#modern Gunnhild

[artemiseamoon]

Souls on fire

A modern Viking au

An old deleted fic going straight to A03

I’ll upload the chapters as I have time, when thr mood strikes. Chapter 1 up now.

📖Read on A03

Summary: When the world went on lockdown in 2020, Marcelle was stuck in her California hotel room. Her ex-fiancé Bjorn invited her to stay with him and his wife at their home in Big Sur. After some hesitation, Marcelle took the offer. As the weeks pass by, the already awkward situation becomes more complex as repressed feelings and sexual longings surface.

Warnings: quarantine and lockdown, marriage issues, cheating, falling in love with someone else, sexual discovery and questioning, angst, sexual themes and situations, infidelity, infertility, anger issues and outburst.

Background: This started as a quarantine writing challenge one-shot, in 2020. Of course, this was not to make light of the situation, writing at that time really helped me and other people get through it, and feel less lonely. This fic was never finished, though I do have an outline for it, including the ending. I deleted it from tumblr twice. Anyway, I'm called back to it after years so here it is after a big revision, to be archived and finished. I will not be cross posting this, the only place to read it is here. I'm not sure how many chapters this will be yet, the new chapter 1 (below) combines the old chapter 1 and 2.

Moodboards

[artemiseamoon-ficart]

Souls on fire

Moodboard for a deleted story that might be uploaded to A03

Story masterpost (a03 link inside)

If I do start uploading the story to A03, I’ll add a link to this post.

[coochiequeens]

As modern science and better archeology methods reexamine historical sites more of women’s history will emerge

by Sarah Durn September 27, 2021

  

The National Museum of Stockholm's Ride of the Valkyries was painted during the Victorian period, which saw renewed interest in Vikings. Fine Art Images / Heritage Images / Getty Images

In Atlas Obscura’s Q&A series She Was There, we talk to female scholars who are writing long-forgotten women back into history.

In 1871 on the sleepy island of Birka, Sweden, Hjalmar Stolpe, a Swedish entomologist turned archaeologist, discovered the lavish grave of a Viking warrior. Around the seated body were the remains of two sacrificed horses, as well as a double-edged sword, a scramasax (a long, thin knife), a bow, a shield, and a spear—every weapon known to the Viking world. It was an astonishing find, especially since Viking warrior graves rarely contain more than three weapons. There was also a full set of hnefatafl, the board game often known as Viking chess, which indicates the strategic thinking and authority of a war leader. A thousand years ago, the site would’ve abutted the Warrior’s Hall, where a garrison lived to protect the bustling Viking town of Birka. The weapons, game pieces, location: Everything told scholars that the man buried in what is known as grave Bj 581 was a prominent, well-respected Viking warrior. No one was really prepared when DNA tests were conducted in 2017 and a new story began to emerge. This was a prominent warrior, all right, but the occupant of Bj 581 wasn’t a man. She was a woman.

Viking historian Nancy Marie Brown’s new book, The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women, explores what life might have been like for the warrior woman of Bj 581.

Using more evidence from the recent tests conducted on the remains, Brown traces her journey from Norway to the British Isles to Kiev then, finally, to Birka. Brown imagines the unnamed warrior meeting other prominent Viking women, such as Gunnhild, Mother of Kings, or Queen Olga, ruler of the Rus Vikings in Kiev. She also explores the Viking sagas and contemporary sources with a new lens.

How did you initially get interested in Vikings—and female Vikings in particular?

When I went to college, I actually wanted to study fantasy writing and, you know, learn to write like Tolkien. I learned very quickly that that was not appropriate for an English major in the 1970s, so I decided to study what Tolkien studied, and he was a professor at Oxford University, teaching Old English and Old Norse. So I started reading all of the Icelandic sagas that I could find in translation. And when I ran out of the English versions, I learned Old Norse so that I could read the rest of them.

One of the things I liked about [the sagas] the most was that they had really interesting women characters. There’s a queen in Norway who appears in about 11 sagas, Queen Gunnhild, Mother of Kings. She led armies. She devised war strategy. And then I was looking at the valkyries and the shieldmaids and thinking, you know, these are really interesting people that have always been considered to be mythological.

So when I learned in 2017 that one of the most famous Viking warrior burials turned out to be the burial of a woman, that just absolutely dazzled my imagination.

Is this the first confirmed grave of a female warrior that we have?

This is the one that has the best proof. There are one or two others that have since been DNA tested and proven to be female. But in each of these cases, it’s hard to say if the person in the grave, whether male or female, actually was a warrior, or if the object that we are interpreting as a weapon was used for hunting or for some other purpose.

In this case, it’s every Viking weapon known to history. So it’s such a clear result. And the DNA was so completely female.

When Stolpe discovered the Viking gravesite Bj 581 in 1887, he assumed the remains were of a man. That assumption was shown to be wrong 140 years later. Rapp Halour / Alamy Stock Photo

What do we know about the life of the Viking warrior woman in Bj 581?

In 2017, by testing her bones and her teeth, [scholars] could say she was between 30 and 40 years old when she died. They could also tell that she ate well all of her life. So she came from a rich family or maybe even a royal one. She was also quite tall, about 5’7”. By the minerals in her inner teeth, [scholars can determine] she may have come from southern Sweden or Norway, and also that she went west maybe as far as the British Isles before her molars finished forming. She didn’t arrive in Birka until she was 16.

We also have her weapons and a little bit of clothing that were found in the grave. And these link her to what is known as the Vikings’ East Way, which was the trade route from Sweden to the Silk Road.

We can link, through the artifacts and through the bones, that she could have traveled from as far west as Dublin to as far east as at least Kiev in the 30 to 40 years of her life.

How do we know that there were Viking warrior women?

They are mentioned many, many, many times in the literature. In most cases, they have been dismissed as mythological because, of course, we know warriors were men. But we don’t know that. That is an assumption that is based on traditional Victorian ideas that because women are mothers, they’re nurturing, they’re peacemakers, and they don’t fight.

That’s not historically true. Women have always fought. And they appear in most cultures until the 1800s, when Viking studies and archaeology pretty much started. So we sort of have this problem of bias in our earliest textbooks.

But now we have actual scientific proof of one warrior woman in the Viking Age. And as the scientists who did the study say they would be very surprised if she was the only one.

This small female Viking warrior figurine discovered in Harby, Denmark, has been interpreted as a mythological valkyrie. John Lee / National Museum of Denmark

There’s this assumption that the warrior men of myth must have been based on real people, but it’s not the same for the mythical warrior women. Why is that?

It’s just an assumption based on what people think women are like. Most of the material we have from the Middle Ages was written by men, and most of the material we have until the 1950s was written by men, and women are slowly making their way into the field of Viking scholarship. But many of them are still working under the assumptions that they were taught.

I noticed when I went back and reread some of the sagas in Icelandic that there wasn’t this clear distinction between the warrior women being mythological and the warrior men being human. When you actually look at the old Norse text, there’s a lot of words that have been translated as “men” that actually mean “people,” but it’s always been translated as “men” because it’s a warrior situation.

If you’re translating, you have to make decisions and sometimes your decisions have repercussions that you don’t expect, like writing women out of the history.

By the time Hjalmar Stolpe excavated Bj 581, he had become adept at recognizing where graves could be found in the hummocky Birka landscape. WS Collection / Alamy Stock Photo

Is it possible for historians to remove all of those biases?

No, I don’t think it is. I think we all are looking through our own lenses. But we have to revisit those sources every generation to see past biases. So when you have layer after layer after layer of removing biases, you may get closer to the truth.

What most surprised you in the course of researching your book?

One of the controversies right now in Viking studies is should we really be talking about men and women at all? Maybe there were all kinds of different genders. We don’t know if there were more than two genders in the Viking age. Maybe it was a spectrum.

If you look at this one group of sagas called the Sagas of Ancient Times that are often overlooked because they have all these fabulous creatures in them, like dragons and warrior women. It’s really interesting [because] these girls grow up wanting to be warriors. They’re constantly disobeying and trying to run off and join Viking bands. But when they do run off and join the Viking band, or, in another case, become the king of a town, they insist on being called by a male name and use male pronouns.

So it was very shocking to me to go back and read it in the original and say, “Wow, all this richness was lost in the translation.”

[bjornswoman]

My prisoner

Requested by none.

Author's note: Hello! I've been away for a while and I'm sorry about it. I wanted to come back with a fic about Bjorn, but this one was something that I was thinking for a while and I decided that this one will come out first. I want to believe that vikings fandom are still active. Anyway, till next time have fun and take care.

Pairing: Modern!Hvitserk x Reader.

Genre: Modern!au, drama, romance, fluff.

Summary: Your ex boyfriend breaks free from prison.

Warnings: Drama, mentions of prison break, mentions of death.

Life had never been easy for you.

When you thought that things started getting better, something really bad happened and you were back to zero.

Life had shown you its worst face so far.

You had lost your parents at young age. You were struggling all alone, dealing with two awful jobs and an ex that was more pain in the ass than all the bills you had to pay at the end of each month.

Your life became much more difficult when you decided to get involved with the most infamous family of the city — the Lothbroks. These men — the sons of Ragnar Lothbrok, a mobster — they run a dangerous gang the one their father had founded. You couldn't even want to think about all the illegal stuff they were doing and the police was after them.

The bad thing in that was that the police had you under their microscope, as well, because you were Hvitserk Lothbrok's girlfriend — ex girlfriend.

And things became even worse than before when they put him in jail, after your break-up, and he decided with the help of his family to break free.

The police was following each movement of yours. They were tracking your phone number, listening to all your phone calls, expecting to learn about your ex. They had even someone outside your apartment to watch you over.

You told them over and over again that you had nothing to do with that filthy man anymore, but they wouldn't believe in you.

You let a long breath leave your lungs as you were cleaning the bar counter.

"What is it again?" One of your coworkers asked. Well, Hope was more than a coworker, she was your friend.

The only one you could talk to and not raise any suspicions. You were friends with Torvi — the wife of Ubbe Lothbrok — and Gunnhild — the wife of Bjorn Lothbrok — but you couldn't see them, it was too risky to get in touch with any member of the family. Of course, the police kept a close eye on them, but still you couldn't have any kind of communication with any of the family.

"It's the usual problem with... him." You said as you were placing the clean glasses on their place behind the counter.

"The police is following me around like I'm some kind of a bloody criminal because I made the mistake to start a relationship with a mobster." You spoke angrily and threw the towel on the counter. You were so angry, so frustrated with all this mess. Your hands run through your hair.

"I know that this is difficult for you, but it is going to end, sweetheart. It will end when they get this son of a bitch back where he belongs — in prison." She said wih an encouraging smile on her face and her hand rubbed your back friendly.

Only those words weren't encouraging for you. Deep in your heart you didn't want him to get caught and sent back inside there again. It hurt you to think that the man you loved were inside a called cell.

It was true that he wasn't the best guy in the world, not even close to that. Hvitserk had done some bad things that he wasn't proud of and he had regretted of doing. He had a good heart and wanted to be better.

You forced something that was the resemblance of a smile on your face and followed her to the kitchen to get the orders and walk them to the costumers.

"Did he try to contact you after you know?" Hope asked you suddenly and you nodded your head as an answer — no he didn't and it quite hurt you. But you had broken up before he got in.

"At least, he didn't dare to after all he did."

You frowned when you heard the tone of her voice. Hvitserk had never hurt you. In fact, the reason he broke up with you was because he didn't want to involve you in his mess, in the shit he was deep into, but it was late for that.

"He didn't harm me." You muttered when you got back with an epty tray in your hands.

Hope rolled her eyes and continued to place the drinks on her tray. When she finished, she turned her eyes on you.

"But he harmed other people. He is a criminal. Prison is where he belongs." Those where her words before she waltzed through the tables with her tray in hands.

