#really any ship from the mule even crack ships lol

[lornacrane]

oh hey related to “please help me move” stuff I am still very down to write short fics for commission 👉🏽👈🏽 pwp is like. easiest for me to do with a quick turnaround but if you have a short prompt for non-smut I can do that too!!

[herald-divine-hell]

I can't think of a specific question right now but I'd love to know more about your Inquisitor x Leliana headcanons. For any or all of your Inquisitors.

Aw. Thank you for the asks!

I have two Inquisitors whom I primarily ship with Leliana.

The oldest, and perhaps dearest to me in my heart, is Alexandra Trevelyan, but there is also Amayian Trevelyan, too.

Alexandra Trevelyan and Leliana

Alexandra was intrigued by Leliana when she first saw her, and it grew even more when Leliana called for seeking aid from the rebel mages than the Templars, which she assumed some of the Chantry like Leliana would have been more supported of.

Alexandra helps Leliana rekindle her love for stories. It is less that Alexandra pesters her to tell stories, but in this case it is Leliana who is hearing stories - the ones born when Alexandra explored the Fade during her time in the Circle, and Free Marcher and Orlesian tales she heard from her mother and father.

Although Alexandra is constantly seen by her fans (primarily my friends, lol) as being suave and seductive, when it came to getting Leliana to fall in love, it was less seductive (though it did play a role), and more earnestly on Alexandra's part. The poor mage is incredibly stubborn, and although she does not know Leliana like Josephine, she sees kindness in her, glimpsed between the cracks Leliana provides every once and a while. It makes her all the more interested in Leliana.

Leliana herself found Alexandra amusing, a pleasant past-time. Alexandra's wit endeared her, and both are increadibly work-oriented, so Alexandra often worked with her in the Rookery, aiding each other in the others report, and Leliana giving her advice as a good advisor is meant to do. It started expand from there.

For Amayian Trevelyan and Leliana

Leliana and Amayian actually met in Origins. During his time at the Circle, Amayian had a prophetic dream (born from his reincarnated soul of Andraste) that urged him to go south, to find a flaming rose upon a mountain of ash. This lead him to escape Ostwick to Ferelden, around the time the Battle of Ostagar occured, and when Loghain closed off the kingdom. Without much to go off on, in a foriegn land, Amayian sort of migrated, trying to head to the mountains. One night, he was found by the Warden and the co. and taken in.

Leliana fretted over him constantly in Origins. Amayian was just a boy, just shy of nineteen, who seemed to take everything too seriously and who had an emptiness in his eyes that endeared her to him.

Because of this, Leliana and the Warden nearly always sat by him. He almost became the Origins' crew little brother, though Amayian himself was uncomfortable with the situation and really didn't know how to react to it all.

One night, when Leliana was singing, Amayian heard an Orlesian lullaby being strummed by her lyre, and sang the song quietly to himself, because it was a similar song his mother sang to him when he was a babe.

This, of course, excited Leliana. She was finally getting something out of the mule-head. Gently and softly, she would push him to sing, and Leliana allowed him to toy with his lyre, teaching him how to play it.

Of course, Amayian fell. And he fell hard. And he didn't know what falling meant. He did not understand why his throat clamped shut and his heart raced. At one point, he went to Wynne, saying that he thinks he's having a heartattck.

Wynne found it absolutely amusing and tried to reassure him that these things were natural.

That only made him more stubborn. No it wasn't. He never had such a feeling before. He never once looked at a person and felt sweat gather on his forehead, touch the back of his neck. He didn't know why his eyes lingered when she smiled and why he liked hearing her laughter. He was afraid something was wrong with him.

Especially since the Warden and Leliana was in love.

Amayian also has a great fear of healing magic. His own failure to aid in his mother's bleeding when she was dying from blood-loss made him fear his healing powers. This became a point of contention because at one point Amayian did heal Leliana...but when the Warden was bleeding after the battle, Amayian froze up, and he fled.

This caused Leliana to be confused and angry with him. The confusion soon gave away and anger swiftly took over as the years gone by and her failures to find him, or the others to find him.

Fast-forward a decade later in Inquisition, and Leliana is both relieved and angry that this young boy is alive.

And who told him he could get so tall, anyway?

And she wants to be angry at him. But there is that boy she knows still there, even if he has gotten colder, his eyes harder.

She was willing to burn down a village. But how could she let this Amayian do that? This boy who was one of the first to draw his staff to defend her from Marjolaine's assassins, who took a dragonlings' claw to his back to save her.

Let her be burned, Maker, but leave the poor boy be.

And their relationship kinda expands from there. Both wanting to heal the other, but thinking themselves unworthy of healing.

[sakurasangcl]

The Old Religion

okay so I was @elyxion​‘s exol secret santa! @exolssecretsanta​ “Mmmh” gave me way to strong force sensitive!jongin feels, so I couldn’t not write this. There’s definitely going to be a second part because this feels like more set up. I may end up reposting it all together or you could consider this a long teaser idk also its totally unedited TT lol I hope you like it <3

Pairing: force sensitive!jongin x force sensitive!reader... eventually lol

genre: suspense (not really fluff or angst idk) 

word count: 1.3k

warnings: slight misogyny (the men don’t want y/n in danger but is totally fine)

You had heard of Jedi and Sith, but you were never quite sure what to make of them. One of the elders in your town had taken you to their small home after a festival event. 

