"I have depression." - character who has been through extensive therapy.
"I feel dead inside all the time and nothing helps!" - character who does like, regular introspective thinking and is aware of the concept of mental health.
"Leave me the fuck alone I'll be fine once I get over my stupid shit." - repressed character.
"It's fine I'm just having an Empty Time. What? Yeah, empty times, you know, when everything is like bzzzzzz in your brain and you don't shower for two weeks. Why, what do you call it?" - ooooughhh now we're talkin
#this post is a jillion times better than all the posts that complaina bout therapyspeak #this one SHOWS the relationship between characterization and conceptualization #of depression #as an example of that relationship in general (via @rubynye)
Info post about my Chimera! Snotlout au!! (Cuz it flopped horribly om twt loll 😅)
After an incident that caused Snotlout to lose the trust in all his friends (esp Hiccup), he had become a Chimera
Isolating himself away in caves n mountains, away from anybody or any dragon he could ever know as he thought thats what he deserves…he is nothing to nobody right?? This has caused him to be emotionally numb (despite the fear n panic he gets from hallucinations/panic attacks)
Now he cannot talk, not anyone after his vocal cords were severed. He can only make choked,gurgling,n pained wheezes as noises (tho despite any laws of nature, he has rarely been able to scream in anguish)
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Fire Power!! (Cuz yes he has that) He breathes liquid fire similar to that of a Monstrous Nightmare, however doing so can be proven dangerous to himself as its contents can spill through the gash in his throat..harming him (he is not fireproof) He only uses it as a last ditch effort
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Now its not ALL misery n sadness, he finds great love n comfort in….well the sun. Its familiarly warm n bright, like a giant star will fix all his problems. He often times feels the itch to fly to it, to be by its side…maybe than he'll be worth something
Okk that was all the AF description stuff, now onto bonus details Im adding for funsies!! x33
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So basically the entire incident is based off of the fic “Life (and Death) Lessons with Viggo” by @/Foolish_Rat!! (Highly recommend it its fun, gives off huge “Im just a man..” vibes ^^)
Also basically NOBODY is doing well (some worse than others)
Also to delve more into what I mean by him losing alot of trust, he already had semi trust issues but now its mixing into his self worth which is kinda fcking everything up (however whatever relationship he had w/ Hiccup previously for now has been quite literally severed *main focus*)
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The characters themselves however:
Hiccup is by far doing the WORSE, fully blaming himself n overworking himself constantly
Astrid is on that survivors guilt trauma 😔
The rest r just traumatized from simply witnessing it happen, like their very unsure about everything now
Now HookFang, yeaa its not good to say the least 💀 He is lost mentally after being forced to witness that n be physically unable to do anything about it. He's a mess of blaming Hiccup n blaming myself that he kinda just, avoids the Edge all together. Searching for his isolated rider n just hoping them 2 alone can fix it together (when he finds him)
Also despite this being one of my more very angsty au's, he still acts like himself for the most part (the facade bit is just gone)
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Do wanna mention size in case the ref doesnt show it well, basically his chimera body is like falins (so fcking HUGE) however his top half is still its normal size (tho now he uses his human sized claws more than his now smaller upper arms) also his inner anatomy has changed, again similar to chimera falins
(Art by @/railroadlion)
While Snotlout is mainly n currently isolating himself n running away...that doesn't mean hunters dont exist (the fic is based off of the Rtte universe so yeaa shits still goin on) he rescues trapped dragons if he spots any close by n leaves no hunter left alive
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And..Snotlout's feelings on the incident??
He's not sure, hurt n numbness mostly, he just wishes they never went on that mission tbhh..
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Also should mention, him “Flying too close to the sun” is gonna be symbolism for him attempting btww so heads up!
I was a bit stumped on what to do with Gunmar and Bular, but some lovely people over on TikTok suggested that Drago and his Bewilderbeast swap places with Gunmar, so I decided to combine the two of them for his design :)
I assigned Bular to switch places with the Red Death since she’s a first movie exclusive character, and Bular is also pretty much a first season exclusive villain (if I’m remembering things correctly ?) Overall the designs actually translated very well into trolls which is awesome. It’s with Bular/RedDeath that Hiccup loses his leg in this AU.
