A/N: Thank you all so much for sticking with me this long! It's been a real pleasure to present this story to you and I'm so glad you've enjoyed it! As promised, here's the making-of chapter, which will hopefully shed some light on some of the choices I made in the process of writing this story. (If it sounds a little boastful, I apologize: it's not my intent to brag. I am very proud of my work and see no reason not to be, but I don't mean to be rude about it. So if it comes across that way, I'm sorry.) As for what project I tackle next, well…right now I'm kind of taking a break, and I'm not sure which story to begin in this one's place. At the moment I'll just continue updating my current works, and when I decide on what story to start I'll get to work on it. Once again, thank you all so much for all your support! This story wouldn't exist without it!

The Making of Hiccup the Useless

I guess I should start at the very beginning: when and why I got into the How to Train Your Dragon fandom. Oddly enough, it wasn't following the first film or even the TV show. (In fact, I didn't even know it was a TV show until quite recently.) Sure, I saw the first film when it was first released and I did enjoy it, but I didn't become obsessed with the franchise until after I saw How to Train Your Dragon 2, which totally floored me in how well-made it was. It was only after this that I started reading fan fictions and, not long following that, writing my own.

I wish I could claim that Hiccup the Useless was totally my idea, but that would be a lie. For one, and most obviously, the characters are all based on creations by Cressida Cowell, who wrote the How to Train Your Dragon book series, and DreamWorks SKG, which adapted those books into a film and TV franchise. But even beyond that, the inspiration for Useless came from someone else. In my fan fiction reading, I stumbled on SnowFlower Frost's "The Real Hero," a story with a premise I would borrow for Useless: Hiccup is put down as part of a plan by Stoick to keep him safe. I lapped up every word of the story. It was chock-full of angst and emotion and gut-wrenching pain, and I loved it from beginning to end.

There was just one thing I didn't care for about it: the ending. I thought it was just a little too tidy. In that story (spoiler warning!), Hiccup runs away from Berk with Toothless but doesn't make it too far before Stoick catches up and explains everything to him. Once he is aware of the plan, Hiccup decides to forgive Berk for causing him so much pain. I didn't really know what to make of this ending. On the one hand, I was glad Hiccup was able to move on and recover, but on the other, I thought it was too easy. After such pain, surely Hiccup would have some trouble forgiving them, right? (end of spoilers)

Well, a thought like that is usually all it takes to get my creative juices flowing. I'd already written two HTTYD fan fictions, so I figured, why not give my own take on "The Real Hero" a try? So I set to work on a story simply entitled "Hero," which I figured would be ten pages long, fifteen at the most. (Fun fact: the scene where Hiccup berates Stoick for his plan was actually the first part I wrote. The scene was so vivid in my mind that I had to get it on paper immediately before I forgot. I then went back to the beginning and worked my way up to that point.) There were a couple of other stories that inspired me, namely TheOneWithTheScar's Time to Go and muggleborn . dragon . ryder's "Low Blow," but "The Real Hero" was the basis of everything, and it was what I kept looking back to as I worked. But as I continued writing, something happened. The story, which I had meant to be nothing more than a simple reworking of "The Real Hero," started taking on a life of its own, and before I knew it I had a thirty-page story on my hands. And I loved the end result. It was loaded with feels and angst and I was thoroughly enjoying myself while writing it. I changed the title to the more fitting "Hiccup the Useless" and ended up with a thirty-five page story. Instead of the easy forgiveness of the source material, I added a suicide attempt, a blowup on Hiccup's part, and the promise of plenty of tension in the future. But the end result was the same: Hiccup promised to forgive Berk and try to move on. I opted for a happy-ish ending, but the addition of the suicide attempt ensured that it was a darker story overall. And I couldn't have been prouder of it. I asked SnowFlower Frost for her permission to post the story, telling her that it was based on her work, and when she granted it I added it to my collection of How to Train Your Dragon one-shots in three parts. I was very satisfied with what I'd done and it was fairly well-received, and I moved on to other things. I thought that was the end of it.

Ha.