You were only seven, and she took you inside. She lit a fire and began to warm up the room. Then, she took your hand, brushed back your hair, and looked deep into your eyes. “If you were born when I was young, you would have been a youngling. Perhaps it is a good thing, that you needn’t die in a war or in a massacre. If you look deep within yourself and connect with the universe, you may become more powerful than any of them.” 

Her words confused you, but she always refused to clarify them. 

After she passed away, you decided to try her words. You were always different from the other kids, an outcast. It didn’t mind you too much, as you had your unique traits. You were told they were jealous of your nature and your ease of communicating with different races and even droids. Your instincts guide you into the lush forest, following a long forgotten path. You end up finding ancient ruins.

The ruins cause shivers to run down your spine, but a certain spot calls to you. There were steps going up and around the ruins, which called to you. It was getting dark, but you hardly noticed. Once at the top, you realized you were on the roof of the ruins. The top was a circle, with a stone seat in the middle surrounded by ruins. 

The breeze was warm as it rustled your hair, and you could have sworn you heard a voice that said “sit down, sit here.” 

Despite the unfamiliarity of the situation, and your lack of understanding the writing, you walked forward and sat. You sit cross legged and close your eyes, resting your hands in your lap. You take a deep breath, and focus on the world around you. You feel the warmth of the setting suns, the birds calling in the distance, a nearby waterfall… You’re not sure how long you are sitting there meditating, but it’s long dark by the time you open your eyes. 

You do your best not to panic, feeling a large presence nearing you. It wasn’t dangerous or really intelligent, nor could it be considered a primitive race. You slowly head down the steps towards the base of the ruins, and soon find yourself face to face with a large lizard creature (similar to a Boga from Utapau). You had heard of these creatures- it was why you were encouraged never to wander into the forest alone. They were carnivores and incredibly dangerous. 

But this one seemed calm and curious, tilting its head at you. You knew you were an easy meal, but you also weren’t close enough to the doors of the ruins to try and hide inside. 

“Easy there,” you say cautiously, holding out your hands. The creature looks at you intently, analyzing you. “I’m a friend. I mean no harm,” you say firmly, slowly seeing if you could walk around the creature. 

It blinks at you, blocking your escape. Fear begins to rise within you, and you hear - or don’t hear - the same voice as before. “Fear not, y/n. Continue with your words, have the beast guide you home.” 

You do your best to calm yourself, once again feeling for the energy of the universe that you had been feeling before, as you meditated. 

“I mean no harm. Can you guide me home to my village?” you ask, trying to soothe the creature. 

The creature squawks at you and turns to its side, looking at you expectantly. 

“Are you here to take me home?”

The creature makes the same sound as before, waiting patiently. 

You slowly approach it, your hands gentle on its cool, smooth scales. It lowers itself some, and you’re able to use its arm as a step up onto its back. You hold onto the horns its crest, and it quickly slithers off. It’s easier to ride than you expected, but it’s gait is completely unlike a horse or mule’s. There is a side to side motion as opposed to an up and down one, which is hard to catch the rhythm of. 

The beast takes you right to the outskirts of your town. You can see panicked villagers by the walls, wondering where you were and calling your name. You slide off the creature and walk into town, everyone relieved. You were too exhausted to speak, and headed straight home. You didn’t even manage to change before you fell onto your  bed asleep. 

It was then that you dreamt of him. 

You knew that you could only dream and see the faces of people you had seen before. But you also knew that you had never seen this man before. His silvery hair covered his dark eyes as he flew on his ship. He was humming softly, and looked up and over at you. 

He could see you and you knew it. Before you could apologize or panic, he smirks. 

“I knew I’d find someone eventually. But I suppose this time, you found me?” His voice is smooth and soothing, a glint of something in his eyes. 

“Tell me one thing. What is your name?” he asks, tilting his head slightly. 

“Y/N,” you say, trying to calm your nerves. 

“Well Y/N, I’ll be seeing you soon. It may take me a month or two, but I’ll find you,” he stops, chuckling slightly. “Unless, of course, you find me first.” He grins at you once more, and you suddenly find yourself woken up by shrill noises of fright from the villagers and the warning bell. 

You hear the men yelling, and the sounds of guns cocking and panic. Somehow, you remained calm. Your curiosity led you outside, but none of the men would answer your questions. 

“What’s going on? Who is attacking us? What do they want?” you tried to ask them. 

They all had a variant of the same answer- it is not your place to ask. You huff at that, following the chaos. 

You run past the men, a sudden need urging you to push on. You run up the stairs to the top of the wall, pushing people out of your way to get up there. Men were yelling, and you looked into the clearing between the woods and the town to see what was wrong. Men were shooting blasters at the lizard beast from yesterday, but it was nimbly dodging their attacks. 

You can’t help but crack up at the absurd scene, shaking your head as you are escorted down off the wall. 

“You can’t stay here, it’s not safe,” one of the guys your age tells you, wanting you to go back and hide in your home. 

“As if,” you mutter under your breath. 

You notice the gates opening as bounty hunters are about to be let out, and you make a run for it before they can stop you. 

“HOLD YOUR FIRE!” Someone yells, and you slow your approach to the beast. 

It cocks its head and lets out a shrill noise of excitement, heading over to you. You hear men vaguely shouting, and you ignore their fear. You once again touch the creature, surprised once again how docile it was. 

Before anyone could stop you, you were on its back heading to the temple once again. 

