#bitterness overload

[jeuz]

Dun tayo sa magaling lang sa umpisa kasi sa huli iiwanan lang rin naman nila tayo.

[goldentailedmermaids]

Aside from Lagertha and Thorunn, I cannot recall any other shield maidens who ever had any speaking lines. However much the show likes to trumpet its supposed "girl power," the shield maidens are treated as an interchangeable and undifferentiated background crowd. In Season 4, when the camera focused on that one blond shield maiden who stuck by Lagertha, I knew she was going to die. Just like one of the "red shirts" from Star Trek.

You forgot Ishotmyhusbandnowimashieldmaiden Torvi ;) Nah, I’m kidding, she is not a legit shieldmaiden to me

Yeah, I find it very ironic too. Actually I find it so ironic I laughed when i read your ask ;) Vikings! The only show where women never age and where daughters are sacrificed in the name of shock value and men’s pain! The only show that claims it has tremendous ‘girl power’ and where women are slayed, abused, raped as if it was nothing! The only show that had well written female characters and is now getting rid of them or writing them dreadfully badly as if it was normal! The only show that claims to be feminist and yet is not!

[goldentailedmermaids]

Do you think you would like "Vikings" more or less if there were no shieldmaidens and all the Viking women on the show were just "regular" women?

I think I would like to have women who don’t become shieldmaiden right after they shot their husband with no training in swordmanship nor shieldwielding. 

I want shieldmaidens, sure! But I want shieldmaidens who struggles to be good enough in battle. I want shieldmaidens with battle scars because it is part of the fight. I want shieldmaidens who are afraid of the fight. I want shieldmaidens who doubt of themselves and their decisions. I want humble shieldmaidens. I want shieldmaidens who feels guilty because of the sorrow they inflicts on the mothers, sisters, wives, daughters of the one they kill in battle. I want shieldmaidens who admire regular women for the way they are. I want shieldmaidens who admire regular women for being just as brave as they are, if not more, because they don’t know how to fight or defend themselves physically.

I don’t want a Torvi, nor a Iamperfect Lagertha. Give me Thorunn! At least she understood those things. Lagertha might have understand them but in s3 and s4 she just became a shadow of herself, shallow, petty, cocky and arrogant. I liked her more in s1 and s2. Thorunn was flawed and had struggles to overcome and I would have loved watching her overcome them. It would have made me happy and wold have comforted me. But nooooooo, Hirst decided to get rid of the fantastic character she was. Instead we got Torvi who is just as boring as Lagertha. I don’t want perfect women who succeed at everything without a sweat. I don’t want them! I want real women! Not unreachable role models of perfection.

So yeah, I wish Vikings had more regular women (Of course, here I am talking abt the Norse women). Regular in a way that they are no goddesses of perfection or as static as the heaviest stone in the ocean. I want flawed women who change with time and struggles and come to realize they are worth more than what they think. I think it would cheer me up. (Lagertha only lower me and my self confidence)

I wish we had sorceresses (right at you @jorindelle ;) Your alternate storyline for Aslaug sounds NEAT!), scientists, explorers, storytellers, navigators, woodcarvers, blacksmiths, housekeepers and so much other women! This would reflect the diversity of Norse society so much better! Instead, we got only TWO models of women, TWO! You got either the wife/mother, or the shieldmaiden. Not very diverse am I right? 

UGH! I miss the old Vikings! The one that treated women and their storyline respectfully, not the one who get rid of them as easily as I would get rid of a chewing gum. (And don’t even get me started on Hirst killing all the daughters!)

But, hey, at least we have fanfictions!

[goldentailedmermaids]

It looks like there's going to be another new female character in Vikings S4. Her name is Margertha. She's tall, fair, and blonde. I just hope she isn't another shield maiden because that's so overdone. Norse women were also healers, volva (seers/priestesses), traders, rune-makers, skalds (poets/storytellers) and artisans. Let's have Michael Hirst write more diverse women instead of just more Lagertha clones.

This is hilarious really! I love how similar her name is to Lagertha. And tall, blonde, fair… like a Lagertha mini me. I saw what she looked like on the instagram of the actress and she is kind of cute. I just hope she isn’t a shieldmaiden, or if she is, I hope she will be her own person and not a clone of Lagertha. I hope that, like Thorunn, she will have a personality of her own. I really hope I will like her, but since she is being a clooooose friend to Georgia Hirst (who I can’t stand) and the girl who plays Astrid (I am 100% sure I will hate that character) and since they are all into Katheryn’s circle and are close coworkers, I can’t help but think I will not like her character.

As for Hirst writing more diverse women… ARE YOU INSANE? ALL WOMEN HAVE TO BE LIKE LAGERTHA BECAUSE SHE IS PERFECTION AND WOMEN HAVE TO BE PERFECT! (Excuse me, i have to pierce my stupid head with a boiling blade) Ugh! This makes me so sick. I am angry at him to such a point I wish I could turn into a dragon and destroy the more things I can. The extent of my rage reached a point it could consume my body if I wasn’t repressing it.

