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mariacallous · 9 months ago

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If you want to understand how China abuses its power on the world stage, consider the lobsters. After the Australian prime minister called in April 2020 for an international investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese ambassador to Australia, Chen Jingye, ominously hinted at the economic backlash. “Maybe the ordinary [Chinese] people will say, ‘Why should we drink Australian wine? Eat Australian beef?’” he told the Australian Financial Review. It and other outraged statements from the Chinese government had all the subtlety of a mafia capo wandering into the neighborhood deli and saying, “Nice little business you got here—shame if anything happened to it.”

In the weeks and months that followed, China instituted onerous import inspections on Australian rock lobsters and instituted new bans on timber and barley shipments from Australia. Given that in 2018 and 2019, China had accounted for about 94 percent of the Australian rock lobster market, the new trade restrictions were clearly meant to devastate the country’s lobster industry.

China also invoked punishing tariffs on Australian wine—tariffs that in some cases reached 212 percent—and exports stopped almost overnight. One winemaker, Jaressa Estates in the South Australian wine growing region of McLaren Vale, had been selling about 7 million bottles a year to China, some 96 percent of its total business, and saw that number drop to zero. “The country’s biggest overseas market vanished almost immediately. Sales to China plummeted 97 percent that first year. Storage tanks overflowed with unsold vintages of shiraz and cabernet sauvignon, pressuring red grape prices,” the New York Times reported. “Now that its economy is entrenched as the world’s second largest, the threat of losing access to China’s 1.4 billion consumers is a stick that few countries or industries can afford to provoke.”

It was a brutal lesson for Australia. As one winemaker told CNN, perhaps Australia shouldn’t be so quick to cross China in the future—and it should have approached questions about COVID-19’s origins with more delicacy. “Australia’s only a little nation. We should have absolutely supported it, but we didn’t need to lead the charge,” the vintner said. All told, Australia saw some $13 billion worth of exports targeted.

Outside the egregious Australian case, China has begun to wield the economic stick more regularly. For example, it halted salmon imports from Norway after the Nobel Peace Prize went to Chinese dissident Lio Xiaobo, punished Taiwan in 2022 with new restrictions on exporting pineapples, apples, and fish, and went after Lithuania when the Baltic country tried to strengthen ties with Taiwan. The wide-ranging Chinese move against Lithuania was unprecedented—extending not to just to obvious products like milk or peat but also against products manufactured with semiconductor chips made in Lithuania. As the New York Times wrote at the time, “China’s drive to punish Lithuania is a new level of vindictiveness.” The consequences for Lithuania were so dire that the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce reported that the country’s high-tech industry faced an “existential” threat.

The most powerful voices in the global trade discussion largely stayed silent during these attacks. The European Union filed a perfunctory World Trade Organization complaint on Lithuania’s behalf but, as the New York Times reported, “otherwise largely left one of its smallest and weakest members to fend for itself,” and behind the scenes its officials urged Vilnius officials to appease China. “To use a Chinese phrase, they are killing the chicken to scare the monkey, particularly the big German monkey,” one European think tank leader said publicly. “Many European leaders look at Lithuania and say, ‘My God, we are not going to do anything to upset China.’”

And while some U.S. officials held performative tastings of Australian wine, the United States failed to step in to stabilize or support Australia, Norway, Taiwan, or Lithuania. There were no high-profile “Berlin Airlifts” of pineapples to U.S. grocery stores, tanker convoys of Australian Shiraz rolling up the Capital Beltway, or “Buy Baltic” public service announcements to encourage consumers and corporate leaders to look to Lithuanian suppliers. There was no coordinated effort to build a coalition to implement an emergency adjustment of tariffs on Australian wine or lobster, let alone to help the affected industries find new commercial buyers.

Perhaps it’s easy to write off such American reluctance as our own strain of protectionism—maybe the government didn’t want to be accused of undercutting Hawaiian pineapples or promoting foreign competitors to California Zinfadels—but the truth is that even at home the United States has failed to stand up for our industries when China targeted them. We didn’t support American airlines and hospitality companies when China pressured them to remove Taiwan’s name from their maps; nor did the United States government stand up meaningfully for the free speech of NBA players who criticized China.

China is learning, again and again, that bullying works, mastering the 21st-century toolkit of economic statecraft and warfare. As Bethany Allen, a journalist who has covered China for a decade, writes in her book, Beijing Rules: How China Weaponized Its Economy to Confront the World, “If we speak the language of markets … then China hasn’t just learned that language. It has learned to speak it louder than anyone else.” The Chinese Communist Party’s “authoritarian style of state capitalism,” Allen argues, means it “is willing to draw on its full arsenal of leverage, influence, charm, deception, and coercion.” And China has begun to deploy those tools all too frequently—leading to very real questions about whether anyone, companies or nation-states, can afford to be economically reliant on China.

The United States needs to do better—for ourselves and our allies. Strong allies are not going to help only out of self-interest, they’re going to do it because they want to follow their values and principles—and we have to make it easier for countries who want to help us counter China. We need to create an umbrella that shields countries, companies, and individuals when they take on China’s attempts at hegemonic thought and action.

Critical to any global strategy to counter China is building and securing the series of bilateral relationships and multilateral institutions and alliances that helped the West win Cold War I. We have to make it easy for our allies—and desired potential allies—to say yes to such alliances. China is surrounded by many relatively small and weak countries that need real reassurances, both security and economic, that if they side with the United States in a regional coalition they won’t be out in the cold.

Even countries like South Korea, Japan, and Australia that are G-20 countries with advanced economies and trillion-dollar-plus GDPs are small compared to the behemoths like China and the United States, especially if they’re left geopolitically isolated.

Beyond ad hoc responses to pressure on our friends when they stand up to China—especially but not only when they’re acting at our request—the United States needs to figure out a new alliance framework to deter such actions from China in the future. China needs to know that bullying won’t work.

On the security front, there’s little value in the Indo-Pacific in a replacement for SEATO, the 20-year attempt to build a Southeast Asia alliance like NATO that ended in 1977 after never achieving a working military structure. (One British diplomat called the alliance a “zoo of paper tigers.”) Today, too many of the countries across the Indo-Pacific are already protected by bilateral security pacts with the United States to bother joining a larger formal security alliance. For example, given that both Japan and the Philippines have their own security pacts with the United States, it’s not entirely clear what domestic political appetite there would be for, say, the Philippines to be treaty-bound to defend Japan if it’s attacked.

Instead of a military security alliance in the Indo-Pacific, we should be looking to build a new—and global—economic security alliance. America should lead the way in creating a new organization—call it something like the Treaty of Allied Market Economies (TAME), an “economic NATO” alliance of European and Indo-Pacific nations with open-market economies. Together, the partners in this alliance would respond as a unified block to political and economic pressure from China—or any other economic aggressor, for that matter—through a combination of trade barriers, sanctions, and export controls.

In some ways, this alliance would look similar to the coordinated but independent action that the West took in levying unprecedented sanctions against Russia after its Ukraine invasion. As an additional carrot to joining such an alliance, like-minded members could all share increased trade benefits in the form of tariff cuts, regulatory cooperation, and enhanced investment terms.

Beyond formal joint economic punishment of an aggressor, such an alliance could also plan for and commit to repairing and replacing real economic harms that member countries face when hit with retaliatory tariffs or trade wars. Such “trade diversion” often occurs in the market anyway. As one market closes, another opens—and we know that, in part, because of China’s actions against Australia. Markets are adaptable and most goods can flow elsewhere, especially if protectionist tariffs don’t stand in the way. It’s why Australia, for instance, weathered some of China’s aggressive moves better than anticipated. In particular, the Australian coal industry—which was also hit with punishing bans—turned out just fine because coal is such a fungible and high-demand product. “Once China banned imports of Australian coal in mid-2020, Chinese utilities had to turn to Russian and Indonesian suppliers instead. This, in turn, took Russian and Indonesian coal off the market, creating demand gaps in India, Japan, and South Korea—which Australia’s stranded coal was able to fill,” Foreign Policy noted. “The result of decoupling for one of Australia’s core industries was therefore just a game of musical chairs—a rearrangement of who traded with whom, not a material injury.”

One of the reasons that NATO has never had to invoke Article 5 against another nation-state attack—the only time it’s ever been used was after Sept. 11 against al Qaeda—is precisely because of how strong all other countries know the response from the combined NATO force would be.

The same should be true on the economic front. As Daleep Singh, a National Security Council official who helped coordinate the U.S. response to Ukraine, said, “The best sanctions are the ones that never have to get used.” China might very well think twice before weaponizing its trading strength if it understood the combined—and severe—penalties it might face in taking such action and that even if it did launch a trade war, it wouldn’t necessarily inflict much economic harm to begin with.

There’s enough evidence of China’s willingness to inflict economic pain for political gain across Asia and Europe that a well-crafted TAME organization would likely attract a long line of participants—many countries across the globe are becoming increasingly concerned about Chinese belligerent behavior, and there is safety in numbers. While it is unlikely that some large countries with significant economic dependence on China, such as France and Germany, would rush to join this new alliance, states that have already found themselves on the receiving end of Chinese coercion in the past—such as Australia, Norway, Sweden, Japan, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, the Philippines, and Taiwan itself, among others—are prime candidates for initial membership. Over time, as TAME membership grows in numbers, combined economic power, and market size, it will become a magnet too attractive for other market economies to avoid, especially if China continues to engage in brutish bullying tactics around the world.

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formulatrash · 2 years ago

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Saw the news about Aston Martin and Honda, remembered the online abuse you mentioned Honda staff receiving after Fernando's comments in the past, immediately said "yikes"

honestly I think it's. well. I have a lot of thoughts and coincidentally my NDA expired in February at last so now I can actually talk about When I Worked For Honda's F1 Division.

