#so we're going back to the same prompt list as last year to try and regain some sense of productivity

[flufftober]

🍂 🍃 Hello and welcome to our fourth annual Flufftober 🍂 🍃

We’re so excited to be back and have you here once again!

As always, let’s fill the month of October with as much fluff as possible 🥰 for that to happen, you can either use our 31 regular prompts or enjoy a little challenge 😏

Below the cut, you'll find all our rules, posting info, and all the prompts in writing. If you have any more questions, please feel free to send us an ask.

And now, for the challenge...

Prompt Extras

We love to see how many of you get inspired by our prompts every year - be it by the original list or the Prompt Extras. Once again we're offering you that option and you're more than welcome to replace prompts from the original list if they don't work for you for whatever reason - no explanation needed.

As has become tradition, we offer you last year's top five fan favorites (as voted in the end survey). In addition to that, we also offer a little challenge: five angsty prompts for you to turn fluffy!

If you don't want to replace any prompt from the original list but still love the additional ones - or you simply want to challenge yourself even further - you can also mix them all together!

So in whichever way you use these Prompt Extras, have fun with them and go wild 💚

We hope you like these prompts, and now

Happy Creating 🥳

Standard Blog Rules & FAQ

Addendum: We do not allow AI creations of any kind.

(Due to previous asks, we made sure to add more points to this section - while they're not new rules, they're newer to this list, so you'll find them colored green)

No inc*st or p*dophilia - we can’t keep you from writing it or creating art for it but it won’t be reblogged. No inc*st: This rule does not apply to distant cousins and such, as you might find in the LotR fandom (or basically in all of European Monarchy). The line we draw is at direct blood relations (siblings, parents, kids) and/or legal guardianship. No p*dophilia: This rule does not rule out fandoms that feature teenagers such as Harry Potter, Heartstoppers, Hunger Games, etc. It also doesn't mean you can't write about their time together as teenagers! It's aimed at ships in which one is a minor and the other is not - but since even that has grey areas, the rule is this: if you keep it SFW, all is good and allowed, we don't care; if it turns NSFW, be mindful of the legalities of the world/society/times your characters live in.

No hate or ship bashing - we’re all different and we all love different things. As long as it doesn’t go against rule #1, it’s allowed.

Tag correctly! Trigger warnings (including cheating!), ships, ratings, (pure) smut, etc - it’s all fine as long as you tag it.

There’s absolutely no word count restriction, write as little or as much as you like.

In regards to art, anything goes: drawings, paintings, collages, mood boards, gif sets, videos, playlists… the sky’s the limit (though not really…). If you would like to create a podfic, the fic you're using does not have to be new - your creation will be new!

You can mix and mash different mediums however you like, be it within one prompt or on different days.

While we can’t force you to write fluff or create fluffy art, please try to keep in mind that this is a fluff event 😉 that, of course, doesn't mean you can't combine it with angsty/whumpy prompts - hurt/comfort is absolutely welcome!

You can start creating as soon as you see this - but please refrain from posting before the respective day.

If you post early, we will schedule your post for the correct day; if you use multiple prompts in one creation, we will post on the earliest day you used.

You can participate on as many days as you like, even if it’s just one; you can also create multiple entries for the same day.

You can replace as many original prompts as you like with our prompt extras; you can also combine them with the original prompts or create for them in addition, that's completely up to you.

It’s okay to write one story/a series for all the prompts.

You do not have to stick to one character, ship, or even one fandom - switch as often as you like to or even write for multiple ships for one day.

The ship does not have to be a romantic one! Friendship and family feels are more than welcome (but this is not a way to get around rule #1!)

Original works as well as OCs in fandoms are welcome! But please make sure to mark these clearly, either in the tags or the post itself. We're not familiar with all fandoms (though we're definitely learning a lot!), so we're not always sure what might be an OC and what might be such an unknown side character not even Google can find them...

Reader insert fics (for example "character x reader") as well as RPFs are absolutely allowed.

Other languages are also welcome - just make sure to clearly mark the day and fandom so that we can still easily reblog.

This event can be combined with other events as long as the other event allows it.

Late entries are always welcome, even if it is months or years later.

All fandoms and ships are welcome - fanon and canon - as long as they’re of age (in case you want to add smut) and not related.

Posting

Posting to tumblr

Please use the tag #flufftober2024 Please make sure there is NO SPACE between flufftober and 2024! We will NOT be checking the other tag this year!

Since tags are sometimes wonky, make sure to also mention us with @flufftober in your post

We will try to catch them all, but please don't be mad if we miss a post or if it gets reblogged a bit late

If you're absolutely certain a post has slipped past us, feel free to send an ask with the link to your post

To make reblogging easier for us, make sure to add the following tags: #flufftober2024 #day [xy] #[fandom] #[ship and/or main character(s)]

If you're using a prompt extra tag it as #alt [number]

Posting to ao3

You can add your creation to the collection Flufftober 2024 (either as flufftober2024 or as flufftober_2024)

Late entries are always welcome, on tumblr as well as the ao3 collection! Neither will close - but like always, reblogs will become less regular the more months have passed...

Prompts

1. Lost Pet Meet Cute

2. “Left. Other left!”

3. Favorite Scent

4. Market Day

5. Acorn, Chestnut, Pine Cone

6. Mistaken Identity

7. Hoodie Weather

8. Chopping & Piling Wood

9. “Don’t do that!” - “But…”

10. Bet, Game, Contest

11. Ingredients & Spells

12. “This is spooky.” - “Really?”

13. Attic, Cellar, Hidden Room

14. Fantasy AU/Mundane AU

15. “What are you wearing?” - “It’s laundry day!”

16. Yes, No, Maybe

17. Only One Bed

18. Bewitched

19. Yarn

20. Paw

21. Bonfire

22. Heirloom

23. Stormy Night

24. Comfort Food

25. Haunted House

26. “I can’t find it.”

27. Afternoon Stroll

28. Lucky Charm

29. Time Capsule

30. “Forever?”

31. Make a Wish

Prompt Extras

Last Year's Favorites

Alt 1: “I’ve got you”

Alt 2: Rainy Day

Alt 3: “Wait you love me?” - “I always have”

Alt 4: “I hate it” - “No, you don’t”

Alt 5: Porch Swing

Challenge "Make it Fluffy!"

Alt 6: Gravestone

Alt 7: Getting Revenge

Alt 8: Written but never sent

Alt 9: Suddenly Severed Communication

Alt 10: Rejected, Betrayed, Exiled, Left Behind

[hotchfiles]

40&48 with hotch and bau reader!! age gap 😏 lil teasing 😏

help me get these two specific blorbos out of my head, the prompt list"I think we're on a first name basis by now." + "there's no way that was just a one-night thing."

You groaned louder than you should've been, honestly, your forehead hitting the pile of papers on your table as your boss called you into his office at the end of the day. You had spent the whole day feeling victorious that you were able to avoid being alone with him, attaching either Spencer or Emily to your hip whenever you had to even get close to his office.

It would be so much better if he just ghosted you, the whole conversation where he tells you you're too young, that you should be with someone Spencer's age, about hierarchy and power imbalances... You had everything he probably wanted to say to you already ingrained in your mind.

From the moment you woke up to your bed half empty, your clothes folded and no SUV to be seen down the street, you knew to him it had been a mistake to lean into your advances, to accept your hands pulling his tie, to get into the elevator of your building with his hand on the small of your back.

You could deal with that, you were a professional, mostly. But having to hear him say it would be too humiliating and you couldn't even avoid it, he was your boss, you couldn't be insubordinate and you couldn't let anyone suspect something was happening.

The paperwork in your hands seem more interesting to you for a second after you put it on his table, trying not to look at him. The door closed behind and the blinds shut. You felt your cheeks warm up in embarrassment, last time you were so openly rejected was during your freshman college year and it broke you for weeks.

And the boy was nothing compared to the man getting up and leaning on his table to be closer to you. Aaron even reaches for your hands, as a reflex you flinch, putting both in your pockets. "What's on your mind? You've avoided me all day." He doesn't force you to accept his touch, crossing his arms in front of his chest as the question filled the air.

"Listen, Hotch—Sir—" His hands shake along with his head in denial, confusion.

"I think we're on a first name basis by now." After the countless times you whispered and moaned his name the night before it was only fair that between the two of you, you called him Aaron, it made the most sense to him.

"Aaron." You nod, teeth to your bottom lip for a second trying to find the less awkward way to tell him he was off the hook, no need to explain anything. "I was trying to make this whole one night stand thing easier." The admission feels silly on the tip of your tongue, especially when his known furrowed brows soften and his lips turn into a smirk.

His hands tentatively go to your hips, pulling you to him when you didn't flinch, touching your forehead with his so that you're so close both your breaths are the same as he speaks, "there's no way that was just a one-night thing."

And who are you to deny your boss of anything?

[loki-hargreeves]

In Another Life

Pairing: TVA!Loki x Reader (I tried to write it as a gn!reader) Warnings/Tags: angst, mentions of death (nothing graphic), Loki is a bit emo, romantic relationship Word Count: 1.8k Summary: PROMPT: wrong timing // When working with the TVA, Loki certainly doesn't expect to run into you. Especially after what he thought was a final goodbye. A/N: Using this prompt list by @ivystoryweaver . It's been too long since I last wrote for Loki so I'm going back to my roots with this one 🎃

Earth...2011....Timeline???

Loki steps out of the bright orange portal, straightening his suit jacket as he takes in his surroundings. It's definitely Midgard, or Earth as Mobius would call it. By the looks of it, they're in an alleyway somewhere and it's supposed to be 2011. If this timeline is anything like Loki's original timeline, he should be safe to roam these streets without people freaking out.

"So... we're looking for a needle in a haystack," Mobius sighs and rests his hand on his hip. The man glances at the device in his hand, one that's supposed to lead them to the temporal anomaly.

"I doubt it'll be more challenging than when we were looking for Sylvie," Loki smiles tightly. He is confident in his skills to track down the anomaly and figure out what's really going on in this timeline.

Mobius simply shrugs and looks at the end of the alleyway, into the town that is basking in sunlight, "maybe you're right."

"You know I'm right," Loki corrects him and takes the lead, walking out of the shady alleyway. They have a job to do.

It doesn't take very long for Loki to realize that this place is familiar, too familiar. After walking around town for a few moments, he knows it's not just his imagination. This is where he met you, in another timeline of course. All those years ago.

When Loki was younger, before Thor's attempted coronation and all that, he used to sneak through these portals that even Heimdall couldn't see. One of them would lead to Midgard, to this very town. At first, it had been fun, mostly something he did out of curiosity. Exploring the realm without being watched. Loki had been intrigued by people and their customs.

Then he had met you.

To this day, the Trickster's heart swells at the shared memories. To think the god of mischief had fallen for a mortal. If Thor or his friends had found out, Loki would've never heard the end of it. Looking back now, something like that would've been the least of his worries.

The few years you had spent together were brief yet some of the best years of his existence. You had fallen for him, not knowing he was a god, a prince or any of that. No, you fell for Loki for who he was. Saw the sides of him he kept hidden from everyone. And in return, Loki had seen just how wonderful humanity could be. How you, as an individual, made him believe in love. Selfless, real, passionate love.

Then Loki had trusted you with the truth. For a while, everything had been beautiful. No one on Asgard knew the prince was sneaking off to Midgard to see this mortal, and no one on Earth knew or tried to come between you. It had been just the two of you and nothing else mattered.

It's why Loki feels a mixture of overwhelming emotions swirling within him as he walks the familiar streets. It may be in another timeline and things could very well be different here, but many things look exactly the same. Everywhere he looks is a memory that unveils from the depths of his mind. He swears he tried ice cream from that shop once after you insisted he'd like it. You had been right of course.

"Weird…" Mobius mutters, his eyes glued to the device. "We're getting closer to it. It ain't moving at all," He explains and points at the red dot on the screen.

"Perhaps the anomaly is asleep?" Loki suggests, trying to figure out why it isn't moving. Something doesn't feel quite right though.

"Well they won't see us coming, that's for sure."

Loki just nods, too occupied with other things to even respond properly. Is it a coincidence that the anomaly has led them here? To a place so important to Loki?

Soon enough, Loki and Mobius are looking out to a field behind some houses. The sun is beginning to set, painting everything it touches with a golden hue. It's beautiful, just as Loki remembers it. That field out there is perhaps too familiar. By now, he's concerned about the coincidences. If the anomaly has anything to do with you, Loki isn't sure how he'd handle himself.

Do you even exist in this timeline?

A lump forms in his throat as Loki thinks about it. He had to say goodbye to you once already, over a decade ago. It might not be a long time for a being such as him, but a decade without you has already felt like a lifetime. Time is cruel, especially to mortals. What is even crueler is fate who had decided that the brief time you were promised in the first place would be cut so much shorter.

Loki had come to see you one last time without knowing it was the last. You hadn't been well. It was both a blessing and a curse that there had been enough time to say goodbye yet it had been the hardest thing Loki had done. Holding you, telling you how much you meant to him and promising you that he would find a way to cure you. That he would bring you to Asgard and make everything better, knowing damn well there was nothing that could be done. Now all these years later he can only hope that he had told you what you wanted and needed to hear before your time was up. Was it the right or wrong thing to do to create false hope? Did you know?

"What's going on?" Mobius asks with worry, noticing that Loki froze up. He knows Loki well enough by now to know when something's not quite right.

"This place," Loki shakes his head and decides to slip out a hint of truth without revealing too much, "I've been here before."

The wind plays with the flowers growing out on the fields, carrying the sweet late summer scent with it. There's a few people out there, some on a picnic as others read in the shade that the trees offer nearby. Everything about the scene seems serene. Once upon a time, Loki had been out there with you watching the stars. You loved his stories about all the places he had been. Loki recalls how deeply curious you were about the universe and all the beings living here.

"Do you think that's a coincidence?" Mobius asks with growing concern. Sure, Loki has been to a lot of places, he's a century old being but this still seems fishy. For all the places an anomaly could be hiding in.

Before Loki can answer, he sees someone.

There you are.

