#do not listen to me!! i am a very bad practices coder!!!! but it is fun albeit deeply deeply annoying!!!

[nojaloart]

i love coding i love solving problems by kicking them for five hours straight until they fix themselves or break me

[ko-zone]

helloooo this pinned post will give you general info, the general tags used here, and the keep reading has some of our members and their emoji tags.

this is the "ko zone" system's tumblr blog! we use it so much, might as well make a sideblog. our body is 22, and this age internally shifts depending on who is fronting- and more often than not, cofront and influencing the main, ect. anything goes who give a shiit if you're weird though you're getting blocked

list of members saying hi in the keep reading vvvvvv

some members

👍sara/kyle (any pronouns)

heyoooo, i'm sara or kyle, whichever you want to use... you could also use ko, since that's our system name anyway!

i'm the main, so you'll probably see me often- either by myself, or blending and cofronting with someone else. i basically am front locked because ive been the mask this whole fucking time. and these cool ppl show up to help shoulder the burdens- and when they leave they often take those memories (both bad trauma related ones AND good and important information sadly) with them until they return. it is what it is

🐕 Crag (they/them,/it/its,she/he,the dog/the dog's)

Hellooo! What if there was a golden retriever who was practically raised on technology and used it as a means of escapism and expression? And ALSO wore cool sunglasses?... You'd get me, I'm therian! I front often, and I love getting to fiddle with and learn new apps or technology we're given. OOH and I love making silly little charts and graphs.

My most proud acheivment, personally- I even created and am the main coder of our Neocities (kopawz.neocities.org)! I share though, don't worry. <3 If we ever talk, I'd be happy to teach you about html when we can; making your own site is very freeing!

📚⚡The Tactician (they/it/he/she)

I'm a fan of keeping things organized and writing things down when we can. It's easier to remember what we need to do that way; and writing in general is just really fun and cathartic to do. Still trying to figure out if I want a name or if I just like being called this.

🕶🔆 Ray (he/they)

hi! i'm ray, and i really like pokemon. sun and moon and the ultra games are my favorites, but anything pokemon makes me pretty happy and it's very important to me. i like animals and going outside to look at any i see, plants too. it's very nice to meet you! if we hang out and i'm weird that's fine dw about it i am clocked out half the time anyway

🐈🧣 Fely (it/its/she/he/they/paws/pawself)

it's me! the proud lynian warrior! i'm felyne, but i just go by fely, cause they call me the feller... the fella, the little guy, the scraggly little cat thing. i also think it's funny to mention i do our taxes :3

okay so i love monster hunter, which is where i'm from! and i really like doing research and looking into things like i love reading! i like it when i get to show and explain things to someone else it makes me happy when somebody listens to what we have to say when i teach them! :D and i love KILLING!!! in video games. give me the video game battle music osts...

🐓🐆🦈 Odius (he/him)

hey, I used to be a persecutor, but I'm trying to protect us in ways that don't include *literally* biting and growling and shutting off and sealing us away anyone who wants to try to spend time with us. I like thinking about weird creatures. and if you think about it, violence is its own kind of artform. I also like writing... there's nuance work with me here

🦊🍭 gaius (he/him but in a girl way)

you could also just call me guy. id be happy to listen to you talk about things you're interested in until my ears fall off. i like chatting too. seriously, bug me, it gets so boring at work. im used to being around cars.

🐺🗡🐐Link (he/any)

i was one of the first ones here; you know how it is with a kid's first game. I used to protect us a lot, but now the physical threat of violence is basically nonexistant so I'm just still here sometimes... i like bugs. oh, and I really love fishing games. send me your fishing games

[possessesnightshift]

just over a year into it and already ai bullshit is essentially normal now.

not even probing into all the published research papers with clear evidence of ai in them (looking at you rat dick paper) or the fact that google images are now a bunch of ai generated nonsense, just seeing the way people talk about something like ai art is really discouraging

i see all these debates about why ai art is bad that boil down to "the problem isn't the artwork this person created, the problem is..." with that sentence being finished with either mentioning the unethical data mining or the environmental toll or whatever. but the problem is the very premise of that sentence is wrong no matter what goes at the end of it. if you type shit into a prompt and it spits out something that resembles a finished painting, you did not 'create' anything.

i want to go out of my way to emphasize that while the other bigger picture issues with ai are much more important than whether an ai "artist" deserves credit for their work, i still think it's entirely valid to say "ai art is also bad for letting people act entitled to the same praise and compensation as someone would have for literally painting the goddamn thing by hand."

"but what about the disability aspect? don't artists without fine motor skills deserve to be able to express themselves too?" im barely even going to entertain this line of defense simply for the implication that disabled artists (which i am btw, but not visual art) could not make art until 2023 is offensive to disabled artists throughout history, but also because it doesn't address my main problem with ai art either

a perfectly able-bodied ai artist is equally scuzzy to anyone else who solely relies on some OpenAI product to have any ability to create art. the problem isn't the fact that a computer is generating the art instead of brush or whatever. the problem is that there is NO ARTISTIC PROCESS.

you had no contribution to what the coders and programmers had to do to make ai art happen. you just benefit from their technology. but as a result of that, you allow their coding decisions to shape YOUR art. even if you rephrase the prompt over and over, you won't get the level of control necessary to create anything that isn't just regurgitated fluff. art isn't just a finished product. art is a feeling of inspiration that drives you to create. art is a way for humans to express truths beyond talking or writing about it. art involves imagining, listening, experimenting, and most importantly TIME.

it takes effort and practice over a non-instantaneous period of time to grow as an artist. and not only that, but that growth is THE ENTIRE FUCKING POINT.

i could preach more about this but i think i've touched on my main idea here. at the end of the day, we're so brainwashed by capitalism that we don't even see the way we regard the things we love as mere products. art is supposed to take time. art is supposed to be not obvious. while it might feel like i just wanna shit on top of anyone who considers themselves an ai artist, i honestly feel really bad for these people. if the idea of creating art could move these people as profoundly as it moves me, they wouldn't even think about using ai. i know these people won't get nearly the same joy or fulfillment from typing words into a prompt and spitting out images. even if they did, they still have remarkably little control over how they engage with making their art (what if fucking all of the ai models get sued and taken down forever? then what?)

art is not something that can be bought or sold. people don't seek out art to connect to the process of making money in the most efficient way possible. they want a connection to humanity. wherever that connection exists, people will find it (even in art is that's considered Bad by society's arbitrary standards).

and oh boy is there no faster way to guarantee a piece of art has no connection to humanity whatsoever than to ask the shitty, dysfunctional chatbot troubleshooting your wifi not starting up to make ALL OF THE ARTISTIC DECISIONS for you.

[brittaden]

Zoey’s Extraordinary Awkward Tension

Ch. 2 is up!

AO3    FF

Zoey nervously drummed her fingers alongside the take-out cup of coffee that she had stopped for on her way into work this morning. Not that she needed the caffeine boost, she was already jittery enough at what would await her at work. That is, once she had enough courage to step out of the elevator. So far, she had stood rooted in her spot in the elevator for at least four stops now. But the weird looks from her fellow co-workers were a lot easier to deal with than with the repercussions that came with kissing your boss in the back of a car after a disastrous night out.

Who knows though, best case scenario, Joan might've been just drunk enough that she had completely forgotten about the kiss. Or was that the worst-case scenario? Not knowing which would she wanted it to be only freaked Zoey out more and was the catalyst for one more elevator ride before stepping off on the floor she worked on but that idea was halted when a hand smacked against the side of the elevator and held it so it stayed open.

"What are you doing, you weirdo?" Max asked, smiling at her with that crooked smile. "I've counted three elevator stops, are you going for a world record or something?"

"Actually, there were four and yes I am," Zoey laughed it off, hoping that Max didn't pick up on any weirdness because she couldn't even begin to explain this to him. Especially not after hearing his heart songs. That would be like rubbing salt in his wounds.