It wasn't too long after I posted the story that a Guest reviewer suggested I continue the story arc. He/she recommended that I follow up by showing Astrid's attempts to win him back, as she had promised at the end of the story, or perhaps even having Hiccup date someone else because he simply couldn't forgive Astrid for hurting him. If any of you reading this liked this story at all (and if you didn't, then I can't imagine why you're reading this…) then you have this Guest to thank, because I would probably have never continued the story without his/her suggestions. (And I thank you too. I have enjoyed breathing new life into my tale and hope you like the end result as much as I do.)

But I didn't start writing the continuation immediately. I was busy with other stories – I had two crossovers in the works at the time and didn't feel up to adding another story to the mix – and I really had no idea what to do with the next part of "Hiccup the Useless." So I took the suggestions and filed them away for later use while I focused on other things. But the possibilities continued to niggle in the back of my mind for a long time, and before I knew it I had planned out a sequel.

Now in the midst of all this, I had two other ideas for HTTYD fan fictions. Neither of them was ever fully fleshed out in stories of their own, but both made it into the final version of Hiccup the Useless. The first was going to be a romantic story in which Heather visits Berk and Hiccup starts showing her more attention than he should. Astrid was going to get upset but Heather would come to the rescue, comforting Astrid and setting them up on a date, which would have reminded Hiccup who he really loved. The second idea I had wasn't even a plot: it was just a scene with absolutely no context. I had a mental image of Hiccup arguing with Stoick, eventually throwing an object at his father and accusing him of not learning from his mistakes (in this case, not listening to him and rushing into the Battle of the Red Death, in which Hiccup lost his leg). But I had no story to go with the scene so I abandoned the idea…until I decided to continue the arc of "Hiccup the Useless," where it and the love triangle concept both found a home.

I had a plot in mind, so I finally sat down in front of the computer and started writing the sequel, a story I had titled "Winning Him Back." It was much more romance-driven than its predecessor and had a lot less angst. The story wasn't going to feature anything in the way of a fight or battle, and the tension between Hiccup and the rest of Berk would have been played down. (The scene in which Hiccup throws something at Stoick didn't enter the plans until later.) But I wasn't satisfied with where the story was going. It just didn't feel like it belonged in the same universe as "Hiccup the Useless." It was too…well, fluffy. The focus was almost entirely on Hiccup and Astrid's relationship, whereas the rest of the village was by and large ignored. So I stopped working on it, figuring I needed to rethink my outline and come up with a better story.

Some time passed and I kind of neglected "Winning Him Back" for a while. I just didn't know what to do with it. I knew I had to pick up the story from where "Hiccup the Useless" ended, but where to take it from there? I had to show how Hiccup would deal with his peers after such a total betrayal, and I realized that the road to forgiveness wasn't going to be as easy as I'd first figured. So I came up with another idea.

I was going to write a full-length story.

I figured it was perfect: I would start by posting "Hiccup the Useless" and then just keep going from there. Instead of treating it as a story with a sequel, I would instead write it as one single tale. How better to show the results of Stoick's ill-conceived plan than to combine "Winning Him Back" with the preexisting story? So that's exactly what I did. I started posting chapters of the first story as a separate entity from the one-shot collection, and in between editing these chapters I started outlining and plotting the continuation. Soon I had a rough outline in place and I thought I was ready to go.

Then the strangest thing happened: it was a success.

You have to understand, prior to Hiccup the Useless, none of my stories had received much of a response. I had some minor successes and I was satisfied with that, but really only one of my stories – my HTTYD retelling of Titanic – had received anything close to a big reaction from the fan fiction community. So I was totally floored when reviews started coming in. And they kept coming. It was a total shock to me. Sure, I thought the story was great, but I wrote it so I'm kind of biased. To hear so many people praise my work and ask for me to continue was immensely gratifying and bewildering. With such a great response I was more than happy to keep posting chapters with some regularity, usually spacing updates apart by no more than two or three days.

There was only one small point of contention: Hiccup's suicide attempt. It had gone relatively unnoticed in my one-shot collection, so when the wrist-cutting scene showed up in the full-length version, it did get a response. There were concerns that this was totally out of Hiccup's character, that he would never attempt to take his own life. I heard the arguments and I do agree that Hiccup is a truly strong individual. But part of what I'd tried to do with the adaptation of "The Real Hero" was show that every person has their limits. What happens to Hiccup is actually a common cliché, especially in romantic films: the main character is hurt by his peers and "friends" in an attempt to save him from something, whether it be heartbreak or even death. I loathe and despise this plot thread. I mean for goodness' sake, Twilight did it, and I thought it was stupid. I still do. (Sorry, I really hate the Twilight franchise, but that's another discussion.) So part of what I'd wanted to do with "Hiccup the Useless" was show that the hurt-him-to-save-him plan NEVER works. I did so by having Hiccup be pushed past his limits and then (initially, at least) resist forgiveness. So the suicide was a pretty necessary addition to the plot. I had to take the plan "too far" and then show the consequences of it. So I do feel justified in my decision. You may not agree, and that's your right, I won't argue. But I do hope you can understand why I made that choice.

