#trade secret violation

[cringefailvox]

the gossip potential of staticrose is unreal. cannibal town has no cameras, so it's one of the last bastions of privacy in hell, and vox's insatiable need to know everything all the time means he trades rosie information he harvests from his tech products for cannibal town secrets that he can't get anywhere else. they have tea every wednesday and violate everyone's privacy gleefully together. vox has long-running character arcs that he's invested in. rosie gets the latest hot gossip on every prominent overlord in the city and all the minor ones besides. if you manage to piss off both of them, you can say goodbye to your entire reputation and also the flesh from your bones

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Medieval Times invents a modern union-busting tactic

In the summer of 2020, I committed a minor heresy: I published a column that argued that — contrary to the orthodoxy of free culture and free software advocates — the term “IP” has a very crisp meaning: “IP” is any law or rule that can be used to control one’s critics, competitors or customers:

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

In free culture/free software circles, the term “IP” is viewed as a smokescreen, one that indiscriminately blended a basket of unrelated regulations and laws (copyright, trademark, patent, trade secrets, anticircumvention, noncompetes, nondisclosure, etc) and then declared them to be “property” and thus sacred to the neoliberal religious doctrine.

In my column, I argued that the policies grouped under “IP” were not an incoherent mess — rather, they all shared this one trait that made them useful to those who had, advocated for, or tried to expand “IP”: they were tools that would allow you to reach beyond your own business’s walls and exert control over the conduct of others — specifically, competitors, critics and customers.

Take trademark: Apple engraves miniature logos onto the parts inside your iPhone, which you will likely never see. But these logos allow Apple to argue that when someone breaks up a dead iPhone for parts sells them to independent repair shops that compete with Apple’s repair monopoly, they are violating Apple’s trademarks:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/evk4wk/dhs-seizes-iphone-screens-jessa-jones

Or take DRM: DRM is useless for preventing copyright infringement (if you want to break the DRM on, say, an audiobook, you need only do a quick search). But because breaking DRM is illegal, Amazon’s Audible — the monopolist that controls the audiobook market — can prevent a rival like libro.fm from offering you a way to switch from Audible to its platform and move your audiobooks with them:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/25/can-you-hear-me-now/#acx-ripoff

Anyone performing a security audit of a modern digital product most likely violates some IP — either terms of service, or DRM, or both, or some other right. When these security researchers criticize manufacturers for their insecure products, the manufacturer can silence them with IP threats:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/10/canada-chile-security-researchers-have-rights-our-new-report

IP rights also prevent you from using the things you own in the way you want — they can control customers For example, IP rights allow your printer to refuse to print with ink of your choosing — it’s not that your printer can’t use that ink, rather, it won’t:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/ink-stained-wretches-battle-soul-digital-freedom-taking-place-inside-your-printer

Ever since I published that piece, I’ve noticed lots of examples of IP that fit within this box, and today, I found a particularly egregious one. Medieval Times has sued its workers’ union, Medieval Times Performers United, under trademark law:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/medieval-times-sues-union-trademark_n_63485fa5e4b0b7f89f54546b

Medieval Times argues that its workers can’t call themselves “Medieval Times Performers United” because this will fool people into thinking that the company endorses the union, and that is a source of “consumer confusion,” and thus a trademark violation.

This is, of course, bullshit. Trademark contains a broad “nominative use” exception: trademark doesn’t let Coca-Cola stop Pepsi from claiming, “Our drink tastes better than Coke.” It doesn’t let HP prevent companies from advertising “HP-compatible ink cartridges.” It doesn’t let Apple prevent shops from saying “We fix iPhones.”

The union is contemplating mounting a defense at the National Labor Relations Board — not in a courtroom — “arguing that the lawsuit itself violates workers’ rights.”

It’s part of a broad union-busting campaign from Medieval Times, including anti-union “consultants” who bill $3,200/day. The performers are unionizing over pay, respect and workplace safety issues caused by inadequate staffing, especially staff who police the audience to prevent them from spooking the horses during jousting tournaments. Some performers have been attacked by drunken audience members.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/medieval-times-workers-first-union_n_62bb1d29e4b0d26a9b14fa17

[Striking workers in front of a factory, being fired on by teargas. Between them and the factory are a pair of jousting knights in the style of a medieval tapestry. Behind the factory looms a giant, ogrish boss in a top-hat, chomping a cigar. He is pulling on a lever made from a stylized dollar sign. In one gloved hand, he holds aloft a medieval night, who is bent over in supplication.]

[tyxaar]

SCAR CRIMES LIGHTING ROUND!!!

I've been getting a lot of asks in my inbox about this post relating to Scar's crimes lol.

Indeed they are.

@numbah-7-knd and @david-tennants-left-ear I've already talked about the cannibalism here, but the soul trading comes from Last Life! He made soul contracts in order to trade Lives with other players. Also he might've sold his soul to the Vex? I dunno the lore is weird so that's mostly my own headcanon lol.

@zev-the-traveler Possesion and patricide, the perfect pair! So possession is also in the weird hazy Convex lore zone, but for a while the Vex masks possessed Cub and Scar to do their shenanigans. With that context they they end up possessing False by giving her one when she helps with a prank. Source As for the patricide, that's simple! Etho is Scar's dad in the Life Series and he murdered him all three times in Secret Life. Same for Cleo's final death! :P

@welsknightenjoyer @mocah @neurotic-sinkhole and @fuck-edfrugs Ah yes, this. The Geneva Convention violation is the only crime on the list that was committed by real life content creator Scar! He used the Red Cross symbol in the Scarland medical office. However, that symbol is protected by the Geneva Convention and it's very much a crime to use it outside real Red Cross operations.

@weirdocritter Here we go!

Well, the war profiteering in S6 was kinda iconic lol. Concorp made SO many diamonds off the civil war that Scar and Cub were actually giving them away basically to stimulate the economy by the end of the season.

The cannibalism is also a fucked up favourite, that one part where he talks FAR to enthusiastically about eating the NHO is so on-brand lol.

Trading of souls is really spooky if you take it out of its original context!

Now, the one I'm most uncertain about is Oathbreaking. That happened in Third Life with the no-kill pass, especially with the Bdubs situation. That's a bit of a toss-up but considering how much they both care about keeping promises, yeah, I'd count it.

Ritual sacrifice!!!! Actually has happened like, four times on count lol. This man can NOT stop joining cults. There's the Convex Cathedral with blood on the offering altars, there's the constant boatem hole sacrifices, there's sacrificing Bdubs to the Moon, and most recently he's tried to sacrifice his friends to the Magic Mountain Bell!!! Or, well, told them they have to at least.

Ah yes, sale of human remains!!! He tried to sell Lizzie's spine (although it was prolly Jim or Mumbo cause she died in the void lol) to Joel. It's really wild when you look at it lmao.

Identity fraud is a littttle abstract, but he's worn so many random disguises and various characters that I'm almost certain there's some in there somewhere. Also, it seems pretty damn likely that Pirates Scar "murdered" S8 Tycoon Scar in order to get off the hook (pun intended) for all of his crimes.

That's a typo I swear!!! AJKSHDsfkjhfdkjsd. Anyways, I've replaced it with Treason on the OG post now.

[anon-e-miss]

At Waiting's End - 7 Consequences

Camshaft was uneasy. Though Optimus Prime had been an ally in the evacuation, he was still a Prime and Camshaft had seen the degradation Cybertron had suffered under Zeta and Sentinel and he did not trust the Matrix of Leadership’s decision making at all. The mech would need to prove himself because carrying the Matrix was a mark against him and not a boon. It had been a long time since Camshaft had been in Iacon. He had never gained access to the Primal Palace from which the Autobot base had emerged. His handlers had been more concerned with technologies and trade secrets and not the cult of the Prime. One of ten thousand refugees, Camshaft did not go unnoticed, Autobots cast him a long look here and there as he explored the grounds. They left him be, which was exactly what he wanted.

“They’re treating that slut like a hero,” a voice sneered. Cocking his helm to the side, Camshaft approached. Fury quickly built in his spark. Was this the mech Prowl had mentioned? The mnemosurgeon.

“Didn’t he shoot down that trine?” Someone else asked.

“That’s his story,” the Tagonian sneered. “I can’t believe Jazz is buying that that’s his bitty. You’d think he’d be smarter than to get conned into raising someone Con’s bastard.”

“You think he was clanging with a Con?” The Seeker asked.

“How do you think the Cons got through Praxus’ legendary defences?” The mech asked. “Obviously that traitor was...”

Crack!

The smartmouth’s friends jumped back as Camshaft hit him with a vicious right hook. He fell to the ground, visor shattered. Angry flashed from yellow optics and he tried to lunge at Camshaft but the spy spun and kicked him in the chassis, sending him flying. Camshaft pinned him down with one ped. Revealing himself to be exactly who Camshaft had thought him to be, the mnemosurgeons needles slowly extended from his servo, meant to be used as a weapon of course. Glaring into his optics, Camshaft smashed his ped down on that servo, spearing his palm with the blade hidden in his heal. The mech screamed. As one of the mech’s friends approached, Camshaft cocked his helm.

“I have no quarrel with you,” he said. “On the surface. You do keep this cretin’s company and that is a point against you.”

“Uh... we aren’t actually friends or anything,” the Seeker said, raising his servos.

“Coward,” the mnemosurgeon growled.

“You would do well not to speak,” Camshaft warned him. “If I hear you have spoken my creation’s designation or eluded to him in slanderous conversation again I will rip out your glossa and then drive those needles you violated him with through your optics.”

“You are Prowl’s originator?” A mech with a scope on his shoulder asked. He had a refined accent that suggested he had been educated in the Towers.

“Yes,” Camshaft replied. He gave the mech a look of challenge. Camshaft knew his creation had not felt welcome among the Autobots.

