Not that I need to be starting anymore projects, but would anyone be interested in doing a character qna?

Team Player: Chapter Seven

Pairings: Eren Jaeger x Fem!Reader

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2.8k

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The past four days had been slow for Eren and (Y/N). All the two have been doing is communicating ideas to help improve his teamwork, of course it was a lot of Eren disagreeing or saying it wouldn't work. (Y/N) assured him that it would help, and it would also give him some time for his ankle to heal. 

It wasn't the easiest convincing Eren of all people, sometimes he didn't want to listen, but (Y/N) would tell him in the end it'd be worth it and he shouldn't be complaining, because it gets him nowhere. 

Here they were, sitting in class talking about everything. 

"How else could I change it? There aren't many ideas!" Eren complained, shrugging his shoulders. 

(Y/N) sighed, rubbing her temples. "Look Eren, we'll figure it out soon. Just help me with this," she replied, scooching her chair closer to him. "Look this up for me please," she added, looking at the website she had jotted down. 

Eren sighed in annoyance and opened his laptop to the slideshow. Most of it was already done by (Y/N), because of their deal. It was itching at Eren at how much he wanted to change about it, all of it looked so fancy, and he just wanted to restart. 

"(Y/N), Eren, how is the project going?" Professor Ackerman asked, approaching their table. 

She rubbed the back of her neck. "Uh.. it's going well!" she replied, smiling nervously at her professor. 

His face remained stoic as he shrugged. "I hope it goes well, this is worth your grade. Keep up the good work," he replied, walking towards another table. 

(Y/N) sighed with relief as she turned towards Eren, who had a giant smirk on his face. 

"What?!" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. 

He chuckled a bit. "Oh nothin', you seemed so scared of Professor Ackerman over there. You looked like you were gonna fall over," he said, smirking again. 

(Y/N) felt heat grow onto her cheeks. "I wasn't scared! He's just a hard teacher to pass, that's all. God, shut up!" she said, rolling her eyes at him. 

Eren laughed again, smirking in the process. "Whatever you say princess," he replied in a teasing voice. 

She looked at him again with an annoyed expression. "Will you shut up with that nickname? It's so gross! Ugh," she said, turning her face away.

"Is that why your face is all heated up? I can tell, but nah I like that name for you. It's funny," he said, chuckling. 

(Y/N) gave him the middle finger, covering her face. "Can we just focus?" she asked, rolling her eyes. 

Eren leaned back in his chair. "Yeah fine… but we need to figure out ways to improve my 'teamwork' or whatever," he said, looking towards her. "We don't have much time until the championship game," he added.

(Y/N) furrowed her brows and turned towards him. "When is that game?" she asked, nodding her head. 

"I don't know, my coach never exactly knows those dates until we win the game," he replied, sitting up. "I'm certain it's soon so we have to get something done," he added. 

She nodded, looking at her phone. "How about tomorrow I come by your dorm, we can do this idea. It may work," she said, looking up at him. 

"At my dorm huh? (Y/N) I never took you as that type," Eren said, smirking. 

She smacked his head, causing him to almost fall out of his chair. "Can you not? I'm trying to explain, and I'm not talking about that stuff. Just wait until we hangout," she said, rolling her eyes. 

He rubbed the side of his head. "Okay fine! I was just messing with you," he said. 

She sighed. "God you're a pain in the ass," she said, looking back towards her laptop.

Eren crossed his arms. "Whatever you say (Y/N)," he replied, looking around the classroom. 

"Class is over! Be sure to finish your projects," Professor Ackerman yelled. 

Eren and (Y/N) stood up, exiting class together. "I'll see you tomorrow then?" she said, nodding her head. 

He smiled. "Yeah! Do you need my dorm number?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets. 

She looked on her phone. "Yeah I actually do," she replied. 

Eren took his phone out, going to send her a message. "There ya go!" he said, looking down at her. "It isn't too far from yours," he added. 

(Y/N) looked down at his message. "Yeah, it's pretty close actually. I'll probably come by around 6 or 7, because that's when my classes end." she explained, putting her phone into her pocket. 

He nodded. "Sounds like a plan!" he said, going in the opposite direction. "See you tomorrow," he added, turning to walk away. 

(Y/N) smiled, shaking her head as he walked away. Who knew he could be such an idiot, but cute at the same time? She hated thinking Eren was attractive, but she couldn't exactly say he wasn't charming. His brunette hair tied up in a bun, his hands, his height, those piercing green eyes, the cologne he wore, and those broad shoulders. 

God, why was she thinking of him that way? It's Eren Jaeger. The asshole who ruined her reputation. 

(Y/N) pushed the thoughts out of her head, and made her way back to her dorm. She silently prayed that tomorrow would be a good day, and hopefully Eren doesn't act like an ass towards her. 

-

The next day seemed to fly by for the two, Eren didn't have practice so he had a bunch of free time to get ready for (Y/N) to come by his dorm. For some reason, he felt extra? He re-did his bed which was out of the ordinary, he took a shower, he even put on extra cologne. 

It was out of the ordinary for sure, Eren never usually got this ready for someone. He usually would just leave things the way they are, but it felt different. 

Weird how he got extra for (Y/N) out of all people, the two never got along before, and it surprised Armin when he mentioned it. Armin stated that he should be thankful for her help, and he should feel blessed that a person like her even agreed. Considering what happened three years ago. 

Eren was laying on his bed, the time on his phone reading 6:38 P.M. Eren remembered that her classes went a bit later, since she was a smart student. She was similar to Armin, having classes at weird hours of the day while others just did the usual morning to afternoon classes. 

His phone suddenly vibrated. He grabbed it, opening the message. 

(Y/N): hey um, are we meeting up? I just wanted to ask.

Eren: yeah we are, you can come by rn.

(Y/N): okay great! i'm on my way.

Eren sighed sitting up to fix his hair, he tied it into a messy bun, and sprayed some cologne on as he waited for her to arrive. His mind wandered to what ideas she had to fix his teamwork skills, was it the project? He didn't have any idea what she meant. 

A sudden knock came from the door. Eren stood up, making his way over and opening it to see (Y/N) standing there with her backpack. 

"Hey.. come in," he said, moving so could enter his dorm.

(Y/N) entered and looked around his dorm. "Nice dorm," she said, smiling a bit. "I'm going to finish the project first then we'll get onto my idea," she added, putting her backpack down. 

Eren shut the door and went to his side of the bed. "Alright.. sounds cool," he replied, crossing his legs on his bed. "Are you sure you don't need help?" he asked. 

She looked up from her laptop. "Yeah I'm fine.. just give me a few minutes," she replied, opening her folder and grabbing her paper. 

Eren looked at the slideshow as she edited it and added information. He watched the way her eyes squinted or the way she chewed her lip, Eren couldn't help but stare. She looked kind of.. cute.

"Eren! I need you to look at this really quick," she said, breaking him out of his thoughts. 

He shook his head, going to look at the slide she was at. He read through the information she put, he looked back up to see her eyes on his. 

"Does it look fine?" she asked, nodding her head. 

Eren leaned back against the wall. "Yeah! That looks fine, but are you sure you don't need any help?" he asked, raising a brow.

(Y/N) crossed her arms over her chest. "Do I need to remind you of the deal? Trust me Eren I got this, just sit back and let me finish this." she replied, looking back down at her laptop.

He sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Okay fine.." he mumbled, looking around the room.

Within a few minutes she finished the rest of the presentation, she felt satisfied with the project. Hopefully Eren wouldn't pull what he did freshmen year and fuck it over, that's why she decided to submit it as early as she could so no new changes could be made without the professor noticing. 

"Alright.. done!" she said, closing her laptop. 

Eren sat up and clicked his phone off. "So what now? What did you want to do?" he asked, nodding at her. 

She looked over at him. "So I know this sounds odd.. but it's a good way to help with your teamwork. Do you mind if we clean your dorm?" she asked, grabbing her backpack.

His brows furrowed. "Clean my room? How is that going to help me?" he asked. 

She sighed. "It involves teamwork if it's the two of us and there are a few ways it helps. It helps communicate, share ideas, and it can be useful," she replied. "Trust me, it was either this or we go find people to play football with." she added, taking out some trash bags. 

Eren looked at the stuff on his bed. "If you say so.." he mumbled and stood up. 

The two began to clean his side of the dorm, (Y/N) was a bit surprised seeing how his side wasn't actually that dirty, but it still needed a lot of work. Eren was tossing out some garbage that was under his bed, while (Y/N) sorted through his dresser and table. 

