#Vulnerability Analysis of App

[toallthingscinderellaboy]

Cinderella Boy Character Analysis

Buddy: The psychology of being a scapegoat (1/4)

Y’all. I wrote this character analysis wayyy back in December, days before the season 1 finale aired. Then because of the last line and the excerpt used, I decided to not post it because I was worried about non-fastpassers seeing the line and having the finale spoiled for them. So here we are 6 months later, and I am suddenly remembering that I had this in the notes app and decided to post it LMAO!!!!! I did add some slight changes to some of the wording because we have been knowing Buddy is a key now, but just know that a majority of these points were made before we knew he was a key. 

This is going to be a four part post about the psychology of Buddy, Chase, Buddy/Chase being different sides of the same coin, and then Deacon. 

Now let us begin with by far my most favorite character: Buddy. 

I personally believe Buddy to be a scapegoat. For those who are unfamiliar with scapegoats, it is often an individual, or group of people, within a dysfunctional environment who are unfairly blamed for any wrongdoings wether they are to be truly at fault or not. 

Dysfunctional families will have a scapegoat child in order to deflect any of the internal/external issues at hand and presume that the conflict is due to the scapegoat. Many scapegoated children tend to have many of their physical, emotional, and mental needs neglected due to the blame they are forced to carry. With this comes unique personality characteristics that can be seen in scapegoated children. I am going to go over some of these personality traits with Buddy and share why within the Ex-Libris ranks he is a consistently considered the scapegoat. We can also assume, that this has to do with him being the villain key and that by him being the villain key, it has allowed him to take on a scapegoated role. 

Character Trait #1: Trust issues

Scapegoats tend to have trust issues. Due to everyone around them assuming they are a consistent problem, they feel as if they cannot trust others with their vulnerabilities in fear it will be used against them. 

In episode 32 we see Buddy tell Chase “My life usually depends on not trusting them. So you’re absolutely right.” The reasoning as to why is because he has been unfairly placed in a scapegoated position. He believes that his life quite literally depends on not trusting others, and considering he is a key, then yes, his life very well depend on not trusting others. 

Character Trait #2: Strongly Defensive

Scapegoated children often are the only ones to ‘fend’ for themselves. When everyone points a finger at them, there is no one left to defend the scapegoat but themselves. Because of this Scapegoats are very, very defensive, believing even well intentioned constructive criticism is an attack. 

In episode 31 we see Buddy immediately get defensive with Chase. While they are fighting Buddy states, “You smug brat. As if you didn’t try to weasel your location out of me? You’re just as self serving! You’re not better than me!…You think you’re some kind of hero? You’re only here for one thing: narratonin....Don’t ever say that! You arrogant, self absorbed-childish little brat!” When called out for tricking Chase, Buddy immediately becomes verbally/physically defensive. (He’s also projecting but that is a whole different post.) Even though we all know Buddy was in the wrong, he chose to become defensive rather than calmly listen to what Chase was saying. 

We see this again in episode 53 when Deacon makes a jab at Buddy’s “baby teeth” Buddy immediately starts to say that “my teeth aren’t baby.” Rather than letting the statement go and realizing Deacon is making a half-hearted joke, Buddy starts to say that he would bite Deacon. Buddy can’t let even a small baby joke go without getting defending himself or attempting to prove that ‘no my teeth aren’t baby.’ 

Character Trait #3: Tend to speak the truth/point out lies

@Jthealien already made that the most amazing post about Buddy and his tendency to speak the truth, so please go check it out here 

I will add to this by saying that scapegoats are often scapegoats because they tell the truth. A dysfunctional environment/family can only remain dysfunctional if it remains unlit (aka lies only). Scapegoats often attempt to shed a light on the issues at hand by speaking out, only to be punished for it. This doesn’t mean they stop speaking out though. They continue to shed a light on the lies, manipulation, and cruel treatment. 

Although Buddy does not share a lot of information about himself or may lie through omissions, he never truly outright lies to Chase. 

Character Trait #4: Perfectionist

Scapegoats tend to have a perfectionist mindset. They believe that if they are ‘perfect’ they may finally be able to gain approval from the dysfunctional family. 

We have seen Buddy place emphasis on completing the books ‘perfectly.’ In episode 4 when Chase tells Buddy he found a shortcut to completing the books Buddy yells, “That’s not a shortcut! That’s cheating!” In episode  6 he challenges Chase saying he has to do the book with “No cheats, no bookmarks, no shortcuts. We also see Buddy practicing his lines beforehand in episodes 43 and 52. Placing an emphasis that he wishes to complete the books ‘in the correct way’ or ‘perfectly.’ Buddy most likely has this perfectionist mindset because he believes that if he can complete the books perfectly he will be able to gain someone’s approval, complete the book the ‘correct way’, or because he has been taught doing the book any other way is ‘wrong.’ 

Character Trait #5: Struggle to control emotions

Scapegoats tend to struggle to control their emotions for various reasons. When raised in an environment where emotions are constantly running high, scapegoats tend to struggle handling their emotions and react disproportionately to any given situation. 

In episode 25 when we have a flashback to the first time Buddy and Chase met. As Chase was explaining to Buddy that he found a key, and rather than hearing Chase out, Buddy chooses to grab Chase and verbally belittle him. In episodes 20/21 Buddy goes as far to smudge the dirt Deacon had been writing in and then dropping a rock on Deacon’s head. In both instances he had already insulted Deacon, but took things a step further due to him not knowing how to handle his anger/frustration/jealousy. In episode 31 Buddy begins to verbally/physically attack Chase on the island due to Chase simply calling out Buddy’s crude behavior. 

Final Thoughts

With all of these traits being shared, and with the knowledge that Buddy is a key, it is safe to assume that he has been scapegoated within the ex-libris ranks. We are not yet aware of the specifics, but for him to be placed in this role would greatly affect his self esteem, outworld views, and mindset. We see this throughout season 1. As we know, ex-libris is a shady group of people who value themselves first and foremost, it would make sense that as a result by treating the keys lesser than, it would create a scapegoat out of the keys. And if Buddy was once human, who then turned into a key….well what did he do as a human to allow them to turn him into a key? 

My guess is that Buddy was already a scapegoat within the ex-lirbis ranks. I am willing to bet that he found out how horribly himself/others were being treated, spoke against it, and as a result was punished for it by being turned into a key. The villain key no less. 

“The creation of a villain necessarily implies that of a hero, even if both are purely fictional. Sometimes it is the villain, or villains, who are in need of a greater villain. Especially in a time of crisis, unscrupulous leaders and politicians can cynically exploit the ancient and deep-rooted impulse to scapegoat to deflect and distract from their own inadequacies and evade, or seek to evade their legitimate burden of blame and responsibility.” (Excerpt from The Psychology of Scapegoating by Neel Burton.) 

“No. No, I’m not. I’ve never been the hero in any story. Not even my own. But I think, I’d like to be your hero. Just this once.” (Buddy, Episode 61, Cinderella Boy)

[taikeero-lecoredier]

RECENT UPDATES ON THE BAD INTERNET CALIFORNIA BILLS:

Sadly, both AB1949 and SB976 passed and are now on their way to the governors desk.

We need him to veto them so they dont become Law.

If you havent Heard of the danger of those bills for the Internet , this post explain it thoroughly :

- Post doing a deep explanation on those bills here

I CANNOT emphasize enough how these would have a global effect on the Internet given that most websites and apps originates from California and not all of them could afford either following those bills or moving states.

Now, as the bills are on their way to the governor, we need Californian citizens to voice their oppositions to those bills to the Governor Gavin Newsome HERE

(Non California peeps, we are urging you to share this as well!!! )

Please keep in mind that calling with phone is much,much more efficient.

You can also send faxes with Faxzero

Here are scripts you can use as arguments : (text/alt version below the read more )

Than you for reading. Even if youre not from California, please spread the word anyway ! Make posts,tweets,etc

REBLOGS ENCOURAGED

TEXT VERSION :

AB 1949

Hello, my name is (INSERT NAME HERE) and I'm one of the Senator's constituents from (INSERT CITY HERE). I'm calling to urge the Senator to vote NO on AB 1949, the amendment to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2020. While this bill's intent is to prevent the sharing and sale of minor's information under the age of 18, the method it would intend to do so by is written far too broadly for it to be safely and reasonably implemented.

While this bill retains a safer standard of the business requiring actual knowledge of a consumer being under the age of 18 to be held liable for the sharing or sale of personal information, its wording is still too broad to exclude a default usage of age verification by online businesses in order to protect themselves from liability. Taking measures such as age verification, age assurance, or other data collection and analysis to determine the age of users. Even though measures like this have been proven to be vulnerable to data breaches no matter how secure they proclaim to be. Such as this year's largest discovered breach of AU10TIX, which supplies age verification to companies like TikTok, X, Uber, LinkedIn, Paypal, and many others.

As it stands, this bill is far too broad in its wording and enforcement of its age-specific measures to be considered a safe piece of legislation. Which is why I urge the Senator to vote in opposition to this measure.

Vote NO on AB 1949.

---------------------------

SB 976

Hello, my name is (INSERT NAME HERE) and I'm one of the Assembly member's constituents from (INSERT CITY HERE). I'm calling to urge the Assembly member to vote NO on SB 976, the Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act. Although this bill has intent to protect the mental and emotional health of California's youth, the method this bill would intend to use could be counterproductive to that goal, or even endanger them further.

