#this was a sort of assignment so it doesn't really fit any tag :)

[cfv-week]

We're back for the third time! Here are the how to, rules and prompts for Cardfight Vanguard Prompt Week 2024! Mark October 7th - 13th in your calendars!

How it works:

Chose a prompt that speaks to you and create something related to that theme. You can also combine several prompts if you so chose.

Post your creation on the day the prompt is assigned to, right here on tumblr.

Tag the post with #cfvweek2024

We will reblog all contributions in the tag onto this blog. Make sure to follow us so you can see them all!

If you post fanfiction to AO3, add them to the collection "CFV Prompt Week 2024".

Any and all sorts of contributions are welcome. Fanart, fanfictions, edits, moodboards, memes, playlists, headcanon posts, gifs etc.

If you end up missing the date of the prompt, don’t worry! We accept late entries as well.

Rules:

Please note that this week is specifically for the original CFV, CFV G and the V series reboot (which includes Shinemon and IF). This means no Overdress. Apologies to Overdress lovers, but it’s the former series that we want to keep alive in the present age.

We don't accept AI-generated content.

NSFW (violence, gore, M or E rated fics and such) content is allowed, but only if tagged appropriately.

You're welcome to combine your entries for this event with any other prompt events, writing or art challenges you want to participate in, such as Whumptober, Fictober, Flufftober, Omnious October etc.

Transcription of prompts under the cut:

Day 1: Favorite Minor Character | Sick Fic | Pets

Favorite Minor Character:

We Vanguard fans are SERIOUS about our side characters! Let's show some love to the fantastic characters that were given a jarring lack of content in the series! Maybe your favorite character overall is a member of the main cast, but now it's time to pick somebody from the sidelines to appreciate just as much!

Sick Fic:

What a classic we've got here today, folks. You don't necessarily have to write a fic for this (though it's totally encouraged)! Just create anything you want involving those down days. Characters getting sick in fiction can help show off so many neat and hidden traits, so be creative and make whatever you see fit (or not fit, because somebody is sick)!

Pets:

PETS! What more could you even ask for? We've got only a few pets to thrive off of in the show, so lets show some love to them… or maybe think up some original ones! Maybe somebody has a secret pet, or maybe there was a random line of dialogue about a pet at some point? Who knows what could happen, but it ought to be great.

Day 2: Favorite Team | PSYqualia | Memories

Favorite Team:

We've got SO many to choose from! And not even just the main teams like Q4 and TRY3; how about silly little teams like the iconic Miwa-Morikawa-Izaki-Emi squad? Go wild! Whether it be a competitive Vanguard playing team, or just characters that work well together, there's bound to be some really great teams to make stuff for!

PSYqualia:

Now here's something real intriguing… PSYQualia was the fictional power used to communicate with the Planet Cray and the illustrated cards that came from it, but it had drawbacks. Will you represent it in its corruptive origins, or its positive future? Go for it!

Memories:

I'm sure everyone has some kind of fond memories that came from Vanguard, or maybe you'll want to represent how memories are presented by the characters! A large amount of the series revolves around memories, surprisingly enough- Misaki's whole life is pretty much centered around them, and Seasons 2 and 4 seriously threw us for a doozy. Let's make this a day to remember!

Day 3: Favorite Outfit | Fluff | Magic AU

Favorite Outfit:

YIPPEE!!! Maybe that's a little exaggerated, but c'mon- who doesn't love a good outfit. Vanguard's got some seriously cool fits, if not just for the characters, then on the card art! Look around and find your inspiration, or maybe even create an outfit you'd think would be a fan favorite!

Fluff:

No one could ever lie and say they don't like fluff. Sweetness, love, care, and everything in-between. It can be soft, tooth-rotting, comforting! Do as you please and pick out your favorite fantasies for this one, we're sure it'll be more than appreciated.

Magic AU

Vanguard has its fair share of magical elements! But what if they got taken in slightly different way, a step to the left? Or maybe even a leap! Are they all wizardly figures? Magical girls? Maybe there's just something 'magical' in the air? Go wild, throw out a magic-based alternate universe!

Day 4: Favorite Relationship | Betrayal | Cray & Lore

Favorite Relationship:

Besties, lovers, enemies, and everything in-between, everyone loves a compelling relationship. But which one is your favorite? Are you enamored with the way some characters hate each other? Or maybe you just really want to show off your favorite ship! Pick your favorite Vanguard relationship, and if you have multiple? The more the merrier!

Betrayal:

Uh oh… There's no shortage of evil in Vanguard, and betrayal can come from anywhere. Does it coincide with the Reverse, PSYqualia, or maybe just human nature? Pick an act of betrayal or make up your own, because - no matter what, it's gonna hurt real good.

Cray and Lore:

The planet Cray is SO COOL and SO UNEXPLORED! Delve deep into the lore of the planet, or think up something fresh and cool for it! Blaster Blade and Dragonic Overlord are only the tip of this awesome iceberg, and there's endless things to explore!

Day 5: Favorite Episode | Family | Birthday

Favorite Episode:

Can you even believe there's 196 episodes JUST in the original run, and hundreds more after that? With all that Vanguard, you're bound to have some favorite episodes! Let's all skim through the runs and pick a favorite to represent, there's so so so many to enjoy!

Family:

Family comes in all shapes and sizes, and the Vanguard characters became a family over and over again, without a doubt. Choose a family in Vanguard, by blood or not, to create for, and enjoy!

Birthday:

We've got TWO BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK! Today is Mamoru Anjou's birthday, and Kourin Tatsunagi's is on the 13th of October! Show them some extra love, or maybe pick another birthday to celebrate! We love our characters, and their birthdays, whether fictional or not, are always fun.

Day 6: Favorite Clan | Crossover | Secret Identity

Favorite Clan:

I know, I know… This might be an impossible task. But we have to try! Pick a Vanguard clan that you can call your favorite, and show it some appreciation! This can extend out to newer or old standards of clan systems, in any way you like!

Crossover:

Vanguard has endless opportunities to pair up with other series, it's all pretty open! Crossovers are ALWAYS FUN, and it's refreshing to play with other media that we also love! Maybe one of your favorite shows has Vanguard cards in it now, or maybe Vanguard characters are in the book you're reading or new anime you're watching! Who knows, have fun!

Secret Identity:

Oooh… A secret! There's already representation of this trope in Vanguard plenty of times! Remember Ninja Master M, and the Team Unknown debacle? The time Kyou was the Abominable Snowman? Maybe even make up your own, go wild! Whether it's online or behind a mask, there's plenty of ways to hide your identity. But remember- it's a secret!

Day 7: Favorite Parallel | Endings & New Beginnings | FREE

Favorite Parallel:

Contrasting motives in media is probably one of the most exciting things I could ever think of. What contrasts and parallels do you see in Vanguard? Blaster Dark and Blaster Blade, perhaps? Character arcs, episode structures, the lore of the cards and the journey of our protagonists... There's parallels everywhere. Delve deep for this one, and find something really interesting to analyze!

Endings and New Beginnings:

Vanguard has some of our absolute favorite endings and beginnings ever, so why not go ahead and show them off? The transition of each arc, each era, each generation, is something to be celebrated. May it be the end of a big tournament, or the beginning of a new season altogether, or something totally different and unexpected!

FREE!

YOU'RE FREE! Do literally anything you want for this last day of CFV Week! Doodle assisticat, make a cool edit, take a picture of your CFV merch, throw out a moodboard, write a 200k word fic (okay, maybe don't try to do that in just one day). But, whatever you choose to do, let's end this week with a bang!

We cannot wait to see what you guys come up with!

Lots of Love, the mod team

PS: Don't forget to use #cfvweek2024 so we can easily find your contributions!

Additionally, you can tag us if you’d like, to make sure we see your posts!

[arainydancer]

i know this sounds quite harsh, but sometimes you really do just put dogshit on the internet. and if you put something like that to be seen publicly on the internet, you will get critique out of it too.

being insistent on some aspects that were outright wrong, like assuming a character is suicidal even though a note literally says that she doesn't want to die, just so that you could fit the narrative to your perspective, you are not even engaging with it. but we engaged with your review. how could you ever accuse that i did not engage with the argument while you yourself never tried to?

i know it's a huge shocker. the response i received from the author was a bewildered reaction that someone of "my high profile status" was trying to dogpile on them and incite harassment, even though i responded to the one thing about the article that i found an issue with. i actually do not give a shit if the author thinks that the two pair in a video game is akin to a master and slave or if they think a game is better than that. whatever.

i don't care if they think it's not as good as a game they liked. i don't! i'm a game developer, and i know that these things aren't for everyone. i only took issue about how the outlook towards the portrayed culture in the game is systemically racist. do i think the author is racist? no. it's possible to say offensive things without intent, and intent has absolutely jackshit to do with any of it. and so i wanted to correct them on that, and potentially everyone else who might think the same way.

back on the "dogpile" argument:

i apologize for being rude but you really can make something awful, and poorly thought, and poorly written. it's really possible, and i know it's insane. even me- if i wrote something like that, do you not think the thousands of people who know me won't also criticize me for it? do you think i am not afraid of making something terrible? not only that but i actually wouldn't even hear about the post if i hadn't heard of others who talked about it. it was already being negatively received. i didn't suddenly conjure people out of fucking thin air to hate on the post. it was ALREADY bad. is it my fault that i spoke up against it publicly? why am i suddenly not allowed to? i am one person, not an organization, and i do not present myself professionally. my presence is a hobby. just like yours. and never have i said "please demolish this person."

i have had my fair share of being doxxed and being called out as "cheap outsource" due to my nationality. i've read hundreds of negative steam reviews about my game. i've watched dozens of youtubers with an even bigger audience interact with my game, and me as a developer, in bad faith. i am not invincible to this sort of treatment. and me criticizing a singular aspect of a critic is so goddamn tame. i don't understand why you have to run away. i have seen nobody genuinely harass you as an individual after i posted my reaction- only criticize the work you posted.

you posted in under the tag where everyone could see it. so you have to be able to handle the heat if it's not going the way you want.

this is my final word, but as the responsibility was assigned to me by the author's friends, i want to clarify.