“Well,” the Seeker said. “You’re terrifying.”

“That is a sensible reaction,” Camshaft replied. “Should your security forces wish to speak with me, I am staying with Jazz.”

They did not try to detain him, no doubt because they were terrified. If that cretin wanted to file a complaint against him, Camshaft would welcome it. Was it Chromedome that he called himself now? Prowl had told Camshaft two designations for the same mech and he could not remember which was current. It did not matter. He was the sludge beneath Camshaft’s peds. He had never suffered a consequence for his abuse of his needles and now he had. Camshaft did not mind facing the consequences of this small act of vengeance, if it suited the Prime to dispense them. It would have suited Camshaft well enough to kill the afthole but he was too well-practised to kill openly. Should Chromedome not abide his order, Camshaft would consider escalating his vengeance but it would not be public and it would not be traceable to him. He was far too professional to be caught out so easily.

“Cam?” Camshaft froze. His processor pinched not unlike Prowl’s did when he had a crash brewing but Camshaft’s never went so far. Slowly he turned. How could it be? “Holy Pit, it really is you.”

“Downshift,” Camshaft whispered the designation. How could it be? He had met this mech in Polyhex, spying on Straxus’ operations. How could he be here in front of him after so long?”

“It’s been a long time,” Downshift said, smiling. “I’ve been thinkin’ o’ ya since Megs hit Praxus, wonderin’ if ya was there.”

“I was in the catacombs,” Camshaft explained.

“I’m headin’ to a security call, can I buy ya a drink, this dark-cycle?” Downshift asked.

“I... sure... yes,” Camshaft replied.

“Great!” Downshift exclaimed. “Maccadam’s, 8 o’clock?”

“I will see you there,” Camshaft promised.

Downshift smiled again and disappeared around the corner, going to the security call Camshaft assumed actually involved him. It seemed like a good time to go home. What was he thinking? Maybe he would just... no, Camshaft could not lie to himself so easily, he knew damn well he would be going to that bar. What was he thinking? He had told Downshift had been called home on urgent business. That business had been the carrying Camshaft had uncovered. After Sideways had stolen Barricade from him, Camshaft had been unwilling to risk losing another bitlet and he had followed Praxian tradition and had gone home to emerge his creation. From then on, Camshaft had remained in Praxus, raising his creation, guarding him from those that considered his glitch a fatal flaw. He had never considered tracking Downshift down. That was not what Praxians did. Yet, Downshift was half Praxian. Smokescreen looked entirely Praxian but in reality, his code was made up of more Polyhexian code than it did Praxian. Prowl had no idea.

“Originator, are you alright?” Prowl asked when he returned home.

“The Autobot Security Forces may be calling,” Camshaft explained, though that was not the reason he no doubt looked ashen.

“Why?” Prowl asked. He held Smokescreen tightly. Oblivious, the little bitlet continued to nurse. Bluestreak, sitting on a pillow at Prowl’s peds, looked up from his book.

“I came across a loathsome mech speaking ill of you and my grandcreation,” Camshaft explained.

“Who?” Jazz asked, stepping from the kitchen. His originator, Punch, was with him.

“Chromedome was the glyph Prowl used once,” Camshaft replied.

“What was he sayin’?” Jazz asked.

“It is of no matter,” Prowl spoke up. Jazz canted his helm to Camshaft. He wanted his answer.

“He called him a slut and suggested Smokescreen had been sired by a Decepticon,” Camshaft explained. “That he aided the Decepticons in annihilating Praxus.”

“That piece of scrap,” Jazz growled. “I knew ya had issues but I ne’er knew it was that bad.”

“Prowl... you never told him?” Camshaft asked. “Now would be the time since I may have mentioned it when I was kicking his aft.”

“Jazz, Chromedome used his needles on me,” Prowl explained, as sparkling safely as he could. “It was not invited. It happened more than once.”

“‘M gonna kill ‘m,” Jazz growled.

“Do not,” Prowl ordered.

“If yer worried ‘bout Jazz gettin’ into trouble, what wit the bitty, I can take care o’ it,” Punch offered.

“No one is killing Chromedome,” Prowl said.

“Bitlet,” Camshaft said. “He is worth the paperwork.”

Prowl disagreed. It was not in his nature to fight bullies. He had learned to ignore them, they had just been too numerous in Praxus. But Chromedome had effected Prowl’s inclusion in the Autobots, having enlisted after him and he had effected Prowl’s sense of self and security and that was unforgivable. Feeling like an outsider, Prowl had fled the moment he had learned he was gravid, afraid somehow he would lose the bitlet, despite the fact that he had loved Jazz dearly. Vorns of bullying and harassment had made Prowl feel too vulnerable, especially with the onslaught of maternal code. Camshaft did not believe one beating was adequate punishment, only utter ruination or death would sate the originator’s wrath. He was, however a patient mech and he was willing to wait to sate his energon lust.

Jazz resolved the matter with the Autobot Security Forces. His glyphs, being the third in command, carried a great deal of wait and Chromedome was now finding himself the target of an investigation, instead of the victim of a crime. Camshaft showered but he did not polish. This was not a date and he did not wish to give Downshift the wrong impression. Prowl seemed worried as he readied himself to go but Camshaft reaffirmed his promise that he was not going to trouble Chromedome. His creation knew something was off and Camshaft did not believe he was terribly reassured. Camshaft brushed his crest against his creations as he snuggled with his bitlet and his mechling. Bluestreak was theirs, if not legally, in spark and that was what counted. He did not have the glyphs to tell Prowl that he the acquaintance he was meeting was his progenitor, so he did not. For the moment, Camshaft did not know if he would even tell Downshift. So much time had passed, what would even be the point?

“Oh frag,” Camshaft moaned loudly.

Downshift mouth was on his neck, his servos on his aft and his spike, buried deep in his core. His legs and arms were wrapped around the other mech as they moved together. Arching his back, Camshaft hooked his leg over Downshift’s hip and urged him deeper. Bowed over him, Downshift held Camshaft’s servos above his helm as he kissed his face, his neck, his wells. They were not even intoxicated. Downshift had bought a round of drinks and then invited Camshaft back to his habsuite to talk more, though they had not managed much talking. It was just like the first dark-cycle they had met. The attraction, physical and sexual, had been instantaneous and all encompassing.

“I never stopped thinkin’ bout ya,” Downshift told him when they rested later, intertwined.

“I as well,” Camshaft replied. He dimmed his optics. How was he going to dig himself out of this mess.

[splatoongamefiles]

The sad thing about these DMCA attacks is that by my interpretation of US law, Nintendo has no legitimate grounds on which to make them.

"The Congress shall have Power to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." is the United States' stated justification for copyright law. What this means is that they are attempting to "promote" production of the Arts by increasing their profits. Therefore, something in infringement of copyright that in no conceivable way would reduce the profitability of the work is fine under the original purpose of copyright law.

There is no possible way a Splatoon fan ripping models from the game for the purpose of reference and Blender renders is going to affect the game's sales figures. Nobody who was planning to buy the game would choose not to because someone uploaded its character models.

Meanwhile, there are no valid infosec or trade-secret grounds for the takedowns, either.

Since the assets were not leaked from a corporate computer through any data breach or violation of privacy, but instead were datamined from a publically-available game update with a date of publication, they are already released.

Fans talking about these assets is "spoilery", but if the company wants us not to talk about these assets, it shouldn't publically release them into the game that we own. It's how computers work. To put something into a program, you need to release it. If you release it, that means people can see it. To suggest that the public should not be able to see what's inside the live game update that physically exists on their own devices is like suggesting that people should not be able to see the ingredients of their food... oh, wait. The USDA very much does think like that. Regulatory capture.

Regulatory capture, I guess, is also why IP has expanded to be an all-powerful information-control tool. Do read giovanh's articles on it, if you haven't already.

thank you for the info, but no. they hold the copyright, they can take down whatever, unless it falls under fair use, which they can definitely argue that ripping game files and shit isnt. i like this video about it.

(im gonna still keep doing this blog, even when it's noticed like on Twitter, usually just individual posts are removed but the account is fine)

[thewertsearch]

I'm getting 'em all this time, dang it!

I love that John plays along with the Consorts' programmed ignorance of him. He's such a good sport.

These guys really love their Important RPG Terms. It's sort of like a species-wide typing quirk.

SALAMANDER: Our great elder, the magnificent Secret Wizard was one day graced with the First Rag of Souls from the clouds. SALAMANDER: He donned the oily, humble cloth and assumed the countenance of a simple beggar. SALAMANDER: But lo, he beheld a great pillar of rock, and on that pillar he beheld an impossibly tall white tower belonging to the fabled Heir of Breath. SALAMANDER: And so our leader ascended this pillar and this tower, but found no sign of the heir. SALAMANDER: He did however find the Heir's floating blue servant, and she laundered his robes, and so the Rag of Souls was born anew. SALAMANDER: Such was his magnanimity, he employed the Heavenly Machina to duplicate this relic and distribute robes to his many followers across the land, so that they too might be beheld with a beholden eye of admiration.

What I'm getting is that Nanna started a salamander cult for the bit.

Talented though he is, John will have a hard time living up to such a prankster's legacy.

Ooh, we're back in the old style - it's like a game-within-a-game!

This thing does an uncomfortable amount of damage, even with John's maxed Gel Viscosity.

Still, at least it doesn't one-shot him like I expected. These Imps aren't quite as scary as I originally thought.

I can even time-freeze it with Fear No Anvil! There's a shocking amount of polish here for a one-panel walkaround.

It's tough, but John's fully capable of taking it down.

Hopefully once he's scaled the god tiers, Imps will go back to being fodder - although we don't know for sure if the god tiers increase your stats. I assume they're distinct from the Echeladder levels in some way, but I can't really speculate.