Her words were harsh for a man she didn't know at all. Yeah, Hvitserk did awful things, but he wasn't just that. You had seen the good side of his. You had seen the little broken child in him. The one who felt full when you showed him your love and affection. The one who tried to shield your heart even from him.

The rest of your shift went by as usual. There weren't many clients as a typical Wednesday night. But things changed when you got that damned phone call.

It was a couple of times before the closing time when Torvi called. You didn't expect her to, you didn't expect anyone from the family to reach for you. When you saw her name on the screen, you used the back door to get out and answered her call.

"Torvi?" The tone of your trembling voice gave away easily to level of your concern about Hvitserk. Torvi wouldn't call if something bad did not happen. Something had happened. Something that you wouldn't like to hear.

"What happened? You know that it's not safe to speak through the phone." Your body was pressed on the wall next to the door and your hand was clenching the phone.

"Something came up which we don't know whether it stands or not, but I had to inform you because Ubbe said that they are 80% sure that it's true." You felt the despair and sadness in the tone of her voice as well as you could feel the tears forming in your eyes.

Hvitserk — your mind screamed but your tongue didn't. You waited to hear more before you even try to fight back your emotions.

"Tell me for the love of Gods! What happened?" You were almost crying now.

Torvi took a deep breath before her next words.

"They found a body — a body in a really awful state. It's unrecognizable. At the time were are talking they are in a lab waiting for the results of the DNA analysis. But, Ubbe said that they are almost sure that the body belongs to Hvitserk. He didn't contact the brothers after the escape, they thought he was hiding and would eventually come out, but he didn't."

You couldn't hear the most of it. You collapsed on the floor halfway and closed your eyes forcefully in an attempt to fight the waterfalls of tears to fall. Your free hand moved on your face and it touched your forehead.

You stopped hearing. You were crying. He couldn't be dead. Hvitserk couldn't die. Not like this.

"They killed him and threw his body in a ditch in a middle of nowhere. The people who killed him are the same who framed him with this murder he didn't commit." She continued, but you couldn't hear anymore. Your brain couldn't process all these. You couldn't process the fact that Hvitserk was dead.

"Hvitserk..." You muttered his name like it was a prayer between your sobs.

"I know it hurts but you—"

You didn't let her finish. You ended the damned call and let your phone fall from your hands. You hid your face in your palms and let yourself cry and mourn the love of your life — the only person you were able to love this much and loved you back in his own different way.

After some time, you gathered your broken heart and the pieces of your body and got in. You wiped your tears and cleaned your face with some fresh water. You had to stay strong for a couple of times and then you could cry all your wanted.

At the closing, you took out the trash in an attempt to cry to yourself for a bit in the darkness where no one could see your tears for the man you loved the most. You were so sad and shattered that you didn't notice a black figure approaching you.

You only noticed when one of his hands was on your mouth and the pushed you in a dark corner. You eyes opened widely and your heart beat went faster until you saw the face of your captor.

He let you see his face. He took his hood off and got rid of the black scarf which was covering his mouth and nose. When you could finally see him, he freed your mouth and you gasped.

"You!" You whispered out of breath. Your hand run on his features that you missed so much. The last time you could saw him in person was many months ago, almost a month before he got arrested.

"Shh!" His index finger was on your lips.

"Don't shush me! I thought you were fucking dead! Torvi called an—" All your whisper-yelling stopped when his lips fell violently on yours. The very thing he did every time he wanted to get away feom scolding. But this time you weren't going to get mad or stop him, until not as long as you could breathe.

His skilled lips were moving just perfect on yours and the facial hair he had were just perfect. His hands grabbed you by the waist and you placed your own hands around his neck. Your body was pressed on the wall by his own.

This kiss felt like salvation. It was like you were whole again. It felt like you could breathe even if you didn't. You didn't want it to stop, but it had. After all, you two had many things to discuss.

Much to your displeasure, it stopped because of the lack of air to your lungs. His hands left your waist and moved on your face where he caressed your cheeks softly.

But that loving moment didn't last long, before he noticed, your hand collided with his cheek violently and his head turned at the side.

"Was that necessary? Why did you do it?" Hvitserk whisper-yelled. His palm was on his hurting cheek that had your mark on it, along with the mark of your nails.

"You scared me to fucking death with your bloody lies. Plus, you were a total dick to me when I called you in jail." You spoke and gazed at him. You had missed him terribly.

"Hey!" With that Hvitserk grabbed your face between his hands. Your faces were dangerously close for once more. "I told you, you shouldn't have called me there. As for my little lie, it was my only chance to see you." You spoke and left a soft kiss on your forehead.

"And how would that be? The police is out there waiting for a stupid movement of yours — exactly like this one — to get you. They are after me — following every step of mine. You shouldn't be here." You told him and tried to leave him in the darkness. You didn't want him to get caught because of you.

Hvitserk didn't let slip from his hands. His strong grip held there in from of him.

"It's dangerous, Hvitserk." You whispered at him.

Hvitserk smirked and one of his hands placed a strand of hair behind your ear.

"See that was exactly my plan with all this dead body lie. Indeed, there was a body, but not mine — obviously — and we used it to mislead them. They will try to find the body and they won't pay attention to you. At least, not as much as they did." He explained and you smiled.

"Ivar's plan?" You asked all smiling and he smiled back.

"Like you don't know the answer to that."

After that, you stayed there gazing at each other, having only the stars witnessing this moment between you.

"Why did you break my heart?" You asked as your eyes were only on his. You wanted to hear the truth coming out of his mouth.

His green eyes were glowing under the lights of the stars.

"I – I don't deserve you. You are kind and sweet and so angelic and I am the exact opposite. I am so filthy that I'll defile your purity. I've done things that I'm not proud about — bad things."

"Then why are you here now?"

Your question made him think about it himself once more. His eyes were looking only deep inside yours. You could feel his pain when he talked about the stuff he did, you could feel everying through those eyes. It hurt you to think that he felt this way for himself.

"Behind the bars, in that cell, the only thing you can do is thinking. You're thinking about all the right and wrong decisions of your life till the moment you got in — especially the wrong ones keep you up all night. And what kept me up was you. The thought of never seeing you again, never hearing your voice, you laugh, your scolding. I just couldn't live knowing that I hurt you. I love you. My life without you is meaningless."

"Just never push me away again, okay?" You spoke as your hand wiped a couple tears away from your eyes. Hvitserk help you and when there weren't any more tears in your eyes, he caressed your skin softly.

"I love you, you idiot." You muttered and kissed him again. This kiss was so much different from the previous one. It soft and loving.

"The plan is to never let you slip away from me ever again." He spoke as he was caressing your hair.

"And how is that supposed to happen?"

"We will leave together here and now."

You frowned. You weren't expecting him to say something like this. You pushed him back, so you could face him.

"Wait... You want us to leave everything behind — our lives — and run away. This – this is....." You couldn't form a proper sentence. You were to process his proposition.

Kattegat was everything you knew — the place you called home. Everyone you knew was here and by that you meant your friends and some very distant relatives. Apart from your life, his life was in this place. His family, his job.

"(Y/N), there's nothing for us here. If I stay, I'll go to prison and I won't be able to hold you ever again. I will leave at the end of the day, there is no future for me in this city." Both of your hearts were beating fast at the thought that you would never see each other again after this night.

It was true that there was nothing here for you, only these two jobs that you hated. You couldn't know what future had in store for you, but if you let Hvitserk leave alone, you would hate yourself for the rest of your life.

Hvitserk's hand grabbed yours and closed it in both of his palms, but before that his finger gripped your chin and moved your head in such position that you could look at each other.

"The clock is ticking — the time is running fast. You have to give me your answer now. Are you coming with me right now?"

His eyes were begging you to say yes.

His heart was begging you to say yes.

But your mind was the problem. Your mind was hesitating to follow him wherever he was going to take you.

You closed your eyes for a moment. You couldn't choose between your heart and your mind. A whole war had broke inside you.

"(Y/N)?"

At the sound of your name on his lips you opened your eyes.

"I will come wherever you are willing to go. I can't live without you, my love." You told him and hugged him tightly.

Hvitserk wrapped his hand with yours and pulled you close to him.

"Are you sure? If we leave now — together — there's no coming back. We will be both fugitives." He told you smirking.

You chuckled when you heard him.

"That's a risk I'd love to take for you."

With those last words Hvitserk and you run away from the police and the city forever.

[senualothbrok]

🫂 Gale is INSISTING that you pamper yourself well today, and enjoy some Haribo and other delicious treats! 🧙‍♂️☝️

I want to hear about the (2nd, because The Difference counts as the first) novel you are writing!! Please fill us in? Plot, characters? Summary? No spoilers since we want to read it!

Thank youuuu 💜

Ohhh thank you my friend 💜🫂 you are a wonderful human. Unfortunately I did not have haribo in the house but I did have white chocolate digestives which are honestly a revelation. Thank you 💜 Please accept a very soft Gale smile in response:

And thank you for your question which I will try to answer without talking your ear off 😱 I LOVE talking about my WIP novel and I'm hoping it does one day get finished and - fingers crossed - published...

It's a historical fiction story set in the late Viking age (11th century BCE). It follows the journey of a young Norse girl (Gunnhild) from a farm in Norway, escaping to Greenland with her friend and farmhand Arni due to an unforeseen situation (spoilers avoided here). They journey onward to Vinland (modern day Newfoundland), where Gunnhild meets and eventually is taken in by a native tribe.

The commercial tag line would be 'Vikings meet Native Americans' - really it's a story about the power of sagas, the destructive nature of violence, the concept of "the other" and meeting of cultures, and what real love is.

The Volsunga saga features heavily as a backdrop to this story, with our heroine Gunnhild yearning to be and seeing herself as Brynhild the valkyrie. In case anyone is familiar with and loves that saga (which I doooo)

One day I will actually cobble together a better synopsis than this, and I didn't want to give spoilers - but I hope this sounds mildly interesting to someone!

If you have more questions, feel free to ask 🙏

Thank you for your friendship, as always 🫂 You are wonderful 💜

[radicalitch]

ok as an armchair Viking/Norse historian it’s crazy how christianity and modern patriarchal ideas influence our understanding of old Norse paganism. like Viking media hyperfixates on Odin and Valhalla when, um, HALF of all warriors killed in battle go to Freyja in Sessrúmnir, and Freyja gets first pick of all killed in battle! but Viking media NEVER mentions any of that, nor do they ever do much with volvas (female magic practitioners), nor delve into the importance of female ancestral spirits, nor the fact that most realms of the dead are ruled over by female deities, valkyries, nor the historical importance of women (like Gunnhild Mother of Kings for one), nor like a hundred other things…

like YEAH battling and masculinity were definitely a part of Viking culture for sure but not in the way modern media would have you believe. and christianity has obviously really influenced Odin being so important esp with his ‘all father’ epithet and Valhalla being equated to heaven when it’s actually just like killing each other repeatedly until ragnarok with maybe some drinking and fucking on the side, and most of the dead wouldn’t even go there???

hm yeah

[runwayrunway]

No. 21 - Amakusa Airlines 1999-2012

As a bit of an add-on to my Amakusa Airlines post, I wanted to point out that they did have a pre-dolphin livery. I thought I might as well discuss it in a short post, since Amakusa only has the two liveries but is very creative with them.

While it's true that Amakusa only has one airplane, perhaps surprisingly it wasn't actually always the same airplane. Pictured below is JA81AM, a Bombardier Dash 8 100 series and the inagural member of the Amakusa fleet.

JA81AM was delivered new to Amakusa in 1999 and served until the very beginning of 2016. If you think she looks like she's wearing the same livery as their current ATR 42, JA01AM, that's because she is. I honestly think the Dash 8 wears it better, which might be because of me preferring the tail design here or because of the Dash 8's very flat underbelly allowing for the fin on the side to be much more clearly visible. (This is just a fundamental difference in the shape of the airframes - as you can see in this picture where it's just barely poking out, the Dash 8 keeps its main gear in the same structure as the engines rather than having a dedicated bay in the bottom of the plane.) That said, the difference is negligible because of how perfect the livery is to begin with.

