Easily One Of My Favorite Things About Zoro And Luffy (not Necessarily In A Shipping Context, Though

i know zoro has thoughts that he doesn’t deserve everything he has, then suddenly he has a bigger and more human sized worry to think about, coming his way at approximately 50mph

“If it’s about a dad dating other dads, how come some of them have kids???”

2022 / SpeedRacer

Media: Hermitcraft Song: Her’s - Speed Racer Date created & finished: 9/23/2022 Programs: sai2 / SVP13

quality is shit but whatever

One piece ships + taking bullets for each other

I love how Oda can't move on without matching zolu. Luffy got eye scar? Give one Zoro. Zoro has a scar on his chest that was happened on important moment in his life? Give the same to Luffy. Luffy has haki? It's time for you to get it too Zoro. Oh king of hell? Well here you go Sun God.

zoro unlocking conquerors/supreme king haki while having a flashback about luffy, explaining him as the reason he did so, was insane narratively.

zoro’s devotion is as unquestioned as humans’ need for oxygen, his loyalty is as sure as the need for ground beneath our feet. but to place luffy at the center of even his willpower and ambition, that’s something.

supreme king haki is an unteachable, one in a million power that’s tied with having ‘kingly’ qualities. but zoro doesn’t want to be a leader, he relishes in following. he states, with a picture of luffy in his mind, luffy commenting that he needs no less than the world’s greatest swordsman, that he made a promise. his promise to kuina and luffy is at foundation of his drive.

zoro’s supreme king haki does not stem from the ambition of a king, it comes from wanting to be his king’s very best soldier. he wants to be the greatest, and he wants to be no less than that for luffy. a king, sure, but in the way that a king would answer to a god.

when asked “so you intend to be a king, then?” zoro’s initial instinct was simple, “what?” because that had never even crossed his mind. but he agrees shortly after, with the image of luffy in his mind, “that’s right.” and he became the king of hell, serving a god of the sun.

zoro doesn’t have ambition to conquer, not in the same way luffy does, but he wants to conquer whatever stands in luffy’s way. his ‘kingly’ attributes are accelerated by devotion, like a king would devote his life to his country, his everything. while becoming the world’s greatest swordsman is a convoluted example of a king, sitting atop a throne of symbolic power, i think it’s more accurate to call what zoro unlocked ‘supreme soldier’ haki. ‘conquerors’ haki in the way a marshal would lead an army for his king, and not the king himself. conquering the battlefield as a victory for not only himself, his ambition interconnected with others (those he loves).

i don’t mean to diminish zoro’s ambition, to be the world’s greatest swordsman is a king in itself and that should be recognised. but nothing can detract from the fact that as he unlocked this power, the power of ultimate will, his mind was full of luffy and his smiling face. luffy has always and will always be at the base of zoro’s goal, since the day he met him. becoming the world’s greatest swordsman was no longer solely tied to kuina but now equally his captain, who could have no less than the world’s greatest swordsman.

and what an interesting development we saw happen in front of us. comparatively, the reason for every strawhat’s dream is born from their past, but we witnessed the reason behind zoro’s dream evolve in present time. he no longer strives for kuina alone. he will be a king, because it is what luffy needs as well. he will be the world’s greatest swordsman because he’s got a promise to keep to his captain and his best friend.

a one in a million power, unlocked as a result of a promise. zoro’s devotion is indescribable, his loyalty and his love is quite literally one in a million. if not even rarer as we have never seen an instance of supreme king be activated for someone else. i cannot articulate the beauty of it

*whacking gavel on desk* we need to talk more about luffy BLUSHING at the glint of green in the distance hundreds of feet away and realizing after so long (three weeks) he’s finally reunited with his swordsman. bc huh!?? he did not need to blush to convey how excited he was to see zoro, but it was a conscious decision to draw in the manga & anime that luffy BLUSHED at the sight of him.

(and then he flung himself into zoro’s arms clutching on to him saying it’s been forever while zoro smiled bright and wide bc suddenly they were just two dumb kids from the east blue with a dingy and a dream again)

inotan soulmate au, where your soulmate’s scars appear on your body as well

zoro coming back after the timeskip with a red sash as a part of his iconic, base outfit is something i am fascinated by.

red, a colour so uncommonly associated with zoro; it’s the antithesis of him. the only time we see zoro intertwined with red is when he is decorated in blood, whether it’s his own or countless others. red is just not a character colour of zoro's, like we see all the strawhats lend themselves to colour palettes and personal preferences. as a character he is shrouded in black and green, with blue and white as secondary variations when the arc calls for an outfit change. he is peaceful like a winter's breeze, grass tipped in frost, and dark like the grim reaper's cold embrace.

zoro is not red, he is about as red as he is light pink or neon orange. red is, while also opposite to green on the colour wheel, opposite to his characteristics. yet for return to sabaody and onigashima he seems to wear it like a good luck charm. always when the situation is planned and monumental will we see zoro have a small token of red with him each time. quite unarguably, red means one thing in one piece. even more, red means one thing to zoro. red means luffy.

so a red sash? coming back after the timeskip shrouded in green and black, understandably for zoro, with an additional searing red sash around his middle. dressing for the final battle against kaidou and all his men, adding a contrasting red sash to his entirely black outfit. zoro wears red in significant yet small ways like it's something he doesn't own. zoro wears red like it's something to always bring with him, not like a fashion choice.

and that makes so much sense. zoro, sentimental and loving, would wear the colour of his captain at the centre of his outfit like a medal. he would long to be reminded of luffy, especially during those two years apart. zoro follows luffy with such eagerness i can see him already, choosing his outfits with purposeful swelling and devotion in his heart. zoro wears red, not because it's his own, but because it is luffy.

the situations and how he wears it are additionally significant. zoro wears red for the strawhat’s most important ordeals, like a symbol of his loyalty, a subtle sign of pride and alignment. he also wears it in his core outfit more than anything, like it’s a fragment of his very foundations. red is an intrinsic piece of his identity, luffy will always be integrated in his heart, eternally a part of him. lastly, he wears it as a sash; what holds his swords. it's like zoro's tying everything precious to him, his captain and kuina held against him, luffy holding onto wado. his two treasures.

zoro's red sash is a small detail i really love.