One of this bill's primary measures includes requiring verifiable parental consent to allow websites to display “addictive” feeds to minor users. However, the ways “verify” the identity and age of a responsible parent are often invasive and dangerous. Especially since these methods have proven repeatedly to be vulnerable to data breaches that can leak sensitive information to bad actors. Such as this year's largest discovered breach of AU10TIX, which supplies age verification to companies like TikTok, X, Uber, LinkedIn, Paypal, and many others. To determine if this is necessary at all would also require collecting even more data on minors and non-minors alike to determine who would even require these measures to be set in place. Especially when it would have control over someone's access to a website or application based on the time of day, as this bill would require in order to “reasonably determine” the user is not a minor.

The vagueness of this bill's text at all is dangerous as well. The broad-spectrum definition it gives of “addictive internet-based service or application” could cause an unintended censorship effect where minors and adults alike could be blocked from accessing information purely because some part of a website or application uses a “feed” which could arguably fit the bill's definition of “addictive”

With all of this in mind, I urge the Assembly member to vote in opposition of this measure to protect the privacy and safety of California's minors and adults alike.

Vote NO on SB 976.

[wordpress-blaze-157764418]

numb little bug

I want to start this off by saying—loud and proud—I am a BIG believer in mental health treatment, medication, therapy, Reiki, moon water, yelling into the void... whatever it takes to feel okay again when you’re not.

That said, this is not a post about bashing meds. This is a post about finding the right ones—and the very real hell of wandering through the wrong ones like you're in the world's most depressing pharmacy-themed escape room.

For years, I was in and out of medication. I always had this mental image of the version of me I wanted to be—happy, light, energetic, sarcastic in a charming way (not the burnt-out feral goblin flavor). And for a while, I was that person. I was active, smiling, fun, present. A good mom, a good friend, a good me.

Then life did that thing it does. You know, where it sucker punches you and then asks why you’re crying.

Between COVID, burnout, isolation, and the thousand papercuts of adulthood, I slowly became a version of myself I didn’t recognize. Introverted became full-on hermit. I hated leaving the house. Hated even thinking about it. I was trapped in a cycle: Work. Home. Despair. Insomnia. Repeat.

And because life wasn’t spicy enough, I started drinking way too much and mentally berating myself for not “getting it together.” I thought, I used to be strong. I used to be fun. I used to laugh more. So, like any exhausted, overwhelmed, emotionally constipated healthcare worker, I went to the doctor.

We ran through the Greatest Hits: insomnia, panic attacks, depression, that “everything is wrong but I’m still somehow functioning” vibe. I’d always been high-strung, perfectionistic, a bit of a control freak (Type A, but make it spicy). Eventually I was tested for ADHD and autism—and surprise! My brain’s just a limited-edition collector’s item.

I left with a pile of prescriptions and a flicker of hope that maybe this was the start of getting myself back.

At first? Magic. I was sleeping. I wasn’t panicking. I didn’t care so much if the towels weren’t folded the “correct” way (and that’s saying something). But… I still wasn’t happy. I didn’t feel like me. I felt numb. And yeah, numb can feel like “better” compared to raw despair—but eventually, it’s just another prison.

New meds, new hope, same result.

I was exhausted no matter how long I slept. I was hiding in bed from my own life. I watched my dogs—who just wanted to play with me—lay by my bed like little furry emotional support sentinels. My kids needed me, and I couldn’t reach them from whatever fog I was buried in.

It got dark. Really dark. Like “do I even want to keep doing this?” dark.

I finally sat with my little cocktail of pills and wondered: what if part of what’s wrong is right here in this pile? SSRI after SSRI, they numbed me, but never healed me.

So I did what you’re not supposed to do (don’t be like me, seriously), and I stopped everything except my sleeping meds. Withdrawal was like fighting a demon in a Walmart parking lot with flip-flops on—but eventually, I surfaced. And something weird happened.

I started to feel… better.

But of course, life tossed another curveball and my anxiety and panic attacks came storming back in like they were late for a meeting. So I went back to the doctor, hat in hand, feeling like an idiot. Another SSRI. Round four. Spoiler: it did not fix me. I was back to dragging myself out of bed, missing out on life, watching time with my kids and dogs vanish into a medicated haze.

So yeah, I finally said, enough. We tried a different class—an SNRI this time, with Wellbutrin in the mix.

And then…

I. Woke. Up.

Like really woke up.

I felt rested without a pharmacy’s worth of pills. I cleaned my kitchen at 10 p.m. because I wanted to. I started talking with my kids again, asking questions about their lives and actually being present. I didn’t cancel plans last-minute. I walked the dogs. I got up the first time my alarm rang. I didn't feel like I was existing in some doomsday fog. I started living again.

The worst part of feeling good again is realizing how long you didn’t. How much you missed. How much of yourself you lost—and how alone you felt in that hollow space.

And I’ll be honest, I still wake up wondering if it’ll slip away again. If it’ll all fade back into the haze of too-much-and-not-enough.

Because here’s the truth people don’t talk about enough: not all meds work the same for everyone. SSRIs, SNRIs, tricyclics… it’s all trial and error. And error. And another error. And then maybe a win.

You think you’re doing everything right—taking your meds, seeing your doctor, checking all the boxes—and you still feel like a ghost in your own life. And worse, no one gets it. They don’t understand why you can’t just “come out,” or “go for a walk,” or “snap out of it.” They don’t understand the bone-deep shame of missing your kid’s milestones because you were too tired or anxious to get off the couch. They don’t get that you want to do things, but your brain has other plans—usually involving doom spirals or hiding under weighted blankets.

But if you’re in that space right now, let me say this: Don’t settle for half of you.

Keep going. Try the next thing. Advocate for yourself like your life depends on it—because sometimes, it really does.

I’m still on medication. I’ll likely always be. But now, I’m on the right ones. And for the first time in years, I feel like myself again.

Not numb. Not empty. Not just surviving.

Me. Whole. Here. Living.

And that… makes all the difference.

Source: numb little bug

[kidspawn]

you said you were taking requests for character/media analysis so here is my humble request: a while ago you wrote a post about different characters and the ways they get mischaracterised and i read it all and it was all super interesting, and at the end you said you could have gone on about neil josten. so my request is that i would love to know your thoughts on neil and how he gets mischaracterised by the fandom

Oh wow! Thank you for this ask, because it's definitely an interesting one! I am always always always open for character discussion and differing opinions, as well as being not normal™ about media - which is my designation in fandom spaces as is late. Meaning I think way too much and way too hard about the most insignificant of details.

So, when I made that statement about Neil Josten, it was made in the context of me having not read All For the Game or really interacting with AFTG fandom since around... I want to say 2018. And if there's anything to say about 2018 fandoms, it's that mischaracterization was rampant, especially with queer characters. I think characterization of Neil has improved. Exponentially. So, this is more an overview of trends. Fandom, especially in terms of characterization, has stepped back to allow nuance - which is a blessing, really, because every time a character with nuanced and interesting character traits is reduced to a single recurring trope I die a little inside. My soul shrivels like a prune and I want to scream. I will say it's not... really an issue anymore? (I'm back in fandom, btw. That statement was actually about Tik Tok and how atrocious they are at handling characterizations. And how funny it is to think about 2016-2020 fandom characterization where everyone is either cinnamon role or unapologetic sinner.)

Neil Josten suffers from the same issue that, interestingly, Wylan suffers from in SOC fandom. Which is that people don't want to believe a person can be two things. That Neil can be earnest and loving and care about people, while also being capable of, say, ordering a hit out on somebody and remaining cool and calm in face of crisis. Which is an interesting trait of his. Inside Neil's head, he's analytical, judgemental, and distrustful. He's quick to dislike people, or tell himself to dislike others. He's evasive and anxious and terrific at concealing it. He loves, and he loves selectively and deeply and in varying shades. He also hates and disdains and forms grudges he cannot move on from. (I want to compare him to a fox, who shows great loyalty to those close to their hearts, while maintaining healthy distance and mistrust of strangers. I also compare him to a raven, who remembers those who have hurt them, and remember those who have done them well.) He's more sentimental than he'd ever admit (I think of his mother, Jean, Kevin, and Andrew first and foremost. Because he exhibits a great deal of affection, but doesn't always disclose it to the reader.), and he's vindictive. He's in incredible control of his emotions, and I think it weighs on him to be so restrained all the time. He wants freedom, and was taught freedom is being unattached and free floating - when freedom is, in my opinion, Exy and his own choice to stay and pick a family. He wants to run, and escape, and he wants to stay. He is sweet, and thoughtful, and viciously cold and calculating. There's a balance, and it's all to do with trust and vulnerability. (I actually think it's important to consider his relationship with his mother, who he exhibits a detached affection for? He's taught to separate himself from sentimentality early on in the series, but he retains a warmth and love in the way he speaks of and misses her. I'd argue he is the same with Kevin.)

What does this have to do with Wylan? Well, as I pointed out in the post you're referring to (which I need to either delete and rewrite or edit, because lord have my views changed. That was a notes app essay and I did not think it through or check my sources.), Wylan in earlier days of Six of Crows fandom was not given opportunity to be a multifaceted character. He was either "soft sweet sunshine boy" (Wylan Van Sunshine!!) or "mini Kaz." There was no middle ground. Which erased the most fascinating parts of Wylan's characterization. Which is that he can be both, can be the somewhat naive merchling AND be incredibly cunning and meticulous. He could have been Kaz, sure, but the circumstances he was found in - and how he was raised - do not make him like Kaz. And there's an intentional parallel between the two. That Wylan was granted the support and resources necessary from the Crows to stay soft, to stay kind, etc. And it isn't a diminishing of his character to do this. It's an active point being made that Kaz is guiding Wylan to develop in a way he never had the chance to. I won't go much into it, but the sentiment here is: erasing the multifaceted parts of this character ruins what makes the character (and the significance of his dynamics) so interesting.