"You got ibuprofen as your pain killers?" she asked, holding the bottle. 

Eren looked over and nodded. "Yeah that's what the nurse gave me," he replied. 

She chuckled a bit. "No wonder you aren't healed, these are baby painkillers. You need some Tylenol," she said, putting the bottle back onto the dresser. 

Eren tossed the bag of garbage onto the floor, he tossed a few things off his nightstand and put them onto his bed. 

"Should I do my bed?" he asked, looking over at (Y/N).

She looked over at it. "Furniture first! Your bed should be last," she replied, turning back to his dresser. "Eren, can you give me the cleaner?" she asked.

Eren grabbed the cleaner and walked up behind her. She turned around and her breath hitched, she forgot how tall Eren had gotten. His breath slightly fanned over her face. 

"Here," he replied, going back to his nightstand. 

Her heart raced a bit. She turned back to his dresser and sprayed the lemon scented cleaner onto it, she wiped it up and tossed it into the garbage bag. 

(Y/N) began to place back some of the items on his dresser, she looked at the different football trophies he had or the photos of his family. She vaguely remembered the mention of a sister, Mikasa was it? She placed the frame back onto the dresser and turned towards Eren. 

He was on his phone watching something. 

She walked over and grabbed it. "Come on! Let's keep going," she said and put his phone on his dresser. 

He sighed in annoyance. "Why is this so hard?" he asked with a whine. 

She crossed her arms over her chest. "It isn't that hard Eren. You're just lazy right now," she replied. "Come on, let's do your bed." she added and walked towards the end of his bed. 

He stood up and threw the sheets off his bed. 

"Someone's aggressive," (Y/N) said, picking up his comforter. 

Eren rolled his eyes playfully. "I just wanna get this over with," he replied, walking to the other side of his bed. 

"Here.. tuck this in on your side," she said and flipped the sheet towards him. 

Eren grabbed the ends of the sheet, lifting the mattress a bit as he tucked the sheet under it. (Y/N) did the same. 

Within a few minutes his bed was made and his side of the dorm was clean. Eren was surprised at how clean it was, it hadn't been this clean since he first moved in three years ago. He felt a bit tired from all the cleaning. 

"Toss me my phone," (Y/N) said and walked towards Eren. 

He handed the cellphone to her, she opened her timer app and nodded. 

"What?" Eren asked and raised a brow. 

She smiled a bit. "I timed this whole thing.. we got it done in less than an hour," she replied, showing her phone to him. 

He raised his brows in surprise. "Damn.. it takes me usually about an hour or more," he said. 

(Y/N) giggled a bit. "See? That's what I was trying to teach you. Working with someone else can get things done quicker, and we did organize a lot of your stuff which shared ideas," she replied. 

Eren fully understood what she was trying to do now, it didn't seem so bad afterall. 

"That makes a lot of sense," he said, chuckling a bit. "But uh.. thank you for helping me with my room," he added and smiled at her. 

She couldn't help but admire his nice smile, his teeth were pearly white. "O-Oh! Yeah totally, it was no problem." she said, looking away as her cheeks heated up. 

They sat there for a while, staring at each other. 

"Uh.. I should get going. It's getting pretty late," (Y/N) said, breaking the silence between them. 

Eren blinked a bit. "Oh yeah totally.. um, do you want me to walk you back? It can be dangerous you know," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"Yeah sure.. that'd be nice," she said and grabbed her backpack off the floor. 

The two stood up, Eren put his slides on and followed (Y/N) out the door. He exited the doors of his residence halls with her, she shivered a bit as the cooler air hit her skin. 

"Cold huh?" he asked, laughing a bit as he watched her attempt to warm herself. 

She smiled a bit. "Yeah.. I kind of miss summer," she replied and looked down at the ground. 

Eren nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I miss it too but I love fall, it's football season." he said and smiled at the thought of the sport. 

They got to the residence hall that she stayed in, Eren opened the door for her and watched as she made her way inside. Eren followed her down the hall to her dorm, he remembered her number like the back of his hand. 

She stopped as she got to the door. "Well I hoped helping you did something," she said, smiling a bit. 

Eren chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah it did in a way," he replied, staring down at her. 

They stared at each other again. Something inside Eren was tempting him to do something to her, not something bad, he was tempted to..

"Thanks for walking me back. It means a lot," she said, breaking Eren out of his thoughts.

He shook his head. "Uh yeah! No problem, I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked, nodding his head. 

She smiled. "Yeah totally, be careful. Don't fall," she said, giggling a bit. 

He rolled his eyes playfully. "I haven't fallen yet, but thanks for the concern princess" he said, chuckling at her nickname. 

(Y/N) slapped his arm and opened her dorm door. "Shut up," she said and laughed. 

"Alright whatever, see ya" Eren said, waving at her.

"Goodnight," (Y/N) replied, shutting the door to her dorm.

Eren sighed as he left her residence hall, he was tempted. He was so tempted to just lean down and…

Nevermind. 

(Y/N) lied down on her bed, she couldn't get Eren out of her mind. Yeah it was normal to think of him usually, but this was different. She thought of him on a daily basis, she was kind of disappointed to see him leave her dorm. She wanted him to stay for some reason. 

Something in her wanted Eren around.

tagging: @ererokii @eremiie @callmepromise @katsuhera @moomii-hime @luvrboykento @flam3bird @thicmitten @simpforerensattacktitan @daughter-of-the-stars11 @mariardgzn @basket-flower-chick @just-a-little-sad @chayauwu @sofi-yeager @ryan249057 @bell0214 @lunamoonawatcher

With that, Let it Snow

Our final post, finished in the Seattle airport, waiting for our final flight to Calgary. Last you heard, we were getting on a bus bound for Bangkok. The bus was to arrive in Bangkok at 11:00am. Well, very long story short, that was not at all the case. The bus ride ended up involving a 3 hour wait where our driver disappeared, a two hour wait in a customs line, having to walk our bags across the border and wait for a new (much smaller) shuttle van. In the end, we didn’t arrive in Bangkok until 4:00pm. Fortunately, we were still able to get three 3rd class train tickets (3rd class is a whole other story) to Chiang Mai for that night. We made it to Chiang Mai (our LAST destination) by 12:00pm on December 8th. We then spent the next week (until the 14th) there. Highlights of Chiang Mai largely involve food, markets, and journaling time. We love all things Thai food: Kao Soi Kai, Pad Thai, mango sticky rice, deep fried taro, spring rolls, and on and on. We drank our share of smoothies and bubble tea and indulged in a nice breakfast at our hostel every morning. We also did a lot of chatting, laughing, and sleeping in our snuggly beds (the evenings and mornings got chilly – down to 15 degrees!). Chiang Mai was the “fall” to our trip and we felt it’s bitter-sweetness in the air. We’ve enjoyed the spontaneity and lack of responsibility of these last few months, and aren’t really too thrilled it’s ending. Yet, at the sound of a Christmas tune played in 7/11, the bitterness is replaced with chills of excitement.

For our final thoughts, we’ll each reflect on what we’ve learned over the past 4 months. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

***

I’m writing this from a cafeteria in Taipei airport, waiting for a connecting flight to Seattle; from there, we catch our final flight home. As I think about the conclusion of a trip that I’ve dreamt of (as cliché as that sounds) since graduating high school, I have conflicting thoughts. I wanted this trip to have more purpose, and wanted to make learning a focus; neither of these are things that can be easily measured. So, as I come home, how do I know that they were accomplished?

In the past 4 months I have traveled through nine countries (3 were repeats), over 2 continents. I have walked the cliffs of Moher, explored ancient Rome, stood on Mars Hill where Apostle Paul preached almost 2000yrs ago, and biked through the Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world. I’ve experienced my share of stressful travel days and endured a few bumps in the road, all of which God worked out in the end. Before leaving home, I had many doubts and worries about how things would go. Would we find places to stay, argue too much, get sick, run out of money? And how would we get from A to B? It’s impossible to prepare for every outcome, and very rarely do my preparations include relying on God. However, when in the moment, He’s usually the first one I turn to (thanks to his prompting), and the only reason I’m able to find a way out. Sadly, He’s also usually the last to be given any recognition; therefore, I continue trying to prepare and the cycle continues. I’ve learned (though I’m quick at forgetting) that everything makes more sense in the moment, because He lives in the moment. God can only be experienced in the present; he can give you peace about the past or future, but that peace is something experienced in the moment. So, rather than imagining and trying to prepare for all life’s “What Ifs,” I’m instead trying to trust His promise that He is “[a] very present help in trouble” Ps. 46:1. This is quite a relief, especially for someone who is coming home near the end of 2019, having no idea how next year will go. So, I think with time and reflection, I will realize what the trip accomplished. The true purpose will change with perspective and I will continue to learn from it.

