#but my brain turns to mush when I open up my notes app

[smallvictorianchildwhofoundwifi]

Ideas but no motivation to put them on paper what if I ran into the ocean and became a fish

[alchemistc]

For the wip thingy! I'm looking at you: No one (bstm)! <3

This is actually based entirely off the vibes of one of the songs on my Buck playlist. Tommy and Buck talk about why Buck never corrected him on the "Evan" thing.

Also, this isn't even in Campfire yet, this is still in my notes app so I'm like, editing all the misstypes as I transcribe this and I am SLOPPY in my notes app omg.

"Evan was a guy who was always searching for something. I always -- okay so I've been to therapy since then so I know my brain was just being an asshole but Evan was always this... sad pathetic guy. To me. Buck was a guy who had purpose. Buck was good at what he did. Buck made a family, made a home. My parents hated Buck." There's a dozen different threads Tommy wants to chase, but Evan is clearly not done. "Eventually they... accepted him, I guess. So. So Evan was a secret. Or -- Evan was just this guy who'd never been enough. Except when he was legally Christopher's guardian in the event of something fucking awful happening, or when Maddie needed him more than she needed Buck, or when he said something that made his parents forget they're trying to love him." He takes a deep breath, and Tommy's fingers slip through the sparse hair splashed across his chest. "When I introduced myself to you, I think a lot of things were just... I didn't even think about it. I saw you and my brain froze and Evan came out. And then you repeated it." Tommy hums. "It -- you said 'Evan' and suddenly it felt like Evan and Buck coexisted in my brain for the first time. So. I didn't correct you. Then I called you up and you said it again and..." He trails off, his face doing that familiar set of tics that means he's trying to find the right way to articulate something. Tommy prepares himself for a very convoluted analogy. "Have you ever had that dream where you open your eyes, and you're in a space that feels too big and too small and you can tell it's expanding and shrinking and stretching you out and squeezing you to mush, but like -- there's no horizon, no point of reference, you're just -- you're just there, o-or, not there at all, and then you jerk awake and it takes you a second to realize that you didn't just turn into a universe being sucked into a black hole?" He's never heard it articulated like that, but yeah. He's had that dream. He tips his chin against Evan's shoulder. Evan reaches out a hand, sifts it through the damp curls at Tommy's temple. "The way you say my name makes me feel like the first easy breath I can take after I wake up from that dream."

ask me about my WIPs!

[harmonictechnicality]

UM HELLO MY BELOVED FRIEND?? MY HERO AND INSPIRATION?? I saw that you followed me and HONESTLY thought it was a mistake, and then when the follow persisted I was paralyzed by trying to write a message to you that was both cool and casual and grateful and now im in finals for my masters program and then i was like, "its been too long of me not saying anything shes gonna think im an ass" so please dont think im an ass, i literally have opened this app and just lit up every time i see your username and am just putting all my messy joy in a little note (WHICH feel free to not publish lol its a mess) but omg so many thoughts I want to talk to you about and also how are you and have you seen jacob c in concert yet and how amazing was it, but alas FINALS have literally turned my brain to mush (and how is it that i always seem to come across your stuff just as i fear finals are going to kill me? it was during winter finals that i found gumption, and I recently had the supreme pleasure of reading devils haircut ((SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE MAGIC SECTION IN PARTICULAR AND THEATRE SETS AND THEATRE LORE, this fic really made my brain go brrr)) and now i see that you have a new fic up titled after a regina spektor gem???) Ordinarily I'd be like, you're killing me with this good content *italian hand gesture*, but honestly you and all of your thoughts expressly give me life sO anyway I hope you're doing amazing and that spring is treating you right (many flowers, no allergies) and I hope we can chat some more soon

STOPPPPP my dearrrrr you are the sweetest!!! TRUTHFULLY - I couldn't believe I *wasn't already* following you!! I have this bad habit of running all around friendo's blogs just checking in and making sure everyone is doing well (mother goose style), and then I'll have a moment where I'm like "wait... I'm NOT following them???" But I quickly resolved this little issue as soon as I noticed it 😂

OMG I would neverrrrr think you're an ass are you kidding me??? You always leave such thoughtful messages, so absolutely no worries there!! I hope that your finals went (or are currently going) swimmingly ✨✨ rest up and hydrate and be gentle with yourself during this time, you deserve it with how much brainpower you're using.

I see Jacob Collier in liiiiiike two ish months??? (math is literally my downfall) but STILL, I am very excited to witness his genius in person.

AWW I'm so happy you liked that fic, that was such a fun one to write (especially about the M*cb*th curse 😈). And your tags on the spring fic were SO incredibly sweet, they had me STITCHES!! Thank you sooooo very much for always being so kind, you have a heart of gold! Pleaseee have the loveliest day and a restful weekend to recover from your studies!! ☀️💕🫶

[let-me-love-you-loki]

Nowhere to Run--Ch. 19

Chapter 19

           I found myself in the props room, leaning over the table with cue cards and a marker just as I had the day several months before. It wasn’t lost on me now that this was the place where everything seemed to have started. I smiled as I tucked my headphones into my ears, swiping through my music app until I found my favorite playlist. My heart ran a little faster as the opening notes of one of my favorite Fozzy songs.

           I should ask Chris to go to a Fozzy show with him, I thought with a happy sigh. No matter how much Jericho wanted to buy me things, I had only really asked for his presence, his time, and his attention. That meant more to me than anything he could possibly have bought for me.

           Two weeks. It had been just two weeks since he’d said I should be taken care of. A week since I’d kissed him the first time. I’d thought about kissing him more than once since I’d started working at AEW. The moment I’d met him I thought he was one of the most attractive men I’d ever met, no matter what anyone else said. It didn’t matter that he was twenty years older than me. Every time I’d looked at him in those two years made my heart beat faster and my brain turn to mush.

           I never thought that he would look at me. Not the way he did. Not the way that Jack hated so much. Not the way that I loved so much.

***

           He walked through the halls, part of his mind occupied by the match that night and the rest of it entirely focused on Kat Prince. Jericho had lived the past week of his life in memories and stolen moments of time with her. She was smart and funny and so painfully beautiful. He couldn’t explain the ache that rose in him when he was away from her. It was one thing for her to be in a different room where he could find her in moments. It was another to have her miles—hundreds or thousands—away. The further apart they were, the more the ache grew.

           Could it only have been months since he had scared her in the props room? When he’d seen her standing there over that table, Fozzy blaring from her headphones. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment when it happened. When he’d looked at her and realized that she was… even now he didn’t have a word for it. One moment she had been nothing more than the assistant who made their lives as easy as possible. The next she was what he wanted most in the world. He remembered that night at Cracker Barrel when Sammy had given his overly crass assessment of the entire thing. It still amazed him that it had taken that for him to see what was right in front of his face.

