#looseleaf library

[ladylilithprime]

Day 8: Witch's Brew

IT TOOK AN embarrassingly long time for Castiel to realize that Sam Winchester preferred tea over coffee.

He felt that he could probably be forgiven for this lapse in attention to detail. Sam was often drinking coffee when Castiel was present, and Castiel had been present frequently enough to have picked up on Sam's preferred coffee order versus what he would accept to appease either Dean's sense of masculinity or their limited budget. Even when tea was available, he did not always reach for it, though he was the more gracious of the brothers when offered tea by a witness when on a hunt, holding the delicate porcelain cups with gentle care in his large hands and sipping at the liquid politely when Dean would rather ignore it. It wasn't until the witch Rowena was living in the Bunker that Castiel had occasion to note how often Sam could be found drinking tea, even brewing it himself and seeing Rowena's pleased smile when he brought her a cup.

And Castiel had to keep from reacting with more than just a narrowing of eyes when he noticed Sam's flinch when he heard Dean muttering about "damn frou-frou witch's brew" as the elder Winchester walked past the one time he found Sam drinking tea without Rowena present.

"I'm a bit of a snob about tea, actually," Sam admitted with a wince when Castiel asked, ducking his head in shame as if confessing some great sin. "Coffee is kinda ubiquitous, y'know? And most of the time it's, like... boiled bean water. It's mediocre, cut with chicory, too bitter, or just burnt from sitting on the burner too long after being brewed. It's what I grew up with and I'm used to it, but you've already noticed I'll add cream or sugar or spices and flavored syrups to it if I can because I sure am not drinking it for the taste!

"Tea is different," he went on with a shadowed look in his eyes. "I learned how to brew proper jasmine tea from Jess, back at Stanford. She loved tea, but only when it was looseleaf and brewed 'right', and at first I learned to love it too because I loved her. And then, well... out on the road hunting, if you want tea you're stuck with whatever tea bags of cheap black tea you can get in a diner or gas station and it's no better to taste than coffee and not worth the mockery I'd get from Dean for it."

"For a professed champion of free will, Dean is remarkably judgemental about others' expression of it," Castiel replied, half in observation and half agreement.

"Only when it comes to me," Sam muttered under his breath.

He said it quietly enough that Castiel assumed he had not been meant to hear, and so he pretended that he hadn't. He did, however, "file it away", as it were, and quietly had a word with Rowena to ask for a lesson in how to brew tea "properly". The knowing look and occasional teasing comments that he got from the witch in addition to the lessons was mostly worth it when he managed to brew a two cup pot by himself. The smile he got from Sam when he brought him a cup of tea along with his own, surprised and pleased, made all the effort entirely worth it.

"Really?" Dean complained when he saw them placidly drinking tea in the library while researching. "Thought we'd seen the last of the leaf water when the witch left!"

Sam flinched, but settled when Castiel pressed his foot gently against Sam's leg under the table in support. Rallying, he said casually, "Dunno why you're complaining, Dean, it just means more bean water for you to drink."

"Yeah, I know you have no taste," Dean scoffed. "What'cha making Cas drink that shit for?"

"I am the one who made the tea, Dean," Castiel interjected blandly. "Sam is not forcing me to consume the tea molecules any more than you force me to consume coffee molecules."

Less, if he was honest. It had been a long and drawn out battle of wills to get Castiel to drink coffee at all, one he had eventually lost during his time spent human and homeless when the free coffee he was allowed to sneak at the Gas'n'Sip was sometimes the only thing keeping him awake for his work shift. He had never acclimated to the taste, however, and once he had regained his Grace and could taste only molecules again he had only kept up with drinking coffee to stem Dean's complaints.

"Cas, c'mon, man!" Dean practically whined, switching tracks. "Thought you were on my side with this!"

"I am allowed my preferences in the molecules I choose to consume, Dean," Castiel informed him pointedly. "They are no less valid for not perfectly aligning with your own. Or, more colloquially: bite me, Winchester."

Dean spluttered, either from the sentiment or from Castiel using a colloquialism. Castiel had no doubt he would "pay" for that later, but much like the effort it took to learn how to brew tea, he knew it was entirely worth it to hear the soft, choked laugh from across the table and see Sam's small, shy smile.

[callmeajorallie]

More Shifted insanity season 1 contestants!

(8/16)

Paper in the role of Marshmallow (The sweet one)

Cabby in the role of Apple (The forgettable)

Salt in the role of Bow (The forgotten)

Somethings to note about these Goobers

None of them really know why they are friends, having just felt drawn to each other & just rolled with it

Instead of dying, Salt goes missing post "season 1" finale, later found in some sorta abandoned Library apart of a challenge

Paper for some strange reason, can't really stand Salt at times but doesn't quite understand why

Paper was the one who created each of their charms

Cabby swears that her memory wasn't always so bad, yet she doesn't know what changed

Salt & Paper tend to help Cabby out when it comes to remembering things

Evil Paper sorta does still exist within Paper, albeit as a figment of his imagination

I'll make Salt's "feral" or "abandoned" design later on alongside Evil Paper (or Looseleaf?)'s design in this au

[razmerry]

I will never stop being astounded at the absolute state of the dc wiki. you have the official ('official', really more like fan central but still) resource for one of the most massive franchises on the planet and it fights you tooth and nail to be used like one. marvel wiki is run like the library of congress. dc wiki is someone's basement wall-to-ceiling full of looseleaf papers

[samdeancrimespree]

has anyone ever written a version of sam’s college essay? i’m so desperate to know what he said. he must’ve written about his family… what else could he talk about? but how did he talk about them? how did 18 year old sam winchester describe his brother for an audience? i’m sure he felt the need to explain why his transcripts were so strange. maybe he talked about his terror about leaving home, and how strange it would be to live in one place for longer than a couple months. he could’ve named it the road so far. guys. what if he named it the road so far.

and how many drafts were there? scribbled versions on pieces of looseleaf that he burned so dean didn’t find them. finally going to the library in town to type it out and print it, hands shaking worse than they do on hunts, like dean is going to appear behind his shoulder and see what he’s doing. he probably had to ask his teachers for stamps, so dean didn’t get suspicious. i wonder if he even had a teacher he trusted enough to proofread it, or if it felt too private.

