SF's "Write Your Butt Off" Competition HD II.5 Remix

[SoulWeaver]

45 minutes ago, TheSilentChloey said:

I was talking about Soul saying we should be allowed to recruit the generic units and SI them, and I said if we could get the generic units I'd use them for SI.  Please don't put words into my mouth.

whAT?! You would fodder Units with no skills or special weapons?!

...This girl. Playing her 4D chess and looking down on us all. /s

[Anacybele]

1 hour ago, TheSilentChloey said:

Please don't put words into my mouth.

Um, no one was doing that... Making a mistake about what you were referring to does not equal putting words in your mouth.

Edited July 8, 2020 by Anacybele

[TheSilentChloey]

1 hour ago, SoulWeaver said:

whAT?! You would fodder Units with no skills or special weapons?!

...This girl. Playing her 4D chess and looking down on us all. /s

I meant if they had the same premium skills lol if not then nothing lost XD they'd sure as heck be even more fun to build XP

[Azure the Scale Tipper]

So, how much time do we have to do our entries at this point?

[TheSilentChloey]

I assume we've got about three weeks for the entries, though I don't know in all seriousness.

[AnonymousSpeed]

1 hour ago, Azure loves his Half Elves said:

So, how much time do we have to do our entries at this point?

8 days and 23 hours.

I apologize for waiting the better part of a week to do the one thing I am supposed to do.

Congratulations. I ko'd myself.

[Anacybele]

Uh, it's never been three weeks... I have no idea where anyone would get that idea.

Anyway, I finished my entry! I hope I'm not going to be the only one this whole round though. Patriotism is fun!

This turned out rather short, so I'm not confident it's one of my better pieces. I've said in the past that I have trouble making a quality story with only a few thousand words or less. But I did still try with this one! Hope you all enjoy. 🙂

Title: Long Live Crimea!
Fandom: Fire Emblem (Tellius)
Words: 2714

Pre-Read Note:

Spoiler

This story mentions some of Kieran's history, which is actually not officially known. I came up with a backstory for him some time ago and it's used here. This backstory is as follows: Kieran was born to a family of horse breeders and is the youngest of three siblings (this is to mirror Oscar being the oldest of three). While his mother and sister loved and supported him in his desire to become a knight of Crimea, his father and brother were quite the opposite. They borderline abused him and thought he was pathetic. Too clumsy, prone to accidents, and didn't take things seriously enough. His brother was the worse of the two and even resorted to bullying poor Kieran at times. But thanks to his mother and sister, Kieran still pressed on and lived his dream while deciding to prove his loyalty and strength in any way he could. Because of the way the other half of his family treated him, however, he is adamant on not letting others tease his son for his own dream. He's enthusiastic about his achievements due to having proved his now dead father and brother wrong.

Story

Spoiler

Long Live Crimea!

 

“Sigh…” an eight-year-old boy named Tristan uttered as he rather sluggishly walked through a hall in the grand Castle Crimea. He was on his way to meet his father after a day of school taught by the royal tutor, who was in charge of educating the children of the Crimea royal family, nobles, and high-ranking military officers.

“Sniff… What if…what if it really is impossible?!” Tristan wondered to himself as worrisome thoughts plagued his mind. His striking blue eyes grew glassy and a tear began to trickle down his cheek.

“But why does it have to be?” he continued to himself. “Why?!”

Tristan then turned a corner to leave the school wing of the castle and enter one of the larger halls.

There waiting for him was his father, garbed in elaborate gold-trimmed red armor and his signature ebony tunic. The color of his hair mimicked Tristan’s own reddish brown, but also slightly spiky mane. The boy quickly wiped his tears away.

“Ah, hey there, champ!” Tristan’s father greeted. “How’s school going?

“Hi, Papa,” Tristan greeted, though he couldn’t do a good job of hiding the gloom in his tone. “It’s okay, I guess…”

“Hm? What’s the matter?” his father wondered, a small frown gracing his lips. “Why the long face, son?”

“Oh, uh…I’m okay, really,” Tristan feigned. His father wasn’t buying it, however.

“Now don’t give me that. I can tell for sure that something’s bothering you,” he said. “Or my name isn’t—!”

“General Kieran of the Crimean Royal Knights. Yeah, Papa, I know,” Tristan finished with a small grin. “You only say that a bunch of times a month. Maybe a week, actually.”

“Ah. Heh,” Kieran replied, going a bit pink. “Perhaps you’re right, son. But anyway! As I said, I know something’s bothering you and I want to know what. Is somebody picking on you in class? I’ll give them a piece of my mind!”

