#bae vs bay

[chloe-caulfield94]

Certain things are never justified

One of the reasons I am captivated by the Bae vs Bay dillema is that it perfectly exemplifies the difference between "pure" utilitarianism on one hand and rules-based utilitiarianism as well as deontology on the other.

To put it simply, under "purely" utilitarian ethics, actions are judged solely based on their outcome. Ends justify all means.

Under rules-based utilitarianism, actions are generally judged based on their results, but with some exceptions. Some actions, which violate fundamental values and principles, can never be considered justified, even if they would bring about positive results.

And under deontological ethics, actions are judged based not on their outcomes, but rather based on whether they conform to the moral duties resting on the person performing the action.

Do you see the difference? Under "pure" utilitarianism, ANY action can be justified, as long as it produces the result you deem positive. Doesn't matter how vile the action is, it can be justified, as long as the situation is "exceptional" enough.

Under the latter two approaches, certain actions are so reprehensible, that they can never be justified, no matter what outcome they would produce.

Now, you'd think that murder, that is intentionally causing the death of another human being outiside of the context of self-defence, is something so reprehensible that we'd all agree it's never justified. Unfortunately, the Bae vs Bay dillema, the fact that it even is a dillema, proves that some people are able to rationalize even murder, "for the greater good".

And yes, Max intentionally taking Chloe from the safety she enjoys on Friday and thrusting her back in front of a barrel of a gun on Monday, is murder. Bay Max intentionally, as a result of her conscious decision, causes Chloe to die. She willingly causes Chloe's death, which wouldn't happen otherwise. If Max does nothing on Friday, Chloe lives. It's Chloe's death that requires Max's conscious input. It doesn't matter it's Nathan who's pulling the trigger, the same it doesn't matter it's not you behind the steering wheel if you push someone into traffic.

If Bay Max ever stood trial, her action would be classified as murder - she intentionally caused another person's death with her actions. And no, "destiny" is not a valid defence in criminal court. And no, the fact that Chloe was originally in danger and it was Max who saved her life doesn't matter, because it doesn't make Chloe into Max's property that she can freely dispose of. It matters that on Friday, when the final choice is made, the original danger has already been averted and it requires Max's conscious decision and intentional action to recreate that danger and push Chloe into it. And no, nobody can "okay" their own murder. Especially a depressed, abused teenager.

At best Bay Max could try to claim the defense of necessity, arguing that she committed a criminal act in order to stop great harm from occuring. But that defense involves acknowledging that the act the defendant stands accused of was in fact a crime, but due to the unusual circumstances of the case, the accused should not be punished in this specific instance.

In contrast, if Bae Max ever stood trial, she would be acquitted. Because to be held responsible for something, you need to at least be able to predict the consequences of your actions. Max had no intent to destroy the town, which is why she couldn't be found guilty of murder. She couldn't even be found guilty of manslaughter, because on Monday, when she performed the action which brought about the Storm, it was impossible for her to predict that would be the result. You can't retroactively ascribe Max's state of mind from Friday to her action on Monday. To find someone guilty, the action and intent have to exist simultaneously.

Bae Max wouldn't have to argue necessity or any other specific legal defense. Her action (or rather inaction) was simply lawful, as it didn't contain the necessary elements of any crime on the books. You are never under a legal obligation to take a life. So by refusing to take a life, you cannot possibly commit any crime.

To my chagrin, a lot of people are willing to justify murder. To them, utilitarianism excuses even the intentional taking of another person's life, as long as it produces a result which they consider "a greater good" or at least a "lesser evil".

So I'm going to give a different example, which hopefully will illustrate to everyone that "pure" utilitarianism is a flawed ethical system, leading to monstrous, inhuman conclusions. There's one thing that hopefully nobody would ever try to excuse.

TW: sexual assault

Let's consider a hypothetical scenario, in which the terrible crime Max saves Chloe from on Monday is not murder, but rape. It's not a far-fetched scenario, since the "photo sessions" Jefferson and Nathan subjected their unwilling models to were a form of sexual assault. Given Jefferson's ramblings about "taking away the innocence and corrupting" the teenage girls he abducted and how both him and Nathan kept calling their victims "whores" and "sluts", the repulsive sexual undertone of their violence is clear. And who knows what Nathan would've done to Chloe had she not mustered the last bits of her strength to flee from his dorm room?

