#API riding

[xiaq]

Ok I know few people are going to be able to empathize here but I spent most of yesterday creating an API that would execute different objectives depending on if you use get/put/post/delete, right? And then I spent most of today trying to figure out why the hell everything was working except the delete. I had an extra space in Postman.

That's literally it. I spent hours trying to debug my config when the problem was a fucking space in the body of the API call.

Fucking JSON.

I want to burn something down.

[records-of-a-slacker]

So we were having discussions about TCF characters as different food/drink brands in a server I'm in and here are some of my contributions/favorites feat My SEA SpiritTM:

Choi Jungsoo: Milo (Also probably their poster child like have you seen the people on their covers. Or really any milk brand actually he has that youthful athletic passionate young man energy they're looking for)

Lee Soohyuk: Kopi Kapal Api (This man has a coffee addiction and will physically cringe if you bring him anything that isn't just the blackest coffee imaginable. He has a preference for the little powedery sachets specifically because they hit different)

Kim Roksoo: Yakult (He needs to drink something healthy and I imagine he's probably seen the yakult ladies ride around town offering yakult when he was a kid and thought they were neat. also Vibes)

Witira: Pocari Sweat (and I will die on this hill COME ON SHE SEEMS LIKE THE PERFECT PERSON TO PLAY A SPORTY GIRL ATHLETE IN THEIR ADS)

Pasteon: Le Minerale ("Hmm! Kayak ada manis manisnya!" also because whale, water. He seems like a guy who would also probably appear in water ads as an earnest hardworking young man)

Rosalyn: Twizzlers (i did also say food brands and not just drinks. she probably likes the flavor and was that kid who ate all the twizzlers at the bottom of the candy box when the teacher offered bc no one else wanted it and was having the time of her life. It also looks like her hair to me, very chewable and sweet)

Hong: Welch's Fruit Snacks (I know On alsolikes dried fruits alot so this could be a shared favorite but Hong could absolutely be their poster child if he wanted to. He's the kid who always has them in his lunchbox)

Alberu: Caprisun (this is sort of a joke but also he probably liked them as a kid and secretly buys them in bulk at costco. He says it's for the kids when they come over but it's also definitely for him)

I'll stop at these for now AskdLlddSJL the discussions were so freaking fun there's more and I'll update with the Choi Jungsoo and Choi Han frequently appear on Redbull's tiktok/shorts page doing some crazy insane stunts and causing Cale multiple heart attacks bits but rn I'm StrugglingTm. God doe sthis make me wanna make a modern au fic.

[ralfmaximus]

In regards to the Windows 10 LTSC thing, the caveat is that it uses build 19044 (version 21H2), so it's very likely that certain programs simply won't be compatible with it

Additionally, one article said that even if they do push out a new LTSC version, there's no way to simply upgrade, you have to reinstall the whole OS just to get that new version. There's also conflicting information that it doesn't need a product key, but if it does, then you have to get it through enterprise vendors who may or may not be willing to sell you a key for a single device (or a small batch of devices, ex: 5)

It could very well be an option for some people to ride out W10 for a little longer, but these are just some things to bear in mind

Thanks for your note! It's clear you've thought about this.

The compatibility thing gets thrown around a lot, but honestly one thing Microsoft gets right with Windows is backwards compatibility. I write software for a living and one aspect of my job is retrotesting new builds of my stuff on older platforms. Currently, everything I do works on Win11 back to WinXP.

Of course, companies can choose to break compatibility. Steam famously stopped working on Win7 awhile back, forcing users to upgrade. But the core Win32 API hasn't changed in 30+ years which is remarkable.

Assuming your software doesn't need the latest build of Windows... why bother?

Bottom line, I personally am not worried about not being able to install something. When's the last time that happened with you?

If you treat Windows as a program launcher (which it is) instead of an ecosystem (which it also is, because Microsoft wants you to live there and pay them $$$) then the 'problem' becomes simpler: will the programs YOU want to run work with an old build of Win10? If so, there's no need to upgrade.

Microsoft has successfully created a religion around Windows Update. You MUST have the latest patches! Otherwise, you are VULNERABLE. Bad Things will Happen if you Don't Upgrade! Be afraid!!

That is simply not true. In my living room I drive our big screen TV with an ancient Dell box (circa 2009) running Win7 and Media Player Classic (MPC). It plays TV shows & movies just fine, exceeding DVD & Bluray resolutions. It hasn't received a Windows Update in a decade, but continues to chug along reliably. I installed Malware Bytes to make up for Windows Defender being out of date, since it has Firefox installed and we do use it to noodle around on the web occasionally. Youtube on a big screen is fun.

Will I ever upgrade that Windows? Probably not. Maybe if the host Dell Optiplex (2009!!) ever dies but otherwise... why would I?

My main workstation is Win10 and I plan to ride this thing until it explodes. Win11 is super annoying, and all the machines I run Win11 on are infested with Copilot and nag screens about OneDrive. I recently downgraded Office 365 to Office 2016 for that very reason.

Sense a pattern here?

tl;dr: Win10, even the older builds, are adequate for the typical user, for the foreseeable future. Installing & activation are stupidly easy. No product keys needed.

Finally: if you're nervous about Win10 there exist stripped down enterprise builds of Win11 available as well.

[homunculus-argument]

Things to look for and why, regarding skincare (we're in different countries, so I don't know what brands are available to you. I'll focus on ingredients over brands as a result). It takes an average of 30 days for complete skin cell turnover, which means it can take that long to start seeing real results. Intro new product one at a time so you can better monitor for allergic/adverse reactions. And to avoid chemical burns. Really follow the directions when it comes to chemical exfoliants, here, because overdoing it can destroy your moisture barrier and make even lotion turn into a chemical burn sensation/reality

Chemical exfoliants are likely to be your best friend, here, as well as a "maintenance" ingredient.