“Oh, no… It’s not that,” Tristan replied. “Not really, anyway.”

“I see. Well, let’s walk and talk about it.”

“Okay.”

The two then began making their way down the hall as Tristan felt butterflies twitter about in his stomach. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what either of his parents would think about what was troubling him. But he knew he had to talk to someone about it sooner or later, or he would never have a chance of feeling better about it. Tristan heaved a sigh and began.

“Well, Papa…” he said. “Nobody really made fun of me, but it is about something that happened in school.”

“Hmm,” Kieran replied. “Go on. Don’t worry, I won’t be upset with you if you did nothing wrong.”

“Okay then. See…I really like when Mama takes me for a ride on her Pegasus. And…it’s made me want to…get my own someday. I…I wanna be a Pegasus knight! But when I said this in school, some kids laughed and told me I can’t do it because a Pegasus is only for girls! And—”

“Wait, hold on,” Kieran interrupted. “I completely understand, but let’s continue this when we get to our quarters. I feel this is going to be a rather long conversation.”

“Um… Okay then…”

With that, the two continued to their destination without anymore words. It was the quarters in which Kieran and his small family stayed in the Castle Crimea grounds. As a general, he was given the privilege and it extended to his immediate family if he desired. When they went inside, Kieran made sure to close the door and had his son sit down in a pair of chairs with him.

“Okay. So my boy likes Pegasi, huh?” Kieran said with a smile.

“Yeah!” Tristan replied. “They’re so beautiful and majestic. And flying is so great! I love the wind in my face when Mama takes me up.”

“Heh, that’s great to hear! I’m personally quite content being on the ground with Lancelot as my mount. But anyway, you were teased for this by other kids?”

“Sorta, I guess. But they didn’t laugh for real long. Mr. Damocles had told them to stop, but then also said that they are right. That Pegasi only like girls! That’s just not fair! How can they only like girls? Why, Papa?”

“I see…” Kieran replied. “Well, the thing is, your tutor is right that Pegasi have only allowed women to ride them.”

At this, Tristan frowned again, and another sniffle left his nose.

“So then… I really can’t do it,” he said.

“It’s never been done before,” Kieran continued. “But… You know what?”

“What?”

“That doesn’t mean it’s truly impossible. Why, for all we know, us men just haven’t tried hard enough to gain the trust of Pegasi! Maybe there have been male Pegasus knights before and were just lost to history long ago! Who knows?”

“Really, Papa?”

Kieran then placed a hand on his son’s shoulder and continued.

“Yes! Son, you just do your best at this. Don’t you ever let anyone tell you that you can’t try to live your dream! If you want to be a Pegasus knight, then go for it! It would never hurt to try. And if those kids and that tutor are making you feel bad, you can let me give them a good talking to.”

“Heh. Thanks, Papa! But I don’t think you need to talk to them. Not right now, at least.”

“Alrighty then. But if you ever want me to, you know I’m here. Just remember one other thing though. If being a Pegasus knight doesn’t work out, there will always be other ways you can do great things for our fair Crimea.”

Tristan thought for a moment before replying.

“…Yeah. You’re right! Thanks so much, Papa.”

“Of course, son! I’m rooting for you though, you know! I want to believe you can make some history and be our first male Pegasus knight! And if those kids tease you again, I’ll give them what-for for you. No one tells my boy he can’t do something. No one…”

For a moment, Kieran’s tone was distant. Tristan noticed and tilted his head.

“Heh, thanks! But…are you okay there, Papa? You might be getting a little too serious.”

“…Ah. Sorry about that. I was…reminded of the past,” Kieran explained. “I’ve always been loyal to only the people of Crimea and passionate about serving her. Your grandma and aunt were all for me pursuing that dream. But my father and brother…not so much.”

“…Wait. You had a brother, Papa?”

“Yeah. A jerk he was, just like my dad. I never told you about him because I didn’t think you needed to know. But I guess I let the cat out of the bag now. He and my dad didn’t think I could do it. They thought I was too reckless, clumsy, and not serious enough. I did end up with quite a few bumps and bruises along the way, I’ll admit. But you know what? I’m here today with the rank of general! Right alongside Geoffrey! And where are my father and brother? DEAD! Dead since the early days of the Mad King’s War! Now I don’t recommend acting like this towards the deceased in the future, mind you. But when I found out they’d been slain in Ashnard’s invasion of Melior, I couldn’t help but walk away and privately shout “HUZZAH! Who’s the useless one now?!” Of course, I’d have rather they changed their ways and respected me more. And there were times I wished they’d leave or the rest of us would leave them. But nobody liked the idea of breaking up the family.”

