been thinking a lot recently about how much it grinds my gears that so many one piece fans from across the spectrum like to characterize zoro’s loyalty to luffy as this unconditional, unwavering constant when really the whole POINT of zoro’s loyalty is that it is very much conditional?? and that the conditionality of it is in fact what makes it so narratively compelling?? like the fact that zoro COULD and WOULD walk at any time if he ever felt like luffy wasn’t worth following anymore but he HASN’T yet makes for a much deeper AND stronger bond than zoro just blindly following luffy no matter what, because it shows that luffy has continually proven himself a captain WORTHY of following. zoro’s allegiance to luffy is not blind obedience; it’s EARNED loyalty, and if you don’t think that’s the more powerful choice between the two then quite frankly you don’t understand their relationship at all.












