#Doughnut Economics

[probablyasocialecologist]

[carbonalchemy]

I love working in sustainability, I really do, but every time I speak to hardcore business people or the right-wing late-stage capitalism supporters I'm questioning if we really had to name the most used sustainability-focused economic model as doughnut economics

[haggishlyhagging]

One diagram in economic theory is so dangerous that it is never actually drawn: the long-term path of GDP growth. Mainstream economics views endless economic growth as a must, but nothing in nature grows forever, and the attempt to buck that trend is raising tough questions in high-income but low-growth countries. It may not be hard to give up having GDP growth as an economic goal, but it is going to be far harder to overcome our addiction to it. Today we have economies that need to grow, whether or not they make us thrive; what we need are economies that make us thrive, whether or not they grow. That radical flip in perspective invites us to become agnostic about growth and to explore how economies that are currently financially, politically and socially addicted to growth could learn to live with or without it.

-Kate Raworth, Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist

[teledyn]

“as in all spaceships sustained life requires that a meticulous balance be maintained between the capability of the vehicle to support life and the demands made by the inhabitants of the craft. that's 1970.”

“I was born at the end of 1970 so all this was seen and known before I and many of us here were even born… Does that make you weep? Would they have thought when they wrote this and said this and show this picture that the children not yet born today, when they’re 53, a quarter of the way through the 21st century, still won't be in a world that got this. We'll still have to be standing on stages in posh buildings in Oxford trying to argue that we should see the world like this 'cause it's still not happening, it's still not the way economics is taught in this University or any other major university”

(via (3) Oxford Ministry for the Future Event, Sheldonian 13 June 2024 - YouTube)

[bsahely]

Energy-Eco Dynamics for Metacrises as curated by ChatGPT4o: From Steve Keen, Kate Raworth, John Fullerton, MMT, Salutogenesis and beyond

Energy-Eco Dynamics for Metacrises. (chatgpt.com) Energy-Eco Dynamics for Metacrises. Bichara Sahely June 13, 2024 ♦ How does Steve Keen’s energy-grounded economic dynamic analysis help us to understanding our planetary metacrises? ChatGPT Steve Keen’s energy-grounded economic dynamic analysis provides a critical perspective on understanding planetary metacrises by integrating ecological and…

[thedigitaleconomy]

"LifeTech is a digital magazine that explores the intersection of technology and lifestyle. Our mission is to provide engaging and informative content for our readers to stay up-to-date on the latest lifetech trends."

[reasonsforhope]

"The Netherlands is pulling even further ahead of its peers in the shift to a recycling-driven circular economy, new data shows.

According to the European Commission’s statistics office, 27.5% of the material resources used in the country come from recycled waste.

For context, Belgium is a distant second, with a “circularity rate” of 22.2%, while the EU average is 11.5% – a mere 0.8 percentage point increase from 2010.

“We are a frontrunner, but we have a very long way to go still, and we’re fully aware of that,” Martijn Tak, a policy advisor in the Dutch ministry of infrastructure and water management, tells The Progress Playbook. 

The Netherlands aims to halve the use of primary abiotic raw materials by 2030 and run the economy entirely on recycled materials by 2050. Amsterdam, a pioneer of the “doughnut economics” concept, is behind much of the progress.

Why it matters

The world produces some 2 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste each year, and this could rise to 3.4 billion tonnes annually by 2050, according to the World Bank.

Landfills are already a major contributor to planet-heating greenhouse gases, and discarded trash takes a heavy toll on both biodiversity and human health.

“A circular economy is not the goal itself,” Tak says. “It’s a solution for societal issues like climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental pollution, and resource-security for the country.”

A fresh approach

While the Netherlands initially focused primarily on waste management, “we realised years ago that’s not good enough for a circular economy.”

In 2017, the state signed a “raw materials agreement” with municipalities, manufacturers, trade unions and environmental organisations to collaborate more closely on circular economy projects.

It followed that up with a national implementation programme, and in early 2023, published a roadmap to 2030, which includes specific targets for product groups like furniture and textiles. An English version was produced so that policymakers in other markets could learn from the Netherlands’ experiences, Tak says.

The programme is focused on reducing the volume of materials used throughout the economy partly by enhancing efficiencies, substituting raw materials for bio-based and recycled ones, extending the lifetimes of products wherever possible, and recycling.

It also aims to factor environmental damage into product prices, require a certain percentage of second-hand materials in the manufacturing process, and promote design methods that extend the lifetimes of products by making them easier to repair.

There’s also an element of subsidisation, including funding for “circular craft centres and repair cafés”.

This idea is already in play. In Amsterdam, a repair centre run by refugees, and backed by the city and outdoor clothing brand Patagonia, is helping big brands breathe new life into old clothes.

Meanwhile, government ministries aim to aid progress by prioritising the procurement of recycled or recyclable electrical equipment and construction materials, for instance.

State support is critical to levelling the playing field, analysts say...

Long Road Ahead

The government also wants manufacturers – including clothing and beverages companies – to take full responsibility for products discarded by consumers.

“Producer responsibility for textiles is already in place, but it’s work in progress to fully implement it,” Tak says.

And the household waste collection process remains a challenge considering that small city apartments aren’t conducive to having multiple bins, and sparsely populated rural areas are tougher to service.

“Getting the collection system right is a challenge, but again, it’s work in progress.”

...Nevertheless, Tak says wealthy countries should be leading the way towards a fully circular economy as they’re historically the biggest consumers of natural resources."

-via The Progress Playbook, December 13, 2023

[probablyasocialecologist]

The seemingly obvious step of depicting the economy as a subsystem of Earth’s biosphere is also one of the most radical and essential acts for renewing economics this century. It calls on all economic analysis to recognize that the economy is an open system—with large inflows and outflows of both energy and matter—within our planet’s unique and delicately balanced biosphere. From this perspective it becomes clear that energy, not money, is the fundamental currency of life, underpinning all human, ecological, and industrial systems. Energy dependence then lies at the heart of the economist’s understanding. We must recognize that humanity’s continual use of resources puts intense pressure on planetary boundaries, creating a high risk of undermining the ecological stability on which human and all life fundamentally depends. When we situate the economy within the living world in this way, the 20th century pursuit of endless growth sits in sharp tension with empirical evidence to date. The ambition of decoupling consumption-based carbon emissions and material use from GDP growth in today’s high-income economies is not happening at anywhere near the speed and scale required to avert critical tipping points. This compels us to question the limits to growth and explore postgrowth economic possibilities, particularly in wealthy economies. Facing up to the ecological consequences of economic activity is now a critical moral obligation.