So in this different scenario, Max has the option to push Chloe from the safety she enjoys on Friday back into danger on Monday. But not to be murdered. To be raped.

I beg of you, please tell me you wouldn't still choose the Bay in that different scenario. Please tell me you at least find rape to be so evil of an act that you would always prevent it, without even considering the results from a utilitarian perspective. Please tell me you would never let someone be raped, not even to stop a tornado with multiple fatalities.

So if we agree that there's at least one act so vile that it can never be justified, no matter how "exceptional" the situation might be, no matter what the consequences of preventing that act might be, don't you think that murder should also be considered an unjustifiable action? It's not appropriate or even possible to compare different types of atrocities, but you could make an arguement that a victim of rape at least has a chance to overcome their trauma and continue their life. A victim of murder has no such chance.

Why is the clash of "pure" utilitarianism with rules-based utilitarianism and deontology so important? I apologize, I know I'm going to fulfil Godwin's law, but I think it's warranted this time.

Some SS and NKVD members were simply sadists, relishing at the opportunity to murder and torment others with impunity. But some were people who bought into the deplorable, false narrative that in exceptional circumstances, like war or revolution, great sacrifices simply had to be made. That some people, whose continued existence was a threat to the nation, had to be removed. Regrettably, they had to be killed. But their murder was justified, as it would produce a greater good for the rest of society.

If you're a "pure" utilitarian, you can be persuaded to commit any atrocity imaginable. If you are willing to intentionally take a human life outside of the context of self-defence, then under right circumstances - war, revolution or some other calamity - you could do anything, as long as a persuasive arguement is made that it's "a lesser evil" or that it will lead to "a greater good" or that it simply "has to be done".

But if you acknowledge that there are some actions, like murder, which are never justified, then you remain immune to such arguements. No matter the circumstances, you would never commit certain acts of evil. You have at least some basic red lines. And that makes you a moral person.

#max caulfield #life is strange #bae vs bay #lis #chloe price #pricefield #nathan prescott #mark jefferson

[the-night-puncher]

from the moment I saw the trailer for banishers I was so ready to do anything to resurrect my wife, but now that I'm actually playing I don't want to hurt anyone... but also I love her and want her back god this game is gonna hurt me

#this is like the bay vs bae of lis but making it a choice you have to keep making through out the game really makes it much harder #yes i want my wife back but also i dont want to hurt this poor cannibal #and now i have to make her a promise i dont know i can keep either way #banishers ghosts of new eden

[guideaus]

i picked steins;gate up again and i forgot they were talking abt ww3

#personal #the universe wants that anime girl DEAD!! #the more dramatic version of lis's bae vs bay 2015 discourse

[teataglia]

hi hi hi tea! how have you been!

BAY🤩🤩🤩HI MY LOVE! ive been good! really super duper busy so i havent been very active :,( just a lot of work yknoooow and like having to manage my time between doing stuff i wanna do vs. have to do, but itll all be fine :D thank you so much for asking bae (bay) HOW ARE YOU???

#youre so sweet for checking in MWAH #˘͈ᵕ˘͈ ᴛᴇᴀ sᴘᴇᴀᴋs #ღೃ* ᴛᴇᴀ ʙʟᴜsʜᴇs :: bay

[labelleperfumery]

Christian McCaffrey vs. Jimmy Garoppolo -- Who'd You Rather?!

Christian McCaffrey vs. Jimmy Garoppolo — Who’d You Rather?!

