#Recently Registered Domains

[robbiesblogdotcom]

Ford Gears Up for the Future with Intelligent Solutions: A Dive into New Domain Registrations

Ford Gears Up for the Future with Intelligent Solutions: A Dive into New Domain Registrations In a move signaling its commitment to cutting-edge technologies, Ford Motor Company has recently secured two intriguing domain names: “FordProIntelligence.ai” and “FordCreditHub.com.” These registrations hint at the automotive giant’s strategic plans, highlighting a focus on professional intelligence and…

[nights-at-crystarium]

As a twitter/tumblr user since 2010-2011, I believe I have sufficient grounds to say that currently we as a community are living through the scariest, shittiest time yet. This post isn’t trying to fearmonger, no I’m not leaving tumblr until it literally keels over, but I suggest that we don’t put all our eggs in one basket.

If twitter/tumblr stay usable, great! In the worse scenario, you’d have kept posting on a new platform and stayed ahead of the curve.

This post shares my personal experience with three potential “new”* fandom places, and is aimed to help fellow content creators. I’m an artist fully depending on internet to survive, my reasoning may not apply to you if you’re a hobbyist. Do your own research, it’s always healthy. * Pillowfort and mastodon have been around for 5+ years, bluesky is ~2 years old.

Discovering new people to follow kinda sucks on all three platforms, twitter and tumblr are eons ahead, but, given the recent chaos and uncertainty, I’m willing to be patient, keep posting on those, and feel safer than I would’ve otherwise been. More baskets good, one basket bad.

All three have poor visual customization, don’t expect custom tumblr themes.

This list starts with the least popular, but most human and easy to join, and what I personally trust the most. All three allow nsfw if labeled properly.

✦ Pillowfort is a barebones tumblr. Intuitive, cozy, but currently very, very small. Be patient with its clunkiness or lack of some features, it’s made by an AO3-like team. I’d personally love if the fandom crowd managed to redirect its attention to it instead of the sus bluesky.

Joining: is free, invite-only, but the waitlist is nearly instant.

Lurk around on their official tumblr: @/pillowfort-social

✦ Mastodon, for me personally, is impossible to explain directly. I’ll use several comparisons.

- Discord but all servers can interact. You’re still on a server curated by some human(s) that might tell you what you can and can’t post, BUT, if you don’t like that server’s policy, you can move to a new one while keeping your followers. - Email, users A and B may be registered on different domains, still they can talk. It’s a weird comparison, but fediverse (please I’m not explaining THAT but it’s a good thing) in general looks like another email story: unlike big sites that come and go, it might stand the test of time. - Someone compared mastodon’s structure to xiv’s dc and servers, if you look at its domain names that way, it might be easier to understand.

Depending on user, mastodon may feel gatekeepy/snowflakey. I haven’t spent enough time on there to form a proper opinion yet, but a warning’s due.

An actually good and hopeful thing about mastodon AND tumblr: the two might start interacting in future. Ever lamented that your fav asian artists don’t use tumblr? If they use misskey, or any other place on the fediverse, it might be possible to follow them directly from tumblr in future, and vice versa.

Joining: is free, however some servers close for new members sometimes, and have human moderators reviewing your request.

✦ Bluesky is a twitter without Musk: today’s average internet user reads this, drops everything and already looks to register there. It’s still sus, but people flock to it like crazy. Most likely to become the next big fandom place in my eyes, even if I’m not happy about that.

I personally have no good feelings about bluesky. Same as twitter, which I hated even before the 2018 tumblr exodus, yet the crowd decided to make it The New Fandom Place, and, grudgingly, I had to give up and also join them in 2022. During the year I haven’t stopped despising twitter, yet, I can’t deny that it helped me survive. I estimate half of my patrons, and, hell, even tumblr audience, comes from twitter. So, if bluesky ends up being the next hot shit, I’ll have to keep up because internet pays for my living.

Joining: is free but hell, invite-only, the waitlist is a lie, your best chance to join is a direct invite.

This’s all I’ve got to say for now. If you have a correction or an addition, replies/reblogs are welcome!

Screenshots of the current interfaces under the cut, you may spy on my profiles o/

Pillowfort

Mastodon.art

Bluesky

[sigynpenniman]

Help me update Gerard's Wikipedia page photo!

I'm on a mission, and I need help. The primary photo on Gerard's Wikipedia page is currently this, from 2017:

It's a fine photo, but it's 7 years old. I'd very much like to update it to something more current, optimally something from the tour. Unfortunately, that hasn't gone well in the past. Several people have attempted to do just that, but the issue is that Wikipedia doesn't allow copyrighted images to be used except in extremely specific circumstances, and primary images on pages of significant people don't count. All the images people have previously tried to use (the most recent was a photo from Dallas) have been copyrighted and pulled from the Wikimedia commons, and replaced back to this one. I'd like to get it updated properly this time, but I need everyone's help.

In order to get under the Wikipedia copyright rules, the image needs to either be creative commons, public domain, explicitly permissioned, or own work. In other words, essentially, if it's not already released as creative commons, it basically needs to be an image you took yourself. I obviously don't have any, so I'm calling on the fandom.

I need photos that are:

taken either by you yourself or someone you personally know that you can seek permission from

relatively high quality and clean - photos taken on a phone are potentially okay, but they need to be decently straight on, crisp & well lit, not grainy or too dark. He needs to be framed fairly close (full body is fine, just not a tiny little mousegirl as seen from the back of the room) and facing the camera. They don't need to be looking directly at or making eye contact with the camera, but nothing from extreme angles or in profile.

semi-neutral - not of him screaming, rolling around on the floor, eating the microphone, etc. Singing & posing is good just no chaos or major upskirts.

decently representative - meaning, it looks fairly accurate to what Gerard actually looks like, so no makeup, blood, or masks. This means Sydney, Tokyo, Osaka, any shows with the clear plastic mask, the skeleton, black swan, the forehead bullet hole and WWWY (the old man night) are out. The rest of the shows are good though. I would especially love photos of the cheerleader. I would really love to make the main wiki photo cheerard.

SOMETHING YOU ARE WILLING TO RELEASE COPYRIGHT OF. Any image that goes onto Wikipedia effectively becomes creative commons when uploaded, and there is a rule specifically prohibiting the use of images that have been given "wiki permission" from their photographers - ie, the photographer says "this is okay to upload on Wikipedia but not anywhere else." That's against the rules, so you/your friend needs to be okay with the image being allowed for use by anyone forever, effectively

IF YOU HAVE A PHOTO THAT COULD WORK: DM me here or on discord. My handle is the same over there. I know there's not going to be a lot out there. Most of the best photos are copyrighted and most of what everyone has taken is chaotic, dark, grainy, etc. I know this is a longshot, which is why I'm crowdsourcing.

NOT YET ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ):

"Isn't wikipedia editable by anyone? Why are you putting yourself in charge of this and asking for people to reach out to you instead of just asking someone with the photo to upload it to wikipedia themselves?"

