#machiavelli-as-a-service

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Let’s start with how hard it is to not use Google. Google spends fifty billion dollars per year on deals to be the default search engine for Apple, Samsung, Firefox and elsewhere. Google spends a whole-ass Twitter, every single year, just to make sure you never accidentally try another search engine.

Small wonder there are so few search alternatives — and small wonder that the most promising ones are suffocated for lack of market oxygen.

Google Search is as big as it could possibly be. The sub-ten-percent of the search market that Google doesn’t own isn’t ever going to voluntarily come into the Google fold. Those brave iconoclasts are intimately familiar with Google Search and have had to override one or more defaults in order to get shut of it. They aren’t customers-in-waiting who just need a little more persuading.

That means that Google Search can’t grow by adding new customers. It can only grow by squeezing its existing customers harder.

For Google Search to increase its profits, it must shift value from web publishers, advertisers and/or users to itself.

/The only way for Google Search to grow is to make itself worse./

- Microincentives and Enshittification: How the Curse of Bigness wrecked Google Search

[alittlelaudanum]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you.

1. My malinois doggo Daisy Duke. She keeps me safe when I have medical episodes. I’ll wake up and she cradling my neck to keep me safe or she lays on top of me. She even alerts at times. She is very protective and will do anything to keep her family safe.

2. Music. I love the band Motionless in White. Their songs have saved my life many times. ESPECIALLY the songs city lights, and Black damask. I also enjoy Lorn Ashore, Lana Del Rey, HIM, Fleetwood Mac, and other various artists/bands.

3. Books. I especially love Alice in Wonderland. Cheshire cat is my favorite character. Some books I’ve enjoyed are shadow and bone (Grishaverse), Lord of the Rings universe (all 5 books), I have enjoyed reading historical texts and books as well including The Prince.

4. History. Ancient, early, medieval, occult, political… any and all. I know a lot about history

5. I enjoy learning and learning about other languages. Including Latin, Russian, French. I enjoy learning about the English root words bc it makes understanding words easier.

[brother-emperors]

niccolo machiavelli & biagio buonaccorsi

Machiavelli's Service to the Republic, John M. Najemy

eventually I'll read Sasso's writing on Machiavelli, but even reading Najemy's summary of the text with regards to Biagio and Machiavelli's relationship made me feel unwell™ in some kind of way like. even love. what an absolute gut punch pair of words to put in the middle of a sentence. I feel fine about it!! (a lie)

The Life and Times of Machiavelli, Pasquale Villari

AND NOW. regarding the scene. the letter exchanging hands is referencing their correspondence in general, but to also how Biagio was a collaborator to Machiavelli's plans (and a little bit about how some of Machiavelli's works were copied in Biagio's hand)

Machiavelli, Leonardo and the Science of Power, Roger D Masters

and regarding the red panel with the figure getting measured, it's about how Biagio had clothing for Machiavelli made to his own measurements in Machiavelli's absence.

Niccolò’s Smile, Maurizio Viroli

[dark-audit]

Sources & Further Reading

This list is continually updated. I try to stick to studies or articles that are available for free, but bear with me if i link to something behind a paywall. For books, I link to Goodreads, where you'll find blurbs, reviews, and purchasing options.

Torture:

freedomfromtorture.org

The Ethics of Torture: Definitions, History and Institutions (2012), Evans

When and Why We Torture: A Review of Psychological Research (2017), Houck, Repke

The Torture Myth, Anne Appelbaum

The Effects and Effectiveness of Using Torture as an Interrogation Device: Using Research to Inform the Policy Debate (2009), Costanzo, Gerrity

Psychological Effects of Torture (2010), Jayatunge

Torture and its Consequences: Current Treatment Approaches, Metin Basoglu

Political Torture in Popular Culture: The Role of Representations in the Post 9/11 Torture Debate (2016), Adams

How to Justify Torture: Inside the Ticking Bomb Scenario, Alex Adams

Why Torture Doesn't Work: The Neuroscience of Interrogation, Shane O'Mara

Torture and Democracy, Darius Rejali

Gestures of Testimony: Torture, Trauma and Affect in Literature, Michael Richardson

The Cognitive Dissonance Theory of Torture Perceptions (2015), Houck

Trauma:

What is Moral Injury?

Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services, SAMHSA

Of Monsters and Men: Perpetrator Trauma and Mass Atrocity (2015), Mohamed

Psychology:

Everyday Sadism, Dark Triad, Personality and Disgust Sensitivity (2017), Meere & Egan

Sadism and Aggressive Behavior: Inflicting Pain to Feel Pleasure (2018), Chester, DeWall & Ejanian

The Divided Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness, R. D. Laing

Philosophy:

Act and Rule Utilitarianism, IEP

The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus

The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli

The Art of War, Sun Tzu

History & Biography

Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption, Laura Hillenband

The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

The Torture Machine: Racism and Police Violence in Chicago, Flint Taylor

Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, Christopher R. Browning

The ISIS Hostage: One Man's True Story of 13 Months in Captivity, Puk Damsgård

[aegor-bamfsteel]

Why do you think George says that GOT Littlefinger isn't asoiaf Littlefinger? Except the whole stupid plot of marrying off Sansa to Ramsay, I don't see much difference between the book and show version. I really apologise if it's coming of as too argumentative.