Kate Raworth, A New Compass for Economics

[bilbobagginsomebabez]

not reblogging the whole addition

LMFAO FAIR

in no particular order

how to incentivize people to take these jobs

teach them and pay them. we're a caring species and we like to help each other. million and a half psych majors graduate every day with a vague idea of 'helping people.' social work is A HUGE field. put em through some extra training and send 'em out. like i work in the nonprofit sector so i'm surrounded by bleeding hearts every day but seriously we dont struggle to source/staff bleeding hearts, its more a race against the burnout clock as we do our work in extremely hostile environments. and what burns you out isnt exposure to Bad Shit, its impotence. the idea that no matter what you do, you're never gonna make a dent in the avalanche of pain and hardship you're fighting. helping somebody? the success case can power a social worker through for months. a part of caring for people who do communal care work is actually letting them really help. you know how i mentioned somewhere that we live in a society that intensely incentivizes ruthlessness and cruelty? it also suppresses and punishes care workers. like, let us fuckin live and we'll do it all and be very happy about it.

ways in which e.g. American policing in particular derives some of its worst excesses from a culture that prioritises* the officer always feeling safe and able to defend themselves (with violence) over the safety of the citizenship at large

i would develop this a bit further. its not just that american policing has a culture that prioritizes their own safety over their citizens, its that when you make an army, they're going to find an enemy. our police force is highly militarized with lots of super special violent toys that they very badly want to play with. here's confessions of a former bastard cop for a baseline. they will on purpose fuck up restorative initiatives as will many Huge American Industries that heavily rely on harsh exploitation. any transition period would be shaped by those factors to a HUGE degree.

realistically messy transitional period... a realistic treatment of the people who work in it, as well

concepts to play with:

-warring institutions. this happens all the time in govt but a transitional period between a carceral and restorative justice system would have two active institutions at direct cross purposes with each other. cops in different jurisdictions already fight about cases, throw in a new institution in the justice system that is antithetical in every way to a carceral system, and you've got a recipe for interdepartmental chaos. social workers' clients being arrested and harassed. social workers demanding to keep cases that are too 'violent' according to the current division of the carceral/restorative system. you can bet they'd fight like hell about it too if they really believed they could stabilize the client.

-What Laws Do We Keep And How Do They Work. like a social worker with a homeless client who got high on the street is going to try to give them a house to get high in, not send them to jail. and like. that's required for a restorative justice system to be restorative. weve decided we dont want people getting high on the street so we have to make sure they have a house to get high in. or have we decided! do we care about people getting high on the street? is it necessary to intervene or can we all actually just be chill about a guy being kinda weird in your general vicinity.

-severe and persistent mental illness. like de-escalation and care for SPMI patients is a ROUGH fucking field, esp with psychosis. states of psychosis can pull from any element of your memory, so if the patient experienced a lot of violence, they may respond with a corresponding level of violence to the memory and not the situation. it is not their fault and it is HARD to manage and currently it's damn near impossible to do it well. you have to be able to maintain an extremely stable environment long-term and the people who are trying just do not have the funding. the revolution will not be funded and all. imagining how that works in a restorative system, when you KNOW that the risk can never be lowered below like 50 or 60% and they still deserve compassion? like people literally already volunteer for that job and they do it in far more dangerous circumstances than they deserve with far less pay so its not like you won't be able to manage it, but there's still a big fat fucking HOW. and how you protect them from a carceral system that would further abuse them and make them more dangerous. (i have firsthand knowledge of this lmao ask me about the ed and charity test of human rights its based on my parents)

-like it will be messy as FUCK and absolute chaos but i think not in the ways you're imagining. like genuinely i can't tell you enough people do not like pain and will take the easiest available option to avoid it. they dont wanna be hungry, they dont wanna be stressed, they dont want to be in the violent situation just as much as we all dont want it to be happening. (mindfully keep your definition of violence to include stuff like 'poverty' and 'suffering treatable health problems.' anything that is going to unjustly steal another humans patience coins and put them on trend towards a violent deficit.) 99% of every person you meet is choosing the path of least resistance most of the time and would prefer resistance-free paths in general (fun pop culture detective video about this using wall-e). but there are HUGE hurdles in the form of cultural imagination and How We Are Used To Managing Ourselves. the US is an extremely bureaucratic society, as most empires are. dont get me wrong i fucking love a bureaucracy but the level & type of bureaucracy we experience here and now is a surveillance state and also. ok like systems in general are designed to take varied inputs and create consistent outputs. empires do not generally produce outcomes that prioritize the people's wellbeing, they prioritize order and control and suppression. so all the systems they built no matter how you shake them out are going to produce suppressive outcomes. you can't take a machine built to make carburetors and say it's going to make solar panels now unless you also replace all the parts. like it will just keep spitting out carburetors.

so you can ABSOLUTELY create systems that produce positive outcomes for people, but they do not react well to 'institutionalization' as we understand/think of it. like restorative justice is at the very limits of our cultural imagination (why the only good examples we've got are indigenous.) that essay about the abolition of the family--they're talking about creating multiple layered systems of communal grievance management so no one person or group ever has final say. child abuse is a very good example of how our concepts of institutionalization play out. current system: parents have Ownership And Authority Over Child Until Age 18 And Nobody Can Intervene Unless Their Behavior Is Literally Illegal And Actionable In A Court Of Law. breeding ground for isolation and control and lots of silent abuses ignored until they're unbearable or life-threatening. now if you get out of that, you dont gain any more autonomy, you become a ward of the state and speaking as a foster kid you're fuckin lucky if your circumstances don't get worse. your parents make the decisions and then a social worker appointed by the state does. a program like CPS is what americans imagine when they picture restorative justice. but unfortunately that also is violence! 1. CPS intervention and being stolen from your family is fuckin traumatic you're not removing violence from the cycle there. the imposition of an institution's will over your own after you've been harmed is another act of violence. 2. what do child welfare law and age of majority even look like when parents no longer have legal control over their childrens bodies

so you can't just make a rival social worker police force that replaces the carceral police force and call it a done day. useful to make a line in your head between 'system' and 'institution.' its honestly very difficult to totally re-imagine who is present and how they're 'authorized' and how your community reinforces those bonds. how it protects people in advance, how healthy your social web is. like with child abuse, robust and socially protected bonds with a wide range of trustworthy adults is the first step. how do you create a system that effectively bonds a community intergenerationally so when a kid gets hit, they can go to a teacher or faith leader or aunt or social worker or That Nice Guy From The Gas Station and they have so many options that even if one of them falls through, more than one won't. then how do you systemically protect those bonds to give each and every one of those trusted adults the right and social reinforcement to step in and the literal laws encoding the child's right to Decide How To Feel Safe Again. all of it geared towards restoring communal trust and safety.