Another choice that raised a few concerns was the plan itself. A couple of reviewers mentioned that they didn't think Stoick would ever consider going through with a plan like this, that he wouldn't pull this kind of mass-conspiracy just to protect Hiccup from someone who may or may not present a threat. Again, I see their point, but I would argue that Stoick is prone to such a deception. There's the episode of Dragons: Riders of Berk in which all of Berk tries to hide their alliance with the dragons from Dagur. Whether the plan was ill-conceived or not is up for debate, but I thought that was enough to make my tale believable. And at any rate, I always got the impression that Stoick never quite knew what to do with Hiccup, as they were so different, so I figured he'd be more than capable of misjudging his capabilities and limitations. (Also, it does need to be pointed out that this is based on a preexisting source, and I did borrow pretty heavily from it. It's not an excuse, but I think it's important to bear that in mind.)

Anyway, I posted the first seven chapters in relatively quick succession, and they were pretty well-received, even despite the small disturbance caused by the suicide attempt. I was feeling really good about my story, far better than I had before. I mean, I'd been proud of it all along, but it wasn't until it started getting the response it did that I realized that there were other people out there who really wanted to read what I was writing. And as a writer, it made me feel awesome!

And then I ran out of chapters to post. I hadn't gotten any farther in continuing the story. I'd hoped that revising, editing, and posting the chapters would have kick-started my yearning to tell the story, but unfortunately by the time Chapter Seven (the last of the original three-shot) was online, I hadn't written another word. There were a variety of reasons for the delay: I'd been away from the story too long and just couldn't get back into the right mindset for it. I'd lost interest, not only in my story, but in How to Train Your Dragon entirely, which isn't all that unusual for me. My interests shift and change from time to time, and I'd had enough of HTTYD for a while. I'd moved on to other projects. Sure, my other full-length stories were complete, but there was still the one-shot collection, not to mention my other writings. I have a novel that I'm trying to get published, as well as an anthology of stories that I'm hoping to finish soon. So Hiccup the Useless took a backseat to everything else, and I was in no particular hurry to continue it, despite the wonderful reception it was getting.

But there was another reason for the delay, and this one was a bit more worrisome than all those other, comparatively minor issues. I suddenly didn't know if my outline was going to work. Oh sure, it was better than it had been: it promised a lot of angst and tension. But you see, I'd done my job a little too well with the first half of the story. I'd written myself into a corner and didn't know how to get myself out of it. I'd done so well at establishing Hiccup's pain and suffering that it made it much harder to have him forgive Berk for what they'd put him through. I knew I wanted a happy (or at least happy-ish) ending, but how on earth was I supposed to achieve that after putting Hiccup through such hell? I didn't know.

My readers had a lot of ideas, though. I got plenty of suggestions in reviews, suggestions that I appreciated greatly but didn't always know what to do with. Some wanted Hiccup to leave Berk completely and go off on his own with Toothless to sort through his muddled thoughts. Others wanted him to never forgive his family and friends for what they did. These people's suggestions ranged anywhere from Hiccup leaving Berk and starting a new life elsewhere to having him take his revenge on Berk by killing those responsible for his pain. Some wanted a happy ending, some wanted less closure, the list went on. And while I appreciated each and every review and suggestion, I have to admit that it got a little overwhelming for a while. There were so many suggestions and they were all so different that I just didn't know how to react. I had a vague idea of where I wanted the story to go and how I wanted it to end, but this was when I first realized that I wasn't going to be able to please all my readers. Those who wanted revenge were going to be disappointed by the forgiveness and redemption I had in mind, and I'll admit that it bothered me. It took a long time for me to realize that I was just going to have to suck it up and write the story I wanted to write, and only after I managed that was I able to actually continue writing.