SALAMANDER: I'm so hungry. Alas, I have not a single boondollar to pop my bubble with. JOHN: i've got loads of boondollars! here, i will treat you to a nice lunch.

Such a good dude.

Is that some LOHAC contraband I spy?

The Consorts must have opened an interplanetary trade route.

SALAMANDER: Do you hear that? He is still asleep, thank goodness. SALAMANDER: But when the Windy Thing was kicking up all that fuss, it sounded like he was not happy at all. SALAMANDER: It makes him absolutely furious when anyone other than him bends The Breeze to his will! It is not pleasant for anybody. SALAMANDER: Luckily there is only one person who can do that, and he is surely a mythical figure, who only morons believe in.

Now this is interesting. Typheus claims authority over the Breath element, and can't abide anyone else wielding it...

SALAMANDER: Luckily there is only one person who can do that, and he is surely a mythical figure, who only morons believe in.

...which means he's basically calling John out by name.

The Heir is the only person in the Medium even capable of drawing his ire - and thus, the seeds of their inevitable battle have been sown.

SALAMANDER: It's said the Heir will wake the denizen by playing a magical song only he can play, and when he wakes up, the Heir will meet the terrible beast face to face! SALAMANDER: It is then that he will be offered The Choice. The nature of the Heir's triumph depends on what he chooses!

How much choice do you really have, when your future's set in stone? Choose anything that hasn't been pre-approved, and you're sent careening into an offshoot timeline, before being dissolved into nonexistence.

Maybe this proper-noun Choice is a real choice, then - a decision that can violate fate, but won't doom the timeline. The implications could be staggering.

SALAMANDER: Then the Heir will lead us all to a beautiful place, with the most bristling insect furrows and the richest, dampest mushroom soil you could hope to farm.

Either way, John's Choice seems to involve transporting the Consorts somewhere. This salamander is describing a heaven-like location, so I hope the twist isn't that John will destroy LOWAS, 'transporting' its residents to the afterlife :/

[glitteringsunshine]

Gibbs’s Gal

Part 1

Pairing : Leroy Jethro Gibbs x Reader

( crossover with madam Secretary)

Reader’s POV:

“Okay the reports done.” Jay said. “ You think these joint task force reports would be easy, but getting approval from all the departments is a real headache.”

“ So what’s the final title of the report?” I asked.

“ Corruption in selected foreign military and the difficulties in building Infrastructure” Phew. Err some parts of the NCIS report has been redacted. I don’t know why.” Blake said.

“ Well we need to find out. I mean the it’s their marines who are working for the state building infrastructure. But state has the right to know ground data.” I said.

“ Yeah ,I tried to talk with the NCIS Director but he shut me out. “ Nadine said.

“ Well its not only State’s development money , but it is also the funding of many international Agencies. We can’t put up redacted reports to the UN.” I stated.

“ Well I will ask Russell Jackson to look it up. After all nothing is Privy from POTUS”. As his chief of staff Russell Jackson will know what to do.

….

“ Y/N , come with me to Russell Jackson”. The Msec said.

“ About the Corruption report?” I asked .

“ Yes”.

I quickly hopped in with Msec in her motorcade.

“ Ohh wow aren’t we going to his office?” I asked.

“ Apparently a top secret meeting is going to happen here.” She said.

“ Really ! In the Men's Restroom.” I rolled my eyes.

“ Well not my first choice” she chuckled.

“ Apparently Henry is coming in too” she said.

“ What’s DIA have to do with the report?” I asked.

“ Yeah I would like to know why I am meeting my husband in a men’s room too Y/N, sorta reminds me of college” she chuckled.

“ I heard the door open and saw Tony and McGee walk in.”

“ Hello Y/N, nice to see you”. McGee said.

“ Hello” Tony said warmly. “Gibbs asked us to come here, any idea why?”

“ Vague one. BTW meet the Secretary of State”

“ Huge fan” They said in unison. “ Ma’am you are my favourite politician” Tony said.

“ Don’t say that . She hates the word” I chuckled.

“ Done being a fan, Dinozzo ? Then we can discuss stuff.” I heard Gibbs say as Henry ,Gibbs and the Director of NCIS walked in, followed closely by Russell Jackson.

Introductions were made. Though all of us knew others by reputation.

“ This is Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs” Henry said. He is a fellow marine. He served under me in the marines. I believe you two have met before.”

“ Yes we crossed paths a few times related to work” I nodded.

“OK”said Russell Jackson. “In a Joint mission by NCIS and DIA we have uncovered alarming human rights violations in the countries mentioned in the report. The part redacted is actually the source that helped us uncover this.”

“ We studied the file” . “ Well State knew we were fighting Corruption, but this is cruel”.

“ Yes” Henry said. “ They kept it so hushed up , even CIA did not catch wind.” One of the translators working there when we were deployed as Marines has now rose in their military ranks. He brought this to us.”

“Henry, I mean Dr . McCord worked extensively with him, the asset ,our source. . Henry was not only my superior officer in the Marines, but we hung out together. Anyhow that’s how we met him , in a bar while we were hanging out. He was young , idealistic and Dr McCord hired him . We were in dearth of translators and he helped us. Anyhow we are planning to present the military leader in the international Criminal Court.”

“ We have frozen some of his assets. However he got wind of it. The dictator thinks there is a leak. Before we can pursue the dictator , we need to get our asset out. Now the state is visiting to Geneva right , to sign a trade deal?”

“ Now the asset trusts only Henry and Gibbs” Russell Jackson said. “ The asset is visiting Geneva with the dictator. We can take him in safety there. Henry and Gibbs have to go. Henry’s cover is as Msec’s arm candy. Gibbs will your date Y/N. Since the event in WTO mentions that staff could bring dates, he will be yours.”

I nodded.

“ Oh one more thing. The week in Geneva, you will be sharing a room with him. The dictator suspects we might to do an extraction. If by any chance he gets to know a staff’s date is in a separate room, he will get our plan. We need to be careful. “

“ I am Okay with it if Special Agent Gibbs is” I said , to which he nodded.

“ While Henry and Gibbs works the extraction, your job is to get the trade deal signed by him. It’s a multilateral agreement and when we present him to the International Criminal Court, there will be instability in the country. We don’t know if we could get his successor to agree to the trade deal. Since they control vital maritime routes , it’s important we get them to sign the deal. “

“ Now that his assets are frozen, he might use the trade deal as a leverage to unfreeze it. We can’t unfreeze the assets. Then the dictator would escape before we could get to him.” Russell said.

“ So Y/N” you would have to drop into NCIS once to work on your cover.” Henry said.

“ While you are at it familiarize Jethro with the protocols okay.” Msec said.

…

Jethro’s POV:

I saw Y/N walking in with a huge binder. How on earth does she work in those heels. Well they were sexy though. I would like to fuck her with those boots on. Wow from where did that thought come from. I blinked to get that image off my head.

“ Well here are the protocols. Covers the banquets ,dinners etc. There are pointers on the meet and greet style for people from different countries. Learn them” she said taking off her coat.

“McGee pointers” I said handing the file over to him.

“ Gibbs protocol is important. Go through it.” She said leaning against my desk.

As she did ,I could see her cleavage peeking out from her blouse. I suddenly had this urge to cup her voluptuous breasts, knead them. She was inches from my mouth. I wondered how her lips would taste. Her dark red lipstick looked so enticing. I got this urge to brush my thumb on her lips, to kiss her with a passion she has never known. Her eyes beneath her glasses spoke of wild seduction and pure temptation. Like the finest whiskey in a crystal glass, it sparkled against the light. What attracted me more was the inherent kindness and exuberance that was reflected in her eyes, like hot chocolate on a cold December night. I couldn’t look away from her. She held my gaze until she blinked. “ Gibbs you have to read them okay. I don’t care if Mcgee helps with a framework or something , but get it done, okay. McGee I will highlight the important points.”

As she bent down to talk to McGee, I couldn’t help but stare at her ass. The loose skirt she wore did not really highlight her body, but as she bend down, I could see her attractive curves, the voluptuous beauty if it, from the bent of her hips and ass to her lovely thighs. I heard her laugh with McGee. Suddenly I was filled with an insane jealous rage.

“ Do your job McGee. You can laugh and fool around later. Y/N in Abby’s lab now. Let’s get it over with the cover story . I have other cases to solve.” I said.

I barged out ,Y/N following me.

“ Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs” Abby said. “ Look I went through the Admiral’s journal.He was going through a divorce right. So I finally managed to read through it , not easy because of the codes , but look he found out that his lawyer arranged for someone to roofie his wife and take suggestive photos , making everyone believe that she had cheated. That’s when our missing Admiral wanted to confront the lawyer.”

“ I need more Abby.”

“ See the lawyer meets her clients out of her office. She has this weird jamming programme where we can’t triangulate her cell location. But if we get her to meet , I can access her cell data, her client list , her records of who she set up , how she got the roofie, who she used a photographer, everything.”

“ We need to get the location of our kidnapped admiral. Or else she would leverage that for a deal.”

“ Well Gibbs you can go in as a client. You can tell her to meet at a bar my friend owns. She has great tech that breaks signal jammers for video games. She uses them in her bar ,so she could play video games without any interference. I can put in someone undercover as a waitress . In that way while I attach a chip on you to hack her phone data, someone can get her phone locations.”

“ Well, Ziva, Kate, Jessica and Ellie have all interrogated and talked to her. So who to put.” I ask.

“ Her” Abby says looking at Y/N.

“ You can go undercover right?” I asked. Why didn’t it strike me before.

“ What me? Hmm ok” Y/N says.

…

“ Stop fidgeting Y/N” I said, looking at her in her waitress uniform.