You described your skin as having orange peel texture, which almost always means your skin type is oily. Niacinamide is going to be the key ingredient to help regulate how much oil you're putting out. The ordinary makes a good serum for that, and it's paired with a booster ingredient that helps it work better. Note, if your skin also feels tight (not tight because of a cystic zit) or is also flaky, you could be producing all that oil because your skin is dehydrated, in which case you want a really, really basic moisturizer too. Look for ceremides, because they will help to repair damage to your moisture barrier (if you've been using a LOT of different products it could be damaged, which leads to oil. You can usually tell, because everything will feel like your skin is on fire).

Acids! My beloved. They come in two categories, aha and BHA. Aha is water soluble and can not cut through heavy oil, and will not get as deep into pores when it's really oily, but they WILL support the BHA ingredients that are oil soluble. You are gonna want them both, because you need to cut through the oil and have something left to help out with the clogs. They will both make you more sensitive to UV, so grab an SPF that is basic as hell--i rec trying to avoid dimethicone when you're really oily, because it will generally make a mess of everything

You can safely do glycolic (aha) in really high concentrations up to three times a week. The ordinary has an amazing peel, nip + fab makes incredible pads.

Salicylic can't be had over the counter stronger than 2% in the states, but this is a powerhouse BHA. You want it.

You can usually find those two ingredients bundled together over here, and I rec that if you can find it because they will be formulated in complementary ratios.

If you can get your hands on raya, their aha/BHA cleansing gel + Bliss clear has a serum that is a toner with salicylic and niacinamide. Those two things together, consistently, completely transformed my skin. They're my ride or die when combined with the nip + fab.

The other ingredients to keep an eye out for in case of brand availability are enzymes. What enzymes do is break down the bonds in the oil and in your skin (not as scary as it sounds) so that the individual cells will turn over faster, shed faster, and not be able to stick around as long to get trapped into pores. Enzymes plus some aha/BHA can seriously push everything out of your pores. They are strong, and they can be found in the raya thing I mentioned.

I'm not sure how much character limit I have left. I'm more than happy to answer specific questions, and also help vet products via links/screen caps. r/skincareaddiction is another wonderful place to get in depth reviews, assuming reddit API fuckery hasn't hit them too bad. But I am not afraid to use my license/obsessive research skills, and I'm not afraid to pull out "fixed my face out of sheer spite" knowledge either, so if any of this is confusing or something you'd like more info on don't hesitate (and it could very well be confusing, I haven't had enough caffeine to self medicate the ADHD and it's past my bedtime. I've met myself at least once and know how I am). Either way I hope that this all helps on your quest

Damn, I'll have to go through with this a notebook and write everything down while re-reading. Thank you! I didn't even know asks have a character limit, but you sure used it well.

And yeah my skin type is oily as fuck. You could scrape it with a spoon and collect enough to boil it into soap.

[luvether]

Hello koue dearest. Kouebee. Swansie. My beloved sun lamb. I saw this Bee in IKEA and it reminded me of you :>>

And the second image is something I saw on Pinterest! I didn't know gypsophilas can come in pink? But anyways I wanted to say that it is us coded because it's your favourite flower and because PINK! Also I wanna thank you for the drawing (I will get you back)

And now for the actual ask 😭

Who would you: Enemies to lovers / slow burn / fake date. and why?

your choices are between: Kakucho from TR, Gepard from HSR, and Diluc from GI.

CECCEC lovely and sweetest star shine i know it’s barely been a week since you took a short break but it feels like a century without you TT welcome back from acads!!! <33

AND BEES!! okay it’s been such a hot minute since i’ve talked about bees, i miss my apis mellifera era 😞 hmm speaking of, allow me to tell you about this specific bee species that i stumbled into. they’re called teddy bear bees and look, they’re so golden and so fluffy aren’t they cute? 🥹🥹 at least those are the male bees? the females look a lot different

I’m so happy that the bee that you saw reminded you of me 🫂🫂 that’s literally me every time i see that bee crochet you gave me, ALSO THE PINK GYPOS ❤︎ i knew they came in different colors too but they look so pretty bunched up together they look like cotton candy & candy floss (yes yes it’s us ^^)

Yeah mkay now i digress and answer your actual question euue first of all how dare you? you actually chose the three specific guys who are the living embodiment of acts of service & grizzly bear but teddy bear within 😭

i would enemies to lovers gepard, because if i used this trope on the other two its gonna be a lil scary + i see the whole dynamic of silvermane guard from the overworld x petty rogue from the underground, the golden boy kissed by snow x unlucky flower mired with mud. the nutcracker and the princess thief, the dutiful and the unruly. idk but this specific trope with gepard is vv endearing to me <33

Slow burn with kakucho!! without hesitation <33 I could imagine the sneaked glances from afar filled with admiration and yearning, the sweet moral citizen x moral street delinquent, tender palms against rougher ones, the hesitant x the blunt and given kakucho, despite his roughness & intimidation, is soo shy and the fact he’s #1 ranked best boyfriend in tenjiku will never not leave my mind. imagine bike rides, late night walks w your guard dog of a friend/lover, the quiet gestures urghh. you can never go wrong w kaku, he’s the tokyorev character for me and i will die on that hill.

