#Trustless

[ethiack]

CRYPTOPIA: Bitcoin, Blockchains and The Future of the Internet - FULL DOCUMENTARY | Torsten Hoffmann

Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet takes a deep dive into the crypto ecosystem and blockchain technology to discover the good, the bad and the ugly of this controversial industry, its major narratives, conflicts and the major players behind it. Can we really trust them to build this trustless cyber utopia or are their projects just as unfairly distributed and easily manipulated as our current financial systems and tech platforms?

[shortstorytournament]

Pre-Tournament: Ken Liu Brackets

THE TRUSTLESS (2018) (link)

Smart contracts and cryptocurrency: funny how both the rich and the poor have come to rely on them.

ARC (2012) (link) - tw: death

"Lena Auzenne's oldest son was born when she was sixteen. A hundred years later, she gave birth to her youngest daughter."

[islaytonlost]

Three's a crowd

For a prompt by @madmaxou. This is a four part series. First Part, Second Part, Fourth Part

This Chapter contains: Hospitals, amnesia, siblingly saddy sad.

Disclamer: I am no professional in writing OSDD. Please do not use my fanfic to shape your views on the real world.

The newbie had kept insisting his name was Drew until the hospital staff started using that name. Much to the annoyance of Al and Fendi. Worse, he was rejecting any visits from anyone from work. Especially Lucy. 

They’d located his family, well Flora. She was the only one not off on an adventure in America. Drew said he’d talk to her. That she could help him. 

“Uhm, last time I saw you your name wasn’t Drew though. Even when we first met.”

“No, I'm like Alfendi’s guard, I protect him. When people turn nasty I protect him and then I leave. I’m out now so I need to protect him but I don’t know where the danger is!”

“Am I the danger?” Flora asks.

“No! You’re my sister and my friend! You’re my only friend right now.”

Flora smiles at him, so very brightly, “That’s so nice of you! So you want me to help you find the danger?”

“Yes!” 

“Oh, okay,” she folds her hands in her lap, “look Alfendi hasn’t spoken to me in a while I don’t know a lot.”

I told you we should have written. Al sighs, we really messed this up.

Oh right, after everyone turned their backs on us we should have written! It was her job to contact us!

They both pause for a second. 

I think we forgot to send her a christmas card before Forbodium and then after, when we got it, we never wrote back because I was scared she’d react like everyone else.  Al admits.

So like Hershal Layton we forgot her.

Yeah.

Fendi began making anguished noises, noises Drew was either ignoring or completely oblivious to. 

Flora finished summarising what she knew about him being shunned and the mystery room, “I tried writing but you never wrote back, I assumed you were busy. I didn't know there were more than one of you.”

“Do you think there’s someone else like me?” Drew leans forward, “someone who isn’t Alfendi? Someone who helps him like I do?”

“Yeah! Maybe. I really don’t know.”

“I’m sorry I, well he, never responded to your letters.”

“No it’s fine I heard some stuff from Katrielle. Lucy sent her letters.”

“Katrielle is my sister and Lucy is my coworker.”

“Could you talk to Lucy?”

“No she’s my coworker, last time I trusted one of those he shot me.”

Ohhh so that’s where Forbodium went. Fendi interjects.

Wait, the memories we’re missing go somewhere? Fendi, I don’t remember before Hershal.

I do, not all of it but I do. We’re screwed.

“I think he was using me for something, I don’t fully know it’s all foggy but I can’t trust her.”

Flora’s silent for a full minute, “I’ll talk to her, I’ll talk to all your coworkers and I’ll make sure none of them hurt you.”

“No! It could be dangerous. I may have to protect Alfendi but I want to protect you too!”

“But I’m older.”

“You buffoon, being older means nothing, I’m stronger.”

Flora smirks slightly, “alright! I’ll arm wrestle you for it.”

“Arm skills don’t work well against a knife, or a gun.”

“You’re just worried I’ll win,” she teases.

Drew couldn’t help but smile, “fine, you’re on.”

Flora won, of course she won, in her spare time she went on secret adventures. Ones that involved a lot of climbing and Alfendi/Drew had been stabbed.

“Please, be careful. They’re dangerous! You’re the only person I can trust. I can’t do this alone!”

Flora smiled but there was something sad in her eyes, “okay before I leave how about a story.”

He snorts, “I’m not a kid.”

“Do you know how the Professor adopted me?”

“No.”

Flora sat on the bed, with her brother, giving him a soft smile she began, “well my father was a great inventor and he knew my mum was going to die. So he tried to make her into a robot, in fact he made a whole village of robots just to look after me. I grew up around clockwork people, all obsessed with puzzles.”

“Like Hershel.”

“That’s probably why he came, yes,” she chuckled, “but he didn't know they were clockwork, no one did. Now, I know it’s different, very different from your childhood,” she reaches out for his hand and gives it a squeeze, “but I grew up around people I could trust and it’s a good thing. I trust the people around me.”

“No! You don’t understand they tried to kill me!”

“I don’t understand, not really but I have been kidnapped, twice. I know you cant trust everyone Drew but you know something? Most of the time you can. Don’t go following anyone into a dark alleyway and people aren’t always what they seem but if I hadn’t trusted Luke and the Professor I wouldn't be here. If we hadn't trusted you when-”

“Don’t talk about it,” his voice was stern, “please, don’t talk about when I was adopted.”

“Okay, I’m just saying, trusting you is the best thing we could have done and now, I still trust people. I trust them all the time. I trust them not to run me over when I cross the road, I trust them not to steal my luggage when I get on the train and leave it in the baggage area.”

“That’s different! There are witnesses.”

Flora holds back a chuckle, he was deadly serious after all, “so I’ll talk to them near witnesses.”