I also worked a bit more on Hiccup’s armour since my previous attempt was a little too bland for my liking. It was a bit of a juggle of trying to make it look more ‘Hiccup’ and Viking-ish, while also trying to maintain that classic sleek clean look of Trollhunter armour.
It was especially hard considering that the Daylight armour is magically summoned, so it wouldn’t really make sense for it to have things like belts or clothing underneath. I made do by just mish mashing a bit of both worlds. The trick was just to add more leather into the design. I’m still not super satisfied with his prosthetic leg though, so I’ll also have to redesign that.
+ And finally a bunch of miscellaneous sketches, ideas, and WIPS on the crossover :
As established before, Fishlegs is taking over the role of both Eli and Toby :) I’d imagine that he hangs out a lot with Blinky at Trollmarket needing out together. He’s taken a strong interest in wanting ALL about Troll culture ever since Hiccup becomes Trollhunter.
I’m not too sure how I want the twins’ backstories should be as Akiridians, since they barely really have one in canon. But so far I got three options :
I do think that when the twins are in their human disguises at school, they immediately latch onto the most interesting person they find, that being Snotlout. They cause him so much grief by annoying him half to death and dragging him into weird situations.
The Zippleback twins are notoriously known for being tricksters who keep stealing jewelry and bedazzling themselves with it. They’re technically banned from Trollmarket but keep somehow appearing anyway, and Vendel has long since given up on trying to find out how and keeping them out
Very random headcanon, but Barf’s real name is Bartholomew, and that’s why people call him Barf. That’s all I had to say.
Someone else on TikTok also just opened my eyes to Wizard Heather. I was initially going to make Dagur a changeling, but I thought it would be infinitely funnier if he was actually just some regular ass guy who EVERYONE thinks is a changeling purely based off his behaviour.
Snotlout is probably going to be an antagonist for a short bit after he finds out about both his and his father’s true nature, because Spitelout convinces him that the Trollhunters are their enemy and Snotlout doesn’t know anything and just assumes he’s telling the truth.
Potential backstory for Hookfang which might end up being too outlandish to use hut whatever : one of the reasons Hookfang is one of the only ones to not care Snotlout is half changeling is because he also used to be part of a Gumm Gumm experiment to combine Stalkling biology with regular Troll biology, which earns him a bit of a bad reputation in Trollmarket. Because of this he lives pretty much on the very outskirts of the market, and understands Snotlout’s struggles.
Anyways! If you read this far congratulations. This is a BIG post and I talk a lot, so thank you for dealing with my crazy ramblings. I’m so happy people actually like my ideas :)
I need to draw the dragons/trolls and their humans interact more 😭 I rarely draw them together but they’re so silly, I love them.
Not really sure how I want their relationships to be like since it’s not exactly dragon & rider now, but I think I’ll make it unique to each pair. They’re all friends, at least. I think. Allies, let’s say allies.
Rambles :
Some very basic lore I got going on is that Toothless was a former Gumm Gumm soldier who went rogue and was essentially faction-less for a while. I might change this later but Toothless defected from Gunmar BEFORE canon starts, so Hiccup isn’t the reason he went rogue. BUT, he IS the one who convinces Toothless to actually officially join the Trollhunter gang as an ally (and later friends who would die for one another). Toothless is going to have a little bit of Draal vibes to him in the beginning.
