Athelstan

there's still a lot of work to be done.

i'm not finished with it yet.

i can't give up just yet.

there's nothing noble about working yourself to death.

you think i can't handle this myself?

there's not enough hours in the day.

i realize you think you have to do this.

working like this helps me think.

i'll sleep when i'm dead.

your work ethic scares me sometimes.

i don't need your help.

do you ever sleep?

they need me.

no matter how hard you work, it won't bring them back.

do you realize how crazy that sounds?

i'm not stopping until this is done.

you need to slow down.

i feel like i'm wasting my life.

have you ever taken a vacation?

i can handle this on my own.

i'm nothing without my work.

you're going to get sick if you keep going like this.

you've proven your point.

you're going to work yourself to death.

there are worse ways to spend a life.

you can't keep going at this pace.

i don't have time to rest.

it needs to be done.

do you have any healthy coping mechanisms, by any chance?

there's no time to waste.

i think it's time for you to take a break.

everything was going great until you stopped me.

i can't sleep yet. not until this is done.

i'm the only one who can do this.

at least let me help you.

if i just focus on my work, i don't have to think about anything else.

i'm not asking you to take a break, i'm telling you.

did you really have to interrupt like that?

i'm not budging.

it's my life's work.

you're not going to convince me otherwise.

when was the last time you slept?

i'll help you finish the job if you promise to get some rest.

you're practically falling asleep standing up.

you can finish this in the morning.

let me get you to bed.

don't you get it? it's over!

working yourself to death isn't going to fix anything.

if i don't do it, no one else will.

i wish you would take some time to rest.

i'm not taking a break, if that's what you're asking.

you just broke my concentration, thank you very much.

i'm not going to bed.

i don't know how to quit.

they're counting on me.

too many people rely on me.

i can't disappoint them.

you need a vacation.

i wish you would just listen to me and slow down.

your eye bags have eye bags.

all right, that's it. i'm putting my foot down.

no more excuses.

what do you get out of this? this overworking thing?

without my work... i'm nothing.

no one else is going to step in.

i don't care about me. i care about them.

we have unfinished business.

if i stop now, it'll be like giving up.

i'm a perfectionist. it's in my nature.

better to pour myself into my work than something else.

i wish you would go easy on yourself.

gif request meme 

{noflowercrownforme: Vikings + favorite platonic relationship} → Ragnar and Athelstan.

“You cannot leave! You cannot leave me! I love you. And you’re the only one I can trust so must stay. Well, I’m happy that you have found your god. While you are here no one will ever hurt you. I will protect you.”

i’ve made emotional ones before but also, angst?? bon appetit!

“ i can’t do this alone… “

“ i can’t do this without you. “

“ nothing is worth losing you. “

“ i can’t lose you! not again! “

“ i don’t wanna lose you! “

“ i love you… “

“ i never should’ve dragged you into this. “

“ you’re not alone, [NAME]… you never were. “

“ if something happened to you… that would be because of me. and i can’t have that. “

“ …did you know about this? “ “ this is all my fault… “

“ i/we/you lost… “

“ you won’t win. “ “ this path you’re on… it’s gonna get you killed. you know that, though; don’t you? “

“ i can’t stop. “

“ you would tell me if something was wrong. wouldn’t you? “

“ it’s like you’re not really here; even when you are. “

“ don’t you get it?! if anything happens to you, i… i don’t know what i’d do! “

“ you have no idea how important you are to me, and i’m tired of waiting for you to figure it out, and i sure as hell won’t wait to announce it over your reckless ass’ grave! “

“ no! i’m not leaving without you! “

“ i can’t do this anymore… “

“ you don’t even know me. “

“ what have you done?! “

“ you’re shaking… “

“ i’ve… made some mistakes. “

“ you are nothing to me. “

“ you were never nothing to me… “

“ stop it. enough of this self-sacrificing bullshit! stop acting like you have nobody who loves you! you have me! so no! you don’t get to be a martyr. not today! we can figure out a different plan… “

“ i would’ve done anything for you… “

“ i’d risk everything and anything for you. “

“ i’m not a good person. “

“ please don’t look at me like that… “

“ i believed in you! “

“ we can’t lose… “

“ what?! what am i supposed to do?! please! tell me, what the hell am i supposed to do?! “

“ please, just go… i’m not the kind of person anyone needs to be around right now. “

“ what happened to you? huh? what happened to you to make you this way? “

“ they’re coming for you. right? that’s why you’re pushing me away like an idiot? because you don’t want me getting hurt? “

“ nothing’s going to be as good as it was before. “

“ you lied to me! “

“ i didn’t mean for any of this to happen! “

“ i can’t trust you anymore… “

“ i know it’s selfish. god knows, ever since we met, i’ve been the reason behind every threat and danger that’s come your way. but… i honestly can’t say that i’d change a second of it. “

