#oc new year's challenge 2023

[avatarskywalker78]

OC New Year's Challenge 2023 Day Six: In With The New

Introducing an OC (as yet without a faceclaim) and a new story I hope to work on:

Kathy Williams grew up knowing Michael and Peggy Carter, befriending them both and joining in with their adventures, and they stayed friends as the years went by. Joining the Women's Auxillary Air Force during World War II, she was devastated when she heard about Michael's death, particularly given she had feelings for the man - long buried, but still very much present. And these are dredged up when she gets a letter from him after the war, an unopened letter supposedly lost for five years... Except there's something not quite right about the letter, something not adding up - it references things Michael couldn't have known about because they were years after his death, yet it's definitely his handwriting, and when Kathy digs further she finds out there was never a solid confirmation of his death; he was only presumed to have been killed in action. This sets her off on a globe-trotting quest as she endeavours to find out just what did happen to her friend and what the letter signifies, a quest that ends up uncovering a lot of secrets and a lot more questions, and the biggest ones are these; Why now? And why write to her?

Tagging (let me know if you want to be added or removed): @shrinkthisviolet @dream-beyond-the-fantasy @starstruckpurpledragon @daughter-of-melpomene @captainsophiestark

[random-writerings]

OC New Years Challenge - Day Three: In My _ Era

↳ Connie Winter

Thanks to being a super soldier, Connie lives a very long life and has many different eras. In WWII, she is a nurse out on the frontlines. Once the war is over, she is held prisoner by Hydra and forced to monitor the Winter Soldier. When she finally escapes, she joins SHIELD, only to realise Hydra has infiltrated the organisation. After SHIELD falls, Connie finds Bucky and goes on the run with him. They think they have found peace, only for him to be arrested for bombing the UN. Finally, they live a quiet life in Wakanda until Steve asks for their help to fight Thanos.

[larissa-the-scribe]

Mission: Fallen Star (Pt 1)

For Christmas/New Years, and the @inklings-challenge Christmas 2023.

The night outside Home was dark and warm, and, from what Ashley could see through the second floor's infoscope, clear. The perfect night to catch a falling star. 

She shook Peter awake--he had fallen asleep almost immediately after Daddy had put them to bed--and hovered over him, his glasses in hand, as he groaned himself awake. 

"Home was right," she thought to him. "It's a good night."

"It's only midnight," he thought back, the groaning carrying over to his thoughts. "Shouldn't we go a little later?"

She shook her head. Some kids just didn't have a sense of the important. "We don't know how long this will take, so we gotta take all the time we can. Besides, Mommy and Daddy both went to bed hours ago." Well, one hour ago, but it all amounted to the same fact: Mommy and Daddy were asleep.

Peter was still mumbling incoherent and disgruntled sounds to himself as he sat up and accepted the glasses, sniffling a bit from sleepiness as he put them on. 

"Your hair is a mess."

He stuck his tongue out at her.

Luckily, Ashley was too mature to respond to such behavior. Instead, she shoved his (new) backpack towards him. Hers was already on, and her hair was in good order. She had a sense of the important. She had used her new hair ties, too, and the beads on them made such satisfying clicking sounds when she shook her head at him.

"Remember, this is for Mommy and Daddy," she thought. 

He looked at her a tad resentfully as he pushed his way to his feet and slung the backpack on. "I know."

"We can sleep when we get back."

"I know."

Satisfied that he was properly on track again, she set her mind to the next phase: sneaking out of the house.

As far as Ashley could guess, it wouldn't be difficult. The front door wouldn't be locked--no one who wasn't supposed to be there could be there--and Home was slow and sleepy at this time of night. She could tell. Home sounded sleepy. The lights were all off. There were only the sounds of Home's little settlings to punctuate the darkness. And while Home worked as well as ever, Home didn't respond very quickly to Ashley when she said good morning to it. 

Home's stairs creaked ever so slightly as the two children stole their way down the stairs, a vague stirring of curiosity. But not enough to arouse it much. 

Ashley and Peter had already had an extensive argument about whether or not he could just run downstairs and wait for her outside. True, he'd be out in an instant, but Ashley insisted that it would be more suspicious if Mommy was still awake, and Mommy had really good senses. She would hear all the sounds even if they were over right away. And it might wake Home up.

Peter had finally relented, but, as they crept carefully down each bronze-and-wood step, she could hear him thinking about how long this sneaking was taking.

Despite his mental complaints, they were soon at the bottom of the stairs. From there, they just had the living room, then the Doorway, then the hall, and then the Door itself. 

Ashley stopped Peter at the foot of the stairs, poking her head around the stairwell wall to look into the living room and kitchen. 

For a brief second, she saw what looked like a shadow in the kitchen, and in her mind she could feel the distinct, almost painfully bright, warmth of Mommy.

Ashley tensed and clutched Peter's arm--he made a slight strangled noise--and pulled back behind the wall.

The moment passed. 

Poking her head back out, she found the place empty. Even though she couldn't hear much over her own blood rushing in her head, she couldn't detect anyone's presence in either room.

Ashley swallowed. Of course she could feel Mommy. Her and Daddy's room wasn't far from the kitchen. Maybe... maybe Mommy had just had a dream or something. More importantly, it was gone now. 

"Everything okay?" Peter asked, rubbing his arm where she'd pinched him.

Ashley nodded. "All clear."

Peter squinted at her, which was odd, since he saw better than her in the dark. Unless he was being sassy, but that was less important right now than their mission.

Carefully, carefully, she edged out, toe-tip by toe-tip, into the open, empty, open space of the living room--it felt like the shadows were staring at her from over the backs of the couches and chairs.