The lizard dropped you off at the bottom of the hill, and you once more made your way up. This time, you attempt to count the stairs but end up giving up, miscounting. Why am I here? Why did this creature bring me here?  You wonder, the answers unknown. 

When you reach the top, you sit in the middle once more. You leave your eyes open as you begin to relax, and a few thoughts enter your mind with the same somewhat eerie voice as before. “They call it the Old Religion, but it calls to you. You hear us, don’t you Y/N? Fear not, the one who is called Kai will find you soon enough. He is clever and will find you when the time is right…” 

[renaroo]

The Search (6/16)

Disclaimer: Red vs Blue and related characters are the property of Rooster Teeth. Warnings: Language, Canon-typical violence, Psychological manipulation and trauma Rating: T Synopsis: [Canon Divergence - Alternate S15] The Reds and Blues saved Chorus, but it has been a year and they are still missing. A motley crew has been gathered with the common goal of finding the war heroes, though the road is more troubled than anyone seems to realize.

A/N: Woohoo!!! Bringing it in three hours before it was too late. I’d almost be impressed with myself if I didn’t spend that time being disappointed that I procrastinated as much as I did lol Hope everyone enjoys the chapter! Hope you’re ready for some roller coasters of emotion : ) 

Special thanks to @secretlystephaniebrown, @scribbleboxfox, @cobaltqueen, @analiarvb, LostOneHero, Yin, MKDemigodZ-Warrior, JP, RiverDelta, and @notatroll7 for the comments and feedback!

Implementing a Plan

The moment it was certain that Washington and Junior were in the clear, Carolina went into action.

It didn’t matter who their attackers were, but it was certainly apparent when she took them by surprise from the side that they were not trained soldiers. At least not the vast majority of them.

Even without utilizing her speed boost, she was able to maneuver through the group — five of them in total — with the momentum of one hit leading her into the next. One solid kick took out the first gunman then, as the second whirled around to get off a shot, she caught his rifle by the barrel and pushed it up to the sky as he pulled the trigger.

When the man recoiled, Carolina shoved the rifle in her grip, causing the butt of it to smack him in his unguarded face twice before he went down to the ground.

Still holding onto the gun, Carolina flipped over the dropped man, pushing off his shoulders to land a mule kick on the next prisoner who was beginning to turn toward her. Just as she landed over him, she cocked the gun and fired into the next man’s shoulder, sending him stumbling back.

Then the last dropped his gun and held up his hands, which Carolina ignored in favor of punching him directly in the face.

She took a breath and planted her landing, throwing the unfamiliar rifle away to the side.

All in a day’s work.

“Editorial note: the combat prowess of Agent Carolina is… suitably impressive.”

Immediately shaken from her thoughts, Carolina whirled around. “What?” She then sat eyes on two sets of white armor. “Andrews? Grey? What are you doing off the ship?”

“Oh, shit, were we not supposed to leave?” Kai asked, drawing Carolina’s attention to her inclusion in their group. Which… brought up many, many questions since Carolina probably should have seen the obnoxiously bright yellow armor in the corner of her eye first. “Nobody told me the rules. It’s Wash’s fault. He’s the one who’s supposed to know all the laws.”

Carolina’s mouth opened slightly but words failed her until she remembered the ship in the equation. “Who is watching the ship if all three of you are here?” she demanded.

“FILSS said she’s got this,” Kai shrugged.

Well, it was difficult for the Freelancer to think of anyone more suitable for such a job than an AI when their options on the team were… somewhat limited.

“None of you need to be here in open combat!” Carolina snapped instead.

“Pfft,” Kai shrugged. “I’ve got a gun. I just don’t use it. Well, not in that way.”

“Excuse you, Agent Carolina,” Doctor Grey bristled. “I would argue that other than you and Agent Washington, no one in this group has more experience in true combat than I, as a medical physician during a planet wide civil war, have.”

Taking a breath, Carolina accepted the women’s arguments and let her gaze instead fall on Dylan Andrews.

The reporter was taking notes before realizing all eyes were on her, then she looked up slowly and glanced from side to side before clearing her throat.

“Ahem,” she coughed. “I’m a reporter.”

“That’s not a trump card for every situation,” Carolina informed her.

“It’s worked on this adventure so far,” Andrews pointed out.

Grey crossed her arms and rolled her head back. “I would hardly call what happened back on the Charon ship working, Miss Andrews. And it certainly hasn’t worked to endear you to anyone on this crew.”

“I kinda like her,” Kai piped up.

“You like everyone,” Grey argued.

“Uh… nuh-uh,” Kai scoffed in return.

“You like everyone but cops and Agent Washington,” Grey sighed.

“Which are the same thing but yeah duh,”  Kai crossed her arms. “But he’s getting better. I mean he gets scary sometimes when he’s angry and stuff, but it’s not really at me anymore. Usually at things like the coffee maker and the sink and the bathroom not having toilet paper.”

“All things you caused, L’il Grif,” Carolina pointed out.

“Yeah, but he didn’t know that,” Kai snorted. “Which is, like, the best part.”

Finding herself already getting sucked into the moment, Carolina shook her head to bring herself back to reality. “None of this matters,” she argued. “You three need to get back to the ship and let Wash and I handle whatever mess Junior has gotten us into.” She then remembered Wash and Junior and walked over toward the edge of the building to peer down below where Wash and Junior had taken cover.