“ The skirt is too short and tight” she said pulling at it.

“ Ohh God. I don’t have the body for such an outfit. I look awkward. There’s no way I can pull it off. Your lawyer will know something is off.”

“ Relax. You look wonderful. You can’t pull it off. “

“ Uhh huh keep the coat in the van and walk. There is no way a waitress can afford such a coat.” I said.

“ Got the data Boss” we have her. McGee said.

“ Yeah got all the locations she had been. “ Abby said.

“Okay Tony ,Nick follow the lawyer.”

“ Jessica , Ellie get to location 1 ,Ziva and Kate to location 2”.

…

As I walked Y/N to my car, I realised she disnt have her coat. She was shivering. I took off my jacket and wrapped it around her.

“ Thanks” she said.

“ Good Job” I smiled at her. Dropping the menu to get close to her for the signal. Brilliant” I smiled.

“ You know you should smile more often Gibbs. It really looks good on you.”

“ Says the woman who forgot to smile in her year book photo” I chuckled.

“ So you did a background check on me” she laughed.

“ Well I needed to know who I am sending undercover. Plus I was curious . I wanted to know you, understand you better.” I confessed.

“ I was trying to portray the bold mysterious enigmatic look in that yearbook photo” she chuckled. “ You know typical teenage rebellion phase.” She laughed. “ I was a need but a rebel too, breaking rules , being a brat, resisting authority. In some sort of way I thought not smiling in my yearbook photo was an act of rebellion. I was a brat then, pretty mischievous. But my grades were really good. Plus I had this knack of avoiding suspicion, so didn’t get into trouble.”

“ You are still a brat.” I chuckled. “ It has worked Well for you though, helping you think out of the box.”

“ You have your fair share of out of the box thinking, disregard of protocol too, cowboy.” “ Yeah I looked you up too.”

I didn’t realise when I have gotten so close to her, her lips centimetres away from mine. It will be so easy to brush my lips against hers. She leaned in slightly. I leaned in too. Suddenly her phone rang.

“ Yeah , thanks Blake. I would look into the keynote speaker for the International Women’s Education Summit.” She said.

If only that stupid phone didn’t ring right now. I was so close to kissing her. I would have loved to hold her close to me, kissing her ,exploring her, feel her heartbeats against mine. Get a grip Marine.

…

Reader’s POV:

“ So how do you two meet?” “ Uhh Dating website, that’s a good cover.” Abby said.

Gibbs was standing behind me , bending down to look at the computer screen. His close presence made me feel butterflies in my stomach. “ Nope, find a better one” Gibbs said.

“ Maybe in a coffee shop, while we were getting coffee?” Gibbs continued.

“ Boring” Abby said.

“ Maybe at a bar. Two complete strangers. Fucked behind the alley. Had on and off casual sex. Then started dating.” I mused.

“ Wow , Hot.” Abby Exclaimed.

“ English Lit major here. I know how to write a good story. You should always be specific when you lie you know.” I chuckled.

“ That’s one of my rules too” Gibbs laughed. “ So who made the first move? How many times in the alleyway ?”

“ What?”

“ Specifics remember?”

“ I Will let you two work that out” Abby laughed.

…

We were going through our covers. We saw the lawyer being escorted out. Suddenly she took out the gun of an NCIS agent holding the entire squad room at gunpoint.

“ I will not go to prison” the lawyer said.

“Okay ,Okay ,we can talk” I said.

“ I will walk out from here, you will not follow me” she said. “ Get me that box of money and fake passports you confisticated now”

“ OK, Ok I said . I am bringing it.” Then looking at my shoes, I looked at Gibbs, a silent understanding passing between us.

I took the evidence box and approached her . Then jammed my foot on her, my stilleto shoes causing her real pain and she dropped her gun. Gibbs immediately slipped it away as Ziva tried to handcuff her.

“You bitch” she shouted at me, and she attacked Ziva, snatching her knife and throwing it at me. Gibbs immediately pulled me down on the floor , protecting me with him on top of me before Ziva subdued her. The knife however hit the window and a piece of glass cur my shoulder. I gasped at the pain.

Jethro’s POV:

I looked at Y/N. I saw the blood from the glass that had cut her shoulders.

I pulled her up. She looked shaken. I pulled her in a hug , holding her tight against my chest.

“ Get Ducky now”. I said to Kate.

“ You know Y/N it’s okay to say it hurts while getting stitches.” Ducky said. “ You don’t have to grit your teeth and put up a brave face.”

“ You gave me painkillers Ducky. Plus the Alcohol you made me chug helped me with the nerves, as you said.”

“ You gave her painkillers with alcohol Ducky?”

“ Well it helps with the nerves . Though I suggest she doesn’t drive today.” Ducky said.

“ I will take her home Ducky.”

Ducky finished doing her stitches. “ Well you can take her home now Jethro.”

“ Come Y/N , let me take you home.”

“ But I don’t want to go home. I wanna see the world” she pouted.

“ What painkillers making you loopy kid?” I chuckled. “ Come.” I said as I took her hand.

“ Ahh such a gentleman. You don’t have to be so kind. I won’t sue NCIS for the damages” she giggled. “ I am sorry about your jacket though. I can buy you another.”

“ It’s okay Y/N.”

She tiptoe on her feet ,suddenly brushing her lips against mine and softly sucking on it. “ Kind of wanted to do that all day long” she giggled.

I lost my self control then. I crashed her lips against her passionately. She gasped at the sensation and as she parted her lips I shoved my tongue inside her . I felt so close to her. She responded eagerly. As we broke for oxygen I looked into her eyes. “ I have wanted to do that all day along too”.I said . Her eyes reflected the desire I felt. I picked her up and carried her to my car. I buckled her seatbelt before driving.

“ That’s not the way to my home.” She said.

“ I am taking you to my place?”

“ To your bed” she giggled.

“ I would be lying if I said I don’t want you in my bed Y/N. You have no idea what has gone through my head from the morning, Ohh the things I want to do to you.” “ Well how drunk are you?”

“ Drunk enough to really have the nerves to go to bed with you.Not enough for you to think guily of taking advantage of me.” She said dazed.

“ Ohh Y/N I want to be with you tonight. But you have alcohol and painkillers in your system. I don’t want you to do anything you will regret in the morning.”

“ You don’t want me?”

I took her hand into mine placing it against my crotch. “ You feel the hardness Y/N . You did that. I want you so much Y/N. But it’s not fair to you. I would like to take you when you are fully sober.”

“ She rubbed her hands against my crotch. I did that .” She giggled. “ I would like to feel more of that hardness.”

My cock throbbed against my pants. “Y/N , you are making it difficult for me to concentrate on the road.”

“ Oops Sorry. She withdrew her hands and started biting her nails and sucking her thumbs.”

This girl is really gonna test my patience and my honour. I have to keep my self control control.

“ Don’t bite your nails. It’s a bad habit.”

As a response she stuck out her tongue at me, making me laugh.

We arrived at my place. I carried her to my bedroom , put her down on my bed. I gave her one of my hoodies to change into.

When I came to the room again after changing to a hoodie and sweatpants , I found her half asleep. I gently tucked her in, kissing her forehead and Patting her forehead.

“ I wish you would stay” she mumbled.

“ You really want me to?”

“ Only if you are comfortable”

“ Good. Cause I want to.” I said . Then I laid down beside her, pulling her close to me ,cuddling her as we both drifted off to sleep. The sensation of her against me really turned me on , but I also felt a comfort, a warmth I did not want to lose. Her touch was like a drug to me.

…

“ I woke up in the morning. Y/N laid in my arms fast asleep. I have never felt so much peace ,so much bliss, that I felt at that moment. Gently I nuzzles at her neck. “ I think I maybe falling in love with you” I whispered. Gently kissing her forehead, I got up.

I was rock hard and needed a cold shower. I willed my Dick to go down, but it had a mind of its own. I imagined Y/N’s mouth and fingers around my cock and stroked my Shaft. I thought of how it would feel to be inside her. I shot my load in my hand and floor. Then taking a cold shower , I went to cook breakfast.

“ Hi good morning” she said. “Smells delicious.”

I offered her some coffee. “ So how would you want your eggs? Runny or dry.”

“ None. Cause I think your pan’s on fire.”

“ Shoot fuck I said” putting it out.

We both ended up laughing together. At that moment I felt so whole. I moved towards her. Then holding her gaze I cupped her face before claiming her lips.

[hezuart]

Ignoring everything about Helluva and Hazbin. Who would you say is your favorite character in both and what character are you most excited to see in Hazbin? For me my favorite characters are Blitz and Angel Dust, but I’m most excited to see Husk and what his deal is.

Before my disappointment in both series these two were my favs: Alastor. I liked that he seemed like a classic serial killer in some ways. He was charming and nice, but cruel and sadistic beneath the surface. It was sort of inferred he preyed on the innocent and tore to bigger bads to shreds. But part of him also was just some old fashioned guy into fashionable parties, old radio technology, and is an aro/ace rep. It left things open for interpretation. Maybe he just wanted to join Charlie to laugh at other people's failures. But also maybe he wants to protect a fresh talent; help Charlie realize her true potential and give into her demonhood instead of denying it. Maybe he sought validation for his misdeeds- that turning back was never an option despite perhaps secret regrets within. Maybe he wanted to interrupt the status quo, he knew Charlie was going to stir up chaos, everyone was already talking about her, she is a HUGE news sensation regardless of positive or negative, and that would be good for his radio business since he is in a big rivalry with Vox, the TV overlord. But also, perhaps, he was manipulating Charlie because he had a secret bigger goal, maybe trying to get to Lucifer or the throne. Maybe he's just securing more power for himself by associating with the King of Hell's daughter. There was just a lot of potential to his character.