Yes, Wikipedia is editable by anyone who chooses. If you have an image you have taken yourself that you think will work and want to go make this change, go for it. However, unfortunately, this is a less trivial thing than it seems. As detailed above, Wikipedia's copyright rules are extremely strict, which is why previous efforts have failed. Additionally, Gerard's article is semi-protected, which means it can only be edited by a registered Wikipedia user with a certain number of days on the website. Additionally, Wikipedia is actually pretty tightly controlled. Most of Wikipedia is closely watched by experienced editors and changes to popular articles (pages about current celebrities very much count) will be reverted if they don't meet guidelines. In fact, if you go look at the talk page on Gerard's wiki right now, a lovely soul has offered a beautiful photo of the secretary to be used for the article, but it's never been updated, likely because the photo is very low quality and not very clear, and doesn't show their face well. I have some experience editing Wikipedia, and I want to use that to guide this towards being done the right way. Previous attempts to update the image that fall outside of Wikipedia's guidelines have been reverted half a dozen times and that's why we still have the image we have. If you have a photo to use and Wikipedia experience, please go swap it in yourself, I'll love you forever. However, I know that's not something a ton of people have. So I promise I'm not trying to make myself god of a Wikipedia article here - I just want to shepherd this towards getting fixed for good by making sure it's done 100% above board this time, so it sticks.

If you don't have a photo, I would appreciate a reblog. I need as many eyes as I can. I know someone out there has something that will work - help me find them!

[mariacallous]

YouTube’s Content ID system—which automatically detects content registered by rights holders—is “completely fucking broken,” a YouTuber called “Albino” declared in a rant on the social media site X that has been viewed more than 950,000 times.

Albino, who is also a popular Twitch streamer, complained that his YouTube video playing through Fallout was demonetized because a Samsung washing machine randomly chimed to signal a laundry cycle had finished while he was streaming.

Apparently, YouTube had automatically scanned Albino's video and detected the washing machine chime as a song called “Done”—which Albino quickly saw was uploaded to YouTube by a musician known as Audego nine years ago.

But when Albino hit Play on Audego's song, the only thing that he heard was a 30-second clip of the washing machine chime. To Albino it was obvious that Audego didn't have any rights to the jingle, which Dexerto reported actually comes from the song "Die Forelle" (“The Trout”) from Austrian composer Franz Schubert.

The song was composed in 1817 and is in the public domain. Samsung has used it to signal the end of a wash cycle for years, sparking debate over whether it's the catchiest washing machine song and inspiring at least one violinist to perform a duet with her machine. It's been a source of delight for many Samsung customers, but for Albino, hearing the jingle appropriated on YouTube only inspired ire.

"A guy recorded his fucking washing machine and uploaded it to YouTube with Content ID," Albino said in a video on X. "And now I'm getting copyright claims" while "my money" is "going into the toilet and being given to this fucking slime."

Albino suggested that YouTube had potentially allowed Audego to make invalid copyright claims for years without detecting the seemingly obvious abuse.

"How is this still here?" Albino asked. "It took me one Google search to figure this out," and "now I'm sharing revenue with this? That's insane."

At first, Team YouTube gave Albino a boilerplate response on X, writing, "We understand how important it is for you. From your vid, it looks like you've recently submitted a dispute. When you dispute a Content ID claim, the person who claimed your video (the claimant) is notified and they have 30 days to respond."

Albino expressed deep frustration at YouTube's response, given how "egregious" he considered the copyright abuse to be.

"Just wait for the person blatantly stealing copyrighted material to respond," Albino responded to YouTube. "Ah, OK, yes, I'm sure they did this in good faith and will make the correct call, though it would be a shame if they simply clicked ‘reject dispute,’ took all the ad revenue money and forced me to risk having my channel terminated to appeal it!! XDxXDdxD!! Thanks Team YouTube!"

Soon after, YouTube confirmed on X that Audego's copyright claim was indeed invalid. The social platform ultimately released the claim and told Albino to expect the changes to be reflected on his channel within two business days.

Ars could not immediately reach YouTube or Albino for comment.

Widespread Abuse of Content ID Continues

YouTubers have complained about abuse of Content ID for years. Techdirt's Timothy Geigner agreed with Albino's assessment that the YouTube system is "hopelessly broken," noting that sometimes content is flagged by mistake. But just as easily, bad actors can abuse the system to claim "content that simply isn’t theirs" and seize sometimes as much as millions in ad revenue.

In 2021, YouTube announced that it had invested "hundreds of millions of dollars" to create content management tools, of which Content ID quickly emerged as the platform's go-to solution to detect and remove copyrighted materials.

At that time, YouTube claimed that Content ID was created as a "solution for those with the most complex rights management needs," like movie studios and record labels whose movie clips and songs are most commonly uploaded by YouTube users. YouTube warned that without Content ID, "rights holders could have their rights impaired and lawful expression could be inappropriately impacted."

Since its rollout, more than 99 percent of copyright actions on YouTube have consistently been triggered automatically through Content ID.

And just as consistently, YouTube has seen widespread abuse of Content ID, terminating "tens of thousands of accounts each year that attempt to abuse our copyright tools," YouTube said. YouTube also acknowledged in 2021 that "just one invalid reference file in Content ID can impact thousands of videos and users, stripping them of monetization or blocking them altogether."

To help rights holders and creators track how much copyrighted content is removed from the platform, YouTube started releasing biannual transparency reports in 2021. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights group, applauded YouTube's "move towards transparency" while criticizing YouTube's "claim that YouTube is adequately protecting its creators."

"That rings hollow," the EFF reported in 2021, noting that "huge conglomerates have consistently pushed for more and more restrictions on the use of copyrighted material, at the expense of fair use and, as a result, free expression." As the EFF saw it then, YouTube's Content ID system mainly served to appease record labels and movie studios, while creators felt "pressured" not to dispute Content ID claims out of "fear" that their channel might be removed if YouTube consistently sided with rights holders.

According to YouTube, "it’s impossible for matching technology to take into account complex legal considerations like fair use or fair dealing," and that impossibility seemingly ensures that creators bear the brunt of automated actions even when it's fair to use copyrighted materials.

At that time, YouTube described Content ID as "an entirely new revenue stream from ad-supported, user generated content" for rights holders, who made more than $5.5 billion from Content ID matches by December 2020. More recently, YouTube reported that figure climbed above $9 billion, as of December 2022. With so much money at play, it's easy to see how the system could be seen as disproportionately favoring rights holders, while creators continue to suffer from income diverted by the automated system.

Despite YouTubers' ongoing frustrations, not much has changed with YouTube's Content ID system over the years. The language used in YouTube's most recent transparency report is largely a direct copy of the original report from 2021.

And while YouTube claims that the Content ID match technology should be "continually" adapted to sustain a "balanced ecosystem," the few most recent updates YouTube announced in 2022 didn't seem to do much to help creators dispute invalid claims.

"We’ve heard the Content ID Dispute process is top of mind for many of you," YouTube wrote in 2022. "You've shared that the process can take too long and can have long-term impact on your channel, specifically when claims result in viewing restrictions or monetization impact."

To address this, YouTube did not expedite the dispute process, which still allows up to 30 days for rights holders to respond. Instead, it expedited the appeals process, which happens after a rights holder rejects a disputed claim and arguably is the moment when the YouTuber's account is most in danger of being terminated.

"Now, the claimant will have 7 days instead of 30 to review the appeal before deciding whether to request a takedown of the video, release the claim, or let it expire," YouTube wrote in 2022. "We hope shortening the timespan of the appeals process helps you get claims resolved much faster!"

This update would only help YouTubers intent on disputing claims, like Albino was, but not the majority of YouTubers, whom the EFF reported were seemingly so intimidated by disputing Content ID claims that they more commonly just accepted "whatever punishment the system has levied against them." The EFF summarized the predicament that many YouTubers remain stuck in today:

There is a terrible, circular logic that traps creators on YouTube. They cannot afford to dispute Content ID matches because that could lead to DMCA notices. They cannot afford DMCA notices because those lead to copyright strikes. They cannot afford copyright strikes because that could lead to a loss of their account. They cannot afford to lose their account because they cannot afford to lose access to YouTube’s giant audience. And they cannot afford to lose access to that audience because they cannot count on making money from YouTube’s ads alone, partially because Content ID often diverts advertising money to rights holders when there is Content ID match. Which they cannot afford to dispute.

