#i dont even care if he was akiller

[a-v-j]

He couldnt be THIS happy

Akills and Hryxy

Content warning:

yandere fever, bad puns, emotional conflict(but not as bad like with averse), dick mention, character aware of going OOC, panic attack, emotional outburst, knives, bit of self-harm, character believing they dont deserve a happy ending, hryxy doesnt know what to do but he's trying his best, hurt/comfort, author speaks/side comments, not really a polish fic so format can be a bit wonky

Written by @nyxus-nyx and me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akills=Italic

Hryxy=Bold

Previously(suggestive warning)

Akills decided to chill here after his strenuous activity 🚬

Hryxy appears behind Akills and stares down at him. His body was still half morphed beast as his tail dragged on the ground making scrapping sounds.

Akills flicks the cigarette and stomps on it

"not having a good day too, big guy"

He says so from his sitting position

(shiiiit i forgot Hryxy's in yandere-)

"Shit…." He hissed st himself

Hryxy just stared as he crouched down to Akills and tilted his head. His tail swaying more.

"i cant really tell if youre happy to see me or if youre plotting my demise already inside your head"

He deadpanned, staring back into hyrxy, trying to read something behind those eyes

”no.”

He fully sat, as his tail twitched and stopped fully. His eyes fixated on akills.

He cant really read hyrxy right now. Mild confusion etched to akills' face as he raised a brow

"…"

"Then what's in your mind, big guy"

”You..”

His tail began to sway and drag again, his mouth twitches. His claws flex a bit in the sweater pockets. The empty eyesocket continues to stare.

Akills tsk-ed and leans back.

"Well i hope it's not about chewing me. M'not in the mood"

Casually recalling how the thing with lavendar the first time he did it again after a long while. Doesn't mean much to him though, but boy it did left his body a little bit sore

"…"

"Ya gonna keep staring at me or …?"

Hryxy shook his head as he grabbed Akills and pull him onto his lap. His tail wraps around him along with his arms as his bodu warms up. Slowly releasing pain relief and healin magic.

“Tired.”

Akills tensed as he was randomly picked up and squished against Hryxy. He loosened up, feeling the other's healing magic

"Hey- didnt asked for this, just to let you know"

He stated as if he's gonna pull away but made no attempt to

Hryxy chuckled as his body slowly went to normal. He held onto Akills.

“Dont have to ask.. i already know.”

He sighed restin his head on Akills.

"well youre awfully touchy than usual"

He says, pretending to not know hyryxy is having some yandere fever going on

"Is there something you want from me?"

”No.”

He just sighed and held em. He grumbled.

“I know you, you know of this damn.. fever.”

Akills chuckled dryly

"Dont look at me, nobody knows what fixes that crap"

Akills took a long while to realized that this had probably the longest he's being touched that doesn't involve being chewed, pinned or generally in a pain inducing situation and it actually feels…nice? Gosh it's been so long

”Do you.. like dark chocolate?”

He mumbled as he reaches into his own shorts pockets searching for soemthing. He grumbles struggling to find the soemthing.

"heh, i dont really desire food anymore"

Akills says as he's being slightly juggled around in Hryxy's attempt to search something in his pocket

"And i doubt whatever you're finding is even actual chocolate-"

”Surprisingly it is.”

He chuckled as he pulled it out. He pulled infront of them both and opens it.

“Im not a monster without taste.”

"that's a first. I assumed youre gonna pull out some pieces of brains and call it chocolate"

”Haha.. cant blame ya for that..”

He breaks it in half and offers it to Akills. He didnt care if he couldnt feel the need or cant eat. He has his own reasons why hes offering it.

“Its a bit salty sense i was in a rush gettin it.. was trying to get the sweeter one..”

Akills accepts it and takes a bite, a huge one

"Not complaining, it's a nice gesture coming from you, might as well do the same"

”Mm..”

He bites his half almost biting it all off.

“If you dont want the things i give or do.. tell me.”