Kiana

***

So, what can I say to summarize a trip that has fashioned itself as “normal?” It amazes me how, as I try and jot down some last poetic words, I am completely lacking. Where have I grown? I don’t believe I’ve grown all that much, to be honest. When we started to plan this adventure, the topic of “purpose” arose. I must say, I struggled with an answer. Was there a purpose for us to go traveling for four months? Because, if there wasn’t one, then the other, more harsh question would need to be answered. That is, should we be even be going at all? For me, at least, I didn’t really get that epiphany moment I was hoping for. Instead, I flew off, hoping I wasn’t missing a cue that said He wasn’t really on board with my plans.

Now, though, it’s clear that this trip came in His timing. It’s funny how I sometimes I find myself reciting “its all in His timing… all in His perfect timing.” as if that means it can’t possibly also fit alongside my own. In my mind, me and God always worked in different time zones. His was the right one, while I was either a couple hours ahead or a whole day behind. But as I have thought about His perfect timing, and how it miraculously aligned with my desires, I wonder if I’ve missed the hint that is so blatantly given through the name “Father”. He is the Almighty I AM, the Alfa and Omega, the Beginning and the End, and yet I call him Dad. It sort of messes with my mind a little. Because, when I think of His perfect Will, I feel the need to remind myself that His will is not always my will. And when I think of Him as the Alfa and Omega, I get this image of surrender and dying to my old self. But when I think of Him as Father… I think of playing soccer with my dad, and laughing with him about stupid jokes, that aren’t really that funny, but are hilarious because of how he said it. He’s that dude too. He delights in having fun, and through that, I can do wild things just to have fun with him. Now, He is still the Almighty that calls us to worship and feed His sheep. I am aware that to become more like Jesus I am called down a path of submission and focus. But if this trip has taught me anything, it’s that He’s also there for when I want to do something crazy, something for my own enjoyment. He’s there for the joke. His timing isn’t always hard to get on board with because He isn’t meant to be this hard, crusted old man that I’ve somehow pictured him as. I have seen a bit more of God’s humor these past few months and it’s been pretty cool.

Lynece

***

What have I learned? At first, I actually thought I wasn’t learning anything. The purpose of this trip, in my hopes and dreams, was to read a ton of books and become an expert on religion so that I don’t have to question or doubt anymore, and so I can answer anyone’s questions and convince them that I’m right without looking like a fool. Well, there wasn’t much time for reading in Europe, truth be told, and I remember myself somewhere in Spain, thinking I’d failed at my purpose for the trip. I really wasn’t learning anything at all and I certainly wasn’t going to be Ravi Zacharias by the time I went home. Looking back, I was right on the second of those (of course), but I can now definitely recognize some things that I’ve learned – both through the reading I was able to catch up on in Asia, and through the simple experiences of my journey.

So, what have I learned? The biggest thing that comes to mind has to do with my pride and image-management. But I’d rather not talk about my pride. You know, because of my pride. See, I always knew I struggled with pride. What I didn’t realize was how deeply it was affecting my relationship with the Lord. By trying to so precisely maintain my self-image, I distanced myself from things that might hurt that image. In the process, I distanced myself from Jesus, because, regardless of what our pop-worship culture might say, Jesus will never be popular. In truth, much to my anguish, following Jesus means sometimes looking like a fool to those around me. That is perhaps the most difficult thing I’ve ever been confronted with. I actually cannot maintain image and live according to Jesus’ truth and life. There is no having it both ways. No “a little of this and a little of that.” You can have the image, or, you can live with Jesus. That’s it.

Reading through Ezekiel, this hit me hard. Ezekiel did some strange things, listening to the Lord’s commands. I don’t understand most of the book, but from what I gather, Ezekiel was a prophet, chosen by God to be an image to Israel of what was to come. God often told him to demonstrate these things-to-come through enactments, body posture, clothing, etc. Let me just say that Ezekiel’s self-image wasn’t exactly boosted by the ordeal. In fact, from my perspective, he wouldn’t merely have looked foolish to everyone around him, he would’ve looked positively insane. I bristle at the thought of such humiliation, but then am reminded that that is the calling. I can then only praise Him for His great patience and mercy, because I am only beginning to learn, understand, and surrender, but he has already been a kind, guiding hand, giving me tangible examples of what it means to ditch the pride in favor of connection to Him and His people.

You may wonder how a trip to Europe/Asia taught me about pride. So do I. I read some books that certainly pointed me in the right direction, but, other than that, I suppose the answer lies somewhere in the Lord’s mysterious ways.

Janae

***

Dear trip 2019, you’ve been a blast.

|3packsfrom21|

Lots of writing! | Writing Update #1

Hey People of Earth!

I have many a things to update. mwahaha

The first of which is this bad boy!

FISHBOWL was a one shot-ish thing I worked on in mid August because I didn't want to write the scene I had to write, but also didn't want to write outside of my universe. Soooo, of *course* your girl wrote herself some more fanfiction because? I mean? Why not!

It’s not unheard of on this blog that I ship (and then, subsequently cannoned) my boyz Lonan and Harrison. I’d written the first chunk of this story on mobile, just in a note, because I’d gotten an idea for some dialogue. (I had the whole story written besides the beginning and end.) The struggle was figuring out how to start the story. I toyed with a couple ideas, writing a million different first sentences. Frustrated that I wasn’t feeling any of ‘em, I shelved the project for the night and went to bed.

The next day, I came back to FISHBOWL, and I looked over the random first sentences I’d jotted down. One caught my eye, and so aha, I found my sentence. (I struggle with writing openings, so once the first sentence is nailed down, I usually am able to get a good flow rather quickly). I wrote the entire thing in one sitting, and while it’s disjointed and weird, I had a lot of fun.

EXCERPTS:

The story itself is basically plot-less since it was only meant to entertain myself, but I think I wrote some cool stuff, and explored a setting (Lonan’s room) with a lot more diligence than I have before.

This excerpt’s first line inspired me to write the rest of this story (lol my only motivation). It’s not even a favourite line, it just helped me wrap my head around the language a bit/gave me the idea to have a fishbowl-lens look on the story. 

The bottle is crystal edged. Half drained. A kaleidoscope through his eye.

He passes it over with ease. Harrison can’t tell if he’s done it because he’s drunk, or because he doesn’t want questions. 

“My mom likes this shit,” Harrison says, fingering the bottle, like he’s holding a memory and not jade-tinted glass. Careful, so he won’t shatter it. It’s almost like he’s a child again.

I also lluuuurve this next paragraph, just because loppy IS SUCH A NICE WORD. loppyloppyloppy. I just like the personality of the objects in Lonan’s bedroom (because he’s got none). Like his poor depressed lonely fishbowl, poor slothy aloe, poor upset betta.

Harrison watches the fishbowl on the nightstand. He should change the water. It’s aglae’d and forgotten, almost, like the loppy potted aloe on his desk. The blue betta hardly slashes through the water. Ris reaches over and unscrews the pot of pet store bloodworms, sprinkles in a pinch of the pellets. The fish cuts around its browning bamboo stake, and vacuums two into its mouth. Its fins wiggle like ink drops.

This is the last paragraph of FISHBOWL, and I mean, I like her tho?

The betta fish glugs through the water in a flowery whoosh. Bottom feeds the last of the bloodworms. The takeout containers are empty, and rolled onto their backs. Stained rusted orange with dried chili. The aloe plant is still curved instead of straight. Harrison makes a note to water it in the morning. The digital clock bleeds 6:22 in neon cherry light. When it bounces off Lonan’s eyes, they look purple. 

So that’s it for FISHBOWL! I had a lot of fun writing this lol. Maybe too much. I must be stopped.

CHICKEN NOODLE is chapter 14 of REWIRED, and to be frank, it was a bit of a pain to write. I’d churned it out after writing a really intense scene previously, and couldn’t really feel into the flow of the words as easily as I’d done before. The first scene took a chunk of time to write, because I wasn’t sure where I was taking it. After finally nailing a concept, I did complete it, and I’m rather happy with how that section of the chapter turned out. 

