Last Exile Fanfic Challenge Submissions Thread!

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Csilla Aria
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Last Exile Fanfic Challenge Submissions Thread!

Post by Csilla Aria »

Ok, it says fanfic challenge, but you can of course also post art and other stuff! also feel free to make suggestions on stuff.

Posting template thingy:(if you want to use it.)
Title:
Challenge Prompt:
Summary:(if you have one)
Warnings:(if needed)
Other optional stuff
characters:
paring:

cgChick
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2013 5:30 pm

Post by cgChick »

Title: The Flu
Challenge Prompt: Sick (December challenge)
Summary: Lavie gets sick and everyone starves
Warnings: None
Characters: Lavie, Claus, Dunya
Pairing: Dunya/Mullin, Claus/Lavie
Other info: Takes place after the first Last Exile series, when they're all on Earth

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Lavie Head let out another forceful sneeze as she lied in bed, her fevered torso propped up by a stack of pillows. She could only conclude that she had caught the flu from one of Dunya's siblings, as younger children tend to spread germs faster than any other plague-carrying vector. Her lymph nodes had begun to swell a week prior and within a few days she felt too weak to get out of bed at all, despite her best efforts amid the protestations of Claus.

If there was one thing Lavie hated above all else, it was bed rest. But while she was stubborn, even she could not ignore the fever that wracked her body. Although she was bored and miserable, she did get some measure of amusement out of the fact that everyone noticed her absence. Dunya had been especially kind in bringing over soups and stews for Lavie to nibble at when her appetite would allow it. Claus had made sure she had plenty of blankets and pillows and books, Alvis provided a constant supply water and tissues by her bedside, and Holly would sometimes put a wet cloth on her forehead in order to help ease the fever. Being sick was the worst, but after living a hard life in constant poverty even the hard-headed independent Lavie had to admit that being babied was really nice. She could get used to this.

The others, much to her amusement, were trying her hardest to get her well because they had noticed a marked decrease in both the quality and quantity of their meals. And the cleanliness of the house. And the operational structure of the vanship. And the monetary budget. And the household organization of chores. Yes, Lavie took care of a lot more of their daily lives and rituals than any of them had realized. Now she was down for the count and they were all starving. Claus had tried picking up the daily meals but everyone started to get tired of the same sandwiches being served 3 times a day. Alvis was next to give it a try but after nearly killing everyone by accidentally serving a plate of quasi-stiff pasta with moldy cheese, she stopped. Holly decided to give cooking a try but because of her noble upbringing she couldn't even figure out how to boil water without nearly burning the house down. And when they ran out of food, Claus realized he didn't know the weekly household budget for groceries, or even where the farmers market was located. Dunya rose to the challenge to try and keep everyone fed, but with so many mouths to feed she suddenly found herself going through her own household budget on food at triple the rate and she was unable to keep up with the constant demand from a bunch of growing, whiny pre-teens and teenagers, not to mention her youngest siblings. Mullin wasn't exactly helping things either the way he and Claus would join in mutual kvetching about the situation. With the debacle getting out of hand, she began to stuff the soups and stews she made for Lavie with as many vitamins and beneficial herbs as possible in the hopes that Lavie would get out of bed soon and put her out of her misery. She hoped she wasn't poisoning Lavie by overdosing her on the herbs but Dunya was desperate to get things back to normal before she hit her wits end and kicked everyone out.

Dunya loved her friends but she was getting a bit overwhelmed from the lack of privacy due to being surrounded by three additional people. The only good thing to come of it was Mullin and Claus getting some one-on-one bro time to talk about things that she suspected Claus normally didn't get a chance to talk about. Dunya had talked to Mullin the past about needing him to talk to Claus about topics she suspected Claus had never been coached on before; things like girls, sex, social expectations, shaving, the importance of deodorant, and other general 'things to know as you grow up' conversations. It looked like all those past requests she had made to Mullin were finally paying off because in the past couple of days Mullin and Claus would end up locked in a room for hours on end talking about what she could only guess were "manly" topics. Above all she had urged Mullin to talk to him at length about girls, definitely girls. And relationships. Because Dunya was getting really tired of watching Claus being denser than a brick about recognizing and picking up on the signals girls were sending his way. She had never met a boy more ignorant about women in her entire life. Plus the sexual tension Lavie exhibited around him was enough to wind Dunya up and make her pounce on her unsuspecting husband just to relieve it. Hell, the sexual repression held by Tatiana was so bad that Dunya could tell the poor girl was about to lose her mind. At least Tatiana didn't live with him on a daily basis though, Dunya was legitimately worried that one day Lavie was going to snap after being wound up so tight around Claus 24/7 and burn the house down in frustration. She was halfway tempted to lock them both in a room with a giant bottle of liquor and order them resolve it on pain of being shot by her musket.

Yes, it was misery all around when Lavie got sick. And for the first time in over a year, Lavie enjoyed not being teased about being overly prepared with regards to food and water. It was true that food was the first thing Lavie always thought about, but as they all discovered during that miserable week, there was reason why.

