When an ancient dragon dies, he makes a peculiar final request of his master.
Ao3 | ROM | itch
Further Reading
This story exists, at least in part, as a honeytrap to draw people who are weird about dragons in the same way I am weird about dragons. If you are one of those people, or if I have sufficiently corrupted you to become one of those people, here is a short list for your perusal.
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Impossible not to mention. Fantastic movie. Formative. Not only is it the best dragon movie, with a banger premise that feeds into the animal part of anyone’s brain that wants a cool pet, it is a well-oiled machine, a script working at maximum efficiency. I love it so much. I love it so much I struggle to be coherent about it in a short-form recommendations list. But also — you’ve probably already seen it. If you haven’t, go watch it.
Horniest moments in
How to Train Your Dragon, a brief bullet-pointed list:
• Astrid admonishing Hiccup to “remember what side [he’s] on.”
• When Astrid first meets Toothless, and he tries to kill her before Hiccup puts himself between them.
• Hiccup reassuring Astrid that Toothless is nice and friendly while Toothless looks on with a deadly stare.
• I’m not
personally compelled by the Hive Queen, dragon controlling other dragons, mindless drone thing going on, but I’m sure many of you are.
• Toothless runs into the arena ring and viciously attacks the Monstrous Nightmare for threatening Hiccup, destroying everything in his wake, and shocking and horrifying the spectators.
• Toothless is about to kill Hiccup’s father, but Hiccup commands him to stop, and Toothless looks back all sad.
There are many other great moments, because it is a great movie, but I’m trying to keep on topic here. This is about having a fetish for controlling dragons.
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The other really fantastic thing about HTTYD is how it functions as a jumping-off point for further stories that scratch this particular itch. So, I’m going to shout out a couple fanfics now.
(And yes, the term Dragon Master was blatantly stolen from the HTTYD fandom.)
The Dragon Overlord by Daniel Goldhorn
This is one of those stories that you binge in a fuel of madness, and then think about constantly for years to come. I actually haven’t read it in several years and yet I remember so many parts extremely distinctly (I’m due for a reread tbh). The failed assassination plot. Public execution by dragon. Damn, having air warfare in a pseudo-medieval setting is extremely OP.
A fantastic and compelling exploration of evil Hiccup, it’s well written, plotted beautifully, and it was by far the fanfiction that most satisfied my horrible, dark urges. Just holy shit. People are out here writing wonderfully dense and complex fantasy novels in the How to Train Your Dragon tag. You guys gotta get in here.
"Like Unto Conlai" by wyrm_n_sigun
“A scream had finally ripped free, pain wracking the thin man as the dragons howled and nosed him, powerless against his agony. Ragnarök around them ended, the dragons leaving their positions to tend their ruler. They forced Stoick away, but he would not leave. He thrust the beasts aside as he dove for the dying youth.”
It’s so short but it’s so good. I want more. I want it to be a whole novel. Unreliable narrator, tragic dramatic irony, maximum drama. A horrible bloody scene. Lots of dragons obeying their master <3
Dungeon Meshi by Ryoko Kui
Just as a bonus — I realized, belatedly, that the plot of the story is remarkably similar to the end of
Dungeon Meshi. If the part of the story that you really liked was the
“eating dragons” aspect, then perhaps you should read this too.