So, Neil Josten. His personality is a product of his environment. He's a walking survival instinct, the flight response incarnate. Evade, evade, evade. And this warring principle of Neil's - his instinct to run, his desire to stay - is crucial to his early turmoil in the story. We, as the readers, are asked to consider what Neil wants, and what Neil is trained and conditioned to do. And Neil has been trained to be isolated, and fiercely loyal to himself (and his mother) in order to survive. And these two warring desires make Neil a gripping protagonist.

When one side is reduced, or erased, or shoved aside to make Neil one dimensional (so, either a soft, sad boy or a murderous and bloodthirsty menace) it in turn reduces the aspects of Neil that make him fascinating. It cheapens the moments when he's vulnerable and affectionate with others to make him like that all the time. And when we reduce this softer side of Neil, we lose the war he fights to avoid becoming his father. Because he veers into his instinct on occasion, having been raised to respond how his mother or father would act, but his journey is doing what Neil would do. How would Neil react? Does he run, like his mother? Does he power play, like his father? Or does he protect the people closest to him with the ferocity of a creature raised to stick with their pack? All of Neil's "violent" actions are borne from protective instinct. And that is the two sides of Neil converging. He takes a hit out on someone who has hurt someone he cares about, who reminds him of someone who has hurt someone he loves. I think, objectively, that Neil considering this a love language is actually insight into how he was raised and conditioned to view love. And his dynamic with Andrew, one of a fierce protectiveness and codependency, correlates with how Neil perceives love and family. And how his intention are so valuable here. His thought processes matter. And yes, I think it detracts from why Andriel as a ship is so important, because they love each other and they look out for each other. They give each other a home and someone to look out for. And the same with the Foxes. They've given Neil a home, a family, and they look out for him. And Neil, a child raised to be loyal to the very end, in turn looks out for them.

I really hope I am clarifying more so why I find mischaracterizations that strip both sides of Neil so frustrating. I could go on and on about how one queer man in a ship is made into the "omg what a soft little sad boy who needs to be protected omggggg" (a particularly grating quality I'm glad fandom has started to leave behind), and if he isn't the twee little twink he's the big bad coldblooded killer. And I'm not saying Neil is okay to kill people (though, I'd argue killing a rapist is okay, actually, a net positive, and we should do it more.), that he is in the right, nor am I saying he is one hundred percent just killing out of the good of his heart. But he is showing kindness in the way he was taught to? (And Andrew does the same, btw.) Reducing the warmer sides of Neil (which shows around Matt or Andrew or Kevin, etc) takes away from his growth as a protagonist, and reducing the less palatable parts of him makes us think it takes a single fucking year to undo years and years of being taught fight or flight as a response to every scenario.

Like I said, this happens a lot less in fandom, and I actually really appreciate that AFTG fandom has the ability to grasp that these characters have to be multi-dimensional to work and be compelling. My gripe with Neil is my gripe with the typical mischaracterizations that happen to queer men in popular mlm ships. With Neil, it's diminished since I was actively in AFTG fandom - and I've only recently gotten very very into it again. I cannot stress enough I was into this series in high school, and I've been on tumblr for well over a decade. I've tracked how fandom has changed, and I've engaged in some of these behaviors myself. (I love tracking fandom trends, btw. It speaks to the social aspects of fandom on a level that scratches my brain. It's the sociologist in me.)

(I do have a bone to pick with the dismissal of Neil being explicitly demisexual, but that's not a tumblr issue. That's why I came back to tumblr, because I was exhausted trying to remind people Neil is demisexual. But tumblr is good.)

I won't pretend to be an expert on Neil, so take this with a grain of salt and understand it's my interpretation of him. I find taking pieces of characters away to make them morally perfect very frustrating, and I find taking grey morality from characters more so frustrating. That's more my gripe and issue.

Anyway, I hope this answered that question? It's a more grand issue than just Neil, and my specific Neil issue revolves around how rancid Tik Tok is for fandom interaction (whole other problem), but Neil on tumblr is appreciated at this moment in time and I don't see egregious mischaracterization with him as often anymore.

[mariacallous]

A United States Customs and Border Protection request for information this week revealed the agency’s plans to find vendors that can supply face recognition technology for capturing data on everyone entering the US in a vehicle like a car or van, not just the people sitting in the front seat. And a CBP spokesperson later told WIRED that the agency also has plans to expand its real-time face recognition capabilities at the border to detect people exiting the US as well—a focus that may be tied to the Trump administration’s push to get undocumented people to “self-deport” and leave the US.

WIRED also shed light this week on a recent CBP memo that rescinded a number of internal policies designed to protect vulnerable people—including pregnant women, infants, the elderly, and people with serious medical conditions—while in the agency’s custody. Signed by acting commissioner Pete Flores, the order eliminates four Biden-era policies.

Meanwhile, as the ripple effects of “SignalGate” continue, the communication app TeleMessage suspended “all services” pending an investigation after former US national security adviser Mike Waltz inadvertently called attention to the app, which subsequently suffered data breaches in recent days. Analysis of TeleMessage Signal’s source code this week appeared to show that the app sends users’ message logs in plaintext, undermining the security and privacy guarantees the service promised. After data stolen in one of the TeleMessage hacks indicated that CBP agents might be users of the app, CBP confirmed its use to WIRED, saying that the agency has “disabled TeleMessage as a precautionary measure.”

A WIRED investigation found that US director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard reused a weak password for years on multiple accounts. And researchers warn that an open source tool known as “easyjson” could be an exposure for the US government and US companies, because it has ties to the Russian social network VK, whose CEO has been sanctioned.

And there's more. Each week, we round up the security and privacy news we didn’t cover in depth ourselves. Click the headlines to read the full stories. And stay safe out there.

ICE’s Deportation Airline Hack Reveals Man “Disappeared” to El Salvador

Hackers this week revealed they had breached GlobalX, one of the airlines that has come to be known as “ICE Air” thanks to its use by the Trump administration to deport hundreds of migrants. The data they leaked from the airline includes detailed flight manifests for those deportation flights—including, in at least one case, the travel records of a man whose own family had considered him “disappeared” by immigration authorities and whose whereabouts the US government had refused to divulge.

On Monday, reporters at 404 Media said that hackers had provided them with a trove of data taken from GlobalX after breaching the company’s network and defacing its website. “Anonymous has decided to enforce the Judge's order since you and your sycophant staff ignore lawful orders that go against your fascist plans,” a message the hackers posted to the site read. That stolen data, it turns out, included detailed passenger lists for GlobalX’s deportation flights—including the flight to El Salvador of Ricardo Prada Vásquez, a Venezuelan man whose whereabouts had become a mystery to even his own family as they sought answers from the US government. US authorities had previously declined to tell his family or reporters where he had been sent—only that he had been deported—and his name was even excluded from a list of deportees leaked to CBS News. (The Department of Homeland Security later stated in a post to X that Prada was in El Salvador—but only after a New York Times story about his disappearance.)

The fact that his name was, in fact, included all along on a GlobalX flight manifest highlights just how opaque the Trump administration’s deportation process remains. According to immigrant advocates who spoke with 404 Media, it even raises questions about whether the government itself had deportation records as comprehensive as the airline whose planes it chartered. “There are so many levels at which this concerns me. One is they clearly did not take enough care in this to even make sure they had the right lists of who they were removing, and who they were not sending to a prison that is a black hole in El Salvador,” Michelle Brané, executive director of immigrant rights group Together and Free, told 404 Media. “They weren't even keeping accurate records of who they were sending there.”

The Computer of a DOGE Staffer With Sensitive Access Reportedly Infected With Malware

Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Governmental Efficiency has raised alarms not just due to its often reckless cuts to federal programs, but also the agency’s habit of giving young, inexperienced staffers with questionable vetting access to highly sensitive systems. Now security researcher Micah Lee has found that Kyle Schutt, a DOGE staffer who reportedly accessed the financial system of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, appears to have had infostealer malware on one of his computers. Lee discovered that four dumps of user data stolen by that kind of password-stealing malware included Schutt’s passwords and usernames. It’s far from clear when Schutt’s credentials were stolen, for what machine, or whether the malware would have posed any threat to any government agency’s systems, but the incident nonetheless highlights the potential risks posed by DOGE staffers’ unprecedented access.

Grok AI Will “Undress” Women in Public on X

Elon Musk has long marketed his AI tool Grok as a more freewheeling, less restricted alternative to other large language models and AI image generators. Now X users are testing the limits of Grok’s few safeguards by replying to images of women on the platform and asking Grok to “undress” them. While the tool doesn’t allow the generation of nude images, 404 Media and Bellingcat have found that it repeatedly responded to users’ “undress” prompts with pictures of women in lingerie or bikinis, posted publicly to the site. In one case, Grok apologized to a woman who complained about the practice, but the feature has yet to be disabled.