It didn't feel comfortable.

Peter rolled his eyes at her, but he followed suit when she dropped to her hands and knees and started shuffling across the tile. 

They got to the Doorway without further incident.

Ashley scooped up her new, beautifully orange shoes from their spot on the shelf and continued scooting along awkwardly, trying to carry the shoes in one hand and manage transportation on three limbs. She was half-tempted to put the strings in her mouth and carry them that way, but that was gross, so she wasn't going to.

Home rumbled slightly as they made it to the Door, and the hinges had an inquiring squeak about them as Peter, standing again, pulled the door open--narrowly avoiding bonking her on the head with the doorknob now that she was standing behind him. But, other than the small noises, Home didn't do anything else. That was good. Ashley had been worried about that, that they'd wake it up too much and that it would either ask too many questions or else not let them out.

Peter disappeared, reappearing a short distance away outside.

They had made it.

Ashley carefully closed the Door, making sure it clicked shut properly. She took a moment, pushing her hand against the Door, at the moment a façade of wood and bark. 

With the whistlings of crickets and frogs seranding her from the surround forest, it occurred to her. She had never been outside Home without Mommy or Daddy. She looked at the door again, a sudden worry springing up in her. What if they couldn't get the door open again, and were wrong about how it worked? They had forgot to test it beforehand. They'd be trapped outside. What if Mommy and Daddy went to a different world without them, by accident? Would they even realize that her and Peter were gone until it was too late to turn back? They hadn't told, so--

"I know the knock," Peter said, speaking normally now that they were outside and didn't need silence. "I thought you did, too."

"I do," Ashley replied imperiously, turning away and marching after him. "I was just. Saying goodbye." She was leading this mission. She couldn't admit to Peter that she was nervous. He'd make fun of her.

He looked at her but didn't say anything.

They started off through the trees. Peter let Ashley take the lead, trudging behind and readjusting his pack. He looked more awake now.

"Also," he added after a minute. "You could just phase through the door."

"I... knew that," Ashley said, her cheeks frosting. It didn't sound convincing, even to herself.

She dug her hands into her trouser pockets and kept walking. 

A slight breath of a chuckle-like sound echoed from beside the Door, but, if either of them noticed, they thought nothing of it.

[owlart18]

My YouTube channel rewind for 2023!

[starryhoneydew]

here's my art summary 2023 💫

i didn't really draw much in july but overall i feel it was a pretty good year ☺️🌸

happy new year, i wish everyone the best for 2024 🥂🩵

[madotyan]

Check at my last drawing, I really worked hard on it!

[gingergari]

artem 2023 edition! :]

no water under the cut:

[emivizx]

2022 Art Wrap-Up

Damn I've improved...Anyways see y'all next year! 🫡

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Month 2, day 13, I'm sick AGAIN my brain is made out of SNOT and I did some more fixes! Not a whole lot, just removed the collar and zipper pulls in what I've got so far (except for reference frames) and tried to get the jacket to maintain a consistent shape. Again. I'll get it eventually! Maybe tomorrow I'll look at this and go "you know what? that's good!" and then I can move on to making her crotch behave XD

[zelphin124]

SeasonTale Creative Challenge

PLEASE REBLOG SO EVERYONE CAN SEE THIS!

Art and Design by PrinceTal

Greetings, Artists, Voice Actors, and Writers! It is I, Zelphin, and I am hosting an (annual?) competition! Introducing the first year of the SeasonTale Creative Challenge! 

This is a competition to express your creative talents by contributing to SeasonTale for a cash prize! There are three ways to participate: Art, Voice Acting, and Writing! Contribute some time to use one of the three involving SeasonTale to enter the challenge for the prize!

DEADLINE IS NOV 15th, 2023, 12:00 AM (GMT-6)

my birthday hehe~

Winners will be announced on December 1st!

Updates are in #scc info

Scroll down for details!

Rules

It must be a SeasonTale Sans. (I might do other characters from SeasonTale another year)

You MUST tag #SeasonTale Challenge and @zelphin124 in the post so I can see it! Or DM me on Discord!

You CAN do more than one submission (one per Sans for VA, two for writing)

You CAN do the Season Sanses interacting with OCs or popular Sanses, get creative!

DIFFERENT/SIMPLER OUTFITS ARE ALLOWED! I know they are a pain to draw...

You CANNOT steal/copy from other creators!

Please keep all content PG-13

Payments will be made via PayPal (unless negotiated otherwise)

Specific rules within the Google doc!

Prizes

All prizes are in USD currency!

Artists

First place: $55

Second place: $35

Third place: $20

VAs and Writers

First place: $40 

Second place: $30

Third place: $20

Prompts

Summer flirting with literally anyone

Particularly a feisty character

Spring cooking with Swap/Horror

Spring loves cooking Japanese Ramen

Autumn being a gremlin, as usual

Usually being feisty while training or hissing at a cat (he’s scared of cats)

Winter meeting your OC/you in the snowy mountains of SeasonTale

The Four Sanses in a training session

The four Sanses exploring a new AU

Spring comforting someone

Summer flirting with someone

Autumn getting frustrated at someone being annoying and telling them to go away

Winter is an awkward teddy bear trying to organize something

Ft. Iro!Sans for a female character/female voice actors!

Make something up! Be creative! Have fun!

Need more details? Here's the Google Doc:

References

Art and Design PrinceTal

Oh and Iro!Sans

HAVE FUN! I'm so excited to see what you all come up with!