           For some reason, it didn’t surprise him when he walked past the props room to find Kat once again leaning over a table with a marker in hand. It was like déjà vu. The crumpled paper with Sammy’s horrible handwriting. A stack of cardboard cue cards leaned against the side of the table. The white cord of her headphones snaking up from her back pocket to her ears. The sound of Judas filtering through the room.

           He stepped inside and leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t even try to hide his smile as he watched her, knowing for just a few moments that they were alone. She didn’t even have to turn around. She didn’t even need to see him. He just wanted to see her, to ease that ache in his chest.

           She held onto him like a drug that he never wanted to kick. It didn’t matter what it cost him.

***

           I put the finishing touches on the last of Sammy’s cue cards and stretched as I stood up. A glance at my watch showed that the show was set to start in twenty minutes, plenty of time to get Ortiz his bola loca and deliver it all to the Inner Circle locker room. I needed to check to see if there were any changes to the match card and see if the boys wanted anything from catering.

           I didn’t jump when I turned and saw Jericho standing by the door. It was as if I knew he was there, as if my body could sense him close by even when I couldn’t see him. He wore that indulgent smile that made my breath hitch. I pulled my headphones from my ears and draped them around my neck. There wasn’t any shame or embarrassment this time when Fozzy kept playing.

           “Hi,” I said with a shy grin. It was strange. That first sight of him always made me feel like I couldn’t speak. Like I’d forgotten every word that I’d ever learned except that one.

           Jericho tucked his hands in his pockets as he pushed off the wall. “Do you like the music?” he asked.

           “Huh?” So eloquent.

           “Do you like the music?” he repeated. He took a few steps closer, something serious in his eyes. “Or are you listening just because it’s me?”

           It took a moment for the question to make sense in my head. When it did, I grinned and put my hands on my hips. “Are you asking as Chris Jericho or Mongoose McQueen?”

           The smile that lit up his face made my heart burn bright with an adoration that I couldn’t name. He laughed and for a moment it looked like he was going to rush across the space between us and wrap me up in his arms, lift me off my feet, and kiss me. I raised my brows as he came closer.

           “Newspaper,” I said suddenly, the word suddenly popping into my head. I remembered him last week, saying that I’d have to smack him with one every now and then.

           Confusion swept over his face before he chuckled to himself. A faint, barely there pink tinge rose on his cheeks. “Is it a surprise if I say I’m flattered you know the bullshit behind the first album?”

           Taking a deep breath, I grabbed up Sammy’s cue cards and Ortiz’s bola loca. I put every ounce of confidence I had into my walk as I passed by Jericho. “I know a dozen ways to flatter you, Mr. Jericho,” I said, surprised by the sound of my own voice.

           My heart thundered in my chest. I had no clue where any of that came from. But the sound that he made as I sauntered out of the room was enough to make me feel wicked. And to remind me about a mint green surprise still in my suitcase at the hotel.

***

           In that moment, Chris Jericho was absolutely certain that his heart stopped. Every drop of blood drained right out of his brain and headed south. The idea that those words planted in his head would be enough to drive any man insane. But to hear them from the lips of his dear, sweet Kat just about undid him right then and there.

           He didn’t so much lean as fall back against the wall. The breath rushed straight out of him, leaving him lightheaded and dizzy. He ran a hand over his face and let out a groan. Every ounce of his attention was taken up with the image of Kat Prince doing the most deliciously devious things in the most enticing of clothing. Or perhaps nothing at all.

           Well, that’s certainly not helping things, he thought as his head thumped back on the wall. But now that it was in his head, there would be no forgetting it.

***

           My head had been spinning since the moment I walked out of the props room. It hadn’t stopped while I worked backstage, carrying catering plates and trays, repaired gear, props and everything else under the sun that anyone needed. My body moved on autopilot as I worked from muscle memory. But my mind was on those words that I’d whispered to him and how I wanted very much to make good on them.

           I gathered up my things and tucked them into my bag. I found myself suddenly as nervous as I had been last week as I waited for him in the drop room. Would it always be this way? Nervousness? Giddiness? A secret kept between the two of us?

           He came through the door with a look on his face that let me know that he hadn’t forgotten the exchange in the props room. It took him a fraction of a second to cross the room and snatch me against him. He barely gave me time to squeak before his mouth was on mine, his arms tight around my back. There was nothing faint and sweet about this kiss. It was demanding and desperate and he didn’t bother with gentleness.

           I returned his attention with vigor and a matching desperation. For a brief span of time, there wasn’t a single thought in my head but the strength of Jericho’s arms around me and the feel of his lips on mine. There wasn’t a single other person left in the world. It didn’t matter that someone might walk in. The only thing in the whole world was the two of us.

           “We’re leaving, sweetheart,” he stated breathlessly when we broke apart. “Right now.”

           My heart slipped and slid in my chest as I looked at the darkness of his blue eyes. His pupils were blown wide. Heat took root in my body, burning brighter and hotter in my blood at the way he looked at me.

           Jericho looked me up and down. “I said right now, Kat.” There was a darkness in the command in his voice as I squeaked and ran over to grab my bag. The second I had it in my hand, he snatched me by the wrist and practically dragged me out the back into the parking lot.

           The moment we were outside, he stopped. He turned back toward me with something like contrition in his gaze. He loosened his hold on my wrist and brought it up to his lips. The heat of his mouth against my skin made me shiver. Jericho closed his eyes as he kissed the spot where my pulse beat.

           “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

           I smiled at the way he said it—sore-ry instead of sah-ry—and sighed with contentment. “It’s okay,” I replied softly. My hand settled against his cheek even as my words slipped into something a little less than sweet. “I wouldn’t mind getting back to the hotel right now either.”

           I took a few steps forward, pressing myself up against him. I felt him catch his breath as I tipped my face up, silently asking for another kiss. Jericho brushed his lips against mine.

           My body hummed as he curled his arm around my back. “I live to make you happy, Kat.”

           “Then you’ll live a very, very long time,” I said sweetly. “Mr. Jericho.”

           He growled, the sound rumbling in his chest. “Hotel. Right now.”

