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I read chapter 1152. Holy shit lol. Zoro is straight up NOT having a good time in Elbaf.

First he’s been uncharacteristically jealous and protective since Luffy’s shown an interest in Loki, to the point of kicking an unconscious Loki. Then he essentially gets chewed out by Gaban and is told he’s not doing enough for his Captain, which is probably the worst thing for his self-esteem and sense of worth. Now he’s so out of sorts that he’s getting jealous over Luffy’s father figure?! Our boy is going through it.

The Shanks thing really gets to me. LoL!!! I can’t recall Zoro ever having had a problem with Luffy talking about Shanks before. I can’t stop laughing.

Keep yer chin up, Zoro! Luffy still loves you even though you’re a big dumb-dumb.

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Work’s been crazy and I’m trying to spend more quality time with my kids, so writing has been going veeeerrrry sloooooowly. The high school ZoLu WIP now has 25,000 words and counting. I honestly don’t know if I can get it out this summer, but I’m still hoping. Currently I’m in a self-imposed race to see if I can finish it before The Beast At Your Side hits 1,000 Kudos. (Or maybe if I time it right, I can release it to celebrate hitting 1,000 Kudos?? Ionno. I’m really trying though!)

Anyhoooo, here is a brief preview of the fic I’m determined to name Roronoa Zoro Is a Terrible Boyfriend (comedy; Japanese high school AU inspired by those damn Nissin Hungry Days commercials; ZoLu from Sanji’s POV):

Compared to dragging Zoro’s dense body through the minefield of adolescent wooing, cooking in a cramped, hot kitchen with Zeff breathing down his neck was a cakewalk in Sanji’s opinion. He could function on autopilot, guided by the tastes on his tongue and fragrances swirling about his person, and not have to wonder why his best friend of 16 years felt like a stranger all of a sudden.

Regardless of his unease, Sanji still volunteered to serve Zoro his dinner. He wasn’t surprised to see Zoro on his phone again; [redacted] must have responded and they were probably hashing out details of their date. When he got closer and finally noticed Zoro’s cocky grin, however, Sanji had to ask, “Good news?”

Zoro chuckled. “Just Luffy goofing around. Check this.”

On his screen was a low-res video of two wrestlers facing off in what looked to be an amateur-level competition. Zoro’s face was superimposed over the head of the wrestler who was clearly losing. His opponent wore a similarly edited image of a scary-looking high schooler Sanji didn’t recognize. Just as faux-Zoro collapsed and was about to receive a flying elbow to the solar plexus, a third wrestler flashing Luffy’s best snarl abruptly flew into the ring to tackle the offender, thereby turning the tide of the fight.

In sparkly purple, the caption along the bottom read, “Me defending your honor if I ever see that punk Vista at a tournament.”

Sanji shook his head. “First years got too much time on their hands.”

Zoro snatched his phone back. “It’s just for fun. He can’t spend all his time at baseball practice.”

Sanji politely avoided pointing out this classic case of pot calling the kettle black. He let his natural nosiness get hold of him again and asked, “You’re not insulted at the implication that he thinks you’ll lose to Vista again?”

“It’s not that serious, Curly. Look at the one he made this morning.”

This one was a short gif looped together to create a longer video, with Sanji’s face on a cartoon lion, snarling toward the left after an antelope sprouting Nami’s smirk, but before he could catch her, a zebra with Ulti’s trademark glare zoomed past, and lion-Sanji abandoned antelope-Nami to chase the zebra. The video went on for quite a few loops and featured various girls and female teachers from their school as the antelope and the zebra. The constantly distracted lion-Sanji failed to catch any of them.

“That little shit!” Sanji jumped, incensed. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I’m just single right now. If I had a girlfriend, I’d be so loyal I would gouge my eyes out before I looked at another woman!”

Zoro scoffed, but he didn’t deny Sanji’s claim. He was sending another text, a roguish smirk prancing about his lips, and he read the words out loud as he typed them, “Luffy, cook here is offended by your masterpiece.”

Luffy’s response came almost instantaneously, and Zoro took great glee in sharing it with Sanji: “Luffy says, ‘Why? He doesn’t get it? Is he stupid?’”

Sanji had no time to react. The mosshead was positively giggling as he typed back, “It’s true what they say. Dumbasses can’t appreciate art. Aaaaand send.”

Sanji was severely unimpressed. “How was any of that funny? That was so stupid. That was beyond stupid. You two are the dumbasses. Also, you text like an old man and your insults are juvenile!”

…

…….

Okay, like, I honestly think this fic is gonna be a fun one and I can’t wait to write down everything that is in my brain and share it with you all.