[pomacanthidae]

Holocene Tea

My professor is, as many environmental and climate scientists are, a lover of tea. I have not yet visited his office, but I am told he has many kinds, rainbows of flavors and flowers on his walls. In our small classroom at the top of the library, he keeps one silver bag of looseleaf next to his computer, a point of consistency in a tumultuous time. It is college, yes, but it is also the end of "us" in a world we recognize.

I have never seen a normal year, he tells me, I have not been alive long enough to know what the world looks like without human caused climate change. There are stories we tell ourselves about it, of course, stories that hold some truths and not others. But I have never seen a normal year. I have not been alive long enough to know the world without fingerprints smeared across the glass. I was not alive in 1985, the last year we could breathe air untainted by industry, still fresh enough to know the difference between summers of wildfires and summers of chamomile.

We can drink our tea, but we are in the tea kettle -- and the water is boiling over.

[cherrypikkins]

Who is Kitt most likely to prank and what sort of prank is it?

lolololol

Kitt is most likely to prank Seteth, Ferdinand, Felix, Lorenz, and Constance (unless in broad sunlight). Basically the ones who tend to be a bit sanctimonious or stuck on their high horses. No soft targets and no one too dangerous.

The above list is non-exhaustible, tho.

The pranks vary.

Various items may be 'borrowed' from time to time.

A lizard might be hiding in the victim's desk. (Unless it is Constance, as she might be inclined to use the poor critter for her experiments)

Ferdinand and Lorenz will get the time and place for their tea appointments mixed up. Or their looseleaf replaced with teabags.

Constance gets her coffee products switched with decaf.

Kitt will constantly let Ferdinand know about some amazing thing Edelgard has done lately.

The students named will be reported to Seteth as being suspiciously comfy with Flayn.

Lorenz gets his roses replaced with camellias.

Flayn gets to sneak off into town more often.

Felix gets more fruit and logs thrown at him to chop up with his sword - Kitt is more inclined to make a whole game out of it than Flayn would.

Kitt also probably lured a bunch of cats into the training grounds or the library or Seteth's office at one point and gave them a single bag of catnip to fight over before leaving and closing the door.

Thanks for the question :3 this was fun

[cnacertificationprogram]

Archival snapshot of entire looseleaf Code of Massachusetts Regulations held by the Social Law Library of Massachusetts as of January 2020.

[allcnaprograms]

Archival snapshot of entire looseleaf Code of Massachusetts Regulations held by the Social Law Library of Massachusetts as of January 2020.

[lunarscaled]

❝ love can make a fool of any man. ❞

A FEAST FOR CROWS

-> Oh, they knew that well. Had seen it painfully first-hand; had written pages and pages of documentation about it---his feelings. His love, twisted just as tightly about him as thorns were these nights, how he breathed it in every moment and could not change or escape it. And Lyric? Lyric did not understand. Could not, no matter how much they wrote of it, or questions they asked, or books they peeled through on long nights by a single light in the library. You are cruel to him! they say to the shadow that bleeds out the night sky and them, clad in red and bored by their pleading, He only wishes you to think of him! But the Shadow only laughs and cares not; the Priest only loves and thinks not of himself, his own end, the better life the little Mage hopes he might live. Daylight does nothing in this fairytale. Its end has not yet come about. Lyric pours hot water over a spoonful of soggy looseleaf tea balanced on a teacup and saucer, letting the strained-out dregs give the last of their flavor to both cups they pour: one for Gita and one for themselves. They're certain she has had her fair share of desperate men on her doorstep, begging for their love beside them. Lyric---when they were younger---would have been among them, desperate to have their mother back as she was. Their brother, too.

"Do you mistake my work for love?"

-> As if life could not be any crueler to their lot, Lyric did not even have someone they would risk everything for to bring back, no shape forged with tender care. They would raise that poor Priest's son for nothing but vengeance; for no reason but the damning, all-consuming ferocity to prove they were powerful, that they COULD. That humanity was not a limit, but a title bestowed upon at birth to be bent and shaped to their will! That they would not succumb to the terror that stalked them before they had their last say, dragged a soul straight out of the grave to serve them and show the perseverance of humans before and after death, to prove themselves. Because there was no one else on their side in this matter. Love blinded men: the Priest would be too slow to raise a hand to stop his love's wanton cruelty against them. By that time, the No Life King will have had his fill of their terror and pity and open sobs, perhaps will have sheered their body clean of all its meat and left them nothing but a shivering heart and bones. He may not even eat them, content in their torture alone as punishment for failing to meet his expectations.

"Foolhardy I am, but love this is not."

[thebirdandhersong]

It's about the gosh darn PROCESS. It's about the journey AND the destination. Listen. I come back home and am often Stressed. I am frazzled. I am exasperated. I am heartsick. I am discouraged. I am anxious. Whatever. Insert emotion here. I'm feeling things. And what do I do? Look, survey, and inspect with your mind's eye. I fill the electric kettle. I press the boil button. I pick a delightful mug from my growing collection. I browse my tea library pensively and soberly. I measure two spoons of looseleaf into the tea strainer with my special tea spoon or I loop the string of the teabag around my mug handle. I wait for the kettle to beep. I pour the hot water. I wait as it steeps. I add a splash of oat milk, and a spoon of honey with my special cat spoon if it's a particularly crap day. I settle down somewhere quiet and drink my tea, sip by sip, and with every sip, I gain more and more sanity, perspective, and calm. I gather my thoughts. I reflect. I breathe. I offer a little prayer. In sum, your post-tea daughter is not the same emotionally overwrought girl as your pre-tea disconsolate feral child. Is this not a net positive to this community (i.e. our family because I now live at home)? Would you rather I come home, close the door, shake off my shoes, grip my lustrous black locks in my tiny hands with their tiny bitten-to-the-quick-from-sheer-anxiety nails, and let loose a spine-stiffening, toe-curling, blood pressure-spiking, absolutely completely irreversibly blood-curling scream that suddenly seems to have no beginning and no end, and keep going in such a fashion until I keel over in a pile of convulsing limbs, pulsating eyeballs, and my still-throbbing heart clutched like a rich woman's purse in my cold, dead hand?

