#how to change facebook password

[always-a-slut-4-ghouls]

Every time I let my guard down, I’ll get one of those fucking texts. “Your package couldn’t be delivered” THE USPS DOESN’T SEND TEXTS LIKE THAT, THE USPS WEBSITE HAS .gov AND YOU ARE USING A FUCKING HOTMAIL ADDRESS! You thought you could catch my ass when I was waiting for a package, no, I actually double check with the usps website. You thought you could take advantage of my slight panic response, and you almost got me ONCE when the text woke me up, but i caught on… I have forgor how to report these people though O_O I reported the first guy out of spite for waking me up but now it’s such a pain

[deer-butch]

hey instead of bullying or scaring you into switching to firefox, let me tell you why i LOVE firefox and how my online life has improved significantly since installing it

- the setup process is easy, and even fun! if you’re using tumblr rn, you can handle it, and if you’re the kind of tumblr user who likes customizing your blog or tinkering with xkit, you can have a lot of fun personalizing really granular settings and picking themes and extensions and everything, it’s very customizable and i happily spent like 2 hours getting everything perfect.

- you can use a command line entry tool to change specific settings right from the search bar! i did this to make firefox stop auto filling my email information since i use a different password locker (which you should too! try bitwarden!), and it was easier than digging through a bunch of submenus for a setting i wasn’t sure existed. you can just turn shit off!

- there’s a preset theme called aurora that’s purple and VERY pretty

- once you get ublock origin and as many other blockers as you’d like set up, no ads, anywhere, ever! streaming sites, youtube, all the basics, totally no stress and no compatibility issues for me

- in browser screenshot and picture in picture functions!! holy shit i use these every day, the PiP is especially helpful, it replaced an extension i used to use on chrome and it’s leagues better and works on all video content pretty much

- overall better downloads management imo, it’s a lot easier to get to your downloads and find them later

- better bookmark system, with the ability to organize your bookmarks with searchable tags and assign them a shortcut you can type into the search bar to go to

- containers! you can have two accounts to the same website open in two different tabs and switch between them without having to switch accounts. also gives firefox the ability to contain facebook and their trackers, so you can click that party invite link without feeling like you just let mark zuckerberg into your house

these were just off the top of my head, i love firefox a lot and actively enjoy using it, which i never felt with chrome! please download firefox!! you will not regret it!!! where’s your fucking rage!!!!!! go!!!!!!!!!

[digitaltechfix]

How to Change Password on your Facebook Account computer 2023

Check out our Tutorial on YouTube "How to Change Password on your Facebook Account computer 2023"

[learnaside]

If you wish to speak to live person at Facebook, then you can opt for the phone number, and get instant help from them. Besides, the live experts are 24/7 available through the phone number, and can also talk thoroughly regarding Change Facebook Password issues especially restoring your account.

[da-rulah]

I saw an aesthetic picture about spreading Satan through the Internet recently and it got me thinking about being the IT support at the ministry, and which papas and ghouls would be best and worst at technology. So now I obviously want to hear your thoughts.

(I think Primo would surprise us by being surprisingly proficient, sort of like how my grandma mastered email and Facebook in her 80s.)

I have discussed this at great lengths with my best friend, @her-satanic-wiles, and these are the conclusions we have come to. These include all technology and use of the internet and social media habits.

Please enjoy as much as we did - it was too much fun. This is long, so i've put a page break in.

Some 18+ content here, MDNI!

Primo

As you said, surprisingly proficient.

He learns very fast, intently listening to you when you explain email, Microsoft Word & Excel, and Facebook.

He doesn't get Instagram but that's okay, that's not his target audience.

Doesn't understand how the internet works... "So, is it floating around in the air, or...?"

But he does know how to work it, and how to use it.

Secondo

No patience for technology at all.

If it doesn't work how it should, it is immediately referred to as broken.

"Mostrami solo le mie email, pezzo di merda!" you'll hear him scream from his office.

If it is not broken, it soon will be. His frustration makes him violent.

Got the iPhone 4 when it first came out but it perished in a mysterious fire. He doesn't know how it happened. Stop asking him.

Has been through four Ministry issued keyboards and one monitor that saw violent ends.

Terzo

Not bad at technology at all, in fact learns very quickly.

However, the discovery of Internet Pornography set him back in his paperwork by about a week.

He takes casual nudes and sends them to everyone, like him sat on the toilet or just having got out of the shower. Just because he can.

Your phone keeps saving them automatically and you have to do a mass exodus of Terzo nudes at least once a week to save your phone memory.

When you delete them he sends you more out of spite.

Ends up with Malware on his computer all the time from scam emails that promise him 'hot single babes in his area'.

The kind of guy to go on Omegle to flirt with random people, maybe find someone to jerk off with.

Copia

Boomer.

He's bloody useless, it always makes him feel like a silly old fool.

The only thing he can do by himself is search YouTube for rat videos, because you've shown him a million times.

Types with the screen close to his face and with one finger.

FaceTime angle of a typical dad.

"Look at this!" and proceeds to not flip the camera because he doesn't know how so you just end up staring at his face anyway.

SHOUTS when he's on the phone, no concept of noise at all.

Always forgetting his passwords - you get phone calls asking what his password for this and that is every. damn. day.

How many times do you have to remind him his phone unlocks with FaceID?!

Got scammed by a Facebook ad and had to change all his credit cards.

And now for the Ghouls...

Rain

He's VERY good with tech.

Quiet little genius, knows all the keyboard shortcuts and phone tips and tricks going.

Others ask him for help a lot, and he gets such a sense of pride when he can help them, swishing his tails and smiling to himself as he's helping.

Rain is also in charge of Copia's computer. He built it, fixed it, and cries every time Papa does something he shouldn’t to it.

Swiss

Technology conspiracy theorist.

He is terrified of tech, thinks it's listening to him all the time. Alexa is a demon he doesn't trust and his phone is an old Nokia he uses for emergencies ONLY.

That Nokia is also his weapon that he throws at people's heads when they piss him off. Which happens entirely too often and has caused some damage...

Mountain

Always up to date with the latest tech, never misses a launch.

He keeps leaving his second-hand phones in places Swiss will find them to trigger his technophobia and paranoia.

"DO THEY BREED, OR SOMETHING?!" Mountain is snickering outside his dorm listening to the chaos he's created.

Phantom

TROLL.

Chaos maker, through and through.

He is a serial redditer. The havoc he creates on there is diabolical, honestly.

Goes on Omegle to troll people.

He came across Papa Terzo one evening. They both agreed to never speak of what he saw ever again.

Plays on Swiss' technophobia along with Mountain.

He even created a cruel "conspiracy mode" on the Alexa that plays dramatic music, changes the lighting and shuts the window blinds in Swiss' room whilst Alexa tells him "I'm here, Swiss. I see everything."

Sodo

Has absolutely no interest in the internet or technology whatsoever.

Serial text forgetter. Sees you've text him, ignores it. Promises to get back to it. Never does.

When it comes to guitar tech though, he'll chew your ear off for hours. He knows EVERYTHING.

Ask him a question, but be prepared to be stuck there for approx. 45 minutes while he explains it in great detail with tangents you didn't ask for.

Aurora

Very good with tech, specifically social media.

Basically the social media manager of The Ghost Project.

She loves tiktok, makes them regularly. but it gives off 'Illegal Disney' vibes... Total crack.

Papa had to stop her making them and tell her to take them down.

Ask her about dance challenges - she knows them all.

Cumulus

CANNOT BE BOTHERED.

Why does everything take so long? Typing and everything... so much effort.

So she's a voice note kinda girl.

And they can be full blown podcasts, she talks and talks and talks....

Always takes Mountain's old phones after Swiss has been spooked by them. She hasn't bought a new phone in 6 years. Mountain is none the wiser.

Cirrus

Has a basic understanding, but feels guilty asking for help from IT support.

If an error message pops up, she'll panic and call Aurora.

"No but it says Error 404... WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!"

Queen of cat videos. Falls asleep to 10 hour loops of rain storms on YouTube.

[miss-oranje-disco-dancer]

life's not fair, but it could be (not old enough ch. 7)

pairing: leon kennedy x reader

cw: masturbation, idk? surprises?

summary: a mysterious stranger arrives with advice, you receive some life-changing news, and then your love returns, but will he accept you back, after all that's happened?

word count: 6.2k

ao3 link

At this point phone sex would be a gift from god. You were doing things the old fashioned way, which took longer. You were lazy and broke, so you decided not to take a trip to the mall and buy a vibrator. You could’ve bought one online, but it’d take forever to come - ha! Just like you. It wasn't really that funny anymore, though. It was actually quite frustrating. You were beginning to reconsider an errand to Spencers, or an equivalent, but the awkwardness one feels in the sex toy section of those stores is unparalleled. You really have no allies in the sex toy section, do you? It’s full of gross grown men who stare at your ass and giggly teenagers.

Leon didn’t have anything fun in his house. You looked. You were hoping you could find a dildo buried in a dresser or a playboy under the bed. Not that you really felt like getting off to a playboy magazine, but some reading material would help you pass the time until your boyfriend came back from his heroic quest across the world. 

There was a cucumber in the fridge, but that would require a new level of desperation and courage that was surely not worth it, considering the shame and the possibility of infection. God, what if you ended up on that show “Sex Sent Me to the ER” for getting a cucumber stuck up your - 

Wait. What was Leon’s computer password? Leon had two laptops in his house - one in the bedroom and one in his office. You were not to touch the one in his office under any circumstances because you didn’t have “top secret clearance and the government would send an army of men to kill you in your sleep if you so much as pressed one key” or something like that. But, Leon never said anything about the computer in his bedroom. You’d bet your savings on the fact that this bedroom computer was 100% certainly for porn. A laptop is portable, so why have two for work? What else is a computer for? Facebook? Instagram? YouTube? No, Leon is 41 years old. It is for porn. 

There were only two questions: How to get in? And what’s inside?

You took out a pen and paper to write out possible password combinations, so you could pick the ones you deemed optimal, not wanting to risk locking yourself out of the computer by guessing everything your mind could conjure up. 

What do people have as their passwords? Mother’s maiden name? Childhood pets? Birthday? Girlfriend’s name? 

“Hell yeah!” you said to the empty room when you guessed correctly on the first try. It was your first name. No numbers or symbols. Dumbass. 