The Bay Area just became Bae Area thanks to the Christian McCaffrey trade … ’cause not only are the San Francisco 49ers a better team — they got even hotter, too. The Niners roster features plenty of hunky jocks on their 53-man roster … and… from TMZ.com https://www.tmz.com/2022/10/21/christian-mccaffrey-jimmy-garoppolo-whod-you-rather/

View On WordPress

#TMZ.com

[kissingwookiees]

it’s nice to see an ending decision as evenly split as the ‘tell rachel the truth/don’t tell rachel the truth’ as opposed to bae vs bay but once again ive still picked the most unpopular decision

#im bay over bae and i told rachel the truth 🤷‍♀️ #chloe rachel and nathan are my top 3 characters from the first game #so i didn’t make any of those decisions lightly #but idk man i can’t justify one over the many to myself #and i can’t justify lying to rachel after she told me repeatedly throughout the game how she’s sick of being lied too lmao #chloe is her biggest confidante and supporter so my decision just felt right #still not overly impressed with bts as a prequel and think it even detracts from the original still #but nevertheless i remain a rachel amber stan

[rappaccini]

i find it unfortunate that this long after the release of og life is strange, new fans have no knowledge of the Scrapped Ending and original fans have all but forgotten it. people just kind of accept that ~bae vs bay~ was the plan the whole time and carry on.

i still have yet to see a single person talk about the original timeline that cold opens the game, the one where max witnesses the storm at the lighthouse and is crushed by a wind-flung boat, which we keep calling back to throughout the game-- or the original act of time-travel, which was max sending herself back to the classroom on monday, and how it would've been the key to the ending that never got made.

to walk you through it: if max had not gotten her powers at the exact moment she did, three minutes before the bell rang and she handed in the photo for her everyday heroes contest submission, what would have happened?

simple answer: she wouldn't have had a future-vision-induced migraine and confidence crisis that made her too nervous to hand her assignment in.

extended answer, or butterfly effect answer: in the original timeline, the one where max doesn't get powers at that exact moment, she submitted her photo and won the contest.

because no matter what she would've handed in, jefferson would've chosen her. because he had already decided she would be the winner. this is because he wasn't choosing her to go on a field trip with him. he was choosing her as his next victim. *

[interlude i: *victoria was his second choice, who he settled for when max had jumped out of reach after he'd already made the preparations to get a girl in the dark room. physically, vic matches his type-- blonde, green/blue-eyed, but personality-wise, not at all. jefferson likes 'innocent' girls. after kate, that's max, who jefferson always made special time for. because he was grooming her.]

max was never going to san francisco. the contest was always an excuse to get her alone with jefferson, and to create a window of time where it would be expected that she be absent from blackwell and arcadia bay for several days. because he was going to use that window to take her to the dark room, drug her, abuse her, kill her, destroy the evidence, and create an excuse for her disappearance (probably by sending fake texts from her phone to friends and family, like he does with nathan, implying she's in sanfran or planning to run away).

therefore, max spent the week preparing to fly to san francisco with jefferson for an art exhibition, but on the day they were meant to leave, which would probably have been thursday night or friday morning, jefferson drugged her. my guess is, in the context of having her come to his office before they 'drive to the airport together' (i'd guess to talk about her future and/or to be consoled after kate's suicide and/or chloe's death**) or max getting a vortex club party invite and being dosed there.

[interlude ii: **if max was busy with her contest win, she wouldn't have had time to be there for kate, and without her rewind power, max would have had no way to save her. if max was never in the bathroom to disrupt the chloe-nathan confrontation, he would've shot her, but without max as witness, he'd have gotten away with it.]

then jefferson took max to the storm bunker*** and abused her, which was the final straw that made arcadia bay go for a hard reset via hurricane flattening everything.

[interlude iii: ***the prescotts knew that abusing their power over the town and the land it's on would cause the storm. they did it anyway, and built the bunker so they and their friends could survive. sean prescott funded and provided a location for the dark room operation 1) bc he's gross, 2) in order to speed up the storm's arrival so he could build pan estates over the wreckage. the poverty and exploitation of the bay's residents, the toxic environment of blackwell, the vortex club cover-ups, kate's suicide, rachel's murder, chloe's death, nathan's internal turmoil-- all of it fuels the storm. max was the straw that broke the camel's back.]

max woke up. she escaped the bunker, but was drugged, lost, confused and traumatized, so she wandered through the woods as the storm was breaking, not knowing where she was or how she got there, until she got to the lighthouse and saw the storm for herself. then she was crushed by debris.