She wasn’t entirely sure what she had been expecting, but seeing Washington literally putting his hands on his hips and enthusiastically scolding the young alien managed to both catch her by surprise and provide monumental relief.

Carolina reached for her sidearms and glanced back to the others, seeing that cooler heads were not the winners for much longer.

“Doctor Grey,” Carolina called, getting the Chorusian’s attention quickly. “Are any of these guys our mysterious lieutenant or should we move on and find what we can further on?”

“Oh! Very good thought, Carolina!” Grey said in quick cheer, a completely different tone than just before. She hurried over to Carolina’s side and hummed loudly while looking over the available unconscious prisoners. “Oh, my. These men are rather malnourished… And many of them have healing bruises and wounds — they have been having a tough go of it for some time.”

“Abandoned by the UNSC, left to fight for supplies and necessities among each other and who knows what else,” Andrews said, aiming her tablet toward the unconscious men as Grey carefully removed helmets and examined their faces. “This gets deeper and deeper.”

“That’s what he said,” Kai called out excitedly. She waited for a pregnant pause before stomping down her foot. “Oh, c’mon, the one time Baby Alien Fucker isn’t here to say it!” She looked around and then pointed at Carolina. “Dude! Carolina! Washington said you have the same shade of gray armor that Tucker does.”

“Not… exactly,” Carolina tried fruitlessly to defend.

“You have to say the thing in his place,” Kai demanded. “C’mon! Say the thing, it was too good of one to not let it be said!”

Crossing her arms over her chest, Carolina just glared back at Kaikaina. “Li’l Grif, I have said it before, and was told to never say it again. By Tucker,” Carolina said firmly.

“It’s true! I bore testament to it,” Grey said, standing back up again. “It was quite the awkward moment! We all barely survived the pursuing moments.”

Kai crossed her arms in mimic of Carolina. “Say it.”

“No,” Carolina refused.

“It’s your responsibility! C’mon!” Kai crooned. “She said this gets deeper and deeper. Then I said that’s what he said. That’s when you say…”

All three of the other women looked at Carolina expectantly. There was an absurd amount of pressure Carolina felt in their gazes.

“Bow chicka…bow wow,” she got out.

“YES! SCORE!” Kaikaina cried out in a cheer, going so far as to jump up with her arms raised.

Doctor Grey was even laughing, putting a gentle hand against her chest. “Ah, that brings back memories.”

Despite herself, Carolina cracked a smile in the relative safety of behind her mask. “It does feel… better hearing it out loud again after so long.”

“That’s what she said,” Kai tried.

“You’re overdoing it,” Carolina warned.

“Aw, fine,” Kai sighed with a flip of her wrist.

Andrews looked around at all of them before lowering her tablet. “I have no idea what’s happening right now. I’m not sure I even like it. Or that I care.”

“Well, it is kinda like a taco stand up here right now. It’s gonna depend on your preference for the ps or the vs,” Kai shrugged.

“What,” Andrews responded flatly.

“Don’t worry about it, Dylan,” Carolina assured the reporter before waving them all forward. She could see in the periphery that Wash was waving down to them. “We need to get moving. Doctor Grey, did you see anyone who could be our guy?”

“No, unfortunately,” Grey huffed. “It all looks like this was one big entrapment.”

“After we blew our cover back with Charon, of course it is,” Andrews replied as they followed Carolina. “These are not idiots we’re currently dealing with. They’re professionals. And they needed us to stop looking in the right places.”

“Oh, the right places such as where you got us into a trap and almost killed,” Grey retorted.

“They obviously caught wind of us not because of me but because of recognizing the two of you, or maybe the stolen ship that entered the port—“

Kai followed at a leisurely pace, arms crossed behind her helmet. “Shit. Things are hard to follow when everyone’s angry and yelling. Hey, Carolina, are we closer to finding everyone?”

The truth was, as much as it frustrated her and as much as she hated it, Carolina didn’t know.

Still, it didn’t keep her from saying what they all needed to hear in the moment. “Yes,” she answered. “Yes we are.”

Once they were down to Wash and Junior’s level, Carolina met with her fellow Freelancer and crossed her arms. “What can you tell me from down here? The shooters were left behind prisoners. None of them was our guy.”

“Well, after I informed Junior that one more betrayal of our agreement is going to get him sent back on a pod toward the nearest Sangheilli Embassy,” Wash said, bothering to look enough back toward Junior that the alien snarled and muttered as he looked away from Wash’s gaze, “we found a map layout of the floor level of this facility.”

Carolina tilted her head. “What? Really? Wait, what does that even mean?”

“It’s like… a mall directory for some reason,” Wash said, walking them over to the large sign standing in the middle of the large prison hall. “The cell blocks were color coded by level of danger and access.”

“That’s convenient,” Grey hummed, studying the map. “Hmm. Yes. Okay. Memorized it.”

“Good work, Emily,” Carolina said with a nod.

“Wait, you can memorize it just by looking at it?” Andrews asked critically. “Are you being serious right now?”

“Of course,” Grey responded, tilting up her chin. “I’m one of the foremost intellects of the planet—“

“Ladies, ladies,” Carolina said, holding up her hands. “You’re both pretty and intelligent. And I appreciate you being parts of the team. Now kiss and make up.”

“Holy shit, really? I knew this was going to be a great backdrop for a prison exploitation porno,” Kai laughed, looking around. “Gotta admit, though, a bit more plot in this than I usually like.”

“Wait what,” Wash said flatly.