“I can't trust your judgement now, you’re too trusting.”

“We can both talk to them near witnesses.”

“What if they follow me back? What if they wait until there are no witnesses? Justin did.”

Flora hesitates, “Drew, you’re scared. Please, you have to trust someone or you’ll be like this forever. I’ll protect you, can you trust that?”

“Yes, but I’m telling you, one of them is out to get me! Just like Justin was! I know he isn’t the only one!”

[kntxt]

Printing Money Creates TRUST in Society? 🧐🤡

Stupidity should be called out for what it is. What this clown is saying makes absolutely no sense.

A game that cannot be cheated (Bitcoin) REQUIRES you to be honest and to play according to the rules, creating trust within society. A game that can be cheated (fiat) WILL BE cheated, lies will be made up to justify the cheating, rules will be bent, creating distrust within society.

“The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that's required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust.”

― Satoshi Nakamoto

“Remember, when you are dead, you do not know you are dead. It is only painful for others. The same applies when you are stupid.” ― Ricky Gervais

[insxghtt]

don’t think about it, my love — aemond targaryen x reader

Aemond would never assume, but he loved it when you braided his hair.

warnings: nothing but fluff and a little bit of angst. it was supposed to be just fluff but i am dramatic af

so i am already a writer but this is my first time writing in english so be fucking kind!!!! :(

Aemond was sitting on the edge of the bed with his shoulders relaxed and his long white hair loose. Being that relaxed was not so common for him. A war was so close to start and yet inside that bedchamber all he could think about was how good it felt when you runed your fingers through his hair. If someone like Aegon saw him like this he would probably laugh, but it didn’t matter. At least not with you there.  

The prince was very trustless towards anyone. The fact that you were right there, sitting behind him while braiding his hair, could be considered a compliment. And you knew your husband better than any other person in the Seven Kingdoms, he needed that. Even when he rolled his eye when he heard your request to braid his hair, you knew that deep inside that was exactly what he needed.

As you crossed one lock of hair with the other, Aemond closed his eyes, thinking about how he wanted that moment to last forever. When he was with you, there was no need to act so cold. He didn’t need an eyepatch to hide himself, he didn’t need to be always ready for the worst. You couldn’t help but smile when you heard him almost purring as he enjoyed the feeling.

“You seem to be really enjoying this for someone who complained so much, dear husband”, you chuckle.

“Shut up”, he murmured.

“Oh, would you like me to stop then?”, you stop the braiding with a challenging smile in your face.

He immediately grabs your hands without even turning around, guiding them back to his hair. You get closer to him, holding back a laugh that would probably make him give up resisting his urge to be so serious all the time. You hide your face on his neck, leaving a soft kiss on his skin, which gave him goosebumps.

“It’s okay to assume that you like it, you know?”, you whispered in his ear.

He was quick to turn to you, only to grab you and put you in his lap. The laugh finally escapes through your lips, but it didn’t make him stop. He touched your thighs and pulled you closer. Your faces so close you could feel his breath.

There it was. The face that you could spend days and nights just observing. No eyepatch, no hood. Just him. The blue sapphire replacing the eye he had lost was now just another reason to love him.

For a second, looking in your eyes, the fact that he could not stay at that moment forever hit him. Just to think about it, he sighed and looked away from your eyes.

“What is it?” you questioned when he embraced you, resting his face on your chest.  

He didn’t say it, but you already knew the answer. That is because you felt exactly the same way. The war was coming, the enemies were close, and because of his blood and family, there was nothing he could do but wait for it.

You hugged him back and gave him a kiss on the head. “Don’t think about it tonight, my love”, you said, “Not tonight.”

And you stayed there until he finally had the courage to let you go. Then, you just sat behind him again, back to the braid. Back to pretending there’s no tomorrow.

[adjoint-law]

Trusted Third Party Georg, who is an oracle providing perfect information about meta²¹-aggregator quality at near-zero cost, is single handedly the reason that zero-trust free markets are optimal value generation

(his nemesis is Eeby Deeby, Regulatory Ombudsman)

Has anyone here ever used a travel agent to plan a trip? Any advice

[blueengland-ocposting]

BLUE?: Let's make this quick. BLUE?: Thanks for voting in another round of my tournament. BLUE?: Here's the bracket.

BLUE?: Now, I need to prepare. BLUE?: Goodbye.

COPY-CAT: Are we ready? MED-KIT: Yeah, I think we are. RAD: yyyeahh!!!!! COPY: ^_^; RAD: domnt be mervous!.. RAD: we can o this!! MED-KIT: Save our friends! COPY-CAT: Save the day.

[The lights shut down.]

MED-KIT: Huh? COPY: (0_0) BLUE?: 1, 2...

[The lights turn back on. The winners have all changed.]

TECH / MORALITY / SICK / EXPERIMENT

CYBERCAT: That was strange! CYBERCAT: Hey, why's that slug in that large vat? MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: Get here, you need treatment! RADIATION OVERLOAD: sto;!! RADIATION OVERLOAD: we gontta save thne day! THE REBORN: =_= CYBERCAT: Hey, guys! CYBERCAT: We need to stop arguing and figure this out! MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: I'll take you to peices you bucket of bolts! CYBERCAT: Okay, that was just rude... MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: You can't take me on! CYBERCAT: I definitely could. MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: No you couldn't!! RADIATION OVERLOAD: guys stop fignting! BLUE?: Switch.

[The lights shut down again, before coming back on. The winners have changed.]

EXPERIMENT / TECH / MORALITY / SICK

THE LONER: who keeps turnng the light s off? DATA DOCTOR: I dunno, but it's making me dizzy... SILENT WARRIOR: ô_ó

[THE FUSED crashes into THE LONER.]