+ resilient, responsive systems need redundancies. the same thing in multiple different places made in slightly different ways. so how do you do that? on a practical level, who gets put where and what are they allowed to do? when they do whatever they're allowed to do, what's the next step after that, how does it escalate? there will be situations where someone would be safer if they were controlled, and how do we navigate those? what do we do if we suspect that someone is getting close to violence but hasn't committed it yet--how do we identify them outside of an invasive surveillance state and intervene without punishment? how do you respect cultural knowledge and expertise denied by institutions (.....like indigneous justice systems and indigenous ecology) without leaving the door wide the fuck open to our culture's extremely real predisposition towards fantastical thinking. we are a whole country of marks highly recommend fantasyland by kurt anderson.

I think the cumulative effects of this sort of thing contribute to toxic cultures within not only policing but (probably more so, perhaps not uncorrelated with the ways in which the relationship is better and the people less armed) also within medicine and social services

spot fucking ON concepts of medical abuse are HIGHLY applicable to restorative justice and i do not remember enough about the specifics to speak on it but it's an area of Hot Debate because of the inherent power imbalance of needing to trust another person's expertise for your bodily wellbeing. that shit is MURKY and fascinating because it's like "the social role of nurses is currently undergoing a social self-selection process for bullies--how can we alter that system of incentives to socially self-select for Nice People and disincentivize Mean People." and another bit is that the social self-selection process for doctors is a lot of self-important 'i like being The Smartest Guy In The Room and Unquestionable' types. stuff in development with medical panels and changing how medical school is done so it's not like A Brutal Feat Of Will And Intellectual Might but teaches stuff like empathy instead.

re-- specificially a transitional period (not actually a quote just a new topic)

so one of the difficulties with that period is you don't get a ton of opportunities to represent what a restorative justice system does with perpetrators (esp serious perpetrators) as long as a carceral system is in play. because when things are too scary, people default to the familiar. and we're very afraid of The Big Bad Criminals--the malicious rapists and the unrepentant pedophiles and serial killers. the worst of the worst the jeffrey dahmers and shit. and we use those big bad monsters to keep our fear alive and our belief in the necessity of carceral justice alive. but like. that shit is uniquely american and its still rare here. so the need and request for americans to See how a restorative justice system handles their boogeyman is like--well. restorative justice mostly stops us from creating boogeymen out of people. indigenous accounts of colonization are brutal but SO good to read when you can find them to really nail it home. they could not comprehend the inhumanity and depravity of the europeans. these motherfuckers seriously wiped out everyone who was normal and spent the last 200 years convincing us we're all fundamentally evil selfish animals who must be controlled. doughnut economics by kate raworth has a fantastic explanation of the development of the 'modern man' as we understand him--the economic animal, the "rational actor." [1] we're not rational. we're rabidly social. when you create paths of least resistance that allow people to manifest that extremely real human trait? it works. it actually works better and easier than when you're forcing a lot of people to do everything through complex threats of violence.

*brit spotted

[1] as a very petty aside, the man who invented the concept of the rational actor (john stuart mill) SAID THIS HIMSELF: "the resulting depiction is an arbitrary definition of man based on premises which might be totally without foundation... No political economist was ever so absurd as to suppose mankind are really thus constituted." ITS BULLSHIT.

I would really be interested in reading a story written by a police abolitionist who has a good sense of how police would/should be replaced in society. It would be a procedural of sorts, inasmuch as it would be about the process of discovery of the facts of a wrongdoing and how the wrongdoing is handled during and after the fact, and it would follow the various groups of people involved in facilitating that process/processes.

I just think this would be both interesting and a really good way of introducing your vision to people and getting them to read it. In fact, I would be open to collaborating on this project with any interested party who had a strong sense of a system they thought would work but wasn’t so much the this-kind-of fiction writer.

[elementaldoughnut12]

"Weird is Lovely"

*this is my first ever school au fic so if it doesn't look like a school au then I'm sorry i tried anyways I got inspiration from @maineventshinku "adult school au" drawings so hope yall enjoy!*

*the ships involved are BrYuta, HangMox and my little rarepair I created of Claudio Castagnoli and Harley Cameron! Hardio? Harlio? Clarley? SwissKitty? Idk...*

Doughnut Team: @afterdarkprincess @thlayli-ra

“Why he does this every Friday I have no idea” Claudio says as he walks down the hallway to the principal's office. He has to leave class early so he can pick his best friend Mox up from detention. He might not like having to bail Mox out every Friday but they've been friends for nearly twenty years and he'd go to war with that guy if Mox asked. “Hey Claudio, wait up!” someone says from far away. Claudio hears the familiar tapping of boots on linoleum and sees it's Mox's boyfriend, “Hangman” Adam Page.

Claudio waits until Adam is right beside him. “Jesus, you're hard to catch! Gimme a minute” Adam says as he tries to catch his breath. “I assume you're coming with me to pick up Mox again?” Claudio asks, causing Adam to laugh. “Don't I always? Wouldn't be a good boyfriend if I didn't bail that dumbass out every week! Plus getting out early guarantees us the best spots in the library during free period!” Adam says excitedly as they start walking down the halls.

Free period is one of Claudio's favorite classes other than Home Economics cause he gets to catch up with friends, work on some homework and most importantly hang out with his girlfriend, Harley Cameron. Him and Harley have been together for five years and she's made his life exciting every time he's with her. She's the splash of color he needed in his boring life and he's loved her ever since. “Umm hello? Earth to Claudio!” Adam says, snapping Claudio out of his thoughts.

“Oh my apologies! I spaced out! What were you saying?” Claudio asks embarrassingly, causing Adam to laugh. “I was asking if you think Mox would like my outfit today?” Adam asks as he shows off what he's wearing. He's currently wearing his steel tipped cowboy boots, denim bell bottoms with a rose design on the side and a white tank top with flames on the bottom. “I'm sure he'll love it Adam. Is the shirt a homage to when you “accidentally” set a trash can on fire?” Claudio says with a laugh, causing Adam to blush.

“It was an accident! I thought I stubbed the blunt out! I still feel bad about it!” Adam says embarrassingly, causing Claudio to pat him on the back to comfort him. “I'm sure it was Adam anyways we're here” Claudio says as they make it to the principal's office. Claudio knocks on the door and pops out vice principal Christopher Daniels. “Lemme guess, you came to pick up Moxley?” Mr.Daniels asks tiredly, Adam and Claudio nodding in response.

“Of course you are… Moxley! Castagnoli and Page are here! For the billionth time this year” Mr. Daniels says under his breath as Mox walks out the door. “See you next Friday Mr. Daniels!” Mox says with a smirk, causing Mr.Daniels to let out a groan and shut the door. “Thanks for bailing me out like always man” Mox says as he fist bumps Claudio. “My pleasure Mox but you're forgetting someone else came with me to help” Claudio says sweetly as he mentions to Adam.

