eyes followed his movements, then she pointed to the water beside her and mimed drinking from her hands.

“I forgot to get you any water,” surmised Hiccup. “Sorry about that. I’m not too good at this caretaker thing, am I? Well, hopefully today will go slightly better, starting with this.”

He produced a small loaf from the bag that he carried, and her eyes went wide. It was getting a bit stale, but somehow Hiccup got the feeling that Elsa didn’t care as he pressed it into her hands. She looked at it incredulously, then back at him, and said something.

“I didn’t get that,” said Hiccup.

Elsa gestured to the loaf, moving her hand in a circle to encompass the whole thing.

“Ah, oh, yeah, sure.” He nodded. “It’s for you, help yourself.”

The nod was probably enough. Elsa ripped off the end of the loaf and started eating, not even bothering to wipe the mud off her hands. Hiccup had overheard his father saying to Gobber that they had caught the wildling by the stores, but that not much had been taken. He’d guessed that she was just hungry.

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Return of The Thing {3/5} afterandalasia May 17 2014, 16:55:39 UTC
“All right, then, let’s move onto this,” he said. He pulled out the leather and metal brace that he had put together overnight, seeing Elsa’s cautious glance in its direction. There was a boulder not far behind her, a bit algae-slick but probably still better than sitting on the mud. “Come on,” said Hiccup, pointing towards it. “Let’s get you onto that.”

Elsa followed his finger, frowning, and tried to pull away the first time he went to help her to her feet. When Hiccup sighed, though, she let him put one arm under her shoulders again, and limped the few yards over to the boulder. Her breathing was heavy with pain, but she did not cry out even as she half-collapsed onto it, still clutching the loaf of bread.

Hiccup backed away a step, then crouched down at her feet with the cast in hand. The bruises on her foot were really coming out now, and the swelling was worse. It had probably been the net that made her fall, and he felt another pang of guilt. Nothing that he could do now but try to help her, though.

He lined up the cast with her foot, but Elsa tried to edge it away, despite the obvious pain in her expression.

“Please?” Hiccup looked up at her. “It’ll help.”

“Help,” repeated Elsa carefully.

Hiccup nodded, then gave a hopeful smile. They were really going to have to figure out this language barrier. Finally, Elsa nodded as well, and he set about fitting the brace to her ankle.

Once or twice, he heard Elsa grunt with pain, and he found himself saying, “Sorry” every time her foot so much as twitched, but she let him slip the metal frame around her ankle, the other slim struts sitting on either side of her leg, and strap it into place with the leather. It looked a little bit like the casts that Gothi made, and a little bit more like the frames that people used when they lost an arm or leg. He had figured it was going to have to do a job somewhere between the two until her foot healed.

By the time that he looked up, Elsa was finishing off the last of the loaf of bread, and risking a hopeful glance towards him. Smiling, Hiccup produced a second loaf from the bag, along with some dried fish that hopefully wasn’t too hard and a lump of cheese that he’d trimmed the mould off. Stoick and Gobber would probably both presume that the other one had eaten it.

“Ei tiikos,” she said, and he was pretty sure he recognised the words from when she had thanked him before, “Hiccup.”

“It’s no problem.” Sort of the least he could do, when he was responsible for the broken foot. “Hey, can I ask you something?” And he had been doing so well on not asking stupid questions, as well. Hiccup used the point of his knife to sketch an outline of the island on the ground between them, with the mountains separating the smaller area of Berk from the larger lands of Arendelle. “Are you from here?”

He pointed to the centre of the map, and Elsa frowned at him. “Berk,” said Hiccup, indicating the northern end, then gesturing to himself. “I come from Berk.” He indicated the southern end. “Arendelle. Wildlands.” He used the hilt of the knife to point to Elsa. “You come from the Wildlands?”

Elsa looked over the map again, then used her good foot to point first to Arendelle, then to the centre of the island. “Arendelle. Maruloet. I come from...” she paused, and gestured to both again with her foot as she took another bite of the cheese.

“Both?” said Hiccup softly, sitting back.

