It's going to be hard to keep their relationship under wraps...as well as being sure there's room enough for all the dragons being rescued.

CB73

Getting nudges now and then, a fortuitous side-gig worked out in a way that just screamed 'it's a sign to do this'...and now there's a wedding to plan.

CB73

They grow up so fast, you have to be sure to catch the moment they need your advice and thoughts to their future...

CB73

CUTE! *squeals* XD

What was is now colored by their new relationship...

Hope they grow in them stronger.

CB73

Quite the appropriate statement by Valka...Definitive, too.

CB73

The girls and boys had a pretty good day out...and made memories that will last for a long time.

CB73

A walk down memory lane, or fly in many cases, each reveals unknowns and firsts...

Promises that can be kept until Valhalla calls them and beyond made, they seal the deal and head off to their futures.

As for too much work for one Chief...maybe Hiccup could buck Viking Tradition and introduce Berk to the term of the word 'Delegate', perhaps?

CB73

Adjusting to life without their dragons, those two are doing well growing together, as their next steps in their futures are being taken.

And it appears that Astrid is doing quite well in a new frontier in her life, one she will do well in, if their reactions are anything to go by...

Hiccup will learn he's got nothing to doubt in his life, especially with Astrid by his side. And Astrid's going to learn she's stronger with Hiccup and by exploring what she's been conditioned to believe is weak: her emotions...Especially when she's going to experience so many she's unaccustomed to, in the coming years.

CB73

Nice Mom-Daughter bonding tale...

Maybe the first of many more?

CB73

astrid smirking at her husband to be hiccup hey stop moving your face so i can leave lipstick marks all over my dragon boy face

Wonder what the year anniversary presents are going to be like...

CB73

Really cute!

Close enough for the Wedding, where it was held...and the Wedding Party probably was colorful as any who stood in a Berkian Wedding.

A bit of personal history of Hiccup's past as his future is about to start in earnest. With Astrid right beside him...

When she's not out flying on a mission.

CB73

Intriguing idea, and I love how you used Operation Earnest Will as a backdrop for this. There was a lot of cool stuff going on in the Gulf in the 80s, and you could have a whole Race to the Edge style situation with an alt 160th SOAR (dragons and dragon riders, baby!) escorting tankers and shooting at Iranian gunboats with rockets and miniguns, and lots of boarding actions. Heck, Hiccup and Astrid get to get in CQC situations and run around with Colt Commandos.

You should totally write that one. Little Birds and Pave Hawks everywhere, blasting Iranian Cobras and Iranian tomcats from the sky, operating from abandoned oil platforms. I, too, might write something along the lines of this someday - it would be an interesting setting - modern day Iranian vikings vs modern day American vikings/dragon riders.

Some issues with the military tech - in my fanfic technothrillers, I tend to try to stick to real-life lookalikes or expys whenever possible to make things "look right". Real stuff, or stuff that was proposed but never really got built (the secretprojects website is a great resource for ths), is pretty adequate for sea-air-land battles (space stuff you have to make up more of).

Your Tico expy, for instance, sounds a little weird to me (but I'm sure my stuff sounds just as weird to you). Three 5'' is overkill - no ship needs more than two even in the 1980s. Nobody uses torps against surface targets (lightweight torps are for sub-hunting). CIWS did not have short-range missiles back in the 80s - SeaRAM is 90s tech (unless you're pretty clear it's an alt-hist too). I'd have gone with an SH-60 lugging a Penguin or a .50 cal, or a straight harpoon shot, or the 5''.