Max gave a jerk of his head back to their office space. "Well come on, there's something we need to talk about."

"What happened?" Zoey asked urgently as she fell in step behind Max. He couldn't possibly know what happened. No one could. There was no way. "Is there a crisis? Does it involve me?"

Max was leading her to where the other coders had formed a huddle around a computer but he stopped at that. "Why would it involve you? Did something happen that I don't know?"

"No, what?" Zoey stammered. Her fingers were back to nervously tapping against her coffee cup. "I have no news. Just tell me what you're talking about."

Max leaned in, as if most of the office didn't already know. "Joan and Charlie are getting a divorce."

"Oh," Zoey sighed, a wave of relief washed over her that this news wasn't about her.

He pulled back from her. "Unless you already knew that."

"I might've heard a rumor," she played it off because it's not like Max needed to know that Joan had confided in her after she relentlessly pursued the deeper meaning behind Joan's first heart song which led to her playing couple's counselor for them which then led to a new bond between them that had culminated in a drunk Joan kissing after she burned down a rose wall at an engagement party.

Yeah, that she was definitely keeping to herself.

"Hey, I like rumors," Max joked.

Zoey smiled at him. "Okay, well next time I hear our rumor about our boss getting divorced, I'll pass it on."

"That's all I'm asking."

"What are we asking for?" Joan asked, popping up out of nowhere and scaring the pair. "Are we talking about the boss' divorce too? I've already been over it but you two can catch the highlights from the other coders who think that my personal life is their business."

"Sorry," Max quickly apologized. "I just wanted to offer my condolences."

"Okay," Joan replied with a nod of her head and an unimpressed look on her face. She, then, turned to face Zoey. "We need to talk in my office."

Before Zoey could ask why or object, not that she would object an order from Joan because that was asking for trouble, Joan turned on her heel and left Zoey nervous and fidgeting once again. She shared a look with Max, one that was their usual whenever Joan demanded one of them in her office, before she followed in Joan's footsteps. She took the time to drop all her stuff on her desk before practically sprinting to Joan's office.

"You wanted to talk?" Zoey asked as cool as she could in spite of how she felt. "What's up?"

"Well, moving past that," Joan replied. She sat at her desk and pushed her tablet across the desk to Zoey. "Leif had a new idea and it was, surprisingly, good. Needs some work but there's real potential there."

"Um, okay," Zoey drug out the last syllable as she approached the desk and picked up the tablet. She tapped and swiped at the screen for a new product design called The Chirp. "This was Leif's idea?"

Joan nodded her head. "I was just as surprised as you are. He pitched it to me at Simon's engagement party, which I'm sure you remember."

Zoey could feel her cheeks heating up and her breath was caught in her chest as Joan gave her a very similar look to the one she gave her a couple nights ago. Or maybe she was imagining it. She let out a little nervous laugh. "So…um…Leif's idea?" she asked, just trying to get back on track.

"Once he pitched the idea to me, I couldn't get it out of my head. We met yesterday to go over the logistics and design for the product and since you are his supervisor now, I wanted to loop you in before we give the presentation."

"We?" Zoey questioned.

"Leif and Me," Joan answered. "Of course, we'll be bringing you into this but, for now, we'll give the presentation."

"So, you called me in here to show me the idea?"

Joan gave her a look and Zoey regretted even wasting her breath asking the question when the answer was obvious. Of course, she had been called in her to talk about Leif's idea. The idea that she didn't even know he had and that kind of bothered her since she was his superior but Joan was the one that said they needed a new idea, so, of course, he would go to her first. At the very least, Joan was looping her in now so she wasn't totally bombarded by their presentation. That was...something.

"Never mind," she said dismissing her own question. She looked away from Joan and back to the tablet in hand that showed sketches of Leif's idea. She looked back up when Joan began speaking.

"I was going to fill you in more before we gave the presentation but you decided to use the elevator as your own personal amusement park ride this morning and wasted precious time."

Zoey cringed. "You saw that?"

"I see everything, Zoey."

"Right," she said with a nod of her head. She, then, gestured to the tablet in her hand. "And this is all you called me in here for?"

Joan gave a nod of her head. "Yes, Zoey."

"Right."

She crossed her arms on her desk. "I need you to round up everyone and let them know that we'll be giving a presentation soon. Also, I need Leif in here, if you'll let him know for me."

"Aye-aye captain!" Zoey said with a mock salute to her boss that she instantly regretted. "That I can do."

"Don't ever do that again," Joan said half-heartedly.

Reflexively, Zoey gave her a thumbs up. "You got it!"

Flushed with embarrassment, Zoey turned on her heel and set out to do as Joan had asked of her. Before she got to the office door, Joan's voice was calling her back.

"Zoey?"

"Yes?" She asked a little too eager as she turned around to face her boss.

Joan clicked her tongue and pointed at the tablet still in Zoey's hand. "That's mine."

Zoey hurried back over to Joan's desk and handed over the tablet. She couldn't help but notice that during the exchange of the tablet, Joan's hand lingered on hers a little longer than normal and she smiled before taking the tablet completely away and then used the same hand to gesture in a shooing motion. Zoey bowed her head before turning back around and finally exiting the office.

Zoey considered hiding herself in one of those isolation pods where their sole purpose was total isolation and complete focus on one's work. After the morning she had, being in complete isolation with her tablet and a true crime podcast episode as her only company sounded almost perfect. But she guessed as a supervisor, she needed to be more available to those she was supposed to be supervising, so she settled on another chair in which to curl up and code.

She had successfully avoided Simon for most of the day and the few times that she couldn't avoid him, Max, she was ever thankful for him, jumped in and saved her from a whole bunch of awkwardness. They even decided to get out of the office and go to lunch together somewhere not on a campus. A fact she was also ever thankful for because it got her out of the way of Simon and Joan.

Joan.

That was a different story today. Usually, before these last couple of weeks, she avoided Joan for different reasons. Since she wasn't completely sure how she wanted things to happen with Joan after their drunken kiss in the back of a car, avoidance seemed like the best approach. However, avoiding Joan wasn't as easy as it sounded. Especially today.

She had been called into a pseudo-meeting first thing this morning where Joan just wanted to show off Leif's idea and tell her that they'll loop her in more soon. Then, after the presentation, she was called back into Joan's office where she thought they were going to discuss their new tech idea but instead Joan just ended up telling her more details about her divorce and that she was doing really great. Save for a few bad mistakes. Zoey wasn't listened as a bad idea in Joan's list but maybe that was her way of hinting at it.

No, Joan was direct and blunt and didn't talk her way around things without ever getting to the actual point. So, that couldn't have been it. At least, Zoey didn't think so. And the idea of their kiss not being a mistake, calmed Zoey down a little even though she still had a nervousness about her. Then, just as she thought she could leave, Joan mentioned that she was thinking about getting back out there in the dating world. That she was ready.

Joan still hadn't mentioned their kiss or even alluded to it, not that Zoey thought she would at work, and she didn't want to overthink anything and assume that Joan was dropping a hint to her. That would be crazy. Joan was her boss. She couldn't date her boss.

Plus, there were still the feelings for Simon that just didn't disappear overnight like she had hoped they would. And then, there was the crown jewel that was Max who had sung a couple heart songs that further sent her spiraling into a land of confusion. He was her friend. Her best friend but apparently, he was harboring feelings for her like Simon, and like Joan maybe was now.

The whole thing was almost laughable. Yes, she had dated before and had boyfriends before, and a computer camp girlfriend that opened up her eyes to dating the same sex, but to have three people into her at the same time? That was a lot to process.

Not even the true crime podcast that she had blaring in her ears could drown out everything that was rolling around in her mind. And they usually calmed her down.

