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xparrotAnd I thought reading the GetBackers Kiryuudo arc was stressful on my fangirl heart. Geeeeze. When it comes down to it, something like GB or One Piece can get me worse than something like FMA. FMA I knew from early on was dark, I've kept a certain emotional distance. But One Piece... Oda-sensei~~...
We knew Usopp was being set up for something, but this - this I did not see coming. Even though in retrospect it's an obvious reaction...but nakama don't fight nakama!! Not like this! Not when there's no food involved, and it's not funny...it's painful, they're all hurting, and now they're hurting each other, and that's not how it's supposed to be. Discounting Whiskey Peak (which was just a bad night, and hysterically funny/dumb, and also all Luffy's fault), the only time the crew's really been at odds was the Arlong arc, and that was resolved because they all knew Nami better than that.
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gnine had an interesting point of what might have spurred Luffy's decision to begin with - he was very upset about losing the Merry, thinking of it as nakama, until he came so close to losing a real nakama, and maybe realized how much worse that prospect was. Because Luffy is right here - he could've broken the news better, tact is not one of his strengths, but in the end the Merry is just a ship. And if the Merry sank on their way to the next island, Luffy might lose all his nakama (not to mention his own life, but I think we can be confident that never really crossed his mind...)
Part of the conflict has been here all along, ever since Usopp first joined the crew and declared himself captain - and I can't tell how much of it Luffy consciously realizes, and how much is just because he is the man who will be pirate king and some things are just natural to him...but Luffy is captain. Ships aren't democracies. A captain and a crew need trust to function - the crew needs to be able to trust their captain to make the right decisions, and the captain needs to be able to trust that his crew will follow those decisions. Luffy's actually a very good captain, too - he listens, he trusts people to be good at what they're good at, and advise him on the best course. If Usopp had a real argument - if Usopp found a great shipwright who said the Merry could be fixed, then I think Luffy would be willing to change his mind. But he's not going to just because Usopp says to.
(I imagine the exception to this rule would be if a doctor told Luffy a nakama was going to die. partly 'cuz with people, there always is that .001% chance they'll survive, and also because it would be a test of the personal strength of a nakama, and Luffy has endless faith in that. So he'd ignore the doctors. ....er, moreso. Poor Chopper, trying to stop Luffy from killing Usopp, or Usopp from killing himself...)
Usopp needs a hug so bad...he's horribly injured from losing an important fight, and now he's losing the ship that is his main link to Kaya, and that he's been killing himself to keep sailing for all this time. He's seventeen years old and his dreams are all failing. He's overreacting, and Luffy is overreacting - because he's sad about the Merry himself, and it could be too because he's upset with himself, for making a decision that hurt Usopp like that. They have to resolve this, but how? Usopp can't fight Luffy, not in that condition, and he couldn't beat Luffy anyway...at least not in a physical fight. And Luffy wouldn't deliberately lose to him even if he did change his mind, Luffy can't do something like that, it's not in him, and anyway throwing the fight would kill Usopp's already tattered pride. If Usopp fights in a different way, if he finds a shipwright who can fix the Merry...maybe that will work. Or are they all going to be distracted by Robin, whatever the heck happened to her?
Talk about your emotional roller coasters, this arc...first we were all going nuts wondering who the new nakama would be, then we were distracted by the fate of the Merry, and then the situation with Usopp made that almost insignificant. Oda-sensei is playing us all like a violin (but he's so good at it!) And Usopp saying he's leaving hits all the harder, coming as it does right after last week, when his nakama literally brought down the house over what was done to him. They were all so happy he was awake and all right...
Are the rest of them all going to back Luffy on this one? I imagine Nami at least will try to talk them both out of it. And Sanji already kicked Luffy for starting to say it... Luffy is right, and they know it. But it's going to tear them apart.
Oda-sensei, it's working, I love the Merry but if someone is going to go, let it be the ship, we can get a replacement ship, but Usopp can't be replaced (besides, as someone on ArlongPark said, they're not going to find a better sharpshooter in the world, unless they get Yasopp)...don't let him goooo~~~~~
Dammit, gonna be hard to write fic with this going on, considering Usopp plays a major role in my current story...I'm remembering now the advantages of fanning on cancelled series. Though it's better when the creator isn't an evil genius (if not as much fun. ODAAAA-SENSEEEIIIII!!! THIS IS MY HAPPY PLACE!! DON'T MESS IT UP!!!!)
We knew Usopp was being set up for something, but this - this I did not see coming. Even though in retrospect it's an obvious reaction...but nakama don't fight nakama!! Not like this! Not when there's no food involved, and it's not funny...it's painful, they're all hurting, and now they're hurting each other, and that's not how it's supposed to be. Discounting Whiskey Peak (which was just a bad night, and hysterically funny/dumb, and also all Luffy's fault), the only time the crew's really been at odds was the Arlong arc, and that was resolved because they all knew Nami better than that.