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Return of The Thing {4/5} afterandalasia May 17 2014, 16:56:31 UTC
Nobody knew how many wildlings there were. Some of the people who had gone into the Wildlands to hunt or explore had claimed that there were villages out there, but they had never been able to find them again. Hiccup was pretty sure that the largest group ever seen around Berk had been four. The result of that was that nobody knew where they were from. For a long time, they hadn’t even been sure wildlings were human, but they died like humans even if some of them had magic that made it more difficult to catch them. Cursed, some said, or consorting with evil spirits for their powers. But Hiccup wasn’t sure that anyone had ever said whether or where they were born. Nobody in Berk had magic, though, not even Gothi, and though Stoick had not wanted to talk about it, Gobber had said that he had never known anyone with magic in any of the places he had travelled to before settling down on Berk.

Could the wildlings be from Arendelle? No, that was ridiculous. Arendelle folk wore fancy clothes - impractical ones, as well, utterly unsuited to the rough and tough of life. They used covered carriages to get around, and hardly knew what to do with a dragon if one did get that far south. And Hiccup knew some Arendellen, as the chief’s son, and though what Elsa spoke had the same sounds it was not Arendellen. And Arendelle always denied that they had anything to do with the wildlings, as hotly as Berk did. If anything, more so.

Perhaps too hotly.

“Omiit sonat taam?” said Elsa, snapping him out of his thoughts. She was holding up the last bit of cheese and nodding towards it. “Taam?”

“Cheese?” Hiccup figured that she wouldn’t much care about the fact it came from yaks. “Just... cheese.”

“Cheese,” Elsa said, fixing the piece with such a fierce look that it almost made Hiccup laugh. There was something almost challenging about it. She held up the bread in turn. “Lokeip?”

“Bread. Look, we should probably try some verbs to go with those nouns,” he said. His knees were starting to ache from crouching down, as well, and it was a relief to stand up. He held out one hand towards her again. “And see whether that brace helps at all. Come on, give it a try.”

Elsa produced a rag to wrap around her hand again before letting Hiccup help her to her feet. She still limped heavily on the way back up to the tent, but her breathing was less harsh, and the ice thawed around her feet as she made her way back up. A couple of low rocks close to the fire had pieces of leather on them, and Hiccup guessed that they were seats or tables or something, and let Elsa sit down on one.

The fire itself had obviously been out a long time. The ring of stones surrounded a small, damp pile of ash, and there was no wood anywhere in sight. Perhaps Elsa had been stealing from their wood stores to survive as well.

The morning involved an increasing amount of miming as they tried to express words to each other. Once or twice, Hiccup felt the air grow colder as frustration knitted Elsa’s brow, but then they would find some way around and it would grow warmer again. He might have to start bringing a cloak if he was going to be doing this regularly, though.

But Elsa was fast at picking up words. She watched Hiccup’s lips closely as he spoke, repeated new words as if she was finding the shape of them, and remembered everything that he had said the day before.

“Keep going like this,” he muttered at one point, “your Nothrur will be better than Snotlout’s before Snoggletog.”

Elsa just looked at him curiously, and said: “Snotlout?”

It took a long time for him to be able to stop laughing after that.

The sun was making an attempt to peek in through the top of the sinkhole when he remembered that he was supposed to be at the smithy for midday. Apologising profusely, Hiccup jumped to his feet, then thought to grab a couple of the old, chipped pots Elsa had and take them down to the pool to fill them up. She started to protest until he reached the edge, and when he glanced round she was looking relieved.

“Tomorrow?” said Elsa. He nodded. When he put the water down beside her, she out and touched his arm with her wrapped-up hand. “Hiccup. You’re welcome.”

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Return of The Thing {5/5} afterandalasia May 17 2014, 17:21:51 UTC
It took him a moment. “Thank you,” he blurted out, and paused just long enough to give her what he hoped was a reassuring smile before almost running back down the tunnel and scrambling to the surface.

Gobber was waiting in the smithy with a pair of tongs on his left arm and a dubious expression. He looked over Hiccup, from his muddy knees to his scraped knuckles where he had been climbing out of the tunnel, and just shook his head.

“I’m not even going to ask. Now, apron on. Donkey needs shoeing, we’ve some tools need fixing, and the Nuts need their helmets strengthening again.”

“Yes, sir,” said Hiccup, grabbing his apron off the wall.

And I miscalculated, because I was originally going to stop at the line about Snotlout. Apparently I really, really cannot count.

Hiccup might be sassing, and to be honest I'd presumed that he was, but you have a point that Snotlout's tongue gets better. *snorts* I can imagine Hiccup falling off/over something and grazing himself, and Toothless just starts licking it before Hiccup can even stop him. ("Come on, bud, that's gross.") And then, huh, that healed quicker than normal, suspicious looks at the dragon.

