Foundry

If you have friends who work in intelligence, do not throw them surprise birthday parties. One of two things will happen. Either they’ll discover your plans and ruin the effect, or you’ll take them by surprise and leave their nerves jangling for the next eighteen months.

But hegemony slips away from those who rest easy. As soon as you take something for granted, fate revokes the grant. The US drained its coffers on useless wars and bitter infighting, failing to tackle problems of sufficient ambition to lead the world, instead of merely ruling it—not unlike the progeny of a wealthy family blowing their inheritance o

which Saudi prince likes to attend BDSM parties in Berlin,

They could have stocked a pour-over setup or a French press or even an AeroPress. But no, our coffee was all pods, no beans.

Mindanao wasn’t a secret. It wasn’t even a Secret. It was a SECRET.

Caroline wasn’t a person. She was a fractal.

If you know something’s going to work, it’s not worth working on. It requires no courage. It requires no faith. It requires no skin in the game. Whether you’re a spy or a teacher or a spouse or a painter or an abuela or an astronaut or a monk or a barista or a board-game designer, the bits that matter are the bits you make matter by putting yoursel

Basically, a fairy tale right up the Grimm brothers’ alley. Have you actually read that shit? It’s dark.