🍁🍃 Hello and welcome to our sixth annual Flufftober 🍃🍁
Every year, we're so excited to share our prompts with you and look forward to all your beautiful creations that will fill the month of October with all the fluff 🥰 also, we're trying something new this year, so make sure to scroll all the way down and don't stop at the main list of 31 prompts or the usual list of alt prompts...😏
But first things first 😊
🍁 As with all our events, our standard blog rules apply, and you'll find answers to most questions on our FAQ post.
🍁 Below the cut, you'll find the necessary posting info, all the prompts in writing, and explanations for some prompts.
🍁 Please make sure to read the entire post! If you have any questions after that, feel free to send us an ask.
So many Prompt Extras 😍
🍁Yes, we heard your plea for more alternative prompts 😉
🍁 We also heard the tears of our friends in the Southern Hemisphere...
🍁 As always, you're welcome to replace prompts from the original list for whatever reason - no explanation needed.
Remember, you can use the Prompt Extras however you like:
💜 to replace a prompt from the original list
💜 to create even more content aside from the original prompts
💜 mixed together to enhance one or more of the other prompts
Whichever way you use them, have fun and go wild 🍃
You promised us something new 👀
Yes, we did - so welcome to the 2026 Flufftober Challenge Tasks 😁
We hope you like these prompts, and now
Happy Creating 🥳
What's the tag to get reblogged? ✍️
🍁 The tag is #flufftober2026
Make sure there is NO SPACE between flufftober and 2026! We will NOT be checking other variations of this tag!
🍁 It's also good to mention us: @flufftober
🍁 We try to reblog regularly, but tumblr likes to be difficult and wonky. If you're absolutely certain a post has slipped past us, please send us an ask with the link to your post.
🍁 Please make sure that all info is easy to find, either in the post or the tags. It takes a lot of time and energy to research every other post. So, please make sure to at least include the following very clearly:
💜 the day/alt/challenge prompt
💜 the fandom(s) (add "original work" or similar if applicable)
💜 the characters and/or ship(s) (add "oc" or similar if applicable)
What about the ao3 collection? 📝
🍁 The collection's name is Flufftober 2026 (either as flufftober2026 or as flufftober_2026)
🍁 Our collections will never close, so you can always add any late entries.
Deadlines are my nemesis 🥹
Don't worry, late entries are always welcome!
🍁 Reblogs will become less regular after the event has ended.
🍁 We will stop checking the event tag after a few months, so please make sure to tag us: @flufftober
Prompts
1. “This is so romantic.” - “You’re so weird.”
2. New Opportunities
3. Signature Move (a dance move, a gesture, etc.)
4. Season Tickets (for a sports team, a theme park, etc.)
5. Reading Nook
6. Pet Shop
7. Pass
8. Cure
9. String (of Fate)
10. “Are you sure?”
11. Baking Together
12. Building a Winter Home for the Wildlife
13. Creating a new Playlist
14. Under the Sea or Up in the Sky
15. Watching a Game/Show/Concert
16. Practicing Together
17. “Absolutely not!” - “Absolutely yes!”
18. Herbs & Leaves
19. Group Activity
20. Flying a Kite
21. Bucket List
22. Old Love
23. Crush
24. Trust
25. Ring
26. Road Trip
27. “I hate to ask, but-”
28. Harmless Addiction (to coffee, to a TV-show, etc.)
29. Doing something daring
30. Beach Day or Hiking Trip
31. So long, Goodbye, Farewell
Prompt Extras
Last Year's Favorites
Alt 1. Pillows, Plushies, Piles of Blankets
Alt 2. “Is that my hoodie?” - “... No?”
Alt 3. Fake Relationship
Alt 4. Set up by Friends
Alt 5. Late Night Talks
Alt 6. In Vino Veritas
Alt 7. “Stay?”
Well, hello there, Southern Hemisphere!
Alt 8. Hay Fever
Alt 9. Baby Animals
Alt 10. Making Daisy Chains
Alt 11. Sun Showers & Rainbows
Alt 12. Barbecues & Baked Potatoes
Alt 13. The Scent of Freshly Cut Grass
Alt 14. Flowering Bulbs & Fruit Blossoms
Alt 15. Burning Off, Bushfire Prep, Bonfires
- Burning Off: burning the underbrush, clearing dead leaves, etc.; burning in a small, controlled way so that if/when a real fire comes in the hotter, drier summer, it won't have as much to burn.
- Bushfire Prep: is all of the above, but also things like checking your smoke detectors, making sure your telephone tree of your neighbours has all up-to-date numbers, etc.
Challenge
Use one or more prompts from this year’s list to:
C 1. Create a FIX-IT
C 2. Create something for a RARE PAIR and/or CROSSOVER SHIP
C 3. FINISH an older WIP (published or not)
C 4. Create something for a CHARACTER who deserves more love
C 5. COMBINE with a prompt from a previous year
C 6. Create something for a SHIP you’ve never used before but always wanted to
I'm not the type of person to be like, "dog dads also celebrate Father's Day" and I don't think Charlie would be one either. I just find it funny that filming S9 is starting on this day.
"No bashing actors for things that are beyond their control" is one of the things that this fandom should still be ensuring, by the way. I'm saying it because bringing John Reardon back has somehow intensified some other people's belief that they should be trashing Luke Roberts in other social media. Why? To a certain extent (how much remains to be seen), we got what we wanted. Luke Roberts was never our obstacle, if it wasn't him, it would be someone else.
Bash the production. Blame the people who were actually behind this decision. That's all fair game, people in positions of power do not deserve protection. But don't make the mistake of thinking that the actors or the crew had any say in all that's happened. And gently correct those who do not understand that. This isn't a good look for anyone.