Fake dating with diluc because i said so and because i envision as the young master of dawn winery and the most handsome bachelor of mondstadt, of course people would start to question why he’s still single. when i think about fake dating w diluc, i’d like to add fake dating to marriage of convenience. even though it’s all fake diluc will literally go through thick and thin to ensure that you’re comfortable around him and the things that he does, because at the end of the day he’s still a gentleman and places respect on your name despite being in such a situation. he’d take you on walks around dawn winery, buy you flowers whenever he visits and will literally be your guard dog mhm mhm ^_^

[wvba-ringside-gossip]

MEET THE TEAM!! + RULES

(ignore that i posted this to the wrong blog lol)

The Ringside Staff has gone through a few changes since our last interaction! The gang is back and better than ever! Ready to answer your questions!

RULES:

Make sure you indicate who you want the question to go to!

The questions can be about anyone or anything, inside or outside the WVBA.

Nothing NSFW

Questions about love lives are allowed but again, nothing NSFW

Have Fun! And Be Polite!

ASK BOX IS OPEN EVERYONE!

Meet the Team Below the Cut!

🩵ROBIN: The team's trusted commentator. Full of life and pep and plenty of sass! But he's always there to keep the work running smoothly! ☀️SEFI: Robin's strong and loving wife! Often the one doing all the heavy lifting behind the scenes, but don't let it deter you; she is very friendly! 🍎RUBY: WVBA's little country belle! She's as sweet as apple pie and loves to chatter! Friendly and sociable, though can be a bit in your face. 🧪SONYA: The head of the WVBA's Med staff may be ethically questionable, but she'll get you patched up just fine all the same! 🎶JAZZY: A Boxer and Commentator, one of the older acts in the game, this witty soul is always ready to take the stage whenever you need him to! 🌴API: Another heavy lifter behind the scenes who does plenty of work maintaining and keeping the ring in top-notch condition for every match! ☘️ELOUAN: The calm and chilled Camera person, they keep up with all the action both inside and outside the ring! 🌼DAISY: One half of the WVBA's receptionist team, this sweet flower loves to decorate her side with...well, flowers! A gentle, albeit shy soul, but whose nose is in every bit of gossip you can think of. 💫STARR: Behind every champion is a strong woman, and this one is riding behind her husband, Mr Sandman. The WVBA manager and the commissioner's assistant, Desire, keep everything running like a machine! 🔥ROXY: The other half of the receptionist team, this fiery-looking chick is actually quite cool; just be careful what you tell her; it can and WILL be used against you. 🍄SHORTY: A nickname given to them for fun, they're the WVBA's reliable janitor. Very quiet, but catch them at the right time, and you can find yourself in quite the conversation! ☕️DEAN: Former barista, this whizz-kid is the speedy ringside assistant, grabbing whatever he can, whenever he can, for the big boys in the ring! Just be careful, though; this kid may be scrawny, but he knows how to fight!

((Mod Suki here! Hey guys! Thanks for tuning back into this! I'm glad to repost these guys finally. I can't say if picture asks will be answered frequently (with Uni and what not), but hopefully, I can get some more lengthy ones out for you because you'll deserve it! Thank you all for being patient with me, I hope to see you guys dropping into the inbox soon! Ka Kite!!)

[voiceapisolutions]

The Benefits of Integrating Text-to-Speech Technology for Personalized Voice Service

Sinch is a fully managed service that generates voice-on-demand, converting text into an audio stream and using deep learning technologies to convert articles, web pages, PDF documents, and other text-to-speech (TTS). Sinch provides dozens of lifelike voices across a broad set of languages for you to build speech-activated applications that engage and convert. Meet diverse linguistic, accessibility, and learning needs of users across geographies and markets. Powerful neural networks and generative voice engines work in the background, synthesizing speech for you. Integrate the Sinch API into your existing applications to become voice-ready quickly.

Voice Service

Voice services, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or Voice as a Service (VaaS), are telecommunications technologies that convert Voice into a digital signal and route conversations through digital channels. Businesses use these technologies to place and receive reliable, high-quality calls through their internet connection instead of traditional telephones. We at Sinch provide the best voice service all over India.

Voice Messaging Service

A Voice Messaging Service or System, also known as Voice Broadcasting, is the process by which an individual or organization sends a pre-recorded message to a list of contacts without manually dialing each number. Automated Voice Message service makes communicating with customers and employees efficient and effective. With mobile marketing quickly becoming the fastest-growing advertising industry sector, the ability to send a voice broadcast via professional voice messaging software is now a crucial element of any marketing or communication initiative.

Voice Service Providers in India

Voice APIs, IVR, SIP Trunking, Number Masking, and Call Conferencing are all provided by Sinch, a cloud-based voice service provider in India. It collaborates with popular telecom companies like Tata Communications, Jio, Vodafone Idea, and Airtel. Voice services are utilized for automated calls, secure communication, and client involvement in banking, e-commerce, healthcare, and ride-hailing. Sinch is integrated by businesses through APIs to provide dependable, scalable voice solutions.

More Resources:

The future of outbound and inbound dialing services

The Best Cloud Communication Software which are Transforming Businesses in India

[vanillaxoshi]

Ok so I honestly always thought that since in age bracket au, Cahaya’s the youngest (for like an actual here) how would his brothers pamper him or how he would interact with them cuz your dealing with a 5 year old, they are quite troublesome

Cahaya with Petir:

“It’s just you and me today huh?!” mumbled Petir as he moved the channels on to glancing his youngest brother who was busy scribbling his book

It was Sunday and apparently all his siblings were busy, making him to stay with his brother atleast for next to 2-3 hours until Tanah and Air returns from shopping (Air was bribed with ice cream)

“Yeah Haya has to babysit an old man” snickered Cahaya

“Who are you calling an old man you little brat!!”