“Cowgirl!” Mox says happily as he picks up Adam and swings him around. “Babe put me down! You're gonna ruin my outfit!” Adam says with a laugh as Mox kisses him then puts him down. “Sorry princess but I haven't seen you since lunch and now that I'm looking at you… you look pretty darn cute right now” Mox says affectionately, causing Adam to blush. “Stop looking at me like ya wanna eat me!” Adam says as Mox smirks at him. “With the way you're dressed it makes me wanna get a second detention” Mox says seductively but before he does anything he gets stopped by Claudio.

“As much as I would love to third wheel this sexual act I believe we should start walking to our lockers so we can meet up with the others” Claudio offers so he doesn't get severely traumatized. “Oh fuck you're right! We gotta get our seats in the library before those Elite snobs do!” Mox says as he fixes his leather jacket and they all start walking down the hallway. “Care to explain why you got detention this week?” Claudio asks, curious on what bizarre thing Mox did to get sent there this week.

“I may or may not have slashed Mr.Callis’ tires on his new car” Mox says with an innocent look as he holds Adam's hand. “That new blue Lamborghini he just bought?!? You fucking didn't!” Adam says excitedly, Mox nodding in response. “You're gonna ruin that man's life until we graduate aren't you?” Claudio asks, receiving a devilish smile from Mox in return. “He deserves it for trying to fail me in woodshop because making wooden nunchucks isn't safe on school premises or some shit” Mox explains, causing both guys to laugh.

They hear the bell ring signaling that class is over and walk a bit faster as students are filing out. “Hey guys! Over here!” Wheeler yells from the lockers as he waves his hand to get the three's attention. They make it to the lockers where Wheeler and Bryan are standing. When they make it to the lockers, Wheeler hugs all three guys with excitement like he does everyday. They would protect Wheeler at all costs if needed.

“You guys excited for free period? I got a new pack of baseball cards I've been waiting to open to show you guys!” Wheeler says excitedly as he shakes the pack in his hand. “You know I'm excited for anything that doesn't involve homework! Also put those away before someone tries to steal them!” Mox warns, causing Wheeler to put the pack of cards back into his bag. “Ok! Geez! You're such a big brother but anyways you guys like my outfit?” Wheeler asks as he twirls in place.

He's currently wearing a pink sweater with cherries on it, a pink and white checkered skirt, white see-through leggings with white bows and pink converse. “You look absolutely adorable like always Wheeler” Claudio says, causing Wheeler to blush. “Yeah, did your sugar daddy buy it for ya?” Mox asks, making Wheeler laugh. “Yeah he did but don't tell Bryan though because he'll get mad” Wheeler says jokingly, receiving a gentle slap on the ass by Bryan in return.

“I love how I buy you cute things yet you still act like a little shit” Bryan says as Wheeler giggles and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “Think you can find me a sugar daddy Wheeler? I think I milked mine dry a while ago” Adam says teasingly, causing Mox to growl at him. “Keep talking like that and I'll make your ass sore for the rest of the year” Mox says seductively, making Adam tremble a bit. “Maybe I should join the cycling team considering I've been third wheeling almost the whole day” Claudio says jokingly, causing everyone to laugh.

“Speaking of that… where's Harley?” Wheeler asks curiously. “Yeah, she's usually with us and ranting about what weird thing her hamster did the night before” Mox says as he looks around the hallway. “She was in the art room with me before I left to pick you up Mox. I wonder what's taking her so long?” Claudio asks worryingly, but he didn't have to worry long before worry turned to annoyance when he heard two familiar voices of people he didn't like.

“Helloooo Claudio!” Mariah says in a sing-song tone that sounds like nails to a chalkboard. “What are you guys doing? Having a jerking session with your pathetic packages?” Mina asks teasingly with a laugh. “Shouldn't you two be on a post scaring away the crows?” Adam asks, which causes Mariah and Mina to glare at him. “Shouldn't you be shoveling pig shit somewhere you filthy hick?” Mariah asks with a sneer. “I don't think he understood you Mariah! You probably need to say it slower so his tiny brain can understand!” Mina says, causing both women to laugh.

Adam felt himself start to cry as Mox pulled him to his chest and growled at the girls. “You two came over here to bother us for a reason so might as well spit it out now before you waste any more of mother earth's precious oxygen” Bryan says with his arms crossed. “Ugh fine you weird little goat man! Claudio, your freaky little girlfriend was in the art room right?” Mariah asks with a devilish smile. “You better go check on her! I heard she had an accident!” Mina says with faux worry.

“Accident? What kind of accident?” Claudio asks, worry setting back in. “That's for you to find out! Anyways ta-ta weirdos!” Mariah says as she pulls out her lighter. “Later losers!” Mina says harshly as both girls walk away, setting their sights on an unsuspecting Kris Statlander to set aflame nearby. “God, they're the worst!” Adam says through sniffles as Mox kisses his forehead.

“Hey Claudio, I got some balloons filled with cow's blood that I got from work in the trunk of my car. Just give me the word and we'll get on the school roof after-school and ruin their whole day” Mox says seriously as Wheeler and Bryan nod in agreement. “No, not yet Mox first I gotta go find Harley and see what happened” Claudio says as he grabs his backpack. “She's probably in the library! We can go with you if you want!” Wheeler offers, but Claudio refuses.

“She likes to be by herself when things happen to her so I'll go talk to her but you guys can stay close by in the projector room next door” Claudio says, with the others nodding in agreement. “Sounds like a plan dude! Now go get your girl or I'm kicking your ass all the way there myself!” Mox jokingly threatens, causing Claudio to let off a little salute as he runs down the hallway. He makes it down the stairway but stops when he sees hall monitor Marina Shafir on patrol. He sees her with a kendo stick in hand and shudders at the thought of being beaten with it.

He's heard the screams of his fellow classmates being beaten senseless by her when they got caught running. He sneakily gets past Marina and when the close is clear he runs to the library. He goes to the little coffee corner in the library and makes him and Harley's usuals. He searches around and hears his girlfriend crying behind a bookshelf which breaks his heart. “Marco” Claudio says quietly on the other side of the bookshelf. “P-Polo…” Harley says quietly as Claudio comes around and sits next to her.

“I got you your usual Kitty” Claudio says sweetly as he hands Harley her cup. “Regular coffee with extra sugar and caramel creamer?” Harley asks through sniffles. “Just the way you like it meine liebe” Claudio says with a small smile. Harley lays her head on Claudio's shoulder as he wraps his arm around her to pull her closer. They drink their drinks in silence for a few minutes until Claudio speaks up. “Are you ready to talk about it?” Claudio asks, causing Harley to sigh.

“I was working on our art project and you know everything was going great! Then you left and Mr.Nana went to get something from the back room and that's when bad things happened! Mariah cornered me in the classroom while Mina got the class fan and turned it on. Then they dumped wet paint on the blade and it splattered all over me and ruined my outfit!” Harley explains rapidly while moving her hands around.