Been dying to do this for a long time~

[pan-flute-skeleton]

Winter Wonderklok 2023

Welcome to the first ever Winter Wonderklok! A holiday Metalocalypse themed event leading up to Christmas. Twelve days of prompts instead of gifts for your true love. How zazzy is that! You are free to create anything you want. Make art, write stories, put together playlists, design moodboards and overall, take the time to have fun with it. I know this coming out a smidge early, but I want to make sure everyone has time to relax after kloktober, think and create. I made it a point to try and be as broad as possible because I know not everyone celebrates Christmas. Please feel free to adjust to your standards. As a fan creator myself, I do these things for the fun of it and in a way that fits my style. I encourage you all to do the same. Don’t feel like a certain prompt? Do something else entirely! 

There are a few things I would like to clarify and they go as follows:

What do you mean by ‘Rankin Bass?’ Rankin Bass is the production company that produced all of your favorite Christmas movies like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Beautiful puppetry and stop motion pioneers that are cherished to this day. I challenge artists to attempt the style in their own way. Or simply have your character of choice enjoying the specials. However you want to tackle the iconic figures.

What do you mean by ‘Saran wrap ball?’ It’s a type of grab bag game that involves…saran wrap! Who would’ve thought. I will attach a video below for reference on how it’s made and how it’s played. I will say that each house has their own rules so feel free to adjust anything you’d like.

What do you mean by ‘OC Special?’ I am an OC (original character) writer. Many of my friends are too. The few prompts that are labeled ‘OC special’ are meant to encourage use of OCs, interaction with other OCs and even creation of new OCs. I would love for people to take the opportunity to create someone or something new or try something they’ve been meaning to for a while. Challenge yourself! But if that isn’t your style, that’s okay too. If you do not want to use or make an OC, you’re more than welcome to use a canon character of choice instead.

What do you mean by ‘Toys for Tots?’ This is a charity program run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve which distributes toys to children whose families cannot afford to buy them for Christmas. Ongoing for over seventy five years and common enough, but just in case anyone needed a reminder.

I encourage you to use #WinterWonderklok2023 when you post your work. Love keeping things organized. Good luck everyone! Can’t wait to see what you can come up with.

I also want to give a huge shout out to @papabigtoes for all the visuals for Wonderklok. I really could not pull this off without her insane art skills. Thank you a million times over my friend!

Plain text list:

Dec 13 Improvised snowman decoration 

Dec 14 Baking cookies

Dec 15 Hot tub in the snow

Dec 16 Black friday*

Dec 17 Everyone gets socks

Dec 18 Lighting candles

Dec 19 Saran wrap ball

Dec 20 Secret Santa with another character*

Dec 21 Dethfam holiday

Dec 22 Rankin Bass

Dec 23 Homemade gift

Dec 24 Toys for tots*

*=OC Special

[avatarskywalker78]

OC New Year's Challenge Day Three: In My ＿ Era

For Nicky Connors and Johnny Lawrence, 1984 starts out promisingly before rapidly deteriorating. As he sinks further and further into Cobra Kai, Nicky realises just how bad it's getting and tries to stop things, but this causes tensions to rise until the two have their biggest argument yet - and Johnny says something he can't take back. The result is months of not speaking, even as Jimmy and Bobby try and mediate between the two - Johnny eventually resolves to try and fix things, but then Daniel LaRusso shows up and Johnny takes out his anger on him instead of actually solving anything. After the events of Halloween, Nicky - heartbroken that her friends would've gone this far - calls them all out before shutting them out. This is a wake-up call, especially for Johnny - but it's one that's come far too late, because now there's no way Nicky will speak to him, and he doesn't know how he can ever come back from that even as he realises he must change things. But things aren't as hopeless as they seem - Nicky just knows that she can't be the one to keep reaching out, that if Johnny wants to make amends he's really got to commit to that, and as the AVT approaches everything's up in the air, and not everything will go the way it might've done...

Seperate Ways (Journey)//Breathe (Taylor Swift)//Cruel Summer (Bananarama)// 'Walk Away' by Mili Jain)//Quote (Unknown)//Runnin' Up That Hill (Kate Bush)//'Betrayal' by Dan McDonald////Johnny Lawrence (The Karate Kid)//Bad Blood (Taylor Swift)//Quote on 'Regret'(Charlotte Eriksson)// Quote (Jim Rohn)//Quote on 'Restoring Friendship' (Unknown)//The Moment of Truth (Survivor)

Tagging (let me know if you want to be added or removed): @shrinkthisviolet @dream-beyond-the-fantasy

[random-writerings]

OC New Years Challenge - Day One: What A Tangled Web We Weave

↳ Maia Callis + Tragedy

revenge of the sith - matthew stover / mars - sleeping at last / revenge of the sith - matthew stover / my tears ricochet - taylor swift / in the stars - benson boone / empty chairs at empty tables - les misérables / wuthering heights - emily brontë / the truth about grief - fortesa latifi

[larissa-the-scribe]

Mission: Fallen Star (pt. 3) (last)

First part: >>> here. Previous part: >>>here A Christmas / New Year's Story, and as part of @inklings-challenge Christmas 2023 event Last time: the kiddos found a hungry monster, which was definitely not a fallen star.

They found several bright things over the next few hours. Most of those were bioluminescent plants, rocks, and creatures--perhaps they weren't exactly bright, but they were at least glowing and colorful. Ashley shoved a few of the things they found into her backpack, just in case one of them would work as a backup gift. 

Peter finally gave into his impulses and chased down one of the creatures (something between a squirrel, a rabbit, and a hedgehog, with glowing quills), at which point they had another debate. 