2017 was not a good time for Honda. if you'd like some insight into just how staggeringly bad it was being Honda in 2017 then McLaren handily made a documentary series with Amazon called Grand Prix Driver but it might as well have been How Honda Are Responsible For Everything Wrong With Our Car And Also Any Bad Things That Have Ever Happened.

it was the final year of the drawn-out McHonda divorce and my god, the love was gone. not in a like, staying together for the kids way in a like, 'Stoffel is being punished for being perceived as more Honda' way. (Honda did think he was more Honda tbf, not sure why McL were trying to disown him tho)

'GP2 engine' hung over the whole thing like a nightmare. the Honda power unit did have some limitations, no doubt but one of them was the fact it was being developed completely separate to the car.

the monster fire-up (it was like 72 painful hours or something, I don't want to look back and check) is right at the start of the documentary but McLaren conveniently omit the bit where they made a chassis the power unit did not fit into so Honda spent three days playing MGU-K tetris to get it into a position where it wouldn't immediately catch fire.

anyway, without getting too far into the war flashbacks: there was so much damage done to Honda's reputation as a manufacturer even Sauber (then on the brink of financial collapse) wouldn't take the power units as a new factory team deal. the Toro Rosso deal was eleventh hour and then, finally with a team that wasn't actively deciding to sabotage the power unit, progress got made.

so much so that Honda has the best power unit on the current grid. it's much more reliable than Ferrari's, it has better efficiency than Mercedes' - Red Bull are walking it to wins every weekend and making everyone else look like they've got a Mechachrome in the back.

but Honda's time with McLaren has so utterly trashed their reputation that when Red Bull move to the Ford-badged power unit collaboration, Honda are currently staring down the prospect of not having a team to supply. which is ridiculous.

so Aston Martin and by extension, Fernando have to be an option.

#f1 asks

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edwardslovelyelizabeth · 1 year ago

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Did Edward IV of England's debt force Dickie Bank to go bankrupt? It is said that his debts were not paid off until 1517.

What? No. Who says that? He is one of the only kings who died solvent (meaning left no debts). He might not have accumulated a lot of wealth due to the fact that England was in and out of wars during his reigns (first and second) and most notable the Scottish campaign before he died was draining, but it's commonly accepted that he was successful in managing finances. When he became king he needed to recover from Henry VI’s debt of £372,000. Edward appointed commissioners as early as 1466 to investigate collections of custom revenues at main ports and report abuses. This gained £25,000 within his first reign illustrating his effective managing of finances. The distinguishing feature was that Edward took a more personal approach through introducing new techniques and managing finances in a more systematic way, he imposed high taxes and promoted trade esp wool trade (he owned two manufactures himself). He also managed to gain money from his short termed campaign in France:

"Under Edward IV, England finally joined the general economic upturn of the rest of Europe. Burgundy and Flanders proved key to Edward’s international economic success, as the alliance formed through the marriage of his sister Margaret to Charles the Great of Burgundy provided the necessary power base to compete with France. The advantage of the Burgundian alliance for economic benefit can be seen in such instances as the Treaty of Picquigny, a 1475 treaty with France – thanks largely to Charles – that provided both immediate and long-term income for the English crown. Terms of the treaty awarded Edward and his advisors pensions as well as ensuring the payment of customs, providing for English income from international trade. The treaty also offered a ten-year truce, providing some political stability on the international stage. Although the pensions were a favorable outcome of the campaign in France, Edward’s use of taxes to fund a war he did not really fight led to the questioning of his ability to manage funds efficiently and honestly. However, in spite of repeated misappropriations of funds in the same vein, Edward managed to successfully receive parliamentary consent for a high tax rate while maintaining a cooperative relationship with Parliament and proving that the “New Monarchy” did not necessarily mean the dissolution of constitutionalism, nor did it cause the weakening of governmental bodies outside of the crown. Although Edward ran the risk of earning his subjects’ displeasure for his abuse of funds, there was enough overall economic recovery to avoid any taxation crisis, thanks in large part to the Treaty of Picquigny, collection of customs, prevention of piracy, and the absorption of noble land holdings, such as Clarence’s, into the crown. The “Yorkist land revenue experiment” expanded upon the same principle seen in the seizure of Clarence’s lands, retaining noble holdings and offering the stewardship of these estates to local men allied with the king as reward for faithful service, encouraging both economic growth and a nonthreatening yet guiding royal presence at the local level from 1471 to 1483." - from C. Carpenter "The Wars of the Roses: Politics and the constitution in England, c. 1437-1509"

#history #edward iv #15th century #kings and queens #anonymous #ask

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overwatch-archive · 9 years ago

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OVERWATCH IS BACK: UNCERTAINTY AND HOPE AFTER UN CONFIRMS VIGILANTE ACTIVITY

Olympia Shaw | May 27, 2016

NEW YORK CITY (Atlas News) – In the past few weeks, investigators confirmed that a number of violent incidents across the world, including Monday's attempted museum heist, have involved several notable former Overwatch operatives.

The United Nations finally admitted today that those individuals were not acting on official orders.

In its entirety, the UN's terse statement reads: "The United Nations has not authorized any Overwatch operations. The organization’s charter remains revoked." Further questions from this reporter were met with hostility or silence.

Such a short statement belies its astonishing truth: We have not seen the last of Overwatch. Being dismantled by the UN only drove them into the shadows.

This news will undoubtedly spark concern. It should. Overwatch was dismantled due to overwhelming negative public sentiment and allegations of corruption and abuses of power; the thought that the organization's remnants are operating without supervision is a chilling one.

But while governments from the Kremlin to Downing Street were quick to issue unreserved condemnations, the public was not. An Atlas News flash poll taken today showed a large amount of anger over the possibility that agents of Overwatch had gone "rogue," but it was the poll's final question that revealed the most interesting reaction. Nearly three out of every four respondents said they were "uncertain" what Overwatch's return would mean for the world.

Overwatch's history invites such uncertainty. In wartime, it was regarded as humanity's savior. Today, many have bitter memories of its disgraceful ending.

In order to understand what may happen now, it may help to take another look at Overwatch’s past, and the desperate circumstances from which it was born.

The Omnic Crisis

When Omnica Corporation revolutionized robotic manufacturing, it seemed the world was on the verge of entering an economic golden age. Their massive factories of automated construction machines and self-improving software algorithms were patented, marketed as "omniums," and installed on every continent.

What came next is well-documented. The omniums began to break down. Independent analysis showed they would never come close to meeting the corporation's promises of growth and output. Omnica was investigated and forcibly dissolved after evidence of fraud was uncovered, its omniums shut down.

That is why it came as such a surprise when these defunct, dismantled omniums woke themselves back up and immediately launched a military campaign against all of humanity.

This was a war many countries thought they were prepared to fight. But no single country, no matter how powerful its military, could permanently shut down a single omnium. The adaptability of robots, once celebrated by humanity, had become a tactical nightmare. Worst of all, there were no demands from the omnics. There was no ideological reason for their aggression. They simply attacked, and we did not understand why.

Overwatch: A Change In Strategy

No country was succeeding in securing its own territory. But some soldiers and strategists showed remarkable ingenuity in acclimating to this new brand of warfare. The United Nations covertly brought a few of these unique minds together to form a small, nimble team, aimed at striking significant blows against omnic strongholds. Their names—Morrison, Reyes, Amari, Liao, Wilhelm, and Lindholm—have since become legendary. The world would come to know them as the founders of Overwatch.

In highly secretive missions, they targeted the omnics' command and control protocols. After great sacrifice and heroism in a series of dangerous raids, they destroyed it all, rendering the omnic armies inert. The Omnic Crisis had finally come to an end.

For decades, as Overwatch grew, they made global stability their mission. And the world was happy to have them. Rogue omnics, terrorism, warmongering dictators, none of them could stand for long against such a capable, dedicated force. During natural disasters, we watched heroic rescue operations and efficient rebuilding initiatives. We saw Overwatch pioneer scientific initiatives to eradicate epidemics, reverse ecological damage, and develop new breakthroughs in medical care. They were a symbol of hope. An entire generation, my generation, was raised to see them as the best of humanity.

The Fall

Overwatch never had a shortage of critics. Even in its glory days, many voices called for severe restrictions on the agency's mission, insisting that such a powerful group of individuals needed careful oversight. Rumors of black-ops missions—carrying out tasks like assassination and kidnapping—were dismissed by the public as paranoid fantasies.

But as time passed, criticism became harder to shrug off, and the agency seemed to be tone-deaf to public concerns. Controversial missions stoked public outrage until it reached a fever pitch, and some of Overwatch’s most famous and celebrated agents were forced to retire in disgrace. If that had been the end of it, many might have accepted these missteps as the unavoidable signs of an aging, bloated bureaucracy, suffering under monolithic leadership that desperately needed a change in direction. The truth was much worse than that.

In the final years of Overwatch's existence, a top secret division called "Blackwatch" was revealed. There were stories of assassination, coercion, kidnapping, torture, and worse. Governments called on the UN to shut down the "aggressive and repeated violations of many countries' sovereignty." As public distrust swelled, a massive explosion wiped out Overwatch's headquarters in Switzerland. The United Nations called it an accident; today we know it was a battle, a dispute between Overwatch commander Jack Morrison and Blackwatch commander Gabriel Reyes. Overwatch's death knell was that of two former comrades laying waste to all they had built.

In the wake of such an incident, little could remain hidden. The full transgressions of Overwatch's shadow operations became known. Even the most ardent defenders inside the organization bowed to the truth and called for its dissolution.

The United Nations could do nothing but shut down Overwatch. Few people at the time doubted it was the right call. The world had never been more peaceful—the biggest threat to global stability and growth was, in many minds, Overwatch itself. Its time had passed.

Today

In the years without Overwatch, we've seen the world change. A movement promoting omnic civil rights and citizenship gained traction. The global economy surged. There seemed to be no shortage of good news.

But, as with Overwatch, the good news hid many darker trends. Tensions between humans and omnics have never been higher, particularly after the assassination of the omnic spiritual leader Tekhartha Mondatta. War may very well be inevitable. Local political leaders have accused certain corporations of using covert operatives to "persuade" government officials into accepting exploitive deals, and when that failed, of hiring mercenaries to enact more permanent solutions. We've seen shadow organizations operating with impunity, often leaving a trail of dead civilians in their wake.