For Albino, who said he has fought back against many Content ID claims, the Samsung washing machine chime triggering demonetization seemed to be the final straw, breaking his patience with YouTube's dispute process.

"It's completely out of hand," Albino wrote on X.

Katharine Trendacosta, a YouTube researcher and the EFF's director of policy and advocacy, agreed with Albino, telling Ars that YouTube's Content ID system has not gotten any better over the years: “It's worse, and it's intentionally opaque and made to be incredibly difficult to navigate" for creators.

"I don't know any YouTube creator who's happy with the way Content ID works," Trendacosta told Ars.

But while many people think that YouTube's system isn't great, Trendacosta also said that she "can't think of a way to build the match technology" to improve it, because "machines cannot tell context." Perhaps if YouTube's matching technology triggered a human review each time, "that might be tenable," but "they would have to hire so many more people to do it."

What YouTube could be doing is updating its policies to make the dispute process less intimidating to content creators, though, Trendacosta told Ars. Right now, the bigger problem for creators, Trendacosta said her research has shown, is not how long it takes for YouTube to work out the dispute process but "the way YouTube phrases the dispute process to discourage you from disputing."

"The system is so discouraging," Trendacosta told Ars, with YouTube warning YouTubers that initiating a dispute could result in a copyright strike that terminates their accounts. "What it ends up doing is making them go, 'You know what, I'll eat it, whatever.'"

YouTube, which has previously dismissed complaints about the Content ID tool by saying "no system is perfect," did not respond to Ars' request for comment on whether any updates to the tool might be coming that might benefit creators. Instead, YouTube's plan seems to be to commiserate with users who likely can't afford to leave the platform over their concerns.

"Totally understand your frustration," Team YouTube told Albino on X.

[yridenergyridenergy]

hello, i have asked you before on how to sign up to kyo online some months ago i think. and to this time i have been trying on doing so, signing myself up on all the japanese email providers i could find but i still am unable to register and dont get a mail. with that youve also said some time ago to write to them that you didn't receive an email and they should answer you back with that registration link. and so i did that as well, and didn't got a reply, too. so my question is, who exactly do i need to send that email to, and do i need to write that in japanese? and what exactly do i need to tell them. sorry for bothering again but its been like forever and im still trying and failing miserably

Could someone please help this person and anybody else who has been trying to sign up to kyo-online, sukekiyo-online, Dir en grey Online, Die-Mobile, etc.? Anything that relies on the freewillonline domain.

Please give a recent example of the email provider you used that worked and what you did to complete registration?

[littletonpace]

Ok, but I can't shake the feeling that The Try Guys might be joining the Watcher TV platform...

Clue 1: The most recent Try Guys video included Sam Reich from Dropout (which I had never heard of, but I discovered is an ad-free subscription service started by College Humor).

Clue 2: They are both comprised of former Buzzfeed employees and have appeared in each other's videos.

Clue 3: Try Guys team members social media have been as silent as Watcher during this time. The main players from both Watcher and Try Guys follow each other on most social medias. None of them are posting anything. Clue 4: 3 days ago, Try Guys gave us an updated timeline of their schedule for this year, note "The Event" is coming SOON. Watcher had a countdown for a Major Announcement with the caption "Something Big Is Coming".

I mean, I'm probably wrong. I'm sure I'm wrong. I'm wrong. I have to be wrong.

EDIT AS OF 22 APRIL:

Clue 5: According to this reddit post, someone (maybe TryGuys, maybe not) registered the domain tryguys.tv in Feb 2024 - the same month as Watcher TV acquired their new domain.

So...

Maybe The Try Guys are also going to launch a streaming service???

EDIT AS OF APRIL 23RD

Clue 6: Today Try Guys promoting a video of Zach and Keith appearing on a Dropout TV show.

So, maybe Try Guys are joining the Drop-out TV crew?? Pretty solid move and makes sense for them financially. As long as there's no sudden pay wall...

[perhaps-relax]

I know we like to joke about RE8 as an ostensibly crap piece of media we would never actually recommend in earnest, but I just want to articulate really quickly what makes it an incredibly good and masterful video game.

a) It's fucking scary and challenging, even when the monsters are a little goofy. Ethan returning to the village in between each of the lord's domain isn't boring or repetitive because there is something new and awful prowling around every time. the baby in house beneviento is pants-shittingly scary every time, like holy shit. i still get jumpscared by cassandra every time i replay. and i always end up ammo-starved in heisenberg's factory such that my fully upgraded weapons are no longer an advantage. ethan is always on his back foot and it just really works.

b) The game is dripping with good art and very clean, deliberate creative choices. three years later, i feel like i am still seeing certain pieces of concept art for the first time. using Romanian/Dacian folklore as a thematic tether provides an endless wealth of atmosphere that gets further supplemented by other strong horror tropes and references. the music is so so so sad and lonely.

c) its actually about something??? This is just something i registered recently when i got thinking about why i enjoy RE8 more than the RE4 remake, despite similarities and the latter having some obvious advantages by virtue of not being a COVID game. RE4 could be about about leon's helplessness as a pawn, and maybe about luis's futile attempts to right past mistakes. Beyond that, i dont really know what the fuck the game is trying to say. Even though i have a lot of problems with how RE8 frames family, cults, and trauma, they are obvious themes that shape the narrative. it feels like a myth playing out, and its so surreal and heartbreaking and emotional that i just can't act like im not moved by it.

the writing is crap in many places, there are obvious conceptual gaps that i think we all know had to do with COVID, and its a little gross how the game is completely unwilling to frame the white nuclear family unit as anything short of Holy. THAT BEING SAID, i dont think that makes it a crap game. that's all.

[elbiotipo]

The fun thing about Kobolds is that besides the name they virtually have nothing in common with the original European myth they came from. Kobolds (the lizard western version and the Japanese dog version) are by now an original and very recent contribution to the fantasy *genre*, and because Wizards of the Coast lost a lawsuit, basically public domain too. It's very interesting.

Of course, the same happened with Tolkien's creations on his time. And regardless, things like "elves" for example described a whole range of mythological beings, it was Tolkien who first coalesced them as "people" in the mythological sense, and then D&D introduced a more "natural historian" way of looking at them instead of Tolkien's more mythical register. But I need to do a post about non-human people in fantasy someday.

[fandom-monium]

Sweet Poison - Part 1

Summary: In which you don’t recognize the Prince of the Underworld, but your next prey. (AKA a budding friendship and love between a godling and a succubus.)

“I don’t know when I’ll see you again, but if the Fates are kind, I hope it’s soon.”

WC: 1k

TW: Zagreus (Hades Video Game) x Succubus!Reader, GN!Reader, a succubus AND an artist bc sex is just work and food, au where in game Zag commissions the paintings using gems, what if boons actually affected Zagreus, slow build, strangers to friends to lovers trope, sex work, fluff, fluff and humor, mutual pining, idiots in love, mild angst, pheromones, technically it’s succubi magic aura, smut, oral sex, penis in vagina sex, vaginal sex, blowjob, cunnilingus, foreplay, squirting, overstimulation, vaginal fingering, rough sex, soft sex, dirty talk, size difference, Zagreus is at least 6 ft convince me otherwise, cream pie, unprotected sex, multiple orgasms, EVENTUAL SMUT

AN: i recently bought Hades and now im in love ahahaha. 