Tag List

@thenerdybaker523​ @mrsmatt​ @lilred91​ @mariejr88-blog​

[denkamis]

bnha characters as cheesy valentine’s day tropes.

masterlist. | valentine’s day event masterlist.

warnings: none! some swearing, but a lot of fluff for the best boys

characters: shouto todoroki, denki kaminari, eijirou kirishima, tamaki amajiki

notes: dedicated to @nekomanagers / @meilbox ,, for being the most supportive human being in my life and undoubtedly the reason i have been posting so much of my work here on this blog. thank you for dealing with all of my shenanigans on and offline, and for picking me up when i felt like i couldn’t. <33 i love you.

shouto todoroki

flowers & chocolate as gifts

he’s one for the classics

he buys you the most gorgeous flowers, ones that are most definitely your favourites mixed in with an arrangement of others that all have particular meanings to them

he also got you expensive truffle chocolates, and also some cheaper ones that you really like to snack on

he’s so thoughtful, it makes your heart melt

literally so sincere as he gives it to you too, has a whole ass speech prepared

shouto came home after work a bit later than you had expected him to. perhaps he got caught up with some hero work, a report that needed to absolutely be filed today or a villain that just wouldn’t let up. either way, when you heard the front door to your shared apartment open, you came running over to greet him. as you turned the corner to see the front door, there stood shouto with the most breathtaking bouquet of flowers you had ever seen in your life. it was a myriad of colours and petals of all kinds standing out against the white of his suit. since when did he have time to change after work to surprise you like this? his usual aloof expression was replaced by a soft smile, one that was reserved for you and only you, “happy valentine’s day, my love.”

he strolled over to you, initiating a kiss that was slow and passionate. it made your heart melt right on the spot, your face erupting in nothing but pure warmth. “shouto, these are beautiful,” you told him as you took a moment to admire the different flowers that went into assembling the collection in his hands. “these ones mean gratitude, and this one here means love. truth is the white coloured one,” he pointed out, guiding you through the meaning of each individual one that made up your special gift.

he snuck a glance at you, your face radiant with how much you were smiling at his thoughtful present. “i also bought you a few of your favourites,” shouto gestured to the vanity you two kept by the door. you turned to see a very expensive box of truffles and a few hershey's kisses paired with more of your favourite corner store chocolates.

“it wasn’t too much, was it?” shouto asked quietly, watching as your jaw dropped at the sight of the truffles. didn’t you hear a rumour once about how those ones literally had gold integrated into their wrappers?  “no no, it’s wonderful. this is.. you’re so sweet,” you giggled, tapping his chest as a signal for him to lean down so you could kiss him again. no matter how many times shouto gifted you flowers and chocolate on valentine’s day, you got the same butterflies as you did when he first gave you these heartfelt gifts back in high school.

denki kaminari

fancy dinner date at an expensive restaurant

the entire bakusquad was EGGING HIM ON for something good on valentine’s day okay

he’s been talking big game about some kind of secret plan he had in store for the both of you

he bought you an outfit that not only suited your style, but was elegant and absolutely stunning as it complimented your figure

he pulled out all the stops for you

he wanted to be classy, so he reserved a table for two at one of those rooftop restaurants so you two could dine and enjoy each other’s company

“like grown ups” as denki says

you were sat at a candlelit dinner for two near the edge of one of the most highly rated restaurants in your area. denki had really gone all out, wanting to treat you like the resilient and beautiful partner you were to him with a night that would be unforgettable.

and unforgettable it was.

you two were arguably the loudest ones at the restaurant, laughing and overall just having a good time amongst such high class individuals. denki was making faces at you across the table, making you choke back on the red wine you were having. “and then bakugou slapped that dude! it was crazy, y/n, super fucking wild,” he laughed as you nodded your head in agreement. denki sure knew how to talk, filling in conversations with anecdotes and playful conversation topics sprinkled in with compliments for you. he loved you so damn much, he felt like his electricity quirk was on all the time with you from how much you turned his brain to mush.

he couldn’t get over how gorgeous you looked tonight, with your hair done and your outfit styled to perfection. like, that was all his? and a personality to match? damn! he felt like for once, he was doing something right in his life for you. he wasn’t the dumbass everyone constantly made him out to be. he was trying to be the best for you, and if he could make you happy for the rest of his life, then nothing else mattered to him.

your waiters came back with two platters in hand, with outrageously small portion sizes that could feed maybe a small cat at best. the two of you stared at each other with blank expressions. oh no, this would not be enough to appease your appetites. each of your plates were worth twelve thousand yen, so you really couldn’t get more. on top of that, denki had prepaid everything for tonight anyways. what was worse was that the food tasted like a rat’s ass, yet the two of you dined like kings regardless. well, you pretended to at least. as you were suppressing your disgusted expressions out of kindness to both the waiters and the other guests, denki couldn’t help but stare at you. you were his person, and although the dinner wasn’t exactly all it was cracked up to be, he knew that you dealt with so much more of him than anyone else was willing to. that meant more to him than words could even express.

that, and he immediately bought you apology mcnuggets after you two left. then you two really ate like kings.

eijirou kirishima

long captions to their s/o on instagram

this mfing SAP

he has everything planned, he made like 3 drafts beforehand and even had bakugou proofread it for him

he had all the different pictures he wanted to post too

this is a little unrelated but mans definitely showed up to your house with red roses and a suit

LIKE A GENTLEMAN

your phone buzzed, indicating that  you had received a new notification from instagram. after taking your phone off the table and entering in your passcode, you tapped into the instagram app and saw what had caused the tiny ping.

eijikirishima has tagged you in a post!

the first photo was an oldie, but a goodie. it was of you and eijirou at prom together back when you both graduated from ua. he looked absolutely stunning in the darkened suit he had bought, right beside you in a matching colour scheme. though the picture was in fact a meme in itself, as he posed like that one will smith picture gesturing to you with the goofiest smile. you remembered telling him that he was absolutely banned from wearing crocs that night to the dance. it was a good thing you had saved him from that utter atrocity.

the next picture was a photo of you with the puppy you had adopted together. you had named him bean, to which eijirou had expressed was the manliest name he had ever heard for a tiny pomeranian puppy. you were pressing a kiss to bean’s nose, the angle of the photo showing off your loving nature that he had fallen for.

the last was a picture of you sleeping against him during a long train ride for a mission. it wasn’t the most flattering picture eijirou had of you, but it was certainly one of his favourites. you looked so at peace, cuddling against his side with a tiny line of drool running down your chin. he was smiling in the picture, his eyes solely trained on you with the most wholesome look on his face. he was so utterly in love with you, and this picture couldn’t have showcased that look any more clearly.

the caption read as follows:

Hey bros! It’s Valentine’s Day, which means that it is my duty to post about the most amazing person I’ve ever had the pleasure of dating for about five years now! Y/N, we’ve been through so much together over the years, we’ve had ups and downs and everything else in between but I’ve been fortunate enough to remain standing here as the person you can confide in, much like you are that person to me. You’re my rock. I continue to find so much more to love about you every single day. I hope I get to spend the rest of my days with you, my best friend, my partner throughout everything. I love you so so much, pebble. I hope we get to stay just like this forever, and grow as we go along.

