#rubi...needs to be neutered?

[rubi2freaky]

holy fuck I need a dick so bad I wanna fuck the shit out of fine shyt ong someone buy me a strap I need to bury myself in it ASAP no mfk rocky

[galtx]

GALTx eNews: September 19 Is North Texas Giving Day!

We rely on North Texas Giving Day to help us finish the year strong and to prepare us for the upcoming year. Whether you give a little or a lot, we can't do it without you!

We are deeply grateful to our 2024 NTGD Matching Fund Heroes for providing us with $10,000 of matching funds and to everyone who helped us secure those matching funds. Let's not stop there. Help us also secure a future filled with helping more hounds find their forever homes!

Your North Texas Giving Day gifts help us provide incoming hounds with routine medical care such as exams, blood work, vaccinations, spay or neuter, microchips, and dental cleanings. Additionally, your gifts help us provide hounds with more serious medical issues, like Reba, who came to us in need of $2,600 in dental extractions, and Mick, Ruby, Charlie, and Nollie, who came to us in need of months of expensive heartworm treatment, Thanks to people like you, these hounds will soon have a bright future in forever homes! Let's be there together for the next new arrivals who need help too!

Thank you!

Give for North Texas Giving Day

9/18/24

[catbreedsblog]

The full vet's guide to the Lynx Point Siamese cat breed is called Paws and Perfection.

The point of the lynx The lynx-shaped markings on the Siamese make them stand out from other popular Siamese breeds. This article goes into great detail about these friendly and talkative cats.

Lynx Point: An Introduction Types of Siamese Cats

The traditional Siamese cat gave rise to the lynx point Siamese through selective breeding in the 1950s. They look a lot like Siamese cats, with a wedge-shaped head, big ears, and beautiful blue eyes. However, they have darker tabby point markings that make them stand out. They are smart, loving, and talkative, and they do best when they can spend a lot of time with their human families.

Important things about the lynx point Siamese:

Looks like a point with blue eyes, a wedge-shaped head, and big ears.

Voice, affection, intelligence, and activity are some of their traits.

Popularity: Moderately popular with people who like the Siamese breed.

Personality: Needs a lot of attention and loves talking to people.

15 to 20 years of life.

Seal, chocolate, blue, and different flame point coat colors.

Thought to be a variation on the standard Siamese breed.

Taking Care of a Lynx Point Siamese cat

Point of Lynx Siamese do best when they get enough food, mental stimulation, regular grooming, vet care, and lots of time with their owners.

Food: Both wet and dry high-protein cat food. Set meals to keep people from getting fat.

Play area with interactive toys, climbing frames, scratching posts, and soft beds.

Grooming: Brushing away dead hair once a week. Every one to two weeks, cut your nails. Take care of your teeth.

Take care: Stay inside. Playtime and love every day. Every year, see the vet. Neuter or spay.

Taking on a Lynx Point Siamese cat

Breeders charge between $600 and $1000. You might be able to save money by adopting from Siamese rescues. Some well-known rescue groups are:

The UK has Siamese Cat Rescue and Siamese Cat Protection. The USA has Siamese Rescue Center and Siamese Cat Adoption Center. Canada has the Canadian Siamese Rescue Association.

Before adopting, you should:

Health: Eyes and nose are clear, and body is in good shape.

Vaccination records for rabies and FVRCP.

Genetic diseases to keep an eye out for in medical history.

Get ready

In order to get ready to welcome a lynx point Siamese:

Cat-proof your home by getting rid of dangerous items and locking up chemicals.

Set up the beds, scratchers, food bowls, litter boxes, and toys ahead of time.

Buy a lot of good cat food, litter, grooming tools, and dental care items.

Find a vet you can trust and make an appointment for your pet's first checkup and shots.

Food puzzles, interactive toys, cat trees, a brush, nail clippers, and a toothbrush are all things that cats need. Keep an eye out for problems with your teeth, intestines, and lungs. FVRCP, rabies, and FeLV are the core vaccines.

Giving Your Cat a Name

Pick names with only one to two syllables that have clear sounds, like vowels, hard consonants, and different tones.

Some well-known ones are Finn, Ruby, Chloe, Ollie, Luke, Layla, Luna, Leo, Lily, Loki, and Finn.

[onewomancitadel]

Do you agree with Emily Blunt's comments on "Strong Female Leads" in Modern Hollywood Films? Do you think theres any connection or similarities between what she said and the protagonists of RWBY? or the way women are written in RWBY? Do you think they including Cinder are good female characters?

I had to look this one up.

“It’s the worst thing ever when you open a script and read the words ‘strong female lead,’” Blunt said. “That makes me roll my eyes. I’m already out. I’m bored. Those roles are written as incredibly stoic, you spend the whole time acting tough and saying tough things.”

This is effectively what I've also criticised, so it's interesting to see a more mainstream voice critique it. The supplement to writing cardboard cut-out female characters is not writing cardboard cut-outs of a different fantasy, with a veneer of 'empowerment'. What does empowerment mean in storytelling? A character who has an actual role in the narrative - even in a passively physical circumstance - with wants and needs, who contributes to the plot, who is afforded narrative empathy and humanity matters to me much more (I'm thinking specifically of the Bobbie-Avasarala dynamic right now in The Expanse - Avasarala's not an archetypal combatant, but she has a huge narrative force, but she relies on Bobbie's security. Actually, just in general, The Expanse is probably one of the best examples of incredible female character writing).

That narrative empathy - to view a character as a full person - yes, does have some relationship to the way we view women in the real world, and this extends to other marginalised groups. (Honestly, this applies to men too, but now you're getting into meatier questions).

It doesn't help that if something is called ostensibly feminist, it neuters feminist criticism. Why are you complaining about female characters when there are empowered female characters now? So on and so forth. To my mind, I might be so sceptical as to say that it's just a band-aid to cover up a refusal to write better and write humanistically. It's related to a broader crisis of writing in general, and writing as a serious craft.

As I've said before, I think that the argumentation for humanistic character is rooted in the mechanical and artistic ideals of storytelling, not storytelling as a political service. I think this is the most defensible position, particularly from bad intentions.

Do you think theres any connection or similarities between what she said and the protagonists of RWBY?

No. I think the basic character writing of RWBY is good. I think, going by the fandom, a lot of people are unfamiliar with character writing and character transformation. This might be a byproduct of what stories you come from, because character writing is not, say, a huge deal in a serial-running show; character is sort of accessory to that.

Or in the case of specifically, say, Ruby, it's obvious she's been suppressing everything as hard as she can, but most people took that to mean she was sidelined. Was this necessarily successful? I think the development across V8 and now V9 has nevertheless answered my feelings about her happily.

Do you think they including Cinder are good female characters?

Yes. Cinder is a stellar character, if you bother to look. Her traditional masculine archetype of the Byronic hero is offputting to many, I think. Most just write her off as some one-note villain.

Personally, I think she's electric. I know her motivations. I know her pain. I know the ironic, twisting position she's caught in. I know that she believes in fate, I know that she's a wounded idealist. I know that she wants too much because she was starved of it. I know her worldview is broken. I know she's funny. I know that her character is an open question, that there's an obvious set-up for transformation.

Is it 'empowering'? I don't know. I know that when I think about her story, it fills me with joy and pain.

Generally speaking, you'd hope storytelling touches your heart. That's the 'point' of a good character.

[the-wardens-torch]

I’ve been up to some fun stuff in game these past few days, but I told myself I had to write a retrospective for this year’s ffxivwrite before I did anything else because apparently love to assign myself homework and wanted to put all of my thoughts together so I can come back to them later. Self-validation and all that.

Here I am Advertising my FFxivwrite2022 Masterpost Because I Can

-I drew on reserves of energy and ideas I didn’t know I had and I’m proud of myself for that.  I love this challenge so much and am eternally grateful to @sea-wolf-coast-to-coast for running it. I am an old dog and you are teaching me new tricks every year just with a single word a day.  Actually I should DM her and say that directly.  Note to self.

- I ended up writing quite a few stories where there was a theme of coming full circle with something and didn‘t realize it until I wrote this.

-That one I did for the last free day… Wow. It really was a long time coming. The idea of Fal having had his first sexual experience be with someone his mother hired had been in my head for a long time.  Its just so… messed up, and it seemed like a good reason for him to be, well, like he is.  To make him think that sex is only a fun thing adults do (which it can be, don’t get me wrong) and to not realize the importance of enthusiastic consent, or the great significance of having an emotional connection with one’s partner as well as a physical one. Fal is actually very good at sex and at emotional connections, but he still needs to learn about how best to combine the two. Hence why he overstepped his boundaries with Alain that one time.  That one time I have alluded to only a handful of times and even then, thoroughly neutered with vague language and metaphors.  I’m a pansy like that.

-I’m really happy with Fal’s Unsundered self, Philotes.  I‘m also happy with the idea that Philotes created the creature that would later become Ruby.  The Sundering separated them, but they were reunited when Ruby gave her life to make Fal live.  Creation saves creator. I wonder if they’ll ever know.