In this context succubi feed off cum and if they overfeed they risk killing their victims includes but not limited to shades in which case they consume their souls or smt. 

Supposedly in latin succubus is a term for tops while incubus are bottoms and concubus are switches

—

In your defense, you don’t keep up with godly politics.

That’s not to say you’re uneducated. You know the basics: who the Olympians are, who Lord Hades is—hell, you have him to thank for giving you the greatest job in the world—but anything that involves delving any deeper into the ever-complicated and drama-filled family they are, you have no interest. So when a man with messy black hair and hellhound skulls on his shoulder winds up in your domain, you don’t see Underworld royalty but your next meal.

Alright, time to get to work.

You hide away most of your physical succubus-traits like muscle memory, hardly thinking as your horns, wings, and tail disappear in an instant. The only telling sign you’re not human: your eyes, with vertical-slit pupils against (your eye color) irises.

“Uhhh hi,” He greets you when he notices you across the chamber. He’s got his hand halfway up to his mouth, cupped with the revitalizing water of the fountain residing by the far wall. You tilt your head curiously, raising a brow at his tone, amicable and unafraid, and his smile, friendly and almost open, despite having barely registered your presence. And towards a creature like you.

Handsome and strange. You should have known. Those two usually go hand in hand.

The thought makes you return his smile. “Normally, I would welcome newcomers, but you do realize that’s my fountain you’re drinking out of?”

“Your fountain?“ Bruised and calloused hands go slack, and the water splashes back into the bowl. He sounds incredulous, as if you can’t possibly own something, and it makes you bristle.

But you’re a professional.

You scoff, “Well, not mine mine, as everything in the Underworld belongs to Lord Hades, but this one specifically is for my use.”

“… I see. My apologies,” You almost accept it, if not for the way his lips twitch like your statement is humorous. Still, he takes a step back, respectful of your supposed property. "In that case, might I ask you to grant me a sip?”

Apologizing. Asking. Not even demanding but politely asking for permission, even if he doesn’t seem to believe you. Gods, he truly doesn’t know where is, or at the very least, what you are.

You suppress a chuckle: you can work with this.

“You know what? Go ahead, you look like you can use the drink,” You say and he glances down at himself, taking in the gash on his shoulder, the burns, the blood. (Most of it isn’t even his.) Usually, you’d jump straight into your main course but no matter. Meat tastes much better when properly prepared anyway.

His smile broadens, “Thank you, good shade.”

You don’t bother to correct him, just as you don’t ask for his name. Seems pointless, considering you’re going to consume him soon enough.

He leans over the fountain’s rim and brings a handful of water to his lips. Your eyes trail after the few stray droplets dripping down his chin, down his neck, as most of the wounds stop bleeding, close up, or even disappear altogether, Your stomach rumbles softly.

“So,” Your reflection ripples in the water as he glances up at you across the basin. Studying him, you cross your arms over your chest, cleavage accentuated by your chiton as your natural aura seeps through little by little in a constant stream. Too quick and the man will convulse on the floor before you can even get a taste. Don’t want to drive the man into madness yet. “What’s someone like you doing in this corner of Tartarus?”

If he’s trying to keep his eyes above your collar, you can’t tell as he straightens up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Someone like me?”

“Yes. Most poor souls sent my way aren’t so…” You round the fountain and circle him, his eyes following after you as you gesture to his—well, everything. Nothing about him screams disgusting sinner per se, but that doesn’t necessarily make him Elysium-worthy.

He stares at you inquisitively. “I’m not sure what you’re referring to, but I wasn’t sent here by anyone. Not technically anyway. The Underworld’s an ever-shifting labyrinth; I usually go where it leads me, and fortunately it’s led me to your fountain.”

You stop before him, and he lets you absentmindedly prod one of the hellhound skulls. You smile wryly, “Fortunate, yes.” For me, perhaps.

“And what of you, dear shade?”

You retract your hand, blinking up at him. “Pardon?”

“You seem to have made a home for yourself. Lovely, I must say,” He looks around your chamber, from the drapes by the balcony entrance to the green flames licking at your fireplace to the many canvases, one of them half-finished and perched on your easel. He steps around you, and you trail after him as he moves to examine the black and white details. “Did you do all these yourself?”

Your eyes flicker over him, suspicious. “Y-yes, I did.”

He turns to you, and you’re taken aback as your gaze meets steady, heterochromatic eyes, so much so you know he’s being genuine as he asks, “They’re magnificent. Are you a deity of the arts perhaps?”

“O-oh, thank you, but I’m not…” You clear your throat, “It’s just a hobby, something to pass the time.” When I’m not consuming the souls of sinners.

Warmth blooms across your cheeks, and you purse your lips at your stutter. You’re used to flattery, so how would this be any different? Your food never took notice of their surroundings, much less your work.

Then again, they always were too enraptured by your aura.

Sneaking of which, why isn’t he?

You eye his form, watching for the slightest hint he’ll double over with a raging hard-on as your aura releases, more intense than before. Still, he continues, admiring your paintings, your sketches, half-finished works you left on the back burner. Is he truly unaffected by you?

Before you can add anything else, he’s at your balcony, overlooking the lower levels of Tartarus. “Well, I can’t wait to see more next time.”

…Next time???

“Next time?”

A hand on the balustrade, he glances at you over his shoulder and grins, “I don’t know when I’ll see you again, but if the Fates are kind, I hope it’s soon.”

Then he leaps.

You shout, rushing over to the railing where he last stood. Dead or not, the impact will hurt like hell. (Favorite color) wings sprout out of your back. You’re fast enough, you can still—

Stone rumbles, and you peak over the railing, unable to contain the relieved sigh seeing the man—strange and handsome and strange—safely standing on the platform below your chamber, unharmed. No fall damage.

Of course you knew that was there. Obviously.

Once he disappears behind the door, his burning feet leaving scorch marks in the brick stone path, you finally let out your horns and your tail.

—

AN: you’ll never catch me using Y/N. Y/N is dead, there is only (Your Name).

This will have at least 5 parts. This is basically a mini series of Zagreus and Succubi!Reader as they becomes friends (and eventually lovers :D)

Part 2 coming soon~

[pillowfort-social]

Greetings Pillowfolks! This is the final Community Update of 2022.   If this is your first time here: The Community Update is where we let you know what Staff have been doing behind the scenes, happenings within the Pillowfort community, and a preview of what’s in store for the platform. Community Stats: 

As of December 2022, Pillowfort currently has over 143,800 registered users and over 9,215 Communities.

Since October 2022 we have…

Tested and launched the Automatic Rolling Waitlist

Added new frames and badges. 

Continued work on the premium features suite. 

Added a Claimed Registration Key Notice. 

Patched more bugs. 

Welcome New Users!

Welcome to Pillowfort. We are so glad you are part of our community. If you haven’t yet, check out the Pillowfort101 Getting Started Guide. 

❗ Help Us Shape Our Stance on AI Art ❗

We have received multiple inquiries on what our stance is for AI Art, and while we do have our own inclinations on the matter, we want to get feedback from our users before we make any announcements. Please fill out this survey by 11:59pm CT on January 20, 2023. Your thoughts are crucial because they will shape our policies on AI Art going forward.

Premium Features Reminder

Our top development priority continues to be the Premium Features Suite. Currently, the initial set of premium features we will offer is as follows:

Multiple Avatars - A lot of you requested this, and you’re getting it! You will be able to upload a collection of avatars that you can choose from when making a post or comment.