Andrews and Grey, however, seemed to mark Carolina’s words with quite a bit more reverence. Both rubbing at their shoulders and looking down awkwardly before finally daring to face each other again.

“You’re… quite extraordinary,” Andrews started. “Just already from all the intelligence I’ve seen you use and all the things I’ve read since I first learned your name and started frantically googling your name in order to cross reference all the outrageous claims you’ve been making about your multiple doctoral theses… I shouldn’t doubt your intelligence. It’s proven itself. And pretty much saved our lives as much as Agent Carolina’s kicks back on the Charon ship.”

“Thank you,” Grey replied before clearing her throat. “You are an excellent and sharp reporter who is being very selfless in the name of finding the truth and helping to tell our story when all is said and done. I’ve been following your work for quite a while now and you live up to the hype.” She then shrugged. “And I suppose my extraordinary photographic memory isn’t that impressive when we’re dealing with a giant multilevel schematic which is perfectly color coded. It helps make it much easier to remember that cell block B for the first twenty-three and one third rows are orange compared to the green counterparts in cell block H—“

“Whoa! There’s orange on here?” Kai asked, racing up to the map and scouring the diagram for herself.

Carolina raised a brow at the younger woman. “Li’l Grif… you can’t tell the difference between colors. Just take our word for it.”

“Please, what advantages do colors give you for perspective?” Kai waved her off.

“I hear it’s plenty useful helping you remember what side of a color coded war you’re on,” Washington replied dryly.

“Hey, cop, you’re a fucking asshole and you make fun of me again I’ll show you how quickly I can make a shiv out of a sucker stick,” Kai warned before looking at the map again. “Besides, I’ve spent, like, my whole effing life memorizing all twenty-six shades of gray that are absolutely necessary to fake out your driving test dude into giving you a license after a hand job. And I can tell you, none of these places on the map are as important as this one.”

She then pointed directly at the infirmary in the map.

“What do you mean?” Carolina asked.

“Duh, there are laws about making things translate well for all disabilities, so if something’s stupid important it’s going to be noticeable even to a high school dropout who joined the military to find her big brother,” she retorted. “All the other grays are basically the same but this one stands out.”

“Well, of course an infirmary will be important,” Grey responded before stiffening slightly and holding up a finger. “Ah… ah… AH! EUREKA!” she cried out shrilly.

“What is it?” Wash asked.

“Medical records! They should be able to tell us who has been here regardless of anything else. We can determine if this was a false lead by verifying that the lieutenant was ever here or not, and perhaps see if we can find any more connections to Chorus or a pattern of movement for Charon facilities. One is bound to have the Reds and Blues, after all,” Grey spoke so quickly even Carolina nearly had trouble keeping pace.

Perking up, Carolina looked to Washington and found the same apprehensive encouragement they had shared the night before. Her gaze fell back onto Emily.

“That’s helpful,” she said. “And anything will be better than leaving this day with nothing. So let’s get moving.”

There was no argument heard from that and they soon began swiftly, though cautiously, following Doctor Grey’s directions to the infirmary.

While it was total bullcrap that they weren’t giving her enough praise for her contributions to the team, Kaikaina was absolutely rocking it in her own mind for using her color blindness to perfection. She even carried the content feeling in a little skip added to her walk.

Everyone else was on edge, but Kai had just gotten the exact words she needed to stop worrying about it all:

Her brother and friends were still alive. They were closer to finding them.

Already more than content with those facts, Kai could hardly worry about the way Wash and Carolina kept their guns up and aimed for the shadows surrounding them. Or how Grey was worriedly muttering under her breath as she led them through the maze-like facility.

Heck. She could hardly be worried about the fact that Junior was some little kid basically out of control causing all the problems when they landed. Or that she still didn’t trust the news lady because yuck fake news.

She was going to find Dexter and their friends and they were going to kick anyone’s butt who tried to stop them from there.

Once they arrived at their destination, however, Kai found herself met with a grim, horrifying reality though.

This prison smelled like shit.

“Oh my god why’s this sell like a crust vag?” she demanded.

“Wait what,” Wash said, looking over his shoulder at her.

“Maybe the sewers have backed up without treatment or maintenance in so long,” Carolina determined.

Junior honked and slapped both his hands over his nostrils to keep the smell out, which had never made Kaikaina more grateful for wearing her full head helmet for once.

“It smells more like decay,” Andrews said, looking around. “It’s possible — with the condition those men we saw were in — that there are some dead among those who had been left behind.”

Humming, Doctor Grey neared a large door with a H in a circle. “I must agree with Miss Andrews. We are certainly dealing with a scent of decay. But the true question is what exactly would be decaying.”

“You guys know what dead bodies smell like?” Kai asked critically. “Shitfire, I understand why knowing what fragrant vaginas smell like but that’s normal. What’re you guys doing with your time to smell bodies? Like, gross, double-you tee eff.”

“We’re in the military!” Wash snapped at her critically. “We all have smelled a dead body before.”

“I’m in the military, I’ve never shot a gun,” Kai countered. “Well, not my gun at least.”

“Bow chicka honk honk.”

Throwing her head back, Kaikaina roared with laughter. “Fuck yeah, li’l dude, that’s what I’ve been waiting for all day!”

“Li’l Grif, stay quiet for a minute,” Carolina ordered, nearing the door with Grey.

Annoyed, Kai crossed her arms and huffed while Washington looked unreasonably smug.