"heh"

He rolled his eyes, as he gobbled up the last bite of his chocolate

"I'll let you know"

He finished the bite and ate the rest, his arm going back around Akills.

He rested his head back on Akills. He closed his eye sighing contently.

“Your body temperature mixes from cold and hot.. its funny..”

"what can i say, im all bones and no meat"

Akills sighed humorously, getting a bit comfortable being in the others embrace

He chuckled.

“Makes sense, your a skeleton. If so, id have to pick a Bone with you.. would try to eat it.”

He smiles a lil, his teeth hidden by his curved lips.

“Im bad at puns.. its been years..”

"real humerus, bud"

"Really tickled my funny bone"

He genuinely chuckled to himself this time, he internally thought for himself, he's not been joke-y since. It's quite nostalgic to simply humour around

"It's been years for me too"

He nods and his arms wrapped around more. Similar to a bear.

“Tell me soemthin interesting sbout you..”

His voice almost sounded as a purr as he closed his eye.

Akills almost on reflex attempted to friendly tap Hryxy for getting a bit tight there but he just lets him

"Well…besides having an expressive dick and absolutely charming- wait, am i really developing a personality right now?"

He chuckles to himself, with feelings this time. It's funny

"Im feeling funny"

It's like his old self is stirring back to him but he couldn't care, it feels nice. He usually wouldn't be caught dead having his old self back but this one feels like there's none of the bad things, he feels the him who was happy. Happy WITH someone

"Hehe, im feeling really out of character right now"

”Ha. Maybe your being developed..”

He loosens his arms for him more, he twitches a lil as his chest begans to itch.

Akills made Hryxy's arm stay in place

"Dont even think about it, big guy"

””Sorry. Sorry.”

His smile twitches as his body begans to itch. These feelings are weird. But he grins wider.

"hehe, i know right. It's weird and fluffy. It's so gay, haha"

He gives a friendly pat on the other's arm. A vision of just giving hryxy some belly rub crossed his mind but he knows better to think that's one hell of an idea

He laughed as he leaned back some, trying to rub his back on something.

“Makes you think this is a dream..”

Akills twitched as a foul memory flashed before him, setting him to haphazardly pry himself out of Hryxy's arms. Reality is sinking itself and he knows damn well he was in this situation before. What if it IS a dream.

This is too good to be true

He couldn't be THIS happy. Especially with SOMEONE.

What a joke

Akills scurried away from Hryxy. He shook, his hand gripping on his shirt as he tries to get himself back to calm. He looks like he's about to have a panic attack and shoot out his knives out of sheer anger at these…"feelings"

Hryxy just sat there his arms to his sides.

“Do you need to stab somethin.?”

He didnt feel like tackling or makin him more upset.

Akills did not respond but his hands started to shake more and glowed.

After a split second, a sonic boom kind of wave emanated from him and around him was a dangerous amount of knives, more than his magic supply could summon. He heavily breathes thru his mouth as he shakenly shut them tight in a grit. His face pure of hate and anger, his eyelight narrowed as he began throwing all his attacks everywhere where Hryxy isnt.

Dust and debris flew to the air as his attacks penetrated the ground with so much force, the sound almost felt like explosions as it continues to rain knives.

As the dust subsides, there alone akills barely standing. It appears that he cut against himself as well. He was trembling to stay standing.

He has his back still at Hryxy. He slowly turn, face void of any emotions but with almost dried streaks of tears barely visible against the stain on his face.

"… it's fine now.."

He monotoned

He tried to walk back to Hryxy, he barely made it as he collapsed

Hryxy quickly caught him and sighed, he looked down at Akills. His face full of confusion and worry.

“The more ypu do that.. the more im most likely going to tackle you.”

Hryxy huffed and sat Akills back on his lap and started to take off his hoodie.(Not Akills' l o l)

Akills seems to response back in a form of a groan. Being the weakest of autos when it comes to magic, his energy consuming attack earlier completely drained him, and he's unable to heal himself of the multiple cuts he brought upon himself. He's rendered immovable.