There aren't that many pictures out there of the airframe in service with Amakusa, but it seems like the modern livery was applied at some point in 2012. This means it's existed for about half the airline's lifespan. I could only find two photographs of the old livery, but that's still an entire two pictures.

This was the old livery. What do I think?

Obviously it's not as immediately stunningly perfect as the modern livery. That's lightning in a bottle. That's genuinely probably my favorite regional prop livery ever. But this isn't bad at all!

I like the different shades of blue being used. It's not as vivid as the modern one but this dusty blue and white color scheme is really nice and the bit of red is a lovely accent. I think this would be a great scheme for another airline to start using now that it's free.

I really like the tail design here - the three stripes of uneven width. On another livery I think this would be a lovely cheatline but even just as a tail stripe it looks fantastic. I love the dolphin logo as well. The way that the dolphins here leap out of the water is also a delightful nod to the association of dolphins and becoming airborne, adding another layer to the motif beyond the fact that everyone who is familiar with both airplanes and cetaceans kind of agrees that they're the same type of animal.

I actually think she looks even nicer from below. They really committed to making this a mural. This plane was always gorgeous even if I do prefer the new livery.

Ultimately, Amakusa just has really, really cute planes. I think my only critique is that the outlines for the water are a bit oddly placed and shaped and look more like clouds than waves sometimes.

She gets an A.

It isn't related to the design itself but I sort of love how much the white paint shows off the fact that the Dash 8 has a very sharp nose. I actually really love the Dash 8. That said, the decision to upgrade to the ATR was a completely reasonable one, as the larger capacity means more people get to ride in the lovely plane.

You may be happy to learn, however, that JA81AM is still in the air. From 2017 to 2018 she flew for Norwegian airline FlyViking, a similarly small airline with three Dash 8s, under the name "Gunnhild" and registration LN-FVC. And, since 2021, she has been the sole fleet member of Tanzanian airline Auric Air, who have registered her 5H-MFH. Let's all wish her well as she approaches her 24th year of service. She may not wear the Amakusa livery anymore, but she'll always be a lovely little dolphin jumping through the air to me.

[sztansescheadache]

it’s time for my top 36 as of march. keep in mind that this year is super strong (rivalling my beloved 2016 in terms of song quality) and my top 10 has 16 songs in it. they also change placements depending on my mood

1. norway - i got chills the first time i’ve listened to this song and i get them every singe time i push play on it. pure art, so atmospheric, magical, the mixture of rock and folk with gunnhild’s godly vocals and amazing lyrics IN NORWEGIAN i am just beyond in love with this song IT WAS MADE FOR MY TASTE

2. estonia - it was the first song i listened to form the eesti laul line up and i just knew nothing was gonna beat it for me. it’s just so fun, with funny lyrics and a great folk-ish instrumental. crazy party of this year for me

3. the netherlands- gabber core on my esc?????? no way i lived to see this day. i am absolutely in love with this song- the music the visuals and the touching story of this song - instant hit. europapa has infected my brain permanently. joost was right 12 points to the netherlands

4. slovenia - this just so powerful, i love the siren core aesthetic and sound of this song. raivens voice is hypnotising like of a siren, you can’t help but get immersed in it

5. switzerland - it took a while to fully kick in but i absolutely love it now. the genre mix was a little bit confusing at first but now i’m just amazed at this combination of dnb opera pop alternative and rap - and the fact that it actually works together

6. belgium - they’re back to their dark pop era and IM GLAD. the outro had me on my knees, it’ll be so big during the live

7. lithuania - the 20s are lithuanias golden age, they are finally not afraid of sending their own language and they’re doing it with class. luktelk is a banger we deserved, modern, addicting. i hope for a top 10 for lithuania

8. italy - E LA CUMBIA DELLA NOIA💃💃 a true mediterranean banger, with amazing lyrics an overall full package, angelina is super charismatic, she’s a breath of fresh air for italy for sure

9. portugal - it wasn’t even my winner of fdc but i just fell in love with this after seeing that performance. it’s so elegant, calm, the lyrics are truly moving, everything in both the song and the fdc performance is so well thought out. some people will say it’s just another portuguese ballad but i think it stands out with its grace amongst the others

10. greece - it’s pop but an experimental one, mixing reggaeton maybe some hyperpop elements even? zari is greek to its core and while being very ethnic it’s also innovative and fresh. i constantly find myself humming this song. i can see it doing really well or finishing in bottom 5 - everything depends on the staging. but i love it i hope greece won’t be afraid to continue this more experimental route

11. ireland - my alternative heart is so happy to see a song and a performer like this on esc. you either live doomsday blue or hate it - i loved it form the first listen. it’s dark alluring enigmatic angry - an experience overall

12. spain - ever since it won benidorm my brain just randomly goes ZORRA‼️ ZORRA ‼️ZORRA ‼️in the middle of the day. it’s not even a guilty pleasure it’s just pure pleasure. i love how unapologetic this song is, the message of it, pure fun and celebration

13. ukraine - i absolutely love it as i do with almost every ukrainian entry although i have to admit it grew off me a little bit. it’s still a contender for the win in may and i wouldn’t be mad tbh. it’s a well made, powerful entry, ukraine always delivers

14. croatia - same like with the previous one it grew off me a little bit but it’s still a banger. this is croatia’s best shot at getting a top10 result and i wish them all the best. it’s pure fun and craziness

15. serbia - this year lacks ballads sm, so serbia (and portugal) have the chance to stand out bringing a cool down in between the chaos. ramonda is calm and reflective and so beautiful evoking all the right emotions. it feels very intimate even on a huge stage. i love meaning of the lyrics

16. sweden - is it a basic pop song? yes? did it also brought me to my knees with this beat and the staging? also yes. like i’m the biggest sweden hater but omg i just can’t help but bang to this song. it’s addicting. the norwegian twins have a pass from me

17. san marino - the funniest thing of this nf season. this not as good as arcadia but it’s still megara with their original style and a great vibe. if san marino fails to qualify with this then idk really.

18. armenia - ITS SO CUTE. it puts a smile on my face fr. ethnic banger through and through kind reminds me of trenuletul in a way (also there’s this polish party song “prawy do lewego” and idk if it’s just me but they have such similar vibes, i would absolutely go drunk dancing to “jako”)

19. denmark - idk i think i just have to have this one very basic song that i like for some reason. this year it’s sand. it’s really pleasing for some reason. nothing special as i said but i like it

20. georgia - your token ethnic girl pop. and that’s exactly it, it is a good song in this particular genre. and for this exact reason i can’t rank it higher. it’s good enough for me to put it here. still i am hoping for a q firm grorgia like let’s be real they deserve it more than anyone (with latvia ofc)

21. finland - camp. just camp. some people say that you either love or hate it but really i think it’s just fine. it doesn’t throw me off with its weirdness but it doesn’t excite me in any way. it’s just a weird little song in the middle of my ranking. but we’ll see if europe thinks it’s too much or exactly what we need. i can see it nqing

22. latvia - it was their best shot at q (although i still kinda mourn “kur?” it was such a nice song) but idk if they’ll manage to do that. it’s a strong powerful entry, but it can get a little lost in this years mix. dons is an amazing vocalis and if we had juries in the semis i know they would appreciate this song but with current system i’m not so sure

23. france - another ok song. i don’t really like the yelling ballad type but i have to admit this is well made. i’m still hoping for the revamp

24. poland - we had better options but this is also fine. an ok pop song, that’s it

25. australia - it’s extremely dated, it gives 2016. but it kinda started growing on me???? i love the usage of the aboriginal instruments and language it’s something original and i’m here for that.

26. moldova - again it’s fine it’s ok. but it doesn’t stand out much. moldova didn’t have better options (expept tudor bumbac) but it’s a let down compared to previous years

27. uk - i had such high hopes looking at the names involved in this song but ultimately it’s a let down. i’d does nothing for me. it’s well made once again but it leaves with zero emotions. comes and goes. kinda sad that they brought such a big name and yet failed to bring an engaging song

28. austria - this is so cringy. girlie is telling me that we will rave and then pulls out the most 2002 eurodance drop known to humankind?????? i mean it’s a swedish reject and it shows. in a way it is fun but more because it’s funny. idk i don’t hate it i just have a beef with it

29. azerbaijan - i’m very happy to hear the azeri language finally debut on esc. but the song is fine at best and bland at worst.

30. czechia - i know there will be a revamp but i’m judging the current version. this saddens and a lot. aiko has so much potential and this song fails to showcase it. it’s very american pop rock esque but kinda on a budget. i wanted to se aiko on esc but not like this :((

31. malta - a few revamps too many. nothing special really, average girl pop.

32. germany - this sounds like a last place i’m sorry😭😭 they’re asking for to atp. the guy is a good vocalist but this song is stuck in 2014

33. cyprus - this is just lazy. when will the cypriot hod learn that by doing the same thing over and over again they won’t replicate their 2018 succès. that was a one time thing and buying more songs form sweden and giving them to people with vague connections to the county won’t do them any good.

34. albania - they just sabotaged themselves with this revamp. it wasn’t a particularly good song before but the english language killed any originality it had left

35. luxembourg - this is just really unfortunate. coming back after 30 years with not even a swedish reject but singing dug up from a swedish dumpster? kinda sad for them but that’s what you get for rejecting your artists ogriginal songs in favour for shwdish bought ones

36. iceland - what i a travel agency advertisement is this? it’s not even about bashar loosing, this song is just bad. the only one this year i can use that word for. luxembourg and albania are whatever but this is just unlistenable for me. hera bjork is an icon already she didn’t need a comeback especially not this one.

thank you for reading for anyone who managed to get this far. i still have many things to say about some songs and nf performances that happened while i was inactive on here. and maybe rant about the STUPID system changes that they want to implement. but i still won’t be watching esc this year. and i won’t be active on here during the esc week (exams) so i just wanted to say that this could’ve been the best esc year ever, with amazing songs visuals hosts etc. but ebu decided to use all that to promote a genocide. so instead of uniting in genocide i hope that the amazing artist of 2024 will unite in humanity and raise their voice against the atrocities that ebu decided to ignore for the sake of money

[therealvikingstrash]

On Second Glance

My entry for the prompt Red Rose of @vikingsevents Valentine's Week. I had actually planned something else, but suddenly these two were there and here we are. No warnings needed. (drabble under the cut)

-♡-

Gunnhild arrived late to the restaurant. Her girlfriend Amma made reservations and had been waiting for her. In her hurry, she didn’t spare the single red rose on the table more than a swift glance to acknowledge it, instead kissing Amma in greeting and apologizing for the delay. 

They were chatting about their day while eating the food and Gunnhild enjoyed the retro aesthetic more than she liked to admit. And Amma… her beautiful Amma, with her soft smile. Part of her wished they were at home, so she could take her in her arms until the stress she’d felt today would dissipate. The smile turned a bit mysterious and Gunnhild frowned in question. 

Only when Amma’s eyes flitted down to the rose between them– that Gunnhild had halfway declared table decorations in her mind– did she notice the silver ring around its green and thornless stem. For a moment Gunnhild was speechless. They usually weren’t the most romantic couple when it came to big gestures and this wasn’t big by a long stretch, but huge for their relationship. Gunnhild carefully took the rose in hand and tried to slip the ring off without bending the leaves too far they'd break. “Is there a chance this is just a Valentine’s present?” she asked, unwilling to misinterpret the situation. 

Amma wordlessly held her palm up for the ring and took Gunnhild’s right hand. “I heard it is the ultimate Valentine’s gift,” she told her. “A promise to spend every Valentine’s together until we get tired of each other.” Amma played with the ring, uncertain if she was allowed to slip it on Gunnhild’s finger. “The question is, if you want this…me.”

