I'm just curious what your favorite Athelnar scene of season 1 was? Back when everything was new and we weren't sure exactly where it would go.
Absolutely their very first scene together. I just get so emotional when I think about this being their very first contact
and how initially violent it was, Ragnar throwing Athelstan to the ground and pulling a knife on him
but I also think about the fact that had it been any of the others they would have killed him right away, no questions asked. But not Ragnar, and this partially has to do with the fact that he’s not like the other Vikings in many ways, he doesn’t kill simply for the sake of killing, but he was also very intrigued by the fact that this strange little man spoke his language, so intrigued by the fact that he would rather guard some seemingly useless object with all that treasure around, and lbr probably so intrigued by those big blue eyes UGH.
I think right away he realized Athelstan would be a great source of new knowledge and information, but it was also much more than that
and it’s like oh my god Ragnar oH MY GOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS IN STORE FOR YOU AND SWEET TINY LITTLE BB ATHELSTAN SWEETHEART THIS BIG TERRIFYING BRUTE IS SOON GOING TO BE THE LIGHT OF YOUR LIFE AND YOU HAVE NO CLUE BABIESSSSSS
gOD JUST LOOK AT THEM????? THEY WERE SO INTO EACH OTHER RIGHT FROM THE START??? RAGNAR WAS LIKE sHIT HE’S SMART AND CUTE AF MY ULTIMATE WEAKNESS
And I’m gonna try to chill for just one second to say that I don’t think any of this would have worked had Travis and George not had such electric chemistry. It’s so fucking palpable from the very first moments and I can’t deal these two have ruined me.
Also, Ragnar protecting Athelstan from Rollo even tho he wasn’t quite sure yet exactly why he wanted to save this one so badly
I mean yeah knowledge and all that but it was clearly SO MUCH MORE. He gazed into Athelstan’s eyes and saw something that drew him in and he knew he needed this man in his life. And ugh Ragnar bABY YOU HAD NO IDEA YOU WERE MEETING THE LOVE OF YOUR ENTIRE FUCKING LIFE IN THAT MOMENT MY HEART IS WEAK AND CANNOT TAKE THIS I HAVE TO GO LIE DOWN NOW BYE
ok your last ask tho i cant even get over ragnar being the king and trailing after athelstan like a puppy and being all flirty he's literally the KING going after this tiny foreign monk and being soft and gentle and jokey and actually smiling like what must everyone have thought?? they must've all assumed they were banging on the regs bc please the thirst is rEAL
I mean it is my personal headcanon that they were banging on the regs since late season 2, but flirting aside this scene is also a perfect example of the evolution of their relationship and it’s so beautiful. Athelstan went from his slave to someone he was openly showing that much affection for, someone he was putting in a position literally no one else in his life was special enough to be in, someone he was pledging to follow and stand behind and I just????? Slay me I am ruined, nonny, R U I N E D!!!!!
Also i’m gonna get a tiny bit wanky for a second and I do apologize because you didn’t ask for this but I just saw this video the Vikings facebook page posted (and I only saw it because I apparently totally forgot to unfollow again after sdcc since I generally can’t deal with how they promote the show lmao) and I am borderline raging at how openly and plainly they can talk about the sexual tension between het couples but with Ragnar and Athelstan literally no one ever talks about it in interviews even tho there was more flirting and sexual tension between them than literally any other couple on the show????? It is an endless source of frustration for me uGH.
can you talk about the "tell me about paris" scene please?
Ohhhh nonny yes I can! Okay so this scene is one I almost included in the massive top 5 scenes post I did recently, but it was already at over 4k words and I decided that would just be insanity to make you guys suffer through anymore of my rambling at the time, but since you asked so nicely… ;)
Okay so the happily reunited viking husbands are sailing from Wessex back home to Kattegat, and Ragnar is looking a bit mopey…
I don’t wanna go home. I wanna stay on my ship with Athelstan so we can explore together and maybe we’ll find a magical land inhabited by nothing but baby goats.
And he is in desperate need of a distraction…
bb, you know how much I love your stories, especially when it’s the same one you just told me fifteen minutes ago.
Now, please correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe this is the first mention of Paris in season 3. In fact, I don’t believe Ragnar mentioned Francia at all before this aside from way back in season 1 when he told King Horik that Athelstan had visited there. So… why now?
