#October Prompt Challenge

[waywardxrhea]

Tuna-Tober Day One - Spencer Reid

pairing: Spencer Reid x wife!pregnant!reader

prompt: falling asleep in a hospital room

word count: 2,034

content: hospital setting - mentions of IV lines, ventilators, lacerations, stitches, and broken bones; mention of motor vehicle accident

tuna-tober masterlist / main masterlist

dividers by: @tunatober

The music playing from your phone stopped abruptly as an incoming call from an unknown number began ringing you. Sliding the bar over to answer, you placed the phone between your shoulder and ear as you continued chopping vegetables. “Hello?”

You were greeted by your name being quietly spoken by a familiar voice, who added, “It’s Emily. I’m calling to tell you that something happened with Spencer. He’s in the hospital right now and-”

The sharp knife in your hand nearly slipped as her words rang in your ears. You placed the knife down on the cutting board and tried to take a calming breath before asking, “What happened?” You were hoping that your husband would be done with the case in enough time to make it home for dinner, but now, clearly that wouldn’t be happening. 

“He’s in the operating room right now and then they’re taking him to the ICU. The car he was in got hit by the unsub,” Emily informed you quietly, keeping her tone neutral for your sake. She took a deep breath before telling you, “He flipped a few times and they needed to use the jaws of life to get him out. That’s all I know for now. I’ll keep you updated on when-”

“What hospital is he in?” Emily said your name exasperatedly before you asked in a firmer tone, “What hospital is he in?” She sighed before telling you the name of the hospital, but not before once again attempting to keep you at home in order to keep your stress levels down. 

When you hung up the call, you leaned heavily onto the counter as tears began to fall from your eyes and emotion threatened to close your throat. Shallow breaths were all you could manage as your mind flitted through the worst case scenarios of the outcome of this hospital visit… It took a few minutes, but you finally gathered yourself enough to safely make the trip to the hospital Emily said Spencer had been taken to. 

Your worry had started to ramp up again as you quickly made your way into the hospital and navigated to the entrance of the ICU where you hit the button to speak with the nurses at the station. Your hands fidgeted with the strap of your purse as you waited, and you jumped when the voice finally crackled though, asking, “How may I help you?”

“I-I’m here to see Spencer Reid. He was in a car accident? I was told he would be here after he got out of surgery.”

There was a long pause before the woman on the other side said, “He already has more than the max number of guests at the bedside, you can-”

“I’m his wife! Please!” you pleaded in desperation, your voice breaking with renewed emotion at the thought of being denied access to see him. 

Another long pause filled the air before you heard the locks on the doors give way and open to give you access into the ICU. As you wandered past the nurses’ station, you heard the same voice from before call out, “Mrs. Reid?” When you turned your attention toward her, she told you, “He’s in bed 18, right this way.”

On the way to the hospital, you imagined many different reasons for Spencer to end up in the ICU after a car accident, but the one you didn’t imagine was him being on a ventilator, having a machine breathe for him. There were tubes and IV lines everywhere and the sight of Spencer’s battered body made your knees give out under you. “Woah!” the nurse walking you yelped as she grabbed you under the arm to try and keep you from falling to the ground. 

Your name was called before another set of hands was under your other arm and their owner helped you stand. “I’ve got her,” said Luke as he wrapped an arm around you to keep you steady. “JJ, get her a chair.”

JJ turned toward the two of you and nodded, grabbing a rolling chair from nearby and pushing it behind you so you could sit. Without anyone even saying anything, the small crowd of BAU agents parted as Luke rolled you up to the bedside so you could be beside Spencer. “What happened?” you whispered as you grasped Spencer’s hand in your own and held on tightly. 

Right as you asked this, a doctor walked into the small room and said, “During the crash, his airway became compromised and a lung collapsed. He also sustained a few broken bones. Fractured left tibia and fibula as well as a dislocated left shoulder. There was a large laceration across his abdomen that we stitched up in the OR. He’s lucky to be alive. We’re going to keep a close eye on his case and hope that he can come out on the other side of this with minimal long term complications.”  

“Oh my God…” you whispered, practically collapsing against the railing of the bed as a fresh bath of tears cascaded from your eyes. 