[nacricissa]

Seven Deadly Sins

Taking @forthesanityofstorytellers 's open tag thank you very much for leaving it! Honestly I don't actually know who I might tag who'd actually have the time and be receptive, so I will just leave an open tag for now.

Rules: Which of your OCs would you assign to the seven deadly sins and why?

Wrath: The Dark God

The Dark God doesn't have any other name, because it was considered such bad luck to speak it that no one remembers him even having one. It never used to bother him, because he never used to experience emotions, but once that started happening, his ability to control them was so minimal that he accidentally lashed out against the person he thought was responsible, his only friend, and rent a hole in the fabric of the universe. Things do not really get better for him from there.

Envy: Kronos Dawnbringer

This might be cheating, since I haven't developed him much past "he's a mix of Lucifer and Kronos" but really he seems like the best fit. He's a deeply amicable and honestly helpful guy... so long as he thinks he has you at a disadvantage. Which is often, because while I haven't entirely figured out how the powersets would be reconciled, no combination wouldn't be powerful.

Lust: [Redacted]

This character is from my co-writing project so I can't give details but let it be known that this trait allows a lot of the plot to happen. Sort of. My asexual ass may have missed lustful, exactly, but that's where I was aiming.

Greed: Mlle Nefara

Her general position in the story probably leaves her as the best candidate for the sin of Greed . Deeply charismatic, she turned her powers of persuasion towards building for herself a small sect in the mystic times of the late 1890s, not out of any sort of interest in the subject, but because it was one of the most available grifts for a woman at the time. The group probably would have fallen into obscurity as she took what she could from her victims and then disappeared, if the random nonsense she made up hadn't turned out just a little bit too true.

Gluttony: Brig

I made Brig up for a one-off worldbuilding short story. The only thing I knew about em is that ey likes jellyfruit. To be fair, ey's about maybe seven, at most ten in the story, so ey can be forgiven for not having a strong personality yet. Since I initially wrote this post, Brig has been promoted to Founder of Nadalos, and can easily be described as a glutton for knowledge. Ey wants more, even when it’s not good for em, even if it means losing Mitella. And ey still likes jellyfruit. And other fruit.

Sloth: Elise

It's often hard to tell, when Elise says "I shouldn't do that, we don't need someone with the mental capacity of a fourteen year old making that decision" if she's just right, or trying to get out of doing anything about the situation. It's not like she really has a policy of non-interference, she'll butt in whenever the fancy strikes her, but the only obligation she'll ever commit to meeting is the one with the promise of eternal rest at the end of it.

Pride: Davriel

Davriel is perhaps the most self-assured guy you've ever met. He is so confident in his decisions that he full commits even to the admittedly relatively rare cases where he's dead wrong. Unfortunately, he also commits with a great deal of skill, so he makes for a pretty dangerous force if he's swayed in the wrong direction. For example, when he's convinced that the only thing to do is conquer the entire omniverse and rule as its god-king, killing any deity that may currently occupy a similar role.

[bewitchingbloom]

All right, time to do an initial lore dump about the new OC. Everything is subject to change, but this is what I'm feeling right now. There are spoilers under the cut, I'm not tagging this one because I don't want my OC yapping to end up in the main tag.

Besides the obvious, Osana is an elf who is about 75 years old. She's been in the Emperor's employ for about a decade now.

In that time, she's been sent to Rauatai, Old Vailia, and even the Deadfire a little bit. All her previous assignments have been to collect records for the imperial court's archives; her assignment in the Living Lands is the first time she's been given a more substantial assignment than "go to this place, make sure this thing is legit, and retrieve it if so."

Really leaning into the "Aedyrans follow the rules" thing that showed up in the prologue, with the caveat that Osana does not consider herself to be any sort of law enforcement herself, and if someone is not directly impeding her research into the Dreamscourge, she is more likely to live and let live. I'd say she's even dabbling with being a little rule-breaker in the Living Lands, kind of micro-dosing on what it's like to let your morals be a little flexible.

Along those lines, she does share the same dislike of animancy that most Aedyrans do. This is in stark contrast to my Watcher, who cautiously supported animancy in the Pillars games. This has put her at odds with her maybe-god, because she destroyed the statue that Sargamis was working on.

Personality-wise, she's pretty blunt. She's not mean, but doesn't really have a filter that leads to her being a very unsubtle person. Sargamis called her "impertinent" when she asked him about how fucking old he is, and it fits. Like all my OCs, she has good intentions, but the way she goes about things...she has gangs attacking her in the streets of Paradis now, let's put it that way.

[neonmoonchild]

from the 'fifty questions for commander shepard' post here.

1. Why did Shepard enlist? Any regrets? ezi enlisted simply because being a marine is in her family, in her genes. she's never known a life that isn't military. it makes up a crucial part of who she is as a person, and she has no regrets about following in her parents’ footsteps. 

2. How does your Shepard feel about having a yeoman assigned to them in 2? And in 3? ezi doesn't ever really fully trust or warm to kelly chambers. kelly’s overt enthusiasm and overbearing behaviour always felt more insidious than good-natured. because of this experience, ezi initially doesn't warm to samantha traynor either — especially given their first interaction involved traynor letting herself into the captain’s cabin without knocking and interrupting a private conversation. but over time, ezi feels able to let her guard down and eventually the two have a fond and mutually-trusting friendship. 

3. What’s their relationship with Anderson? ezi wouldn't ever dare say it out loud, but she absolutely adores anderson, and has always seen him as a parental figure in her life. there isn't a human being alive she trusts more than him. she doesn't get teary-eyed often, but coming across the datapad audio of him singing her praises made her shed a tear or two. 

4. Is your Shepard any good at poker? absolutely not lmao. card games — or any games that involve sitting down and concentrating for a period of time, really — are not her forte. she's too restless for that.

5. How well does Shepard know their crew? Not just the companions, but the folks making up the Normandy? even back when she was just an xo on the sr1, ezi has always made a point of getting to know her crew well. growing up on starships while her parents served active duty meant she spent a significant amount of her childhood in close quarters with all sorts of crew members, and she learned firsthand how vital these people are to the successful running of a ship. they made her who she is today. she’ll always see herself as one of them.

6. Initial reaction to EDI? Does it change? ezi’s initial reaction to being introduced to edi is a hint of surprise with a boatload of mistrust. her prior experience with ai was the geth, after all. this mistrust dissipates naturally over time, especially once edi becomes unshackled following the collector’s attack on the normandy. eventually ezi comes to view edi as a friend, though admittedly it took her a long time to adjust to edi’s installation into dr eva’s platform. (unsurprising really, given ezi’s initial encounter with that platform on mars).

7. Does their love interest move into their quarters? during the events of mass effect 2, no. ezi’s fling with zaeed doesn't ever become serious enough for that, and her relationship with garrus is still very new and tentative when they part ways for her return to earth. 

during the events of mass effect 3, when garrus returns to life aboard the normandy, the transition is gradual, matching the pace of their deepening relationship. somewhere between the priority missions on rannoch and thessia is when ezi asks garrus if he wants to move into her quarters, pointing out that he's already spending the majority of his time there anyway — to which he accepts. 

8. What is their reaction to the Alchera mission? And after? (i’m going to assume by the alchera mission this means the mass effect 2 assignment to place a memorial/collect dog tags) 

the events of what down over alchera haunt ezi deeply, so the alliance’s request for her to go down to the planet to place a memorial and search for the lost crewmen initially sends her spiralling into a fit of rage and panic. 

because of this, it takes her some time to fully process the idea before she finally decides to actually go. rather than choosing to go alone, she invites garrus and tali with her, figuring that as former sr1 crew they also deserve the closure. the three of them manage to recover all the dog tags (as well as shepard’s old helmet) and hold a quiet memorial in front of the main body of the sr1 wreck, where they take some time to discuss old memories and lost friends. 

the experience, understandably, scars and hardens her. for a short time afterward she becomes more emotionally closed off than usual — ironically, it's during this time period she grows closer than ever to zaeed.

9. What type of fighter is your shepard? Do they fight with honor, or do they fight dirty? ezi fights dirty and she doesn't give a fuck about it lmao. 

10. Does Shepard keep any pets? The hamster, fish, something else? the hamster and fish, of course. she's always lamented not being able to bring urz the varren onto the normandy with her.