Higher image upload limits - You will be able to upload larger images to your posts. We realize some may be upset that this is going to be a paywalled feature, but the facts of the matter are that data fees are one of our top expenses, and so it’s necessary for us to make sure we can afford to host larger images by requiring an added fee for doing so. 

Premium avatar frames - While we will continue to release free avatar frames for all, some avatar frames will only be available to subscribers. (Frames that have already been released will remain free.)

Post promotion - You will be able to pay a fee to have one of your posts or Communities boosted to the Pillowfort populace. We plan to have a dedicated page where users can browse promoted content, but users can also opt in to view promoted posts in their home feed. Users who choose this option will receive a discount on the above-mentioned premium features.

Subscription Gifting - Users will be able to purchase subscriptions that can be gifted to other users. Subscriptions can be gifted to a specific other user, or can be added to a communal pool for any unsubscribed users to take from. We will provide special badges for users who gift subscriptions.

Donation credits - Users who have submitted either one-time donations or set up donation subscriptions before the release of the premium features will have their past donation amounts applied as “credit” to their account, which can be spent on premium features.

Users will be able to subscribe for all features, or only pay for the specific features they want. They will also be able to subscribe for several months at a time for a discounted price. 

Keep in mind that, as we are working to release the premium features sometime during the beginning of 2023, the initial release of the premium suite will likely only include some of the above-mentioned features, with the rest to be added later. There are also other features we may add in the future that are not on this list, but this list reflects what we plan to implement as soon as possible.

The Rolling Waitlist is here!

Thanks to the support of our community, Pillowfort is now free to join. To get started simply head over to pillowfort.social/waitlist.  Enter your e-mail address where it says Join Waitlist. Hit submit, confirm your e-mail in the confirmation e-mail we send to you, and then wait for your key to be delivered to your e-mail address. Wait times will vary depending on how many accounts have recently been created.

IMPORTANT: Be sure to add no-reply@pillowfort.social to your contact list to ensure our e-mail to you doesn’t get marked as spam. Disposable e-mail provider domains are prohibited on Pillowfort due to previous harassment campaigns held on the platform that severely disrupted service. If you join the waitlist using a disposable e-mail you may not receive your registration key. 

Very Important Pillow Badge

We’ve added an exclusive badge so prestigious it is priceless. Showcasing this badge surely means you have impeccable taste. Let the world know you are one of our elite. La crème da la crème. We can not stress enough that this pillow is for VIPs only. Which is everyone. Because all of our users are VIP to us.

Help Us Keep the Lights On!

At Pillowfort we do not receive any funding from venture capital or other outside investors because we are committed to keeping our user experience a priority, and not being beholden to outside interests. While this approach allows us to stay true to our ideals and content guidelines, it also presents many challenges to our team in the form of limited resources, personnel, etc.

Beginning January 1, 2023 our total monthly funding goal will return to $5215. This is due to a lower workload for our Customer Service / Social Media & QA Staff. 

Our survival depends on the generosity of our community. Our Customer Service / Social Media and QA Staff are still working reduced hours for the remainder of the year to conserve the remainder of our existing funds while our premium features suite is still in development.  We are optimistic that once we have stable funding we can increase the amount of working hours for our staff. We want to stress that Pillowfort is still not in danger of shutting down immediately.  We do not want to scare anyone with this news.

If you are able to, please consider supporting us with a one-time or recurring monthly donation to help keep Pillowfort online. Any money donated to us now will be applied as a credit to your account when we release paid features & benefits in the future.

Bug Bounty Reminder

We are still offering a Bug Bounty. If you find a bug on the site, particularly one that could pose a threat to the security or functionality of the site, contact Staff through our Contact form or directly at info@pillowfort.social. If you are unsure if we received your report, you can send us a DM to the Staff account here, or DM one of our social media channels to check on the status. 

Note: We sometimes do not receive all notifications from users on other social media.  DMing the Staff account on Pillowfort to check on the status is the preferred method. 

The first individual to notify us of a certain issue will be eligible for monetary compensation, depending on the severity of the issue found and the information provided.

Coming Soon

Here is a look at the new features scheduled for the beginning of 2023. 

Premium Features Suite (premium frames, post promotion, & avatar frames).

Coming in 2023

Here is a look at the new features to be released later in 2023. (The following list is not in any particular order.)

Various Improvements to Community organization, customization, and moderation.

Better functionality for uploading & arranging pictures in posts.

Post Queue & Drafts.

Two-Factor Authentication.

Multiple Account Management System.

Follow Us on Social Media

Interact with Pillowfort Staff, ask questions, plus learn about upcoming features and more on social media. 

Pillowfort: Staff Facebook: Pillowfortsocial Twitter: @pillowfort_soc Tumblr: pillowfort-social

Best,

Pillowfort Staff

[dollsonmain]

Hm....

Some suspicious things, other than not remembering applying to that company (can't check until Indeed stops 404ing the "my jobs" tab).

Email preview says person's name is Micheal. Person introduced themselves as Scott.

email says huronconsultingroups.com

Website says huronconsultinggroup.com

Going to the website the email address is gives me "This domain has recently been registered with Namecheap."

...

Oh. https://www.huronconsultinggroup.com/legal/fraudulent-offers

I am smart.

I AM SMART. Why can't I get a job????? I'm smart.

I am disappointed, but thank goodness I am smart.

[rhaenaspearls]

It's Hell on Earth to Be Heavenly

When the knock sounds against her door, Rhaena knows someone has come to inform her the King is dead. Her father most likely, though perhaps Baela—she would not be surprised if he went to her first, they always had an ease with sharing in even the hardest of moments—it may be her Muna, though she doubts it, she knows Rhaenyra had not attended the King, though not where she's gone instead. Rhaena's heard it from the walls, through the ceiling, off the lips of her most trusted maid, whose mother had served Viserys longer than either had been alive. It was a near-daily refrain in their family, Rhaena knows; where’s your brother? Rhaena knows. How are the preparations coming along? Rhaena knows. Whose carriages are arriving this time? Rhaena knows. She knows she likely won’t sleep tonight, she knows her father will send for her soon if he’s not outside her chambers, and she knows the King is dead, long live the Queen…but she doesn’t know who’s knocking her door. She picks herself up from where she was splayed out on her bed, straightens out her dress, and opens it, at once stunned, horrified, and astonished by the sight in front of her.

“My father is dead…and I fucked up.”

Well…someone had come to tell her the King was dead. A vile of milk of the poppy gets poured down the Prince’s throat and then drops from a limp hand with a soft thump onto the corridor’s crimson carpet. “Seven fucking hells,” she gasps as her head tilts up to meet his gaze, Aemond’s over a foot taller than her after all, and she flips through no less than six different types of surprise in twenty seconds flat as she registers the state of his hair. But her attention shifts just as quickly when she realizes his pupils are…his pupil is the size of a dinner plate, and he wobbles as if buffeted by a strong gust of wind, despite standing in a windowless hallway. Rhaena’s uncharacteristic swearing makes him snicker like a child, if she had to guess the dose of poppy he just downed was just the most recent in half an apothecary’s worth of the drug he’s consumed this evening. “Gods you’re a mess,” she sighs and he nods in somber agreement. “Come in, I guess, it’ll at least be better to discuss this sitting down.”