Gunnhild moved her hand so the ring would easily fit over her knuckles, “I will never get tired of you.” She leaned over their small table and carefully pulled Amma’s hand towards her to softly kiss her palm, resulting in a bright smile from her. They’d been friends for all their lives, had witnessed relationships, casual lovers and marriages of each other, same as the following divorce, before they finally got together. Gunnhild would be a liar if she said she never thought about marrying Amma before. Her girlfriend had simply beat her to popping the question.

Their relationship was like nothing she’d ever experienced with her exes. The comfort, deep love and trust was something Gunnhild had always hoped to find in her previous partners, only to get disappointed by the lack thereof. And even though she would love to skip all the failed relationships to be with her girlfriend right from the start– to have a fairytale love at first sight story– she knew they’d been valuable lessons and her and Amma wouldn’t have been too great for each other back then. Inexperienced and possibly too adventurous to appreciate the bond.

It was only fitting that she saw the ring on second glance, much like Amma. 

-♡-

[themuselesswriter]

Kattegat Dessert and Sweets

Characters: Ragnar Lothbrok, Rollo Lothbrok, Floki, Bjorn, Ubbe, Hvitserk, Sigurd, Ivar, Aslaug, Lagarths, Torvi

Summary: in a world, where Vikings is a reference to the workers of a sweets cafe, Ragnar Lothbrok, runs a cafe with the aid of his five sons, a documentary about their work and life is being filmed by a show named Behind the glass doors, that shows the struggles of being a worker of a successful place, the stress, the tears, the laughs, the breakdowns, all exclusive. Basically an AU where our beloved Vikings are in a modern setting and instead of invading lands they make cupcakes and cookies.

Word count: 13323

Warnings: alcoholism, ptsd, implied death, drugs

A/N: this is unfinished work which will probably remain unfinished because the writer is museless but you can still enjoy it

Credits: Filter -viking by me, image- pintrest

———————————Teaser————————————

Kattegat, the famous dessert and sweets cafe which everyone is obsessed with nowadays, the hipsters like the authenticity of the place and now, you need to book a table to eat here on the weekends! Kattegat has been in the Lothbrok family for a few years now, Ragnar Lothbrok bought it from Mr. Haraldson, it is now run by Ragnar Lothbrok and his five sons, but life’s never been as magical as it seems.

11:30 a.m.

A fiftyish years old man entered an office in the back of the restaurant with the cameramen following him, filming everything, not leaving any details out, he seemed both, uncomfortable and eager “remind me, how does this work?” He asked as a nametag showed on the left Ragnar Lothbrok, manager, it read “we’ll film every second of your lives for the next week, and use the clips in an exclusive show that’s called behind the glass doors, you’ll have to do interviews and such, it’s like keeping up with the Kardashians, only better and it’s for people who actually earned their fame through hard work” the man behind the camera replied “oh, I’m familiar with that show” Ragnar replied with a smile.

“alrighty then! Let’s start! When did you buy this place?” The voice said again “I bought it when my son, Bjorn was only a child... I believe around ten? I’m bad with dates, I was broke, not the infamous Ragnar, I lived in a studio apartment with Lagartha and my two children, I was just a dish boy at first, cleaning up after people, Haraldson fired me for wanting a promotion” he laughed “I disappeared for a while, worked hard in different jobs, then I heard Haraldson was selling the place, me, Lagartha, Rollo, and Floki… We put our money together and bought it, and now we own branches in Iceland and France!”

“How did you come up with the dessert idea?” The voice asked again “well, funny, it started as a cupcake shop, we had cupcakes to die for, we still make them, Lagartha always liked cupcakes, one day I thought what if we make cookies too? Lagartha didn’t like it, she said we should focus on cupcakes they are our masterpiece, and leave others, for now, I refused… our first try to sell cookies, wasn’t successful and it caused problems, plenty, eventually, Lagartha left the job, then me, Bjorn and Gida with her, then Aslug came and I started a new life, had children… four, and developed the shop, you know, life goes on, but most of those desserts are Bjorn’s ideas, he’s an explorer! He comes up with something new all the time!”

“How’s life as a manager?” , “as the manager, I have to deal with papers more than anything, I’m retiring soon though, all of my children have a role here, Bjorn will take my place as manager, Ubbe will be hall manager, Hvitserk will run the kitchen, Sigurd will handle the social media and Ivar will do the economic stuff, all I did by myself when I was younger but now I can rely on my boys.” Ragnar replied then looked at a family portrait on the wall

“what about Gida?” The man asked “Gida’s more into a simple life, restaurant stress isn’t for her, she’s helping refugees in Saudan instead as a teacher�� The next minute was Ragnar going through papers and checking up on their other branches, the France branch was on fire but Iceland needed more work according to their latest statics

02:05 p.m.

Two tall men were whispering to each other in a corner, as the camera went closer the name tags appeared reading Bjorn, the hall manager, and Ubbe, the host. it was midday and more than half of the tables were taken “boys please, keep your mics on you all the time! It’s in the contract!” The producer, Holly Smith begged behind the camera “apologies, we were talking about a private matter” Bjorn said bowing his head “you agreed, no secrets or privacy for the next week, if you gonna discuss dirty matters, the whole world gotta hear it” she replied and the boys laughed

“dirty matters? No! We were discussing what to put for tomorrow’s special!” Bjorn laughed “yeah, our lives is that boring, that when we have a chance we discuss even more food matters” Ubbe added.

“I don’t believe that! But since we’re talking food special... Can we know what it will be?” the voice behind the camera asked “no spoilers! That’s the first rule in show business” Bjorn winked at the camera then looked at the door as it opened, he nudged Ubbe’s arm and sighed “we have a case of thirty-nine” the camera turned and showed four middle-aged women walking in, Ubbe walked to them and greeted them then helped them find a seat.

Continue reading

[hecohansen31]

I Could Have Another You In A Minute

Gunnhild+Ingrid (Modern AU)

“To the left, to the left Everything you own in the box to the left In the closet, that's my stuff Yes, if I bought it, please don't touch (Don't touch) And keep talking that mess that's fine But could you walk and talk at the same time And, it's my name that's on that jag So remove your bags, let me call you a cab “

“Irreplaceable” by Beyoncé

(A/N): Hello there lovelies!

I have decided to write a few different fics since we are in pride month, to honor all the different shades of love (I obviously know that this is an extremely commercial thing, but I just wanted you to know that you are more than welcome to request this kind of fics, if you are interested!).

I have another one pubblished on my AO3 (of the same name), and I’ll try to upload it here too!

I hope that Bjorn’s stans will know that this is just me messing around with a ptompt and I don’t mean no offense (although Bjorn to me is like that husband on the show ‘Seeking Sisters Wives’, whose wife broke down crying because she didn’t want a polyamorous relationship and he simply just stood there) (also no offense to polyamorous relationships, this isn’t my intent, and I do think that show portrays ‘poly-love’ in the worst way possible).

I really hope you’ll like this idea, although it is different from my usual, and if you end up actually liking it, please do give me some feedback, if you feel like it.

Feedback always helps us writers in feeling motivated and writing more, so if it pleases you, don’t forget to leave a comment or a reblog, if you liked it.

Feedback makes our heart beat and our fingers write faster!

Have a nice reading!

WARNINGS: Cheating, Slight Mention of Sex, Slight Misogyny (Girl-On-Girl Hate)

Gunnhild hadn’t thought this day would come.

Certainly, she hadn’t thought that a man like Bjorn with two previous disastrous marriages would have been truly faithful to her till death did them apart.

But at the same time, she hadn’t thought it’d happen this soon.

And in this way.

She had started noticing Bjorn straying away from her bed and her arms, but she hadn’t thought much about it, mostly because they had both always been pretty independent from each other, something she had prided herself with.

Which turned out the same thing that had brought her husband away from her.

Making him tired of her.

Alongside the pretty blonde thing that had been keeping company at him by night.

Her name was Ingrid.

She was the secretary at the corporation Bjorn ruled over, after he had been able to disentangle it from his younger brother’s hands, mostly thanks to Gunnhild.

It felt strange for her to see that so many things that she had done being the ones that had pushed Bjorn in Ingrid’s awaiting arms.

Almost as if she had been the one pushing him in them.

She was a pretty thing, certainly a bit younger than Gunnhild, and immediately the wife had known what her husband had seen in his lover: the promise of a renewed youth through her thighs and her pretty smiles.

She had once caught Bjorn in such a ritual, pushing himself as some graceless boar between the thighs of the slender woman, in a way that had made Gunnhild question if this was the way he also acted with her in bed.

If she had been simply too blinded by the need to please him, to make him feel like she enjoyed truly rusty bedroom antics to notice how truly awful Bjorn looked, old and almost funny in his search for eternal youth.

That had been the first time she had caught them, together, in his office.

And at first, she had hated Ingrid with all her heart.

She now recognized that it had been one attempt to shift the blame away from the man who had done the true act of betrayal, because although it indeed took two to cheat, it was her husband who had decided to fall in the temptation of a pretty face.

He should have known better.

He had a devoted wife.

Somebody who had given up her entire career to be with him.

Gunnhild, fierce and strong Gunnhild, one of the best lawyers in entire Norway if not Scandinavia, had decided to become a soft-spoken trophy-wife for Bjorn Ironside, taming the wildness in her wicked ways that her previous husband had loved so so much.

The result had been awkward.

She wasn’t well-liked in the social circles.

She wasn’t one to smile at photographers or to hold her tongue, meanwhile Bjorn and his colleagues spoke of the latest harassment lawsuit they had avoided with a hefty sum.

It was tiring on the long run.

But for a long time, she had blamed for it.

But she had thought it would have made Bjorn happy.

It would have made him stop his antics of chasing skirt after skirt.

She had also used this to justify Bjorn’s cheating ways.

So, for a long time, she had been quietly raging against Ingrid, meanwhile her husband chased her skirt, but didn’t decide in the slightest to end things with Gunnhild, keeping her good and at his own use, anytime he needed.

But it was all coming to an end.

She could feel it.

This was simply a temporary situation.

So, she hadn’t been surprised when Bjorn had asked to talk about the ‘Ingrid’s situation’.

But she hadn’t expected to hear what he uttered.

‘I want her and you’ he had spoken almost as if he should have been flattered of it ‘… she is… she is what is missing in our relationship’.

And those words had been her blessing.

Those words had opened her closed eyes.

And she had realized that it had been Bjorn who had been missing something, not her.

Because she had been happy in this relationship…

… most of the time…

And if something was missing…

… it wasn’t Ingrid.

He would have chased again new skirts and new women, after her.

No matter her.

No matter if Gunnhild accepted this or not.

He liked the thought of being able to pry away the innocence of the most resilientgirls  like he had done with Gunnhild and he enjoyed even more the thought of silly young things like Ingrid flocking at him in admiration, like a small girl that had to learn the world.

And he was the solely one who could teach her.

But it was all huge bullshit.

And she had finally realized it.

‘Honestly Bjorn… I don’t think that it’d be fair…’ she had spoken and immediately Bjorn had started pleading and then he had pouted, almost as a silly child, who had been denied his favorite toy.

But Gunnhild slept lovely at that sound.

As she planned her own revenge.

If Bjorn wanted to chase youth through the things of some basic secretary, why couldn’t she do the same.

With the same girl.

The following morning, she had blamed her own bad humor and answer to her period, knowing that Bjorn wouldn’t have questioned such thing.

He never questioned anything as long as it profited him.

‘But I’d like to know more of this Ingrid before agreeing to this lifestyle’ she had spoken, as they ate breakfast, enjoying the way Bjorn’s face crooked in a confused expression ‘… I haven’t seen much more of her than her ass, and I’ll have to soon share an house with her and an husband. I’d like to test if she is a proper addiction to our life’.