~ As for Helluva, I think Stolas was my favorite. He was a posh, manipulative, selfish high-class demon with connections who cheated on his wife and kinda left his daughter (who he once cared deeply for) for some low-class asshole imp. The entire operation is an illegal power trade for sex. He's not only destroying his reputation amongst Hell, but he could also get all of Hell into trouble because IMP's carelessness- the video evidence of demons being real... he's violated the statute of secrecy and can have everything taken from him potentially. It's such high risk for little reward. Makes you wonder if he just got bored with his life, or was unhappy in his marriage but didn't feel like it was socially acceptable to divorce his wife and leave his kid. Just feels like whatever the case, it was a thrill for him. He hires Blitz as his "knight in shining armor" to "protect him" when he is literally a powerful demon that is so uninterested and unworried about demons attempting to kill him. It's all a fantasy. It's all fake. He never needed Blitz's protection (when he wants it anyway)

Until he started catching feelings over his fantasy Blitz, so he started asking him on dates only to get shut down. When Blitz finally asks him... he's ecstatic, only to realize they don't actually have any chemistry with each other. That Blitz actually only used him and didn't actually wanna go on a date with him. And then, Stolas finally realized he doesn't actually know who Blitz is outside of his current status as an assassin. The relationship is taboo and Blitz doesn't even seem to want him. Stolas realizes he gave up the life he had (a bad and boring one maybe) for a fantasy (not real) He's ruined everything. He isn't even aware that his wife is trying to get him assassinated. He isn't self-aware of his disrespectful manipulative classism that upsets Blitz so much. ("impish little plaything" / "Little ones") He isn't aware how much he's hurt his daughter and how much she blames him for everything since he would and has chosen Blitz over her. He isn't even aware that Blitz has legitimately protected him and has his own personal baggage with relationships that holds him back. The potential to see a prince and a pauper on-screen develop respect, go from fake one night stands to potential actual lovers... there's so much you can do with this.

Stolas was a pompous prince dethroned and turned humble by his misdeeds and mistakes. Unrewarded in his arc for change. Set up for destruction, set up for failure. He's a tragic character. The chaos his arc creates is so boundless and entertaining.

The potential behind these two, the initial set ups... who they are... what they could be... I loved it.

[darkmaga-retard]

On Monday, a pivotal ruling from a federal judge declared that Google had breached antitrust regulations in its quest to dominate the online search and advertising sectors. Judge Amit Mehta’s decision noted that Google had perpetuated its monopoly through specific strategies that violated section 2 of the Sherman Act.

We obtained a copy of the ruling for you here.

The lawsuit, which commenced in 2020, later expanded to include multiple states and territories, encapsulating the gravity and scale of the legal scrutiny Google faces. Early in the trial, government attorney Kenneth Dintzer articulated that the proceedings would significantly influence the future of internet governance.

The trial’s largely private proceedings sparked criticism from transparency advocates, who accused Google of trying to minimize public oversight and media exposure. Google had successfully argued that opening up the trial fully would risk exposing sensitive trade secrets.

[max1461]

I'm pretty strongly anti-copyright because I think it's straightforwardly a free speech violation, but I'm much less anti-patent. Part of this is also that I think the stuff that patents incentivize the creation of is generally more important to incentivize as well. And patents reduce the incentive to keep trade secrets, which I think are worse.

But I don't love patents. I would be more ok with patents if they ensured a profit for patent-holders without giving patent-holders so much power over how the patent gets used. Like maybe if there was a provision saying that if a firm comes along offering such-and-such cut of their profits in exchange for the right to produce and sell your patented tech, you have to take that offer, you can't say no. You still make money on the patent but other firms can freely produce patented goods. I'm not sure how you'd determined what the such-and-such cut should be.

Econ people?

The goal would be like, so that external firms can still make a profit selling your thing but they can also easily undercut you if you try to price gouge.

[mariacallous]

The members of PleasrDAO are, well, pretty displeased with Martin Shkreli.

The "digital autonomous organization" spent $4.75 million to buy the fabled Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which had been produced as only a single copy. The album had once belonged to Shkreli, who purchased it directly from Wu-Tang Clan for $2 million in 2015. But after Shkreli became the "pharma bro" poster boy for price gouging in the drug sector, he ended up in severe legal trouble and served a seven-year prison sentence for securities fraud.

He also had to pay a $7.4 million penalty in that case, and the government seized and then sold Once Upon a Time in Shaolin to help pay the bill.

The album was truly “one of a kind”—a protest against the devaluation of music in the digital age and the kind of fascinating curio that instantly made its owners into “interesting people.” The album came as a two-CD set inside a nickel and silver box inscribed with the Wu-Tang logo, and the full package included a pair of customized audio speakers and a 174-page leather book featuring lyrics and “anecdotes on the production.”

In a complicated transaction, PleasrDAO purchased the album from an unnamed intermediary, who had first purchased it from the government. As part of that deal, PleasrDAO created a non-fungible token (NFTs—remember those?) to show ownership of the album. The New York Times has a good description of what this entailed:

Makin’ Copies …

But after purchasing the album and sharing the collective ownership of its NFT, PleasrDAO discovered that its "one of a kind" object wasn't quite as exclusive as it had thought.

Shkreli had, in fact, made copies of the music. Lots of copies. On June 30, 2022, PleasrDAO said that Shkreli played music from the album on his YouTube channel and stated, "Of course I made MP3 copies, they're like hidden in safes all around the world … I'm not stupid. I don't buy something for $2 million just so I can keep one copy."

Shkreli began taunting PleasrDAO members about the album, telling one of them, "I literally play it on my Discord all the time, you're an idiot" and claiming that PleasrDAO was concerned about an album that ">5000 people have." Shkreli claimed on a 2024 podcast that he had "burned the album and sent it to like, 50 different chicks"—and that this had been extremely good for his sex life.

Shkreli even offered to send copies of the album to random internet commenters if they would just send him their "email addy." He also told people to "look out for a torrent" and hosted listening parties for the album on his X account, which reached "potentially over 4,900 listeners."

We know all of these details because PleasrDAO has sued Shkreli, claiming that he is acting in violation of the asset forfeiture order and that he is misappropriating "trade secrets" under New York law.

Shkreli "knew that by distributing copies of the Album's data and files or by playing it publicly, his actions would decrease the Album's marketability and value," said PleasrDAO. They have asked a federal judge to stop Shkreli—and also to get them a list of everyone he has distributed the album to.

Not a Secret

Shkreli's response to all this is, in essence, "So what's the problem?"

When he purchased the album for $2 million in 2015, he also acquired 50 percent of the copyrights to the package. Before the album was seized by the government, Shkreli says he took advantage of his copyright ownership to make copies as he was "permitted to do under his original purchase agreement." The government, he says, seized only the individual, physical copy of the album, and Shkreli was within his rights to retain the copies he had already made.

As for trade secrets, well, a trade secret actually has to be "secret." Thanks to his own actions, Shkreli has made sure that the album is not a secret. "Because Defendant legally purchased and shared the work before the Forfeiture Order and the Asset Purchase Agreement, the work is no longer a trade secret," his lawyers wrote in his defense.

The Empire State Strikes Back

On August 26, 2024, a federal judge in Brooklyn issued a preliminary injunction (PDF) in the case as the two parties prepare to battle things out in court. The injunction prevents Shkreli from "possessing, using, disseminating, or selling any interest in the Wu-Tang Clan album 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin' (the 'Album'), including its data and files or the contents of the Album."

Furthermore, Shkreli has to turn over "all of his copies, in any form, of the Album or its contents to defense counsel." He also must file an affidavit swearing that he "no longer possesses any copies, in any form, of the Album or its contents."

By the end of September 2024, Shkreli further must submit a list of "the names and contact information of the individuals to whom he distributed the data and files" and say if he made any money for doing so.

[yuliasolsystem]

My Headcanons regarding Plants in the manga.

I once tried to write a fanfic, but Trigan was practically dead fandom at the time and I kind of gave up on the idea. It was supposed to be science fiction, where the nature of the Plants was one of the main focuses. And that's what I came up with about them.

The Plants in the bulbs are clones of a single creature held somewhere in secret laboratories on Earth.

This creature originated as a result of implanting human DNA into a mysterious life form from another dimension. This is why dependent Plants resemble human women.

Cloned Plants merge without much trouble because they are clones. The fusion of the original beings was the same as the fusion of the independent Plants, i.e. their consciousnesses fought for dominance and the consciousness of the loser was consumed and the winner took all his knowledge.

The black hair effect was brought in artificially to control how much energy a Plant could produce so Plants could be traded.

On Earth, a residential apartment consumes more energy than the entire Noman's Land, so Plants become worn out pretty quickly and their production and turnover on Earth is an important economic component.

Ghosts are the result of using Plants. Theoretically, a living being whose ghost still exists can be "resurrected".

The use of Plants has a negative effect on humanity. Not only is radiation from the Plants capable to altering human DNA (that is what happening on Noman's Land), but also people became completely dependent on them, even the engineers are mostly engaged with the Plant technology. That's why on Noman's Land no one could build a rudimentary solar panel or try to roast and eat a worm (unlike in Stamped).

Also, using Plants on such a large scale could distort the universe itself (due to the violation of the basic laws of physics space-time is becoming increasingly unstable, especially after the invention of warp engines), but the monopoly company that produces Plants willfully ignoring it.

[jozor-johai]

Revisiting the Rat Cook, Part 4: "Fresh Rats"

Part four of my ongoing series in which I examine the themes and symbols present in the "Rat Cook" story, as relayed in ASOS Bran IV, and how those elements reappear throughout ASOAIF.

Ideally, each of these essays is able to stand alone. If you would like to read the preceding ones first, because each of these posts builds thematically on the ones before it, here is part one, part two, and part three.