Mommy loves animals, Peter argued.

This animal stuck you with pins and also we never keep the animals, Ashley argued back.

Finally, it wriggled out of Peter's hands, pricking him and scuttling away, and Ashley managed to persuade him not to kidnap it again.

Eventually, they made it to the edge of the forest.

The ground sloped away from the knobbled forest, a plain covered in thick, waving grass that stretched to the edge of a river. Far beyond, they could see hills rising up into mountains.

And in the sky, so, so many brilliant stars, painting the vividly blue and purple sky with blazing speckles of glory. Like ice, cold and clear, like fire, burning and bright. They outlined the mountains in stark contrast of light and dark, though gleams of it caught on the peaks and trickled down into the fireflies that blinked in the sighing field.

It was... "pretty" felt like too weak of a word.

"Maybe one will fall," Peter said. He sat down in between two huge gnarled tree roots, and rubbed at his arms where the mud was peeling off.

Ashley stayed standing.

"Beautiful" felt too normal. Amazing, gorgeous, breathtaking--breathtaking came the closest, but no word she could find in her head matched the feeling of standing there, small, young, beneath these old, hoary trees, in front of this plain, looking up at this expanse of sky. Maybe it needed a whole new word altogether, one that didn't exist yet.

And underneath that, not fully masked by this strange feeling of bigness, of being there, of beauty she hadn't been looking for, there was something much easier to name.

Frustration. It was taunting her. There were so many stars. So many stars, so high up, so out of reach. And she and Peter were very, very small, and very lost. And very tired.

Ashley sat down beside Peter, half-curling up and resting her chin and arms on one of the roots, gazing out at the field. Something was building in her throat, uncomfortably like tears.

As soon as she sat down, the walking and running and excitement and fear from earlier all caught up with her and seeped into her with the murmuring of the trees.

Mommy and Daddy were going to have to find them in the morning, and they would be so far away, and so worried about them being lost and gone. Peter was muddy and had lost his finder, the one he and Daddy had built and that he loved so much--and it was all her fault.

"I'm sorry," Ashley whispered. "I... thought this would work out better, and be like... a second Christmas. I'm sorry we failed and it was my fault because I should have known better."

When she looked back, however, Peter was already asleep.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again, deliberately saying it out loud. If she thought it at him, it would wake him up. Or mess up his dream.

She curled up tighter against the root, clutching at her arms and letting ice build up under her finger-tips. Her tears didn't freeze, though. They started pooling out of her eyes, and dripping down her face with uncomfortable heat. 

Ashley intended to sit up and figure out a solution, stop the tears, or else properly think about the crimes she had committed. But instead, almost as soon as the tears had started, she was asleep.

 

When Ashley woke up, the air was very still, an odd sort of quiet that felt normal for the world, like it was gathering itself for a deep breath.

The stars were fading slowly out, less stark than they had been a couple hours ago. Their brilliance stood against a paler background, now, and far off over the mountains a thin ribbon of paler blue was turning into gold and pink.

Somehow it soothed her, the quietness as birds started their song and the earth prepared to be awake. It felt big and endless, ever-moving, unshakeable. In the grand scheme of things, she was small, and so were her troubles--and for a reason she couldn't name, that was comforting. The worlds all continued to move. Her world would, too, and it would be set right.

Still, she didn't know why she was awake now. She'd gone to sleep in enough odd places that she wasn't disoriented--but she hugged her knees and wished either Mommy or Daddy were here. That was normally why it was fine to go to sleep anywhere. Mommy and Daddy would take care of anything that needed taking care of. But now, she and Peter needed taking care of, and they were far away from Home. Such thoughts didn't prick at her as painfully as last night, though. It was a simple matter of fact.

Something shining, something brilliantly bright, caught her eye, and in a flash of wonder the distant, lovely thing wiped every other thought and worry away.

Embedded in the ground, not ten meters away, something radiated with silver and white and gold.

Ashley gasped and rubbed at her eyes.

It was still there. And it was so obvious, so truly right, that she wondered why she had ever imagined anything else had been, could possibly have been it.

A fallen star.

It glowed and pulsed, sending out little spikes of light in concentric circles, whirling like gears around a heart of pure, burning white--wrapped, in turn, around a tiny, tiny seed of brilliant, blackish blue. 

Ashley elbowed Peter awake.

At some point in the night, he must have gotten the blanket out of his bag, since now it enveloped his flailing limbs as he jolted awake. He also must have been half-awake by whatever had disturbed Ashley, because he was up and on his feet before she was.

Before she could say anything, he disappeared in a flurry of speed.

"It is it!" He yelled, waving at her. "We found it! And"-- he cut off, stooping to pick something up--"it's magic!" In his upraised fist he swung his finder.

Picking up the star proved troublesome. It was quite hot to touch--the ground around it was scorched and the mud baked hard--and the outside of the star wasn't quite solid.

They tried to dig under ground with ice and lift a whole bit of the clay into the air with ice that Ashley could hold onto. But then they couldn't quite put it all in a backpack--it was having trouble fitting through the opening--and the ice kept melting.

Ashley wanted to laugh. Such a magical, beautiful thing, a piece of the night kindling the day, and they were trying to shove it in a backpack. Some small part of her that she didn't know about yet almost wanted them to fail, now, as much as she wanted them to succeed.

Finally, Peter pulled gloves out of his backpack, thick ones for "making things," and he reached out and picked it up, cupping it awkwardly into his hand. He shivered from head to toe, like an attack of goosebumps.