Is this why these former Overwatch agents have come out of hiding? Could they not stand by and watch any longer?

Has the world's situation grown so desperate that they believe nobody else can help?

And does the world want them back? Should it?

The surveillance footage from Monday's attempted museum heist instantly caught the world's attention. Two former Overwatch agents risked life and limb against two frighteningly capable mercenaries, and the theft was thwarted. But while much has been made over the images of sheer mayhem—that, miraculously, did not result in any deaths—there was another moment that caught my attention.

Two young boys were caught in the middle of the violence. (And someone give them a medal, please, for keeping their heads straight in that situation.) When the attack ended, they spoke briefly to Lena Oxton, an ex-Overwatch operative known to the public as "Tracer." The surveillance footage does not reveal what she said to them. But it does show the expression on the older boy's face.

Hope.

When it comes to Overwatch, my generation understands that feeling all too well. To us, Overwatch embodied it. Its corruption was nothing short of a betrayal. The cynical part of me urges the world to take firm action if the dark forces that brought Overwatch down rise again in the form of self-appointed vigilantes.

All that gives me pause is this: The Overwatch Generation has grown up. We once believed in hope. It still lives within us, and some have chosen to act upon it in astonishing ways.

Consider the news from around the world in recent years. A Chinese environmentalist with a taste of adventure saved a nest of endangered arctic wildlife from a collapsing glacier using nothing but her own inventions. A musician from Brazil became a hero of his favela when he exposed and destroyed a corporation's exploitive use of local land. A professional-gamer-turned-mech-pilot has become a celebrity in Korea due to her publicized acts of heroism.

These are exactly the types of remarkable individuals Overwatch would have recruited. Take a look on the net; they are exactly who today's kids are looking up to as heroes. Would they have been inspired to take such extraordinary action if not for Overwatch?

The future is unknown. Evidence suggests that not all surviving Overwatch agents have been using their talents for the good of peace. But examine what happened yesterday at the museum. Which Overwatch did we see in that surveillance footage? The secretive, corrupt assassins? Or two disciples of Overwatch's original ideals?

More importantly: Should we fear the new generation of heroes just because the old generation let us down?

I don't believe we should.

#source: news.blizzard #atlas news #overwatch #blackwatch #united nations #first omnic crisis #jack morrison #lena oxton #gabriel reyes #ana amari #reinhardt wilhelm #mina liao #torbjörn lindholm #olympia shaw #lúcio correia dos santos #hana song #mei ling zhou

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rametarin · 2 years ago

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One could argue that the corruption and bad things that happen from activist groups are at least partially the fault of the opposition to what the groups advocated for. Most activist groups started due to genuine grievances of some kind but turned corrupt over prolonged existence and loss of a clear goal in mind after meeting their initial goals but not being able to disband immediately for fear of reversal. Like labour unions having genuine problems with workers being treated like crap with stuff like scrip and poor working conditions or race inequality or gay marriage. All genuine issues before they eventually moved onto more corrupt or stupider issues. Which they may never have done so if the opposition just accepted the genuine grievances and didn't continue to fight them the whole time.

I'd argue that there's a difference between fighting bad things, or fighting for better things, and saying Your Way is the better way, therefore it's what you want to accomplish Better Thing.

Socialism and communism tries to find every greviance and organize it under itself, so you can't fight for better wages, racial equality or sexual equality without carrying water for them, and making themselves synonymous with the struggle. And it ultimately does not care about said groups, it just tries to make them think that ideology is the way forwards, and the only way to accomplish anything.

The Bad Things(tm) existing is not an excuse for an exploiter exploiting. They offer the opportunity for charlatans and abusers to co-opt any meaningful struggle, yes, but they become as big a problem to deal with once they've amassed any sort of power.

They in fact make it harder for any kind of resistance or solution to the problem by arguing you can't solve the problems of abuse of employees or disproportionately unlivable salaries without dogmatically moving systems to whatever ideological nonsense that sounds good on paper, when that's not true in the least.

Would-be heroes that only show up to lie and exaggerate and explicitly to float up to tell your children emotionally manipulative arguments and mislead them into revolution for a dumbass cause as, "the only way," aren't there to solve those problems. They're interested in how they can induct them into their army to accomplish their own goal and incentivize or lie to them to get them under their command.

For example, if we found technological ways using capitalism to reduce the cost of food down to pennies at market, reduce the price of hospitalization and surgery to a few hundred dollars, reduce the price of highly technical medical instruments and exams down to dollars, reduce the costs to go from concept to medicine pill to a few hundred thousand and made the tools for that accessible to individual hobbyist geniuses, brought medical costs from womb to tomb down to maybe a few hundred thousand, without socializing medicine, these people would still demand healthcare be socialized and insist on the necessity of it.

If we utilized technology to not just de-carbon fuel, but de-particulate every kind of harmful aersol or contaminate that could enter the atmosphere at all stages of the process from the mining to the manufacturing to the using to the land reclaimation, they'd still insist that business and industry was, "not sustainable or ecologically sound" under capitalism. No matter how provable the legislation was that put sensible regulations on it.

The very fact any of these things are property owned by the individual and not beholden to the state at all offends them and is the problem, and all things like ecological effects, actual nepotism and damaging problems of mismanagement and poor business, are secondary. You cannot have effective capitalism or liberalism in their eyes. You can't even have legitimate representatives without it being a form of, "fascism," if only because they move the goal posts.

So you really can't blame antifa running around punching non-fascists in the face, on the fact that the alt-right exists at all. Because if that were true, maybe fair's fair and I should be able to go out and beat anyone swinging around a hammer and sickle flag like they're the same people that starved Ukraine.

It doesn't make sense.

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filescnc-blog · 3 days ago

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What are the cons of artificial intelligence (2024)

Talking about what are the cons of artificial intelligence, AI has revolutionized various industries and made significant positive impacts, but it also comes with a set of cons that must be considered. Here are some of the main disadvantages associated with AI, with one of the most immediate and visible cons of artificial intelligence being job loss.

What are the cons of artificial intelligence

What are the cons of artificial intelligence with relation to job loss ? Automation and AI-driven systems can replace human workers, especially in industries such as manufacturing, data entry, and even customer service. This can lead to significant unemployment rates and economic disparity, as not all affected workers can transition easily to new roles that require advanced skills.

AI systems, particularly those used in decision-making processes, raise a number of ethical issues. Bias in AI algorithms, often due to skewed data sets, can perpetuate or even amplify social inequalities. For instance, AI used in hiring processes or criminal justice may exhibit racial or gender bias, leading to unfair outcomes.

Furthermore, the lack of transparency in how some AI models make decisions adds to the ethical dilemma. What are the cons of artificial intelligence, while AI is powerful in processing data and solving problems within defined parameters ? Truth is it lacks human qualities such as creativity, empathy, and emotional intelligence.

While it can mimic certain aspects of human interaction, it cannot genuinely understand or replicate emotions and cultural nuances. This limitation affects industries that rely on these attributes, such as creative fields, counseling, and social services. Also, developing and implementing AI systems can be extremely expensive.

The costs associated with research, hardware, software, and ongoing maintenance are high, making it difficult for small businesses and startups to adopt such technology. Additionally, while reflecting on what are the cons of artificial intelligence, specialized expertise is required to build and manage AI systems, adding to the financial burden.

Increased reliance on AI can lead to overdependence, where critical functions become vulnerable if the AI system fails or is compromised. Cybersecurity risks are particularly concerning, as AI-driven systems can be targeted by hackers to create more sophisticated cyberattacks. This poses a threat not only to individual users but also to national security if AI is deployed in critical infrastructure.

AI technologies, especially those related to data collection and surveillance, pose significant risks to personal privacy. If advanced AI systems can analyze vast amounts of personal data to make predictions and decisions, then what are the cons of artificial intelligence ? The truth is that this process is often done without individuals being aware of how their data is used.

This can result in potential abuses of power, data leaks, and misuse of sensitive information. While AI can create high-tech jobs, it often demands a highly skilled workforce. This contributes to a growing gap between those who have the technical expertise to work alongside AI and those who do not. Such disparities can deepen socioeconomic divides, leading to social unrest and further marginalization of lower-income groups.

There is a concern about the potential for AI to become too advanced and autonomous, leading to scenarios where humans might struggle to control or regulate AI systems effectively. Though still largely speculative, the idea of superintelligent AI poses questions about the future alignment of AI goals with human values.

While AI has brought about significant advancements and conveniences, it also presents considerable challenges and risks. To ensure that society benefits from artificial intelligence, it is crucial to address these cons through ethical practices, robust regulations, and policies aimed at minimizing job displacement and privacy violations.

Link Article Here

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medskart24 · 1 month ago

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Who Should Use Trakem 100mg? Indications and Precautions

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In this blog, we’ll discuss the indications for Trakem 100mg, the precautions to take, and why Medskart24 is the ideal platform to buy Trakem 100mg tablets, whether you’re in the USA or looking to purchase online.