Please cyber bully me into writing faster. 🙏

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How are some people THIS talented?!?!

(Meanwhile I struggle with stick figures.)

Punts this into the sun and skedaddles away

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Even when he’s grumpy, he’s gonna sit by his captain’s side.

I am so psyched!!!

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OMG I am SO MAD.

Remember this adorable moment in ep 341 where Luffy offers to share his lunch with Zoro in order to get Zoro to go into Thriller Bark with them, and Zoro caves in less than a second? This is a canonical moment, btw. I don’t think his eyes are closed in the manga as he smiles but this is 100% an Oda original. And it’s so special because Luffy never offers to share his food, never mind doing so this happily.

Well, I just saw a clip of the dubbed version of this scene by chance, and in the English dub, instead of sharing his lunch, Luffy gets Zoro to give in by threatening to eat Zoro’s lunch.

That’s completely different!!! That’s the opposite of what he says in Japanese! WTF?! O, my ZoLu brainworm is PISSED.

I can’t believe I’m just finding this out after, ionno, 13 years or something, but I am retroactively angry.

(Now that I’ve typed this out, it seems like a very silly thing for a grown woman to be angry about but ya know what, we could’ve hooked so many more ZoLu truthers with this scene, but those who only watch the dub will never know, and that’s so sad for the fandom.)

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What do you mean Rayleigh almost drowned at sea more than 20 years ago and had to be saved by a child Hachi?

(Disclaimer: this translation says “20 years ago” while the anime, ep 400, says “20年以上前に,” which is more than 20 years ago. Without access to the Japanese manga, I can’t be sure which one is correct.)

But what do you mean?! We talking about the same legend who swam across the calm belt undeterred even as a senior citizen? How did he almost drown in his prime?

Oh yeah… His captain died 22 years ago.

How long did Rayleigh wander the seas drinking himself to oblivion after Roger died? How long after Roger’s death did the incident with Hachi occur? Was Rayleigh sick? Or was he just black-out drunk and had no will to keep living?

And what do you mean Shakky calls Rayleigh her husband but is apparently okay with the idea that he shacks up with random girls for months at a time? What kind of relationship do they actually have? I am so curious.

I don’t necessarily ship Rayleigh and Roger in the same way I do Zoro and Luffy. I don’t want to erase the importance of Rouge or Shakky. But there’s no question that Roger was Rayleigh’s world in the same way that Luffy is Zoro’s. I think we’ll perhaps get to see more of what happened between Roger’s execution and Rayleigh’s “retirement” on Sabaody. It’s no coincidence he ended up at the entrance to the New World. I think everything Rayleigh has done since Roger’s death has been in Roger’s honor. And that’s fucking heartbreaking.

And then I think about the parallels between Rayleigh and Zoro and how Luffy is probably gonna die first and I just feel this crazy urge to write as many fluffy fics as possible because our boys deserve ALL THE HAPPINESS IN THE WORLD.

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My modern day high school AU ZoLu fic is getting too Sanji-heavy because I stupidly chose to write it from Sanji’s bystander POV. Go away, Sanji. Let me write my boys!

For real tho, Sanji’s backstory is so fleshed out and compelling in canon that it’s actually really fun to write him. It was easy to use his bystander POV in a one-shot [shameless plug for Four Times Zoro Did Not Get Jealous (and the One Time Sanji Confronted Him About It)], but the balancing act is getting to be a bit much with a multi-chapter.

Fingers crossed I can pull this off. Hopefully by summer.

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Question: if Roger gave his hat to Shanks, what memento did he give to Buggy? Or did he straight up just play favorites?

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I bet Zoro has a thing for Luffy’s bad boy side. Oh, don’t get me wrong — he loves everything about Luffy, and he loves that Luffy is adorable and unserious most of the time. But when Luffy is being his anarchist self, challenging the Warlords or, oh dear god, the Five Elders directly, I bet Zoro gets ALL hot and bothered and can’t wait to get him alone. When he finally does, you know that man is dropping to his damn knees for his captain.

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Random thought: Why is Rayleigh such a mom? I mean, I love it, but I wanna know what was going through Oda’s head when he wrote Rayleigh. He’s the most mom-like of all the first mates. And I love that Shanks and Buggy still call him “Rayleigh-san.” Shows how much they still respect him after all these years (and because that’s their mom!).

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Watching Luffy scream his voice hoarse as Zoro gets eaten by that flower thing in the Baron Omatsuri movie was my ZoLu Roman Empire.

And then canon events duplicated that desperate scream with Kizaru v. Zoro at Sabaody.

Honestly, both events were traumatizing, but bless your ZoLu biases, Oda-sensei.

