halfamoon | Feb. 3rd, 2026

Today's theme is The Caregiver.

Here are some ideas to get you started: She spends time looking after others, often to the exclusion of her own needs. Whether this is an occupation like a doctor, or whether she's a parent or looking after her own parents, she thrives on taking care of other people. Or you could look at a character who was thrown into a caregiving role that might not want to be there and show how she navigates that path.

Just go wherever the Muse takes you. If this prompt doesn't speak to you, feel free to share something that does. You can post in a separate entry or as a comment to this post.

Want to get a jump start on tomorrow's theme? Check out the prompt list in the pinned post at the top of the page. Please don't post until that day.

Title: Guilty Pleasures
Fandom: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Character: Cassandra Pentaghast & Leliana
Prompt: Guilty Pleasures
Rating/Category: T/Gen
Summary: Leliana finds Cassandra reading the latest Swords & Shields.
Notes: With this prompt, my mind went straight to Cassandra's quest, Guilty Pleasures. The serious and responsible Seeker can't be caught enjoying the romance books of the guy she once arrested, right?

Guilty Pleasures

Finding Cassandra is trivial, even if she thinks that she's hiding. Not hiding so much that someone who did find her would have just cause to accuse her of hiding, but hiding nonetheless, at a spot in the yard that, while still out in the open, would only be visible by people passing by.

“You know, if you wanted Varric's book this badly, I could have taken it for you,” Leliana says, arriving quietly enough that her words are the first thing to betray her presence.

Cassandra nearly throws the books in the air, then holds it protectively against her chest, as if she means to hide the cover. The problem is, Leliana was at Kirkwall, she was witness when Cassandra first got her hands on Swords & Shields and all the excuses that she has for reading it. It's a terribly guarded secret, but at least Cassandra is far better at that with things that matter.

“I don't know what you're talking about. I… did the Inquisitor tell you to?” Cassandra asks, with a sigh of resignation.

“Oh no, she told no one, except for Varric. And then they were talking about it, loudly, in public. She's trying to understand what's so special about this story to make it a secret,” Leliana says, although she had found out through other sources before that as well.

She says it more to illustrate a point, if Cassandra wanted it to remain a secret, then she shouldn't have asked for the Inquisitor's help. The Inquisitor does get things done, but she's not always the best with expectations of privacy.

“I should have known. I should have known better than to let myself get carried away, but the last one ended in a cliffhanger and I just needed to know what happened to the Knight-Commander,” Cassandra says, as if she needs to justify her reading habits.

Leliana laughs. “Don't be silly, just read your books. The world is not going to end because you took an hour to yourself. It might still end, but it won't be for this.”

Cassandra looks around, but no one seems to be noticing them talking there, and to anyone out of earshot, they might as well be talking about some important Inquisition matter.

“I suppose I can stay here another few minutes. I only have fifteen pages to go,” Cassandra says, opening the book again.

Leliana leaves her be. Good on her, they all have such weight on their shoulders, they won't last long without a few guilty pleasures.