I don’t think you’re coming off as argumentative, but I don’t know what else to say about show vs book Littlefinger that I haven’t already said in the previous ask, or what GRRM said in a Machiavelli documentary:

Book Littlefinger and television show Littlefinger are very different characters. They’re probably the character that’s most different from the book to the television show. There was a a line in a recent episode of the show where, he’s not even present, but two people are talking about him and someone says ‘Well, no one trusts Littlefinger’ and ‘Littlefinger has no friends.’ And that’s true of television show Littlefinger, but it’s certainly not true of book Littlefinger. Book Littlefinger, in the book, everybody trusts him. Everybody trusts him because he seems powerless, and he’s very friendly, and he’s very helpful. He helps Ned Stark when he comes to town, he helps Tyrion, you know, he helps the Lannisters. He’s always ready to help, to raise money. He helps Robert, Robert depends on him to finance all of his banquets and tournaments and his other follies, because Littelfinger can always raise money. So, he’s everybody’s friend. But of course there’s the Machiavellian thing. He’s, you know, everybody trusts him, everybody depends on him. He’s not a threat. He’s just this helpful, funny guy, who you can call upon to do whatever you want, and to raise money, and he ingratiaties himself with people and rises higher and higher as a result.

He’s saying that showFinger is an obviously evil beard-stroking villain wearing dark clothes with a bad reputation nobody should trust with their plans. By contrast, bookFinger is a helpful, witty guy wearing bright clothes who is willing to raise money for the higher ups. A minor lord like him couldn’t possibly have goals that involve getting the powerful people to destroy each other while they promote him because he’s obviously no threat. Keep in mind we’re still debating what exactly his goals are, and if Lysa hadn’t spilled the beans about Jon Arryn’s death, we would be even more in the dark about what he’s actually done.

A contrast is how they respond when swords are pointed at them. In the oh-so-amazing “power is power” solipsistic scene in the show, Showfinger boasts to Cersei about how he’s so powerful because he knows things, so in response she has a bunch of men hold him at sword point to show him she could have him killed at a moment’s notice. Bookfinger would never get himself into that situation because that’d be showing his hand and getting a valuable ally to distrust him. When he does get a sword pointed at him, it’s because he paid Lyn Corbray to cause a ruckus at the Lord’s Declarant meeting, buying him valuable time while looking like the wronged party. Sansa figured this out with few clues, but it had to be told because it’s so subtle (who could guess a hotheaded swordsman from an ancient family would be in Littlefinger’s service?). And that’s what GRRM was saying about book versus show Littlefinger: the show version lacks the subtlety that made the book version such a secretly powerful enemy.

[earlgodwin]

it's impressive how they managed to write a nuanced relationship between the borgia brothers despite having small screentime together, and lately, i've been having a lot of thoughts about them because i love their rivalry. (jealousy and resentment on cesare's side; inferiority, aggression and frustration on juan's). it's extremely compelling that cesare was not only the one who decided juan's fate but also played a role in his downward spiral by slowly destroying him. like there's the whole situation with prince djem and how they wanted to get rid of him for lucrezia's dowry. cesare pettily denied juan micheletto's services and forced his hand into murder (something that cesare pretty much isn't against as we saw him enjoying poisoning and torturing without batting an eye) as some sort of a "lesson." murder was something juan wasn't quite familiar with, and he was shaken and panicking after smothering djem with a pillow. even after juan's triumphant return from spain as a changed man, having stopped drinking and visiting brothels, cesare remained upset and kept resenting him for simply being back. later on, cesare indirectly set juan up to die at forli by refusing to warn him about ludovico's army approaching, despite machiavelli suggesting that he should warn juan. once again, cesare mocked him for the failed siege, (as if he wasn't the one who essentially contributed to his failure without caring about the family's mission) because he cared more about humiliating juan, and juan was aware of cesare's wish to see him dead, which caused him to descend more into madness, experience depression, and develop an addiction. finally, cesare found an opportunity to murder juan, and he had no qualms about it because he wanted to take military control of the papacy and distance himself from the church.

their relationship truly gives me a lot of buzz! i'm genuinely surprised by how underrated they are as a duo ngl, because they have such great chemistry and the material surrounding them is just too good! you just know if their father hadn't made them feel so insecure about his love for them by pitting them against each other, they wouldn't have done stupid shit against each other for his approval.

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

The thing with Larries nowadays is that they believe that Harry is not really with Taylor Russell but he is seen with her in various parts of the world. He is seen with her spending time with her multiple times a week walking up and down various streets.

If he is doing all of this despite being a very successful musician who really doesn’t need to do any of this, who according to their own theorising is not scared of owning up to who he is and is unabashedly himself while on stage, or posing for magazines or selling nail polish, then do they even understand coherence of thoughts and opinions.

If he is a proud successful unlabelled “queer” person who has all the talent in the world with a well established fanbase, with more money and success than he knows what to do with then why is he walking around with fake girlfriends every business day and twice on Sunday.

Louis has been called homophobic by the same contingent because he has never claimed to be queer, he hasn’t co-opted the queer culture and fashion aesthetic.

They have conditioned themselves to think that it is more valid to be deceitful on a daily basis and live your life under pretence if you are also doing fan service.

Stan culture has done more to promote Machiavellianism than Machiavelli himself. No wonder all they talk about is how many streams they have on Spotify and if it’s enough then you are in the right, it’s all justified.

I don’t think the Larrie contingency ever reflects on their homophobia and the biases that patriarchy instilled in them.

They claim to be “supportive” of closeted men, but take every opportunity to out the same men who are supposedly closeted, and then get angry and cry victim when they are rebuked.