“He’s gonna pull through, he’s strong,” Emily said as she put a comforting hand on your shoulder. She cleared her throat before telling the team, “Let’s give them some space, everyone.”

A kiss was placed on your temple by David before he wrapped you in a hug, telling you, “Call if you need anything, okay? We’ll be nearby.”

When they were gone and you were alone with Spencer, you sat and held his hand for a few minutes, only the beeping of machines and your quiet sobs breaking the silence. When you felt like you ran out of tears, you lowered the railing on the bed and raised the chair you were sitting in. Scooting closer to the bed, you took Spencer’s hand and placed it on your swollen belly, holding his hand there as you whispered, “I really need you to pull through this, Spence. You need to be here when our little girl gets here. I can’t do this without you…”

The stress of the situation combined with the hour drive to get to the hospital had you nodding off in the chair soon enough. By the time visiting hours were over, the nurse came into the room to inform you, but just couldn’t bring herself to wake you. She made her way to the blanket warmer and got a blanket to drape over you before ordering a cot to be brought to the room for when you stirred from your sleep at some point. 

The next morning you startled awake when you heard a pair of voices in the room. Blinking hard, you adjusted your eyes to your surroundings and saw Tara and Penelope in the room, both fussing over gifts they brought. Tara held a handful of balloons in her hand as well as a stuffed bear, and in Penelope’s there was a vase of flowers and another stuffed animal stuffed under her arm that you couldn’t tell what it was…

“Good morning,” came Tara’s voice as she made her way over to you, picking up a cup from the table and bringing it over to you. “Hot chocolate. Extra chocolate, and whipped cream on top.”

“Thank you,” you whispered as you took the warm drink and held it in your hands. Spencer must’ve told them your order at some point… The thought brought tears to your eyes. 

The tears fell when Penelope shuffled over and wrapped you in a hug as she whispered, “This sucks so much…”

“Yeah…” you whispered, your voice scratchy and breaking as you spoke. 

When she pulled away, she pushed the mysterious stuffed animal into your hands. Looking down, you realized it was a capybara. Penelope cleared her throat before saying, “Spencer says that you remind him of a capybara with how kind you are and how you take in and take care of anyone who needs it.”

“Damnit, Penny!” you whispered, your voice pitched up as you took the stuffed animal into your arms and held onto it like a lifeline. 

“I’m sorry! I just saw it in the gift shop and couldn’t help it!” she said, frantically reaching into her purse for a tissue to give to you. 

Tara had to take off before Penelope so she could work the case, but Penelope stayed for a bit after to keep you company until she was needed. Her positive attitude and words attempted to keep your mind off the horrible reality that you found yourself in. 

You spent the day at Spencer’s bedside and only left when you realized how tired and sore you were from sleeping in the chair and then the uncomfortable cot. Penelope offered her guest room to you, and surprised you with your pregnancy pillow on the bed after a hot meal of pizza and warm mug of hot chocolate to end the night. 

Every night for the next week you stayed at Penelope’s place after visiting Spencer in the hospital. She worked from home as much as she could so that you weren’t alone, and by the end of the week, the unsub was brought to justice, not only for his crimes against the people he killed, but also for what he did to Spencer. Penelope joined you as you made your way to the hospital to tell Spencer that the team had caught the guy. The nurses had been telling you that even under sedation, some people can hear and remember what was happening around them, and you were sure that would be the case for Spencer. 

Penelope was armed with yet another get well soon card, and you had a bag of Spencer’s favorite coffee in hand as an incentive for him to wake up soon. When you neared room 18, you saw a large team of medical workers walking away and your heart instantly kicked up, pounding in your ears as you made your way over to the room which had the curtain drawn. As you pulled back the curtain, you were met with a sight that brought tears to your eyes. Spencer was off of the ventilator! “Oh my God, Spence!” you whispered, your hand covering your mouth as you dropped the coffee and rushed over to his bedside. 

“Hey,” Spencer said, his voice hoarse from lack of use over the last week. 

“Oh my God! Oh my God! You’re awake!” Penelope said hurriedly. She rushed over and kissed the top of Spencer’s head before saying, “I’ll give you two some time together and go tell the team! I love you two, and I’ll be back soon!”

“Love you too, Penny,” you replied before turning your attention back to Spencer. 