11. What order does Shepard pick up companions in me2? zaeed first, not by choice but because she literally bumps into him upon first arriving on omega. then it's mordin, figuring that they need him urgently for the seeker swarm countermeasures. then it's archangel garrus, because she's already at omega anyway. next is jack, reason being that another strong biotic on the team would be useful, then okeer grunt.

deciding she can't avoid visiting the citadel any longer, this is when she recruits kasumi. then it's on to help and recruit tali, then it's thane (the prospect of hiring an assassin makes ezi’s ears perk up with intrigue), samara and, finally, legion.

12. Does Shepard have any nicknames? What do they think of em? people usually call her either ezi or ez. she absolutely prefers these to her full first name. her late father used to call her lulu, which she used to cringe at but now she looks back at it with fondness.

13. How does your Shep react to teasing/ribbing? it depends on who's doing the teasing. if it's someone she's close to, she's fine with it, and usually gives as good as she gets. but she doesn't accept that kind of behaviour from just anyone — and boy, does she let someone know if they've gone too far. 

14. Any good at flirting? terrible, actually. merciless teasing and bullying is the only way she knows how to flirt. 

15. What colors does Shepard prefer for their armor? when ezi first joined the alliance she desperately wanted red armour, since it's her favourite colour. but at the time there were somewhat strict regulations on uniform, so she had to adhere to the classic gray onyx armour (she was really excited at the prospect of getting the red stripe and decal added when she became an n7). once she became a spectre and had access to better equipment, the colossus armour became her default choice.

during her time with cerberus she returned to wearing n7 armour, as a deliberate nod to her roots, but this time she had it customised into a dark red colour. later, she customised it further with a yellow stripe on her right shoulder guard and a blue one on her left — a nod to zaeed and garrus.

16. Is Shepard a drinker? History of other substances? Do they struggle with sobriety? ezi doesn't have any illegal drug use history, but during the events of mass effect 2 onwards she relies frequently on prescribed medication for chronic pain and sleep issues. she also drinks frequently — she can drink most of her friends under the table (and being a biotic means she's very rarely affected by hangovers)

17. How does Shepard react to attention? Do they enjoy it? ezi isn't the kind of person who goes looking for attention, but she also doesn't shy away if it finds her. she's never been a wallflower by any means. 

18. Who’s the dream team? Which companions does Shepard fight best with and why? during the events of mass effect 1, ezi’s go-to squad was typically garrus and wrex. during mass effect 2, it was garrus and zaeed. mass effect 3 shows the most variety in actual choice, but it's always garrus with someone.

as you can see, garrus is ezi’s common denominator — she's trusted him to watch her back since she first recruited him onto the sr1, and he's never disappointed. as a top notch sniper, his combat style perfectly compliments hers: he'll pick off targets from long range and watch ezi’s back while she's fighting up close and personal. 

19. Are there any companions your Shepard just absolutely cannot vibe with or relate to? ezi has always struggled to connect with liara on a deeper level, and doesn't consider her a close friend. ezi has a natural tendency to gravitate toward, and surround herself with, fellow soldiers and/or mercs and broken people, and liara just isn't that type of person (not even after becoming the shadow broker). ezi also feels a lingering sense of betrayal toward liara for the fact that she gave ezi's body to cerberus. (this feeling of betrayal, naturally, flares up again after the clone incident)

20. Does Shepard enjoy looking for resources and upgrading gear, or do they see it as a chore? ezi has always enjoyed this kind of thing, particularly when it comes to weaponry. it was something her father also enjoyed, and ezi has many fond memories of watching him swap out rifle parts and listening to him explain how it all worked. (it was also a source of bonding between her and zaeed in the early days of their friendship.)

21. Do you have any AUs for your Shepard? listed in depth here.

22. What’s the last thing Shepard ate before the final reaper showdown? james insisted on making his trademark huevos rancheros for everyone the morning before their return to earth, so that was pretty much it.

24. Who does Shepard turn to for advice? For comfort? Who do they like to gossip with? primarily ezi goes to garrus for all of these things — part and parcel of having a romantic partner who's also your best friend. however, when it comes to advice, ezi will also gravitate toward kaidan or cortez. they're the most level-headed of her friends and two of her most trusted confidants. she sees them both as the brothers she never had. 

also, during the events of mass effect 2, ezi would often go to zaeed for comfort — typically in the form of sparring, drinking heavily, sharing war stories and fucking. chaotic as it may sound, few people know how to soothe ezi’s restless soul better than the grumpy merc.

25. How emotionally articulate is your Shepard? Do they emote well? not particularly. ezi has a lot of unresolved trauma: she usually articulates it with fists or gunfire.

26. Does your Shepard have a romance? Who are they, and what drew Shep to them? ezi is in a long-term relationship with garrus. as far as she's concerned, he's the love of her life. what drew her to him initially was their like-mindedness, and that was the building block for their friendship on the sr1. they share the same humour and morals, and his loyalty has always been unmatched. he's given her a kind of stability she's never really known before.

it's been mentioned before, but ezi also had an on/off fling with zaeed during the events of mass effect 2. whilst the chemistry between them was palpable and glaringly obvious, there was a natural limit to the level of stability he could offer her as a romantic partner, and their intimacy fizzled out, though they managed to maintain their camaraderie and strong partnership on the battlefield. they care deeply for one another, and that they both see each other as ‘the one that got away’. oof.

27. Do they have any pet peeves? lying is a big one. false promises, too. ezi despises it when someone's words don't align with their actions.

28. What about hyperfixations? What’s the topic that will get Shepard rolling no matter the person or place? as mentioned earlier, ezi enjoys tinkering with weapon upgrades, and her knowledge of them is quite proficient.

29. How active is Shepard? Are they hitting the gym, playing sports, or do they prefer quieter downtime? ezi is fairly active — a necessity for someone who's as constantly restless as she is. she'll often be seen sparring on the normandy, whether it's with zaeed (during me2) or kaidan/james (me3). she's not a gym buff like vega, but she enjoys cardio and will often be seen going on daily runs whenever she's on shore leave.

30. What will always make them laugh? dirty jokes. she has a depraved sense of humour.

31. Who can always make them laugh? garrus, zaeed and jack know how to make her laugh better than anyone.

32. What do they do when they have hit their limit angry, just incandescent with rage? i think we all know the answer to this already. gunfire.

33. What skills do they have that are a surprise to the people around them? she has a surprisingly beautiful singing voice

34. Got any tattoos? she has a tiny, crooked, poorly drawn tattoo of a smiley face on her left hip. done by jack during one of their late night drinking sessions in jack’s engineering hidey hole. (garrus and zaeed both think it's hilarious)

35. Which companions have they lost? How do they cope with it? ashley on virmire, which was a big loss to ezi, as she had grown close to ash and considered her a friend. much like with the decision she made on torfan, ezi chose to temporarily harden herself to it for the sake of the cause, and grieved later.

then there was jacob during the suicide mission — whilst she wasn't particularly close to jacob she respected him as a fellow soldier, and losing him felt like she'd failed her entire squad.

people who don't know ezi privately and only know her by reputational force make the assumption that she's this ruthless hardass who willingly sends her men to their deaths, but that's not the case. she does what she has to do for the sake of the mission, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have a heart. she feels the losses, and they haunt her.

36. Do they like to style their hair, wear makeup and jewellery? How do they feel about getting dressed up? ezi isn't a huge makeup person — with the exception of eyeliner. it was something she started doing as a teenager and it stuck, and now she feels wrong if she's not wearing any.

she hates doing her hair, which is why she's spent most of her life with it in a short cropped style. she looks back at her post-lazarus days (where she had slightly longer shoulder-length hair) and cringes because she doesn't know how she stood it for so long.

she's never really been a dress-up kind of person as she prefers comfort over style, but she'll do dresses/skirts if absolutely necessary.

37. Got any bad habits? aside from the occasional excessive drinking and the penchant to destroy things when she's in a foul mood, no, not really.

38. Does Shepard do any activities with the companions and crew during downtime? being as restless as she always is, ezi always has to be doing something that keeps her brain from ticking over. she enjoys going out, but she doesn't always enjoy the attention she gets from being out — so on nights out she'll usually be found in dingy back alley bars that play loud music, or busy nightclubs where she can lose herself in the crowds and dim lighting. these kinds of nights are typically spent with those of her loved ones who also enjoy these things (usually jack and grunt. zaeed too, but he generally prefers bars/pubs to nightclubs). she spends an obscene amount of time at the armax arena, too.

occasionally she can be convinced to take a break and do something relaxed like curl up on the couch with dinner and a vid — these kinds of times are usually spent with garrus (when the pair of them aren't off doing something they're not supposed to), or kaidan, tali and steve.

39. Do they keep around any sentimental items? ezi has a photo of her and her father in a locket — she doesn't like to wear it during missions for fear of losing it, but she always keeps it safe with her personal belongings wherever she goes. (she thought she'd lost it for good after the sr1 attack, but then she found it by chance in the wreckage during the alchera crash site assignment. you can imagine how that went) 

she also has various sentimental items given to her by her crewmates and loved ones: 

• an elcor plushie gifted to her by zaeed (depending on the day and the mood he's in, if someone asks him about it, he'll either deny he gave it to her or he'll say “yeah, i did. and what? you got a problem with that?”)