“Oh wow… That’s horrible, Papa. I didn’t mean to make you sad about it again.”

“Yeah. But no worries, son. I’m not sad. Just telling you why I don’t want anyone treating you that way at all.”

“Oh, okay. I won’t let any of those kids get to me then!”

“Good to hear! Also, I might be able to help you a little.”

“What? Really?”

“Yeah. I think you’re old enough to start learning more about serving Crimea. You want to be a knight regardless of your mount, right?”

“Oh, yeah!”

“And the anniversary of the founding of our fair kingdom is upon us soon as well!”

“Oh yeah, that’s right!”

“Son, I can teach you about how to show your loyalty! To exhibit the best patriotism you can imagine! We can use it in the celebration and you can try to use it to prove your loyalty and trust to a lovely Pegasus!”

“Oh, I see! There’s tricks and stuff to it?”

“In a manner of speaking. First and foremost, you swear your life to your liege and people. Knights are sworn to lay down their lives for their kingdom if necessary.”

“Yeah… That’s the only scary part. But it’s still great to help the kingdom!”

“Indeed. And you need courage! Bravery! Resolve! And true heart!”

“Ah! Yeah!”

“And let your fellow Crimeans know from time to time that you’re there for them!”

“Right!”

“And most importantly, go above and beyond for your kingdom!”

“Okay! Thanks, Papa!”

“Sure! And there’s even more we can do too, at least for the anniversary celebration.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Give me a sec.”

Kieran then walked over to a closet and began rummaging through it a little. Eventually, he pulled out a pair of flags with the Crimean emblem on them. He also had a rolled-up length of fabric on his hands after closing the closet doors. He then turned around to wave one of the flags.

“Firstly, wave your Crimea flag as best you can when appropriate!” he said.

“Okay! But…you know, doesn’t Mama think you overdo this a bit sometimes though?” Tristan wondered.

“Ah… Heh, maybe a little. But anyway, I still say it’s the best way to show your loyalty and passion for our great land of Crimea!”

Kieran then handed his son one of the flags. Tristan then began to wave it around, though not quite the same way his father had. He was going closer to swinging it around wildly rather than truly waving it.

“Here, try doing it a bit more gracefully,” Kieran instructed. “You don’t want to end up smacking it against something and breaking it. Believe me, I know…”

“Oh. Yeah, right. Mama told me that you also accidentally hit Sir Oscar in the face with one once too, and then yourself!”

“Ah… Ha, ha…” Kieran chuckled awkwardly, his face going a bit red. He then lowered his voice a little and bit his lip. “Marcia, why did you have to mention that to him…”

“Huh?” Tristan wondered.

“Ah, nothing, never mind,” Kieran continued. “But you don’t want to end up hitting people either, of course. Anyway…”

Tristan then paid a little more attention to how he waved his flag and tried again. This time he did so a little slower, less wildly, and with as much grace as he possibly could. A smile dawned his features as he admired the beautiful Crimean emblem embroidered on the fabric.

“There you go!” Kieran praised.

“Yeah! This is fun, Papa!” Tristan agreed. “Oh, I just remembered. There’s the Crimea national anthem too, right? “Crimea the Beautiful.” Mr. Damocles taught us all about its history and Crimea’s.”

“Ah, yes! Very good point!” Kieran realized. “We can practice it together too. I sing it every year for the Founding of Crimea anniversary as clearly as I can!”

“Awesome! I don’t remember all the words yet though…”

“No problem! I can help you with that.”

“Yay!”

With that, Kieran began to march in place and hum a little tune. Moments later, the graceful words of “Crimea the Beautiful” began to leave his lips. Tristan realized his father wasn’t the greatest singer, but could tell he had fun doing so and clearly put his heart into it. Tristan then began to follow along as best as he could, and also marched in place next to his father. Excitedly, they began to sing a little louder and turned their marching in place into marching in circles around the room. The two also waved their flags again as they did so.

Soon enough, however, they were so into their anthem practice that they neglected to pay attention to anything else. Including a repeated knock at the door that went unanswered. Minutes later, the door opened to revealed a man with bright azure hair and navy armor.

“Hey, what in—AUUGGH!” he suddenly bellowed, snapping the father and son pair back to reality. Tristan had wound up swinging his flag right into the man’s midsection.