There wasn’t anything saved locally, so you had to go to the internet and hope that he hadn’t deleted his search history. Yeah, you could just search up whatever you wanted to watch, but what’s the fun in that? You typed “P” into the search bar and the first thing that came up was Pornhub. Is Leon really that horny? Ew, gotta check the desk chair for jizz stains. Nothing you hadn’t tasted before.

You looked at his recent searches when you clicked on the site.

Amateur, lesbian, creampie. Pretty basic, nothing to do with stepmoms or women getting stuck in washing machines. How do they even get in there in the first place? What does sex have to do with getting them out? Your mind trailed off for a moment contemplating porn premises - maybe this was why you couldn’t get off...

Oh. There was something interesting. One word: Daddy. 

If only you could look at the time he’d searched it up. Was it after you’d called him that? Or had Leon always wanted to be your daddy? You clicked on some stuff with 'daddy' in the title, and tried to get into it, but it wasn’t Leon. That man in the video isn’t daddy, not to you. It wasn’t enough to get you off, not even close. 

Back to square one. You decided to search through your photo gallery. Leon’s face - hot. Leon sleeping shirtless - a little creepy, but hot. Leon straight out of the shower - really hot. Looking at Leon with a towel hanging around his waist was enough for your fingers to find their way back to your clit.

Leon wasn’t hairy per se, but he did have a nice happy trail leading from his belly button down to what you really wanted. The towel was riding low on his hips and you could see it, could almost see further. 

Finally getting a little excited, you continued to sift through your Leon catalog. The next picture had a perfect shot of that five o’clock shadow, the one that tickled your thighs when his face was between them. His lips, so soft against your skin, his nose that would press against your clit anytime he tongue-fucked you. 

Jackpot, A video. Of Leon. You were eternally grateful to past-you who took tons of pictures and videos, but especially this one. It was Leon, getting ready in the morning, so ridiculously mundane, but his raspy, deep morning voice. 

“Mornin’, Baby. What are you doing?” he asked. 

Touching myself halfway across the world from you, daddy.

This was way better than porn. Leon’s laugh once he realized you were filming. Hot. Leon slipping on a t-shirt, showing off his perfect physique... and the happy trail again. Hotter . Leon buckling his belt - unbuckling would be better, but clinking sound had long ago linked itself to the moment before you’d have him. Have him in your mouth, have him on top of you, have you on top of him. In bed, in the car, in the bar bathroom. Have him inside you however he wanted.   

You remembered his thumbs playing with your nipples, hands running down your sides, gripping your hips, pushing you down, so he could thrust up into you harder. If only your hands were Leon’s hands. Leon’s big hands. Leon’s big dick. Leon. Leon. Leon. Oh Leon . 

It’s a shame he wasn’t there to hear you moan out his name. 

Fucking finally. All you had to do was look at a video of the man. Yeah, you were fucked. No, you weren’t fucked, but you’d like to be. 

That night, you were up late, bored out of your mind. And lonely, very lonely. This was retribution for cheating on Leon. In a fit of every single emotion known to mankind, you betrayed the man you loved.

You made your bed, now go lie in it, you thought.

You were sitting on the couch, trying to balance the line between self-pity and self-loathing, while biding your time by watching rom-com after rom-com. The Holiday, When Harry Met Sally, Jerry Maguire. All of 'em.

The doorbell rang. The little unmistakable jingle bounced off the high ceilings and echoed through the room. Did you order strippers in your drunken stupor the night before? Was a serial killer dumb enough to ring your doorbell? Who the fuck was on Leon’s doorstep at midnight?

You got up and looked through the peephole before opening the door. On the front porch stood a woman -  a short black bob, maybe 5’7”, looked to be in her 30s, a bit overdressed for the occasion, but most of all, drop-dead gorgeous. Doesn't matter how straight you thought you were, you weren't not going to let her in. 

“Um, hi,” you said, cracking the door open, enough to lean your head out, but hopefully not enough for her to see your pajamas. 

“Hello,” she said, “Can I come in?”

“Are you looking for Leon? Because he’s not home.”

“I know he’s in Moscow. I’m looking for you.”

Was the government coming to kill you for breaking into Leon’s computer? Did the government monitor his porn too?

“Are you Hunnigan?”

She was the only person you could think of who would know Leon's location.

“My name is Ada.”

Ada . Leon’s infatuation began to make sense. 

“Okay,” you said and let her in, god knows why. Maybe you could pry more information out of her, but based on what Chris had told you, you weren’t optimistic. 

“You can sit down if you want,” you offered, trying to be a good hostess.

“Thanks,” Ada said and sat down on the living room chair. 

“Can I get you anything to drink?”

“I’m okay. Thanks.”

You downed a glass of water because your mouth had dried up completely in the last five or so minutes. As not to keep your guest waiting, you returned to the living room. You looked around at the cluttered room, blankets strewn around, an empty bowl of popcorn, the TV still on. 

“Sorry. I would’ve cleaned up if I knew you were coming over.”

“It’s not a problem,” she said, “Is this 10 Things I Hate About You?” 

“Yeah,” you said, pausing the TV, “have you seen it?”

“I have. I don’t usually like rom-coms, but I like this one.”

This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, you thought to yourself. You already had two things in common: you liked to watch the same movies and fuck the same man. 

You sat down on the couch, facing Ada. “If you don’t mind me asking, Why are you here?”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“Leon.”

Alright. No beating around the bush with this woman.

“You love him, right?” she asked. 

“Yeah, I do. A lot.”

You felt uneasy. It sounded like the beginning of a ransom note. “You love him, right? Wire me 10 million dollars by the end of the day if you want to see him again”. You were completely off-base in your suspicions, however. 

“That’s good. He deserves someone who loves him.”

“You’re right. He does. He deserves someone way better than me.”

She waited in silence for you to continue. She seemed oddly unbothered by your guilty demeanor, but was clearly unsatisfied with your vagueness.

“I cheated,” you said quietly, unable to meet her prying gaze. 

“Okay. Not a great look for you. Does he know?”

“No, but I’m gonna tell him. I know it’ll break his heart, but I can’t lie to him,” you divulged way more to her than you’d intended to, but she was a good listener, “I wish I could take it back. I hate myself for doing it.”

“We all feel that way sometimes, but what’s done is done.”

Her nonchalance was getting to you. Is this how she felt about what she did with Leon?

“Can I ask you something?”

She didn’t respond, just waited for you to speak again.

“Did Leon tell you we were together?”

“He didn’t, but I did suspect there was someone. The signs were there - bobby pins on the bathroom counter, a thong in his laundry basket, you know, things a man wouldn’t have without a woman.”

“Why did you do it?” you asked the question that’d been bouncing around your mind since you’d let her in the house. 

Did you really want the answer? Yeah, no matter how much it might hurt, it was worth knowing.

“Why did he do it? Why did you do it?” she said.

You agreed with Chris’ assesment - mysterious. Mysterious had an undeniable allure, but it did not answer your questions, only posed more. Despite your frustration, you ended up answering her.

“I don’t know. I guess I just wasn’t thinking. I was pissed at him for sleeping with you and I was lonely.”

Talking to Ada felt similar to going to therapy, but if your therapist was the oracle at Delphi with her cryptic sort of guidance.

“I see,” she said, looking you up and down with her x-ray-like eyes. Ada, to your surprise, gave you her explanation in return, “He gives me a sort of love that I don’t deserve, and that I can’t get from anyone else, and he’s stuck in the past. He thinks of me as a person that doesn’t exist anymore. We like the people we pretend to be.”

“Do you think he’s stuck on you?”

“In some way, maybe, in the way that we all get stuck in the past, all too stubborn to change, but I still think that given the choice, he’d pick you.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I spoke to him, recently, in Moscow. He talked about you.”

Un-fucking-fair that she got to see him. What if they-?

“Did you guys do anything?”

“No. I proposed the idea to him, and he said no. He said he’s in love.”

“And I broke his heart. I'm the worst person ever.”

You wanted to cry, bang your head against the wall, crumple up and die. 

“You’re not. You’re not, I’m not, Leon’s not. There are people in labs across the world creating viruses to wipe out millions. And they sleep well at night.”

“So, because other people suck worse, I should be okay with what I did?”

“No, but you’re young and naive. You make mistakes. I met Leon when he was around your age. He made worse mistakes because he was lusting after some woman,” Ada spoke of the past with a unique glint in her eye. Not quite nostalgia, but close.

You listened intently. She sure was interesting, that was for sure. 

“You got all wet over a second meathead of a man and cheated, but at least no one died,” she said matter-of-factly.

“I’m gonna break his heart. That’s like, practically killing him.” 

“You’re so dense. Perfect match for Leon.”

Ouch. 

“You care, Leon cares, and for some reason, I care enough to come here and try to play love-guru. You can work this out. You can give him a type of love that I cannot, and with all he’s been through, he deserves it.”

If Ada turned out to be just an apparition of your conscience, the angel and the devil on your shoulders, you wouldn’t be surprised. You’d despised her since the moment you found the condom in the trash can, despite the fact that you’d never met. It was easier to put it onto her than Leon. A faceless, nameless threat to your relationship. 

“I feel bad for hating you,” you apologized to her - not that she knew about your feelings in the first place. It just felt like the right thing to do. 

“Don’t. You have a right to be angry.”

“Do you wanna stay over?” You asked pathetically, still looking for friends wherever you could find them.

“Even more like Leon than I thought,” she said, and this time it didn’t seem like a jab. Her face said she found you a bit charming. “I can’t. I have somewhere I have to be,” she let you down easy.

“Well, I hope to see you again soon.”

She hesitated, but said, “Likewise.”

You hugged her before she left, which clearly took her by surprise. She was rigid in your arms, but seemingly tried to loosen up a bit, and gave you a friendly pat on the back.

At the door, she turned back and said, “Have you had your period recently?”

“Uh, no, why?”

“Take a test.”

You knew what kind of test she was talking about, but what in the fucking world? You didn’t have time to ask, though because she was already gone, practically disappearing into thin air. 

Leon had now been gone for around four weeks at this point. Still lonely, still guilty, but starting to feel a little nauseous in a way that couldn’t be accounted for by any of those feelings you had. 

You assumed Ada was just taking a shot in the dark with her whole ‘take a test’ thing, but maybe she was onto something. 

Your period wasn’t always on time, sure, but there was a normal range and it was obvious to you, even without tracking the days, that it had been too long since your last one. You really should’ve been more diligent about taking your birth control pills. “You’re young, you make mistakes.” Maybe this was what Ada meant.