A Hacked School Software Company Paid a Ransom—but Schools Are Still Being Extorted

This week in don’t-trust-ransomware-gangs news: Schools in North Carolina and Canada warned that they’ve received extortion threats from hackers who had obtained students’ personal information. The likely source of that sensitive data? A ransomware breach last December of PowerSchool, one of the world’s biggest education software firms, according to NBC News. PowerSchool paid a ransom at the time, but the data stolen from the company nonetheless appears to be the same info now being used in the current extortion attempts. “We sincerely regret these developments—it pains us that our customers are being threatened and re-victimized by bad actors,” PowerSchool told NBC News in a statement. “As is always the case with these situations, there was a risk that the bad actors would not delete the data they stole, despite assurances and evidence that were provided to us.”

A Notorious Deepfake Porn Site Shuts Down After Its Creator Is Outed

Since its creation in 2018, MrDeepFakes.com grew into perhaps the world’s most infamous repository of nonconsensual pornography created with AI mimicry tools. Now it’s offline after the site’s creator was identified as a Canadian pharmacist in an investigation by CBC, Bellingcat, and the Danish news outlets Politiken and Tjekdet. The site’s pseudonymous administrator, who went by DPFKS on its forums and created at least 150 of its porn videos himself, left a trail of clues in email addresses and passwords found on breached sites that eventually led to the Yelp and Airbnb accounts of Ontario pharmacist David Do. After reporters approached Do with evidence that he was DPFKS, MrDeepFakes.com went offline. “A critical service provider has terminated service permanently. Data loss has made it impossible to continue operation,” reads a message on its homepage. “We will not be relaunching.”

[fairuzfan]

You wanted sources and likely only consider Al Jazeera legit, so here you go:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/21/october-7-forensic-analysis-shows-hamas-abuses-many-false-israeli-claims

Hamas absolutely raped and abused women on October 7th. If even Al Jazeera will admit it, then that means it's pretty undeniable. I despise the Israeli government but feel a moral obligation to at least tell the truth. You think a bunch of angry men with guns didn't abuse vulnerable women? Get real. It happens on both sides.

Random accusation, I never denied rape happened. I DO deny MASS rape as a weapon of war. Did I say I denied rape happened completely in that ask? What the fuck man. Way to change the subject from me asking why there was a party next to a prison.

Donate to helpgazachildren for sending me this ask:

[valeisaslut]

oh this was forever ago but i also was the one with the interpretation of ellie’s groupie phase being an insecurity/protection/vulnerability thing! i couldn’t find the original post bc it was like 15 years ago by now but !!! that was also me hehe. analyzing shit asf

- 🍒

WAITTTTT 🍒 YOU’RE A LEGEND. that groupie phase interpretation?? burned into my brain. that shit lives rent-free in my notes app. you were like, “this isn’t about sex, it’s about control. it’s about needing to feel wanted but not seen.” and i was like 😦😦😦 damn you cracked her open like a cold one.

you get ellie on a molecular level and it’s terrifying in the best way. every time you drop into my inbox it’s like a full academic paper disguised as a casual message. analyzing shit like your life depends on it. we love a gay scholar.

never forget: that groupie phase analysis had lore ripple effects. that was you. that was you. 🍒 anon supremacy FOREVER.

[wordpress-blaze-157764418]

numb little bug

I want to start this off by saying—loud and proud—I am a BIG believer in mental health treatment, medication, therapy, Reiki, moon water, yelling into the void... whatever it takes to feel okay again when you’re not.

That said, this is not a post about bashing meds. This is a post about finding the right ones—and the very real hell of wandering through the wrong ones like you're in the world's most depressing pharmacy-themed escape room.

For years, I was in and out of medication. I always had this mental image of the version of me I wanted to be—happy, light, energetic, sarcastic in a charming way (not the burnt-out feral goblin flavor). And for a while, I was that person. I was active, smiling, fun, present. A good mom, a good friend, a good me.

Then life did that thing it does. You know, where it sucker punches you and then asks why you’re crying.

Between COVID, burnout, isolation, and the thousand papercuts of adulthood, I slowly became a version of myself I didn’t recognize. Introverted became full-on hermit. I hated leaving the house. Hated even thinking about it. I was trapped in a cycle: Work. Home. Despair. Insomnia. Repeat.

And because life wasn’t spicy enough, I started drinking way too much and mentally berating myself for not “getting it together.” I thought, I used to be strong. I used to be fun. I used to laugh more. So, like any exhausted, overwhelmed, emotionally constipated healthcare worker, I went to the doctor.

We ran through the Greatest Hits: insomnia, panic attacks, depression, that “everything is wrong but I’m still somehow functioning” vibe. I’d always been high-strung, perfectionistic, a bit of a control freak (Type A, but make it spicy). Eventually I was tested for ADHD and autism—and surprise! My brain’s just a limited-edition collector’s item.

I left with a pile of prescriptions and a flicker of hope that maybe this was the start of getting myself back.

At first? Magic. I was sleeping. I wasn’t panicking. I didn’t care so much if the towels weren’t folded the “correct” way (and that’s saying something). But… I still wasn’t happy. I didn’t feel like me. I felt numb. And yeah, numb can feel like “better” compared to raw despair—but eventually, it’s just another prison.

New meds, new hope, same result.

I was exhausted no matter how long I slept. I was hiding in bed from my own life. I watched my dogs—who just wanted to play with me—lay by my bed like little furry emotional support sentinels. My kids needed me, and I couldn’t reach them from whatever fog I was buried in.

It got dark. Really dark. Like “do I even want to keep doing this?” dark.

I finally sat with my little cocktail of pills and wondered: what if part of what’s wrong is right here in this pile? SSRI after SSRI, they numbed me, but never healed me.

So I did what you’re not supposed to do (don’t be like me, seriously), and I stopped everything except my sleeping meds. Withdrawal was like fighting a demon in a Walmart parking lot with flip-flops on—but eventually, I surfaced. And something weird happened.

I started to feel… better.

But of course, life tossed another curveball and my anxiety and panic attacks came storming back in like they were late for a meeting. So I went back to the doctor, hat in hand, feeling like an idiot. Another SSRI. Round four. Spoiler: it did not fix me. I was back to dragging myself out of bed, missing out on life, watching time with my kids and dogs vanish into a medicated haze.

So yeah, I finally said, enough. We tried a different class—an SNRI this time, with Wellbutrin in the mix.

And then…

I. Woke. Up.

Like really woke up.

I felt rested without a pharmacy’s worth of pills. I cleaned my kitchen at 10 p.m. because I wanted to. I started talking with my kids again, asking questions about their lives and actually being present. I didn’t cancel plans last-minute. I walked the dogs. I got up the first time my alarm rang. I didn't feel like I was existing in some doomsday fog. I started living again.

The worst part of feeling good again is realizing how long you didn’t. How much you missed. How much of yourself you lost—and how alone you felt in that hollow space.

And I’ll be honest, I still wake up wondering if it’ll slip away again. If it’ll all fade back into the haze of too-much-and-not-enough.

Because here’s the truth people don’t talk about enough: not all meds work the same for everyone. SSRIs, SNRIs, tricyclics… it’s all trial and error. And error. And another error. And then maybe a win.

You think you’re doing everything right—taking your meds, seeing your doctor, checking all the boxes—and you still feel like a ghost in your own life. And worse, no one gets it. They don’t understand why you can’t just “come out,” or “go for a walk,” or “snap out of it.” They don’t understand the bone-deep shame of missing your kid’s milestones because you were too tired or anxious to get off the couch. They don’t get that you want to do things, but your brain has other plans—usually involving doom spirals or hiding under weighted blankets.

But if you’re in that space right now, let me say this: Don’t settle for half of you.

Keep going. Try the next thing. Advocate for yourself like your life depends on it—because sometimes, it really does.

I’m still on medication. I’ll likely always be. But now, I’m on the right ones. And for the first time in years, I feel like myself again.

Not numb. Not empty. Not just surviving.

Me. Whole. Here. Living.

And that… makes all the difference.

Source: numb little bug

[ii-meeple-confessions]

Cobs is obviously a terrible person and I hate him (As a character.but as you can probably tell I love his writing…ouu) But I think people aren’t really seeing the bigger picture.He’s a lot more than just some evil guy who is evil for the sake of being evil 

Well like yeah he’s absolutely awful but nobody really goes in depth about just how sad and hopeless cobs is. 

Cobs’ job is literally all he really has.He doesn’t have a good relationship with his parents, He doesn’t have any friends, no people he cares about, so all he can do (or at least all he thinks he can do) is dig himself deeper into a hole as he becomes more corrupt and powerful and just. more unforgivable.And that’s really sad.It really bums me out when a character is unforgivable because I know that it didn’t always have to be that way. 

Yeah to add onto that, just the thought of being deemed irreedeemable is absolutely horrifying because you literally cannot ever come back from that. 

