This summer the TLK FanFicFest is going back in time to those halcyon days of livejournal kinkmemes and bingo cards! That’s right folks, forget hot-girl-summer it’s horny-on-main summer in Wessex!
Rules:
- Bingo cards can be completed by writing five prompts vertically, horizontally or diagonally using any characters from The Last Kingdom.
- The center square is free and can be used for any fill/prompt you think of.
- You can switch out a prompt from another table but it must be from the same square (e.g. you can use wing fic, hurt/comfort or threesome in that square).
- All prompt fills should be tagged on tumblr/AO3 with #tlkfanficfestbingo, and the appropriate bingo card: #shieldcard #swordcard #axecard
- One fic per prompt. You can use more than one but it will only count as one square.
- Fills posted to AO3 can be added to the TLKFanFicFest Bingo Collection (here)
- TLKFFF Bingo will continue until Sept 6th/Labour Day.
i saw your post about uhtred contradicting the ideologies of the show and i was interested in your take on what those main ideologies were?
big disclaimer: i wrote the original post before watching season four and rereading it, i have to say it feels like i use ideology a lot as a buzzword, which is not a good look and worthy of criticism. but let me try and answer this somewhat (even if not as neatly as i probably should.) please keep in mind that this is all my perspective, i will not use “to me” an awful lot here, but it is implied.
(cue incoherent rambling)
TLK is about the formation of England. It’s about Alfred and his children. While not always a peaceful process, the formation of England is depicted as something positive and the antagonists and villains within the show are mostly people who from the show’s perspective endanger that process.
The Danish antagonists and villains get the more nuanced portrayal at times. Ragnar the Fearless, Ragnar the Younger, Ubba, Brida (s1-3), Guthrum, Erik and Perm Guy (although he is a special case I get back to that in a second) are all sort of good people, who just do not care about England. Those are then contrasted by the really blood thirsty evil Danes (Skorpa, Sigefrid, Cnut, Sigurd, Skade, Brida in s4). It is important to note though that Alfred makes the comment that he cannot make peace with the Danes or form an alliance because they do not value peace. In earlier seasons I thought that was convenient of him to say (because he clearly dislikes them and holds great disdain for their pageantry), but with the emergence of Perm Guy he is actually proven right in that sense. Perm Guy kind of reflects openly on the Danish characters that came before him and decides to be different, which translates into less ambitious for personal gain and interested in peace. So in a sense while Ragnar is not an outright villain, the show makes it clear that with him around there would have always been a threat to England.
(As a side note: it’s very interesting in that regard that Ragnar is killed in Season 3 because next to Brida, he is the only sort of good Dane left and like this we never had to deal with a confrontation between Uhtred and a “good” Dane ever again.)
The Saxon antagonists (and let's face it most are immoral villains) are way more harshly defined by this: Young Odda, Aethelwold, Aethelred, Aethelhelm & Eardwulf are all presented as endangering the formation of England. This is why Aethelwold’s coalition with the Danes in season 3 is presented as him being used by them. (It cannot be a successful alliance that could have had the potential to work because that would have made Alfred and Edward kind of look like the bad guys). These guys usually do not pose a threat to England, they also have to be just horrible people, pathetic and selfish.
Now Perm Guy says something fascinating in that regard because he basically spell out one of the underlying ideologies of the show: and that is about ambition. He states that it’s fine to be ambitious, but it has to be for the greater good in a sense. So you can be Alfred, but you should not be Aethelwold. That is the inner logic of the show.
So how does Uhtred fit into this?
Uhtred is neutral on England, while also being basically what England needs, his guiding hand is what shapes the country, he is the KINGMAKER. And that kind of follows its own logic within the show. I would not say it goes against any sort of ideology, but basically a lot of complex moral decisions that Alfred and Edward have to make, boil down to listening to Uhtred. A lot of tension is created by these two guys just seemingly listening to the wrong people or being guided by the wrong people. And while that does not go against any ideology it is very boring for me to watch. There is no room for moral ambiguity here: Uhtred knows best. How dare you listen to Young Odda, Aethelred, Aethelhelm ect. instead? He is never wrong in his predictions and Edward and Alfred are pretty mean for treating him this badly and in the case of Alfred, Alfred by the end even apologies, like his character arc is recognizing that he mistreated Uhtred.
I put this here because I think when I wrote this post, I was actually more thinking of the internal, simplifying logic the show is under (which makes it hard for me to engage with it in an interesting manner at times.)
But I think the interesting bit when it comes to ideology is Uhtred’s quest for Bebbanburg. In general the quest is at odds with the focus on the formation of England because until now it has not been connected to it. In general Uhtred is not a self reflecting character or has a meaningful character arc, so basically his quest for Bebbanburg is never examined. It’s presented as something righteous and something he is entitled to because of his birth (Aelfric and Wihtgar are both obviously bad people and also in the case of Aelfric bad leaders at times).