I get the feeling from the various clips I've seen that Astrid/Hiccup is a thing but they totally fail to talk about it. Like everyone else just treats them like they're engaged but neither of them actually says anything. Betrothal was actually a pretty major thing in Viking society, pretty much like a contract between the two families being drawn up, but I doubt it's for that reason. I do find it sort of refreshing that the romance is just allowed to trickle along rather than being the major plot, though.

I daresay Stoick and Gobber are just like, "I don't know what's worst, chiefing, herding teenagers round the training ring, or coming home of an evening." We don't see much of Anna at 15, but we can assume that she's pretty bright and bubbly, and still tends to get into scrapes and trouble. And Elsa is usually calmer, but she probably still gets panic attacks and that's all it takes for the whole house to be iced up. If not the village. And Hiccup is... well, Hiccup.

Stoick, you are a secret softie. Reminds me of my grandfather, a complete hater of cats, who promptly fell in love with our family cat when the creature fell asleep on him. Like, "Well, he's not bad for a cat", but still. Apparently we are going to see some huge Thunderdrums in HTTYD2, so it's possible that Thornado is pretty young himself. Or that Thunderdrums live a really long time.

OMG. Gobber. What. Argh. CALLED IT. I really hope the follow-up line is, "Besides, your father was already married" or something, and a cut to Hiccup trying to do his poker face while the other teens all freeze and stare. Gobber, sweetie. I'd snuggle you, but your left hand is probably something sharp right now. STILL SHIPPING GOBBER/STOICK. I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP.

I thought of another possible explanation for Toothless today: he's a hybrid. Skrill crossed with... something, idk. Red Death. Some dragon we haven't come across. Maybe "lightning and death itself" is the description of where he comes from. And he's badass for reasons of hybrid vigour, and instead of having normal fire or using lightning, he creates the plasma blasts instead.

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Re: Return of The Thing {5/5} ashleybenlove May 17 2014, 19:44:26 UTC
That fic is amazing. Gobber cooking for them, Hiccup working in the forge to help Elsa, Stoick and Hiccup's attempts to talk to each other. Hiccup being somewhat bilingual is my favorite part. He totally would be though. And that line about Snotlout is really great. Are you using a specific language for Elsa's wildling language or is it something you've come up with? Just curious because languages are awesome. I totally wish I could speak fluently more than just English.

That's probably how Hiccup figured it out, gets injured, Toothless licks his wound, and then oh, huh, Night Fury saliva heals wounds. He probably needs that fairly often. Boy falls off Toothless constantly in the tv series. Hiccup, that's part of the reason why I think it's a 50-50 shot of you surviving the franchise. Toothless has a magic tongue and wow does that sound dirty. Maybe Toothless's saliva is the fountain of youth!

Even America Ferrera (Astrid) has made a comment how they never say that they're boyfriend/girlfriend but she thinks that's what's going on. Yeah, plus, given what the movie is about (mother-son reuniting, Hiccup trying to figure who he is, conflict with man and dragons, Drago Bludvist), it's sort of appropriate to have their relationship/romance be there but without like being a major plot point.

All three of them combined (plus Toothless) probably push Stoick's patience to the limits and Gobber is mostly amused but is sometimes tired of it too.

Yeah, it looked like the dragons in the water in the beginning five minutes that are being all whale/dolphiny are Thunderdrums and wow, they looked pretty big. Those could either be older Thunderdrums, or even Thunderdrums that are thriving because wow, everything is so good, no Red Death and such.

Plus, there's a line that implies that Stoick was indeed married to Valka already the first time he and Gobber in How To Pick Your Dragon ("That's my wife you're talking you, you one-legged lout!"). Though, Hiccup trying to do a poker face in the face of oh, hey, Gobber has a thing for my dad is amusing. I can see Hiccup being super supportive of Gobber/Stoick, like totally supporting his dad finding happiness/love again after his mother (this would be pre-HTTYD2, I guess?). Bisexual Stoick who realizes in his late-ish 40s he's not completely straight is my new headcanon. I totally want some kinda OT3 thing with Gobber, Stoick, and Valka. This movie verse deserves like multiple poly relationships, omg.

Ooh, excellent explanation. Toothless being a hybrid of two different dragons of two dragons that define lightning and death itself (Skrill, of course.). And that's why there are no other Night Furies around. Because he's actually one of a kind.

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