Hryxy puts the hoodie on Akills and he goes back to the bear hug and starts to heal him.

“Would be funny if a knife hit me in the face.”

He chuckled

If only akills have some energy left in him, he gladly would without hesitation. But right now, he's helpless, vulnerable, and weak. Might take a while for him to deliver Hryxy's request. Right now he has to heal

”Wanna know something funny. I cant die unless my soul is crushed.”

He stared at the endless abyss of this room. He just kept healing Akills.

“Can’t feel pain unless is afflicted on my soul.”

Hryxy was only met with the sounds of akills' breathing but it gives off a sense that the smaller skeleton is listening, he felt more relaxed now

”I don’t think the fever.. affects me much. Im still me just more.. clingy i should say.”

He shrugged his claws twitch and his chest itched. He only wore a white bloodied tangtop.

“I talk to much..”

It's interesting enough to know hryxy is able to bounce back from the effects of the fever. In fairness, it's only worse at the beginning and in the end, but he seems to do well managing the middle part of the process. Akills' tried to open his socket with little energy he has, he wants the other to know he's listening still

Hryxy leaned back abit, giving Akills some kind of space. Hryxy ruffles his hair and rubbed his temples. Itching at chest now sense has room now.

“God.. fuckin.. damnit.”

A hand quickly but sluggishly placed itself on Hryxy's claws that's scratching his chest, Akills' had his socket closed again but a small frown form itself on his mouth

Hryxy froze his head looked down at Akills hand. His chest began to itch more then ever before. His claw twitches under the others hand.

“What..”

Akills' response was nothing but silence, his mouth twitches as if trying to say something but it feels like he's having sleep paralysis. What will hryxy be doing next?

Hryxy begins to salivate and looks away, he grits his teeth. Scratching helps him not feel this weird things in his body. It keeps him from lashing out almost to what akills does but less cool. He laughed to himself but it turned into a growl.

“Can.. you scratch it.. if i cant..”

"…"

Akills' hand that's trying to stop the claw felt lighter, indicating the small skeleton is letting him do what he must. Remembering how the scratching could only mean that some nasty thing will happen, he just felt a bit… concerned with his own situation. He's very prone to the whatever may result if the bigger guy keeps on scratching

He scratches it but not as rough. His body is aching, but he used more of his magic to heal Akills.

“You remind me of a cat sometimes haha..”

He licks his teeth from the drool.

Akills brows slightly bunched together, seemingly disagreeing to Hryxy's statement. He was able to open his eye slightly and for a split second, one can see his eyelight was looking directly at the halfbreed before closing again

”Cats are cute yet dangerous. Could claw your eyes out.”

He humed as he slowly drifts into past memories. The flowers. The names. Mother..

He twitched clenching his claw into a fist.

“Fun times..”

If there's two things akills hate in the world, it'd be being called cute and being compared to a cat, he hates cats.

"…"

He tried to move his hand that was still somewhere on Hryxy, in an attempt to get the other to relax a bit after sensing some tension from the other from recalling past memories

Hryxy caught Akills hand and kept it there. His body begins to shift and goes into beast mode, his body holding akills like a dragon with its eggs. He grumbled not wanting Akills to leave yet.

It's not like akills can move at the moment anyway.

akills tried to crack his sockets open to let hryxy know he's still damn awake, and he's able to open em a little and and a bit longer.

Hryxy rests his head on Akills lap and sighed and his red eyelight closes. His body warming up more. The hesling magic increases along with pain soothinf magic.

Akills' finger twitched in an attempt to start moving any of his limbs. He was able to sloppily move his hand to be place on top of Hryxy's head but it kinda smacked the other's face on the way, but it made it's way to the place akills want it to be.

Hryxy didnt mind the small hit but he soon leaned into the others touch. His horns and some waht spikey ears bend back a bit. Liking the others touch.