This, however, creates a direct parallel between Aethelwold and him. A parallel which the show acknowledges in season 2 and a parallel that only grows stronger with Wihtgar becoming lord of Bebbanburg in season 4 (as a parallel to Edward becoming king in season 3). Uhtred has no noble claim for Bebbanburg, he wants it because it has been denied to him. He wants it for his own ambition and wishes. And the show basically acknowledges that Aethelwold and him have a parallel there and then answers this with: Well Aethelwold is pathetic and Uhtred is noble and that basically makes Uhtred’s wishes valid and Aethelwold’s not. Case closed.
And that’s--whatever I meant with main ideology--to me a lot how show engages with Uhtred:
Skade and Sigurd burn down a village and that shows their villainy. Uhtred burns down a village and people will make a few quip remarks, but it does not reflect on his characters.
Wihtgar will try and make Uhtred watch Young Uhtred die and that is clearly bad. Uhtred will kidnap Cnut’s children and then leave them in a warzone where the chances are stacked against them and that is fine (because he didn’t kill them).
Young Uhtred is wrong for condemning Uhtred and calling him a heathen and therefore he apologizes to his father. Uhtred is not wrong for endangering his son in a spy mission and projecting all his wishes onto him. He never has to apologize for that.
I feel like I am rambling now. And you can successfully argue that my original post is actually bullshit, but there is just something about Uhtred never self reflecting and never having to face accountability for his actions which irks me and destroys the complexity of the characters and situations all around.
… I will stop here, thank you for coming to my shitty ted talk.
It’s always super cool to read someone else’s take on media we’re both consuming and this was really interesting.
I’d argue that Uhtred’s violence is positioned as heroic because he is reactionary/defensive as opposed to instigating/offensive. He can be just as violent as anyone else in the show but he isn’t bloodthirsty. Even characters like Ubba and Guthrum are shown casually torturing random Christians for entertainment and curiosity’s sake. Pre S4′s Assault On Bebbanburg the one time I can recall of him engaging in unprovoked violence, instigating aggression - when they go raiding in Cornwall - the fall out from it costs him damn near everything. Positioning selfish, unprovoked violence even from our Big Damn Hero in the narrative as a punishable offense. He keeps none of his spoils and very nearly loses his life.
When S4 rolls around and he tries to exploit a perceived weakness for the personal gain of Bebbanburg it costs him dearly once again. When Uhtred puts it all on the line for personal gain, including coercing his son into playing his game he loses his oldest friend and father figure and gains nothing. On a personal level it catapults him into his darkest place all season. Uhtred’s personal gain isn’t a good enough reason for the narrative to accept his violence as justified and he is punished for it.
I do think that the Beocca stuff is also doing narrative work to set up a context in which the narrative can reward Uhtred for a run at Bebbanburg which is for reasons the narrative holds up as worthwhile - justice (albeit a very Viking, very Tyr/Tiwaz kind of justice), love, someone else’s liberty, etc.
(The show also positions violence against women as a Bag Guy thing and - particularly adult Uhtred - drinks his Respect Women Juice. Thanks, Hild!)
I do think the comparison of Uhtred and Aethelwold as both motivated by a claim to a seat of power that has been denied them is really interesting. And I think that the comparison is intentional because Aethelwold acts as Uhtred’s foil and a reminder of what he could be. But I’d argue that it’s not an apples to apples comparison of Aethelwold’s as ignoble and Uhtre’ds as heroic at face value only. I’d posit that there are two values on which their mirror desire is judged.
1. Their leadership skills, for lack of a better word. Their right to lead not by blood but by deed.
2. At what cost will they pursue their desire.
Aethelwold’s drive to the throne positions him as an antagonist because he fails by both these rubrics to deserve his crown.
As to point one, his leadership skills? Aethelwold has none. The only times the narrative lets him be heroic or show his intelligence, stops treating him as either comedic relief or an antagonist is when he is working to a collective aim. When he can work with a group as he does when they go to confront the brothers and Sigfried loses his hand. When he is working to his own interest we are reminded time and again that he is cowardly, selfish, licentious and incapable of ruling. He is an unrepentant drunk who respects no one and can’t be responsible for the ruling of the realm. Which ties directly into the second point because Aethelwold will pursue his crown at any cost. He can’t rule because he has no interest in leading, he just wants his crown, his throne which he feels is denied to him. He does not care what it costs anyone else nor what it costs the realm for him to get his crown and the narrative can’t reward that. He’s willing to accept violent occupation if only he can have his crown. It’s a position that the narrative sets up from the first episode as weak, cowardly and undeserving of respect. Later in the first season King Edmund is rewarded for trying to make the same deal with a belly full of arrows.