Healthy, living and breathing. You're in that shirt he remembers you loving so much because it had been a gift from a friend. You're walking down a path, on your way home presumably. That smile, so sweet and happy, is powerful enough to hit Loki's soul like a punch to the gut.

According to the TVA device, it's 2011. In Loki's timeline, you never saw 2011 yet in this timeline you're smiling and safe. Walking home as if nothing bad has ever happened at all.

Loki holds his breath, unable to peel his eyes off of you. There's only a few dozen feet between you and him but it feels like an ocean. After a decade of mourning you, to see your face like this is surreal. Even for him. Only now does the multiverse and multiple timelines feel like a reality. He's being hit in the face with the cold, hard truth that in other timelines everything can be so familiar yet so different all at once.

Mobius follows Loki's gaze, quickly noticing what has taken his friend's breath away. He has read Loki's file a million times so of course he recognizes you. Or rather this version of you. You're the one that got away, the last piece of happiness in Loki's life before the 'downfall' as some call it.

"Um... if you're wondering, they're not the anomaly," Mobius is the first one to speak, just trying to be reassuring. The device shows that the anomaly isn't moving so it can't possibly be you as you stroll down a path.

Loki nods, unsure if he should be relieved or disappointed.

"Of course," he clears his throat and takes a deep breath. It's surprisingly difficult to find his words in this moment. Then Loki looks back at you as the path brings you closer. With each step, his heart begins to race like crazy. What is he supposed to do? Should he say something? Would you recognize him?

You notice the two men just standing there, in strange brown suits. One of them in particular seems struck by the sight of you. Strangely, he doesn't scare you. He's cute.

"Hi," You smile at him as you walk past the man. Perhaps you look like someone he knows? That is the only sensible explanation that comes to mind. Not that you think of it too much, as they are just strangers.

Loki is frozen. You walk right past him. For better of for worse, you have no idea who he is. That kills that tiny piece of hope Loki felt in that moment, that hope that he can't deny no matter how hard he tries. After all this time, he still misses you. He's still trying to fix everything.

"Hey," he manages after a while, unsure if you even hear it as you don't stop to talk. Of course, you don't have any reason to. It's not really you. In this timeline, this universe, this other you has places to be and see. As bittersweet as it is, Loki tries to find comfort in the fact that in another life, you get to live even if it's without him.

Mobius looks at the screen again. Suddenly the red dot vanishes. The temporal anomaly just jumped timelines.

"Darn it," He curses and puts the device down.

Loki doesn't question it. He wants to see you make your way home safely. A part of him wants to run after you, talk to you, get to know you all over again. But he can't. Loki is stuck to the ground like a statue and he knows deep down that another you can't replace what he knew existed in the past. Nor would it be right.

As you vanish into a building, Loki finally tears his eyes away. His eyes sting with the threat of tears. Somehow, in this moment, it feels like he's gone back to his own time when he had just said his final goodbye. Loki can't forget, no matter how much he wants to, when he came to visit you but you had already passed. He could bury you but not these emotions.

"Hey, I'm sorry," Mobius puts his hand on Loki's shoulder, trying to offer him support.

Loki just nods and tries so hard to toughen up. As if seeing another you didn't just shake him up from the core.

"It's alright," Loki insists, "where were we?"

Mobius doesn't buy it but he won't pry either. Loki will talk if he wants to talk.

"The anomaly jumped," Mobius reveals while tapping the device, "kinda weird timing if you ask me. Didn't move the entire time and-" Mobius hesitates, unsure how Loki would react if he spoke your name. He decides not to.

"It's like we were led here on purpose. For you to see..."

"I know," Loki quickly spits out, sensing that Mobius is being wary. He isn't stupid. He can't help but suspect something strange is going on as well. It can't be a coincidence that they were led to this timeline, chasing some anomaly who vanishes as soon as Loki saw you. Loki is the god of mischief after all and he can tell when he's being set up for something.

Then the question is, who is the anomaly and why would they bring them here?

A/N: Writing this made me feel like it was 2017 again when all I could do was write weird angsty Loki fics with no real plot, just yapping.

Also, I've been busy so for writober I'm using a bunch of prompt lists (some were for september) and I'm picking and choosing prompts instead of going day by day. It's helping me get out of my writer's block without too much pressure ❤

[alwayslurkinginthebackground]

Get in the Truck - A Pedrotober Drabble

Day Five of Pedrotober: Esquire Outtakes Pedrotober hosted by @norththelemon and @alyssamariag. View the full prompt list HERE and view my entire Pedrotober drabble catalog HERE.

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader

Rating: E because this is mostly just filth. With a hint of angst. I can't not write angst apparently. Unprotected p in v, oral, they fuck in a truck here, y'all. Honestly probably could have made it hornier but I had to go touch grass after writing it.

Word Count: 1324

a/n: WHEW It's been 8 million years since I last wrote smut but this Esquire outtake would not let me rest until Joel was written into it. This one is dedicated to the wives of Joel Miller. You know who you are. <3

"Get in the damn truck."

You cross your arms in refusal, standing your ground as Joel glares daggers at you, one arm slung over the side of the truck bed, the other braced against the open door. You can see the tension in his shoulders, you always can when you fight, but you're not about to give in. Not this time.

"Make me."

"For the love of god, why are you so fucking stubborn?" He walks back toward you, but you're practiced in the art of Joel Miller, and you don't move a muscle even when he's right in front of you. His broad frame towers over your much smaller one. "Get. In. The. Damn. Truck." he grits out again, teeth clenched.

He'd called you stubborn, but truthfully you'd learned from the best. "I'm not getting in that truck until you tell me what the fuck we're doing." His expression shifts to something unreadable, just for a moment, but you catch it, the way the pain flashes behind his eyes.

"LET'S GO!" Ellie interrupts as she plows into the garage with her backpack in tow, hopping in the front seat and shattering the tension between you and Joel. He holds his position for a moment and then you both resign to the excitement of the young girl left in your charge. Joel opens the back door so you can slide onto the bench seat. You ignore him as you slip in.

"Get in the damn truck."

His voice is as rough now as it was the first time, even when it sounds as a harsh whisper against your ear. Your gaze flickers to Ellie's sleeping form on the other side of the smoldering fire, and when you look back at where he'd been just a moment ago, you realize he's already halfway to the truck.

He's opened the door to the backseat by the time you catch up to him and you slip inside, the space becoming crowded the moment he joins you. "What the fuck are we doing, Joel" you ask him again once the door is closed, but he leaves you in an odd silence that feels suffocating.

"We're taking her to Tommy," he returns as though it's the simplest of tasks. As if crossing the country would be easy without the presence of infected and raiders and FEDRA in every major city across what used to be called a country. As if he has any idea of where his brother actually is.

"And you just expect me to be okay with this? With risking my life to go on this wild goose chase?" you inquire, your voice quickly rising in volume and intensity. "Joel, you know how often people talk about a cure. It never pans out. What if we do all of this, put our lives at risk, put her life at risk, only for it to be for nothing anyway?"

"We don't know that," he insists. "We owe it to Tess to..."

"Tess is dead, Joel."

Quiet hangs between you, and you wonder why you used to find solace in its intensity before the outbreak. Back when you'd sit in your car before work trying to compose yourself before going in.

"Tess would have wanted us to see this through," he grumbles, the same ache in his voice that you'd heard earlier.

"And she also wouldn't have wanted us to die trying."

You sit in silence again, and you can't tell if he's being stubborn or if he's actually contemplating your point.

"Tommy, then? Think this is the way to find him?" You wince at the sound of your own voice, aware of how much his brother's disappearance has hurt him. Made him feel so undeniably unworthy of any kind of love.

"Fuck no," is his response, followed by a low growl. His hands find your waist in a grip that makes you want to wince and pull away. But you can't. Not now. Not when you can already feel the heat pooling between your legs.

"Then what is it?" There's a sense of finality to your tone. An unspoken ultimatum stands as the only barrier left between you. He has to tell you or this is as far as you'll go. There will be no more getting in the truck. No more protecting the girl. No more of whatever the relationship you two share is. "Joel?" you ask again.

Instead of an answer, his lips are on yours as he shifts you back against the passenger side door. Your hands are collected in one of his calloused palms as he pins them above your head, the glass of the window cool against your skin. Your mind screams at you to stop him, to remind him that this isn't why you're here, but your body disagrees.

This is exactly why you're here.

It's already hot in the truck despite the chill in the air outside, and your mind flashes to your high school boyfriend and the shit job he'd done of getting you off in the back seat of a truck not unlike this one. You're thrust back to the reality of something much better as Joel works his way down your jaw, chapped lips against smooth skin. You struggle against his grip, a silent request for him to let your hands roam his body the way you want them to.

He refuses, instead guiding your hands to the headrests on either side of your shoulders. "Don't move them," he instructs, and you can do nothing but obey.

Your mind is fuzzy as you struggle to remember why you were angry with him in the first place. It's hard to recall when he's between your legs, dragging your jeans down your thighs. Impossible to remember when he's there, fingers pressed against your center, gathering the slick and pressing inside. A distant memory when he drops down to eat you out like it's what he needs to survive.

And maybe, you consider for a moment, it is.

His name falls from your lips again when you come, dulled by the sound of your heart beating in your ears. Your shoulders scream in pain from the awkward angle and the way the door handle presses into your back, but you can only focus on the way his tongue continues to circle your clit.

He laps at you until your hand falls from where he'd placed it to push him away from your overstimulated body. It's dark in the truck, but you can feel his eyes on you when you realize your mistake.

"I told you not to move."

Joel hauls you against him, your knees digging into the worn seat on either side of his hips as he forces your hands on the headrest behind him. "Keep them there." This time, you follow his order, even as he lifts you just enough to pull his cock from his jeans so you can sink down onto him, your body shuddering as he fills you.

"Please," you whisper, your head falling to his shoulder as his hands sit firm on your hips, preventing you from moving the way you want to. He holds you there, stretching you until you feel like you've forgotten everything. Forgotten why you were mad, what you were doing, where you were going.

Why you were going.

"I need you," he grunts out, one hand slipping between you to rest against your stomach. "I need you here." He presses his hand against you and your fingers dig into the headrest behind him, nails biting the fabric as you feel him filling you. "Do you feel that? Here."

And you do. you finally understand. It doesn't matter why or how or where or when. You'd do anything for him if it meant you got to feel this. He might be willing to risk his life for a lost cause, but you'd simply be willing to risk your life for his.

[spinarakiweek]

Prompts 4 Spinaraki Week 4

(Art credit and our tremendous thanks go to poodlewool!)

Hello, all! We're here at last with prompts and dates for the fourth Spinaraki Week! It will be held in the very last week of August, from Sunday the 25th to Saturday the 31st!

As with last time, you can find a text version of the prompts and the full rules beneath the cut below, but first, a few general upkeep notes!

Re: event week tags: Following previous patterns, the tags for the week will be #spinarakiweek, #spinarakiweek2024, #spinarakiweek4, and #spinarakiweeknsfw.

Re: spoiler tags: Going by the results of the poll we ran about spoilers we ran, the vast majority of respondents are up on current events/don't care about spoilers. However, there are a small number of people who are avoiding spoilers. In recognition of that breakdown, and the fact that the manga will be over by the time the event is held, we will not be asking participants to spoiler tag their work on their own blogs, but will make our best efforts to tag for manga spoilers (#bnha manga spoilers) as we reblog to the main blog.

We have no current plans to tag for anime spoilers, as none of the mods follow the anime particularly closely, but please do contact us if you would like us to tag for spoilers for the anime episodes that will be airing immediately around the event (barring any breaks in the airing schedule, these should be Episodes 15 and 16 of the current season, Episodes 153 and 154 overall).

Re: AU fills: We got a number of requests on the survey for AU-type prompts: mermaids, supernatural creatures, heroes, pro-gamers, and so on. While we've dabbled with fanfic tropes as prompts in past years, this year we wanted to keep things relatively open. Just as a reminder, though, we heartily welcome AU content, so anyone is welcome to do AUs at any time and for any prompt they can make fit for it! You could do Mermaid AU fills for every day of the week and we'll happily reblog it, so long as they fit some aspect of one of the prompts of the day. Please, go absolutely nuts!

Re: our tumblr subpages: Firstly, our rules are the same as always, and can be found in the Rules section at the top of the page if that's visible to you, or beneath the cut below if not. The (new!) Graphics section, as the name suggests, contains every previous graphic we've used in prior weeks; these or the Tagged Works section can be used to scope out prompts from past weeks if anyone would like some inspiration or ideas for our traditional Free Day or to incorporate with other prompts this week! If the subpages don't work for you, you can also go back through the mod post tag (as at the bottom of this post!) to find previous housekeeping posts, which should get you back to previous prompt lists and the likes relatively quickly.

That's it! Rules and text prompts below the jump! We can't wait to do this thing with you all!

Text Prompts

Sunday 25th: Dedication  ~  History  ~  Game Over

Monday 26th: Monster  ~  Enough  ~  Load

Tuesday 27th: Horror  ~  Horizon  ~  Inventory

Wednesday 28th: Cracks  ~  Dream  ~  Home

Thursday 29th: Last Words  ~  Climb  ~  Cut Scene

Friday 30th: Reputation  ~  Crossover  ~  Save

Saturday 31st: Write  ~  Inheritance  ~  Continue?  +  FREE DAY

Rules & Policies

1)  We will accept and reblog any fan-made work—fanfiction, fanart, meta, playlists, etc.—so long as it focuses primarily on Shigaraki and Spinner’s relationship and fits an appropriate daily prompt.  The work must be newly published for the week, though if you wish to also use it as a fill for some other concurrent event, you’re welcome to do so.           You can work with any of the daily prompts you like, singly or in combination.  We try to keep them fairly broad, so feel free to get as creative as you like!  We welcome any fill that satisfies some aspect of the chosen prompt(s). 

2)  We’re celebrating the relationship between Shigaraki and Spinner as it’s been, as it may be, and even as it could have been.  Shippy-fic or gen-fic, canon-compliant or AU, romantic or platonic or any complicated place in between; we’re good with all of it.  Polyshipping/OT3s are allowed, but the focus must remain on Shigaraki and Spinner.