“Thank you,” you whispered as you gently nuzzled yourself into the crook of Spencer’s neck. 

“For what?” he asked as he wrapped his right arm around you. 

“For coming back to us,” you told him, pulling away and guiding his hand to your bump. 

“I’ll always come back to you,” he said, a fond smile on his face as he gazed at your growing belly and then up to your face. “You know…” he started, his voice wobbly with emotion. “When the car was hit, all I could think about while it was flipping was you and our little girl. How I couldn’t leave the two of you here alone. So before everything went black, I told myself that I needed to fight to get better. I knew that if the worst did happen, the team would support you through it all, but… I’m so happy it didn’t have to come to that. I love you both. So much.”

“I love you too, Spence,” you whispered before leaning over to give him a gentle kiss. “Once you get out, no more hospital stays ‘til she’s here, got it?”

Spencer chuckled before nodding and telling you, “Got it.”

And he kept that promise. After he was released, the next time the two of you fell asleep in a hospital room was after the birth of your baby girl and you were so grateful for the better circumstances for the stay.

and that is Tuna-Tober Day One done! enjoy!

ps: how freaking cute is Spence in that gif?? i love him!

likes and comments are always appreciated! xo, brooke <3

taglist: @reidmarieprentiss

[nosebleedclub]

October Prompts

chilly autumn evening

two cats

on the mountain

antiques

teleportation & telekinesis

shattered mirror

bad posture

demure

are you okay?

reading nook

lawyer's office

soup

grimoire

art deco

undecided

family in politics

verify

train ride

grand gesture

unseasonably hot

the other life

modern witch

playbook

boarding school rumor

vintage chandelier

huge pumpkin

murmur

platypus

haunted varsity jacket

damaging

scary (true) story

[tunatober]

🌊TUNA-TOBER🌊 PROMPT CHALLENGE 2024

Hello friends! Are you looking for a prompt challenge for 2024, but don't really feel the desire to stick to only one genre? Does your sole feel betta suited to taking on a prompt challenge that provides options for kink, fluff, AND angst? Or, are you just looking to see what delicious fics or art might spawn from some of the gill-iant minds of a few writers and artists on tumblr? Whale, here's your chance!

(fine, I'll put away the puns, just know I did it on porpoise)

Started by the Murdock's Tuna Team discord server, the Tuna-Tober Prompt Challenge is a unique fic/art challenge, in which for every day in October, you are provided one of three prompts: a kink prompt, a fluff prompt, and a whump/angst prompt. Like many other 'Tober prompt challenges, it isn't mandatory to complete all the prompts. You're free to choose as you please! Do one! Do ten! Do one a day! Do them all! Mix and swap as needed! The Tuna-Tober Prompt Challenge is meant to stir your creativity, not fill you with stress. There also is no fandom or character requirement, so chase that muse where She leads you. In addition to our three prompts for each day of October, there are also four sets of backup prompts, just in case you hit a day where you just ain't feeling the three that were provided.

This blog isn't just for the rules, however. It'll also be reblogging any Tuna-Tober fics or art that our lovely team of writers and artists complete so we can keep them all in one place! If you'd like to read those fics, all you have to do is give us a follow. And if you really don't want to miss anything, feel free to set us for notifications!

If you're taking part in Tuna-Tober, either as a writer or an artist, please remember to tag your fic or art: Tuna-Tober 2024. That way I can find your fics or art to reblog. If you only post on AO3, you can also make a post here on tumblr linking to it (remember to tag it), and I can reblog that. Once I have the time, I'll set up a collection on AO3 that'll gather up any fics or art we have there, too! ❤️

Without further ado, our prompts!

Day 1: Falling Asleep In A Hospital Room ⚜ Reading To Each Other ⚜ Somnophilia

Day 2: “Why? Why do you love me?” ⚜ Flower Crowns ⚜ Mutual Masturbation

Day 3: Broken ⚜ “I feel real when i’m with you.” ⚜ Role Reversal

Day 4: “This isn’t you.” ⚜ “Are you blushing?” ⚜ Sixty-Nine

Day 5: Self-Loathing ⚜ Watergun Fight ⚜ Begging

Day 6: "Shh, I've got you now. I'm here." ⚜ Love Bites ⚜ “Spread your legs for me.”

