Likely to write some stuff

I was thinking more about how the citizens pushed Riku to retake the throne specifically because of his personal past accomplishments as the anti-war king. While his dynasty was generally anti-war, the citizens and Elizabetto seemed to regard him as particularly skilled at preventing war. To me, it felt more like the citizens wanted to return to their idealized past under Riku as a response to the horror of Doflamingo's unearthed tyranny.

Do you think the citizens would have trusted Viola to the same degree just because of her dynasty? Would the former toys (who worked with her as part of the resistance) convince the rest of the citizens? Would her time as an officer corrupt her image?

it would take some finessing, but Viola would have the support of any other realistic candidate (Rebecca and Kyros) as well as the tontattas and the Straw Hats. Word would spread how she betrayed Doffy, and how she was blackmailed into serving in the first place. The whole populous was manipulated by the toy memory stuff, so I think they’d be receptive. It doesn’t hurt that canonically Viola is good at selling a sob story.

Luffy is a rather plain character. He doesn't have any extraordinary features that make him stand out like the rest of his crew. He doesn't have any special hair color. No body modifications. He is pure human through and through. He has some scars, sure, but who doesn't?

Luffy isn't anything special to look at, but he does look kind because he is kind. He looks blunt because he is blunt. He doesn't care about his looks. He only cares about his friends, their dreams, and his own.

And then of course there’s the tint. Doflamingo literally sees the world through tinted glasses. First, the metaphorical rose-colored shade of his youth, expecting complete and utter control over and subservience / reverence from people. Then, after what happens to him and his family, with literal blood-dark sunglasses, still tinted as ever, except that now all he sees is cruelty

Meanwhile, his brother Rosinante also had his eyes covered when he was a child, but when we meet him as an adult they’re opened. He’s seen the world for what it is

I think this is actually what Oda means when he jokes that even if he took the sunglasses off, another would appear. Doflamingo — at heart, pathologically, psychologically, or perhaps some mix of all three — is someone who needs that control over his vision of the world. And he can’t give it up. Even if he tries, even if it’s ripped for him, he will simply provide himself with a new point of view that will continue to let him do whatever he wants. He can evolve, he can grow new feathers, but he never really changes

At his core he’s still that spoiled child demanding everybody love and adore him, and all that trauma did was reinforce his need for it. It only made him grip it tighter

once sabo read the paper saying ace was dead, all those memories and promises came rushing back. seeing him breakdown & panic was heartbreaking. for so long, sabo lived his life with no idea where he came from or who is family was. sabo found his brothers & lost one of them on the same day.

“thank you for being alive, luffy”

seeing how relieved sabo was that luffy was alive made me so emotional. luffy felt so guilty over not being able to save ace but sabo was just so happy to find luffy alive. it took 10 years for sabo to remember his brothers but now he’ll never forget them. it was a miracle that sabo remembered ace & luffy to begin with, so being able to reunite with his youngest brother is everything to him. in a way, ace brought the two brothers together again. the scenes between sabo & luffy are so beautiful. even after so many years, the two have never stopped loving each other. no amount of time, amnesia, and distance can change the bond between these brothers. now that sabo has ace’s flame flame fruit, it’s like the three of them are still connected.

it's the perfect conclusion that allows you to relax with a laugh and a smile after everything that happened in the last half hour (and it was a lot!), it's a celebration of the fact that community has been restored through the haka, and last but not least it's a great homage to MJ.

This is not just because the movie came out one year later after his death so the homage gained more meaning, but also because it came out in a period of time where if anyone referenced MJ in a movie, it was for dragging his name into the mud, to make a joke about him and all the fake news around his persona.. but not Taika.

boy (2010), ofmd s2

Stede’s library, like most of the Revenge, is about pleasure. Books in 1717 in the Caribbean would be quite expensive and hard to come by, and Stede has amassed a library to fill the cabin. It’s implied that most - all? - of these are works of fiction or adventure, and books about pirates. We know Stede reads adventures, he has fantasy tales (from the future), he has books on pirates. We’re not told exactly what he reads, but he certainly has Shakespeare and it seems unlikely he’s reading “improving” works like essays.

Stede comes from a class where reading for pleasure is possible, but we should remark that reading for pleasure is also considered idle and feminine. It’s not a masculine pursuit. The two characters depicted as reading for pleasure are the two most explicitly femme men, Stede and Lucius. Stede’s love of reading - he’d rather read a book in bed than continue to drink and do whippies with Jack - is part of his femme characterization. The frivolity of bringing a library to sea is remarked on by Nigel, who mocks it, and by Izzy, who considers it a “waste of space.” The pleasure of reading is at odds with patriarchal culture. It is another mark against Stede’s masculinity.

Ed can read, but it is unlikely that he has much experience reading for pleasure. He’s not just amazed by the library but that Stede has actually READ all these books. This is in the context of Ed being seduced by the concept of a life where reading for pleasure is possible, where you can appreciate fabric for its softness, where clothing is worn not for utilitarian reasons but because it’s pretty. Where you can have two chandeliers because you want two chandeliers.

Reading for pleasure is also about imagination. Stede seduces the crew with stories. One of the reasons they hesitate in killing him is because he can do the voices. They listen and laugh and are moved by the narratives he reads to them. These, in turn, transform to story time, where the crew make up their own narratives, and where Ed comes out of his shell, to be “more open and available than I’ve ever seen him.” Unsurprising that this disgusts and worries Izzy. Ed is being frivolous. Ed is telling stories.

Stede’s stories are, in fact, a threat to patriarchal constructs and binaries and to the class system itself. They offer psychological truths, they allow characters to explore their desires and dreams, a future in which they can consider what they want and not just what they need. This begins with the idea of reading for pleasure, and taking the TIME to read for pleasure, and is treated as frivolous and repellant by the representatives of the patriarchy.