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sobercentre · 2 months ago

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Hydromorphone or dihydromorphinone, whose brand name is Dilaudid, is a drug used to relieve moderate to severe pain, frequently medicated to cancer patients or those in extreme pain following an injury (dilaudid Addiction). Generally, it is a synthetic narcotic from the class of opioid drugs legally prescribed for medicinal purposes, that is, under controlled use. However, it is potent enough to cause dependency when abused or under prolonged use. According to the British Journal of Anesthesia, hydromorphone is 5-10 times more powerful than morphine. Some of its other brand names are Palladone, Dilaudid-hp, and Exalgo. In the streets, it can be known as any of the following: Big-D M-80s Peaches Dillies D’s What does a Dilaudid tablet look like? Dilaudid medicine pills are small and come in different colors for different dosages; an orange pill goes for 2 milligrams, the yellow one for 4 milligrams, and the white one for 8 milligrams. Most hydromorphone tablets are scored and have an imprint of the manufacturer’s name. Their shape may also vary depending on the manufacturer; however, most tablets are round. How does Dilaudid work? As a pain medication, Dilaudid alleviates pain by altering pain receptors in the central nervous system (CNS). It also alters the natural production of dopamine from the brain to produce larger amounts of the hormone to cause pleasure. The reward center of the brain then interprets the changes as something important and should be repeated. The more the drug is used, the more the brain ceases to produce dopamine naturally, thus creating a dependency. Depending on the method of administration, Dilaudid effects hit varyingly. When taken orally, it might take about 30 minutes for its effects to be held. When snorted/sniffed, it might take effect in 5 minutes or so but through injections, its effects are almost immediate as the drug is administered directly into the bloodstream. Normally, these effects would linger for about 3-6 hours, give or take. Now that we know what the drug looks like, its administration, and its functions, let’s look into some of the common Dilaudid addiction facts. How does one develop Dilaudid addiction? It is quite easy for prescribed users of Dilaudid to develop a tolerance to the drug. Once the body becomes accustomed to certain dosages, the pills may no longer be as effective as they used to be at the beginning of medication. This way, one would need a higher dosage to achieve similar relief. As this continues, physical dependence on Dilaudid becomes inevitable and once its effects wear off, they are likely to experience certain withdrawal symptoms. A prescribed user would often finish their medication before schedule and begin doctor shopping to refill their prescriptions. Some of the common Dilaudid addiction signs and symptoms include: Physical signs include: Continued tolerance to achieve a high Drowsiness Constricted pupils Experiencing withdrawal symptoms once the effects wear off. Such include restlessness, agitation, shaking, anxiety, muscle and bone pain, and body cramping among others. Depressed mood Other behavioral signs include: Slurred speech Ignoring one’s obligations at home and work Apathy and sudden mood swings Going through desperate measures to acquire the drug such as doctor shopping, stealing from medicine cabinets, or forging prescriptions. Feelings of euphoria Impaired judgment A continued obsession with the drug Squandering of finances to replenish the doses. Dilaudid addiction also impacts negatively on the user’s family and friends in the following ways: Shortage of finances Divorce Homelessness Imprisonment due to theft Abuse of other illicit drugs that can easily bring the desired effects Statistics reveal that frequent abusers of Dilaudid are usually patients suffering from depression and disorders such as post-traumatic stress and personality disorders. Dilaudid side effects Increased doses of Dilaudid may be harmful to the body and lead to the following side effects:

Shortness of breath (SOB) Convulsions Nausea and vomiting Respiratory failure Stroke Coma Heart attack A hydromorphone overdose could be fatal. It is, therefore, advisable to strictly follow doctor’s prescriptions on how hydromorphone should be used to prevent the aforementioned side effects. What does a Dilaudid overdose look like? A drug overdose occurs when a user ingests more than their body can metabolize. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 564,000 people died from an opioid overdose between 1999 and 2020. Additionally, about 82.3% of all narcotics overdose deaths are majorly from synthetic opioids, such as hydromorphone. The method of drug administration can influence a potential overdose. Intravenous injections may increase the risk of an overdose by interfering with the victim’s respiratory system. While the signs and symptoms of Dilaudid addiction may not vary greatly from those of an overdose, a person suffering from an overdose may exhibit the following signs: Loss of consciousness or coma Low blood pressure Weak pulse Constricted pupils Flaccid skeletal musculature Slow breathing How to treat Dilaudid addiction Before a treatment plan is set forth, an intense evaluation of the user should be done to uncover the root cause of the addiction. This may involve mental health screening, screening for other co-occurring addictions, and physical health assessment. Like most hard drugs, quitting cold turkey is a dangerous path as one can experience severe withdrawal symptoms. If you or your loved one wishes to quit Dilaudid abuse, it is recommendable to seek professional help from a rehabilitation center or relevant physician to help with the detox process and manage withdrawal symptoms. Normally, the dosage is gradually reduced incrementally to alleviate painful symptoms. Under medical rehabilitation programs, Dilaudid may be substituted with a similar drug that can effectively replace opioids and curb adverse withdrawals.

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drillbatteriescom · 5 months ago

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Choosing the Right Batteries for Power Tools

The chemistry used in power tool batteries for many years was commonly nickel metal hydride and nickel cadmium. During the past decade, power tools have almost universally converted to lithium-ion (Li-Ion).

The change came as a result of numerous issues, such as higher energy density, lower-toxicity materials, no memory effect and a slower rate of self-discharge. The benefits of Li-Ion technology have allowed higher-demand tools and applications to be battery powered and provide significantly more work per charge. This extended capability, combined with the portability of battery-powered tools, has resulted in a dramatic increase in their use.

A battery is designed to direct its energy along defined pathways in a controlled manner. If the energy finds a different, possibly even uncontrolled path – in some cases weeks after an internal fault occurs – it can result in contact with caustic chemicals, burns from escaping chemicals, fire or explosion. The higher the energy density of a Li-Ion Hitachi drill battery, the greater the potential to cause damage.

Each original equipment manufacturer has its own proprietary control circuitry for the total system, which encompasses the tool, battery and charger, which allows the three components to communicate properly. Manufacturers address numerous design considerations in the construction of their batteries: type and quality of cells; durability of electrical connections; electronic controls in the battery, charger and tool; protective housing; and compliance with standards and third-party certifications.

For all these safety and compliance considerations, batteries are not cross-compatible unless specified by the power tool manufacturer. When buying aftermarket Panasonic drill batteries for power tools, it is important to consult the power tool instruction manual and buy only the batteries recommended by the manufacturer. The Power Tool Institute has developed a special program, Take Care of Your Battery, that aims to encourage safe battery use. Battery storage and disposal

Technicians must maintain battery packs and store them safely, away from paper clips, coins, keys, nails, screws and other small metal objects. These items can make a connection from one terminal to the other, shorting the battery terminals together and causing burns or fire.

Store the battery pack away from extreme temperature conditions. Broken or abused battery packs can leak chemicals that can cause irritation or burns. If a technician comes into contact with these chemicals, flush the area with water immediately. If it contacts the eyes, flush them with water and seek medical help.

Recycle or dispose of battery packs properly to protect the environment and prevent dangerous conditions that can occur if a Li-Ion battery is damaged or punctured after disposal. Battery pack chemistries also can be hazardous to the environment under certain conditions.

Refer to the instructions included with the Snap on battery pack for the proper disposal or recycling of battery packs. Make sure to follow state, local and federal regulations, since Li-Ion batteries cannot be disposed of with regular curbside recycling or trash. Place electrical tape over the battery pack’s terminals before disposing or recycling.

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hardynwa · 1 year ago

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NAFDAC begins enforcement of ban on alcoholic drinks in sachets

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has commenced the enforcement of the ban on the importation, manufacture, distribution, sale, and use of alcoholic beverages in sachets, PET, and glass bottles of 200ml and below. The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, stated this on Monday at a press conference in Abuja. “As of January 31, 2024, there is no alcoholic beverage in these categories that are registered by NAFDAC. I also want to inform you that the agency has started enforcement actions to enforce the implementation of this policy. The window period given to manufacturers by NAFDAC to sell off all alcoholic drinks in this category elapsed on January 31, 2024. “To this end on the first day, after the elapse of the window period, the agency commenced nationwide enforcement actions on February 1, 2024 to enforce the implementation of the new policy,” she said. She added that during enforcement actions, it was discovered that some manufacturers of the banned products were still producing the products, and still had stacks of both finished products and packaging materials of the products in their possession. “This situation is of course not acceptable, and the agency views this as flagrant disobedience to the laws of Nigeria. NAFDAC views this matter seriously and will engage all statutory means, which may include prosecution, to deal with the matter. “I want to use this medium to ask all holders of alcohol in sachets, PET and glass bottles, empty sachets, PET bottles, empty glass bottles, and other packaging materials of these banned products to immediately report to the Investigation and Enforcement Directorate of NAFDAC for hand-over of same to NAFDAC for destruction, to prevent sterner measures including prosecution,” she declared. In January 2022, NAFDAC stopped the registration of alcoholic beverages in sachet and small volume PET and glass bottles below 200ml. This decision was based on the recommendation of a high-powered committee of the Federal Ministry of Health and NAFDAC, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, and the Industry represented by the Association of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employers, Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria, in December 2018. As a result of the decision reached at the end of the committee meeting, producers of alcohol in sachets and small volume agreed to reduce the production by five per cent with effect from January 31, 2022, while ensuring the product is completely phased out in the country by January 31, 2024. “NAFDAC committed to ensuring that the validity of renewal of already registered alcoholic products in the affected category does not exceed the year 2024. “NAFDAC is resolutely committed to the strict implementation of the regulations and regulatory measures towards safeguarding the health of Nigerians, particularly the vulnerable youth, against the dangers of reckless consumption of alcohol,” Adeyeye assured. The don warned that the people mostly at risk of the negative effects of consumption of the banned pack sizes of alcoholic beverages are the under-aged, commercial vehicle drivers and riders. “The World Health Organisation has established that children who drink alcohol are more likely to use drugs, get bad grades, suffer injury or death, engage in risky sexual activity, make bad decisions, and have health problems. “The WHO also stated that harmful consumption of alcohol is linked to more than 200 health conditions including infectious diseases – Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS; and non-communicable conditions- liver cirrhosis and different types of cancer. It is also associated with social problems, such as alcohol addiction and gender-based violence. “To curb the menace of abuse of alcohol, WHO recommended some actions and strategies to policymakers that have shown to be effective and cost-effective, which includes regulating the marketing of alcoholic beverages, and regulating and restricting the availability of alcohol,” she explained. Read the full article

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thetristoneera · 1 year ago

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In a land of imagination, as rule for the progression of life; androids are illegal to manufacture since the wake of the Species Wars. With them being used primarily for their powers of annihilation, they had to be made illegal. Androids now a days, are only made to serve. They have no free will; what so ever. With how Cyber wielders abused their powers to make sure Fairies, Elves & Merpeople were killed off; they have been banished. It takes a lot to kill androids, but with the way super beings have evolved; they are now powerful enough to rip through spaceships at any given time. Androids would still need a lot for them to be taken down, there for; illegal. The sentence is immediate death, if you were to be caught conspiring to procreate an android.