They set standards for how gay men are supposed to behave, talk, sit, dress, walk. They set traps to manufacture “gotcha” moments and then make their gifs and memes, but also criticize supposedly gay men for not meeting their standards. Meanwhile, very few of them have ever befriended gay men enough to treat them like normal human beings.

They treat two men with the same patriarchal expectations as a 1950’s society, expecting one to be the “better half,” to stay hidden and silent, to follow like a shadow all over the world, to haul his 80-pound dog to LA during a pandemic even, to quietly do the domestic work while the other “becomes a superstar admired by the world.” But it’s okay! Because the domestic one is super crass, low class, smokes and drinks, physically abusive even, manspreads from huge, huge internalized homophobia, lets his hair go gray for some macho reason, while the superstar gets a hair transplant and is a princess who wears nail polish that he wasn’t trying to market or sell at all, not with a company run by his managers, no, like the good queer stereotype he is.

You’re exactly right. Larries have so little faith in their own fantasy that they would rather have queerbaiting fan service and poor quality goods from Harry Styles than admit they’ve been chasing the emperor’s new clothes. If Harry wasn’t connected to the most powerful people in his industry, then what would Larries have?

[hazardworld]

Steve and the very party holidays

Just thinking about Steve having a really shitty holiday experience as a kid: his parents/extended family is Catholic (dad: Irish-American/mom: French), so he got first communion and they went to the big holiday services, but that was about it.

Just little ol’ baby Steve sitting in mass for an hour or two, then going home for presents, most of which were trendy “boy toys” he didn’t really care for. Also, he could easily tell they were easily things his dad’s assistant knew were the most popular, not things he was actually interested in.

Every few years or so, his parents would have a party: either Christmas or New Years, but it was always fancy, and Steve had to wear itchy uncomfortable clothing, and try not to get distracted, and there was always way too much wine.

(Apparently, you never went to a Christmas party without bringing wine)

When Steve started middle school, they’d leave on Christmas Eve, tell him to go to mass (by the time he had the means to, he’d lost the belief in a god anyway), and to have a good time. Also, Santa wasn’t real, apparently.

So he learned how to cook and how to take care of himself and the house, and it was fine. It wasn’t great, but it could be far worse, so it was fine. He was lucky: he had a house with paid bills, he’d eventually get a car, and he had the means of feeding himself without worries. It wasn’t ideal, but yeah, he could live with it.

So imagine senior Steve, (forcibly) invited to Machiavelli family Christmas by Dustin (I could make a whole post on why my cultural headcannons are what they are but I’m italian american and i DEF see more IA hendersons then IA harringtons) who shows up dressed in that same, stupidly itchy clothing with wine, only to be told by Claudia that he’s much too formal. The wine is taken, and he’s handed a pair of Claudia’s (clean) sweatpants and a very soft green sweater with a santa hat on it.

It’s only once he’s in the backseat with Dustin that he realizes all their sweaters match, and 30 minutes later at the “family house” that apparently every branch of their family has their own different sweaters. Not only that, but Steve gets introduced not as Dustin’s babysitter, but as his brother.

Steve is confused, because aren’t Christmas parties supposed to be all stuffy and boring but also nerve wracking because everything’s too overwhelming but if Steve shows it he’ll get punished? 

Christmas parties aren’t laughter and coziness and friends and family all together (as the party continued, Steve met people and realized who was introduced as wouldn’t’ve mattered: everyone here, blood or not were treated like family).

Steve thinks it’s a one time thing, but he’s expected every year from then out: Dustin reported the Aunts agreed he was the best child-wrangler they’d ever seen, and Claudia said it was refreshing to have help bringing in her offerings for the large buffet. The next year it’s all the same but different, and Steve loves it.

Then comes Christmas 1986.

No one can leave Hawkins quite yet: the final gates have yet to close, though it should happen before the end of the new school year. For now, everyone’s stranded with what they can ship in or make themselves.

After the earthquake, Steve moved into the guest room of the Henderson’s place. They still used the mansion for party gatherings, but his parents made it clear they were never returning, and Steve had more happy memories with Dustin and Claudia then in the too-large expanse.

Once Max woke up, she moved in too: the government hush money was plenty enough to make Dustin’s bed into a bunk. Claudia even started calling them “her twins” after they formed a platonic codependency rivaling Steve and Robin’s.

The four of them spend Christmas together: Max gets her own sweater knit, and they even get some extra tinsel to wrap up her arm crutches and wheelchair for the days she needs them. 

There’s no Machiavelli family that year, but Claudia teaches Steve the family lasagna recipe, and they open gifts to the sounds of “Charlie Brown Christmas” in the background.

Steve doesn’t think it can really get much better.

The evening of December 26 is a whirlwind.

The four get to the mansion early to set up. Plus, Steve has to make his Ratatouille, and Claudia has to heat up Dustin’s baked ziti, as well as the 10 different side dishes she did not sign up to make but insisted on, anyway.

The party’s at 6, but both the Munsons and the Byers-Hopper’s show up at 5:45, saying they were there in case anyone needed help. They both bring latkes, but since Eddie’s a terrible cook (other than sandwiches, eggs, or freezer meals) his are burnt. Luckily, Joyce is kind, and says theirs can count for both.

Argyle (who stayed just long enough to be included in the mandatory staying in Hawkins notice) made homemade flautas, while Hopper and El brought Eggos, since that’s all they could agree upon making.