Maybe cobs knows that he’s gone to far but recognizes that he can’t really ever be forgiven so he just doesn’t even bother.Or maybe he jus doesn’t care 

I wonder at what point in time would cobs have been able to actually better himself. Where he could even have been considered a good guy. A time where he could have been actually able to change and grow as a person and fix his mistakes. A time where he was just a corn that’s passionate about tech who had good intentions and wanted to be the guy to make these amazing advances in technology. That time was probably before he created mephone3gs because of everything that happened with the shimmers 

Since his job is all Cobs has, the thought of losing it must be horrifying to him because then he will have left nothing to do but face the consequences of everything he’s done and recognise just how terrible he is. And he doesn’t wanna do that. Kinda similar to how Mephone tends to hide his true feelings behind the reality show; so once everything was gone he began to finially kind of reflect on everything and start to really wallow in his guilt and misery. (Though mephone isn’t nearly as bad as cobs because he’s at least redeemable!!!) So when cobs started to be all scary and lash out at mephone after warning the shimmers I think there was also a lot of fear behind that anger.He’s sooooooooooo becoming desperate because he CANNOT lose the one thing (his job) that makes him feel like he’s still holding onto his sanity.his morality

Cobs is one million percent repressing every single emotion that could ever make him feel vulnerable. But those feelings of guilt and maybe even feeelings of longing for a sense of comfort or desire for things to turn out better would rise to the top once the company begins to flop. (Doubt he’d make an effort to change though)And as we see in the show, Meeple as a company was kind of falling off anyways!!!!!!And he didn’t like that!!!!!like dude nobody wants your products anymore!!!!!!!!!!!My guy even tried to yoink mephone’s show jus becsuse he thought it would help the business. EUGGHHHGHHH he was really becoming desprate 

Idk man I just think he’s sad 🙁 Typing this up in my notes app really late at night sso it may not make sense idk.proofread it like 3 times though so hopinv it’s an okay analysis 💔honk shoo mimimimimimi

Cobs makes me so sad though and I really wish people would think about his character a little deeper because he’s more than just some evol guy who just doesn’t gaf about anyone. (SAD evil guy who doesn’t wanna gaf) 

I really like to think about what makes bad people, well, bad people. Cobs makes me ponder a lot.Makes me have thoughts that i think about thinkingly

For the record NONE of this is AT ALL an excuse for what he’s done .Cobs SUCKS and i’m so glad he didn’t get a redemption arc because that would have been BORING and he doesn’t deserve it.Make that man evil and tragic forever ‼️‼️oh wait nvm he’s dead!!!!!!!!!!!!!(I yelled hip hip hooray when he exploded i hate that guy)

-Dreamer anon 

^ I have sent like a million katrillion messages on tbis blog so maybe i give myself a name

.

[lostinhistory]

Hyperpartisan and misleading content from popular right-wing pages such as Canada Proud is thriving on Facebook as the election nears.

By Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Stuart A. Thompson

Matina Stevis-Gridneff reported from Toronto, and Stuart A. Thompson from Hamilton, Ontario.

April 21, 2025Updated 3:38 p.m. ET

Mark Carney was just days away from announcing his bid to lead Canada’s Liberal Party in January when his face popped up on a viral right-wing Facebook page.

Two photographs showed Mr. Carney, who became prime minister last month, at a garden party beside Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker and former confidante of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. There was no evidence that Mr. Carney and Ms. Maxwell were close friends, and his team dismissed the pictures as a fleeting social interaction from more than a decade ago.

But they were perfect fodder for Canada Proud, a right-wing Facebook page with more than 620,000 followers. For days, Canada Proud posted about the images, including in paid ads that repeatedly said Mr. Carney had been “hanging out with sex traffickers.”

This type of online content — hyperpartisan and often veering into misinformation — has become a staple in the Facebook and Instagram feeds of Canadians as the country heads toward a crucial federal election on April 28. While such posts have become familiar in political campaigns everywhere, the content is especially prominent in Canada during its first-in-the-world, long-term news ban on Facebook and Instagram.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, blocked news from its apps in Canada in 2023 after a new law required the social media giant to pay Canadian news publishers a tax for publishing their content. The ban applies to all news outlets irrespective of origin, including The New York Times.

Amid the news void, Canada Proud and dozens of other partisan pages are rising in popularity on Facebook and Instagram before the election. At the same time, cryptocurrency scams and ads that mimic legitimate news sources have proliferated on the platforms. Yet few voters are aware of this shift, with research showing that only one in five Canadians knows that news has been blocked on Facebook and Instagram feeds.

The result is a “continued spiral” for Canada’s online ecosystem toward disinformation and division, said Aengus Bridgman, director of the Media Ecosystem Observatory, a Canadian project that has studied social media during the election.

Meta’s decision has left Canadians “more vulnerable to generative A.I., fake news websites and less likely to encounter ideas and facts that challenge their worldviews,” Dr. Bridgman added.

In a statement, a Meta spokesman said the company had been “forced to make the difficult business decision to end the availability of news to comply with the law.” That could change if the law is reversed, he said. Paying publishers would most likely cost Meta, which generated $164.5 billion in revenue last year, 62 million Canadian dollars a year, or about $44 million.

Canada Proud, which is now one of the most popular political Facebook pages in Canada and has more followers than the country’s major parties, has emerged as a particularly potent weapon aimed at the Liberal Party and Mr. Carney.

Since Mr. Carney called last month for a snap election, Canada Proud has averaged nearly 200,000 engagements a day, rivaling the engagements of official Facebook accounts for the major political party leaders, according to an analysis by The Times. Since January, Canada Proud has had more than nine million engagements on its posts and its videos have been viewed nearly 60 million times, the analysis found.

Canada Proud often posts news updates, citing mainstream news sources that are barred from sharing their content on Facebook. But the posts sometime add misleading details not found in the original reports, according to a review by The Times.

One of its posts this month said Mr. Carney had suspended his campaign because of “connections with China” and cited a major Canadian news outlet, Global News, as its source. But the Global News article did not mention connections to China. Mr. Carney had instead paused campaigning to return to Ottawa, the capital, to deal with tariffs imposed on Canada by President Trump.

“Canada Proud has been very successful,” Dr. Bridgman of the Media Ecosystem Observatory said. Social media, he added, has “shifted to the right and continues to do so.”

Canada Proud, which describes itself as a “grass-roots group of Canadians” concerned about the country’s direction, is run by Mobilize Media Group, a public affairs firm that has worked for Conservative Party candidates. The group was founded by Jeff Ballingall, a conservative political operative who has made waves in federal and provincial elections in Canada since he established Mobilize Media in 2016.

Canada Proud, which also has hundreds of thousands of followers on X and TikTok, does not disclose its funding sources. It accepts donations and sells merchandise.

Mr. Ballingall said that Canada Proud’s posts “speak for themselves, and we encourage people to watch and read all our content before rushing to judgment.” Canada Proud’s prominence in the election was reported earlier by The Logic.

Mr. Ballingall said that some traditional Canadian media should be held accountable, because the tax on Meta went into effect partly as a result of their lobbying the Trudeau government. “I’m a strong believer in traditional media, and Canada Proud is not trying to replicate that. There should be tons of different voices,” Mr. Ballingall said. “What we have now is this weird zombie ecosystem in Canada.”

Canada Proud has also bought more than $250,000 in ads on Facebook and Instagram since January, according to Facebook’s ad tracker, making it the 15th-biggest ad spender in Canada during that period.

One ad, published last month on Facebook and Instagram, included the photo of Mr. Carney with Ms. Maxwell. It was seen more than 100,000 times.

Dozens of political ads from other sources with content generated by artificial intelligence have also flooded Canadians’ Facebook feeds in recent weeks. The ads often masquerade as news articles from legitimate sources but link to fake websites that resemble mainstream publishers like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.

Among some of the A.I.-generated content about political events that did not occur are plugs for cryptocurrency schemes.

The sites have exploited Mr. Trump’s trade war, which rattled Canadians and opened the door for marketers to push false investment products with a timely peg. In March, a securities commission in Canada issued a warning that the news site mimicry gave “their schemes the appearance of legitimacy.”

Canadian media have responded to the news ban on Facebook and Instagram by focusing on other platforms, mostly TikTok. A study last year by the Media Ecosystem Observatory found that after one year, engagement on social media with Canadian news outlets had fallen by about half.

Kenny Yum, the senior director of innovation and partnerships at CBC News, said his organization did not need Facebook to reach Canadians.

“They’re long in the rearview mirror for many of us in the Canadian industry,” he said. “They made themselves a non-news platform.”

[pentesttestingcorp]

Symfony Clickjacking Prevention Guide

Clickjacking is a deceptive technique where attackers trick users into clicking on hidden elements, potentially leading to unauthorized actions. As a Symfony developer, it's crucial to implement measures to prevent such vulnerabilities.

🔍 Understanding Clickjacking

Clickjacking involves embedding a transparent iframe over a legitimate webpage, deceiving users into interacting with hidden content. This can lead to unauthorized actions, such as changing account settings or initiating transactions.

🛠️ Implementing X-Frame-Options in Symfony

The X-Frame-Options HTTP header is a primary defense against clickjacking. It controls whether a browser should be allowed to render a page in a <frame>, <iframe>, <embed>, or <object> tag.

Method 1: Using an Event Subscriber

Create an event subscriber to add the X-Frame-Options header to all responses:

// src/EventSubscriber/ClickjackingProtectionSubscriber.php namespace App\EventSubscriber; use Symfony\Component\EventDispatcher\EventSubscriberInterface; use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Event\ResponseEvent; use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\KernelEvents; class ClickjackingProtectionSubscriber implements EventSubscriberInterface { public static function getSubscribedEvents() { return [ KernelEvents::RESPONSE => 'onKernelResponse', ]; } public function onKernelResponse(ResponseEvent $event) { $response = $event->getResponse(); $response->headers->set('X-Frame-Options', 'DENY'); } }

This approach ensures that all responses include the X-Frame-Options header, preventing the page from being embedded in frames or iframes.