Mum's like girl you drink too much tea and Dad's like maybe that's why you've got tooth problems. Tea. Maybe that's why your teeth are de-mineralizing. Surely you can live without drinking that amount of tea a day. Start not drinking tea. Try that. And I'm like. Guys I could be addicted to WORSE THINGS THAN TEA. I could be doing drugs. I could be drinking. I could be visiting the brothels and gambling dens with my hair slicked back and my crisply starched collar popped every single night. Like a greasy idiot in the movies. Instead, when I'm stressed, depressed, obsessed, or simply upset on the colourful spectrum of negative emotion, I reach for a cuppa. My choice of coping method is so, so tame compared to what it could be.

[moodboardmix]

“Empire” by Rone 

Burnham Beeches Mansion, Sherbrooke, Victoria, Australia

Stylism: Carly Spooner, Florist: Looseleaf 

Musical score by Nick Batterham and subtle scents by Kat Snowden

Empire runs from 6 March to 22 April, 2019. https://www.r-o-n-e.com/

[luvsellie]

MASC ON [e. williams]

pairing high school au!ellie x fem!reader

summary being the new girl in school meant walking in to projects smack-dab in the middle of the year. but when you get assigned to work with the masc girl who sits next to you, there’s no hiding your blatant attraction toward her…and maybe she can’t hide her’s either.

warnings ellie and reader are 18 here (seniors in high school) !! kissing, pining (this is literally just fluff and i wanted an excuse to write for flashback el)

wc 3.9k

note this is incredibly self-indulgent and took me an embarrassing long amount of time to actually write i apologize (title inspiration from the song mask off by future)

“this is so stupid.”

ellie’s complaint compelled you to roll your eyes, a redundant sigh escaping you. “i heard you the last three times you said it.”

your deskmate slumped against the side of her bed, nimble fingers fidgeting with a slightly chewed pen as she watched you create a rough outline of the halle comet on a large poster board—she thought it was more entertaining than trying to gather the essential information your teacher had required to be provided. you could feel her eyes observing every flick and stroke of your pencil as you struggled to copy the image from your laptop.

the task had deemed itself to be more complicated than you thought, and after one more final attempt, you tossed the writing utensil to the side in frustration. “this is so stupid.”

snorting at your disgruntled attitude, ellie reached for the pencil. “how about this; i’ll draw and you get the stats. i’m dying of boredom over here.” she shuffled closer before you could object, shoving her textbook your way.

not bothering to argue, you grabbed your backpack and started to sift through the supplies you had brought along to her house. markers, pens, pencils, scissors, binder…

removing your binder from your bag you flipped it open, only to be met with other assignments and notes from varying classes. groaning, you said over a shoulder, “ellie do you have notebook paper?”

“yeah—top drawer of my desk,” she answered without looking in your direction, her short hair falling to cover the side of her face.

nodding to yourself, you shoved your things back in your bag and stood, making your way toward her desk. it was rather cluttered, which didn’t shock you in the least, but still organized in probably a way only ellie would understand.

you grabbed the first drawer’s handle and gently pulled, exposing the mess that was inside. grumbling to yourself about how ellie couldn’t possibly be able to find anything in this chaos, you began to poke through her things. managing to spot a spare journal—which you noted was not looseleaf paper like you had asked—you carefully maneuvered the notebook out from underneath all of her art supplies.

hip-thrusting the drawer shut, you flipped the journal open, eager to get on with the research you did not want to do, simply to get this project over with. but as you overturned lined pages, you came to realize this was a sketchbook—and you were the starring subject.

“ellie,” you called, eyes trained on a drawing of you slumped over a book in the school library (you recalled this day rather vividly).

the auburn-haired girl finally looked up from her spot on the carpeted floor. she quickly realized what was in your hands. “shit,” she couldn’t help but mutter in panic. ellie rushed to her feet, already reaching to take the sketchbook from you. “sorry, you weren’t supposed to-”

you said her name again, interrupting her explanation with “you would’ve saved me a lot of time had you been the one to draw that ridiculous comet from the get-go.”

ellie’s arm fell to her side, and she tried to calm her racing heart with a deep inhale. she scratched the back of her neck sheepishly, invisible strings tugging on the corners of her mouth when she realized you weren’t pissed at her. “yeah, i guess you’re right.” she paused before adding, “you’re a really shitty artist.”

your eyes flickered to hers immediately, and you snapped the journal shut before smacking her left upper arm with it. “hey! i tried my best, okay? we can’t all be as talented as you.”

“got that right,” ellie mused, her familiar easygoingness making a return. she stuck a hand out. “can i please have my sketchbook back?”

you kissed the back of your teeth, giving her a look of contemplation as you hugged the object in your hand a little closer to your chest. “mm, i don’t know. i was thinking about going through it some more. i mean, i barely got to see anything.”

ellie’s eyebrows shot up. “seriously?”