Akills sighed in content, feeling a lot better. He blinks a couple time and looks down at Hryxy on his lap, brushing his thumb on the other's soft furred head. He eventually was able to fully stroke it, his finger softly combs thru the other fur. He wiggled his feet and toes a bit and made a small stretch, glad to finally able to move. He goes back to relaxing and a nap feels like a very good idea right now. He kept stroking Hryxy's head as he slowly closes his sockets.

The End :D

Next

[lord-cerberus]

【 PARAGRAPH REPLY EXAMPLES — ☆ 】

Akilles’s back was straight, arms aligned with his desk and his hands intertwined. “You seem like quite the man, Kirov,” he said, tilting his head to the side. On his face was a sly smile, thin, cracked lips threatening to open the scabs on them and break open. “I'm sure you'd be quite the addition to our family. If you get in, that is.”

With that, Kirov was sent off to God knows where—Akilles certainly didn't give a fuck.

He stood up from his chair and stretched, his back cracking multiple times in unsavory places like his body was about to fall apart, like it was a doll with weak joints.

“I'm surprised you showed up here, my dearest Kirov.”

Internally, Akilles was tearing out his hair—he normally saved affectionate nicknames for when his “coworkers” had begun to trust them a little more, but considering how Kirov seemed to be a bit spaced out at all times, they probably wouldn't care. Akilles bowed at an unnatural angle, but it really only seemed like he was a talented and submissive gay magician. It was hot, he ended up taking his jacket off and rolling up his sleeves, showing his long arms and bony elbows. “Follow me, why don't you? I managed to get some treats for my coworkers, and starting today you'll be one of them—so why don't we head to the makeshift cafeteria first?” he asked, waving Kirov along as his fingers wiggled theatrically.

( ───────── )

Akilles was a bit taken aback by Kirov’s lack of professionalism, but considering his hobbies he probably shouldn't be one to judge. Hesitantly, he thanked Kirov as they complimented his thin stature—most people found the way he moved unnatural, intimidating, maybe even repulsive. Firmly he grabbed Kirov’s shoulder, pushing him along. “I said, we're going to the cafeteria.” He made a detour for the desk at the front lobby, where the seat was abandoned, stil slightly spinning as if the receptionist had just left. A sign saying the receptionist was taking a break was placed on the desk, but Akilles paid it no mind. He grabbed a few tissues and shoved them into Kirov’s hands. “Are you doing okay, Kirov? You seem sick. Even if today was your first day, even I would have preferred for you to call in sick and prevent getting all of us ill too,” he hummed, continuing to guide Kirov to the cafeteria.

They passed by a bathroom with multiple stalls, the door still open. As Kirov’s head turned to look at the mirrors inside of it, he could have sworn he saw the reflection of a stranger—but when he looked around, there was no one there, save for Akilles.

( ───────── )

"Were you digging through trash or something?" Amihan asks.

He walks from where they were hiding at the corner of the building, approaching the stranger calmly. They don't respond. Amihan grins and tilts his head slightly, bleached and dyed hair scratching their face. "Come on, it was a joke! Liven up a bit. Here," he says, handing the person a water bottle, "you look tired as hell. Don't forget to drink, especially in the summer!"

Amihan pouts slightly when the stranger doesn't respond, and he waves his hand with the waterbottle in front of their face. "Hello?? You there? Don't tell me I need to call 911, ambulances cost a fortune..."

( ───────── )

"Whoa whoa whoa, calm down buddy!" Amihan started to feel dizzy as he held out his hands in front of him defensively, his eyes flickering from the stranger's eyes to his hand in his pocket. "...And dont bring out that knife on me either! I was just gonna ask you some questions about the recent killings in this place, ya know?"

He readjusted his hold on his shitty camera, feeling his sweaty hand starting to slip off of it. "And anyway, I don't bring poisoned water around with me! That's *my* water bottle, you know! Come on, I'm hot 'n hungry, I'll get some ice cream to calm us both down! But have some water first, you look horrible. No offense." He pouted and put his free hand on his hip.