She gently yanks him into her chambers, startling all over again as her gaze shifts once more from his eyes to the sound of a massive sword…no, of Blackfyre dragging inside behind him. “What in the world were you—no, you know what? I don’t want to know why you brought that thing.” She sits him down on the pink chaise in her solar, or at least, the make shift one she’s created in the relatively large, but not properly partitioned, room she’s claimed as her plush, pink domain. As with many things in the Red Keep, if Rhaena wanted it, she's had to make it happen herself, and the appearance of luxury the higher ranking women in her family are entitled to is no different. Moving to sit as well she asks, “What happened? What were you doing? What happened with the King? What happened to your hair?” 

Aemond spends about half a minute seemingly thinking harder about his response than he has about anything in his life, then his eyelids droop, he slumps forward, and in a heartbeat he’s passed out cold. Rhaena sighs, entirely unsurprised after his rapid decline in coherence, she leans him back, resting him on his side with his head propped up against the chaise’s pillow—she’d learned how to do that part at five years old, when her mother was still alive, when there was reason to fear her father may drink himself half to death...and when that reason came true—then she covers him with an equally pink blanket and goes to get changed. The only black gown she owns is too formal, and has to be saved for the funeral; the deep purple, high waisted one decorated in onyx and made to match her muna’s for the ball to celebrate her thirty-fifth name day will have to do for the moment. She leaves Aemond to sleep off the worst of whatever he’s taken, locking her chambers so no one thinks the worst of her or the boy on the other side of the door, and sets off to start the mourning process in earnest.

Her father's first on her list to check on, he was getting ready for something that necessitated both dress armor and Dark Sister, and she decides in his doorway she does not wish to know the details of why. “You’ve heard then?” He asks.

“I always know.”

“I told your sister, she’s with Vis and Nya, they could all use you. Your grandmother is expected by midday and the palace should be unsealed by then.”

Rhaena nods, ascertaining all she needs to know about the present situation from his statement, then steps forward, responding, “Wear mother’s ring, she needs to know…she needs to know her jorreliarza finally made it.”

She knows he’s hiding tears as he moves to hug her, “You are the very best of her.”

“I am the very best of both of them, Muna’s just had the privilege to keep getting better.”

“Good girl,” he presses a kiss to her forehead, “I will, Your Highness.”

She bows her head to hide the inappropriately wide smile growing on her lips only to hear as she begins to leave, “Look alive, Sunshine, you’re a Princess now.”

“Don’t kill anyone, on orders of the Princess.”

“I’ll show restraint, on orders of the Queen.”

“Tell Muna I love her.”

“Always, Sunshine.” 

The conversation with Baela, Visenya, and now just Viserys is much longer, emotional, and meandering. She’d been preparing for it long before the King was actively dying, and it goes perfectly to plan; grief, assurances, tears, and the first proper deep breath any of them have had in several moons. After Visenya is back in bed and Viserys agrees to a few drops of sweet sleep so they knew he’ll get at least a bit of rest, her twin pulls her into a hug. “Go back to your rooms and get some sleep, we’ve got all this under control, and you’ll be much better help well rested after the hardest part is over.”

“Just don’t wear yourself down so far I can’t build you back up later.”

“Always, lovie,” She kisses her cheek. Rhaena returns the gesture and then to the mess still waiting in her own chambers.

Aemond is still asleep when she enters with barely a sound and locks the door again, daring to hope in the unlikely case there was need for defense…he would, at least, not turn the sword half his height on her. She goes to sit next to him and he stirs, murmuring, but not opening his eyes, and she realizes dawn’s begun to creep in while looking in his direction. As if on cue the bells begin to ring, The King is Dead, Long live The Queen, then Aemond murmurs more clearly, “Long live the Queen.”

“You want my Muna to be Queen?”

“I do not want my brother to be King, and I want a war even less, this seems ideal.”

Rhaena moves to put a hand on his shoulder, but either because he was still high enough to forget who she was, or high enough he simply did not care, he takes her arm and cuddles it. Rhaena, for her part, is so shocked she just lets the whole thing happen, besides, he seems like he needs it. “Do you…do you want me to come sit closer?”

He nods hard at this, and despite still being more than a little unnerved, she moves so he can lean on her instead of the chaise, and seems to all but melt into her, despite Rhaena not making any real effort towards anything resembling cuddling. She takes advantage of the moment to at least start to address why he came…or at least, why she thinks he came, in the first place, running her fingers through his hair to get a better idea of the damage he'd done and what she had left to work with. He pretty clearly just grabbed it all and sliced up, likely with that mildly terrifying sword, the pieces by his neck are barely longer than her first knuckle, but most still hanging around his face and past his chin. Aemond is surprisingly pleased by the feeling of her hand in his hair, making a sound highly reminiscent of a cat's purr, and she barely manages to swallow a laugh. "You know...you're not half as bad as people like to say you are."

The observation isn't entirely conscious, reassuring praise she's unsure she even really means. He seems even happier to hear her words, though, sighing heavily and all but melting into her touch which pleases her in turn, and suddenly his thumb ghosts over the curve of her cheek as he gazes up at her through still half closed eyelids, "And you're twice as pretty as most people claim."

Rhaena offers him a gentle smile, trying not to take the sentiment to seriously; this is just a flash in the pan, a fleeting moment, and they have things to get done before the real world comes knocking with responsibilities for both of them to tend to. "How about we go see what we can do to about making you pretty again?"

Aemond nods enthusiastically at her offer, his eyelids open normally once more, although he still doesn't seem to have much stamina to string together normal sentences. She leads the Prince over to her dressing table-vanity and sits him down on the over-stuffed pink stool in front of it. nearly the whole room is blush pink with only occasional accents of gold and cream, and her vanity is the pinkest of it all, makeup, essences, tools, and potions all in varying shades of pink that consume Aemond's attention for a few moments, giving her a chance to unearth everything she may need, and then slide the sharpest pair of scissors she owns into her grip, explaining what she's going to do as she does it to try and distract him from the potential shock. "It'll have to be very short at the back, you—you already did most of that part yourself. I'll take that about a third of the way up and all the way around your ears, but we'll keep things longer on top and to frame your face. We'll be done before you know it and I truly think it's going to look very handsome."

She offers the words with a sweet smile and he responds with a shrug and a small nod, clearly just doing his best not to let on if the feeling of metal against his skin is making him uncomfortable. It's relatively quick work, and quite easy for Rhaena, which keeps both their anxiety levels lower than either initially expected. She finds herself, once more largely unintentionally, murmuring the same kind of comfort and praise she's so used to giving her younger brothers, "See how nice that looks? It's really..." "Thank you for staying so still for me, you're so..." "You're a perfect Prince, sometimes we just have to remind everyone else—"

"I'm not...I'm not perfect," Aemond's voice is hardly louder than a whisper when he interjects. She's been working for nearly half an hour and the only sounds he's made are occasional murmurs of agreement and a couple faint "yeah"s and "sure"s when she's asked if he's still doing alright. Rhaena's over halfway finished now, too, moved on from all the parts she really had no choice but to crop to only about an inch, doing the more delicate work now of blending it all into the longer section she has a vision will effortlessly fall into his face and be perfect for any girl he likes to run her fingers through when they kiss. Maybe she'd said it because she was so pleased with the fairytale vision she could see through different hair, some carefully applied cosmetics, and an outfit that only existed in the hazy environment of her mind's eye.

"I'm sorry, that's not—I just meant that it looks charming, that's all." The words tumble off her lips, quietly, and slightly higher even than her normal, mildly sing-song tone, "I didn't mean to upset you, no one is perfect, not the Queen, or my father, or you...not even me. I was just being hyperbolic."