But I still wanted to please as many people as possible, so I made a couple of compromises. The first was a one-shot I added to my collection entitled "Fiery Vengeance." It was an alternate ending to the original film and had no relation to Hiccup the Useless, but it featured a lot of bloodshed and violence so I hoped it would appease those who wanted my story to go that route. I also added a scene to Useless in which Hiccup dreams of killing everyone on Berk, so I hoped that the people asking for revenge would be happy with that.

Now moving on to the rest of the story: of course the earliest of outlines for the continuation had featured another female character coming in and offering Hiccup the comfort he needed. But it may surprise you to know that it actually wasn't going to be Heather at first. Originally I'd intended Camicazi, a character from the book series that doesn't make an appearance in the films or TV show, to be Hiccup's love interest. I thought it would have been a great opportunity to mix the film universe with that of the books, but I soon discovered that it just wasn't going to work. Not that Camicazi is a hard character to write (I think I captured her pretty well in Out of the Sea, even though I made her a mermaid and Hiccup's sister in that story), but I just couldn't see her and Hiccup getting romantically involved. Reading the books, I'd always seen the two of them as best friends or even "adopted" siblings, not a couple. So I scratched her from the outline, at least at that point, and searched through the HTTYD canon for another suitable female character.

I remembered Heather, and immediately I realized that the match was perfect. The TV show had already established that Hiccup – and indeed all the boys on Berk – thought she was attractive, which made a relationship plausible, but it was more than that. Recall that in the show, she deceives the teens in order to save her parents. I thought this was a perfect parallel to what Hiccup had gone through: the tribe had deceived him in an attempt to protect him. He'd forgiven her for her deceit, so who better to show Hiccup – and even the rest of Berk – what it's like to be on the other side of that forgiveness than Heather? She wasn't just an outside observer who could provide an unbiased view of the situation: she could be a voice of reason and experience that was what Hiccup and the village – especially Astrid, who could then pass on her knowledge to Stoick – needed to gain new insights on what had to be done in order for everyone to move on.

Heather's presence in the story became so strong that I eventually reworked my outline yet again. You see, after eliminating Camicazi from the love interest role, I still wanted to keep her in the story. So I had it planned that she would find Hiccup on Dragon Island and then run for help. But as Heather's role in the plot became more important, I decided to eliminate Cami from the story entirely. She simply wasn't necessary for the story to move forward. Besides, I'd have been introducing her literally on the brink of the story's climax, which would have been pointless. So Heather took her place once and for all, and I have no regrets about it.

Heather's presence in the story got a surprising reaction from my readers, though, and I can't pretend I wasn't a little amused by it. I once again found myself getting a wide variety of suggestions and ideas in the reviews: some fully supported a Hiccup-Heather pairing, while others wanted me to stick to Hiccstrid. Some hoped Heather was playing Hiccup false whereas others pleaded with me to let her be truthful. I remember clearly at one point I actually laughed. Just a few chapters before, Hiccup had attempted suicide. I thought for sure that this would be the most controversial plot choice I made, but it made barely a ripple in comparison to Hiccup and Heather sharing a kiss. Looking back, I think I understand why it got such a reaction (some of the reviewers helped explain it to me – thanks!): there was no warning whatsoever that Hiccup was going to get romantically involved with anyone besides Astrid, so of course the kiss came as a complete surprise. So I felt obligated to explain a bit further in the next chapter: I had never intended the Hiccup-Heather pairing to be taken so seriously. Heather was merely in the right place at the right time: she was an outside observer who had taken no part in the plot to "protect" Hiccup, so he latched on to her. Using Heather's conversation with Astrid, I hoped to reestablish that Hiccup's heart belonged to Astrid alone. I am a firm supporter of Hiccstrid, so I would never actually pair him with another girl. Heather and her role as Hiccup's new girlfriend was necessary to move the plot along, but I knew from the beginning that it wouldn't be a permanent match.

Speaking of moving the plot along, I had come once again to the most problematic part of my outline: how on earth was Hiccup going to learn to forgive Berk, especially when they've been treating him like he was fragile for two months and driving him insane? And how should I tackle the issue while regarding the wishes and requests from my reviewers?

