#berk

Hiccup's heart is about to give out from the wholesomeness... and also potential kidnapping

We know Gobber is Hiccup's mentor, his teacher, but he is also a parental figure. The only one he had for a long time. Because the void Stoick left, was being filled by Gobber. When Hiccup had no one, Gobber was right by his side.

Once Hiccup becomes the hero of Berk, Gobber keeps treating him like before. He still doesn't see Hiccup just by one act that defines him. He sees a little kid that is clumsy, lonely, intelligent, stubborn, and that tries his best. He sees a person that is worth it just because he's alive, he sees a person that makes mistakes, a Viking. He might not be the viking everyone wanted, but he is one nonetheless.

He even advocates for him. He is the reason Hiccup got the chance to train like the other kids. And I have no doubt he is the reason Hiccup became his apprentice. He is the only one that understood that Hiccup could have a chance to be good at something if only he could learn how to do it.

Even if he didn't truly believe Hiccup could be the best Viking, even when he was surprised Hiccup did well during training. He still saw potential.

And because he saw Hiccup as a person, he was also the only one that understood him. He saw how hard Hiccup was trying to become a viking, he saw how hard Hiccup tried to make Stoick proud. But he also saw how he never tried to completely change himself.

In the movie we see how he convinces Stoick to let him train with the other by saying that he can't protect him forever because Hiccup will leave, he knows Hiccup leaves and explores, he knows he is curious and that he is stubborn. He knows no one, not even Stoick (or especially him), can't keep him away from trouble. And the best alternative is to give him the tools to protect himself. Because he knows Hiccup will never stop trying, but he also knows that while Hiccup tries, he can't know everything if nobody teaches him.

I wish we could see more of their relationship 🥹🥹🥹

This time i want to talk about how Hiccup changing Berks view of dragons isn't nearly the only thing he changed and how his influence on this village and his friends especially is so much greater then people realize.

In the beginning of the first movie we see that Hiccup is alone and outcasted from the rest of his peers but while the other kids stuck together, calling them friends would be a stretch.

Astrid didn't like anybody there, she was respected but she didn't respect anyone else and therefore she kept to herself.

Snotlout was mean and self-centered, he only saw Astrid as the pretty girl in the village that he is obviously entitled to because he is the best (no i srs don't think he actually had a crush on her, his flirting seemed so performative, like he only did it because he thinks that's what he is supposed to do, he literally got scared in that one episode of rob when she started flirting back) and he didn't seem to care about anyone there much. In riders of berk we see that everybody kinda disliked him (the thawfest episode) because they think he is arrogant. I mean he couldn't even tell the twins apart at some point (I know this seems like i'm bashing him but i swear guys he is my favorite character just bear with me)

Fishlegs was laying low because he was the closest to being outcasted after Hiccup. In riders of berk we see Snotlout being so mean to him at times. Nobody there really liked him or respected him either.

The twins obviously loved each other, i mean, obviously, they are siblings even though their relationship was not the best (as we see in twinsanity) but other than that, they didn't particularly like Astrid or Fishlegs and while they did hang out with Snotlout i wouldn't call that a healthy friendship (again, he couldn't even tell them apart)

So now that we got that out of the way, let's compare it to how their friendship is in rtte.

They all work together in perfect harmony. They all get concerned immediately when one of them isn't acting as usual (they literally created a whole training exercise where they put Snotlout in charge just to bring his confidence up cause he was having a bad day). They lived together. They all risked their lives for each other so many times without thinking. They all know each other so well.

Astrid learned to respect hear team and trust them instead of doing everything alone.

Snotlout learned that not everything is a competition and that not everyone is against him and that he doesn't have to prove himself for people to care about him.

Fishlegs found his passion and earned the teams respect and they are treating him like an equal now.

The twins repaired their relationship and are now closer than ever and yet two different people with their own personalities who care about their friends a lot and can put their mischief into something useful.

This is the influence Hiccup brought to the team. He didn't just change their minds about dragons, he changed them completely.

He made that team into what it is, his presence brought them all closer with each other.

Without Hiccup Astrid would never learn to let her guard down. Without Hiccup Snotlout would never learn to stand up to his dad. Without Hiccup the twins would never learn that they don't have to hate each other to prove that they are different people. Without Hiccup Fishlegs would never gain his confidence.

It's so sad how these kids didn't even know what friendship truly was due to their upbringing. They only new competition and violence. "Be a real viking, no your feelings aren't important, in fact we are VIKINGS, we don't have feelings!" This is probably how an average dinner conversation sounded like at Berk before.

So i hate when people are like "The gang were all friends before Hiccup joined the group" They were NOT. There was ZERO affection in this group before Hiccup got there. These kids did not like each other, it was all so fake and competitive.

Stoick tells him to stop joking around in the opening scene of the movie, after the dagons have left. "This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" He tells him. And he tells him that after his rant about how he has things to worry about, like making sure the village doesn't starve in the coming winter, Hiccup answers to with a sassy "the village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?" Which really only manages to make Stoick even more mad.

After their first lesson in dragon training, Gobber asks the class "where did Hiccup go wrong?" and Astrid's response is "he's never where he should be." I think she means it literally. Why is Hiccup, of all people, in dragon training? Ruffnut and Tuffnut make sense. Snotlout makes sense. Even Fishlegs makes sense. (especially since Fishlegs has already shown effort by memorizing the Book of Dragons, effort Astrid clearly approves of given her shock at the twins and Snotlout disregarding Gobber's order to read the book.)