( ───────── )

“I mean…” Makisig tilts his hand back and forth, a grimace appearing on his face. Most of his teeth seemed decently sharp—even those that shouldn't be, and his canines were especially long, too. If he'd had a sense of smell, that would probably make his job ten times easier, but then again, did sinthe even *have* a scent?

“They… dooooo…? They're like, used for, ah—keeping the wheel attached to the, yanno, body of the barrow. I must admit, I'm not much of a mechanics expert so I can't confidently say what the plate would be used for, or it's real name, but I'm at least, like eighty-percent sure they exist. Hehe.”

Makisig watches as the cat… fox… boy… thing? shrinks down and hugs onto a box. He towers over them in this position, making him feel at least a little bit more confident about his position. Hey, maybe he can rat some information out of this guy (haha, rat. Get it? ‘Cause he's a cat. Probably) and scare them into keeping quiet! They don't seem too hard to convince, anyway.

He laughs as he stops speaking and the giggle dies down; he lets his face relax into something of a self-pitying expression and looks down at the ground, his ears drooping.

“Actually, I'm more of a new recruit. I just joined the, uh, backstage posse. The boss is kinda scary, and it makes it hard to focus on his instructions ‘cause I'm worried he's gonna bite my head off, haha! So… sorry if I scared ya there. Between work and rest and props, I've had barely any time to introduce myself to any other crew members,” he explains, hoping his woe-is-me act isn't completely see-through. He's never been good at pretending to be a real person.

Tentatively, he lets out a gloved hand. “What play are you a part of, hmm? My name is Makisig.”

( ───────── )

Makisig laughed haughtily, covering his fanged mouth with a gloved hand. "Well, it should be here, unless someone else has taken it. Which would be… a threat to our production." He gave another thin smile. It fell short almost immediately after he broke eye contact with the man in the dress and he wandered around the room, opening up another box full of props and wondering if plates really did exist on wheels. They should, right? They help keep… something from breaking, whatever it is, he assumes. So it wouldn't be a far shot to hope that something along those lines would be in here, now would it?

He continued looking for some sort of mechanical opponent to bullshit his way out of his situation, humming to himself in thought as he lifted things up and down. He'd appreciate avoiding tearing apart this backstage as much as necessary, especially since he doesn't know when the play after this ballet would actually be. As he continued blindly sifting through boxes, he thought about all possible ways to knock out or otherwise incapacitate the man who caught him red-handed. "Oh, and it's fine if you aren't able to help me that much. Even the slightest bit of additional effort makes a huge difference," he said with a light chuckle.

Where to find, where to find, oh where to find proof of this stupid drug. He racked his brain for information of the drugs and dealers he already had—what it looked like, smelled like, how it was made… That actor who overdosed on this would have surely left some piece of evidence here.

( ───────── )

[dwhatsup]

i think he’d make a neat survivor

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Pluralistic: 12 Mar 2020 (No health care for part-time TSA screeners, Akil Augustine on Radicalized, Wendell Potter rebuts Joe Biden, best Covid-19 explainer, Boeing's self-inflicted wounds, EU Right to Repair, virtual classrooms)

Books

About

Podcast

Plura-list Newsletter

@doctorow

Pluralistic: 12 Mar 2020

TSA boss doubles down on taking away health care from part-time screeners: They're touching your junk with diseased hands.

Akil Augustine on Radicalized: My book's Canada Reads champion lays out the case for Radicalized.

A former top Cigna exec rebuts Joe Biden's healthcare FUD: Wendell Potter is the prodigal corporate villain.

Ars Technica's Covid-19 explainer is the best resource on the pandemic: Beth Mole has outdone herself.

Boeing is even worse at financial engineering than they are at aircraft engineering: The $43B they incinerated through stock buybacks would sure come in handy about now.

Senate Republicans kill emergency sick leave during pandemic: Sick leave is cheaper than pandemics, but pandemics generate cost-plus contracts for the donor class.

