And now, X-tober

[x-tober]

FAQ:

What is X-tober:

Whumptober, Flufftober, Angstober, … Great challenges, but you can’t possibly manage all of them! And why commit to just one, where you can have variety! This is where X-tober comes in: pick and choose your prompts from any October challenge you like.

How do I take part?

Choose a daily prompt from any October challenge. Follow the specific participation and tagging rules for each prompt’s challenge, just add #x-tober2021 to the tags. 

With 10 or more finished prompts, you become an event completionist and will be tagged in a masterpost with a link to your works shortly after the end of the month.

Just create a master list of your completed prompts (with links to the actual works so people can find them). Add #x-tober2021 to the masterpost tags, and send us a link!

Example: Your final X-tober post may look something like this:

Day 01 [Angstober]: “I did it for you” <link to your work> Day 02 [Flufftober]: Comfort <link to your work> Day 03 [Whumtober]: My way or the highway <link to your work> Day 07 [Angstober]: Skeleton <link to your work>

… and so on

Feel free to add your works to the 2021 X-tober collection on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/xtober2021 And here is the 2020 collection for your enjoyment: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/xtober2020 Happy creating!

[acatbyanyothername9]

Angstober day 13 : miscommunication

“I take Anakin as my padawan learner”. Qui Gon says, as his hands rest on the boy’s shoulders. 

And Obi Wan? He has no choice but to move forward, saying he’s ready. He’s not. He knows it and the Council knows it too.

They are dismissed and Obi Wan wants to weep. His master’s gaze never strays far from his newest pathetic lifeform. 

He wonders when he comes to Qui Gon, apologies ready on his lips if the man will read the lies in his eyes. 

He should be proud when Qui Gon calls him wise. Instead his heart breaks.

[acatbyanyothername9]

Fictober day 13 : “The things you make me do” (Hannigram)

Fandom: Hannibal (TV), Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter

CW: none

They are elbow deep into their latest kill when Will hears it. The soft plaintive whining of a dog. The void in his chest flares bright and aching. 

He misses his pack. He misses all seven of them with a latent misery he can’t let himself feel during the day. 

And so Will Graham turns a deaf ear.

They make it back home and Will is alone when he wakes. 

And then hears it again. And Hannibal is here, a not-smile on his lips.

“The things you make me do dear Will”. 

And what can Will do except kiss him?

[acatbyanyothername9]

Angstober day 14 : Memories

Qui Gon wears memories around his wrist. Stored in beads and braided strands. Twelve years of precious memories. 

In his foolishness he almost renounced these memories. But his padawan had always been braver than him and he had woken up after Naboo with a braid clutched in his fingers.

He hasn’t let it go ever since when the memories are the only things that Obi Wan left behind as the newly made Knight was sent into the Galaxy.

He twists the braid and counts the beads as a meditation, a silent supplication for his Knight to come back to him.

[acatbyanyothername9]

Angstober day 16 : regrets (Hannigram)

Had you asked Will if he had many regrets before the Fall, the answer would have “gods yes”.  He regrets not having pulled the trigger back in New Orleans, he regrets having shot Garett Jacob Hobbs one too many times.

He regrets having trusted Hannibal, he regrets not having trusted himself enough to take Hannibal’s offer. 

As they fall and the freezing waters close around them, shocking the breath out of him, he only wants them to live.

Now, tucked warm against Hannibal,  feeling his chest rise and fall, his regrets have been left at the bottom of the sea. 

[acatbyanyothername9]

Angstober day 15 : storm (Hannigram)

Will’s life had been quiet and calm before Hannibal. He had planted roots in his house of Wolf Trap along with his pack. Life had been quiet.

Where’s this quiet now he wonders as he fights against the raging storm that tears across the Atlantic.  His shoulder and face are bleeding, his hands shake from the cold whipping winds. 

Rain rips at his clothes. Hysterical laughter threatens to drown him. They might have gotten the better of the dragon, but the Atlantic is another monster all together.

 Waves rise and crash and Will wonders if they will survive this time.

[acatbyanyothername9]

Angstober day 15 : storm

The war is a storm that took the Jedi with it. In hindsight it’s easier to see the warning signs, the brewing darkness. 

But once the storm was upon them, there was no escaping it. They just had to fight to not get swept under the droids and Siths and politics.

They had to go blind, the Force dark or howling, there was always so much to do, but never enough time. By the time they had repaired one corner of their home, the roof was leaking elsewhere. 

Suddenly there’s no storm or home anymore.

And Obi Wan is alone.

[acatbyanyothername9]

Flufftober day 14 : Slow dancing (Hannigram)

Music drifts through the house. Will doesn’t know this particular piece but it calls to him in sweet melancholy. 

Hannibal sways gently to the notes, the record still in hands. Eyes closed, at peace he looks beautiful.

Will’s body moves without his input and before he knows it, he’s taken Hannibal’s hand. Hannibal watches him but lets himself come to him.

They sway without a word, Will’s face pressed in Hannibal’s neck and he wonders. How many times have they danced around each other, in violence or anguish, but never like this? 

Heartbeat against heartbeat, in gentle and quiet intimacy.

[acatbyanyothername9]

Flufftober day 17 : Domestic fluff

It’s rare for them to get more than a day or two between missions.

He has the simple pleasure of waking up entwined with Qui Gon, basking in the morning sun that filters through the balcony, sheets soft against him. 

He will have to wake up at some point. Drag himself to the kitchenette and prepare the tea for both of them. Sapir for Qui Gon, green tea for him.