Day 7: Nightmare ⚜ Honest Apology ⚜ Nothing Underneath

Day 8: Shaking ⚜ “You can sleep here tonight.” ⚜ Overstimulation

Day 9: Anxiety ⚜ “You don’t need to do that.” “I want to.” ⚜ “Open your mouth.”

Day 10: "I'm not good enough." ⚜ A Hug That Lasts A Little Too Long ⚜ Strap-on/Pegging

Day 11: Tears ⚜ “I’d be lost without you.” ⚜ Breast Worship

Day 12: "I did it for you.” ⚜ “You remembered?” ⚜ Deep-Throating

Day 13: Loneliness ⚜ Playful Kiss ⚜ “Beg me for it.”

Day 14: "Please look at me." ⚜ Sleep Talking ⚜ Accidental Stimulation

Day 15: Hiding An Injury ⚜ “Are you jealous?” ⚜ Threesome

Day 16: Exhaustion ⚜ Accidental Kiss ⚜ Against A Window

Day 17: "I'm not leaving you." ⚜ Tickling ⚜ “Touch yourself for me.”

Day 18: Scars ⚜ Pillow Fort ⚜ “I’m so proud of you, you’re taking me so well.”

Day 19: Touch starved ⚜ “I’ll always be there for you.” ⚜ Gags

Day 20: "Who did this to you?" ⚜ There Was Only One Bed ⚜ “You were made for me, weren’t you?”

Day 21: Fainting/Collapsing ⚜ Flustered ⚜ “Was that an order?”

Day 22: "You haven't done anything wrong." ⚜ Breathless Kiss ⚜ Aphrodisiacs

Day 23: Father ⚜ “If you won’t take care of yourself, I will.” ⚜ Toys

Day 24: Drugged ⚜ Drunken Confession ⚜ “Shh, do you want them to hear us?”

Day 25: "What's Wrong?" ⚜ Playing With Their Hair ⚜ “Did I say you could do that?”

Day 26: "You're not fine." ⚜ “Shut up and kiss me.” ⚜ Under The Desk

Day 27: Near Death Experience ⚜ Overheard Confession ⚜ “Let me see what that pretty mouth can do.”

Day 28: Chronic Pain ⚜ Sharing An Umbrella ⚜ Hair Pulling

Day 29: "Talk to me, please." ⚜ Forehead Kiss ⚜ Restraints

Day 30: Healing ⚜ Road Trip ⚜ “Take it off. Slowly.”

Day 31: "Why wasn't I enough?" ⚜ Blanket Hog ⚜ Stockings/Thigh Highs

🌊Tuna-Tober🌊 Backup Prompts:

Bound/Chained ⚜ Moving In Together ⚜ Almost Getting Caught

"Take me instead." ⚜ “I’m in love with you, and that scares me.” ⚜ High Heels

Insomnia ⚜ Adopting A Pet ⚜ Scent Marking

"You're not alone." ⚜ Playing A Game Together ⚜ Ass Worship

[artistobsidian]

Lollipop: Okay, listen, there's VERY specific reasons why I made the Lollipop Fakemon the way it is. I refuse to specify. If you know, you know.

Kettle Corn: I went with a bag of kettle corn, because my memories always go back to getting these huge bags of kettle corn while at a mall with my mom! So I just made it into a Thing. It just so happened to turn into a birb, it worked out!

Sour Candy: There's a LOT of sour candy out there, so I went with a classic candy shape with greens, and made the wrapper ends into little wings. it's in a constant pucker state, poor thing!

Your Favorite!: My favorite candy of all time is technically a tie, but I chose one that I always gravitate to. Both are Ghirardelli chocolate, but I went with dark chocolate sea salt caramel. I used their logo that contains what I thiiink is a bald eagle? Maybe? IDK it's some kinda birb so I used that for the design.

Caramel Apple: I just kinda. went at it and made a little kangaroo rat. It's tail is the 'stick' of the caramel apple and its ears/arms/legs are apple pieces! :3

Candy Corn: I'll be fully honest. I'm team 'despises candy corn'. Its nasty to me. But give me some of the pumpkin shaped candy corns? Hell yeah. So I made this little... puppy?? puppy pumpkin with classic candycorn ears, limbs, and tail.

