"I had to. I'm sorry. I had to do it. Please tell me... Please say I did the right choice," Finland's whisper was only just audible through his sobs. Sweden tensed at the words and gritted his teeth. What could he say? He closed his eyes and buried his face in Finland's tousled hair.
"Yer... st'll 'live." It wasn't an answer and they both knew that, but it was the kindest thing he could say.
Somewhere the people were parading. They called it a victory.
To them it was nothing but a funeral.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[I had a loose timeline of the war in my mind when writing this. I didn't really mention the dates of each battle/occurrence, but for reference here's the list.
January 27-28: The start of the war. The Reds took over Helsinki.
March 16 - April 6: The battle of Tampere. The Whites took over Tampere (which was an important centre for the Reds) and the war takes a turn on their favour.
April 13: German troops join the war on the Whites' side and take over Helsinki from the Reds. They quickly moved forth and seized several other towns and hastened the Reds' loss.
May 14-16: The last Russian troops (which supported the Reds) retreated, the Whites conquered Fort Ino and a victory parade was held in Helsinki by the defeat of the Red Guards. End of the war.
(For a more detailed account, go Wiki it up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Civil_War)
Also, I understand the whole civil war and especially the aftermath might be a bit of a sore topic even nowadays, so I apologise to any fellow Finns who possibly felt a bit iffed by the fic. In my defence, I'll say that I have no personal reasons to support one side over the other (I have no idea what side my grand-grandparents were on), I'm simply dramatising something based on historical happenings. The reason Red Finland was executed in the end was simply because the Reds lost the war. And because it's oh-so-dramatic.
Red Finland's personality, by the way, is meant to be a bit more aggressive than the White Finland's: this due to the fact that especially at the start of the war, the Reds were heavier on the offensive. On the other hand, Red Finland is also more mentally unstable, because the Reds themselves had some internal disputes: their side included both moderate thinkers, who more resemble the modern social democrats, and radical left-wing communists, who were more or less in favour of joining with Soviet Russia.
Then the vocabulary. XD A very short one.
Ruotsi/Sverige = Finnish and Swedish for Sweden (respectively). Voi luoja = Oh god. Jumalauta = For God's sake would be a very mild translation, as the original Finnish is a pretty offensive swearword. Saatanan-- = (Literally) The devil's--. Finland's curse is cut off. XD ]
One of the best SuFin fics out there. Thank you so much. Finland modern history is so...tragic and fascinating, thanks to Hetalia now I have a deep respect for your country & people ^^.
I was reading about the civil war just yesterday, so to stumble across this today, with the whole thing fresh in my mine, was quite a surprise - and quite a pleasure, as this bit of writing is excellent.
This is one of the best Finland fics I've read, and I do declare, it's one of my favourites on this meme now. Argh, trying to think of how to phrase everything I want to say, but I'm not very articulate today... Anyway, it was just plain excellent. The tension, the emotions, ah....
And you clearly know what you're talking about, which is always good.
I think this is one of the best SuFin I've ever read. Seriously. It stay true to history, they're both IC, and the story just flows.<33 I have no words.
I can't give this the elaborate feedback it deseserves, but I will at least say that I absolutely adore the way you painted Sweden and Finland both here - particularly Sweden, I think, with his mostly unspoken feelings and quiet affection for Finland and oh Finland and his broken self at the end.
I have been looking foa a fic about Finnish Civil War for a long time. As a Finn I have to say that this was perfect. Very sad and beautiful and historical. I love Finland's Finnish svearing and the way you included Sweden there. Thank you!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Snow and Blood. [5/5 + notes]
(Anonymous) 2009-05-06 11:34 pm (UTC)(link)"Yer... st'll 'live." It wasn't an answer and they both knew that, but it was the kindest thing he could say.
Somewhere the people were parading. They called it a victory.
To them it was nothing but a funeral.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[I had a loose timeline of the war in my mind when writing this. I didn't really mention the dates of each battle/occurrence, but for reference here's the list.
January 27-28: The start of the war. The Reds took over Helsinki.
March 16 - April 6: The battle of Tampere. The Whites took over Tampere (which was an important centre for the Reds) and the war takes a turn on their favour.
April 13: German troops join the war on the Whites' side and take over Helsinki from the Reds. They quickly moved forth and seized several other towns and hastened the Reds' loss.
May 14-16: The last Russian troops (which supported the Reds) retreated, the Whites conquered Fort Ino and a victory parade was held in Helsinki by the defeat of the Red Guards. End of the war.
(For a more detailed account, go Wiki it up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Civil_War)
Also, I understand the whole civil war and especially the aftermath might be a bit of a sore topic even nowadays, so I apologise to any fellow Finns who possibly felt a bit iffed by the fic. In my defence, I'll say that I have no personal reasons to support one side over the other (I have no idea what side my grand-grandparents were on), I'm simply dramatising something based on historical happenings. The reason Red Finland was executed in the end was simply because the Reds lost the war.
And because it's oh-so-dramatic.Red Finland's personality, by the way, is meant to be a bit more aggressive than the White Finland's: this due to the fact that especially at the start of the war, the Reds were heavier on the offensive. On the other hand, Red Finland is also more mentally unstable, because the Reds themselves had some internal disputes: their side included both moderate thinkers, who more resemble the modern social democrats, and radical left-wing communists, who were more or less in favour of joining with Soviet Russia.
Then the vocabulary. XD A very short one.
Ruotsi/Sverige = Finnish and Swedish for Sweden (respectively).
Voi luoja = Oh god.
Jumalauta = For God's sake would be a very mild translation, as the original Finnish is a pretty offensive swearword.
Saatanan-- = (Literally) The devil's--. Finland's curse is cut off. XD ]
Re: Snow and Blood. [5/5 + notes]
(Anonymous) 2009-05-07 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)Oh god
(Anonymous) 2009-05-07 06:56 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Snow and Blood. [5/5 + notes]
(Anonymous) 2009-05-08 01:53 am (UTC)(link)This is one of the best Finland fics I've read, and I do declare, it's one of my favourites on this meme now. Argh, trying to think of how to phrase everything I want to say, but I'm not very articulate today... Anyway, it was just plain excellent. The tension, the emotions, ah....
And you clearly know what you're talking about, which is always good.
Re: Snow and Blood. [5/5 + notes]
(Anonymous) 2009-05-08 10:14 am (UTC)(link)Re: Snow and Blood. [5/5 + notes]
(Anonymous) 2009-05-14 05:58 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Snow and Blood. [5/5 + notes]
(Anonymous) 2009-06-01 07:03 pm (UTC)(link)