3)  Regarding content, we’re not placing hard limits on what we’re accepting.  Shigaraki and Spinner are villains in a canon that goes to some shockingly dark places, so we consider exploration of that darkness fair game for fanwork.  Likewise, given that this is a week focused on a relationship, we welcome NSFW content.  We do, however, ask that all content be responsibly and appropriately tagged for any content you have reason to expect could be upsetting to others. 

4)  We’ll be checking the tags for spinarakiweek2024, spinarakiweek4, spinarakiweek, and spinarakiweeknsfw.  As stated above, please tag also for any work that requires content warnings.  We’re only operating on tumblr, so if your work is hosted elsewhere, feel free to post a link to it and use one of our tags, though if you do so, you may also wish to message us about it, given tumblr’s notorious grouchiness about off-platform links.           Feel free to message us if it seems like we’ve missed a fill of yours!  Late entries are allowed and enthusiastically welcome.  

5)  No hating on other ships or characters—we’re here to celebrate and enjoy Spinaraki, so if there’s a character you can’t include without bashing them disproportionately to the canon, just don’t include them.  Likewise, please be respectful of other participants and their work, whether or not it’s to your particular taste.

6)  We reserve the right to exercise moderator discretion in the case of borderline rule violations or unforeseen issues.

[loganwritesprobably]

– Zoro with the 3° genre, prompt (n.) 🍺✨

Oof, Zoro has caused some problems in this one.. sheesh

Find the prompt list here

Content/Warnings: Zoro/GN!Reader, hurt/no comfort, intoxication, breaking up, argument, cheating, lots of cursing

You were so sick of Zoro's bullshit. Maybe he'd be the World's Greatest Swordsman, maybe he'd be the first mate of the Pirate King, maybe one day he'd be a good man - today, he was the single worst man you knew.

As usual, he was drinking, and just a little drunk. The only time he wasn't was if you were in the middle of a fight, and generally speaking that wasn't when you were trying to spend time with him. The drinking itself wasn't even the problem because he didn't often actually get drunk, though you were mildly worried about his health over it. No, it was the way he acted.

He'd drink, be abrupt, take a nap, wake up, and go somewhere else to drink. On the ship he'd sooner nap than spend time with you, and when you were on land he'd sooner be drinking in a bar than be with you.

But today it'd gone too far.

You were willing to discuss the neglect, and the drinking issue. They were problems that could be worked and improved on. But once a cheater, always a cheater. On another day you may have let it go, you may have told yourself that it was nothing or that it could be fixed but you were at the end of your rope with this man and it was about to destroy your relationship.

You stood on the deck of the Sunny, foul attitude obvious from over a dozen miles away, arms crossed over your chest. You were waiting for Zoro to come back. Nami had convinced you to go see Zoro, maybe you could pull him from the bar and do something together, and instead you'd found him chatting up some guy at the bar. They'd not been talking normally, just being friendly, no Zoro's hand had been on the dude's thigh and they'd barely been two inches apart. You knew what you were seeing - you were seeing the same moves he'd made with you just under a year ago.

It was well into the night when Zoro stumbled back to the ship with a grin, and when he spotted you his mood only improved, while yours managed to somehow sour further.

"Hey, I've not seen you all night, where were you?" He asked, moving as if to pull you into a hug, but you stepped cleanly out of his reach.

"That's what you have to say for yourself?" You asked, borderline incredulous.

"Huh?" He asked dumbly, lifting the bottle in his hand to his lips. Watching the action filled you with untold rage and you smacked the bottle from his hand.

"Oh I have had enough of you!" You yelled. Some part of you had wanted to keep this quiet, but a larger part had known just how unlikely that was.

"I've not seen you all night, what could I have done?" He asked, still playing the fool, and it took all your strength not to attack him just to take your anger out on him.

"You didn't see me - but I saw you! In that bar! With that guy!" And finally, he had the realisation that he really did have something to worry about.

"Shit I- I'm sorry, I just-" you didn't let him finish.

"No! Don't you dare try to come up with some bullshit! It's not just this, Zoro! It's all of it! When was the last time we had a fucking conversation, huh? The last time we spent any time together, just the two of us? Name one time in the last three months! You can't!" You stopped for a short moment to catch your breath and to see if he'd respond, but Zoro had nothing to say.

"I didn't think so. I cannot believe I let you get away with this for so long. This? Us? It's over. We're done. I'm not putting up with your shitty treatment anymore. I can do so much better, and I deserve that. And you, Roronoa Zoro, are pathetic." You spat, with all the venom you could muster, then spat on his shoes. He didn't say a word as you turned on your heel and strode away to go to bed, more than done with the interaction.

-—·-·—·—·-·—-

The next day, you went out of your way to avoid Zoro as much as possible. And the day after that. And the day after that. The crew iced him out a little on day one, but they stopped after that, and you didn't blame them. He'd been on the crew far longer than you had and it wasn't their fault he was a shitty boyfriend. Just Zoro's. Though, they clearly didn't approve of what he'd done so you took that victory.

Zoro, despite you avoiding him, seemed to be going out of his way to do things for you. He took your watch duty, helped with your chores, let you get first servings of food and drinks, even held open doors for you. As if that would fix what he'd done. Was he that stupid? Or did he just think that lowly of you?

After a week of his gentle treatment, you snapped again.

"Oh my seas, Zoro, would you back off?" You yelled at him over dinner, causing the room to go silent.

"I was just-"

"I don't care what you were doing. Cut it out. You never did it before, you're being nice to get back into my good books and it isn't going to work." Everyone awkwardly continued to eat, but Sanji pursed his lips and Nani nodded slightly. They'd noticed it too.

"Well fuck me for trying to be nice, I guess." He murdered, filling his own glass instead of your own like he'd intended.

"Yes! Exactly! Stop trying to make it up to me! You can't! There's no version of this where you fix it, and we go back to before! I meant it, we're done. Give up." You told him, then took your plate and glass and left the kitchen entirely so you could eat somewhere else and calm down.

"I was the bad guy for doing nothing, now I'm the bad guy for trying to do something. I can't win!" Zoro complained in your absence, and Nami rolled her eyes.

"It doesn't matter what you do now, Zoro," Robin said, giving him a pitiful expression, "it's because you didn't do it before. In fact, you only trying now that you've lost probably hurts more than you doing nothing."

He'd ruined it, it was irreversible, and he'd not even noticed he was doing it.

Requests are open! See below links for my other works, and how to leave requests. I write both canon/canon and canon/reader requests for your enjoyment

AO3 | Fanfic Masterlist | Request Rules | Fic Trades Guide | WIPs

Tags: @claryeverlarkf @uselessboots @cainnoable

[ticklishshenanigansau]

Happy Tickletober! This year, Mod Secret has been working hard to write a comprehensive story using our list of prompts and we used a wheel to randomly assign the three of us which prompts to draw accompanying chapter art. We hope you enjoy! =3

LaughterLand - Chapter 1: Hypnosis

(story by Mod Secret, art by Mod Yosh)

"Tra la la, beware the man who speaks in hands," the River Person quietly muttered to the two skeletons from beneath their robes.

"The man who speaks in hands?" the taller skeleton began to fret. "Why is there a need to be wary? Does he not use his hands for just purposes?"

Sans sighed heavily, facing his brother with his head still cradled in his right hand leaning off the side of the riverboat.

"Bro, they’re talking about our Dad … and unfortunately there's no way to ‘beware’ of him, ‘cuz that's where we're going." He rolled his eyes before gazing back into the water.

"Oh!" Papyrus laughed. "There's no need for us to ‘beware’ of him anyways, friend." He enthusiastically tapped the River Person's shoulder with his gloved hand, making the boat driver slightly jump. "He merely wants to see us for the further pursuit of scientific discovery!"

"More like he wants to use his only family as semi-living guinea pigs." Sans couldn't help but scoff. He was getting rather tired of his practically estranged father only calling upon him and his younger brother for this kind of thing.

"Aw, cheer up Sans," Papyrus sat down next to him on the river boat, optimistic smile still beaming. "I'm sure it's not going to be as bad as the last time when he—"

"Practically switched my insides with a Snowdrake?" Sans abruptly cut him off. "Or the time he made you think you were a fish-monster who could actually breathe water? Or the time he tried to spray down our bones with a ‘heat resistance gel’? I'm just saying it's a good thing we booked it BEFORE he got out the flame thrower!"

"Alright, alright. I understand." Papyrus gently held up his hands to calm his brother down. "So his ideas of ‘quality-time’ are a little … unconventional … at best?" Papyrus's tone of voice made Sans start to question whether he was trying to convince him or himself. Papyrus shook his head decisively. "But at least he still wants to see us, and we do excellent work in helping him to better Monster-Kind."

Sans sighed deeply, pinching the space above his nasal cavity. "Pap, the only reason G wants to see us, is because he practically blew up half of his lab assistants, and the other half were smart enough to bail before he did the same to them … or worse. And it's not like we can say no, because he'll pull the whole ‘After everything I've done for you’ crap." He did his best imitation of his creator. "‘After feeding you, clothing you, and giving you the gift of life itself’." Papyrus couldn't help but snicker at Sans' nearly perfect recreation of Gaster's tone and movements.

"Call me crazy Pap, but somehow I always feel way worse coming out of the old man's place than I do going in. So this isn't exactly how I wanna spend a perfectly good Saturday when there's a bottle of ketchup back home with my name on it."

Papyrus shrugged, still trying to remain in good spirits. "You never know Sans, this time could be fun."

Sans rolled his eyes yet again, head shaking dismissively. "Yeah … we'll see."

"Welcome to Hotland," the River Person quietly spoke up after pulling their strange-looking riverboat up to the shallow port. Papyrus excitedly hopped off, and Sans begrudgingly lumbered onto the sand before flipping the River Person a coin.

"Thanks," Sans muttered, although his inside voice finished off with, "...for nothing."

"Come again sometime. Tra la la." The River Person's boat grew cat legs and scampered off down the river in the direction of Waterfall, leaving Sans truly wishing that he had stayed on the boat.

The skeletons made their way down the route they were all too familiar with, down the path towards the huge metal laboratory in the distance. Sans couldn't help but air out his collar, sweat already starting to trickle down his neck.

"It's like this place just keeps getting hotter," he sighed.

"Well it is Hotland, Brother," Papyrus replied, his grin never faltering. "Why do you wear such a heavy sweater anyways?"

"I … just feel more protected," Sans answered honestly, though saying it out loud made him feel a bit more self-conscious.

"Protected?" Papyrus repeated, seemingly surprised by the answer. "But you have me for protection, Brother! I can protect you far more than that smelly old thing!"

Sans chuckled, Papyrus's confidence really was endearing. "I appreciate it, Bro," Sans replied. "But when it comes to HIM, I feel like I can use all the protection I can get.”

They arrived at the front door, somehow Sans was never able to get used to just how much bigger it was than the two of them, as always, it made him feel so much smaller.

Well, if the door was going to make him feel this insignificant, he wasn't going to treat it with a proper knock. He raised his fist and as gently as he could, and tapped on the door with his knuckles. Papyrus was standing right there, and even he didn't hear a thing.

"Oh well, nobody's home." Sans shrugged with a half-grin making an attempt to walk away. "Can't say we didn't try, right?"

"Sans!" Papyrus responded, hands on his hips and with a tone of annoyance.

It didn't matter anyways, the brothers heard the loud creaking noise of the gigantic door beginning to open. Sans gritted his teeth. "That never works," he grumbled to himself.

They turned to see the aged skeleton standing in the doorway, his stern orange and blue eyes looking them up and down.

"Greetings, boys," Gaster spoke in his usual low tone.

"Hey, G." Sans shoved his hands into his pockets, his voice also low and unamused, not even giving him the courtesy of a glance.

"Greetings, fatherly figure!" Papyrus, on the other hand, bounced with delight and friendliness, aggressively grabbing Gaster's hand to shake it. "How nice of you to invite us into your home once again!"

No matter how many times Gaster invited them over, Papyrus always managed to surprise him with his upbeat attitude and willingness to come back. As Papyrus released his hand after giving it a thorough shake, he and Sans made their way through the door and into the lab. Papyrus's greeting leaving the scientist quite dumbfounded for what to say next.

"Right … er … come on then … uh … son—uh! Sons, I mean?" he stammered.

"Alright, let's just get this over with." Sans’s cold tone almost immediately snapped Gaster back into his usual demeanor.

"Right!" Gaster shut the door and led the brothers downstairs to the True Lab. The place where all of the tools and past experiments were kept.

Papyrus excitedly hopped into Gaster's office chair to take it for a quick spin-around, while Sans wasted no time making his way to the coffee maker. Somehow he could already tell that this was going to be a long day.

"P-2, please do try to calm down." Gaster abruptly stopped Papyrus from spinning around in the chair, allowing the dizzy skeleton to stumble away. "I'm going to need steady attitudes for this line of testing."

"We talked about this, G," Sans replied, pouring a fresh cup of hot coffee into the styrofoam mug. "We both have names, remember?"

"Right, of course," Gaster acknowledged, turning his large blackboard towards the two of them.

"Oh, and S-1—er! I mean … Sans," he corrected himself. "No coffee for today please, this test must require zero stimulants of any kind."

"Oh great." Sans bitterly placed the untouched cup next to the  coffee pot. "So what's involved for this one? The effects of sleep-deprivation?"

"Quite the opposite actually," Gaster replied, facing the scribblings on his blackboard. "For this test, I'll be putting you both into a deep trance."

"Say … what now?" Sans blinked, surely his scientific father didn't mean what he thought he meant.

Gaster moved to show off his notes and scribbled doodles on the subject of hypnosis on the blackboard. As usual, the blending of all of his ideas and hypotheses together on one cramped space made for some confusing visuals.

"I wish to know the true strength of the power of suggestion upon the monster's mind," Gaster explained. "How far can suggestion go, and just how deep a trance can one be put in before the impossible becomes reality?"

"Hypnosis … really?" Sans replied, both expression and tone deadpanned. "I give up a coffee break just so you can play with the metaphysical? This is weird even for you old man."