The EU's new Right to Repair rules finally come for electronics: Snoods cocked at Apple and other US Big Tech monopolists.

How to run a virtual classroom: Masterclass from the 14-year-old Stanford Online High School.

This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019

Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

TSA boss doubles down on taking away health care from part-time screeners (permalink)

TSA agents handles the personal belongings and touch the bodies of millions of fliers. Part time agents don't get health-insurance. If they think they might have Covid-19, they might not be able to afford to seek care.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/11/politics/tsa-health-care-part-time/index.html

TSA chief David Pekoske told Congress that the Trump administration's decision to take away health-care from part time TSA employees was a good one: "I have no intention of restoring health care coverage for part-time workers. I think that was a good decision."

About 100 TSA agents have been sent home after it was believed they came into contact with Covid-19. The TSA will not try to track down passengers who also might have come into contact with sick people.

Akil Augustine on Radicalized (permalink)

My book Radicalized is a finalist for the Canada Reads national book prize. Each of the five finalists is defended by a Canadian celeb: my champion is the amazing and articulate Akil Augustine.

Akil just appeared on the @CBC's Canada Reads podcast to give us a preview of his defense, which he will field during several nights of nationally televised debates next week.

http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1708600899815/

He did an OUTSTANDING job! Here's the MP3:

https://cbc.mc.tritondigital.com/CBC_CNDAREADS_P/media/cndareads-3NLwEPaV-20200309.mp3

A former top Cigna exec rebuts Joe Biden's healthcare FUD (permalink)

In a recent and important essay, Maria Farrell wrote about the road-to-Damascus conversions that ex-techies are having in which they recant the damaging product design work they did and begin to campaign against their former employers.

https://conversationalist.org/2020/03/05/the-prodigal-techbro/

Farrell noted that these techies had missed an important step in their transformation from venal attention mercenaries to noble attention freedom-fighters: they had yet to hit bottom, to truly repent their earlier sins.

They skipped like stones over the waters of privilege, and never sank, unlike so many of their victims.

Contrast those journeys with that of Wendell Potter, the former Cigna exec turned whistleblower, who has devoted decades of his life to revealing dirty tricks and lies. Potter campaigns tirelessly – and shrewdly – for Medicare for All, and is always at pains to point out that the anti-M4A talking points his adversaries parrots were all developed by him, when he was on the wrong side of history.

Take this thread, rebutting Joe Biden's FUD about M4A, delivered in the midst of a pandemic that has been worsened by the 77 million un- and underinsured people who can't get care or screening and disproportionately work in food-service and cleaning.

https://twitter.com/wendellpotter/status/1237438497218105344

As Potter points out, Biden's assertion that M4A costs $35T is just a lie. Once you factor in the savings of not paying for private healthcare, M4A SAVES at least $450B/year.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)33019-3/fulltext

Biden's plan to cap premiums on a public option at 8.5% of your income is more than double what M4A would cost you. The corporate plans Biden lionizes shackle good workers to bad employers, and put millions at risk of having their care arbitrarily withdrawn or limited. And, of course, private care doesn't cover much. Surprise bills, deductibles, co-pays, out-of-pockets… Our plan – a blue-chip employer's top-of-the-line Cigna plan – costs us $24K/year.

We're rationing our family's health care because in addition to the $20K/year we're paying out of pocket, Cigna refused to cover a pain procedure that my doc – the most-cited pain doc working in California, who runs a major university pain clinic – says I would benefit from. That procedure might let me get a good night's sleep for the first time in 15 years and allow me to live a more normal, pain-free life. But because Cigna won't cover it, it would cost $55K, which we do not have. So I'm foregoing it.

Ars Technica's Covid-19 explainer is the best resource on the pandemic (permalink)

I've been reading Beth Mole's outstanding science journalism for many years and I've always admired it, but even by the high standards of a Beth Mole explainer, this soup-to-nuts Covid-19 explainer is just spectacularly good work.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/03/dont-panic-the-comprehensive-ars-technica-guide-to-the-coronavirus/

Mole's calm and comprehensive coverage relies on the most reliable sources and turns the results of our best evidence-based studies into a coherent narrative, from the disease's origins to its spread to its symptoms to its resolution.