THE FUSED: Oof, sorry! THE LONER: dont tiuch me. THE LONER: domnt even be near me!... SILENT WARRIOR: ō_ō THE FUSED: Woah! I said sorry! THE FUSED: Please don't point that thing at me... SILENT WARRIOR: -_-;

[THE LONER walked over to DATA DOCTOR.]

DATA DOCTOR: Hello! THE LONER: AUGhm DATA DOCTOR: Do you need anything? THE LONER: .........no....... DATA DOCTOR: Well I'll always be here if you need anything. BLUE?: Switch.

[The lights go out. The winners are changed yet again.]

SICK / EXPERIMENT / TECH / MORALITY

THE HITMAN: Hmpf... COPY-COPY-CAT: Huh? THE HITMAN: Have you seen this person?

[THE HITMAN hands him a photo of BlueEngland.]

COPY-COPY-CAT: I- uh, yeah! I did! COPY-COPY-CAT: A while ago though. They're somewhere around here! THE HITMAN: Very helpful. RADBOT: Hello! THE HITMAN: Have you seen this person? RADBOT: Yes! RADBOT: ....I forgot where... THE HITMAN: ... THE HITMAN: Thank you for your help. RADBOT: Yay! >>‿<<

OTHER SIDE: I don't get it... DIAMOND: Get what? OTHER SIDE: Why you do this. DIAMOND: It's fun! DIAMOND: Why do you think I recover everyone? DIAMOND: It'd get boring. OTHER SIDE: Yeah, sure. OTHER SIDE: Why don't you ever finish me off though? DIAMOND: It's fun seeing you get worse. OTHER SIDE: ... THE HITMAN: Have either of you seen this person? DIAMOND: Nah. OTHER SIDE: ... THE HITMAN: Okay. BLUE?: Switch.

[The lights go out again, the winners are changed again.]

MORALITY / SICK / EXPERIMENT / TECH

TRUSTLESS CAT: Hello there friend! THE AGENT: What do you want? TRUSTLESS CAT: Just a short chat. THE AGENT: I don't have the time.

[TRUSTLESS CAT takes out a knife from his bag.]

TRUSTLESS CAT: Well that's just too bad...

[STAFF OF WILL slams into him, stopping his action.]

TRUSTLESS CAT: Ugh, stupid-

[Another slam.]

STAFF OF WILL: o_o [No harm will come to anyone while I am here.] TRUSTLESS CAT: Yeah? TRUSTLESS CAT: Let's fight!

THE AGENT: Sigh. MERGED ANON: whts hppening? THE AGENT: I don't know. MERGED ANON: It looks like a fight. THE AGENT: You look like you've seen better days. MERGED ANON: Yeah, we have. MERGED ANON: I have no idea how this happened... THE AGENT: It's Blue. THE AGENT: Or whatever's inside him. THE AGENT: We need to stop it. MERGED ANON: yueh!!! lets sotp it!! THE AGENT: Great. THE AGENT: We need a plan. THE AGENT: Gather anyone who's willing to help. MERGED ANON: got it mmam! MERGED ANON: salout! BLUE?: Hmpf. BLUE?: Gonna need to slow them down at least... BLUE?: Haywire.

[unpluggedfinancial]

The Philosophy Behind Bitcoin

Introduction

In the world of finance, few innovations have sparked as much intrigue and debate as Bitcoin. But beyond its role as a digital currency, Bitcoin embodies a profound philosophy that challenges traditional financial systems and proposes a new paradigm for economic freedom. Understanding the philosophy behind Bitcoin is essential to grasp its potential impact on our world.

The Origins of Bitcoin

In 2008, amid the global financial crisis, a mysterious figure known as Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin whitepaper. This document outlined a revolutionary idea: a decentralized digital currency that operates without the need for a central authority. The financial turmoil of the time, characterized by bank failures and government bailouts, underscored the need for a system that could function independently of traditional financial institutions.

Core Philosophical Principles

Decentralization-Decentralization lies at the heart of Bitcoin’s philosophy. Unlike traditional financial systems that rely on centralized authorities such as banks and governments, Bitcoin operates on a decentralized network of computers (nodes). Each node maintains a copy of the blockchain, Bitcoin's public ledger, ensuring that no single entity has control over the entire network. This decentralization is crucial for maintaining the integrity and security of the system, as it prevents any one party from manipulating the currency or its underlying data.

Trustlessness-Bitcoin's trustless nature is another fundamental principle. In traditional financial systems, trust is placed in intermediaries like banks and payment processors to facilitate transactions. Bitcoin eliminates the need for these intermediaries by using blockchain technology, where transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography. This system ensures that transactions are secure and reliable without requiring trust in any third party.

Transparency-The transparency of Bitcoin’s blockchain is a key philosophical aspect. Every transaction that has ever occurred on the Bitcoin network is recorded on the blockchain, which is publicly accessible. This transparency allows anyone to verify transactions and ensures accountability. However, while the ledger is public, the identities of the individuals involved in transactions remain pseudonymous, balancing transparency with privacy.

Immutability-Immutability is the concept that once a transaction is recorded on the blockchain, it cannot be altered or deleted. This is achieved through cryptographic hashing and the decentralized nature of the network. Immutability ensures the integrity of the blockchain, making it a reliable and tamper-proof record of transactions. This principle is crucial for maintaining trust in the system, as it prevents fraudulent activities and data corruption.

Financial Sovereignty-Bitcoin empowers individuals by giving them full control over their own money. In traditional financial systems, access to funds can be restricted by banks or governments. Bitcoin, however, allows users to hold and transfer funds without relying on any central authority. This financial sovereignty is particularly valuable in regions with unstable economies or oppressive governments, where individuals may face restrictions on their financial freedom.

