#counterspy

[pop-art-sixties-seventies]

Counterspy, 1966

[girlsattack]

Counterspy, 1966

[stone-cold-groove]

Tune in to Counter-Spy on the ABC Radio Network. Oh, and drink Pepsi.

[comic-covers]

(1968)

[theconstantnymph]

Operation Counterspy, 1965

[coolcomicbookcovers]

[oakendesk]

Guilty Detective Story Magazine Nov 1956

Wil Hulsey

book cover - Counterspy Murders - 1956

George Ziel

[newslink7com]

OpenAI Countersues Elon Musk Over Harassment Allegations and $97 Billion Takeover Bid in Explosive Legal Fight for Control of ChatGPT and $40 Billion AI Future

The AI war is here. OpenAI accuses Elon Musk of trying to sabotage the company and hijack ChatGPT. At stake? Billions in AI funding, innovation, and global dominance.

👉 Read the full story at NewsLink7.com

[random-racehorses]

Random Real Thoroughbred: COUNTERSPY

COUNTERSPY is a chesnut horse born in The United States in 2005. By HENNESSY out of EPISODE. Link to their pedigreequery page: https://www.pedigreequery.com/counterspy

[veem0ling]

Ur thorny towers au design for Raz is honest to god so darn cute!! He looks like just a silly little kid (moreso than usual) somehow managing to stay so excitable.

(Also please take this ask as permission to yap like crazy about the au if you’d like)

(Also also is Augustus in this au? Cool if not)

(Also also also I love that Raz (again!))

Thank you so much! 😁😁😁 I'm so happy people like my designs 😭

And now for me to yap 😈

Augustus is in the au, right now it's mostly just to add backstory for Raz but he'll probably get more development later

Basically, in the au Thorney Towers is an asylum specifically for psychics (instead of just having some by coincidence) and Raz was sent there by his family after an incident where a crowd saw him using his powers. Even though some of the Aquato's were also secretly psychic they felt the need to send him there to uphold their image.

Raz acts as the ""guard"" of the asylum, trying to catch any counterspies because his delusions make him believe that he's actually a Psychonaut, and the asylum is the Motherlobe.

His mind would be similar to the meat circus,(minus the meat of course). I think it would have some comic book themes as well, and Lili (the player, hypothetically) would be helping him to realize and accept what really happened to him and where he is.

[faerieinthehumanworld]

My Thoughts on Revenge of the Sith

why did I think this was a good idea

But in all seriousness, I finished the movie, here are my thoughts:

If I had any editing capacity I would make a video titled "Elevator Wars" about Anakin and Obi Wan's trouble with elevators.

R2D2 does not get enough credit for anything ever.

I loved all their little quips and I wish they'd kept more of them in the movie.

Much like General Grevious, the duel with Count Dooku was shorter than I expected. I was a little disappointed by this.

Dooku deserved better.

The amount of times I told Palpatine to shut the fuck up is unreal.

Made it until Anakin and Padmé's reunion before I teared up.

Obi Wan is adorable no matter what he's doing.

The first third of this felt like an episode of the Clone Wars.

I really wish Ahsoka was in this.

Not saying I would murder children about it but if I was thrust into the middle of these spy-counterspy shenanigans I would also be on the news.

Anakin needs a slap upside the head, a hug, a nap and therapy. Dear god, please someone let this man sleep.

Padmé is slaying with her outfits, as usual.

Kashyyk (no idea if I spelled that right) is seriously the coolest planet we've seen yet. I really wish we got more time there to explore.

Luminara sighting!

The Wookies are awesome. I'd watch an entire three-season series about them.

Spent the entire middle third of the movie alternately going, "Anakin. Anakin, no. No, don't, no-- goddamitt" and "Throw him out the window. Just throw him out the window, it's right there. Stab him in the head." (about Palpatine)

Anakin was three inches from stabbing him and he just had to open his mouth.

The entire fight with General Grevious was wild. The only reason it took so long was because Grevious is a coward and can't use one lightsaber like a normal person.