However, lol, scene two is a mess?? In my opinion at least, I did read this chapter to @sarahkelsiwrites​ last night, and she rather enjoyed it! Because it was SUCHHH a mess, and I had no motivation to write it, I, toward the beginning of the month, adapted the scene to screen. 

Stripping back the scene really allowed me to figure out how I wanted it to end (which was exciting!). Obviously, it isn’t a very good screenplay, but it was exciting to have a different take on the scene/focus on a new form to learn instead of self deprecating!

The following excerpt is from the beginning-ish of the chapter and sets up the concept:

Maybe this is how it feels. To be a child, or a fetus, or a cell, or a human, stuck in the womb of a mother. Sloshing in amniotic fluid. Doing little fetal summer saults. Eating what she eats. Drinking what she drinks. That last serving of apple crumble. The remnant touches of cognac stuck to her lips. A dog and a bone, a human and its lung, a plant and its gardener, a mother and her child. Can’t live without her, even when you want to. Bitter dependency. 

my favourite parts of this are ‘fetal summersaults’ and ‘human and its lung’ like ooooh. I’m like not 100 on it but I don’t mind it!

PEACH is chapter 15 of REWIRED, and oh boy is she a CHAPTER. I drafted this one as well as 16 over three days (they’re both super short), and I’m shook??

Chapter 14 ends with Reeve saying some *very* horrible things about another character (Emily), and her relationship with our boy Harrison. Because of this, she’s finally decided to check out Emily for herself, and see if she’s really as horrible as Reeve (who’s assumed her to be a Lolita figure), has anticipated. 

Here’s an excerpt:

Emily and I sit on her pull out. My mother would haphazardly call it tacky—blue gingham, red quilt—but I almost like it. With its coffee stains, and holes that vomit polyester. Second-hand charm. Maybe Harrison toted it off some suburb’s curb for her.

So this is the final chapter I’ll be updating you guys on (because it’s the most recent one that I’ve written lol). 

LOLITA, LOLITA, takes place in short succession after PEACH, and deals with a familiar theme--romanticizing/glorifying a female figure (sorta similarly to Lolita, which contributed to--of course--the title). This chapter is sort of the tail end of the ‘whimsical’ adventure Reeve has had entering Emily’s world, and has a lotttt of French inspiration.

Emily, as a character, does study the French language/culture a bit, and Reeve really clings to this particular detail. I think in a lot of ways, she does this because this is a detail she previously ridiculed (in the line: The kind of girl who learns French in her spare time and smokes essential oils, from chapter 10). 

Here’s the first one (I think it’s kind of clunky honestly but I like the idea so when I revisit, hopefully with some editing I can clean it up):

We split a brownie over a glass of Pinot Noir. She says it’s a French thing, and I imagine the bottle emptying on the veranda of a politician’s off coast villa. My lipstick stains the rim of the glass in a ruby porthole. It tastes like fruity hand sanitizer to me.

I also really like the next one, particularly the end. Like with before, I think it’s kinda clunky but I ain’t all that mad:

She’s pulled her hair into a bun. The gold ridge of a bobby pin peaks out from behind a twist. Hiding between the white of her scalp. My nails have dried, now, and she’s gifted me her peach lip gloss, which I wear gracefully on my lips like it isn’t second-hand, but a lavish salve made in Europe. Tested on the eyelids of a fetid rabbit. Warm and licked at on the mouth of a rich young woman. An off brand perfume clings to her throat. The plastic breath of amber and ylang-ylang. I’ve tried to mimic her up-do, but my hair falls, even when I pump it with hairspray. Je suis amoureuse. I should tell her. I am in love.

^^ the perfume in question in my head is like a bootleg version of Chanel No. 5, hence some of the perfume’s classic notes!

The second half of this update deals with Reeve *attempting* to talk to her brother (@Lonan @Lonan). They’ve now migrated to his room, which she notes, is vastly different to Emily’s.

The first excerpt is a line I find kind of funny because a) food b) relatable c) lol Lonan’s ideas for gifts tho d) SAME e) grapefruits ?? f) it’s kind of adorable

He’s brought me half a grapefruit and a spoon. A surrender, or a lost attempt at a gift. The flesh wet, and pink.

like tbhhh grapefruits as presents sounds litttt

The next is actually sort of stolen from FISHBOWL, ha. FISHBOWL takes place in Lonan’s room, so I *very much* stole all the description from there and shoved it into this chapter. oops lol.

His room feels smaller, somehow. I think he’s moved the bed. Or it might be the new coat of paint. The addition of small things, like houseplants, candles, miniature replicas of American landmarks. A wilted aloe plant. A fish bowl. The blue betta inking the water in bored compliance. I think to ask him if he’s made the space more claustrophobic on purpose, but don’t at the last second. Lonan’s never been one to collect clutter. 

And lastly! Not my favourite but eh:

I say, “I like what you’ve done with the place,” even though I don’t. “What kind of plant is that? This one?” I get up from my spot on the floor next to him. Touch at the pot next to the watering can. Finger the waxy leaves. Anthurium, peace lily, ficus? Probably a ficus. “I think Mom would like these. You should take a picture to show her later.”

I like the tone of this scene a lot because it’s so dissociative. Almost underwater. It’s kind of a very thin version of my usual style, but I think it works for what I was going for for sure (I hope lol). 

So that’s about it for this update! I know it was a lil different, but I hope you guys enjoyed regardless! As always, thanks for reading! :)