It's a good thing, Omega Medico has a sector of a space colony all to himself. With black box technology, he has an area that cannot be hacked by any cyber wielder. With it being so far from humanity, psychics are not able to catch on to his doings. The thing is, Omega Medico cannot procreate; he was tortured to the point he was rendered castrated. He unfortunately, doesn't have the means of procreating unless it involves cloning. He doesn't want to go that route, unfortunate even some more for him; he was the only surviving person of a specific serial killer. Body snatched at sixteen, rescued by seventeen. It took a great amount of time for him to be rescued; then took a great amount of time for Omega to be the one to execute him. Per his wishes, the death sentence would be administered by Omega when he's ready to do so. As inhumane as it sounds, after many years of therapy & aging into an adult; Galactic Officers made it so that he was imprisoned in Omega's abode. Making it a direct, death sentence of the unknown; as Omega aged into his sixty sixth year in life, the serial killer was forced to be immortal with very little humanity. As he stayed in the same ten by ten by ten foot cell; he was deprived of sun light, deprived of food, deprived of any kind of nutrience until Omega said he could be fed. It was a long unknown death sentence for him; as Omega spent many years figuring out how he will live his life. At that day & age, Galactic Officers had cut all surveillance on the serial killer as Omega had all means of feeding him & having his cell cleaned by android technology. When Omega figured he could procreate androids & raise them as his own; he could finally have a family. Knowing that this was illegal, he told the mad serial killer his plan as he moved closer to it's death day. The twelve victims of this serial killer had enough social media & medical records on them; that he could formulate a "re life" for them. It would take him many years for this to be accomplished, but that meant; the specific prey of the serial killer, would still live on. As this drove the serial killer to being more mad, Omega devised a plan of secrecy so he could resurrect them. During this period, Omega existed on Planet Saudavet. It was a spectacle of a public event, as Galactic Officers made the death sentence order possible. Serial killer was placed in a wheel chair, confined by anti super being materials as Omega wheeled him from his abode through out the city. It was like a parade as he walked all the way to the main street of the city; to the guillotine at the center city. Citizens were allowed to show their disdain for another blip of humanity by physically assaulting him, if they wished. The families of the victims took their shots, others against the inhumane took their shots as he was wheeled to his death location. With him being immortal; he felt every weapon, fist or foot used to cause him pain; he had to take it per his punishment order. Then he was placed into the guillotine facing upward & didn't get a last meal or any last words. Before Omega pulled the lever; he said the names of all of the victims in order of which they died before he was fortunately rescued. In the order in which they died, while the serial killer stared at the blade; then the city, humanity celebrated as a monster was finally no more.

The House of Omega, has lived on since; but his branch of the family tree stopped with him. The branches of the other families stopped with those slain. It would take a long time for him to become a prominent doctor; but having the reputation of a reputable survivor, a lot of doors were opened for him. He was able to build a compound within Space Colony: Edro Weiv, the longer he existed; the further away it got from humanity. Psychiatry visits rendered him a functioning member of society, as his erowology with the Super Being Surveillance Program helped him develop original ways of creating androids. Creating the super power combinations his fellow victims had back in the day, he was able to firstly revive the girl he fell in love with. The one that died first... With the way he covered his tracks, time & time again; he was able to revive all of the victims to a child like state. Then raised them with the knowledge of understanding who they originally were to what happened to them, to the kind of world they live in. Eventually, he gained the nerve to actually read the dossiers revolving around how the serial killer was able to body snatch all of the victims. His modus operandi dealt with creating diversions, they were giant diversions; incredibly goliath. And that's where the Android Party began...

Not for the purpose of serial killing, but for big pay outs. To complete a list all of the victims had, words he'd never forget. All wrote in a journal like book that he has been protecting for many decades. That kind of world tripping costs a lot of money. To help out terrorist organizations or to help out do gooders; either way it goes, the androids will be those goliath diversions. Great indestructible diversions that cannot be linked back to him. For each victim wanted to migrate to another galaxy; all in multiple directions. His jackpot is nowhere near what is needed, but they haven't given up. Regardless of how much mayhem they cause to how many people they save, they move with the purpose of seeing those galaxies someday...

Base of Operations: Space Colony: Edro Weiv / Alliance: the Warrior Guild / Occupation: Galactic Class Diversion Enthusiast Extraordinaires / Their Order: Anarchy Specialists For Diversion Operations

#Story 01 #Characters #Androids #Serial Killer #Victims #Space Age #Science Fiction #High Fiction #Original Idea #the Mayhem of It All

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tastydregs · 2 years ago

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A Tiny Blog Took on Big Surveillance in China—and Won

At a location he keeps secret, John Honovich was on his laptop, methodically scouring every link on a website for a conference half a world away. Hikvision, the world’s largest security camera manufacturer, was hosting the event—the 2018 AI Cloud World Summit—in its hometown of Hangzhou, a city of about 10 million people not far from Shanghai. Honovich, the founder of a small trade publication that covered video surveillance technology, wanted to find out what the latest Hikvision gear could do.

He zeroed in on one section of the conference agenda titled “Eco-Friendly, Peaceful, Relaxed” and found a description of an AI-powered system installed around Mount Tai, a historically sacred mountain in Shandong. A video showed Hikvision cameras pointed at tourists climbing the thousands of stone steps leading to the famous peak. Piano music played as a narrator explained, in Mandarin with English subtitles, that the cameras were there “to identify all visitors to ensure the safety of all.” The video cut to a shot of a computer screen, and Honovich hit pause. He saw a zoomed-in view of one visitor’s face. Below it was data that the camera’s AI had inferred. Honovich downloaded the video and took screenshots of the computer screen, for safekeeping.

Later, with the help of a translator, he scrutinized every bit of text on that screen. One set of characters, the translator explained, suggested each visitor was automatically sorted into categories: age, sex, wearing glasses, smiling. When Honovich pointed at the fifth category and asked, “What’s this?” the translator replied, “minority.” Honovich pressed: “Are you sure?” The translator confirmed there was no other way to read it.

Honovich was shocked. In his many years in the industry, he’d never seen a surveillance company set out to automatically detect racial minorities. The feature seemed completely unethical to him, and he immediately wondered how China might use it against the Uyghur people, a mostly Muslim ethnic minority group, in the province of Xinjiang. Honovich had seen reports trickling out in the West of Uyghurs being subjected to constrictive surveillance and mass detentions. Clicking through the AI Summit website, Honovich couldn’t tell whether Chinese authorities were using this technology to oppress minorities, but he saw that danger coalescing. He quickly wrote up an article about Hikvision’s ethnicity-detection technology, including the video, screenshots, and a no-comment from the company, and posted it on the website of IPVM, the trade publication he had founded.

He talked about the discovery with one of IPVM’s reporters, Charles Rollet, a Frenchman who lives outside the US and also keeps his location secret. Rollet had written about how Hikvision and Dahua, the second-largest video surveillance manufacturer in China, were reaping huge profits from government work in Xinjiang. Rollet had a newspaper background and, though he was 25, talked like an ink-stained newsie twice his age, all “scoops” and “calling out abuses” and “hard-hitting news.” By trawling through publicly available materials online, Rollet had learned that Hikvision had landed a deal to build a mass face-recognition system to cover one Xinjiang county—including a “reeducation” center and some of its mosques—and a contract to install videoconferencing systems in mosques, presumably so attendees could watch sermons broadcast by the government. Dahua won the bigger contract: $686 million to build camera-equipped police stations in another part of Xinjiang. The deals specified that the companies would install these systems, run them for a number of years, and then pass them off to the government. In many aspects of the government’s video surveillance in Xinjiang, Rollet reported, the two companies were “deeply involved.”

Hikvision and Dahua cameras also happened to hang on houses, businesses, and public buildings in the US and much of the world. Security system installers eagerly sold huge numbers of the cheap cameras. Global financial institutions, such as Fidelity International and Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, were enthusiastic investors in the profitable, fast-growing Chinese companies. American chip giants Intel and Nvidia sold them silicon to power their face recognition.

That would all soon change. Over the next few years, IPVM’s writers unearthed one damning detail after another on Chinese surveillance gear. Their scoops would end up influencing national policy, changing those companies’ fortunes, and placing the reporters themselves squarely on the front lines of the US–China cold war.

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tharizdun-03 · 2 years ago

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Sonny Boy Watchthrough

Episode 1: The Island at the Far End of Summer

Sonny Boy's first episode was great! Definitely get a Lord of the Flies feel, very much about personal authority and ego, order vs anarchy, etc. The second episode will probably dig even more into that. Who knows where it'll go next, but as a stand-alone mood piece, excellent!

Visually, it was great. I love how at first for this scene, for example, you're like, "woah, fish eye lens", but no, it turns out the actual space is distorted. That's awesome.

Also, can I just say? I love this hairstyle.

Themes have already been introduced, and we were quickly introduced to a bunch of characters and how their values differ. For what's really going on, my first guess would be they're all dead, but. So far, this show, good in my book. Hella excited for more.

Episode 2: Aliens

There were even more Lord of the Flies influences in the second episode, hammering home on the authoritarianism vs. anarchy themes. So far, the show has been most critical of the leaders of the group. Yet it seems to posit the thought that order is still necessary, with all these rules in these worlds (unless that's manufactured by some being). So, potential for lots of allegorical, social commentary here.

I'm suspecting the kid with the star on his face, might be different from the rest. Might be the guy who set this all up, as an experiment of sorts. Also, Rajdhani is smart as hell, they're very lucky to have him there.

I also noticed there's very little to no music in this show, it's just ambient noise, which is an interesting artistic choice.

Most of the drama in this episode was centered around Mizuho and her blue flames, but I'm not quite sure why she didn't just apologize.

I get that she's sulky, but on principle alone? There was a hint about something to do with some teacher (her having a crush on them was an immediate thought), so maybe more will be revealed.

So far, I'm invested in the sense of being very curious as to what's happening and why, but that's as far as it goes right now. But even with just that, that means it's plenty good in my eyes, and I'm reasonably hopeful Sonny Boy will fulfill its ambitions here.

