#void century

I don´t know what I was expecting from the face reveal, but certainly not this. Like, maybe an old man with a beard, a little like the Gorosei, but young (looking) man with literal horns and devil's tail? Nah, didn't see that one coming.

Now, about his devil's fruit: that text means it's a fruit of the literal devil, which is why he has the horns and the tail, right? I mean, we have a devil fruit of the god, Sun God Nika, so why could there not be a devil fruit of the Devil? And I don't know, but I feel like Imu's proper reveal could teach us something about the devil fruits as a whole... also, about his skin color: my first thought was that it was red due to the Devil's powers, but I've seen some say he might be Lunarian, so... maybe? I mean-

-here it does look like he has wings of the right style... why's he coughing up blood btw? Does that have something to do with him leaving the Holy Land? Does that make his body suffer, causing it to be the reason why the Gorosei didn't want him to leave? I mean, he is old, there's probably something special about the space that he usually occupies that helps him to keep together his body that, by all logic, should not work like that after 900+ years.

THERE WAS SO MUCH I LOVED ABOUT THIS CHAPTER

First of all this cover image was adorable!! One of my favorites I think

YEAH GET IT SANJI!!!! Ohhhh perfect Sommers’ weakness is heat?! Isn’t that just perfect!

Except Luffy, apparently…

“I always believed in you” “I knew that”

Inspired by Chopper?? It reminded me of him at least

(panels organized L->R) All in white, just like Gaban said before…

Ripley better not be dead, I swear Oda stop killing off moms!

I KNEWW ITTTTT

Nidhoggr being renowned on Elbaph but also a familir face to Imu, it can be presumed Nidnoggr was not only present during the history of the world and/or Void Century but a key player, an important factor that Imu apparently lost track of??

That being said…

Chopper raised above his herd in the forest, and doesn’t his Monster Point look like a deity? Now he’s taming the demons in Elbaf.

We already know Luffy is the sun. He’s riding Loki, who is setting everything on fire whether he means to or not.

Of course, theoretically speaking, the Second World is actually the Void Century. But this could also be a parallel with their prior incarnations/predecessors in that time.

They all have a Fruit, after all.

A Zoan Fruit.

from Law (about needing to take down monsters to learn about history), taking it as proof that he's somehow not fighting for freedom or that

freedom of expression is not something important that has been sanctified ratified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. (Article 19)

But that it is instead some nerdish pastime that no other character in One Piece or the real world is invested in (WG or otherwise) for obvious reasons of power, politics and freedom/repression.

But there are governments and organisations that regularly suppress this kind of expression (in One Piece and the real world--no surprise):

There are governments and organisations that fear the pursuit of knowledge:

Partial SBS: Volume 86: Pedro led the Nox expedition party who were chased by the government for searching for poneglyphs, thus they became the Nox Pirates. That's a story from about 15 years ago.

And there are governments and organisations that penalise people by taking their lives

for seeking out knowledge. 👆👇

From Clover,

to Nico Olvia,

to Rayleigh,

to Pedro,

to the giants (👇 read right to left),

to Vegapunk

the power and desire to learn about history is emphasised and

honoured,

(from chapter 396 👆)

(from chapter 1066 👆)

and also acknowledged as a very dangerous undertaking.

And even Cora talks to Law about

the meaning behind the Will of D. not being lost, BUT "living on in the dark shadows of history around the world" (it's not easily seen either).

Like, knowing history and access to history/knowledge is one of the main themes of the manga. And Big Mom is a monster. And the World Government is a repressive monolith. And this guy (guy?) 👇:

nuking places and people for not toeing the line, or for knowing too much; riddled with antipathy towards holders of the Will of D. and, with Artur's (Library of Ohara) claim (among others) that the ancient immense kingdom was formed by descendants of the D. clan (which is canon)—

—then wouldn't you too be curious and more than a little pissed off that your curiosity could be the catalyst for persecution and genocide?

That searching for identity, roots...your reason for being, is not allowed? (Sound familiar?)

Like, those scholarly waters are nothing if not shark-infested.

Ultimately the pen (Robin's ability to read the poneglyphs, the scholars' meticulous research) probably will be mightier than the sword, and although bureaucracy can entrap, knowing how to read between the lines, or even to read them, can loosen the ties that bind, and help ensure they are not unfairly cast.