• a kuwashii visor gifted to her by garrus (which she frequently uses on missions, and it's synced up to his own visor so they're able to monitor one another's life signs and kill counts when garrus wants to be petty about who the better shot is. she also carved his initials into the frame) 

• a coffee mug with the word 'sister' on it, gifted to her by kaidan. initially bought as a gag gift (she saw it in a citadel storefront, pointed out to him how cringe it was, and days later he brought it to her gift-wrapped), she actually secretly loves it and always uses it for her morning coffees.

40. Does your Shepard actually like to collect model ships? she does!

41. How is Shepard with a gun? What about hand to hand? despite being a talented biotic, she's also excellent at weapon combat, specialising in pistols and smgs. she's also highly competent at hand to hand, although occasionally vega gets in an impressive shot when they're sparring. (she won't admit that to him.)

42. Favorite weapon? pistol

43. Which version of the Normandy do they like best? ezi has some wonderful memories from serving on both. but she thinks the sr2 feels cosier, especially after the alliance retrofits.

44. Do they like to rotate out companions for quests? Who do they bring the most? this was kinda already answered in (18), but basically, it's a given that garrus will go with her everywhere. during her cerberus foray it was usually garrus and zaeed. and during the hunt for saren it was usually garrus and wrex.

45. Do they approve of curing the genophage? absolutely. despite her irascible nature, she's not the kind of person who leans into straight-up barbarism. she hates moral wrongs, and she believes the genophage was the biggest of them all. she also has a personal stake in it, since wrex is one of her closest friends.

46. Does Shepard allow the rachni to live in me1? yes, without question

47. Does Shepard practice any kind of self-care? honestly, not really. she's bad at taking care of herself. to her the idea of self-care is a drinking session with her friends or going somewhere where she can shoot off a few rounds. (sometimes she'll do both these things simultaneously. don't try this at home, kids.)

48. What abilities do they rely on the most in a fight? as a vanguard, ezi spends a good 90% of her in-combat time biotically charging across the field. garrus has occasionally joked that it's simply not a proper fight unless ezi is this constant beautiful blue blur in front of him (lmfao).

49. What is Shepard’s happy ending? What’s the dream that keeps em going? to see the people she loves most happy and at peace. she doesn't want much from life and she's kinda fatalistic about the idea of ever finding true peace herself, but she wants that for her loved ones.

50. Is your Shepard indoctrinated? no.

(+1: what does Shepard smell like?) cherry shower wash, coffee, and a mixture of sweat, gunpowder, and that trademark smoky eezo smell when she's been using her biotics.

[the-prophesied-disco-gay]

What a beautiful wonderful post! Oh my gosh I'm so happy to have seen this!

I don't talk much about being a system because 1) I'm terrified of real world repercussions if this blog is ever linked back to my real name because the general population is NOT chill *at all* about plurals and 2) because I've dealt with this on my own as long as I can remember and I don't know all the terminology and politics of the community and don't want to accidentally step in it or hurt somebody

So I'm gonna go ahead and throw all that out the window and just be real with y'all on this here tag for a minute. Defenestrate your doubts babes <3

I usually use singular first person pronouns (I/me/my) for the most part, for safety. I don't want to slip in regular conversation and drop a "we" with the wrong person and create a safety issue for myself. However I will use we/us/our for clarity sometimes when specifically discussing this topic.

I have no idea what my system origin is! There is...um...lots of trauma in my background. Including things that go back to before my actual memory (nonconsensual operation to "normalize" my genital configuration as an intersex baby as well as continued supression of those traits and questions as I grew, as well as sexual abuse by a relative when I was very young). In addition to the stuff when I was little there are also several traumas that happened when I could remember them. However! I don't know when my system formed so I don't know if any of that was the cause or if there was a singular cause. I know I have never been able to intentionally create so much as an imaginary friend so probably traumagenic?

But much like snowglobe-system said, the existence of endogenic systems is extremely comforting to me. My headmates exist, that I am very sure of, so it doesn't really matter how they came to be! Love that for us tbh.

Also my mom is also a system! Definitely traumagenic and it didn't manifest until much later in life for her. But it makes me wonder if there is a hereditary element to this. Neither of us knew the other was a system until we had been years established, so it definitely wasn't something influenced by talking to each other about it.

I have no idea what my headmates names are, so I've given them names from characters in media that seemed to fit the closest. They're not those characters made manifest in my psyche, though from what I have read that can happen? Very cool. But for me it's more like that scene in The Last Samuri where the American dude is talking to the Japanese dude despite neither of them speaking each others language, and he goes "how about Bob, can I call you Bob?" because he can't actually ask for the guys name lol. I'm still learning how to directly communicate with my headmates on purpose, so I don't know what to call them other than names I've assigned 😅

There is an assortment of genders among us and at least one anthro in here. That took some serious getting used to because I, the one who fronts the most, used to hate furries and anthros in a very "I am legit afraid of them" sort of irrational way, which I think was me just desperately trying to be what I considered normal at the time.

I also have OCD, which shows up in every single headmate in the same way, very consistently. This is, ironically, very soothing to my OCD. It helps me keep a cohesive sense of self even when someone is fronting who isn't aware they are part of a system. We still know our routines and what we consider the "correct" way of doing things.

I get memory loss/gaps when someone else is fronting, but not when cofronting.

The easiest way to tell when I've switched (is that the right term?) is the change to my word choice and the way I speak. Apparently if you know me well, the shift in mannerisms and expressions is also a clear indicator.

So that's me! I consider the brain an incredible thing, capable of so many things we don't fully understand, and I think that's really cool! I think hating on other systems for how they came to be or how they function as systems is both arrogant to the extreme and morally wrong. I think there are many, many more plurals out there than we are aware of. I think greater acceptance and understanding will go a long way toward making the world a better place.

Thanks @snowglobe-system for starting this conversation!

Hello sysconversation! I'm a massive fan of this tag being coined, I think there's a lot of room for some really great discussion here, so I'm gonna try to kickstart a conversation myself!

I'm a traumagenic DID system. I experience a lot of denial. But you know what really really helps me? The existence of endo systems. No I'm not kidding.

Because I can say oh I must be faking this disorder. It must not be real. But I also believe that intentional systems are 100% real and that they exist, so... even if I don't have DID, I'm still creating my system right now. I'm real. My parts are real. No matter what disorders we do or don't have.

If you're traumagenic you ever been helped in some way by endo systems and/or their resources? If you're endogenic, have you ever been helped in some ways by traumagenic systems and/or their resources? We talk all the time about how we're different, I think it'd be great to have a chat about how we can be alike and how the intersection of our communities can help each other!

[thebreakfastgenie]

For M*A*S*H

1, 3, 7, 8, 17, 25? 😌

1. the character everyone gets wrong

I'm going out on a ledge here but Hawkeye. Specifically, I think certain aspects of Hawkeye get flanderized a lot. Hawkeye does have a lot of sex with multiple partners and he is very sex positive (as is the show). But he doesn't really dress slutty (look at him he literally dresses normal) or flaunt his body in public. I think people try to fit him into some sort of slut archetype and that's not him! The one time he does get naked publicly it's for a bet that no one will notice and when people do he quickly tries to cover up. In later episodes, he'll try to cover up if he's stranded without his robe in the shower. Trapper and Oliver are casually shirtless much more than Hawkeye is.

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

I saw these tags one time about the alleged dynamic between BJ, Hawkeye, and Margaret that said BJ and Margaret could continue their parts with other people but Hawkeye couldn't?? It was like "what's he supposed to do, pretend he wasn't in love?" and like literally yes? Or acknowledge that he was and just. Move on? Get over it? People literally do it all the time? Hawkeye was left by the love of his life (Carlye) twice and he literally moved on and had relationships with other people. Like what on earth.

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

So I've mentioned BJ before and I figured I should explain why I hate fanon BJ. I limited my exposure to fandom before I finished the show, but deliberately chose to have some because I didn't want fandom participation to coincide with running out of new episodes to watch. So, I was aware of fanon BJ and since everyone posts about it like it's canon, I kept waiting for him to start acting like that. He never did. So I felt pretty misled, lol. It's not necessarily that I would dislike fanon BJ if he were canon, it's just that he's not. I was also really taken aback by his popularity, because he's the character I find least interesting. I also didn't realize people thought he was attractive for a long time lol I'm a lesbo. And the fanon BJ characterization kind of interferes with other things; like "you can't trust what he says" to me describes Hawkeye, because he Just Says Stuff and some of it is literal and meant to be taken at face value and some of it isn't. But because "you can't trust a word he says" was assigned to BJ, no one really discusses it with regards to Hawkeye. And I can't even make semi joking headcanon posts about Hawkeye exchanging regular letters with Trapper and just not mentioning without people saying "that's BJ behavior." This inaccurate characterization about a character I don't feel strongly about is inescapable. I don't hate (canon) BJ, but every time I get accused of hating him I'm like maybe I should lol.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Sidney being a hardcore Freudian. He references Freud and obviously studied him, but there is no indiction he's a particularly close follower. I can't remember if it's in the final episode or just the script, but there was a reference in Dear Sigmund to the exercise of formatting his diary as a letter to Freud being something he started doing as a student. Freud is also, whatever your opinion on him, a famous and massively influential figure in Sidney's field. If Hawkeye wrote a fictional letter to Hippocrates or Halstead (famous surgeon) I don't think people would take that as evidence that he was a huge fanboy. He also makes jokes about Freud/Freudian psychology. I think canon points to Freud being one of several influences on Sidney's practice of psychiatry, not to Sidney being a devotee. Sidney is also clearly not strict follower of any theory or of theory in general and learns a lot from hands-on experience.