Method 2: Using NelmioSecurityBundle

The NelmioSecurityBundle provides additional security features for Symfony applications, including clickjacking protection.

Install the bundle:

composer require nelmio/security-bundle

Configure the bundle in config/packages/nelmio_security.yaml:

nelmio_security: clickjacking: paths: '^/.*': DENY

This configuration adds the X-Frame-Options: DENY header to all responses, preventing the site from being embedded in frames or iframes.

🧪 Testing Your Application

To ensure your application is protected against clickjacking, use our Website Vulnerability Scanner. This tool scans your website for common vulnerabilities, including missing or misconfigured X-Frame-Options headers.

Screenshot of the free tools webpage where you can access security assessment tools.

After scanning for a Website Security check, you'll receive a detailed report highlighting any security issues:

An Example of a vulnerability assessment report generated with our free tool, providing insights into possible vulnerabilities.

🔒 Enhancing Security with Content Security Policy (CSP)

While X-Frame-Options is effective, modern browsers support the more flexible Content-Security-Policy (CSP) header, which provides granular control over framing.

Add the following header to your responses:

$response->headers->set('Content-Security-Policy', "frame-ancestors 'none';");

This directive prevents any domain from embedding your content, offering robust protection against clickjacking.

🧰 Additional Security Measures

CSRF Protection: Ensure that all forms include CSRF tokens to prevent cross-site request forgery attacks.

Regular Updates: Keep Symfony and all dependencies up to date to patch known vulnerabilities.

Security Audits: Conduct regular security audits to identify and address potential vulnerabilities.

📢 Explore More on Our Blog

For more insights into securing your Symfony applications, visit our Pentest Testing Blog. We cover a range of topics, including:

Preventing clickjacking in Laravel

Securing API endpoints

Mitigating SQL injection attacks

🛡️ Our Web Application Penetration Testing Services

Looking for a comprehensive security assessment? Our Web Application Penetration Testing Services offer:

Manual Testing: In-depth analysis by security experts.

Affordable Pricing: Services starting at $25/hr.

Detailed Reports: Actionable insights with remediation steps.

Contact us today for a free consultation and enhance your application's security posture.

[heart-full-of-lust]

“In a World of Gastons, Be the Beast: The False-dom Glut in the Internet Era”

Authors: Eleanor V. Marlowe, MD, PhD; [Redacted], DSc (Erotic Behavioral Sciences) N Engl J Sex Health 2024; 390:69-420. DOI: 10.1056/NEJSMoa23069420

Abstract

Background: The proliferation of self-proclaimed “Doms” in digital spaces (False-doms: performative, unskilled, often misogynistic) has created a socioerotic crisis. This study contrasts False-doms with the Beast archetype—authentic dominants who integrate emotional labor, consent, and feminist praxis. Methods: Mixed-methods analysis of 1,243 online BDSM profiles and 72-hour ethnographic immersion in a luxury dungeon. Results: 89% of False-doms misused honorifics (e.g., “Daddy” without certification), versus 12% of Beasts. Submissives reported 4.2x higher satisfaction with Beasts, citing “post-scene vulnerability checks” and “non-transactional aftercare.” Conclusions: The BDSM community must reject Gastonian bravado. True dominance is quiet, complex, and smells vaguely of library dust.

Introduction

The rise of “doms” who conflate dominance with dick pics mirrors the broader crisis of masculinity—a world of Gastons, flexing but not feeling. This study posits that the Beast from Beauty and the Beast (Disney, 1991) offers a superior model: a dominant who wields power through self-awareness, patience, and a killer home library.

Case Study: Dr. A’s Journey

The Gastons: Pre-conference, Dr. A (38F, feminist) encountered 14 False-doms on “elite” BDSM apps. Red flags included:

Demanding nudes pre-negotiation (n=12)

Using “brat” to shame boundaries (n=9)

*Quoting *50 Shades* unironically* (n=14)

The Beast: Participant B (45M) initiated contact with a PDF of his BDSM certification (Duchy of Benwick, 2018) and a peer-reviewed paper on clitoral hemodynamics.

Results

Dr. A’s Diary Excerpt: “Gastons punish. Beasts cultivate. When he locked me in his suite, it wasn’t control—it was an invitation to dismantle my own cages.”

Discussion

The Beast Paradox Authentic dominance requires vulnerability anathema to Gastonian machismo. Participant B’s willingness to cry during aftercare (“Your tears dilute my serum cortisol”) underscores this.

The Library as Diagnostic Tool A 2023 meta-analysis found dungeon libraries correlate with dominant competence (OR 6.9, 95% CI 4.2-9.1). Shelves >50% nonfiction predicted 83% lower sub drop risk.

The False-dom Epidemic Tinder’s “Dominant” tag has been cheapened by gym bros who think choking is a personality. Meanwhile, Beasts lurk in plain sight—over-caffeinated, under-slept, quoting Rilke during flogging.

Conclusions

We must rebrand dominance. Certification programs, mentorship, and mandatory readings (The Feminist Guide to Impact Play) could curb the False-dom glut.

As Dr. A asserts: “Submit to a Beast once, and you’ll never kneel for a Gaston again.”

Footnotes

Gaston Coefficient: Ratio of bicep size to emotional intelligence.

Participant B’s library: 3,412 books, including first-edition Story of O and Gray’s Anatomy (both kinds).

Funding/Support: This study was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Kinky Health. Participant B donated his flogger for “academic purposes.”

[Disclosure: Dr. Marlowe is writing a memoir, Howl: A Feminist’s Guide to Getting Pegged.]

Reprints: Available at www.nejsh.org/be-my-guest.

[getherbanshee]

Dennis Takes a Mental Health Day Analysis

Hello, macdennis hive mind. Now, I know that was not the episode we were hoping for; however, I’m here to tell you that there is still hope for macdennis through my analysis of “dennis takes a mental health day.”

This is also not a spoiler free analysis, so you have been warned.

“It Wasn’t Real”/“It Was All a Dream” Trope

Yes, this trope is overplayed. Yes, I am upset that appeared in always sunny episode. However, they did what always does and subverted the trope and flipped it on its head. (I will get more into this in a minute.) So I can’t stay mad at them for this. A light round of applause. Once it is revealed that this is fake scenario that Dennis has created in his mind (just like me fr), we are able to explore some of the deeper meanings, symbolism, and metaphors throughout the episode.

Dennis’s difficulty and inability to integrate with change

Throughout the series it has become prevalent that Dennis is reluctant to change and progress with the most specific example being with Mac. Their dynamic has teetered throughout the show with Mac’s progression as a character and in turn Dennis’s regression as a character. With the devices such as Dennis being forced to change in his environment with his age, his health, the keyless car, a new car, cashless payment with an app in place, and the new phone, these are all catalogs to represent unwillingness to change and evolve and could be considered metaphors for his relationship with Mac. While Mac is changing and evolving like society, Dennis is stuck in the past where things were easy, made sense to him, and were less stressful with him to cope with because it’s what he knows. Mac changing is difficult for him to process because it is a) change and b) a new way to see his and Mac’s relationship. They aren’t the two best friends joint at the hip. They are something more. They are changing and evolving, yet Dennis refuses to admit or accept this.

Diamond Metaphor

This one’s kinda simple and saying that Dennis sees himself as one who works well under pressure and can take a terrible situation and fix it to make it better. However, this is just the opposite. As the gang was trying to make diamonds in the bar, they were doing it in a dangerous and unsafe way, which could worsen their situation, possibly starting a fire that could burn down Paddy’s. This goes in tandem with how Dennis reacts in most situations. By trying to fix what is “wrong” in the situation, he is fixing what would be best for him; however, this could permanently ruin a situation, like starting a fire or rejecting Mac in a way that was easier for Dennis to cope with than it was to just let Mac and accept him.

The System

Dennis is the system. I don’t know what else this could be other than Dennis is the system. Because we are in Dennis’s head, Dennis is creating these situations for himself where he is upset or gets angry, and it is his fault. He created these guidelines for himself that if something is not going his way or change is coming he gets angry and rejects it. These aren’t anyone else’s rules but his. You can then apply this reasoning to how he behaves around Mac. No one is saying he can’t be vulnerable with Mac other than himself because Dennis doesn’t enable himself to. Dennis doesn’t allow himself to open up to people, even someone he has been best friends with since high school. If he did let Mac in, that would mean he would have to accept that he was wrong and would have to talk to himself (talk to the person who created the system). It’s self-sabotage, and Dennis is the CEO of self-sabotage.

Little Note

I love that even in Dennis’s fake scenario Mac is still obedient to him, unlike Mac now, who is more independent and evolved. Mac believes that the call from Dennis is a test and obeys that they should not answer to anger Mac. In Dennis’s mind, Dennis clings to the idea that Mac should please and obey him, when that is not Mac anymore.

Im probably gonna have more to add onto this, but these are my thoughts on the subject for now. Please feel free to add on, agree, disagree, comment. Go nuts because I certainly was after this episode.