Snotlout is a half changeling! Don’t even know if it’s possible but this is my AU so whatever. He discovers way later in the story that his father is secretly a changeling who is working for Gunmar, and at the same time also finds out about the whole Troll situation. (He’s the last one to actually be told about the Trollhunting business in the gang)
He and Hookfang get close because Hookfang is the only one in the entire Trollmarket who doesn’t give him too much shit about being part changeling. They still smack each other around like in canon though, they are so stupid <3
So far I’ve decided to switch :
Hiccup -> Jim Lake
Astrid -> Claire Nuñez
Ruff n Tuff -> Aja and Krel (3Below)
Fishlegs -> Eli & Toby (I’m combining their roles so Fishlegs is both the “Nerd” and also gets to wield the hammer and stick by Hiccup’s side in the beginning. I think their friendship is underrated alr, they need development)
Snotlout -> Steve Palchuck
For the villains I am noooot so sure but I’m definitely switching Viggo -> Strickler. I have no idea who to make Angor Rot though, mayyybe Grimmel? I’m thinking of keeping Gunmar because I feel like if I switch him out it might fuck things up too much lore-wise, but I am open to change!
Tips for writing those gala scenes, from someone who goes to them occasionally:
Generally you unbutton and re-button a suit coat when you sit down and stand up.
You’re supposed to hold wine or champagne glasses by the stem to avoid warming up the liquid inside. A character out of their depth might hold the glass around the sides instead.
When rich/important people forget your name and they’re drunk, they usually just tell you that they don’t remember or completely skip over any opportunity to use your name so they don’t look silly.
A good way to indicate you don’t want to shake someone’s hand at an event is to hold a drink in your right hand (and if you’re a woman, a purse in the other so you definitely can’t shift the glass to another hand and then shake)
Americans who still kiss cheeks as a welcome generally don’t press lips to cheeks, it’s more of a touch of cheek to cheek or even a hover (these days, mostly to avoid smudging a woman’s makeup)
The distinctions between dress codes (black tie, cocktail, etc) are very intricate but obvious to those who know how to look. If you wear a short skirt to a black tie event for example, people would clock that instantly even if the dress itself was very formal. Same thing goes for certain articles of men’s clothing.
Open bars / cash bars at events usually carry limited options. They’re meant to serve lots of people very quickly, so nobody is getting a cosmo or a Manhattan etc.
Members of the press generally aren’t allowed to freely circulate at nicer galas/events without a very good reason. When they do, they need to identify themselves before talking with someone.
As someone who spent over a decade catering luxury events, let me add some back of house info:
These events are almost always open bar. They're not trying to make their money back on alcohol. They want you to drink and eat and donate generously.
If there are cocktails, there will be at most two on offer, pre-made in large tubs. You cannot order a different version, it is what it is.
There are two types of events: cocktail style or seated. The first includes roaming hors d'oeuvres or a fancy buffet with tiny plates called a grazing station. For a long night, the roaming food will get a little bigger throughout the evening and have a 'main' at some point based around a protein.
A seated event will usually be more structured and may include multiple courses. Silver service is not in vogue anymore. You are likely to get either alternating meals brought to you like at a wedding, or served banquet style. A good caterer can get a plate to everyone in a 300 person event in about three minutes.
Drunk people are the same no matter how expensive their suits. They still laugh too loud, spill their drinks and slip on the dance floor. They are usually less embarrassed about doing coke in the bathrooms.
A full scale event that starts at 6pm will have staff arriving at noon to begin setup. Earlier if there's a light show or pyrotechnics. Typically venues don't just have 30 tables and three hundred chairs lying around, let alone table cloths, chair covers, etc. It's all rented and brought in on the day. Bands and DJs will be running audio tests in the background throughout.
Most heritage buildings that host these things, like museums and manor houses, aren't really designed for them. They might put down mats so you're not walking in stilettos over two hundred year old wooden floors, the kitchens are weirdly far away, and there are not enough taps. There is never anywhere for staff to sit, so if you open the wrong door you might find half a dozen waiters sitting on upturned milk crates in a room full of million dollar paintings, eating the left over bread.
Really old buildings don't have enough bathrooms, which means the staff will be sharing with the guests.
Clean up starts the second the event ends, if not sooner. Unattended glasses will start to disappear first, then table decorations. When the timer ticks over, the lights come back on and exhausted staff strip the tables, pack up dirty glasses and unopened wine bottles and have to Tetris it all into the back of a van. The venue is booked for that day only, so everything has to be gone before anyone can go home. A large event that finishes at midnight might take until 3am to be cleared away.