“Can you get us in?” Carolina asked. “Seems sealed.”

“It is, I’m afraid,” Grey replied, pulling out a drive. “Fortunately, I foresaw technical difficulties and asked for a direct line to our new friend just in case.”

“The infirmary being sealed could be proper procedure for a shutdown like this,” Andrews mused, coming up behind the other two women. “But it doesn’t make sense why the remaining inmates haven’t done more to break in. You would assume that the supplies inside would be invaluable to their survival after all of this.”

“Very astute observations, Miss Andrews,” Grey said civilly.

Kai’s eyes rolled back and she groaned. “Ugh, it was more interesting when they were just honest and hated each other.”

“Private Grif,” Wash snapped.

“What? I value honesty, and you know I’m saying the truth,” Kai defended, hand on her chest.

Doctor Grey seemed to be expertly ignoring them, fiddling with the passcode lock of the door before sticking in the drive. “Sorry to bother you so quickly, FILSS, but I’m afraid we’ve already ran into something of a snag.”

“I’m happy to assist those working the preserve the remaining successes of Project Freelancer like Agent Carolina and Agent Washington!” the AI responded cheerfully.

“Again, thank you so much,” Grey replied sweetly before getting back up straight and standing in front of the doors like the rest of them. They were very interested in moving things forward.

Kai sure as hell knew she was. Moving forward meant moving toward Grif. And he was her primary motivator in most things at the end of the day.

It seemed like it only took FILSS seconds after Doctor Grey plugged her in to turn all the lights surrounding the door on, making the room a slightly brighter gray before a hiss of air escaped and the doors began to slide open.

Everyone stood at the ready at first, but then within seconds, every one of their group recoiled back from the room as the atrocious smell hit them. Kai stumbled back, almost getting sick in her stomach as she coughed for air and steadied herself by grabbing her knees. Everyone else either stepped away or waved the air in front of their helmets away only to stop all at once.

Kai looked up just as Washington grabbed Junior’s shoulders and spun him around to face the other direction despite the younger’s protesting chatter.

“Oh my god,” Andrews said, nearly dropping her notes.

Shocked, Kaikaina kept staring at what should have been an infirmary but was, instead, a brightly lit surgeon’s room, caked in brown stain and flies, bodies stacked on the floor around a strange table-like chair where a rotting corpse sat underneath some hideous instrument with multiple arm-like appendages ending in various medical tools. She had never seen anything like it before in her life. Her stomach churned with it.

“What the fuck — who walked onto the Hostel set?” she screeched, breaking the silence.

“They… left people to be… experimented on,” Doctor Grey concluded, still holding her hands over her helmet filter as if to stifle the smell as much as she could. “The men who were left back there were never meant to survive to begin with. But… what were they attempting to— ah. Agent Carolina, if you could please tilt the man in the chair’s head down and check the back of his head — I cannot help but notice that the… others have the same unusual close shave on the back of their heads regardless of style—“

“Shit,” Washington murmured before turning around himself, and pulling Junior along as he walked away from the room.

Concerned, Kai watched as Wash passed her. “Wash?”

“Not now, Private Grif,” he muttered, almost sounding dazed.

Kai stood her ground for a moment and then looked to the rest of the group. Carolina was doing as Doctor Grey had asked and let out a snarl.

“Damn it,” Carolina cursed. “These are… low-grade implants. Neural netting is fried to shit — a hack job. This guy didn’t have a chance getting out of the chair.”

“That smell isn’t simply decay, it’s burnt skin and hair,” Grey concluded with a genuinely saddened tone.

“Doctor Grey, what was the name of our mystery man again?” Andrews asked, walking over to the table near the operating chair. “They seem to have a list here of patients. All with x’s. Could save us time trying to hack into the computer.”

“Yes, of course,” Grey said absently. “His name was Lieutenant Bartholomew Husk. Federation Army of Chorus—“

“He’s here,” Andrews said, walking over to Grey with Carolina, handing over the clipboard. “I’m sorry. He has an x. When he managed to somehow make it off of Chorus he must have been intercepted by a Charon ship. To keep him quiet they sent him here, and I suppose if that wasn’t enough to satisfy Chairman Hargrove…”

Grey looked down on the list, shaking her head. “I wonder how many others we assumed dead after leaving the planet were taken unawares by that awful, horrid man…”

Knowing that they were going beyond her at that point, Kai cleared her throat to get the other women’s attentions. “Hey, this is fun and all, but how’s this help us find my Big Bro and the others?”

“It gives us an idea of what they were aiming to do here, Li’l Grif. That’s important,” Carolina explained.

“And what the hell was that?” Kai demanded. “Burn their brains out?”

“To use their successful AI implant augmentation to whatever ends they were unable to with these unfortunate prisoners of the UNSC,” Grey explained. “And to be frank, yours, Agent Carolina’s, and Agent Washington’s would be just as valuable to them now that we understand what their interests are.”

“Successful AI implantation… the crown jewel of what Project Freelancer was trying to make,” Andrews said almost in thought.

Kai glanced back toward where Wash went with Junior. “What about Washington?”

Carolina grew stiffer. “This was probably a difficult scene for him,” she admitted finally. “His implantation… wasn’t all that successful either. Leave him alone for now. For now what we need to do is find more clues as to where to go next.” She turned toward Andrews and Grey. “Ladies, have any ideas? See anywhere we can give FILSS access?”