She had particularly enjoyed the small bicker that had ensued after, as Bjorn tried his best to mark up his authority, suggesting there was no need for such a control, but in the end the strenuous lawyer, that Gunnhild was, had won her also this case.

And the chase had begun.

Ingrid, at first, had seemed wary of her and her nearness.

Certainly it wasn’t an everyday thing that the wife of your lover came to your house for an afternoon tea with no desire to slap you as in the worst telenovelas or beg you to leave her husband alone.

Gunnhild had simply told her Bjorn’s plans, insisting on a few details…

… intimate details that had left Ingrid a bit hot on the cheeks.

And she had enjoyed the sight of it.

Maybe a bit more than it was proper for her plan.

But soon it had all started its motion, as she made sure to pass more and more time with Ingrid, making her feel comfortable in her presence, to the point that anybody in a crowd would have thought that they were the bestest of friends.

If not straight up girlfriends.

And it was nice that Ingrid seemed far more than the typical ‘I fuck the boss’ girl.

A good dash of wickedness in her eyes held an ambition that spoke directly to Gunnhild’s own heart.

‘I’d like to be something more than a secretary, but…’ she had once mentioned, meanwhile they drank a coffee after one of their shopping trips (she and Gunnhild seemed to get an immense satisfaction at wrecking Bjorn’s credit cards) ‘… but it isn’t easy, when you don’t have the connections and people see you as too pretty than to be anything but  a wife’.

It had seemed strange to hear that Ingrid had problems like that and something in Gunnhild had softened, and the artificial interest she had been having for their last meetings had become more genuine, till the point that Gunnhild had started becoming more and more interested in Ingrid.

She wanted to see the woman behind the cover of the ‘perfect girl’ she put up.

Something that could have completely ruined her plan.

Hence on one of their ‘dates’ she had asked Ingrid.

‘Tell me something, Ingrid, and don’t even try to lie’ she had focused her steely eyes on the beautiful blonde woman in front of her, who, in her favor, hadn’t backed down from the other woman’s stare, leaning in instead ‘… do you have any intention of using my husband?’.

She had seemed truly shocked by her insinuation and for a moment Gunnhild had thought that she had undervalued Ingrid’s interest and ambition and then the woman had breathed.

“Yes, I do” and it had been almost as if Pandora’s vase had opened “… he doesn’t see me as anything more than a pretty decent fuck, he has been lurching off me for the fucking energy that I give him, for the status of having such a young lover, why should I not take something from him, as well? This way we’ll both gain something from it’.

And Gunnhild hadn’t ever smiled larger.

‘Well then I have a proposition for you’.

They had brought themselves away from Bjorn’s grasps, denying him constantly the pleasure of your intimacy, meanwhile some sort of intimacy grew between them, to the point that a clumsy kiss happened, after too much wine and a few laughs to Bjorn’s expenses, on a retreat in Ingrid’s apartment.

‘You see me’ Ingrid had spoken ‘… you have your eyes open even when they are closed, and you see me as more than a pretty face’.

‘I see you as the devious minx that you truly are, Ingrid’ her words were aggressive, as the kiss she planted on her lips ‘… and I like it very much’.

And they had found themselves in bed.

And Ingrid upon her had looked like a true masterpiece.

And felt even better.

Bjorn the following day had found the divorce papers already signed.

And a special text from Ingrid.

Gunnhild now had her eyes open now and she never intended to go back to when they were closed.

---

Tagging List:

@volvaaslaug​

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[bellane-rosewood]

Expressionless

Modern! Ivar x reader

Summary: You attend Torvi and Ubbes’ engagement party and have to face Ivar after breaking up. You have a plan to ignore his existence and he doesn’t like that. 

Angst, Fluff and some steamy make out scenes🥴

Word Count: 2.4k

Wrote this at 3:40am so probably not coherent or structured but for the love of god Ivar is just so goddamn beautiful🤧

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today was Torvi and Ubbe’s engagement party which meant that today you would have to buck up and face Ivar again. You hadn’t seen or spoken to him since moving out of his apartment a year ago and you couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably as you recalled that painful memory that plucked itself from deep inside your brain to the forefront. 

He wore a bland expression, slouching against the door frame as you held a box containing the last of your lives together. Not a word was spoken between the two of you, instead you stared your goodbyes at each other, one mournful the other expressionless.

“You know we don’t have to go in right?”

Hvitserk’s kind words pulled you out of your own head and instead into the car which had now parked in Torvi and Bjorn’s street. You had dreaded the thought of attending this alone so once Hvitserk offered to be your ‘date’ for the evening you jumped at the chance and couldn’t thank him enough.

In fact the only thing that made you feel like you had repaid him for his kindness was taking him out and shouting his drinks for the night, which had ended up being the most expensive and chaotic night out of your life. 

You looked from the window to Hvitserk and threw your best sarcastic yes-I’m-fine-let’s-do-this-and-get-this-over-with smiles which made a large cheeky grin bloom on his face, that look would’ve made your heart swell if not for you being still very much in love with his brother. 

Linked arm in arm you made your way to the door, Hvitserk giving his best comedy routine on the way to make you less tense, which worked quite well and you felt a bit more loose and at ease. You would have to shout another night out when your pockets have recovered.

“Y/n! Hvitserk! I’m so glad you could make it, come in come in!” Torvi hollered as she swung open the door and gave you a bone crushing hug. It felt really good to see her again, you had got along with her so well when you and Ivar had still been together and although you had said that you both would keep in touch neither of you heard from each other as often, gradually growing apart.

You gave Ubbe a quick, tight hug before handing him some wine and exclaiming your biggest congratulations for their engagement, turning towards Torvi who now had led you and Hvitserk to the others in the lounge room. 

It was there your eyes met with Ivar and his yours. All noise seemed to drown out as you held each other's gaze. All the history between the two of you had flown out of your head, completely forgotten and once again completely smitten with the handsome, prideful idiot. That was, until your eyes connected with the woman attached to his arm, the blonde beauty who flung her head back giving a big hearty laugh so loud it was as if she was making her presence known. 

Seeing him cosying up with the woman he told you not to worry about left your heart torn once again and you couldn’t help the hurt flashing on your face before you could muster back that fake easy breezy mask you wore. Your gaze turned back to Torvi who was now joined by Gunnhild and Aslaug, only just noticing that the two other women had joined, replacing Hvitserk and Ubbe who had left someplace else in the room. 

All three women looked at you with worry, it was understandable since this situation wasn’t ideal. You and your ex partner in the same room watching his new lover smother him with affection and him reciprocating. 

This was definitely going to be a tough night but you had always considered yourself tough, and this night was about Torvi and Ubbe so you were going to only focus on them and the celebration of their love. Besides you figured as long as you didn’t interact with Ivar and Freydis, you could pretend they weren't here, or better yet that they didn’t exist. 

This plan had worked for most of the night, in fact it was working so well you found yourself enjoying the company of people you hadn’t realised you missed. They had become your family during your relationship and your loss of Ivar had overshadowed your loss of his family, which came to light tonight. 

“We’ve run out of wine!” Torvi shouted, attempting to stand from the rich leather lounge we all were seated on. 

She must’ve had most of said wine since her attempt to stand failed and she fell if not gracefully back down onto Ubbe’s lap. Finishing your glass, you offered to fill hers and grab another bottle which led you into the kitchen where you were now looking for the place they kept their wine. 

You had checked nearly everywhere except the bottom cabinet which had you kneeling and crouched into and despite your labour no wine was to be found. Frustrated you hung your head, still half inside the cabinet, and let out an exasperated grunt. 

“Having some trouble?” 

A much too familiar, accented voice broke the silence and frightened you to the point of jumping out of your skin and in doing so hitting the top of your head on the roof of the cabinet. 

“Ow! God damn it!” You shouted cradling your minorly wounded head as you crawled out and reluctantly looked towards the owner of the voice. 

He so quickly crouched and inspected the damage done, in doing so dropping his crutch. The delicious warmth you had longed for many a night radiating from his body made you tingle. Your breathing hitched when you connected with his eyes, those intense blue eyes that made you shiver with one look despite showing little to no emotion. 

“Are you okay?” Ivar asked, still holding his hand gingerly and gently to the bump growing on your head. Snapped out of the trance he held you in, you broke all contact with him which left you immediately cold and longing for his touch. You scrambled to your feet, subconsciously grabbing his crutch and handing it to him, which made his chest swell with love or guilt he wouldn’t know but this went unknown by you. 

“Yes, completely fine, no need to worry!” spoken rapidly, you focused only on getting the words off your tongue and into the tense air that surrounded the two of you. Just the two of you. You realised you were somewhat alone with Ivar and this made you all the more sensitive to his gaze and attention, you felt everything, the hurt and longing and lust and pain. 

Silence fell among you and Ivar, both just looking at each other, your hands tentatively smoothing your dress that had bunched at your hips. His expression closed and unreadable, obviously not matched with your nervous and contorted one.  

He pointed towards a cupboard after some time had passed and you hadn’t even registered that cupboard in your search.. You felt the blood come rushing to your cheeks as his eyebrows raised in amusement, you felt a flush of embarrassment pass through you as you had scoured every inch of the kitchen and missed such a big obvious storage space. Not being able to bear the embarrassment any longer you spun in that direction, opening the cupboard and staring at all the wine, willing your wits and composure to come back. 

You cursed yourself for being so ill prepared in the slight chance you would find yourself alone with Ivar. You should have been prepared, how good it would feel to show him you're not at all affected by his presence. Yet despite this wish, you couldn’t help but relish in the tingle that shot up your spine as you felt his presence emerge close behind you. His hardened, rough hand clasped around your arm to turn you around to face him. 

Not one feeling hung on his face, not one. You had always liked the anger that raged wildly for you to see  when you had fought. It meant you had an affect on him, he cared enough about you that he would yell and scream at you, for you, with you, it didn’t matter. He loved you. So once that had worn off and nothing you did could provoke a response as passionate as that broke the remaining tethers of your relationship.  

His once again bored, structured face awakened a primal feeling inside you. Anger. Violence and rage. It toppled to the surface with ease, you’ve never been able to keep things down, you’re a lover, someone who believed that emotion was an essence of life. 

The wild violence and anger that raged inside you heightened to levels unknown as you stared at him waiting for him to do anything. Here you were still feeling every ounce of love you had for this man, still feeling the pain dull and sharpen time and time again since he ruined us. And him? He stood towering over you, shoving his uncaring and bored expression in your face, having the gall to follow you to the kitchen after being so affectionate to her. 

SLAP! 

Oh gods. You did it now.

Ivar’s expression finally matched yours, shock. It had happened without your control, your body took the reins, although you hadn’t tried hard to keep the driver's seat. Anticipation brimmed your movements as your widened gaze glanced from his eyes to your hand that had stilled in the air, awaiting for whatever his response may be, you couldn’t suppress the pride that swelled within you. You had finally managed to affect Ivar again and it thrilled you to watch Ivar’s face snap from expressionless to absolutely bewildered from your hand. 

Ivar is extremely intelligent, especially in reading body language, so all that pride and anger and lust that swelled in your chest was ever so easy to read on your face. He had been feeling so many emotions tonight as he absorbed your presence, barely able to keep his poker face. 

Basically everyone had sensed his shift whenever you spoke, smiled or laughed. He had forgotten how effortlessly you made people laugh, how your eyes crinkled with laughter or the soft dimples that graced your face when you smiled. And although Freydis still hung on his arm he couldn’t help but let his mind wander to the softness of your skin. 

He shouldn’t, he chose Freydis. He had always thought Freydis was his soulmate, after their relationship had ended he was broken and you had helped put his pieces together. He loved Freydis, you were his rebound that lasted a little too long. So he felt confused at his longing for you, he willed you to look at him throughout the night with those doe eyes but you didn’t. You acted like he did not exist, which annoyed him to no end. It was decided. He would get you to see him. 