To anyone who is reading this part first, "Revisiting the Rat Cook" is a series that is built on the understanding that GRRM's use of metadiegetic legends provide a "road map" of symbols and meaning, used in their abstract form, which we, as readers, can use to better understand the relationships between symbols, motifs, and themes as they reoccur throughout ASOAIF as a whole. The Rat Cook story is about a rat which eats rats, or a cook who serves kings; The Rat Cook story is about fathers and sons, about cannibalism, about trust, about vengeance, and about damning one's legacy.

"Fresh rats"

In the last two parts, I talked about the use of “pork” as a way to talk about the idea of eating human flesh as well as the social contract of guest right. The importance of guest right is, in part, the trust in a power dynamic, and the “Rat Cook” story shares an example of what it means when that trust is violated, especially in regards to becoming an unwilling cannibal.

However, looking at the scene of Coldhands offering the suspicious “sow” meat in ADWD Bran I, we might wonder whether Jojen is aware of the cannibalism after all. He seems uniquely contemplative when Bran sees him eating:

Jojen Reed nipped at his own joint with small bites, chewing each chunk of meat a dozen times before swallowing.

Later on, Jojen’s burden of knowledge is nearly made explicit:

Only Jojen seemed aware of what was happening as Coldhands turned his head to stare at Bran.

Taken at face value, Jojen is only “aware” of Bran asking the question, but we might understand that this sentence carries a double meaning in which Jojen is also aware of what Bran’s question implies. Jojen is not naive. He knows how believable it is that Coldhands stumbled across a sow in the frozen north. Even if Coldhands is being dishonest here, Jojen may be making a conscious decision to turn cannibal nevertheless, because their situation is simply so desperate that he feels it is the only remaining choice.

Elsewhere in ASOIAF, especially as circumstances steadily get worse in the later books, we see people turn cannibal in response to similar conditions.

When Astapor falls, the people inside turn to eating the flesh of their fellow Astapori, now devoid of trade, agriculture, economy, and just rule. Dany first hears of this in ADWD Daenerys V:

“Inside we starved. We ate cats and rats and leather. A horsehide was a feast. King Cutthroat and Queen Whore accused each other of feasting on the flesh of the slain. Men and women gathered in secret to draw lots and gorge upon the flesh of him who drew the black stone.”

They have no food, save the very last of what’s edible. Like Jojen, we might imagine the severity of their circumstances drive the Astapori to cannibalism even as they recognize how terrible it is.

At the edge of survival, they are driven to eating cats, leather, and, interestingly, another symbol we recognize from our story about the “Rat Cook”: rats. This manner of recounting equates these ideas: starvation means eating rats and leather, which means some even choose to engage in cannibalism. This scenario of drawing lots to eat or be eaten is also a cannibalistic covenant with the self; like Victarion sacrificing his pork crackling arm, these are people who are willing to be eaten for their own chance to eat.

All of this is repeated in the next Dany chapter, ADWD Daenerys VI, when the starving Astapori arrive outside Meereen, bringing with them even further tales of being driven to eating rats, and then, subsequently, to cannibalism:

Suffering was the only thing they did not lack. "There is scarcely a horse or mule left, though many rode from Astapor," Marselen reported to her. "They've eaten every one, Your Grace, along with every rat and scavenger dog that they could catch. Now some have begun to eat their own dead."

In this account, again, the detestable “rat” is the last remaining source of food, the last remaining step before the Astapori refugees turn to eating their own dead.

In the “Rat Cook” story, the old gods punish the titular cook by not just transforming him into a rat, but with a lifetime of “eating rats” in the Nightfort. For him, this is cannibalism, and the two are equated, but for the purposes of the story, there is also the implication that “eating rats” in any context is a circumstance so despicable as to be punitive. The “Rat Cook” story tells us that eating rats is a legendary punishment in itself, and yet it is also the reality that the Astapori are experiencing.

It’s not just in Astapor, either. Martin shows people eating rats whenever there are signs of incredible desperation or suffering. Every account of Stannis’ infamous siege at Storm’s End, for example, contains the act of eating rats, beginning with Ned’s recollection of the event in AGOT Eddard VI:

Ned found it hard to imagine what could frighten Stannis Baratheon, who had once held Storm's End through a year of siege, surviving on rats and boot leather while the Lords Tyrell and Redwyne sat outside with their hosts, banqueting in sight of his walls.

In an identical circumstance as the destitute Astapori, Stannis’ men in Storm’s End are down to “rats and boot leather”. Martin’s use of food to illustrate a power dynamic is unsubtle here, as the victims of the siege, who starve and eat rats, are put in direct comparison to their powerful assailants feasting “in sight” of Storm’s End.

This image of Storm’s End under siege and eating rats is repeated twice more when we finally meet Stannis and his associates in the ACOK Prologue. Both accounts are much alike, and one such is this memory from Maester Cressen:

Even the sea was closed against them, watched day and night by Redwyne galleys flying the burgundy banners of the Arbor. Within Storm's End, the horses had long since been eaten, the dogs and cats were gone, and the garrison was down to roots and rats.

Similarly to Ned's telling, Cressen contextualizes the story of Stannis’ siege against the extremity of the conditions that lead to eating rats, and therefore, how low and how dire the rat situation is meant to be. Cressen draws a line down the hierarchy of desperation: first horses, then dogs and cats (like we see with the Astapori as well) and finally rats at the very bottom. Cressen leaves it unspoken here, but the only remaining place to go lower is cannibalism.

While Ned and Cressen leave it unsaid, though, there is someone who makes the connection explicit: Renly, who perhaps was too young during the event to internalize the same severity of horror. In Renly’s telling of the story in ACOK Catelyn IV, Davos saved them not only from starvation, but also from turning to cannibalism.

"Maester Cressen told Stannis that we might be forced to eat our dead, and there was no gain in flinging away good meat."

Maester Cressen left that detail out of his memory, but placing rats last on his litany of desperate meals did not mean it was the final option. The revelation from Renly comes after three tellings of Stannis’ siege, but the weight of that unspoken threat of cannibalism retroactively transforms every earlier account of that siege into an even darker tale.

Stannis later leads his men into similar conditions again when his army is stranded in a blizzard en route to Winterfell. Camped in a crofter’s village aside iced-over lakes, Asha learns of men turning to cannibalism in this new desperate situation in ADWD The Sacrifice:

Asha had been as horrified as the rest when the She-Bear told her that four Peasebury men had been found butchering one of the late Lord Fell's, carving chunks of flesh from his thighs and buttocks as one of his forearms turned upon a spit, but she could not pretend to be surprised.

To Asha’s credit, perhaps, she understands the reality of the situation with an iron cynicism. Men turning cannibal is a realistic possibility in times like these. In this blizzard, though, we don’t see the step of people eating rats first, as Stannis’ men are moving through conditions where even rats are not accompanying them. Unlike the freedom allowed in the legends of ASOIAF, like the “Rat Cook” story itself, Martin is beholden to the reality of the plot to some extent. However, the mention of rats—and a particularly interesting comparison to cannibalism—appears nonetheless, later in the same chapter:

"I know them lakes. You been on them like maggots on a corpse, hundreds o' you. Cut so many holes in the ice it's a bloody wonder more haven't fallen through. Out by the island, there's places look like a cheese the rats been at.”

The ice lakes are their only source of food, playing the role that the rats played in the siege or in Astapor, and that same ice is cheese beset by rats, it is a corpse beset by men. The two are one and the same. Starving men cutting desperate holes in the ice to eat is akin to eating human flesh and is akin to rats—and so Martin keeps the imagery present: starvation to the point of cannibalism means rats.

Back in ACOK, the repeated tellings of Stannis’ story are juxtaposed against the desperate conditions just beginning to affect King’s Landing. We get a glimpse of the smallfolk’s conditions as soon as Tyrion arrives in ACOK Tyrion I:

What little produce he did see was three times as costly as it had been a year ago. One peddler was hawking rats roasted on a skewer. "Fresh rats," he cried loudly, "fresh rats." Doubtless fresh rats were to be preferred to old stale rotten rats.

King’s Landing starves, suffering the combination of no trade with the burned Riverlands, no trade with the defecting Reach, and the migration of hungry peasants fleeing the war. Like with so many other instances throughout the series, starvation means being driven to eat rats.

As with every situation so far, eating rats here in King’s Landing also carries that same unspoken threat, which Tyrion only alludes to later in ACOK Tyrion IV:

Prices had risen sickeningly high on greens, roots, flour, and fruit, and Tyrion did not want to think about what sorts of flesh might be going into the kettles of the pot-shops down in Flea Bottom. Fish, he hoped.

Again, the quote focuses on the extremity of eating rats, and how all else is gone. For now, the threat of truly turning cannibal can still exist as only an implication, even in Tyrion’s thoughts… but the luxury of that ignorance does not last as circumstances worsen.

In ASOS Tyrion IV, as Tyrion talks of killing Symon Silver Tongue, Bronn speaks of places that, in their desperation, are less scrupulous with their meat choice, using nearly the same euphemism:

"The rest of him should never be found.” Bronn grinned. "There's a pot shop I know in Flea Bottom makes a savory bowl of brown. All kinds of meat in it, I hear."

Tyrion arranges the serving of his “singer’s stew”, and of course, this singer’s fate is another clear mirror to the Rat Cook story, as Tyrion—albeit indirectly—becomes a “Rat Cook” figure himself as he serves human flesh to unwitting diners in an act of vengeance, of a sort, against the singer attempting to blackmail him. While eating rats might signify the prospective road towards cannibalism, the certainty of that stew, along with the shadow cast by the ease of those arrangements, makes the specter of cannibalism loom over all of King’s Landing alongside every rat eaten.