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Csilla Aria
Posts: 154
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Location: Illinois

Post by Csilla Aria »

That is adorable, and I can totally see it happening. Poor Lavie having to look after all of them like that. I hope they start helping her out more after this.

cgChick
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2013 5:30 pm

Post by cgChick »

Thank you Csilla Aria! I'm glad you liked that first drabble. Let me give another one of your prompts a try. This is pretty fun!

Title: All the Noms
Challenge Prompt: Cake (November prompt)
Summary: Alister fucking loves cake
Characters: Alister, Tatiana, Claus
Other: Takes place after the "Travelers of the Hourglass" manga
Pairing: None

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It was a secret that no one except Tatiana knew, and that was that Alister Agrew absolutely loved cake. Specifically spice cake with vanilla frosting. But if she couldn't get that, she'd settle for anything else, because Alister loved cake to an almost absurd degree. When Dio had his hushed birthday party aboard the Silvana, she waited until after the festivities were over before sneaking in to grift all the leftovers prior her launch out to the Grand Stream. It didn't matter that the cake was meant for Dio, an unpredictable and strong Guild member, she would cut anyone that got between her and that delicious dessert. Even Tatiana, who was normally quite strict and aggressive about making sure soldiers stayed in line and kept to their posts, knew not to say anything when Alister snuck off steal away the remaining pieces. Because she had learned the hard way one year at the academy what happened when she got between Alister and her beloved confectionery.

There were two things Alister loved more than anything else: cake and drama. Preferably eating cake while watching drama. In a world where the only usual sources of dramatic entertainment were either books or stage plays, only the former of which was readily available to a soldier, Alister relished any opportunity to observe it unfold in real time. Her time aboard the Silvana had fortunately provided a plethora of chances to eavesdrop on the personal dramas of its crew, much to Tatiana's extreme annoyance. For Alister, how could she not take advantage of the fact that she was stuck on a floating dorm with a couple hundred people who were forced to interact with each other 24/7? It was like the universe was handing it to her on a silver platter. That kind of constant proximity to others was practically made for providing ample fodder for her entertainment.

But that was in the past, and currently she was stuck with Tatiana on Earth becoming increasingly bored with the lack of drama to keep her mind occupied. At least, she was becoming increasingly bored until today. Because after the whole "getting Claus drunk while Al and Lavie got kidnapped" thing, Tatiana felt horrible and had invited Claus over to their house in order to apologize and make amends. And she baked cake. Two cakes to be precise, since she knew Alister would devour one all by herself and wanted to keep her best friend at bay. Alister could tell that Tatiana was bound and determined to finish the conversation she had initiated with Claus out on the field during their search for Al and Lavie. Come hell or high water, she was going to pry out Claus' feelings towards her before the night was done with the help of sugar, alcohol, and lots of aggressive interrogation. Poor Claus didn't know it yet, but Tatiana was hell bent on going balls to the wall to ensure that by the end of the night he'll have made a decision between either her or Lavie. And he wasn't leaving the house until he talked. All the meanwhile Alister was going to hide behind the wall, gleefully eating her cake and listening to what she figured would be tantamount to the most entertaining drama she would ever witness. Now with only 30 minutes until Claus was due to arrive, she could smell the heavenly aromas of the dual cakes in the oven while observing Tatiana pacing about and trying to quell a panic attack. It was all very romantic and very adorable to watch. Tatiana was psyching herself up to accept anything Claus told her, and Alister was psyching herself out waiting for cake. Yes, tonight was going to be very fun. Alister could hardly wait.
Last edited by cgChick on Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:28 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Csilla Aria
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Post by Csilla Aria »

Alister fucking loves cake

That is the best summary of all time. You are really good at capturing the characters. I look forward to seeing more if you decide to.

cgChick
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2013 5:30 pm

Post by cgChick »

Haha thank you so much for the kind words Csilla Aria! I really appreciate you taking the time to read these and respond. I haven't written fanfiction of any sort in probably 13+ years but I'm on a Last Exile kick at the moment (I re-re-re-watched the series again a few weeks ago) and when I saw your thread with the fanfic prompts I just couldn't help myself. It helps that they're quick little drabbles that I can kick out when the mood strikes me, and the prompts you come up with are pretty fun! I'm flattered that you think I'm doing a decent job of capturing the characters, that's the one thing I like most about Last Exile is that most of the characters are fleshed out enough to have nuances that I can play with and explore. The series would really benefit from a second manga I think to help flesh them out further in canon.