The Ideological Spectrum

Bitcoin’s philosophy is deeply rooted in libertarian values, emphasizing personal freedom and minimal government intervention. It also draws inspiration from the cypherpunk movement, a group of activists advocating for privacy-enhancing technologies to promote social and political change. These ideological influences shape Bitcoin's emphasis on decentralization, privacy, and individual empowerment.

Real-World Applications and Challenges

Bitcoin's philosophy extends beyond theory into practical applications. It is used for various purposes, from everyday transactions to a store of value akin to digital gold. However, this revolutionary system also faces challenges. Regulatory issues, scalability concerns, and environmental impact are some of the hurdles that need addressing to realize Bitcoin’s full potential.

Conclusion

The philosophy behind Bitcoin is a radical departure from traditional financial systems. Its principles of decentralization, trustlessness, transparency, immutability, and financial sovereignty offer a new vision for economic freedom and integrity. As Bitcoin continues to evolve, its underlying philosophy will play a crucial role in shaping its future and potentially transforming the global financial landscape.

Call to Action

Explore more about Bitcoin and consider its implications for your own financial freedom. Engage with the community, stay informed, and think critically about the role Bitcoin can play in our economic future. Let’s continue the journey of understanding and embracing the Bitcoin revolution together.

[shieldherostuffs]

Naofumi being a witch before he was sommoned

YES, finally an excuse to share my Horror-ish Witch Naofumi AU (+ TheRuFumi) that's been hiding away on my discord!

Naofumi is a With without a cove, living on his own in a haunted and cursed forest where most others would quickly be driven mad or die, unless they take drastic measures.

Naofumi did so. He's too curious and hungry for knowledge for his and everyone else's good, that he was cast out for how little care of the consequences of practicing the cursed and forbidden crafts.

So, he went to the only place that could only assist and further his research on the forbidden crafts. If he learned more, maybe people would properly know why they were forbidden crafts, and maybe he could prevent many of the accidents that could happen when doing the crafts without the full knowledge.

Good thing he's not usually afraid of committing various horrors for his experiments and research.

Hell, two of the experiments that probably should've killed him ended with something vastly different.

He now has a demonic girlfriend living in his shadow, and an eldritch horror boyfriend living inside his body, whose real form is that of a cloud of pure smokey fog of darkness dripping with blood, and countless crimson red eyes.

Some of the other experiments didn't have the same positive results, though.

The skin of his hands are now stained a permanent inky black for trying to deal with Fae and Octafolk blood at the same time for a potion. His eyes will forever cry tears of pure ink, already having left prominent black marks on his face from the first time when his eyes stung like a thousand fires, for trying to mix merfolk's pearl tears with the scales of an undead dragon. His whole left leg, and left arm up to the elbow is pure wood and plants, though they function like normal human limbs, for trying to enchant the remains of a dryad with the use of the fur of a celestial fox's tail and a zombie's flesh. The plant parts withers and becomes black at his wrist. And, he has little nubs of premature horns on the sides of his head, hidden by his hair, for trying to perform magic on the horns of a haunted and cursed ram. His skin is littered with shatter-like lines shifting between dark gray and silver, from when he summoned L'Arc and Therese.

However, his dear L'Arc and Therese always try to assist and provide what they can for his experiments, and take away any residual darkness from the experiments, strengthening them, and in exchange lengthen and share their life force with Naofumi, letting him live much longer than the average human.

———

Being summoned to another world was not what Naofumi expected to happen when he'd gone on one of his rare outings outside the forest. He'd been wanting new books to fill how new shelves for a while, and had gone to a faraway bookstore to look.

He's picked up a book with a peculiar sense of magic around it, and had a few moments appeared in a different place, books completely gone from his grasp, standing inside a magic circle with three other people, surrounded by mages in identical robes.

And, there was a Shield stuck to his arm.

Before Therese and L'Arc could come out, Naofumi rubbed his knuckled across the knobs of his lower spine, through his clothes, a signal to both of them to stay hidden, and that he's alright.

As he followed the other three who'd been summoned alongside him, all wearing different and strange clothing, and the head mage, he tried to examine the Shield on his arm. Focusing on it, he could feel immense, different powers coming from it. Interesting.

As they arrived in the throne room, Naofumi noticed the scornful, distasteful, and trustless snarls and glares sent only his way. He was now glad he'd chosen to wear his veiled hat and gloves. If they already disliked him just from being there, he wasn't about to give the more reasons to hate him.

Instead of outright planning with L'Arc and Therese, Naofumi met with them in his dreams, where Therese showed that she'd managed to keep the book that summoned Naofumi, for him to read through and study.

Later, Naofumi would discover that while his affinity for magic is about the same as before, his skills and affinity for potions and enchantments have become drastically higher, and he's ready to take full advantage.

———

After the whole thing at the castle, and turning down any party members, Naofumi wanders into the forest, and the first thing he does is start finding and comparing the herbs and plants in the book he bought with the ones he finds in the forest, and keeping as many as he can. He gets even more excited when he learns of the Plant Shield Series, which lets him grow and level up the plants with magic.

So excited, that he doesn't notice the balloon monster clinging to him until L'Arc's distorted voice whispers it inside his ear.

Inconspicuously, he feeds them to his shadow, and discovers that L'Arc and Therese are both defaulted to his party members, letting him gain the EXP they do as well. Seems like he doesn't even need to hire party members anyway.

——

The next morning, he's dragged to the castle and his hood ripped off, leaving him for everyone to see. They stare is shock and horror at his face and hands, the only parts revealed.

He's called a monster, thrown around, and accused of things he did not commit.