needless to say, many happy tears were shed that day.

tamaki amajiki

love letters in their shoe locker

for all the days leading up to valentine’s, tamaki put a different letter in your locker

mirio hyped him up asf to even get him to write what he was feeling towards you

and he was still nervous as hell and had mirio stand guard so that you didn’t accidentally walk in on him shoving weird notes in your locker

but unfortunately for tamaki, mirio isn’t a very good watchman

and so you caught him in the act, right on valentine’s day ironically

it was the end of a long, rather eventful day at school. you had gotten a few confessions from some other students, to which you turned down due to someone else being on your mind. for the past few days, you had begun collecting small letters in your shoe locker. the notes were short, handwritten with small doodles and even a recipe or two for you to try. it seemed like this person was reaching out to you to express their true feelings, their intimate and romantic feelings, towards you. and you couldn’t help but feel the same towards them, whoever they were. this admirer unveiled small details about themselves to you, yet hadn’t revealed enough for you to piece together a name. so here you were, sprinting down the hallway as soon as the bell went to try and catch a glimpse of this mystery individual who had been leaving you such sweet writings for you to cherish.

you rounded the final corner and there you saw him. before that happened however, you first you ran into your classmate and good friend mirio, who let out a tiny “oof” at the sudden contact. you apologized to him in a rush, explaining in a rushed tone that you needed to go meet someone. he nodded and waved to you before realizing that he had one job and tamaki was definitely going to kill him later.

only slightly out of breath, you saw a mess of indigo hair and shaky hands sliding your latest note into your shoe locker. as he turned to leave, his face drained of colour at the sight of you. he slouched further, retreating into himself. he looked around nervously for an excuse as to what the hell he was doing shoving letters into your locker. though, you beat him to speaking first.

“it’s you.”

tamaki’s throat felt scratchy and swollen, his entire form shaking as you slowly, calmly made your way towards him. “i- i can explain, y/n,” tamaki barely murmured, his nerves beginning to get the best of him yet again. “your words, they were so intimate. you were so well spoken on paper, i just had to meet you in person,” you confessed to him with a patient smile on your face. you stood a relatively safe distance away, not wanting to overwhelm him by your presence. you had just caught him in such a compromising act, after all.

“i read all your letters,” you went on, “every night before bed, i read them, tamaki. i even tried out the udon recipe you gave me and it was the best udon i had ever had. everything you said in your letters, the confessions and the other, more personal stuff… is that all true?”

tamaki, though he felt frozen beneath your warm gaze, had the courage to nod his head. “i didn’t know how else to tell you,” he admitted, hands now covering his face in shame. suddenly, gentle fingers grasped at his shaky ones as you uncovered his face to the light that was you. “i like you too,” you said finally. it felt like a chord had snapped inside of tamaki’s mind and all his feelings came crashing down in a deep crescendo of emotions all for you. it was all that he had ever wanted from you: a response.

all works © denkamis 2021.

tags:

@meilbox

want to be on the taglist? see this post!

[yaidenpart-blog]

Handwriting Vs Typing

In this day and age, it’s common practice to write your stories on the computer. Some eccentrics let their 19. century author self-run free by using a typewriter for the Aesthetic, but, in general, most people toe the line. And then, well, we have the rare breed of writers who handwrite. Rumor has it they’re extinct, but daring folks have been known to spot one or two in the wild, building shelters from old notepaper and gnawing at ink cartridges to survive.

….and I used to be one of them.

For years, I swore to handwriting and honestly, I still kind of do. In spite of having switched over to typing, I feel handwriting at one stage in your drafting can be very beneficial to your process. But whether to go through with it completely is a more difficult decision.

And seeing as I’m familiar with both sides of the coin, I’ll aid you in making a personally beneficial choice.

So let’s figure out if handwriting is for you.

Pro’s of Handwriting

Imagine, you’re at your desk and need to write an idea down quickly. You could turn your laptop on, or grab a napkin and scribble in two seconds flat without having to open an app first. Physically move things around when outlining, quickly add arrow and colors, and easily look at several pieces of paper at the same time while writing. It’s simply said a more organic and immediate affair.

And so is revising by hand. There is a reason why many editors still demand printed copies of your manuscripts, I’ve noticed a certain screen blindness overcomes you when you’ve stared at a document for ten hours straight, blurring every paragraph into mush. The distance between the keyboard and the letters appearing on the screen leaves an artificial aftertaste like fake grape juice sticking to the roof of your mouth.

Handwriting not only strikes a more natural connection to your brain but also motivates extremely. Once you filled a notebook up you can hold milestones in your fingers, trace every physical accomplishment you’ve made. Even if the notebook fills up to the brim when you’re only at the half point mark of your story – kind of turning the victory stale as you grope for the next notebook to continue – it still serves as a way to keep track of your project that’s more physical and satisfying than a digital word count.

Speaking of word counts, this brings us to our most crucial point: deleting.

Or more, compulsive deleting and ‘editing’ while in the trenches of writing your first draft, the unspoken bane of all writers. Editing as you go is a terrible life choice for most people, and I thank past me every day for choosing to write by hand so I didn’t have to deal with that burden as a newbie on top of everything else. Basically, editing as you go will prevent you from achieving the peak of your productiveness by trapping you in a vicious cycle of editing and deleting which at the end of the day won’t have gotten you any further along the path of completing your story. However, writing by hand makes it more difficult for this cycle to lure you into its clutches. The only way for you to delete sections in by scratching them out or by drawing crazy mind maps with arrows along the page borders. And this forces you to silence your perfectionist urges and get the draft on paper in one go instead of editing every single line to death and never finishing anything.

Another viable reason to consider switching to handwriting could be your health, many people suffer from carpal tunnel or other issues like eye strain through working on a computer. And there is absolutely no shame in putting your health first.

Cons

Now after waxing poetic about writing by hand for 400 words, it’s time to reveal the big con which prompted me to jump ship after years of dedicated handwriting. It is-

-Dramatic Pause-

Having to write your draft two times when you want it as a digital file.

Which turned into a problem because redoing things unnecessarily like this grew to too much of a strain on my hands, even if it was just writing the story twice. Though I’m aware most people probably won’t encounter this particular problem. So the only thing left to take into consideration for you, my friendo, is the time extensiveness inherited to becoming an ink cartridge gnawer. If you’re especially inpatient having to spend time on retyping your story might not be a compromise you’re willing to make.