“seriously,” you told her with a nod, taking a step closer to the desk behind you.

her hand dropped, and you swore that something flashed across her face, but before you could identify what it had disappeared. maybe i’m pushing it, you thought suddenly, growing aware of the way you were holding onto something that she probably poured her heart and soul into.

across from you, ellie adjusted her stance before shrugging. “alright. have fun, i guess. i just need it back tomorrow by 6th period.”

you blinked at her words, dumbfounded by her compliance. watching her return to the poster board on the floor, you held the little journal closer, already making note of what you would be doing later when you returned home.

ellie liked to draw you. she supposed it was rather obvious, but seeing the way your eyes widened as you observed her drawings made her second guess. had she really not been that apparent? she guessed not. and while she was excited to let you take her sketchbook home, she was more nervous.

it was very hard to sleep that night, and only when the small illuminated numbers on her alarm clock struck two a.m. did she finally manage to doze off.

“you look a little…rough,” dina said, cringing at her own word choice.

ellie ran a hand through her hair as she walked beside the shorter girl. “thanks. i hadn’t noticed.”

dina ignored the jab. “i can’t believe you actually gave it to her. hell, you never even let me touch that thing…and you’ve only known her for, like, two weeks! i am feeling a little betrayed, but it’s whatever.”

“letting her look at it just…felt right? i don’t know how to explain it. she doesn’t seem like someone who’d become suddenly disgusted by me drawing her way before we ever started talking,” ellie confessed, spotting the door to her earth and space class.

“ouch.” dina grabbed ellie’s arm, pulling her to an empty wall. “first of all, i wouldn’t be disgusted by you if i was her. secondly, stop being nervous. there’s no need for all of that.”

“i’m not nervous,” she objected immediately.

the brown-eyed girl stared blankly at her. “yes, you are. you’re more fidgety than normal. just go in there, sit down, and wait for her to walk in. you said she normally gets to class practically right before the bell rings?”

“yeah, she comes from the other side of the building.”

“perfect! now go.” dina shoved her friend in the direction of the classroom, waving her off with a smile.

sighing through her nose, ellie entered the room, greeted her teacher, and visibly sagged when she noticed you weren’t in your seat yet. there’s still some time, she thought to herself, not realizing that you had walked in behind her until you said: 

“hey, el, you’re kinda in the way.”

you watched as ellie turned to face you, her eyes wide as she whirled. “you got here fast,” she stated bluntly.

shrugging, you moved past her to walk toward your desk. as you sat you said, “class was in the library today since they were using our room for testing.”

ellie nodded from in front of you, still standing. you noticed how aloof she was acting. “are you gonna sit?” you asked, gesturing to the desk beside you.

“yes,” she said hastily, pulling back her chair. she landed with a thud. slouching against the back of her seat, she looked at you and continued, “you brought the poster in, right? this morning?”

your mouth pressed into a thin line. “yes, ellie, i brought the poster in. but we’re not presenting today anyway, so had i forgotten, we’d still be okay.”

“god, that is such a relief,” she sighed, leaning her head back to stare at the speckled tile ceiling and roll her tense shoulders.

“agreed,” you breathed while hauling your bag into your lap. unzipping it, you pulled out the familiar brown journal. “here. back to you before 6th period. just like you said.”

ellie took her notebook cautiously, setting it on her desk as she glanced at you.

“why’re you looking at me like that?” you asked skeptically, lowering your voice to a whisper as your teacher started class at the front of the room. “if you didn’t want me to take it then why did you give it to me in the first place?”

the girl beside you shook her head, leaning her body closer. you stared at the outline of her tattoo as she said, “i wanted you to take it. i’m just nervous that you look at me differently now.” 

your eyebrows shot upward, both taken back and confused by her answer. “why would i even-” you turned to face her. “ellie, i don’t look at you ‘differently’ because you draw me. i think it’s rather sweet, actually.”

ellie was bewildered by your words, recalling what dina had said earlier about how she would have loved it if she were drawing her. maybe she had been right. licking her chapped lips, she shifted in her seat, as if she were going to say something, but snapped her head to the front when the teacher said her name sternly.

“miss williams i need you to pay attention, please. this has to do with the project, and i will not be happy when you decide to ask me something i already explained to the class,” the man up front lectured, making both you and ellie sit a little straighter in your seats.

you sent ellie an apologetic look when she glimpsed in your direction. as your teacher moved on from his scolding, you grabbed her sketchbook from her desk and flipped it open to a clean page, pen in hand.

meet me at my locker after school? you wrote quickly, pushing it over for her to see.

ellie grabbed the writing utensil you gave her. i have basketball practice after school :(

frowning, you exaggerated a sigh, shooting a playful eye roll her way as you scribbled out a reply. then i’ll come by the locker room after practice. there—problem solved.

problem solved. ellie wrote back with a grin, nodding at your solution.

“i am incredibly stupid. what was i even thinking?”

jesse was quick to shoot down your self-loathing, his shoulder brushing up against yours as he walked you in the direction of the girl's locker room. “no, you’re not. you were bold. there’s a difference.”

you pressed your lips into a thin line, cheeks slightly puffing out before you kissed the back of your teeth. anxiously running a hand over your face, you said, “well…is there really?”

“yes,” your friend quipped.

rolling your eyes, you shoved jesse jokingly as someone came walking out of the locker room. you instantly recognized dina in her cheerleading outfit, a knowing smile making its way onto your lips. the girl from your history class had always been super friendly.

“dina!” you called, earning a low groan from jesse.

the cheerleader grinned immediately, though you recognized its falter when she spotted her ex by your side. “hey! what’re you doing in the athletic building?” she made a show of not acknowledging jesse.

“i’m here for ellie!” you told her with a toothy smile, fidgeting with the straps of your backpack.

dina’s eyes widened with realization, but her bubbly appearance didn’t feign. she pointed a thumb toward the door she had come out of. “oh! she’s the last one still in the locker room, which i suppose you might’ve already known?”

shaking your head, you said, “yeah, i told her i’d meet her after basketball practice had finished.”