As they talked, Kaikaina knew she wasn’t going to be of much help. There weren’t any color coded signs or anything. So she went back to what she did best — ignoring orders and hijacking things.

Name, hijacking whatever Junior was trying to do to pull Agent Washington out of his weird, stony stare down the hallway. A stare that never went well with someone who was also holding a rifle in their hands. Like yikes.

“Hey, what’s up?” Kai asked, coming up to Washington.

“Not now, Private,” he said lowly.

She glanced back to the infirmary and then toward Washington. “Was it the smell? It’s okay if you throw up, I heard our helmets can filter it out.”

“That’s not true,” Washington said, still staring.

Junior was clicking his tongue rapidly, looking around the building as if trying to see something that Washington wasn’t seeing. Kaikaina hadn’t seen or gotten much action since she had joined the military, truth be told. But she knew enough from being around everyone else that Junior was too young and too pure to see whatever it was Wash was looking at in the distance.

“Carolina said that room  might give you mad mojo so… sorry if it did that,” Kai offered quietly. “If I knew it was going to upset you, I’d nevera pointed it out on the map thing.”

“It’s going to get us closer to putting pieces together, Kaikaina,” he said, finally looking away from the hallway to stare at her instead. Almost as creepy as him staring down the hallway, honestly. “That’s thanks to you.”

“Hey, you used my name,” Kai said with a smirk. “You comfortable in a prison, cop?”

“Quite the opposite,” Washington replied. “I’ve been in one too many already thanks to Hargrove—“

“Holy shit you did hard time?” she asked, impressed.

“The… hardest time,” Wash exhaled sharply. “It was… difficult.”

“Well, no shit, Sherlock, it’s prison,” she snorted in return. “So that why you freaking out?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I’m… What’s going on back there — what we found in that room. If it’s what I think it was… then they may be trying to do to the Reds and Blues what was done to me.”

“Go to prison?” Kai asked. “Because Dex already did, like, fifteen minutes of it once on Sidewinder. he told me about it. Changed him, he said. But I dunno how since he was still fat and full of reasons to yell at me.”

“I’m trying to be serious here,” he snapped in frustration.

“So am I! It’s my fucking brother we’re talking about and you’re freaking me out!” she yelled at him. “What’re you saying’s gonna happen if they do to them what they did to you? Is it gonna hurt them or something?”

Washington shook his head. “I don’t know. That’s why I’m concerned! That’s why… if it is then I will personally rip Hargrove in half. Because what was done to me… I was supposed to make damn sure it never happened to anyone else.”

By the time Washington finished his snarl, Kaikaina was covering her mouth, eyes tearing up under helmet. She let out a choked sob. “So it’s really bad. We came here to find answers and they’re really bad,” she concluded, voice growing more hysterical.

“What…” he turned to her directly. “No, Private… Li’l Grif… Kaikaina, don’t cry. We’re going to get them back, and we’re going to make anyone who hurts them pay.”

Choking on all the emotions she had been feeling since the second she had seen the broadcast, Kai curled forward and continued to cry, unable to breathe more than through a few heaves. “I don’t want payback, I just want Dexter safe. I just want him safe. He’s the only family I have. All of them are the only family I’ve had and I haven’t even seen them for years—“

Kaikaina couldn’t wipe away her tears with her helmet on and her vision was blurred well beyond seeing. But she could feel when Washington wrapped arms around her shoulders and pulled her in against his chest, chin resting on the top of her helmet.

He didn’t say anything, and Kai was glad. She sniffed and coughed and went through all the motions instead.

She was so tired of finding hope only for it to be dashed again. They all were.

[morapandora]

Happy new year everyone! 🌟 Today’s post rings in the new year with my monthly news round-up, with all the details on what’s coming up for January 2018 – we have the Valentine’s  Day and Chinese New Year 2018 collection launches, some Disney Parks updates, info on the next Pandora Disney UK release, and more! 🌈

I hope you all had a lovely time celebrating (or not celebrating) the new year! We cooked a nice dinner with family, and then spent the evening playing Pictionary, learning how to play poker and watching The IT Crowd. 😊

I apologise again to anyone who was disappointed by the Pandora SS18 sneak peeks being removed. I hope to be in discussion with Pandora about this soon, and will provide an update when I can. I’ve read through and appreciate, as always, all your interesting and thoughtful comments, but will hold off my responses for the time being.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this round-up!

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Pandora Valentine’s 2018 collection release

The main event for this month is the launch of the Pandora Valentine’s 2018 collection. The collection has had mixed reviews from collectors, and features a set of lip-themed jewellery alongside the usual hearts and pinks. It’s due to launch on 11 January – and you can see a full preview if you look through the Pandora Valentine’s Day 2018 tag.

In the meantime, I have some live images to show you! The first comes from Pandora’s official Instagram, offering a rather pretty look at the new charm bracelet coming out:

#DOCelebrate love this year with this new padlock-inspired bracelet, available in stores and online soon. Its eye-catching, detachable heart clasp makes a foolproof combo with love-inspired charms and dangles. #PANDORABracelet #DOPANDORA

A post shared by PANDORA (@theofficialpandora) on Jan 1, 2018 at 1:09am PST

These next are courtesy of tiedyedeb – I’ve picked a selection out here, but there are more if you follow the link. 🙂

Image by tiedyedeb

Image by tiedyedeb

Image by tiedyedeb

Image by tiedyedeb

Image by tiedyedeb

Image by tiedyedeb

Image by tiedyedeb

Image by tiedyedeb

Image by tiedyedeb

Image by tiedyedeb

Image by tiedyedeb

Image by tiedyedeb

The Pandora Club charm for 2018 is also making its debut alongside the Valentine’s 2018 collection. We have a great collection of live shots of the charm from all angles, courtesy of Lady G Forty. As usual, it comes in a heart-shaped box, stamped with the year.