With your wild eyes boring into his awaiting his response, he got what he wanted, for you to notice him. He also noticed you, becoming aware of your chest that brushed against him with every deep and rapid breath coming from you. He relished in your scent that he had almost forgotten, so fresh and light and a tad bit powdery from the perfume you wore. It filled his chest with every inhale, it was like an aphrodisiac, and it launched him towards you, crushing his lips and body on yours. 

You gasped in the kiss but couldn’t help but fall into it, knees weak from the intensity of him and this whole night. Your hands snaked from his chest to his hair, pulling and clutching at the short length. His hands found the dip of your back and your ass, caressing and gripping it roughly. The energy and heat that bounced between the both of you made it all the more enticing, pushing the adrenaline through your veins. 

It was definitely sexual but their was a need and longing for each other mixed in the motions. You couldn’t pull away from each other, cursing your need for oxygen you whipped your head up for breath and he continued his attack moving to your neck, the bottles jostling from your back hitting them, the fervent gripping and grinding making them clink and slosh. 

“Y/n?”

Hvitserk’s voice broke you out of the trance Ivar had you in, and immediately you shoved him away. You couldn’t believe how you let him back in so easily, he had hurt you so deeply that it took six months to even get the damn sweatpants off. 

Ivar looked at you dazed and a little annoyed at the newfound distance you had put between the two of you. Tears brimmed your eyes, you hated the way he made you feel and yet the loneliness just from the little distance between you two now made you dread going home to your empty bed, but he made his choice and you were too stubborn to beg him to reconsider his relationship with Freydis.

You will yourself, remember how embarrassed you were when you found out he had rekindled with his ex, the love of his life. You could barely look at anyone who knew, each pitiful gaze casted in your direction made your blood boil. It was all his fault and here you were destroying all that work and progress to move on for what could only be seen as a romp in a bloody closet. 

You rushed out of the cupboard, shoving past him, emotions were on a high now and you couldn’t bear the thought of going back to everyone. You asked Hvitserk to take you home without looking him in the eye. And he did, no questions asked. That was the best thing about Hvitserk, he knew when to pry and when to leave it alone. So finally reaching home after a depressing drive back, you gave him a kiss on the cheek, thanked him for everything and that you would call him tomorrow. 

You would also have to remember to call Torvi and apologise for leaving so abruptly, you hoped she wasn’t upset with you but that guilt was short lived as you recalled what had occurred between you and Ivar. 

Unsure of what this meant between the two of you, you couldn’t help but smile. You got a rise out of him which means he still cares, right?

[honestsycrets]

How About Now? | [Hvitserk x Reader]

❛ pairing | modern!hvitserk x reader

❛ type | oneshot

❛ type | you won’t give hvitserk sex. he’s pretty sure he’s gonna die. 

❛ request | Hey, me again ! I was thinking modern Hvitserk dating a plus-size girl and they still haven’t had sex. One day, he confronts her about it and she admits she has never felt comfortable during sex because of shitty lovers probably. Our puppy shows her how a man can enjoy her body 😏. Thanks 🥰 @alicedopey

❛  tw tags | self-conscious reader, plus size reader, drinking.

❛ sy’s notes | listen, okay, its just not my time to write smut and i’m sorry XD I’ll throw some headcanons out there.

Hvitserk was a good boy.

But a good boy who needed sex. He could stay and be good. He swore that he could. But… he was a boy that needed some lovin’ when he was out with his brothers, showing off their girls at dinner. Even Ivar, who Freydis hung off of. His brothers and their wives were all there. While that was good and well, Hvitserk sat holding the neck of his bottle.

He hears your heels clacking in the background. The house party was coming to an end. Torvi made quick work of the dishes while you wiped things down. Gunnhild, of course, helped with Sigurd who rathered the company of women to the annoying bicker of his brothers.

“So,” Ivar says, drawing circles on Freydis’s thigh. “Did you do it?” 

Hvitserk peeps up, recognizing that arrogant prick’s shit-eating grin. He doesn’t know how Ivar heard about their sex life. But nonetheless, Ivar watched all night in fascination as Hvitserk tried his usual moves to no avail. 

“You know the answer to that, Ivar.” 

Hvitserk brings the rim of the mouth of the bottle to his lips, chugging now. Ivar opens his lips to speak again when Hvitserk lurches up, swishing his bottle as if to indicate that it was empty. He trudges to the window where you peered outside, a small skiff of rain pelting the oversoaked grass. It had been raining relentlessly the past few days. 

“Raining?” Hvitserk chucks the bottle in its receptacle. 

“Been raining all week,” you return, looking over your shoulder to Hvitserk. He slid behind you with a low voice, quavering as he slid his hand over your thigh. Of course, he wouldn’t get far. Not with whatever it was bothering you, bothering you. It made it hard to think when you took his hand like that and slid it away from your warmth to your hip. 

“Not now,” you say, and slip away to show his brothers out before the storm began pelting the ground with renewed force. When they were safely out, you find Hvitserk there again-- slumped on the couch with his bottle between his fingers. His head felt light. Like the bottle between his fingertips sucked away all the worries. Whatever kind of mystery crack shit genie of no sex for you was in there, he wasn’t sure. 

“Babe?” you call at last. 

He turns up his crestfallen face, grinning his best ‘make it work!’ face he could muster. All he could do was to tell himself that it would pass, but eventually, he knew he would lose interest. There were only so many times he could be thrown off before he would say, fuck it! At least… if you would not explain why. 

“Hvitserk?” you prompt again.

Hvitserk has gone pallid, finishing off another beer in the time you showed his family out. “Can I grab the spare?” 

“Don’t you want to come cuddle?” 

There’s only so fuckin’ much a man wanted to cuddle. But he doesn’t want to say that when you looked so hopeful for it. Your soft cheeks pressing your lips together in a bright pout. Hvitserk hardly wanted to say no. 

“I’m kinda smashed.” 

You nod emphatically, reaching down to your thick ankles. He watches your dress rise as you loosen the straps to your heels, the slit raising to show the silky line of your panties. Its a strange sensation for sure to be so afraid of his boners. Mostly, because he knew that it wouldn’t go anywhere. But maybe that’s what annoyed him. 

“Liking what you see,” you flirt. His head drops back, the familiar throb of his cock hurting his head as much as his heart. The need is distant like a deep ache in his stomach that he just can’t will away. 

“Why are you fuckin’ doin’ this to me,” Hvitsek snaps, and he doesn’t feel it really, but the tears are beading at his eyes. You step out of your shoes in surprise, rising up to look at him. Hvitserk never cried. Not that he would show it, anyway. He stands up, turning away from you as he staggers toward the spare. 

You reach out to grab his hand, running your nails over his wrist and tugging him back. He drops the empty beer bottle, and your hand takes his other hand, keeping him in place. Your bright eyes focus upon him. 

“Hvitserk, what is it?” 

He doesn’t know the word for it. A want or a need for the intimacy you kept shutting him out from. “Are you not attracted to me or somethin’?”

As if that was the answer to your question, you lean back. Now he expected his own. While his brothers were ranting on their own sex lives, Hvitserk sat there with you, not saying and not denying anything. He wants intimacy. The comfortable, safe place where he could cherish you without worrying about whether he was making you happy or not.

“I…” you find the words coming out in shaky heaves. 

“Yeah,” he cuts you off, pulling his hands free. “I got it.” 

“No-- Hvitserk, no!” You stop him. His limbs were heavy and clunky, refusing to carry him to the spare bedroom where he could nurse his boner and pass out in a sea of self-deprecation. “It’s just-- sex never… works.” 

You had him there. 

“Works?” he repeats. “What--” 

“I never like it.” 

“Why?” he finds himself asking. 

“When you are my size, it is uncomfortable to make love.” You say, gliding your hands up his arm. It’s almost as if you suddenly realize that this was something he wanted. “But… I love you. I’ll do it for you.” 

You would do it for him. It’s meant to be something sweet, endearing, lovely-- but to Hvitserk, it sounds like settling. Doing it just to do it. With Hvitserk, that wasn’t something that was going to happen. 

“Sexy,” Hvitserk grumbles, and you have to laugh because it must sound as ridiculous to him as it had to you. He flicks his bottle into the trash, and in its place, his hands find their way back around the soft rolls of your waist. He pinches you there, and you swat him, blood rushing to your cheeks. “Hvitserk, knock it off.” 

“C’mon,” Hvitserk gleams, and you hate how easy it is to give credence to his words. “Gimme a chance.” 

A chance, you sigh out loud. Just one, you tell him, and he’s already outlining it in his head. You’re stepping toward the room, and he snorts gently, a soft but amused noise that reverberates off the thin walls of your home. 

“What is it?” you say. 

“C’mon,” Hvitserk pulls you toward the room, and there’s dread there, of not being ready. A chance to feel pain, or not be moist enough, or-- “Let’s cuddle.” 

Oh. That’s not at all what you thought it would be.

“Cuddle?” 

“Yeah,” Hvitserk snorts, waddling to the side. You support him with your hand to your chest. “‘M too fucked up to have sex. ‘Sides,” he pauses. “I wanna plan this out right.” 

You smile. After all that fuss, his scene about never having sex ever, he wasn’t about to do this now? “You’re a dumb-shit, Hvitserk.” 

“Yep. I know.” 

@flowers-in-your-hayr @fireangel1978 @artxfuck

@tephi101 @alicedopey @supernaturalvikingwhore @tootie-fruity @titty-teetee @queen-see-ya-in-valhalla @ethereallysimple @deathbyarabbit @deathbyarabbit @readsalot73 @natalie-rdr @lol-haha-joke @lisinfleur @hissouthernprincess @marvelousse @dangerous-like-a-loaded-pistol​ @vikingsmania @wish-i-was-a-mermaid @lif3snotouttogetyou @gruffle1 @cris101071 @gold-dragon-slayer @babypink224221 @wonderwoman292 @naaladareia @beyond-the-ashes @generic-fangirl @chinduda @laketaj24, @peaceisadirtyword, @ly–canthrope @cris101071 @daughterofthenight117 @unassumingviking @ladyofsoa, @inforapound @winchesterwife27 @feyrearcheron44@readsalot73 @squirrelacorngliterfarts @gold-dragon-slayer @medievalfangirl @sallydelys  @bluearchersstuff @affectionrabbitt @whatamood13 @notyouraveragegirl17 @igetcarriedawaywithyou @unacceptabletatertots @ivarandersen @stra-vage @tgrrose @cookies186 @learninglemni-blog @theleeshanotlouise @soiproclaim @msmorganforever

[bjornswoman]

Destruction I

Requested by none.

Author's note: Hey guys! I want to thank you for the your support. It means a lot to me. I post you a lot of things I hope you enjoy them. I am trying to make up for making you wait so long for my work. Also, I want to ask you if you want this to end like it this, or make a part two, or make it series. Let me know in the comments. Have a really nuce day you all!

Pairing: Modern!Ivar x Reader.

Genre: Modern!au, angst, sad, drama, maybe romance.

Summary: Ivar hasn't gotten over his ex.

Warnings: Jealousy, heart breaking.

Destruction | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI | Part XII

You were gazing randomly around, trying to avoid Ivar and everyone else. It was one of those fancy engagement parties. His brother Hvitserk had decided to put a ring on his girlfriend's, Thora, finger. Compared to yours and Ivar's relationship their was really fresh. You had been together for four years and he had never talked about engagement or something.

You weren't the kind of woman who craved so badly to marry, butyou got suspicious after all this time that your relationship wasn't serious for him or something like that. At first, those thoughts sounded ridiculous because you had been together all this time, but now it seemed logical.