“Abang of course” Cahaya turned to his brother with an eye-roll, “Also- what does brat mean?”

“💢” Petir tries to hold his anger back

After sometime~

Petir looks near his leg as he felt someone pulling them, trying to get his attention

“Abang Haya is hungry” Cahaya whined at his brother with a small face who almost smiled

“*Sighs* Ok I will make something for you”

“Yayyy” UwU

While eating~

“Is it good?” Petir sits next to Cahaya who was eating his fried rice with a gusto

“It’s ok-ok, Haya thinks Abang should have added little less salt and more chillies as-“

Cahaya gets interrupted when a hand slamming makes him flinch and get his attention. He looks at his eldest brother smiling forcefully with a terrifying aura behind him, “How about we just eat what we have here 💢💢”

“O-Ok”

‘It’s really good though’ Cahaya chuckles mentally

After sometime~

“Abang does Abang know how to do this question?”

Cahaya shows Petir his chemistry book. Petir takes the book from his brother’s hand and reads that question, he was confused. He was good with science but that was till high school, he didn’t opt science as his subject even in college. Main question is that how can his brother understand this subject which is filled with exceptions, this subject literally give headache to many students and- is he really five year old??

“I don’t know”

“Abang didn’t study about it?”

“I did but I don’t remember”

“Tch Tch Tch Abang have weak memory power”

“That’s it! 💢💢💢”

“Ahhhhhhhhhh”

“Come back here!!!!! 💢💢💢”

Later~

“We’re back!!” exclaimed Tanah and Air

“What the- did a tornado hit this house??” Tanah was surprised seeing the whole house as a mess, he moves near Air who standing behind sofa and taking picture of his brothers who were hugging and sleeping

Cahaya with Angin:-

“Ahhhhhhhh Abang slow down!!!!!!” Cahaya shouted hugging his brother more tightly as he was sitting in front of him. He was really scared and had started crying while Angin was trying his best to control his over speeding motorcycle. He just thought to have a ride and scare his brother, he never knew he would actually lose control of bike and pray to god for his and his brother’s life-

Basically breaks weren’t working, he was riding his bike with an enough speed to have fun and scare Cahaya a bit but it became worst when he over speeded even when his brother told him not too and they ended up in this situation

After sometime~

“Do you have any idea how dangerous that was??” Tanah was furious, he was scolding Angin when Api, Petir, him and some more officers managed to stop the bike without making any of them injured

Angin looked down, letting his younger brother scold him as he was guilty. He felt even more guilty when he saw Cahaya shivering in Petir’s arm, not letting him go and sobbing silently.

Api eventually calms Tanah down, who hugs his brother mumbling how glad he is that they are safe or how much he was scared

Few days later~

Cahaya has been avoiding Angin, he’s just scared of him. He runs away whenever his brother approaches him, making him sad

Cahaya finds himself eating his brother’s cookies in kitchen as he was starving

“I am sorry sunshine” Cahaya was startled when he heard voice. He widens his eyes and looks behind to find his brother standing there. He was sure that he had seen him go out then when did he-?

“Please Haya, I am really sorry!” Angin crouches near Cahaya, holding his hands when he saw the kid trying to escape

“Please don’t hate me! I swear I will never do it again! Please forgive me!”

“Abang, Haya don’t hate Abang! Please don’t cry!” replied Cahaya with teary eyes

“Nonono- don’t cry Haya please- Look look Abang isn’t crying any more!!” saying so Angin lifts Cahaya up and pats his back as he calms down

“Abang Haya was scared that day! Abang drove fast! Haya doesn’t like it”

“I am sorry Haya! I will never ever drive that fast again!!”

(Cahaya always avoided two-wheelers after that day)

Cahaya with Tanah:-

“And this is the reason why Xenon forms compounds with Fluorine”

“Ohhhh Xenon is a different n-nob-uh”

“Noble gas!”

“Yeah! Xenon is a different noble gas!!”

“It’s not different Haya it just behaves uniquely! Like how you do” saying so Tanah pulls his brother’s cheeks who laughs in glee

(-Cahaya asked his doubt from Tanah believing him to be smarter than his older brother 😂)

“Is there something else you wanna learn?”

“Haya want to study Algebra!!”

“You like maths?” Tanah chuckles as he opens Air’s maths textbook

“No! It’s hard” saying so Cahaya pouts, “But Haya needs it to study science!!”

“That makes sense my smart brother” (We all can see now who’s pampering him -_-)

“Haya will become smart like Abang!!”

“Of course you would” ^_^

“Haya loves Abang!!” Cahaya shouts that and laughs cheekily

“Aww Abang loves you too!!”

This one is with Trio Ori, I mean just imagine the gap- 😂 I will write with other three next time- whenever I get some idea

Also I tried my best to make Cahaya speak like a five year old, I just did those additions on the basis of what my mom told me, like how I was….