Side note: Love Obi Wan's lizard friend.

I wish there was more about the clones in this movie, there's no explanation whatsoever. They deserved better.

I can't help but love the Jedi Temple March, even though it's the backing track for atrocities.

Was basically yelling at Mace and Kit to get out of there the entire time.

It was Master Plo's death that finally got me to cry. I was misting up before, but that triggered the tears.

Oh, seeing Aayla was harder than I thought it would be.

I didn't realize until I actually watched it that all the younglings ran to the Council chamber. They were looking for the council members to protect them. I'm going to start crying again just typing this.

One of the saddest things I've ever heard came up again while watching this. The reason that R2D2 never stays put when Luke tells him to in the OT is because on Mustafar, Anakin told him to stay with the ship. And Anakin never came back.

The one action of Darth Vader's I agree with is killing Nute Gunray. That man is infuriating.

I spent a surprising amount of this movie worried for Master Yoda. Like yes, I know he lives, but he's so small, and old, and I wish I could help.

The duel between him and Palpatine was actually wild.

The fact that Duel of the Fates was playing in the background the entire time was just... not okay.

The fight between Obi Wan and Anakin lived up to expectations. I appreciate that there weren't as many cuts as there could have been. On a technical level it's very impressive.

On an emotional level I think I just felt the death of my soul.

The last third or so is kind of a blur. I just remember emotional trauma and alternating between tears and a kind of aching numbness.

Why was it the japor snippet that killed me

I wish they'd gone with the idea that Padmé started the Rebellion. I am glad she got to name the twins before she died.

Didn't expect to care about Bail as much as I suddenly do.

The fact that they ended on that Tattooine sunset somehow hurt worse.

A random thought I had: The cinematography in this movie is absolutely insane. Pretty much every shot is beyond gorgeous.

Final verdict: It was about as bad as I thought it would be. That is, it was horrible, and I cried, but it wasn't too much worse than the other recountings of the story I've watched. Maybe it was because I watched it during the day, but I'll be fine, I think. If nothing else, it's given me far more motivation to finish my fix-it fic.

[darkmaga-returns]

The U.S. Department of Justice has reopened a case against a former top FBI counterspy. Charles McGonigal was Special Agent in Charge of Counterintelligence at the New York field office. He left the FBI in 2018, joined the massive Brookfield asset management fund as a vice president for global security, and was arrested and convicted in 2023. 

But not for espionage. McGonigal quickly pled guilty to corruption-related crimes. He is serving six-and-a-half years in federal prison. 

His prosecution and admission seem suspiciously tidy.

McGonigal was part of the FBI’s discredited CROSSFIRE HURRICANE “counterintelligence” operation led by his boss, Peter Strzok, against Donald Trump and his supporters in 2016.

As the former senior spy-hunter at the Bureau’s largest field office, McGonigal barely defended himself from charges relating to illegally accepting money from Albanian businessmen tied to that tiny country’s intelligence service, and for ties to a sanctioned Russian oligarch.

He received a light sentence and $40,000 fine.

[bulkyphrase]

Romanogers Rec List

Here are a few of my favorite Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff stories!

Dreamland by quigonejinn (Teen And Up Audiences, 1,852 words)

Summary: After coming out of the ice, Steve Rogers has a recurring dream.

Threads, Frayed and Whole by Jaune_Chat (@jaune-chat) (Teen And Up Audiences, 2,360 words)

Summary: Alphas gift their omegas with trinkets to show they care. As a young operative, all Natasha could ever make was what she found. But how could that compete with what her fellow alphas were offering today?

Wander by @beezyland (Mature, 148,406 words)

Summary: Despite a wolf attack that ended in the death of his best friend, Steve still spends most of his younger years watching and drawing the wolves that live in the woods behind his house. One wolf with a coat tinged with red and strange green eyes watches him back. Ten years after leaving, Steve returns to care for his dying mother. That summer he meets Natasha, a mysterious bartender who has the same eyes as his wolf and secrets that will change everything he thought he knew about his hometown.