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

Can I say gen fic again lol. I think I would like to see more canon divergence! I don't usually care for full on AUs, but there are so many fun opportunities with canon divergence! I'm also really fond of Hawkeye/OC (usually OFC but I like both) fics, but not ones where the OC is basically a reader insert.

As for art, I like silly little comics.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

"Stop making everything about Trapper vs BJ" especially when it's in response to things that were not even Trapper vs BJ. I mean, Trapper vs BJ comparisons are unavoidable anyway, and comparisons don't have to be inherently divisive. I too am weary of the ones that are, especially because they're usually really about a ship war I'm not invested in. But it's also become a way of shutting other things down. There was a really good post about how the early seasons don't get enough credit for having the most pointed political episodes because BJ wasn't there that got a very defensive reblog about how "it's not about Trapper vs BJ." And, like, it wasn't! OP didn't mention Trapper. The point was that BJ is a popular fandom fave and therefore the fandom doesn't give enough attention to the seasons he's not in.

[minty-malfoy]

“would you still love me if I turned into a worm?” | blurbs

🌱 pairings: reader x blaise zabini, cedric diggory, draco malfoy, fred weasley, george weasley, harry potter, hermione granger, luna lovegood, neville longbottom (sorted in alphabetical order)

🌱 warning tags: language, probably

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Blaise Zabini

“A what, now?” your boyfriend asks, halting the movements of his quill to look up at you; brows furrowed as if it’s the most absurd thing he has ever heard in his entire life.

“You know, those wiggly things that—”

“I know what worms are, (y/n). But what the hell?”

“Dunno,” you shrug. “I’m bored.”

“So you thought about what it’d be like to turn into a worm?” his eyes narrow out of pure bewilderment, blinking once, twice, as he finally turns back to his unfinished essay. “Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that head of yours.”

“Not my fault you’re taking so long with that assignment,” you grumble as you begin to shift on the puffy couch, feeling somewhat annoyed by how cold and empty it is without the other boy in it. “And besides, you love me.”

An amused chuckle escapes his lips. “Can’t say that I don’t.”

“Even as a worm?”

“Will you stop asking if I said yes?”

You nod happily, giving him the answer he needs— or well, wants, really. Even though Blaise couldn’t quite understand the pointless question, he knows it’s significant to an extent.

“Yeah, alright. I would. Now give me five minutes and we can get out of here. Deal?”

A glint of satisfaction flashes through your eyes as you give him a hum in return, thinking to yourself that maybe the silly questions could be more useful than you thought.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Cedric Diggory

The moment the words leave your mouth, Cedric's first reaction is to laugh. He didn't mean for it to come out in a condescending way. He hadn't even meant to laugh, to begin with. But judging by the way you pout with both arms crossed, that might just have been how it came accross.

"I'm sorry," he offers sheepishly. "you were saying?"

"You heard me. I said what I've said," you grumble, despite not being genuinely upset at the hufflepuff boy you've grown to love.

"Wait, I need to get this straight," he takes another breath of air. "You're serious?"

"What do you think?" you pout once again, turning away slightly from your boyfriend. This only seems to ignite his amusement as much as it does his guilt. A second or two later, his arm finds its way around your shoulder, the other brushing a few strands of hair behind your ear.

"You really haven't figured it out yet?" he asks with a genuine grin on his face. You begin to eye him curiously, appreciating the charm of his pearly white teeth as you wait for the boy to go on. Soon, he pulls you into his lap where his arms craddle you lovingly.

"Sunshine," he begins. "I'm surprised you still have to ask. But if that's one way of putting my love for you, then yes. You'd be my favorite worm in the entire world."

"Promise?" you present your pinkie finger as a final means to seal the deal.

With one last chuckle, he wraps his fingers around yours. "Promise."

Everything that happens next is a flurry of innocent pecks and kisses planted along your skin, coupled with the security of two warm arms holding you in place.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Draco Malfoy

"And what exactly do you expect me to say to that?" comes his first response after a long moment of trying to figure out just how in Merlin's name your mind came up with that question.

You, on the other hand, can't help but giggle at the slytherin boy's confusion. "Whatever's on your mind right now will do."

"Well, to be honest with you, I can't quite stomach the idea of my own girlfriend turning into a bloody worm." he nearly spits the words out, softening his edge only when your eyes meet once again. "If you were expecting a different answer, I suggest moving on to the next bloke."

Draco wasn't lying about that first bit. Worms have always been an insignificant, unseen creature in his world; wiggling in the muckiest of places where they could easily be stepped on. Hence, he doesn't like to imagine you—someone so perfectly ethereal and quintessential in every single way; the only source of light shining into his pathetic excuse of a life—to be compared to a dirty worm, of all things.

"That doesn't mean I don't love you, though," he adds in a bit of a guilty tone; voice much, much softer this time. He brings your hand to his lips, dropping a few kisses on its skin. "I just much prefer having you as you already are."

You snuggle deeper into him, indicating that you already know exactly what he means.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Fred Weasley

“A worm!” Fred exclaims, nearly forgetting the food on his plate altogether. "What a brilliant idea!"

A few seats away, you can already see Ginny clamping her mouth shut as to not burst into fireworks of laughter. You mirror her gesture, eyes now on Fred once again, watching him announce this idea of yours to your entire group of friends.

Ron, who's not that thrilled to see his brother's public displays of affection, lets out a groan. "Wouldn't have asked him that if I were you."

"You think so?" comes your reply. "He seems to be having a lot of fun with this." you both glance at Fred, who is indeed already coming up with some sort of thrilling plot.

"Did you hear that, George?"

"Sure did, Fred."

"I reckon we could come up with a potion for that," he muses, turning back to look at you. "Give me a week or two and we can start living out that worm dream of yours, love."

"Wait, Freddie, you're getting it all wrong," you begin explaining, tugging on the boy's sleeve slightly to keep his attention on you, "It was just a silly little question. I don't actually plan on turning into a worm or anything like that."

At this point, you half expect his enthusiasm to die down from the grounding effect of your words. In reality, it doesn't.

"S'that so?" he replies, earning a nod from you. "Looks like you're missing the bigger picture to me, (y/n). Isn't that right, George?"

"Right you are, Fred." the said boy affirms. "Sorry, (y/n). I'm with him on this one."

With a sigh, you turn back to Ron, who's busily stuffing his mouth with a look on his face that says I told you so. You shake your head with a small smile at your boyfriend's shenanigans. You're not sure how you can both dread and anticipate the day of his worm adventures.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

George Weasley

"That's a new one," he asserts with an amused laugh. The boy rests his head against one of his palms, feeling instantly intrigued by your proposition. "Now tell me more about this worm business of yours."

"That's about it, actually." you admit sadly.

George frowns at this, wishing he could hear more worm stories and whatnot. Mostly he's just happy to see the way you talk about things passionately. Makes him feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside in a way he can't ever get enough of.

"That's quite alright. I'll do the talking, then." he offers, rubbing his chin to think of what to say next. You light up in your seat, eyes wide in anticipation. Now it's your turn to eagerly wait for his response once again.

"I've got an idea. We could run off and start a new life— as worms!" he beams all of a sudden. You raise a brow for him to go on, not exactly complaining about your boyfriend's excitement towards the topic. "I'm only turning into a worm to make sure I can properly take care of you, of course. Wouldn't want to—er—squash you between my big human fingers, now do we?"

You both erupt into a chorus of laughter at the conjectured image, melting into one another like two fitting puzzle pieces. When you finally catch your breath again, you pose the main question once more, "So I'm concluding you're still going to love me, then?"

"Love you?" he repeats. "Oh darling, I'll be marrying you in a grand worm wedding!"

You can't hold back the gasp that escapes your lips, more than thrilled to have the first mention of marriage between you. Not too long after, you transform into a complete fit of giggles when George continues. "Then we'll happily live our worm lives, 'till death do us apart. Or when, you know, some bloke accidentally steps on us. Whichever comes first."

You lean into him lovingly to steady yourself after all the laughing. Taking a deep breath in, you mumble a soft, "You always know how to make me laugh, Georgie."

And the truth is, he wouldn't have it any other way. Worms or not.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Hermione Granger

"I'm sorry, I don't think I understand the point of this question."

"Which part, exactly?" you inquire, watching your girlfriend pull out another book from the wooden library shelves.

A few seconds pass before you get your answer. "You're not a worm," she states simply, eyeing you up and down as if to prove her point.

"Yes, thank you for pointing that out, 'Mione," you follow her to the next section. "Which is why I said if I turned into a worm."

The girl looks at you again, analyzing your words and expression briefly before coming to another conclusion. "I still don't understand." she pauses to think. "Unless you might be interested in becoming an Animagus? Even then, opting for a worm wouldn't be very... effective."