He may delve in the dark and forbidden, the dead and haunted, but he does have morals, alright? Even he wouldn't take anyone against their will, plus, L'Arc and Therese can satisfy his needs in ways no human or demi-human ever could.

——

He ignores the stares and glares as he walks the streets, face hidden by his veiled hat once again.

In the evening, Naofumi goes walking through the dark streets, having changed into a sleeve-less cloak with a large hood and a high collar to conceal his face.

He follows the feeling of darkness and despair, and ends up in a slave tent filled with people with various degrees of different animal features, some more human- or beast-looking.

In the end, he leaves the tent with directions and advice for the best dark magic and curse masters and sellers, and a sick slave in tow.

With a few simple potions, of which Naofumi knows the recipes back to front now, Raphtalia is fully healed. The first few days, they don't converse much, other than Naofumi getting gear, clothes, and food for Raphtalia, and holding her when her night terrors appear. A simple spell to ward off nightmares seem to help a bit.

Then, Naofumi tells her he would like for her to help him as the Shield Hero. If she doesn't want to, she doesn't have to, and he will set her free. But, if she wishes to, he will teach and protect her from whatever may wish to harm them. But, she must become prepared for many horrors ahead.

In the end, she accepts, and that evening by the fire is spent teaching Raphtalia to read and recognize a few regular plants.

As they progress, Naofumi teaches her more and more, and she tries to soak the knowledge like a sponge, though sometimes she doesn't understand.

After the fight with the dog monster in the mines, where Naofumi let Therese take down the monster with one swipe of her jewelled hand, Naofumi decides to introduce Raphtalia to his two otherworldly lovers.

Therese easily slithers out of his shadow, merging from the darkness into her beautiful and horrifying form of flesh and jewels mixed together into her being, strong and indestructible, and yet beautiful and lovely.

Naofumi turns his back to Raphtalia as L'Arc's form crawls its way up his body and through his throat, out his mouth, accompanied by black goo (Naofumi has yet to identify it as anything by to help L'Arc leave his body) as a few ink tears escape his eyes, drawing the lines on his face darker again. Once he's finally out, L'Arc dons his human forms, and Therese as well. Though, there's simply still something distinctly non-human about them.

Raphtalia is terrified at first, hiding beneath his cloak, before he explain them to her, that they're there bonded to him, to keep him and those under him safe at all costs. Slowly, she warms up to them, but she'll never get used to how L'Arc leaves and enters Naofumi's body through his mouth.

She isn't allowed to see their real forms, as it would simply be too much for any mortal not bonded to them to comprehend. She would go mad if she saw them.

Later, when they get Filo (before the first wave, Naofumi always wanted a familiar), she is much less scared, and keep talking about how they have some 'Funny Energy' around them, that she thinks tickles when she gets close.

As they fight the first Wave, Naofumi lets L'Arc and Therese pose as his party members to help fight. They all gain many levels then.

———

At some point, Naofuim also curses Myne and the King with some minor inconvenience curses, that to nobility and royalty have been known to absolutely humiliate them.

———

When meeting and fighting Glass, she's wary of the Shield Hero calling himself a Witch. In her world, witches are known to make any demi-human they deem useful their slave.

But, Naofumi shuts that down, telling her that he doesn't commit any kind of bonding or binding without the other party's consent.

With their powers and warped morals, the two some to respect each other, even when fighting to kill.

———

When Naofumi finally gets his revenge, the trial again Myne and the King, when they're forced to kneel before him in front of countless people, Bitch is forced to do so by her slave crest. But, Trash refuses to kneel before someone who won't even show his face. He will not kneel unless he's sure that he's kneeling for the actual Shield Hero and not some imposter.

Before the Queen can shout again, Naofumi rips off his veiled hat, leaving his face bare for everyone to see the black tear lines running down his cheeks, and the gray and silver crack crawling up from his neck.

"How do you know that I'm the Shield Hero, even after seeing my face? The only people I've shown my real face to before today, is my party." Naofumi says

He was getting tired of wearing that hat everywhere he went with a risk of seeing people.

He does not mind if these people fear him now. If they didn't already, they really should've.

———

When fighting against Kyo, Naofumi becomes interested in the book his holding, and silently asks Therese to see if she get can it. No one notices when a part of Naofumi's shadow slithers away along the edges of the room to merge with Kyo's.

Moments later, Therese comes up behind Kyo, holding him stuck as she tries getting the book, but it appears to be stuck to him.

After some fighting, Kyo manages to escape, and Naofumi and his party manages to hurry and follow after him and Glass.

Though somehow, whatever Kyo does, it makes Naofumi forcefully get separated from L'Arc and Therese, who both end up with Glass, while Naofumi finds Kizuna.

[ggsdgfvsdg]

BitPower: Financial innovation that emphasizes both decentralization and profitability

BitPower: Financial innovation that emphasizes both decentralization and profitability BitPower is a decentralized financial platform based on Binance Smart Chain (BSC). Through innovative smart contract technology, it is committed to providing users with safe, transparent and efficient financial services. The core advantage of the platform lies in its decentralized architecture and diverse revenue models. The following will introduce the decentralized characteristics of BitPower and its revenue methods in detail.

Advantages of decentralization Smart contract technology: BitPower uses advanced smart contract technology. All transactions are automatically executed through smart contracts to ensure the transparency and immutability of transactions. The code of smart contracts is open and transparent, and anyone can view and audit it, which further enhances the trust of the platform.

Trustless system: On the BitPower platform, users' assets are always under their control. Funds will not enter the platform's central account, but will be traded directly between users in a peer-to-peer manner. This ensures the safety of users' funds and will not be subject to the risk of platform manipulation or human intervention.

Global barrier-free access: BitPower's decentralized architecture allows anyone, no matter where they are, to equally access and use the platform's financial services. This barrier-free global access makes BitPower a truly global financial platform.