These are very long and physically demanding nights for anyone working them. The staff all get to know each other, and will absolutely notice someone trying to sneak in wearing a borrowed uniform. They are not being paid enough to care.
I feel like politicians' insults about each other have really gone down hill. These days it's all "moron" and "loser", so childish. Think what you will of Paul Keating, but he gave us such gems as "he's a shiver waiting for a spine", "debating him is like being flogged with warm lettuce", "he's like a lizard on a rock: alive but looking dead", "he's all tip and no iceberg".
Some of my favourite Paul Keating insults for your enjoyment:
You boxhead, you wouldn't know. You are flat out counting past ten
I suppose that the Honourable Gentleman's hair, like his intellect, will recede into the darkness
He's wound up like a thousand-day clock! One half more turn and there'll be springs and sprockets all over the building. Mr Speaker, give him a valium
Oh, look, it's just Howard being Howard, isn't it, you know? The little desiccated coconut's under pressure and he's attacking anything he can get his hands on
The Opposition could not manage a tart shop
For John Howard to get to any high moral ground he would have to first climb out of the volcanic hole he's dug for himself over the last decade
And my personal favourite:
If there was a university degree for greed, you cunts would all get first-class honours
My Proposed Rewrite of the RTTE Episode Tone Death:
TLDR - Snotlout should've gotten a real chance at overcoming his """sexism""" and be actual friends with the other Dragon Riders (besides Hiccup in some of the later episodes). Therefore this episode has Snotlout and Heather becoming real friends
So, as all Snotlout fans know, he and Hookfang have a soft spot for baby dragons. They fought off the Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare to save Girl Hookfang's eggs, they take excellent care of the Fireworm Queen and her babies, and in the mini comic Litter Sitter Hiccup literally says Snotlout has a soft center.
And going back to the Fireworms, we have Real, Canon in RTTE proof that Snotlout is exactly the kind of person who would sing to a baby dragon.
And yet, in this episode, the writers chose to make his gimmick of the week be faking a bunch of traits that Hiccup listed to try and impress Heather. And he's only interested in caring about Garff when he sees how dedicated Heather is about taking him in.
That's all fine, actually, as I would argue Snotlout views the Nightmares and Fireworms as "his" because of the connection through Hookfang, who is his dragon, so he probably wouldn't care about a random baby Death Song.
However, a Death Song is the only dragon that Snotlout could actually care for while not faking any of his (or Hookfang's) natural abilities. After all, he calmed the baby Fireworms by singing to try to keep them hidden from the Cavern Crasher and Monstrous Nightmare gel is perfect for getting out of Death Song amber. Snotlout is, funnily enough, the perfect babysitter for Garff.
So, my proposed rewrite:
This is a Heather and Snotlout centric episode. The others can have their songs still, but Snotlout is shown after each of them to be the best at keeping Garff content and very smugly frees the others from the amber Garff spits up after they each try to sing. Heather sees this and is genuinely taken aback by the non faked traits that Snotlout possesses and compliments him on his sincerity and vulnerability with Garff. And Snotlout is taken aback by that, because it is so rare that anyone gives him a genuine compliment (Especially a girl). The others react to that with interest and Fishlegs is freaked out, and there'd be a fight between the two over Garff (which is really the two of them fighting over Heather). All the fighting causes Garff to start screaming again, and Heather takes him out of the room with an annoyed look at both of them.
Hiccup plays mediator as he does, but not before Fishlegs directly accuses Snotlout of faking with Garff just to impress Heather. Snotlout storms off and thinks about that, having a one sided argument with Hookfang as they go to find where Heather is with Garff. Snotlout insists he's not faking, and talks himself through the fact that he actually does want to take care of Garff (I'm sure Mr Daddy issues here would love to heal his inner child by caring for something more than his father ever cared for him)
So once he finds Heather he gives a short Snotlout style half apology, tells her Fishlegs wants to talk to her, and that he'll watch Garff while she goes. Then he starts contentedly rocking Garff and singing to him. Heather lingers then, figuring that Snotlout was probably lying about Fishlegs and decides to talk to Snotlout instead. She decides, based on his reaction from before, to try complimenting him again.