-The Tiamat story was my most popular - that makes me happy because I really wasn’t sure if I could write another Tiamat story after she was freed, since her and Fal’s relationship sort of hinged on the concepts of penitence and emotional self-flagellation.  But like any good friendship, I guess this one needed to grow a bit, and I’m glad it did. Also I have this sappy mental image of Tiamat taking Fal for a ride in the sky above Meracydia while she reminisces about Bahamut - but this time its with fondness instead of regret.

-For the past couple of years, I’ve had a “big reveal” in mind for each FFXIVwrite.  I can’t remember what year was what, but they were things like “Fal‘s dad seems like a dick but is actually somewhat sympathetic because he’s lonely, neurodivergent and bad at being a people,” and “Ruby was once a sentient creature that used to belong to Fal’s dad but expended most of her consciousness to glue Fal together at birth.” This year it was “Alain confesses to being asexual and it makes Fal realize that sex is important but emotional connection is importanter and also he finds out that his mom was a slut too.”

-This year’s batch of dirty limericks was the least popular I’ve ever had… But I was actually really depressed and having a super hard time organizing my thoughts when I wrote them, and I don’t consider them on par with the others from previous years.

-I didn’t do a folktale this year… Bummer.

-Lotta sexual references this year… yeah. Not what I intended, it just sort of happened.

-I kind of want to write more about Ianthe Dus Covetrus - and not just as an attachment to Fal. But I already have 3 alts whose stories didn’t stick so good luck with that.

[raindancer2004]

Jane and the Wolf

Word Count: 3,191 Jane x OC Part One Warnings: Jane is aged up. Fluff

It was about six months after Demetri met his mate Lily Cullen that preparations to change her were put into action. Jane had offered to be in the room when Demetri turned Lily just in case she was needed as she would be able to subdue him with her gift. Demetri had expected Lily to want to remain human a little longer; maybe even have a baby with him like Bella did with Edward, so he was surprised by her answer when he approached the subject one afternoon.

“Lily can we talk about the future…our future?” “Of course Dem, what did you want to discuss?” She asked in response “I-I wanted to discuss the topic of children with you” He began, feeling a little nervous “Did you want children before you are turned?” Lily thought for a moment before answering him “I have thought about this a little since we got together and as much as I love you and would love to have a family with you, I just don’t know if I want to take that risk. What if something went wrong? You’d be left all alone forever and wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt; if you were the reason something happened to me” She paused and took his hand in hers “I thought we could have a family another way…we could do what my parents did. We could adopt a child; I mean there are lots of children out there that need a home and we can offer that and I’m proof that a human child can be raised by and around vampires” She added and saw he was smiling at her “Wow. That was not the response I was expecting…but I am totally on board with your suggestion Lils” He replied and leaned in to place a kiss on her lips “Are you sure Dem? I feel like I’m taking away your chance to be a dad…to have a child of your own” She said looking into his eyes, trying to read him “I would be lying if I said I haven’t imagined a little me or you running around the castle but…” He held her hand a little tighter when he felt her try and remove hers from his “I would rather have you by my side forever and give a child a home that needs one, than take the risk of losing you. As you said what if something went wrong? There are no guarantees that you will survive having my baby and I don’t wish to risk your life…not when we have another option available. I love you Lily” He pressed his lips to hers again “Always” “I love you too Dem” She wrapped her arms around him.

Jane stood by the door of Demetri and Lily’s shared room as he leant down to bite her, to change her and was pleased that she didn’t need to step in and subdue him “I’ll keep you company for a bit Demetri” She said as she took a seat on the sofa “Thank you Jane for today and for your company” “I had every faith in you and your self-control Demetri…it was merely a precaution…just in case” She replied smiling “Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing Lily as a newborn. It was nice of the masters to allow her to spend her newborn phase here” “Caius didn’t want her going home and following the vegetarian diet, only for her to return in a year or two and have to change to our diet” Demetri answered, “That and Lily asked for permission to spend her newborn year here…with me” He added “Really? She didn’t want to go back to Forks?” Jane asked sounding a little surprised “No, she told them that she wanted me to change her and that means that I have to take responsibility for her; to be one to teach her how to survive in this life and I cannot do that we are half a world apart” “Wow” Jane breathed, nodding “I bet that made you feel good knowing she wanted it to be your venom running through her and not her father’s” “It did actually…I wanted to be the one to change her but didn’t know if she’d want that kind of bond with me…” He trailed off “Why wouldn’t she? She’s your mate” “Exactly Jane. We’re mates…changing her means I become her sire; her creator…it would change things between us…” “It would only strengthen your mate bond” Jane cut him off smiling. “That’s another thing” He said chuckling “She also told them that as we’re mates, she couldn’t and wouldn’t spend that amount of time away from me. She looked right at Marcus at that moment and I knew then she had won his vote” “Clever girl” Jane praised looking over at Lily with a smile “I think Caius agreed because he likes having Lily around and is curious to see whether she’ll be the one Cullen who doesn’t follow the vegetarian diet” Demetri said “That sounds like Caius” Jane laughed “I bet Aro agreed because he likes the idea of Lily ‘belonging’ to his family” Jane added smiling “Not to mention it links his family to Carlisle’s forever too” Demetri added.

Demetri took Lily hunting for animals in the Tuscan countryside and showed her what she needed to do “Well done Lils. Are you still thirsty?” “I am but…” “But what?” He cut her off “I’m not liking the taste of animal blood” She answered and he chuckled “Ok, but can you do me a favour please Lils?” She nodded “Please try again, maybe try a different animal” Lily agreed “Can I ask why this is important to you Dem?” “I just want you to try the vegetarian diet, it’s what Carlisle would have wanted. However, if you don’t like it and want to follow the traditional diet then you can. I will support you either way” “Thank you Dem. I love you.” “I love you too.”

Lily had tried the vegetarian diet but she found the taste of animal blood unpleasant and that she was thirsty all of the time. The smell of human blood appealed to her much more and she spoke to Demetri about her concerns when she was tempted to kill her friend Gianna; the Volturi’s secretary, so it was agreed that she would follow the diet of the Volturi “You owe me €50 Brother” Caius said to Aro “Fine” He replied handing over the money “I cannot believe you two had a bet on what diet Lily would follow” Marcus said as he looked at his brothers “Oh come on brother, like you were not curious about Lily’s diet choice” Caius replied, Marcus shrugged “I mean Demetri even went to the trouble of asking our permission to teach her to hunt animals so she could honour her family’s lifestyle choice and yet her true nature prevailed” Caius added sounding proud, if not a little smug.

Lily was displaying a level of self-control that newborns do not normally show and the Kings were impressed and pleased that their faith in her and Demetri’s ability to handle a newborn had paid off. Felix had offered to help with fight / combat training as he is the strongest vampire and would be the one less likely to get hurt by her newborn strength.

Lily had been a newborn for six months when Demetri, Lily, Felix and the twins went to Forks to visit Lily’s family. Carlisle had contacted Aro and advised him that he wanted the packs to meet Lily now she had been turned, especially as the treaty now applied to her and Demetri. Aro agreed and thought it may help Lily to get a change of scenery and wanted to know how she would handle being around humans or more specifically Renesmee.

Two days after they arrived in Forks Jake came over to the Cullen’s for a visit and bought over the pack’s three newest members to meet the Cullens; to get them used to their scent and vice versa. As soon as the wolves entered the house Jane recognised Jake’s scent from the battlefield, she then noticed the scent of ‘mint and cedarwood’ followed by the unpleasant smell of two other wolves. The wolves entered the family room and as soon as Sebastian looked at Jane he imprinted on her; he knew then he had found his mate and was shocked to discover that his mate was a vampire; their sworn enemy. The only silver-lining in this strange situation was that the pack could never harm her, she would be protected by him and the packs always. Jake and the other two wolves growled the second he imprinted on Jane due to the pack’s telepathy; they turned to glare at her and they growled again, almost like they were trying to intimidate her.

Meanwhile, Jane felt something inside her click into place the moment their eyes met and she knew she was looking at her mate but wasn’t happy to discover that after waiting over 1000 years to meet him, he was a shapeshifter; a wolf no less. However, she couldn’t help feeling drawn to him, the need to be near him, to protect him. Edward choked back a laugh after hearing her thoughts which led to her glare at him “Stay out of my head, or else” She growled low. “What’s wrong sister?” Alec asked placing a hand on her shoulder “I er…I found my mate” Jane answered low looking at Sebastian. Felix sniggered “Ha-Jane’s mated to a wolf. Caius is going to love that” Felix said nudging Demetri in the side “Felix. Not now” Demetri warned, Felix raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing more.

“Jacob, please can you introduce Jane to your friend?” Carlisle asked, Jake nodded “Jane this is Sebastian. Sebastian this is Jane, she is a member of the Volturi” “It’s nice to meet you Jane” Sebastian said with a smile “Likewise” Jane answered, a small smile tugging at her lips. The tension in the room was so thick you could it with a knife.