"Oh come now, Sans!" Papyrus approached his brother, still wearing a grin. "I think it'll be fun! Just think of the possibilities the two of our brains can come up with!" he suddenly gasped, eyes full of childlike wonder. "We could become convinced that we're flying! Or can shoot laserbeams out of our eyesockets! Or —"

"Bro!" Sans cut him off, not wanting Papyrus to get too excited as he figured whatever Gaster had in mind for them wasn't going to be nearly as adventurous as he had hoped. "You're wasting your time anyways, G. I can't be hypnotized," he said adamantly.

Gaster knew that this was going to be a tough sell, Sans wasn't one to be convinced to be put in vulnerable situations easily. But thankfully, Gaster did have the perfect idea for just how to convince him.

"Think of it this way … Sans," he paused momentarily to remember his name. "This will be the only time where the only thing that's required of you is to lay back and do nothing but sleep."

That did it. Gaster knew there was no way that Sans would miss an opportunity to be lazy. With a loud groan, Sans followed Gaster and his brother into the operating room. Gaster laid Sans and Papyrus next to each other on two large metal tables. Above them hung a large, oversized pendulum that began swinging back and forth once Gaster hit a button on the wall. The pendulum made a gentle ‘whoosh’ sound as it passed back and forth above them.

"What, are we in a giant grandfather clock?" Sans joked, albeit still in a sarcastic tone.

"This will give you something to focus on while I slip you both into a trance."

"Oooooh!" Papyrus's gaze followed the pendulum, seemingly enchanted by it. "Isn't it exciting, Sans?" He beamed. "We're about to unravel the deep mysteries of the metaphysical mindset!"

"Right…," Sans mumbled. "Let's just hope Dear Old Dad doesn't unravel our minds."

Gaster pulled out an old-fashioned handheld tape recorder and began an audio log.

"Subjects S-1 and P-2 are ready for testing," he recorded quietly. Both are resting comfortably on the operating tables, mere inches apart from one another. The pendulum has begun swinging, and I will now proceed with the restraints." Although it was difficult to catch all of what the old skeleton was muttering, Sans could have sworn that he had caught that last word.

"Whoa whoa whoa … ‘restraints’? You didn't say anything about…," Sans trailed off as he watched Gaster approach him without acknowledging what it was he had just said.

Gaster reached under the table to pull out what looked like two oversized belts. One that would cross along his upper torso, right where his elbow bent, and the other down lower across his knees. Sans despised whenever Gaster brought out these restraints, and did his best to avoid them at all cost. Gaster fastened his eldest son to the table before Sans even had a chance to protest.

"Hey!" Sans began before being strapped to the table and unable to break free. "G, I thought you were just hypnotizing us, what the hell is this for?"

"This is purely for your own safety, Sans," Gaster replied as he pulled out the straps for Papyrus. The younger skeleton never put up much of a fight, so Gaster was able to properly take his time in securing him. "Should your body obey the suggestions to move, or should anything go wrong during the experiment, you'll be safely secured to the table where you won't be able to fall off or injure yourself.

"Right … ‘safety’ … sure," Sans grumbled, not entirely convinced.

"Yes! Very thoughtful of you, sir!" Papyrus chimed in, although Sans could tell that being tied up wasn't exactly Papyrus's favorite thing to do either.

Gaster sat himself down behind a metal podium that contained buttons of different shapes and sizes, all of which had been used on the brothers before with different results. Gaster, once again, pulled out his tape recorder.

"Subjects have been restrained, now proceeding with the 'Nerve-Processing Scan'." Gaster leaned into a small microphone attached to the podium that amplified his low voice so that Sans and Papyrus could hear him clearly. "Boys, you're going to see a small flash of light, just tell me how it makes you feel."

Before either of them had a chance to question, there was a sudden brightness that filled the room nearly blinding the two of them. It disappeared as quickly as it came, but all at once, the brothers felt an overwhelming tingling sensation consuming their bones.

"What?! W-What the—?!" Sans began to grin in spite of himself. The tingles especially affected his cheeks and moved rapidly down his ribs. He felt an overwhelming urge to laugh, but he held it back as best as he could, not wanting Gaster to hear anything. But even with all his efforts, a small snicker still escaped his teeth.

Papyrus, however, wasn't as resilient. Within moments, the younger skeleton began giggling. Light snickers at first, but as the tingles spread downwards he began kicking his legs — as best he could through the restraints — and squirmed on the table.

"Nyeh-hee-hee-hee-hee!! It-It tihihickles!" Papyrus scrunched up his neck in an effort to distract from the sensations.

"Hmm, good," Gaster replied through the microphone before returning back to collecting his thoughts into the tape recorder. "Let the record show that S-1 and P-2 have still retained their sense of 'sensitivity' since the last experiment."

As the tingles began to wear off, Sans looked over at Gaster worriedly. He couldn't hear what the old man was mumbling into that old-fashioned box, but he knew that light show had to be for something.

"Pap, I've got a bad feeling about this," he whispered to Papyrus, who was still trying to shake the tingles off of his toes as he seemed not to hear him.

Gaster leaned back into the microphone, his soft and low voice lightly reverberating off of the walls.

"Alright boys, I want you both to take a deep breath and relax. Please focus your eyes on the pendulum and do not remove your gaze from it."

The brothers obeyed, Sans still muttering under his breath. "You're wasting your time old man, this is beyond pointless."

Gaster continued, "I'm going to start counting backwards from ten. And with every passing number I want you to notice a deep and pleasant drowsiness start to come over you."

"Deep and pleasant drowsiness, huh?" Sans silently scoffed. "You don't need to strap me to a table to get that outta me."

"Slowly building up from your feet…," Gaster continued. "Up through your legs and over your hips … over your spines and ribcages … spreading a deep drowsiness through your arms … up over your shoulders … across your faces … feeling your eyelids start to get heavier and heavier."

"From the way you're droning on you won't need this crap to put me to sleep," Sans quietly complained.

Although, despite the absurdity of it all, a part of him couldn't help but want to feel that 'pleasant drowsiness' that Gaster kept going on about. Despite his current situation, a nap with that kind of intensity did feel like it would be a welcomed change of pace. It had been a while since he had a peaceful rest without the constant interruption of nightmares.

"Ten.… Nine.… Eight…," Gaster slowly began. "Feeling your bodies start to drift off into sleepiness...."

Sans didn't want to believe it, and part of him surely thought that it was nothing but a trick of the mind, but he did start to feel it. A sensation, almost similar to that of a warm numbness, starting to take hold of his feet and slowly climbing up his legs and towards his waist. It was … strangely pleasant.

"Seven.… Six.… Five…," Gaster went on, his voice overtaking the room. "Slowly drifting off into a pleasant drowsiness, slipping deeper and deeper into sleep."

"This is … so … so … stupid…." But the more Sans tried to convince himself, the more he was starting to lose track of his words and drift off, doing exactly as Gaster was commanding him to do.

"Four.… Three.... Two…. You feel it start to take over your body, slipping deeper and deeper into relaxation," Gaster continued. "One…. Now your eyelids feel so unbelievably heavy, it's nearly impossible to keep them open now."

And it was. Sans couldn't keep from blinking, but every time he opened his eyes, it was harder and harder to keep them open. What was happening? He knew that if there was anywhere that he didn't feel 100% safe, it was here in his father's laboratory. And yet, it was like his body was trying too hard to convince his brain that this was the place to let it all go and sleep.

The pendulum wasn't helping much either. With every light little ‘whooshing’ sound that it made while going back and forth, it was almost forcing Sans to keep blinking, making it harder and harder for him to open his eyes back up. For a split second he glanced back over at Papyrus, but the younger skeleton was already long gone, Sans could tell by the drool starting to collect in the corner of his open mouth.

"And...."

*SNAP!*

"Sleep!"

Sans’s eyes shut all on their own. Within a singular moment … within a singular snap … he had completely surrendered full control of his body and his mind. His thoughts floated on warm fuzzy clouds of nothingness, and the deep numbness that had begun at his soles had now consumed his entire body. It was like he could feel nothing and everything all at once. But the most bizarre thing about it was that there wasn't a single drop of anxiousness, not one lingering fear, not one seed of doubt or concern. Everything was just open and free. Sans wasn't entirely sure what plane of existence he had landed on, but it was oddly relaxing.

"Take a deep breath in…." As Gaster continued, he heard the deep inhale and exhale come willingly from his sons as he spoke.

"And…."

*SNAP!*

"Sleep!"

Upon hearing the command, the brothers felt themselves drifting more and more into a trance-like sleep. The world around them began to fade away piece by piece as their minds floated through space.

"As you hear the word…," Gaster snapped very sharply into the microphone again, "Sleep … everytime you hear the word…," he snapped again, "Sleep. You feel yourselves drifting deeper and deeper into unconsciousness. Feeling 100% more relaxed and comfortable … sleep." He snapped. "Feeling nothing but the deepest relaxation imaginable. Totally still and silent … only able to hear and understand the words that I am speaking … and … sleep"

Snapping a final time, Gaster could tell that Sans and Papyrus had now fallen into a deep trance, only able to hear him, and totally susceptible to everything.

"Alright, let's begin," he spoke softly into the microphone. "I'm going to begin counting to ten, and as the numbers start to increase, you're going to start becoming fully aware of your bodies. Aware of your nerve endings … so hyper aware and fixated on all that you can feel that you won't be able to focus on anything else."

Gaster counted upwards, using his words to point out the sensitivity of their toes, their knees, their legs, hips, ribcages, underarms, necks, and everywhere in between. He was able to barely catch the brothers start to lightly twitch in their trance. The experiment was working.

"And now that you are fully alert and aware of your nerve endings and the capabilities they hold, I want to ask you a question … can you start to feel the soft caress of a little white feather gliding across your soles?"

Sans and Papyrus stiffened, it was so subtle that anyone who wasn't paying attention to them would have missed it entirely. But Gaster noticed immediately, and had no intention of letting it alone.

"Do you feel it start to dance back and forth? Gliding up towards your toes and back down to your heels?"

Sans’s toes began to curl, his face twitched like he was trying to hold back a grin. Papyrus's left foot gave a small but sudden jerk, his breathing starting to hitch and shudder.

"Does it bother you?" Gaster baited. "Is it … ticklish?"

Sans gasped sharply while Papyrus let out a little whine through his teeth. That was it, Gaster was getting through to them with the pure power of suggestion. He went on.

"Perhaps you now feel it stopping at the bottom of your toes…."

Papyrus let out a brief sigh, but Sans still seemed to be holding his breath. Gaster smiled, this was going way better than he had expected.

"No … I don't think it's stopping, it seems to be brushing and bristling along the inside of your toes."

"Nyeh-hee-hee-hee-hee!"

Papyrus finally started to lightly giggle. Sans gritted his teeth hard, his body movements turning to brief little twitches that seemed to get sharper and more panicked. Like he was trying so desperately hard to hold back. Gaster smiled, he knew it was only a matter of time before he got through to his eldest son.

"And now you can feel the feather start to slowly weave in between your toes … starting in between the spaces of your big and second toe, and oh-so-easily slipping and gliding down the rest of your toes as well."

"Eeeeeeeeeeheeheeheehee!!" Papyrus let out a shrill squeal of giggles, his toes curling in and out trying — and failing — to protect himself from the invisible feather.

"Hrrkkkk!!"

Sans's teeth pressed together so hard that it almost looked painful. Opening only to take in sharp gasps of air and try his best to steady his panicked breathing. His toes rapidly wiggled and curled inward, but no matter how hard he tried, it was more than obvious to Gaster that he was feeling the effects.

Gaster couldn't help but grin, he knew for certain that there was an undeniable way for him to finally get Sans to laugh.

"Breathing in … as best as you can through the laughter…," he continued. "You feel the feather moving faster and faster … effortlessly gliding in between your toes. And as you feel the sensation growing stronger … you find yourself falling 100 times more deeper into trance, and feeling yourself growing 100 times more sensitive everytime…."

"Grrrnnnnnnkkkkk...!" Sans groaned loudly, struggling harder than ever to resist Gaster's suggestion.

"I say…."

"Hnnnh...!!"

"The word…."

"Unnnghhh!!"

"...tickle."

Before Gaster had even finished pronouncing the word, the dam finally broke. Sans started laughing and convulsing his feet even harder. Just as Gaster had suggested, the sensitivity of his feet had more than doubled, and the imaginary feather's power had consumed him.

Gaster let out a small chuckle, satisfied with his progress … yet still wanting to see just how far he could push it.

"Feeling so deeply relaxed … and so very … very … ticklish."

"GAAH!! Hahahahahaha!!" Sans erupted in deep laughter, struggling harder than ever against the binds on his legs.

Papyrus wasn't far behind him, squealing and jerking his body around as if that would somehow distract him from the agonizing sensation on his toes.

"Feel the feather starting to glide up from the tops of your toes, all the way up towards your knees….” Gaster grinned through his words.

Gasping in panic, the brothers tried to kick and scrunch up their knees, almost unaware of the restraints holding them back and causing them even more panic.

"And as the feather swirls about your knees…," Gaster went on. "You start to feel 100% more … ticklish."

"AAH! Hahahaha! N-N-Nahahaha!! Hahaha!!"

Sans's head began to rock back and forth. He strained even harder trying to contain his laughter, seeming to struggle to get out the word "No."

Papyrus, on the other hand, seemed nearly paralyzed upon hearing the dreaded ‘T’ word. Gaster could see his legs sticking straight out as his body shook with near-silent giggling.

"Tell me…," Gaster mused. "Is this all feeling particularly … ticklish?" He dragged out the word, sounding out every letter and syllable. Making sure his test subjects heard him clearly.

Papyrus threw his head back, while Sans let out a small shriek. Both of them wracked with laughter and convulsions. While in the trance, they seemed to be completely unaware as to why their bodies weren't moving to protect themselves. Why they couldn't control or completely stop this unusual tickle attack.

Gaster observed his subjects laughing almost to tears, both fascinated and amused. He wasn't entirely sure what came over him, but something about watching the two of them being tickled just by words alone brought out a playful side to him. He grinned as he approached the microphone again.