Episode 3: The Cat Who Wore Sandals

Ah yes, Mizuho's power opens up this kind of social commentary, nice.

Booo

The voice in Hoshi's head having a completely different audio quality is a really cool effect.

I'm still feeling the Lord of the Flies influences here. It's not nearly as brutal (yet at least), but it touches on the same core thematic idea that people are fundamentally fucked up and society's rules are what keep them in check. Maybe Sonny Boy will diverge later on tho.

It hasn't chosen an explicit side yet or anything but it's critiquing institutions and abuse of power, it's critiquing the leaders of this group who force the reclused children back into the caged society even though they were happier alone. So, I'm getting those vibes.

The fact that Mizuho is the only one with this power that sustains their entire structure, that she was given it without any effort or warrant, and its comparisons to our real-life system. It's pretty obvious it's an evil systemic issue regardless of intentions.

But again, the show still values order, it still values pragmatism and rationality and everything, so I don't think it's just gonna go anarchy all the way, as cool as that would be. It's a tough thematic nut to crack, but, I'm here for it.

Episode 4: The Great Monkey Baseball

All I could think about was, "what the fuck are you on about with these monkeys?"

What I got from this was the story about that one monkey that supported the rules, and was torn to pieces for it, since the series is all about rules. And the whole talent talk maybe? Other than that, have a hard time figuring out what this contributes to the bigger picture.

Nagara not being able to choose which world to go to, he'll either have to team up with Nozomi to do so, or he's what got us into this mess in the first place, and he has some psychological issues to solve before he can use this power more precisely.

Episode 5: Leaping Classrooms

Nagara's power being revealed to actually create worlds (although it'd also have to be teleporting, cause otherwise, it's useless lol) makes me think it's not just a cause of his running away, but it has to tie into the social commentary somehow.

Don't ask me exactly how, cause that part, I'm still figuring out. So far, its thematic plate is very broad, but I wonder how in-depth it's actually going to go while juggling this many topics.

Visually, it's great as usual (hence screenshot). Lots of trippy stuff. Need them to go all out with that for the finale.

Episode 6: The Long Goodbye

EP 6 was practically like an ending, and I guess it'll very much prove to be one to the first half of the series. The set-up is probably mostly done now. For what's to come, God knows.

The world in this episode being a film world is a very cool idea (altho, I'll say, Raj being this technical genius who can create an app for anything is a bit of a narrative cheat).

Hoshi is very adamant about saving people with his ark, but I like that when it's shown they can edit themselves back into their world, he does support the project.

I am still just intellectually invested rather than emotionally, and at this point, I think that's gonna last throughout. But, that's okay, some series are like that. This second half could be very EoE-like, so I'm interested in how it'll switch things up.

Episode 7: Road Book

Even though the last episode kinda indicated that it would switch things up with this second half, I'm not so sure anymore that it'll be a very drastic difference lol. This series seems intent to kind of just keep going as it always has.

Nagara seems to have decided that he doesn't want their drifting to be a mistake, so he's more determined to actually get them out of here, I guess. And the umbrella/bat guy is satisfied with that answer and lets him go.

I think I'm following along pretty nicely, and if I've interpreted how this episode contributes to the bigger picture, it's that the whole Tower of Babel thing being a false hope made Nagara realize he doesn't want that.

Yeah... I've mentioned it before, but, while I'm still curious about the answers, I have little to no emotional investment in the story, and honestly, wouldn't surprise me if most people felt like that.

I can't imagine that many people were really rooting for these kids to make it back home, cause they're that emotionally invested, but they're just curious about what will happen story-wise.

Which is fine! Not every story needs to be emotionally investful, but it does mean that there will be a ceiling for me. But, this very much seems like a story Natsume's mostly making just for himself anyway.

Episode 8: Laughing Dog

EP 8 was yet another interesting subplot (best-directed episode so far, holy shit), but also proves to be yet another cryptic puzzle piece in how it could fit into this bigger picture. Not much to do about it either, but keep watching.

Episode 9: This Salmon Chazuke, Forgot the Salmon

My only thoughts on Sonny Boy's 9th episode is that I like that the cats are getting a more active role.

Well, a few more thoughts actually. I'm not sure what the whole twins fighting over one strand of hair subplot was about, that struck me as more metaphorical (somehow)

And then there's also when Nagara said to Nozomi that he had changed because of her, and it was just kind of like, really? In what ways specifically has he changed so much because of her? The character development he's referencing there isn't too coherent to me.

Episode 10: Summer and Shura

EP 10 just continues to trudge along as it usually does. I'll probably finish the series today, so we get somewhere lol. Hope this wasn't it for Nozomi.

Episode 11: Boy and the Sea

I do feel that Natsume let the audience a bit closer with EP 11 (about damn time), big tonal shift, but very much appreciated. I still feel like the narrative is a bit of a mess, but you know, I'll take what I can get. Mizuho leaving her cats behind is the saddest shit.

I do feel like, when it comes to Nozomi, that a lot of her character was to contribute to Nagara's and Asakaze's arcs rather than focusing a bit more on her as her own person. Since she does seem to be really gone, I'd want more of that.

Episode 12: A Two-Year Recess

Yeah, I wasn't really satisfied with that.

Yes, one of the issues is the lack of clarity. Were these twelve episodes intellectually stimulating? Sure. But we don't really get any explanations, many plot lines aren't addressed, and several character arcs get no real resolutions.

It just came off as vague meditations on random topics Natsume found interesting strung together in random order. I'm not sure I even want to tackle my interpretations on the finale.

One of the things I thought we'd dig into here, was precisely why Nagara and Mizuho decided to go home, she actually asked him this even, and well, the answer wasn't exactly satisfying.

Nagara's character resolution with Nozomi, kinda getting over his apathy and accepting that hurdles are part of the journey, I guess that was fine. Nice callback to the bird.

Yeah, just overall, I found it to be a messy work. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to get it. Maybe it comes down to personal preference, I dunno, but it wasn't satisfying to me and I personally didn't get enough out of the series compared to the investment it asked of me.

But again, I'm thankful it does exist and that we can still get unique art like this at a time where the medium is riddled with light novel adaptations and the likes. I want more like this, even if I personally didn't buy into the hype for this one, in particular.

Overall Thoughts:

I'm happy we still get creative art like this, but, I do not buy into the hype for this one. Un-addressed plotlines, no proper resolutions, just a messy meditation on random topics. Some interesting ideas there, but didn't really come together for me. Music and visuals tho are excellent.

#sonny boy #anime #watchthrough

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sairenharia · 3 years ago

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Sentimonster Adrien Theory 2

Spoilers for all of Season 4 as of 8/31/21

For my previous thoughts, and the validity of at least SOMEONE on the cast being a Sentimonster, refer to: Here

As a note, my previous theory was written after Ladybug and BEFORE Chat Blanc, and Felix. I will be retreading ground for Adrien specifically, but basic belief in there being a sentimonster is there.

Something I just want to say, I don’t think Adrien being a Sentimonster negates the abuse Gabriel inflicted on him. What it does is explain why GABRIEL is able to justify it, but seeing where someone is coming from does not excuse them of their actions. Gabriel has to repent. The fact is Adrien is a person even if Senti!Adrien is true, and that doesn’t change just because he’s not human. Treating someone who can think and feel cruelly is never a good thing.

That being said, evidence and why I think Adrien really might not be human.

A: The Wish

We know Emilie is in the basement. She is in some kind of stasis. We know the Wish involves her.

We do not know Gabriel’s wish. We very deliberately do not know Gabriel’s wish, because we, the audience, hear him talk about it a lot, but only in vague terms. He wants his wish, he wants to change time, he wants to achieve a goal.

But he’s never said he wants to wake Emilie up, fix her, bring her back. He wants to do something for her sake, but its not the most obvious thing.

So its NOT the most obvious thing. There is no reason to be vague about this unless its to elude to a deeper meaning. The obvious wish is too obvious to be obtuse.

And more importantly, we know Emilie and Gabriel wanted something fifteen years ago thanks to the Shanghai special. Something to do with the human virtues, potentially.

We know Marinette is fourteen now. So Adrien’s birthday in Bubbler was his fourteenth birthday.

The want for something started around the time Adrien should have been conceived.

B: Ask for Forgiveness, not Permission.

Adrien doesn’t like to ask his father for things. We see this over and over again with him sneaking out to things like the Startrain, or say he’s going to fencing with Kagami, and other excuses. Sometimes he does try to do things in the straight forward way, but when there are things he really wants to go to, things he doesn’t want to have to accept a no, he sneaks out.

Like the class trip. Like going to see his mother’s movie.

And when Adrien is told directly ‘no,’ he will often listen. For Adrien. Chat Noir, however, is a different entity, and he often uses it for a reason for why he can go out. Chat can, Adrien can’t.

To date, the only time Adrien has gone against a direct order from Gabriel is in regards to going to school.

And Chat Blanc.

I’ll get to Chat Blanc.

Adrien was told he could not attend school, and he accepted that. Until he became Chat Noir and only then did he rebel. Interestingly, when he was pulled from school after the book incident, he didn’t plan to just run away again. We know he was willing to disobey to attend, so why did the ban take this time?

Perhaps because Gabriel made it a thing that was allowed. It wasn’t an outright rebellion, it was a thing earned and then lost.

C: What Is The Amok?

Its the rings.

Not ring.

Its BOTH RINGS.

Which may or may not be magic items in of themselves, but there is not enough information for that.

When Gabriel transforms, there is a distinctive beep. When we first see the basement, we hear that beep again. We we see the rings in Felix, we hear that beep yet again. This beep is a sound cue of significance in regards to Gabriel and Emilie.

And here is the thing. If Adrien is a Sentimonster, he’s meant to be their child. Which comes into some questionable things, ethically speaking, for his free will. They don’t want Adrien to know he’s a Sentimonster. They could tell him to always hold onto his Amok, but he’s the son of very wealthy people. Even without being a model, there is every chance his Amok could be stolen because he’d be a target for theft.