One of the pros previously mentioned is actually a con in disguise. The limited line editing capability of handwriting turns into a disadvantage when your issues don’t lie with perfectionism but with underwriting. I like to go back and forth on the page, adding content to paragraphs I’ve written before while simultaneously slapping on new sentences. This method is less accomplishable on paper and leads to underwritten stories being, well, extremely underwritten. At least until they’re through a few edit rounds on the computer, sweat lining your brow as revision evolves into a Herculean effort without your consent.

If you’re an underwriter typing is a blessing preventing you from having to go through hell later on in revision. But does typing have actual cons as well? Probably. Hopefully. Or this post will end on a pretty weak note.

Typing and all that Jazz

The pros of typing are obvious, modern world wouldn’t get by without someone happily tipping away on a keyboard or screen.

I personally changed my process from manual to working on a tablet for several reasons, including the flat screen being the closest to paper I could find while keeping the advantage of not having to transcribe my writing to a digital format.

But for you handwriting might be very well worth it. It does have many benefits, and typing could just annoy you enough to try.

The cons of typing include but are not limited to Enablement of Perfectionism™, as we talked about before in the pros of handwriting. Typing enables by tempting us into editing and editing, backspacing and deleting whole chunks of our work instead of continuing to actually write, giving off the illusion of productivity which later on reveals itself to be hollow when it turns out you only managed to write 50 words in five hours.

So if you struggle with that syndrome, I seriously recommend handwriting, it might sound painful at first not to edit, but constant perfectionism while drafting will be the true fatal foe that’ll stop you from attaining your goals.

Otherwise, pros of typing are the instant gratification of showing someone your work per google docs or other means, as well as the high working speed you’re able to reach. As well as the fact that computers are an all constant, making it easy to sneak a bit of writing in while at work without being forced into rewriting it at home to add it to your original project file. The cons and pros of both methods kind of tangle and interplay with each other, at the end it’s a purely personal decision which you choose, but I hope this post gave you some thought chew about which way is actually best suited to your workflow.

Pretty unsatisfying conclusion, huh? No straightforward answer saying what’s best for everyone. But that’s life folks, everything is all confusing subjectivity and grey areas and then you die.

[speakupthinkup]

Best Online Study & Learning Tools

Hello, everyone!

If you’ve been paying attention to social media or the news, you’ve likely heard about people slowly, but surely trying to do more than just lounge around at home during the era of COVID-19. I personally feel like I can only binge watch so many shows before I feel like my brain is turning to mush, and because of this, I began pursuing more opportunities for self-improvement online including free online courses and reading/listening to free books/eBooks. Out of this undertaking, I realized that many other people may be thinking like me, but also may be wondering where to look and what tools or platforms to use. So, I thought I’d lay out some viable free options for you here.

Check out these free resources:

Coursera is a top tier online learning platform where myriad courses are offered for free and at cost. As online learning is becoming more prevalent, platforms like these are likely only going to continue to grow and be used by more and more people.

edX is founded by Harvard and MIT and was my first exposure to massive open online courses (MOOCs). This site offers various courses for free and at cost to learners who are seeking self-improvement through online learning.

Canvas offers many free professional development opportunities for educators to improve their skills and better their ability to serve others. Upon reviewing this site further, I’ve decided that I’ll personally be looking into taking a course or two on this platform.��

FutureLearn is another site that offers free and paid learning opportunities relative to various subjects from universities across the world.

Codeacademy delivers free learning opportunities for coding and brags that it has the best system out there to help with learning and developing coding skills. I’ll tell you I’ve tried my hand at coding and it can be challenging, but it is definitely a great skill to develop and has various practical applications.

TED-Ed is TED’s education initiative which offers original animated content and a platform for educators everywhere to develop and share learning materials with the masses. I love the TED platform. Nearly every video I’ve seen I’ve found to be informative and often even inspirational.

Academic Earth offers a pool of free online college courses from many of the world’s top universities. The site allows you to search for courses by program, category and subject.

Alison is quickly becoming one of the biggest platforms for free and paid online learning. Courses on nearly everything are seemingly available on this site with many courses offering users the option to pay for certification for their coursework.

Apple iTunes U offers access to free public courses through its app and provides educational materials relative to Apple products and programs as well.

Duolingo offers a tailored language learning experience that is available via web browser or through an app. It uses gamification to encourage follow through and participation in the program. I love Duolingo! I use this program daily for learning Spanish, but there are so many other languages on there. I find it to be super engaging and effective. Give it a try!

Quizlet offers free and paid learning tools to help facilitate learning and memorization of various subjects across grade levels and difficulties. I’m a big fan of Quizlet’s free version of Quizlet Learn that allows you to study given materials in various ways. Also since it is such a huge platform, Quizlet already has tons of study sets that are posted up for anyone to use.

If you haven’t heard of Grammarly yet, I’m surprised. It is quickly becoming available nearly everywhere for your editing and grammar-based needs. As a user myself, I find it hugely helpful, especially for suggestions relative to word choice. It comes in both free and premium options. I use the free option, but for frequent writers, I’d bet the paid version is probably worth it. Grammarly also gives you feedback on what you’re writing sounds like (i.e., empathetic, neutral, etc.).

Schooltraq is intended to be a smart academic planner for students and although most online learning platforms have their own built in systems for managing one’s schedule, Schooltraq allows you to keep track of coursework and due dates across colleges, online platforms and other education mediums in one place for free.

GoConqr is striving to be a global learning platform for educators and learners to share and access ever-evolving quality content. It boasts a huge user base and aspirations to grow even bigger.

Evernote is probably one of the most well-known note-taking programs/apps out there. I use it and find it to be very helpful. Evernote is continually updated to ensure better interactivity and usability. Although they offer paid options, the free version of Evernote is excellent and will most likely meet most individuals note-taking needs.

Chegg Prep flashcards and other study materials will soon be replacing StudyBlue. This is another viable study tool. However, I prefer Quizlet as it offers more ways to study and has a comparatively bigger user base.

HippoCampus is powered by the NROC Project in an effort to offer a free, academic website that provides education on general subjects through various media. 

Kahoot! allows you to develop and use other open sourced trivia type games for learning various subjects and information. You can also look at reports to see how people are using and performing on your Kahoot! The learning games can be accessed via the Kahoot! app as well as via web browser. I’m a big fan of this free program and it is especially great for group learning environments.

Why do these resources matter? I think it is important to never stop learning, growing and improving. In the field of speech-language pathology, it is a requirement to be continuously learning to ensure you provide evidence-based service and to remain knowledgeable relative to your scope of practice. But in my personal life, I still feel it’s very important to continue growing. I personally feel less fulfilled when I’m not accomplishing goals and learning new things, so I strive to do just that regularly. So if you have read this far, I encourage you to pick at least one of these recommended resources and give it a try. What do you have to lose?