that was how max was going to die, but in the moment before it happened, arcadia bay decided to give it one last go (probably because max dying as a result of the storm was an unacceptable consequence). so it gave max the rewind power and returned her to that moment in the classroom before she and the town reach the point of no return.

so. why does max specifically get the rewind power? why at that exact moment?

it was one last opportunity for the final victim of the prescott family's abuse to save herself from that pain, and to save the town from destruction, by yanking her out of the way before the proverbial train hit her, and shoving her in the path of the people who could've helped her save the town.

because what does max do after she loses her nerve? she gets out of jefferson's reach and goes straight to the bathroom, where she meets nathan (whose confession would've brought down the dark room operation and the prescott family, who knows the family is fueling the storm for their own benefit, and is ready to crack from guilt) and chloe (whose effect on max would've given her the motivation she needed to see it through, and who's driven to find and avenge rachel).

.........................anyway. then dontnod ran out of time and money, and released a half-baked episode five that dropped all the prescott involvement, nathan's redemption, and any and all revelations about the source and purpose of max's power, and instead clumsily pinned the blame on her for the storm. which in retrospect makes the cold open make no sense.

so. it's a thought.

#lis

[chloe-caulfield94]

I don't understand that section of the LiS fanbase, at all

I'll never understand folks who sacrifice Chloe and also gush over how cute she is with Max or how cool of a character she is. Okay, don't murder her then. Is there something I'm missing? Her life or death is up to you. If you decide to kill her, then she obviously is not that important to you. Certainly not your "number one priority".

Go bask in your glory of an everyday hero who'd be willing to kill their own friend for "the greater good" instead of crying crocodile tears over Chloe's coffin.

An especially egregious example of such mentality is fetishizing Chloe as a "tragic" character, a member of the 27 Club with an 8 year head start. Dude, you're the one turning her life story into a tragedy. You're the one killing her. You're the one depriving her of a happy ending, of a fresh start. I don't understand the morbid interest in Chloe's story viewed through that lens.

The story of a troubled kid who everyone gave up on, including her family, her friends and even herself, who died a stupid death that could've been prevented had she had at least one person standing in her corner (but as it turned out, there was nobody willing to stick by her) is not interesting or captivating. It's simply revolting. And to tell you the truth, quite unoriginal in its inhumanity and banal in its cruelty. Look out the window and you'll see hundreds of stories like that. Is this the sort of tale you wish to write with your choices?

At least I can understand Chloe Price haters. They sacrifice Chloe, because they are lusting to murder the person they are seething with hatred towards. They sacrifice Chloe, because they are deriving sick pleasure from handing down the death penalty for the unforgivable crime of being a troubled teen. That mindset is condemnable, but I can at least understand it, even though I would never think or feel that way, not about Chloe, not about anyone else.

But I cannot comprehend the mindset of celebrating the character that you judged unworthy of survival, less important than others, whose life you chose to spend as a resource. We get it, you performed the incredibly complex analysis of "one is less than multiple", you proved you possess "the strongest of wills to make the hardest of choices".

You decided that there were others "who should live way more" than Chloe and you swung the headman's axe. I salute both your strength to usurp for yourself the right to judge who is more worthy of life and your courage to immediately kill to enforce your swift and wise judgement. I personally, being a coward, faced with a choice to sacrifice a human life to stop a tornado would refuse to do so and let the events unfold, as I feel I am in no position to ever judge who should live and who should die. I guess that's just my weakness and liberal, tree-hugging concern for human dignity speaking.

But could you please stop smiling over the coffin of your victim? Could you please stop recollecting all the moments of joy and friendship that you selfishly decided to take back, that you erased, that you prevented from ever hapening? Could you please stop celebrating the friend that you used for five days to make yourself feel better about your past mistakes and to go through a coming-of-age adventure, who you then discarded like a toy you got bored with, making sure that she never experienced any of the things you did?

Go have fun with all the people you saved instead of performatively mourning the person whose life you deemed so insignificant you chose to willingly cause her death.