“If you hurt her in any way, I will have Demetri and Felix hold you down whilst I neuter you and I won’t use my gift to take away your senses” Alec said straight-faced to his sister’s mate, Sebastian, who didn’t react.

“You never say stuff like that for me babe” “Lily” Edward scolded her “I’d kill anyone who hurt you mi amore. You may not be aware, but I did threaten our guards with dismemberment and the dungeons if they hurt you when you came to stay at Christmas when we first met” Demetri said looking into Lily’s ruby eyes “Aww babe...you’re the best” Lily replied before kissing him “Don’t you forget it” Demetri smirked at her; his arms wrapping around her waist, Carlisle and Esme choke back a laugh at their behaviour. Edward rolled his eyes, still not pleased that his sister was mated to Demetri. “Edward, Demetri and I are mates so you better get used to it because he is a member of this family now and we protect our family” Lily said looking at her brother, Demetri tightened his hold on Lily’s waist.

“Maybe the two of you would like to take a walk, maybe get to know each other a little…away from everyone” Esme offered softly, looking at Jane and Sebastian who nodded “Shall we Jane?” He asked softly, she hesitated for a few moments then stepped forward and making her way out of the house, Sebastian following behind her. They walked away from the house until they were far enough away that they could not be heard, ensuring not to cross the treaty line and being careful to not expose Jane to any humans.

The air between Jane and Sebastian was awkward as neither of them were initially pleased with the thought of being mates as their kind have been sworn enemies for generations, although Sebastian did point out to her that he was not a child of the moon; he was a shapeshifter and can transform whenever he likes. “I would like to apologise Jane for the behaviour of Jake, Liam and Riley; they had no right to growl at you like that, I have no choice over who I imprint on and they know that. Jacob knows that better than anyone” Sebastian said looking into Jane’s ruby eyes “Th-thank you Sebastian, although it-it is not you who should apologise” She replied “However, that said my brother should not have threatened you and I can assure you he will not harm you in anyway, not ever” She added looking into his blue eyes “Thank you Jane, although I did find his threat of ‘neutering’ me slightly amusing” He chuckled and Jane couldn’t help the slight giggle that passed her lips. “I would like to ask you one thing if I may?” He asked and she nodded “Felix mentioned Caius would love that you are mated to a wolf. What did he mean by that as I’m guessing he was being sarcastic?” “Er…yes he was. Caius is one of the three Kings that rule the vampire world and he hates werewolves; more specifically children of the moon. He made it his mission to eradicate them from existence” She replied low, no longer looking into his eyes “I see. I am aware that your family has seen the pack before during the day during the confrontation involving Renesmee, so he must realise that we are not children of the moon” He responded “He does but I feel he will be the one King that will oppose this ‘union’ the most. He will take some convincing I am sure” She said looking up at him “I understand this will be difficult initially, but I am prepared to make this work Jane, no matter the obstacles”

He took her small cold hand in his larger warm one “Just so you are aware as the imprint, you decide the nature of this relationship…” He cut him himself off when he noticed the confused look on Jane’s face “Although imprinting is the way we find our mates, it doesn’t always have to be the case. As the imprint you decide if you want us to be friends or mates. If you tell me you see me as nothing more than a brother or a protector then I will honour that decision, even if it will be hard to do so at first. You will always be my top priority Jane; you will always come first…even before the pack” He said softly and gently placed his hand on her cheek, she leaned into his touch slightly “I have a brother, I do not wish for another. You are my mate Sebastian, and that means I will protect you always” She replied, her hand coming rest on top of his “I will protect you always too. I would very much like to be your friend as well as your mate Jane” “I don’t really have many friends, but… I think friends is a good place to start…the rest will fall into place I’m sure” She replied and he couldn’t help smiling down at her ‘she doesn’t seem as scary as Jacob made out’ he thought to himself. If only he knew.

“How will this work? I mean I am immortal and you…you are not?” Jane asked curiously “I am immortal too…kind of…” He replied and she raised an eyebrow at him “Once we start phasing we stop aging, so as I long as I phase regularly I will not age…therefore essentially being immortal like you” He replied and she nodded “I could turn you later down the line…if you wanted?” She offered “I’m afraid not Jane, vampire venom is toxic to us, it would kill me not preserve me” He replied “Oh, I’m sorry I had no idea. Thank you for letting me know…I now know that I am unable to mark you as mine” “I’m sure we can figure something out…if that is something your kind do once you find your mate” He replied “Will the pack accept me or will it be…difficult?” “They will have to accept you, protect you. The treaty we have the Cullens will apply to you now too…you will also be able to come onto our land as you are my mate. Although things may take a little time to settle down” He answered her “I understand…this isn’t going to be easy for either of our families to accept.”

Sebastian and Jane took it turns to ask one another some questions to get to know one another a little better “My favourite colour is grey/silver. What’s yours Sebastian?” She asked “I like green. My favourite animal is a chimpanzee, you?” He replied “I like horses. Can I ask how old are you?” “I’m 18 years old and you?” He asked “I’m 17…physically, but I have been around for about 1000 years” She replied watching him for his reaction “Wow. Well may I say I think you have aged beautifully” He smiled at her; she looked down taking her bottom lip between her teeth, if she could have blushed she would have. He chuckled low. “What hobbies / interests do you have?” He asked “I like to read; I have quite a few books not to mention the castle has a huge library. I collect china dolls…I have quite the collection. I spend a lot of time with Alec and since she moved into the castle I have become friends with Lily, Demetri’s mate. What about you?” “I hang out with the pack and train with them. I like swimming and soccer and spending time at the beach. I enjoy reading although I probably do not own as many books as you” He responded. “What do you like to do for fun?” He asked “Fun? Er I like shopping. Does practising my gift on Felix when he annoys me count?” She asked “Er…possibly” He answered sounding unsure “I do not know what your gift is…not really” “I am able to cause people excruciating pain that incapacitates them instantly, just by looking at them. It only works on one person at time and I must be able to see them. I am able to make the pain seem mild and turn the level of pain up as and when I want” She answered honestly “Huh…remind me not to piss you off then” He answered her “I would never use my gift on you Sebastian…you are my mate and to hurt you would be to hurt myself” She was making him a promise and he nodded “Thank you, that’s good to know.”

Jane was feeling conflicted about everything as she was still a little annoyed with fate for giving her a shapeshifter for a soulmate but she knew she couldn’t stay away from him; the mate pull was there and she couldn’t deny it…she didn’t want to deny it, she just hoped he meant it when he said he wanted to make this work no matter the obstacle.

[oscars-wifeyyy]

Chapter 2 (The Innocent)

Two weeks has passed since everyone found out that Cesar was jumped into Los Santos and two weeks has passed that most of the group tried to find ways to get Cesar out. Elizabeth refused to take any part, knowing there was no way for Cesar to get out, only hoping that he could just fly by with no huge responsibilities. There was going to be a meet up at Ruby’s place to discuss the plans, but Elizabeth had a shift at the restaurant after school so she sent Oscar a quick text. After school, Elizabeth and Oscar met a block from the school to go to the sports restaurant and bar that she worked at.

She already had the uniform shirt on with her blue jeans with her waitress apron already around her waist. It’s almost weird because Oscar has been giving her rides lately and it was inevitable for them not to become great friends and get to know each other more, not the big details. Their rides were mostly laughing and getting to know small parts about each other. It was leading to Elizabeth gaining some kind of feelings for the big bad gang leader that was actually a really sweet guy.

After her shift was over, the gang texted the group chat to tell her about the plan of getting Cesar out of the gang, but she quickly texted back that it was a terrible idea. However, like all her other opinions, it didn’t go along with theirs so it was ignored. The next morning, she was with them in the morning sans Cesar so she could find out more even though she didn’t agree. They walked up the stairs as they talked about their failed plan.

“Cesar’s reaction was a wake up call. The plan isn’t fully formed. We need more time to let our ideas marinate before we take action,” Ruby explained.

“Marinate? No,” Monse insisted, “we gotta cook now. Longer we wait, the deeper Cesar’s in,”

“Guys,” Elizabeth sighed, “this is a gang we’re talking about. Cesar is in and he can’t do anything about it,”

Monse ignored her negativity, “right now he’s got no responsibilities. We gotta get him out before he puts in work,”

Cesar popped up behind them, “who’s putting in work? You’re still with that?”

“With what?” Monse acted dumb.

“Jamal?” Cesar wrapped an arm around his neck.

“We’re still with it,”

Cesar sighed, “this isn’t funny anymore. Trying to reason with my brother is dumb. You gotta promise you’re gonna drop it,”

“You’re overreacting-” Monse got cut off.

“Especially you,” Cesar looked straight at Monse, “Promise,”

“I promise,” Monse lied.

“Ok, good. See you after class,” Cesar nodded at Monse, “Eli, you coming with?”