Each one of his brothers, even Hvitserk, who everyone considered womanizer and that he would never marry, he was goimg on that step with lovely Thora. Bjorn was married with Gunnhild. Ubbe was married with Torvi. Hvitserk engaged with Thora. Sigurd was married with Brenda. And then there you are. Everyone in that kind of parties, asked when he would put a ring on your finger as well, but his expressions said it all. The way he looked at them, made people not to ask again.

Ivar was drinking scotch, sitting on his mother's couch while everyone was dancing and laughing. You weren't close to him. You didn't want to be. You were out on the the terrace, looking at the starry sky and smoking a cigarette. You were trying ti avoid people. All these fancy parties was tiring and boring.

Your mind was a mess. You could understand him. Freydis, the woman he was with before he met you, betrayed him, but after all these years you had been together, he knew you. He knew that you were nothing like her. You would never betray him by cheating. Sometimes it felt like you were on her shadow, tryimg to fix what she destroyed. Firstly, you knew that you wouldn't be compared to that woman, she seemed perfect, except her betrayal, everyone talked the best about her, except Aslaug. Aslaug was the one who told you that you were the best choice for Ivar. The best woman he could ever have by his side. The woman he deserved, who understood him and helped him open up to people.

You took the glass of gin that you were drinking and walked inside the hall, but something stopped you. Someone stopped you. You saw a certain blonde woman, wearing a fancy golden dress with black details walking smiling through the hall, greeting Thora and her name; Freydis. You tensed up and the same happened to Ivar. You eyes found him. He didn't seem interested in you, not at all. His cold blue eyes were on that woman. You could found in them more emotions than you could see when he told you that he loved you, which didn't happen many times.

It was like you couldn't breathe. Like someone had just punched hard in the stomach. She greeted everyone with a smile, except Aslaug who glared at her. Only his mother's upset eyes tried to found your figure. You were frozen at the back of the hall. All you wanted to do was to leave from there, but would be rude towards Hvitserk and Thora and everyone else. Aslaug made her way to you, who were trying to gain your pieces.

"Where is Ivar?" She asked pretending like she didn't know. Her eyes were trying to read you. That wasn't difficult for anyone to do. You were so easy to read.

"In the couch, interested in that lovely woman." You said bitterly and turned your gaze to look at her. She was upset and her eyes wasn't on you anymore, but at her son who hadn't stopped looking at his ex.

Now you were sure. Not just sure, you knew. He didn't want to marry you all these years because he wantes her. Maybe he even knew that she would be there. He acted oddly all week, but yoy didn't act better lately. You were good but only to help him get past his time, until he meet with her again and try to fix things. What a fool you were. You knew all these from the beginning, but you decided to ignore them. What a fool. What a stupid little girl.

Before Aslaug could form a word you spoke again, frustrated. You would be an even more stupid person or fool if you stayed a minute longer. It was like everyone was mocking you. And things got even worst when she made her way to Ivar, sat next to him and talked with him, smiling and laughing all this time. He seemed to trying to smile too, when all this time he was angry and fought with you.

You felt like everyone pitied you. Gunnhild and Torvi came next to you, but you weren't going to stay there anymore.

"Actually, I not going to stay here a minute longer. I think I had enough all these four years. Just tell Hvitserk and Thora that I am sorry and Ivar that I don't want to talk to him, until he is brave enough to tell me that I was just a distraction for him all these years." You said trying to hold back you tears and not cry inside there and make a fool of yourself again.

Aslaug's voice stopped you and you turned to look at her. She tried to defend him. Her favorite son, but this time you weren't going to listen anything for anyone that wasn't him, telling the fucking to truth which was that four bloody years were wasted. That you were so idiot.

"(Y/N) it's not a big deal. They are just talking." She said and you scoffed, rolling your eyes at her words.

"It's not just that Aslaug. I had enough. This—" You paused and sighed hard, trying to find the right words to continue. Your hand moved on that place between your eyes and you rubbed it. "This is just the top of the iceberg. It's not like I hadn't understood from the beginning of our relationship that he was not over his ex, but I decided to ignore it and it took us here. These past weeks we have our problems and apparently they cannot be fixed. He wants her. I was just a distraction that lasted longer than expected. And it cost four years. Four wasted years of both our lives. So I am sorry but I can't waste another minute." You spoke frustrated and then you stopped to take another sigh. You turned to leave, but before you leave, you opened your mouth again. "Actually I am not sorry." You said lastly and you walked through the hall, to reach the exit. Your heels echoed when they collided with the floor. Some of the people in the hall turned to look at you. You ignored them all. You kept walking.

You tried to stay still and not cry. You kept saying to yourself to keep going, trying not to cry until you left that fucking house. When you were out of there, the air hit your face immediately and you felt free for a moment. Tears formed in your eyes and they fell like waterfalls down to your cheeks. You hated yourself for crying for a bloody man. A man that was too coward to admit that he didn't love you and loved another woman. A woman that betrayed him. And the worst of all this; you still loved him. You couldn't stop doing that. Ivar could yell, be mean or rude at you, but you wouldn't stop loving him. That man was your worst weakness. He was your destruction.

You didn't take any more step, because a strong hand gripped your elbow and turned you around to look at the person whose hand was wrapped around your elbow. You rolled your eyes when you saw that the hand belonged to Ivar. But that was a surprise for you. You didn't expect him to understand that you had gone, but he did. On the other hand, you were his partner for the eyes of the guests. Of course it was all about his public image and you were a part of it for almost four years, or so.

"What was all those bullshit you told to my mother?" He asked you angry. You tried to free your hand and he let you. If he didn't want to, your elbow would be trapped by his hand. This man was more stubborn than a bull.

"The truth. Just tell me that you don't love me. That you never had. That you always loved that woman inside there." You started saying and pointed at the door of the Lothbrok's mansion. The tears had stopped running from your eyes. Now you were angry. You wanted to spit him. To punch him. To curse him. Anything. But you didn't you stayed there, trying to keep yourself calm. "That these four years was just waste of time, because you don't have the balls to tell me the truth." You continued. You had pushed him to the edge. You told the worst thing you could say. You enraged him, pissed him off. His jaw clenched.

"How can you blame me when you—" He started saying pissed but you didn't let him finish. He wouldn't blame you for all this.

"What did I do? Didn't I get over my ex? Did I—" He stopped you this time. You were afraid that Ivar would explode because of his anger. He had the color of the tomato on his face, but not because of shyness or something, because of his anger.

"I get it all this is because of Freydis. You are jealous of her. Don't put the blame on him and don't make me say something that you don't want to hear." This last one was obviously slipped out of his mouth accidentally. You were right. You could everything clear.

"Oh my Gods!" You hissed and placed your hand on your mouth. He understood what he said, but didn't try to fix anything by doing it even worse. "You-you don't deny anything. You-you love her. Isn't that it?" You said, holding back the tears again. You were a fool. The worst fool in the history of the fools. He didn't answer. He didn't need to. You shook your head and closed your eyes for a moment. You sighed heavy and then opened then again. He had light a cigarette and placed it in his mouth. "I hope all this thing with Freydis to be right and have a good ending. I loved you. I love you. You will always have a special place inside my heart." You spoke again and laughed bitterly. "Heart. What will remain from that thing." You said and he frowned. You didn't give him any chance to tell anything. He didn't need to say anything. Everything was clear. "Have a good life and don't let anyone treat you less than you deserve, Ivar. You are different in the good way. I know it. Don't let their jealousy and stupid, meaningless words define you. You are meant for great things." You whispered and some tears fell on your cheeks. You turned your back at him and walked out of there. Tears were still running down to your cheeks.

Your heart was broken. Ivar broke it. He had destroyed you. Indeed, he became your destruction.

[vikingsarememes]

I love your Modern Ivar fics. Could you write something about Ivar coming home after a long day’s work, in pain and angered (maybe because of Sigurd). How would the reader react? A bath? A massage? A glass of wine? It’s up to you! 💖

Pairing: Ivar x Y/N

summary: Ivar had a very bad day at work and when he returned home, Y/N was there to make it all better

warnings: mention of bullying

word count: 1701

A/N: I really hope you like this one just like I enjoyed writing it!

After months of trying you were finally pregnant with Ivar’s child, you and your spouse were finally expecting a child of your own, after everyone told you it was impossible since Ivar’s productivity was questionable, you were four months pregnant and ever since Ivar discovered the news he’d create conversations with anyone he meets just to share the news and the updates on his child’s health.

You used to work as a high school teacher, but Ivar convinced you to take a break until you safely deliver the child, at first you opposed, but then he played the cripple card, and talked about his fears, the way his voice breaks when he speaks about those subjects was your weakness, so you ended up staying home, not that it was a bad thing, it was a little boring for your likings, but eventually Ivar would return home and make it up to you, whether with endless making out sessions or cuddles.

So it wasn’t unusual for you to prepare a nice meal and wait for your husband to return from his work, he was the IT specialist at Lothbrok’s company, family business, but your man was the best in his field, you were a little worried when he was twenty minutes late, he’d usually be hugging you now but he wasn’t here, and after an hour of being late, you started panicking, it wasn’t like Ivar to be late without giving you a notice, you called his brothers and they all told you he went out on time.

After two hours your husband came, the minute he opened the door, you rushed to him and hugged him, he didn’t hug you back, you knew something was wrong instantly, you pulled away and noticed the scars on his lips and forehead “Ivar, what happened?” you asked, he wrapped his arm around your shoulder as he limped to the couch, without answering, that was his way of telling you his legs hurt, you helped him sit down and pushed the coffee table closer to him, unstrapping his leg braces and lifting his legs up, Ivar looked down the whole time, even after all those years together, he still feels embarrassed of being in so much pain, he’d never admit he’s hurt, not because of his legs at least.

You went to the kitchen and brought the first aid box from under the sink and returned to your man, treating his injuries and giving him his painkillers which he took gratefully, you sat down next to him and placed your head on his chest, he immediately wrapped his arms around you, holding you made him feel at peace, you took his free hand and placed it on your belly bump, it took him a while to soothe himself down, to gather his thoughts, you didn’t say anything, you knew your husband well enough to understand he had a terrible day, you knew him well enough to know he’ll tell you what happened when he’s ready.

“Sigurd is an asshole” he finally muttered, you looked at him, waiting for further explanations “he pushed me off the stairs” he added, you decided that Sigurd was a dead man “accidentally but not that he tried to help me get up, I hate him” he continued “what happened love?” you asked so sweetly, he breathed “Bjorn and I were talking, you know, Gunnhild is pregnant as well, five months now, so he told me about how soon we’ll be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat, he said he cries every time he hears his little ones’ heartbeat, and that the minute I’ll heart it too, I’ll be a changed man” you smiled a little, remembering in your next visit to the doctor, you’ll finally meet your baby.

“Sigurd heard, he kept acting like a bitch, Ubbe stopped him eventually, but when I was heading out, the elevator was under maintenance, I hate the stairs, I fucking hate them but I wanted to come back to you, as soon as possible, so I took them, and Sigurd was there, we descended together” he sighed and took a deep breath, “he told me to stop talking about baby stuff, it was making him sad, if the child lives, it will be a cripple or sick, and if not, then it will be even sadder because eventually they’ll learn how to walk, while I still crawl my way around sometimes” his voice was breaking with each word until you were able to see tears in his eyes, you caressed his cheeks “I talked back, of course, I did, like I always do, but he shoved me in the arm, my hand slipped from the crutches and I fell, he just walked away, without a second glance” 

“Sigurd is the worst brother of all time, don’t pay him attention” you heartened him and brushed his tears off, you got up and placed a kiss on his forehead “I’ll be right back” even though you hated leaving him alone, but after a day like this, your husband needed to relax and there’s one thing he loved to do when he wanted to relax, a fancy shower, you headed to the bathroom, and filled the bathtub with warm water, just the way he likes it, a little hotter than warm to stop his legs from aching, you put his favorite bath bomb, Jasmine’s scent, and candles, you put essential candles everywhere, your bathroom looked like a fancy one from a movie or Pinterest in ten minutes.