Thanks for reading and I hope you get some benefit out of using these resources. If you enjoyed this post, check out the other posts on my blog. I’m also currently working on developing my own website and blog, which will be available at speakupthinkup.com.

Author: Devin Fisher M.S., CCC-SLP devin@speakupthinkup.com

Links & Resources:

Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/

edX: https://www.edx.org/

Canvas: https://www.canvas.net/

FutureLearn: https://www.futurelearn.com/

Codeacademy: https://www.codecademy.com/

Ted-Ed: https://ed.ted.com/

Academic Earth: https://academicearth.org/

Alison: https://alison.com/

Apple iTunes U: https://itunesu.itunes.apple.com/coursemanager/

Duolingo: https://www.duolingo.com/

Quizlet: https://quizlet.com/

Grammarly: https://www.grammarly.com/

Schooltraq: https://schooltraq.com/

GoConqr: https://www.goconqr.com/

Evernote: https://evernote.com/

Chegg Prep: https://www.chegg.com/flashcards

HippoCampus: https://www.hippocampus.org/

Kahoot: https://kahoot.it/

[dailyaudiobible]

02/28/2018 DAB Transcript

Leviticus 22:21-23:44, Mark 9:30-10:12, Psalms 44:1-7, Proverbs 10:19

Today is the 28th day of February. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it's great to be here with you today from the holy city of Jerusalem. We arrived in the evening last night and it's an early day and a long one for us today. But we'll talk about all of that in just a little bit. We’ve kind of rounded the corner and have reached our final destination, which will be in and around Jerusalem. At least that's where we’ll be calling home base until the end of our pilgrimage this year. And it's great to be back here. But let me not get ahead of myself and talk about all that. Let’s get into the Scriptures for today. We've been reading from the Modern English Version this week, which is what we will continue to do, even as we continue to move around the land of the Bible here in Israel. Of course, in the Old Testament, in the book of Leviticus, we're reading the statutes, ordinances, laws that are to shape and form this new people who,, of course, have been brought out of slavery in Egypt in epic fashion and now they’re being shaped and formed into a culture and a people, but with one purpose in mind, that they be holy as God is holy. And so, we pick up with that story. Leviticus chapter 22 verse 17 through 23 verse 44 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You again for Your word and we thank You again for the reminder that what we say matters, that our realities are being created by our words and that matters. And us paying attention to what's coming out of our mouth matters. And we take that to heart today as we live into this day and invite Your Holy Spirit's to speak to us about that and continually remind us to take a beat, to take a pause before we start just saying words because they matter. Come Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

Okay. So, man, this is the point in the trip where my brain is turning into mush because we…so much…so much to drink and it's a firehose experience, without a doubt. So, yesterday in the morning we packed up all of our stuff put everything back on the buses and left the Sea of Galilee and the Galilee region itself, drove down along the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee before heading west and leaving it behind. And our first stop was to travel through the Jezreel Valley all the way to Harr Megiddo, also known as Armageddon. And the ancient ruins of the city of Megiddo still exist and we took some time there to look at them. Megiddo was a city right along the ancient trade route between Egypt and all of the lands beyond here to the north and east. So, it was an important city to control because if you control that then you kind of control a lot of the trade route coming through the area. So, it has had a long history of conquest and battle. And, of course, it sits in a valley that's pretty famous, the valley of Armageddon. So, we looked at the ruins of Megiddo and were able to go down into the water cisterns, the water tunnels and cisterns  that were carved out. It's pretty amazing when you can see that and realize, talking 3000 years ago, and we’re not talking about bulldozers and cranes and, you know, backhoes and all kinds of earthmoving equipment and engineering. We’re talking about a long, long time ago. And, so, the ingenuity is pretty remarkable. And, so, around the ruins you see how people lived, look out across the valley, and then down into the tunnels we went. And it’s not that…I mean you have to climb down in there on stairs…but it's not too long of a of a walk, but it's a remarkable one just to understand that the way that this got here was by people and hard work a long, long, long time ago. And then it was kind of…it's been a little bit rainy…off and on. And, so, we get a little tiny bit rained on, not bad at all, but we are thinking about Mt. Carmel and if it's going to be cloudy up there, and if it’s going to rainy up there. And, so, we did a little switcheroo and had an early lunch, allowing the morning showers to kind of blow through before heading up Mt. Carmel. And Mt Carmel is famous for a showdown between the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal and Asherah in which fire comes down from heaven. We haven’t gotten to all this. We’ll get to it when we get to the book of Kings, books of Kings. But fire comes down from heaven, people return to God, the prophets of Baal meet an end they weren’t planning on, but idol worship isn’t something…worshiping anything else besides God, turning your heart in worship to any other God is not something that God tolerates well because it pulls us away from our true identity, which is to be in union together with Him. And, so, that’s happened p on Mt Carmel. So, we opened the Scriptures and read that story and then just discussed what happened next, because Elijah got to see the power of God and then he got up, you know, he got a nasty note from the Queen named Jezebel, that she was going to kill him. And he took off and ran. And, you know, just, when you're here you’re beginning to understand the context that he left Mt Carmel up in the in the north and ran all the way to Beersheba in the South where we started and then all the way down into the desert where we were at the at the Red Sea and then off deep into the Sinai Peninsula to the mountain of God. So, a long, long, long way. And God comes to him on the mountain and says, what are you doing here? And that's a poignant question. Because the same kinds of things do happen in our lives. We see God move, we feel him moving in our lives, we see things happening in our lives, and then we that nasty note. Right? Some social media posts on something or another to sideswipe us. And off on the run we go. And then God comes and says, what are you doing here? So, we considered that as we considered, right, you know, that we were right there, where this happened. And then we were able to go up to this little observatory and look out over the vast Valley of Armageddon and take some pictures and just contemplate where we were in Scripture, where we were in the Bible, what was happening before moving on. And next stop was to take us all the way west to the border of the Mediterranean Sea, to the ancient Roman city of Caesarea Mayor Timo, which was kind of a jewel of the Galilee or the jewel of Israel for the Roman culture, the Roman empire period in this land. And the ruins are exquisite. You kind of get a sense of maybe what this would've been like. And it's pretty magnificent to say the least. And it allowed us the opportunity to touch the book of acts. The Caesarea Mayor Timo's is where the apostle Paul was imprisoned for a couple of years after being arrested in Jerusalem and avoiding an assassination attempt. Of course, I’m a little ahead of where we are in the Scriptures right now, because, at least in the New Testament, we’re in the gospel of Mark, but we we’ll eventually get to the book of Acts and begin to understand the apostle Paul's influence in the early church. And it’s from Caesarea Mayor Timo's that the apostle Paul appealed to Caesar and sailed for Rome. So, we were able to touch that piece and that portion of time, a piece of Scripture. And that wasn’t our final stop for the day then, but it's about a two hour drive from there up to Jerusalem. So, we settled in and began the long journey up, up, up, up to Jerusalem, where we ended our day as it was just getting dark. And lots of naps were taken, but coming into Jerusalem always, reinvigorates everything. And, so, some dinner, some fellowship, and then an early early morning this morning because we’ll…it has to be…because we’ll start our day up on the Temple Mount. And, so, we have to get in line and all of that a bit early. But we’ll talk about what we do today, tomorrow, because it's hard to talk about things you're going to do before you've done them, but it's going to be a great day around Jerusalem today, intersecting the Jesus story here, some of the things and places here. And probably it's best that we do this now, while we have the adrenaline rush of just arriving in the holy city. So, looking forward to that. Thank you for your prayers as we continue this journey for the next few days.