Plus, maybe Joan wasn't actually interested and it wasn't something that she needed to worry about. But there wasn't an easy way to find out that answer. One doesn't simply drunkenly kiss their boss and sweep it under the rug like nothing ever happened. Joan might've been too many drinks in to exclusively remember that part of the night but Zoey knew one thing, she couldn't forget it.

The only thing that jerked Zoey out of her rambling thoughts was the taking off of her headphones that she reflexively reached up for to find that Max was the one behind the interruption.

"This is a podcast about the Golden State Killer," Max said after listening to what was playing from her headphones.

"True crime calms me down," Zoey defended as she took her headphones back from Max.

"Okay, well since you were off in serial killer land, I'm going to say that you didn't notice Joan pointing and calling you into her office, oh for like the past two minutes now," Max replied and used his eyes to direct Zoey's attention to their boss' office where Joan sat with Leif.

Sure enough, Joan was watching them and moving her finger in a 'come hither' motion directing it at Zoey.

"Again?" Zoey complained. "That's like the third time today. What could she want now?"

Max shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, it's Joan, she could want literally anything. And I mean anything."

Zoey groaned. She thought she was in the clear for today but that didn't look like it was happening. "But calling me into the office three times? Seems like overkill for today."

"Maybe someone has a crush," Max teased.

Zoey's eyes widened at that. And she grew suspicious. "What?" she asked with a little nervous laugh. "Who said anything about that?"

"Relax Zoey, it was just a joke," Max assured her. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "Is everything okay? You seem a little off today."

She shook her head. "I'm just a little tired."

"Alright," Max said, his tone a little disbelieving. "Well you better go, don't want to keep Joan waiting any longer."

"Right," Zoey replied as she was already turning away from Max and heading towards Joan's office.

Back in Joan's office for the third time today, Zoey walked up to see Joan and Leif sitting on the same side of the desk. She politely knocked on the door-frame and waited for Joan to acknowledge her before she fully entered the office.

"You wanted to see me?" she asked.

"Finally," Joan said as she noticed Zoey. "You took long enough."

"Sorry, I was working on some code and I just got wrapped up in it," Zoey lied and hoped that Joan believed her.

"Good, that's why I called you in here," Joan replied, looking up at Zoey. "I have a few calls to make right now so I want you and Leif to get together and begin working more on this idea."

"Right now?" Zoey asked.

"Preferably yesterday because this is a golden idea of a product," Joan answered. "So, yes, right now."

"Okay," Zoey sighed. "Anything else?"

"Nope," Joan answered quickly, already shuffling papers around on her desk and reaching for her phone. "Just need you two to get started so we'll have something soon that we can actually present as a viable product."

Zoey nodded her head in response. With no more being said, she motioned for Leif to follow her out of Joan's office so they could find a spot to work as they were requested.

Later that night, after working the rest of her day with Leif who made it obvious that he would prefer to work with Joan, Zoey was finally packing up her things and getting ready to leave for the day. She slipped her headphones over her ears and started up another episode of a true crime podcast as she wound her way through the office and headed towards the elevator. Distant voices played over the voices coming through her headphones and her curiosity got the better of her. She slipped the headphones off and crept slowly towards the voices to find that Joan and Leif were standing in the conference room talking.

Her name popped up. That she wasn't surprised about since Leif seemed to relating everything back to Joan that they had worked on earlier. But what made her stop in her tracks, was when Leif started coming on to Joan. Judging by the look on her face, Joan seemed just as disturbed at what Leif was implying as she did. Her inner voice was screaming 'no' over and over again as music began to play in the background and Leif began to sing a heart song to Joan. Their boss.

Zoey was horrified. And not only because this was Leif and she had her own personal issues with him but his heart song was very telling of his intentions. If there was ever a time for her to interfere in her boss' personal life and stop her from making another bad mistake, this was it.

She just had to wait for Leif to finish singing because she knew that trying to interfere while someone was singing their heart song did not work out. That is if the idea of Leif trying to seduce their boss with terrible intentions didn't make her sick first. Luckily, the song was short and as soon as Leif was trying to hit on Joan again, Zoey rushed over to them.

"Hey guys, what's going on?"

She could tell Leif was mad at her when he spoke. "Actually Zoey, Joan and I were in the middle of something."

"Oh, I know," Zoey said, eyeing him carefully and wedging herself between the two. "I just had a few questions that I need to ask Joan."

"Leif," Joan said as she looked over Zoey's head at the guy in question. "I believe we're done here for the night. We'll reconvene in the morning."

Leif tried to protest but Joan cut him off and reiterated the fact that they could go over everything else tomorrow. Zoey looked over her shoulder to watch Leif begrudgingly pick up his things and leave. She tossed him a little smile and wave just to mess with him before she looked back to face Joan.

"You had some questions for me, Zoey?" Joan asked.

"Well, actually," Zoey took a few steps back from Joan. "Not really. I just...okay, here's the thing."

"Yes?"

She just needed to spit it out. "I'm your friend and I just had to tell you that I had a feeling that Leif was trying to come on to you and you mentioned your bad mistakes and Leif would definitely be a bad mistake. If not the worst. Plus, I'm pretty sure his intentions are sketchy."

Zoey waited for Joan's reactions and was both relieved and a little confused when she started to laugh.

"Oh my God, Leif?" Joan asked through a laugh. "Zoey, come on, give me some credit."

Zoey had started to laugh along with her. "It is a pretty ridiculous idea."

"Very," Joan said with a smile. "It would never happen. It flies in the face of everything I believe in regarding workplace professionalism. I'm his boss."

Zoey sucked in a deep breath. Maybe that was her answer. She wasn't even completely sure of her feelings for Joan or if she had any at all but hearing Joan talking about workplace professionalism felt like a punch in the gut when their kiss had been on her mind all day.

"Right, you're his boss, and that is totally unprofessional and wrong," Zoey started to babbled. "And you're very professional, so you wouldn't ever do that. Kiss one of your co-workers, that's absurd. And you're my boss too."

"Zoey," Joan interjected. "Are you done?"

"I guess I am now."

"Good. That was a lot of nonsense but I think I know what you're trying to say."

"You do?"

Joan gave a nod of her head. "If you're referring to Simon's engagement party, which is the only thing there is to refer to, I do remember what happened between us. And you're right, it was unprofessional."

"Right, unprofessional," Zoey agreed.

"But," Joan said as she took a step towards Zoey. "I don't regret what happened."

Zoey stood rooted in her spot. "You don't?"

"I was drunk, yes, very," she said as she took another step closer. "But I still knew what I was doing. Even if it was wrong."

Zoey stayed silent and stared up at Joan because in just a few seconds, Joan had closed the small gap between them and stood so close that they were almost touching. And now they were touching because Joan had reached out and brushed a few strands of hair that had fallen in front of her face.

"Do you regret what happened Zoey? You have been acting a little stranger than normal today."

"I..." Zoey tried to process all that was happening. "I don't."

"Okay," she smiled. "Let's have dinner."

"Tonight?"

Joan shook her head. "Not tonight, it's already late. Friday, I'll send a car to pick you up. Sound good?"

"Yep," Zoey found herself agreeing before she even knew exactly what it was that she was agreeing to. "Sounds great."

"Friday," Joan agreed. "I'll see you in the morning, Zoey."

As Zoey was trying to figure out what she agreed to by going to dinner with Joan, Joan was already packing up everything of hers that was spread out on the table beside them. She waved by to Joan as she exited and hope that her exit wasn't met with another heart song because after everything today, she wasn't sure if she could handle it. Zoey was grateful that she was only met with silence as she watched Joan walk out of view. She threw her headphones back on and immersed herself in a podcast as she hurried out of the building with her apartment in mind and to the one person that could help her navigate this new path that opened up because of her powers.