“KIERAN!” the man bellowed again while tightly clutching his now sore gut. “What in all of Crimea is going on in here?!”

“Oh no! I’m sorry!” Tristan quickly replied, dropping his flag and bringing his hands to his mouth.

“Ah!” Kieran cried. “Geoffrey! Er… Damn it. Are you alright? My son didn’t mean to…”

“I know, I know,” Geoffrey replied. “Ugh… Even though that hurt like hell…”

He then mumbled something about why Tristan had to pick up that particular habit.

“But I say again, what are you doing in here?” Geoffrey continued.

“I’m real sorry, Sir Geoffrey…” Tristan said again with a frown, his gaze going to the floor. “Papa told me to try not to hit people with the flag…”

“I’m sure he did. Don’t you worry much about me. I’ll be fine,” Geoffrey assured the boy, patting him on the shoulder. “You have a mean swing though! You could be as strong as your dad someday!”

“Really? Awesome!”

“Yep! Now your father still has some explaining to do.”

“Yeah…” Kieran admitted, scratching the back of his head. “I apologize, Geoffrey. I was only trying to teach my boy about perfecting his loyalty and patriotism to our great kingdom.”

“I see… So that’s why I thought I heard “Crimea the Beautiful” in here,” Geoffrey realized.

“Yeah!” Tristan added. “I’m learning all about it so it can help me become a Pegasus knight someday!”

“…What? Uh…”

“Geoffrey, don’t even think about it,” Kieran warned. “I had a conversation about that with him.”

“Oh, er, right then. Anyway, Kieran, teaching him about loyalty is fine, but can you try being more careful about it from now on?”

“Ah, yes, for sure,” Kieran agreed. “Again, my apologies.”

“Oh, pay it no mind.”

Before anyone could say anything more, a woman with fairly short pink hair and the same blue eyes as Tristan’s approached, a perplexed look on her face.

“Hey! Kieran, Geoffrey! Is everything okay over here? I thought I heard some commotion,” she said. “Hello, Tristan!”

“Hi, Mama!” Tristan greeted.

“Oh, Marcia. Yes, we’re fine,” Geoffrey assured, though he was still massaging his stomach.

“Okay, but…why are you rubbing your stomach?” Marcia wondered, arching an eyebrow.

“Ah…I’ll tell you later. Right now, I came to discuss celebration plans for the kingdom’s anniversary with you both.”

“Ah, yes!” Kieran realized. “We do have work to do on that! It has to be spectacular!”

“And it will be, of course.”

“Oh, alright then!” Marcia agreed. “Tristan, sweetie, why don’t you go play with Danielle? We’ll meet up with you two later.”

“Okay, Mama! I like playing with her anyway,” Tristan agreed.

“Great idea!” Kieran agreed. “You just remember what we talked about, alright?”

“I will, Papa! Definitely.”

“That’s my boy!”

Kieran then lovingly ruffled his son’s hair.

The group then left the room together and closed the door. Marcia then turned to her husband.

“What did you two talk about, Kieran? I’m curious,” she wondered. “I hope you’re not putting any crazy ideas in Tristan’s head. Because I know you.”

“Oh, of course not, my love!” Kieran assured. “But why don’t we talk about it later? It’s rather personal for him.”

“Oh, I see. I’m alright with that then. I wouldn’t want to make him uncomfortable. That’s why I don’t let Makalov spend much time with him. The numbskull doesn’t seem to care enough anyway.”

“Indeed…”

Kieran then turned to his son again.

“Tristan,” he said. “Long live Crimea! Am I right?”

“Yeah, Papa! Long Live Crimea!” Tristan happily cheered.

This elicited nothing more than chuckles from Geoffrey and Marcia, with the latter also playfully rolling her eyes at her family.

Post-Read Notes:

Spoiler

- Tristan and Kieran's horse Lancelot are both named after two of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table. Kieran is like the knightiest of knights, so I had to do this. lol

- Yes, at some point before this story, Kieran was promoted from deputy commander to general and now both he and Geoffrey share the rank.

- "Crimea the Beautiful" is a reference to the patriotic song "America the Beautiful." It isn't the US's national anthem, but it's a pretty song and it was easier to reference than "The Star-Spangled Banner." I think it rolls off the tongue nicely too.

- Damocles is named after the principal in the Miraculous TV show. lol I wasn't sure what else to call him since this guy will probably have little presence in my fics.