In her darkest moment she said she didn't deserve Max's love and friendship, that she didn't even deserve to live. And instead of proving her wrong, uplifiting her, giving a chance to begin again somewhere the past would hold no dominion over her, you chose to prove her right. Denying her a chance at life, you pushed her back into the quagmire of the past, to drown.

Sadistic fate set her up as the Price to be paid. And in your blind obedience to evil destiny, you chose to pay with her life. Whether that made you feel bad or sad was irrelevant to her as she died alone, abandoned and afraid, in a pool of her own blood.

On a related note, don't you think Bay Max keeping Chloe's belongings is deeply disturbing? The belongings of a girl who saw Max for the last time five years ago? I'm fairly certain that if you asked the Monday, pre-parking lot Chloe (so the one who is murdered) if she wished for her personal belongings to pass to Max in case of her death, she would respond with an emphatic "no". I wonder, would Bay Max lie to Joyce, telling her that she got to reconnect with Chloe before her murder (she didn't, since she erased all the time she had spent with Chloe). This only goes to show that Bay Max is totally out of character - basically a creepy body snatcher.

#max caulfield #chloe price #life is strange #lis #pricefield #bae vs bay

[blackwell-academys-airdrop]

So I was talking about LIS with my therapist (she brought up moral quandaries) and I have come to the realization that the Bae or Bay decision is about whether you love deeply or broadly (respectively).

#life is strange #lis #bae vs bay #queue

[beautheexpositor]

LIS 2: Did you choose to sacrifice Arcadia Bay?

me:

#lis #lis2 #life is strange 2 #life is strange #lis2 spoilers #arcadia bay #bae ending #bae vs bay #bay vs bae #this action will have concequences #sean diaz #daniel diaz #chloe price #max caulfield #look #i know #theyre calling out my gay ass and making me choose chloe all over again #lnly to show me a destroyed town #i get it

[blackwellpodcast]

We’ve asked all of our guests the big question: Bae or Bay? This time, we ask ourselves. A truly polarizing decision, we go over why we choose what we do.

#life is strange #Blackwell podcast #bae vs bay #Chloe Price #Arcadia Bay

[thealexchen]

What were the stastics for bay vs bae?

Much less split than the original! 62% sacrificed AB, 38% sacrificed Chloe. Which makes sense, since there are much more Pricefield shippers 7 years later. I've also seen a lot of YouTubers make more pro-Chloe choices, like I was surprised how many people immediately agreed to alt Chloe's request in episode 4, and more people took the money from Wells's office.

#lis remastered #life is strange #anon #answered asks #lis

[casorasi]

Old Bay vs New Bae: McCormick settles trademark lawsuit against rival spice company

Old Bay parent company McCormick and Co. settled a federal lawsuit Tuesday against a Pittsburgh-based spice company that produced a seasoning called New Bae. McCormick filed the suit in late 2018, claiming trademark infringement against organic spice company Primal Palate.… Old Bay vs New Bae: McCormick settles trademark lawsuit against rival spice company

#Old Bay vs New Bae: McCormick settles trademark lawsuit against rival spice company

[ivarthebadbitch]

Strange things can happen

Chapter 7 summary: Aldreda and Ivar have a cultural exchange. Ivar hatches a plan of his own.

Canon divergent, everybody lives, arranged marriage AU after 4x14. Read this chapter on Ao3.

Previous chapters: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

On Ao3: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Pairings: Ivar x OC, Ivar vs. basically everyone

Warnings: None

Word count: 1856

Notes: I 100% made up the “cultural” stuff in this chapter, don’t get mad at me.

Tagged: @youbloodymadgenius @heavenly1927 @nukyster-blog @bae-roman @adhdnightmare (let me know if you would like to be tagged)

CHAPTER 7: Maybe someday

With the majority of the Mercian rebels either killed, captured, or fled, a treaty skewed heavily in favor of Wessex was swiftly drawn up and signed by the victorious and defeated parties. Aldreda’s father was clearly pleased with the turn of events, and he allowed her, Aethelred, Alfred, and Ivar to witness the signing. Afterwards, he hugged Aldreda and her brothers and even gave Ivar an awkward pat on the shoulder.