[goddessdoeswitchery]

Hellenic Polytheism Pillar Sophia: A Transcript

Hello, and welcome to today’s episode of Hellenic Polytheism 101, where we will be discussing one of the pillars of Hellenic Polytheism: Sophia. Sophia is wisdom, cleverness, and skill. The concept has changed and has grown over time to be more applied to wisdom and the pursuit of wisdom, especially by Plato. It might be easier to recognize Sophia in the way it was applied to Socrates and Plato and Pythagoras, as part of the term “philosophia” or, philosophy, the love of wisdom. Now, remember how I’ve said in my other podcasts about the Pillars of Hellenic polytheism being more of a way of life than a literal set of rules? Here’s another part where that really comes through. In Greek culture, wisdom and the pursuit of it were incredibly important, so much so that it was the Ancient Greeks that were considered to be the founders of philosophy; and since Greek culture and Greek religion were so intertwined with each other, we are left asking, how can we, as modern day Hellenic polytheists, apply the concept of Sophia to our everyday lives?

One thing we can be sure of is that a person doesn’t need to be a world class philosopher like Plato to be a Hellenic polytheist. What we should be aiming for is the ever-present pursuit of wisdom. We should always be trying to learn, everyday. It doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking. Read a book. Watch a documentary. Read a scholarly article. Listen to a podcast. And if you come across something you don’t quite understand, research it. One of the best ways to pursue wisdom is to fight ignorance. There will be many times in your life when you are faced with something you don’t have any experience with, something you know nothing about. Living with the pillar Sophia means taking the time to learn and battling your own ignorance. In today’s world, I know how hard that can be. You can’t do a google search without their predictive algorithm doing some serious confirmation bias. Living with Sophia means taking the time, in pursuit of wisdom, to do it right.  

Now, I love learning. I’m one of those people who, if given an unlimited supply of money and an eternity, I would be a student forever. But Sophia doesn’t necessarily mean learning in a classroom environment. Think about your last week. Did you come across new information? Did you read an online article that broadened your world view? Did you learn something new? Did you gain a deeper understanding of something you thought you already understood? Did you discover something that mostly everyone you knew was aware of, even something as simple as the fact that if you roll up the deodorant, you can take the plastic cover off without having to struggle with it? If so, outstanding! You battled ignorance in some small way this week.

Battling ignorance and pursuing wisdom also means battling the ignorance of others. If you’re hearing and listening to this, or reading the transcript, then it means that you’ve entered the online world in some way. That means you’ve also come across ignorant people, who seemed perfectly gleeful to remain that way. It also means you’ve come across people who were ignorant, simply because they didn’t know any better, and they needed someone to point the way. Anecdotal story break time: I’ve got a cousin who is a senior in high school. She plays a lot of different instruments and she’s very, very good. She has practiced, a lot, and has put some serious work into it. I’ve also got an uncle who is on his 4th or 5th black belt. He has put some serious effort and a couple decades worth of time into varying forms of Martial Arts. My sister’s friend is an artist, and an incredible one. She has more followers on her Instagram and tumblr and devian art pages than I care to count, and she’s graduating college as a graphic designer with job offers from some very big names. All 3 of these people are outstanding in their field. Now, to get to the why I brought them up: All 3 of them have told me, in some way, that once they reached a certain point in their skill level, the best way to get better was to start teaching. As they taught others, their own skill increased. I believe the same applies to everyone. So, one of the ways you can apply Sophia to your life is to teach those who don’t know any better. You will come across people who are resistant to fixing their ignorance but more often than not, people are willing to learn. That means you can take the time to teach them.

Sophia also means cleverness and skill. In fact Homer applies to the term with the meaning “skillful in handicraft and in arts” towards both Athena and Hephaestus. Now, I would never suggest that we, as Hellenic polytheists, can be as skillful the Theoi in any way. We should all know why that’s a bad idea. However, we can become skilled in our own handicrafts and arts. That is another way to practice Sophia. Now, I know not all of us have something we can reasonably point to and say “That’s an art”. There are artists and musicians and weavers and seamstresses and poets among us, to be sure. But we also have writers. We have readers. We have spellcrafters. We have engineers. We have software coders. We have jewelers. We have homemakers. Sophia means cleverness and skill. That means there are many, many ways you can apply it to your daily life. Everyone has something they can do with skill. Sophia means practicing that skill and utilizing it.

To me, Sophia is one of the easiest pillars of Hellenic polytheism to bring into my every day life. Pursuing wisdom, battling ignorance, practicing a skill, these are all things that we are doing every day. And Sophia is as simple as that. Thank you for listening to today’s episode of Hellenic Polytheism, where we discussed the pillar Sophia. Today, I relied on the notes from one of my college courses, Intro to Philosophy, and the Homeric Hymns. As always, you can find links to the, well, one source that is linkable this time around, on my tumblr page at goddessdoeswitchery.tumblr.com, where I am also always free for discussions and questions. Coming on October 4th, the next pillar Sophrosune. I look forward to seeing you all then.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again

legally here at umass it’s a monday so all the MWF & T/Th classes have the same number of meetings, bc we all had monday off for ~*president’s day*~ 

reading this article by someone who made a messaging app just for his family and compared it to cooking for funsies made me go AH this is the coder i am. many small tiny tweaks to make my User Experience better that can’t really go on github, or compressing some weird custom Excel actions? workflows? something along those lines into a couple shortcuts at my old job

listening atomic drum assembly’s jump in is just fun? it makes me want to shoot a car-go-fast commercial with this as the backing music. it’s apparently in an apple commercial which makes sense but i have almost successfully blocked all ads from my online experience

watching hey. hey. hey. watch Promare. it’s so much. it’s so excessive. i loved it a whole fuck of a lot. it is like Jupiter Ascending and Final Fantasy in that it just DOES. NOT. STOP. it’s very very pretty. there’s so much happening on screen at any given time it only occasionally devolves into incoherence. the ARMOR DESIGN. the MECH DESIGN. fellas is it gay to show someone your firefighter’s burning soul? 

playing this run of fallout 4 is bugged in a new and interesting way, where i CANNOT no matter what i do choose the nonviolent option to stand down a really cool ghoul character who’s taking care of a bunch of feral ghouls and is desperately looking for a cure. what the fuck, todd

making unfortunately i am turning into That bethany esda fan, bc i needed a project to practice interior cutouts on the scrollsaw. it’s like a foot tall? ish? i do not have the confidence or the patience to cut out all the lettering, so i’m going to let this dry overnight and stencil. a billion thin layers of acrylic paint will hide many sins, but it’s sleeting here and the humidity situation in our big metal shed is uhhhhh bad. 

[givemeakisspookie-blog]

Miss Atomic Bomb. (Aaron Tveit Fanfiction)

Chapter Five.

Eleven pm and Marie Anne was already at home. That was definitely not the idea for that night.

Dinner was amazing. It was perfect. Aaron was the most charming man she ever met and not even mentioning how handsome he was. A true gentleman that took her to a beautiful restaurant in Manhattan. They were getting along perfectly and Marie Anne couldn’t be happier. After dinner they decided to take a little walk to get to a wine bar that was a couple blocks away. It was just a silly excuse to keep talking because they were having fun. It was all perfect until her phone ringed.

She couldn’t believe she was that unfortunate. Actually, she did. The girl never had the chance to have end a date without any struggle. She didn’t have so many dates, actually, but the ones she had, were always threw down the drain. She wasn’t a very lucky girl in the love subject.

This time it was her brothers’ fault. They left to go to Adam’s, their neighbor who was the same age as them and with who they used to play video games. The problem was that when they left their apartment, the two boys screw it activating in the wrong way, the alarm of their place.

That’s why Marie Anne -and the cops- had to run to her place after the emergency call. She could imagine all the things that could have happened to her brothers, her mother, her stuff. She was scared to death when she arrived. Her fear turned into anger when she found out what really happened.