The rest of the group arrives after that, though slightly later. Robin claims this is her fault, since apparently she got to the store way too late. She brought kringle (If you don’t know what kringle is go to trader joe’s or racine wisconsin it’s so worth it). 

She also brought Max’s haggis: Max didn’t want anyone else in the house knowing what she was making, and Robin was the only one who let her use her parent’s kitchen to make it.

Lucas and Erica brought self-decorate-able christmas sweater speculaas cookies (that Lucas baked himself, thank you) and keep fighting over who gets to carry what. Erica said the tupperware is too warm, but she also doesn’t want the sticky frostings.

Nancy made things non-negotiable: since Mike wasn’t driving, he got the heavy crockpot of Swedish meatballs, while she got the casserole pan of shepherds pie.

Somehow, Murray also slipped in with risotto and various boozes. How? Steve didn’t really care, but it was wonderful getting to see his extended family, per se, coming together for the beauty of it all, and sharing each other’s cultures and traditions.

After food, everyone watches as Will and Eddie light the first Hanukkah candle (in 1986 Hanukkah started on dec 26!) together, and after that they all open their gifts to each other.

It’s a bit of a free-for-all after that: Dustin and Erica hopped up on sugar together is a nightmare, Argyle, Johnathan, and Will (apparently) got high while starfishing on the living room floor, Nancy found the wine cellar and started “taste testing,” Max and Mike started a hate-fueled tournament on Max’s new video game which Mike keeps trying to double the rounds for so he can win, and Robin and Eddie hopped up on sugar together is another nightmare. Steve’s only peace are the adults, plus Lucas and El who are quietly chatting and painting each other’s nails in the corner.

By the end of the evening, everyone saunters off the rooms, and Steve can’t be happier at the aftermath: the house that once encapsulated stuffy, sad, even disheartening memories now became somewhere where Steve could actually say his family had all been in.

And shit: Steve realized he had a family.

Wasn’t that a thought.

He was so fucking happy.

Fin.

(If any culture thing was wrong shout me out I wanna change it)

(also i wrote this at 4am sorry for typos and stuff)

[firesteel-eden]

A new chapter of Renaissance is up!

For however good this match might have been, it’s also dangerous and Aemond needs to learn to walk a very fine line to ensure he doesn’t get on the bad side of the Pope, and makes it so that he feels her loyalty is above question to the Church and its head. That he won’t prove an obstacles if ever the Pope has a need of his wife services; as long as they don’t include any type of … bed services but he must admit that even to the untrained eye it is clear that the Pope doesn’t see a woman when he looks at his wife, but an asset. — from chapter II, Renaissance

Also, the translation and/or explanation of the chapter:

Caput mundi: it’s a Latin saying associated with Rome, it means head of the world or capital of the world.

Madonna: when associated to the name of a noble lady it’s intended as addressing her properly and can be roughly translated in “lady” . It can also be used — and will be used — to instead name the Virgin Mary, who in Italy is also called “Madonna”

Madonnina of Rome: now, since Rome has no head but the Pope, and he can have no wife (legally speaking) nicknaming her “the madonnina of Rome” serves the purpose of addressing the fact that she de facto lady of Rome and, since a) she was very young when she took up that mantle and b) the Madonna is the Virgin Mary they have taken to call her the madonnina (which would mean “little/of less importance” Madonna)

She’s no Beatrice: when this is told about Sansa it is because they want to highlight that she is not the angelic-woman Dante has spoken about in his Commedia, and the angelic woman they’d want to be subservient to them.

Comandante: Commander, this title was actually born for the commanders of the mercenary companies who served several lords in Italy and Europe in medieval times and Renaissance.

Il principe: The Prince, is a book by Niccolò Machiavelli

Mio signore/mia signora: my lord/my lady

[racefortheironthrone]

So we know Machiavelli's warning against mercenaries, and the perennial issues mercenaries caused in medieval politics, but do we have a good story of how real-life states got rid of them?

As someone who studies modern conflict, one of the major questions posed is "how do you get the organized groups of armed men outside of state control to give up their weapons?" How did medieval states accomplish that? Did the free companies just kind of fade away amid changing economics? Did any try to set up their own little racketeering statelets? Did centralizing states have to go in and clear them out?

To be fair, I think Machiavelli was a bit unfair to mercenaries, at least when it came to their abilities on the battlefield.

The story of how early modern and modern states got rid of them is pretty simple: they just gradually stopped hiring them in favor of employing standing professional armies. At the end of the day, you can't eat your weapons and mercenaries were professional workers who were out to make money; if the demand for their services goes away, they're going to find a different line of work.

At the same time, job opportunities were opening up in the state's professional military which promised better pay (or at least more prompt payment), benefits, and promotion systems, at least for officers. So in the transition, a lot of former mercenary captains just became professional soldiers and not a lot changed except maybe the uniforms.

When it came to the statelets, these tended not to last very long. Yes, a lot of condottieri became lords of Italian city-states, but they tended to become lords of small city-states because the bigger ones were a lot harder to take over. But one of the major features of the later Renaissance is that even the larger city-states couldn't compete with the nation-states of France and Spain, so the smaller city-states were going to get gobbled up.