You returned to your man with his wheelchair, he hated it sight but he didn’t argue, he sat and allowed you to push him, being too exhausted to argue that he’s fine to walk, you pushed him to the bathroom and he raised an eyebrow at you “what? If you think I’ll let you sit and feel sorry for yourself you’re so damn wrong” he smiled a little and nodded, taking off his clothes, piece by piece, this you didn’t help him with, Ivar’s pride would be damaged the moment he thinks that you see him incapable of doing such a simple task when he’s in this state, he then helped himself into the tub.

You stood in front of him and took off your clothes, he likes watching you get naked, if it was up to him he’d keep you naked all the time just to admire your beautiful body, even more, that you’re with his child now, but this time, his eyes were focused on your belly, you sat down on his lap and relaxed on his body, letting the warm water take away all of your stress, you cuddled for a while quietly, until you decided it’s time to address the elephant in the room “Sigurd is just bitter, that he’s all alone now, and he sees his younger brother, loved, successful, better man than he’ll ever be, don’t mind yourself with his words, he’s jealous and pathetic” 

“Y/N, I didn’t think you had this darkness in you towards my dearest brother!” he laughed, you traced circles on his chest “I don’t like people who hurt my family, you are the man I love, and Sigurd just made a  pregnant woman very angry at him” you pouted, he placed a kiss on your lips then looked at you nervously “do you think it’s true? I mean, mother knew something was wrong with me before anyone else, do you have a similar feeling?” you sighed and shook your head “our child is okay, and next week we’ll visit the doctor who will only confirm my words, I feel radiant, so I suppose it means our child is healthy, your legs, it doesn’t happen genetically, you have my word as a biology teacher” 

“They’ll be ashamed of me, for being a cripple” he grumbled and you held his face, making him look you in the eyes “Ivar Ragnarsson, have I ever told you anything that didn’t come to reality?” he shook his head no “then hear me, and hear me well, our child will be born healthy, with kicking legs, and they’ll grow up to be strong, and loved by us, they’ll see you as the strongest man alive, they’ll be so proud of their father who told everyone who told him he can’t walk, get married, have children, be successful on his own, to kiss his ass! They’ll do the impossible  because that’s what they learned from you, they will be smart, and they’ll be loving” 

Ivar gave you a little smile which you returned “they’ll have everything good from us, I know this because mothers always know the best! It will be alright, I promise you that” you assured him again “what would I do without you in my life? My queen, the only person in this world who makes me feel complete” he whispered against your ears, his hand was on your belly, this time, his touch was soft, warm, it only made you happy, he was feeling better now and you loved it.

However, his other hand gave your breast a squeeze, only earning a moan from you and a smirk from him, “you know, I’m starting to think the whole bad day act is just to get it your way tonight” you giggled, teasing him a little, he did it again and you bit your bottom lip “so what if it was? You don’t seem to mind”, “get your ass to our bed, I want you now” you whimpered and got up.

The two of you dried your bodies then headed to your bedroom, Ivar can’t physically pick you up, but he can definitely set you on his lap and make out with you until you reached the bedroom, the two of you had a very hot sex, both so lust for each other, by the time you were done, you were exhausted, Ivar ended up falling asleep on your arms a few minutes later, but you, you picked your phone and sent a text to a particular Ragnarsson “the deal between us is off, I will come after you Sigurd for hurting him” you turned off your phone and fell asleep.

Tags: @flowers-in-your-hayr @lol-haha-joke

[aion-rsa]

Vikings Season 6: How Lagertha’s Legacy Lives On

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This article contains Vikings season 6 spoilers.

With the release of season 6 part two on Dec. 30, Vikings has come to an end. While the spinoff Vikings: Vahalla is set to premiere on Netflix sometime in 2021, it will pick up the story of the Viking and Anglo-Saxon conflict 100 years after the last events depicted in the original series. Thus the series finale of Vikings means we are saying goodbye to all the characters whose exploits viewers have enjoyed these last seven years. Whether in the flesh or in flashbacks, this is the final farewell. And no character will be missed so much as Lagertha.

When Vikings began, in the spring of 2013, it was a largely misunderstood enterprise (and still continues to be, by some). Premiering as it did on the History Channel, a cable channel best known for its WWII/Hitlerian focus in the 90’s and more current shows like Pawn Stars and Swamp People, many assumed that Vikings was a testosterone-heavy fight-fest created to feed the key male 18-49 year-old demographic that the network targets.

But that was never really the intention of creator/writer/showrunner Michael Hirst. As Hirst tells Den of Geek, women, particularly Viking queen Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick), were always supposed to be central in the series’ storytelling. 

“I was hoping she would be popular,” Hirst says. “History Channel is a male-viewed channel. And I think History Channel initially picked the show up because they thought it would appeal to that natural base. That they thought, ‘Well, you know, it’s obviously going to be a show full of battles and fights and so on.’ But I always thought it was going to be about Lagertha as much as Ragnar. And I like writing with women.”

Hirst’s focus paid off. Women, like myself, eventually found (generally through word of mouth) the series, and we loved what we saw. Lagertha and the rest of the women on the show were more than pretty faces and eternal victims. They ran the gamut from the initially innocent and oppressed Anglo-Saxon Judith (Jennie Jacques) to soft-power-wielding Gisla (Morgane Polanski) and Aslaug (Alyssa Sunderland) to shield-maidens like Torvi (Georgia Hirst) and Gunnhild (Ragga Ragnars).  

But it wasn’t simply the variety of types of women on the show. It was that none of them were ever simple and they were never just plot devices. Whatever label their cultures applied to them, they have always exceeded them. The women of Vikings have been spouses, parents, politicians, strategists, lovers, and friends—everything that their male counterparts were, and often more successful in their endeavors than those men. It was surprising, and on a show like Vikings, something rarely seen on American television.

And Lagertha—farmer, visionary, wife of Ragnar, mother of Bjorn Ironside and Gyda, shield-maiden, Jarl and Kattegat’s queen in her own right— was the first among the women we tuned in to watch. Which pleased her creator.

“What was wonderful for me was that the show, on History Channel, was getting 50/50 male/female viewership,” Hirst says. “In other words, particularly Lagertha was making women watch the show. And it was about so much more than fights and battles and things. So I was really proud of that. And I think that Katheryn was just brilliant in the role.”

And she has been. Appearing in over 80 episodes (and directing season 6A’s “Valhalla Can Wait”), Winnick shows up more than any other actor, and helped the show bridge the gap when Hirst’s other primary antagonist, Ragnar, was killed off. Doomsayers predicted the end of the series after the departure of Travis Fimmel’s excellent Viking legend. But Winnick and Lagertha went a long way in ensuring we continued to stay engaged and tuning in.

Not that everyone was pleased. From the start, there has always been some Internet criticism of Lagertha that accuses the character of “forced feminism,” ahistorically expansive sexuality, and the impossibility of the existence of actual “shield-maidens.” Some have even argued that women do not possess the physical strength to wield historically accurate Viking weapons (despite watching female actors, Winnick and Georgia Hirst specifically, regularly do just that on Vikings on a regular basis).

In fact, Lagertha appears to be closer to the truth than even many historians assumed when the show began seven years ago. According to the series’ historical consultant and writer Justin Pollard, not only was “Viking society, for all of its apparent terrors to Christians, a much more egalitarian society than Christian society, and women had a much stronger role in it,” but despite “quite a lot of howls of complaint, since then, we’ve found a number of excavated bodies, often excavated in the 19th century, that have been reanalyzed and now been shown to be women.”

The most famous of these is the grave of what many historians had referred to, up until 2017, as the archetypical “ultimate Viking” of the tenth century, found on the island of Birka, Sweden. First discovered and documented in 1878, it was assumed to be the skeletal remains and grave items of a male warrior—sword, spear, axe, arrows, shields, etc. One year after Vikings premiered, an analysis of the pelvic bones and jaw by bioarchaelogist Anna Kjellström strongly suggested that the skeleton was that of a woman. In 2017, analysis of the DNA and Strontium isotypes on the skeleton by a team led by Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson confirmed that the body was a woman, and consistent with the geographic profile of someone having lived in the correct place to be a Viking. 

Lagertha, and women like her, weren’t a modern-day invention—Hirst’s women warriors were a strangely prophetic echo from the past. 

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Vikings Ending Explained

By Jamie Andrew

Nor are women incapable of the type of fighting we get to watch on the show. I brought up the point when I interviewed Clive Standen (Rollo) a few years ago, asking whether it was odd having Winnick, who stands as much as a foot shorter and weighs half as much than many of her male co-stars, on the battlefield. He laughed outright, assuring me that the actress, who holds black belts in two martial arts and founded three martial arts schools before the age of 22, is more than a match for those her character faces on the killing fields of Vikings–a not inconsiderable recommendation considering Standen’s own martial arts background. In other words, what we saw on the series was just as, if not more, real than the reality shows that make up a great deal of History Channel’s programming.

But whatever problems that naysayers may have had with the depiction of shield-maidens in general and of Lagertha in particular, her fans are legion and loyal. Word of her impending death began to circle as early as 2017. Article after article conjectured that she was always about to be killed off—even well past the point where most of Aslaug’s sons had given up their mission to avenge their mother. 

So we had long been emotionally prepared for the death of the semi-retired Lagertha. That the means of her death was less glorious than the eventual end of her son Bjorn might have rankled had it not been so very much like the woman we have come to love. Both die in defense of their beloved Kattegat, but for Lagertha, the moment is about the heart of the show: family. 

Vikings has always been less a historically-based action series and more a family drama told on an epic scale. And as it is as true now as then that rivalries and alliances, anger and empathy, misunderstanding and enlightenment, are constantly in flux in families. Lagertha has always had reason enough to hate her murderer. His birth alone might have earned him death at her hands. But like her equally illustrious partner Ragnar, she has never been as simple as the blood vengeance we traditionally and often erroneously associate with the Vikings. 

Both are complicated characters, and capable of seeing the bigger picture when it comes to their family, to honor, to their fates. She recognizes that his actions are enough to rip apart the wounds only half healed among Ragnar’s sons. That she is able to comfort her own killer, to reassure him that he has done no more than live his destiny and hers, speaks to complexity and compassion all but absent in depictions of Vikings before the show began its run on History Channel. 

And in that, Lagertha is precisely the embodiment of Hirst’s wish for the series:

“One of the things I most wanted to do was to overturn all the cliches about Vikings. I was told by some people at the beginning that I couldn’t really make a show about Vikings. Or, at least, I couldn’t make a show where Vikings were the heroes. Because they were always the Other. They’re the bad guys. They’re the people who come in the night and steal and rape and burn. And how could I make them heroic in any way? And of course, people thought they knew about the Vikings. Actually, they didn’t know anything, which is often the case. And so I thought, “Well, how do I show that?”

It turns out, you do it by creating a character like Lagertha. You do it by taking one of the most misunderstood members of a misunderstood culture and turn her into a hero who makes mistakes and silent sacrifices, enjoys triumphs and endures losses, bides her time and acts impulsively, regrets and doesn’t compromise, gives and takes, and loves and hates, and still goes on, even in death. 

You make her one of us. 

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And that’s why we have loved her, cheered her on, cried over her pain, and now mourn her end. Because Michael Hirst and Katheryn Winnick made Lagertha someone we could recognize some modicum of ourselves in, creating a link between Vikings of the 9th century and our own 21st century lives. She reminds us that carrying a sword in battle isn’t what makes a hero. Heroes are so much more than that, and while we will never wield axe or spear, the heroic is always within our own grasp.

The post Vikings Season 6: How Lagertha’s Legacy Lives On appeared first on Den of Geek.

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