“ it’s been an honour knowing you. “

“ there’s nobody else i can turn to. only you. “

“ i don’t trust anybody else. not the way i trust you. “

“ we have no choice… “

“ why?! why are you helping me?! “

“ it’s too late. there’s nothing more we can do… “

“ please don’t go… don’t leave me. “

“ you are everything to me. okay? EVERYTHING. i can’t lose you… “

“ you deserve better than this… better than me… “

warriors don’t show their heart until the axe reveals it.

the world is changing and we must change with it.

some men lust for women, and others lust for gold, but i only lust to please the gods.

if nothing is real, we must still act as if it was.

we have lost more knowledge than we ever had.

power is only given to those who are prepared to lower themselves to pick it up.

it is always a strength to know the weaknesses of your friends.

your power resides in your prestige.

we cannot control our fate, we must accept it.

what was once true and real, is suddenly no longer true; no longer real, and sometimes we have to accept that.

we all make mistakes, sometimes for bad reasons, and sometimes for good ones.

it is one thing to use a weapon, but another to kill.

the space between life and death, that’s where we are the most alive.

life is not a walk across an open field.

we never really change, we just think that we do.

the mind is a far better warrior than the sword.

you and i both know the outcome of this battle has already been decided.

we live to fight another day.

the more complicated a person is, the more interesting he is, but at the same time: the more dangerous he is.

we all live in the past, although some people don’t understand that.

all of my life, and all of your lives, have come to this point.

the only way to tell if something is real is to sail there.

there is nowhere else to be but here.

the lure of an imaginary land, traveling somewhere that doesn’t exist? of course i’m coming.

all roads lead to the throne.

to be here now is the only thing that matters.

the gods are man’s creation to give answers that they are too afraid to give themselves.

i never forget anything.

you will look better if you have something to believe in.

fame won’t make your small kingdom any bigger.

to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under the sun.

i have no interest in peace; peace is a dirty word.

if the gods don’t protect me, then who can?

family isn’t everything, in the end, we are born alone and we die alone.

i desire to live a totally different kind of life.

what’s important is how we deal with suffering, how we deal with the truth.

i am old enough to know that you can never say for sure what someone else will do.

what is real today might not be real tomorrow, but sometimes we have to help it to shift.

as long as my brother is still alive, he is not defeated.

you emerge from the womb with only one thing on your mind, how to die.

you couldn’t kill me if you tried for a hundred years.

when you hear thunder, it’s only thunder.

it is the way of prophecy.

i’ve seen enough of war, i have seen enough of death.

the truth can be a bad choice for a wise man.

you are a great man, but even great men make mistakes.

how the little piggies will grunt when they hear how the old boar suffered.

don’t waste your time looking back, you’re not going that way.

life is all about change, is it not?

man is the master of his own fate, not the gods.

there is an illusion of power that induces inside you a kind of madness.

the gods will always smile on the brave women.

a king must be prepared to do the most terrible things against all conscience if he wants to survive.

words are fine, but they don’t win battles.

it’s not a matter of negotiation, it’s always a matter of blood.

hatred must never take the place of love.

sometimes the real truth is hidden from all of us, beyond the accidents of time and place, and has to be revealed.

nothing is so complicated, only thinking makes it so.

i have had enough of compromising with the men in my life.

you made a decision, live with it, believe in it; otherwise, how can i ever respect you?

you don’t need a title to be a leader.

what is it about the word king that makes even reasonable people behave like idiots?

i was never the usurper, always the usurped.

now I know I’m the chosen one.

we are always the same. We just pretend to change.

stones are much easier to wear than earth.

i would sup with the devil if he would show me how to achieve my earthly goals.

a hostage of the highest value is the safest hostage.

your death is on its way.

that is always the danger, to do the right things for the wrong reasons.

bad news travels a great deal slower than good news.

i am tired of fighting.

yes, we will all die. but not necessarily when the bandits attack us.

the man i once was would have dug this spade just deep enough into your skull to make you unconscious.

do you see this? are you watching this? this is our dream.

i am done with the humans.

you need to believe in yourself, or you’re not fit to wear that crown.

if you are afraid, then you are already dead.

the gods abandoned you a long time ago.

nothing is ever permanent, everything is always changing.

i need you to help me put my armor on one last time.

what is the point in trying to find a new land, if we behave just the same as we did in the old one?

we should never forget our past, ever.

life is a journey; we are borne ceaselessly into the future.

there is no way you can win.

life is about suffering, there’s no escape from it. that’s the truth.

i can hardly remember his name even now.

the world is more important than we are; we should take care of it.

power is always dangerous: it attracts the worst and corrupts the best.

wherever you go, i will go too. whatever you do, i will do too; even till the ends of the earth, even to the ends of endurance.

if we don’t change, we fall behind.

BLESSED   BY   THE   GODS   HE   GREW   TALL   &   HANDSOME   &   IN   WISDOM   WITH   A   KEEN   MIND—   BUT   THEY   HAD   CURSED  HIM   WITH   A   BONELESS  BODY,  TOO.