You roll your eyes, speeding up to block the girl's way. She lets out a non-committal "Hey!", only for you to quickly muffle it with a warm kiss. A moment or two later, you pull away with a smirk that makes her heart melt. "Just answer the question, would you?"

Still slightly caught off guard from the contact, Hermione finally caves in. "Alright, you cheeky flirt. I love you. Even as a notional worm."

Satisfied with her answer, you plant another peck— this time on her cheek, before announcing a gentle "I love you, too."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Harry Potter

The way his lips purse into a straight line tells you that Harry doesn't exactly understand the question. Not really, at first. Aside from being an entirely foreign concept to his ears, it also seems like an odd thing to ask someone, unless— "Oh! You're an Animagus!"

The smile on your face instantly drops at this. "What? No—"

"Why didn't you just say so, (y/n)?" he begins what—at the time—you don't know is going to be a nearly endless ramble. "I was planning on telling you this for a while now, but I know someone who's an Animagus, actually. In fact, I think you two would get along fantastically!" he lights up at the sudden idea, flailing his arms in the air out of excitement. "Yes, maybe I can try getting the both of you to meet up. No promises, of course, but what do you think?"

"I think you've got it all wrong," you frown; knowing you would have to disappoint your boyfriend and how you're not very fond of the idea.

"What do you mean?" he asks, albeit barely giving you a second to reply. "(y/n), it's alright, really. You know you don't have to hide yourself from me. Besides, I think it's brilliant!— what you can do, I mean."

The smile he gives you is the epitome of love itself, and now you're not quite sure how to handle the messy situation without pulling out the rug underneath Harry's feet. All you can do is squeeze his shoulder with a guilty smile, promising to talk about it again after dinner.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Luna Lovegood

"Of course. Worms are lovely, don't you think?" she says with a dreamy smile. You gape at how easily the answer could be pried from your girlfriend; no questions asked. But then again, it's not like you hadn't expected this exact outcome already.

"Really?"

"Mhm," comes her gentle hum as she begins to stir her honeyed chamomile tea. A soft smile stays glued on her features, as if she's enjoying the conversation. "What kind of worm would you like to be, (y/n)?"

"I haven't really thought about it that far," You admit. "Are you sure, though? We won't be able to hold hands or anything like that."

You can't tell if you had just imagined the almost-frown tugging on her lips, because when she looks back up at you again, her sweet signature Luna smile is back in its place. "I suppose you're right. But I could carry you around everywhere with me. Wouldn't that be lovely?"

"It would be," you nod. "but can a worm even fit into that pocket of yours?" you question, noticing how hers are stuffed with unknown items; blades of grass sticking out ever so slightly. Flowers, perhaps.

"Oh, there's nothing to worry about. See?" she pulls out a couple of daisies and fairy foxgloves to reveal a now empty pocket. "Now, would you like some tea?"

You eagerly join her on the table, snuggling against your girlfriend ever so slightly as you both begin to talk about your day. The entire worm ordeal is slowly slipping out of your mind already.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Neville Longbottom

Neville stops in his tracks at your question, taking a moment to toss the idea back and forth in his mind before he can give you a proper answer. You nearly giggle when his face scrunches up, brows knit and lips parted as he innocently asks, “But why would you turn into a worm?”

"Neville, love, no. It's a hypothetical question."

His entire body relaxes at this, releasing what you assume is a breath of relief. "Oh. I thought you were being serious for a moment there."

You shake your head with a giggle, taking a step closer to adjust the scarf around your boyfriend's neck. "I'm just curious is all. Would you still love me, then?" you ponder.

"Yes! Of course!" comes his instant reply, hands balled up into fists that match the determination on his face. "I would get you a nice worm house with all your favorite flowers in it," he bends one of his gloved finger inwards, beginning to keep count of this hypothetical to-do list. "Would you still be able to have human food? Well, either way, I promise to feed you every single day!"

He pauses, only for a second or two. "Oh! And I'll sing you worm songs! Or maybe we can sing them together? I don't know if you would still be able to talk as a worm though."

You swiftly pull him into an affectionate hug, effectively bringing his rambling—as well as the entire worm topic—to an end. His hands sheepishly find their home around your waist, where he places them softly as if it's his first time hugging you. After all the months of being together, it certainly isn't.

"What was that for?" he dares himself to ask, avoiding your eye contact shyly.

"For being the most loving and adorable boyfriend I could ever ask for," you lean in to plant a soft, gentle kiss on his cheek. You don't miss the way he pulls up his scarf to hide the blossoming blush afterwards.

I have no idea why I wrote this either lol <3

🌷 draco taglist: @arossebyanyothername @kawaii-angelanne @thefandomplace @yuosmi @bbeauttyybbx @mywellspringoflife @slytherinsunrise @avatarbeeb @scarlet-says-hi @lunars @coldlilheart @beiahadid @justmimithings @soundsquid27 @youknowiloveyou-so @n3ssm0nique @ochrythum @explxsion @yaanasluv @autumnpleaves @booksmione @drxcomvlfx @the–queen-of-hell @aspiringsloth20 @runninglownad @snitches-at-dawn @badfvith

🌷 harry taglist: @teheharrypotter @badfvith

[ruki--mukami]

So, dress up game made into an official tag?

BTW, are you planning the open interaction for August of will you continue one from July?

🧩 Yep, the dress up game is seen as an "event" of sorts to me, so I decided to give it its own tag much like the other memes, special occasions, and holidays seen on this blog. It's also an attempt at me organizing my blog since a lot of my posts are all over the place given how there's over 4.4K of them now.

Also, I planned on being a lot more active with the July open interaction, but as you can see I got distracted by other things going on the blog. Sorry to those I haven't replied to yet, but I'm hoping to extend it to August since that's still summer time for me anyways and it lines up, ahahaha. So, I've decided to keep that open for two months as opposed to the usual one, since it was the open interaction with the most participants thus far. ^^ The first one (grocery shopping) had 12 different threads, the bite one had 7, and then the beach one totally blew those two out of the park with a whopping 16. I also don't want to punish those who haven't participated by neglecting their threads (unrelated to any event) either, but I've been slacking on those too honestly. Basically what I'm trying to say is — I hope to reply to everyone soon, no matter which thread it is.

For the August open interaction, I originally planned on doing a summer festival setting but now that I think about it, the Japanese festivals are usually to honor some kind of god or the changing of seasons from what I read. It's ironic for a Vampire to want to attend that, lmao. Though I suppose it doesn't have to be a religious thing, and on the plus side, Ruki gave a ton of kimonos out recently so it kind of fits HAHAHA. Definitely let me know what you think about the idea for those who are (or aren't) interested in a summer festival open interaction for August. I intended on alternating between open interactions in terms of cruel vs soft (grocery store - soft, random bite - cruel, beach - soft) which would mean the August one would have to be a bit dark to maintain that balance.

And since I've honestly got so many open interaction ideas, I'll probably spoil them under the cut for those who want to "prepare" in any sort of way. 🧩

So, I already mentioned that for August I had a summer festival idea planned, but I'll at least reveal what I anticipated for the remainder of the year.

September — I was going to do a Vandead Carnival type of thing, but honestly, that might be too similar to the festival activities, haha. I don't like to make things repetitive. However, I might make it a school open interaction instead after finding out more OCs attend the academy than I expected. Though I'm not sure what exactly they're going to do at school just yet (maybe partners for an assignment, maybe a library encounter, I'm still vacillating between options).

October — Now, here's where things get a little crazy. My friend suggested that Ruki should hold a Halloween event where he judges everyone's costumes for the fun of it (there is no "ranking" system or "winner" or anything like that — he just wants to see people dress up, and I'm still working on the reasoning for that as well, haha). Of course, I will dress him up as well and perhaps even draw something over his sprite to align with the Halloween spirit. Really tempted to do a Vampire dressed up as a traditional Vampire for the laughs again.

November — I think an open interaction where you cook with Ruki might be cute. Hoping to make him invite the person he's interacting with to the Mukami manor to help him test a recipe of his choosing.

December — Of course, I'll be damned if I miss out the opportunity for a Christmas date. Yes, it's weird for Vampires to celebrate Christmas, but there is actually a Mukami Christmas special in Vandead Carnival so I'd like to create a similar atmosphere as that. I already did one like that last year where they went shopping together but we don't talk about my 2021 writing. So, instead of Christmas shopping, I'd like to plan something more romantic. By then, I'm hoping his current relationships will be more fleshed out, and for any newcomers, it could be a ploy for Ruki to bite them later most likely.

I got more ideas cooking in my head but I don't want to reveal too much.

[fagsystem]

I saw this post and I wanted to speak about the topics it touches upon and provide some advice for anyone questioning any sort of LGBTQ+ identity.

You are not your identity because your experiences are that identity, you are your identity because that identity describes your experiences.

There is this idea that there is some true identity in you deep down, one right box you can neatly shove yourself into. That is not the case in the slightest.

Yes, some people find a label that fits them perfectly. It is like suddenly the whole world makes sense now that they know that is what they are. And it is a beautiful and wonderful thing when that happens.

But being queer is still beautiful and wonderful even when that does not happen. Being queer is not and has never been about having to adbide by boxes, and I would suggest looking into queer history via digital archives if you have not already.