"Not much different from lightning," he said, "at least not with protective gloves. I can put it in a glove and wrap it up in my sweater and hold it." 

He pulled out his sweater, which he had gotten for Christmas. It was part of the outfit that went with the gloves, and Mommy had made for when he and Daddy did fire things together. Ashley helped him pull a glove off while he balanced the star in the other hand--shivering occasionally goosebumpily--and held it very carefully while he slowly tipped the star into the glove. It slid in, the outer spikings catching at Ashley's hands and almost making her drop the glove in an explosion of an intensity that was something like electricity, something like warmth, something like being stabbed, something like a cat licking you. Wonderful and terrible. She wanted to throw it as far as she could, or else hug it tightly to her chest.

Peter took it from her and swaddled it in his sweater. The whole thing wriggled and pulsed fascinatingly as he made a cradle for it around his chest. 

"It might fit in a backpack," he said, "but I don't know what that will do to the rest of the contents. And I don't know if it would squish it at all to get it through the opening, and I don't know what squishing a star would do."

Ashley nodded her agreement.

He looked back towards the tree. "Oh, also, don't forget your blanket."

Ashley blinked. "That's your blanket. It was on you."

He blinked back at her. "I didn't get my blanket out. I thought you got yours out."

Ashley shook her head.

Peter sped back up to the tree and came back with it in his hand. "Huh. It is mine."

"Maybe you were too sleepy to remember."

"I guess."

They stood there for a moment, before Peter started stuffing the blanket back into his backpack.

Ashley should have felt triumphant.

They found a star.

They did what they meant to.

But... she couldn't be happy right now. Not yet. There was something icky latched under her ribs.

"Peter," she said softly, "I'm sorry. For last night. And I'm really glad you got the finder back." That wasn't all she wanted to say, but, even through her mind, it was all she knew how to say right now.

He looked down at where he'd slung the finder around his neck, as shiny as if someone had cleaned it off, then back up to her. "I'm glad too," he said. "And... I'm sorry, too. I had a chance to see more of it first, and I should have realized it was weird. But... I was kind of mad at you for being bossy, so even though I knew it was some kind of creature, I let us follow it. I didn't know it was a *mean* creature," he added hastily.

"Oh." Somehow, that didn't make her feel better. She kicked at the grass around them. "I'm... I'm sorry for being bossy."

"It's okay. You were being a good mission leader." He cradled the odd bundle on his chest and grinned up at her. "Besides, we found it. I couldn't have done it by myself, because I would have slept all night. So I needed you to be bossy. And you needed me to carry it. And we needed each other to be brave. And now we can get back and make Mommy and Daddy happy."

She found herself grinning back. "Yeah, you're right. You're pretty cool sometimes." She stepped forward and hugged him overtop of the star. It tingled oddly against her chest, but not unpleasantly--it felt like brightness should. 

He hugged her back. 

The icky feeling melted.

In the end, they weren't far away from the tree where the Door was. They must have gotten lost after the creature had attacked them, and wandered around almost in a circle.

Peter's finder pointed the way back to it, and between Ashley creating a slippery icepath for herself and Peter running her along it (at about a quarter of his normal speed), they were back before the sun had finished fully lifting itself over the horizon.

Ashley hoped that they might be able to slip in unnoticed, maybe even get Peter in the shower before Mommy and Daddy were moving around. But a problem presented itself immediately, in the form of Mommy standing at the door.

Crossing her arms, she tapped her fingers along the sleeve of her jacket. 

"You guys woke up early," she said.

In her voice lurked that tone adults use when they already know something that you're supposed to also know--but more confusingly, and more prominently, her tone was a smile. Even though Ashley couldn't read Mommy's mind, she could tell Mommy was most definitely amused.

In some ways that was reassuring. In others, it was an unknown, and therefore unsettling. Ashley let go of Peter and ice was already in her palm. "We... um... we wanted to get something for you," Ashley said. "For Christmas. And New Year. So we were looking for it." 

Peter had already hid the bundle behind his back. "But. It's a secret. Daddy has to be here too."

Thankfully, Mommy didn't seem to see the bundle. Otherwise she would have looked at it or said something. Right?

"Oh, alright," she said. "I'll be curious to see what you found so close to Home that could be also be so secret."

"Good, she doesn't know," Peter thought at Ashley in relief.

"You'll have to tell me about where you got the mud, though," Mommy said, holding Home's door open for them. "After a shower. Or two," she added as Peter shuffled past, trying to keep the bundle away from her view.

Daddy was up now, too. His eyes were still full of sleep, and he hadn't put his jacket on yet. "Home has been telling me some... interesting things," he said, looking over his two children and his wife with narrowed eyes.

"Oh. Oh no." Ashley frantically tried to figure out how they were going to explain this. Daddy could always tell when you were making something up.

"I can't believe Home ratted us out," Peter agreed.

"Um... it's... a surprise," Ashley stammered.

"I don't suppose..." Daddy looked up at Mommy.

They did that thing where they talked to each other. Somehow. It frustrated Ashley to no end. She was convinced it wasn't telepathy, she knew it wasn't, but it was something like it, something that she didn't know. They just looked at each other and understood, and no one else had any idea what there was to be understood.

They stood like that for a long moment, Daddy tilting his head, looking, and then Mommy gave a very, very slight nod. 

"Our kids got up early to get us a present of some kind," Mommy said, patting Ashley's head soothingly. "And I don't believe it was just the mud."

Peter blushed. "Um, no. We, um...." he looked frantically to Ashley.