Image by Lady G Forty

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Pandora Chinese New Year 2018 release

As is tradition, Pandora are also putting out a special release in honour of the lunar new year. This year, we’re being treated to two new dangle charms – you can see a full preview here.

We have this cute live shot of the two charms, thanks to Sha! The charms strike me as being quite representative of ‘old’ and ‘new’ Pandora: the figure, with its two-tone and red enamel, being more in keeping with existing CNY charms; and the heart, with its sparkly pink CZs, more in line with newer Pandora collections.

I’m told that these will be available in North America and Australia/New Zealand, but not the UK. 😦 I am in love with the little God of Fortune and so I’ll definitely be getting him to go on my red Asian-themed bracelet:

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Pandora Disney Cruise gift set

There’s a new Disney cruise exclusive Pandora gift set available, including an engraved version of the Frosty Mint shimmer murano, the Cruise ship dangle charm and a Disney version of the usual engravable pavé button charm. This features a sailor Mickey Mouse on one side, and the Disney cruise logo on the other.

We have a couple of beautiful close-up images of the charms included in the set, thanks to Mark Scott.

Image by Mark Scott

The set is available for $225 USD. The murano even has the copyright symbol next to Disney, which tickles me for some reason!

Image by Mark Scott

The only stock image I’ve seen so far is this one by @dpantry:

In other news, the 2018 Disney Parks Pandora charm is now available for $75 USD. (I previously previewed this with the Pandora Disney Parks AW17 collection.)

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Pandora Disney UK February 2018 Release

The next Pandora Disney drop for the UK will be in February – there won’t be brand new beads included, but we’ll be catching up on some of the charms that have already made it out in other countries. The new Disney beads will be out on 15 February. 

I don’t have specific details of what charms exactly will be coming out, but I can confirm the characters that will be making an appearance:

Tinker Bell

Winnie the Pooh & friends

Donald & Daisy Duck

Ariel

Snow White (including the Anniversary charm)

Rapunzel’s Dress (but not Maximus! :()

Other princess pieces

I’m told that, once this launch has dropped, our Disney offering in the UK will be pretty much on a par with what’s offered in Australia currently.

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Pandora hallmarking changes

I’m sure every collector is familiar with Pandora’s hallmark: 925 ALE if the charm is 2011 or before, and S925 ALE if the charm originates after that point. However, charms have been cropping up over the past few months with new, unfamiliar hallmarks, and I’ve had a few questions about this. After a little research, I found the following info, courtesy of Dora Melinte. 🙂

This text from a French Pandora brochure explains that additional hallmarks have been added to certain Pandora products to help them pinpoint any quality control issues. The new hallmarks include a range of different symbols:

The text translates as follows:-

As part of our quality control process, we have added different symbols & hallmarks to our products to help us identify manufacturing locations. You will see the following symbols on our products.

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Pandora Winter 2017 sales continue

Winding up the round-up, I wanted to note that many of Pandora’s regional winter sales are still running and will do so for the first week of January in many cases. I’ve listed the details for most of the sales in my previous sales alert post. Pandora US has extended their sale until 7 January, too.

I’m aware that I don’t want much from Valentine’s (if anything) apart from the CNY bead and the Club charm, and so I’ve gone a little bigger on my sales purchases than I might have done otherwise. 😂 After all, I have a little window to absorb my sales spending before March, lol.

I got the red Twinkle murano, the Club charm 2017 and the Koinobori in the US sale. Yes, I finally cracked and got the lovely Koinobori! I’m wanting to put the muranos on my red leather as a complementary design to my main CNY red bracelet.

Then, as my brother is over in Australia again and can be my Pandora mule, I hit that sale too… two Rapunzel muranos for me, and the Lock of Longevity too, neither of which have made it out in the UK thus far.

Finally, in the UK sale, I got the lovely little Wise Owl. I’ve wanted this for such a long time! He’s on my Halloween bracelet. 😀

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Pandora, as told by SNL

Finally, we have a little oddball contribution to this month’s round-up 😶 This SNL skit did the rounds just before Christmas, and I thought it was absolutely hilarious:

(The embarrassing thing is that I think the little coffee cup would be a pretty cute charm 😂)

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My Comment

It’s going to be a bit of a quiet month for me, as I need to hunker down after indulging so much in the sales. ^^ I’m looking forward to seeing all the Valentine’s 2018 pieces in person – I don’t intend on buying anything, but I’m open to being pleasantly surprised by something when I see it in store. The Lock your Promise bracelet is a possibility, although I don’t really need to start a new design.

Have you been sales shopping at all? Are you planning on getting any of this month’s new launches?

Happy new year everyone! Today's post rings in the new year with my Pandora news round-up for January 2018 :) Happy new year everyone! 🌟 Today’s post rings in the new year with my monthly news round-up, with all the details on what’s coming up for January 2018 - we have the Valentine's  Day and Chinese New Year 2018 collection launches, some Disney Parks updates, info on the next Pandora Disney UK release, and more!