And Angin’s bike riding incident was what happened between me and my second eldest cousin sister, that traumatized me as well, just after that incident I never sat with her in any vehicle ever again 💀

These are all adorable moments and Angin! How dare you traumatize the child! >:(

Though i really appreciate your effort asking your mom on how five year olds speak

I think you forgot Age bracket Cahaya doesnt really speak at five, because hes technically a non verbal autistic! Tho he does get to speak at around 6 or 7 he still uses non verbal actions/doesnt speak often

Like smacking or poking his brothers to get their attention and dragging them to something, he'd perhaps point at things they want to see or stim whenever hes experiencing big emotions

He'd use writing, like a board or notebook to make them understand what hes saying more, a little example is that moment with Tanah, he'd perhaps jump up and down(or just stay still and listen) at learning the Xenon noble gas or tilt his head to indicate his confusion

He wont particularly make eye contact either, more so he'd avoid it

The motorcycle problem would be scary for any child 😅 Angin. Your brothers are staring deeply at you

He'll also seem like he doesnt want to interact with his brothers bc hed be off on his own in the house but rest assure he loves his brothers there and would cling to them if he ever really needs them there (Cahaya and Petir with that little moment)

If you want more things with autism, you could add in Sensory problems(loud noises, touches/cloth textures or temperature thats not too extreme but feels extreme, bright lights or smells and texture of food which would make him picky tbh)

Either than that, Cahaya's little interactions with his eldest brothers are adorable, Petir really wont try holding back huh and Tanah being the only one with no issues

[haggishlyhagging]

The farther back we go in our search for the origins and meaning of the Moon Goddess the nearer do we come to the animal concept. Hecate was once, in the dim past, the three-headed Hound of the Moon; Artemis was a Bear; Isis was Hathor the Cow Goddess; Cybele was once a Lioness or a lion-headed goddess. She sits on a lion throne and rides in a chariot drawn by lions; and Atargatis, Queen of Heaven, is shown riding a lion, her head surrounded by rays. In the later centuries of the Egyptian worship of Osiris it was said that Apis, the Bull, was the spirit of Osiris. This saying gives a direct clue to the evolution of the religious thought.

First the moon deity was an animal, then the spirit of the god is an animal. Later the god or goddess is attended by animals. Later still these animal attendants were replaced by human beings who wore animal masks, performed animal dances, and were called by animal names. We are told, for instance, that little Athenian girls danced as bears to Artemis of Brauronia, the Bear-Goddess, while Bear-men attended the Celtic moon goddess, who was once manifested in bear form.

The bear, indeed, represents the fierce and terrible aspect of the Goddess herself, which not only creates but also destroys life. Later the two aspects of the Goddess become partially differentiated and separated, so that in the famous sculpture of "The Mourning Aphrodite of Lebanon," the animal, in this case a boar instead of a bear, is killing the youthful Adonis, while Aphrodite laments in deepest grief. Yet the boar is also Aphrodite, herself.

The animal attendants and animal emblems surrounding the goddess in her shrines must have constantly reminded the worshippers of later days, of those wilder aspects of her nature from which she had in part evolved. Her animals she still kept near her, for she could not be comprehended except in the light of her past.

The psychological meaning of this gradual change in form is clear. In extremely early days, before civilization had progressed very far, feminine instinct was perceived as entirely animal. Then the fierceness of the mother's care for her young and the voracity of her lust for the male in the mating season were the most obvious and dominant characteristics of beast and woman alike. As civilization progressed, however, women began to develop something nearer akin to the emotion which we call love, and the goddess of women rose gradually above her animal nature. She was represented now as woman but with the fierceness of her feminine instinct not far away. She rides her lion, gives birth to her animals, wears her headdress of cow horns and is attended by her beasts, while she herself transcends in some measure the fierce animal passions which these things represent.

This situation is not far removed from the condition of our own civilization today. Our women have learned human manners and emotions—pity, consideration, love; but not far beneath the surface, slumbering in unconsciousness, the old primitive form of feminine instinct lurks, ready to spring up again and perhaps even to reassert its power over consciousness in any really critical situation.

-M. Esther Harding, Woman’s Mysteries: Ancient and Modern

[blessed1neha]

Radha - Krishna duel

Once Kṛṣṇa became a boatman and offered Śrī Rādhā and Her girlfriends a ride to cross the river Yamunā. Following is Their sweet and witty conversation that took place on the shore of the river, wherein Śrī Rādhikā expertly engaged in a Sanskrit verbal duel and defeated the Lord of Her life- Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

uttiṣṭhārāt tarau me taruṇi mama taroḥ śaktir ārohaṇe kā sākṣād ākhyāmi mugdhe taraṇim iha raver ākhyayā kā ratir me |

vārteyaṁ nau-prasaṅge katham api bhavitā nāvayoḥ saṅgamārthā vārtāpīti smitāsyaṁ jita-girim ajitaṁ rādhayārādhayāmi ||

Kṛṣṇa: “He Taruni, O beautiful young girl, quickly board My tarī (boat).”

Rādhā replied (taking tarī as taru in Sanskrit, or tree): “I have no strength to climb a tree.”

Kṛṣṇa: “He Mugdhe, O foolish girl, I mean taraṇi (boat).”

Rādhā (taking tarani as ‘sun’ in Sanskrit): “The sun? I do not even want to climb a tree, and You are talking about going to the sun?”

Kṛṣṇa: “I am not talking about the sun. I am talking about nau, the boat.”

Rādhā (taking nau to mean ‘Us’): “Don’t even think about the two of Us getting together.”

I worship the unconquerable Ajita Kṛṣṇa, who smiled gently as Śrī Rādhā soundly defeated Him in this delightful verbal duel, leaving Him speechless.

-Śrī Padyāvalī [269]

[friendshipgirl]

Pool Brawl

( as the three were chilling out at the pool area, Salazar suddenly came with a magazine )

Salazar: You know… You know Natsumi, I have just had it with you and your boyfriend's little… ( closes the door ) …mind games.

Wakko: What is that?

Salazar: Italian Vogue…

Wakko: Mama Mia, that’s a lot of pages…

Salazar: It’s a lot of ads.

Wakko: Remember what Fuyuki said. Why is your life any more valuable than ours?

Salazar: Oh, that’s weird. I just can’t seem to ( tries to hit them ) RECALL THAT!!!