--Rachel

Let's Get Personal

1: 6 of the songs you listen to most?  Recently, it's been "Secret Love Song" by Little Mix, "Poison" by Rita Ora, "What Ifs" by Kane Brown and Lauren Alaina, "U and Ur Hand" by P!nk, "Perfect Matchup" by Kenny and London Holland, and The Greatest Showman soundtrack 2: If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?  Robert Downey Jr. 3: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17.  “When was the last night or day you took time off?” 4: What do you think about most?  Writing.  A new idea, a current idea, something I need to jot down, something I need to fix, the one I want to read. 5: What does your latest text message from someone else say?  I'm fine, unless you want the time. 6: Do you sleep with or without clothes on?  Underwear. 7: What’s your strangest talent?  Personalizing or adding to things that probably do not need to be personalized.  (The beige Calvin Klein purse was BORING so I defiled something expensive to make it more “me”.) 8: Finish the sentence.  Girls… are strong; Boys… are allowed to be soft. 9: Ever had a poem or song written about you?  Not that I know of. 10: When is the last time you played the air guitar?  I'm not an air guitar person, I have a THING about looking stupid and I’m certain that I can’t pull off looking cool doing air guitar. 11: Do you have any strange phobias?  Nah, just the regular ones. 12: Ever stuck a foreign object up your nose?  Don't think so? 13: What’s your religion?  LDS 14: If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?  Walking to my car. 15: Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?  Behind, definitely. 16: Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band?  I do hate this question.  I'll go with Queen, it's the first one that popped into my head. 17: What was the last lie you told?  I don't recall. 18: Do you believe in karma?  Eh, sorta 19: What does your URL mean?  I am and have always been a little bit of a rebel. 20: What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?  Weakness, personal motivation and time management.  Strength, creativity. 21: Who is your celebrity crush?  RDJ and Sebastian Stan 22: Have you ever gone skinny dipping?  Yep. 23: How do you vent your anger?  Stewing about it, venting to other people. 24: Do you have a collection of anything?  Soooo many collections... I collect shot glasses as my travel souvenir. 25: Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online?  Phone. 26: Are you happy with the person you’ve become?  For the most part. 27: What’s a sound you hate; sound you love?  Permanent markers on cardboard boxes give me the heebie-jeebie shivers, the sound of a soda pop tab opening a can makes me swoon with happiness. 28: What’s your biggest “what if”?  I'm not sure.  Maybe what if I'd married someone else (not a desire at all, but something I've wondered about from time to time), my life would be entirely different from what it is now. 29: Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens?  No and yes, but not in the traditional sense. 30: Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm.  The chair next to me on the right, the child that is being clingy on the left. 31: Smell the air. What do you smell?  My house and my perfume. 32: What’s the worst place you have ever been to?  A casino. 33: Choose: East Coast or West Coast?  I've never been to the East Coast, so I can't really say. 34: Most attractive singer of your opposite gender?  Oh geez, I don't know. 35: To you, what is the meaning of life?  To do your best, be kind, and be happy. 36: Define Art.  Life made viewable. 37: Do you believe in luck?  Not really. 38: What’s the weather like right now?  Rainstorm is heading this way. 39: What time is it?  9:31 am 40: Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?  Yep and yep.  Not a big crash, though, minor one.  Fixed the alignment! 41: What was the last book you read?  Currently reading "Blood Fury" by JR Ward 42: Do you like the smell of gasoline?  Don't mind it as long as it's not too strong. 43: Do you have any nicknames?  A fair slew.  Meg, Megs, Rebel, Mom, Mama, and then standard endearments. 44: What was the last film you saw?  Geostorm, I think. 45: What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?  Not sure if this counts as an injury, but I ended up in the hospital with a miscarriage that required surgery.  If that doesn't count, I broke my foot falling out of a tree. 46: Have you ever caught a butterfly?  Yep!  I found one on the grass once during recess as a kid when it was raining, it was close to getting crushed by the other kids playing ball. I held it cupped in my hands so I could show my teacher, its wings dried while I held it, and it flew away while we all watched. 47: Do you have any obsessions right now?  Fandom ones, heck yeah. 48: What’s your sexual orientation?  Straight. 49: Ever had a rumor spread about you?  Probably. 50: Do you believe in magic?  Everyday magic, yes. 51: Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?  Yeah. 52: What is your astrological sign?  Libra 53: Do you save money or spend it?  I spend like it's burning a hole in my pocket. 54: What’s the last thing you purchased?  Lunch last week. 55: Love or lust?  Love 56: In a relationship?  Yes 57: How many relationships have you had?  Just one serious one. 58: Can you touch your nose with your tongue?  Not quite. 59: Where were you yesterday?  Home. 60: Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?  My elbow is resting on a pair of my daughter's pink underwear. 61: Are you wearing socks right now?  Yep, I love socks. 62: What’s your favorite animal?  Bears, penguins, peacocks, owls, dogs. 63: What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?  Being kind and friendly. 64: Where is your best friend?  Teaching school. 65: Give me your top 5 favorite blogs on Tumblr.  Oh geez, I can't narrow it down to just five! 66: What is your heritage? Mostly British, good mix of other UK and European ancestors, I’m a 2nd generation American. 67: What were you doing last night at 12AM?  Watching Gilmore Girls and folding laundry. 68: What do you think is Satan’s last name?  Don't think he has one. 69: Be honest. Ever gotten yourself off?  Of course. 70: Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?  I hope so. 71: You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?  Save the dog quickly. 72: You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die?  Yes, everyone. b) What do you do with your remaining days? Be as happy as possible and spend as much time with the people I love as possible.  c) Would you be afraid?  Heck yes. 73: You can only have one of these things; trust or love.  A huge part of love IS trust, so love. 74: What’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?  Goody Goody by Julie Lavery, it's an upbeat, bouncy song.  (Which is funny, because the lyrics tell a sad story) 75: What are the last four digits in your cell phone number?  Nope, I use it as a passcode for stuff sometimes. 76: In your opinion, what makes a great relationship?  Humor, taking care of each other. 77: How can I win your heart?  Interact with me. 78: Can insanity bring on more creativity?  Yep. 79: What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?  To start writing again. 80: What size shoes do you wear?  7 81: What would you want to be written on your tombstone?  *shrugs* Something nice. 82: What is your favorite word?  Popcorn.  I love the sound and the visual appearance of the way the letters are arranged. 83: Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart.  Love, courage, strength. 84: What is a saying you say a lot?  "Best thing ever!" 85: What’s the last song you listened to?  "Hey Soul Sister" by Train 86: Basic question; what’s your favorite color/colors?  Purple! 87: What is your current desktop picture?  Shamrocks 88: If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be?  I don't know enough to be able to make that decision.  Also, too many corrupt world leaders to narrow it down, I think. 89: What would be a question you’d be afraid to tell the truth on?  I can think of many. 90: One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren’t really doing anything, they’re just standing around your bed. What do you do?  "I am too tired for this nonsense, either sit down and chill or go downstairs and wait until morning." 91: You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power?  Time manipulation without accelerated aging.  I just want to be able to nap whenever I want and have time to catch up on my Netflix list... 92: You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?  The first time my hubby and I held hands when we were dating.  It was perfect and absolutely adorable. 93: You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?  Ugh, I'm not sure, there are two that immediately spring to mind that were pretty awful. 94: You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be?  I have no idea. 95: You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?  Europe.  Anywhere in Europe, but particularly the UK. 96: Do you have any relatives in jail?  I don't think so? 97: Have you ever thrown up in the car?  I'm sure I did when I was a kid, but not that I can remember. 98: Ever been on a plane?  Finally went on one for the first time a couple years ago! 99: If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?  Be kind.

You Make Me Smile

Maggie was having a pretty rough day. The teenager she had been helping get through the flawed, racist system had gone to prison for a stupid amount of time. She knew for a fact that if the boy had been white, the system would have given in a slap on the wrist and kept it moving.

She hated watching young people of color receive the short end of the stick simply because of their race, ethnicity, or sexuality.

All she wanted was to go home and have a nice, cold beer and not think about it.

She pushed the key into the lock of Alex’s door and went to open it, but paused when she heard music played on the other side of the door. She could have sworn she heard Alex singing along with the upbeat rhythm that Maggie recognized as These Words by Natasha Bedingfield.

Maggie quietly opened the door and her heart swooned at the sight.

Alex was standing in her living room in Ninja Turtle pajama pants and a tank top folding laundry while loudly singing along to the lyrics. She caught sight of Maggie as soon as she walked in and her smile got wider, but she didn’t stop singing.

“These words are my own. From my heart flow. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you! There’s no other way to better say, I love you, I love you…” she sang loudly, extending her arms towards Maggie and scrunching her eyes with the emotion of the song.

Maggie could feel her heart doing somersaults in her chest, but she rolled her eyes and laughed to cover it up.

“You’re such a nerd, Danvers.” Maggie stated, walking to press a kiss to Alex’s waiting lips.

“What? Can’t a girl say I love you?”

Maggie couldn’t help the smile that widened on her face. “I love you, too.”

-

Maggie knew Alex loved corny jokes.

Like loved corny jokes.

Maggie could remember the first time she’d ever told Alex a pun “Hey, Danvers, what do otters drive?” “No clue” “Ottermobiles” and Alex nearly threw up from laughing so hard.

And so Maggie took to learning every single corny joke there was.

“Danvers, how many tickles take to make an octopus laugh?”

“…eight? I have no idea.” A light chuckle.

“Nope.” Maggie let a dopey smile cross her face. “Ten tickles.”

Alex snorted loudly in the middle of the DEO at that one. And it earned Maggie a small kiss which was always a great payment.

Alex’s favorite had happened after they’d worn each other out in bed one night. Alex was falling asleep quickly due to Maggie lightly rubbing her back. “Who was the roundest knight at the table?”

Alex’s head lifted up to seek out Maggie’s face. “What?”

“The roundest knight at the table, Danvers, who was it?”

“Uh…humpty dumpty?”

“Noooo.” Maggie laughed. “Cir-cumference!”

Alex’s eyes lit up at the math joke (nerd) and she laughed pretty loudly. It made Maggie’s heart swell.

And so she told Alex a joke every chance she could get. She loved hearing the bursts of laughter from Alex’s mouth and it prided her to know that she was the cause of it.

“What do you call a crocodile in a vest and a knack for research?” Maggie asked one day as Alex jotted down notes in her lab about whatever she was seeing through the microscope. Maggie would’ve been bored out of her mind if it hadn’t been for Alex in that white lab coat and those damn glasses. Instead her mind was in a frenzy and her body was on fire.

Puns helped to calm it down.

“Hmm?” Alex threw a quick glance at Maggie before returning to her notes.

“An investigator.” Maggie grinned largely waiting for Alex’s laugh.

Except it never came.

“Ehhh. That’s not funny because crocodiles and alligators are actually very different. Crocodiles live in more saltwater areas while alligators prefer freshwater. Also, Alligators have wider, U-shaped snouts while crocodiles are shaped like a V. So, I can’t laugh at your joke because it’s scientifically incorrect.” Alex stated very seriously.

Maggie was at loss for words. “…Are…are you kidding?”

“No.” Alex stressed with wide eyes. “Science is never a joke, Mags.”

Maggie watched her a moment before realizing that her girlfriend was actually dead serious. A laugh bubbled up and out of her mouth before she had a chance to stop it. “Woooow. You’re a bigger nerd than I thought, Danvers.”

“Whatever.” Alex chuckled, turning back to her notes.

-

Alex knew that she couldn’t dance. Like at all. But Maggie loved with Alex danced because it never failed to amuse her.