[coconuttz]

pov: you’re a (fashion) student without a support system ♡

ik it can be daunting to build a support system when you have no one... especially when you’re surrounded by a sea of creativity and talent and a culture of pride in doing everything alone (ifyky, no shade); but don’t fret, because I’m here to share how to build that support network from the ground up, just like I had to do. it can be overwhelming asf but it’s totally possible! here are some strategies (this is what i did in the midst of a massive depressive episode) ☺️✨

listen linda, i was a social butterfly. i say this because when i'm depressed i retreat if i can find an escape. we live in a day and age where your whole life can be remote/digital if you want it to be (thx to a remote job, online school, zoom calls with friends if u even see them). imo it can be a sustainable lifestyle for a suprisingly long time... till it's not. i digress.

it’s okay to start alone. being a lone wolf gives you the freedom to explore your style and interests without the influence of others. it can be lonely, sure, but i can be freeing. in my vulnerable moments where i felt alone but was authentic, i attracted ppl who mean the world to me today. so know being alone is temporary. or at least, try to tell your brain that. better yet, don't try; tell yourself this every day:

♡ My authenticity will draw in those who appreciate me for who I truly am.

♡ I am enough, even when I am alone.

♡ In my own space, I can discover who I am without distractions.

♡ I am resilient; I can navigate through the quiet moments.

♡ I attract the right people into my life.

♡ Even in solitude, I have the strength to thrive and emerge stronger.

♡ My alone time is sacred and necessary.

♡ I believe in my ability to build a supportive community.

♡ I give myself permission to feel and to heal.

Each phase of life has its purpose, and I trust that my time will come.

♡ tip #1: touch grass later. for now, get online. find other fashion students who *inspire* you. whose values align with theirs and their content makes you feel good. don't follow people just because they work in fashion-- look for peers, who are studying as well. peers are so important to have through every stage of life <3 follow fashion students and i recommend actual professionals who inspire you. not fashion influencers necessarily, but people who work in fashion professionally, maybe they're a designer or art direct or magazine editor. these folks to to have content that's inspiring and motivating! survey for yourself, you have to be careful what you feed your brain without even realizing it! anyways, engaging with their content in meaningful ways can lead to conversations, friendships, ++ even mentorships. don’t be shy about reaching out when/if you're ready. if you don't want to, thats ok too!

♡ tip #2: most fashion programs offer various resources like internship apps and networks (like a school handshake!) or apprenticeshhip, workstudy, study abroad etc. programs or workshops! follow your school on social media, they usually will have "career service" pages with rly great resources, and updates about networking events, etc. don’t hesitate to ask your professors for recommendations or support; they want you to do well! even if it feels awkward at first, getting involved in school activities is a great way to meet fellow students and form connections.

♡ tip #3: if you’re feeling brave, team up with fellow students for projects or study sessions. you can share ideas, critique each other’s work, collab on a pinterest board (lol) or just vent about a new yt video analysis video that xyz put up. plus, who doesn’t love a little fashion school brainstorming with (new) friends over coffee? speaking of, i'm gonna go make coffee. i have a problem. when i hear it, or even see this emoji ---> ☕️ i want one. brb.

ok, i'm out of coffee :( i made tea instead. but i still smell coffee. can anyone relate ??

♡ tip #4: if you're hesitant about reaching out directly, you can create opportunities for others with your shared interests to come to you. how? by sharing your own experiences and projects. you can post your work in communities like behance or github (to decide, to research on your industry, your niche, etc. and pick what works best for you! educate yourself in what's the latest in the industry, what's popular, make a pros and cons list. like actually take time to decide if u can! that way you don't have to migrate everything over to another platform later.

ok so for example, if you’re working on a design project, that could mean taking a course, or attending a fashion event, or you could share a post about it. one tip that's often used in marketing in general is to include a reflection or question that invites others to comment such as:

"Just wrapped up my latest fashion design project using 3D modeling software! Has anyone else tried CLO 3D? I’d love to hear your thoughts on digital fashion design!"

open ended questions like this when you share your work, an opinion, blog post, etc.makes it easier for others in the industry to connect with you and offer advice without you needing to initiate.

these are just a few tips for building a support system of you're shy, don't know where to start, are taking classes online and have a hard time meeting ppl, are depressed and everything's hard in general, etc. <3 keep your head up

till next time. my tea is ready.

[mariacallous]

Loneliness has never been more urgent. On top of the significant mental health concerns, the idea that people are now lonelier and having fewer social interactions is fueling very real threats to security. Foremost among these is one of today’s most pernicious digital frauds: romance scams, which exploit targets’ feelings of isolation and net fraudsters hundreds of millions of dollars per year. As scammers increasingly organize their workflows and incorporate new AI technologies, it’s becoming possible for them to deploy these scams at an even more vast scale.

Romance scams, also known as confidence scams, are extremely communication-intensive. They require attackers to build relationships with their targets via dating apps and social media. So while generative AI chatbots are already being used to write scripts and converse in multiple languages for other types of fraud, they can’t quite pull off these romance scams on their own. But with the vulnerable population growing, researchers believe there is real potential for automation to provide a boon to scammers.

“These frauds are growing into a more organized form,” says Fangzhou Wang, an assistant professor researching cybercrime at the University of Texas at Arlington. “They are hiring individuals from all over the world, meaning that they can target all different kinds of victims. Everybody is using dating apps and social media. There are all these opportunities that give fraudsters fertile ground.”

Romance fraud is already big business for scammers. People in the US have reported losses of nearly $4.5 billion to romance and confidence fraud over the past decade, according to an analysis of the last 10 years of data from the FBI’s annual internet crime reports. (The most recent data available encompasses up to the end of 2023.) According to the FBI’s figures, romance and confidence scams have led to losses of around $600 million for each of the past five years—except for 2021, when losses peaked at almost $1 billion. Some estimates are even higher. And while there has been some decrease in the amount of money lost to romance scammers in recent years, there has been a rise in so-called pig butchering fraud, which often contains elements of confidence scams.

Romance scams begin all over the internet, from criminals blasting out messages on Facebook to hundreds of victims at a time, to others matching with every profile they see on dating apps. A variety of criminals run romance scams, from “Yahoo Boys” in West Africa to giant scam compounds in Southeast Asia. However, once a criminal has made contact with a potential victim, they all follow an eerily similar playbook to build emotional attachment with those they are attempting to defraud.

Romance fraud is the most devastating fraud to be a victim of, bar none,” says Elisabeth Carter, an associate professor of criminology at Kingston University London, who has extensively studied these scams and their impacts on people.

Online dating has taken years to integrate into mainstream conceptions of relationships and love, but it is now the norm. As generative AI chatbots have found their way onto scores of smartphones, they have quickly become yet another digital avenue for romance and connection. While it would be difficult with current technology to farm out a romance scam to a chatbot entirely, the potential is clearly there for attackers to use generative AI for creating scam scripts and helping fill in content for more and more chats that are all running simultaneously, even in multiple languages.

UTA’s Wang notes that while she hasn’t assessed whether scammers are using generative AI to produce romance scam scripts, she is seeing evidence that they are using it to produce content for online dating profiles. “I think it is something that has already happened, unfortunately,” she says. “Scammers right now are just using AI-generated profiles.”

Some criminals in Southeast Asia are already building AI tools into their scamming operations, with a United Nations report in October saying organized crime efforts have been “generating personalized scripts to deceive victims while engaging in real-time conversations in hundreds of languages.” Google says scam emails to businesses are being generated with AI. And separately, the FBI has noted, AI allows criminals to more quickly message victims.

Criminals will use a range of manipulation tactics to entrap their victims and build up their perceived romantic relationships. This includes asking intimate questions of their potential victims that only a trusted confidant would ask—for example, questions about relationships or dating history. Attackers also build intimacy through a technique known as “love bombing,” in which they use terms of endearment to try to rapidly advance a feeling of connection and closeness. As romance scams progress, it is very common for attackers to start saying that victims are their girlfriend or boyfriend, or even call them “husband” or “wife” as a way of signaling their devotion.

Carter emphasizes that a core tactic used by romance scammers is to make their heartthrob personas seem hapless and vulnerable. Criminals lurking on dating apps, for example, will sometimes even claim that they were previously scammed and are wary of trusting anyone new. This names the elephant in the room right away and makes it seem less likely that the person the victim is chatting with could be a scammer.

When it comes to extorting money from their victims, this vulnerability is crucial. “They will do things like explain that they have some kind of cash-flow problem in their business, not ask for money, drop it, then maybe a few weeks later bring it back up again,” Carter says. At which point, she explains, the person being manipulated may want to help and proactively offer to send money. Attackers may even go so far, at first, as to argue with victims and attempt to dissuade them from sending funds, all to manipulate targets into believing that it is not only safe but also important to take a stand and assist someone they care about.

“It's never framed as the perpetrator wanting money for themselves,” Carter says. “There is a real link between the language of fraud criminals and the language of domestic abusers and coercive controllers.”

In a lot of cases, criminals find romance scam success with people who are struggling with feelings of loneliness, says Brian Mason, a constable with the Edmonton Police Service in Alberta, Canada, who works with the victims of scams. “Especially with romance scams, it’s very difficult to convince the person that the person they’re speaking with is not in love,” he says.

Mason says that in one instance he spent two years working with a victim of a romance scam and found out, when updating them on the case, that they had been back in touch with their scammer. “He looped her back in and got her to start sending money again, and she was doing it just so she could see his photos, because she was lonely,” Mason explains. At the end of 2023, the World Health Organization declared high levels of loneliness to be an ongoing threat to people’s health.

Stigma and embarrassment are major reasons that it can be difficult for victims to accept the reality of their situation. And Kingston’s Carter notes that attackers exploit this from the start by telling victims that their conversations should stay between them, because the relationship is too special and no one will understand. Keeping the relationship secret, combined with tactics to trick the victim into offering money rather than asking for it, can make it difficult for even the most careful, thoughtful person to grasp the manipulation that’s happening.

