Elf M. Sternberg
@elfsternberg.bsky.social
Husband to a gorgeous wife, father to two great kids, greying leatherfairy, infamous furry, and world-class software engineer. If you can read this, you're running code I wrote.
As a writer, the good thing about this article is that it serves as a list of reasons the story goes awry: a single mistake, an inherent flaw, an embrace of vice, or a psychological struggle. Having that list broadens your possible antagonists.
February 12, 2026 at 8:06 PM
As a writer, the good thing about this article is that it serves as a list of reasons the story goes awry: a single mistake, an inherent flaw, an embrace of vice, or a psychological struggle. Having that list broadens your possible antagonists.
If their response is, "That's just because you don't have the power to do it and get away with it," the correct response is, "That's what the law is *for*: so that those inclined to evil are dissuaded, discouraged, or convicted, not allowed to act like the law doesn't exist."
February 12, 2026 at 7:32 PM
If their response is, "That's just because you don't have the power to do it and get away with it," the correct response is, "That's what the law is *for*: so that those inclined to evil are dissuaded, discouraged, or convicted, not allowed to act like the law doesn't exist."
These people absolutely Do Not Care about the human cost of The Network State and the loss of human rights, the assessment that some people are disposable, and the decision that some parts of the planet are predestined to be ruined.
February 12, 2026 at 3:35 AM
These people absolutely Do Not Care about the human cost of The Network State and the loss of human rights, the assessment that some people are disposable, and the decision that some parts of the planet are predestined to be ruined.