Diverse income models Liquidity provision: Users can provide USDT liquidity to the BitPower platform and obtain corresponding income according to different investment periods. The yields provided by the platform are as follows:

1 day: 100.4% 7 days: 104% 14 days: 109.5% 28 days: 124% For example, providing 10,000 USDT liquidity, you can get 12,400 USDT after 28 days. Sharing rewards: BitPower's sharing reward mechanism allows users to get additional income by inviting new users to join the platform. According to the liquidity provided by the user, the sharing rewards are divided into different levels, and the highest level can get the recurring income commission of 17 levels of friends. For example, providing 100 USDT of liquidity can get 20% of the income commission of the first-level friends. As the liquidity increases, the reward level will also increase accordingly.

Summary BitPower is a decentralized financial platform that provides users with a secure, efficient and transparent financial environment through smart contract technology and peer-to-peer transactions. Its diverse revenue models not only allow users to earn interest by providing liquidity and lending, but also to obtain additional income through sharing reward mechanisms.

For more information, please visit BitPower's official website https://www.bitpower.cc/ or contact the personal account via Telegram https://t.me/Alice15568 for professional help.

Through BitPower, everyone can benefit from the global decentralized financial market and achieve wealth growth and financial freedom. @Bitpower

[wqrwqrqw]

BitPower: Financial innovation that emphasizes both decentralization and profitability

BitPower: Financial innovation that emphasizes both decentralization and profitability BitPower is a decentralized financial platform based on Binance Smart Chain (BSC). Through innovative smart contract technology, it is committed to providing users with safe, transparent and efficient financial services. The core advantage of the platform lies in its decentralized architecture and diverse revenue models. The following will introduce the decentralized characteristics of BitPower and its revenue methods in detail.

Advantages of decentralization Smart contract technology: BitPower uses advanced smart contract technology. All transactions are automatically executed through smart contracts to ensure the transparency and immutability of transactions. The code of smart contracts is open and transparent, and anyone can view and audit it, which further enhances the trust of the platform.

Trustless system: On the BitPower platform, users' assets are always under their control. Funds will not enter the platform's central account, but will be traded directly between users in a peer-to-peer manner. This ensures the safety of users' funds and will not be subject to the risk of platform manipulation or human intervention.

Global barrier-free access: BitPower's decentralized architecture allows anyone, no matter where they are, to equally access and use the platform's financial services. This barrier-free global access makes BitPower a truly global financial platform.

Diverse income models Liquidity provision: Users can provide USDT liquidity to the BitPower platform and obtain corresponding income according to different investment periods. The yields provided by the platform are as follows:

1 day: 100.4% 7 days: 104% 14 days: 109.5% 28 days: 124% For example, providing 10,000 USDT liquidity, you can get 12,400 USDT after 28 days. Sharing rewards: BitPower's sharing reward mechanism allows users to get additional income by inviting new users to join the platform. According to the liquidity provided by the user, the sharing rewards are divided into different levels, and the highest level can get the recurring income commission of 17 levels of friends. For example, providing 100 USDT of liquidity can get 20% of the income commission of the first-level friends. As the liquidity increases, the reward level will also increase accordingly.

Summary BitPower is a decentralized financial platform that provides users with a secure, efficient and transparent financial environment through smart contract technology and peer-to-peer transactions. Its diverse revenue models not only allow users to earn interest by providing liquidity and lending, but also to obtain additional income through sharing reward mechanisms.

For more information, please visit BitPower's official website https://www.bitpower.cc/ or contact the personal account via Telegram https://t.me/Alice15568 for professional help.

Through BitPower, everyone can benefit from the global decentralized financial market and achieve wealth growth and financial freedom. @Bitpower

[st-just]

But there’s something else, too. The people who trusted Celsius weren’t tripped up only by their belief that they were outsmarting the system, though there was that. They also…they thought Celsius was a bank? It looked sort of like a bank. It did things, with crypto, that were banklike. They were familiar with how banks work. They understood that banks are safe, that if you put money in a bank you can get it back. They looked at Celsius and thought, “Well, this is a big thing, it has a nice website, it’s available to Americans. Surely if it was a problem someone would’ve done something about it." There’s something a bit alarming about this. Crypto is in a way about rejecting the institutions of society, about being trustless and censorship-resistant. But it quietly free-rides on people’s deep reservoir of trust in those institutions. People are so used to trusting banks that, when Celsius told them not to trust banks, they said, “Ah, yes, OK,” then trusted Celsius to work like a bank, to be regulated like a bank. They didn’t worry about Celsius’s opacity and leverage. They didn’t do their own due diligence on its loans and audit its DeFi positions and demand irrefutable proof of its soundness. It promised to pay them back, and that was good enough for them. But there’s something hopeful about it, too. Trust in institutions is so strong and resilient that all of crypto’s bluster can’t stamp it out. “Not your keys, not your coins, put your trust only in verifiable code,” crypto evangelists yelled, and people heard them and said, “Yes, that is nice, but I’m busy, I’m going to trust these nice strangers with my Bitcoin.”

-Matt Levine, The Crypto Story

[normalcei]

I regularly forget that Diluc DIDNT meet Childe and spend some of his time in Snezhnaya in a weird, trustless, sexual tension adventure with him, that's so canon to me but it's not real!!!!!!!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Red Team Blues Chapter One, part three

With just days to the publication of my next novel, Red Team Blues, I’m taking the chance to serialize the first chapter of this anti-finance finance thriller, and introduce you to Marty Hench, a 67-year-old forensic accountant who specializes in Silicon Valley finance scams.