Just this symptom-by-symptom breakdown was enormously informative and filled in a huge gap that I had previously mentally signposted as "flu-like".

According to data from nearly 56,000 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients in China, the rundown of common symptoms went as follows:

88 percent had a fever

68 percent had a dry cough

38 percent had fatigue

33 percent coughed up phlegm

19 percent had shortness of breath

15 percent had joint or muscle pain

14 percent had a sore throat

14 percent headache

11 percent had chills

5 percent had nausea or vomiting

5 percent had nasal congestion

4 percent had diarrhea

Less than one percent coughed up blood or blood-stained mucus

Less than one percent had watery eyes

The sections on transmission, self-protection, and care during a social distancing lockdown or quarantine are likewise levelheaded, clear and informative.

This is a tab you should just keep open in your browser, IOW. Mole's updating frequently, too.

Boeing is even worse at financial engineering than they are at aircraft engineering (permalink)

Boeing is experiencing a potentially terminal slump. Between losses due to its 737 Max scandal (a self-inflicted injury), and the dropoff in travel during the pandemic, it has had to draw down its entire line of credit and institute a hiring freeze.

https://wolfstreet.com/2020/03/11/boeing-crashes-as-43-billion-in-past-share-buybacks-turn-into-existential-threat

Obviously, Boeing can't be blamed for the pandemic.

But you know what is absolutely the company's fault? Its financial engineering.

Since 2013, Boeing squandered $43 billion on stock buybacks, whose sole purpose was to goose its share-price.

As Wolf Richter writes, Boeing, this "master of financial engineering – instead of aircraft engineering – blew, wasted, and incinerated $43.4 billion on buying back its own shares."

The company just had to borrow $13.825B. Its shares are down 46% since March 2019.

The entire company – a jewel of American industry – might not survive, because it focused on short-term enrichment of shareholders, rather than safe aircraft or financial prudence.

Reality has a well-known anti-capitalist bias, part MMMLVII.

Senate Republicans kill emergency sick leave during pandemic (permalink)

Senate Republicans have killed emergency sick leave legislation, a move that will force millions of low-waged cleaning and food-service workers to choose between homelessness and potentially spreading Covid-19.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/coronavirus-paid-sick-leave-us-republicans-block-senate-bill-new-york-washington-a9395821.htm

The GOP says that paid sick leave will endanger the fragile bottom lines of employers and also that the feds have no money to pay for such a thing – despite finding it easy to blow $2.3 trillion on tax-cuts for the super-rich.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/28/tax-cuts-trump-gop-analysis-430781

They also found $20 BILLION in the senate's sofa cushions to give to the Pentagon, an agency whose auditor found more than a trillion dollars in off-the-books transactions in its financial records.

https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/12/19/pentagon-finally-gets-its-2020-budget-from-congress/

Refusing to help poor Americans stay fed and sheltered isn't just cruel, it's lethally reckless, and it demonstrates the moral hazard of oligarchic capitalism. Subsidizing sick-leave would merely afford survival to millions of Americans, after all.

Whereas the crisis that this will produce – a pandemic that is made worse and longer – will cost billions more, but that money will go to the donor-class, the Beltway Bandits whose cost-plus, no-bid contracts will transfer even more money from the poor to the wealthy.

It's disaster capitalism at its worst. The Senate GOP is dooming you and everyone you love to the risk of disease and death because preventing that risk would help millions of poor people, whereas creating the risk helps a handful of ultrarich people.