( the three scream as Natsumi tries to hit back with a chair )

Salazar: I think something STINKS in here! ( sprays honey perfume at Giroro )

Giroro: Ha! I like the smell of honey!

Salazar: Yeah? ( puts a lighter in front of it ) HOW DO YOU LIKE THE SMELL OF FLAMES!?

Giroro: Not as much!

( The red frog screams as he barely dodged a burst of fire. Natsumi's eyes grew wide with terror, as she watched Giroro, now ablaze, stumble backward into the pool. The water around him hissed and steamed, extinguishing the flames. Giroro coughed and sputtered, his swim wear smoldering. Wakko, acting on instinct, snatched up a pool noodle and began to whip it around like a makeshift flail, keeping Salazar at bay. Salazar backs up into the swim toys and falls, yelling as each toy, a snorkel, a ball, and finally a rubber duck, landed on his head. He then grabs a water nozzle and aimed at Natsumi )

Natsumi: Hey! Look at me! I’m wearing a pail for a hat! This is pathetic!

Salazar: I’ve got issues!

( he squirts at Natsumi, causing her to fall back into the pool. Natsumi comes up and spits water before activating the whirlpool by accident )

Natsumi: Oh no! AHH! ( spins around )

( Wakko tries to grab his mother, but when he did, Salazar pushes him in. Luckily, Wakko grabbed a board and surfs the whirlpool )

Wakko: Yeah! Surfs up, dude! ( spits water in Salazar's face )

Salazar: ( exclaims in disgust ) AHH! SPIT WATER!

( Wakko continues to ride the whirlpool for a bit before coming up to Giroro and Natsumi )

Wakko: Whoo! That hole is gnarly!

Salazar: ( takes out a scrubber ) Except for those soapy, blue, pink, and red, rings!

( Wakko screams as Giroro uses the board as a shield, but Aki and Lauren then come in and stop Salazar )

Lauren ( me ): Salazar! What the hell are you doing!? Are you nuts!?

Salazar: You know what!? I don’t even like canned white chocolate coffee! I don’t drink it!

Aki: ( pulls Salazar out a bit ) We need to talk! This is my daughter, and her son and boyfriend! She’s the new queen of Animaniacs, and I believe she is the greatest queen I have seen in a long time!

Salazar: Long time!? It has been almost a year since Api has been stressing over a movie!

Aki: Well, Lauren does stress out over Wakko’s Wish, because there are things that bug her, and pretty much everyone else, and it is all caused by you being greedy for respect!

Salazar: Oh! That’s how it is! Rotten children, autistic princesses, anime space frogs, chaotic dinner nights, and now this! You’re all against me! It’s getting my nerves fried by riding on this emotional roller coaster!

Aki: Goodbye, Salazar!

( Salazar exclaimed in disbelief before leaving the pool area, but then coming back )

Salazar: ( to Lauren ) And for you information, Princess, I prefer sugar free, no chocolate added, almond milk lattes, MADE BY MAN! ( storms off )

Aki: Sorry about all that Honey.

Salazar: ( comes back one more time ) And those dry strange aftertastes it has, I LIKE IT! ( leaves and slams the door )

[krabbu]

I adore your art style! What inspired it?

OMG thank you for asking!! It’s kinda hard to say? I’m hugely inspired by a lot of manga and comics I’ve read, but they’re so mixed in together that it’s hard for me to pull them all apart and point out what has been most influential to me. For my comics, Jay Hosler was a massive help when he was mentoring me! Speficially, though I adore Clan Apis/Way of the Hive and his scientific work, Last of the Sandwalkers is my favorite work he made. It’s all about found family beetles on an adventure. I decided to make black and white comics, because that’s how he and a lot of other awesome American comic artists got their start. It’s the only way to cost-effectively self publish stories with a lot of pages. However, my art style was also developed out of convenience and what was fastest. As a kid I grew up absolutely loving drawing with pencil and a lot of people ask these days if I still do that, seeing my work. I don’t! Everything’s digital now. However, fiercely scribbling with a pencil-like brush is a fantastic way to texture stuff. Thinking hard about it, I think the final fantasy tactics advance and pokemon andventures were some of the most influential on me as a little kid. I had an edgy phase in highschool where I got really into Johnen Vasquez’s work too. My color use came from drawing a lot of flight riding dragons, my own mom’s color sense in her blankets and photos, and the colors of sunsets. I’m rather insane about the shifting hues especially when they become a vibrant pink or orange. I hope that answers your question!

[wowieeitsisa]

ETERNA POSTING ^_^

Imma ramble abt new ideas for her bar and tue story she and her gfs are settled in, so click readmore for a ride 👍

Eterna’s Bar and The Life/Immortality/Youth Fountain are now connected

Now you need to find said bar, and choose either buy the water from Eterna or actually go through it and find the fountain

As a pit stop, Eterna is the one trying to slow your journey down, you’ll either give up or get pissed (by getting pissed you get kicked out and banned lmao) with distractions she’ll come up with until she decides, yeah you’re worthy enough to get the water from the source (even though she literally SELLS IT)

Now, Eterna isn’t the challenge, it’s Kiu, the one to guide you through the VERY CONFUSING path to the Fountain, man’s abt to judge you and your morals, if he doesn’t think you’re worth it he’ll abandon you on the wrong of way of the correct path

If you do succeed, you’ll face Ally who will control everything you do abt the Fountain

Sky and Api don’t do shit lmao, buy a drink instead of going through this whole thing god damn!