Empty Wrappers: The first thing that comes to mind when I think of an empty wrapper is something I usually do with empty wrappers: I fold them into little origami bats. So here's a kind of origami bat made from an old wrapper! The writing's faded, and the paper's old, but this little bat is still flying.

[inevitablemoment]

Just when you thought that I would leave you guys alone, Frightober has returned for its third year!

Prompts can be turned into fanart, fics, aesthetics, anything!

Tag as #frightober or #Frightober 2024 so that I will be able to reblog it.

TEXT PROMPT LIST UNDER THE CUT:

Autumn

Pillow Talk

Turn of the Millenium

Sensual

New in Town

AU inspired by a movie

Growing Old Together

Wine

Historical AU

Fairy Tale AU

Gorgeous Gowns

Crossover

Morning After

Babies

Dr. Lucy Bannister

Green

Books

Stars

"All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life" - Taylor Swift

Pampering

Haunted

Rain

Sleepless Nights

Mermaid!Lucy AU

Flames

Song

Next Generation

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Halloween

Free Day

[thewildercat]

Day sixteen/seventeen of Costober, Bioluminescence/Deep Sea.

This was meant to be for yesterday but it actually works for today too.

[criminalmindsfanantic]

Oneshot #2 Summary: JJ has been irritable lately and Emily discovers why. Also featuring Henry’s favorite bedtime story.

Spoilers/Reference to Season 9 Episode 14: “200”

[green-crow]

Another day done!!! Two technically since I fused day 5 and 6—their prompts went hand in hand for me so I preferred doing one fully okay prompt rather than two half-assed ones. So here's some more fun stuff with my OC Nic and the tree peepaw

Day 5/6: Autumnal and Fallen Leaves

At first, it had been subtle. The once vibrant green had darkened with time, the few flowers adorning his beard slowly withering away. Now, the changes were more prominent. A few mushrooms peeked underneath the little foliage he had left, now splashed with ochre tones and shades. Nic found themselves brooming the house every day, fallen leaves making a trail behind the scrybe of the beasts wherever he moved.

The forest had changed, too. Several trees stood semi-naked, if not entirely, and the animals seemed more focused than ever on scavenging some extra food here and there. Nic had followed a squirrel once; it held a small nut of sorts and saw with their own eyes how the animal just stored it inside a tree trunk, not using it or sharing it with others like they usually did.

The young satyr had noticed a temperature change as well. They weren’t used to such harsh cold out of nowhere. One day, they were fine walking around with little more than their top and loincloth, and the next morning, they felt like they were about to freeze to death, cold biting down onto any exposed piece of flesh or fur available. Nic had been forced to track down the trapper and exchange some pelts for foil, putting together a warmer piece of clothing for those days. Back in Botopia, they recalled that there wasn’t much of a temperature difference, even with the passage of time. Around that time of the year, the factory worked harder. Hence, the chimneys and motors radiated more heat and smoke than usual, which Nic had never considered as the reason for the blanket of cosiness and warmth that spread through the town no matter the season. Along with the cold air, mechanically engineered so it travelled through the air conducts in summer, they had grown up used to little to no temperature variation. What they felt now was just plain cruel.

Then again, they had also noticed some changes of their own. Their fur, for one, had turned thicker in a way. It was more of a hassle to dry after washing, but they had to admit it made for a much-needed coat in the colder days. The colour had shifted, too. From a reddish hue, it now looked almost faded grey or brown. Leshy had mentioned it was expected, but Nic wasn’t so sure.

Nic cursed the older satyr as they brought in some more wood for the chimney. While Leshy had been doing scrybes-know-what, they had been working hard, chopping some wood down to have something to keep a fire going. Wasn’t he the master of that whole realm? Why let this annoying season stay, with the biting cold and the sudden rains, when he could just… make it go away? And where was he anyway? Nic had yet to catch a glimpse of him in all day, not at lunch when they came back from Grimora’s, not in the afternoon after visiting the woodcarver, and not now as the sun set and his beloved moon came out.

The fawn frowned without even noticing, their ears dropping and their tail moving restlessly from side to side. They weren’t concerned, of course not. Leshy was powerful. And even then, why would they care if something happened to them? No, they didn’t care. Not at all. They just needed that blasted tree grandpa to show up with food already.