It was a miracle that she didn’t killed Allan and Parker, and another one was that they didn’t call her mother, who still was at their grandma’s house. Marie Anne was practically the responsible of the house so they called her. Then she had to leave Aaron, who offered go with her to check everything was fine. She thanked him for the offer but said she was going to be fine alone. The one thing she asked Aaron was if she could call him the next day. She was terrified that he’ll say no because he didn’t wanted to see her again after leaving him, but with a smile on his face he told her to text him the second the girl knew everything was fine with her family and home.

So she did. She arrived, and after yelling at her brothers and make herself a big cup of coffee, she texted him.

“Hey, there… Everything is fine, my silly brothers configured bad the alarm and was all a big mistake. We’re all good. Thanks for understanding, and I’m so sorry again.”

Marie Anne went to her bedroom and changed her clothes for a more comfortable outfit. Her brothers didn’t even wanted to show up after the huge mistake they made. She was mad at herself and mad at the whole world. For the first time in years she was having a really good date with an amazing man and it jgot ruined for a stupid thing. Of course it had to happen to her. She laid down on her bed and closed her eyes, waiting for a text from him to say he wasn’t mad for what happened. She got the message she’d been waiting a few minutes after that.

“Hey! I’m glad you’re okay, I got scared! And you don’t have to worry, is not your fault. I would’ve like the date ended different tho.”

“You’ll pay me back for not picking me up and I’ll pay you for going home so early?”

“We have a deal. By the way, I had a great time with you tonight.”

“Me too. Never thought an actor could be so funny, you know?”

“Thanks, I guess. I never thought a coder could be as funny as you are, either.”

“Nobody gets our jokes but we are funny, I promise. By the way, thanks for not getting mad about tonight. I thought you weren’t going to answer my text and I was about to kill my brothers.”

“They didn’t mean to do it. Was an accident, it’s okay. Don’t be so hard with them.”

“Too late…”

“Did you kill them already? Do I have to take care of two young male bodies? Just tell me ‘cause I have enough place for one in my fridge, but that’s all I can offer you.”

“No, I just yelled at them. Enough to scare them. They didn’t even knock at my door yet. But thanks for the offer. I’ll let you know if I need it after all.”

“Good. Anyways, they’re just kids, Woody. We’ve all been after all.”

“You called me Woody??”

“Oops?”

“It’s because my last name is Woods??”

“Maybe?”

“I love it.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You can call me Woody if you want.”

“Well, I like to call you Woody, so now you are Woody.”

Marie Anne smile couldn’t be bigger in that moment. She almost forgot why she was mad at her brothers. In that exact moment someone knocked at the door.

“Mar?” Allan’s voice was heard softly from the other side of the door.

“Mh?” Marie Anne asked absolutely distracted and she practically couldn’t even listen what her brother was saying because her mind was already in other place.

“Sis? We are sorry. It wasn’t our intention. We didn’t wanted to ruin things between you and Aaron.” Allan spoke again a little louder so she could really hear.

Marie Anne got up from bed and opened the door. When she saw the boys they really looked worried. “Things are okay with Aaron. You didn’t ruin it, don’t worry.”

“Can you forgive us?” Parker asked, looking at the floor and as worried as his twin. “And I don’t want you to get mad, okay? But… We’re going to watch Grease Live… And… Al…?” Parker touched his brother with his shoulder to make him talk because he wasn’t that good with the apologize issue as Allan.

“You’d like to come with us?” Allan said that really quickly and internally prayed for her sister not to set them on fire.

“Give me a sec and we’ll talk in the living room, okay?” she asked in the best possible tone so they wouldn’t think she was going to yell at them again.

“Sure…” Parker shortly answered and the boys went to the living room. Marie went back to grab her phone from the bed. She almost ignored his last text and wrote a new one.

“My brothers want me to watch Grease with them.”

“Well, Travolta is awesome.”

“I’m not talking about that Grease…”

“Oh man. Well, is such a great show, y'know? Might wanna check it out. Just ignore the shorts, please.”

“You won’t get mad if I watch it?”

“Why would I? Is my job, and I’m proud of it. And Grease was a great show so I’d like you to check it.”

“Okay, I’m watching it. Should I make you some comments meanwhile??”

“If you want. Would be a little bit embarrassing tho, but sure.”

“I won’t do it unless it’s extremely necessary, I promise you. How is Miles, btw?”

Meanwhile, Marie Anne got up from her bed with the phone in her hand and walked to the living room where her brothers were waiting for her.

“And?” Allan asked expecting a positive answered from her sister.

“I asked and he’s okay.” she affirmed, sitting on the couch in the middle of them.

“And he said yes, as I can see…” Parker smiled, turning on the TV. He had a plate with cookies in the coffee table, with three coffees, obviously trying to make her forgive them.

“That coffee is for me, uh??” she asked smiling a little bit.

“We thought you’d like to…” Allan took the cup and gave it to her.

“After tonight I need it.” she grabbed the cup and took a sip. “We didn’t get to kiss. I had to run over here.”

“Oh my God no…” Parker covered his face with his hand and Allan covered his mouth.

“Goddamned, Mar. We’re so so sorry! Shit.” Allan cursed and took a sip of his coffee.

“It’s okay. He’s not mad and keeps talking to me, so it’s not the end of it. I don’t know when we are going to see each other again but… It’s okay.” she added as she grabbed a cookie and ate the whole thing at once. Then she got another text.

“Miles is fine. He says hi and that he wants to meet you some day.”

“I will love to! When he’s not in the doggy daycare we can go out and have a play date.”

“He says he already likes you and that he’s looking forward to see you. Oh no wait, that’s me!”

“You are making me blush in front of my brothers and it’s weird when I’m seeing you in my TV. Nice hair, by the way.”

Marie Anne couldn’t help but laugh alone, making her brothers look at her.

“What did he said?” Parker pocked her in the ribs while looking at the TV and eating a cookie.

“We are talking about Miles and he said he wants to see me again.” she casually said with a big smile on her face.

“Miles’ his second name?” Parker giggled.

“How many liters of hairspray did they use to that?” Allan was looking at the TV, with his eyes opened.

“Miles is his dog. He has chocolate labradoodle. Aaron showed me some pics and he’s the most adorable thing ever. And I can ask him how many liters they use.”

“Can you?” Allan asked all happy for being able to ask all the stupid things he wanted. Marie Anne nodded. She couldn’t stop watching the TV and how handsome he looked.

“Thanks, I guess. It was too big. And also it was a little hard to unmake such a mess.”

“I can imagine. Allan wants to know how much hairspray or whatever it was they used to do your hair. Because of you now my brothers are fanboys.”

“Well, quite a lot! I can’t remember well, but about four cans.”

“Can I say your hair it’s pretty amazing?”

“Thank you so much! It has its personality”

“So now I’m talking with you or with your hair’s personality?”

“With me, Woody.”

“You need to be more specific…”

“I am talking with you, me with my whole body.”

“I was going to make such a bad joke watching this thing…”

“Which joke? Shoot, I can handle it.”

“No. Not happening. Maybe next week but not now. I met you not even a week ago, Aaron. It’s bad. Bad bad. Forget it.”

“And? Is just a joke, isn’t it?”

“I was going to say if I could talk with your arms instead than with your hair.”

“Next time we see each other I promise you can talk with the part of my body you choose.”

“You are seriously making me blush in front of the kids. What should I say if they ask what are we talking about?”

“About the next date…?”

“You mean my play date with Miles on the park or another one?”

“No, that’s a date you have with him. I’m saying the next one with me.”

“Oh, we have one? When?”

“When do you have time?”

“I should ask that to you. You are the one with the crazy life, not me.”

“Tuesday night. My place, I cook.”

“You know how to cook?”

“Oh yeah, and I like to do it. Actually, I’m allergic to some stuff and so I gotta cook myself.”

“That Tuesday night I’ll need a list of things you are allergic so I don’t use them. Next time I cook.”

“We’ve got a deal. What do you want for dinner?”

“Surprise me?”

“Sure thing, sweetie.”

“I wasn’t planning to say anything, but now I get why you said that about the shorts, sweetie.”