“well don’t let me keep you here then,” dina exclaimed, stepping out of the way to the door with the tiny woman’s symbol on it.

you nodded as you stepped past her, only looking over your shoulder to say, “i’ll see you guys tomorrow!”

“yep!” dina confirmed.

jesse shot you a reassuring grin as you disappeared into the dimly lit hallway that hosted the coaches’ offices.

heart beginning to race, you pulled the door handle to the locker room and forced your legs to move. the fluorescent lights were harsh against your eyes, your chest constricting with nerves as you walked past bathroom stalls, sinks, and floor-length mirrors. you couldn't remember the last time you had been in a locker room.

finally coming up on the athletic lockers (they were on a completely separate wall from the regular physical education lockers), you started to hear shuffling.

“ellie?” you called out, trying your best to not sound like you wanted to abandon this idea entirely.

as you passed a few more of the athletic cages, you spotted the girl you were searching for. her lack of a shirt made you balk.

turned toward the lockers, ellie passed a towel through her wet hair, arms tense with movement. you admired the taunt muscles of her back, her damp skin littered with small, but visible, freckles.

she hadn’t noticed your presence.

you cleared your throat promptly, offering her a smile when she turned around. trying not to be distracted by her toned arms and abdomen, you said, “hi ellie. hope i didn’t catch you at a bad time?”

she shook her head, mouth curling into something between a genuine grin and a satisfied smirk. “hey…and no, you caught me at a really good time, actually. practice ended about 45 minutes ago.”

nodding, you took a few steps closer. “yeah, i know. i asked a friend when practices normally end. figured me being a little ‘late’ would benefit. didn’t want to catch you before you had time to shower.”

“ouch,” she said, reaching to grab for her dirty practice t-shirt in her locker. ellie looked over her shoulder as you halted.

something about the way her eyes glinted made you deadpan, “if you throw that at me i will turn around and leave right now.”

chuckling to herself, ellie shook her head. “calm down, i’m not throwing anything at anyone.” she dramatically put the shirt and a pair of folded athletic shorts in a drawstring backpack before shoving it back into the locker.

“you are so annoying,” you snapped at her, moving to sit on the wooden bench placed directly in the middle nook of lockers. as you sat, you caught a whiff of sharp mahogany and cheap cologne.

ellie’s eyebrows raised, her shoulders leaning to press against the cool metal behind her. “and yet here you are, going out of your way to meet me in the back of the locker room after school.”

part of you was certain she made emphasis on the phrase ‘back of the locker room.’

shooting her a glare, though, you straightened as you said, “i said you were annoying, not that i didn’t like you.” there was a pregnant silence before you added, “besides, i wanted to ask if you wanted to go get coffee with me.” you watched ellie’s lips pull back in disgust, your heart dropping in an instant. “or not. sorry, i didn’t-”

“how about we go get dinner instead?” she interrupted. “coffee’s disgusting and i’m starving.”

blinking at her words, you licked your lips. “yeah. yes. that works.” it took you a moment to regain your composure. shit, i almost blew that. “i didn’t know you hated coffee.”

ellie turned and grabbed a hair tie. as she put half of her hair up—somehow in the most attractive way you might add—she said, “oh, yeah. that shit is gross.”

“um, have you even tried it?” you asked doubtfully, mouth forming into a frown. when the auburn-haired girl stayed quiet and instead clasped a thin silver chain around her neck you guessed her answer was clean no. 

you scoffed as you nudged her sock-covered foot. “i’m going to force you to try mine the next time i bring some.”

“sounds great,” ellie said sarcastically, a grin tugging on her lips. her smile sent chills sprawling down your spine.

shrugging off your backpack, you set it by your feet, muttering out a barely audible, “fuck.” you had no idea where this conversation was going, and your attempt at asking her out on a date had been a bust…sort of?

ellie had declined coffee and suggested dinner, but it still sounded like it fit more under the category of  ‘hangout as friends.’ talking to her was sometimes like talking to a brick wall. masc’s are so fucking clueless, you thought, releasing a heavy sigh through your nose. or maybe i’m not being obvious enough?

“what?” she asked at your suddenly agitated (as she’d describe it) attitude, wetting her chapped lips as she went to sit next to you. lifting a leg over the bench, she sat, body facing yours as she man-spreaded for comfort—her proximity and stature reminded you that she was still very much shirtless…and somehow way better at this (you weren’t sure what this even entitled) than you were.

goosebumps spread across the skin of your upper arms. you shifted, pulling up a knee to rest on the wood as you trailed off, eyes avoiding hers, “you’re just so…”

her head tilted, eyes narrowing as she leaned closer. there was no way she didn’t notice the way you sucked in a breath. “i’m so what? look at me when you talk,” she said.

your gaze snapped toward hers, but first flickered to the swell of her mouth.

“i’m so what?” she repeated, her voice lowering an octave. when you said nothing, she added, “cat got your tongue?”

between her teasing and the adrenaline coursing through your body, you were compelled to do the only thing you could think of to shut her up—to make her drop the questions. swallowing the lump building in your throat, you grabbed her face, thumbs pressing against her warm cheeks, and kissed her with unmistakable want.

although ellie hadn’t expected for you to be so physically direct, she did not mind it at all. following the rough pace you had set, she kissed you back with just as much ferocity, her fingers slipping into the belt loops of your jeans to slide herself forward and you closer.

you mewled at her movement, the pressure between your thighs growing as intensely as you were kissing her. she was quick to regain control of the situation you had thrust upon her.

“ellie,” you mumbled against her mouth, your eyes half-shut as she tugged on your jeans a second time.

“come here,” she told you hastily, lips trailing toward your left ear. “sit on my lap.” she kissed your temple. “please.”

shuddering at her request, you wasted no time in pulling away, pushing yourself off the bench, and situating your legs over hers in a straddle position.

the heat from ellie’s skin seeped through the fabric of your shirt, her hands slipping past the hem. you found yourself arching instinctively to her venturing touch, your stomach twisting into tight knots.