As everyone else began packing up camp outside to return home, Aldreda and Ivar lingered to look at the treaty. “So that’s it, then?” Ivar asked. He turned the piece of parchment sideways and frowned. “This chicken scratch is the agreement between Wessex and Mercia? A good rain would wash the ink right out. Or I could tear it in half. And then...no more treaty.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please don’t. My father is already upset with you.”

“I just think it is a stupid way to make an agreement. It’s just parchment. It doesn’t mean anything.”

She took the treaty out of his hands in case he changed his mind and decided to tear it up. Or eat it. “So how would your people do it, then?”

“Easy. You make your agreement and swear an oath, and then you perform a sacrifice so that the gods will be witnesses to it and show favor. Usually a goat.” He regarded her thoughtfully and then shook his head. “Well, I see the problem. You Christians don’t do sacrifices. How does your god know when you make an agreement?”

“Maybe He reads it over later,” Aldreda said dryly. “The whole reason to write it down and sign it is to record the details of the agreement so that all parties can be held to account if they break it. What happens if you make an agreement with someone, take an oath, perform a sacrifice, and later on the other person claims that you agreed to something else?”

Ivar shrugged. “Challenge him to single combat for lying. Then you kill him and take his land and his wife as your own.”

“Ah. Of course,” she said. “Well, then, what about us? You and I made an agreement, but we did not perform a sacrifice as your people would do, so your gods don’t recognize it. Nor did we write it down.”

“That is true.” He gave her a thoughtful look, even though she hadn’t been entirely serious. “So what do you want to do about it?”

“Write it down,” she said on impulse, reaching for the quill and ink pot left on the table. She took her small prayer book out of her pocket and flipped to the blank final page. Near the bottom, she wrote in small, neat letters: Ivar and Aldreda have an agreement. She signed her name underneath and handed the quill to Ivar.

He took it hesitantly. “I can’t write,” he said.

She pointed out his name on the page. “Just try to copy this,” she told him.

He studied his name for a moment, frowning, and then he set the quill to the parchment and laboriously drew the letters. They came out crooked and wobbly, but it was undeniably his name, and she felt a sudden surge of pride. “It takes practice, but not so bad, right?” she said as she tucked the book back inside her pocket.

“No,” he said. He sounded a little surprised. “So, we wrote it down like you wanted. Now we should make a sacrifice.”

She arched an eyebrow. “I am not sacrificing a goat. I hope you will understand.”

“It doesn’t have to be a goat.” He pulled out a knife.

Aldreda hesitated, and he rolled his eyes at her. “Don’t look at me like that. What, do you really think I’d kill you? Right here in the middle of your father’s camp? Even if I wanted to, I’m not that stupid. We can use your knife if you want. I know you have one.”

She did have one, but that was beside the point. She watched as he nicked his index finger with a small hiss. Then he held out the knife to her, handle first, and after a moment she accepted it from him and followed suit. He took her hand and pressed their fingers together. It felt strangely intimate. She could feel her face turning red.

“There,” he said. “Now our oath is sealed in blood.”

He wiped his bloody finger on his pants while she pressed down on hers to stop the bleeding. “I thought you were going to tell me to lick your finger or something,” she joked. “Don’t you pagans drink blood?”

He looked up in surprise. “Oh, of course, we can do that too if you want.”

“Ah...no. That won’t be necessary. Thank you.”

                                                            ***

A plan began taking shape in Ivar’s mind in earnest as they made their slow and bumpy way back to Wessex. To make his way home to Kattegat, he would need somebody to help smuggle him many miles to the coast and get him on a boat. The only reason anyone in this place would do that would be for a substantial amount of money. So he needed to find someone greedy. Or, even better—someone desperate. And beyond that, he needed a bribe, since his fellow conspirator would not be satisfied with empty promises. He would want to see payment upfront. Something valuable enough to make it worth the risk.

His eyes went to Aldreda’s gold necklace.

“You look thoughtful,” she said in an amused voice, and he almost jumped. Though they had started this trip to Mercia bickering, at some point along the way he could feel something had changed between them. It made him a little uneasy that he was beginning to actually like her company, and that she seemed to like his more and more. But he couldn’t allow that to be a distraction.

