#i have so conflicting feelings about the w7 closure

[lunaticus]

long rant about w7 closure ahead :)))

it was such a damn poor decision by oda to have usopp rejoin after sunny's reveal and franky's recruitment im so damn mad about it

why have usopp eavesdropping during the scene with garp? it had absolutely no narrative value and was awkward as fuck

why have usopp joining the after-party as sogeking? this is pretty fucked up on so many levels (that boy really thought *usopp* didn't have the right to be there) but we know oda loves that after battle celebration with everyone and he had to force usopp into it somehow

i hate hate hate that usopp's not part when sunny was revealed i hate it so fucking much

almost as much as not having him part of franky's recruitment like, fuck, look at this from luffy's perspective: usopp wasn't on enies lobby and has never really bonded/made up with franky, the last time luffy knows usopp's met franky was when franky and the others beat usopp up and despite that, luffy agreed with zoro that usopp needs to step up and come back to them when they suddenly have franky with them, like fuck, luffy didn't think at all huh? if usopp hadn't been on enies lobby, he definitely wouldn't have made the first move and apologized and i wouldn't have blamed him

but at the same time, i can see it clearer than ever why zoro demanded that apology; usopp had been an re-accepted part of the crew during and at the end of enies lobby, he stood proud and without his mask with them and no one would have rejected him or demanded an apology in that moment, but usopp got cold feet and hid again, he didn't claim sogeking's achievements as his own as he should have done, and i think that's why zoro couldn't act like nothing happened, those cold feet showed a lack of trust from usopp to the crew that zoro couldn't accept

but those fucking cold feet are so engraved into usopp's being, he already has abandonment issues and is so afraid to be rejected, he developed a different persona because he fucking thought they wouldn't allow him to save robin with them, and he had to make up stories that the crew still likes and misses him, how fucking sad is that, lying is his coping mechanism, how can anyone take it literally?? he thinks they wouldn't take him back no matter what, so all he can do is lie and try to act unaffected when he is anything but

but then again, i could have taken zoro's words way better if they had some kind of foreshadowing, dropped like this it really had been out of nowhere, there had been no objections to usopp joining them on enies lobby and suddenly there are conditions to take him back? conditions usopp doesn't know about? conditions that are nearly impossible to meet by their notoriously lying sniper? yeah what a mature declaration, zoro, look who's actually playing pirates....... :)

i hate the implication that usopp threw a tantrum and acted childish so fucking much!!! being emotionally hurt like he had been is valid, yes lashing out wasn't the best thing to do but it was understandable in his situation, and luffy handled the whole situation just as poorly, and i do appreciate that even zoro said it doesn't matter who was right or wrong, if someone was right or wrong at all (there wasn't, everyone was hurting)

and now after finally rewatching the apology scene, my major problem with it is that usopp didn't just apologize, it's that he said he was wrong, when again hurt feelings aren't wrong, and i very much appreciate luffy's reaction to usopp's words, he is so taken aback, and i feel like it's because usopp's groveling and breaking down like that, that wasn't what he wanted and had expected from usopp, but usopp really shows his true deepest fears only in moments of high distress, and i think it was only in that moment that it really hit luffy that usopp meant every word of how inferior he felt within the crew, nobody wanted usopp to beg and grovel, but he did because he thought it was his last and only chance

and you know what i also hate? that oda opted out of taking responsibility of the emotional impact w7 had on everyone and have everyone immediately acts as if nothing had ever happened, but yeah it's a shounen and men don't talk about their feelings i get it...... :)))

can you image how perfect it would have been if usopp had taken the sogeking mask off on merry's last sail? that boy didn't need to be humbled, that boy needed to claim his achievements as his own and have trust that his friends love him as he is, that would have been some great character growth, he needed that confidence boost and not to grovel in despair while he thought he was left behind for good (again)

i fucking hate that oda looked at usopp and saw a boy that was blinded by pride and needed to get off his high horse when he wrote an anxious boy with abandonment issues