“you are going to make me go insane,” she confessed, her words coming out in a whisper, leaning in to kiss you again. her lips were gentler against yours, eager to savor the moment.

in turn, you indulged in letting your palms trace the sculpted muscles of her arms, fingers trailing every dip and curve from her years of work in the weight room. “you are so beautiful,” you told her delicately, relishing the way her skin burned under yours.

ellie followed the compliment, her hands finding your face and forcing you to look at her. green eyes etched with something between lust and admiration, she thumbed a corner of your mouth. “do you have any idea what you do to me?” she whispered. “from the moment you walked into that classroom…”

her words died in her throat and she swallowed thickly as you shook your head. “don’t do that. not here.”

“do what?” she questioned, adjusting her position on the bench.

the friction between your legs forced you to release a shaky breath, and you licked your lips in an attempt to focus on bringing your thoughts into coherent sentences. she was making it extremely hard. “i want to talk about this over dinner,” you told her hoarsely. “about what we are now. about what you want us to be.”

“are you saying you want to go on a date?” she asked quietly.

you couldn’t help your sudden smile. “i asked you earlier when i mentioned coffee, but you instantly shut that idea down.”

ellie rolled her eyes, though you could sense her pang of guilt. “you weren’t very clear on the date part. otherwise, i would’ve said yes immediately.”

surprise feigned your features. “you? saying yes to a coffee date?”

“oh, ha-ha.” she exaggerated the fake laugh. “and yes, had i known you were asking me out i would've sacrificed my comfort for your enjoyment. honestly, i think i do that quite often—as of right now i think my tailbone is being bruised.”

you sucked in harshly, moving off her with urgency as you shoved her shoulder with a hand. “why didn’t you say anything?!”

“and risk not feeling you up? yeah, no thanks.” her tone was definite.

your jaw fell slack as you crossed your arms over your chest, confounded by her response. “you can still feel me up without me in your lap, dummy.”

“yeah, but that sounds less fun,” ellie teased, holding up her hands in defense. she stood from her seat, reaching around you to grab her baseball t-shirt from earlier. as she put her arms through the sleeves she said, “i have a game tomorrow. you should come watch.”

you scrunched your nose jokingly, deciding to use her words against her. “and see you all sweaty? yeah, no thanks.”

ellie straightened out her shirt, shooting you a rather bemused look in the process. “how do you know you won’t like seeing me all sweaty and worn out?”

as she hunched down to pull on her converse, you exhaled heavily, unable to come up with something witty. mainly because she was right. you would totally like to see her all sweaty and worn out. so, with a slight bruise to your ego, you itched your nape, mumbling out, “i never said i wouldn’t like that. you always assume shit about me.”

“and you always assume shit about me, so we’re even,” ellie shot back, standing back up. she grabbed her backpack from inside the locker before changing the subject. “where do you wanna go for dinner?”

you shrugged, reaching down for your own bag. swinging it over a should, you said, “i don’t know. whatever you want. and you’re right, i do assume shit about you. like right now, for instance, i’m assuming you’re a picky eater.”

“i am not a picky eater.” she shut down your claim with a light kick to your shoe. “and fine, i’ll pick something and surprise you. did you drive to school today?”

you shook your head. “no.”

“great, looks like you’re sticking with me then.” she tried and failed to hide her cheeky smile. closing her locker, she grabbed your hand, hastily leading you toward the main hallway of the locker room. “come on.”

trailing after her, you felt your cheeks heat with the prompt realization of your reality. maybe you’d have to thank your earth and space teacher for assigning that stupid comet project. the steady growth of your relationship with ellie made your insides twist with pure excitement, and as she rambled about how much you would enjoy her restaurant of choice, you couldn't help but succumb to the feeling of pure bliss.

[dejwritesarchived]

❪ ♡ ❫  ───  ⠀ ⠀⠀ best i ever had  ⠀ 〳 ⠀ k.arashi  ‵

♡ ˙ ˖ ✧ — warning !! afab reader, her/she pronouns, female anatomy described, fem pet names (babe), reader is black coded, been thinking about benkei heavy lately, suggestive content (but it's not much), mentions of unprotected sex, benkei being Mr. comedian, kinda short, this is me creating soft content for black readers, one of my mutuals mentioned him being a sweetheart and my talk with aisha inspired this lmfao, profanity, mentions of children and future with each other (all that lovey dovey crap), fluff, aftercare, college au, a little humor at the end lol, tr men being soft and expressing their love for their partner >>>>, inspired by best i ever had remix by drake & nicki minaj

TEXTBOOKS AND LOOSELEAF PAPER WERE SCATTERED ACROSS YOUR DORM ROOM FLOORS. The neon lights that were around your room are currently set on the pink lighting that went well with your sophisticated themed room. You let out a faint giggle feeling Benkei's nose brush against the crook of your neck. You never understood that a man his size still thought it was okay to be all on you. His large stature cuddling against you like a big bear protecting its cubs. Despite it's being minutes after coming down from your temporary bliss of seeing stars and feeling your cunt pulse around him, he still found it his mission to practically live in your skin.

The scent of Tobacco Oud by Tom Ford and sweat lingered on your skin as you stared up at the ceiling just basking in the moment of being with Benkei. Midterms week had the two of you running around campus like madmen. Only being able to give each other quick kisses as one was entering the lecture hall or dropping off food in the library as the other was cramming in a late-night study session with their study group. Once midterms week was up, it didn't take long for you to sign him in during visitation hours. Although usually, you bent the rules for yourself due to you being an R.A, you still wanted to be safe just so that moment wouldn't be ruined.

"Kei?" You asked.

"Hm?" He hummed. You could feel his hum vibrate against your marked-up collarbone.

"Do you see us being together when we graduate?" You asked.