Claudio looks over his girlfriend's outfit so he can see the damage. She was wearing a green turtleneck shirt with a denim overall romper with embroidered mushrooms on the sides and middle with pink and blue knee-high socks and pink converse. She looked absolutely beautiful in it when he saw her this morning but now he sees her clothes are covered with splotches of dried paint. “Oh kitty, I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to protect you” Claudio apologizes quietly as he wipes away Harley's tears.

“That's not even the worst part they did” Harley says quietly as she shoves her face into Claudio's chest. “What else did they do?” Claudio asks as he gently scratches Harley's scalp. “They said a weirdo like me doesn't deserve to be with a perfect person like you” Harley says truthfully, which makes Claudio a bit angry. “abscheuliche Dämonen” he says under his breath but the time for revenge on them is later, right now he needs to comfort his girlfriend.

“Harley, let me tell you now that what those two did to you was vile and they'll get their comeuppance. Secondly, do you remember what happened on our first date?” Claudio asks, causing Harley to blush. “Yeah, I invited you to my house! I tried to make crepes to impress you but it just ended up with you helping me air the smoke out the house and us ordering pizza” Harley says with a laugh. “That was also when I realized that dessert pizza is very delicious! But do you remember what you said to me after that?” Claudio asks with a smile.

“I apologized and asked you why you even accepted to go on a date with a weirdo like me” Harley says as she looks into Claudio's eyes. “What did I say after you said that?” Claudio asks, causing Harley to blush even more. “That you didn't mind being with me and that weird was lovely” Harley says happily. “That's right, you being weird has changed my life for the better. You were the splash of color I needed in my boring life and I never wanna change that. Love, you being weird is one of the reasons why I fell in love with you among other things” Claudio says truthfully.

Without hesitation, Harley wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. “You are the best boyfriend ever!!!” Harley says through happy tears. “I wouldn't say the best considering I'm weird myself” Claudio says which causes Harley to spring up and look at him. “You? Weird? Impossible!” Harley says enthusiastically, causing Claudio to blush. “Harley, I'm a nerd who loves to play video games, make my own clothes from scratch, bake pastries and knit outfits for my cat… I'm not exactly perfect like everyone thinks I am” Claudio explains sweetly.

“Well, maybe that's why I fell in love with you! Your weirdness is lovely to me too” Harley says affectionately. Claudio leans in and kisses Harley deeply. “I love you so much Harley” Claudio says affectionately. “I love you too Claudio” Harley says back. “The others are waiting in the projector room and Mox said he has balloons full of cow's blood in the trunk of his car… how about we go get the others and throw them at Mariah and Mina on the roof of the school?” Claudio offers with a smirk, making Harley instantly stand up.

“Yes! Let's do it but what about my outfit?” Harley asks as Claudio gets up as well. Claudio then proceeds to take off his turtleneck jacket and puts it on Harley, covering up her paint covered outfit. “Now everyone will know that your the girlfriend of someone people shouldn't fuck with” Claudio says proudly.

“Always a gentleman aren't you? Now come on my Swiss sweetheart! Revenge awaits!” Harley says with a huge grin as she grabs Claudio's hand and runs to the projector room. Claudio just laughs as he gets whisked away by the most weirdest and amazing girl he's ever loved.

[anyone-writing-fanfic-about-moss]

This part of my bookshelf that's about different levels of solarpunk ...

- Make, Sew and Mend, with different sewing techniques to mend clothing

- Doughnut Economics, discussing the failures of current economic theories and ideas for new and better ways of benchmarking economic development

- the Monk and Robot series, sci-fi books set in a utopian post-transition world, and I just want to live in one of the organic-tech-treehouses and drink tea 🥺

[teledyn]

First published in 2012 in an Oxfam report by Kate Raworth, the concept of the Doughnut rapidly gained traction internationally, from the Pope and the UN General Assembly to Extinction Rebellion. Kate's 2017 book, Doughnut Economics: seven ways to think like a 21st century economist,  further explored the economic thinking needed to bring humanity into the Doughnut, drawing together insights from diverse economic perspectives in a way that everyone can understand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8bzgzSr8RQ

[haggishlyhagging]

Anyone who has played the board game Monopoly is well versed in the dynamics of Success to the Successful: players who are lucky enough to land on expensive properties early in the game can buy them up, build hotels, and reap vast rents from their fellow players, thus accumulating a winning fortune as they bankrupt the rest. Fascinatingly, however, the game was originally called ‘The Landlord's Game’ and was designed precisely to reveal the injustice arising out of such concentrated property ownership, not to celebrate it.

The game's inventor, Elizabeth Magie, was an outspoken supporter of Henry George's ideas, and when she first created her game in 1903, she gave it two very different sets of rules to be played in turn. Under the 'Prosperity' set of rules, every player gained each time someone acquired a new property (echoing George's call for a land value tax), and the game was won (by all) when the player who had started out with the least money had doubled it. Under the second, ‘Monopolist’ set of rules, players gained by charging rent to those who were unfortunate enough to land on their properties and whoever managed to bankrupt the rest was the sole winner. The purpose of the dual sets of rules, said Magie, was for players to experience a practical demonstration of the present system of land grabbing with all its usual outcomes and consequences and so understand how different approaches to property ownership can lead to vastly different social outcomes. ‘It might well have been called “The Game of Life”’, remarked Magie, ‘as it contains all the elements of success and failure in the real world.’ But when the games manufacturer, Parker Brothers, bought the patent for The Landlord's Game from Magie in the 1930s, they relaunched it simply as Monopoly and provided the eager public with just one set of rules: those that celebrate the triumph of one over all.

-Kate Raworth, Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist

[female-malice]

Yes, she has 💚

All women should read the work of female economists. And the first female economist you should read is Kate Raworth. You can read the first chapter of her book here. And then buy her book or check it out from your library. And then explore all the work she does with her economics lab.

[sydmarch]

A COLD LOOK AT CANADIAN HORROR IN BRANDON CRONENBERG’S ANTIVIRAL

When Americans think of Canada, they usually think of preternaturally-polite hosers sitting in igloos, drinking Molson or Labatt beer, watching hockey on the CBC as they dunk their Tim Hortons doughnuts in maple syrup, all the while dreaming of clubbing seals (much to Morrissey’s dismay). I don’t think Americans give much thought to Canada at all, and that’s okay. We’re not a threat to national security (despite our nationwide legalization of cannabis), we supply you with a steady stream of actors and comedians, and we’re your #1 economic trading partner, so what’s to worry about? Except that Canada concocts your nightmares, dear friends, and the irony is simply delicious: who would expect a bland nation-state of moose-loving people to be sinister sadists? It’s particularly omnipresent when watching Canadian horror films. Our film industry is, well, a speck of dust compared to the mighty Hollywood machine, but, occasionally, our celluloid chillers travel south of the 49thparallel and feast on your delicate minds. Since 1961’s The Mask (in 3D!), Canada has impacted the horror genre with its domestic terror: Black Christmas, My Bloody Valentine, Prom Night, The Changeling, Curtains, Blood and Donuts, Cube, Ginger Snaps, and more recent fare like American Mary, Pyewacket, and the Wolf Cop films. Who else would make a movie about an insane killer with a pickax terrorizing Moosehead-swilling Nova Scotia miners? Only in Canada, eh? This collection of Canadian horror helped inspire a new generation of talent to make big impressions with small budgets with such films as Beyond the Black Rainbow and Antiviral, the latter a film so American in its examination of celebrity worship, but at heart very Canadian, with a distinct connection to its filmic past.

