🙌 Yes Yes

I try to be chill and normal (multishipping) but zoro is so damn jealous & devoted over luffy it’s hard bc whenever imagine zoro in another pairing all I can think is ‘this has potential but will ultimately fail/be angsty bc zoro will canonically put luffy first’ or when I try to say “luffy has two hands!!!” I immediately hear “and zoro’s holding them both” in the back of my head. bro has three swords and he is NOT afraid to use them

Soulmates (n.) - being dumb as fck together even when you're not around each other.

Zoro and Luffy have always been my favorite characters. When I first started One Piece, I didn't ship any of the Strawhats. Like many, I view them as family, and I see both Luffy and Zoro as AroAce. Both are so simple-minded and want nothing more but meat/booze and their dreams.

But since both of them hold a very special place in my heart, I always wanted the best for them.

For Zoro, I love to see him happy and not alone. The person who always brings out Zoro's best smiles has always been Luffy. Zoro, who was mostly shown as serious and grumpy, smiles whenever he sees Luffy when they finally meet again after some time apart (when he saw Luffy in Sabaody, it was the first time he smiled, and their Wano reunion where you can really see Zoro's brightest smile). There are so many times Luffy had made him smile and laugh and I know Zoro, despite being aloof and often wants to be alone, really enjoys Luffy's company. Zoro, who also doesn't liked to be touched, still welcomes Luffy's suffocating hugs.

Zoro set sail alone with nothing but his sword and his ambitions, and for him to find someone who also holds the same impossible dream as him and holds his ambitions in the same high regard must have felt a sense of companionship for him. Zoro, who is alone, is given a companion(Luffy) who will also chase the same impossible dream together with him. Not only that, Luffy has also given him a new-found family(Strawhats). I just know that ever since he met Luffy, his life has been better.

Aside from that, Zoro has often been portrayed as someone who would never bow down to anyone. It was even shown multiple times in the series how people are surprised he wasn't the captain. He's arrogant and proud. The reason he wants to defeat Mihawk and Kuina is because he wants to stand above them and be the strongest. Luffy is the only person Zoro has chosen to stand above him as his captain, and that speaks a lot.

Zoro is proud, but Luffy is still the only person that made him bow 2 times. It only shows how much he holds Luffy above the only 2 things that matter when he first sets out to sea. Even now, Zoro is still portrayed as prideful, but with Luffy or the crew, I know he will not have a second thought about throwing it away.

For Luffy, I just want him to be loved and cherished. The Strawhats have shown time and time again how much they care, love and sacrifice themselves for Luffy. But before the Strawhats was even formed, it was just Luffy and Zoro in a dinghy. The moment Zoro carried Luffy's cage while his guts are spilling out was the moment Zoro became my favorite character. He just met Luffy for only a few hours?days?weeks?, and yet he treated him like he was important. Since the beginning, Zoro has consistently shown unwavering loyalty and support to Luffy. Dudebros even called him "Luffy's ride or die" and Zoro honestly earned it. When I read the manga, Zoro didn't even question if Luffy already had a crew or if Luffy already had a ship. He just literally went with him, no questions asked. Where are we going next? The grandline? Well I guess we'll just go there. Let's find a navigator first.

The moment Zoro joined him, Luffy was already so cherished and loved by his first mate(it didn't even matter if it was romantic or platonic. Zoro really loves him). Until now, Zoro, despite being prideful, will sacrifice himself time and time again for him.

From the beginning, it was just Zoro and Luffy in a tiny boat with nothing but each other and their impossible dreams. And I know until the end of the series, they will still stand side by side, with the family they gathered along the way and the dreams they finally reached together.

In summary to my endless rambling, their relationship has always been special to me because, as my 2 favorite characters, I want nothing more than to see them the happiest and at most loved. I didn't ship them at first, but ZoLu just complement each other in every single way that I gradually see that they deserve one another (and I can't see them paired with anyone else). Aside from having the same single braincell and many parallels, their relationship is so simple but has so much depth. They can literally just be best friends or lovers. At the end of the day, they are soulmates.

zoro and luffy being separated for approximately two weeks in canon, luffy seeing zoro from what appeared to be at least a hundred meters away, blushing, and then all but flying towards zoro who had his arms open for him to jump into.

and then they hugged like the world would crumble if they weren’t in each other’s arms, luffy quite literally needing to be pried away so zoro could breathe. and even then they stayed in each other’s arms as they talked to each other, smiling ear to ear. i don’t think i ever moved on

animanga zoro meeting opla zoro would be so funny bc opla zoro would be like “so have you and luffy….”

animanga zoro: 🤨

opla zoro: are you serious? you’re serious. what do you think those tummy aches are, bro? what would you do if I went over and made out with—

animanga zoro, swallowing a bottle full of tums and brandishing his swords: I have no reservations about killing myself