PS: And it would be, in fact, a better use of people's time to show Shaftesbury that last year's transgressions have not been forgiven or forgotten with a 20 second video of John Reardon, instead of measuring two different actors.
Funniest thing. While in the middle of airing S8, Alibi posted this
I mean, I cannot even guess how bad their metrics have to be for international broadcasters to be like, "Don't worry, Charlie will return, this is not permanent" while a few weeks ago they were like, "Meet Mark Hudson". This is one step before "Please, don't leave us".
And that's not all. In the UK again, the DVD release changed the release date of S8 once more, this time June for digital and July for DVD release. I believe this is the third time for that season.
In France, they've announced S7 after more than a year of the show being off the air, to which they'll attach the first 8 episodes of S8, I assume the other 6 (those filmed as S9A by Shaftesbury) will probably open the new season, whenever that might air there. This show now needs advanced math knowledge if the international audience wants to keep up with it.
A French entertainment website called John Reardon's firing as being done "without much tact or class" and proclaimed the entire story to be "surreal and revolting", and even mocked Shaftesbury's "happy to have him back" statement by writing sarcastically: "Be careful, this communication exercise is a dangerous one and is being carried out by professionals". Meaning, watch how the people behind this shitfest are bending backwards now to explain how delighted they are to have him back.
I am glad for this. Because it shows that the Canadian industry was basically covering Shaftesbury's ass all this time by not writing almost anything about what had happened, but even if you can create an echo chamber the size of a country (or a country's industry), the rest of the world won't go along with this.
PS: Shaftesbury, you know where to put all the tin awards the industry was giving you for the last year.
For those who like numbers, the Hudson and Rex account on Instagram had been stuck on 40K followers for a while. Last checked number was 40.3K (as of last week). Since the announcement of John Reardon's return, they jumped about 1,000 in a day. Now at 41.5K.
Also, looking at their reels, not even one of those videos has ever reached 100K views. The short video with John Reardon got 200K in a day.
From what I can see, a lot of John Reardon's reels on his account easily reach 100K on their own, at least the last few years.
Now, promotion isn't everything, but in this case production definitely need a good way to get back the fans they lost due to their own idiocy.
I've been trying to facilitate my thoughts about yesterday’s news… It has been overwhelming to say the least, the past twelve-thirteen months has been an emotional rollercoaster.
First, I want to say that we can be happy about John Reardon’s return to Hudson & Rex, while still acknowledging the outrageous behavior of the production from the past year. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. We can celebrate the win—because that’s what this is—while also remembering that Shaftesbury is still guilty of kicking John Reardon to the curb when he was battling cancer, and should have been supported, instead of tossed aside.
Shaftesbury still tried to hide the fact that they weren’t bringing him back for all of summer last year, they still silenced us in every way they could and attempted to create a false narrative regarding John’s exit by lying. Sherri Davis still told several lies, threw John Reardon under the bus the first chance she got; attacked fans multiple times over, and tried to manipulate us into believing season 8 was going to be the same show we all knew and loved for the previous six seasons.
Those facts remain and won’t just cease to exist because they finally did one good deed by brining John back; which they didn’t even do for us. I don’t want anyone to deceive themself into believing that the producers all of a sudden had a change of heart and started respecting the fans, and valuing our feedback. They ”changed their minds” because the show was risking a cancelation by the network.
If season 8 had been a success, if the ratings—despite the backlash—had been good, then there would have been no reason for the producers to bring John Reardon back. And they wouldn’t have done it. They did it as a last effort to save the revenue the show generates, because at the end of the day, that’s what matters to them.
So don’t thank them. If anyone is worthy of a ’thank you’, it’s the fanbase and audience, who stayed vocal and didn’t accept the ”new direction”. By being persistent with our criticism of their actions, and by turning off our TV’s, we managed to achieve something I didn’t think was possible.
The other thank you, goes to John Reardon, for agreeing to come back after how he’d been previously treated. The powers at be should consider themselves damn lucky that John has more grace, and professionalism than they ever will, to come back and try to salvage the mess they created by letting him go the first place. I hope they won’t take it for granted.
Last, but not least, there’s the factor of the creative aspect of the story. From a storyline perspective, the damage already caused by season 8 can’t be undone.
Charlie’s return will not change the fact that they tried to erase his existence from the show during season 8. It will not change the fact that they wrote Sarah as if Charlie’s presumptive ”death” didn’t affect her, Rex, or Joe and Jesse. It doesn’t change that they had Rex—who’s supposed to be fiercely loyal to Charlie and have a unique bond with him—partner with a new random guy as if it was nothing. Even if they do some kind of retcon, they can’t unring those bells.
It remains to be seen how they’ll handle all of that, especially since there’s many questions still unanswered. I hope they will realize the stakes of it to be done right and handle it with careful hands, but after everything, my faith in them is below the bar. But we shall see if more than one miracle can happen…
Ultimately, this whole headache of a circus carrousel could have been avoided, if production had just bothered to have one finger on the pulse of their audience. If they had cared to do find out what made the show beloved, they would’ve maybe understood that removing John Reardon and replacing Charlie Hudson was never a viable option.
We were right about that all along. And now, the order is restored.
After all of this, I just want to be happy about that one fact. And look forward to John Reardon taking back his rightful place as the lead, as Charlie returns to our screens and reunites with Rex and Sarah—where he belongs.
Over 3000 comments on the official Instagram announcement of John’s return. The past year they’ve been lucky to break 200 comments on a post. Nature is healing.
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