writesailingdreams

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References manga spoilers for those only caught up to the anime

Think Piece: Rising Water Levels - on Earth and in Oda's One Piece

“…the sea should rise about one meter around the world, thereby rendering some islands uninhabitable” (Oda). Recently, I read an article that discussed whether the worse case scenario predictions about rising water levels wers less severe than they should be, based on evidence in the past of an unmelted glacier; this, in turn, reminded me of Oda Eiichiro’s recent reveal about a central crisis to…

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Think Piece: Rising Water Levels - on Earth and in Oda's One Piece

“…the sea should rise about one meter around the world, thereby rendering some islands uninhabitable” (Oda). Recently, I read an article that discussed whether the worse case scenario predictions about rising water levels wers less severe than they should be, based on evidence in the past of an unmelted glacier; this, in turn, reminded me of Oda Eiichiro’s recent reveal about a central crisis to…

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The Public Comment Process (+ how to write effective public comments)

The US federal rule-making process is founded around the right to comment: the public's opportunity to publicly address the agency responsible for a decision. This right is enshrined by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) of 1946 and reinforced by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970, which both require that citizens be able to take part in pre-decision communication with a federal agency.

Public comments are important for a number of reasons:

Agencies must consider all new information received during the comment period and address that new information before publishing the final rule; this includes revising the proposed rule.

A good comment can be the basis for a court challenge. If the agency does not adequately address the new information in the comment, they can then be sued and the rule placed on hold until the issues raised by the new information are resolved.

Advocacy groups and journalists often scour public comments to get ideas for their own comments and campaigns, and to contextualize proposed rules.

Submitting a public comment on proposed federal rules and regulations is not like commenting on social media, though. Substantive comments that require agency response are those that contain information pertinent to the actions proposed in the regulation, such as community impacts, scientific evidence, or other data. Non-substantive comments ("I don't like this!") don't require any response beyond maybe a "Comment noted."

Here's a brief set of tips from the Public Comment Project:

“The most valuable public comments are unique, fact-based, and succinct. The agency will have to sort through many identical form letters and expressions of personal opinion.  

Your comment can report on scientific evidence that opposes or supports the theory behind the regulation. Providing additional supporting evidence helps strengthen the agency's position by creating a stronger scientific foundation for their action.

Use an opening sentence to establish your credibility. State who you are and summarize any of your experiences that are relevant to the topic of the proposal.

You do not have to come to a conclusion or judgement regarding the entirety of the regulation, but you do have to clearly communicate the implications of the research you present. Avoid leaving it up to the agency to infer how research or data relates to the regulation. 

Check out the agency's mission statement and any statutes relevant to the regulation. Federal agencies' actions are driven by their mission and held to the standards dictated by statutes, so make your comment stronger by explaining how your information contributes to their mission.”

You can also find templates here: https://publiccommentproject.org/comment-templates

Sources:

The Public Comment Project https://publiccommentproject.org

Democracy in Practice: Public Participation in Environmental Decisions, Beierle and Cayford 2002

Union of Concerned Scientists https://www.ucs.org/resources/participating-federal-rulemaking

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updated the information leading the "Implementation of the Definition of Waters of the United States" document

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psst, this Earth Day share some of your thoughts...

On this Earth Day, if you live in the United States, consider taking time to write a comment (1) against the removal of “harm” to wildlife habitats in the Endangered Species Act, and, if you can as the deadline is 23 April 2025, (2) delimiting what counts as water that should be counted under the Clean Water Act other than “continuous surface connection” (I’m implementing an aspect of another…

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hey! donate to uk trans charities today because it’s gonna be a rough one

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It's funny, because Buggy tried so hard to betray Luffy so many times. It's like the universe itself wouldn't let him not help after Luffy gave him the treasure marker.

Mihawk will make it explicit during the Marineford arc that Luffy's greatest strength isn't his physical prowess, but his ability to make allies. It's interesting to contrast the way in which Luffy wins people over compared to other thematic foils like Blackbeard, who gains equally enormous influence through violence and coercion. Luffy's guileless faith in characters like Buggy (which later shows up in his alliance with Law) is on its surface stupid in the cutthroat world of pirates, but it's because not despite Luffy is who he is that he influences others to his cause.