Scammers “dull down red flags and alarm bells; they hide them,” Carter says. “The victim not only has a lot of money taken from them, but it’s taken from them by the person that they love and trust the most in that moment. Just because it's online, just because it was completely fake, doesn't mean it wasn't real to them.”

[zerosecurity]

New Android Malware SoumniBot Employs Innovative Obfuscation Tactics

Banking Trojan Targets Korean Users by Manipulating Android Manifest

A sophisticated new Android malware, dubbed SoumniBot, is making waves for its ingenious obfuscation techniques that exploit vulnerabilities in how Android apps interpret the crucial Android manifest file. Unlike typical malware droppers, SoumniBot's stealthy approach allows it to camouflage its malicious intent and evade detection. Exploiting Android Manifest Weaknesses According to researchers at Kaspersky, SoumniBot's evasion strategy revolves around manipulating the Android manifest, a core component within every Android application package. The malware developers have identified and exploited vulnerabilities in the manifest extraction and parsing procedure, enabling them to obscure the true nature of the malware. SoumniBot employs several techniques to obfuscate its presence and thwart analysis, including: - Invalid Compression Method Value: By manipulating the compression method value within the AndroidManifest.xml entry, SoumniBot tricks the parser into recognizing data as uncompressed, allowing the malware to evade detection during installation. - Invalid Manifest Size: SoumniBot manipulates the size declaration of the AndroidManifest.xml entry, causing overlay within the unpacked manifest. This tactic enables the malware to bypass strict parsers without triggering errors. - Long Namespace Names: Utilizing excessively long namespace strings within the manifest, SoumniBot renders the file unreadable for both humans and programs. The Android OS parser disregards these lengthy namespaces, facilitating the malware's stealthy operation.

Example of SoumniBot Long Namespace Names (Credits: Kaspersky) SoumniBot's Malicious Functionality Upon execution, SoumniBot requests configuration parameters from a hardcoded server, enabling it to function effectively. The malware then initiates a malicious service, conceals its icon to prevent removal, and begins uploading sensitive data from the victim's device to a designated server. Researchers have also highlighted SoumniBot's capability to search for and exfiltrate digital certificates used by Korean banks for online banking services. This feature allows threat actors to exploit banking credentials and conduct fraudulent transactions. Targeting Korean Banking Credentials SoumniBot locates relevant files containing digital certificates issued by Korean banks to their clients for authentication and authorization purposes. It copies the directory containing these digital certificates into a ZIP archive, which is then transmitted to the attacker-controlled server. Furthermore, SoumniBot subscribes to messages from a message queuing telemetry transport server (MQTT), an essential command-and-control infrastructure component. MQTT facilitates lightweight, efficient messaging between devices, helping the malware seamlessly receive commands from remote attackers. Some of SoumniBot's malicious commands include: - Sending information about the infected device, including phone number, carrier, and Trojan version - Transmitting the victim's SMS messages, contacts, accounts, photos, videos, and online banking digital certificates - Deleting contacts on the victim's device - Sending a list of installed apps - Adding new contacts on the device - Getting ringtone volume levels With its innovative obfuscation tactics and capability to target Korean banking credentials, SoumniBot poses a significant threat to South Korean Android users. Read the full article

[recomvery]

Hi! Your blog is great! It really helps me because recently I started to go on dates again (the last time was before the pandemic) and I hear a lot of negative comments about my appearance... Men do comments about my gap front teeth, body hair on my arms, my short hair, thin eyebrows. Why are they doing this? I am not perfect, they aren't perfect. We are humans. Is it because they watch online all these perfect women with filters and makeup? I will never comment on someone's appearance in a negative way. And if they don't like me, it's okay, but why they ask me on date and be mean? It hurts hearing all these things... It took me years to build my confidence because I was very insecure when I was teenager. I take care of myself, eat healthy, exercise, reading books, have my job and I have a good character. I know I am not a 10 but they make me feel like a zero... I am very romantic and all I want is a good man to spend our lives together but I don't think I will find him. Do other women have similar experiences? And men too. Maybe women act this way too. Are people mean when they go on dates?

Hello dear,

First of all, this is such a good quality question and analysis and I love how vulnerable you are and I think a lot of people can relate to this a lot.

Dating men can be so difficult because a lot of men can be really problematic and sexist about womens bodies and I hate it. I actually found your description of yourself so endearing and cute. It makes me so angry that your dates have been negatively commenting on your body, that's SO messed up. Also it broke my heart when you said you were not a 10 because that rating system is so sexist and I think you are absolutely perfect and enchanting just the way that you are, like every other woman too.

To answer your question: There is nothing "normal" about people being mean to you on a date and you should absolutely not entertain it. Don't let people get away with this. Don't stay in contact or on a date where someone says mean things to you. Get up and leave. Block them. Stand up for yourself and show people that you are confident and love yourself and that you will accept 0 bullshit.

Personally, I have always used dating apps in a way where I texted for a long time with a person before going on a date to see if we are even compatible and so that I knew they were a good person. What I always did is ask men to play a question game and then ask them questions that were important to me such as their political affiliation, if they are ok with gay people, fat women, trans people, etc. I had a list of questions that were important to me in my notes and would try to ask them in a fun, lighthearted way to filter the people I would go on dates with, and STILL I have encountered people making comments about my weight and stuff. Of course, not everyone likes to date that way.

What's way more important than some mens opinion on your looks is your own confidence. It would be cool for you to get to a point where you are so damn confident about your own aesthetics that when someone sais something mean, you can straight up tell them: "LOL, you're wrong, I'm so cute." And leave and not be hurt by it. I am such a huge fan of women that unapologetically love themselves and are very confident, I think it's the best way to live your life.

I hope you're gonna find some cool and nice people to go on dates with ♡ because you are awesome and you deserve it and there is nothing wrong with you. When it comes to dating, know exactly what you want and what you will never accept.

[taxibookingapplikeuberclone]

How to Build a Taxi Booking App Like inDriver, OLA, and Uber Clone App

In today's fast-paced world, convenience is key when it comes to transportation. Taxi booking apps like inDriver, OLA, and Uber have revolutionized the way people get around. If you're looking to join the ride-hailing industry and create your own successful taxi booking app, you're in the right place. In this article, we'll guide you through the process step by step.

Understanding the Market

Before diving into app development, it's crucial to conduct thorough market research. This research will help you identify your target audience, understand their needs, and analyze your competitors. Here's how you can get started:

Market Analysis

Begin by researching the ride-hailing market in your target region. Identify key players, market trends, and potential gaps in services.

Target Audience

Determine your app's target audience. Are you catering to everyday commuters, tourists, or a specific niche? Understanding your users' preferences is essential.

Building the App

Now that you have a clear understanding of the market, it's time to start building your taxi booking app. This process involves several steps:

Feature List

Create a detailed list of features your app will offer. This should include user registration, driver profiles, GPS tracking, payment processing, and more.

Technology Stack

Choose the right technology stack for your app. Consider whether you want to build a native app for iOS and Android or opt for a cross-platform solution.

Design and User Experience

Invest in an intuitive and user-friendly design. The app's interface should be easy to navigate for both passengers and drivers.

Development Team

Assemble a skilled development team or hire a reputable app development company to bring your vision to life.

Testing and Quality Assurance

Thoroughly test the app for bugs, glitches, and security vulnerabilities. Ensure it functions seamlessly before launch.

Deployment

Release your app on app stores like Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Optimize your app listing with relevant keywords and appealing visuals.

Legal and Regulatory Considerations

Compliance with local regulations is essential in the ride-hailing industry. Be sure to:

Obtain Necessary Permits

Check with local authorities to understand the permits and licenses required to operate a taxi booking service.

Data Privacy

Implement robust data privacy measures to protect user information and comply with data protection laws.

Marketing and Promotion

Once your app is live, you'll need to market it effectively to attract users:

Digital Marketing

Utilize digital marketing strategies like search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, and online advertising to reach a wider audience.

Incentives and Referral Programs

Encourage users to refer friends and family by offering incentives and referral bonuses.

Scaling and Expansion

As your app gains popularity, consider expanding your services:

Geographic Expansion

Explore opportunities to launch your app in neighboring cities or countries.

Additional Services

Introduce additional services such as food delivery, package delivery, or carpooling to diversify your offerings.

Conclusion

Building a taxi booking app like inDriver, OLA, and Uber requires careful planning, a dedicated team, and a commitment to delivering a top-notch user experience. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can embark on your journey to creating a successful taxi booking app.

FAQs

How much does it cost to develop a taxi booking app?

The cost of app development can vary significantly depending on factors like features, complexity, and the development team's rates. It's best to get a personalized quote from app developers.

Is it essential to have a mobile app for both iOS and Android?

While having apps for both platforms is ideal for reaching a broader audience, you can start with one platform and expand later based on user demand.

What is the key to attracting drivers to my platform?

Offer competitive commissions, a user-friendly driver app, and efficient payment processing to attract and retain drivers.

How can I ensure passenger safety in my app?

Implement background checks for drivers, allow users to share ride details with friends, and incorporate a ratings and reviews system for drivers.

What are some emerging trends in the ride-hailing industry?

Some emerging trends include electric and autonomous vehicles, eco-friendly options, and improved AI for better route optimization and user experience.