"You're overbearing, and boar headed, and you can't read a room to save your life, but you always made sure I knew I was welcome wherever you were. In your own way. Even after I told you to stop a hundred times."
(Snotlout responds in a way that only Snotlout can) "Well not everything's about you, okay. Just because you're pretty and obviously head over heels for me; part of me did all that because I sometimes feel like the others don't really want me around. Like, if there had been any other kid our age to ride Hookfang against the Red Death I never would've gotten the chance to join. Who knows where I'd be now if they didn't forgive me every time I opened my big, stupid mouth."
"I had no idea. You always sound so completely sure of yourself, like you're a gift to mankind from the gods themselves."
"Yeah, well, somebody has to be sure of me. Nobody else is going to."
Then there's a moment were Heather sighs and shakes her head, to which Snotlout adds: "And you can never tell the others, got it? Because I am better than all of them, and they should remember that more often."
Heather laughs and rolls her eyes "I really do appreciate you taking care of Garff with me, he needed the home here as much as I did."
Unfortunately, Garff interrupts to start screaming again (as they both stopped singing a while ago) and Snotlout brings up the unfortunate reality that his home is in the wild with other Death Songs. Heather is sad but relents (which could actually foreshadow her leaving to be with Dagur and their people later) The episode proceeds as normal with them taking Garff to the adult Death Song, but the conflict has only Heather and Snotlout going back and forth with songs they know to try and find one the adult Death Song likes (To show them working and succeeding together as friends). It works, Garff is finally home, and Fishlegs completely expects his worst fear to be true that Snotlout has somehow stolen Heather's romantic interest away. he rushes up to where Snotlout and Heather are standing side by side, only to hear Snotlout saying:
"Now Garff is at home where he belongs, and we're free to go back home to the Edge."
"Yeah. And that's were both of us belong, Snotlout. No matter how many times you open your big, stupid mouth. Friends?"
"Friends."
At that does really mean a lot to Snotlout, who sort of has to assert himself as the best and most important time and time again. He was never as smart or strong or important or funny as any of the others, and his father had instilled the belief that you have to be the best at something to be liked. And now he actually did get to be the best at something while babysitting Garff, but Heather didn't ask him to be friends until after Garff was no longer in the picture. That meant Heather really did want to be friends with him.
And I think that would mean a great deal to Snotlout.
So, after that, Heather smiles at Fishlegs and he realizes Snotlout isn't after some idealized concept of a relationship anymore so he doesn't have anything to worry about as far as that is concerned.
It would also mean that the writers would have to come up with different things for Snotlout to be doing besides pestering Heather and Astrid after this hypothetical episode, which is a big reason why I think Snotlout has so many random funny bits in season 5 and 6 (Except for Snotlout's Angels, but that episode was shit and poorly written beyond the way Snotlout behaved). The writers didn't want him to flirt with Astrid now that she's officially taken (which is a whole other can of worms, but I'm glad for any reason that gets him to stop) so they give him a lot of of random shit to do instead.
In fact, a Snotlout that is officially (just) friends with Heather could have a lot of incredible moments with her as well (the singular line about them racing back in Family on the Edge makes me yearn for a reality where we got to see them in friendly competitions more often) and with the others. (Dagur and the Snothat debacle could be even funnier with a Heather that decided to be mischievous and wind them both up, or was the one to assure Snotlout that Dagur did secretly think he was cool too) Snotlout's serious and comedic moments with Hiccup are some of the best for both of their characters (Sandbusted my beloved) Return of Thor Bonecrusher is probably one of my top 5 favorite RTTE episodes because I am so desperate to see actual friendship between Snotlout and the other riders. Like, FOR THOR'S SAKE, we should've had any content where Snotlout and Ruffnut interact at all without Tuffnut stapled to his sister. (I get that they're twins and that's the bit, but I'm struggling to remember a single conversation that Ruff and Snot even have together. But really that's a problem with the writers sidelining Ruffnut in general)
ANYWAY. I started rambling at the end there... The point is, Snotlout had some great development in RTTE (More than even Hiccup I would argue, but that's a post for another day) but I would've liked to have seen him actually learning to get along with the other riders. And if they had set up a friendship with him and Ruff that would maybe make the stupid, lazy fucking love triangle thing from HTTYD2 more bearable. But I'm rambling again.