More below the cut!

For Whose Love I Rise and Fall by Yeetmeaway (Mature, 195,570 words)

Summary: In 1943 Hydra unleashes a deadly virus in its quest to create a new world order--one that turns its hosts into vampire-like creatures. 75 years later, humanity is on the brink of extinction, protected only by the hunters of SHIELD. Natasha has already lost so much to this--they are fighting a losing battle and everyone can feel it. But, for the first time in years SHIELD has hope, the possibility of a cure. What else will she give to bring an end to this nightmare?

How The Light Gets In by singalellaby (@captainmarvelling) (Teen And Up Audiences, 19,359 words)

Summary: Losing his sight may mean Steve can't fight alongside the Avengers, but he's still a super soldier. Natasha just needs to remind him of that.

The Things We Deserve by Not_You (Explicit, 1,598 words)

Summary: Natasha is having a bad day. Steve's enthusiastic, submissive masochism is helping.

what a smile means by victoria_p (musesfool) (@cacchieressa) (Mature, 4,475 words)

Summary: Natasha knows a lot of things Steve doesn't.

To Be Worthy by Yeetmeaway (Mature, 124,681 words)

Summary: Posing as the daughter of a Viking warlord, Natasha is betrothed to her enemy-- a young warlord of unearthly strength and power whom she is tasked with killing. But when she first lays eyes on her husband-to-be it quickly becomes clear that all of her intelligence about him was massively understated. Ordered not to abandon her mission and determined to go through with her plan, Natasha quickly draws the attention of her future husband’s warrior, a man she suspects may be a counterspy and who seems intent on learning everything about her. With the day of her wedding fast approaching, Natasha has everything to lose— her professional reputation, her life, and even her heart.

Cursed by Yeetmeaway (Mature, 22,694 words)

Summary: Six months after the battle of New York, a routine Avengers mission goes wrong after an encounter with the Enchantress. Natasha is private at the best of times, but she can no longer afford to be when it becomes clear that Steve has been cursed by dark magic. Reclusive and withdrawn, she is the last person she would've expected to help him, but she owes him a debt. As the curse begins to claim his body, Natasha can no longer hide her own darkness, nor can she deny the feelings that are growing within her heart. But if she and the Avengers can't find a way to help Steve break this spell, then she'll lose him forever.

Fated by Yeetmeaway (Teen And Up Audiences, 6,374 words)

Summary: Soulmates are a thing of fate-- two souls tied together in an unbreakable bond. But for Natasha, fate has seemingly chosen a different path. When it is discovered that her soulmate is an accursed, soulless beast, she is made into a Widow-- a monster slayer, those who fate has cruelly abandoned. What else can she do but embrace her destiny? But when a mission goes wrong, Natasha discovers that everything is not as it seems.

Another Person's Words by Ranni (Not Rated, 5,272 words)

Summary: Steve isn't the only one that doesn't catch all those movie references. Natasha plans it with the same grim intensity she brings to any mission, and where Tony would tease and Clint scoff, where Bruce would shake his head in disbelief, Steve is only grateful. She doesn’t like to be left out of things and he doesn’t like to be embarrassed. So many of the problems they have are unsolvable, but not this one—they can do this, can learn the language the others already know so easily.

Protective Package by Jaune_Chat (@jaune-chat) (Explicit, 3,576 words)

Summary: Steve Rogers would defend his friends with anything at his disposal, his strategy, his intelligence, his strength, his shield, his very life. Anything. This is the story of the five times he protected Natasha. With his penis. But things aren't quite as simple as that.