WHY has no one talked about these panels. fuck it its 12 am (at the time of me "finishing" (<- not even close) writing this, its nearly 2 am) im going to talk about them

ahem.

before i get to the Main Point i wanna discuss chils tendency to spiral into his thoughts

like, sure, yeah, he's a reasonable guy. real logical-- but he tends to rush through so many possibilities and in this scene even berates himself for his tiny mistake. every thought in this scene goes so fast to me here, just "snap snap snap, call for help, no thatll attract too much attention- wait is there a switch? crap its too far away- nevermind lets just wait for marcille- but can i trust her with that?? god im so stupid, am i just gonna be trapped here until morning???" and it takes a moment for him to stabilise and snap out of it

like... he even has a little pep talk about it

i guess you could take this as him merely being a quick thinker? but i highly doubt it -- look at this fucking guy.

anyways. hes always got to be eased out of it one way or another, whether that be complainerism (self-explanatory), strategising with another person (that way all the insecure thoughts get pushed to the back in favour of working together), reassuring himself (discussed above) or...

you. could.

distract him.

place a brick wall in front of that zooming train of thought and watch it crash and burn :)

he doesnt even respond in that first pic, by the way. in fact, he doesnt say anything for another 3 (and a bit) pages, and by then the topic has been safely switched (granted those three pages are just marcille and laios making the familiars, but i feel it still stands that there was no response at all, not even visually)

secondly, in that other instance -- see how his eyes go wide as saucers when contact is made? and how they turn into pinpricks once he looks back**? god. and. like.

oh. fuck. ive gottta continue this in a reblog since ive reached the picture limit on mobile -- i am not even a THIRD of a way through all my thoughts on this- we didnt even get to my footnote!! sit tight everyone :)

zoro & luffy and the historical doctrine of the divine right of kings.

the divine right of kings, the idea that a monarch's 'right to rule is derived from divine authority.' the idea that kings are chosen by god. while not to the letter because i don't know the concept well enough, the idea of luffy, a god, picking zoro, a king, is something i find impossibly fitting.

initially, to frame the analysis, the only strawhat that luffy ever sought after and wittingly picked with foresight is zoro. luffy chose zoro with only the knowledge of his name, like something unconscious within him needed to. furthermore follows zoro's uncharacteristic acceptance to join luffy, like something innate clicked within him too.

then, fundamentally, zoro only unlocked supreme king haki at the approximate time luffy became sun god nika, on the same night. to zoro nothing is more simple than the knowledge luffy is his king, yet suddenly, the subject of his worship became something more. zoro became a supreme king happily, because there is something a king can still follow. he can still be unquestionably loyal, harmoniously devoted to his captain, because his captain newly transformed into something even more than a monarch; a god.

the idea of the divine right of kings often goes hand in hand with the concept that a monarch's actions are the will of god, that they are acting out the intentions of a higher being, and their actions are justified this way, "by the grace of god." and while i definitely won't speak for real life applications of this notion, the idea that zoro acts out the will of his god is shockingly accurate. zoro is the strawhat's swordsman, he is their blade. zoro is the execution of the strawhat's intentions, he is the consequence that follows luffy's actions. zoro does act out the intentions of a higher being; each battle he faces is as a result of luffy, for the betterment of them, and to reach closer to their dreams.

then, even more, the divine right of kings says that a king will not answer to any human, assembly, etc. the only body in which said monarch would listen to would be their god, otherwise they are unanswered, untameable. and gosh, that's one of the fundamentals to zoro's character; that he only answers to luffy. near every other character pre-timeskip questions zoro's devotion, why and how, every fan marvels at how only luffy could make zoro into a worshipper. zoro only answers to luffy, he is only content following his direction.

lastly is their inhuman connection. hypothetically, a god picking a king would give the two respective entities an unparalleled understanding. that divine authority must have certain faith in the figure they enacted, their goals must align so uncannily, and their trust must be unwavering. zoro and luffy's bond is unearthly, it was instant. the day they met one another, zoro stopped an axe from meeting luffy's head while luffy stood unflinching. the depth of zoro and luffy's relationship is unfathomable, intrinsic and terrifying. they are soulmates, completely aligned, and that is a requirement of the historical doctrine. for a king to be chosen by a god, they must be aligned just the same, and zoro & luffy are.

thinking about how 25apcsb act 1 is just oh how silly, a little show about 12 year olds in a small local spelling bee, and then you go into act 2 and boom literal jesus christ is there

idk, but this live rent free on my mind that one chapter on the manga of zoro and luffy wherein they were on the side of the sunny and suddenly luffy ask zoro where did kuma send him and they talked, even the crew were giving them space/privacy to catch up on each other. 🥹

Okay.

Tommy wearing demon horns and stuff and Tubbo with angel wings/a halo is cool and all. Like. We stand demon Tommy and angel Tubbo.

However.

Consider the other way around? Angel Tommy? Demon Tubbo? It’s not what you’d expect but it almost feels more fitting.