But just having the Amok sitting somewhere is dangerous.

And what if it gets broken?

The only way to keep Adrien’s Amok safe is for one of his parents to have it....or both.

Crocoduel has shown us an item can be Akumatized and taken apart at the moment of enchantment and exist as two separate things. And a bonus, the item has to be put together and THEN broken to break the magic.

And here are the twin rings that are perfect copies of each other and get clean together really nice and maybe they attach a little bit? Having two rings stay together that well while cleaning is quite the party trick if there isn’t something to that. But visually speaking, it tells us, the audience, these are two halves of the same whole.

And it allows a little bit in the form of free will. Because if someone does not possess BOTH rings, they cannot control Adrien completely. Its still incredibly hard for Adrien to resist, but he IS capable of disagreeing at the very least.

Of course, when combined with the home atmosphere, his ability to resist doesn’t account for much without extreme circumstances, but still.

We can see this with Sentibubbler. The moment Ladybug had the coffee cup, he changed tracks without a sign of hesitation or confusion. Because he just had the one item. Even though Ladybug was ordering him with more autonomy then Shadow Moth. (I will also get into that.)

This is also why in Felix, Gabriel immediately goes to retrieve Emilie’s ring to wear. Sure, accusing Felix of stealing the ring gets into a whole legal lawsuit that makes it complicated and would make it difficult to retrieve the ring. Its a whole hassle, but it doesn’t explain why he needs to wear Emilie’s ring.

Except Felix has the ring that is one half of Adrien’s Amok.

Gabriel HAS to wear the ring, because Emilie cannot influence Adrien in any way, but Felix can. Gabriel has to balance out whatever Felix may do to Adrien, so he takes his wife ring. And its why he can’t get into the legal battle because he has to wear the ring to protect ADRIEN, and if they see him with the ring, there will be questions he can’t answer.

This also may explain Gabriel seems even more harsh to Adrien after Emilie’s disappearance despite some oddities.

Adrien wasn’t allowed to go to school while Emilie was around. But Gabriel granted it. When Adrien wants for things he wasn’t allowed before and is willing to fight for it, Gabriel grants it.

I don’t think Gabriel’s authoritative nature has truly changed that much. I think what changed was Adrien’s PERSPECTIVE of it. Because before, Emilie was a constant counter to his need to obey. Now he doesn’t have that, so being told what to do feels more absolute. I think the thing that truly changed was how much time and affection Gabriel was willing to show Adrien in his pain, not how much he restricted him.

Which still ain’t great.

Though that is a thought. Maybe Gabriel avoids Adrien because he knows he’s a commanding sort and he’s trying to not do overly much. Which is why most of his time around Adrien is when he can critique him, because it gives him a focus for orders? It would be a twist.

D: What About Chat Blanc? Or rather, what about Plagg.

So I’ve heard people say Chat Blanc disproves this theory because that is certainly a time to command Adrien to obey with his Amok! Which true, except for two things.

One, the end of Felix has little reason to change in the new timeline. Adrien and Marinette dated for at least a little while which was shortly before Felix happened. Felix still visited.

What might have changed was what kind of terrorizing Felix did on Adrien.

What has no reason to change is Felix stealing the ring.

Which means Gabriel DIDN’T have the means to absolutely command Adrien to do anything, we only had half the Amok.

And the fact the Amok was in two pieces is why Chat Blanc didn’t destroy himself if Gabriel’s ring was still capable of being destroyed while he was transformed, and if London still got wrecked. We saw in Crocoduel the item has to be COMBINED and THEN destroyed. Destroying both at once doesn’t count.

And it would explain something in Chat Blanc.

We know the move he TRIED to do was kill himself. He engulfed himself in the power before it went out of control.

We also know, officially of Guilt Trip, that cataclysm DOESN’T KILL SENTIMONSTERS. It makes it so the Amok doesn’t control them, usually go crazy. We saw Chat Noir get Cataclysm’d in Miraculer, but he didn’t turn to ash. We don’t even know if he truly died. He was suffering, to be sure, and we see Sentimonsters take damage. He could have been damaged.

But Chat Blance is a Sentimonster AND an Akuma, so he was able to take the damage more and went absolutely off the rails instead, and instead of blaming Gabriel, like he should have...

He blamed Ladybug.

Because he was no longer connected to what gave Gabriel control over him. The only ‘control’ over himself he recognized was Ladybug’s influence and his own love.

And then there’s Plagg’s influence, which ties into Cataclysm. Sentimonsters cannot be killed by Plagg’s magic, but they can be FREED of control thanks to his magic. As I said in my first post, the one time we see Adrien disobey as direct order, its after he meets Plagg and goes to school. He uses Chat Noir as a means to disobey all the time.

In being bonded to Plagg, Adrien is given genuine free will and freedom, over the manufactured version that his parents made with a split Amok. He is able to decide things on his own, because he has the chaos magic that grants him the ability to SAY NO. To develop his own means of rebelling.

Ask for forgiveness over permission. And sometimes, learning to say no anyway.

This doesn’t change the conditioning Adrien has been through. He’s obedient to a fault because that is all he’s ever known. Its just instead of fear and gaslighting having trained this into him, it was magic. His parents never NEEDED to be cruel, Emilie COULD be as kind as Adrien says, because they never needed to use negative reinforcement on him.

They had magic.

And that was able to do the job just as well.

Plagg is able to naturally counter the magic. And he’s giving Adrien the unconditional love and support to help him learn, but Adrien is still a person, still has a personality. And the mental bars he has around his head are just as effective as the magic ones were.

E. Shadow Moth vs Mayura

There is something I’ve noticed between how Shadow Moth and Mayura operate.

Mayura made Sentmonsters for others, but she did make one for herself: Ladybug. But here is the thing about Sentibug, she gave her orders. Gave her a general guideline. And then she let Sentibug take those orders and just go.

Shadow Moth, when he makes an Amok, does not do this. He allows others to control Sentimonsters as they will, and often Sentimonsters are just given general guidelines, but not Shadow Moth’s Sentimonsters. Sentibubbler, SentiNino, SentiAlec are Sentimonsters Shadow Moth made.

And he didn’t give them orders. He didn’t give them guidelines.

They were Literal Puppets.

He controlled their movements. He SPOKE THEIR WORDS FOR THEM.

Out of all the Sentimonsters, Gabriel is literally the only one who has used his Sentimonster this way.

And I think there’s a good reason for it. I don’t think Gabriel is capable of making an entity that can act on its own, but is still a complete slave to his will and be okay with it.

Because what does that say about Adrien?

Akumas are fine because those are PEOPLE. People he manipulated and coerced, people he threatened, but they are still people. They can still refuse him and he knows it.

Puppets are find because that’s all they are, puppets.

But this middle ground that Sentimonsters are, that is what Adrien is. And Gabriel is unable to cope with that because it means seeing his son as a tool and despite how much of a genuinely terrible person Gabriel is, that is not something he’s willing to see in himself.

So he hyper controls the Sentimonsters and Does Not Think About It.

F. Wishmaker.

Listen, its valid to have a wish as a child to be what your parents wanted to be. Depending on parents, it could be a perfectly healthy wish.

Here’s the thing.

Everytime Wishmaker granted a wish, we saw people at the age they wanted that wish granted. They were children when they had this wish.

ADRIEN WAS AN INFANT.

And here’s the thing.

Infants don’t think of others. Infants are a bundle of vulnerability that is very curious about the world and don’t want to die and is trying to figure out how to make its wants known. Infants are selfish beings because they are just trying to survive in this world they’ve shown up in.

An infant doesn’t think about what its parents want.

Adrien should not have been CAPABLE of having that wish as an INFANT.

Not unless he wasn’t human.

A Sentimonster sure does want to do what its Amok holder wants.

And what his parents wanted was a son. What they wanted was Adrien.

So that’s why Adrien appears as Adrien for the wish, because for all he has doubts, the Sentimonster in him knows that is what they wanted.

F2. Gabriel and Emilie’s eyes.

....idk, fam. The fact their eye colors were switched FEELS important and we’ve supposedly seen Emilie at seventeen with green eyes and her sister has green eyes, so what’s up with that is wei-

F2. GABRIEL AND EMILIE’S EYES, A THOUGHT I LITERALLY HAD RIGHT NOW.

The Amok is both rings. Gabriel and Emilie have their own rings. The rings they have always worn as their own.

Felix, with green eyes, has Gabriel’s ring.

Gabriel, with blue eyes, has Emilie’s ring.

The reason the eyes are switched in Adrien’s memory is because he associates the eyes with the ring and the current holder of the specific ring have THOSE EYES. He knows the faces they SHOULD be, but the eyes are DIFFERENT because the holders are DIFFERENT.

G. Allergies.

Its still funny if a boy made out of a feather has a feather allergy. It may also be a defense mechanism put in. Logically, any peacock user will have feathers. Maybe he’s allergic in case they ever lose the peacock, he’ll avoid the holder while they’re transformed at least. Maybe it could even distract the holder from noticing anything off about him.

H. Obedience.

Adrien is obedient. Which is one of the reasons he’s a suspect Sentimonster. I won’t go into this because I already talked about his Permission versus Forgiveness thing.

I. Taking Charge

I talked about before about Adrien taking charge and struggling with it, but I also have another point about it.

The thing is, we see Adrien excel at second in command....but also when he’s Chat Noir.

Adrien did BADLY as Mister Bug and as Aspik. But the thing is, Plagg wasn’t there at the time. As Mister Bug, Plagg was with Marinette. As Aspik, the ring is in the weird pocket dimension things are bamf’d away and while Plagg is around, his power isn’t bonded to Adrien.

Adrien has proven able to figure out Ladybug’s plans with minimal instructions. The fact Mister Bug couldn’t even get to step one is weird.

He tried being Aspik for months and was unable to figure out what he needed to do, focused solely on the objective of protect Ladybug. Unable to step back and think beyond his goal. Three months is a long time to not come up with ANYTHING.