- Danielle is Geoffrey's daughter. Yes, he has a wife of his own too, and since my Tellius ficverse has Elincia with Ike, Geoffrey's wife here is another original character who may or may not appear in future stories I post here. Danielle though, I named after my brother who died in 2015 after committing suicide. I thought why not honor him some? I prefer the name Danielle over Daniel, so that's why went that route. Oh yeah, and there's also an actual Daniel in Tellius already too. He's one of the merchant twins.

 

Edited July 15, 2020 by Anacybele

[TheSilentChloey]

Oof that's not fun XD

[Azure the Scale Tipper]

Reminder that we have around 3 days to get more entries in.

[Ottservia]

I’m working on something

[Azure the Scale Tipper]

I have a good idea of something, but D&D-related stuff, YouTube, and D&D YouTube content have had me slacking.

[Anacybele]

Wow, I was starting to wonder if I'd be the only entry! Good to know that it looks like I won't be. It's not fun at all if there's just one entry.

Anyone's free to critique it whenever though!

[Azure the Scale Tipper]

10 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Wow, I was starting to wonder if I'd be the only entry! Good to know that it looks like I won't be. It's not fun at all if there's just one entry.

Yeah, that’s why I feel pressured to.

Anyways, I decided to get into Hellsing Ultimate Abridged since the last time I posted here. Real good stuff, I must say.

I have not watched any other Hellsing content.

[Anacybele]

2 minutes ago, Azure loves his Half Elves said:

Yeah, that’s why I feel pressured to.

Understandable.

I just now realized there was one more detail I should've added to my post-story notes at the bottom and I did that just now. Just to point out to everyone.

[SoulWeaver]

-Indeterminate screeching-

[TheSilentChloey]

Honestly I don't think it matters whether people want to enter or not.  It's up to the writers and their personal feelings.

[SoulWeaver]

Not that, I may have forgot to write anything, hence the screaming.

[Anacybele]

52 minutes ago, TheSilentChloey said:

Honestly I don't think it matters whether people want to enter or not.  It's up to the writers and their personal feelings.

Sure, but it's still less fun with so few entries in the end. I'm not trying to force people to enter, just saying that I wish more would right now.

[Benice]

13 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Sure, but it's still less fun with so few entries in the end. I'm not trying to force people to enter, just saying that I wish more would right now.

I would, but I don't have anything good to say about patriotism, and I feel like that's not what the prompt is about.

[Ottservia]

1 minute ago, Benice said:

I would, but I don't have anything good to say about patriotism, and I feel like that's not what the prompt is about.

I mean the thing I’m writing just barely fits the prompt so it’s like whatever. It’s coming together though I’m struggling a bit atm

Edited July 16, 2020 by Ottservia

[Anacybele]

4 minutes ago, Benice said:

I would, but I don't have anything good to say about patriotism, and I feel like that's not what the prompt is about.

I don't get why people would hate patriotism. What's so bad about loving your country and wanting to support it?

[Ottservia]

1 minute ago, Anacybele said:

I don't get why people would hate patriotism. What's so bad about loving your country and wanting to support it?

Just take one good look at the current state of America and there’s your answer. Though that’s more nationalism than patriotism

[Anacybele]

2 minutes ago, Ottservia said:

Just take one good look at the current state of America and there’s your answer. Though that’s more nationalism than patriotism

What's going on here right now is not patriotism. It's hate, violence, and just chaos. And you're even saying it's more nationalism anyway.

But let's not go into that subject, that's a topic for the serious discussion board. Patriotism to me is just being loving and supportive of your country and celebrating it when appropriate. And I enjoy that.

[Benice]

10 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

I don't get why people would hate patriotism. What's so bad about loving your country and wanting to support it?

Ehh, in my life experiences, pride makes you blind. I'm not even really talking about politics, but moreso my experiences in sports. Full disclosure, you were dirt if you weren't part of a select group and everyone including the coaches would treat you as such. I know that most people who are patriotic won't do that if you're not part of their group or treat you terribly for doing something they think goes against a country's morals, but my life experiences have tainted my view on pride in general.

[Anacybele]

2 minutes ago, Benice said:

Ehh, in my life experiences, pride makes you blind. I'm not even really talking about politics, but moreso my experiences in sports. Full disclosure, you were dirt if you weren't part of a select group and everyone including the coaches would treat you as such. I know that most people who are patriotic won't do that if you're not part of their group or treat you terribly for doing something they think goes against a country's morals, but my life experiences have tainted my view on pride in general.

I see. And I understand. Pride is even supposed to be one of the seven deadly sins. Too much pride is a bad thing, you're right. But I also think one can appropriately be patriotic without taking it too far.