"You now feel the feather fluttering up towards your rib cage…," he teased. "Getting all of the spaces in between, and feeling oh so very, very ticklish."

Both brothers let out two hysterical shrieks. Sans desperately pulled on the restraints holding down his arms. Panic filled his every movement as he succumbed to his frenzied laughter.

Papyrus's movements were not as dramatic — for a change. As he seemed to have given up on trying to force his body to move and just accepted the sensations, offering only spazzing twitches and jerks. His body rocked back and forth as he embraced the laughter, though it was difficult for Gaster to tell if he was actually starting to enjoy it or not.

Gaster found that he rather enjoyed the sound of his sons' laughter filling his laboratory. Usually his experiments were met with screams or protests from his boys. This noise brought out a subtle, yet joyful demeanor within him, despite the fact that he was drawing it out of them by force. Feeling cheeky, he decided to try just one more thing.

"Tickle, tickle, tickle…," he briefly teased.

Sans's head fell backwards as a silent squeal escaped his teeth, leaving Papyrus to fill the room with insane screams of laughter. Papyrus bucked and jerked, this time making a real effort to pull at his restraints. Gaster figured that this kind of increased sensitivity had finally been too much for him.

By the time Sans finally found the strength to inhale again, his sharp breathing had caused a loud snort to fall out of his nasal cavity. Gaster put a hand to his mouth in shock, he wasn't even aware that Sans was the type of monster who snorted. It was honestly adorable.

But after a few moments, both brothers really started gasping for air, Sans let out even more snorts as his inhales were getting faster. With a sigh, Gaster at last accepted that it was time to end the experiment. He raised his pinched fingers high into the air.

"And…," he paused, taking in the sound of his sons' laughter one more time.

"Stop."

He snapped his fingers, Sans and Papyrus's bodies at last began to relax and settle down. Both of them continued to take in deep inhalations until their breath was finally caught and they laid still on the metal tables breathing normally.

"Good," Gaster said to himself before approaching the microphone again. "Take one more deep breath…," he instructed, and the brothers obeyed. Once again Gaster raised his pinched fingers upwards, preparing to wake them from their trance.

"Now when I snap my fingers, you will wake and return to consciousness … fully awake … and fully aware of what you have just been through…."

Gaster snapped, preparing immediately to catch flack from Sans … but it was quiet. Sans and Papyrus's eyes remained closed. Gaster looked over at them with a confused expression. Perhaps they had not heard him?

"Awake!" he called, snapping his fingers again, but still there was no response.

He held his fingers to the microphone and snapped his fingers again. The sound echoed along the walls of the lab, there was no way anybody who was in the room could have missed it, and yet the brothers did not stir from their trance.

Gaster worriedly approached his test subjects. Putting a palm to both of their nasal cavities, he determined that the both of them were still breathing. He tried snapping his fingers exceptionally close to their ear canals, no response. He shook both of the metal tables, jerking their bodies from side to side, no response. Finally he unlocked the two of them from their upper restraints. Sitting them both up one by one he proceeded to shake them around and call their names. Even calling them by their test subject names just to gauge an angry response from Sans … nothing.

"Oh no…," Gaster breathed out. "Oh, what have I done?" He hurriedly ran to his medical tools on a separate table, speaking out loud as to try and make sense of what had just happened.

"I must have let them slip too deep into trance for too long," he reasoned. "I must find a way to wake them before this gets too out of hand."

Gaster knew that just about anything he said or did to his sons in this condition could leave their mental state quite vulnerable. He knew he had to be careful, but also knew that he just had to find a way to wake them up, and soon!

***

"Pap...?" Sans's eyes blinked several times, he rubbed his sockets wearily. "Papyrus?" he called again. His voice seemed to echo off into a far distance. He was in some sort of strange space where nothing seemed to exist … nothing but white.

Once his eyes adjusted to the strange lighting, he looked around, hopeful to find something or someone that was familiar.

"Papyrus!" he called out, once again hearing the faint echo of his own voice. "Papyrus! Can you hear me?" Nothing but white … white sky, white ground, white space. This world was strange, he just knew he needed to find answers, just as fast as he needed to find his brother.

"S-Sans?"

Sans's soul jumped in his ribcage. He looked around frantically until he spotted Papyrus stumbling towards him from a few yards away.

"Bro!"

Sans sighed with relief, meeting his brother halfway. Papyrus quickly embraced his older brother by picking him up and hugging him tightly. Normally, Sans wasn't a big fan of being picked up, but he was grateful to have some form of normalcy return to him.

"Sans … uhm … where are we?" Papyrus asked after putting him down. "What is this place?"

"I … have no idea." Sans once again resumed looking around, his gaze met with nothing but white. "I don't even remember how we got here … do you?"

Papyrus shook his head.

"I … think I remember Gaster … and...." Papyrus thought hard. "Something about a … feather … maybe?"

"Crazy old man and his experiments," Sans groaned. "Did he send us to another dimension again?"

"Oh, nonsense brother!" Papyrus insisted. "After the mess that happened last time, I don't think he'd chance that again."

"Okay, so then where are we?" Sans put his hands in his pockets, grateful at least to have his brother here, but still feeling wary.

A small breeze started to flow into the space, making the brothers freeze from the sudden movement change. But what really began to set their fears in motion was when that breeze suddenly brought in the sound of high pitched giggling.

The brothers gasped, moving closer towards each other. The giggling was gone just as fast as it came, leaving the two of them feeling anxious.

"S-Sans?" Papyrus nervously broke the silence. "Did you hear that?"

"I … think so?" Sans wasn't quite sure what to think. When it came to taking part in Gaster's experiments, he knew that anything could happen.

The breeze suddenly brought in even more giggling, making the two skeletons jump.

"Sans … was that you making that sound?" Papyrus asked hopefully,

"Bro, do I sound like my voice can go that high?"

True, these giggles didn't sound like they came from any monster the two of them had encountered. These voices were high and squeaky, they were the sound of young children's giggling. The brothers jumped with surprise as the giggling became words.

"Oooh! Lookit what we have here!"

"Two skeletons! They sure do look strange!"

It was a young boy and a young girl's voice. Sans and Papyrus fearfully looked around, but again, there was nothing but white.

"Who's there?" Sans boldly called. "Who are you?"

"I bet they're really fun to play with!" answered the young boy.

"Are they going to be our new friends?" the young girl asked enthusiastically.

"One way to find out!" the boy replied.

"Friends?" Sans asked suspiciously.

"They sound friendly enough, I think." Papyrus whispered back to his brother.

But then the girl replied with a statement that sent a shiver down their spines....

"Hmm … I wonder if they're ticklish."

[garbinge]

For Old Time's Sake

Horacio Carrillo x F!Reader Steve Murphy & Javier Peña & F!Reader For the @narcosfandomdiscord October Prompts. Day 1 - Day of Firsts: Create a fanwork about a canon character you’ve never written about/used before. Summary: Your first day in Colombia on the Escobar case and you end up running into an old flame. A little reimagined moment of Steve's first day in Colombia if you will! Word Count: 3.5k Warnings: All my fics are 18+, regardless of content. Angsty. Javi being kinda lowkey jerky. A/N: Okay so this is my first time writing Carrillo and I feel like its wildly out of character/his voice/etc but we're out here TRYING okay. So excited for these prompts and hope to write for a good chunk on this list!

Taglist: @drabbles-mc @justreblogginfics @narcolini

Your plane landed in the early morning hours, it was still dark out as you exited. Luckily there was no waiting on baggage or making your way through the crowd. When the DEA sent you out, they pulled out all the stops. It helped that you were top of your game at work, putting in the extra hours, sacrificing your social life. It basically meant you were eating, sleeping, and dreaming of work 24/7 but it brought you up as the highest agent in your division and because of that, it earned you the Escobar case. That and well, you had pretty well knowledge of Colombia since you spent your college years abroad there. 

This was the last of the luxury you’d experience from the DEA office in the states, however, and you knew that so you soaked up every ounce of it before you were now exiting the private plane, making your way down to the Ford that was waiting to take you to your accommodations. 

“Hola, senorita.” Someone in a suit greeted you and held the backdoor open for you.��

You smiled and placed your bags in the back, you knew that wasn’t what they were holding the door for, but you weren’t going to continue the special treatment. Quickly after dropping your bags, you moved to the passenger seat and waited for the driver to join you. After a few beats of silence they mentioned they would be taking you to your apartment so you could get settled but you disagreed and made them take you to the embassy. 

There it was, the habit that got you in this position, all work, no play. 

As you rolled into the embassy, you flashed your badge and quickly made your way in, stepping out as the car was still moving. 

“Muchas gracias.” You nodded to your driver who was panicking to brake. 

Two men in tan suits waited for you as you approached with your bags. 

“Peña and Murphy?” You stood staring at the two of them as they sized you up. 

“Yep.” Javier extended his hand out to shake yours. “Javier–Javi.” 

That was followed by the same gesture from Steve. 

“They were supposed to bring you to drop your bags off first.” Javi started to complain as he began walking inside the building.

“I told them to bring me here, I can drop my bags off whenever I go home. Wanted to meet the team and get briefed as soon as possible.” You spoke up, quick to keep up with both of the men who were holding the door open for you. 

As you entered the building you took in everything, making mental notes of every detail you thought would be important. The sign that listed each floor, where the bathrooms were, where each emergency exit was located. It almost made you miss the look Steve and Javi gave each other after you explained your eagerness to work. 

“I got myself familiar with all the notes on the plane but, I figured first hand accounts would be better. I know better than to believe everything that’s in the paperwork.” You spoke as you entered the elevator. 

“Yea well, things are–” Javier paused his sentence to think about what to say, how to describe what you were getting into. 

“A shitshow.” Steve interrupted him to finish the thought. 

Mentally you noted that Steve was the more honest one, not one to get flustered by the presence of a woman. He was likely married, or in some serious commitment, and whether that was with a woman or his job you respected it. You nodded with a smile, answering him briefly with a some response about how it isn't always with the DEA or something of that nature before your eyes moved back over to Javier to get a read on him. 

Before you could nail down a thought, the elevator doors were opening and the group of you were moving fast. 

“Weaver and Wisnicki, meet our new DEA special agent.” Javier introduced you by name. 

You were quick to let go of your bags and reach over to shake hands and correct the title he gave you. “Supervising Special Agent.” 

Steve let out a chuckle before continuing the greeting. “Javi what is it you called these guys? R.I.P? Retired in place?” 

You let out a chuckle, you weren’t going to shit on what these two did, you weren’t here for that and with the amount of time you spent at work, you needed to make friends where possible. 

“Hey, we all earn it.” You lifted your hands up in an act of innocence. “It was nice meeting you two.” 

As the group of you moved through the different sections of the floor you got introduced to other agents, the Mil group, and the ambassador. Each group introduction went well. By the end of your journey, Javier was suggesting you leave your bags at his desk before they drove you in to meet the Search Bloc, seeing as you were about to go on an intel mission with them in the next 5 hours. 

“Now we should give you a heads up.” Steve spoke up as the car you were in pulled into Carlos Holguin School. “Colonel Carrillo can be–”

“Walking up right now.” Javier interrupted as he put the car in park and exited the vehicle. 

Steve was quick to look up and see that the Colonel wasn’t walking up, it was just his men approaching to escort the lot of you in. 

“No he’s not!” Murphy yelled before turning to you in the back seat. “He can be a bit of dick. Apparently a common trait around here.” His eyes went back to Peña before he was exiting the passenger door himself. 

You smiled to yourself at that. It was enjoyable to you to see the back and forth between the two men. 

The silence overcame the group of you as you were brought to an office door, the plaque on the outside reading Colonel Carrillo was a little outdated in style, meant he had a few years on his belt. 

As the door was opened by one of the search bloc soldiers, Javi began speaking. 

“Buenos días, Colonel.” 

The minute a voice responded, you felt your gut flinch, if that was even possible, before it sunk. Your head was whipping up to look at the major, taking in his green uniform, the badge on his chest, and finally, his face. 

Javier and him were mumbling to each other as they shook hands, leaving you to take in who it was in front of you right now. 

It wasn’t so much nerves you were feeling, you would have described it more as shock. Which, shock felt a lot similar to a panic attack. The noise in your ears got fuzzy, there was a slight buzzing in the background and your face went blank. 

“You alright?” Steve cut through the fuzziness in your ears, luckily and brought you back to reality. 

“Yea sorry, just fucked up from the time difference and the flight.” You shook your head and masked the shock you were feeling. 

“I want you to meet our new DEA supervising special agent.” Javi spoke up, calling the attention to you now. 

His eyes met yours, and the smile that slightly curved on his face tipped you off that he recognized you immediately. You saw his mouth move slightly open and before Javi or him could say your name you were quick to cut them both off by speaking it outloud and move towards them, extending your arm to greet the man. 

If that wasn’t enough to get the point across to the Colonel, your next words would have been. 

“Mucho gusto.” You smiled and prayed he didn’t say or do anything that would give away your connection. 

“Mucho gusto.” He spoke back to you with a frown. 

“We’re gonna move out and get intel in about an hour.” Steve spoke up from the back. 

“Murphy.” Carrillo spoke up, his face hardening as he stared at the man. 

With the context you had just gotten from Steve, you now realized that what Murphy meant in the car was, Carrillo was a dick to him. If you weren’t in the middle of this clusterfuck of a situation, you would have smiled, maybe even chuckled a bit but your mind was still trying to wrap itself around what was happening. 

“We’ll get out of your hair, just wanted to introduce you to the fresh meat.” Javi smiled at you. 

“Wait.” Carrillo spoke up and your gut did that flinching thing again. “I’d love to know more about what this means for your team, Peña.” 

You heard Javi start to make a noise, it was something adjacent to stuttering. His way of not wanting to devalue himself or shit on you while you were in the room. 

“My title doesn’t really pull weight, it’s just for the paperwork. I’m basically going to be working closely with Peña and Murphy on intel and raids. Only difference is my signature gets added to the documents.” You spoke up, looking back at the men behind you as you spoke. 