As the cabin door creaked open, Nic turned from the chimney, ready to demand an explanation for the lateness, yet they remained silent as Leshy came inside. The elder satyr dragged his tail and practically his hooves, too, as he walked in, the door closing behind from a gust of wind rather than his own doing. He looked paler, Nic noticed, a darker green shade settling on his skin that was now more visible thanks to the thinning of his once lush foliage. Even now, as he moved, some leaves fell to the ground from his body. Even his fur, supposed to look just like Nic’s, seemed to have lost its robustness. Somehow it looked a bit too thin, fragile even. Nic’s ears flattened as they watched the scrybe of the beast haul a chair in front of the fireplace before slumping down on it with a weary sigh.

“…You’re late”, Nic said in a hard-to-read tone.

“I am. I lost track of time on my way back. Many of my beasts are preparing for winter, and I had to make sure things are proceeding like they are supposed to”, the older satyr explained, his voice laced with exhaustion.

Nic’s ear twitched.

“You didn't bring back food.”

“That I did not. The angler’s catch was sparse today, I'm afraid.”

They nodded, acknowledging his answer. The younger satyr then hesitated, and against their better judgment, they poured some water they had left to boil with the chimney's heat into a cup. They made their way to the cupboards, where Leshy stored the different herbs and spices he harvested from the forest, and reached for a handful of chamomile. After adding a dollop of honey and making a mental note to replenish their reserve the next day, they returned to where Leshy sat and stood in between him and the fireplace. The scrybe opened one eye, looking up at Nic as if expecting them to say something, a mixture of surprise and curiosity stirring within him. The younger satyr remained quiet and just placed the cup in front of him. Leshy looked at it, then back at Nic, one ear twitching in curiosity.

“Drink”, they urged as they shook the cup again in his face.

Leshy blinked, caught off guard by the unexpected sweet gesture. Nic barely did anything for him, only if it was something of mutual benefit, and even then, they sometimes were a bit too proud and petty and “forgot” to do Leshy’s part. Before the young satyr could take back their offer, he reached for the cup and took a sip, the warmth of the tea seeping into his bones in a gentle embrace. He sighed softly, slumping further on his chair.

The warm cup of tea hadn't been the only surprise of the evening. Despite Leshy failing to bring fresh food back, Nic managed to put together a soup with some mushrooms and vegetables on the verge of spoiling, this time without Leshy even needing to ask. The younger satyr navigated the cabin quietly, their movements only punctuated by the creaking of wood underneath their hooves.

The scrybe of the beasts watched as the little fawn paced around his home, begrudgingly picking up the falling leaves he had left behind earlier, cooking for both, and even tending to the fire. Guilt tugged at Leshy for not being able to help, yet he couldn’t help the growing smile on his face. It seemed that despite PO3’s best attempts, this one was capable of feeling empathy. Nic tried to hide it, of course, and to their credit they had gotten much better at it. The once obvious tells, like their tail and ear movements, had become more subtle, not so much as to cover their actual thoughts, but enough to prove a challenge for the scrybe. Now, it was how their leg bounced anxiously, up and down, even as they merely stood up and stared at the soup while waiting for the food to cook. Their right ear tended to twitch softly here and there, too, as if an invisible fly was bothering the little fawn.

It was endearing in a way, seeing the distant and cold satyr suddenly worried about the creature they had repeatedly claimed to despise. There was a hint of anger underneath it all, maybe mild annoyance given how subtle the signs were, but it was clear they weren’t happy about their own feelings and what they were doing. Leshy had to repress a chuckle, aware that any hint of teasing would only spoil the fragile peace they had finally found.

The soup was surprisingly edible, which, given the young satyr’s inexperience in the kitchen, was more like a miracle. They ate in silence, sitting in their chairs in front of the fireplace as a soft rain started, drops hitting the wooden ceiling softly and wind caressing the leaves outside in unison, making Leshy relax. The sounds of his forest, no matter where they came from, reminded him he was not alone and his efforts were not in vain, lulling him into a sense of calm. Nic, on the other hand, seemed to find the sounds unnerving. Huddled in their seat, their knees pressed against their chest, they took the last spoonfuls of soup with palpable unease. It was only natural, given their unfamiliarity to the rain and storms, not to mention the tales Leshy recited for them of sections of the forest getting burnt to the crisp by lighting probably hadn’t helped either. The scrybe chose not to intervene, far too aware by now that they would just get offended if he tried to be gentle with them or help without them asking.