You bought a pregnancy test. You spent five minutes waiting for the results to appear, sitting on the toilet while the plastic stick was next to you on the bathroom counter. You could easily glance over, but you didn’t dare look until you knew the five minutes were up. 

You took a deep breath, crossed your fingers, and picked up the test. 

Two lines. Clear as day. Couldn’t be a hallucination. At best, it could be a false positive. Luckily, you had purchased a three-pack, so a few hours later you took another one. 

Two lines. 

For good measure - though you were pretty sure two false positives would be so rare is was almost impossible - you took the third. 

Two lines.  

Good things do not come in threes. Three pairs of two little lines and one pregnant woman, alone in her bathroom. Good things do not come in any number. Good things do not happen to you. 

You had to tell Leon. But you’d have to get through Hunnigan first. You’d have to get to Hunnigan first. 

It was difficult to get her contact info, but you were persistent. Reluctantly, you called Claire, Jill, even Chris. None of them had any way to contact her. Claire however, gave you Sherry’s number. The little girl turned DSO agent he’d mentioned.

Sherry, god bless her, had Hunnigan's number and was nice enough to give it to you. You made the call and picked up on the first ring. 

“Hello?” Hunnigan's voice was more pleasant than you expected. Based on the fact that Leon was always so stressed when he picked up her calls, you'd expected her to be rude or aggressive.

“Hi, you don’t know me, but I’m Leon’s girlfriend”. You sounded like a high schooler when you said it like that. 

“Okay,” she said in a neutral tone, waiting for more information. 

“I need to speak with him.”

“I’m sorry, but that would go against all protocol.”

“It’s really important.”

“I understand that, but his life is on the line, and I cannot let him get distracted.”

“Please, just trust me, it’s so important. You have no idea.”

“What do you need to tell him? Maybe I can relay the message.”

“I’m pregnant.”

“Oh.”

Yeah, ‘oh’ is right.

There was a pause before you asked for the second time, “Can I talk to him?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that. It would give him extra things to worry about, and he’s already incredibly overworked and stressed right now. Distraction can be the direct cause of death. I cannot have him get distracted by anything. It’s for his own safety, and I hope you can understand that.”

You wanted to tell her to fuck off or to force her to patch you through, but instead you just hung up. Great. You’re pregnant and alone. 

There were countless unanswered questions, making you feel queasier than you did before. 

How can I tell my parents? How can I tell anyone? Who do I even have to tell? What should I do? Give birth in 8 months or get an abortion? What would Leon want? What if Leon doesn’t even want me back?

The one you typed into the search bar was: How do I get rid of morning sickness? You spent the following few hours curled up on the bathroom floor. No, this was your retribution. 

As much as you felt like you should keep it to yourself for a while, you ended up having lunch with Jill. You figured it would be better to not speak to Chris, and on the off chance that you couldn’t keep your big mouth shut, you were wary about speaking to Claire for the time being. That whole situation was one you needed to talk out with Leon before anyone else. Jill seemed like a safer option. Plus, she gave off such a mature, pragmatic vibe that made you feel like she’d be the type of person you’d want to call for advice. To be honest, she reminded you a lot of Leon. Maybe if you could tap into her thinking, you could tap into Leon’s on some level. 

Jill offered to buy you lunch - a friend and a meal was a win-win. You convinced her to go to a diner with you, not letting her in on your little secret until later. You were already getting cravings - milkshakes, pickles, you name it. 

At some point during your meal, you couldn’t keep hold of the secret any longer, it was eating you up inside. 

“I’m pregnant,” you blurted out.

Jill spit out her soda. 

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry.” 

Dammit! You had the worst track record with making friends. 

“It’s okay,” she said, wiping herself off with a napkin. 

She stared at you for a moment once she’d finished dabbing the spill out of her clothes. 

“Wait, you’re serious?”

“Yeah.”

“Shit. That’s…”

“Not great, yeah, I know.”

“It sucks that you have to go through that alone. I shouldn’t even ask because it’s none of my business, but have you thought about what you’re going to do?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“It’s a scary decision, but I’m here for you no matter what you choose, and I’m sure Leon would feel the same.”

“You think?”

“Positive. He’s a good guy underneath all of the bullshit. Plus, he’s crazy about you.”

“I just wish I could tell him.”

“I know. I wish there was a way I could help you there, but I can’t. I have no way of reaching him. Did you end up getting in touch with Hunnigan? Is that why you asked for her number?”

“Yeah, I did, and Claire gave me Sherry’s number who gave me Hunnigan’s.”

“I assume Hunnigan said you couldn’t talk to Leon.”

“Yep.”

“That fucking sucks. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, but I’m glad I have people here who are good to me, like you, for example.”

You realized that may have sounded a little bit cheesy, but what the heck, you thought, you were a pregnant woman, dealing with hormonal changes, it was okay to get sappy. 

“Yeah, you have me. And Claire, and Chris, and I guess you know Sherry now, too.”

It was definitely not time to tell Jill about the situation with Chris. One bombshell was enough for one lunch outing. 

You ended up talking to Claire as well, managing to keep the Chris situation out of the conversation. 

“Hey, how are you doing?” Claire greeted you with a hug. 

“I’m okay.”

You weren’t feeling super well, so you’d invited her over to your place - well, Leon’s place - rather than asking her to go out with you. 

“You sure? You’re looking a little pale. Do you think you could be coming down with something?”

“No, no, I’m fine. I mean, I’m - I’m pregnant.”

“Congratulations?”

You shook your head.

“I’m sorry?”

You gave her a little hand gesture to indicate that her answer was “close enough" to whatever reaction the situation should've warranted. Honestly, there wasn't a perfect reaction to that kind of news.

“Now you know why I’ve been sticking around the house.”

“Morning sickness?”

“Yeah. It sucks.”

“Sure does. Not that I’ve ever experienced it, but I’ve seen it in action and it takes a strong woman to be able to handle it.”

“I wouldn’t say I’m very strong when I’m sobbing into a toilet bowl.”

“Have you gotten in touch with Leon? I know I gave you Sherry’s number…”

“I did talk to Sherry, and she gave me Hunnigan’s info, but Hunnigan wouldn’t let me talk to Leon.”

“Did you tell her you’re pregnant?”

“Yeah.”

“And she still wouldn’t let you talk to him?”

“Nope.”

“I would rarely ever say this about another woman because I think it’s pretty sexist, but what a bitch! I can’t believe she’d do that to you.”

“I definitely thought that at first, but I know she’s just trying to protect him. Who knows how he’d take the news.”

“I’m sure he’d just wanna be there for you.” She put an arm around your shoulder. 

“I hope so. I really don’t know what I’m supposed to do in this situation.”

“There isn’t a ‘supposed to’. You do what’s right for you, and you only. Don’t worry about what anyone else might think because I’ll be there for you, and so will Leon, and everyone else.”

“You sure?”

“100%”

“Have you made an appointment yet?”

“For?”

“With an Obgyn. I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to go to one. No matter what you choose.”

“I guess I have to make one, then.”

“I could go with you, if you’d like.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. I know it’s not the same as Leon, but you shouldn’t have to go alone.”

And she did accompany you. The nurse asked if you two were partners and you explained that she was just a friend. The nurse seemed hesitant to let ‘just a friend’ come with you into the ultrasound room, but when she saw Claire holding your shaky hand, she let go of whatever was holding her back from allowing Claire to accompany you. 

The gel they put on your stomach is cold. The thing that looks like a grocery store scanner that they use to look into your uterus feels weird. They press harder into your skin with that one than you’d think. Claire holding your hand kept you from swatting the woman’s hand away. 

The three of you studied the monitor, though the nurse was the only one who could really tell what was going on.

“I can see an embryo in there.”

You sighed, letting reality sink in.

“I can see that you’re nervous. I won’t pry into your situation, but just know that there are many options available and no one is here to judge you for whatever you choose.” 

“Thanks,” you said simply. 

She was nice, but it didn’t make the choice any easier. It was tiring to hear everyone say ‘we support you’ and ‘we won’t judge you’, when all you wanted was for someone to tell you what to do. Ideally, you wanted Leon's input. You'd still have to make your own choice, but it'd be nice to hear his thoughts, considering he got you knocked up in the first place, and you definitely couldn't afford to take care of a baby on your own. 

You saw the doctor briefly and told her you’d think over your decision, but when she was about to leave the room, you remembered the dream you’d had the night before. You held a newborn baby in your arms while Leon doted on you both. Real life was never as perfect as it was in your dreams, but you could see a real future like that with him. 

“What if I want to keep the baby?” you asked when the doctor returned.

“That’s one of the multiple valid choices. If you decide that, I would suggest you book another prenatal appointment about a month or so out from now.”

“Where can I do that?”

“I can give you a slip to take to the front desk and they can get you set up.”

You and Claire were alone for a moment while you redressed. 

“So, you’ve made your decision?” she asked. 

“Yeah, I think so. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Do you think Leon would want me to choose this?”

“I can’t speak for Leon, but I’m sure he would want you to do what you think is best.”

The diplomatic answer.

“But if it were up to him, would he want to be a father?”

“I honestly don’t know. I don’t think it was in his plans, at least, not for some time. You know, he’s been through some shit, and his job is hardcore. He’d be a good dad, though.”

“You think?”

“Oh yeah. If only you could’ve met him when Sherry was a kid. He was so good with her, sometimes in a way that I couldn’t be. I mean, I like to think I was a good mother figure for her, but he was a really good father figure. So, if I had to guess, I'd say that in any other life, Leon would’ve been a father already. If Raccoon City never happened, I think he’d be a dad.”

“Well, what about in this life?”

“It seems like he’s already on his way to fatherhood, and he doesn’t even know it.”

It was late in your first trimester when you got a call, a good call, the call you’d been waiting for. 

“Hey, baby, I’m coming home,” Leon said, so blissfully ignorant of the situation that it stung.

Still, you were overjoyed to hear his voice. 

“Yay! You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you,” you said.

“I actually do. I’ve been missing you for the same amount of time.”

Oh yeah. That’s true. Brain fog. 

You weren’t going to tell him over the phone. He’d have a heart attack. The hours waiting for him felt longer than all the weeks he’d been away combined. 

When he got home, Leon settled on the couch with his feet up while you paced the room. He had a glass of whiskey - something you thought he’d given up, but you weren’t going to judge him for it. He was clearly exhausted and honestly, it might be better if he mellowed out a little before you gave him the news. 