My sister
gnine had an interesting point of what might have spurred Luffy's decision to begin with - he was very upset about losing the Merry, thinking of it as nakama, until he came so close to losing a real nakama, and maybe realized how much worse that prospect was. Because Luffy is right here - he could've broken the news better, tact is not one of his strengths, but in the end the Merry is just a ship. And if the Merry sank on their way to the next island, Luffy might lose all his nakama (not to mention his own life, but I think we can be confident that never really crossed his mind...) Part of the conflict has been here all along, ever since Usopp first joined the crew and declared himself captain - and I can't tell how much of it Luffy consciously realizes, and how much is just because he is the man who will be pirate king and some things are just natural to him...but Luffy is captain. Ships aren't democracies. A captain and a crew need trust to function - the crew needs to be able to trust their captain to make the right decisions, and the captain needs to be able to trust that his crew will follow those decisions. Luffy's actually a very good captain, too - he listens, he trusts people to be good at what they're good at, and advise him on the best course. If Usopp had a real argument - if Usopp found a great shipwright who said the Merry could be fixed, then I think Luffy would be willing to change his mind. But he's not going to just because Usopp says to.
(I imagine the exception to this rule would be if a doctor told Luffy a nakama was going to die. partly 'cuz with people, there always is that .001% chance they'll survive, and also because it would be a test of the personal strength of a nakama, and Luffy has endless faith in that. So he'd ignore the doctors. ....er, moreso. Poor Chopper, trying to stop Luffy from killing Usopp, or Usopp from killing himself...)
Usopp needs a hug so bad...he's horribly injured from losing an important fight, and now he's losing the ship that is his main link to Kaya, and that he's been killing himself to keep sailing for all this time. He's seventeen years old and his dreams are all failing. He's overreacting, and Luffy is overreacting - because he's sad about the Merry himself, and it could be too because he's upset with himself, for making a decision that hurt Usopp like that. They have to resolve this, but how? Usopp can't fight Luffy, not in that condition, and he couldn't beat Luffy anyway...at least not in a physical fight. And Luffy wouldn't deliberately lose to him even if he did change his mind, Luffy can't do something like that, it's not in him, and anyway throwing the fight would kill Usopp's already tattered pride. If Usopp fights in a different way, if he finds a shipwright who can fix the Merry...maybe that will work. Or are they all going to be distracted by Robin, whatever the heck happened to her?
Talk about your emotional roller coasters, this arc...first we were all going nuts wondering who the new nakama would be, then we were distracted by the fate of the Merry, and then the situation with Usopp made that almost insignificant. Oda-sensei is playing us all like a violin (but he's so good at it!) And Usopp saying he's leaving hits all the harder, coming as it does right after last week, when his nakama literally brought down the house over what was done to him. They were all so happy he was awake and all right...
Are the rest of them all going to back Luffy on this one? I imagine Nami at least will try to talk them both out of it. And Sanji already kicked Luffy for starting to say it... Luffy is right, and they know it. But it's going to tear them apart.
Oda-sensei, it's working, I love the Merry but if someone is going to go, let it be the ship, we can get a replacement ship, but Usopp can't be replaced (besides, as someone on ArlongPark said, they're not going to find a better sharpshooter in the world, unless they get Yasopp)...don't let him goooo~~~~~
Dammit, gonna be hard to write fic with this going on, considering Usopp plays a major role in my current story...I'm remembering now the advantages of fanning on cancelled series. Though it's better when the creator isn't an evil genius (if not as much fun. ODAAAA-SENSEEEIIIII!!! THIS IS MY HAPPY PLACE!! DON'T MESS IT UP!!!!)
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-02 09:26 am (UTC)It'll be all right. Trust Oda-sensei. (...I tell myself this, and then go "But... what if?..." and then I have to stop thinking because it'd just be too much to take right now.)
no subject
Date: 2004-08-02 05:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-03 12:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-02 09:57 am (UTC)All I can think is that something will have to happen to Robin to distract them all from this. Usopp can't beat Luffy, and his self-confindence can't afford another loss. They can't fight.... >_> *whimpers*
no subject
Date: 2004-08-02 05:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-02 11:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-02 01:50 pm (UTC)Well, if he said one was going to "leave", maybe one will leave (Usopp) - but then come back!! :D At least that's the way I hope it is, once this big misunderstanding blows past, things will go back to normal. It's just like the Arlong saga, I thought Nami was a bastard, and then I realized how wrong I was afterwards. Unfortunatly the vibes I'm getting from the story now are different, because Luffy trusted and believe in Nami, this situation is completely different... T_________T
Gaah, I NEED the next chapter, but it will probably have more drama.. I'm not used to this kind of tension within One Piece, because it was all about the nakama-ship!! ...what happened to the nakama-ship..? T___T
Oda must be plotting something absolutely brilliant, once the arc is over everything will be okay and then I will love the series even more than ever. ^__^ He's done it before, he'll do it again!
no subject
Date: 2004-08-02 05:23 pm (UTC)I still have faith in Odachi's brilliance, and in the nakama-ship. All relationships have arguments sooner or later...they'll end up closer than ever. They have to!! Usopp can't go...he's not a great warrior yet. He just needs to find what his true role in the crew is, because he isn't a carpenter...maybe if they get a new ship, it'll have more cannons? Weapons master Usopp!! and they still need his inventions and things...so maybe this arc is really all about Usopp finding his place.
I wanna know how that's going to happen...it must! But now, it's so painful...they've never fought like this before, it's tearing all of them up, and it's so traumatic to see...