The symbols present in the “Rat Cook” story are only further explained by the fact that rats are the last tier on Astapor’s, Tyrion's, and Cressen’s hierarchy of desperation, exceeded in distaste only by cannibalism itself.

Why is the cook a rat, after all? The choice of the cook becoming a rat specifically must be significant; since the "Rat Cook" is only a story within the story, Martin could have made the cook turn into anything. This repeated marriage between eating, rats, and cannibalism affirms the same symbolic linking we’ve examined so far, and affirms a second layer in which the Rat Cook’s cannibalistic rat-eating is inherently present in the other instances of eating rats. To eat rats is to be so desperate that cannibalism is the apparent next option. When people eat rats in ASOIAF, it is understood that those moments coexist with the present threat of people eating people, and the connection between the two ideas is as inseparable elsewhere in ASOIAF as it is within the Rat Cook story.

Even better, we might put the fate of the Rat Cook another way, and we might say that for the Rat Cook, “eating rats” is cannibalistic because he was made into a rat. The Andal King ate his own son without question, but for the Rat Cook it is his magical “rathood” that makes the act cannibalistic. If we trust that the "Rat Cook" story offers a blueprint to understanding the meaning of these symbols, we might expect that the smallfolk, too, eating rats like the Rat Cook himself, have a connection to being rats as well.

In fact, to corroborate that expectation, the connection between “eating rats” and cannibalism in every instance discussed goes beyond the literal threat of cannibalism and exists on a metaphorical level too, especially in regards to the specific populaces that suffer.

After all, the lords in the Red Keep eat well through it all, and it is only the smallfolk of King’s Landing who quietly eat their own, just as it is only the freedmen refugees of Astapor that suffer and starve. While Stannis’ men exist in lord-led armies or within keeps, they too are essentially without power. In both the siege and in the march on Winterfell, Stannis’ men move in opposition to the crown and in the face of an opposition that waits and feasts; both scenarios, both using food, represent the same hierarchies of power that disenfranchise the smallfolk and the freedmen. The conditions of destitution that lead to “eating rats” exist along class lines–-as it is only the lowest tier of people who are driven to this point—and this is where the symbolism of the rat becomes even more meaningful.

From the perspective of the Red Keep, and the highborn within it, “eating rats” might as well already be cannibalism, because to them, the smallfolk are “rats”. In AGOT Arya III, the guards of the Red Keep believe Arya to be one of the smallfolk of King’s Landing, and therefore to be like one of the rats:

Boy, how did you come here? You have no business in this part of the castle." "You can't keep this sort out," one of the red cloaks said. "Like trying to keep out rats."

Similarly, The Hound, who names himself a dog, makes the explicit derogatory comparison a book later in ACOK Sansa IV:

“A dog doesn't need courage to chase off rats.”

The smallfolk themselves are considered rats, and are called so by both the castle guards and by a particularly honest member of the Kingsguard, two institutions which represent the de jure power of the Red Keep and the lords within it; this is the military force that maintains the hierarchy of lords and smallfolk. For Clegane and the guards to name the smallfolk rats is for that heirarchical institution itself to name the smallfolk as such—and, as was pointed out by Cressen, and as was made implicit by the tales of the starving Astapori, rats are beneath all else. Rats are the last in the hierarchy of what even a starving man would eat, below horses, below dogs, below cats and on par with leather, not even food.

If these smallfolk similarly are rats, then we are seeing a reappearance of the “Rat Cook” dynamic in yet another way. The Rat Cook himself is one of the smallfolk—he is only a cook, serving his Andal King. If we can take Sandor’s word for it, he may have been a “rat” from the perspective of the Andal King even before he was transformed into a literal rat. Here we see the “Rat Cook” story gain new meaning once again; it is not just cannibalism that ties the “rat” symbol to the story, but also the hierarchy of power, and how it is perceived.

The “rats” here, the lowest on the hierarchy of food, are also the lowest of the hierarchy of de jure power in the world, also the first to suffer the worst conditions, also first who are forced to eat rats. If the smallfolk are rats already, then being pushed to the point of eating rats is, in effect, equivalent to being pushed to the point of cannibalism—and if, as the Rat Cook story would suggest, “eating rats” is a serviceable punishment for a grievous sin, what sin have the smallfolk committed to be experiencing this punishment now?

Moreover, Sandor’s words are particularly damning, because Sandor proclaims this directly following a riot in a starving city, a moment where the smallfolk have been pushed to their limit and—for once—rise against their (Andal) King.

In this, the resonance with the “Rat Cook” story takes on more dimension yet again. Despite being one of the smallfolk, perhaps considered a “rat” already, this lowly cook dares to make an act of outright defiance, reversing the assumed power dynamics, killing the son of the King and boldly serving that corpse to the King himself. The serving of the “prince-and-bacon pie” is an act of service, but it is also an act of defiance, an act that is a perversion of the contract that keeps kings in charge and cooks in servitude even as it is a parallel perversion of the contract that keeps hosts and guests at peace. In turn, the punishment, perfectly fit to the crime, is for the Rat Cook to “become a rat” and to “eat rats”... two fates that the smallfolk of King’s Landing seem to be suffering already, before the crime.

In the next part, I’ll talk about the next step of this thought process: the “Rat Cook” story is a story about social trust and cannibalism, but it is also a story about hierarchical power, one in which a cook dares to defy a king in the same way that the smallfolk of King’s Landing once dared to riot against the crown. If the smallfolk are rats already, after all, if they are eating their own already—what more punishment is there for them? They might have nothing to lose if they were to become “Rat Cooks” themselves and eat the princes rather than their fellow rats. To examine that, we’ll look at Bran in the cave, Theon-as-Reek, a warning Edd gives Jon, Blackwoods under siege, and more.

[siancore]

Nothing Worth Having Comes Easy

A/N: Wrote this based on this prompt by @fivethirtyinthemorn​ I really don’t know if it lives up to the prompt, but hope readers like it. Added to my The Warriors’ Accord Series. 

Summary: The pattern had been the same for weeks upon weeks, now: Okoye would wait in the Dora Milaje Special Training Room, and Attuma would find her there. They would say nothing as they engaged in intense sparring, followed by quick, messy, equally as intense fucking. They each settled into this routine and welcomed it. It became familiar and expected, though they had kept it a secret. 

The tentative alliance was holding between Wakanda and Talokan. The new normal had settled around both nations. The people were trying to get on with their lives, in spite of their leaders’ seeming hastiness for it all to work. Most of the upper echelon of the Wakandan leadership were vocal about needing the alliance to hold. Okoye was doing her part.

The pattern had been the same for weeks upon weeks, now: Okoye would wait in the Dora Milaje Special Training Room, and Attuma would find her there. They would say nothing as they engaged in intense sparring, followed by quick, messy, equally as intense fucking. They each settled into this routine and welcomed it. It became familiar and expected, though they had kept it a secret.

Aneka of the Midnight Angels was the only person who knew. So if Aneka knew, then so did Ayo. They never said anything to Okoye directly about her hidden relationship, even though she knew they cared for her and her wellbeing. Okoye was speaking with her friends one day, after a diplomatic envoy from Talokanil arrived, when a realization dawned on her.

“Be careful with that one,” Ayo said when the women saw Attuma arrive with his soldiers. “GRIOT has suppressed their powers of mind control in sensitive areas of the Palace, but everyone says he is very strong. So strong that no one actually knows the reach of his power. I know you two have a standing appointment for training. I hope to Bast he is not taking advantage of his powers and using them against you.”

Okoye nodded her head but said nothing in response, though she could not stop thinking about what her friend had said. Was her attraction to Attuma of Talokan a farce? Had he used his mind control powers on her? Was any of what she was beginning to feel for him real? Surely he would not enact such a violation against her. She could not face another humiliation if it proved to be so. Okoye had no way to be sure. She needed a moment to think.

She had suddenly lost the urge to want to do anything with Attuma. However, she still wanted to blow off steam and hit someone, so she sent for a younger Talokanil fighter to join her in the Training Room ahead of her appointment with their military leader.

…

The young warrior was quick and strong. He was skilled in hand-to-hand combat. He and Okoye traded blows for around fifteen minutes before the door of the Training Room opened and an infuriated Attuma entered.

“What is the meaning of this?” Attuma asked as he stepped into the room and saw that Okoye sparring with someone else; someone well below their station; someone who was not him.

The young Talokanil fighter ceased parrying Okoye’s blows and dropped to one knee. Okoye all but rolled her eyes as she stared Attuma down.

“Can you not see we are busy here?” said Okoye.

“Leave,” said Attuma, and his subordinate quickly got to his feet and left the pair standing there. “GRIOT, lock the doors to the Training Room.”

He had heard Okoye say it many a time to afford them both privacy.

“Attuma of Talokan, you have no jurisdiction here,” the AI replied.

He let out a loud sigh before speaking once more, “Warrior, what is the meaning of this?”

“I am training.”

“Without me and with my underling?”

“Yes,” said Okoye, straightening her stance.

“Why?”

“I owe you no explanations.”

“Did you intend to fuck my underling, too?”

Okoye rolled her eyes as she tried to walk by Attuma. He grabbed her by the arm and stopped her, dragging her back so that she was facing him once more.

“Unhand me!”

“Tell me what your intentions are!”

Okoye used her free arm to swing an elbow in Attuma’s direction. She struck the side of his face, causing his head to dip violently to the side. He kept his grip tight on her as she tried to break free of his hold.

“Warrior,” he said firmly, grabbing her shoulders and holding her in place. “What has gotten into you to encourage this behaviour?”

“You have!” she said, letting her anger and frustration rise from the pit of her stomach. “It is you that has gotten under my skin. Is this even real? Have you been making me look a fool this entire time?”