“Baby, what’s up?”

“I gotta tell you something. Actually, multiple things. Don’t freak out.”

Not yet at least . 

“Okay… You wanna sit next to me while you tell me?”

You sat down next to him, still restless. 

“Do you want the bad news or the… surprising news first?”

“Good news?”

You shook your head. “Let me just get the bad news off my chest because it’s making me sick not telling you.”

The other news is making me feel sick too, but for a slightly different reason. 

“Okay…” Leon’s inquiring eyes seemed onto what you were about to say.

“I cheated on you and I’m really really really sorry.”

You broke down immediately, and his instinct to protect you took over any anger he felt. He held you in his arms and rubbed your back.

“Breathe, baby.”

“I’m so sorry, Leon. I love you, and I ruined everything. I fucked it all up because I was lonely and pissed off at you for what you did with Ada.”

“I understand,” he said with a sigh. He wasn’t happy, that was for sure, but he continued to soothe you with his steady, reassuring hands. 

Once you’d stopped crying, Leon said, “Who was it?” He was firm, but not angry 

“Chris,” you said, already on the verge of tears again, “I’m so so so sorry.”

Your words came out all in one breath, all laced with anxiety. Your whole world was about to crumble in front of you.

“Stop saying you’re sorry! It’s not helping either of us. I understand that you’re sorry.”

He’d never been harsh with you before. It was unsettling. The waterworks returned.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have used that tone with you. Even if I’m upset, that was wrong of me to snap at you.” Leon pressed you to his chest while he apologized and you could feel his heartbeat. Fast, and yet he was so focused on calming you. 

“How exactly did this come about?” He asked. 

“I was really lonely and so I texted Claire, but I was too shy to tell her that I wanted to hang out so I asked her if she knew how to change your AC, and she said no, but she could send Chris and I just accepted because I couldn’t tell her the truth about the AC…”

To your surprise, Leon was laughing.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because that’s hilarious. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still upset about you cheating, but it just sounds like a dumb porn plot. You can’t figure out the stupid air conditioner so you have to call the maintenance man to come fuck you about it.”

After he got his giggling out, he sighed and said, “I doubt the rest is funny, but I still think I should know what happened.”

“It just happened.”

“What happened?”

“We made out and he…” You made a motion indicating ‘fingering’. 

“And then?” He sounded impatient, probably thinking you were holding back something. 

Well, you were, but not about the cheating. 

“And then nothing. Haven’t spoken to him since.”

“You fucked up, that’s for sure.”

“But please don’t get mad at him. He was the one who stopped me when I offered to ‘return the favor’. He told me not to tell you because he felt really bad and didn’t want to ruin our relationship. He wants you to be happy.”

“That doesn’t make him better than you.”

“I know.”

“You said you were pissed at me? That’s why you did it?”

“I missed you and was pissed at the whole world, but mostly because I asked Chris about who you slept with and I basically forced him to tell me, and he told me about Ada. Just hearing about your relationship with her and thinking about her in your bed and how you just expected me to never find out.”

You couldn’t hide the lingering bitterness when you thought about him intentionally hiding her from you. 

“I know. It was wrong of me to do that, and I’m sorry. There’s no relationship, though, just so you know. Me and Ada, we've never been in a relationship.”

“But you love her.”

“I do not love her.”

“But you did.”

“Maybe, but things change. I might’ve loved her 20 years ago, but that doesn’t matter anymore. What matters now is us, and working our shit out.”

He still wants to work things out? Well, that’ll be short-lived. Might as well bite the bullet and spill.

“Can I tell you the other thing?”

“There’s more?” Leon gulped down the last of what was in his glass and poured himself the equivalent of a shot which he also downed before gesturing for you to continue. 

“So, the more shocking thing that I mentioned.”

“I don’t know what else could shock me more, but go ahead.”

“I’m pregnant.”

He was silent, looking at your stomach as if he didn’t believe you. You didn’t have a bump yet, but that was to be expected at this point in the pregnancy. 

“Do you wanna see the ultrasound?” you asked, feeling shy about it since you couldn't decipher his reaction. 

“You got an ultrasound?”

“Yeah, I’ve been to two appointments.”

“Alone?”

“No, Claire went with me.”

You got up and pulled the pictures of your purse.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” he mumbled into his empty glass.

“Here,” you said, thrusting them at Leon. 

This was make or break. Your nerves made you feel sick to your stomach. Or maybe that was the morning sickness. 

“Wow,” he marveled at the pictures, “Where is it?”

“Here,” you pointed to the tiny embryo in the fuzzy black and white image.

“That’s in there?” he asked, pointing at your belly.

“Yep.”

“It’s not about me, but you have to make that choice pretty soon, don’t you?”

You couldn’t tell what he wanted from his tone, but you’d already made your choice. You were going to stick to your guns on this one. Yeah, you’d fucked up a lot recently, but this felt right. Unexpected, nerve-wracking, but somehow right. 

“I’ve been planning on keeping the baby... becoming a mom.”

“Okay. Then, I’ll be a dad.”

“Really? It’s that simple?”

“I think so.”

“But I fucked everything up and you have this weird job and we’re not married and -”

He cut you off with a kiss. “We’ll figure it out,” he said.

“You don’t hate me?”

“I never hated you.”

“Really? Even after everything?”

“Do you hate me? Even after everything I did?”

“No.”

“Then I think you understand.”

“Do you hate Chris?”

“No,” he sighed and paused, “but I’m going to have a talk with him. Does he know about the baby?”

“I haven’t told him.”

“Who knows? Other than Claire.”

“Jill and Hunnigan.”

“Hunnigan knows?”

“Yeah, I asked her to patch me through to you, so I could tell you, but she said no.”

“She said no?” Leon looked like he was about to snap again, you could see him tense up. 

“She was just looking out for you, didn’t want to let you get distracted and get yourself accidentally killed.”

“No, fuck that! I’m done with the DSO dictating everything about my life. They took away any plans for a normal life, a normal job, having normal friendships, every vacation I’ve ever tried to have, but now they’re fucking with my family? No. That’s it. I quit.”

Family? Family, you were going to be a family. Those pregnancy hormones were close to making you tear up.

“You said you can’t quit.”

“I’m going to.”

“What if they kill you?”

“They won’t.”

“How do you know?”

“I’d kill them first. They shouldn’t have trained me in combat if they wanted me to be a target.”

“You’re willing to put your life on the line?”

“I put my life on the line for way less for the last 3 months. For my kid? Hell yeah, I’ll put my life on the line.”

“Your kid,” you echoed, rubbing your tummy.

“Yeah, our kid, our little baby.”

Leon was smiling, really smiling. Okay, maybe good things do happen to you.

[the-soliloquies-of-sadists]

#365

“I just got the notice.  It’s done.  I never thought I would have seen a wire transfer of fifty thousand dollars into my account.  OK shithead, you are for real.  Get naked.  I want to inspect my property.  That’s what you are to me.  You are a cunt.  You are a toilet.  You are a punching bag.  You are whatever the fuck I want to make of you.  Right now, I want you naked…. 

“I don’t give a shit about those two drivers over there.  Leave your clothes right there, but hand me your phone.  Look at the screen.  I saw your post to Facebook.  You were able to follow orders.  The video was short and to the point.  You let your family and friends know that you met a hot daddy that you are moving in with, and that you will be living off the grid and that you won’t be able to respond to anyone for a long time.  You actually told them not to worry, that you trust me.  That last part was a nice added touch.

“What’s your passcode?...  I’m going to change it and then deactivate the facial recognition.  Your phone will be locked away, but I will still need to access it from time to time—you know, for the $5,000 monthly payment to me.  Which reminds me, what is your password for money transfers?...  Ok.  This is your first real test….  Yup that works.  I’m going to change that code later.

“Stand up and turn around.  Let me see what I own for the next year.  Nice tiny pecker.  Don’t like that it feels that it is free to get hard.  I completely understand why it is hard.  I’m that fucking hot.  When I install you inside the cab, I’ll have a cage to put on it.  It won’t come off too often, if ever. 

“Are you naturally smooth, or do you shave your chest?...  Good.  No manly pelt for you, God made sure of it.  Your pubes will come off in a bit too.  Turn around, let me see my new fuck hole….  Nice and hairless.  You douched out like I told you?  Good.  We’ll get you set up for cleaning out while on the road.  How many times in the past week have you been bred?... 

“Interesting.  I don’t get it.  You are quite cute.  You seem to have no problem getting men to fuck you.  You have money, enough to not only pay me over 100K across the next year, but you can take a year off to be tied up, roughed up, fucked up in the back cab of some unknown brutal asshole truck driver.

“I don’t know what you are running from.  And I don’t care.  What I do care about is I don’t want some drama creeping into my cab, during the year you are with me and the time after.

“Get on your knees and look up and into your phone’s camera.  I want you to say the following in your own words.  That you come here of your own choice.  You are paying me $50,000 up front to live in cab with me, and $5,000 each month.  This is non-refundable at any time.  You want to be controlled by me in all aspect of your life.  You know that I am a brutal sadistic man.  Sex with me is not a guarantee and is not part of the money paid.  I want you to beg on camera for me to brutally use you, sexually and otherwise.  That includes using you anyway I see fit.  You consent to all my demands.  You can revoke it at any time and terminate our agreement.  In fact you know either of us can terminate this role.  If I do it, you will be left naked on the side of the road somewhere.  If you do it for any reason, then you would gladly pay me a penalty of additional $50K, transferred from this phone.  You will beg to be bound for most of the day.  You will beg for me to humiliate you and degrade you.  You got all that?

“Good.  Now look at your phone’s camera…. Wait I should also get you on my camera too.  Can’t be too cautious….  Focus your attention on your phone, and… go….

––––

“That’s done.  So now let’s get you locked up properly in the cab.  Come here.  When crawling into my cab and I’m right behind you, pause and lean over my seat.  Stick your pussy out.  Let the world see your ass.  I want to check out my new fuck hole. 

“This is a pretty pussy.  Oh there is some hair back here.  Don’t start yelping now.  I just yanked out a couple.  There’s a lot more to pull out.  What?  You think I’m going to use my clippers on a pussy?  Or your crotch?  Fuck that.  You’ll be fine with a yank or two… or twenty, or whatever it takes. 