“Have you gotten a tour of Medellin yet, special agent?” 

He was teasing you. When you met him in Colombia all those years ago, that was exactly what he did. Give you a tour. He showed you the plaza, the museums, the best restaurants you never would have found otherwise. And again, in any other circumstance you would have been amused, but mortified was more the right word to describe your emotions at the moment. The comment was more obvious to you than anyone else in the room. It helped that Steve and Javi were oblivious to everything that wasn’t Escobar related so they weren’t exactly picking up on what was happening. 

“She flew in this morning, her bags are back at the embassy at my desk, she didn’t even get settled before jumping on the case.” Javi spoke up. 

“I’ll have it arranged that your bags are picked up and brought here.” Carrillo wasn’t even looking at any of you anymore. He was rummaging through paperwork at his desk. 

When no one responded he looked up to be met with confused looks. His eyes jumped from Steve to Javi to you. “Paperwork, after the intel trip. Going to need your signatures.” 

“Right.” You said it was obvious the entire time. 

“Alright, I’ll make the arrangements and meet you all at 1300.” He went back to looking at his paperwork, ignoring all 3 of you. 

It took you a couple seconds to make your feet move but eventually you were able to and out of his office. Steve was now leading the way to where you would meet a few more of the Search Bloc crew and gather up gear for the trip you were about to take. 

Luckily, the intel mission wasn’t awkward at all. Carrillo put his professional foot forward, as did you and as you all waited in the room for all the Narcos to show up there was no more tense or nervousness in the air. He clearly picked up on you not wanting to out any of your past personal life to Steve and Javier and quite honestly, he understood that. Having more time to think on it and not being thrown for a loop in the moment, he felt relieved about it too. These were not exactly the typical running into your ex conditions, this was work, this was catching a drug cartel and their leaders, this needed to be as far away from personal as possible. 

That was what both of you told yourselves. It was what you told yourself on the way back, while you sat next to each other in the car, when Javi leaned forward to tell you that the restaurant coming up had the best arepas de choclo. You knew that, because that was where you and Horacio would go when you were craving late night foods. And it was what you told yourself now, as you all pulled back up to the Carlos Holguin School and the awkwardness came back over you. 

“I had one of my men take your bags to where you’re staying.” Carrillo said as the group of you gathered together on the dirt lot. 

“We would have taken them back, her place is on the first level where me and Steve stay.” Javi spoke up, his hands resting on his hips. 

“One last thing we gotta lug back home from the embassy.” Steve shrugged as he leaned over to shake Carrillo’s hand in an effort to say goodbye.

“Wasn’t a big deal, I have a few men working at the embassy, keeps communication smooth.” Carrillo wasn’t in the mood to argue with Javi on this so he was quick to turn to you. “You ready to get started on this paperwork?”

“Yea, I’ll meet you in your office, let me just debrief with my guys.” You spoke confidently, anything to throw both of them off.

 All Carrillo did was nod and make his way back to his office. You turned to Steve and Javi, your face solid and serious. 

“We’ll take care of following up on the intel.” Javi spoke up now, like he was in charge. 

“I’ll give you a call on what the next move is.” Steve was cutting Javi off, staring at him with a frown before moving his eyes on to you. 

You nodded once, then turned to Javi. “Call me fresh meat one more time and I’ll be sure you’re riding desk for the rest of this case and you’ll be the one staying late to run through paperwork.” 

It was harsh, but true. You were new, but you weren’t stupid. Regardless of anything, you pulled rank over these two, whether it truly mattered or not. There was no room for disrespect. 

“See you two in the morning.” You offered them a goodbye and made your way over to the main entrance. Steve’s laugh could have been heard from even inside the building, it was obvious he was making fun of Javi, of what you just said. It was good, set the tone amongst them. 

The walk down the hallway was long, your head was filling with tons of thoughts, of memories, your heart was beating so fast it was a surprise it wasn’t coming out of your chest. As your hand rested on the doorknob of Carrillo’s office, you took a beat, a moment to take a deep breath and exhale it out as the door opened. 

Carrillo was sitting at his desk, his green button up shirt that houses his name patch and badge was hung on a coat rack in the corner, he was at his desk with just his tan t shirt on, the only light illuminating the room was the outdoor lights from the windows behind him and the desk lamp that was showing the frown on his face as he shuffled through things on his desk. 

“Thanks for going along with it.” You spoke up, alerting him of your presence. The immediate thought you had was why you were starting the conversation with that. There were a million other things you could have said. 

His head shot up, he clearly had not heard you open the door or your heart practically thumping out of your chest. 

“It’s no problem.” He answered you. “I hope you set Peña straight.” He was standing up now, moving his hand to the chair across his desk offering for you to sit. 

“Set straight?” You were confused, as you made your way to sit down. 

“Fresh meat.” He said as he sat back down himself. 

“Oh, yea. That won’t be happening again.” You let out a chuckle, still fidgeting around in the seat trying to get comfortable. 

“It’s probably good you thought quick, what happened with us… it’s just more fuel to the fire for him.” Carrillo was leaning on his desk, elbows resting on the stacks of documents. 

“What did happen with us?” The question came out so blunt it even shocked you. 

“You went back.” It was said like it was so obvious. Like those 3 words were the answer to it all. 

“I sent you letters.” The vibe had definitely changed from just mere minutes ago. 

Carrillo didn’t say anything, he sat there silent, his face neutral like that would be enough of an answer for you. 

“It’s crazy how you can know someone for just short of a year, spend pretty much everyday with them, learn the most intimate things about them, and truly know absolutely nothing about them.” 

“What are you talking about?” He was annoyed, and because of the time you spent with him, you knew it was deflection, a way to get out of the conversation, but you weren’t going to let it go that easily. 

“You never told me you were an aspiring police officer.” You pointed to the badged shirt on the rack. “In fact, I’m pretty sure you told me you wanted to come to the states, study, learn about architecture, the details of the buildings that people are so quick to dismiss.” It was a pretty direct quote from a young Horacio’s mouth.

“I joined 4 months after you left. Things got bad here. After that incident where– where you got hurt. I couldn’t shake it.” He explained thinking back to one of the last memories of you here with him. It wasn’t one either of you liked to remember, you had a permanent scar on you to remind you of it more frequently, but in Carrillo’s case it looked like he had a career profession to keep the memory alive. 

“Why did you ignore my letters?” Your voice softened now as you came to the realization that maybe you could actually come to some closure tonight. 

“We should probably start on this paperwork, make everything ready for your team to move forward tomorrow.” He was taking a stack of blank documents and handing it over to you. 

“Why did you ignore my letters, Horacio.” You spoke his name with such pleading, not just because you knew it’d get him to answer but because you truly missed saying his name in that way. 

“It was too much.” He couldn’t bear to look at you as he spoke. “Loving you and giving my all to training, to the big picture, to Colombia.” 

There it was. The most truthful thing he might have ever said to you. You knew he loved you but deep down, you always knew he loved his country. The two of you fell in love as he showed you the sights, it was written in your story for it to come down to this.

“If I had to lose you to someone I’m glad it was to her.” You managed to make a joke, just being happy that he had been honest with you. 

He smiled at that too. Now that things were a little more settled, a little less awkward, you began rummaging through the papers, filling out reports and findings, signing pre-typed notes for approvals and compliance. About 20 minutes went by when Carrillo was clearing his throat to get your attention. 

“I’m glad you’re here to fight this fight with me.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The firmness in your voice came back over you, your eyes glaring at him.

He got flustered a bit, neither of you having been in a situation where flirting, romance and charm weren’t the leading tones of your conversations. 

“I just came here for the best arepas de choclo in Colombia.” A smile grew on your face and his was soon to follow. 

He was quick to stand up and grab his jacket, which was hanging next to his badged work shirt and place it on. 

“Well I guess I better not disappoint.” He was nodding towards the door. “For old times sake? I believe that’s what they say back where you’re from.” 

You stood up and grabbed your own jacket from the back of the chair and made your way to stand in front of him, dangerously close to him, you could feel the slight breeze of his breath on you as he waited for some verbal response from you. For old time’s sake, if that was the excuse he needed to justify going to get food with you, you’d take it. To be honest if that was the excuse he needed to do anything with you, you’d allow it. Little to your knowledge, but those 4 words would end up being all the invitation either of you needed to revisit old times in the next five months, whether it was your favorite restaurant, your apartment, his house, even a couple times in his office. 

So you stared up at him, at the eyes of the man you had fallen in love with all those years ago, and despite them looking a little more dark and unruly now, you smiled and opened your mouth to speak. 

“For old time’s sake.” 

[mekachu04]

25. Night

Kidd - 21 | Killer - 25

Tags specifically for this chapter:

Heat & Wire have left to go on a date

leaving Kidd and Killer unattended

Killer is our short!King

Hogmanay/First-Foot preparations

chores turned shenanigans

Pomp would like you to take this elsewhere

Read at A03 linked above or here below cut

Drabbles from Pocket Jack's KiKi-tober Prompt list

While the Punk would be a wild party later for Hogmanay, most of his crew was off making last minute preparations or napping in advance for the long night. The unchanging standard daylight hours of the Grand Line forcing them to adjust some celebrations, seeing as it would have been long past sundown if they'd been back on Kutsukku by this time of the afternoon. Kidd been trying to find Killer, only to be soundly kicked out of the galley by Pomp, who'd warned him that only the cooking brigade was allowed in there until Killer said so.

"Well, bring him out, I wanna talk to him."

"Oh - no ones in here but me. The prep work is done, and I'm just keeping an eye on a few things that are in the ovens. And to discourage any raids." He climbed back up to his perch on the counter where he'd been messing with some new project. Kidd felt he should say something back, but was so bewildered by being dismissed so causally by one of his own men that he ended up just wandering back out the galley and started for the stairs up deck.

Only to stop, blink, and take two steps backwards, looking down the hall to the crews quarters.

Killer was dragging a little two step ladder around, swapping out light bulbs on the hallway wall. Two steps up, unscrew the light cover, take out the dead bulb. Two step down, dead bulb in one box, new bulb from the second, still in protective wrapping. Unwrap, trash the packaging, then two steps up. Replace bulb, screw cover closed, two steps down. Drag everything over three feet towards the galley and repeat.

"Why is our shortest commander the one replacing light bulbs?"

"I think the better question is why is the guy who wired our ship afraid to change out the bulbs himself?"

"I mean… we did kick him off the ship" And they'd done so every December 31 for 5 years now. As Mr. Tall Dark and Mysterious, Wire been unanimously named qualtagh. He didn't fight it to much, and he'd even had a song to go with it that his mother had taught him as a small child. Technically he just had to disembark the ship before midnight and then come back after the bell tolls. One time they'd been at sea for the new year and had dumped him on a life raft for a few minutes before hauling on board again.

"I told him if he changed these out I'd talk to you and we could kick Disk J or Gig out instead. Make them qualtagh this year. He said no way, and took Heat with him before sunrise."

"… should I be worried about the Punk?"

Killer laughed before he caught himself, an easy sound when it was just the two of them. Wire had been a good sport about the whole life boat thing, but this year Wire had declared if he was to remain qualtagh, then no one was allowed to bother him or Heat until he returned on his own after midnight. "I think we're okay; Anyway, we put all of these in at the same time, it makes sense they all burned out at once." /Please be why they all went out at the same time…/ "New Lights for New Year - gotta be something in that."

"Y'all are a bunch of superstitious fools."

"You're just bummed we couldn't find Trafalgar in time for First-Foot."

"He's probably keeping himself submerged on purpose."

Killer made to step down but Kidd gently -pushed- the ladder over to the next fixture, dragging the boxes with him, and started unwrapping a new one. "Thanks," Killer murmured, opening the casing, "I.. I don't think Trafalgar celebrates First-Foot…"

Kidd took the burned out bulb from him and handed him a new one, "I … may have made allusions to ruining his new year last time we ran into each other."

The bulb light up brightly once it was screwed in, and Killer closed up the casing. Kidd watched the way the light reflected off his helmet, the hint of a beard he'd stopped shaving off every morning at his chin, more noticeable from this lower angle.

"Only one that'd be funnier to crash in on would be Monkey, but the bastard's already had a shit year. He doesn't need my help." He -pushed- Killer over to the last bulb on the hall.

"That's almost thoughtful of you."

 "Hardly. It woulda just been a waste of my talents."

Killer shook his head in bemusement, last bulb bright. Kidd went to start putting things away when Killer dragged the step stool over to one ceiling light over the archway to the mess hall. It had been burned out so long Kidd had forgotten about it. It was also much higher than the rest, the entry way build so Wire & Mosh didn't have to duck to get in.

Climbing up, Killer was still a few feet too short to reach. Kidd watched in amusement as his partner stretched on tip toes but still only barely brushed the light casing. "Misjudged that one, shorty?"

"Oh don't you even start!"

Kidd could help but laugh, the image of killer stretched out just burned into his memory, and he fell across the hall so the wall could hold him up.

Killer growled at him - and Kidd just kept smirking. He could tell Killer hasn't playing anymore, but Kidd still had a plan, and he needed Killer to -

Killer stepped off the stool and grabbed his bandolier to jerk him forward, "Don-"

Killer might be faster, but Kidd was stronger. He hauled Killer up over his left shoulder, both hands clasped around his left thigh. He ignored the way Killer's heel tried to dig into his hip, and after some kicking, Killer got his right leg hooked around Kidd's neck, hanging awkwardly down Kidd's back, thighs pressing against both ears and trying to strangle him with his calves.

Pomp came running at the first sounds of a fight, and Killer had told him to get back in the kitchen.

/We have a strange kind of foreplay,/ Kidd though to himself, pointing not slamming Killer's face first into the wall behind them, but getting close enough that Killer could leverage himself up until he was sitting on Kidd's shoulders; If Kidd was anyone else, that knife Killer only just didn't pull would have been in his neck. Instead Killer had a fist full of his hair, twisting his head around to force Kidd to look upward at him, knowing full well that even without seeing his face, Kidd knew how pissed he was.

Kidd just smiled out sweetly, patted apologetically the hand shaped bruises he probably left on Killer's left thigh and -pulled- the base of a new bulb over to himself, holding it up to Killer, face of pure innocence.