[atastypeach]

A human warlock of Mephistopheles has always been intrigued by Raphael and his methods of trying to encourage him and his party to play his game. After agreeing to a contract in his service in exchange for the Orphic Hammer, Losson Wright decides he's going to go on a one-man expedition to the House of Hope to try and sweeten the terms of this contract. If he might potentially die before he can free Orpheus and secure that Crown for this cambion, he might as well earn a little something on the side. With the intention of asking Raphael to sleep with him, Losson is given the unfortunate news that not only is Raphael a miserable little bottom in bed - he's also utterly atrocious. Good thing Losson's works a professional dom and knows a thing or two about turning the worst of fucks - into complete mind-shattering romps. MLM, Explicit Rating, Sub/Bottom Raphael and copious Raphael shaming.

Multiple ships, including Tav/Astarion, Tav/Haarlep and several background ships.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The curse of bigness is by no means limited to Google. The other tech giants have each attained gigantic market shares in their respective territories. Even where there is a duopoly — say, the Google/Apple mobile duopoly, or the Google/Meta ad duopoly — growth is more likely to come through enshittification than competition.

Google and Meta don’t want to compete on their respective share of the ad-market, because each one is strong enough to seriously challenge the other. Instead, they illegally colluded to rig the ad market in order to steal from advertisers and publishers, who are soft targets.

Likewise Google/Apple’s mobile duopoly is more cozy than competitive. Google pays Apple $15–20 billion, every single year, to be the default search in Safari and iOS. If Google and Apple were competing over mobile, you’d expect that one of them would drop the sky-high 30 percent rake they charge on in-app payments, but that would mess up their mutual good thing. Instead, these “competitors” charge exactly the same price for a service with minimal operating costs.

But it’s not just tech that faces the curse of bigness: your bank, your insurer, your beer company, the companies that make your eyeglasses and your athletic shoes — they’ve all run out of lands to conquer, but instead of weeping, they’re taking it out on you, with worse products that cost more.

- Microincentives and Enshittification: How the Curse of Bigness wrecked Google Search

[strongislandsuperfan]

Chess, Not Checkers

Taking power back, one chess move at a time.

"To know how to recognize an opportunity in war, and take it, benefits you more than anything else." -Niccolo Machiavelli

In 2018, James was criticized by Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who told him to “shut up and dribble” in response to him expressing his opinion on political and social issues.

According to Uninterrupted Inc.’s trademark filing, the phrase would be used on “downloadable virtual goods” and “other entertainment services”.

It is painfully obvious that the United States of America is at a fever pitch, with tension at an all-time high. Much of the warfare we see today is more of a cultural "cold war" with opposing audiences threatening "cancellation" by way of social media posts or the old fashioned way, which is with violence.

Unfortunately, some are reducing themselves to levels of pettiness and violent behavior, trying to gain the most immediate satisfaction just to get their point across. Some completely ignore the problem and remain silent, hoping that not acknowledging the problem will eventually go away. Some try to combat the madness with kindness and the humiliation either works in their favor or against them.

Others, are taking a more "Machiavellian" route.

Its been my experience that the art of war approach, while time consuming and mundane, gets the best results. This is the day in age where everyone wants something for nothing or wants the quickest results. Its predictable and expected. Taking an unorthodox approach is rare, often times seen as a route that many do not have the patience or the resources for. In some instances, it requires a level of tact that is missing in our world today.

Take this situation regarding Laura Ingraham and Lebron James, for example.

This is a situation that could have easily reduced itself to a shouting match or a petty tit-for-tat roast session that would be plastered all over social media. In some instances, it has but not enough to ignite a after school fight similar to the 80's film Three O'clock High.

I mention this, after this headline broke today on July 25th, 2022 for several reasons. Yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and Laura Ingraham is very much entitled to hers, just as Lebron James is entitled to his, whether we agree or disagree. However, an opinion is just that. An opinion. It shouldn't warrant bullying tactics or someone being "cancelled" until a justified explanation is given.

With regards to Ms. Ingraham's perspective, since the conflict in difference of opinion has made headlines & opened up to an uncomfortable conversation that this entire nation needs to have with each other and amongst ourselves, I find her perspective gross, ignorant, hypocritical and bothersome.

She is the same type of person that will demand that these same athletes or anyone of fame, use their spotlight to take a stand and be a role model for the youth, but when its a perspective someone like her disagrees with or has little to no knowledge of because it doesn't line up with her experience or her beliefs, suddenly its an issue and here comes the ,"This country is going to hell" sermon that we are all tired of hearing.

For the record, I promise you my disdain for her & her ignorant statement has nothing to do with politics or Ingraham being a conservative. I'm pretty fed up with you liberals also and if her attitude came from the "Left", she would get the same treatment. I am no respecter of any ideology, political party or whatever famous person that the world puts on a pedestal just to knock them down later. We are human. We make mistakes. Siding with an ideology will not save you, just because someone with a difference of opinion angers you with his or her perspective. Grow up & get over it!

The point is, we can't demand that someone, in the spotlight, use their platform to stand up for what's right or for what they believe in if we are just going to have a fit about it later. Furthermore, we can't demand that someone lives their life as a prototype role model, knowing that not only is it impossible to appease the masses 24/7, but we cannot demand that someone be held to a standard that we ourselves fall short of or aren't willing to do.

So, for Lebron James to take this action, its not only taking power away from those who still see athletes as spoiled attractions who have no right to speak or to have an opinion, its a chess move that places an unlikely piece that no one sees coming, in position to maneuver towards victory.

Checkmate.

[scuro-sideblog]

Here's another of my favorite OC's to date, Machiavelli "Machi" Myoga. He's a young mercenary-assassin who is not affiliated with any known pack.