“If you are going to have an issue that I’m going to yank out your hair, this is not going to go well for you.  If you can’t handle one minute with me, how the hell are you going to last for a year?  You paid for one year to submit to a sadistic trucker with one the fattest cocks out there.  Do you still want to do this?  Or are you living in a fantasy world?  If you want to bail, now is the time.  I will pull out of here, leaving you naked without your phone.  And I will definitely make sure that the penalty fee is transferred to my account before you can even make it over to one of those two drivers over there.

“What’s it going to be?  Climb down and go over to them, or climb into the bunk on your back and get your legs up high.  You have ten seconds to decide your next year.

“Atta faggot.  When you get up there, you’ll see some ankle and wrist cuffs.  Go ahead and put them on.  I need to secure your shit. 

––––

“Hey shithead.  I talked with one of the other drivers who was watching you present yourself to me.  He wants to fuck you.  I told him that I will only let him if he’s brutal.  He just smiled and said, ‘Ohhhhh I can do that.’  So it looks you got your first fuck customer. 

“Damn you look good.  But let’s get you secured.  These wrist restraints get clipped here.  You secure?...  Good.  Now this ankle goes over here.  The hard one is this last ankle.  The fags I secure always find this difficult….  Relax.  Relax this leg.  Fucker, just suffer through the pain.  This is the pose you will be in as we drive across the country; your cunt leading the way.

“Now for this.  See this.  This is not your ordinary chastity cage.  No this one flattens your dick head to just over half an inch.  There is no way for you pull out.  Your balls, as tiny as they are, are pushed in your taint region so that when you sit down, you will crush them.  You won’t be able to get a hard on due to the pain it causes.  This is going to hurt. 

“Scream.  I don’t give a fuck.  This is going on.  There!  Now for the lock….  With that click, this is not coming off. 

“Oh shit!  He’s already here.

“Come on up….  I was about to cunt the fag.  You can watch….  I just need to remove some of his pubes.  Get over there so you can watch.  I don’t use a clipper or anything like that.  I just grab a hold of a tuft and yank it out.  The faggots always scream when I do that.  That’s music to my ears.  Gets me rock hard.

“No, you can leave the curtain open.  I don’t give a shit who sees me take ownership of this fagmeat.  If the other driver wants to join, so be it.  This is the pussy’s first moments submitting to me; he needs to know what’s in store for him for the next year.

“Hey shithead, open your fucking mouth.  Eat your pubic hair.  Chew and swallow.  Everything that gets yanked out goes right into your mouth.

“That’s what you got to do to these fags.  He knew that I am a sadistic bastard when he agreed to live with me for a year.  He knew that’s what he was paying me for….

“Yeah, he paid me fifty thousand to ride with me and ride me….  No shit!  And he’s paying me five thousand every month.  Fuck yeah.  The first transfer went through about ten minutes ago.  A friend of mine told me that I should be charging for my fat cock.  He told me about a site where this type of shit goes on.  I posted that I’m a driver with a seven by eight-inch dick looking for a hole to fuck while on the road for the next year.  I jokingly put a fifty-thousand-dollar price tag, and wouldn’t you know it within a week, this faggot replied.  Once I showed him a pic of my cock and me next to my tractor, he wanted to throw money at me. 

“Open up.  Eat this last tuft.  I will save the rest of your snatch for another time.  It’s time for me to fuck this cunt.  Let me show you the dick that will own your life.  Look at it.  It’s barely rock hard, and it’s already fatter than a beer can.  You got me leaking boy.  There is so much slop under my foreskin.  You will be expected to clean me up every day, after every time I fuck you.

“Hand me some of that lube.

“Hey shithead.  You ready to be cunted?  The lube goes on for my pleasure, not yours….

“Scream fucker scream.  Right to the root.  Resist or accept me, I don’t give a shit.  I’m going to dump my three-day load into you through all your screaming.  You want me to cum faster, keep screaming.  It ain’t going to take me long.  First cuntings never do.  Your pussy walls are like silk on my dick.  Oh fuck.  I’m gonna cum. 

“Look up at me.  You know I own you?  You know this cunt is mine?  Just nod.  Good.  You want this load?  Of course, you do.  It’s what you live for.  It’s gonna cost you though.  Look at my fist.  Here comes your first black eye.

“BOOM!  Fuck yeah.  And I’m gonna cum.  I’m gonna cum!  Ahhhhhh!  Ahhhhhh.  Fuck yeah.

“Whew!  That was fucking good.  You’re up!...  What?  That bother you?  Then don’t fuck him.  I don’t give a shit.  Besides, I love giving black eyes.  My favorite part is making the fagmeat respond ‘I didn’t listen’ to any inquiry as to how it happened.  Damn.  Thinking about that is getting me hard again.  He’s already starting to regain consciousness.

“Hey Shithead!  Rise and shine in the summertime!

“Your dick is still hard.  Go on.  Fuck him…. Yeah, there you go.  Go on give it to him.  You said you would be brutal.  Fuckin’ be brutal….  Yeah yank his nips right off.  He needs to know the year of hell that lies in front of him.”

[irradiantflux]

how do I stop thinking about the person who's broken my heart? I stare at his pictures and listen to old voicemails. I miss him so much. idk what to do anymore.

Well. There isn't any perfect solution to this problem. I have the same problem with my ex. I ended up taking away the option to contact him entirely. I deleted his number, all of his texts, emails, call logs. I put all of the photos into a .rar file with a password created by Google Authenticator. I deleted him from Facebook, changed my relationship status, deleted him from Discord, left the servers we were in together, changed my Discord settings so no one outside of my contact list can send messages to me. I wiped him completely from my life. The clothes I bought because he said I would be beautiful wearing them, I burned in a bonfire. Now there's no way to contact him at all. I never memorized his number or email address. Everything is gone.

That might be too extreme for you personally, but it really did help. I've always been a fan of the "Out of Sight; Out of Mind" approach. Otherwise, you run the risk of mourning forever and missing something good if it comes along. Like that meme, "Sometimes you have to throw the whole man away."

I hope this helps you. Good luck!

-M

[etherathena]

100 things to do instead of eating

look in the mirror

play an instrument

scroll on tumblr, twitter, tiktok, insta etc

add to ur th1nsp0 pinterest board

look at photos of megan fox (shes so beautiful)

look at photos of adriana lima (shes also so beautiful)

make your bed

journal

watch mukbangs of WAY too much food (dont make yourself more hungry!)

enjoy the sick hungry feeling

eat gum

drink a lot of water

girl blog / shitpost

read fanfic lol

take a shower

manifest

go for a walk

work out

stretch

watch a movie

play a videogame

make yourself in the sims but skinny

learn a kpop dance

do chores

watch YouTube

do a face mask

think about why you want to lose weight

think about how gross you will look and feel after eating

delete emails

talk to your skinny friend

listen to a new song

online shop

sleep

do as many push ups as you can

go to the gym

drink 0 cal drinks (coke zero, etc)

eat ice

0-5cal jelly

do makeup

do skincare

walk your dog

play with your cats

read a book

watch a show

talk to your family

facetime someone

make a playlist

manifest

make a vision board

touch some grass

try to lick your elbow

try to tie a knot with a shoelace in your mouth

buy a piercing gun from temu and pierce your ears

do 5 star jumps

try the le sserafim workout (not for the weak 🙏🏻)

stan txt

write self insert fanfiction

read old diaries

clean your room

clean your car

stalk someone on facebook

create a wishlist

try a new hairstyle

learn a language

do a puzzle

plan your week/month/year

look at air b&bs and flights and pretend you have enough money to go on a trip somewhere

get a job

go to school

start a bullet journal

paint

draw

write a story

write a letter to your future self

try to travel back in time

try reality shifting

meditate

clean out your camera roll

physically clean your phone (its probably gross)

change your passwords

"take me to a useless website"

watch cartoons

paint your nails

dye your hair

do a hair mask

pray

pluck your eyebrows

shave your legs

buy yourself flowers

clean your makeup brushes

ride a bike

go for a swim

go to the beach

learn a magic trick

play a card game

play a board game

invent a new language

mew

do yoga

think about how your life will be when you're skinny

still hungry?

do it all again.

[gallifreyriver]

New game: Drop Google Chrome's market share 2023.

Why? Monopolies are bad and that's what's gonna happen if things don't even out a bit.

Why is it bad if Google has a monopoly? Because google already tracks the shit out of you, that's why. They collect and market your data. Yes, even in incognito mode. Just because your search history isn't being saved, doesn't mean google hasn't logged away where you've been or what you've searched for their own purposes. Imagine what more they'll do if the competition snuffs out?

"But I'll use an ad-blocker. I'm good." Not on Chrome you won't, because they're killing off ad-blockers in 2023, literally as soon as January- that's less than two months away. Gee... I wonder why they'd be doing that...

I recommend Firefox.

I switched a couple months ago and it's seriously so good.

It takes literal minutes to switch, you can import your bookmarks, passwords, browsing history, and even your open tabs from chrome to firefox.

Oh- and they don't collect and market your data.

And the extensions are amazing:

uBlock Origin blocks ads, trackers, coin miners, popups, etc. Hate those annoying ads before YouTube videos? I haven't had one since installing- and it literally never occurred to me for some reason that ad blockers would work on YouTube too. (It also got rid of the ads on tumblr, which I also didn't expect to happen)

There's Auto Tab Discard for people like me who always have a ton of tabs open. It puts your inactive tabs to sleep (but doesn't close them! important!) to help save memory and battery

Facebook Container keeps Facebook from tracking you around the web. (Includes Insta and Facebook messenger)

There's Image Search Options, for when you want to properly credit an artist, or need to find the source of an image. You just right-click on the image and it gives you a list of 10+ top reverse image search engines to click on, and when you click one it automatically plugs the image into the search!

Youtube Audio saves you bandwidth and battery when you just want audio from YouTube (aka: to use Youtube as a music streaming service or listening to narration videos/podcasts)

Then of course there's XKit Rewritten, which I'm sure you'll already recognize as the thing that enhances the tumblr experience.

And there's so many others!

And I get it if you don't like change, and don't wanna deal if the browser appearance is either different than you're used to, or worse- ugly. I get it, I do. But the good news is if the only thing holding you back is that you've gotten used to how Chrome looks, Firefox Dark theme is literally so similar I didn't even notice the difference when I switched. (And I imagine the same is true of the light theme) There's also literally a whole library of themes if you want a more customized look!