Killer looked at it in confusion, before glancing up quickly to find the light fixture now in reach. "You're a prick."

"A massive one," Kidd agreed with a wink; He could tell Killer rolled his eyes at that before he readjusted his weight so his was sitting snugger on Kidd's shoulders, no longer tying to strangle his captain between his legs, instead tucking his toes around Kidd's sides and behind his back for balance. Kidd kept his right hand on Killer's hip to steady him, head still twisted to the awkward angle their tussle had left him in, but it let him watch Killer unscrew the cover to open it, pillowed on Killer's thigh.

Killer removed the dead bulb, plucked the new one like picking a flower from someones' garden, and planted the dead one in it's place. Kidd knew he was getting a cocky smirk under strips of white and blue but patently bid his time while Killer's attention went back to the task at hand. In the mean time, he -tossed- the dead one into the box of trash

He rested his hand back on Killer's hip, the rough denim on his jeans and the soft silk of the sash. He wouldn't likely ever wear a leather belt, but had no problem pilferering Kidd's things and repurposing them for his own means. It was not lost on Kidd that his colours was the thing keeping other wandering hands off his partner, and his alone allowed to remove them.

"Any more chores left?" Kidd asked, his chin brushing the inseam of Killer's jeans. He felt the muscles of Killer's inner thigh flex and he smirked as his ran his hands down either side of the material's outseam until he was supporting Killer with a firm grip on the thickest parts of his thighs.

Killer squeezed his legs in warning, a light pressure around Kidd's head as a reminder that could actually probably kill him if Killer was so inclined.

"I'm just saying," Kidd pushed his luck, "that unless you have anything else on that needs seeing to, we've got some time until you'll be needed back in the galley, yea?"

There was a light pull on his hair, a shift of weight, and Killer had curled down to look at him, still balanced carefully on his shoulders but close enough Kidd could have kissed him if not for the helmet.

Kidd kissed him anyway.

[allsassnoclass]

Kid fic prompts

Had a request to gather some prompts about characters with kids! Most of these are single parent aus, but there are other iterations of characters with kids as well.

While I came up with some of these, many of these come from my AU notebook, which is years and years old and from before I properly sourced things. If they are from your prompt list, please let me know and I'll credit or remove them, which ever you prefer!

I'm the band teacher and you're the new choir teacher at this under-funded public school

We knew each other in high school and ran into each other at the grocery store and my teenage child saw the interaction and is now trying to set us up

I PUT THE KID I'M BABYSITTING DOWN FOR TWO SECONDS HOW ARE THEY GONE WHERE-- oh you found them and are now holding them and searching for their guardian

We're camp counselors at the summer camp that we both went to as little kids

We both work at Disney World and all of the little kids LOVE you

Alternatively, you work at Disney World and I did not mentally prepare myself for spending a full day at the park with my child and no adult backup and you're an employee who is saving my life at every turn

I don't like you and you don't like me but our best friends died in a car crash and left their 1-year-old child in our custody so now we've got to act civil and learn how to co-parent

You run my kid's daycare

I'm only at this park because my younger sibling wanted to come (not because I'm secretly a small child inside haha what are you talking about) why are YOU here?

We both babysit the same kid on different days and I have to listen to the kid gush about you the entire time I'm watching them and we're FINALLY meeting at the kid's birthday party

We are overly invested soccer parents

I'm the host of a children's TV show and you're the child supervisor on set

The kids we're escorting to trick or treating on Halloween just dropped their bags and got all of their candy mixed up

I accidentally scared a kid on Halloween and their adult is angry

Your kid keeps kicking the back of my seat on this airplane

Hey we hooked up last night and it turns out you're my kid's teacher

My parents died and left me, a barely legal adult, in charge of my kid sibling and the only person that I can be myself around is you, some guy I work with at my crappy minimum wage job

My baby insists on crying all night long and you came into the hallway of our apartment complex to see what's up and offer help

We're the only single parents in the play group and all of the other parents are definitely shipping us hardcore

My kid threw a fit at the ice cream/toy/whatever store and you were the only person nice enough to help without judging me

Our kids are best friends and oh look we're both single so I guess I'll ask you out for a drink

I'm on the bus and my 2-year-old won't stop crying except you just smiled at them and they did

I asked you to babysit one time and now my child keeps asking when you will spend time with them again

You asked me to the store with you and your child and now my distant relative we met thinks I'm married with a kid

We're friends and my child's first word was your name and I'm jealous and also kind of endeared

You've been sleeping at mine because you're house is being renovated and we aren't even dating, yet every time you wake up to the baby crying and sigh "I'll go" I feel like we might as well be married

We've been on a few dates and my child just asked us when we're getting married

Our children are in the same class and we both hate the teacher, eventually the parent's evenings are just us competing at who can call out snarkier comments

We are the only two parents to agreed to attend the school trip (bonus: so I guess we share this hotel room...?)

I'm so sorry that my child pointed out how your shirt--actually never mind, I agree, that shirt is horrendous

You crouched down to coo at my baby but I forgot to tell you their favorite thing to do is play with people's hair and now they won't let go of you

I work as an elf at a mall Santa grotto and you keep bringing a seemingly endless supply of kids through to meet Santa

[mysticsparklewings]

Obscutober 2024 Day 2: Littoral 🏖️

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Littoral (adj.)

of or relating to the shore of a lake, sea, or ocean

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Good News, Sparklers: I’m still happy with this as my #Inktober approach so far! 🎉 (Hopefully that continues🤞)

This one definitely turned out more “general beach/ocean” than “shoreline,” but oh well! 🤷‍♀️

Click the "Keep Reading" and we'll talk more about my thoughts/process for this piece (including part of why this word made the prompt-list cut)! ✨

⭐️ Like My Art and Want to see more of it? Here's All My Links! ⭐️

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Well Sparklers, I seem to once again be writing this description (and therefore posting the art) later in the day than expected again today, but y'know I'm still early enough I don't feel such a rush to just get everything done, as was an extremely bad habit for me during Inktober last year...But we're only on Day 2 so it's still very possible I'll end up in that situation at some point later in the month. 😅

Either way, since we covered I think what was left of the background information for my how/whys for October this year yesterday, I think today I'm free to focus just on today's piece.

And I'll start with the admission that one of the primary reasons this word made the cut when I was putting together the prompt list is because I personally find it more amusing than I probably should that "Littoral" can very easily sound like "Literal" depending on your accent/pronunciation; And while I haven't figured one out, I just know there's a delightful pun or wordplay hiding somewhere in that association. 😆

Does that have anything to do with my choice of shapes for the mandala or colors for the background? Not consciously, no. But I mention it just in case someone for some reason finds the idea as funny as I do!

That said, this one is—at least I think—a lot strong on the specific images in the mandala that tie back to the theme than yesterday's. Granted, I probably leaned a little more heavily on general beachy/ocean themes than is really appropriate for a word that's really more about shorelines for multiple kinds of waterbodies...

In my defense, I started working on this one around 2-3 a.m. before I went to bed and was struggling to stay awake for the area between the inner circle of seashells and the round with the tail-fin shapes. What were supposed to look more like fish scales underneath those fin shapes came out looking a lot more like the edges of stacked sand dollars as a result. 😅

That might kinda be for the better though because I think if they did look more like scales, the tail fins might be a little too mermaid-y. Sand dollars probably fit a little better for a shoreline focus. Or, this way they kinda also make me think of like...ridged rocks that you might see either along lake edges, or as like the "drop off" point where the ocean shore "ends" and the deep sea more or less "begins," if that makes any sense.

I also tried something...I want to say "different" but we're only on Day 2, so that feels a bit odd. 😆 But it is something I don't usually do with mandalas when I make them. You'll notice that the round with the tail fins features only 2 additional sea shells, not 4, 6, or 8 as would be more typical for a mandala pattern, and on either side of that same round where you'd expect another pair of shells to be are instead some different wave shapes.

This was just a small experiment in what I'm going to do "non-traditional symmetry" (because "asymmetry" isn't quite right). So far I'm just using Procreate for these, and Procreate's built-in symmetry tools can only be pushed so far vs. an app made more specifically for mandalas, so I was trying to get a feel for where exactly my boundaries with Procreate's tools are. Obviously I didn't get too crazy with it because I was tired, but I did learn a few things and intend to carry them forward.

To that end, for what it's worth, I am considering trying a mandala-making-specific app, but I haven't pulled the trigger just yet. I thought I'd try a couple more with just Procreate and see if I still want to. I have a feeling even if I do try another app, I'll end up tracing over whatever results I get in there in Procreate anyway just to make sure all my Obscutober pieces are stylistically consistent. [That's a me thing, I don't expect anyone else to care about the style consistency even half as much as I personally do.]

I will also say the "splash" shapes that end everything off weren't really what I originally had in mind, but I'm not bothered about it because I think they came out great and give the effect that I wanted really well. 😄

Oh, and before I move on from the mandala part: If you look closer, you can also see I tried just a little bit of hatching on this one. I wanted to "fill in" some more of the mandala lines for visual interest, but I didn't like the solid-fill look in those areas when I tried it. It's still not quite what I wanted but I was too tired to be bothered re-doing it. I'm also not sure how much I'll use hatching (or other "traditional" inking techniques) for the rest of the month, though it is a tool I'll be keeping in my metaphorical back pocket just in case.

This may as well be a good time to mention that not necessarily every Obscutober piece will use white mandala lines; I don't want to overcomplicate my choices too much, but I am planning on allowing black lines as well, if they'll suit that day's themes better. So far we've just had two days in a row where I thought the white worked better. 😉

As for the background: This one is one of the things that motivated me to go with this particular format for this year. I didn't start working on this piece until after the decision(s) had already been made, but during those last couple of days of September when the mandala idea finally started to form, I was going back and forth over the words and landed on "Littoral" again; The idea of having a kind of "island" in the middle surrounded by "water" for the background popped into my brain—Nothing but shoreline all 360º around. 🤗

That wasn't the deciding factor alone, but it was definitely a strong nudge in that direction! This background was also a good "test" in that it pushed me to consider there might be days—like this one!—where it's tempting to color the background less abstractly and more tied to whatever is happening with the mandala lines. Somehow, I hadn't really considering that yet. From that, you can see I decided that some spot color is okay, but for consistency purposes, I am still going to keep it largely soft and abstract. Since I'm toying with the idea of making coloring pages out of the finished mandalas later anyway, if I really want to color right inside the lines, I can worry about that after Obscutober.

Besides, keeping it abstract will be faster anyway; I have a tendency to get way-too-perfectonist when coloring inside of digital lines. 🫠

The longer I think about it, the more there are things I might do a bit differently if I gave the mandala part another go. I am still happy with how this one turned out and think the background is really solid, it's just that usual "hindsight is 20/20" artist problem—Sometimes great ideas for a piece only come after it's already done and you really don't feel like going through the trouble if changing what you have!

Ah well. Maybe I'll have more ideas actually come to me in-the-moment if I can be bothered working on the future mandalas when I'm not falling asleep at my desk. 😆 It still beats being wide-awake because I'm rushing to get it done at all, but it's definitely not the ideal way to be! 😅

In any case, aside from delays in writing this description, I've been enjoying seeing a few people (mostly on Tumblr) decide to try out the Obscutober list for themselves, so the month is off to a pretty decent start as far as I'm concerned! I hope it is for you Sparklers too, or that if it isn't, that things get better soon! 🤞

I'll leave you Sparklers with that for today, and hopefully see you again in cheerful spirits tomorrow. Toodles! 👋

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See the Prompt List

Artwork  © me, MysticSparklewings

Obscutober Concept Inspired by nikolas_tower

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⭐️ Like My Art and Want to see more of it? Here's All My Links! ⭐️

[altaniadventures]

Prompt #3: Tempest

Submit your entry here: https://forms.gle/jDWjFKfmeaGnH3PL9

#FFxivWrite2024 is underway – a daily writing challenge presented to the Final Fantasy XIV writing community for the month of September. You can join any time throughout the challenge with any prompt number! Entries can be written on any online writing platform (tumblr, Archive of our Own, Google Docs, etc.). Submit the link and be sure that I have reading access. Reminder: The 24-hour deadline does not go into effect until September 8th at 12:00 pm PDT. Check you entries here in the Public Spreadsheet

Rules & Info || Prompt List || #FFxivWrite2024 || kofi

Dawntrail Spoilers, ye be warned.

Prompt #3: Tempest

She was just sitting in the rain. G'raha watched her sit on the dock at the end of the inn pier for a long time as the storm beat down.

The rest of the scions still in Tuliyollal had wanted to grab a meal together. It started raining soon after his search began. He was betting that dinner had been cancelled. No one had come looking for him.

She was still as beautiful as the day the door closed on him. Things were never the same between them after that. He waited over a hundred years for her, but she slipped out of his hands just as easily as she had slipped into them.

She was different now. Yes, she wore the same black braids as always even if the beads were different. Her skin was the same velvety purple. Her eyes were not the same.

Right now they were closed, but those blue-rimmed violets had a sadness to them that rivaled a dragon's sorrow.

"I know you're there," Altani said, eyes still closed.

G'raha walked over and sat down next to her. "Warrior's instinct?" he asked with a smile.

Altani shrugged, avoiding looking at him. "Au ra hearing. And just because you're old as fuck now doesn't mean you ever stopped with your bad habits. Your tail shifts when you're thinking."

"Old in spirit, but technically young in body," he corrected. "So why are we sitting in the rain?"

She didn't move for a long moment. He thought that she might not have heard his question, but she finally answered.

"I was thinking about memories ever since we fought Robot Woman," she said. "And of course, that led me to you. What we did to you. I put the memories of the Exarch in you without asking. I wanted him to live. I wanted him to go on an adventure with me." Her eyes started to well up. She grimaced and took a deep breath, trying to force the tears back. "I just. I just need to know if you hate me for it. If I made the wrong choice."

G'raha took her hand. "If I could take the memories of every version of myself that had memories of you, I would," he replied. "Damn all the other G'rahas."

