So reading @articulatefictionblog 's wonderful fic "Something Real",
an AU where a modern adult Hiccup is suddenly able to see Jack Frost—mythical being extraordinaire—has got me wondering about an AU where Hiccup goes all Brandon Sanderson on the RotG magic system.
(Using the scientific method to explore magic)
The aforementioned fic does a great job of showing how that first reveal might go, it's so fun, and they're both idiots.
But I imagine Hiccup is a scientist at heart, and he'd be like
H: "Ok, but how does that work?"
J: "How does what work?"
H: "Everything! Believe based magic! How can that work! None of it makes sense! And yet it clearly exists! Let's see...."
And for the next days Jack is forced to do increasingly thorough experiments with Hiccup, first only humoring him, then getting into it himself.
Like he's invisible, but he is able to exert forces on things around him. He can open windows, lift a child, throw a real snowball. So why can't he just demonstrate his powers to non-believers? How can parents (or other children) brush off his existence if he can make a child float and cause a snowstorm? Are there rules that prevent him from doing that? Who made those? Who enforces them?
Or do his powers only work when no non-believer is looking? First of all that's a huge debuff, second of all, how does that work? Is it a range thing? Or a matter of perception? Is there some sort of glamour, like in the pjo series?
Hiccup takes him to a park and tests how and when and where his magic works, and how others perceive it. Can he hit a pedestrian with a snowball when they're looking right at him? Or only when they're turned away. What does the pedestrian see? At what range is Jack's magic unaffected? What about cameras? Digital? Film? Does that make a difference? Can they capture how he moves objects, even if they don't capture him?
How can North bring presents without the parents wondering where about the things they didn't buy? Can he influence non-believers perception in some way? What are the limits of that?
Does studying the magic break it in some way? Is it a quantum state sort of thing, where perceiving it too closely makes it stop working?
Is Hiccup unwittingly a apocalypse-level event for the mythical world because he can somehow perceive them?
It's not like all adults are just cynical to the bone and are unwilling to believe in these magical creatures. It's just that (most) adults require proper evidence before they believe something. But that's something Jack and the others can easily provide, no?
I just know Hiccup would be excited to get answers to these questions, lovable nerd that he is, and I love the idea of Jack being bombarded with questions seconds after meeting his newest believer.
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