I'd like to do more in the future, work is pretty busy at the moment but I'll definitely try to crank out more. This is a fun exercise in getting my creative juices flowing again, I forgot how much fun writing fanfic can be. Maybe if I create enough I can compile them and post them on Fanfiction.net, the poor Last Exile section on that site is collecting cobwebs these days. I saw you're a big Alex/Sophia fan so I'll try to make my next one about them in your honor. ^_^

cgChick
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2013 5:30 pm

Post by cgChick »

Title: Where'd they Go?
Challenge Prompt: Lost (September prompt)
Summary: Sophia lost the keys to the Silvana
Characters: Sophia, Alex
Other: Takes place after the "Travelers of the Hourglass" manga and immediately before Fam
Pairing: Sophia/Alex

Not many people know that the Silvana requires keys. Yes, keys. And not keys to the locks, but actual keys to the controls. The ship itself did not have an ignition but it did have a control panel that could only be activated with a specific set of keys in order to prevent any old drunken serviceman or mischievous passenger from stumbling up onto the bridge and activating the ship while it was docked. And Sophia Forrester had lost them, which, for a woman so put together, was hugely uncharacteristic. She couldn't dare tell anyone for fear of appearing disorganized. She was certain her executive officer would think she was drunk if they found out. They were due to un-dock in an hour, and Sophia was frantically tearing apart her room trying to find them before time ran out.

Sophia could only chalk up her uncharacteristic mistake to the fact that it was the anniversary of Alex's death, and her mind was totally preoccupied with it. She missed his reserved nature daily, but today was always the roughest. Remembering him and the fact that she killed him haunted her. She knew she was both directly responsible for his death and also blameless, as things worked out the way that they did and both she and Alex knew that his demise was inevitable. She did not second guess her decision nor did she second guess his, but she did run over that day constantly in her head thinking of what she could have done to save him, to have the end turn out differently. She would sometimes dream about it, although those dreams became fewer and farther between. What triggered her memories the most these days were random everyday affairs. Sometimes it would be as simple as picking up a pen, or reading a report, which would give her a sudden flashback of him. Sometimes it would be the scent of the Silvana itself that would cause her mind to throw up a flashback involving him. She would look up expectantly to see him, forgetting that he was actually gone. It was so strange, being on this ship and not having him here. Even after two years she could still feel his presence. Sometimes she could almost get a whiff of his scent on the bridge. When she caught the smell of him in the captain's chair it was overwhelming, and sometimes should would have to steel herself for a moment to keep from letting her emotions overtake her. She was sure Wina Lightning had caught her more than once in one of these episodes, but she was thankful the officer never said anything.

Sophia loved Alex dearly, and it physically hurt her heart to think about him and how he was gone. It was as if there was a pressure pushing on her chest constricting her lungs. How a woman so powerful could feel so powerless was something that frustrated her greatly. She felt alienated, knowing that there was no one else in the universe she could talk to about it. After all, who could relate with an all-powerful empress would was in love with the man she was meant to spy on?

Lately the pressure in her chest had begun to let up a little bit as she slowly began to let go of him, knowing that he was in a better place with his fiancee. But she knew it would never go away fully. The ache would dull with time but it would always be present in some form or fashion. She was now at the age and stage of her career where she knew she needed to grow up, be decisive, and not sulk. Which is what she worked on continuously, working on herself to build her character and strengthen her resolve. Every once in awhile though - privately in her own room - she would break down and have a moment of grief and terror; feeling like an unloved, inferior fraud of a person. Being in her position was unenviable to say the least.

At last Sophia found the keys where she had absentmindedly left them, which was on the floor where she had dropped them after running into her quarters needing to hide after feeling a rush of emotions coming on. In her panic to hide from the crew (and her bodyguards), lest they question her resolve and leadership, she had run into her room and dropped everything on the ground: her bag, keys, cape, and shoes. And that's where she found them, hiding under the cape that she had torn from her uniform in a fit of sadness. Relieved at having located them Sophia went to the washbasin to wash her face, freshen up her makeup, apply some concealer to hide how puffy and red her eyes were from crying, attach her cape, put on her shoes, pick up her bag, and last but not least, pick up the keys. She looked at herself in the mirror, all put together, and thought with a smile that Alex would most definitely approve. And on that final thought, Sophia left her room. It was time to get down to business.
Last edited by cgChick on Mon Jan 13, 2014 1:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Csilla Aria
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Post by Csilla Aria »

:( NOOOOOOO!!!! HE'S NOT DEAD! HE'S NOT DEAD! HE'S NOT DEAD! (Translation: You are definitely a lot better than me at sticking to canon when it comes to character death. I will never,ever be capable of writing anything where he actually died. This also goes for Vasant, because GO TO HELL GONZO! HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO SARA!!!)

Jokes aside, it was lovely. Sophia's characterization was spot on. Thank you very much.... Now I have to go cry for a while.

cgChick
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2013 5:30 pm

Post by cgChick »

Hi everyone! Just wanted to pop my head in and let you know that I haven't forgotten about you! I hope to write up some more ficlets this weekend, probably Sunday. I wanted to post sooner but work and life and general "being a functional, bill-paying adult" got in the way. Blaaaah.

cgChick
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2013 5:30 pm

Post by cgChick »

So I post that I want to write fics over the weekend and what does my computer do? Die on Saturday morning. The logic board fried on my laptop, thus converting it into the world's most expensive paperweight. After some sobbing and blubbering at the Apple Store they took it in to be fixed and should have it back to me by the end of the week. Sorry I didn't post anything when I said I would, hopefully I can make up for it in the next couple of weeks once I get my poor computer back. Just wanted to let you guys know since I didn't want to leave you hanging.

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