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/19/whats-wrong-with-iowa/#henched

Marty is ready to retire, but there’s just one more job he has to do — recover a billion dollars’ worth of cryptographic keys that are claimed by money-launderers, narcos, and shady US three letter agencies.

Here’s the previous installments:

Part one:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/17/have-you-tried-not-spying/#unsalted-hash

Part two:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/18/cursed-are-the-sausagemakers/#henched

Here’s where US readers can pre-order the book:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865847/red-team-blues

Here’s pre-orders for Canadians:

https://services.raincoast.com/scripts/b2b.wsc/featured?hh_isbn=9781250865847&ht_orig_from=raincoast

And for readers in the UK and the rest of the Commonwealth:

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/red-team-blues-cory-doctorow/7225998?ean=9781804547755

And now, here’s today’s serial installment:

I grunted noncommittally. Danny had been around since crypto meant “cryptography,” and I hadn’t figured him to become one of these blockchain hustlers. They’re the kind of smart people who outsmart themselves, especially when it comes to shenanigans, forgetting that their public ledger is public and all their transactions are visible to the whole world forever. Forensic accounting never had a better friend than crypto, with its mix of public ledgers, deluded masters of the universe, and suckers pumping billions into the system. It was full employment for me and my competitors until cryptocurrency’s carbon footprint rendered the earth uninhabitable.

“There are certain technical differences between Trustless and other coins. Will you allow me to explain them to you? I promise it’s germane and I’m not trying to sell you anything.” “Aw, hell, Danny, you can tell me anything. I just get sick of being hustled.”

“Me, too, pal. Okay, if you mentioned distributed sudoku puzzles, you know something about proof of work: the way blockchain maintains the integrity of its ledger is by having everyone in the system repeatedly do compute work that reaffirms all the entries in the ledger. So long as the value of all the assets in the ledger is less than the electricity bill for taking over the majority of the compute work, they’re safe.”

“That means that the more valuable all this blockchain stuff becomes, the more coal they have to burn to keep it all from being stolen,” I said. It was something I’d almost said to the bros at dinner the night before, but I didn’t want an argument to distract from the otherwise lovely time I’d been having with my entirely lovely companion.

“That’s fair,” he said. “That’s what every greenie who hasn’t received a couple of mil in donations from surprised crypto-millionaires will tell you. But, Marty, that’s a problem with proof of work, not with distributed ledgers. If you could build a blockchain that had a negligible carbon budget, you could do a lot with it.”

“Launder money. Badly.”

“That,” he said. “Lot of Chinese entrepreneurs and officials are anxious to beat currency controls. But it’s not just money, it’s anything you want to have universally available, unfalsifiable, and cryptographically secured.”

“Laundered money.”

He made a face. “Cynic. Not laundered money. Genocide-­proof ID. Cryptographically secured, write-­only manifests of a person’s identifiers, including nationality, vitals, and ethnic group, but each one has its own key, held by the Blue Helmets. You get to a border and you present your biometrics, and the UN tells the border guards your nationality but not your ethnicity.”

“Fanciful.”

“Cynic! Yeah, fine, no one’s doing it yet, but we could. All that blockchain for good shit that the hucksters talked up to make it sound like proof of work wasn’t a crime against humanity. Trust­ lesscoin lets you do them because it doesn’t need the sudoku.”

I dredged up memories of half-­digested podcasts I’d listened to on the road. “Is it a proof-­of-­stake thing?”

He snorted. “Don’t try to sound smart, Marty, you’ll sprain something. No, it’s secure enclaves. That crypto-­sub-­processor in your iPhone that Apple uses to keep you from switching to another app store? It can run code. What’s more, it can sign the output. So we can send you a program and check to see whether it ran as intended, because we know that the owner of a phone can’t override the secure enclave. Far as Apple’s concerned, iPhone owners are the enemy, and their threat model treats the device owner as an adversary — ­as someone who might get apps someplace that doesn’t kick a fifteen to thirty percent vigorish up to Apple for every transaction, depriving its shareholders of their rake.

“Any device with a secure enclave or other trusted computing module is a device that treats its owner as the enemy. That’s a device we need, because when you’re in the Trustlesscoin network, that device will defend me from you, and you from me. I don’t have to trust you, I just have to trust that you can’t break into your own phone, which is to say that I have to trust that Apple’s engineers did their job correctly, and well, you know, they’ve got a pretty good track record, Marty.”

“Except?”

He finished his lemonade and scowled at the reusable straw.

“Yeah, except. Look, Trustlesscoin is on track to become the standard public ledger for the world. I know, I know, every founder talks that ‘make a dent in the universe’ crap, but I mean it. You want to know how serious I am about this? I took in outside capital.”

He let me sit with that a moment. Danny Lazer, the man who ate ramen in a twenty-­year-­old, bent-­axle RV for decades with the love of his life so he’d never have to take a nickel from any of those bloodsuckers on Sand Hill Road, and he took in outside capital. Danny Lazer, a man who’d owned 75 percent of a unicorn, which is to say, seven-­point-­five-­times-­ten-­to-­the-­eight U.S. American Greenback Simoleon Dollars, and he took in outside capital.

“Why? And also, what for?”

He laughed. “Watching you work out a problem is like watching a bulldog chew a wasp, brother. You’ve got a hell of a poker face, but when you start overclocking the old CPU, it just melts. I’ll tell you why and what for.

“First of all, I wanted to create something for Sethu. She’s never had the chance to live up to her potential. She’s smart, Marty, smart like Galit was, but she’s also technical, and managerial, and just born to run things. I’ve never met a better candidate for a CEO than she is. And I’m not young, you know that, and there’s going to be a long time after I’m dead when she’ll still be in her prime, and I wanted to make something she could grow into and grow around her.

