god where do i even begin with these two

in general i'm such a sucker for anything rivals to lovers but i think what really strikes a chord for me with these two is that there actually is such a genuine respect between them. they bicker and try to outdo each other, but when push comes to shove they trust each other, and know the other is genuinely good at heart.

i just love the many different ways that this ship can happen. like i love the idea of zoro as a gay man pining after sanji, who he obviously assumes is straight. and then there's sanji who probably has a lot of internalized homophobia from the vinsmokes and who latched onto women because zeff taught him to treat women well. i feel like because zeff was kind to him he just listened without question which included his like hyper-chivlary to women

canon-wise i think thriller bark is a big turning point for them both as zoro realizes how little sanji cares for his life and sanji realizes zoro is someone willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good (sanji included). like yes, ultimately this moment is about zoro's commitment to luffy, but i think his refusal to let sanji die in his stead also feels important to me.

and don't get me fucking STARTED on their wano reunion post-wci. i love it so much and especially the fact that they are still doing the same shit they did at the start of the story. like these two are characters that grow so much over the course of the narrrative, btu are still fundamentally the same people from the start. both still strong and kind and dedicated to their goals.

circling back to sanji's backstory and all that baggage, it still feels so important to me that zoro nver treats sanji differently. he's still the same annoying lovestruck cook, not some prince from a kingdom of assassins. and i think in terms of sanji as a character, that probably meant so much to him. just like it meant so much for the rest of the strawhats to treat sanji the same, i think it holds true for zoro too. and that's just some delicious fodder for exploring their dynamic

this ship is popular for a reason and god dammit if i did not fall hook line and sinker for every fucking trope these two have. i think no matter what i'm always going to return to them as something really special to me.