And man here we are guys. Last day of February, which means that we are concluding two months together on our journey through the Scriptures this year. So, we’re 1/6 of the way through the Bible. And just want to say, well done on that. The rhythm continues as we continue to press into it and God continues to speak to us through his word. So, well done.

If want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can certainly do that dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link that's on the homepage. And, you know, I run out of words and ways to express gratitude. The reality is the reality. We what we do because we do it together. That had always been the case around here. So, thank you for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996, Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian, a tired Brian, but Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi this is Joey from Missouri it is 4:38 here on a very cold day. I want…here…on February the 23rd, 2018. I just want to sing a little song here before I start. These songs are some of my mom’s songs that she sang on the piano for many years. So, here goes. [singing] Who is likened to the oh Lord among God’s. Who is likened to the glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders, who is likened to the? [singing stops]. Oh…oh…praise the Lord…praise the Lord. Candace from Oregon you are on my mind today. And I just wanted to say I love you. And when your husband passed away almost a year ago today I was in Kuwait. I was in Kuwait at that time and I just remember coming home to my dorm after work that day and was just so, so sad about that. So, Lord God, just be with Candace from Oregon today. And, so, Lord God, we just thank you for Candace and also thank you for Brian. And I love you all. Take care. Okay. Talk to you soon. Bye-bye.

Hi, this is Melody from Canada. It is February 24th and I have so much joy hearing Brian talk about the group and Israel going into the Jordan River and leaving everything behind. And I can almost he feel the cold water myself in my heart, imagination, spirit. Just bless you, all who made that commitment. And may you find strength to continue in that and to stand that and that for the Lord is with you. I have Psalm 35:27 on my heart. It says, let them shout for joy and be glad. His favor my righteous cause. Yes, let them say continually, the Lord be magnified with pleasure and the prosperity of his servant. And thinking of Rachel a first-time caller who struggling with depression and OCD. And Rachel, the Lord has pleasure in your prosperity, His pleasure in your health. And whatever road it takes to get there he is with you always. Bless you. Bye.

Hi friends this is Lisa the encourager and I hope everybody that’s in Israel is having a wonderful blessed time and a safe trip. I’m praying for you. I just wanted to read something I thought was encouraging tonight called A Cut Above. And it says, the word holy means to separate. The ancestry of return can be traced back to the ancient word which means to cut. To be holy then is to be cut above the norm, superior extraordinary. The holy one dwells on a different level than the rest of us. What frightens us does not frighten Him. What troubles us does not trouble Him. When you set your sights on our God you focus on one a cut above. Any storm life may bring, you will find peace in Him. And also Psalm 46:10 says, be still and know that I am God. So, I hope that’s encouraging to you tonight. And with that, I also wanted to pray some prayers for some folks. I wanted to pray for Lydia from Indiana. She had called in about her daughter Suzy E. and she was just wanting her to obey God and not take on the ways of the world. So, I want to pray for Suzy E., Lydia’s daughter. And also just wanted to just say thank you to Michelle…oh…excuse me…I’m sorry…Monica from Kentucky for her prayers. There always so sweet Monica and I just appreciate all of your…the times you call in and the different things that your praying about and just want to let you know it’s very encouraging. And lastly, I just want to pray for Diane in Ohio. She has a son that’s taking drugs and a grandson as well. And they really need help in turning their life around and she feels like they’ve really changed a great...

He Daily Audio Bible this is Paul from Houston. And I’ve called to pray for Curtis from Cali. I think your sons name was Kingston. And you were mentioning that he is dealing with a lot of anxiety depression sort of things, but he’s only eight. And I just want to pray. I struggled with a lot of anxiety growing up and different things. And Lord…let’s go to God right now. Thank you Jesus. I ask that You will be with Kingston Lord I thank You Lord that You protect his mind Lord, that You would guide him around with Your Angels. I thank You Lord that his mind would be centered on You. I thank You Lord that no weapon formed against him can prosper. And I thank You Lord that those thoughts that try to bombard him, those thoughts to try to create anxiety, that those thoughts have to go in the name of Jesus. And I thank You Lord for peace over the house, over Kingston, peace when he sleeps, peace when he rises. Lord I thank You Lord that You would help them to, you know, explore the things that an eight-year-old boy would love to do. Lord I thank You Lord that You would give him the outlets, the hobbies, the things that You want him to work with Lord. And I thank You Lord for developing him. And that You have something special for Kingston Lord, a special future for him Lord, like scouting with different things Lord, that You know, You know Kingston Lord. And I thank You Lord, You know, the way You made him and what purpose You made him for and I thank You Lord that when his family draws closer to You Lord that You would reveal what Your will is and that You would open a door for them, but I thank You Lord for peace in their home and peace in his mind and peace as he sleeps in Jesus name. Daily Audio Bible have a great day. It’s Paul from Houston. Bye.

Hey, I need you guys to pray for me. I’ve been walking with Jesus for a long time now and I was involved in a lot of pornography and masturbation before I knew him and even in the years since. the struggle has been real. It’s not all the time. There is victory sometimes, sometimes for long stretches, but it’s been going into my marriage. My wife new about them. But we have kids now and I’m working harder than ever and she works harder than ever looking after them. And it’s gotten to a point where I don’t want to talk about with her anymore and burden her mostly. And sometimes I feel like I’m screwed up in other ways so much that I can’t even talk to her anymore and it’s probably unfair, but I know I need to confess out to my brothers and sisters. Today’s reading in the Old Testament about skin disease and mildew. I skipped it. I just fast-forwarded. And then Brian talked about how that was sort of the heart of the message and how it has to do with the heart of me. And I can’t let stuff grow in the dark anymore. So, pray for me family. Bring it to the high priest so he can bring into His father. Thanks guys. I love you. Bye.