It is alright to use whatever label serves you the best. It is alright to use different labels in different circumstances. It is alright to use labels that you feel are right for you and helpful even if you do not fit into the boxes people except of that label. It is alright not to use labels even if you seemingly fit it perfectly for whatever reason you do not wish to use it.

The FTM subreddit is a good example of this. It's description is, 'Support-based discussion focused on trans men, trans mascs, and other people who are assigned female at birth who are trans.' While the label FTM has a technically strict defintion, many people who do not meet that defintion benefit from the label. Even those who do not identify with it personally to describe their experiences are able to find use in it to find community of people with similar experiences. And I tell many stories about this.

I do hesitate to bring up the following anecdote due to the TERF rhetoric rather prominent in the community at the moment. So I will preface this by requesting people understand that the rather intense discourse surrounding 'men in lesbian spaces' is TERF shit and does not stop being TERF shit when you make it gender affirming. I am not here to debate TERF shit. If what you have to add the conversation even remotely resembles 'men in lesbian spaces bad' I request you make a seperate post, link this one as I did above, and tag me. However, I reserve right to block you and ask you to edit the post so it is screenshots without my username present if I want to. Thank you.

I know of a lesbian with an extremely muscular, bearded, 6' tall AMAB partner. This person is not cis, but does use he and masculine terms like man along side neutral terms and it/blood pronouns. He would not fit the orientations of many lesbians.

When he and my friend got together, he was going by he/she/blood pronouns. Which would make him fit more lesbian's orientations, I suppose, but when he changed his pronouns wbsolutely nothing changed at all really. My friend still loves him like a butch and is still a lesbian. Her experiences are lesbian experiences because that is what she feels fits it best.

(And, for the record, her partner is not suddenly a butch just because my lesbian friend loves him like one. She understands that and just because she feels the best description for her feelings is 'loving him like a butch' doesn't mean she actually views him as one.)

A lot of people end up really struggling with their identities and exploring who they are because the moment they discover anything at all outside of the box of the label that fits best they are kicked out of it.

Especially due to the prominence of TERF rhetoric in the LGBTQ+ community, it is especially bad for lesbians. There is a reason there is such an oversaturation of 'men in lesbian spaces' but not 'women in gay male spaces' and that's because of gender essentialism and 'men bad evil woman victim helpless'.

Like I saw a video of a lesbian mention that maybe they had experienced an attraction to a man one singular time and were questioning. The comment section was flooded with people harassing them for calling themselves a lesbian and invading lesbian spaces when they may or may not have had just experienced an attraction to a man.

You know. As though they have not been in lesbian spaces for a long time and found community in people with shared experiences. All of that is suddenly them being lesbophobic for daring to invade lesbian spaces as someone who literally is a lesbian.

Like that really fucking sucks to be turned on like that for daring to even begin to question your orientation.

If you are a lesbian who is worried that maybe they experience attraction to men or literally anyone worried that they are wrong about their identity, I really hope you are able to stop worried about what the 'true correct 100% perfect box that your identity totally will fit into' is and instead focus on 'does this label describe me? how does it help me?'

If you are someone who would never be with a man ever but occasionally experiences attraction, that experience remains the same whether you believe that bisexual or lesbian or queer or whatever fits it. Hell, if you feel like straight fits best I don't get it but I am happy for you doing what's best for you.

If you are someone who does not care about gender or what pronouns you are called, that experience does not change if you identify as cis or trans or nonbinary or agender.

Just.

Relax.

And be nice to each other.

[salilaoceania]

My COTL Headcanons on Why the Vendors Do Not Age/Die When Followers Do

Obviously the proper reason is just that the game devs need the vendors to always be there and cannot be constantly swapping them out like followers, but I like the idea of an in lore explanation for this phenomenon so I thought I'd share my headcanons anyway.

Ratau:

Former Vessel of the Red Crown; seeing as the Lamb is immortal, I think the Crown's power is more than capable of granting such everlasting life, and Ratau has received this even if he doesn't bear it any longer. Some of its magic still lingers within him.

Clauneck and Kudaai:

These guys are just cryptids to me honestly. They don't quite fit any animal I'd like to assign to them, and in the trailer Clauneck just sort of... vanishes after showing Lamb the cards. I wouldn't call them gods per se, just very very ancient beings. I think they were around before the Bishops even were (especially because I love the headcanons of Shamura being mentored by Clauneck about visions of the future, and Kudaai training Kallamar in combat) and will be around for a long time after.

Haro:

A god in their own right in the same way that the Bishop's are, though their Crown is dead. A lot less powerful than the Bishops, but still, immortal and with some control over their domain (which I like to imagine is time). Also probably older than the Bishops, given what they know about them.

Helob:

I saw the concept of lesser crowns tossed around by faery-the-diamond (who I am not tagging because I don't want to bother but absolutely suggest checking out) and tbh it's really funny to me to think that this guy has one. I adore Helob, but he feels like the last person to have his hands on something so powerful— at least until you consider what possible role he could've had in the past. I like to think tarantula are pretty well respected in Silk Cradle, and are typically high ranking followers of Shamura. Helob may not be anymore, but in the past I'd like to think that would've applied to him.

Sozo:

I mean... he does die. That's kinda a whole thing. BUT. I think Sozo is kinda just... held in a state of suspended decay by the mushroom. Like he's dying, yes, but he's not? Not until he's served his purpose anyway. I don't even know if he'd realize it either, given, well, *gestures vaguely*

Plimbo:

He's got an artifact in his stash that's extending his lifespan. I don't even think he'd realize it tbh.

Midas:

I feel like each sacrifice of a creature into gold extends his lifespan even further.

Forneus:

After her kits were sacrificed, she begged TOWW to let her see them one last time before her death. He agreed, and a bargain was struck. Until she gets to see them, Forneus will not die. It is a long, and very lonely, existence.

Ratoo:

By all accounts this man should be dead anyway, I mean look at him. He's got a gaping hole in his chest. I kinda just consider him undead in a way. He's not fully alive but he's not exactly dead either and he's gonna stay that way for a long while.

Flinky:

Married to Ratau, therefore not allowed to die, next question /j

In all seriousness I again like the idea of a 'lesser crown' in this situation, and them have receiving it as a gift from Ratau after one of his crusades.

Klunko and Bop:

I also like the idea of Klunko being undead, mostly cause of Bop hanging around him and then the hand thing. Idk it gives me vagueish Corpse Bride vibes and it's the best explanation I got.

Shrumy:

Not immortal or undead or anything else. He's just a tortoise. They live a really, really long time, even by comparison to humans, so to other animals he might as well be.

The Fox:

He's definitely some sort of demon or something of the like; regardless he's just not mortal.

Lighthouse Keeper:

Either that fire has some sort of magical property that's extending his lifespan, or it's just a new Lighthouse Keeper every so often and the Lamb doesn't notice because all of them kinda look the same.

Moth:

Not too many thoughts on the moth. Could be a different moth every time, could be the same one and they've got something a little weird going on, not really enough in game to go off of. I personally just imagine it's a different moth.

Rakshasa:

The power of this man's love for his wife has kept them both alive for millennia /j

I actually imagine he could just have some god's blessing or smth idk. Maybe Heket really liked his food or whatever and granted him (and his wife because I cannot imagine him saying yes without her included) immortality or an extended lifespan. Who knows. I have ideas but nothing particularly solid.

Fisherman:

I literally could not tell you. He baffles me.

[wisterialagoon]

For you, I'll stay : pt1

Dabi is one of the top soldiers of the League of Villains. He does the dirty work and feels the stain of crime on his hands. You're an Assistant Inspector at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, resigned to records-keeping instead of doing actual fieldwork. What happens when these two become intertwined in the most prominent political event that changed the era of 1990's Tokyo Japan?

Warnings: Violence (a girl gets beat up in this chapter), gangs, eventual smut(not in this chapter tho)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Agency, Kantō Region, Japan.

January 9th, 1990, Tuesday. 

22:30 hrs.

"It's going to be a long night," she thought, while fixing her desk for the fifth time. There was a haphazard pile of file folders, an unboxed diskette pack, and coffee cup stains all over her table calendar. She quickly reorganises the file folders, placing them in chronological order, then according to crime. Then, she matches the diskettes, which contain additional data such as interrogation footage, with each pile. Lastly, she makes her way to the pantry to refill her mug with coffee, humming along to a tune that was receiving more airplay recently.

It was an uneventful night, to say the least. As usual, she worked overtime, working on organising the paperwork and records of each case-from instigation to case management. She loved it initially, but now that she's six months into this new assignment, she could feel herself wearing down with how emotionally, physically and mentally taxing everything is. It wasn't so much the quantity or frequency of the load, but the content itself.

Seeing death, rape, theft and disappearances on a daily basis was starting to take a toll on her mental health, and even if she learned how to compartmentalise, there was something about seeing all the details that made her sleep less and less these days. The photos of dead bodies or visages of crying relatives would disturb her to no end, and having to type out each case report even if it meant tagging it as a cold case, was something that never really sat well with her.

Her direct senior, the only female Inspector in the agency-the only one who was actually nice, unlike the rest of the police force who talk about her during lunch breaks and agency dinners-tell her that the feeling of being "uninvolved" and "useless" will soon pass. "Besides," she tells her during one of the rare nights that they're both doing overtime, "You've got potential."