*sigh* I miss the good old days. Where is the Vikings I fell in love with?

[goldentailedmermaids]

Ceridwenofwales pointed out that the sword that Aslaug is holding in the S4 trailer is the famous one used by her father, Sigurd the Dragon-slayer. It's name is Gram, meaning "Wrath" in Norse. Hirst will probably write that Aslaug stole it from her father's grave, instead of him passing it down to her like in the sagas. Dude always favors Lagertha.

LMAO! That’s because Laggy is hot and kick-ass and badass and tons of other words that ends with ‘ass’. Fun fact is that I once asked men why they loved her so much and their only answer was: “Because she’s hot! duh!” And men hate Aslaug so much for such stupid reasons and they don’t even give other female characters a chance (*flips table*)! It is OBVIOUS Hirst will drag Aslaug down! It is OBVIOUS because Lagertha is favored in such a way it is becoming bad fanservice! It is OBVIOUS because most of the fans (Lagertha worshippers, obviously, because the only female character loved by everyone is Lagertha. No one is gonna come to you and say: Oh I hate Lagertha) asked for it and we all know Hirst wants to please his fans at all cost even if it means bad written storylines for female characters (But who cares when people still have Lagertha and all her mini-me? Other female characters are SO not important!).

Ugh! Seeing her so favored makes me sick. Actually this whole ‘new characters to replace the little girls and other female characters we killed because obviously nothing could be done with them’ thing makes me sick. I will hate this season and I can only be comforted with fanfictions.

NB: To y’all Lagertha lovers who are disappointed with the way the show treats women and are against the catfight we will have and actually like other female characters; You’re amazing! Stay amazing!

[goldentailedmermaids]

I was not offended by your well-intention sassiness. LOL And you're absolutely right: if Michael Hirst couldn't stick to the facts when it came to Norse culture and Norse women, he definitely isn't going to be able to any better when it comes to the Spanish Moors. I actually think he'll do even worst because he'll have no idea how to write Muslim women without resorting to bigoted stereotypes. He's probably one of those people who thinks the hijab (veil) is sexist and conservative. *Rolls eyes*

Ugh! This is the awful consequences of islamophobia, terrorists attacks and this whole atmosphere of fear we are living in! I wish people would see things how they are. Middle Eastern and Nothern African culture are fascinating in terms of history, arts and even clothing (I mean, I saw traditional clothing of those cultures in the Quai Branly - awesme museum if you are interested in foreign art - and it was so beautiful I could not help but draw!) and it is such a shame that because of the dreadful actions of a minority, those cultures are seen badly. I love those cultures! I want to visit Iran, Iraq, Algeria and Afghanistan but I probably never will because of how dangerous those areas are for me.

So yeah, I do not have great hopes for what he’ll do because his vision can be influenced by what happens in the modern days. Because trust me, it was waaaaay different during the Middle Ages. Apparently the Califats of Al Andalus respected other religions. A lot of Jews and Catholics lived there and according to what I know (and I might be wrong) they were never persecuted. Al Andalus was a place of great culture and education. People studied Math, Astrology, Philosophy, Science. I guess they were the most modern country at the time. They made great technological progess and it was a great cultural center.

Hopefully he will not write about a Muslim woman because I know for sure that if she is not Norse or a copy of Lagertha or Helga, she will be so badly written I might cry.

[goldentailedmermaids]

Historically, the Vikings did attacks the Moorish city of Al-Andalus, so Hirst is right on that account. However, I am scared he's not going to do justice to the Moors or their culture. He couldn't even apply historical accuracy to Yidu, or show her as something beyond the stereotypes applied to Asian women. Most likely, he's going to make the Moors look like effeminate weaklings who rightly deserved to be attacked by these Northern invaders. I shudder to think how he'll handle the women.

You mean, worse than he does with Norse women and Norse culture in general?

[goldentailedmermaids]

Michael Hirst isn't good at writing non-Norse cultures, especially if they're POCs. He screwed up with the Anglo-Saxons and the Franks, so why would you expect him to deal fairly with the Moors? I wonder if he realizes how it's going to look when the show shows a group of white guys maliciously attacking a city of POCs? It probably won't be his intention, but still. I fully expect some racist comments from the Vikings towards the Moors due to their physical and cultural differences. Ugh.

The Saxons were alright I guess, but the Franks did not look like Medieval enough for me (they look more like Hirst Game of Thornesque version of Middle Ages). I mean, Gisla’s armor and the furnitures shown made me scream so much (BOOB ARMOR!!!! WHY DOES SHE HAVE A BOOB ARMOR WHEN LAGERTHA AND OTHER SHIELDMAIDENS AND MERCIAN WARRIORS DON’T HAVE ANY?????) I suppose we do not have the same visual references.

Oh and yeah, he definitely screwed up the first and only POC in that fucking show! We have good reasons to worry.

Or like Aslaug said: “We should all be afraid.”