vic :)

listen LISTEN part of what makes hiccup and astrid so interesting as a couple is that astrid is always running towards her duty while hiccup is always running away from his. from the moment we first see her, astrid is 100% devoted to protecting berk, whatever that may mean in any context, and she will be the greatest at it. whether that's slaying dragons, becoming a dragon rider, joining the berk guard, hell even the way she follows hiccup and is the first to believe him is rooted in her unshakable sense of duty, honor, and loyalty to her people and to her island. she's the exact kind of warrior that berk needs at any given time and yet she isn't ever fully recognized for it because that's what's expected of her so naturally being the best at it deserves recognition, but is not revolutionary. meanwhile hiccup is always running towards the next thing. he's spent his whole life rejected and on the outskirts because he couldn't fit the ideal that berk had for him. but then he became a hero overnight, and suddenly everyone follows him. there are some places where he has more authority than even stoick does, and for a boy who spent his whole life rejected by everything, that's terrifying. so when he's not leading the dragon riders, he runs. he lives in his own world. he rejects becoming chief and living out the viking ideal, because why would he want to become the very thing that hurt him. hiccup is driven and loyal yes, but until the end of httyd 2, he's not even close to driven by his duty to berk. astrid is always pushing hiccup towards what fate tells him to be, and even though she supports him through his dreams, it's clear where she thinks his priorities should lie. and hiccup supports astrid in becoming the warrior she wants to become and that she's meant to be, but there's a part of him that tries to pull her away from it. and then on top of that they are above all else loyal to each other, the other dragon riders, and their dragons. it's insane.