She sighs, wary of the compliment. "I just... I wish I could be doing more."

"You'll have your fair share of fieldwork and interrogations, Y/N" she says, patting the younger girl's shoulder. "Just keep working well, and the Chief will soon see your potential."

That last line resonated with her the most. She knew that the Chief was a firm leader-he did routine inspections, called people in his office to ask for status reports and he'd set all sorts of deadlines. But he was also known for being experienced in reading people just with one look.

So the question was, what was his assessment of her?

Did the Chief view her just like how the rest of the agency did-an Assistant Inspector who was only fit for clerical work even if she had graduated at the top of her class? Did he even notice her presence in the building-or was she too conscious of all the judgemental stares thrown her way because she was the first female recruit in a long while?

That was it, she thought, not noticing that her cup had overflowed.

With a sharp curse, she flung her hand away from the scalding beverage, and moved to grab some tissues-her mind thoroughly forgetting the questions that had darted in her mind not a minute ago.

As she dabbled the tissue on her hands and shirt, the police hotline rang, disturbing the silence of the otherwise empty floor. Alarmed at the prospect of a crime or report coming in at this hour, she runs towards the desk of the patrol and public safety unit.

"SMPA, what is your concern?" she asks, voice surprisingly level. When there wasn't a response, she asks again, this time a notch louder.

"Kidnapping," the voice cuts through the radio silence, its texture a rich timbre with a raspy undertone. Caught off guard at the mention of a kidnapping, she scrambles for a notepad and a pen. "23:00, 6 Chome-10-1 Roppongi, Minato City, Tokyo 106-6108, Japan. Takahashi Yua." In hastily written script, she takes note of the details, not once interrupting the man on the line.

"Who is this? Where is your intel from?" she finally asks, after she hears mere breathing sounds. "Hello?"

The person on the line doesn't respond, instead opting to breathe heavily before the line dies.

"Wha-" she exhales, overwhelmed with the situation. It wasn't unheard of for random tips to come in the station, that much was true. But a tip at this time? And with that much detail? She was wary enough that there wasn't any crime traffic recently but this is proving to be the suspicious exception.

Shaking off her doubts, she dials the home number of Inspector Sato, the head of the patrol and public safety unit. She knows he'll definitely give her an earful for calling at such a late hour-and to his house no less, but if what the man said was true, and if her gut was right, someone was after the daughter of the Minister of National Defense.

At the sixth ring, he picks up and greets her with a litany of questions. "Who is this? Do you have any idea what time it is? Whoever you are, you better have a damn good reason for waking me up!" he rattles off, temper flaring.

"This is Miyasaki Y/N, sir." she says, surprised at how stable her voice was. "Assistant Inspec-"

"Ah, the personal assistant." his tongue clicks, and even if she didn't see, she knew he was shaking his head. "What is it? Here to ask help again in records-keeping?"

At that, she presses her mouth in a thin line, stopping herself from giving him a piece of her mind. She knew that they would always find fault in whatever she does but sometimes she wants to just put them in their place and prove herself.

But now wasn't the time to do that.

"No, sir." she starts, fisting her hand. "There's been an emergency call to the patrol and public service hotline. A tip was given about a kidnapping at apartment 6 Chome-10-1 in Roppongi -"

"Let me stop you right there." he expels a deep breath, clearly uninterested with her report. "You do know what that area is like, right? Or do you not even know where it is?"

"It's in Minato city. The residence listed houses many important political figures, it has national defence" she says, foregoing the other details and taking the opportunity to transition to the most important part. "Sir, you see, this could actually mean that-"

"This means that there is no kidnapping. I mean, if you're trying to pull a joke, it's a terrible one. Hell, there's hardly any crime in that area!" he gives a dry laugh. "it's an executive residential area, guarded and all that. As you said, National Defence is there and so are diplomats and expats. No one in their right mind would attempt a prank call, let alone a kidnapping."

"But the caller gave a name, possibly that of the victim. We should send a team, I have the address. I could lead the-" again, he cuts her off. At this point, a vein was threatening to pop at how unprofessional he was being, but she'd rather not break out into an argument with a direct senior-especially when he was clearly already annoyed at her.

"So this is why you really called, huh?" he chuckles. "Look, no one knows how you got in, or what strings you pulled to pass the Academy, but at the rate you're going, you'll never lead a team-much less my team." the certainty in his voice washed over her, causing her to remain silent at his blatant jibe. "So go back to whatever you're doing and don't even attempt to call me or anyone from the agency to waste their time with your tall tales." the other line clicks, ending their phone call.

Exasperated, she puts down the receiver with a little too much force than was necessary. "Fine, I'll do it myself." she mutters, putting on her coat, muffler and grabbing her car keys.

30 minutes. She'll have to pray that she makes it. After all, she doesn't have much time.

6 Chome-10-1 Roppongi, Minato City, Tokyo 106-6108, Japan.

The Takahashi Residence.

23:00 hrs.

The gate to the apartment building alone rendered her speechless. Pure brass balusters and a towering guardhouse greeted her, complete with intimidating security personnel who wasted no time in asking for her identification.

"Assistant Inspector Lee, from the SMPA. We received a tip about criminal activity taking place in the vicinity of this residence," she starts, not giving any specific details. "This won't take long." she adds, as a last ditch effort to convince them that she means business.

"Alright," one of the guards lets her through. As she rolled up her window, she catches a muffled dialogue between the two. "Isn't she a little too young to be an Inspector? And criminal activity? Talk about absurd."

Scoffing, she speeds up to the address the caller gave and in a few minutes, found herself outside the apartment building. But she was too late. There, standing by the of the main entrance, was the defence Minister himself, with blood on his hands and a shell-shocked expression.

"My daughter..." she hears him mutter. From just behind the door, she hears distant voices screaming for someone to call the police. "Dial the police! Or call the National Defense for all I care! Someone do something!" the voice got louder as she linked it with a face-Takahashi Riku, the Minister's wife. As if seeing the police lights flashing atop her car, The ministers knees gave out.

She makes haste to catch him before he falls, and as she does, she gets her shirt stained with blood, and scrapes her elbow with the force of his weight. Not minding the sting of the wind blowing by her scraped skin, she pulls out her walkie-talkie, and radios the police patrolling Roppongi that night.

"This is Assistant Inspector Miyasaki Y/N, does anyone copy?" she starts, practically shouting. For some reason, she felt an adrenaline rush at the development of events. "Repeat, this is Assistant Inspector Miyasaki, does anyone copy?"

After a few beats, a voice breaks through the white noise. "This is Inspector Takami, copy. What's your 10-13?"

"I've got a two zero seven." she says, forgetting that she hadn't even scouted the area for verification that a kidnapping actually took place. "6 Chome-10-1 Roppongi, Minato City. Send a medic for shock treatment." she rattles off, surprised at herself for actually being able to focus and act given the situation.

Then again, this was her job. Her first fieldwork-albeit unwarranted and unapproved.

"Copy that, 10-4. I'll run code. ETA twenty minutes." he affirms his direct response before ending the dispatch call.

6 Chome-10-1 Roppongi, Minato City, Tokyo 106-6108, Japan.

The Takahashi Residence.

23:20 hrs.

After twenty minutes, two police cars pull up the driveway. One belonged to Inspector Takami, the other was the patrol for back-up. He closes the gap between them in five, quick strides, hands in his coat's pockets.

"What happened?" he asks, ready for a briefing.

"There's nothing definitive yet..." she trails off, mentally berating herself for not even scouting the interior to study the scene. "But I've spoken to the family."

"You mean you've spoken to the Minister of National Defense." he supplies, his breath fogging up in front of him. "What did he say?"

"The family heard the door slam shut, and when he went to check his daughter was gone," hesitant, she clears her throat as a stalling method. "He found her in the marking lot, the girl was bruised and bloodied, unconscious. Looks like she was forced to inhale somthing, and her hands were tied."

"Attempted kidnapping?" he asks, stealing a glance at the apartment buildings façade.

"High chance for it." she answers, clearing her throat again. "Listen, Inspector, I received a tip in the agency around an hour ago-saying something about a kidnapping taking place at this time, at this exact address."

He raises his eyebrows, evidently taken aback at this new piece of information. "And?" he asks, expectant.

"And I think this is a set-up." she declares, sure of something for the first time that night. "Whoever is behind this, wanted us to come, thinking it was a kidnapping when it was an assault and break-and-entry."

"What are you getting at, Miyasaki?"

"There's a reason why Miss. Takahashi was assaulted and not kidnapped. They're telling us something." she says, handing out her notepad which contained the details of the emergency call a while back.

"What do you think this could possibly be then?"

"I don't know... yet." fuelled with conviction, she fists her hands at her sides, no longer feeling that sensation of helplessness or uselessness back in the agency when she was working on records-keeping. "But I'll find out."

9-chome, Kitakarasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo.

Assistant Inspector Miyasaki Y/N's Residence.

02:00 hrs.

Finally back at her apartment after filing the case and sending off the Minister's family with words of certainty about exhausting their whole force on the job, she slumps on the sofa, feeling her body become dead weight.

"God..." she sighs, fatigued. "That was a long night."

[avidlearners-blog]