By contrast Uhtred’s character is shown to lead naturally. His men follow him out of love and respect and it is his ability to meet people at their level which earns him his rag tag bunch of heroes. Certainly he is not always a nice guy and does things we don’t like or agree with but a consistent trait of his is respect for his men (and battle nuns). He never asks his men to do something he wont do himself and he puts his body on the line for them time and again. Again if you look at the S4 Bebbanburg disaster he risked his men’s lives for his own gain and he was punished. Which brings us to Bebbanburg itself, that seat of power which he thinks he’s owed. In contrast to Aethelwold Bebbanburg always comes last. Though he might want it desperately when he chooses between just about anything else and Bebbanburg, it’s his ancestral home that loses. And again when Bebbanburg doesn’t lose? Uhtred does.
I think it’s also important to note how and why others hold the seats that Aethelwold and Uhtred covet. Aethelwold is taken out of the running because he shows the King his father that is unworthy of holding it by virtue of his own actions. The wittan votes against him in favour of his father’s wishes and while I might not always like Alfred very much you can’t argue that he isn’t willing to put it all on the line to protect his kingdom and his dream of England. Conversely Uhtred’s uncle might have a legitimate claim to Bebbanburg but Aelfric is a nutsack. He intends to cement his claim by murdering the child Uhtred and then conspires with Kjartan to kill him and his whole family when he is a young man. Uhtred shows no interest in regaining his ancestral home until Aelfric violently dismantles his settled life as a Dane. Remember what I said about Uhtred drinking his Respect Women Juice? Aelfric agreeing to marry Gisela against her will just to spite Uhtred reinforces the show’s theme that being a crapsack to women makes you the Bad Guy. And what’s more we see his treatment of his fighting men is callous and cold, he asks them to fight battles he does not join. As for Whitgar welll... he murdered his own father for power, killed Beocca and tried to murder a child. So hot or not, he is positioned as doing morally bad things so later when Uhtred does take back Bebbanburg the narrative can reward him.
...apparently I have opinions about my 7th favourite character.
Finan was a mess, he had snapped at Sihtric at least twice for being late with the cake and received only an eye-roll in response. How all his well laid plans had ended up in a last minute panic he still didn't know but it was worth it when Uhtred walked through the door and smiled fondly at him.
“You know you didn’t have to do anything,” Uhtred murmured, dropping his bag to the floor as he closed the distance between them.
“When have I ever listened to you,” Finan teased, dropping a kiss to the corner of Uhtred’s mouth.
“Still, you look like you just ran a marathon and we’re only going to have to pop all these balloons tomorrow.”
“Would you just let me be the doting husband for once,” Finan huffed.
“Oh don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the doting but I also enjoy a relaxed husband who isn’t anxiously sweating,” Uhtred grinned.
“I’m still sexy though, right?”
“Oh, very,” Uhtred laughed, pulling Finan into a soft, appreciative kiss. It didn’t matter that it had already been two decades, the aching familiarity of it still made Finan’s breath hitch.
“I meant to cook but I’m sorry I’ve just got cake,” Finan mumbled against Uhtred’s lips.
“Cake is good with me,” Uhtred smiled, “grab the cake and two forks and join me on the sofa?”
“Mmm sounds perfect,” Finan hummed. He pulled back just far enough to watch the happy glimmer in Uhtred’s eyes.
Gently he took Uhtred’s face between his hands.
“Happy,” Finan dropped a kiss to his forehead, “Birth-” a kiss to his left cheek, “Day,” a kiss to his right cheek, “Uhtred,” a kiss to his lips.
“You’re a sap but I love you,” Uhtred grinned, tightening his arms around FInan’s waist.
“Love you too but you’re still a maniac for working on your birthday, now come on let me go, I gave Sihtric hell about this cake so you’re going to enjoy it whether you like it or not.”
“You’re just going to leave me high and dry?” Uhtred protested.
“Eat your birthday cake and then I’ll drag you to bed, deal?”
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/5
Fandom: The Last Kingdom (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Finan/Hild/Uhtred of Bebbanburg, Finan/Uhtred of Bebbanburg, Finan/Hild (The Last Kingdom), Hild/Uhtred of Bebbanburg
Characters: Uhtred of Bebbanburg, Hild (The Last Kingdom), Finan (The Last Kingdom)
Additional Tags: Friends to Lovers, Drunk Sex, Threesome - F/M/M, Friends With Benefits, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Denial of Feelings
Summary:
“You know, I’ve kissed both of you, and yet you’ve never kissed each other.”