After the death of his mother, a young Machi was taken in by a group of cutthroat bandits led by his estranged father, Oxbow 1M. His upbringing was perilous, turning the confused, gullible young creature into a rugged survivalist. The male is stubborn and reluctant to involve himself with other wolves' problems- unless there is adequate payment for his services.

Despite his callous nature, Machi is devoted to a small blue teddy bear he discovered as a pup, aptly named "Blue-Bear". He is currently mated to Cheyenne (owned by myself) and has plans to move to Lost River.

[ellavaday]

interrupting my as7 brainrot for a new edition of sandra vs dres2 subtitles, today we have the makeover challenge and feelings bc grandparents get to me ok

for those of you wondering what vene was struggling to say, juriji's mirror message reads 'ce n'est qu'un au revoir les filles! je vous aime, arriba esos chichis', estrella and marina's french translation is perfectly serviceable, the last part in spanish literally means arriba as a cheer-up!/c'mon! and y'all better know what chichi means by now (hint: 🐱)

i am obsessed with the épico (epic) and lésbico (sapphic) comment about the lipsync, this is something i thought might be of interest for all of the juriji and venedita shippers: venedita saying that she always ends up tangled up (very nice way to say making out, subtitles people, hacer un bollo specifically has lesbian hookup connotations) with a friend is a shout out to trans icon didi machiavelli, a really good friend of hers from bcn, didi is a former drag performer and is currently a model (she's also in marina's mv btw, she's the redhead girl) if you look up any of vene's performances prior to 2018 chances are her and didi are making out in a good number of pics and videos, those two are literally what rosalia and tokischa meant with las amigas que se besan son la mejor compañía

i love that all of the top 4 can speak catalan 💞 (in the legislative war against minority languages i am v firmly on the side of the minority languages)

venedita saying she's never been in an after in her life with a straight face hakshsk hay que tener valor

when supremme video message is played, they translate la madre que os parió as mommy dearest but lit. it'd be 'the mother that bore you', you can use it for emphasis or as a swearword depending on context

when getting ready for the mini challenge sharonne says she's turning into the bastard sister of leticia sabater, known for being a tv show host in the 90s, she's now better known for having the dubious honor of giving us songs like this

the a mi no me mandes a callar from supremme deadass sounded like an actual mother here (el verdadero choque cultural es cómo aquí definitivamente no hay temor ni a dios ni a las chanclas voladoras, people just have yelling matches with their parents)

i want vene's dress/trench for the mini challenge (and marina's while we're at it, i love the way it looks with the short red wig)

speaking of vene, la mano virgen would be the virgin hand, it's colloquially a way to mean the hand of an inexperienced person that lacks malice (in the subs it's the bare hand)

marina says that if there's roaches they'll report the set, not that they hate them (which they do and rightfully so, i don't have a phobia to insects but roaches trigger my murder response, nvm the OSHA violation, i'd set that soundstage on fire)

when estrella says she doesn't like boiled eggs, she likes eggs in her face she means balls

venedita and her dildo 💀

when introducing the last member of the 26 of dec foundation, supremme says 'su cara me suena' (your face looks familiar) which is a tv show of imitations

when venedita talks w consuela about how she had more acceptance problems for being an elder gay person than when he was young surprises her but it doesn't surprise me because lgbt culture is very youth based, we have a very short memory as a community and it's rare to see older members being given much of a thought that isn't about seeing them as sexual objects (m*mmy and d*ddy people i'm looking at you specifically)

history lesson w antonia and marina: homosexuality wasn't specifically in the spanish penal code as a crime in the beginning of the xx century (basically bc spain spent the beginning of the xx century changing it constantly between the fights between republicans and monarchists) but it was socially persecuted and understood as part of other crimes (it's pretty much universally known that federico garcía lorca was murdered by the francoist side of the war 'for being both a f*ggot and a communist'), antonia lived through the time in which the law against layabouts and crooks (1954-1970) included homosexuals (and sent them to what were basically concentration forced labour camps to be beat and starved), then the more open mindset of the time changed to include homosexuality in the law on social danger and rehabilitation (1970-1980) that marina talks about, which focused on trying to cure (aka torture) them via electroshock and lobotomies, time in the military was compulsory for all men till the 80s, no prize for guessing what could happen to gay ppl there; i can't stress enough how lucky consuelo and petro were for having a families that actually loved them, sharonne was lucky because her family came around but many people are not that lucky

the talk about how they were born in the time in which they were all called f*ggot not gay reminded me of this ask i got asking me once why did spaniards use the word travesti and the truth is i think that most people grew up hearing the slurs bc they didn't have any other words and tbh i'm glad they've been reclaimed so throughly they don't sound like slurs any more just words (being called a tortillera or a f*ggot by anyone outside of the lgbt community would probably ignite my flight or fight response just the same but being called another technically not offensive word can still sound like a hate crime when said with enough hate)

i can't say if petro did indeed make the infanta elena look good in her wedding or not, but here's the wedding dress (reminds me a little of the wedding dress in the little mermaid).. and infanta or infante is the title of the kids of the current king (elena as the sister of the current king has the title bc they are both the kids of the previous king but her kids don't have the title, only the kids of her brother bc he's the one in the throne)

sharonne makes a riff between aprieto (tough spot) and petro's name bc she's nervous about sewing in front of him, then with the heels she's afraid of petro valverde turning into petro valsuelo (falls to the floor)

marina you weight 100lbs soaking wet, how do you expect your belts to work with antonia?