They will drink it on the balcony, side by side, and meditate together, perhaps.

Who knows. The day is young and Obi Wan is exactly where he wants to be.

[acatbyanyothername9]

Fictober day 17 : “I’m with you, you know that?” (Hannigram)

Fandom : Hannibal, Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham

CW: canon typical violence (implied light-induced seizures, gaslighting, encephalitis and murders)

Despite Chilton’s best efforts and his own, Will will never recover the  memories buried under the encephalitis. He has recovered the important bits but the rest are flashes. Of white piercing light, of an all-devouring fire. 

And a voice, a cool soothing voice. “I’m with you Will, you know that?”

The irony is that Will had trusted Hannibal. Blindly. Hannibal had been Will’s anchor as his brain cooked itself for Hannibal’s curiosity and delight.

As he lays pressed against Hannibal, Will muses that for all his machinations, Hannibal isn’t responsible for the person Will has become. 

He’s his own creation. 

[acatbyanyothername9]

Fictober day 19 : “I feel strange”

Fandom : Star Wars, Qui Gon Jinn/Obi Wan Kenobi

CW: sick fic

“I feel strange” is what Qui Gon says and Obi Wan is immediately alert. For the man to admit this, the situation must be dire. Obi Wan brings a hand to his former master’s forehead and finds it burning.

Qui Gon immediately collapses in his arms. He’s shaking, and the fever already beads his skin with sweat. They are alone. Nowhere to go for help.

He cares for Qui Gon through the night and Obi Wan is exhausted to his bones when the fever breaks.

Qui Gon opens bleary eyes and Obi Wan smiles, wan but genuine.

“Welcome back Qui”.

[acatbyanyothername9]

Flufftober day 19 : Flowers (Hannigram)

Their love is a bouquet.

Acanthus and yellow acacia for grace and elegance. The Ripper’s calling card, at least to Will. Everyone else was too busy focusing on the missing organs to see the art of the scenes.

Purple carnation for when Hannibal made him dance to his tune and then framed him for his crimes.

Rainflower for a love reciprocated but weighed down by past sins and dissimulations. Smokes and mirrors until neither of them knew reality from desire. 

White and red chrysanthemums for love and truth, moonlight and blood as they fell.

And finally, heliotropes, devotion and faithfulness.

[acatbyanyothername9]

Flufftober day 20 : secret crush

Obi Wan’s crush on Qui Gon had long ceased to be a secret. Quinlan had seen to that ages ago. Thank the Force for small favors though because despite everything Qui Gon remained oblivious. Utterly.

And here was, knighted a couple of years ago and still in love with Qui Gon.

 Who had been the first to shout he didn’t know. But here they were trading verbal blows until Qui Gon blurted words Obi Wan didn’t expect.

“Because I love you!”. 

And well, it all went downhill from there. Angry words became kisses and Obi Wan’s secret was finally out. 

[acatbyanyothername9]

Fictober day 20 : “That’s what I’m known for”

“That’s what I’m known for” #fictober21

Fandom: Hannibal, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter

CW: implied murder

They are sprawled in bed, bodies pressed against each other to ward off the cold. Will’s head is pillowed on Hannibal’s chest while his doctor reads on his tablet. 

“What is it?” he asks.  Hannibal doesn’t answer but shows him the tablet. And Will laughs.  

“The Ripper strikes again? No wonder you’re in a bad mood.”

“This lack of imagination is strikingly rude. How could anyone mistake this for one of mine?”

“I still don’t understand how they never caught you”

“The Ripper never leaves a trace. That’s what I’m known for." 

Will laughs again.

"Don’t forget the cannibal puns.." 

[acatbyanyothername9]

Flufftober day 21 : knuckle kiss

There is a man standing in front of Qui Gon, all quiet dignity and grace. Fiery hair caresses his shoulder and a copper beard frames his jaw. 

 It could be an assassin. The man prowls towards him and stops, a hairbreath away from him. Qui Gon’s breath is frozen in his chest.

And then the man kneels, head bent at Qui Gon’s feet. How Qui Gon manages to ask for his name he doesn’t know. But brilliant eyes lift up as he brings Qui Gon’s hand to his lips and kiss his knuckles lightly.

“Obi Wan Kenobi at your service”.

[acatbyanyothername9]

Angstober day 21 : Living Dead (Hannigram)

After Hannibal leaves him drowning in blood alongside Abigail and the Ravenstag, Will wonders why he didn’t die on that floor.

He lives still, or at least his body does, hooked as it is to itching tubes and loud machines. The physical wound closes but the mental one keeps bleeding, taking Abigail’s shape.

He’s both living and dead, frozen part way between the two worlds. Torn between Abigail and Hannibal. How ironic that Hannibal thought killing Abigail would sever his link to her. 

She’s more present now than she ever was before. Another living dead. 

What a family they make.

[acatbyanyothername9]

Angstober day 22 : Impaled

They never talk about Naboo. About the red blade that pierced Qui Gon’s flesh and left him for dead. They never talk about Obi Wan’s scream at seeing Qui Gon impaled. The Sith had paid for it.

Instead Obi Wan has taken to lying with head resting on Qui Gon’s chest, among the mess of scars that will forever adorn Qui Gon’s skin. He presses kisses into the skin around it with heartbreaking tenderness but he won’t say anything.

Qui Gon knows to look out for these somber moods and will distract his Knight to the best of his abilities.