“Can’t you make it stop?” Nic’s voice broke the tranquil atmosphere inside the cabin, drawing a look from Leshy.

“The rain?”

“The season. Autumn”, they clarified. “It’s making you weak. You’ve been losing leaves and getting cold. You are sluggish. The forest might be yours, but it won’t be kind if you show weakness.”

Leshy couldn’t hide the small smile that tugged at his lips, his tail idly swaying behind him.

“I wouldn’t have thought you’d be worried about me, little fawn.”

“I’m not”, they huffed, their ears flattening in annoyance, “ but a weak scrybe is a dead scrybe. Your domain is falling apart, it’s starting to get too cold for even animals with fur, and your trees are losing their flowers and foliage. Plus, these rains are annoying. How is anyone supposed to do anything when the dirt is muddy, or when water drops from the sky at the worst times possible?”

Leshy hummed in thought, considering his words as he took one last sip of the soup’s mediocre broth. He looked at the fireplace for a few seconds, lost in the flickers of the flames.

“Do you reckon sleep is useless?”

Nic’s ear twitched as they frowned.

“No. If a machine works for too long without rest, it will overheat and break, maybe even shut down completely.”

“That’s… one way to put it” Lehsy remarked, having hoped for a less technology-related response. “Just as we, and machines, I guess, need sleep, the forest needs its rest, too. Spring is when my realm feels in its prime—flowers blossom and seeds flow within the ecosystem to sprout new forms of life, which in turn makes the task of feeding those who rely on plants and weeds much easier, which allows them to reproduce and with that the bigger beasts get more food available as well.”

Nic nodded, following his explanation. Leshy had shared the concept of the food chain with them before: small animals eat plants, bigger ones eat smaller, then they die, and plants eat them in return. Everyone had a place, yada yada yada.

“Yes, I get that. But now things are dying while in spring they flourished. That’s why spring is good, and autumn isn’t. I’d even take summer over this. Why would you willingly end the season in which your domain thrives?”

“Because now is when my forest needs to rest. It worked hard in spring, thriving as you put it. But I can’t freeze time and make it stay like that.”

“You can, though”, Nic pointed out, knowing the scrybes had enough power to carry out impossible tasks like that.

“I could, I suppose. I have the ability to do so,” Leshy agreed hesitantly “ but that doesn’t mean I should. The old has to make way for the new, and autumn and winter are the seasons tasked with this change. Leaves fall, but newer, stronger ones will sprout with time. Some animals don’t make it through the winter, but their offspring will thrive and take their place, hunting, gathering, or whatever their purpose might be. You are used to things remaining, being built and modelled to ignore decay and remain despite it all. But that is unnatural, little fawn. Things change. Life moves on. We are born, we grow, we learn, we live, and we die. We wither and rot, and something or someone else takes our place.”

He paused, his gaze drifting to the wood the fire consumed in the chimney. “If things didn’t change, then we wouldn’t be eating a meal you made from harvested seeds, or getting warmed up by the fire that ignites thanks to a once-before tree. Even in your home realm, you tinkered with rusty pieces and forgotten ‘code’, as you called it, to improve them and make something anew. To change, for the better or for worse, one must accept the decay of oneself.”

Nic stayed quiet, considering his words. They hated that it made sense. The pieces in the factory they used to work with followed a similar rule, as he had pointed out. They had toyed with many, taking away cogs or screws and adding new parts to get them working again or making something entirely new. Even in the temple of eternity, where they rose above organic beings and their needs and prided themselves on their ability to escape nature, the concept of change still haunted them. Change and death came in different ways, but they arrived nonetheless.

The young satyr looked down at the lower half of their body. The deer-like appendages remained there, no matter how many times they had wished and begged and cried for them to go away. The hooves, the tail, the horns. It was all new. It was all change.

“Sometimes change isn’t good”, Nic replied, a hint of bitterness in their voice.