when trying wigs petro looks like marie antoinette or antonio flores, the singer (and son of lola flores)

when ana is in the workroom sharonne says in the confessionals it inspires respect on her, not that it's exciting, it's more like... humbling?

i can't say i'm surprised venedita didn't bring anything from home because truth is the fact that venedita brought more than nipple covers is already surprising enough but i do love that she was intelligent enough to bring her own fabric for this one (bc the print is too specific to have been a workroom fabric)

on that subject, we saw sharonne draft with petro earlier and the fabric of the final look is also very particular, i think, if anything, she purposefully brought a dress in a classic silhouette that she knew she could alter at a moments notice because classic is both her brand and probably easiest for her to adjust

when marina is explaining the subject of their runway to supremme and ana, dos mujeres de bien 'two women that seem okay' in the subs should be more like two women that are apparently rich (being a persona de bien is more of a social standing thing, up to good and with high standards and the like)

suitably since we all know marina can't sew to save their life, both supremme and ana say no os confiéis after talking to them, the subs translate it as 'believe in yourself' but it should be 'don't be overconfident'

i have no clue on how does that pray antonia say go in english (or if you can tell she's praying with what the subs say) but he is when marina is shaving him

runway time

is it just me or the dress supremme is wearing is very rupaul? something about the shoulder and the fall of the skirt idk (also i love her brunette with the green contacts)

calvo says supremme looks like a freixenet bubble, freixenet is a brand of cava (bubbly wine, essentially spanish champaign) and when he calls her putón (slut) they make a reference to the meme of the valencian neighbors (the woman juriji played in snatch game), and supremme says 'como me conoces, juan' which is a reference to another meme (either belen esteban or from lqsa)

did anyone else think of the atrevete-te-te lyrics of calle 13 when alexis said 14 karats or was that just me?

with estrella and teresa xtravaganza, when they're walking down the runway and ana says they're armed they make a pun compound word between pistol (gun) and polla (dick); the gatillo fácil (trigger-happy) comment is a riff on ser fácil (being easy); two for the road and barbarella though are pretty self explanatory i believe and when estrella says we're pistoleras the subs translate it as cowgirls but it should be gunwomen ((i have to say i agree with ana when she says it's maybe too simple for a semi final, but kudos to estrella bc she made sure teresa looked beautiful... maybe better than estrella herself))

sharonne and sharinne come dressed like jane russell and marilyn monroe in the intro number of gentlemen prefer blondes; supremme calls them sonia and selena and talk about a comeback, sonia and selena were a one hit wonder duo from the early 00s that attempted a come back in the early 10s, poner verde a alguien (to put someone green) means to trash talk someone but it's also an allusion to the fabric they're wearing turning green when you touch it ((trust alexis to notice the detail of the shoes, thanks for that closeup that was indeed a very nice touch))

marina and antonia come in, looking like ursula disney bounders; matar a una zorra para vestir a otra (to kill a fox to dress another one) zorra=slut/bitch; ana calls them la pili y la ligui as a reference to la pili y la mili, twin kid actresses from the 60s (ligui is for lengua 👅), when they take off the wigs what *i* hear is ana pausera, but the subs say ana pau, not a clue about who that is (ana pau is the 18yo niece of anahí from RBD apparently??); when supremme says a palma, Isabel! it's a quote from the tv host encarna sanchez to singer isabel pantoja (or at the very least it's a quote from the comedic duo martes and 13 imitating them in this sketch)

i have nothing for venedita and vinagreta, only that vinagreta means vinagrette (duh); during the critiques, ambrossi says that venedita was iconic with her folder and pen and compared her to aida nizar, a well known personality from big brother

supremme and ambrossi saying thank you to the previous generation of lgbt community and to the members of the foundation in particular got to me (this entire fucking episode got to me oh my god i'm so soft) and then calvo mentions how street walking was for a long time the only thing lgbt people could do to survive (rewatching la veneno tv show recently did not help, i wanted to cry a lot) and then the messages to the younger versions of themselves jfc

here's a funny thing btw, in case you were also in your feelings, please think that last season, when they asked them to bring a baby pic in case they made it this far, arantxa gave production a baby picture of miley cyrus🤣

congratulations venedita for winning her second challenge 🥰

i have to say i didn't love that lipsync between estrella and marina (WHY ARE THEY UNDRESSING AND KICKING OFF THE HEELS WHEN LIPSYNCING 💀) i think marina did it better (barely) but i like marina better and her lipsync style much more than estrella's so that's v likely me being biased, still, imagine lipsyncing a jlo song in front of alexis and doing that. absolutely not.

i did absolutely not see a top 4 happening but 🥰 yay

a shout out to marina who had the sense to immediately smile with their mouth close when they put them in for a closeup in the end bc they had the blacked out tooth idk why but that was just so funny for me svsjshshk

it's probably too early for this but i hope a top 4 means they will do a finale with a tournament lipsync bc last season i didn't love trying to watch the top 3 lipsync all at the same time

[dwellordream]

“Niccolò di Bernardo die Machiavelli ([1513] 1940) understood the unique spirit of his times when he wrote The Prince, a precise meditation on the opportunities and limitations of power in a secular society. Courtesy is not simply a practice composed of ideals and mannerisms. Implicit in any system of courtesy are political elements that regulate civil behaviour for the specific purpose of producing desired results. Many civility rituals are intended to increase the power and prestige of the practitioner or of those prescribing the rituals. 