And some of you might be thinking "But I have a google account! GMail, Drive- Everything! Won't I have to stop using all that if I switch?" NOPE. Being logged into Google isn't the same as being logged into Chrome. You can log right into Google on Firefox same as you would on any other browser and your experience with your mail, drive, etc. will be just the same as if you were in Chrome, just without the collecting and marketing of your data. (That reminds me, There's also extensions to prevent google from tracking you as well, like "Don't track me Google" and "Google Container")

But seriously, Firefox is so great. Not only does it not track you and market your data, it's genuinely just a better experience than Chrome.

If you've been putting off switching, consider this your sign to do it.

[obit]

In the same way I recall forgotten words or play the notes on pianos, I type out your name. I think my knuckles have grown and maybe my fingers have shortened. There are long strands of hair in my nose now. I trim them once in a while and blow my nose into the sink so as to not inhale the cut bits. Then I look at my face in the mirror. I think I look the same as I did when you were alive. But I know this is not true. Just a way the mind blurs time and the self continues unnoticeably changed to itself. I think of hair trimmings in my lungs. It makes me cough.

I can still find you and your obituary group on Facebook. They changed the name of Facebook. I forgot my password. It took a while to log back in and see old photos. For just a moment, I get a feeling in my chest like I suddenly realized I was missing my heart and lungs. There's a great cavity and I can feel the circulating air. God, I say expelling the air. Then I say your full name and I can feel old neurons activating pathways I had not used in some time. Then I feel bad. You know. For how long it's been.

I only feel my age and only feel like I'm growing old when I compare it to the year you left. Is that something? I don't know. Time has changed me. I know it has. I think less. I ponder less. I feel a little less. I just move and work and do. Maybe it's a good thing. I don't get so low anymore.

I play your favorite songs. I remember small details about you. For some reason, I recall how your breath smelled, the thing you did with your one eye, and the last things we said. This is how I age, I think. I remember you and how far and far and far things have become. And things will only get further and further. I want this fact to break my heart like it used to. But it's different. It's different now. I'd say it's different in a worse way. This kind of losing you feels more tragic.

[saetoru]

hi guys. let me tell you about this fucking geriatric woman in my house right now.

so my moms best friend is in town so she came to visit and she’s staying the night. she brought her mother with her. my mom, dad, my mom’s best friend and her husband went out to sightsee and stuff, and the mother insisted she wanted to stay home and rest bc she’s been tired. me and my siblings stayed home naturally.

well.

this woman has me PAMPERING her 24/7 i kid u not as soon as she sees my ass touch the chair her brain like does a short circuit or something bc. here has been my night so far. :,)

“can you please bring me an extra pillow”

“can you please bring me a box of tissues”

“can you please turn the fan off for me, i’m cold”

“can you please bring me some water—i need room temperature or i’ll get sick”

“can you please change the channel to this, i don’t know how to work your remote”

“can you please fix my facebook, i logged out. no i don’t know my password. hang on let me ask my son. here talk to my son, do it quick he has to get back to work. oh, while you’re at it, could you reply to this comment for me”

“it’s getting late, i’m ready for dinner” (i make dinner)

“hmm, this is getting cold. could you reheat this for me” (i get up in the middle of eating my dinner to reheat her dinner)

“are those mangoes i see in your fruit bowl? i love mangoes” (i ask her if she’d like for me to cut them for her bc i’m polite and i can pick up on the hint she’s dropping) “oh, you’d cut them for me? oh yes, that would be lovely”

“oh while you’re at it, could you cut that apple too”

“can you please adjust this couch for me” (me, now forced to crouch down and adjust the reclining chair to her liking for her perfect position)

“oh, could you please grab my charger from the room i’m staying in? my phone will die in a bit”

“could you please change the channel once more? no not that one. oh, wait! yes this one! can you turn the volume up—no that’s too high, turn it down a bit please”

I. AM. ON. THE. VERGE. OF. KILLING. EVERYONE. IN. THIS. HOUSE.

IM SICK OF THIS RANDOM 70 YEAR OLD HAG WHO HAS 2 DAYS UNTIL HER EXPIRATION DATE HAVING ME DO MUNDANE TASKS FOR HER LIKE IM SOME MAID

[snelbz]

The Holiday {2}

Ships: Nesta x Cassian / Aelin x Rowan

Written alongside @theladyofdeath.

Trope(s): Christmas, fluff, love at first sight, enemies to lovers

Summary: Nesta has just been dumped. Aelin hates her job. Both women need an escape from reality and with Christmas quickly approaching, it's the perfect time for a getaway. After discovering a trend where people can swap houses for a non-traditional vacation experience, these two women decide to spend the holidays in each other's homes. With their houses comes a series of unique experiences and a couple of handsome suitors. It's time to see just how much a change of scenery and two weeks of Christmas solitude and romance can change a person.

A/N: It's December, which means the holiday season has officially begun! This one has been a blast to write, we never write such fluffy stuff. We hope y'all are enjoying it, too!

Rating: M for mature - language, smut, substance use, etc. 18+.

Inspired by The Holiday (2006).

The hour-long Uber ride was not what Aelin was expecting when she got off the plane at nearly ten o’clock at night, but it was sure as hell what she got. Her driver, a blessedly quiet man named Ilias, asked her what kind of music she liked, found a Pandora station dedicated to it, and they were off. After traveling all day, she knew there was no reason to be as exhausted as she was, but keeping her eyes open was proving to be a challenge as he left Orynth proper and drove up into the mountains.

Thankfully, just as she thought she would really doze off, the car came to a stop. A blast of cold hit her as he got out and popped open the back hatch.

It was frigid in Orynth, a different kind of cold than she was used to in Velaris.

After unloading her suitcase and ensuring she had both her purse and backpack, Ilias bade her farewell, backed out of the drive and headed down the long, single-lane road that curved along the mountain. They’d passed another cabin coming up and she knew more were likely farther up, but all she could focus on was the one before her.

Pulling her phone out of her back pocket, she checked the screenshot of the information Nesta had sent her. She’d warned there could be spotty cell service the farther into the mountains you went and she hadn’t been wrong. Thanks to the wifi password she’d already memorized, she knew she wouldn’t be without TikTok or Facebook for long.

After locating the key under a bucket in the front porch, Aelin unlocked the door and walked in.

Only to immediately shiver.

“By the Wyrd, how is it colder in here than it is out there?” Aelin murmured, snagging her bags from the porch and pulling them in. She closed the door, walking deeper into the cottage.

“Cozy mountain cottage, my ass,” she muttered, walking around the living room, looking for the small pad on the wall to control the central heating.

After searching for nearly two minutes, she still hadn’t found it.

The cottage wasn’t big by any means. It was certainly cute and meant to be homey, if only there was warmth of some kind. She had no idea how this woman hadn’t turned into a popsicle or died of hypothermia. 

There was a main room, which held a tv, a little sitting bench by a massive window, and walls lined with bookshelves. Reading — it was an apparent hobby that Aelin shared with Nesta. She made a mental note to check out the shelves of books as soon as she wasn’t freezing her ass off. 

Luckily, all the lamps she tried worked beautifully, lighting up the small space. There was a short hallway off of the kitchen where the bedroom and bathroom were. After tossing her bags on the neatly made bed full of blankets and pillows, Aelin made her way back into the living room. The space was far too cold for the heat to only have been turned off when Nesta left, which meant that there was no heat in this place at all.

Who the hell survived in the mountains with no central heat?

Aelin felt very strongly that such a fact should have been on the vacation listing. 

With a frustrated, exhausted sigh, Aelin turned to face the fireplace. There were no logs in the fireplace which meant that she’d have to make her way outside in the snowy darkness to try and find some. Being almost midnight, it was the last thing she wanted to do.

She wanted to sleep.

Maybe have a snack.

She wanted warmth. 

Gods, she was freezing.

After turning on the flashlight on her phone, Aelin threw open the front door.

And screamed.

A giant figure stood at the threshold, his fist raised to knock. He didn’t look startled in the slightest as Aelin cursed, her heart racing. Instead, he simply raised a brow, his green eyes scanning Aelin’s face. He was covered in layers, all of them black or dark green. Snow dusted the coat on his shoulders and his knit beanie, which stopped just above his thick brows.

“What the hell?” Aelin yelled, one hand bracing the door to keep herself steady. “It’s the middle of the night! Who the hell are you?”

Once again, he was not phased by Aelin’s outburst. Instead he tossed a thumb over his shoulder. “I brought wood.”

Aelin blinked as she scoffed. “You brought wood? At midnight? You brought wood at midnight? Is that when this woman usually gets her wood? At midnight?”

The euphemism wasn’t lost on Aelin but she didn’t say anything about it. Thankfully, neither did he.

The fist he would have used to knock with slowly fell back to his side. He shoved those hands into his pockets. “No, usually I’m here promptly at ten every couple of days, which is when I would have been here tomorrow…which is also when I thought you’d be getting here, not today. I was on my way home when I saw the lights on and knew I’d gotten the day wrong. Thought you might be cold.”

She was. Gods, she was. “I’m fine.”

She swore she saw his lips quirk as he looked over her shoulder at the dull, empty fireplace. “I’m guessing Nesta didn’t mention that you’d have to heat the place yourself.” 

“Look,” Aelin began, taking a deep breath as her fingers tightened on the door. “I’m tired. I’m grumpy. A little hangry, even. All I want to do is climb into bed, close my eyes, and hopefully wake up in the morning to not regret this decision I’ve made. So, if you would, get the hell off my property so I can make that happen.”

“It’s not your property, but I admire your conviction,” he said, and Aelin hated how he wasn’t even the slightest bit phased by her. “Why don’t you go get ready for bed, unpack your shit, and I’ll start a fire for you?”

Aelin nearly gaped. “You want me to let you, a man that could be a murderer for all I know, in here? Who shows up at midnight—”

“I’m trying to be helpful,” he interrupted, clearly getting frustrated. “If you prefer to chop your own wood and light your own flame, that’s fine. I have places to be.” He turned his back to her and slowly descended the stairs, back to the snow covered path to his truck. “Nesta said she left a note letting you know how to reach me when you need wood. Call, I guess, if you don’t want to freeze to death. I’d hurry. It’s only getting colder tonight.”

By the time Aelin remembered how to speak, he was climbing into the cab of his truck, which was still running, and gunning the engine. Up the mountain he went and Aelin grumbled something about unpacking her shit and went to retrieve the bundle of wood he’d set down at the top of the staircase.