The clock was ticking, you only had two more semesters together. You feared what life would be like once you walked across that stage. You've heard countless stories about friendship groups and couples going their separate ways once they threw their caps in the air to celebrate those long years of undergrad.

"You want the honest answer or?" His voice trailed off as you could feel his callous fingertips tracing his name on your skin.

"What do you think?" You sarcastically questioned.

You could feel him let out a sigh as he was snuggled up against you. It wasn't particularly a sigh that could cause you to worry, but a sigh of comfort. Relaxation. It was as if those hard walls he displayed as he walked around campus always came tumbling down when he was with you.

"Yes." He confidently said. "I see a future with you (Y/N)," He admitted. He would lift his head up off your boobs and look at you. "I'm dead fuckin' serious."

You didn't know what to say. Expecting him to say something along the lines of, 'guess we'll just see when the time comes' or 'we shouldn't talk about this right now'.

You rubbed your lips together before your lips parted to speak, but Benkei interrupted you. "Cliche as it sounds, I knew you were the one when I first saw you at that study group."

You kissed at your teeth and playfully rolled your eyes at his comment. "If that was true, that would mean you fell for my looks before getting to know me."

He thought about it for a second, "That's beside the point I'm trying to make. So can I continue?"

"Okay." You giggled. "We really don't have all night before I have to kick you out."

"You just were different and yes, you may have heard that in that horrible Netflix movie you made me watch that one time. But it's true. Your smile lights up every room you walk into. You hold your head up so confidently when you walk into the room that it causes everyone to demand their attention to be on you. I can go on if you like?" Benkei says.

"The cockiness in me would tell you to continue, but I'm not." You joked.

"I love you and I know I'll be in your life in the future after we graduate."

Your face scrunches up at him before your arms wrapped around him in a loving manner. If you squeezed hard enough, you would probably have suffocated the larger man. Although, you were sure he wouldn't mind due to his face being buried in your bare boobs that were decorated with his bite marks and love bites.

A knock was heard on the door and the two of you never hopped up so quickly. Tossing each other clothes to slide on in a quick motion as if the president of the university was about to walk in. When you motioned for Benkei to stay right there, you walked towards the door cracking it open. You saw one of the students that lived on your floor.

"Um— Ms. (L/N)-"

"I told you, you don't have to call me that," You corrected as you stepped a bit closer, but not fully out of your dorm room considering that you were only wearing the shirt Benkai formally was wearing. "What's up? Please don't tell me you locked yourself out of your room again Shailene." You let out a sigh.

"No."

"Then what's wrong? Is someone bothering you? Cause I told you I don't mind—" The sophomore cut your words off sharply.

"Do you have a condom?" Shailene quietly asked. You could see her play with the silver fingers on her fingers and she soon looked down at her yellow-colored crocs.

"Oh." Your lips formed a perfectly shaped 'o' shape.

You felt your dorm room door get tugged open a bit just to reveal Benkei. When Shailene saw him, her eyes grew big. "I'm sorry if I was interrupting you two," She says as she looked between you.

"Here you go." Benkei gave her the condom with a charming smile on her face. "We don't really use them anyway."

"Kei! Shailene, just make sure you sign your guest out on time!"

TAGS — @indiecursor @gabzlovesu @misss-chrisss @indiecursor @hellavile @maydayaisha @thicksimpx @luffysthickwaifu @simpingforwakasa04 @sleepy3 @fiona782 @warmchick @fairiechuu @itzgabz22 @caribbeanwifey19 @gardenof-venus @sindinminpin @bbgiirrll @potterbell @bontensbabygirl @tokyomanjihoe @strawberrysanzu @chieflawyerpastatoad @plussizeficchick @littlemochi @celi-xxmoon @po3ticb3auty @thenerdyrebel @reiners-milkbiddies @babyyblueey @woahhajime @yooniluvbot444 @whoismoneaa @tonaken @rueren @k-ryuuguji @kazufuyusluv

[itsbenedict]

Two-Faced Jewel: Thunderbrush 9

Get Hype For Warball!

A conwoman disguised as a noble and the delegation of university students studying her have arrived in the jungle city of Thunderbrush, ruled by ancient dryads and organized crime. Will they manage to stay uninvolved in shady conspiracies? (No.)

Story so far | Session log index | Previous session

Last time, the party followed up their experimentation with a spot of good old-fashioned book-learnin', at the local library. What they found was a vandalized and censored book of necromancy, and had to answer some pointed questions from the chief student advisor on their choice of research subject.

The next day... is the day of the Big Game.

That morning, Looseleaf is the first to wake up. Saelhen's a late sleeper- it'll be a couple hours before she gets out of bed and joins the fun, lying there in bed doing nothing whatsoever. W̡ei͏r͝d!̷

Looseleaf starts off the day with a spot of research- using her spirit sight to "see" through the ink censoring the pages of the necromancy textbook. It becomes clear that what's being censored isn't so much... the resource used by necromancy, so much as how that resource is handled. The ecumenes- the church/government hybrids that run much of society- are the ones who typically handle necrotic energy/thanergy/death essence/black mana.

Black mana is, apparently, used by the churches for resurrection rituals. It's no secret that the gods can raise the dead- but they're very cagey about the process and the restrictions that exist on that process, and what Looseleaf is discovering is that it requires a supply of necrotic energy to perform- which the gods can't just produce on their own, for some reason.

Looseleaf puts her studies aside for now- what's left is practical exercises, and Saelhen has been declared Chief Looseleaf Safety Officer and is currently no longer conscious.

Instead, she decides to get ready for the Big Game! She telepathically messages Oyobi- and Zzaiya, their waspfolk friend whose keys got stole earlier. Zzaiya seems to have been hoping they'd forget the invitation to watch the Big Game together, but acquiesces to being dragged to this sporting event/large social gathering, as her social anxiety vis-a-vis seeming rude outweighs her introversion.