“Really?? Is pretty bad, isn’t it??”

“Bad as Greased Lightning. Awful. You can’t dance even if your life was depending on it. And I won’t talk about your voice. God help us. Disgusting.”

“Oh, I knew it! Those shorts ruined my life!”

“I think you are the only one who ever said that about those shorts. Ten bucks that every single girl who saw this doesn’t think the same. Also, Parker is really thinking about quieting journalism to do what you do if with that he gets to dance with pretty girls.”

“Really? He likes acting?”

“He does it all the time. ALL the time. But actually he just wants to use it to get a girlfriend.”. Before he could text her an answer, Marie Anne was writing again. “Holy shit.”

“What?!”

“Hold on a sec.”

“Okay…”

“Aaron, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“Nothing after 3pm. Why?”

“Because I need to kiss you.”

“Wanna meet now?”

“Where?”

“Starbucks? There’s one near from your place?”

“Not at this hour. Besides you said you don’t like Starbucks. There’s a coffee shop open till 4 if you want. I’ll say a bar but I’m really not in the mood for bars.”

“Text me the address”

“90 S.40th street. There in twenty?”

“Give me ten.”

“Maybe it’ll take me fifteen. Wait for me, yes?”

Meanwhile she left the couch and run into her bedroom. Marie Anne didn’t even think in the clothes she was grabbing but she changed her pajamas, leaving her brothers asking where she was going and what she was doing.

“Of course, I’ll be there.”

After that she left home. Told the twins don’t stay up waiting for her, make up some lie to their mom, and especially don’t fuck up. Then she went to grab a taxi. Marie Ann was so excited to see him that she could arrive there running. She was moving her leg inside the car, looking through the window, and hoping to arrive there the next second.

Twelve minutes later she was there. She paid to the driver and got out of the car, doing everything as fast as she could.

She looked for the coffee shop with her eyes while was almost running through the street. She was trying to see Aaron and when finally she got inside she saw him, sitting in a table by the window. He was already with two coffees in front of him in the table. The dress pant, shoes and shirt where replaced with a hoodie, a jean and some sneakers and he was handsome anyway. Marie Anne knew he was going to like him no matter what he had.

“Hey…” he smiled and got up to receive her. She didn’t answer.

She’d been waiting for that moment since the day by the river, so she didn’t have time to answer or to lose when she stepped forward, being now in front of him, just a few inches from his face. Aaron stayed silent the second it took her to grab his neck, getting closer and kissing him. She stayed a few seconds with her lips touching his, petting slowly his neck, when he hugged her tight to him. Marie Anne got her lips apart from him and stayed with her eyes closed right in her spot, so did he.

After that first kiss, Aaron got encouraged and kissed her back. Their lips played with each other and she grabbed his neck, making him got closer to her. She couldn’t believe what was happening in that moment, and every moment they were kissing, she wanted to do it more. They got apart a little bit just to take a breath, and both of them found themselves smiling, and even laughing a little bit. That little thing made Marie Anne turn mad for him, and came back to his lips, slipping her fingers in his hair, and letting her hands take what it wanted. Aaron was petting her back and let himself go with the woman he had in front of him.

When he saw her getting into the shop, he just thought she’d sit down, take the coffee, talk a little bit, and then find an excuse to kiss him. Maybe he’d to find an excuse to kiss her. She definitely surprised him and he was completely happy about it.

Aaron kissed her with all his strengths and his mind blew up when her tongue started to play with his. He grabbed her by her neck, and petted her softly while Marie Anne was holding him tight. She was an atomic bomb. They stood like that for some short minutes. There were a few people in the place, but they couldn’t care less about the whole world. When they got apart again Marie Anne was the first talking.

“You said I could talk with the part of your body I wanted. I’m changing your arms for your lips…” she murmured against his mouth and gave him a small and soft but long peak.

“Deal” he smiled, staring at her and not moving for a while. He looked like if he was seeing the most beautiful thing in the whole world.

“I… I saw you dancing and smiling and… I don’t know. I wanted to kiss you so bad yesterday and tonight, and then I saw you there…” she tried to explain but everything about him was distracting her. His eyes, his arms holding her body against his, his lips almost touching hers, the way he smelt, the way he was looking at her. It was everything too good and distracting.

“I was dying to kiss you, so it was very helpful.” Aaron confessed and couldn’t contain a smile, and kissed her again for a few seconds without letting her go, and staying the closest he could from her.

“Hi again, by the way.” the girl smiled. When she realized what happened her cheeks started to turn red. She was kissing that beautiful man in the middle of coffee shop past midnight. Life couldn’t be crazier and she couldn’t be luckier.

“Hi, Woody.” he smiled back and kissed her cheek. “Wanna sit? The coffee might be cold by now…” he got apart from her and went to sit to the place he was before. “Come here” he grabbed her hand and made her sit beside him, in the padded seat beside the window, where he was waiting for her with a shining smile on his face.

Once they occupied the seat Marie Anne didn’t let his hand go. It was comfortable to be there with Aaron, even if the situation was a little weird. She liked him so much that she felt like it was afternoon instead of midnight. Marie Anne was just happy to be there. “Sorry I don’t look as nice as on our dinner…”

“You look beautiful. You don’t need to put on an amazing dress like you did tonight to make me like you.” he looked at her eyes and stayed close to her. Her butterflies came back to her stomach and they were more and stronger.

“In that case I’ll say you don’t need dress pants and shirts to make me like you. You look wonderful with it, but I like the way you look like this.” she kissed slowly the corner of his mouth and his scruffy cheeks.

“And I like the way you look like this.” he whispered and kissed her softly.

They looked like two teenagers in love who couldn’t stop kissing and holding hands for one second. Marie Anne was really having the time of her life, and felt happy as she never did before with a guy.

She knew then, she was getting into something special. In fact, it was almost two in the morning, they were in a coffee shop that looked more like a drive-in, drinking cold coffee, dressing like if it was Sunday afternoon and they were laying in an old couch, and were going to watch a 90’s movie, that was about a serial killer who used to kill blonde ladies because a blonde girl bumped him when he was thirteen years old. Somebody might say that’s pretty much how happiness looked like. And for Marie Anne the picture of that exact moment was it.

“Even with my silly sneakers?” Marie Anne smiled and she felt a little pathetic with her Little Mermaid shoes. It was the first she found on the floor when she ran to change. It was a gift from Parker and Allan because it was her favorite Disney movie, but not something she’ll use to go out with Aaron.

He took a second to look down and check her shoes and back at her smiling. “I love your snickers.” he affirmed, not being able to stop the smile on his face. He just couldn’t stop and neither did her.

“If you tell me you like Disney I might die a little bit here.” she blushed and looked into his blue eyes. Marie Anne knew she could spend hours just looking at him.

“Guilty” he raised his hand. Aaron completely forgot about the coffee until that very moment. “Hang on…” he called the waitress and asked for another couple of coffees. A minute later the girl came back to two new cups and took away the cold ones. “Now let’s drink them.”

“After today I need like six of these…” she breathed deep and then took a sip of coffee. “So, this counts as date three or its more like date two 2.0??”

“We can call it 'The date’.” he took a sip of his coffee and she couldn’t believe his cheeks turned a little bit red too.

“The date?” she asked again and her heart almost melts when she saw him blushing for that.

“Yes. Like THE date. I kissed you today.” he took another sip and took her out of his sight. He might be thirty-three years old, but he still got embarrassed with those kinds of things.

Marie Anne left her cup in the table, placed her hands on his cheeks and kissed him. It was one long and sweet kiss, and she couldn’t help it. She knew just a couple things about his life and they have met three days before, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to cup his face really carefully and kiss him like they were on a couch at home and not in the coffee shop.