“Sure,” Elizabeth shrugged, “my class is there anyways,”

The two walked away from the rest of the group and once they were out of earshot, Cesar cleared his throat, “Eli, I’m sorry. I had to claim Monse as protection for her,”

Elizabeth sighed, “alright. You’re forgiven,”

Cesar grinned, “so...am I Salad, again?”

Elizabeth laughed, “Yes, you’re Salad again,”

It was after school and Elizabeth was running to catch up with Monse and Jamal who were on their way to Ruby’s place. When she slowed down next to them, she heard Monse talking about Ruby’s diction so she quickly jumped in.

“Yeah. Sometimes I don’t get half of the things Ruby says,” Elizabeth agreed, out of breath.

Jamal grabbed his face in frustration and pulled, “what?” Monse asked.

“You’re driving me a migraine!” Jamal told Monse.

“Think about how I feel,” Monse disregarded Jamal, “I have no time to teach Ruby not to talk with his hands. He can’t do that stuff with Oscar. Dudes gesticulate a lot in prison. We don’t want to remind him…”

“Hey,” Cesar called out from inside a Santos car, “where you headed?”

“Nowhere,” Monse replied.

“Whatcha doing, Jamal?” Cesar asked.

“Decorating Ruby’s room,” Jamal lied.

“So there is no scheming?” Cesar pried for the honest answer.

Elizabeth groaned at the group, but took out her phone to see a text from the one and only Oscar Diaz.

Future Mans

Whatcha doing, mamita?

Eli <3

With the crew to “feng-shui” Ruby’s room apparently lol

Future Mans

Nice...not really. You got any work this week?

Eli<3

Nope. Thank God lol I’m not tryna do any work. Wassup with “Future Mans”?

Future Mans

Well, bebe. You’re gonna be mine.

The group finally arrived at Ruby’s place, but as soon as they knocked on the door, his head appeared through the half open door, “we’re here to feng-shui your room! That’s why we’re here!” Monse held her arms out.

“I don’t have my own room, but…” Ruby went out the door and ushered the group back, “I have a boner. My cousin just moved in. Not like my cousin-cousin, like ‘what up, cuz,’ you know like fam, but not fam,”

“Like if you can’t keep it in your pants, keep it in the family,” Cesar jokes.

“Exactly,” Ruby paused, “no. not exactly. There is no blood relation. There is no in-breeding. Oh, and call me Ruben. I go by Ruben now,”

“Ruby!” Geny shouted as she walked outside

“Ruben,” Ruby corrected.

“Ruby, aren’t you forgetting something?” Geny ignored his correction as inside, “guys, this is Olivia. She’s going to stay with us for awhile, ok?”

Geny went back inside as an awkward silence came, “is it me or did things just get weird?” the new girl said.

“It’s you,” Monse stepped up, “this is Jamal and Cesar,”

“Elizabeth,”

“Ignore the stares. They haven’t been neutered,” Monse smiled, “Jamal, why don’t you tell Olivia what you didn’t do to your neck. Ruby, can we discuss our chem assignment?” Monse pulled Ruby away to the side to, undoubtedly, talk about their plan to get Cesar out of Los Santos.

Elizabeth didn’t pay any mind to the two that just went to the side, instead engaged into the conversation; however, Cesar lifted the bottom of his shirt to wipe off some “sweat” that he had to show off his abs. The sophomore was glaring daggers into the boy as Ruby was glaring at the boy. Monse and Ruby were on their way back to the group, but Ruby had yelled out.

“I’m saving Cesar!” Monse glared at Ruby as Cesar looked at Monse with a disappointed look.

The next morning, Elizabeth got ready to meet up with the girls, but when she left her place she didn’t feel like rushing to rush to where they were so she just stuck with Ruby who she saw pacing. She approached the small freshmen with a concerned look as she heard Ruby call out to Santa Maria. Ruby started walking into the backyard of the Diaz house so she went up to the small friend and wrapped an arm around him, causing him to jump.

“‘Sup, compa? What are you doing?” Elizabeth smiled.

“Gonna talk to Spooky about Cesar,” Ruby stressed as he walked further into the backyard, “acid? I can’t. I can’t. I can’t,” Ruby tried walking away.

“‘Sup, fool?” Oscar called out causing Ruby to pause and turn.

Oscar advanced towards him with two bins so they could sit. Elizabeth walked further into the yard with Ruby and sat on the stack of tires while staring at Oscar’s shirtless body with his Dickies shorts and long socks with his high-top converse. He had a scowl on his face, looking at Ruby, who was beyond intimidated.

Oscar started leaning in closer to inspect Ruby’s face, “What’s with the glitter?”

“Late night at the club. You know how hynas be,” Ruby tried to play it cool, but it caused Elizabeth to try and hold her laughter in.

Oscar chuckled, “I feel you, homie. Sometimes my ruca wears the same shit. She be rubbing all up on me. I can’t get that crap out for days,” Elizabeth frowned.

Ruby shrugged, “Women,” Oscar offered him a cigarette, “trying to quit,”

“Whatcha wanna chop it up about?”

Ruby looked terrified, “Um, Mr. Oscar,” Oscar raised an eyebrow, “I mean, Spooky. I know you’re a busy man, so I’ll cut right to it. Is that acid?” Lilo slapped the back of Ruby’s head and took the lighter that Oscar had in his hand to light her cigarette, “you know what? Don’t answer. None of my business,” Ruby took a breath, “so, Cesar. I mean, can we just talk about how smart he is? You know, I’m smart, but he’s like...a certifiable genius. He has off the charts emotional intelligence, which is rare, combine that with his innate ability to empathize and problem solve and you get the real deal. A natural leader,” Ruby felt more confident, “which is a testament to you and how well you raised him,” Lilo felt offended but was taken by surprise by Oscar’s sudden grip on her and the force taken to make her sit on his lap.

Oscar nodded, “I feel you, homie,”

Ruby continued, “so, what I’m saying is, he has so much potential that hasn’t been realized. He’s just a baby bird waiting to take flight. Who knows how high a bird can fly given the right wind and lack of avian predators,”

“I never looked at him that way,” Oscar said.

“‘Cause he’s not one to toot his own horn. Yet another one of his many attributes,” Ruby smiled.

“You’re right. He just needs to be given that right opportunity, with good wind and no vultures and shit,” Oscar leaned forward a little bit.

“Well, vultures are more like scavengers. I was thinking hawks,” Ruby said.

“Hawks can suck a dick!” Oscar yelled.

Ruby leaned back, “exactly. I mean, you feeling me Spook,” Ruby immediately corrected himself, “Spooky,”

“Yeah, mos’ def’. You opening my eyes, homes,”

Ruby scoffed, “that’s what I do. You know...I will take that smoke,”

Oscar fished out his pack, giving one to Ruby as well as one in his own mouth, “Time to give Cesar his wings,” Oscar said, lighting his then moved it to Ruby’s cigarette.

Ruby immediately started coughing as Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her friend and laughter bubbled up to the surface.

“You alright there?” Oscar asked while Ruby nodded.

It was finally time for the high school kids to go to school, but as they were gonna exit the backyard, a voice called out, “Elizabeth, stay here,”

Ruby rushed out, leaving his friend behind to defend herself, “y-yeah, Spooky?”

“Oscar,” Oscar corrected, “why you going back to Spooky?”

“Spooky, whatever you’re trying to accomplish with me needs to stop. I got other things to focus on and I don’t need a guy that thinks that he can lead me on when he has a ruca the whole time,” Elizabeth shrugged, “bye, Spooky. Delete my number,”

Elizabeth walked out and to school with jumbled thoughts in her head like why he would even think to do that, why she was even dumb enough to actually almost fall for it. She has enough things to focus on and worry about, like her jobs and the money she needs to help around the house as well as her college. Fortunately, she was lucky enough that she could go to a nearby university on a full ride scholarship and the university being UCLA is a pretty big deal for anybody. Thoughts about her life and the future became jumbled so she took a breath and decided to take her earphones out and listen to music.

Her journey to school came to an end when she saw the school and entered the premises to go to her locker and grab her books and things that she needed for classes. However, she felt stares on her so she turned to see people staring at her, causing her to take out her earphones and hear the last part of the announcement.

“Congratulations to Elizabeth Hernandez. She received a full ride scholarship to UCLA, only being a sophomore,”

Elizabeth groaned and continued shoving books in her bag, as well as taking some out, then walked towards her class. There was a sudden force on her back as two hands pushed against her back and she fell down, laying flat on the floor, so she slowly got up and turned to see a group of seniors.

“Why you hangin’ with Spooky this morning?” the obnoxious gum-chewing girl asked.

“It’s nothing,” Elizabeth looked straight at the girl’s eyes, “we were just talking about important shit with my friend,”

“You’re friend left, but you stayed for a few minutes longer, por que?” another girl that stood next to the gum-chewer asked.