Attuma narrowed his eyes, confused by Okoye’s words and umbrage.

“Woman,” he said sternly. “Speak plainly, lest I leave this room and extract meaning from your little sparring partner with my fists.”

Attuma saw her eyes well with tears of exasperation and something else. Hurt, maybe? He loosened his grip on her, though he kept his hands in place.

“Okoye,” said Attuma, softly. “What has happened? Tell me what pains you.”

“You do,” she said, scarcely above a whisper.

Attuma let his hands fall to his sides as he stepped back slightly.

“How have I wronged you?”

“This,” she said, gesturing between them. “Is this real?”

Attuma looked confused, but answered all the same.

“We are as real as the blood in our veins,” he proffered, searching her eyes.

“Yes, but are our – are my feelings of attraction to you real?”

Okoye could see the bob of his throat as Attuma swallowed hard.

“I do not understand.”

Okoye sighed and continued to speak.

“This pull I feel towards you,” she said, before crossing her arms over her chest in a self-soothing manner. “Is it because I am genuinely attracted to you, or have you used your siren’s song on me?”

“Woman, I am not a mermaid.”

“But you do have certain abilities.”

“Yes, but I would never use them to deceive you,” said Attuma. “I have never used my gifts to garner a victory.”

“You see me as a victory?” asked Okoye, incredulous. “Spoils of war? A prize to be won?”

“No,” said Attuma sternly. “I see you as my equal. I would never coerce you into wanting to be with me. Where is the challenge in that?”

“I am a challenge to you?”

“Yes,” Attuma admitted. “You are also an enigma to me. I want to know you, Okoye of Wakanda. I want to draw things from you. Those cries of pleasure. That defiant smile. The thoughts from your mind. I want to earn all of those things.”

Okoye listened to what Attuma was saying, and her guard came down.

“I did not rise to my rank by taking things that came easily,” said Attuma. “Everything I have has been a well-fought victory, your time and attentions included. I would not disrespect you, or myself, by using coercion with you. Where is the pleasure in that? Your tenacity is one of the traits that you posses that I find so very appealing. That fight inside of you is what keeps me longing for more. Okoye, this is real.”

Attuma inched forward, placing a careful hand to the side of Okoye’s face and saying, “What we have is so very real.”

Okoye leaned into his touch and let her eyes fall shut.

“I have never fought so hard for anything in my life,” Attuma whispered. “You are all I want. Stubbornly, and unequivocally. Do you still want me?”

Okoye opened her eyes and gave Attuma a soft smile.

“GRIOT,” said Okoye, as she closed the distance between her and her lover. “Lock the doors to the Training Room.”

[tiodolma]

The Hippocratic Oath Within the Context of BBC Merlin

Based on what is observed on BBC Merlin, the Arthurian mythos of the show seems to take place around a most probable early medieval setting in which the Old Religion still has sway. There are many things that are never explained within the show, which is understandable. But one of the things that has caused me curiosity are the medical aspects within that universe, specifically the roles Gaius and Merlin exercise. Both men have very important titles in court as they take care of the king and the royal household’s health. Gaius has the title ‘Physician to the King’, while Merlin most probably has the title of ‘Apprentice to the Physician to the King’ (Wikipedia contributors, 2023b).

Within those roles, both are bound by the Hippocratic Oath. The Hippocratic Oath is a very well-known Greek text that has influenced Western medicine throughout the centuries in terms of medical ethics (U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d.; Wikipedia contributors, 2023b). According to Michael North (2002), as cited in the U.S. National Library of Medicine (n.d.), the Hippocratic Oath states the following:

“I swear by Apollo the physician, and Asclepius, and Hygieia and Panacea and all the gods and goddesses as my witnesses, that, according to my ability and judgement, I will keep this Oath and this contract:

To hold him who taught me this art equally dear to me as my parents, to be a partner in life with him, and to fulfill his needs when required; to look upon his offspring as equals to my own siblings, and to teach them this art, if they shall wish to learn it, without fee or contract; and that by the set rules, lectures, and every other mode of instruction, I will impart a knowledge of the art to my own sons, and those of my teachers, and to students bound by this contract and having sworn this Oath to the law of medicine, but to no others.

I will use those dietary regimens which will benefit my patients according to my greatest ability and judgement, and I will do no harm or injustice to them.

I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.

In purity and according to divine law will I carry out my life and my art.

I will not use the knife, even upon those suffering from stones, but I will leave this to those who are trained in this craft.

Into whatever homes I go, I will enter them for the benefit of the sick, avoiding any voluntary act of impropriety or corruption, including the seduction of women or men, whether they are free men or slaves.

Whatever I see or hear in the lives of my patients, whether in connection with my professional practice or not, which ought not to be spoken of outside, I will keep secret, as considering all such things to be private.

So long as I maintain this Oath faithfully and without corruption, may it be granted to me to partake of life fully and the practice of my art, gaining the respect of all men for all time. However, should I transgress this Oath and violate it, may the opposite be my fate.”

A summary of this is that the physician swears upon the gods that he and his teacher will be equals, as well as colleagues. Should the teacher be in need, the physician will help in anyway he can. Additionally, the trade is to be kept within a selected group of people: the former teacher’s children, the physician’s children, or any apprentices. The physician is to carry out his trade with purity of heart by helping the patient in any way possible without any intention to do harm or an injustice (e.g., not giving lethal drugs to anyone who asks; giving a pessary to a woman to cause abortion, sexual misconduct, etc.). Moreover, doctor patient confidentiality is to be kept and whatever is said is not to be shared with others. Lastly, in keeping this oath the physician will gain renown for eternity and if not, the opposite will happen (U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d).

If one does quick research of the period in which BBC Merlin takes place, the Roman Empire had a great influence upon their Britannia province centuries before. Not only did the Romans left buildings behind, but they also left knowledge of many things, as well as names (Wikipedia contributors, 2023a). In fact, Gaius’ name reflects the Roman influence left behind. Now, within show, there’s no mention of the Hippocratic Oath, but it is probable that Gaius knew about it and most probably swore by it. It is probable that Merlin as Gaius’ apprentice also swore by it. And if both swore by it, therein a dilemma. Because Merlin violated the Hippocratic Oath he was bound to.

He violated it in one of the important aspects of the oath, which was to do no harm or do injustice. For instance, he killed a lot of people, he poisoned Morgana, etcetera, etcetera. It is understandable why he did what he did and his reasons, but they are in no way justifiable. As a physician’s apprentice, he was bound to help people. Instead, he violated the Physician’s Oath many times over and in violation to the oath rather than renown, his name fell into infamy and his destiny remained unfulfilled.

References

U.S. National Library of Medicine. (n.d.). Greek Medicine - The Hippocratic Oath. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/greek/greek_oath.html

Wikipedia contributors. (2023a). Britannia. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britannia

Wikipedia contributors. (2023b). Physician to the king. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physician_to_the_King

[pumpacti0n]

putting aside the fact that the united states has interfered with more elections than any other nation that has ever existed, it's also odd to insist that the only logical reasons one would have to become disillusioned with the cyclical nature of electoral theater or the united states empire itself, is because of the influence of some foreign-created bots and not, say, living with the misery caused by the policies that the state itself imposes.

the people we're talking about here are subjected to all sorts of violations, from militarized police preventing access to goods and basic services, the disastrous effects of climate change, the constant turbulence of the economy making life unaffordable, the omnipresent stigmatization and scapegoating of homeless populations, sex workers, immigrants and felons (particularly those of color) for "crime", and so on...

...but it isn't because all of these things have been directly caused by or gone ignored by politicians and their corporate puppet masters, and that people are smart enough to realize that this flow of power from the top down won't change simply because we vote once every 4 years, oh no. it's simply the result of some shadowy hacker infecting the minds of impressionable people with anti-american propaganda with memes to weaken our patriotic resolve. they've broken through the conditioning we've experienced through at birth and surrounds us constantly by posting in the comments of a facebook post or tiktok where everyone goes for their political education.

we shouldn't be ignorant to the fact that world powers do indeed regularly struggle for supremacy on the world stage and have been known to engage in highly secretive, elaborate plots to topple each other, so this much is obviously true. however, the assertion that every criticism or conflict of interest and values can be reduced to being the product of outside agitation, that the people making a fuss have all had their brains washed is absurd and disgustingly offensive if not evidence of motives equally as shady as that of the alleged infiltrators themselves. it's likewise totally dismissive of the historical work of radicals globally to build a revolutionary anti-authoritarian anti-imperialist consciousness and inspire action on that front.

in addition to competition, world powers also frequently collaborate as well in the form of trade, so they have a good reason to hesitate to do anything that would permanently disrupt the flow of capital much less endanger their very existence unless there's some kind of achievable goal worth the risks. the ruling classes of these nations are not self-destructive fools despite the pageantry and flair -- they are businessmen seeking to preserve their power and impose social relations understood as essential to making this process easy for them.

so, that might entail interfering with elections in various ways but it also entails making sure not too much is disrupted overall -- riots, mass liberatory movements and strikes are all bad for business.

if these bots were really so invested in the fall of the american empire then we'd have to contend with the fact that the logical conclusion of this concept would apply to not only this empire, but all of them, globally -- since it would be pointless to criticize the destructive nature of one nation while leaving the rest untouched as if they didn't/don't engage in similar activities or play a role in enabling it.

the double standard couldn't be more apparent. fear about an invisible enemy lurking in the dark corners of the internet attacking "us" through misinformation and bad vibes when this entire "democratic" system's existence was founded by lies, its leaders engaging in underhanded trickery and plunder on a grand scale, yet when its them and their supporters who become the targets, they cry wolf and start accusing everyone with something less than positive to say as being a secret spy for the kremlin, or something. fuck off with that.