Well, it was question-answer time. Question: what did I want to accomplish? Answer: I wanted Hiccup to come to terms with what had happened to him and at least begin to forgive Berk. Okay. Question: what has to happen in order for Hiccup to start forgiving Berk? Answer: …um…

Well first of all, the village has to stop treating Hiccup like he's made of glass. Once they start treating him like a human being and not an ice sculpture, then he'll feel more like a person and will start acting like one. Great. Question: what needs to happen for the villagers to start treating Hiccup like he's human? Answer: Hiccup needs to prove that he's human. Question: what does that mean? Answer: it means he's capable of making mistakes.

So I brought in Madguts the Murderous and his plot to take the "Dragon Conqueror" for himself. I had Stoick go back into super-protective mode so that Hiccup would finally lose his temper. I added the bit about Heather's imminent departure from Berk to make Hiccup's emotions unstable so that his blowup wouldn't be quite so out of the blue and unwarranted. I liked how a couple of reviewers mentioned they thought Hiccup's reaction was a bit much, and I agree: it was. I knew that going into the scene. It had to be because I had to show that Hiccup was also capable of bad judgment. Yes, what the village did to him was awful, but his reaction wasn't great either. This of course would culminate in Madguts capturing Hiccup, proving that his father was actually right to be concerned for his safety and that Hiccup pretty much walked into a trap because he was unwilling to see Stoick's point. Then would follow a fight scene in which the Berkians would both try to protect Hiccup and let him fight alongside them, showing that they have figured out how to treat him and that Hiccup can hold his own. This way both parties learn the error of their ways, making forgiveness possible. Once Hiccup acknowledges that he has flaws, he's more able and willing to accept the flaws of his peers. And once he's accepted their faults, he can start trying to forgive them.

Phew.

So that's what I did. I held my breath and hoped my readers would like my resolution, but at the end of the day it didn't really matter to me one way or the other. I was satisfied with the ending. I felt I had done what I'd set out to do: tell a story about forgiveness by examining the strengths and weaknesses of the characters and prove that acceptance was the first and most crucial step to letting go of hurt. Quite a tall order for a story that started out as a simple retelling of someone else's fan fiction, huh?

I decided to end the story in the same way I'd ended the original three-shot. Hiccup and Astrid go for a sunset flight around the island. Only this time, instead of Hiccup telling Astrid that he wasn't ready for a return to their romantic relationship, I did the complete opposite: I had them reunite. I decided having Astrid get hurt in the battle would be enough for Hiccup to realize that he still cares for her despite what she did in the past, and combined with her being the first to give Hiccup the space he needed, this was enough to break down that barrier that Hiccup had subconsciously placed between them. Oh sure, things will still be a little tentative between them, not to mention between him and Berk. But hopefully by the end of the story, everyone's able to realize their mistakes and have learned from them, and the forgiveness process can begin.

And I can sit back and relax and call it a day.

So that's Hiccup the Useless, a story with humble beginnings that turned into one of the most ambitious projects I've ever tackled.

Special thanks have to go to my mom: she read the original three-shot and helped me shape the outline into the final version that you've read here. It's because of her advice that Camicazi doesn't make an awkward appearance so late in the story, and it was she who suggested having Mogadon the Meathead return to battle alongside Berk against Madguts, further cementing the fact that Hiccup is capable of making wise choices. (She also kept begging me to update the story, so it's thanks to her the chapters appeared with any kind of regularity.) So if you like Hiccup the Useless, you should thank her. It's probably because of her that it turned out the way it did. If you didn't, well, blame me, because it's probably my fault.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating: to the Guest who first suggested the continuation, thank you so much! I had no idea when I agreed to your idea that I would go on such a journey as I have with this story, and I seriously cannot thank you enough. And I'm so glad you've enjoyed it as well.

And of course, thank you to each and every person who followed, favorited, and reviewed Hiccup the Useless. I can't tell you how much your support has meant to me. I know I didn't reply to all of you who left reviews, but believe me when I say I appreciate each and every one of them, even the ones that were a bit more critical of my choices. Your input is highly valued and I can't thank you enough. I'm so glad you enjoyed my story, and I hope you continue to enjoy my future work.

Not sure what else to say but…I really enjoyed writing Hiccup the Useless, and I'm glad I got the chance to share it with people who enjoyed reading it. Thank you all for your support, God bless, and I hope to hear from you again soon!