HEATHER AND SNOTLOUT ARE BUDDIES TO ME!!! IN MY ILL LITTLE BRAIN THEY ARE FRIENDS!!!!
can we have tv dramas set in college please. fucking nothing happens in hs man. now im in college and my friend got chased by feral hogs a week ago in the woods and its like the 5th craziest thing to happen this week
what it says on the tin! I offered to throw together something on drawing raw meat (in a mouthwashing server, naturally) so here it is in case someone finds it useful
Forever ago, someone asked what covens the riders would be a part of in The Owl House. Now that I've finally started watching the show, I have an answer for that!
Hiccup would have been pressured into studying Beast Keeping. The Haddock family is a long line of proud beast wranglers and Stoick would have wanted him to follow that tradition, so he has a lot of knowledge in regards to beasts. Given the choice, though, Hiccup would go into the Construction Coven to align with his desire to invent and because it really comes in handy with his and Toothless' prosthetics.
Astrid wants to be the best of the best, so naturally she's drawn to the Emperor's Coven and has no trouble getting into it. She gets to practice all kinds of magic, but maybe she's more drawn to healing or potions for their practicality.
Fishlegs is all about the Plant Coven. He loves studying greenery everywhere he goes and learning about how to make plants thrive in any environment. He'd probably also learn some minor healing spells (some of his plants can be vicious!)
Like Hiccup, Snotlout is forced to practice Beast Keeping to satisfy his father. He doesn't hate it, but his softer side is drawn to the Bard Coven. It allows him to express the creativity his father hates to see and he enjoys the spells that can be cast with music.
The Thorston twins are hardcore supporters of the Abomination Coven. It's messy and monstrous and they can easily combine their power to create massive abominations. On the side, Ruffnut practices Illusion spells and Tuffnut practices potion making. They use their skills to spread chaos wherever they go.
Hidden Talons AU! Also known as "the one where Snotlout is turned into a Monstrous Nightmare"
Some fun little facts concerning the first movie (under the cut bc of death mentions + got too long):
The transformation happens during the raid at the beginning of the movie; in the chaos of everything, the most anyone knows is that Snotlout screamed and then nobody could find him afterward. Astrid kind of saw it happen, in that she saw a bunch of dragons swarm a spot before flying away. She sees a helmet in the mouth of one kind of scampering away on the ground, and without thinking, throws her bucket directly at its head, stunning it.
This is, of course, Snotlout in dragon form, panicking and confused. But nobody knows this, so once the raid's over, Snotlout's added to the list of those who died in the raid to be mourned the next day :[
Gobber has Snotlout added to the kill ring for a few reasons: 1) juvenile dragons rarely appear on raids, so it's a rare opportunity to teach new dragon fighters that dragons are dangerous at any size and age; 2) he can also use the undersized nightmare as a way to better prepare and hype his students to kill the full-size nightmare at the end of their training; 3) he's pretty sure this is either a weird mutation or maybe even a new subspecies, given the unusually dark scales, pale blue eyes, and the horn shape.
From nose to tail tip, Snotlout's about a foot longer than Toothless; of course, with the way Nightmares are proportioned this actually makes him overall smaller than Toothless, since his neck and tail make up the majority of that length.
His scales mostly range from a dark brown to black, with some dark red in his stripes. His underbelly is probably the same pale yellow as most other Nightmares, or I might make it a cooler shade.
Rounder features, blunter spikes, smaller wings than the average nightmare his size. Overall shape and size just screams "baby" to other dragons, though he's more comparable to a young adolescent.