In order to examine Antiviral, one cannot ignore the influence of Canada’s greatest and best-known filmmaker, David Cronenberg. With his over-sized glasses and gangly appearance, Cronenberg looks like an English major who shuns sunlight in order to read Angela Carter stories in a library basement, but his dark creativity has no equal. If the term body horror applied to any one filmmaker, it’s Cronenberg.  With his full-length debut, Shivers (made with Canadian government money—”screw you, taxpayer”, as the Kids in the Hall used to say), Cronenberg created a nightmare vision of an isolated luxury Montréal apartment tower gone awry; not unlike J. G. Ballard’s novel, High-Rise, but with a parasitic-organism twist. Despite its low-budget exploitation origins, Shivers was more than just schlocky fun—it heralded the arrival of a unique cinematic voice in a national film industry known more for documentaries than narrative cinema. With each film, Cronenberg expanded his obsession with the human body and technology, culminating with Videodrome (1983) and The Fly (1986), arguably his two most acclaimed films. Cronenberg’s breakthrough in the USA helped fellow Canadian filmmakers like Atom Egoyan, Patricia Rozema, Bruce MacDonald, Guy Maddin, Lynne Stopkewich, and a handful of others impress the American independent film community; Canadian film budgets were on par with the likes of Jim Jarmusch and Hal Hartley. By the ’90s, Cronenberg moved away from horror, but horror never truly left him: from adaptations of two of his literary heroes, William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch (1993) and J. G. Ballard’s Crash (1996), to eXistenZ (1999), Spider (2002), A History of Violence (2005), and his last (and possibly final) film, Map to the Stars (2014).  Outside of The Fly, his films have never electrified the box office, but they have always been profitable worldwide, allowing him to remain in Toronto with his loyal film crew; a rarity in an industry that often forces Canadian creatives to flee to Hollywood for exposure and employment. Cronenberg has been an influence on aspiring Canadian filmmakers and his influence on contemporary Canadian cinema, including Antiviral, is evident.

Antiviral is the product of artist/filmmaker Brandon Cronenberg, son of David, so it’s no coincidence that the film draws influences from Cronenberg Senior’s work. I’m reminded of a quote from Superman, “The son becomes the father, and the father…the son.” I don’t seek to diminish Brandon’s work in Antiviral by referencing his famous father, but rather acknowledge a debut so accomplished, even as raw as it is, that it can be attributed partly to the influence of his father’s work. And make no mistake, there are elements in Antiviral that wouldn’t seem out of place in Papa David’s work. The film played at Cannes and TIFF in 2012, received mostly good reviews, and then disappeared, which is a shame, as it’s a rewarding low-budget film that will connect with film aficionados who like their cinema on the cold and satirical side.

In an unnamed Canadian metropolis, Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones), an employee of Lucas Clinic, aids people in becoming closer to their favorite celebrities by injecting them willingly with various viruses collected from the rich and famous. Lucas Clinic’s number one celebrity, Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon) is nearly too popular to keep all their clients happy. Syd steals viruses to sell on the black market by injecting himself surreptitiously, transferring them into the Ready-Face console, a revolutionary machine that identifies the “face of the virus” for copyright protection from competitors, removing it from the incubator—Syd—and preventing the virus from spreading to another host. When a fellow Lucas Clinic salesman is arrested for viral theft, Caleb is instructed to obtain a strange new virus Geist has contracted in China that is sure to be highly profitable. Syd wrecks his machine trying to transfer the new virus and the media has reported that Geist has died. Realizing that he’s dying from the same disease, Syd tangles with corporate competitors and black marketeers in the hope of finding a cure. 

Brandon Cronenberg doesn’t make it easy for the casual filmgoer to enjoy Antiviral: it is, by intention, a cold film—we’re talking Kubrickian cold—so it’s not one to pop into the Blu-ray player on a sleepy weeknight. The film’s characters and setting don’t provide humanity or warmth and it’s highly apparent in the desaturation of color: the Lucas Clinic (likely named in honor of George Lucas and his first film, THX 1138, a fellow dystopian film drained of color and humanity) is a sterile monochromatic shrine to all things white. Syd’s apartment is also white and spartan, save for the Ready-Face console hidden away in his closet. Lucas employees, mostly men (save for a woman who’s in charge of the clinic’s pathogen storage), all wear dark suits and white shirts uniformly—there are no pops of color, stylish glasses, or fun pocket squares. Even Lucas Clinic’s competitor, Vole and Tessier, is no less drab, its corridors equally lifeless and industrial. Everyone looks pale, particularly Syd, even before he injects himself with viruses; people everywhere appear ghoulish because they’re not living, they’re merely existing, consuming nothing but celebrity news (and maybe a side of celebrity brisket). Most shots feel like fluorescence was used for lighting and it aids in the ghoul factor, if not making for a beautiful image. Antiviral’s exterior shots of Toronto and nearby Hamilton (often—and unfairly—ridiculed by Torontonians as being the “Pittsburgh of Canada”) indicate a cold, drab, overcast sky over a city without beauty—nothing but an industrial wasteland (sorry again, Hamilton). 

The film borrows from several famous dystopian sources, but it’s Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World that Antiviral shares the strongest connection (not to disrespect George Orwell’s 1984, which I think is a fine dystopian novel, great for teachable moments in school, kids, but I’ve always felt Huxley’s novel is far more subtle and insidious of a society that lacks genuine human interaction and emotion, courtesy of soma and feelies).  In Antiviral, there is no connection between people—everyone stares transfixed at TV screens that display endless celebrity gossip. Drugs don’t appear to be a distraction—it’s the allure of feeling connected to a celebrity that’s as powerful as any drug. Everyone is subdued, and there is little in the way of emoting unless it’s reacting to a celebrity’s death or accident. Before he can transfer his purloined pathogens to the Ready-Face console, Syd’s landlady observes that he looks like he’s becoming ill (something his co-workers state repeatedly), but not out of care or concern; his well being is an obstacle to her perpetual gossip consumption. Outside of minutiae, the only thing discussed between the two is Hannah Geist. His co-workers discuss with him the types of maladies suffered by celebrities, but nobody asks personal questions. They stand in line to pick up the latest disease (Aria Noble, another deified celebrity, has a flu virus labeled S-915) to pass along to their customers; no small-talk about weekends spent or marital problems, just work work work. Syd speaks softly to his clients, inspiring them with the chance to be close to their favorite celebrity via a unique disease, but it’s just a polished sales pitch. Black marketeers assault Syd in order to steal a virus (oh and a sample of that rash) in casual fashion because humans are a commodity, thanks to the rich and famous who sell their illnesses to greedy corporations. Humanity is not a never-ending series of adventures, it’s a means to one end: feeling like being in a celebrity’s skin. 