And so Alex danced all the time.

She does a little dance in the morning while Maggie watches her get ready for work from the bed they’d both slept in. She shimmies into her pants with while humming an upbeat tune and doing little extra jazz hands and things complete with facial expressions. The whole 9.

Maggie loved the mornings now.

She does a little spin move and sings dramatically into the shower head on the mornings Maggie joins her in the shower.

Maggie gives her a loud laugh and wet shower kisses for that.

Alex shakes her butt a little as she’s putting in the dvd for the night and Maggie watches on with her lip between her teeth and a smile on her face.

She only breaks out into laughter when Alex places her hands on her knees and really gets into it in a really dorky way.

And so Maggie always urges Alex to put in the dvd.

When she brings Maggie’s lunch to the precinct because Maggie has abused her paperwork for a day too long and her captain is on her ass about it, Alex places the take-out container on Maggie’s desk before doing a quick Michael Jackson spin and finishing off the move with finger guns.

Maggie nearly tips her for being the best delivery service in town. She kisses her in thanks instead.

To get Maggie to stop crying after she has to watch the man who murdered an innocent alien refugee walk free and couldn’t do anything about it, Alex does the silliest shoulder shimmy while making a goofy face and singing a Britney Spears song in an over-exaggerated nasally tone.

Maggie watches her dork of a girlfriend through watery eyes and she tells herself that she’s not gonna crack, but her girlfriend is persistent and she finds herself giggling at Alex’s actions.

“God, I love you so much.” Maggie whispered, tears still falling, but her sadness was eased a little.

“I love you more.” Alex smiles and leaning forward to capture Maggie’s lips.

Maggie’s favorite, though, is the dance that Alex does when she wins any kind of game.

During game night, Alex wins the game of Scrabble that had been going on for most of the night. She beats Winn by 4 points and she was up on her feet in the blink of an eye.

“Ha! I win! Suck it, Schott!” Alex cheers, thrusting her hands into the air and gently rotating her hips.

Maggie can’t help but laugh at her.

Fuck, she loved that woman.

-

Maggie loved to cook.

Growing up in a large family, Maggie had been forced to learn to cook from a young age.

And now, having to feed both of the Danvers, her cooking skills were coming into use.

And so she made a deal with Kara and Alex that if they picked up the groceries she needed, she would make dinner every night.

Needless to say, Maggie found herself spending quite a lot of time in front of her stove, Alex’s stove, and Kara’s stove.

She didn’t mind though. Most of the time she had some eager helping hands. Kara came in handy when she needed things chopped quickly and Alex was useful for measuring the proper amounts of ingredients.

They all made one solid team.

She also didn’t mind the silly things that went along with cooking dinner for her newly formed family. (It felt so amazing to even be a part of a family again.)

Most of the time there was some kind of music playing.

Kara preferred that they play Disney songs when they were at her place and Maggie spent her time watching the sisters break into slightly off key renditions of their favorite duets. (It came as a shock that Alex was usually the soprano and could hit most of the notes with ease.)

When they were at Alex’s place, Maggie found herself listening to anything from show tunes, It Takes Two from Hairspray and Maria from Westside Story were Alex’s two faves, to old school P!nk. Of course, she had her alternative rock bands thrown in there too.

Who would Alex be if she couldn’t tell Maggie to pour some sugar on her? (Cue silly dance)

Maggie, on the other hand, was more into old r&b love songs. Usher, Boys II Men, Shai, Alicia Keys, and Destiny’s Child filled the playlist. Maggie often times found herself singing the songs to Alex and finally understanding what the singers were talking about when they sang about love.

(Kara cooed each and every time Maggie sang along to the songs and Alex’s face turned into that dopey smile that told the world that she was in love.)

Sometimes, when Kara was otherwise occupied by being the DJ or checking her Snapchat, Alex moved to stand behind Maggie before she wrapped her arms around Maggie’s waist and whispered sweet things into her ear. This never failed to make Maggie melt back into Alex’s body and let her eyes fall closed at the feeling of being so close to the woman she loved.

Alex, though, would ruin the moment seconds later when she blows a loud raspberry on Maggie’s neck making Maggie shriek and push a laughing Alex away from her.

Fucking loveable brat.

And so cooking was always an adventure with the Danvers plus one Sawyer.

Laughs filled the kitchen along with the enticing aromas of whatever Maggie was cooking that night.

-

Humor had been a constant in their relationship.

It was the only way that they could cope with the constant threat of one of them dying in their unbelievably dangerous jobs.

And so they kept each other laughing any chance they got.

And proposals were no different.

Alex dropped to one knee one night after Maggie had gotten out of the shower to find the room filled with candles and rose pedals all over Alex’s huge bed. The ring she held out to Maggie had to be one of the most beautiful rings that Maggie had ever seen.

To say Maggie was shocked was an understatement.

“Maggie Sawyer, there are a million things I could say right now. I could go on and on about how much I love you or how much I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but I hope you already know that because I do my best to tell you and show you every day.”

“I do. I know.” Maggie let out a watery chuckle.

“Hey, no ‘I do’s’ yet!”

Another chuckle.

“But I’m glad you know. What you don’t know is that I want to spend the rest of my life making that beautiful smile cross your face every day. I want to dance and sing in the shower with you every morning. I want to sing show tunes and Disney Princess songs with you. I want to take a Slow Ride with you and Cater to You like Destiny’s Children sing about. I wanna be your favorite delivery woman and your personal raspberry blower. I want all of it with you and only you, Mags.”

God, Maggie was a sobbing mess at this point.

“So, will you please let me put a ring on it? Marry me?”

Maggie couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled out of her throat. “Yes, baby, you can put a ring on it.”

Alex placed the beautiful ring on Maggie’s left ring finger before standing to thrust her hands in the air. “Yes! Take that, Yonce!” Cue silly dance move.  

Oh, how Maggie loved this dork.

Jim Bob Cooter evolves from Tecmo Super Bowl wizard to NFL coordinator – Detroit Lions Blog

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — The scribblings on the metal door of the Gibbs Hall dorm room started way before Jim Bob Cooter and Casey Woods moved into the place in 2003. It had been a semi-tradition, messages and autographs from University of Tennessee athletes scattered across the door. And they were next.

Their contribution ended up being different: A running tally of scores, giving the friends a decade’s worth of trash talk. When the Nintendo red light came on, the Sharpie came out. Lines drawn. Columns made. Head-to-head “Tecmo Super Bowl” results tracked, from Game 1 until they moved out. More than 150 matchups — special games marked by a star denoting every 25th game.

There were rules: Playing as San Francisco was abolished. No play-call-controller cheating (this had been accused at least once). The loser of special games owed the winner a beverage.

Even now, over the phone at UAB, where Woods is a receivers coach, it hurts to admit this: Cooter, the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator, led the all-time series by at least 10 games. Woods is convinced Cooter treated the 8-bit simplicity of Tecmo with the strategy of a coach, knowing every roster.

“Tecmo Bowl” gave you just eight plays, and Jim Bob Cooter always seemed to know which one his opponent was going to call. Tecmo

“He was scheming long before, and he approached every game and he knew your tendencies,” Woods said. “He was a third-level thinker, and that was the beauty of the old ‘Tecmo Bowl’ games, especially, is that you only had eight plays and so, you know, you had eight plays to pick offensively and eight plays to pick defensively.

“So if you really got into strategy then, because it was like, ‘I know what you’re going to call,’ and I know what you think I’m going to call, so you were second, third levels of trying to figure it out.”

The evolution of Jim Bob Cooter as a coordinator might start there, inside Gibbs Hall, staring at a television hitting A and B. ‘Tecmo’ gave way to the NCAA and Madden video games, especially when Cooter and his friends were good enough to be in the game.

Cooter exploited playcall tells mercilessly until his opponent adjusted. Bo Hardegree, now the quarterbacks coach for the Miami Dolphins, still laments Cooter’s tormenting him when he blitzed too much.

“There was thought into what he was doing. He wasn’t just hitting buttons,” Hardegree said. “There was a process, definitely a thought process in what he was doing.

“Whether we were just having fun or not, he was trying to beat me in [that] he had a certain direction he was going to do that, a certain plan.”

Much of Cooter’s Tennessee football education came off the field. A walk-on quarterback who spent most of his career assisting starters getting ready for games, his role was twofold: The name that the student section in Neyland Stadium chanted in blowouts, and the student learning from offensive coordinators Randy Sanders and David Cutcliffe, preparing for a coaching career.