Cynical characters like Buggy and Mr. 3 will try (and fail) to take advantage of him, but by mere proximity Luffy will in turn inspire them to grow beyond their base instincts, and he's rewarded by the narrative for his trouble. Mr. 2 comes back to save him after being terrified of Magellan. Mr. 3 unlocks the keys to Ace's cuffs. Buggy saves his ass repeatedly through the saga. It's like Luffy is a gravity well that people can't help but fall into, and it's that charisma and ability to almost instantly create bonds with other people that will cause him to eventually become the Pirate King.

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One thing I love about Luffy is that he's one of few protagonists where their charisma and ability to make allies feels real (especially since as a reader I'm drawn in by it too).

I still don't know how Oda managed to nail that part of him. It's a very difficult character type. Do you have any thoughts why it works for Luffy, while so many other protagonists fail? And do you know of any other works/characters you think do this well?

I don't think there's any one thing about Luffy that is the secret sauce into what makes him work so well, but Oda has managed to make his in-universe reputation pretty much match how the fandom feels about him. There isn't any disconnect between the two.

I do also think that Luffy us particularly suited for the world of One Piece. His personality, powers, and goals belong in this world. I can't imagine Luffy in the real world or a different fictional universe. He belongs where he is.

Also, Luffy manages to be earnest without being annoying. He doesn't whine when things don't go his way, and while he's extremely positive and enthusiastic as a character, it never strays into something that feels fake. He is unapologetically true to who he is as a person, and if you don't like that he doesn't care. He's not going to bend himself to anyone else's whims, even that of the reader.

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In content, Impel Down is based predominately on Dante's Inferno, but visually I feel like there's bits of Hieronymus Bosch's vision of hell

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It's not an accident that many of the guards are either inhuman or have their eyes covered with sunglasses. The eyes are the window of the soul, and Oda adds that extra bit of distance between the reader and the staff of Impel Down by taking away that feature. In contrast, den den mushi cameras are everywhere, an omnipresent, all-seeing eye ready to hunt down and punish even the smallest infraction.

I would also be remiss not to point out that the base uniform of the Impel Down jailers pulls heavily from the uniforms of the SS, nor do I think it’s a coincidence that one of Magellan’s gimmicks is breathing poison gas. Oda isn’t exactly being subtle with what he’s trying to convey, but it’s saved from true grimdark territory with a pretty heavy focus on humor to balance things out.

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In Luffy's defense, he tried.

And I like that the background in Hancock's panel is pure black in contrast to Luffy's stark white, showing their differing mental states at this point in time

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Encouragement

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Impel Down pulls much from the Divine Comedy, and in that light referring to this intake process as baptism is quite interesting. In Catholic theology, people who die without being baptized are barred from heaven. In Dante's Inferno the first circle of hell, Limbo, belongs to both virtuous pagans and souls who died before receiving the sacrament. One Piece flips this idea on its head, instead not allowing its prisoners into hell without being baptized. Dante's Limbo is likewise a place without direct punishment, whereas this "rebirth" is enough to kill ordinary men.

And you can see insidious bits of propaganda already at work, even though this is obviously inhumane torture. It's a ritual. It sterilizes clothes and prevents disease. It burns away sin. Ignore the screams and the death. They're criminals so they deserve it, and even if they didn't, it's for their own good.

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I could not tell you what Emerald Princess is about beyond the vaguest inciting idea. I have a vague idea of what Land of Small might be about, and I think I know what Banjo is about. The rest I could give a brief summary for.

*almost positive this is an English dubbed C'est pas parce qu'on est petit qu'on peut pas être grand!

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Think Piece: the unknown

What does it mean to go into the unknown? What is the unknown? Is it simply not knowing what a situation is like, or not knowing what you will do in a situation? For me, the lack of knowing what a situation will entail is the more prominent type of unknown, and yet, on the other hand, lacking knowledge sometimes makes it easier to do things because I lack a sense of what to expect, and what…

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Propaganda for Caleb: My sweet BI king

Propaganda for Yamato: no message

Disclaimer

The tournament is based on submission!

If you don't think xyz character is queer, you can just vote against them! But at this point it is too late to take them out of the tournament without messing the whole thing up!

Rules

don't insult characters or fandoms, you will get blocked

reblogs are fine, but please don't reblog the same polls over and over (especially if you are a poll/tournament blog), you will get blocked

please stop yelling at me or calling me cruel for pitting "your faves" against each other, the tournament polls are randomized

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I miss the greasy rat bastard vibe of Ace's original character design