"We wanted to get you guys something special," Ashley said, looking earnestly at Daddy. Suddenly, she didn't know how to act. She clasped her hands in front of her and let her fingertips get icy. "We... um... because you got us such nice Christmas presents, even though all the stuff is happening with work, and um..."

"We know the job on this world isn't going so well," Peter prompted, glancing from Mommy to Daddy. "And Mommy wanted to go to a place with stars. And we wanted to get something bright and white to start the New Year off with. So. Um..."

He trailed off and shoved the bundle in front of him.

Daddy raised an eyebrow, and accepted it, smiling. Carefully, he unwrapped it, leaving just the glove left. Raising an eyebrow even further, he slid the star out of the glove and into open air and held it with his magnetization, catching the star in a shifting prism of red. The star caught the vibrant richness of the patterns in the magnetization and amplified them, drawing the lines into itself and lining them with shimmering gold, casting the whole room into a blaze of light and shadow.

Daddy blinked.

"It's gorgeous," Mommy whispered.

"Is... is this a star?" Daddy asked, looking up at them sharply.

For a second, Ashley thought they had made a mistake. Peter, with no such inklings, grinned and nodded.

"That's... that's an incredible gift," he said, softly. "I'm not sure how you managed, but, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you guys teaming up made something impossible happen."

Ashley exchanged a glance with Peter and they both straightened up a little, pleased.

"This is also very thoughtful." He smiled, and that felt better than even seeing the star--by a tiny bit. "Thank you, guys."

"That was very brave of you guys to go after such a thing," Mommy said, hugging Ashley. "It was a big task, but you guys faced it and stuck through it even if it got hard. I'm proud of you both."

For once, warmth felt better to Ashley than the cold. She turned and clasped onto Mommy tightly, burying her head in Mommy's stomach. Not long later, Daddy pulled them and Peter towards him, and that warmth felt good, too.

Three days later, as Home's clock struck midnight, Mommy hung the star over the Doorway. It glowed, pulsing and sparking, and then settled into the fixture Daddy had built for it. Home practically purred in response, and the star slid into its place as if it has always belonged there, lighting up the whole living room in soft silvers and golds.

Somehow, it looked just as amazing and magical here as it had in the sky.

Mommy hugged them again. "Thank you, sweetheart."

Ashley smiled into Mommy's shirt, basking in how the air of the house felt clearer, lighter than it had in weeks.

"We did it," she thought, satisfied, towards Peter. She could feel him smiling back. And she could feel Mommy still hugging her, and hear Daddy clapping Peter on the back.

It was a good end to Christmas, and a hopeful start to the new year.

[uniquexusposts]

Her || Charles

Main characters: Charles Leclerc x OC Genre: fanfiction, fluff  Story type: novel  Part: 6/? Word count: 2006 Co writer: @mistrose23 Story summary: Matilde Jørgensen, the new Scuderia Ferrari team principal, faced the nerve-wracking challenge of reviving the team's fortunes and aiming for a championship. Leading a historic team as a 'newbie' and separating her work and personal opinions posed a significant challenge. The big question: is she capable to do so?

Previous chapter

Chapter 4. F1 Giggles & Tea

"Another week, another episode of F1 Giggles & Tea," the girl with the blonde hair opened the podcast with her friend, her voice carrying a cheerful tone. "Today we are gonna talk about Matilde Jørgensen."

The girl with brunette hair, the co-host of the podcast, nodded and smiled widely. "The girl boss of the grid."

"The team principal of Ferrari."

"Not gonna lie, she is living the dream," the blonde girl said.

"Although she isn't the first female team principal in F1, she certainly is one of the youngest."

"Only 29 years old!" The girl with blonde wavy hair raised her eyebrow. "Did you know who she was before she joined Ferrari?"

The brunette slowly shook her head. "She wasn't on my radar until she debuted as team principal. The thing in F1 is that you will not be known until you do something special, or if you are a head of department or a principal."

"Yeah, it's a shame, actually. There are so many people working behind the scenes. But I looked Matilde up, because I feel like we need to give her a platform. She is a team principal, but I'm quite curious to know how she got there," the girl with the brown hair said and took a sip of her coffee. Even though the podcast was called F1 Giggles & Tea, the girl preferred iced coffees. But the name was nice. The co-host nodded. "Matilde Jørgensen is from Denmark. I found on her Instagram that she was born on October the 8th, and she is 29 years old-"

"I still cannot believe she is a team principal under 30. It's really impressive."

"I mean, it feels like Ferrari had no candidates but Matilde, like she was the only one who applied for the job, no offence to Matilde." They both laughed. "Anyway, she studied at the Technical University of Denmark: Engineering in IT and Economics, also doing a mathematical degree at the same time. She got a placement at Red Bull Racing in IT. After that, she got a job within Red Bull as a strategist, and worked her way up to Senior Strategist, working closely with Hannah Smitz. And now she is the team principal of Ferrari."

The brunette looked impressed. "It sounds so easy," she said. "And that while only being 29 years old."

"I'm 25 and I can't handle my job at the supermarket."

"I'm still crying myself to sleep over my studies." Laughter filled the podcast. "But to our comparison: how is she doing her job so far? Let's compare her to last year's season."

The girl with blonde hair nodded and grabbed her notes. "Bahrain, 2022: Charles p1 and Carlos p2 In 2023: Charles P5 and Carlos p4. Saudi Arabia, 2022: Charles p2 and Carlos p3. In 2023: Charles p4 and Carlos p5. Australia, 2022: Charles p1 and Carlos DNF. In 2023: Charles p2 and Carlos p4," she said. "Baku was after Monaco, but this year it is before Miami. So Baku, 2022: Charles DNF and Carlos DNF. In 2023: Charles p4 and Carlos p2."