Spends most of the first movie losing his mind in the kill ring! He's locked up in a small dark space, completely alone but for the fact that he can hear and smell the other dragons in the kill ring (which! isn't comforting for him! because he's still in the "dragons are the enemy" mindset!), he's stuck in a body he's not used to (and that's also been The Enemy of Berk for longer than he's been alive, so that's not fun for him, either), he's fed the bare minimum,,, and then there's the lessons.
Oh, sure, Snotlout's used to violence in only the way that a teenager who grew up on a Berk that gets regular dragon raids, but there's a difference between running around with a bucket of water during a raid and being chased around by his peers in a small arena + that stress in compounded with the stress of the rest of his situation is. Not Good for him.
Also, speaking of the other dragons: they're all sympathetic to each others' plight, but they are also. Quite annoyed by the way Snotlout spends most of the first two days in his cell screaming and yelling and caterwauling about how he's not supposed to be here, let him out, this isn't fair—! and so on. Hookfang in particular is annoyed because at least Snotlout gets let out of his cell to run around the arena, instead of being locked away waiting to be killed—!
They all get more sympathetic after Hiccup throws the eel in with Barch because by that point the situation they're all in feels more hopeless than ever. This is also around the time that Snotlout finally figures out how to flame up,, not that it really helps him.
Hookfang realizes at this point that huh, that weird screamy fire-scale really is little. Idiot didn't even know how to flame up (all the dragons are crooning through the walls to comfort each other at this point, but this is where Hookfang and Snotlout finally start to kind of bond. kind of. Snotlout's still sort of ignoring the other dragons (but not for much longer)).
At some point during the lessons Astrid scores a strong hit on one of Snotlout's wing-claws, at the very least fracturing some of the bones. Gobber stops the lesson there but also commends Astrid for going for the wings, giving his "a downed dragon is a dead dragon" speech. Snotlout would probably feel more hurt about being used as little more than a living prop for lessons if he wasn't writhing in agony.
This does mean that Snotlout still can't fly by the time the plot advances past Toothless' reveal, so when Hiccup gets the other teens onto the arena dragons Snotlout kinda has to stay behind out of necessity. Hiccup does make sure to leave his cage and the arena entrance open, though, so while the final battle's happening Snotlout runs off into the woods. He manages to catch and eat one (1) boar after multiple attempts (and then kinda cries over feeling like little more than a wild animal, how he feels so diminished from the viking he used to be).
Final battle happens, Hiccup & Toothless kill the Red Death, ships sail back to Berk, and Hookfang finds Snotlout out in the woods. It's the second time they've met face-to-face. Hookfang huffs, then moves up alongside Snotlout and tucks him under his wing. Fine then, he grumbles, since you need someone to look after you.
This is the point where Snotlout finally transforms back. Hookfang is just as surprised as Snotlout, who's kind of flailing under the scale hide now covering him and his torn-up clothes. There's twigs and leaves in his hair, mud and dried blood staining his clothes, the knuckles on his left hand are still fucked up, and exhaustion deep in his bones.
He wanders out of the woods, a still-bewildered Hookfang following alongside him, and stumbles (limps, from where one of the twins got a lucky hit on his leg during one of the lessons) into the village, scale hide rolled up under his arm. He's a mess and he looks it, still out of it even as he's recognized and kind of swarmed by surprised vikings. Everyone assumes that whatever dragon tried to carry him off in the raid must have dropped him in the woods, and that he managed to survive out there until he made his way back.
Snotlout does not correct them on this, at least in part because he's definitely dissociating in place. And swaying a little—oh, yep, he just fainted, right as Spitelout arrives.
And that's pretty much the first movie! Hiccup's definitely surprised to see Snotlout after waking up, but also accepts the explanation the village came up with. Snotlout's injuries heal, he hides the scale hide somewhere deep in his room where he doesn't have to think about it, and within a few weeks he's acting like nothing ever happened to him at all! (it is almost entirely bluster and bravado. bc Spitelout told him to "stop moping!" and Snotlout would rather ignore the Horrors than address them). Surely, everything will work out from here!
love how astrid is a complete silly goofy mess for one 20 minute special and then is the only somewhat level headed person on berk for the rest of the franchise. happy gift of the night fury day just for her
