[ID identical to alt text: two screenshots from The Owl House finale. The first is the Titan telling Luz: "I am both king and queen, best of both things!"
The second screenshot is Luz reacting with a warm, slightly awestruck smile. End description.]
it could just be part of her generally awed demeanor in this scene (because, like, who wouldn't be awed about meeting the Titan?), but I'm really soft over the look in Luz's eyes when her little brother's dad eschews gender norms.
because this Luz, who's bi, who doesn't want to choose between literal worlds, and who doesn't want to choose between feminine and masculine gender presentation. who's textually gender non-conforming, and incredibly easy to interpret as genderqueer, multigender, nonbinary, or any combination of those and more.
[ID identical to alt: a screenshot of Luz in a t-shirt with purple and white stripes, along with green sweatpants. It evokes the genderqueer flag, which is displayed next to her. End description.]
in the narrative, queerness is taken so in stride that Luz never even seems surprised by how normalized it is in the Boiling Isles — and from the start, she isn't afraid to show her own bisexuality either, which I think speaks volumes to how Camila must've raised her in a very accepting environment. but still, there's something to be said about how special it must be for Luz to meet the Titan —
who is King's dad, who is the source of all her magic, who the literal ground she's been walking upon —
and for Luz to realize: "oh, him? the closest thing to a deity of this world? she's actually a lot like me."
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Not trying to justify or excuse Doflamingo in any way, I'm actually a big fan of his manslaughter and many awful crimes but as I was rewatching Dressrosa I noticed I believe a lot of people forget about the second smaller backstory flashback he gets? Which goes considerably deeper into why he is Like That despite being much shorter.
I'd guess most people only remember the main one he shares with Corazón and Law (understandable) but like.... he was very much groomed to be Like That, the same way he planned to do with Law.
Until before he killed his father, he was shown to be, at most, an extremely entitled and annoying child that very much embodied what he had learned from their lifestyle as a celestial dragon. You can see that mindset and behavior in literally all of his ex-peers (excluding later Homing and Mjorsgard, but they're exceptions)
After Homing decided to leave Mary Geoise with his family and during everything they endured after, Doflamingo was just very pissed and very much growing hateful towards his father (which is not that hard to understad given the situation) but never actually acted aggressive, or homicidal, he just kept giving the same celestial dragon tirade, because he didn't understand what was going on. He repeatedly asks his father why what he has known for his whole life is not working, he is confused.
Now, the second backstory flashbacks reveal some very much crucial things to what happened after all of this, including the fact that it was Trebol (and Diamante, Pica and Vergo, who were already together at the time) who gave Doffy both his fruit and the gun he uses to kill his father, stating that he was chosen by the heavens because they witnessed him using Conqueror's haki back when he and his family were tied up. This instantly draws Trebol's group to him and makes them realize that actually, this kid is very fucking powerful, we should weaponize that.
So Doflamingo kills his father (and this is the last time we see Rosinante with him so we can assume they split after this- Rosi likely being taken by Sengoku when they find him), brings his head to Mary Geoise to try and bargain rejoining the celestial dragons, which goes bad, and then he goes back to Trebol and his group. They comfort him and state that since he can't go back, he should join them, and they would give him everything he ever wanted. What follows is a long montage of them fueling his previous mindset that he is right, indeed chosen by the heavens, that he should rule over everything, and that they will act as his executioners on his every whim.
Now, I don't believe Doflamingo could ever be "normal" or that he would be able to rebuild his mindset from what he had learned from the celestial dragons the same way Rosinante was able to. I do, however, fully believe that he would be much different from what he is now, had he never been groomed by Trebol & co. Would he have been drawn to violence and destruction the same way? Perhaps he would end up there on his own anyway, but maybe not, maybe he would remain more similar to other celestial dragons, weak and fearful and using other people to do his dirty work for him.
I do think there's something fundamentally wrong with that man that would still surface in some way at some point of his life but who knows, things could've been different.
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thinkin about these lines in the beginning of hollow mind:
and
just. god i love it so much. WHAT a clever-yet-subtle use of foreshadowing. like obviously the audience knows that luz is about to find something big, given everything about belos..... but these lines aren't Really about the overarching season-long plot at all.
luz starting the episode out saying "i need to show people who belos really is" and eda asking "and who is he, really?" what a fun way to say Haha. Luz Is About To Find Out.
This Sure Is An Episode About The Finding Out Part Of Fucking Around!
and the second exchange isn't about the general population of the boiling isles at all. it's about hunter.
thesis statements, themes, etc. hunter doesn't want to think he's wasted his life following the wrong person. luz is about to spend an entire episode searching for something big enough to change his mind. and she won't find it for a long time, because that's how cult abuse and cognitive dissonance and the sunk cost fallacy work.
luz and hunter are both so completely unequipped for what each of them is about to discover. it's gonna color their relationship and their individual senses of self for the Entire Rest Of The Show. they are NOT READY for how their lives are about to change, and neither of them know it.
but the writers do.
so the writers are saying.
:)
:)
:)
okay, kiddos. let's pull the pin on all these grenades.
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