“It was a few minutes. We didn’t even do anything or talk for those few minutes,” Elizabeth groaned, “chill, he’s all yours. I ain’t got time for any of that,”

“Mhmmm, it better stay that way. Name is Lupe and I’m his ruca,” the gum-chewer said.

“Ok, cool. Now I gotta go so have fun with all that,” Elizabeth turned and began walking towards her class again, but on her way there Cesar caught up to her.

“Felicitaciones por la beca, hermana,” Cesar smiled at the slightly older girl.

“Gracias, mano,” Elizabeth grinned, “I learned about it this morning from my mom,”

The two bid their goodbyes as they arrived outside of Elizabeth’s class. Elizabeth walked in and took her usual seat next to the door, taking out her notebook and textbook to do tonight’s homework. Time passed and class dragged on until the bell rang and bodies rushed to leave the room and meet up with their friends while Elizabeth simply took her time and went to her locker to grab books until a hand touched her shoulder. She turned to see a guy standing there nervous.

“Hey,” the guy said, “my name is Damien. I’m in your english class,”

Elizabeth nodded her head, “hey. What’s up?”

“W-well, I was wondering if y-you wanted to maybe, I don’t know, go on a d-date with m-me?” Damien asked.

“Y-y-yeah sure,” Elizabeth blushed, “when and where?” “We can meet up at Dwayne’s then go to the mini golf course? 7 p.m, tonight?”

Elizabeth thought it over, “yeah sure. Why not? What’s your number?”

The two exchanged numbers, unaware of the eyes and ears of a Santo that was texting everything to Oscar.

Oscar was out doing business for Los Santos, but half of his head was out and cursing himself at his stupidity to say that he had a ruca. He doesn’t have a ruca because Lupe and him broke up two months ago, but he only said he had a ruca to Ruby because he didn’t want other people to find out about his thing with Elizabeth. A ding interrupted him from his thoughts so he pulled out his phone and became angry at the updates about Elizabeth.

She got a date with Damien @ 7

Dwayne’s BBQ and mini golf

Ok. gracias, mano.

No problemo, mano

The leader was angry as he looked at the time when he was done with business for the gang. He pulled out his phone to see the white numbers at the top of the iPhone reading ‘5:50 pm’ so he rushed home and showered. Cesar came home when Oscar was done and getting ready to leave. 6:45 pm.

“Mano, I’m leaving. Be back soon. la comida está en la nevera,” Oscar closed the door and to his car.

He arrived at the joint at 7:05 pm and saw that the two were sitting and looking through the menu, even though Elizabeth knew what she was getting. The cholo got out of his car and made his way inside the restaurant, bells dinging as he opened the door. Elizabeth turned and saw the cholo, causing her eyes to open wide and shake her head at him, but he ignored her as he stopped next to their table.

“‘Sup, fool?” Oscar looked at Damien with a raised eyebrow.

“‘Sup, Oscar,” Damien nodded, “this is Elizabeth. Elizabeth, this is my best friend, Oscar aka Spooky,”

“Nah, homes,” Oscar chuckled with no humor in his phone, “we ain’t friends. Elizabeth is gonna be mine so back up,”

Damien flew out of the booth, “o-oh, sorry, Spooky. I-i didn’t know that. I thought you were still with Lupe?”

“We ain’t together,” Oscar crossed his arms, “we broke up two months ago. Tell everyone that we broke up two months ago,”

Damien ran out of the restaurant, leaving Elizabeth to Oscar, but she moved to get out of the booth and out of the restaurant to go home. Oscar blocker her way out.

“That ain’t happenin’ again, mamita,” Oscar nudged Elizabeth to sit next to the window, “I said you were gonna be mine and I don’t back out,”

“I don’t care, Spooky. I got other things to focus on, seeing as though you might be playin’ me and I am not gonna entertain that shit,” Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

[frankcastiglione]

I can ALWAYS pull out some weird stories if you need a distraction. when i was in middle school (7 years ago) my younger brother wrote a multi page research article on the history of rabbits and how to care for them. he also put together a detailed powerpoint of the info. lots of work for an adhd boy with dyslexia. anyways, it convinced my mom to go to a rabbit rescue center 30 mins away and find a bunny. we came home with 3... that were for her (1) -🧡

(2) she found buns that she absolutely ADORED and they were older and already spayed/neutered so we just had to buy care stuff and were good to go. my brother couldn't get his bunny until a month later since he needed to be spayed. now, years later, we've had soooo many bunnies (i cant even count) cause we take the older ones that are less likely to be adopted (specifically ruby white angoras) cause theyre scary or a lot of work. but my brothers Dutch is still going strong lol -🧡

OH!! HOW SWEET!! A WHOLE BUNCH OF BUNS!!! that’s so cite :’) 

[bluboothalassophile]

Bromance, Nothing More

Everything was okay, everyone was here, in Jason’s reach, all he had to do was leave the helm of Kori’s ship and walk three corridors down and he’d see his girls all safe and sound, sleeping, under the protective care of his fellow Outlaws, and a few wayward Lanterns, and he could actually enjoy this moment to relax.

It was funny, Jason didn’t remember ever wanting to go to space, save the galaxy and all that bullshit. It seemed like something for a Marvel Comic or movie. It just wasn’t for him.

But standing here at the helm of Kori’s Tamaranian war ship, which was a beautiful piece of machinery since she and Victor had expanded and built on it with illegal JL tech, he could truly see the appeal of the vastness of space. It was just amazing and it made him feel so insignificant, Atlas had held all this up from earth, it was everything, it was nothing, it was powerful and a void. It was amazing, and Jason just stared out at it.

His ear twitched a bit at the presence of another, it was quiet, but it wasn’t as quiet as it could have been and he looked over when he was offered a green glass with brown liquid.

“I was taught not to take drinks from strange men,” Jason stated cheekily.

“Well if you don’t want it,” Kyle started and started pulling the beer away. Jason just took the bottle, it’s green light dropped and he found himself just holding a beer.

“Cheers to… to not dying,” Kyle offered as they rapped glasses and the clink filled the silent helm.

“If that’s the best speech you got it’s no wonder you Lanterns cant pull shit from an ass,” Jason decided.

“Oh please, like you could do better to surviving a war speech!” the Green Lantern protested.

“Well crab-face, if you must know, I don’t do speeches, just sarcastic remarks and witty one liners with the frequently inappropriate, politically incorrect, unnecessary, highly offensive joke,” Jason supplied.

“You’re funny Hood,” Kyle chuckled.

“It’s Jay.”

“Jason,” Kyle decided with a smile. “Think you’ll join the Corps, travel the galaxy? We could always use someone like you.”

“Didn’t you know; I hate authority.” Jason took a sip of his beer and stared out at the space, to live this, to just live in the vastness of space, that could turn into the ultimate survival game. It’d also get him away from Bats and that drama but… he had the Outlaws to consider, and while he didn’t know how to always feel about them they were family of sorts, and they were definitely friends. They were also his responsibility as he had somehow ended up the defacto leader of his merry band of misfits.

“All the more reason to invite you, come on, it’ll be fun!” Kyle promised.

“Do I look like a major league doofus like my idiot brothers or something?” Jason asked in exasperation.

“Well not exactly it’s just…” Kyle trailed off and before Jason could even really process what was happening he had another mouth on his, pressing lightly on him. He didn’t part his lips as he stared dumbfounded at this situation. Then Kyle pulled away. “I like you.”

“Uh…” he managed.

“Sorry, too forward?” Kyle stammered nervously. The White Lantern started blushing furiously, his pale eyes were doubly bright and his face turning a furious shade of ruby red. Jason said nothing just stood there staring out at space as Kyle nervously seemed to be trying to cover his ass, spouting half assed apologies.

“I just… I thought you liked me too…” Kyle started.

“Slow the fuck down, dude!” Jason snapped as he caught Kyle’s shoulder and forced the older man to see him. “Look, nothing bad happened, it was a kiss, caught me off guard.”

“I just…”

“Kyle, you’re great, you’re smart, funny, good company, solid in a fight, and loyal, you’re not a bad guy. I just don’t swing this way.” Jason gestured between them and saw Kyle’s confused look before dawning occurred in his unmasked eyes. “I like girls man, I’m not even bi, trust me here. Now, if I was gay I’d be all over your ass. But I’m not, and frankly I don’t think you’re into me.”

“You’re hot…”

“As fuck, believe me, very well aware. But I’m not as emotionally unobservant as my best friend thinks I am, and I haven’t, until the kiss, gotten the vibe that this, while a good friendship, is not a romance,” Jason stated pointing between him and Kyle. “It’s actually a hell of a lot like what I have with Roy.”

“You are hot,” Kyle muttered. “How did you see through that!?” Kyle demanded.

“Years of training,” Jason stated before taking a huge gulp of his beer. It felt like acid, burning his throat and gut, but it tasted like fire on his tongue. Fuck him he should be fucking wasted after Kyle’s stunt, but the other merely looked down trodden. And looking at Kyle he had a very bad feeling; as he vainly prayed for it not to happen; that the other was going to spill his guts about feeling and bullshit, Jason wanted to run.