But Hiccup? Hiccup McSassyPants? Who gets told that his village could starve in the winter and answers with "well maybe they should eat less"? Who steps outside during a raid and actually causes more damage than the dragons pretending he's capturing a Night Fury? What is he doing in dragon training? That class literally ended with Hiccup almost losing his life to a Gronckle.

This is further backed up when after she has to protect both herself and Hiccup from a Deadly Nadder, which happened because Hiccup wasn't paying attention the whole time, getting them both in trouble. (Which is because he's fixating on figuring out a certain Night Fury, but they don't know that. To them, it just looks like he's annoying Gobber with meaningless questions. Why are you asking about the Night Fury? The one dragon who's single instruction is "hide and pray it doesn't find you"?) She explicitly asks him "Is this some kind of a joke to you?"

Followed up by "Our parent's war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on."

Once again someone questions Hiccup about how serious he takes things. But it's more than that, she's trying to give him a wake up call! Wake up, Hiccup, our parents are actually fighting a genuine war here and someday it'll be your turn! Stop making everything a joke before you get yourself or someone else killed!

Astrid actually isn't as much against Hiccup at this point as people often believe. There are actually a few points in which she eithers feels sorry for him or tries to help him in her own Astrid-y way. (And if the deleted scene hadn't been deleted, there would've been an almost friendly conversation had between the two before dragon training even starts)

Let's also not forget Hiccup's and Stoick's talk before dragon training even starts. When Stoick shows some actual vulnerability by laying his son's life in his son's and Gobber's hands when he decides to give in and let Hiccup go to dragon training while he's off on a voyage.

Hiccup tells his father "I don't wanna fight dragons!" in a tone that is rather pleading. To which is father chuckles and says to him "come on, yes you do!"

Remember in the opening, Hiccup practically makes the claim that he lives and breathes to kill dragon, it's "who he is." And now he suddenly claims he doesn't want to fight dragons at all? Can't fight them?

Stoick keeps his tone light, telling his son that he will fight dragons, don't you worry about that, Hiccup. With Hiccup doubling down that he's very extra-sure that he can't fight dragons, which makes Stoick double down in return, his levity disappearing.

"Can you not hear me?" Hiccup asks, desperate to be heard.

"This is serious, son!" Says Stoick. Which makes this three times that Hiccup is explicitly told to take something serious. (And you can just see the disbelieve or realization in Hiccup's eyes as he's once again not being listened to.)

(Followed by Stoick telling him to act like everyone else and to stop being Hiccup, which gets him, you guessed it, a sarcastic remark from Hiccup.)

We know that Hiccup changed his mind about participating in dragon training because he found out he couldn't kill Toothless. (or rather, he can't kill the scared and the defenseless, as the Red Death would later show) But Stoick doesn't know that. Berk actually seems to know very little about Hiccup and that's why they think that he's joking around at all times.

I'm willing to bet that the "disasters" he causes "every time he steps outside" aren't much of a help either. (and I wonder how many of these are actually Hiccup's fault or if Hiccup happened to be involved, so the blame is just automatically put on him.)

And this isn't a post to bash Hiccup. I love him to death, I love his sass as much as any other fan. And I am very much of the opinion that Hiccup's sass is a defense mechanism.

His feelings get hurt, so he tries to hurt someone else's back. Like when he probably feels guilty about his father worrying about the village getting through the winter, so he makes that comment about how the village could eat less to offset that guilt. (Which again, only makes Stoick angrier.) And I think the proof is in the rest of the franchise.

Hiccup sasses the most when he's 15-16, a.k.a from Httyd 1 to DoB. But by the time we see him again in RttE (chronologically) he sasses a little less and in a friendlier and more playful context, but he has also matured to deal with his negative feelings differently. RttE is, chronologically, when Stoick actually begins to consider if his son is ready to be chief. He can see how much Hiccup has matured, especially when there's such physicaly distance between them. It's the equivalent of not seeing someone over summer break or watching someone go traveling and see how much they've changed when you reunite with them.

(also, he can knock Snotlout unconscious with a single punch, I bet that helps as well.)

But it is the way Hiccup chooses to defend himself, giving sassy comments (think "Thanks, I was trying!" to Snotlout's comment about the mess he made) to either painful comments about him or actual serious statements like the ones Stoick makes that still gets him in the feels that make him seem so shallow and unserious in the eyes of Berk.

Then there is his apparent history of crying wolf. When he actually does manage to shoot down a Night Fury, his father doesn't believe him and Hiccup explicitly says "this isn't like the last few times, I mean I really actually hit it! It went down!"

When you combine all of this, you get a teenager who doesn't appear to take anybody serious, including the lives of himself and others. Terrible traits to have as a person, let alone when you're the chief's son.

Somehow, a narrative of frivolity and aloofness was build around Hiccup that he just could not escape no matter how much he tried to crawl out of it. At some point, Berk put him in a box, marked it "jokester" and Hiccup's efforts to get out of that box only grew and grew. When his efforts failed, whenever he sassed back, Berk just pushed him even deeper into that box. Not looking further into what Hiccup actually needed or was trying to say.

Do I think Berk was right? Not at all, because this is all surface-level, things Hiccup legitimately says and does to protect himself and nobody realizes this.

Toothless doesn't speak a single word to him during the Forbidden Friendship scene, yet he can get across exactly what he expects from Hiccup (mainly "keep your distance, I don't trust you enough") without being mean about it. He doesn't snap, he doesn't bare his teeth. He just gives him faces that Hiccup understands. Only growling or hissing when Hiccup passes a boundary Toothless very clearly isn't comfortable with. (or, let's say, when his feelings are hurt, like when Hiccup steps on toothless' first drawing.)

And it's because he's not mean about it that he actually makes more progress with Hiccup in half a day than Berk does his entire 15 years.