“I’d been playing with the idea behind Trustless since the early 2000s, when Microsoft released its first Trusted Computing papers, all the way back in the Palladium days! So Sethu and I hung up a whiteboard in the guest room and started spending a couple of hours a day in there. I didn’t want to bring in anyone else at first, first because it seemed like a hobby and not a business, and hell, every cryptographer I know is working seventy-hour weeks as it is.

“Then I didn’t want to bring in anyone else because I got a sense of how big this damned thing is. I mean, there’s about two trillion in assets in the blockchain today, and that’s with all the stupid friction of proof-­of-­work. When we lift the shackles off of it, whoosh, we’re talking about a ledger that will encompass more assets than the total balance sheets of twenty or thirty of the smallest UN members . . . ​combined.

“You know me, Marty. I don’t believe in much, but when I do believe in something, I’m all in. All. In. And so I brought some people in.”

“What for, though? Danny, how much of your Keypairs jackpot did you manage to blow? How much money could you possibly need, and for what? Are you building your own chip foundry? Buying a country?”

“We actually thought of doing both of those things, you know, but decided we didn’t need the headaches. The Keypairs money’s only grown since I cashed out, thanks to the bull runs. I can’t spend it all, won’t be able to. It would sicken me to try, because I’d have to be so wasteful to even make a dent in it.

“The reason I went for outside capital wasn’t money, it was connections.”

I groaned. Every grifter in private equity and VC-­land claimed that they had “connections” that represented value add for their portfolio companies. The social butterfly market was implausible on its face, and in practice, it was just a way of turning cocktail parties into a business expense. “Come on, Danny, you know people already.”

“Not these people.” And he did the thing. He looked from side to side, up and down. He turned off his phone and held his hand out for mine and carried them both to the little step next to the water feature and set them down on it so they’d be in the white-noise zone. He came back, looked around again. “I got signing keys for four of the most commonly deployed secure enclaves.” He looked around again.

“I think I know what that means, Danny, but maybe you could spell it out? I’m just a dumb old accountant, not a cryptographic legend like yourself. And for God’s sake, stop looking around. I’ll let you know if I see anyone sneaking up on us.”

“Sorry, sorry. Okay. The secure enclave gets a program, runs it, and signs the output. The secure enclave’s little toy operating system says that it does this reliably and without exception. You see a signature on a program’s output, you know the program produced it. That toy OS, it’s simple. Stupid. Brutal. Does about six things, very well, and nothing else. You can’t change that program. Secure enclaves are designed to be non-­serviceable. Even taking them off the mainboard wrecks them. You get them into a lab and decap them and hit them with an electron-­tunneling microscope, you still won’t be able to recover the signing keys or force a false sig.

“But if you have the signing keys? You can just simulate a secure enclave on any computer. Then you can run any operating system you want on it, including one that will forge signatures. You do that, and you can falsify the ledger. You can move unlimited sums from any part of the balance sheet to your part of the balance sheet. You can jackpot the whole fucking thing.”

I blew out air. “Well, that seems like a defect in the system, all right.”

“It can’t be helped. We call it Trustless, but there’s always some trust in a system like this. You’re not trusting the other users of the system or the company that made the software. You’re trusting that a couple of leading manufacturers of cryptographic coprocessors and sub-­processors, companies with decades of experience, will maintain operational security and not lose control of the keys that their entire business — ­and the entire business of all their customers and their customers’ customers — ­are dependent upon. You’re not trusting the other users, but you’re trusting them.”

“And yet,” I said, looking over at Sethu, who was painting away and performing an excellent simulation of someone who wasn’t eavesdropping, “you found someone willing to sell you some of those keys.”

“Yes,” he said and gave me a calm, no-­bullshit, eye-­to-­eye stare. “I did. It’s useful to have those, especially when you’re first kicking a new cryptocurrency around. You make a smart contract with a bad line of code in it, you create a bug bounty with an unlimited payout. So in the early days, when you’re figuring this stuff out, you do a little ledger rewriting.”

“You do rewriting on a read-­only ledger that no one is ever supposed to rewrite.”

He rolled his eyes. “Ethereum did it early on, moved fifty mil in stolen payout from a bad smart contract out of the crook’s account and back into the mark’s account. No one made too much of a fuss. I mean, the immutable ledger sounds like a great idea until someone no stupider than you gets taken for fifty mil, and then rewriting the ledger is just sound fiscal policy in service to fundamental justice.”

“But Ethereum told everyone they were doing it. Sounds like you did it all on the down low?”

“We were early. No one was even paying attention. All we wanted was a ledger whose early entries weren’t an eternal monument to my stupid mistakes as I climbed the learning curve.”

“Fine. Vain, but fine. Still, getting those keys meant a lot of power for a little reputation laundering.”

He sighed and looked away. “Yeah. The thing is, I’m not the only one who makes mistakes. We are aiming for trillions secured on our chain. Trillions, Marty. Ten to the twelve. It’s an unforgiving medium, and the stakes are high. The Ethereum lesson was clear: a couple of divide-­by-­zeros or fence post errors, a single badly typed variable or buffer overrun, and the whole thing could sink. I needed an eraser. Not on day zero but well before I attained liftoff.”

“Every hacker builds in a back door, huh?”

“Don’t call it that. Call it an Undo button.”

“Okay, then. An Undo button in a system whose cryptography is supposed to prevent undo at all costs. But not a back door.”

“You, my friend, are too smart. I miss the days when forensic accountancy and security engineering were distinct fields. ” “Me, too, pal. So what happened? Your keys took a walk?”

Tomorrow (Apr 21), I’m speaking in Chicago at the Stigler Center’s Antitrust and Competition Conference. This weekend (Apr 22/23), I’m at the LA Times Festival of Books.