Antiviral also shares a connection to Philip K. Dick with the Ready-Face machine, something the infamously-paranoid author could have easily conjured in one of his many fever dreams. Like much of Dick’s classic science fiction novels, the Ready-Face is a remarkable piece of technology and innovation, but its collection of gears and clunky parts suggest otherwise. The idea that a private corporation has developed a technology to identify person’s unique disease and prevent its “unlawful” duplication is also something akin to Dick’s world of tape-spewing simulacrums used for corporate profit. Lucas Clinic’s founder, Dorian Lucas (Nicholas Campbell), repeatedly spouts bland corporate platitudes about serving the public’s celebrity worship and “propriety rights” of pathogens, selling his thinly-veiled dream of avarice to his employees in a staff gathering. The Ready-Face technology is incredible, but nothing else in the world seems as it should—some people think the film is set in the near future, but if so, it’s one in which smartphones and other personal devices don’t exist. I like to think of Antiviral as existing in a parallel reality, one in which HD TVs exist, but everything is analogous to analog technology—Syd uses a flip alarm clock radio (ask your parents, kids!). Perhaps budgetary limitations are at work, but I think it’s fitting: in a world where there is only celebrity obsession, how could innovation exist beyond the desire to exploit a profitable opportunity? Syd’s world is akin to the Earth as depicted in Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (the inspiration for Blade Runner), in which all the ambitious, innovative humans have left their home world for dazzling colonies in the solar system; the people who remain on Earth are the disenfranchised, the unambitious, the sick and elderly, and the criminal dregs of society. In the world of Antiviral, there is no societal progression, only stasis, as people are content only to be close to their beloved celebrity. 

As a piece of satire, Antiviral is truly horrific—people paying great sums of money, willing to endure painful maladies to feel close to a famous person is completely absurd, especially in 2012, when the film was released, but even seven years later, the volume of media focused on celebrity has grown exponentially. Many of us watch TMZ daily for celebrity news (or to be “culturally aware”, as Lynne, a dear former co-worker described it). We use smartphones and apps to track the movements of celebrities; traditional advertising using celebrity spokespeople isn’t just found on TV and magazines (while they exist), but in social media apps. People on Instagram are often called “influencers” (which truly makes my blood run cold), desperate to attract more followers by pitching companies’ wares for free swag or remuneration. The Kardashians, a cabal—sorry, a family–of craven, profit-hungry individuals who are not famous as the result of any creative endeavor, but because they’re simply wealthy (their dad knew OJ!) are the antecedent to Antiviral’s Hannah Geist. As a celebrity, she is nearly god-like: her image is everywhere and worshipped, but she’s unobtainable unless one experiences one of her diseases. Even her personal doctor, Dr. Abendroth (a wonderfully subdued Malcolm McDowell), a man of science, is not immune to her power as a goddess. He confesses to Syd that Hannah isn’t just a patient to him, and the viewer suspects he has genuine personal feelings for her, but, alas, he too is under her spell, as he proffers an arm that features several skin grafts of Hannah and others (Papa Cronenberg would be proud). Society continues to distract itself by “living” vicariously through a chosen few, stagnating at the expense of that devotion. All the positive attributes of humanity are missing: no pursuit of knowledge, no ambition to improve oneself, no progression of any kind. There is only corporate greed exploiting an inert society and the black marketeers want a piece of that action: “I don’t even think ‘dignity’ is still a valid currency,” remarks one unsavory marketeer, confirming how devolved humanity has become. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the butcher shop, Astral Bodies Meat Market. Oh, it’s a window into a different time, when a customer could go walk in, the jingle of the door bells alerting smiling butchers, and calmly pick up a couple of pork chops and a side of bacon. In Antiviral, ye olde butcher shop has transformed into something hilarious and yet terrifying: it sells celebrity meat (Soylent Green indeed)! During my initial viewing, I thought the butcher shop nicknamed cuts of meat with celebrity names, but no, it is literal human muscle tissue, grown from cells sold to them by said celebrities. The butcher, Arvid (a calmly creepy Joe Pingue), who moonlights as a pathogen black marketeer, slices celebrity skin nonchalantly, offering a sample to Syd, free of charge (it’s even wrapped in craft paper and butcher’s twine). When Hannah dies from her mysterious illness, the demand for her “meat” increases, creating a lineup outside of Astral Bodies, customers impatient to buy what few cuts remain (don’t worry—Arvid is harvesting those cells for a future limited-time-only sale). One could argue that Astral Bodies is a bit of heavy-handedness, but I think it’s demonstrative of the celebrity communion theme in Antiviral; it’s funny and creepy at the same time, but it’s a satirical note in the unhealthy devotion to unattainable people.

What’s also very telling is that at no point does the viewer learn what specifically has catapulted Hannah into stardom. I thought she was a famous actor, but multiple viewings confirm her enigmatic celebrity. Sarah Gadon appears angelic (Brandon having borrowed from his father’s repertory company), but she doesn’t appear very much in the film; her character, however is always present in some form, always discussed, and the impetus for corporate espionage. The only flourishes of color involve Hannah, whether by flowers surrounding her bed as she recuperates from an illness in China (but not too sick to sell it to Lucas Clinic) and a video recreation of her (the film’s analog “virtual reality”) surrounded by red velvet curtains. Even Syd feels the pull of her power–in one pivotal scene there is a Christ-like communion involving Hannah’s blood that he performs in her honor. Color is only worthy of a god—Hannah’s worshippers can must remain in a monochromatic existence. Her mother, Dev (Sheila McCarthy), and Dr. Abendroth are concerned about her health as she succumbs to the disease, but it’s not so much for her well being as it is for her value as a commodity and status as a god. Dev Geist is a stand-in for Kris Jenner, she of the nauseating sobriquet “momager”, a woman with a vested interest in her daughter in order to acquire additional wealth and power. Dev and the doctor concoct a bit of subterfuge by faking Hannah’s death, as it’s revealed that Vole and Tesser are behind Hannah’s unknown illness, compliments of corporate sabotage. Syd is the key to finding an antidote, so he has value, but not as a person, but as another means to an end; altruism is very dead in Antiviral. The faked death has unintended, but profitable consequences for some: Syd, slowly deteriorating from Hannah’s disease, is kidnapped by one black marketeer in order to film his descent into death: “Since her tragic passing, many of Hannah’s admirers have experienced what could be described as an uncomfortable narrative gap between her life and funeral.” Syd is to be a living-yet-dying testament to Hannah for all to see: he’s placed in a sterile white room containing only a cot and Hannah’s visage adorned to each wall. It’s all part of an elaborate corporate scheme of legal loopholes and immorality that is depressing and inhuman as one can imagine. Everyone is a commodity, voluntarily or not.