“I’m married,” Kyle muttered miserably then.

“And you had the audacity to make me the other woman!” Jason dramatically balked hoping his inappropriate humor would get him the hell out of this chat. But the lantern’s eyes flicked humorlessly at him and Jason groaned. “I don’t do feelings Kyle, ask anyone, past sarcasm and anger, ask anyone else to have this talk.”

“I didn’t kiss anyone else, I kissed you.”

“You’re not married to me are you!?” Jason sputtered.

“No,” the other muttered.

“Good, because that’d be weird, and I think Roy wouldn’t like me taking on another husband. He’s enough work as it is,” Jason stated flatly.

“I thought…”

“I don’t, he’s my best friend and I’m the second dad to his kid,” Jason clarified.

“I was like that, before Guy did something stupid.”

“So you and Red, yeah, I can see that,” Jason shrugged. Kyle glowered at him and Jason sipped his beer some more.

“We’re married, a lot. And he doesn’t know,” Kyle burst into hysterical/miserable laughter.

“Where’s Dickhead when you need him?” Jason muttered sourly into his beer.

“You know the worst part is, he doesn’t even know, so I just sit there in silence and watch him flirt and ask girls out and shit, and I just let him! I mean on at least fifty different planets I could just neuter him and be done, or divorce or just leave! But no! I keep staying, even now, and I just…” Kyle sighed. “And then you come along, all complicated and Guy thinks I am crushing on you, even offered to help set me up with you!”

“Next time, ask, don’t kiss. I could have saved us both this trouble,” Jason stated.

“What is wrong with me!?” Kyle demanded desperately.

“First off, you kissed me, which is like a curse of eternity of bad fortunes.”

“I’m serious! I can’t even tell my husband I am not only madly in love with him but that we’re husbands!” Kyle snapped in frustration.

“Man the fuck up and stop whining about it, and second, talk to your best friend about this problem! Not me! I Don’t Do Feelings!” Jason snapped.

“He is my best friend.”

“Fuck,” Jason muttered. Where the hell was Roy when you needed him!? Roy or Dick would be better at this mushy crap.

“Sorry for… unloading here, I just…” Kyle sighed.

“It’s lonely being unrequited?” Jason offered tiredly. “Look, get over it. Either act on it or don’t, make friends, live, it’s your fucking choice. I don’t care for self-pity, it’s a waste of energy and time. And if this idiot doesn’t see you as anything but amazing they’re an idiot.”

“You’re sure you’re not gay?” Kyle asked.

“Positive, besides, I got enough actual issues without love life bullshit.”

[allaboutsavinganimals]

ACC NYC – #Manhattan Center #Ruby #ID134061 #134061 Zip Code: #BRONX #NY 10460 Intake Type: Owner Surrender Medical Behavior: 2. Blue Age: 8 Years 2 Weeks (approx) Sex: #Male Spayed/Neutered: No Weight: 8.6 16-Jan-2022 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: 8yrs (reported) Microchip noted on Intake? Negative History: Stray Subjective: BAR Observed Behavior - Tense body, scared but tolerated all handling/exam. No hissing/growling. Evidence of Cruelty seen - N Evidence of Trauma seen - N Objective T = DNP P = 190 R = 16 BCS 5/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: Missing 104/204, grade 1-2/4 dental tartar PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: NSR, NMA, CRT < 2, Lungs clear, eupneic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: Intact male - both testes scrotal MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, mild seborrhea, otherwise healthy hair coat CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities Rectal: Externally normal Wood's Lamp Exam: DNP Assessment: Missing 104/204 - r/o dental dz, trauma, congenital abnormality, other Prognosis: Good Plan: Ok for surgery and placement. SURGERY: Okay for surgery. A Little Bit About Me What my friends at ACC say about me: I have lived with cats. I am low energy levels and like to sleep. I've been described as affectionate. A volunteer writes: Ruby's solid black coat and amber eyes belie his name. True to that name, however, he is a hidden gem. A bit of a "sleeper" in the sense that he doesn't show his full capacity for affection right away, he's a gentle boy who needs only a few minutes to warm up to you. I won him over with five minutes of soft chatter and one squeeze-up, at which he showed impressive skill. That bond forged, he came in close for head pets and even inclined his face toward mine with the clear intention of giving me a kiss. All About Saving Animals Is Not Affiliated With The #NYCACC Shelter: #AllAboutSavingAnimals: #Cat: #BlackCat: #NYC: #Brooklyn: #StatenIsland: #Adopt: #Foster: #Rescue: #Donate: #NewHopePartner: #Pledges: #FosterToAdopt: #Sponsor: #catsofinstagram: #petsofinstagram: #Queens: #LongIsland: (at Manhattan, New York) https://www.instagram.com/allaboutsavinganimals/p/CZCqlrwOPNe/?utm_medium=tumblr

[vinayakbhattspeaks]

By Alok Jagawat

Rare secrets / Gems/ Natal chart /anśa/ what is required to analyse gems?/ Varna and Gender.

A very rare manuscripts describes gems as Male, female and of neuter gender. It gives very different clues regarding the same and which coincidentally matches with my post related to value of π. It also divides stones according to varṇa. Following are some very rare secrets regarding the same.

🦜 five gems are considered mahāratna (Ruby, Diamond, Emerald, nīlamaṇi and pearl are mahāratna). Gomedaka, Coral, Cats eye and Yellow topaz (puṣparāga, Gem of Jupiter) are called Uparatnas.

🦜 Gems are recommended based on Anukūlavada, varṇa and gender. Anukūlavada refers to benefic planets (lordship & placement). Bad lordship, bad placement of planets is considered bad for gem treatment. So gems cannot be worn for lagna ruler, 5th house or 9th house ruler just because of lordship (as is usually done by pundits). Every planet needs to be analysed at individual level. Then preference can be sorted according to gender and varṇa of stones.

Ansa positions (there is no house position in anśa), daśa patterns have no value, Ārūḍha lagna, Jaimini jyotiśa has nothing to do with gems.

🦜 Male gems boons with four puruṣārthas of life (Dharma, ārtha, Kama & Ṃokśa) and these gems are based on certain criteria. So even if rule 2 above is there, you have to look for male gems in the same category. Then according to varṇa of a person the gem colour or chāyā has to be decided which is difficult even for a gemmologist unless he studies the ancient granthas.

🦜 Triangular coral is actually a Ṇapunsak by gender. According to classics such gems lead to lack of progeny and poverty. Interestingly some scholars particularly prefer triangle for coral gemstone.

🦜 Female stones help in progeny and lineage.

🦜 Ansa positions of planets is just a division. There are no houses in anśa charts as is been taught in several courses of Jyotiśa. Any scholar well versed in jyotiśa can tell you that anśa (Navmanshas etc.) are reference points for analysis. So their houses, dṛṣṭi (which is not there) is nothing but dṛṣṭibhrama coined by scholars. As such their value cannot be used for gemmological analysis.

🦜 Good gems are expensive. They are clean, clear, non-treated etc. However, they produce good results according to placement of planets. Their varṇa and gender needs to be analysed during buying procedure.

🦜 Gems are afflicted by five dośa and five guṇas. (This requires knowledge of Gemmology)

🦜 Please not that if there is red dot inside Blue Sapphire which is sold as Raktaneelam (Popular selling phrase) is considered a dośa in gems. It leads to problems with progeny and problems in completion of desires.

🦜 Ruby has four varṇa and four classifications. Every padmarāga is different. The author is talking about corundum where red is kṣatriya and dark black is ksudra ruby. Yellow sapphire is Vaisya ruby and white is Brahmin ruby. There is Sanskrit word which is similar to corundum mentioned in ancient classics.

🦜 Yellow sapphire cannot be used for Jupiter according to above and Blue corundum or Blue sapphire is not mentioned for Saturn.

🦜 According to authors (several of them) blue sapphire cannot be nīlamaṇi, because it has four different colours. If we call it corundum then there is no difference between ruby and Nīlamaṇi which seems quite contradictory. A modern research is required in this case to understand the reality of nīlamaṇi.

“श्वेतनीलं पीतनीलं रत्न)[क्त] नीलमथापि वा । कृष्णनीलं तथा ज्ञेयं … ||”

Definitely the writer is not referring to blue corundum or blue sapphire which is now used for Saturn. So stone for Saturn must have been different.

🦜 in emerald the chāyābheda is used for varṇa which requires knowledge of gemmology. It is also used in opaque gemstones for varṇa division.

🦜 Gems with panca dośa (even if worn for benefics) and of neutral gender or if worn by vijatiya varṇa, then it results in problems.

🦜 It is interesting to know that gems such as Carnelian and Firoza were considered inauspicious no matter what quality they have.

🦜 People who wear gemstones blindly or without jyotiśa consideration or those people who are selling false hopes under the disguise of wise guides should go through above.