"Sure..." He murmurs the same assurance once more, adding a moment later, "It looks a lot better than you doing it feels." Rhaena's eyes flick away from where she was trying to meet Aemond's gaze and back to her task, "You'll get used to it, it makes my head hurt to put my braids in for a day or two, at least this isn't painful."

"Why do you do it, then?" His tone is just as earnest as when he remarked the week before that her workload didn't seem fair, but just like then, all she can really do is scoff at how oblivious his well-meaning remark truly is.

"Didn't your Lady Mother ever tell you beauty is pain?" She lets out a short laugh, "Didn't your sisters? Pretty always has a price...and most boys just don't have the stomach to pursue it past what's expected of them to scrape by."

"Why—why are you telling me all this?"

Another short laugh follows his truly baffled tone, and she observes that his pupil, no longer overlarge, has now constricted the way any normal person's would after overindulging in poppy products. "Because you're not going to remember any of this by tomorrow, sweetling."

Aemond seems astonished by this for a much longer moment, clearly thinking very hard—though about what she couldn't begin to guess—then concedes, "Well, if I don't...consider this your permission to make me keep up with this, if things come to that. Only if you're the one to keep doing my hair for me, though."

She laughs again at that, but much more gently, gaining her characteristic, charming grin, "That sounds like a lovely plan."

By the time Rhaena's finished getting his hair to her satisfaction, the sun has nearly finished rising, and she and Aemond have gotten into a mild argument over his insistence to go attend their new Queen. "You're still so high I barely trust you to make your way back down the stairs!"

"You underestimate my tolerance levels!"

"You were passed out cold on my chaise barely an hour ago!"

"And I'd still rather look a fool than a would-be traitor!"

At that she knows she's lost for now, no less anxious, nor less wary he's going to go make a fool of himself on the first day of their new reign, but out-argued in her protests none the less. "Alright, well...you're going to eat something, and while you do you're going to let me do your cosmetics so you don't look as high as we both know you are, and for the love of all the Gods please change into different clothes before you show up in front of my Queen Stepmother?"

"Hm," He muses at her plea, clearly having regained a good portion of his petulant humor, "I think you may have to show me what to wear instead, considering you've taken over everything else."

"Keep dreaming," Rhaena scoffs, moving away to give Aemond a chance to look at his new hairstyle more closely while she goes to bother a maid for some food. It takes Aemond a moment to process, running a gentle hand through through the now short, fluffy strands. The edges on his back and sides are neatly trimmed to only an inch, blended into a short style that hangs down slightly on top so glossy, silver locks frame his face; a few strands hanging around his eyes making the whole style seem charmingly effortless, despite him knowing it's anything but. By the time Rhaena returns he's no longer staring, she watches for just a second in the doorway as he fidgets with his rings, seeming to just be trying to keep himself awake. But there's something so sincere, so contemplative, so earnest about it that it sends her thoughts spinning again.

Then Aemond notices her, though, and his self satisfied smirk returns, and she walks back over to her vanity, with the air she hadn't even paused at all. "Here," She sets down a plate in front of him, three strips of bacon and two honeycomb-almost cakes her head maid, Ysabel, had on good authority were the Prince's favorite, and which she quickly believes was even more true than they'd originally hoped from the smile he gains at on seeing the food. "Now eat, and try not to move too much, with any luck we can still get you out of here before it's fully daylight."

It's quiet once more as Rhaena applies cosmetics here and there with a light-handed touch, much less concerned about whether he looks handsome than that he looks sober. However, the two luckily intersect with an ease that makes her even more relieved than when he didn't protest to her fixing his hair. She can't help but feel pleased with herself how much Aemond clearly likes the food as well, it was so small and easy, and those little kindnesses and how happy they had the power to make people have always meant the most to her. "You know, my brother, Vis, he really loves those cakes too."

Aemond looks like he's about to protest for a moment, but then his posture relaxes again, as he comments, "They've been my favorite for as long as I can remember...and the kitchens always have extra, I guess they're crowd pleasers especially for kids, so it was never a trouble to ask for them."

She just nods, contemplating her own protest, but thinking better of it. He may be a Prince, but they're both royalty, and yet still share a hesitance to burden anyone else most in their station would hardly dream of trying to avoid. "Well, I'm glad I could find some, and now..." Rhaena finishes off the last of their project, putting down the pencil she used to make his brows just a touch more visible, "I'm happy to say that you are done!" She stands before adding, "Now go something nice to wear and try not to fall down any stairs on your way to the Throne Room, I'll be heading there myself after I finish getting ready."

He gives her a skeptical look as he stands as well, "And you're not already...ready?"

"Today is my first day as a Princess," Rhaena responds, drawing herself up to stand all of her 5 feet 2 inches with pride, "You'll know, when I'm ready."

Aemond laughs softly at this, but it's kinder, gentler than anything she's heard from him before, that for the first time she can ever remember it makes her smile. "Understood, then it'll be a pleasure to see you again when you are," He pauses in the doorway to add, "Thank you, your highness."

"Go pledge your fealty and make sure the Queen knows you mean it, that will be more than thanks enough."

"Will do," He makes a small bow of his head, looking back up with that dopey, almost innocent smile Rhaena is know sure she'll miss once they've returned to the world, "Princess Rhaena."

[mariacallous]

Last month, former president and convicted felon Donald Trump announced that his campaign would accept donations in cryptocurrency. In the weeks that followed, the cybercrime detection firm Netcraft found dozens of scam websites seeking to target Trump supporters and swindle them out of their crypto, according to a report shared exclusively with WIRED.

Netcraft found that in the days leading up to the announcement, scammers registered domains with common misspellings, hoping to capture supporters intending to access donaldjtrump.com. One domain registered to donalbjtrump.com was a near perfect replica of the actual Trump campaign website. And while the Trump campaign accepts donations via Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, some of the scam websites instead appear to be using portals meant to look like Coingate, a blockchain and crypto payment processor.

“As a victim, the fact that the real campaign is using Coinbase payments rather than direct cryptocurrencies” wouldn’t be very obvious, says Rob Duncan, head of research at Netcraft. “The way it's been advertised is ‘Donald Trump's taking cryptocurrency donations,’ when actually that's quite it's a bit more subtle.”

A second surge of fake websites appeared immediately after Trump’s May 30 felony conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records to pay off the porn star Stormy Daniels. In the hours after his conviction, the campaign raised more than $34 million in donations. Cybercriminals seemed to anticipate this interest, and were ready to capitalize on the donations pouring into the Trump campaign in the wake of the verdict.

“Criminals like to use events like this, to base their scams on topical events, things that people are interested in, where people are more likely to click on links,” says Duncan. In the wake of the October 7 attacks and subsequent conflict in Palestine, Duncan says Netcraft identified several donation scams, targeting people on both sides of the conflict.

“They're interested in getting cryptocurrency from anybody. And they're not bothered about which political persuasion they might have,” says Duncan.

Duncan adds that through checking the blockchain, none of the scams seem to be successful yet, but he suspects that may be because they are relatively new and may not yet be active.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Cryptocurrencies can be particularly useful for criminals because they are largely unregulated and don’t have the same constraints that traditional financial institutions do. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2023 Internet Crime Report, crypto investment scams cost people some $3.94 billion. “Crypto is obviously a very good mechanism for criminals to use,” says Duncan. “There's no way to reverse payments; once the money's in the criminal's wallet, it's gone.”

Trump’s recent support of crypto is an about-face from his presidency. In 2019, Trump said he was “not a fan” of cryptocurrencies in a series of posts on X, then Twitter. “We have only one real currency in the USA … It is called the United States Dollar!” he posted at the time.