Unintended Side Effects by Margo_Kim (@andhumanslovedstories) (Teen And Up Audiences, 5,459 words)

Summary: Written for the Avengers kinkmeme: "Among the serum's many little quirks and oddities is that in addition to making his body stronger and his mind sharper, it also kind of cranked his libido up into overdrive. During the war it was easier to suppress/ignore because hey, being shot at is quite the boner kill, but now he's in the 21st century and though they still happen, battles are rather less regular. As a result, well; let's say that Little Steve is suddenly "standing at attention" when not explicitly ordered to do so." Steve respects Natasha as an agent and a person, but he also needs to stop looking at her when they are in public together because his body can't quite handle it and his uniform is very tight. The fact that Natasha's having entirely too much fun with Steve's noticeable problem doesn't help matters. Also available as a podfic read by ArwenLune (@primarybufferpanel).

American and Russian Relations in the 21st Century by Margo_Kim (@andhumanslovedstories) (Teen And Up Audiences, 2,548 words)

Summary: Written for the Avengers kinkmeme: An outsider perspective on Steve's new relationship. Darcy thinks there's something funny about Steve and Natasha's new relationship. Erik and Jane think she's crazy.

[transpondster]

Synopsis of the new novel:

Milwaukee 1932, the Great Depression going full blast, repeal of Prohibition just around the corner, Al Capone in the federal pen, the private investigation business shifting from labor-management relations to the more domestic kind. Hicks McTaggart, a one-time strikebreaker turned private eye, thinks he’s found job security until he gets sent out on what should be a routine case, locating and bringing back the heiress of a Wisconsin cheese fortune who’s taken a mind to go wandering. Before he knows it, he’s been shanghaied onto a transoceanic liner, ending up eventually in Hungary where there’s no shoreline, a language from some other planet, and enough pastry to see any cop well into retirement—and of course no sign of the runaway heiress he’s supposed to be chasing. By the time Hicks catches up with her he will find himself also entangled with Nazis, Soviet agents, British counterspies, swing musicians, practitioners of the paranormal, outlaw motorcyclists, and the troubles that come with each of them, none of which Hicks is qualified, forget about being paid, to deal with. Surrounded by history he has no grasp on and can’t see his way around in or out of, the only bright side for Hicks is it’s the dawn of the Big Band Era and as it happens he’s a pretty good dancer. Whether this will be enough to allow him somehow to lindy-hop his way back again to Milwaukee and the normal world, which may no longer exist, is another question.

A story like that practically writes itself!

[woodsfae]

B5 S04E10 Racing Mars previous episode - table of contents

Got Mars in the title, so maybe there won't be a break till we see Dr Franklin and Marcus again. Or hear about them or something. 

B5's black market is suffering due to the harsh penalties put in place on smugglers from earth. Ivanova says she'll take care of it and kicks Sheridan out of his office for a few days of R&R -- his first time off in over a year. He permits this light insubordination. As a wise man would. 

Flip to Marcus and Stephen! Playing Eye Spye in a cargo hold full of boxes. Dr Franklin is really tired of playing Eye Spy. And Marcus captures a real spy, spying on them. He's apparently the Captain's brother and smuggles in his ship. And although he hangs out on his brother's ship secretly, he calls himself a Captain. 

Stephen is caught by his lure of insta-hot bag meals.

Ah I forgot about Garibaldi's foolish probably brainwashed interview with ISN. And Sheridan is really upset about it. I really think this is the Shadows' brainwashing. Just a part of their plan to disrupt the alliances that they didn't clean up when they left. 

Fight, fight. They've even got an audience. This is gonna be a public incident. Garibaldi's arguments are all fairly reasonable for someone outside the events that happened, even if the public sowing of discontent isn't. If it isn't a brainwashing thing then that's a really fucking unfortunate turn for Garibaldi to take. It's a really hard pivot on his previous opinion of Sheridan and an indictment on his own past actions. Also, would be really weird that he'd turn like that in opinon after they won. That kind of pivot really isn't consistent for him. 

Back with the Mars mission, Captain Jack is apparently their contact. And he brings them their cover documents! They're newlyweds on their honeymoon! Good for them.