Well, Ragnar has obviously always wanted to explore further, to seek out new lands and go places none of the Northmen had at that point ever been. But what spurred this sudden interest in Paris on the trip back home?
My headcanon is that Ragnar so desperately did not want to go back home that he asked Athelstan to tell him about the most beautiful place he had ever been. He asked him to distract him and tell him about a beautiful place they could both go together, somewhere that they wouldn’t be confined by the roles they have to play or the duty that confines them.
Anyways, look at this adorable little muffin…
tfw your viking husband always asks for the same bedtime story
How many times do you think he had told him about Paris at that point? Five? Ten? Fifty? I this it’s safe to say it was a lot at that point, and Athelstan is totally just teasing him here because there is no way he’s going to deny his man the joy of hearing him talk about the most beautiful place he had ever seen, even if it is getting a bit repetitive. But still, Ragnar is not above begging…
This time can you make church bell sounds when you get to that part?
And this is one part adorable, one part heart wrenching because he is so obviously dreading going home. Ragnar does not want to be king at all… he just wants to get lost in a dream of a beautiful place he and the man he loves could go together. And Athelstan, well…
Ragnar you’re so pretty can I braid flowers into your beard when we get home?
Have you ever seen someone so in love in your life? I know we always talk about how Ragnar looks at Athelstan like he’s the most precious thing in his life, but Athelstan looks at Ragnar in exactly the same way. Ragnar, you do not have to beg, babe, this man looks at you like you hung the moon and would tell you about Paris every second of every day for the rest of his life if it meant seeing that smile he loves so much.
My second trip will involve carving our names inside a heart on the outside of the prettiest church we can find.
I love this line so much. It’s just so playful, like… okay Ragnar you know this is gonna be the same story as the last dozen times, I only went there once, but I’ll try and make this telling of it special for you because you are just that precious to me.
Just fuck me up, Athelstan. Fuck. Me. Up.
And Ragnar just so does not care. He wants to memorize every last detail of this story. He wants to gaze longingly into Athelstan’s eyes and try to imagine exactly how he felt when he saw it. He wants to imagine how they will both feel when they see it together.
So Athelstan tells him about the marble and the stone and the church bells and how it was like a dream and UGH I could listen to him talk all day. Seriously is it any wonder Ragnar wants to hear the same story again and again? He could just recite endless gibberish for hours and I would be ENTHRALLED.
But it would seem Athelstan has been holding back, because this time he decides to make the story extra special…
but you and your beard are the most beautiful tbqh
//soft gasp// omg can we have a threesome in Paris?
And never in my life have I seen a gayer exchange between two men talking about beautiful women. Ragnar is just SO into the idea of Athelstan being sexual. But have you ever asked yourself why this was the first time Athelstan brought up the beautiful women? I have a feeling he was hesitant to talk about it because of what had just happened with Judith. He was worried Ragnar was still feeling a bit insecure, and he didn’t want to risk making him even more jealous by talking about his attraction to others so soon after. But ohhh Athelstan, I think you sometimes forget who you’re dealing with here…
And then Athelstan is like lol I almost questioned my vows of celibacy and I have to imagine Ragnar is thinking back to the first time he made Athelstan almost question those vows, and how very much has changed since then. This would also be a good time to mention, if you haven’t read the post I linked at the beginning of this ask, that it is my headcanon that at this point in time Ragnar and Athelstan had been banging on the regular since late season 2, and this flirting and talking about beautiful women while suggestively eying each other is 100% nothing but a new form of foreplay for them…
This is how they have eye sex in Francia.
ANYWAYS after we cut to Floki who is disgusted by the gay and also hella jealous that it’s not him Ragnar is having tender eye sex with in the bow of his ship, these two dweebs continue to be too adorable for words…
Motorboats aren’t going to be invented for like another 1,000 years but i’m going to make propeller sounds anyways.
But then things go from adorable to heart wrenching once more in an instant. Ragnar tells Athelstan that he is lucky he has never been married, that he would not return home to Kattegat if it weren’t for his children. And after I’m done staring directly into the camera over Athelstan asserting “at least you have children,” I’m back to being so upset… just so, so upset.