[clovervalley]

Gemma: I’m really sorry that Sammy managed to knock up Cielo in the short amount of time they spent with each other... and that you had to deal with a pregnant dog and the birth and everything...

Ruby: Gem, I would expect nothing less from Sammy. Besides, Cielo is a girl who knows what she wants, and apparently she wanted puppies!

Gemma: Speaking of, what are you planning to do with them?

Ruby: Oh, Sophia begged and begged me to let her keep one of them. She named her Pongo, for some godforsaken reason. You know, she reminds me a bit of myself... stubborn as a mule, that one. 

Gemma: I think that Zuri is really attached to the other one... does she have a name? 

Ruby: Nah, Sophia couldn’t come up with anything else so we just call her ‘puppy’. Very original, I know.

Gemma: Sammy’s going to be an elder any day now, and I feel like he needs a companion that isn’t a scheming cat. Maybe we’ll adopt the other puppy!

Ruby: That would be amazing, I was not looking forward to having to give one of them up. And I’m going to spay Cielo first chance I get so nothing like this happens again. Although we did get some cute puppies out of it, I feel so bad for the dogs in shelters.

Gemma: I’ve already set up an appointment for Sammy to get neutered. I’ll go tell Zuri the good news. And I’m sure Eddie will be ecstatic!

Ruby: For your sake, I hope so :)

[whitneypierce717]

Rubi – 5 month old female Cross-Breed

Rubi is a 5 month old female Cross-Breed. Beautiful scruff ball Rubi is a very friendly and sociable dog. She gets on really well with the other dogs and is keen on human contact. She likes attention. Rubi would like a loving and active family able to give her all the love and attention she needs. A garden will be must for Rubi and she would quite like another dog to teach her all she needs to know. Rubi will we estimate be medium when fully grown.

Current location is in Romania but can travel to the UK (once he/she has a home to go to) through the UK Charity under contract. Vaccinated, wormed, flea treated, Neutered, Microchipped, Pet Passport.

  For Dogs coming from Romania: This adoption fee is a contribution towards the costs of rescuing the dog, microchip, passport, vaccines, neutering if old enough, parasite treatment and transport to the UK.

via WordPress https://whitneypierce123.wordpress.com/2018/04/23/rubi-5-month-old-female-cross-breed/

[silverbane]

Silver Rants About RWBY

Alright so in regards to the last episode of RWBY that aired (on 1/6/18 for FIRST, and 1/13/18 for YouTube, can’t be bothered to look up the name, sorry), and I guess the one from before because they’re connected, there’s some writing things that rubbed me the wrong way, and I kinda wanna put my own two cents on it. I don’t plan on writing too many rants on this blog, but I just figured this out while discussing it with a friend who hasn’t gotten to V5. I haven’t seen today’s new episode on FIRST so, we’ll see. First OW, now RWBY. What’s next, a rant on MonMusu?

… don’t fucking test me, universe

This is going to be a little Jaune discussion, so strap in. Putting it under a read more, but I’m still p.sure that doesn’t work for mobile, so just swipe by this if you don’t want spoilers. Sorry guys! Maybe I’ll put a photo at the end as like, a sign that it’s done. Good? Alright, let’s open this bag.

Alright, so in the latest episodes (minus today’s), Jaune gets his semblance, which seems to just be healing. Which, I’m fine with. It gives him a purpose besides just bumbling fool with a strong heart. It’s nice to have like, a dedicated healer, which I don’t remember ever really being touched on before. Like, how do people deal with wounds in the field? Well, now the group has Jaune, who can fix them up lickity split and possibly have them out fighting again.

I have no problems with this. This allows him to develop more as a fighter and character, and it’s not him just standing there going, “Go team, go!”. However, I kind of have a problem with how it was done. I don’t go on the rwby tag much anymore, only going on after the end of each season to see art and stuff, so I don’t know if this is been touched on, so I’m going to just say what happened, my problem with it, and how I’d fix it.

How It Went Down: So we have the big fight going on in Haven. With our heroes including Qrow (best boy), Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Ren, Nora, Jaune, and Oscar fighting Lionheart, Cinder, Raven, Vernal (spelling?), Mercury, and Emerald. Jaune takes Cinder on, now completely pissed, and they start fighting. Meanwhile Weiss is getting the shit kicked out of her by Vernal, I’m pretty sure. She’s beaten, down on the floor, and that’s when Jaune gets knocked down.

Jaune says that she can kill him, that he doesn’t matter, but the others will still get her. Then she sees Weiss on the ground, and goes, oh yeah fuck her. So she conjures her molten javelin, and throws it through Weiss’s stomach, Ruby tries to go Cyclops, but Emerald… shoots her? Like, knocks her out by shooting her. Everyone just stands and watches as Weiss is impaled, Cinder then leaves with Raven and Vernal. Jaune rushes to Weiss’s side, Ren says he doesn’t know how to save her, and that’s when stress breaks Jaune and he gets his healing.

What’s Wrong With It: If you look at the big picture, what the fuck. Everyone was kinda just standing around watching this happen. Nobody tried blocking it, telling Weiss to move, or knocking her out of the way. Cinder literally walked towards her, everyone watching, summoned the spear, and threw.

Second, Weiss has gotten really bad. Like, she was acting like she hadn’t touched a weapon in forever. She was getting beaten soundly, and kept trying to summon. Like, did she forget how to fight after learning to summon? She has glyphs and buffs she can give to allies, but she’s relying too heavily on summoning now. It seemed like they neutered her fighting ability to just put her in that position.

Third, one of the main characters was hurt, just to develop Jaune more. A character who isn’t really all that close to him. Weiss and him are friends at best, if she can tolerate him more at this point. It’s hard to remember if they got any better since the weird love thing he had for her in V2, but I’m pretty sure they’re not like, best friends, and just regular friends. It’s weird how much trauma happens just to develop him. I dunno.

So ultimately, I’m frustrated that Weiss had to get bad and almost killed in order to let Jaune have is semblance. But I think I can do it better. Because I’m a smartass.

Silver’s Revision: Alright first of all have Weiss not sucking. Like, damn. That was bad. She can move quick with her glyphs and is fully capable of fighting Vernal at an equal level, I’d think. Maybe having some trouble, but not being completely trounced like she was. So, have Vernal and Weiss having their fight.

Instead, focus on Ren and Nora fighting… Hazel, was it? I forget his name, so I’ll refer to him as the big guy. Have him soundly beating the two of them. They sometimes get good offense in, but the guy can easily knock them back. Ren gets knocked out against a pillar, Nora’s distracted, gets beaten down into the ground, effectively out. Jaune does his whole, “I don’t matter, but they do” thing, and Cinder instead…

Targets Nora.

Why? Because from a narrative standpoint, it would be amazing. We’ve never really seen Nora completely out of a fight before, if memory serves, so seeing her vulnerable would be unnerving, then when she’s almost killed, that’s shocking. Jaune and Ren care for her, Ren is livid, terrified of losing her, Jaune is getting frantic too because he doesn’t want to lose another team member. Like, I can see it. Ren is crying, telling her to keep breathing, and Jaune is just standing there, worried about being completely helpless, staring, his hands on her wound… Tears fall, and bam, he’s a cleric now.

I feel like this is just a better way of doing it. Our main characters don’t seem weak, Jaune and his team are even closer now, and he’s solidified his role in the team. It might not fix all problems, but that’s just what I kinda wish would’ve happened. I might do a sequel to this after I see the new episode, but eh. I need to stop doing long essays for these things. I’m writing them more than I’m writing actual stories.

alright i should seriously stop doing these they require way too much effort

[syntheticaesthetic]

So on top of Bowie getting snipped, chipped, and clipped (neutered, microchipped, nails done) yesterday, Ruby has done something nasty to her paw and has to go to the vet because she can't walk on it. Timing is awful because I'm supposed to run the photo booth for the radio fundraiser tonight. Mom was supposed to help but now she'll be babysitting two sad doggies. Meds don't fail me now - I need to stay chill!