"Hmm, it sounds like the start of 2022 was more promising than this year," the brunette mused.

"Yes, but let's be honest: the end of 2022 was a disaster for Ferrari. God knows what Mathilde had to deal with when she got there. I can imagine it was a mess," the blonde girl smirked. Let's compare the results so far after four races, shall we? Charles had 78 points in 2022 and currently has 53 points. Carlos had 33 points in 2022 and now has 46 points. In 2022 Ferrari had 96 points and they have 99 points in 2023. An overall difference of three points."

It was silent.

"It's... I hope they will stay consistent."

The blonde girl sighed. "I mean, Carlos has more points now. And the team has three more points. It's not a downward trend. Considering where Ferrari came from last season, it has improved already. I feel like the team is doing better, but we will find that out later this season."

"I hope this girl boss will fix this team. But first the next Grand Prix: Miami!"

* * *

The Floria sun blazed brightly in the midday sky as Matilde and the team gathered at the entrance of their hotel in Miami. The past few weeks had been a whirlwind of race weekends and a lot of travel and it was intense. Someone from the media team proposed to go to the beach with the entire team. It was a much-needed break; it helped to adjust to the jet lag as well.

Matilde, who wore blue and white coloured linen shorts, a dark blue top and a white shirt, exchanged smiles with her colleagues as they gathered around in the lobby. The atmosphere was quite uncomfortable, perhaps it was because their team principal, their boss, was joining the team on a day out. At first, Matilde doubted going, because she would feel uncomfortable too, but Gemma convinced her to go, to work on the team building.

A few minutes later, the team made their way to the beach. Groups were formed, and people were talking. Matilde found an English girl among the hospitality people, they bonded because they both used to work for different teams. Liza used to work at Alpine and she started her job at Ferrari last year, one year ahead of Matilde. They could talk about Red Bull and Alpine and the things they had gone through.

The beach was a lively tableau of vibrant umbrellas, laughter and crashing waves. As Matilde and her team claimed an entire beach club, they settled down and ordered some drinks. Matilde sat down on a sunbed, looking around; almost the entire team was Italian, but there was a mix of nationalities and personalities after all. However, the common thread that bound them was their shared passion for racing.

Some people decided on dipping in the sea, others decided to work on their tan, or spend time together. Matilde grabbed a book out of her bag and decided to keep it to relax. She was reading the latest book by Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø.

"Oh, Jo Nesbø. My mum reads his books as well," Liza said. "She thinks they are amazing."

Matilde closed the book, realising reading wouldn't work. Her mind wasn't committed to it, she had too many thoughts racing through her head. "He is one of my favourite writers."

"It's so cliche, but I'm currently into reading those cheesy romances. Sarah Jio is currently my favourite writer," Liza replied and took a sip of her mojito.

A smirk left Matilde's mouth. "I read The Last Camellia on the plane. It's easy to read and it has such an amazing plot."

Liza nodded. "I loved that one too. Cliche, but good." She looked at the sea. "I don't know if you know this, or heard it, but there's a podcast going viral on TikTok. The viral episode is an episode about you."

Matilde raised her eyebrows. "I had no idea. What did they say?"

"Not much, but they talked about who you are since they didn't know much about you. They kinda dug into your history. Nothing personal came up, which made them frustrated," Liza chuckled. "Nothing negative."

"Who?"

"Two girls, they're hosting the 'F1 Giggles & Tea' podcast."

Matilde nodded. "I see." For the last few weeks, the media and fans have been very critical of Matilde. And she had to agree with them, because she too would create an opinion on a new team principal as well, but now that she was a team principal and people had an opinion on her, she had a different opinion on it. It felt unfair, because no one knew what she was doing and all the negative quotes were harsh on her. "I mean, I already read a few articles, positive articles, on how much they praise me for being a female team principal."

"You're doing a great job, Matilde. Ignore the media. Claire Williams did the same."

"As much as I respect Claire, things went downhill at Williams when she was the team principal."

"Then show them that you can do it. The Italians are tough, but you got this."

"I like your way of thinking."

"Give me a raise and we will talk again."

A laugh rolled over Matilde's lips. "We will see. Alright, enough about the media, I'm going to swim."

Liza nodded. "I will stay here and finish my drink. Will be there in a few minutes."

"Yes." Matilde got up and put on her sunglasses, making her way to the sea.

It was not like she was insecure about her body, but she knew that she didn't have a model body. She didn't have a six-pack, toned legs or arms. There was fat, she was midsized, skinny fat. And she was fine with it, she wasn't a gym girlie. But seeing all these models on the beach made her feel slightly uncomfortable.

While the team was enjoying a beach day, Charles had to follow his training scheme. He and his trainer Andrea were also on the beach. Andrea pushed Charles to his limit and it worked; Charles hated it and Andrea liked it.

As the training session progressed, Charles couldn't help but let his gaze wander occasionally towards the beach. He noticed some people from his team and it made him jealous. They relaxed on their day off and he still had to train. His eyes fell on a woman in a black bikini who was walking towards the sea. He tightened his jaw. His eyes lingered on Matilde's figure, she had beautiful curves. His attention was divided between the workout and the sight before him.

Andrea, noticing Charles' distraction, raised an eyebrow. "Focus," he said, his tone stern. "You're here to train, not to daydream."

Charles snapped back to attention, giving a sheepish grin. "Yep."

"Keep your focus on the workout, or you won't win."