Also, I just LOVE that while Zoro is the crew’s strong, fierce protector, Luffy is also SO PROTECTIVE OF ZORO! We need more protective Luffy fics where he saves/spoils Zoro. Get to work, writers!!!

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Chapters: 1/1 Rating: General Audiences Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Roronoa Zoro Additional Tags: Gen or Pre-Slash, Fluff, Angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Devotion, Loyalty, Palate Cleanser, Guilt, POV Second Person

“I’m sorry, Kuina,” you try to apologize, but you would do it again, and knowing that, any apology is merely an empty condolence. You would do it ten thousand times and another ten thousand more if it means saving his life.

She doesn’t stop crying. She’s so small. She will forever remain this small — a little fae of a girl for whom time has stopped. You will never see her stand tall, sword in her hands, a loving family by her side. She will never write you letters or send mementos from her travels. She lives solely in your pride, and you have chosen to discard it.

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They’re crew. They’re best friends. They’re bros. They’re idiots in love, your honor.

Luffy really enjoys mocking and annoying Zoro, huh?

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Zoro weighs the merits of admitting Law into their metaphoric bed.

Zoro sighed again. Luffy’s head remained unmoving upon the back of Law’s hand.

He murmured a half-hearted reprimand, “You’re not playing fair, Luffy.”

You know I’d never deny you anything… anyone.

Luffy’s smile was devilishly charming. He was taking advantage and he knew it.

“He needs this, Zoro.”

Part 2 of a three-part series that looks at Luffy’s evolving relationships with the three men who love him dearly. It’s smut with A LOT of squishy feelings. Spoilers up to Zou.

Reading Part 1 first is recommended.

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Live Action Luffy being conventionally kinder and showing more than concern for his crew than his animanga counterpart has some hilarious implications for ZoLu.

Imagine LA Zoro being his usual self at the end of a difficult fight — severely hurt, bleeding everywhere but still grinning like a beast, possibly getting off on the bloodlust, finally deals the critical blow, and is now triumphantly looming over the unmoving body of his opponent like a god of war and death.

Luffy shows up: ZORO! Are you OK?

Zoro notices Luffy, immediately falls down clutching his arm or something, says with an added pained gruff to his voice: Hey, Luffy… didn’t see you there. *grunts as though in pain* I’m fine.

Luffy rushes over, extremely concerned, scoops Zoro into his arms: Zoro! You’re bleeding so much! Let’s get you to a doctor.

Zoro, voice getting quieter, tries to be subtle as he leans his head against Luffy’s shoulder: It’s just a scratch. *fake coughs* I can walk.

Luffy getting mad: No, you can’t! You pushed yourself too hard. I’ll carry you! Captain’s orders!

Zoro closes his eyes: Can’t argue with that. Roger, Captain.

Cue Luffy carrying Zoro away like a delicate bride.

Aaaaannnnnd SCENE!

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zolu tarot cards

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I am so close to wrapping up the direct sequel to Into the snare [rated Explicit]. To keep myself honest (because work is ramping up again and I need to be guilted into writing), here’s a little preview. If you like it, please yell at me to keep writing!

For context, here’s a summary of Part 1 so you don’t have to (re)read it: While a guest on Thousand Sunny, Law walks in on a scene that could only have come from a fever dream.

And here is the WIP Part 2’s summary: Zoro weighs the merits of admitting Law into their metaphoric bed, especially in light of his growing regrets about involving the cook.

Law was distracted.

Zoro couldn’t believe it. They were about to undertake an unhinged mission into enemy territory wielding nothing but a hostage and a bluff, and Law was distracted because he got his first taste of Luffy the night before

Zoro was not impressed.

He had just woken up on the foredeck of the Thousand Sunny when the captain of the Heart Pirates meandered by, looking even more lost and shaken than he did when he’d stumbled upon Luffy’s evening proclivities. Only a few hours had passed since then, and the man clearly wasn’t done processing it all.

Their eyes met for a lightning second. Law turned away.

Vexingly, Law didn’t leave. He seemed to be burning with the empty need to say something but was struggling to find the words. Zoro scoffed. What could Law possibly say to the lover of the man he had been openly coveting?

Zoro could have given him an out, offered a casual morning greeting and pretended nothing out of the ordinary had transpired between them. But Zoro wasn’t feeling particularly generous — Law hadn’t bothered to ascertain whether Luffy was already spoken for when he seduced him with promises of thrilling adventures by way of a pirate alliance. Zoro had yet to forgive him for the blatant overture. Last night, Law’s sudden intrusion forced his hand, and Zoro opened the gate in a moment of weakness. Now, in the light of day, Zoro questioned his own judgment.