Its like Adrien’s ability to decide things on his own was compromised. Like his free will was stripped away, hindered by the rings that control him. He could try to focus on protecting Ladybug, but he couldn’t figure out a good way to take down the enemy on his own.

His father didn’t want him to.

We do see Adrien can lead well. When he wanted to talk to Juleka in Guilt Trip, HE was the one making the right decision. But he was unable to overtake Marinette’s charisma, so even if he could think of what to do, how to handle the situation, he doesn’t have the force of personality to overtake a true leader.

We see Chat Noir have plans and direct a crowd.

With Plagg granting him agency, he’s able to make good decisions, good calls, able to use that brain of his well. Its when he loses Plagg he struggles the most.

J. The Need To Be Useful

Adrien thinks he needs to be useful. He needs to be good and perfect. And yes, this is reinforced by Gabriel’s treatment of him, always criticizing him, but it is a kind of curious fear.

Adrien has two great fears.

The fear of trapped isolation and the fear of rejection.

The fear of trapped isolation is the one Gabriel has reinforced. Adrien has only shown a fear of his father rejecting him once, during Christmas, when he was frustrated in the idea Gabriel would not spend time with him, and even then, Adrien chose to make it a reality on his own first.

And its very likely Gabriel was affectionate when he was younger.

I think the fear of rejection from Gabriel is a newer one that Adrien is aware of. After Gabriel has refused to be around Adrien.

But I think the fear was ALWAYS there. Because he is an Sentimonster. If a Sentimonster isn’t useful, then they have no reason to exist. And the thing is, while Adrien fears this, there is also a strong part of him that is RESIGNED to it.

Which makes it even weirder in that Gabriel’s behavior should make this a NEWER fear...unless it was part of Adrien’s natural existence. One of a Sentimonster. He’s afraid of it, because he wants people, he loves people, but there is a part of him that just....accepts it as a natural consequence.

One that isn’t worth fighting.

Like he isn’t in season four right now.

K. Memories

Adrien couldn’t remember having childhood dreams. We know he used to play with Chloe and...that’s it. There’s even implication his modeling is a Newer Thing instead of being a child model.

We know he didn’t have a childhood dream. He never had a childhood wish. Which is weird because Adrien is the biggest romantic dreamer of the series save for ROSE. He never thought about being a charming knight, a magical girl, even just being a superhero? He was all on board with being a superhero when offered, like he’s thought about it a lot!

But it wasn’t something he called a childhood dream.

But you know who probably did have being a superhero as a childhood dream?

Chloe.

If Adrien has two Amoks to make a facsimile of free will, it may have been impossible for him to truly ‘dream’ in the sense Wishmaker was talking about. It was too deep of a want for him to truly conceptualize enough to count.

But he played games with Chloe, he still saw the wishes and dreams and fantasies that he could enjoy with her as a proxy.

Perhaps that is why they were such good friends. Chloe wanted things so fiercely that for Adrien, who struggled to want, he was able to figure out how to do it with her influence. Not enough for a childhood dream, but enough to know how to want enough that it gave him a love for people. A need for more in his life beyond the perfect son.

L. Emotions.

Adrien is the heart of the Ladybug and Chat Noir duo. The Peacock is the Miraculous of Emotions. Adrien has shown a difficulty at controlling his own feelings. He can control his REACTIONS, but its hard for him to figure out what to do about his feelings beyond ‘conceal, don’t feel.’

Which is weird, because he’s extremely empathetic. He’s very good at judging others emotions (save for Marinette ‘Just A Friend’ Dupain-Cheng.) He can offer comfort and figure out is they need space or help. The fact he struggles with his own says maybe his are just too strong.

Like he’s a being Made Of Emotions.

M. Narrative Foreshadowing.

Just saying it again.

It comes up a lot with Adrien becoming some kind of puppet, copy, impostor. It happens so much. SO MUCH.

Also he was the first one to think Sentibug was a Real Person.

Then there is the end of Mega Leech.

Could it just be another example of Adrien being emotionally abused? Sure.

However, considering how often this series genuinely glosses over abuse (Adrien, Chloe, Kagami, even Zoe to an extent), its weird to just throw that in at the end of an episode that, frankly, barely involves Adrien’s emotions.

Save one.

Adrien was told it was a perfume commercial. He was Lied To. He was told One Thing was Another.

And there is the framing. There is the double focus on the ring, the focus on the words. There is so much focus on this being a command that could not be denied, and that doesn’t need to involve the ring AT ALL if it was abuse.

Unless, of course, the ring was an Amok.

Then the visual cues make a whole lot more sense.

N. The Wild Mass Guessing.

Now what is the wish.

Clearly Emilie’s use of the peacock is what made her sick and it made her sick for years. Now whether the peacock was ALREADY BROKEN or Emilie broke it is up in the air. Either way, we know she used the peacock longterm. Since there is no talk of supervillains or previous superheroes, it seems highly unlikely she was granting people super powered monsters.

So, her use was for a Sentimonster. Perhaps trying to split the Amok broke the peacock. Perhaps that one use was enough to make her sick, but because it was just the one time, it took years for the magical sickness to take her down. That is all up in the air.

What we do know, the crux of the wish is fifteen years ago. Which means it involves Adrien’s existence in some way. It likely involves rewriting time a bit.

And here is the thing.

Gabriel loves Adrien. He does. He’s a trash person, he’s toxic at best, abusive at worst, but HE LOVES ADRIEN.

What if the peacock was broken when they found it. What is Emilie DIDN’T break it?

‘I wish the Peacock was never broken.’

Fifteen years ago, Gabriel and Emilie were trying to have a baby. But they were unable to conceive. Amelie had her own baby boy, and he’s beautiful, and Emilie and Gabriel just hurt more at their inability to have a child.

(This is why adoption should be seen as more valid, folks, but that’s neither here nor there.)

But Emilie’s family knows of magic. Because let’s be fair, there is something truly suspicious about that lot and it screams they know magic stuff. Emilie has heard of grand artifacts and magics and maybe there is away around this limitation.

They explore the world, research magic artifacts, until they finally find the Peacock and Butterfly Miraculous. They are able to learn what they can do, either from Nooroo and Duusu. Clearly an Akuma does nothing for them, but a Sentimonster?

That had possibilities.

But the Peacock is broken.

Emilie doesn’t care.

They experiment. She uses the Peacock more and more, but she figures out the trick. She figures out how to make a child, how to make him SAFE.

Adrien is created, using the sign of their union, and the Miraculous are locked away.

But Emilie is still sick from figuring out how to create Adrien. And the years go by and she doesn’t get better, but she doesn’t care. She has her son. A son both her and Gabriel love, but they have to be careful. He’s not human, after all, just a little off.

Let him meet Chloe, because the Bourgeios are hardly normal. Slowly socialize him. Keep him inside so no one sees how odd he is. Keep him safe. He grows, happy enough, independent ENOUGH to believe.

Then Emilie collapses.

And doesn’t get up.

Gabriel is the only one with active control. He keeps Emilie’s ring on her finger and hides her away, but now, he’s the only one who can order his son. He doesn’t want to destroy what independent thought Adrien has achieved, doesn’t want to destroy HIS SON, so he keeps his distance. He only interacts in ways where he can be silent, or criticize what he has always criticized. Doesn’t even dare to get him a gift for his birthday because what if that becomes far too important?

As Adrien shows a rebellious streak, does things for himself, asks for things HE wants, things that Gabriel will sometimes give if its deemed safe, and Gabriel tentatively shows a little more attention. Goes to a few events, goes on a few trips. Not for long, brief amounts of time, hoping that Adrien keeps being Himself.

Because he can’t take off the ring.

Taking off the ring means leaving Adrien vulnerable.

And he fights Ladybug and Chat Noir for his wish.

If the Peacock wasn’t broken/didn’t break, then Emilie wouldn’t have gotten sick. She would wake up and Adrien wouldn’t be erased by his sole control. Maybe if he’s bold enough, he can just make sure Adrien was never at risk of being a puppet again. Take the Amok’s out of the equation, make his son real.

And if time is altered then....then it doesn’t MATTER if Adrien is hurt NOW. If he hates being alone. If Gabriel fails, at least he doesn’t erase what little will his son has left. If Gabriel wins, then literally nothing done matters!

Sometimes he forgets that. He sees Adrien in danger, and he feels that fear, that need to save his son.

Sometimes he remembers, tells himself if he wins, then any harm he caused Adrien with Riposte, with Style Queen, WITH CHAT BLANC, will no longer matter. He just had to win, he has to win, he has to win because it will return Emilie, and it will ensure his son is never lost in the magic that makes his soul.

It doesn’t matter who he hurts. It doesn’t matter how villainous he becomes. None of it matters as long as he achieves his end.

Once, he even thinks of explaining it to Adrien. Tell him he’s Hawk Moth. Tell him he’s a Sentimonster. He knows the distance hurts his son, but if he knew why, then Adrien would understand just how much he loves Adrien.

He keeps his distance so he doesn’t accidentally change Adrien.

He’s Hawk Moth so he can save Emilie and Adrien.

He will fix everything once he wins, and he regrets how often he had hurt Adrien until then.

And then Adrien talks about how he’s noticed Gabriel and Nathalie becoming closer and Nathalie has the Peacock. Adrien is switching his loyalty from Emilie to Nathalie, he’s changing due to MAGIC and Gabriel is furious because he’s been too lax, been too kind, he needs to WIN.

When the Peacock will no longer hurt, when Nathalie will stop fighting him on him using it, he takes it. To keep Adrien from changing more due to magic.

There are times where Gabriel’s heart remind him of his love. He can’t hurt his son then.

There are times where he remembers his goal. If he wins, whatever harm he caused Adrien doesn’t matter, and he HAS to win.

And he throws himself more and more and more into the fight, into winning because if he can win, then he can save everyone important to him.

What does it matter if Adrien suffers now as long as its undone?

#ml-spoilers #adrien agreste #gabriel agreste #nathalie sancoeur #emilie agreste #sentimonster #sentimonster theory #senti!adrien #ml season 4 #cw: child abuse #cw: toxic relationship

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