The scrybe shrugged.

“Maybe. Sometimes, change might seem bad, but later, it proves to be a blessing. Sometimes it’s the opposite. Sometimes, change just is. It doesn’t care if you like it or not, and it certainly doesn’t mind whether its implications are seen as “good” or “bad”. The best you can do is play along and do the most out of the current situation.”

The cabin fell into a comfortable silence after that. The crackling of the fire was now accompanied by the crunch of the previously fallen leaves that burnt within the flames, now used as kindling to keep the heat alive. Outside, the rain poured all over the forest, watering the different plants that needed it and flooding some dens of various beasts, some making it to the surface in time and some drowning in the stream of water that filled their house. The scrybe closed his eyes as his body relaxed with the heat, the sounds around him lulling him into a deep slumber. Thinking he was asleep, Nic placed a thick coat of wolf pelt over Leshy’s shoulders and went to bed, leaving Leshy with a comfortable smile.

[nosebleedclub]

October Prompts

ravens and crows

fall schedule

losing team

mishap

apple cider

foyer

eldest daughter

boat

boys' club

disfigured

tiny apartment

cleats

bellyache

abracadabra

rose on the bed

cruel laughter

spice

dignified

forgotten jewelry

lucky

hickey

maple syrup

change

wolfpack

psionic

older generation

wooden

cheer

how do we stop them

devil's night

halloween

[mod-jesse]

goretober 24 day 4 : trippy

[artistobsidian]

I forgot to make these on the 21st, whoops. Well, here's all of week 3 from Caught-On-Tober!

Chit Chat: I immediately thought of all the Pokemon that are just. A couple of Guys. I love them so much. SO here's two weird little cat-goat demon things that hold hands and chatter constantly.

Game Night: A little bat that plays Twister with you! Well, will play until you get yourself tied up in a knot. He's having fun at least.

The Playlist: A little chubby bunny Pika-clone baby that plays music from its ears! It's tail is shaped like a music note and its body looks like a disc.

Halloween TV Movies: I don't watch a lot of regular TV, but whenever I see my mom watching TV with Halloween Movies, it's ALWAYS one of the super-gory ones. I have no idea how she repeatedly finds them. So here's a little mask creature with a long handle knife for a tail.

Taking A Break: Took this a bit on the more... Gruesome side. A literal break in the body of this ghost rat/mouse Pokemon. Maybe to move, it walks on its rotating tail like a mouse wheel?

Down The Hall To The Right: This one was tricky, but I ended up with a zombie creature, based on Skoffins and leaning more heavily into their stories. The whole idea is that they situate themselves and, like a deadly medusa, will kill you just by looking at you. This mangy fox Pokemon likely doesn't have actual deadly vision, but I can imagine seeing glowing orange-red eyes in the darkness is enough to scare the soul out of anybody.

Who Invited...?: ...Charmander? Oh, that isn't a Charmander-It's a flame snake, with a false tail end to look like a Charmander. A definite uninvited guest when you're expecting a cute little Charmander.

[sapphosfriend]

TW: sh (adjacent)

[thewildercat]

Day thirteen of Costober, Beach.

Really happy with this one.

[doctordiscosbignaturals]

jamie is having dead wife flashbacks about the doctor

new chapter is live go read pls :)

[ttngummyshark]

I'm doing a simple October prompt list for this year!

Rules:

No hateful content.

Try to keep it tasteful.

You can pre-prepare your entries, but don't post them until the proper date in October.

Entries can be in any medium you wish!

No copied, traced, or AI generated art.

Only participate if doing so is truly fun for you! No pressure!

Tag posts with #Gummysharktober so I can find them!

Costume planning.

Worst candy.

Fallen leaves.

Baking.

Decorating.

Pet costume.

Bump in the night.

Bonfire.

Yard prop.

Spiders.

Pumpkin.

Witch's brew.

Bad luck.

Corn maze.

Sheet ghost.

Prank.

Scary movie.

Social media post.

Store display.

What is that thing?

Fog.

Birds.

Monster.

Boo!

Skeleton.

Frogs.

Sewer.

Werewolf.

Cider.

Game.

Party!

[becomingfoxes]

Steve and bat Eddie for Strangetober

🦇💜