This really helps to establish the idea that Paris was never really about raiding, but rather about Ragnar and Athelstan escaping together. I firmly believe he wanted nothing more than to take a ship, take his viking hubby, and sail somewhere far away and never look back. Ragnar is miserable as king, is miserable in his marriage, and literally only smiles around Athelstan at this point. He wants everything he is fated to never have, and it tears my heart out in the most terrible way.
So, in conclusion, this scene is literal magic and just like Ragnar listening to Athelstan tell the story of his visit to Paris over and over again, I will probably watch this scene 10000000 more times and never tire of it.
Oh, what could have been… just imagine these two sailing off into the sunset together, finding some place of their own, never knowing pain or sadness or loneliness ever again. Maybe that will be their own personal afterlife, a ship and the open sea… always some new place to explore and to escape to, together, for all of eternity…
What are your thoughts on Hirst and season 4? Sometimes I think he understands Athelnar and then other times I think he doesn't get it at all. But he wrote so much of what has becoming almost romantically cannon...I mean that I love you scene. Are you kidding me with that scene. But sometimes when you here him speak it's like he almost sees it as something other than what he's written. I just wonder where his mind is at.
There is definitely a disconnect between his pr and what he actually writes into the canon of the show. I got very frustrated months back when post-3x06 he didn’t so much as mention the “I love you” scene in a single interview and it was such a huge moment but you wouldn’t know it even happened based on the pr surrounding the show. But that tends to be the way it goes with most shows, and especially with the network Vikings is on there is an obvious effort to appease the straight male demo while sneaking in hella queer content that I am quite frankly surprised they’ve been so willing to ignore, but whatever. :P Honestly tho, Bryan Fuller is the only example of a showrunner I can think of that actually owns up to what he’s writing in his own show...
Because of this disconnect, it’s hard to judge his intent based on what he says in interviews or how the show is marketed to the masses. So that leaves us with having to look at the actual content of the show and how the narrative was framed to understand what he most likely intended, all things considered. I’ve already talked about Hirst’s intent here, and also what i consider to be the most telling scene in terms of the true intent of Ragnar’s baptism here, so I’ll try to keep this brief, but there are just certain things that make it undeniable what was happening.
Honestly the forest scene I talked about in the second link is one of the most important scenes of the entirety of their relationship, and quite possibly even more significant than the love confession. It was about nothing more than Ragnar’s grief and his longing to be with Athelstan again, and I have to believe he wouldn’t write a scene like that if he didn’t intend for it to be as significant as many of us believe it to be, especially since it added nothing to the overall plot aside from reinforcing how much Ragnar missed the man he loved.
So who knows where season 4 will take us, I am personally giving Hirst the benefit of the doubt and keeping a wait and see attitude about most things. I understand that the entire season isn’t going to be all about Ragnar actively grieving constantly because there’s so much story left to tell, but it’s hard for me to believe that Athelstan won’t still have a significant influence on his life. It’s hard for me to imagine his arc involving a “fascination with death” won’t have a lot to do with Athelstan, because tbh it just ties in too directly to how Ragnar changed after he lost him. Hopefully we will end up pleasantly surprised with where the story goes from here, but I think trying to read between the lines in promos will lead to nothing but frustration at this point. :P
elvensorceress replied to your post: elvensorceress asked:I HAD A THOU...
pssshhh don’t spare me! I love your metas :D TALK ABOUT ALL THE THINGS PLEASE AND THANK YOU, FRIEND
azryal00 replied to your post:I HAD A THOUGHT and I figured...
Totally would read your Ragnar/Ecbert meta. I have feels re: those 2 myself…
okay so I’m just gonna go ahead and dump my thoughts here then :P
There’s been lots of talk about the similarities between Ragnar and Ecbert, and while those are obviously there (they are both very ambitious, they are both constantly seeking out new knowledge, are fascinated by other religions, they are both queer as hell and in love with a certain tiny priest), what strikes me the most is the differences that exist within these similarities.
For example, their ambitions are very different. Ecbert seeks power above all else, to be the king of kings, while Ragnar only came into power due to a series of unfortunate events for the most part. He never sought out power directly in the beginning, but instead wished to explore and discover new places and acquire new knowledge. He is, above all else, still a farmer in his heart. Ecbert uses knowledge as a means to acquire more power in many ways, whereas Ragnar seeks knowledge for the sake of being knowledgable alone.