[kuromukurro]

Just Roll with It

@sexylibrarian93 requested “Kennosuke deciding to just roll with it when it comes to technology. Even better if it has the phrase ‘just roll with it’.”

 Honestly this took a path I wasn’t really intending it to, so if this isn’t what you want please let me know! Fluff below x 

Ever since Kennosuke had become a permanent member of her household, Yukina had almost gotten used to strange things happening. Discovering extraterrestrial life, giant robots, and fighting in one of said robots had certainly changed how she viewed life, and she was much more accustomed to this new way of life than she had thought possible. What she wasn’t expecting, however, was waking up at three in the morning to an incessant tapping. Muffling a groan into her pillow, she slipped on some slippers and padded into the main room of her little home, where a blindingly bright light illuminated her robot-fighting partner’s face. His thick eyebrows were bunched together and the oddest mixture of a grimace and a grin played at his lips. The most shocking, in Yukina’s opinion, was that he was the source of the tapping that had interrupted her precious sleep. 

“Kennosuke?! What are you doing with my phone?” Had she been more awake, the question would have been more of a shriek, but in her current state it was barely a shocked whisper. He spared her a quick glance (barely, she noted bitterly) before staring at the device in his hand. Suddenly, all her messages with Mika about the samurai ran through her mind, and she squealed before diving over to the couch to reclaim her phone. “You can’t just take my things, Kennosuke!” she cried quietly, still trying to get her phone back. But he was far too quick, and expertly would maneuver out of her way.  

She didn’t see the quirk of his mouth as he said in an equally low voice, “I knew you would not mind.” She spluttered for a moment, a blush taking over her face for no reason, before he continued. “I have made a discovery.” 

Giving up on her phone but silently praying that he wasn’t talking about the texts with Mika, she slouched beside him to peer at her phone screen. “A discovery?” 

“Yes,” he said proudly. “It is called the ‘App Store’.” Yukina’s eyes widened, and absently realized she was never going to have space on her phone again. “I have already filled the tiny box with many of these games!” And he was staring back at the screen as if she had never interrupted him.

 “But… why did you take my phone in the first place?” Yukina questioned, still trying to peer at the screen. 

He grimaced at her question. “Technology has had many advancements since the Washiba time. If I am to stay here…” he sent her a look that melted her heart. “I will need to know how to operate these boxes.” She couldn’t stop the small smile on her face even if she wanted to (which, to be honest, she didn’t really want to). “Also, that bastard Tom requested I try something from this ‘Store’ by the name of ‘Flappy Bird’.”

Yukina’s content feeling evaporated. If Kennosuke played Flappy Bird, she would not possess a phone anymore. Images filled her head- her phone laying on the floor, pierced by Kennosuke’s sword, her phone laying in tiny bits after Kennosuke threw it against the wall, her own protests as the Kuromukuro’s foot crushed her phone into the pavement. “That isn’t a good idea, Kennosuke!” She managed to say as she resumed her efforts tenfold to get her phone back.

He sent her an odd look. “Why? Is Tom’s taste that bad?” She nodded so quickly she worried she may have given herself whiplash. “It’s- um, it is…” she sighed. She never was a good liar. “I just don’t think it would be your style. Also, it is supposed to be really addicting!” 

He appraised her for a minute before turning back to her phone and hummed in response. Content that he wasn’t trying to read through her texts or inadvertently destroy her expensive phone, she felt herself relax, her eyes slowly closing….

Kennosuke jolted in suprise as he felt something land on his shoulder, but a glance told him it was just Yukina’s head, her soft hair tickling his neck. Unable to stop his rising blush, he hurriedly turned his focus back to the tiny box. 

…..

Great, now he couldn’t focus properly. Yukina’s soft breathing against his shoulder kept distracting him. Clenching his teeth in irritation at his foolish thoughts, he remembered Yukina’s words about this game ‘Flappy Bird’. How addicting could a game about birds be? His thoughts were interrupted yet again as the girl at his side somehow curled closer to him. Without hesitation, he searched for the game, downloaded it, and managed to open it. It seemed simple enough, he figured- avoid the pipes and let the bird flap. ‘Tom is an idiot,’ he thought, but began to play.

 Yukina was startled awake by a yell. Her eyes snapped open, and she was surprised to see she wasn’t in her room. With a shock, she realized her head was laying in Kennosuke’s lap, and blood rushed to her face. She shot up. 

“Yukina!” The samurai yelled. 

“What?! What’s going on? Are the Efidolg attacking?!” she fired, but he was rapidly shaking his head, and it was then she noticed the phone clutched tightly in his hands, and the repeated, frustrating tapping that could only mean…. “Are you playing Flappy Bird!?”

He gave a frustrated huff in response before growling, “This is the worst invention in history! It is fake trash! This game should be killed for its injustice!”

Just as she feared, he was about ready to throw her phone at the wall, but she intercepted just in time. “Kennosuke! Don’t throw my phone!!” She was practically straddling him now at this point, not that she noticed in her desperation, but Kennosuke definitely did. Immediately, his grip on the phone vanished and the girl all but flopped onto his chest. Both of their faces burning, Kennosuke cleared his throat while Yukina’s brain (currently made of mush, apparently) struggled to form a proper word. They were saved by a small, tired voice saying, “What’s happening?” 

Yukina immediately turned to her sister, looking overwhelmingly adorable in her pink nightgown. A smile was on her face before she knew it. “Kennosuke wants to learn more about technology,” she explained simply, her face reddening again as she hastily climbed off of the samurai. Kennosuke cleared his throat again before nodding.

 Koharu’s eyes lit up, and she suddenly ran off. The two pilots shared a confused glance before the young girl tumbled back into the room, thrusting a small pink device into Kennosuke’s hands. “It’s my DS!” she announced proudly. “You can play it, if you want! I can teach you!”

Finally, at four in the morning, about forty five minutes after Koharu had given Kennosuke her DS, she decided the rest could wait for tomorrow. Her eyes were drooping, and Yukina could tell just from a glance at the girl in her lap that she would be asleep in no time. “Can we have a slumber party?” Koharu mumbled, snuggling closer to Yukina. Yukina looked at Kennosuke, who had a very soft look on his face, even as his mouth said, “It would not be appropriate-“

But Yukina gave him a slight shove, and for once, he didn’t argue with her. “You know, Kennosuke,” Koharu began, the beginnings of sleep in her voice, “when you play games, sometimes you just have to roll with it.” Kennosuke knew he was staring, but he couldn’t stop. Yukina was giving him those eyes she always did when he interacted with Koharu, and he found himself powerless against them. 

“Yes,” he said. “I can ‘roll with it’.”