As the workout continued, Charles struggled to keep his attention on his training. His eyes were inexplicably drawn to Matilde. She was talking to some other girl, both only having their feet in the water. Charles found himself following her movements, his concentration shattered.

Matilde walked further into the sea, the cool water offering a refreshing feeling from the sun's heat. She listened to Liza, who shared a story about a race she would never forget. Matilde let out a satisfied sigh, enjoying the sensation of the waves washing over her.

Andrea's patience wore thin as he watched Charles' lack of focus. With a sigh, he tossed a ball towards Charles, aiming it directly at his head. The ball made contact, snapping Charles out of his reverie.

"Ouch!"

Andrea crossed his arms, his annoyance was evident. "Maybe if you paid as much attention to your training as you do to whatever is distracting you, you would have caught that ball."

Charles muttered an apology, forcing himself to re-engage in the workout. But his eyes kept on wandering towards Matilde, who was now walking out of the sea, droplets of water clinging to her skin. His heart raced as he tried to regain his focus, but it was a tough battle.

Finally, Matilde saw Charles looking in her direction, and a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She had to pass him to go back to her sunbed. "Ah, lovely to train outside instead of the gym," she commented, her tone light and warm.

"Yes, quite the change of scenery," he replied curtly, his gaze flickering away. The response was colder than they both expected it to be.

Matilde squeezed her eyebrows together, sensing the change in his attitude. She was taken aback by his abruptness, but before she could reply to him, Charles turned his attention back to his workout. Matilde walked away, shook her head and walked back to her sunbed, following Liza.

As the workout processed, Charles pushed himself through the rest of his training, determined to shake off his distraction. But the memory of Matilde walking out of the sea, water glistening on her skin, lingered in his mind, igniting a spark of attraction that he couldn't ignore. 

Next chapter

[jtargaryen18]

Jamie's Halloween Challenge 2023

It's almost time for Halloween and no one throws a Halloween party like Tony Stark. No expense is spared and anyone who is anyone makes an appearance at the Avengers compound for the event. Tony also loves surprises, and he has plenty for the guests at this year’s event.

You (or your OC) is there as an invited guest or maybe you work for Stark Industries. Your choice. Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to write a sizzling Halloween story. It can be dark, scary, or just really sexy, but the goal is a smutty good Halloween read.

CHARACTERS: Reader insert or OC (your choice) x any of the established Avengers, their foes, or other important characters in the MCU. You can also select a character played by an MCU actor (i.e. Bucky Barnes or Nick Fowler, Charles Blackwood, etc.) Multiple partners are allowed. LGBTQ+ stories are welcome here.

PROMPTS: You must pick one and submit it with your character choices.

The Mysterious Neighbor: Your neighbor's house always seemed normal until Halloween night. You notice something strange and decide to investigate.

A Night in the Haunted House: I don’t know why you’re there when you’re supposed to be at the party. You tell me.

The Unusual Pumpkin Patch: One pumpkin in the local patch grows faster and looks different from the others. You take it home.

The Halloween Costume Comes to Life: Remember that episode of Buffy? You rented a costume and when you put it on, that’s who you are as long as you are wearing it.

Halloween Candy: Tony only buys the good stuff when it comes to Halloween candy. But be careful. There’s a reason there are no kids at this party. Some of the candies are a pretty potent aphrodisiac.

The Unexpected Visitor: On Halloween night, an unexpected visitor knocks at your door. It's not a trick-or-treater but something else.

The Disappearing Act: A drink at Tony’s party turns you (or your significant other) invisible for Halloween night. What do you do?

7 Minutes in… Where?: You know the game. Only when you and your significant other are locked in the closet for 7 minutes, you’re transported somewhere else.

The Frightening Feast: Tony has quite a spread at the party. Be careful. Each dish has magical properties.

The Portal in the Pumpkin: You carve one of the pumpkins Tony ordered, but this one turns out to be a portal to somewhere else...

RULES:

You must be 18 to write for this challenge and it must be legal to participate where you are.

While a smutty good story is the goal, no incest, underage characters, bestiality, or toilet kinks.

Dark stories are welcome. Bonus points if they’re scary.

Stories can be reader insert (preferable) but can be OC.

At some point in the story, your characters must attend Tony’s party, be planning to go to the party, or just come from the party. Bonus points if Tony makes an appearance, even if it’s brief.

You must send me an ask with your characters of choice and the prompt of your choice. `(Example: Steve Rogers x Reader and Halloween Candy)

Minimum word count is 1k words. The max length is up to you.

For this challenge, the fic must be brand new. No tie-ins to existing fics or series. No recycled stories.

Please add a “keep reading” function after 300 words and apply all needed warnings and labels to your fic.

You don’t have to follow me, just tag me in your posts and use the Hashtag #JamiesHalloween2023. If I don’t reblog your story within 3 days, please DM me.

DEADLINE: October 31, 2023

I haven't done one of these in a while and I don't know if anyone will want to participate so no limits on characters or prompts. Each story will be amazing.

Thank you!

THE STORIES

The Closet of Desire by @nicoline1998enilocin

Bad Moon Rising by @spectre-posts

Toys 'R' Us by @americasass81

Seven Minutes Pt 1 & Pt 2 by @anika-ann

The Past Always Catches Up by @holylulusworld

Something Else by @nekoannie-chan

Spiked Candy by @nicoline1998enilocin

Embracing the Darkness by @americasass81

The Mysterious House on Easton Avenue by @talesofadragon

Circles by @the-soulofdevil

Taste Me on Your Tongue by @autumnrose40