Also, I think the ways they love Athelstan are very different. They both saved his life for a multitude of reasons, but I can never get it out of my mind that Ecbert literally threatened to have Athelstan crucified again if he spoke of their conversations and the knowledge they shared with anyone. While I think both Ecbert and Ragnar wanted knowledge from Athelstan from the start (especially Ecbert, I would have to go back and re-watch but I got the feeling the only reason he saved him is because he suspected he would be useful), Ragnar never sought to control him in the way Ecbert did. The thirst on Ecbert’s part was undeniable, but I think in the end Athelstan was just another pawn in his quest for power. At a certain point for Ragnar, having Athelstan around was no longer about what he could teach him, but rather because he loved him genuinely.
While Ragnar can be very selfish in his quests, he also has a big squishy heart of gold. Ecbert is power hungry in a way that Ragnar has never been, and I think that’s where the biggest differences lie. Ecbert wants lands to rule over, Ragnar wants land for his people to farm... on the surface the quests seem the same, but the motivating factors behind them are complete opposites.
I HAD A THOUGHT and I figured you were the best person to come talk to about said thought :) So, Ragnar is supposedly getting an Athelstan 2.0 in s4? Which is annoying to say the least, but maybe it will be something like Athelstan/Ecbert? Hopefully a little less creepy. XD But Ecbert was set up like a Ragnar 2.0 and there are a lot of parallels/similarities between them. So maybe this new storyline will be something like that? and obviously Athelnar forever :D <3
It’s so hard to say exactly who this character is going to be to Ragnar tbh… I’m honestly side-eying how hard they’re pushing the “love interest” thing tho because they usually don’t do that if it’s going to end up being some epic love story in the end. The few things we know about her do make the apparent parallels rather laughable, but I’m trying to think about her place in the narrative logically and I don’t think Hirst would bring in a new character just for the sake of a no homo (at least I have faith he won’t, don’t let me down Mr. Hirst I’m trusting you here), and imo she’ll likely somehow tie into Ragnar’s downfall. He’s been on a downward spiral ever since Athelstan died, and with so many people out to get him, I see many different things coming together in season 4 to lead to his inevitable death. I guess we won’t know until we get there tho, but I would be surprised if it’s anything as simple as they’d like us to think.
Also I’m now actively resisting the urge to meta on Ragnar and Ecbert and their similarities but also their massive differences because this is actually something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately but this isn’t what this ask is about so I will spare you my friend… :P
Helloooo! I've just rewatched 2x02 of Vikings and there's a scene where Aslaug tells Ragnar that she can see things other people aren't able to see. Well, in 3x01 she watches with a don't-know-how-to-define face Ragnar as he approaches Athelstan... Does she suspect something? Does she know? That maybe the tiny English priest might be something more than just a friend to her husband… Such a fascinating theory
I actually talked about that a tiny bit in this monster post i did a while back, but this is something that I wish could have been elaborated on a bit more in canon but they just really didn’t have time what with so much going on and only 10 episodes in which to do it all... and this is why I will be forever weeping that they didn’t start getting twenty episode seasons last year but whatever...
Anyways, if you’ll notice in the episode she’s not only watching the two of them but she also does the same thing later on when Ragnar is talking to Lagertha, and both of them read exactly the same way imo. She was curious where his love lied and I have to imagine she at the very least suspected something was going on between them if she didn’t just flat out know. But these two scenes being presented in the exact same light just say to me that we’re not incorrect in reading them this way and tbh I’m still not sure how season 3 was even a thing that actually happened.
do you think it is possible for ragnar to kill floki with a blood eagle? i would actually feel so bad for floki if such a thing was to happen
Nah, Ragnar already blood eagled Jarl Borg so it would kind of be anticlimactic in a sense. I think the next person to be blood eagled on the show will probably be Aelle (who, according to legend, was killed this way by Ragnar’s sons) or Ecbert, possibly both, since one or both of them will likely be who ends up killing Ragnar when the time comes.
As I have said previously though, Ragnar doesn’t want Floki dead, he just wants him to suffer. We all saw a brief glimpse of what his punishment will entail, but I have to wonder if he’s simply going to leave him there to die... or if he’s going to leave him there but take measures to make sure he stays alive like that for as long as possible. Either way, I do actually feel bad for him in a sense, Ragnar is taking all of his anger and all of his grief and projecting it onto this punishment and I certainly would not want to be on the receiving end of that...