[nyaza]

(this is a small story of how I came to write my own intrusion detection/prevention framework and why I'm really happy with that decision, don't mind me rambling)

Preface

About two weeks ago I was faced with a pretty annoying problem. Whilst I was going home by train I have noticed that my server at home had been running hot and slowed down a lot. This prompted me to check my nginx logs, the only service that is indirectly available to the public (more on that later), which made me realize that - due to poor access control - someone had been sending me hundreds of thousands of huge DNS requests to my server, most likely testing for vulnerabilities. I added an iptables rule to drop all traffic from the aforementioned source and redirected remaining traffic to a backup NextDNS instance that I set up previously with the same overrides and custom records that my DNS had to not get any downtime for the service but also allow my server to cool down. I stopped the DNS service on my server at home and then used the remaining train ride to think. How would I stop this from happening in the future? I pondered multiple possible solutions for this problem, whether to use fail2ban, whether to just add better access control, or to just stick with the NextDNS instance.

I ended up going with a completely different option: making a solution, that's perfectly fit for my server, myself.

My Server Structure

So, I should probably explain how I host and why only nginx is public despite me hosting a bunch of services under the hood.

I have a public facing VPS that only allows traffic to nginx. That traffic then gets forwarded through a VPN connection to my home server so that I don't have to have any public facing ports on said home server. The VPS only really acts like the public interface for the home server with access control and logging sprinkled in throughout my configs to get more layers of security. Some Services can only be interacted with through the VPN or a local connection, such that not everything is actually forwarded - only what I need/want to be.

I actually do have fail2ban installed on both my VPS and home server, so why make another piece of software?

Tabarnak - Succeeding at Banning

I had a few requirements for what I wanted to do:

Only allow HTTP(S) traffic through Cloudflare

Only allow DNS traffic from given sources; (location filtering, explicit white-/blacklisting);

Webhook support for logging

Should be interactive (e.g. POST /api/ban/{IP})

Detect automated vulnerability scanning

Integration with the AbuseIPDB (for checking and reporting)

As I started working on this, I realized that this would soon become more complex than I had thought at first.

Webhooks for logging This was probably the easiest requirement to check off my list, I just wrote my own log() function that would call a webhook. Sadly, the rest wouldn't be as easy.

Allowing only Cloudflare traffic This was still doable, I only needed to add a filter in my nginx config for my domain to only allow Cloudflare IP ranges and disallow the rest. I ended up doing something slightly different. I added a new default nginx config that would just return a 404 on every route and log access to a different file so that I could detect connection attempts that would be made without Cloudflare and handle them in Tabarnak myself.

Integration with AbuseIPDB Also not yet the hard part, just call AbuseIPDB with the parsed IP and if the abuse confidence score is within a configured threshold, flag the IP, when that happens I receive a notification that asks me whether to whitelist or to ban the IP - I can also do nothing and let everything proceed as it normally would. If the IP gets flagged a configured amount of times, ban the IP unless it has been whitelisted by then.

Location filtering + Whitelist + Blacklist This is where it starts to get interesting. I had to know where the request comes from due to similarities of location of all the real people that would actually connect to the DNS. I didn't want to outright ban everyone else, as there could be valid requests from other sources. So for every new IP that triggers a callback (this would only be triggered after a certain amount of either flags or requests), I now need to get the location. I do this by just calling the ipinfo api and checking the supplied location. To not send too many requests I cache results (even though ipinfo should never be called twice for the same IP - same) and save results to a database. I made my own class that bases from collections.UserDict which when accessed tries to find the entry in memory, if it can't it searches through the DB and returns results. This works for setting, deleting, adding and checking for records. Flags, AbuseIPDB results, whitelist entries and blacklist entries also get stored in the DB to achieve persistent state even when I restart.

Detection of automated vulnerability scanning For this, I went through my old nginx logs, looking to find the least amount of paths I need to block to catch the biggest amount of automated vulnerability scan requests. So I did some data science magic and wrote a route blacklist. It doesn't just end there. Since I know the routes of valid requests that I would be receiving (which are all mentioned in my nginx configs), I could just parse that and match the requested route against that. To achieve this I wrote some really simple regular expressions to extract all location blocks from an nginx config alongside whether that location is absolute (preceded by an =) or relative. After I get the locations I can test the requested route against the valid routes and get back whether the request was made to a valid URL (I can't just look for 404 return codes here, because there are some pages that actually do return a 404 and can return a 404 on purpose). I also parse the request method from the logs and match the received method against the HTTP standard request methods (which are all methods that services on my server use). That way I can easily catch requests like:

XX.YYY.ZZZ.AA - - [25/Sep/2023:14:52:43 +0200] "145.ll|'|'|SGFjS2VkX0Q0OTkwNjI3|'|'|WIN-JNAPIER0859|'|'|JNapier|'|'|19-02-01|'|'||'|'|Win 7 Professional SP1 x64|'|'|No|'|'|0.7d|'|'|..|'|'|AA==|'|'|112.inf|'|'|SGFjS2VkDQoxOTIuMTY4LjkyLjIyMjo1NTUyDQpEZXNrdG9wDQpjbGllbnRhLmV4ZQ0KRmFsc2UNCkZhbHNlDQpUcnVlDQpGYWxzZQ==12.act|'|'|AA==" 400 150 "-" "-"

I probably over complicated this - by a lot - but I can't go back in time to change what I did.