Closing the door, and locking it for emphasis, Aelin found the instructions Nesta had left for her, including a phone number for Rowan, who she could only assume was her new friend. She hastily lit the fireplace and wood burning stove in the back bedroom, and before she knew it, the cottage was nearly as cozy as it’d been in the listing.

She connected to the wifi and sent a text to Lysandra, letting her know she’d safely made it and settled in. 

And then she checked her email.

There were nearly thirty emails and Aelin was almost positive twenty-five of them would be from Arrobyn. She had ignored his texts throughout the day, going so far as to send him to voicemail as she was boarding her flight to Orynth, something she’d never done. None of them were letting her know she’d been fired, so whatever Nox had done had appeased their boss, though he was already making demands for her to be at the office bright and early the day she was back in town.

With a groan, she turned her phone off and reminded herself she was here for a break. From Arrobyn, from life in Velaris, from everything.

There was a bottle of wine on the counter, near her note with Rowan’s phone number, with another note tied around the neck. It had another number on it, in the same feminine scrawl.

Give me a call if you need anything at all! Hope we both get the escapes we need.

Nesta

Although Rowan had pissed her off, Nesta seemed welcoming…even if Aelin had a slightly warmer idea of what welcoming meant. Nonetheless, Aelin hoped they both got their escapes, too. In the morning, she would make sure that she got her relaxing vacation. She wouldn’t accept any other fate.

Just after one, Aelin poured herself a small glass of wine and snuggled up on the couch in front of the fireplace. She had only drunk half of it before she fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.

<.>.<.>.<.>

Since arriving the night before, Nesta was scared to touch anything.

Aelin’s townhouse was immaculate. Everything was sleek and modern, and fell into the white, gray, calming blue color scheme. From the second she had opened the door, she felt like she had walked into a magazine. Only one thing looked out of place, and that was the Christmas tree. Sitting in the living room, it was tall and green and covered in ornaments. It was a nice, cheery sight. Nesta couldn’t remember the last time she’d help put up a Christmas tree. It hadn’t been since her childhood, certainly. 

Although their tastes were different, Aelin did have a good collection of books in her bedroom. Nesta spotted some romances and thought she’d spend a couple days diving into the pages.

Not today, though.

Today she would explore the city. 

She’d arrived in Velaris around eight the night before. The drive to the townhouse was less than twenty minutes and Nesta instantly made herself comfortable. The fridge had been recently stocked and the liquor cabinet was full. Judging from that and the look of her townhouse, Nesta had no idea what Aelin did for work but she decided that the woman did fairly well. There was no way Nesta would be able to afford anything close to this on her author’s salary. Although her books had begun to do well in the last few years, money went fast. 

Having been asleep by ten, Nesta was wide awake before eight, surprising herself by how well she was adjusting to the time change. Maybe the jet lag would hit her later. She needed to take advantage of her time before that happened.

It was snowing outside but wasn’t too cold. The second the flakes hit the sidewalk, they’d melt. It was a nice change from trudging through feet of snow like she did back home. Considering the heart of the city wasn’t far, Nesta decided she would walk. After putting on her boots and coat, she grabbed her purse off the bar in the kitchen and slung it across her body before locking Aelin’s door behind her and strutting toward the city. 

Velaris was beautiful.

Not only the starlight, which Nesta had admired the night before in awe, but the city itself was stunning. The skyscrapers were massive, the people were cheery, and the shops were busy. Everything was decorated - every building, every bus stop, every park bench. The light poles had ribbons wrapped around them like presents and the statues were surrounded by string lights and holly. Nesta had never seen anything like it. With the city so big and so much to do, she was afraid even two weeks wouldn’t be time to see it all.

She didn’t want to waste a single second and before she knew it, it was lunch time and she’d stopped at a restaurant whose windows were open to the hustle and bustle of the streets outside, despite the temperature. Thanks to a roaring fire in the hearth, Nesta was cozy as could be as she sipped her tea and ate the most amazing BLT she’d ever had.

“Everything good over here?” Her server, Emerie, stopped by, a stack of plates in her hand.

“It’s all lovely,” Nesta replied, giving the dark haired woman a polite smile. It was more than she usually offered those around her, but this trip she’d decided to try and be nicer to people. Unless they deserved it, at least. Starting with her sweet waitress was easy. “Thank you so much.”

Emerie’s brows bunched together before she said, “I’m sorry, I’ve got to ask. Where are you from? I’ve been trying to figure out your accent, but I can’t.”

Nesta’s own eyebrows raised, not realizing she even had an accent, but she was a long way from home. “I’m from a small town just south of Spring, but I’ve lived in Orynth for years.”

“Orynth? In Terrasen?” Emerie’s eyes were wide. “I’ve never been, but I’ve heard it’s beautiful. And cold.”

Nesta couldn’t help but laugh. “That it is.”

“What brings you to Velaris?” Emerie asked, a bus boy coming and taking the dirty dishes off her hands. “Are you visiting for the holidays or did you just move to town?”

Shaking her head, despite the fact that she’d been asked two questions, Nesta said, “Just needed a vacation from life. Thought the City of Starlight was the place to do just that.”

“Well, if you’re looking for suggestions to start this vacation of yours, I can give you a few places to check out,” she suggested, and the offer was too kind to decline. Five minutes later, Nesta had a long list on her phone of places to enjoy, starting with the Rainbow.

It was a strip of local artists in shops and vendor carts. Sculptures lined the streets and murals covered the brick walls. As soon as she started exploring the Rainbow of Velaris that afternoon, Nesta decided that Feyre would be in heaven there. In fact, she picked up a few pieces to bring home to her sister for Christmas. There was a painting, a landscape piece of something called Starfall that Nesta was mesmerized by, and a tiny clay sculpture of an ancient being with dark, incandescent wings that caught her attention. Feyre would love both.

She spent hours there, admiring the art, exploring the street. By the time the sun began to set, Nesta was exhausted, but feeling fulfilled. She also found a set of glass roses for Elain. Although Nesta would be missing Christmas with her sisters, she would come home with unforgettable presents. 

Realizing she was starving and not wanting to test Aelin’s kitchen out just yet, Nesta checked the list that Emerie helped her create. There was a little bar and grill not far from Aelin’s that Emerie gave a glowing review. Apparently it had live music, which was always a plus. By the time she made it back to the townhouse, however, Nesta’s feet were killing her and she almost cursed herself for not wearing more practical shoes. The boots looked cute, but they’d been worth it. After dropping off her sister’s gifts, she decided they were cute enough to be worth it again.

A drink would help her forget about her aching feet, surely.

It only took her a few minutes to reach the Illyrian from the townhouse and when she arrived, she was pleasantly surprised to find it busy. It gave her a chance to watch people, to imagine the stories and lives the people around her led. There was a lone table open, thanks to the gloriously chaos of open seating and Nesta found herself sitting before a small stage.

The bartender came, a handsome man about her again, with eyes a color of violet she’d never encountered before, and promised to return with a Jack and Coke and the best thing the kitchen had to offer.

As she waited, she began to relax. She spotted a couple at the bar, happy in love, then another couple a few spots down that couldn’t seem to stop fighting. There were a few loners there, too, surely hoping to find love or at least love for a night. Nesta wondered what people thought about her, sitting at a table alone, but quickly realized that she did not care. 

Especially not as her drink came.

She sipped her Jack and Coke, continuing to watch those around her. Fifteen minutes passed before her waiter returned with the biggest bacon cheeseburger she’d ever seen, with homemade chips, and she ordered another drink to go along with it.

As she took the first bite — the first glorious bite — a man came out on the stage with a guitar. In a matter of seconds, a hush fell over the people in the restaurant and a group of women ran back to their table, giving him their full attention.

Nesta rolled her eyes.

He was one of those.

He cleared his throat as he sat down in the stool, leaning forward to speak into the microphone. “What’s up? Y’all know the drill. You want a song, I’ll play it if I know it. And if I don’t, I’ll pretend I do.” The gaggle of girls laughed far more enthusiastically than they should have. “Relax, have a drink, and tip your bartenders, unless it’s that asshole.”

He pointed at the violet-eyed man who was, in fact, the one serving her and was rolling his eyes, and started strumming.

Nesta was surprised at just how mesmerizing his voice was. It was husky and sensual and matched his rugged good looks. He wore a dark gray henley, jeans, and boots, and his hair was tied back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. There was a day or two’s worth of stubble along his jawline and his hazel eyes were bright in the stage lights trained on him. Most of the songs he played were covers, though he’d tossed a few original songs in now and then. Original songs that weren’t too bad.

He had just finished a request from one of the fan girls sitting at the table next to her own when she realized he was…looking at her.

She wasn’t sure how to take it, wasn’t sure how to handle his piercing stare. He must’ve seen the hesitancy in her body, because he chuckled as he started singing once more. 

Started singing directly to her.

She liked it and hated it at the same time. There was a thrill that shot through her along with the dread and panic that had settled in the pit of her stomach. A couple of the fan girls shot disgusted looks her way and Nesta couldn’t blame them. There she was, sloppily eating a burger by herself while getting serenaded by a guy they were obviously obsessed with.

He was handsome.

He also liked the attention and Nesta could tell. He was the type of man that thrives on a woman’s attention, the kind that used it to his advantage and ran with it.

She wondered which of these groupies he’d be taking home tonight. Nesta looked pointedly at him as she took the last bite of her burger and that stupid grin appeared again as the beautiful words streamed from his mouth.

She suddenly realized he was singing Your Body is a Wonderland and scoffed, pulling enough money out of her wallet to cover her tab and tip her server.

With a final look at the stage, finding his eyes still on her and a smirk still on his handsome face, Nesta turned and left.

She couldn’t shake the feeling his gaze was on her the whole way home.

[netherworldpost]

It does appear that the Netherworld Post instagram is now back and visibility is fixed.

Thanks, entirely, to a Tumblr anon's comment who wrote in:

"when you go to your profile, tap on the three line icon in the top right corner, Settings and privacy, Creator tools and controls, Minimum age, do you have a minimum age set there? Right now your account is restricted to 16+, which won’t allow anyone not logged in to view it."

Then after a few hours of cache clearing, everything seems to be working as intended.

I spent over 40 hours trying to figure this out. Probably far more, I stopped clocking time at 40 hours because it got too depressing.