Paralleling the Christian conception of courtesy as a celebration of mutual dignity and equality of spirit is a more utilitarian conception of civility, one that puts it in the service of power acquisition. Since Machiavelli attempted to provide advice on the ideal comportment of a prince, his work does qualify as conduct literature because it provided a set of behavioural guidelines intended to help an ambitious politician maintain his power and reputation while serving the state. Moreover, his work is an excellent treatise on ‘self-interest’ and its limitations, for Machiavelli does not argue for unbridled self-interest but tries to show how the desire for self-gratification is one of the founding blocks of civil society and a means by which order (and civil discourse) can be preserved. 

His theory of a socially functional self-restraint is similar to the ideas contained in the conduct books that followed later as well as the theories of moral sentiments embedded in the writings of the Enlightenment social philosophers. His argument demonstrates how the desire for freedom from restraint will (if it is to be successful) demand that the beneficiary impose considerable restraints on himself in order to maintain the privilege of living with minimal restraints. It was Machiavelli’s recognition of this paradox that makes The Prince such a difficult book to interpret. It is not only a book on power but also a treatise cautioning against the abuse of power. 

 Machiavelli speculated on what was ‘possible’ in human action and did it with a near total disregard for ecclesiastical dogma. It is surprising that The Prince did not provoke the hostility of the Church when it first appeared in print. The pope authorized its publication in 1531, and twenty-five more editions appeared over the next twenty years. It was not until the Inquisition of 1559 that the secular implications of the book were fully understood by the papal curia, and it was banned at the Council of Trent in 1564. In a way, Machiavelli was one of the first ‘utilitarians.’ Trying to show the opportunities (and limitations) of self-interest, he reminded a potential ruler that, in the end, he would be constrained by the human nature of his subjects: ‘Men will always be false to you unless they are compelled by necessity to be true’ (chap. 23).

According to Machiavelli, the selfishness of a person will see to it that there exists an ordered environment in which to satisfy his needs. A man may wish to be the head of an institution, but he must first assure, by adjusting his reactions, that the society in which he lives does not fall into chaos, for chaos would mean the end of all institutions. It is this element of self-adjustment and self-restraint that distinguished Machiavelli’s theory of socialization and interaction. Because the desire of the self and the will are limitless, individuals find means by which they impose limits on themselves in order to be able to enjoy a certain amount of satisfaction rather than none at all. By limiting desire one limits resistance from others against one’s desires. 

So, in Machiavelli’s scheme of things, self-restraint is not entirely imposed by outside ideologies and interests but is a natural occurrence in human relations. Regardless of whether a society supports or forbids outright violence, there is a point at which humans restrain their ambitions in the interests of individual and collective survival. Herein lies our understanding of the rise of a secular ‘courteous’ citizen during the Renaissance. He is an individual who must balance self-interest, the interest of others, and the vicissitudes of unintended consequences. 

For Machiavelli, a ‘publican civility’ can flourish according to the realities of necessity; it need not be tied to an a priori religious conviction. He tries to demonstrate how a humanity burdened by infinite desire can actually develop spheres of thought, emotion, and action that even include public service. The regulation of personal desire becomes the process out of which emerges a dialogical and democratic public discourse. Machiavelli’s prince, therefore, becomes princely precisely because he accepts the inevitability of the fact that his own survival and happiness are connected to the public’s acceptance of him. 

Flexibility becomes an adaptive mechanism and tempers the arrogance of ascribed privilege. Although, during his discussion of fortuna, Machiavelli admits that societies lose their flexibility and become self-destructive over time, he recognizes that, in the long run, a society’s ultimate need is self-preservation. Surviving requires a compromising nature. It is when a culture can no longer accommodate compromise in the interests of survival that it goes into decline with leadership passing on to another culture – but the whole of humanity manages to survive due to cyclical regeneration and the indomitable human need for continuity. 

This acceptance of ‘contingency’ was something quite new because it presented an alternative to providential assistance from the divine. Market and political forces complicated the concept of a divinely ordained reality – surprises and contradictions abounded everywhere. Like Hobbes, Machiavelli remained aware that beneath the surface of civilized behaviour remained the possibility of chaos and destruction. The admission of this contingency obscured the facile adoption of a perfect and stable conception of the human spirit, as was done in the earlier Christian and ecclesiastical courtly traditions. It required, instead, a citizen who possessed enough awareness to be able to turn back to himself in order to deal with his own imperfections. 

We see here the roots of a social code that requires particularly stringent restraints of impulse in the favour of foresight. Unlike the courtesy literature of the Middle Ages, which coupled virtue with the search for divine salvation, the literature of the Renaissance increasingly tried to encourage the individual to deal with reality and social relations from the perspective of a personal honour that did not deny utilitarian realities. Honour required much more than obedience to prescribed virtues. 

It required a considerable amount of self reflection. If a person was to be honourable in his dealings with others he had to continually practise a self-critique that would reveal his own desires, limitations, and weaknesses to himself. Thus, the increasing self-reflexivity of Renaissance culture was considerably responsible for the development of a consciousness that required self-regulation without substantial dependence on ecclesiastical directives. This self-reflexivity may have had a direct influence on the raising of the threshold of shame and embarrassment, powerful emotions in the controlling of social interaction. Yet, it would be an exaggeration to say that this raising of the shame threshold was based on increased repression of awareness.”

- Benet Davetian, “Secular Civility in the Renaissance.” in Civility: A Cultural History