[tak4hir0]

This is the the last of three posts on the course I regularly teach, CS 330, Organization of Programming Languages. The first two posts covered programming language styles and mathematical concepts. This post covers the last 1/4 of the course, which focuses on software security, and related to that, the programming language Rust. This course topic might strike you as odd: Why teach security in a programming languages course? Doesn’t it belong in, well, a security course? I believe that if we are to solve our security problems, then we must build software with security in mind right from the start. To do that, all programmers need to know something about security, not just a handful of specialists. Security vulnerabilities are both enabled and prevented by various language (mis)features, and programming (anti)patterns. As such, it makes sense to introduce these concepts in a programming (languages) course, especially one that all students must take. This post is broken into three parts: the need for security-minded programming, how we cover this topic in 330, and our presentation of Rust. The post came to be a bit longer than I’d anticipated; apologies! Security is a programming (languages) concern The Status Quo: Too Much Post-hoc Security There is a lot of interest these days in securing computer systems. This interest follows from the highly publicized roll call of serious data breaches, denial of service attacks, and system hijacks. In response, security companies are proliferating, selling computerized forms of spies, firewalls, and guard towers. There is also a regular call for more “cybersecurity professionals” to help man the digital walls. It might be that these efforts are worth their collective cost, but call me skeptical. I believe that a disproportionate portion of our efforts focuses on adding security to a system after it has been built. Is your server vulnerable to attack? If so, no problem: Prop an intrusion detection system in front of it to identify and neuter network packets attempting to exploit the vulnerability. There’s no doubt that such an approach is appealing; too bad it doesn’t actually work. As computer security experts have been saying since at least the 60s, if you want a system to actually be secure then it must be designed and built with security in mind. Waiting until the system is deployed is too late. Building Security In There is a mounting body of work that supports building secure systems from the outset. For example, the Building Security In Maturity Model (BSIMM) catalogues the processes followed by a growing list of companies to build more secure systems. Companies such as Synopsys and Veracode offer code analysis products that look for security flaws. Processes such as Microsoft’s Security Development Lifecycle and books such as Gary McGraw‘s Software Security: Building Security In, and Sami Saydjari‘s recently released Engineering Trustworthy Systems identify a path toward better designed and built systems. These are good efforts. Nevertheless, we need even more emphasis on the “build security in” mentality so we can rely far less on necessary, but imperfect, post-hoc stuff. For this shift to happen, we need better education. Security in a Programming Class Choosing performance over security Programming courses typically focus on how to use particular languages to solve problems efficiently. Functionality is obviously paramount, with performance an important secondary concern. But in today’s climate shouldn’t security be at the same level of importance as performance? If you argue that security is not important for every application, I would say the same is true of performance. Indeed the rise of slow, easy-to-use scripting languages is a testament to that. But sometimes performance is very important, or becomes so later, and the same is true of security. Indeed, many security bugs arise because code originally written for a benign setting ends up in a security-sensitive one. As such, I believe educators should regularly talk about how to make code more secure just as we regularly talk about how to make it more efficient. To do this requires a change in mindset. A reasonable approach, when focusing on correctness and efficiency, is to aim for code that works under expected conditions. But expected use is not good enough for security: Code must be secure under all operating conditions. Normal users are not going to input weirdly formatted files to to PDF viewers. But adversaries will. As such, students need to understand how a bug in a program can be turned into a security vulnerability, and how to stop it from happening. Our two lectures in CS 330 on security shift between illustrating a kind of security vulnerability, identifying the conditions that make that vulnerability possible, and developing a defense that eliminates those conditions. For the latter we focus on language properties (e.g., type safety) and programming patterns (e.g., validating input). Security Bugs In our first lecture, we start by introducing the high-level idea of a buffer overflow vulnerability, in which an input is larger than the buffer designed to hold it. We hint at how to exploit it by smashing the stack. A key feature of this attack is that while the program intends for an input to be treated as data, the attacker is able to trick the program to treat it as code which does something harmful. We also look at command injection, and see how it similarly manifests when an attacker tricks the program to treat data as code. SQL injection: malicious code from benign parts Our second lecture covers vulnerabilities and attacks specific to web applications, including SQL injection, Cross-site Request Forgery (CSRF), and Cross-site scripting (XSS). Once again, these vulnerabilities all have the attribute that untrusted data provided by an attacker can be cleverly crafted to trick a vulnerable application to treat that data as code. This code can be used to hijack the program, steal secrets, or corrupt important information. Coding Defenses It turns out the defense against many of these vulnerabilities is the same, at a high level: validate any untrusted input before using it, to make sure it’s benign. We should make sure an input is not larger than the buffer allocated to hold it, so the buffer is not overrun. In any language other than C or C++, this check happens automatically (and is generally needed to ensure type safety). For the other four attacks, the vulnerable application uses the attacker input when piecing together another program. For example, an application might expect user inputs to correspond to a username and password, splicing these inputs into a template SQL program with which it queries a database. But the inputs could contain SQL commands that cause the query to do something different than intended. The same is true when constructing shell commands (command injection), or Javascript and HTML programs (cross-site scripting). The defense is also the same, at a high level: user inputs need to either have potentially dangerous content removed or made inert by construction (e.g., through the use of prepared statements). None of this stuff is new, of course. Most security courses talk about these topics. What is unusual is that we are talking about them in a “normal” programming languages course. Our security project reflects the defensive-minded orientation of the material. While security courses tend to focus on vulnerability exploitation, CS 330 focuses on fixing the bugs that make an application vulnerable. We do this by giving the students a web application, written in Ruby, with several vulnerabilities in it. Students must fix the vulnerabilities without breaking the core functionality. We test the fixes automatically by having our auto-grading system test functionality and exploitability. Several hidden tests exploit the initially present vulnerabilities. The students must modify the application so these cases pass (meaning the vulnerability has been removed and/or can no longer be exploited) without causing any of the functionality-based test cases to fail. Low-level Control, Safely The most dangerous kind of vulnerability allows an attacker to gain arbitrary code execution (ACE): Through exploitation, the attacker is able to execute code of their choice on the target system. Memory management errors in type-unsafe languages (C and C++) comprise a large class of ACE vulnerabilities. Use-after-free errors, double-frees, and buffer overflows are all examples. The latter is still the single largest category of vulnerability today, according to MITRE’s Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) database. Programs written in type-safe languages, such as Java or Ruby, 1 are immune to these sorts of memory errors. Writing applications in these languages would thus eliminate a large category of vulnerabilities straightaway. 2 The problem is that type-safe languages’ use of abstract data representations and garbage collection (GC), which make programming easier, remove low-level control and add overhead that is sometimes hard to bear. C and C++ are essentially the only game in town 3 for operating systems, device drivers, and embedded devices (e.g., IoT), which cannot tolerate the overhead and/or lack of control. And we see that these systems are regularly and increasingly under attack. What are we to do? Rust: Type safety without GC In 2010, the Mozilla corporation (which brings you Firefox) officially began an ambitious project to develop a safe language suitable for writing high-performance programs. The result is Rust. 4 In Rust, type-safety ensures (with various caveats) that a program is free of memory errors and free of data races. In Rust, type safety is possible without garbage collection, which is not true of any other mainstream language. Rust, the programming language In CS 330, we introduce Rust and its basic constructs, showing how Rust is arguably closer to a functional programming language than it is to C/C++. (Rust’s use of curly braces and semi-colons might make it seem familiar to C/C++ programmers, but there’s a whole lot more that’s different than is the same!) We spend much of our time talking about Rust’s use of ownership and lifetimes. Ownership (aka linear typing) is used to carefully track pointer aliasing, so that memory modified via one alias cannot mistakenly corrupt an invariant assumed by another. Lifetimes track the scope in which pointed-to memory is live, so that it is freed automatically, but no sooner than is safe. These features support managing memory without GC. They also support sophisticated programming patterns via smart pointers and traits (a construct I was unfamiliar with, but now really like). We provide a simple programming project to familiarize students with the basic and advanced features of Rust. Assessment I enjoyed learning Rust in preparation for teaching it. I had been wanting to learn it since my interview with Aaron Turon some years back. The Rust documentation is first-rate, so that really helped. I also enjoyed seeing connections to my own prior research on the Cyclone programming language. (I recently reflected on Cyclone, and briefly connected it to Rust, in a talk at the ISSISP’18 summer school.) Rust’s ownership relates to Cyclone’s unique/affine pointers, and Rust’s lifetimes relate to Cyclone’s regions. Rust’s smart pointers match patterns we also implemented in Cyclone, e.g., for reference counted pointers. Rust has taken these ideas much further, e.g., a really cool integration with traits handles tricky aspects of polymorphism. The Rust compiler’s error messages are also really impressive! A big challenge in Cyclone was finding a way to program with unique pointers without tearing your hair out. My impression is that Rust programmers face the same challenge (as long as you don’t resort to frequent use of unsafe blocks). Nevertheless, Rust is a much-loved programming language, so the language designers are clearly doing something right! Oftentimes facility is a matter of comfort, and comfort is a matter of education and experience. As such, I think Rust fits into the philosophy of CS 330, which aims to introduce new language concepts that are interesting in and of themselves, and may yet have expanded future relevance. Conclusions We must build software with security in mind from the start. Educating all future programmers about security is an important step toward increasing the security mindset. In CS 330 we illustrate common vulnerability classes and how they can be defended against by the language (e.g., by using those languages, like Rust, that are type safe) and programming patterns (e.g., by validating untrusted input). By doing so, we are hopefully making our students more fully cognizant of the task that awaits them in their future software development jobs. We might also interest them to learn more about security in a subsequent security class. In writing this post, I realize we could do more to illustrate how type abstraction can help with security. For example, abstract types can be used to increase assurance that input data is properly validated, as explained by Google’s Christoph Kern in his 2017 SecDev Keynote. This fact is also a consequence of semantic type safety, as argued well by Derek Dreyer in his POPL’18 Keynote. Good stuff to do for Spring’19 !