Altani stopped sniffling and stared in shock at him. She shoved him in disbelief. "Raha, that's insane! What the hell is wrong with you?"

He shrugged. "If they have some piece of you that I don't have, I want it. Since we're all the same, I'm sure they'd all agree." He reached out and wiped a tear from her cheek. "To know you is to love you. Any choice that lets me know you more could never be wrong in my eyes."

Altani wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. The rain finally stopped. The sun began to peek out from behind the clouds, clearing up the skies.

G'raha patted her back gently as he held her. At last, the storm was finally over.

[clarktooncrossing]

DUDELZ of the Damned | We're All Mad Here...

HEY THERE PEOPLE OF TODAY AND ROBOTS OF TOMORROW! IT'S ME, CLARK!

A chill is in the air. You can feel it can't you? Perhaps you even recognize it. That same chill arrives every year right on the dot. With it comes a frightful howl in the moonlight, the only other sound to be heard. Otherwise there is a strange calmness settling around you, like the point of ease before the storm. By now the howling has stopped. It has been replaced by a different sound. Footsteps. Big, heavy, dragging, as if the figure didn't quite know how to use their legs. Perhaps it's a random passerby. Perhaps it's a rotting, frightful feature freshly risen from the grave. Perhaps it's some other, unspeakable horror waiting to pounce! Whatever it is, you're not waiting around to find out! Yet no matter how far you run, it can't be escaped. The chill in the air, the howling of the wind, the heavy footsteps, it all leads back to one thing: October is here! And with it comes the return of the DUDELZ of the Damned!

Yes weirdos, like last year, my approximation of Sketchtober has returned. I call it an proxy because there was no list of prompts. Nah, that'd be too limiting. This is yet another case where I compiled my own list of ideas, sketched them out, then used one color per picture. With all that said, let's see what spoopy scribblings await us today!

Alice was mighty confused. One moment she was following a strange cat through her family's gardens. The next she's falling down a hole behind the shed to a strange land called Wonderwhere. What a curious name indeed. It's almost as if the land itself didn't know where it was. Quickly Alice discovered how fitting that mindset was. Nothing made sense here. People preferred walking on the ceiling instead of the floor, doors would lead to nowhere in particular, there were staircases going in every direction, it got dark during the daytime, rabbits would randomly explode, and yet somehow there was still a Starbucks in the middle of all this absurdity. Our heroine wasn't in the mood for overpriced pumpkin spice lates, but a drink sounded stupendous right about now. Luckily the cat, Cola, reappeared and led the young girl to its master: the Mad Hatter. She was sweeter than Peach soda and bore a smile oh so welcoming. The blue lady then kindly offered Alice a chair to sit and some soda to drink. Mmm, how delicious! Wait, why is the room suddenly spinning? What was in that soda?

Inspiration, that's what! Along with making drawing most of these DUDELZ, most of my summer was spent crafting new backstories for the Clarktoons. This included AnimatedTigerGirl's addition to the You Are What You Eat series, Fizzy, a soda monster. Before this year she had no real backstory, which is what I blame for a lack of artwork featuring her. Having some idea of a character's past helps me to inform future artwork. Now I've made it so she was a High School friend of Pizza Monster, the outgoing type that was always peer pressuring her pizza-loving pal into trying new, cool things. She now lives in Clarksburg running a soda parlor, still giving PM helpful advice from time to time. Armed with this new backstory, I also looked back onto older artwork for ideas, stumbling upon Tiger drew of Fizzy as Alice with one of my now defunct characters as the Hatter. One thing led to another and now we have Fizzy as a creepier version of the twisted tea-drinker. For the record Tiger, yes, I do challenge you to draw this yourself! As for the rest of you, I hope you enjoy this sketch! And remember: never accept drinks from strangers.

BONUS QUESTION: What kind of soda do you prefer?

MAY THE GLASSES BE WITH YOU!

[fics-not-tragedies]

January 2024 Music Prompts - Spotify Wrapped edition

♪ Hello again! Yes, I'm finally back, at last. Let's start new year with something great: music prompts ♪🎵🎶

♪ Since getting your Spotify Wrapped is such a huge event every year (at least for me, who listens to the same 5 artists and even tho I still get surprised, lol), I decided to surprise you with a little prompt event.

♪ I've chosen 15 songs from my 2023 Wrapped playlist and a lyric (or few) for each one of them that just has THE vibe (y'know):

1. Own My Mind ♫ Måneskin I'm prayin' at your altar if you know what I mean.

2. Dinner & Diatribes ♫ Hozier I’d suffer hell if you'd tell me/What you'd do to me tonight.

3. Kiwi ♫ Harry Styles She worked her way through a cheap pack of cigarettes/Hard liquor mixed with a bit of intellect.

4. Electricity ♫ Arctic Monkeys Tell me something I don’t already know/Like how'd you get your kisses to fill me with electricity?

5. Francesca ♫ Hozier Though I know my heart would break/I'd tell them, "Put me back in it".

6. Honey (Are You Coming?) ♫ Måneskin I'm gonna show you how this Italian amor/It's gonna love you harder than ever before/You will like it.

7. Don't Blame Me ♫ Taylor Swift I would fall from grace/Just to touch your face.

8. For Your Love ♫ Måneskin I wanna be the first man you look at tonight/I wanna be stuck in your head and make you go wild.

9. Stuck ♫ Thirty Seconds to Mars I've been lost in your eyes all afternoon/The more I drift, the closer I get to you.

10. Mammamia ♫ Måneskin They ask me why I'm so hot, 'cause I'm italiano.

11. Nobody ♫ Hozier I'd be appalled if I saw you ever try to be a saint/I wouldn't fall for someone I thought couldn't misbehave/But I want you to know that I've had no love like your love.

12. I Can See You ♫ Taylor Swift But what would you do if I went to touch you now?/What would you do if they never found us out?/What would you do if we never made a sound?

13. Baby Said ♫ Måneskin Baby said, "Let me taste your silhouette/You can talk between my legs"/Uh-uh, uh, uh, know you really want to.

14. Cuff It ♫ Beyonce I wanna go higher, can I sit on top of you?

15. I Wanna Be Your Dog ♫ John McCrea So messed up, I want you here/In my room, I want you here/Now we're gonna be face-to-face/And I'll lay right down in my favorite place.

♪ You can now start making request for the following list of characters:

1. Keanu Reeves along with his following characters/movies:

John Wick & the John Wick movies franchise,

Constantine & the movie,

Johnny Utah & Point Break,

Jonathan Harker & Bram Stoker’s Dracula,

Neo & The Matrix,

dr Julian Mercer,

Jack Traven & Speed;

2. Riccardo Scamarcio along with:

Santino D’Antonio;

3. Andrew Hozier Byrne;

4. Tom Hiddleston along with his following characters/movies:

Sir Thomas Sharpe & Crimson Peak,

Loki & Avengers/Thor,

Adam & Only Lovers Left Alive,

dr Robert Laing & High Rise,

Jonathan Pine & The Night Manager;

5. Henry Cavill along with his following characters/movies:

Geralt of Rivia & The Witcher,

Walter Marshall & Nomis,

Capt. Syverson & Sand Castle,

Napoleon Solo & The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,

August Walker & MI: Fallout,

6. Alexander Skarsgård along with his following characters/movies:

Eric Northman & True Blood,

Leo Beiler & Mute,

Gadi Becker & The Little Drummer Girl,

sergeant Brad “Iceman” Colbert & Generation Kill,

7. Peaky Blinders franchise along with the following characters:

Thomas ‘Tommy’ Shelby,

Alfie Solomons,

8. Supernatural franchise along with the following characters:

Dean Winchester,

Sam Winchester,

9. The X Files franchise along with the following characters:

Dana Scully,

Fox Mulder,

10. Kiefer Sutherland along with his following characters/movies:

Jack Bauer & 24,

president Tom Kirkman & Designated Survivor,

David & The Lost Boys.

Please send in a number with the song/lyric you fancy + a character from those listed above, first come - first serve, as always.

If there are any questions don’t be afraid to ask them, I’m always all ears for y’all!

♪ LET'S CELEBRATE THE BEGINNING OF 2024 ✨

[anditvanisheslikemist]

October 1 - Flannel

From this prompt list. Writing something for every day in October last year went well, so I'm giving it a try again! I'll eventually crosspost them to AO3 as well.

"How is there a line to stand on the top of a mountain?" Matty folds his arms more tightly around himself and glares at the dozens of other people who have had the same idea about how to spend an October weekend as they had.

"Tourists." Nico nudges Matty's elbow with his own. "Which, I might remind you, we are, too."

Matty sighs heavily as the couple who had just been posing for their fall foliage picture takes their phone back from the person behind them in line with effusive thanks. That person in turn starts explaining some complicated settings on their large camera to the person behind them in line.

Nico puts a hand to the small of Matty's back, but has to turn away into his other arm-- h'TSCHU!-- before he can turn back to Matty. "No rush. There's a beautiful view."

Matty hums noncommittally, but puts an arm around Nico's shoulders in return. Nico leans in, letting his eyes close for a long moment. Matty's warm and strong beside him, the flannel he always wears hiking soft against his cheek. His breath catches again and he turns into Matty rather than away this time: hhh-TCHIU!

Matty's touch has a question in it, not quite okay? because he knows when Nico's not okay and this isn't it. Just checking in.

"The wildfire smoke," Nico says, the last couple of syllables tripping over each other to fit themselves in before the oncoming ihh... t'CHUU! Someone else in line blesses him and he gives them a well-practiced smile and nod.

Matty pulls him just a little bit closer, protective in a way that Nico thinks is more unconscious than not. "We can go."

"No, no need." The haze is just barely noticeable. Not at all like it had been earlier in the year. "We're almost there."

Another step forward and a pair of early-20-something women turn to try to hand both of their phones to Matty. He just glares at them. Nico touches his nose to his sleeve at the back of his wrist to make sure it's not dripping and takes one of the phones, motioning for the girls to go and pose. It only takes a minute and then Nico and Matty are up, Nico handing his phone in turn to the older couple behind them.

"Worth the wait," he says quietly once they're in place, looking out over the brilliant reds and oranges and yellows on all the hills.

Matty nods his agreement. Nico slips a hand between Matty's t-shirt and his flannel, breathing in the way it feels warm and soft and safe.

"Oh, that's perfect," the woman taking their picture is saying, but Nico doesn't look at her, just up at Matty, and smiles.

[highwayphantoms]

ooh how about cal & carver for "don't fool yourself. we're not good people" from the you could have just punched me prompt list?

ehehehe here's some Act 1 Hawke & siblings for @dadrunkwriting

Words: 719 Rating: G Warnings: nah

--

For a long, agonizing moment, Cal stared across the room at their siblings. It was late; all that was left of the fire in the hearth were the glowing coals, and a few wisps of magelight were all that lit the space. Then, finally, they said in a low voice, “Please tell me I misheard you just now.”

The memory of a little Bethany that had lingered in the back of their mind for so many years would have backed down. This Bethany was a grown woman, and not so easily cowed as she once was. She opened her mouth to reply, but Carver nudged her with a shoulder and interrupted, “She’s not wrong. We could do anything now that we’re free of Meeran, yet you keep insisting on picking up mercenary work.”

Cal closed their eyes, taking a deep breath in a wan attempt at keeping their cool. What was it about siblings that made them so… so insufferably right? “We need coin,” they said flatly, uncomfortably aware of the fact that there was nothing more than a very thin wall separating them from where their mother slept. Gamlen, at least, was still out drinking: small graces. “You don’t have to like it. Andraste’s tears, I don’t like it. But what alternatives do we have?”

“Aveline got into the city guard,” Carver countered. “I could, too.”

“Aveline was an officer in the king’s army. You were a common recruit.” Cal sighed and ran a hand through their hair. It was starting to get long again; they made a mental note to trim it back again.

“The Warden we found in Darktown,” Bethany started, and Cal winced. “He’s Fereldan.”

“You think he’s making any coin at all, treating Fereldan refugees?” Carver said, without heat.

“Look,” Cal said after a moment. “Don’t fool yourself. We’re not good people, Carver. I’m an escaped Circle mage, Bethy’s an apostate, and you would be executed for harboring us if the templars ever caught wind. We can’t afford to concern ourselves with morals.”

“Cal—” Bethany started, but fell silent at a glare from them.

“I know,” they said gently. “Believe me, I know. That’s why we’re going to take Varric up on that offer and invest in the expedition. When that pans out? We won’t have to take mercenary work anymore.”

“Assuming they don’t all wind up dead in the Deep Roads,” Bethany replied.

“That’s why Carver and I will go. We know how to fight darkspawn—we’ll be fine.” At least, Cal hoped as much. Carver had been lucky to survive their last encounter with darkspawn; the Deep Roads was the riskiest prospect yet. Still, there weren’t templars in the Deep Roads, and only a very stupid man would object to a mage assisting an underground expedition. Varric was far more clever than he had any right to be; Cal would be surprised if Bartrand wasn’t at least half as smart.

“And if you come back empty-handed?”

Cal frowned. “Then we cross that bridge when we get to it.”

Bethany sighed and leaned back in her chair. In direct opposition, Carver leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “We should try to bring that Warden along, too. It can’t hurt.”

On the one hand, it was a good idea. On the other, Cal’s instincts screamed at the idea of spending any more time around Anders than was strictly necessary. Two mages, escaped from the same Circle, hiding in the same city? The risks were enormous. “I didn’t get the impression he would go willingly.”

“Yeah, well, we have time. You didn’t forget how to make friends, did you?”

Cal hastily covered a faintly hysterical laugh with a cough. Make friends. With a man I know entirely too much about, who barely even knows who I am. Sure. Great idea. Absolutely no way that could go horribly wrong. Aloud, they managed, “I’ll consider it.”

“You’re still going to take that weird job Varric suggested, aren’t you?”

“It’s just a lyrium smuggler. If we’re lucky, you won’t even have to draw your sword,” Cal replied mildly. Most likely, the man just needed a distraction. Cal could handle creating a distraction.

But not tonight. Tonight, all they wanted was to sleep. To sleep, and think about anything other than a dead mage in a Chantry.