“That priest your father sent to teach me,” he said. “Father...Wilfred, I think. Why did Aethelwulf choose him?”

“I suppose because he knows your language,” she said with a shrug.

“Not as some sort of punishment for him, then.”

“Well, now that you say that…” She frowned and then leaned forward and lowered her voice, even though it was just the two of them in the carriage. “There was a scandal a few months back. Father Wilfred and a few other priests were caught gambling using church funds. My grandfather and the bishop decided to be merciful because his skill in Norse and in Frankish is useful, but he had to pay back the funds he had stolen, which I believe was a substantial amount. It is possible that teaching you is also part of his penance.”

Perfect. Ivar forced himself to keep his expression neutral. He couldn’t give her any hint of what he was planning to do. “I would like to continue my lessons with Father Wilfred,” he said. “I want to know more about your religion.”

Aldreda stared at him in surprise, and for a moment, he thought she would see right through his subterfuge. But then she unexpectedly gave him a warm smile. “I will tell my father; he will be pleased to hear it.” She added almost shyly, “And I am pleased to hear it too.”

He blushed and looked away, unable to stop himself. She looked happier than he had ever seen her in the past several weeks since they had married. 

“Oh, but Ivar—” she said—had she called him by his name before now?—“don’t torment the poor priest like you did last time. If you want some parchment to gnaw on, I’m sure we can find some scraps around.”

She was actually teasing him. Somehow, he didn’t mind. He rolled his eyes at her but smiled back. “Fine. I promise.”

Aldreda leaned back in her seat and gave him an almost hesitant look. “Will you tell me about your home?” she asked shyly. “I’ve never been outside of Wessex, except for this trip.”

“Kattegat?” He took a moment to think about what to say. “The city is on the edge of the bay, surrounded by mountains. It was small when I was born, not much more than a fishing village—that was before my father became king. When I was a child, of course, I thought it was the entire world. Now it’s much bigger and merchants come from all over to sell things. You see all kinds of people there, not like here.

“It gets cold in the winters, but in the great hall where my parents sit, it is always warm,” he continued. “Everyone gathers in there for meetings and feasts. In the summer, I would go with my brothers to the hunting cabin in the mountains to fish and hunt deer and rabbits. The forest there is so thick that even during the middle of the day, it always stays cool and dark…”

There was more he could tell her about Kattegat, like the excitement of the horns blowing when ships arrived in the harbor, or how the hills were carpeted with purple wildflowers in spring, or about the secret waterfall where he sometimes went swimming with his brothers. His heart suddenly felt tight in his chest as he remembered all the things he missed from home. He wondered what his family was doing without him and how long it would take before they no longer noticed his absence. It was almost unbearable to think about.

“Sometimes we sacrifice goats, that sort of thing,” he finally finished, just to make her laugh. “We’re heathens, after all.”

“I’d like to see it,” she sighed. “Not the sacrificing goats part, but everything else. Perhaps my grandfather will allow it someday.”

It was wishful thinking and they both knew it. He allowed himself to imagine what that would be like anyway. His brothers would tease them mercilessly and his mother would initially be suspicious since she had never approved of the marriage in the first place, but with time they would be won over. And perhaps Aldreda would like to see the ocean, since there was none at Ecbert’s court in Winchester. She was sure to be surprised by the size of the mountains. 

He shook his head. That was never going to happen. He was going to find a way to get home and that would be the end of it, and it would be better for both of them. She could marry again, this time to someone more suitable. She might be upset about it for a little while, and then she would move on. 

“Maybe someday,” he ended up telling her. “But you should improve your Norse first. Your accent is horrible.”

They didn’t speak much after that, but after a little while, she reached out and took his hand. Then, she hesitantly leaned forward and kissed him quickly on the lips. She sat back, blushing furiously—he was certain his face was as red as hers was—and looked away. 

Still, she kept holding on to his hand. He couldn’t quite bring himself to let go.

#vikings #ivar the boneless #fanfiction #fic: strange things can happen