But now, the former president is courting the crypto space. Before his campaign’s announcement in May, Politico reported that Trump held a meeting at Mar-a-Lago with crypto traders where he apparently told them a Trump administration would not oversee the same regulatory scrutiny on crypto that the Democratic Party has sought. As the crypto industry has begun amassing money to attack candidates who favor more regulation of the space, however, some Democrats have backed away from a more hard-line stance.

In December, several leaders in the crypto space launched three political action committees (PACs) aimed at backing candidates with policies friendly to the digital asset industry. David Bailey, CEO of BTC Inc., told CNBC that the crypto industry was committed to raising “$100 million and turning out more than 5 million voters for the Trump reelection effort.”

It is unclear whether the Biden campaign will also begin accepting donations in cryptocurrency, and Netcraft said it has not seen similar scam activity targeting Biden supporters.

Gina Chow, emerging threat specialist at Netcraft, tells WIRED that although the company has found impersonations of Biden in the past, "similar crypto-themed campaigns, like those targeting the Trump campaign, have not yet been identified in our research. As the Biden campaign extends its capacity to accept crypto, it is likely that it will experience similar threats.”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Daniel Villarreal at LGBTQ Nation:

The United Kingdom is continuing its attempt to make gender-affirming healthcare less accessible for transgender people by forcing Google’s search engine to remove any regional search results for two pharmaceutical websites that sell hormones without requiring a prescription. An operator of one of the sites said that Google was “not obligated” to remove it from its search listings, but Google said the removal was “guided by local law.” Now, trans people in the U.K. will have to endure long waiting lists and high prices to get hormones through the government’s official National Health Service (NHS). The NHS has been reducing its services for trans people after the recent release of the heavily biased Cass Review, which excluded hundreds of studies to advise against providing gender-affirming care.

The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) reportedly contacted Google and told them to remove search results from the two sites, whose domain names and URLs have not been publicly identified in news reports. The MHRA said the sites violated the 2012 Human Medicines Regulations, a law that prohibits the sale of any “medicinal product from illegally trading online suppliers,” PinkNews reported. “The domain is offering the sale and supply of unauthorized medicines to persons in the U.K.,” the MHRA’s letter stated. “The domain is not a registered pharmacy in the U.K. or, it appears, anywhere else in the world. The targeting of U.K. individuals in this way is illegal and presents a real risk of harm to public health in the U.K.” In a statement to the aforementioned publication, the MHRA wrote, “Purchasing from illegal suppliers means there are no safeguards to ensure products meet the MHRA’s standards for quality and safety, and taking such medicines may put one’s health at risk.” [...]

Trans rights advocates predicted the Cass Review would give conservative political leaders a pretext for ending gender-affirming care for minors and younger adults. Indeed, the review urged “extreme caution” before giving minors puberty blockers or hormone replacement therapy and championed the use of psychological therapy instead. The review also said that “life-changing” decisions on gender-affirming care should be put off until adulthood since the brain continues maturing into the mid-20s. Trans journalist Erin Reed eviscerated Cass’s findings, saying the report included concepts rejected by more than 60 mental health organizations, including the American Psychological Association. Since the release of the report, the NHS has also ordered the clinics to deny services to any clients younger than 18. Transgender healthcare advocates worry that the denial of service will worsen trans minors’ mental health and overall well-being.

The United Kingdom’s reputation for being TERF Island continues, as they order Google to remove websites selling gender-affirming medications under the guise of “safety” but in reality is an action designed to end legal gender-affirming care in the UK as a result of the Cass Review.

[stvlti]

Snippet from my untitled Blue Beetle & Teen Titans rejects fic :)

Click. Snap. Click. Snap.

They're sat inside a Big Belly Burger, waiting for their order of fries. A female singer he doesn't recognise croons Spanglish over weirdly retro beats on the speakers. Eddie is fidgeting with the catch on his now-useless slider phone, out of nerves or boredom, he doesn't know.

The first thing they did once they got into town was to buy a mobile phone. It's strange, but there aren't many payphones around, and whatever happened to them while they were in the Bleed and subsequently in their fall back to Earth must have fried their cellphones. Luckily, he found one of those rundown stores selling spare electronics for cheap that accepts cash and doesn't ask questions. At least one thing hasn't changed.

Click. Snap. Click. Snap.

The phone they bought is a palm-sized thing with a wide touch-screen, one of those smart-phone models that only came out last year, and yet the store owner seemed almost happy to part with it. "It's ancient," he'd said in a comfortingly thick accent, "I was about to chuck it out with the garbage. I'd sell it to you for free, chiquito." Things only get stranger from there. It took less than a minute for Khaji to jail break the phone and recalibrate itself to the local network. They tried his family's numbers again, even tried the Titans Tower secure line, but no dice. What Jaime found on the internet was even less reassuring.

Click. Snap. Click. Snap.

"Hey, Eddie."

The fidgeting stops.

"Could you go grab us some drinks? I need a minute alone with the scarab."

"Sure...?" Eddie throws another glance at Jaime, not quite hiding his worry as he slides out of his seat.

[ You were vexed by his opening and shutting of his phone case. ]

"I didn't realise it was state the obvious hour."

Khaji Da does not respond. Jaime rubs his temple.

"Sorry, sorry. Yes, I'm stressed. Tell me you have some good news, at least."

[ You are still alive, as is Eddie Bloomberg. You have enough money to acquire sustenance for another week, during which I can help you find a job and — ]

"Khaji. I need to get home."

[ You are technically in your hometown. ]

"But it's not the El Paso I know. Right? Tell me I'm not crazy."

[ Jaime Reyes is correct. Based on our quick search of the government domains, social network platforms and news sites, the Reyes family never lived in El Paso. There is no record of your parents or extended family in the state registry. Your name does not exist in the class registers of your high school. Your sister— ]

"Also doesn't exist! I know! I got it the first time." Jaime looks over to the self-service machine. What is taking Eddie so long? "I asked you for good news, Khaji."

[ Actually, your sister exists. Milagro Reyes, age 18, enrolled in Edge Keys High School. According to her posts on Instagram, she was last seen at the Kord Centre Mall — ]

"Did you say eighteen? And where the heck is Edge Key?"

[ I have some more good news. While there is no record of your other family members in the state of Texas, a Reyes Auto Repair Shop was recently removed from the business registry in Edge Key, Greater Palmera City. ]

"What? We have to go to Edge Key!"

"What's Edge Key?" Eddie sets a tray down, almost spilling the two extra-large cups of soda balanced precariously on it. The fries look tiny in comparison.

"That's what I'm trying to find out. Khaji, can you — hold on, I'm syncing you to the phone so Eddie can see."

The phone lights up, and Jaime expects Khaji's words to crawl across the screen like text messages the way he's done the few times Jaime tried to sync the scarab to his old phone via blue-tooth. Instead, the phone starts talking in a lady computer voice.

"Your scarab was a chick this whole time?" Eddie exclaims, the half-chewed fry in his hand forgotten.

"What? No! I didn't even know it could speak like this."

"I simply utilised this phone's built-in text-to-speech system. It is not my problem that the manufacturers could only imagine AI voices as female."

"I think it just insulted every super-computer in the cape community..."

"Anyway, the coordinates?"

[ There is one last thing you should know before you go, Jaime Reyes. The Blue Beetle was last sighted in Palmera City six hours ago. ]

The boys pause and look at each other.

"Show me, Khaji."

And on the screen of the phone appears a crisp, 4K picture of a guy in a costume that looks exactly like him, mid-flight in the streets of a city he's never been to.