After that kiss, he wasn’t able to hold a second one. He was so soft and caring with her, and without thinking held her hand meanwhile. She thought he’d never got apart. Actually, she didn’t wanted to get apart. When he finally did, he just looked at her with those big clear blue eyes. She thought she was already dead, because she stopped breathing for a few seconds.

“You are seriously killing me with those blue eyes, handsome.” she whispered against his lips and gave him another kiss like the previous. While she was doing it she realized it was the first time she told him handsome out loud. She was already not thinking straight. She didn’t care; after all it was exactly what she thought of him.

“You are so so beautiful.” he said almost out of breath and kissed her again. He was losing his mind and couldn’t stop.

“Are we sure they don’t have here a secret room they rent with a couch, a TV and a blanket?” she giggled for her silly comment and let him go for a second so she could drink her coffee.

“I guess no… But… Uhm…” he started but stop himself of talking.

“But..?

"I do have a couch, a TV and a blanket.” he looked at her eyes.

“I can’t promise I won’t fall asleep if I sit on a couch.” she affirmed with a little smile on her face.

“Is okay…” he said and smiled. He looked at every single place in that coffee shop but her. He was clearly ashamed.

“I will love to invite you to my place but I kinda can’t…” she started. She realized he was feeling bad for his comment, so she thought about something to make her also look stupid. “You’ll probably think it’s pathetic, but I live with my mom and my brothers. I wanna move alone but things got… Complicated. And now I don’t know why I didn’t told you that in the dinner...”

“Hey that’s not pathetic.” he immediately said, turning his face back enough to look at her again. “I won’t judge. Everyone has its problems. You live with your mom, I do unfortunate comments...” he laughed a little trying to get out of that quicksand he got himself into.

“Your comments are not a problem!” she laughed with him to make him feel better. “And I feel very pathetic about it. I want my own place but when I was about to rent something my folks got divorced and I stayed for Allan and Parker. Now I just wanna get out of there to not listen to my mom’s craziness.” she explained quickly. She still felt pathetic, she couldn’t handle it.

“Well, you’re not pathetic.” he stroked her cheek. “You wanna talk about it?” he asked her kindly.

“About which part of all the craziness I just throw at you?” she said looking at him. There was something about his blue eyes that make her felt completely comfortable and safe.

“About the divorce…”

“It’s not like it affected me, y'know? I’m twenty seven, it won’t change my existence. But it’s a mess cause they are still fighting every day and putting us in the middle of their war. That’s why I stayed with the boys…” she explained talking softly.

“How are they handling it?”

“They are good. If mom and dad bother them they just send them to hell.” she smiled little bit, remembering those amazing boys.

“That’s a great move. They are smart.” he affirmed, finishing his coffee. “I will order something to eat. You want anything?”

“No, I’m fine.” she smiled sweetly at him.

Aaron ordered a sandwich and stayed quiet for a while. Marie Anne took the chance to keep looking at him, even if the restaurant’s lights weren’t really good. He glanced at her but he was still uncomfortable for the comment he made.

“Can I kiss you?” she murmured looking at him and placing a kiss in his hand. She didn’t like how suddenly everything became weird.

“Sure you can.” he smiled at her.

Her heart did a little jump with the answer. She placed one hand on his nape and with the other one she kept holding his right hand. Then Marie Anne kissed him again, this time a little more intense than when she arrived. She didn’t pay attention to the waitress when she came back to bring his sandwich or neither to the people around there.

Aaron closed his eyes and placed his free hand on her waist. Suddenly it all around them turned dark and they were the only ones that mattered. Marie Anne heard the waitress when she put his sandwich on the table and left, but she didn’t stop.

She didn’t knew if she needed to show him how much she liked him or that he shouldn’t be uncomfortable. In her head she had at least ten reasons for why she was kissing him, but the first one was simple: Because she needed to. She wanted to learn how to kiss him in the way he liked, even if that started in a coffee shop and for short minutes.

“I’m sorry for the invitation.” he started, moving away. “I mean, I’d like you to come over but it was just so rude. I’m really sorry.” he said slowly, trying to find the right words. She looked at him.

“What if we stay here just talking, and kissing, and you eat your sandwich, and when they kick us cause the place is closing we see what we do?” she offered with a sweet smile.

“You’re so sweet, baby…” Aaron affirmed, and he looked shocked after that. “I’m sorry again. Fuck!” he cursed himself and started to eat his sandwich to keep his mouth in a way that he couldn’t keep screwing it up.

“Don’t worry about it, babe…” she copied him, giving Aaron a kiss on the cheek while he was eating. She couldn’t tell if she liked more when he called her Woody or baby, but she was over her head with both.

“I’m being so rude. I invite you home, call you baby… I mean…” he started his speech, with still sandwich in his mouth. Marie Anne understood just the essential. “I like you and… I really like kissing you. And I don’t-” he coughed right in that moment. When your mother says that you must NOT talk with your mouth full of food, well, there’s a reason. She asked for a glass of water and he drank the half of it, then he kept eating. “Like I tried to say before I had my first suicide attempt with this sandwich… I don’t wanna rush you or scare you or any of that. I truly wanna keep you near.” he stopped and looked at his legs.

“What can I do to stop that head of yours for five minutes and convince you that I’m not mad or anything and that I don’t think you are rude?” she asked with the sweetest voice, placing her fingers in his chin and looking at him in the eyes. She was having the best night in years and she couldn’t handle seen him worried like that.

“Just kiss me.” he affirmed and couldn’t say anything else but that. And so she did. Marie Anne just kissed him in the sweetest way she could as she locked her fingers in his hair.

They kept kissing the whole night. Marie Anne couldn’t find in her life story any night that was any similar to that one. She had comedy, passion, mystery -for the alarm thing-, adventure, and love. Everything that a good movie must have. She even had very good looking guy who also was extremely sweet and kind, the regular girl, and a so unexpected story. She couldn’t believe it. It felt like a dream. But, as every dream it came to its end when the waitress “woke them up” and told them they had to leave because they were going to close the shop. Marie Anne insisted in paying after he paid dinner, but there was no way to convince Aaron to let her do such a thing. He was too gentleman and Marie Anne knew she wasn’t going to be able to fight that even for five minutes.

After that they walked out of the coffee shop and stayed in the sidewalk. It was 4 am and she didn’t want to get away from him. “So you came here in your car?” she asked casually

“Yes. Want me to take you home?”

“Wanna go for a ride? Unless you’re tired. I mean, maybe you are. In that case, it’s fine. I’ll take a taxi.” she said nervous thinking that maybe now he regretted what was happening there.

“No, I’m not tired. I’d love to. Come on…” he started to walk to his car and she followed him.

She walked by his side but didn’t know what to say. It was like if for just a moment her head convince her it was over. Even when she knew it wasn’t true she had a knot in her stomach and she hated it. He stopped beside his car and took her by her waist. “Hey… I’m sorry for how I acted before…” he blushed and looked at the floor.

For some reason all she could do was hug him. Not even kiss him, just placed her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder and chest. It was the first time she was really hugging him besides the make out session some hours before. Marie Anne just needed to be there and the rest could disappear at least for some minutes.

He hugged her back and kissed her head. “You okay?” he asked.

“Just hold me for a while…” she said nodding to let him know she was fine. She just needed that. A simple warm hug from someone who wasn’t one of her brothers. It was something different in every single way. He hugged her tight and kept placing little kisses in her head and forehead. After what felt like hours but were probably five minutes, Marie Anne let him go and looked at him. “I didn’t realize how much I needed that. Thanks.” she whispered looking at the floor because now she felt embarrassed.

He just placed a finger on her chin and lifted her face enough to kiss her. It was just a short peak, but it felt a little bit more than that. “You don’t have to thank me, but I think I’ll need more of those sooner than I expected.” he whispered.

Just like that she gave him another kiss, just like the one he gave her. He kissed her back again, and held her by her waist. “Where should we go??” she asked still placing small kisses on his lips.

“Wherever you want…” he just stayed there, kissing her back and smiling a little bit.