Garibaldi has some folks who are eager to connect over their mutual dislike and distrust of Sheridan. Hmm. This does open the possibility that Garibaldi is on a self-assigned mission to  be a disrupter of the local opposition. But I doubt it. I'm going with the brainwashing theory. Is this where Garibaldi's story goes? In a tragedy of walking down a path to destabilize the causes you just fought for with all your heart with no way to go against it or have the capacity to recognize the alienness of your sudden goals?

Only time will tell.

Captain Jack says he hasn't heard about the war and thinks it's all alien stuff that doesn't pertain to humans much. And he also doesn't really believe the things he has heard. Marcus is upset that now that he's a war hero no one's ever heard of it, and that he also has to be married to Stephen as the cherry on top. Captain Jack loves this new relationship dynamic. I haven't decided what I think is going on with Captain Jack. Right now I feel predisposed to assume everything is a spying or counterspying interaction. 

Imagine complaining in a corporate meeting with the second in command of the military space station and seriously complaining about the illegal drug market being depressed. That's genuinely hilarious. And Ivanova threatens to shoot them if they don't work with her to stimulate the economy. Or turn them into EarthGov. That's the good old Ivanova diplomatic method. 

"Work with me? No? Well rethink because you won't like the results if you don't." Fucking get it girl. And the carrot right after. Which is the silk glove on the iron fist tactic that Sheridan's been trying to mentor her into acquiring. It's a thin glove for her very sturdy iron fist to be sure. 

The Mars team plus Captain Jack have a problem. They've been discovered! But they still need to spread the Word of Sheridan. And Jack was with them? Apparently? Well that's a pickle. 

I think this is the first away from B5 view we've had in a long time. Hmmm this seems shady. They're demanding full biometric IDs to prove they're really with the resistance. But it is so risky and not how these kinds of cells really operate. But maybe they do in the B5 universe. In any case, Frankline and Marcus hand over their id that could fully dox them and be used to hand them over to EarthGov. They didn't prove their own allegiances even slightly. 

Sheridan is feeling badly over his argument with Garibaldi. Bummer thing to do on your first day off in a year, for real. He could be flirting with Delenn right now instead of bemoaning Garibaldi's change of pace. 

Delenn promises John there are not very many more rituals before they can be married. Only fifty! But after Delenn says eloping is a great disgrace, Sheridan immediately folds. And Delenn invites him over for the next ritual, Shan'Fall, which is about exploring one another centers of pleasures with great medication and focus. And John, not a foolish man, heads off to see what that's all about in practice. Man hears "tantric sex" in minbari-speak and is all in.

Hmm, turn of events. Not sure why their IDs apparently didn't match their DNA, but it's forgotten now that Captain Jack tried to assassinate the local cell's leader. He had neural net device on him that may have forced him to do it. 

And now Captain Jack is on the loose with not only his laser pistol but also a thermal grenade. I wonder if this is PsiCorps work or another faction. I don't know who has that type of tech. Seems a bit beyond human tech we've seen. Especially with Captain Jack saying the devices grow back if removed. And he also seems to be correct! There's a tentacle. And he goes for it, blows himself up in a transport in a transport tube train thing. This plotline is a bit all over the place. I still want to know why they don't care about the ID mismatch now. 

A woman is kneeling to Sheridan and asking for a blessing. Garibaldi has a fit about it and ends up knocking Sheridan down with a hit. I'm really sticking with my brainwashing theory because I just don't like this character turn otherwise. The question is if it's shadow work, neural net parasite like the Captain Jack, or if the parasites are Shadow work. 

Delenn's ritual include an audience at a distance meditating and to prevent them from "going too far," and John allows himself to be talked into the semi-exhibitionism. Love this plotline of a red blooded Iowa man being seduced into elaborate fetish play. Also that the Minbari are extremely into kink. What a plot twist, lol. 

Lennier, judgementally: "Woo-hoo?" 

You tell him, Lennier. You shame his o-voice. 

Garibaldi is always destined to have a plotline that makes me want to be my head against the wall. Except for when he learned Narnuan to read their scriptures.  

I miss Bester. Bring back the telepathic baddie!

next episode

[theconstantnymph]

Operation Counterspy, 1965