I remember specifically setting the profile at 16+ at some point in the past -- nothing of my content is age sensitive, but I don't have kids, none of my friends have kids, so I am personally ill prepared to say "this is appropriate" vs. "this is not."

I found no documentation from Meta, Facebook, Instagram, or any forum discussing this setting's shift of profile visibility.

None.

There is no language surrounding the front end, or back end, "This profile has been age-restricted."

None.

My account was never flagged for content. There IS a backend tool that says, "is my account flagged?" and it gave me the green light, "Not flagged!" and I kept hollering, "THEN WHY ISN'T IT SHOWING UP."

The language on the previously hidden, now visible, Netherworld Post instagram was the exact same when a profile is deleted, when a profile is blocked, and apparently when a user self selects age restriction thinking they are doing something handy for parents (be it a good idea or not).

Instagram and Meta do not have a help desk with live support, they do not offer email support -- except, between this starting to yesterday, they are now offering a $14.99/month premium service which has a help desk.

I tried various logging in, logging out, changing profile types, etc. in hoping that I would be clearing a cache on instagram's system.

Because. I repeat. There is either zero documentation as to what was happening. Or, there is, but it is so buried as to be unfindable, which is objectively the same thing from a user's perspective.

Facebook flagged me several times, "we think you are a bot trying to sign in" and sent various automated security protocols to verify. Which I did, and passed, not being a hacker, but instead being an increasingly frustrated system admin to a tiny company.

At one point text messages stopped coming in, which was another problem, now fixed.

This last point being why I have repeatedly said, "Get 2 factor authentication, specifically using an app or other device, not a text-message."

What this means:

Your password is 1 factor, an authorization code (via app or other method) is another. It says, "It's me, I have a second key!"

When you rely on text messages, you are relying on THEM to send YOU this second key to verify. When you use an app or other method, YOU generate the key.

This removes a potential hiccup in the "are you a hacker?" "i am not a hacker" stage.

My life and career began to shift in 2012 when I started focusing business on monsters, ghosts, stories, stationery, rambles, etc. away from web design and programming, then graphic design, then (vague gesture as my company did a lot).

This entire experience felt like I was going mad. I spent YEARS helping clients AVOID THIS SITUATION.

You get the picture.

Netherworld Post is on Instagram

I feel like email lists are safer + I like emails

One of the first products to launch in the store this autumn will be "How about a monthly zine of Netherworld Post news. Super, super cheap. Help keep the lights on, help keep up to date without being at the mercy of tech billionaires."

One of the blog posts that I'm working on between now and launch is how I built said zine. I'm running efficiency tests to make it as high quality, low cost, and fast-to-send as possible. The point being, "Run a small shop or blog or whatever? Here's a way you and your audience can keep in touch without algorithms and tech woes."

This is a lot of words.

It's been a mini-therapy session.

I'm hoping it helps someone somewhere with a similar issue.

I'm very grateful for someone who does not work for Meta to say, "Hm. I may know your problem."

[the-sleepy-archivist]

Online Privacy and Security Tips

I am a firm believer that people should be able to be anonymous and secure online. Over a lifetime of trial and error, I've slowly learned the best ways to protect myself, and I'd like to pass on that knowledge to anyone who wants to hear it.

Last updated May 2024 (added links to news articles about PimEyes being used to identify someone in real life)

Switch to Firefox for your main browser on Windows and Android

Avoid any browser based on the Chromium project (like Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome), as Google has a major conflict of interest that prevents it from truly having users' privacy interests at heart. It makes ~70-80% of its revenue from its highly targeted advertising business, for which it must collect as much information about you as possible. That means that no matter how badly certain parts of Google want to build privacy into the browser, business interests and pressure will always supersede them, or at least force a compromise that still enables some tracking. Firefox is owned and maintained by a non-profit, so it does not have that same conflict, and it shows in the features it builds (and does not build) and the way it treats its users.

I made a list of my favorite Firefox extensions if you want to make your internet experience more pleasant and/or more secure!

Note: on iOS (i.e. iPhones), Firefox' functionality is limited by Apple restrictions and I do not recommend it - using Safari with Extensions like Adguard or 1Blocker is more secure and will give you a better experience. I made a list of my favorite iOS Safari extensions too!

Use a reputable password manager

I suggest 1Password (avoid LastPass and all of the password managers built into browsers, they're not safe). A good password manager increases your online safety by:

Helping you avoid password reuse (a common cause of account hacking)

Generating complex passwords that are difficult to guess or decrypt, and

Allowing you to keep records of all the different sites you have accounts on (so you can quickly change passwords in the event of a breach or delete your accounts on them when they outlive their usefulness)

Delete old accounts you no longer need

If your data has been deleted, no one can steal and leak it if they manage to hack the company.

Sign up for alerts from HaveIBeenPwned (HIBP) to be notified when your data is leaked in a site hacking.

This allows you to quickly change your password, hopefully before anyone is able to decrypt it (if it wasn't stored properly) or use it (if it was easy to guess). If you have reused that password on other sites, be sure to change your password on those sites either.

Note that some leaks don’t actually have any info about what website they were stolen from; if criminals just dump a huge text file onto a hacking forum that has your username and an accompanying password in it, HIBP doesn’t necessarily know what site they hacked to get that info. This is where a password manager like 1Password will come in handy, because 1P can actually use HIBP’s API to check each of your passwords and see if any of them have been leaked before. It will alert you if you need to change a specific password, even if you weren’t aware that site had been hacked.

Note: 1P only sends the first 5 characters of the password hashes to HIBP, not the passwords themselves. You can read more about the feature and how it preserves your privacy here.

Assume all profile pictures on any site are public, and avoid using your face for them if possible

New AI-powered sites like PimEyes can take an image of you, identify your face, and search for it in other, unrelated images around the internet. I searched for myself using a recent image that had never been posted to the internet before, and it immediately identified me in completely separate images I was using as my profile pictures on Facebook and LinkedIn and provided links to my accounts there. In this new AI era, assume anyone who snaps a picture of you can link you to your identity on any website where you have publicly posted your face before. This is not hyperbole; fans used PimEyes to identify a cameraman at a Taylor Swift concert using nothing more than a screenshot of a video taken of him by a concertgoer. Note: for what it's worth, you can submit an opt-out request to PimEyes if you are worried about someone using it to find your accounts online, but it requires you to submit images of your face and your government ID to the company...

Never post the same (original) image on two accounts that you do want to keep separate

Even a simple reverse image search can allow someone to link your different sites together (i.e. don't post the same vacation sunset photo on both Facebook and Tumblr because anyone can use that to link those sites together. Even if your Facebook or Instagram images are private, a follower of yours on one of those sites could still find the Tumblr you are not comfortable sharing with anyone. Marking your Tumblr as hidden only discourages search engines from indexing it; shady companies can and will ignore that and index it anyway.

[just-another-turkey]

Ao3 DDoS attack- an explanation

For anyone missing their fanfics (like me), this article gives an general outline what going's on with Ao3.

For anyone hoping that they might be able to get to their fanfics soon, I suggest not getting your hopes up. Ao3 may be up in a couple hours (hopefully) , but there's a possibility that could last for several days depending on how how severe the attack is and how many resources the attackers have, Ao3 is handling this attack, and what response plans they have in place.

Some things to know if you're not familiar with DDoS attacks... it's time to use my education.

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with Ao3 other than being a user. I don't know what security measures they have in place, or what their security is. This is my personal- though knowledgeable- thoughts what may be going on behind the scenes.

Also, if the idea of the DDoS attack is scaring you in anyway- take a deep breath. It's going to be OK, even if my post may come across as dark (if so, I am sorry about that). It only meant to inform and educate Tumblr users on what is going on, and what might Ao3 may be doing. Do not panic just because of this post.

So, let's get started.

a. DDoS stands for distributed Denial of Services attacks. So that means the attackers is using multiple third party devices (such as other servers, botnets*) to make so many requests (think millions per minute) to the Ao3 servers that the servers use up all their resources, preventing us legitimate users from using them.

b. A slight side note- I've heard some people say that it's because of one person that Ao3 is down. It may just be one person, but setting up a DDoS attack is easier with a team. It is likely it is a group of attackers behind this- most attacks have multiple people involved in one form or another. This isn't the most relevant point I have, but just something people should know- there may be more than one attack.

c. To stop this attack, Ao3 is going to have to block all malicious traffic from reaching the servers. However, since this is a distributed attack, they are going to have to block multiple IP addresses. This is going to take some time.

d. We also have to consider if Ao3 has a response plan in place. Response plans are, as the name suggests, what the organization does in the case of an event. For ao3, that means who are they going to contact to fix this issue. But if there isn't a response plan in place already, it going to take longer for them to stop the attack because they're fixing this on the go- a difficult thing to do.

e. Once the attack has been stopped, it won't be over for Ao3, there are two more things they need to do- complete forensics to determine any possible damage to their servers and complete an After Action Review.

e1. While it is most likely that everything will be back to normal system wise after the attack has stopped, Ao3 would be smart to conduct forensics on their system to see if there are any anomalies (malware or indications of a breach). Attackers sometimes use DDoS attacks to cover their tracks when they hack into a system. Not likely here, considering the target won't have super sensitive information that an attacker wouldn't bother with trying to get. But the possibility is always there- however small.

e2. if they want to mitigate the risk of such attacks happening again- they need to complete After Action review (AAR). In AAR, Ao3 is going to have to look at what happened, and determine what they can do to ensure this doesn't happen so easily again. Hopefully, this means writing up or editing and improving their response plan, improving their security measures, etc.

f. Most importantly, your information is unlikely to be compromised. The most damage you will receive is not being able to access Ao3's servers. Ao3 has said that you don't need to change your passwords if you have an account. That being said, if you have a weak password, definitely change it anyway. (like I'm talking is you're using weak passwords. See the following link for what weak and strong passwords are: https://security.harvard.edu/use-strong-passwords )

That's what I have to say for now. Again, this post is not associated with the team at Ao3, I am independent and have no insider knowledge, just knowledge from being a security student. Ao3 will likely say more in the future, so keep an eye for it, and hopefully we'll be able to back to our fics.

If you have any questions about this attack or general cybersecurity, my asks are open, there are comments, and I will respond to them as quickly as I can. If you are in security, and I got something here, please tell me because I do not want to spread misinformation or cause panic.

Heard from your mother (she don't recognize you), I'll be waiting for you.

*compromised computers or other devices with internet connection with malware