“The beach? Disneyland? Your place? The river? I don’t know.” she smiled back at him. “Nothing fancy cause I look like hell…”

“You look pretty.” he said just before kissing her again. “And, of all the options you just said… Just choose. As long as I can keep kissing you I’m okay.”

“I say we let Disney for next week…” she joked and let him kiss her every time he wanted. “And what about the other three options? Too crazy?”

“Considering that is four in the morning, and I want us alive and with all our belongings…” he smiled and kept kissing her, not so lightly this time.

“I know a place when we can watch the ocean and we don’t have to get out of the car…”

“I follow your lead…” said him, hugging her tight and kissing her cheek.

“Then you need to drive us to Coney Island Beach…” she laughed softly. She knew it was stupid to drive all the way there at that hour, but she couldn’t care less about it. She was too happy.

“Okay…” he got closer to her so slowly until he reached her lips. They were living it like a fairytale, and Marie Anne couldn’t be happier.

“Let’s get in, we have like half hour travel…” she murmured against his lips and placed both hands on his neck, totally ignoring what she said about get in the car. “Before we go can I do something I have been dying to do since yesterday?”

“What…?” he murmured a bit curious about it. She smiled with an evil smirk because it was probably a bad idea, but at that point she had to risk it. Without saying anything she gave him a small kiss on the right side of his neck. It wasn’t big deal, but she couldn’t stop thinking about that for hours since the park date. “That was really nice…” he was holding her by her waist and seemed pretty surprised. But like good surprised.

“Now we can go.” she smiled against his cheek and gave him a kiss there.

“Hey, promise me there will be more of that…” he kissed her cheek too and then moved slowly his nose up and down, slipping it on her face.

“Should we forget about the river and the beach for tonight and leave it as an excuse for another two dates??” she asked and waited for his answer. Part of her regret it, thinking that he maybe will take it bad, but the other part was wishing he would give the answer she was wishing.

“You mean my place as the only option left for tonight?” he smiled at her. Marie Anne smiled back at him and nodded and that simple action made Aaron kiss her again. She was living the dream. Marie Anne placed both her hands on his chest and smiled as they kiss. “I’m in.”

“I’ll make breakfast. No discussion.” she told him with a serious face so he would see she wasn’t joking.

“Let’s get in before I do something I don’t wanna do in public.” he whispered in her ear and placed a kiss there. He moved away and opened the copilot door for her. “Let’s go, my lady”

“Thanks, my good sir.” she said smiling as she got in the car. The butterflies in her stomach were now making their own party. Aaron got in the car and she couldn’t stop smiling as she looked at him. She was wondering how she could be so lucky to be in his car and about to go to his place, but there was no answer. She was just extra lucky. “Ready to take me to Queens?”

“Yes, but before that…” he grabbed her head and gave her a long sexy kiss. She placed a hand on his chest and grabbed a little bit his sweater. “Now we can go.”

She couldn’t stop looking at him. New York at night is such a beauty, but she found something prettier to look at. He was kind, loving, funny, smart and so perfect for her eyes. He made her feel like a teenager every time they met, and that was something hard to do, considering that she’d always been more mature for her age. That night she didn’t care if she wasn’t a teenager kissing the boy she liked in the middle of the street. To be honest she didn’t care what the world could say and the reason was very simple. That night all she cared about was him. ←  Previous Chapter.                                                                 Next Chapter.  →

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Michael Malcolm Walker-Top 10 Success Rules Which Helps You Built A successful Life

This overview from Michael Malcolm Walker who is a Trade and investment manager At Sydney, Australia and as well as a fantastic writer who wrote several books regarding success as well as organisation. So below

are 10 top success policies.

  1. Rely on your own

  how many times you heard this buzzword people are instantly claiming believe in yourself believe in on your own yet that is simple to rely on yourself What is thought? Believe is something when you have a confident whatever you are doing you can make it. I'll give you example expect in an emergency clinic procedure is taking place, 2 medical professionals stand there and also one physician who is doing the procedure for last 10 years however the second one that is a new joiner. tell me that is more confident about both of them undoubtedly the very first one that is a ten years experience due to the fact that he is doing regularly the exact same thing for the last ten years. So they rely on relies on your technique and experience it's not something you check out a publication or see a motivational video.It will provide you believe no it's short-term and it will certainly not work for the long race. Try to acquire ability whatever skill call for to attain your goal do practice hard and also tough which gives you enormous confidence which will certainly not be a fake it will always keep in your heart.

  2. Service an everyday basis

  I saw great deal's of people who wish to achieve every little thing but they do not intend to work with it. What do you think of a success? you will do one-day coding and you became a globe's finest coder or you will certainly run eventually and you became the most effective Jogger. No, it can't be true and it will never ever happen you need to work hard on a daily basis to attain your objective. Something which I intend to admit there's no faster way to success you need to work hard. see any type of individuals on the planet that achieved the success they didn't achieve success in a single day but if you constantly deal with it you will achieve one day.NOt instantly however absolutely.

  3. There's no location for your justifications

  We as a human has a one habit providing justifications ask any person who really did not accomplish his goal on the planet. They have lot's of justifications like my family members really did not sustain me, my household condition is not much better, I have not money, I have not parented, I do not have age right no otherwise I am matured now. What justifications you will offer one more vital point which we need to keep in our mind we never ever give justifications to others, we offer excuses on your own and seriously one here is pay attention to your reasons. people below to see an outcome not your reasons So whatever stage you are right now just quit providing justifications work with the level which is the most effective way to deal with excuses.

  4. Procrastination.

  You can't refute this condition which all of us have and also we can not say we do not have because it's a humanity to postpone everything. Yet if you will see those people that achieved anything in this globe they damaged this illness and lately a research reveals 80% of individuals who can not achieve anything on the planet the factor behind is procrastination. Today I am Michael Malcolm Walker claiming to you if you want to accomplish anything make certain you have to damage this thing. Take everyday little which assists you to lead your path.

  5. You have to go out of the box.

  Yes!you listened to right if you intend to achieve anything so you need to go out of package. As a human, we have a really bad habit we can believe or adhere to without assuming or utilizing our mind. We need to locate our own means which lead your path if you see any people in the world who did anything he went out of a box. He really did not adhere to the same guideline which society made he made his own courses.

  6. Insanity is required.

  if you see that person who did outstanding work on their field. They did by their madness who constantly be crazy with their ideas and job So do not become serious make your self-be funny which assists you to make a fantastic thing.

  7. Do not be afraid of errors.

  that does a mistake? just those that try something and those individuals that don't attempt they can't do any kind of blunder. Because childhood, our parents and this society told us don't do a blunder and also don't do such a thing. If you will do the blunder that implies you are an enemy yet I assume whatever I am today the reason of my mistakes which always drives me a leading path mistake is an evidence we are trying. Yet if you do not discover anything from your errors is it absolutely madness whatever error you will do just discover why you failed what point you need to make success and also simply go on work with that point which you picked up from your blunders.

  8. Fantasize large.

  we all have a desire somebody is a large dream or a person has a small. But what I intend to suggest you assume huge or dream huge no matter that you are? and also where you belong. You belong to a reduced middle class or bad course it really doesn't matter, the issue is only one thing which is your dream and your thought process. Ensure work on it a great thought can produce anything or same the worst thought devastated your entire life.

  9. choices makes you.

  do you assume what makes a human being terrific is it your selections. Every person has a various selections somebody has a selection to become an attorney, entrepreneur, doctor, actor, etc and so on. So there is the only distinction in selections and also after that, you have to work with it. Make certain to make a fantastic choice which aids you to lead an effective path.

  10. Everything is possible.

  whatever your goal and also desire are I can say everything possible below. But you need regularly service it make you're a success for yourself. whatever desire you have a person has actually already attained this thing if they can do you likewise can do state on your own I can make it not promptly however certainly.