Cooter saw the game planning, scheming and endless work his coaches did and said, yep, that’s for me.

“The more you really like a subject, the easier it is to work hard at it,” Cooter told ESPN late last season. “And I really liked — at the end of the day, we work a ton of hours, but we are just coaching football. We go to football practice, and at the end of the week is a football game, so life’s pretty good.

“We work a ton of hours and we work really hard and the stress level can be high, but at the end of the day, we have a pretty good gig here and sure do enjoy it.”

Cutcliffe saw “a football junkie” with a mind like his greatest pupil, Peyton Manning. He started giving Cooter work a graduate assistant would do, even if Cooter didn’t officially become one until 2007.

Cooter searched for tendencies. Cutcliffe had Cooter teach younger quarterbacks almost as an apprenticeship. His work impressed and helped later, when it gave Cutcliffe confidence that Cooter could work well with Manning, one of the most meticulous quarterbacks ever.

“I know what I got back from him,” Cutcliffe said. “I know when I gave him a young quarterback to school up on something that it was going to be done and done to the nth degree. I think that’s why he has moved so quickly.”

In 2009, Cooter interviewed for a job with the Indianapolis Colts, working with Manning and Cooter’s current boss, Jim Caldwell. They wanted someone who could handle Manning’s demands, a young coach with a sharp mind.

Cooter is in the back of the room. It’s 2009. He’s in the NFL, an offensive staff assistant. And he’s scribbling in a notebook, listening to offensive coordinator Tom Moore explain his high-level offense.

Cooter looks over a Detroit Lions plays list during a 2016 game. Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire

The low man in the room, he’s already wondering what he would do, how would he handle that situation. What would he call? If you’re looking for a base for what the Lions run now, it starts in this meeting room.

“He was learning,” Moore said. “He would ask questions when the meetings were done, why are you doing this? Why are you doing that? He wanted answers for his own knowledge, but he took meticulous notes and listened to what we were doing, and he’s just a hard worker.”

His job was typical of staff assistants: Take in film. Compile stats. In this case, because Moore operated in a pencil-and-pad world, Cooter input notes, scouting reports and game plans into the computer. He kept his thoughts in a separate notebook.

Those coffee-stained notes still exist. In the summer of 2016, when he deconstructed and reconstructed the Detroit offense, he flipped through them. He still does this. Something new pops up each time, as the base of Cooter’s offense is rooted in Moore’s single-back philosophies.

“Sometimes my handwriting is not great, so there are times where I can’t remember my own notes,” Cooter said. “… I can sort of recall what I was thinking and remind myself, and sometimes there may be five pages of notes and maybe I feel pretty locked in on four and a half pages of that stuff, but that last extra little half-page would be a good reminder for me or a good note for maybe this offense — or hadn’t looked over something in two, three years and say, ‘Man, that’s a good idea for this one team we’re playing this year.’

“Things like that happen, and that’s a lot more offseason type of learning and type of studying because in-season time is so important, you can’t spend too much of it doing it.”

Instead of making a note about a note on another piece of paper, he types the note in his phone and sets a reminder date for the Monday of the week he thinks he wants to use it.

After stopping in Kansas City in 2012 — where he saw different philosophies for the first time in the NFL — the Broncos needed an offensive coach to work with Manning. They hired Cooter.

He did similar things in Denver as he did in Indianapolis and Tennessee. He studied tendencies and opposing defenses for Manning and then presented it, often without referring to notes, in meetings.

“He could see it in his head. He didn’t have to draw it up or see it on film,” Manning told ESPN by email in 2016. “He could visualize something that I was saying in his head, describing the defense. He could visualize that in his mind. It’s easier to have faster, quicker conversations when you don’t have to draw it up. You can talk on the sideline about that, or certainly in practice or in meetings.”

When Cooter wasn’t with Manning, he’d be in a shared office with Broncos assistants Chris Beake and Brian Callahan. They’d sit at a horseshoe desk. Football conversation flowed. Cooter had focus. His intelligence was obvious. His communication style was direct, laced with dry wit.

“He’s a lot like you see him,” said Callahan, now Detroit’s quarterbacks coach. “There’s not a whole lot of pretense to Jim Bob. He’s kind of ‘what you see is what you get.’”

Jim Bob Cooter is fully aware of how his name can be perceived but scoffs at any suggestion of changing it. George Gojkovich/Getty Images

Cooter is in another meeting room now. It’s in Detroit. Instead of sitting in the back, he’s leading. The offensive coaches are older, more experienced. And they are listening after Cooter was promoted following Joe Lombardi’s midseason firing in 2015. Cooter has that presence. He might be the smartest person in the room — every person ESPN spoke with for this story referenced his intelligence within the first five minutes — and knows enough to know he doesn’t know everything.

Cooter gets credit for innovative wrinkles, such as the tip-pass to Golden Tate employed last season, but insists those aren’t him. Putting together the Lions’ plan for a week is a joint effort. He’ll jot down plays or ideas, or his phone will remind him of something. When he meets with position coaches Tuesday mornings, they collaborate and listen.

“You can only see things from your own perspective, so I’m seeing it from my perspective and I’m sort of trying to get them wired up the way I think is going to be best,” Cooter said. “And sometimes I just won’t see a certain play that maybe one of our other guys sees, or maybe I’ll think something like, ‘I don’t think that’s going to be very good’ and they’ll kind of be adamant that our guy is going to run this route well or block this run well or whatever, and a lot of times they are right.”

Then he presents to Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who has his own notes. Together, they solidify a game plan. This is how they prepare. If something didn’t work on a Sunday, Cooter owns up to it post-mortem.

It’s part of his accountability and levity. He’ll sometimes point out a coach running wildly on the sideline or a funny moment in the stands. He drops the observation in — sometimes mid-sentence — and continues his critique.

This is Cooter. He has his quirks. He starts media sessions with phrases such as, “Comin’ in hot” or, “Plenty of seats available” when one is sparsely attended. Conversations in the quarterback room delve into philosophy and space. Cooter has strong theories about drinking green tea at night — something he once tried to convince Callahan to doing without success. It’s part of the evolution of a man learning to be one of the NFL’s up-and-coming coordinators.

A thing Cooter will never change is this: his name. He understands the attention. He wouldn’t be name-dropped on “Ballers” and might be leading the Lions offense in anonymity instead of a fantasy-football-name favorite.

It’s part of holding on to his Tennessee roots. When he left Knoxville, it was suggested he change it. Go by something different. He went to sandwich shops and received weird looks when he ordered a sub and gave the name “Jim Bob.”

Now he’s past explanations. He’s over staffers asking him, after he’s hired and they are putting his bio on the website, “Are you sure you want to go by Jim Bob?”

“You have to kind of assert yourself,” Cooter said, “and say, ‘Hey, listen, this is my name. Here we go.’”

That’s all done now. He owns it. Jim Bob Cooter is a man comfortable with himself. He knows what he wants, what he likes, how he thinks, how he prepares. He’s been working this for a decade now, the evolution of a coach with one of the best names in sports.

The post Jim Bob Cooter evolves from Tecmo Super Bowl wizard to NFL coordinator – Detroit Lions Blog appeared first on Daily Star Sports.

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Jim Bob Cooter evolves from Tecmo Super Bowl wizard to NFL coordinator – Detroit Lions Blog

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — The scribblings on the metal door of the Gibbs Hall dorm room started way before Jim Bob Cooter and Casey Woods moved into the place in 2003. It had been a semi-tradition, messages and autographs from University of Tennessee athletes scattered across the door. And they were next.

Their contribution ended up being different: A running tally of scores, giving the friends a decade’s worth of trash talk. When the Nintendo red light came on, the Sharpie came out. Lines drawn. Columns made. Head-to-head “Tecmo Super Bowl” results tracked, from Game 1 until they moved out. More than 150 matchups — special games marked by a star denoting every 25th game.

There were rules: Playing as San Francisco was abolished. No play-call-controller cheating (this had been accused at least once). The loser of special games owed the winner a beverage.

Even now, over the phone at UAB, where Woods is a receivers coach, it hurts to admit this: Cooter, the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator, led the all-time series by at least 10 games. Woods is convinced Cooter treated the 8-bit simplicity of Tecmo with the strategy of a coach, knowing every roster.

“Tecmo Bowl” gave you just eight plays, and Jim Bob Cooter always seemed to know which one his opponent was going to call. Tecmo

“He was scheming long before, and he approached every game and he knew your tendencies,” Woods said. “He was a third-level thinker, and that was the beauty of the old ‘Tecmo Bowl’ games, especially, is that you only had eight plays and so, you know, you had eight plays to pick offensively and eight plays to pick defensively.