Interactivity As I showed and mentioned earlier, I can manually white-/blacklist an IP. This forced me to add threads to my previously single-threaded program. Since I was too stubborn to use websockets (I have a distaste for websockets), I opted for probably the worst option I could've taken. It works like this: I have a main thread, which does all the log parsing, processing and handling and a side thread which watches a FIFO-file that is created on startup. I can append commands to the FIFO-file which are mapped to the functions they are supposed to call. When the FIFO reader detects a new line, it looks through the map, gets the function and executes it on the supplied IP. Doing all of this manually would be way too tedious, so I made an API endpoint on my home server that would append the commands to the file on the VPS. That also means, that I had to secure that API endpoint so that I couldn't just be spammed with random requests. Now that I could interact with Tabarnak through an API, I needed to make this user friendly - even I don't like to curl and sign my requests manually. So I integrated logging to my self-hosted instance of https://ntfy.sh and added action buttons that would send the request for me. All of this just because I refused to use sockets.

First successes and why I'm happy about this After not too long, the bans were starting to happen. The traffic to my server decreased and I can finally breathe again. I may have over complicated this, but I don't mind. This was a really fun experience to write something new and learn more about log parsing and processing. Tabarnak probably won't last forever and I could replace it with solutions that are way easier to deploy and way more general. But what matters is, that I liked doing it. It was a really fun project - which is why I'm writing this - and I'm glad that I ended up doing this. Of course I could have just used fail2ban but I never would've been able to write all of the extras that I ended up making (I don't want to take the explanation ad absurdum so just imagine that I added cool stuff) and I never would've learned what I actually did.

So whenever you are faced with a dumb problem and could write something yourself, I think you should at least try. This was a really fun experience and it might be for you as well.

Post Scriptum

First of all, apologies for the English - I'm not a native speaker so I'm sorry if some parts were incorrect or anything like that. Secondly, I'm sure that there are simpler ways to accomplish what I did here, however this was more about the experience of creating something myself rather than using some pre-made tool that does everything I want to (maybe even better?). Third, if you actually read until here, thanks for reading - hope it wasn't too boring - have a nice day :)

[frtools]

800 followers, dang!

Well then, I did not know that this would blow up this much. We apparently hit 800 followers recently, and I did not even notice!

It's been quite a bumpy ride over the years as you all know, but one I am happy to have pulled through. Although there have been next to no updates to the site and it's toolset recently, I have learned a lot on how to deal with many problems.

I've learned how to do image manipulation

How to effectively parse URLs for data (like dragon's and their properties).

Automated fetching new changes to dragons and genes without even having to visit FR itself. Just run a script and commit changes.

Learned how to deploy the website and all it's background jobs without supervision.

Implemented SSL with automatically renewing certificates.

Created a discord bot that is in many servers, mostly to fetch dragon data.

Learned how to minimalist scrape the site for specific data, such as finding new items, checking news posts or fetching user ids based on name to cache so I don't have to fetch the user again in the future

Implemented many local caching methods such that data only has to be retrieved once from FR

Created a pretty expansive user profile system

Attempted to ensure that all site functionality would be available to logged in and not logged in users through means of 'secret keys', basically passwords for that specific feature.

I can probably list many more things but that would be going into a lot of detail. Below the cut I'll write some more stuff, but for those who read this far already:

Thanks for all the support <3

I recently mentioned that my cost for the hosting increases, this is what a normal month looks like for me and starting this period it will be about 10 or so euro more. This is all to keep the service running smoothly, without any downtime, paid out of pocket for you all to enjoy. Any assistance in helping offset these costs are always welcome : )

You can do so either by becoming a patron or just toss me a coffee.

So what is in store for the site in the future?

Honestly.. probably not much. Eventually functionality will cease to work as Flight Rising makes changes to their front facing API and I won't be able to get the data needed for many things anymore.

Having said that, I have been messing about with the idea of a redesign of the front end, making it a little less developery and more user friendly. But life has been busy for me as of late with a new job since almost a year ago, other hobby projects I have been neglecting and games that have come out that I love to play.. it just doesn't leave much time for a project like FRTools that I have no direct gain from myself other than gathering more programming knowledge.

That said, if you want any specific feature added I can always look into how much work it would be and maybe it will get me hooked?

Regardless, let's get the follower counter to 1000 next before stuff breaks down completely :3

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

First line meme

post the first line from the last 10 fics you posted (and are there any patterns?) - I got tagged by @piratecaptainscaptainpirates

Calypso's Birthday revised

“So how did your fishing trip with Blackbeard go?” Black Pete asked Oluwande.

2. What's Mine Is Theirs

"Stede," Ed piped up, little though he wanted to

3. Useful

Frenchie stood in the captain’s cabin with his hands behind his back.

4. Ed, 19, Never Fucking Learned How To Blackbeard

Ed stood on the bow of the ship, gazing out over the ocean. It was a calm but overcast day, the flat, gray skies seemed to reflect the lifelessness in Ed’s soul.

5. Not quite a Virgin

Ed left the mess hall with his orange, his glass of water and his hardtack. It was too loud in there today, he fancied finding a closet and taking his lunch by himself.

6. The Seduction of Stede Bonnet

Ed dialed Jack’s number and curled up on the couch, twisting his hair around his finger.

7. I'm Not Going Anywhere

When Jack woke up he was hungry, thirsty, and in more pain than he had ever been in in his entire life.

8. Don't Hurt Yourself

Ed sunk down on the dildo, sighing as he did. (btw this is the only fic opening that has ever mattered everyone else go home if you don't open on blorbo riding cock you're doing it wrong)

9. Apis Mallifera

Edward Teach was one of the most critically acclaimed movie directors in the world.

10. Scarlet Ribbons For His Hair

Ed sometimes hated being the most inexperienced on the boat.

I guess I like to open on describing a physical action or posture of a character more than anything else but there's not really any consistency between these ngl