Absolutely love the footnotes. Adds so much to the story and allows us readers additional benefit from your research. I know that this is way after the fact, but I needed to say it.

So um... it's been over 3 years..
First off, I do hope you've been doing well and are okay!
Will we see Hiccup have a grand return?
Will he smash the Jorgensen clan and put them in their place?
Will any of his old friends from Alexandia show up and give support?
Please come back!

I sincerely hope that you continue your story because it it is a diamond!

This chapter shows that I have watched too many hentai.

I don't want to sound like an asshole, but do you still think of finishing this story? It's honestly pretty good, I want to see how it ends.

A symbolic name is utterly pointless, if nobody will understand the symbolism.

If I remember correctly Byzantium was renamed to Constantinople in 330 AC. The Siege of Alexandria was in 641. So, at no point in Hiccup's life would Constantinople still have been named Byzantium.

Fantastic story. This was everything I wanted in a historical fiction, and I have nothing to say but how impressive it is. The characters are deep and relatable and their conflicts feel so real. The way you've portrayed all the different clans on Berk is amazing as well. I'll keep my hopes up that you'll keep writing it someday, but regardless, thanks for writing!

Absolutely amazing story, you portrayed the characters sooooo well. The one problem I have with your writing is that you have no seriously followed plot. So many fanfic writers do this because so few actually plan out they’re story in-depth. Not sure if you do or not, but while you have a overarching plot, you tend to get sidetracked a lot. I don’t know if you just like to make a lot of side stories, but it took so long for Hiccup to leave Alexandria and now you seem to have stuck him in an endless loop on berk. My last complaint is that it’s not finished : (. I know you could be busy with life, but if you ever get the chance come back to this, it’s really an amazing story.

I know you may not even use this account anymore but damn! This is so amazing! It's sooo well written and captures the feistiness of Astrid, how she's just doing her best to protect her village while also simultaneously being out of her depth sometimes. I also love the emphasis on Hiccup's thinking and adventures outside of Berk! This really was one of my favorite fics as I decided to do a reread of old fics that I followed before. I love it and hope you're doing well!

Going over and re-reading these stories brings back so many old memories. Hope you are doing well and do consider continuing with the story

I just recently reread this and I wanted to just pour praise over you. I really loved how much emphasis was put on the wandering!Hiccup where he learned and made mistakes, sometimes devastating mistakes. These chapters contrasted with Astrid's chapters really nicely. While Hiccup was broadening his horizons, traveling around Byzantium, and seeking new ideas, Astrid was desperately maintaining Berk, keeping it just as it was. Astrid's line of thinking of "only one way to kill dragons, one way to run the island" was thrown off course entirely when she Hiccup's journals and slowly realized how Hiccup's mind worked. Astrid eventually started to try and convince Berk of some ideas and observations Hiccup wrote in his journal, successfully making it to the Nest.

The plot really starts to pick up once Hiccup and Astrid meet. Even though Astrid had been reading Hiccup's journals, she was still taking it slow. Hiccup, carrying scrolls from the Library was almost too much for her to bear. I loved how realistically this was written! Astrid and Fishlegs, probably the two most open people in Berk, still had a hard time being hit with all these new ideas Hiccup carried back.

All in all, the realism in the character's thinking was the selling point for me and I loved, loved, loved, the emphasis put on wandering!Hiccup before he returned to Berk! Thank you for writing!

updates?

sass times 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
but really
those just cannot flirt normally, can they?

ohmygod PRACHETT !
in any case, i repeat that this is basically becoming, but three years later with a more mature hiccup and an astrid with more actual leverage.