“So if you really got into strategy then, because it was like, ‘I know what you’re going to call,’ and I know what you think I’m going to call, so you were second, third levels of trying to figure it out.”

The evolution of Jim Bob Cooter as a coordinator might start there, inside Gibbs Hall, staring at a television hitting A and B. ‘Tecmo’ gave way to the NCAA and Madden video games, especially when Cooter and his friends were good enough to be in the game.

Cooter exploited playcall tells mercilessly until his opponent adjusted. Bo Hardegree, now the quarterbacks coach for the Miami Dolphins, still laments Cooter’s tormenting him when he blitzed too much.

“There was thought into what he was doing. He wasn’t just hitting buttons,” Hardegree said. “There was a process, definitely a thought process in what he was doing.

“Whether we were just having fun or not, he was trying to beat me in [that] he had a certain direction he was going to do that, a certain plan.”

Much of Cooter’s Tennessee football education came off the field. A walk-on quarterback who spent most of his career assisting starters getting ready for games, his role was twofold: The name that the student section in Neyland Stadium chanted in blowouts, and the student learning from offensive coordinators Randy Sanders and David Cutcliffe, preparing for a coaching career.

Cooter saw the game planning, scheming and endless work his coaches did and said, yep, that’s for me.

“The more you really like a subject, the easier it is to work hard at it,” Cooter told ESPN late last season. “And I really liked — at the end of the day, we work a ton of hours, but we are just coaching football. We go to football practice, and at the end of the week is a football game, so life’s pretty good.

“We work a ton of hours and we work really hard and the stress level can be high, but at the end of the day, we have a pretty good gig here and sure do enjoy it.”

Cutcliffe saw “a football junkie” with a mind like his greatest pupil, Peyton Manning. He started giving Cooter work a graduate assistant would do, even if Cooter didn’t officially become one until 2007.

Cooter searched for tendencies. Cutcliffe had Cooter teach younger quarterbacks almost as an apprenticeship. His work impressed and helped later, when it gave Cutcliffe confidence that Cooter could work well with Manning, one of the most meticulous quarterbacks ever.

“I know what I got back from him,” Cutcliffe said. “I know when I gave him a young quarterback to school up on something that it was going to be done and done to the nth degree. I think that’s why he has moved so quickly.”

In 2009, Cooter interviewed for a job with the Indianapolis Colts, working with Manning and Cooter’s current boss, Jim Caldwell. They wanted someone who could handle Manning’s demands, a young coach with a sharp mind.

Cooter is in the back of the room. It’s 2009. He’s in the NFL, an offensive staff assistant. And he’s scribbling in a notebook, listening to offensive coordinator Tom Moore explain his high-level offense.

Cooter looks over a Detroit Lions plays list during a 2016 game. Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire

The low man in the room, he’s already wondering what he would do, how would he handle that situation. What would he call? If you’re looking for a base for what the Lions run now, it starts in this meeting room.

“He was learning,” Moore said. “He would ask questions when the meetings were done, why are you doing this? Why are you doing that? He wanted answers for his own knowledge, but he took meticulous notes and listened to what we were doing, and he’s just a hard worker.”

His job was typical of staff assistants: Take in film. Compile stats. In this case, because Moore operated in a pencil-and-pad world, Cooter input notes, scouting reports and game plans into the computer. He kept his thoughts in a separate notebook.

Those coffee-stained notes still exist. In the summer of 2016, when he deconstructed and reconstructed the Detroit offense, he flipped through them. He still does this. Something new pops up each time, as the base of Cooter’s offense is rooted in Moore’s single-back philosophies.

“Sometimes my handwriting is not great, so there are times where I can’t remember my own notes,” Cooter said. “… I can sort of recall what I was thinking and remind myself, and sometimes there may be five pages of notes and maybe I feel pretty locked in on four and a half pages of that stuff, but that last extra little half-page would be a good reminder for me or a good note for maybe this offense — or hadn’t looked over something in two, three years and say, ‘Man, that’s a good idea for this one team we’re playing this year.’

“Things like that happen, and that’s a lot more offseason type of learning and type of studying because in-season time is so important, you can’t spend too much of it doing it.”

Instead of making a note about a note on another piece of paper, he types the note in his phone and sets a reminder date for the Monday of the week he thinks he wants to use it.

After stopping in Kansas City in 2012 — where he saw different philosophies for the first time in the NFL — the Broncos needed an offensive coach to work with Manning. They hired Cooter.

He did similar things in Denver as he did in Indianapolis and Tennessee. He studied tendencies and opposing defenses for Manning and then presented it, often without referring to notes, in meetings.

“He could see it in his head. He didn’t have to draw it up or see it on film,” Manning told ESPN by email in 2016. “He could visualize something that I was saying in his head, describing the defense. He could visualize that in his mind. It’s easier to have faster, quicker conversations when you don’t have to draw it up. You can talk on the sideline about that, or certainly in practice or in meetings.”

When Cooter wasn’t with Manning, he’d be in a shared office with Broncos assistants Chris Beake and Brian Callahan. They’d sit at a horseshoe desk. Football conversation flowed. Cooter had focus. His intelligence was obvious. His communication style was direct, laced with dry wit.

“He’s a lot like you see him,” said Callahan, now Detroit’s quarterbacks coach. “There’s not a whole lot of pretense to Jim Bob. He’s kind of ‘what you see is what you get.’”

Jim Bob Cooter is fully aware of how his name can be perceived but scoffs at any suggestion of changing it. George Gojkovich/Getty Images

Cooter is in another meeting room now. It’s in Detroit. Instead of sitting in the back, he’s leading. The offensive coaches are older, more experienced. And they are listening after Cooter was promoted following Joe Lombardi’s midseason firing in 2015. Cooter has that presence. He might be the smartest person in the room — every person ESPN spoke with for this story referenced his intelligence within the first five minutes — and knows enough to know he doesn’t know everything.

Cooter gets credit for innovative wrinkles, such as the tip-pass to Golden Tate employed last season, but insists those aren’t him. Putting together the Lions’ plan for a week is a joint effort. He’ll jot down plays or ideas, or his phone will remind him of something. When he meets with position coaches Tuesday mornings, they collaborate and listen.

“You can only see things from your own perspective, so I’m seeing it from my perspective and I’m sort of trying to get them wired up the way I think is going to be best,” Cooter said. “And sometimes I just won’t see a certain play that maybe one of our other guys sees, or maybe I’ll think something like, ‘I don’t think that’s going to be very good’ and they’ll kind of be adamant that our guy is going to run this route well or block this run well or whatever, and a lot of times they are right.”

Then he presents to Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who has his own notes. Together, they solidify a game plan. This is how they prepare. If something didn’t work on a Sunday, Cooter owns up to it post-mortem.

It’s part of his accountability and levity. He’ll sometimes point out a coach running wildly on the sideline or a funny moment in the stands. He drops the observation in — sometimes mid-sentence — and continues his critique.

This is Cooter. He has his quirks. He starts media sessions with phrases such as, “Comin’ in hot” or, “Plenty of seats available” when one is sparsely attended. Conversations in the quarterback room delve into philosophy and space. Cooter has strong theories about drinking green tea at night — something he once tried to convince Callahan to doing without success. It’s part of the evolution of a man learning to be one of the NFL’s up-and-coming coordinators.

A thing Cooter will never change is this: his name. He understands the attention. He wouldn’t be name-dropped on “Ballers” and might be leading the Lions offense in anonymity instead of a fantasy-football-name favorite.

It’s part of holding on to his Tennessee roots. When he left Knoxville, it was suggested he change it. Go by something different. He went to sandwich shops and received weird looks when he ordered a sub and gave the name “Jim Bob.”

Now he’s past explanations. He’s over staffers asking him, after he’s hired and they are putting his bio on the website, “Are you sure you want to go by Jim Bob?”

“You have to kind of assert yourself,” Cooter said, “and say, ‘Hey, listen, this is my name. Here we go.’”

That’s all done now. He owns it. Jim Bob Cooter is a man comfortable with himself. He knows what he wants, what he likes, how he thinks, how he prepares. He’s been working this for a decade now, the evolution of a coach with one of the best names in sports.

The post Jim Bob Cooter evolves from Tecmo Super Bowl wizard to NFL coordinator – Detroit Lions Blog appeared first on Daily Star Sports.

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