En route...

Sounds like the Blacksky team is having some trouble with sabotage, despite the heavily-warded door and security magic around the locker room! Looseleaf's first instinct is to telepathically contact Orluthe via the soul-linked coin she provided him... only to immediately notice that Orluthe is like, right there, thirty feet away.

Looseleaf relays the situation she overheard to them- apparently, someone's slipped laxatives to some of the players, and they're doubled over and unable to play.

Oyobi, apparently, has been unsuccessfully trying to woo the team's Sword, Reef Blastbody, for some time- and she was considering trying to impress him by concocting an excuse to join the Warball team and show him her moves. Seems like someone got the exact same idea, for some reason, and decided to cause drama.

(Players reading this! You can probably solve this mystery, now! The culprit needed to be a student from Blacksky University to get past the wards, had the opportunity and means to eavesdrop on Oyobi's joke, and likes to pull pranks and cause lots of interpersonal drama for questionable reasons! Perhaps a potential culprit leaps to mind?)

Looseleaf and Oyobi announce themselves- and the team, friends of Oyobi's, let them in in a hurry.

From left to right:

Bud Chestplate, team Tank and team leader. She's huge and friendly and wields a giant shield the size of a parking space.

Flint Ironstag, team Flanker. He's hotheaded and easily pumped up by the first idea anyone suggests.

Buff Drinklots, team Healer. She's crabby and speaks in an utterly impenetrable dwarven accent.

Smash Lampjaw, team Sniper. He's dutiful and speaks in a differently-impenetrable word salad full of made-up vocabulary.

Reef Blastbody, team Sword. He's paranoid and condescending and has magical water powers.

Butch Deadlift (the team Interceptor) and Koboshi Gyuuniku (an elvish name which translates to Fist Beefmeat, the team Tankbuster) have been poisoned and are totally incapacitated, right before the Big Game!

Luckily, the only requirement for participation is that the members of the Blacksky team by Blacksky students... so Oyobi volunteers herself and Looseleaf as replacement Warball players!

...But Reef is having none of it. He's the paranoid sort, and thinks it's way too suspicious that two of their players get poisoned and then two more players just happen to show up to fill in! What were even the odds that they'd be here in the first place? He doesn't trust this for a second!

I... may or may not have written up the Warball exposition by the time I post this, but basically: to fill in as party mage, in a sport where everyone uses special armor and nonlethal weapons, she can't use actual deadly magic on the field. She needs to at least see the tools she'll have at her disposal to figure out if her magical talents are at all applicable to the job at hand.

Luckily, it turns out Looseleaf's spirit abilities mean she can scan and figure out the workings of this wand pretty easily!

...But she does have one other idea, which is just using her unique magic healing to just fix the laxatives problem. Which she goes to try, but, uh... the team's coach, Dry Forest Ablaze, objects immediately when it turns out she's not actually a cleric. Alternative healing methods, on his athletes? Right before the semifinals?! They'd get disqualified in a heartbeat! Experimental magical performance enhancing right before a game?

And Reef points out that the room's soundproofing isn't working, either, and this must be the trap! Disqualify the other team by catching them doping right before a game! It's a honeypot!

No, it's going to have to be done the old-fashioned way- so the team starts going over strategy. First off: taking inventory of the team's abilities!

This, plus...

And Oyobi, whose character sheet is pretty much as it is normally. Which was my first mistake, because I assumed Saelhen would be playing (rather than Farn temporarily playing Oyobi during combat), and didn't consider the impact of her abilities on the game balance.

See... they come up with a pretty hilarious cheese strat. Here are some facts:

Oyobi has an ability that's a holdover from D&D- the Colossus Slayer ranger ability, which in this system lets her do double damage to things that are more than twice her max HP.

Holding the Warball doubles your HP and damage.

She also has Hunter's Mark, which in this system lets her ignore evasion and cover with her arrow shots if she can get it off.

In Warball, player HP can be freely reassigned from a pool of 120 total hit points for the team, since it represents abstract "hit points" in magic game armor and not physical durability.

The captain has a huge-ass shield that serves as portable cover.

So the strategy is as follows: assign Oyobi exactly enough hit points to have at most half of the recommended minimum in the current meta, turning on her damage-doubler against every opposing player. Somehow. Don't ask how that works diegetically. Then, give her the Warball- usually held by the tank/captain to improve their survivability and prevent it being captured by the other team- to double her damage again. With two damage doublers on, use Hunter's Mark to negate enemy cover and defenses, and then hit the weak point for massive damage to oneshot the whole enemy team one by one before they can even close the distance, while having the rest of the team focus on defending the DPS.

Does this... work? Find out next time!

[cnacertificationprogram]

Archival snapshot of entire looseleaf Code of Massachusetts Regulations held by the Social Law Library of Massachusetts as of January 2020.

[trailnapped]

stephanie lauter is cool, capital C cool. and emily? ... she is not. the farmer's daughter, the former timberwolf almunus. this is her chance to make a friend way outside of her social circle! and all she has to do is ... tutor stephanie. "yeah!" it's a little overeager, reign it in, dikrats. "i mean, i don't have anything going on during study hall? maybe we could like, ... meet in the library?" subconsciously, emily taps her pen against the looseleaf in front of her.

it's not the nicest thing to do, but stephanie lauter has never considered herself to be kind. she's desperate and she's not going to not thank the girl for her help. a c plus average is better than her, it's better than brenda and stacy, though she's pretty sure they're paying off reese or pj to do their work or something like that. steph liked to try but well... she's got no c plus average and lately, she doesn't have the time to settle for something higher or have more ambitions for her semi-cheating.

" i just don't get this at fucking all. and well... no one else does... think you could give me a little bit of a rundown? maybe help me with some of this this?" it's not a lie, but oh she's laying it on thick. she'll feel bad later.