Brandon Cronenberg’s Antiviral is a clever piece of satire, able to tell its story on a modest budget and it succeeds. Syd is not a likeable character by design; he’s a vessel, literally and figuratively, to narrate an unnerving tale of a society that has ignored its own needs for the sake of worshipping others. The film is unrelentingly bleak, much like David Cronenberg’s best films, and there is no happy ending—it exists as a Swiftian warning to the viewer: wake the hell up! Focus on your own life, don’t be a sycophant or a disciple who shrivels away in distraction. Beware of the false idols, lest ye sacrifice thine own humanity (does that sound Biblical enough?). Antiviral is an impressive introduction to Brandon Cronenberg and I’m giddy with anticipation for his second film, the upcoming Possessor (with Jennifer Jason Leigh!). Getting a film financed isn’t easy, particularly in Canada (I imagine a grant submission to Telefilm Canada is a nightmare in its own right), so Brandon Cronenberg’s Antiviral is an artistic accomplishment, itself an inspiration for the next wave of Canadian filmmakers, but one that wears the father’s influence proudly and reverently. 

[aeoki]

Atlantis - Underwater: Chapter 4

Location: Okinawa Restaurant Characters: Touri, Yuzuru & Wataru Season: Winter

TL Note:

This is an Okinawan sweet deep-fried bun similar to a doughnut.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ< A few hours later. A new Okinawa restaurant located in the ES neighbourhood. >

Wataru: I see! So that’s what you talked about while I was away!

Thank goodness it was a topic I have no interest in!

It makes me sad to be left out of the loop, but I wouldn’t have to feel that way if it’s a topic I’m uninterested in!

Touri: You should take an interest in it – it’s something important.

Wataru: I don’t particularly care what becomes of ES. To take it a step further, I’d say I don’t care what becomes of the idol industry!

What I deem important are the stories spun by those I have an interest in and those who fascinate me. That is where my interest lies.

Eichi has a habit of excessively talking about those sorts of topics, so I thought it would be best if I gained the necessary political and economic knowledge to understand the things he says.

Touri: That’s like what a sports fan would say if it’s a sport they’re not interested in.

Wataru: A fitting expression! Amazing! ☆

Oh, I shall order this soumen – the fine white noodle dish.

Phew, today’s performance was rather rigorous and I’m exhausted. It seems I only have the stomach for something easily digestible.

Touri: You��re talking like a human being for a change, Hibiki-senpai.

Yuzuru: Indeed. It’s also rare for you to eat with us.

Wataru: Hehehe. I figured I should keep up to date with the things you’ve discussed.

Deepening our bonds over a meal as fellow members of the same unit once in a while is rather nice, isn’t it?

Touri: Eichi-sama had to leave earlier since he had something work-related at his parent’s home, though.

Yuzuru: It appears Eichi-sama had made the wrong choice. He must have felt the need to choose a replacement for the young master in great haste.

Touri: Uuu… Isn’t that too fast? I still haven’t given him a proper answer yet.

Wataru: What do you mean?

Touri: To tell the truth, it seems Eichi-sama wants to let me manage one of the branch offices related to “Project-ATLANTIS”.

He said he needed someone like a boss there and that he wanted it to be someone skilled and trustworthy.

Wataru: I see, I see? By appointing someone who will be his arms and legs to manage the branch office, Eichi’s ideas will reach every corner of the country…

Yuzuru: That’s right. It seems that’s the reason why he selected the Young Master.

Wataru: A boss at one of ES’ branches, huh. That’s a very surprising choice for someone so young.

Why did you turn him down, Himegimi?

Touri: I–I didn’t! But I was lacking sleep and in a pathetic state, and we even talked about how busy I was with the student council election…

That’s probably why Eichi-sama decided I couldn’t do it… He must have thought that he couldn’t push more things onto my plate.

I’d be fine with it, though. If it’s something that Eichi-sama believes I can do and wants me to manage, then I definitely would’ve worked super hard to meet his expectations.

Wataru: He must’ve had concerns about you pushing yourself too far, Himegimi. You collapsed during “SS” as well, so he must have thought that you might really be in danger this time.

Touri: I–In my eyes, that was the biggest blunder of my life too!

But did Eichi-sama lose faith in me because of that? Because I collapsed…?

Wataru: No, no. It should be said that Eichi is beginning to repent. He realised the responsibilities he had given you were far too heavy.

Touri: So, that’s basically saying I can’t be given anything to do because I’m useless!

Yuzuru: Young Master, we’re in public. Please keep your voice down.

Touri: I know. …Oh, sorry, I’ll have a sata andagi[⁎], please.

Wataru: You’ll gain weight if you eat a lot of sweet foods. Well, having some weight on your bones makes you nice and squishy and that’s rather adorable in itself.

Eichi has been working himself to the bone as of late and looks rather gaunt, so I’m beside myself with worry.

Yuzuru: Putting on weight is a lifestyle disease so that also worries me, though.

Touri: Hmph. I’m stressed so I need to release it by eating something sweet.

Yuzuru: Hehe. If it’s a concern that you can forget by simply eating something sweet, then that would be wonderful. I shall overlook it for today.

Touri: I think it’s going to be on my mind for a while, though… In the end, I didn’t accept it but I heard all the details.

If I had more time for it… if I had grown stronger and more impressive, then maybe I would’ve been involved with that sort of big undertaking.

I think this feeling of regret will go away soon enough. No, actually I think I’ll regret it forever.

Wataru: Isn’t it too early to give up?

Touri: What do you mean?

Wataru: Like I said, if you have regrets, or rather, if you’re interested in that matter, then all you have to do is to ask Eichi to let you be involved in it.

You seem to think Eichi’s decisions cannot be reversed no matter what, but that’s not true at all.

I’m sure if you ask him sincerely, then it’s unlikely that Eichi will say no.

That’s how important you are to him. That’s why he tried to involve you in that plan of his.

Yuzuru: After all, he said he wanted to leave it to someone he trusts. I’m sure there aren’t many people Eichi-sama can think of in situations like those.

Wataru: That’s what happens when you decide to lead a life that provokes antipathy. Himegimi, you should work hard to not be like him in those aspects.

Touri: Okay… Judging by how the student council election is proceeding, it just feels like I’m just doing what Eichi-sama did, though. 

I didn’t know I was antagonising everyone…

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