The EU's new Right to Repair rules finally come for electronics (permalink)

The EU Commission's latest "Circular Economy Action Plan" has enormous significance for Right to Repair and electronics.

https://ec.europa.eu/environment/circular-economy/pdf/new_circular_economy_action_plan.pdf

In addition to a host of eminently sensible, long overdue measures (bans on single use items and the destruction of unsold goods), there's a renewed emphasis on electronics, through the "Circular Electronics Initiative".

https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/11/european-lawmakers-propose-a-right-to-repair-for-mobiles-and-laptops/

The initiative mandates that components be reusable, repairable, and upgradable, and requires long-term software support to keep IoT devices useful for longer. These mandates – also long overdue – show that the EU is finally willing to ignore the priorities of Apple and other US Big Tech companies in favour of Europeans' rights to the long-term enjoyment of their property and the right not to drown in e-waste).

https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/08/ghost-flights/#eurighttorepair

How to run a virtual classroom (permalink)

For 14 years, Stanford Online High School has been running fully virtual classrooms, with continuous, ongoing improvements in their tech and methods. They've just published a new guide to "the essential steps for preparing to teach online in a short period of time." They're also conducting a series of webinars on the subject.

https://ohs.stanford.edu/how

(I just realized that I've got a decade-old mail rule that autodeletes anything containing the word "webinar" that I probably need to turn off now that the term is being used by people other than hustling spammy grifters)

This day in history (permalink)

#10yrsago Leaked UK record industry memo sets out plans for breaking copyright https://craphound.com/BPDigitalEconomyBillweeklyminutes.pdf

#5yrsago Portland cops charge homeless woman with theft for charging her phone https://news.streetroots.org/2015/03/06/homeless-phone-charging-thief-wanted-security

#5yrsago How Harper's "anti-terror" bill ends privacy in Canada http://www.michaelgeist.ca/2015/03/why-the-anti-terrorism-bill-is-really-an-anti-privacy-bill-bill-c-51s-evisceration-of-government-privacy/

#5yrsago RIP, Terry Pratchett https://web.archive.org/web/20150312202353/http://www.pjsmprints.com/

#1yrago Security researcher reveals grotesque vulnerabilities in "Yelp-for-MAGA" app and its snowflake owner calls in the FBI

Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources: Slashdot (https://slashdot.org), Naked Capitalism (https://nakedcapitalism.com/).

Hugo nominators! My story "Unauthorized Bread" is eligible in the Novella category and you can read it free on Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

Upcoming appearances:

Museums and the Web: March 31-April 4 2020, Los Angeles. https://mw20.museweb.net/

Currently writing: I'm rewriting a short story, "The Canadian Miracle," for MIT Tech Review. It's a story set in the world of my next novel, "The Lost Cause," a post-GND novel about truth and reconciliation. I'm also working on "Baby Twitter," a piece of design fiction also set in The Lost Cause's prehistory, for a British think-tank. I'm getting geared up to start work on the novel afterwards.

Currently reading: Just started Lauren Beukes's forthcoming Afterland: it's Y the Last Man plus plus, and two chapters in, it's amazeballs. Last month, I finished Andrea Bernstein's "American Oligarchs"; it's a magnificent history of the Kushner and Trump families, showing how they cheated, stole and lied their way into power. I'm getting really into Anna Weiner's memoir about tech, "Uncanny Valley." I just loaded Matt Stoller's "Goliath" onto my underwater MP3 player and I'm listening to it as I swim laps.

Latest podcast: A Lever Without a Fulcrum Is Just a Stick https://archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_330/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_330_-_A_Lever_Without_a_Fulcrum_Is_Just_a_Stick.mp3

Upcoming books: "Poesy the Monster Slayer" (Jul 2020), a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Pre-order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627?utm_source=socialmedia&utm_medium=socialpost&utm_term=na-poesycorypreorder&utm_content=na-preorder-buynow&utm_campaign=9781626723627

(we're having a launch for it in Burbank on July 11 at Dark Delicacies and you can get me AND Poesy to sign it and Dark Del will ship it to the monster kids in your life in time for the release date).

"Attack Surface": The third Little Brother book, Oct 20, 2020.

"Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a very special, s00per s33kr1t intro.