PhD in Hermaphroditic Alien Species

OH BOYYY. look, i’ve gotten similar asks before & i always ignore them but you know what…. i love this fandom bc i have met SO many cool ppl through it & the art that comes out of it is So Good. PLEASE KNOW that answer doesn’t apply to most of the ppl that follow me here, bc you have great opinions & i love listening to your thoughts!!! BUT this ask does highlight the main problem i have with big chunks of this fandom: the meta is often so dull!!! like mind-numbingly dullllll. soooo many ppl out here acting like the only conversations worth having are ‘who tops???’ or ‘they’re such enemies to lovers omg!!!!’ & i’m just sitting here begging for one brain cell of nuance!!! give me a take that isn’t just dated reductionist bullshit!!!! the idea that zoro has to top bc he’s more dominant wtf???? are we reading the same manga???? are we watching the same show??? please be SO for real! zoro’s the romantic partner of the damn century hello this guy is built out of loyalty & devotion & self sacrifice & bone deep emotional constancy wtf. he’s not some swaggering dom caricature steamrolling sanji into a DATED dynamic lol this idea that zoro would just dominate him into submission like??? wow, buddy, way to miss the entire emotional architecture of both characters!!! as if zoro doesnt know that under all that bravado is a guy with abandonment issues & a ledger of debts he thinks he owes the world & a spine that’s only still standing because he’s learned to perform through pain??? these guys understand each other they Recognise each other they are fucking Mirrors 101 & you can bet zoro is going to stand there like a wall and let sanji come to him, again & again, until sanji believes he’s not going to flinch or walk away. it’s Not that zoro can’t be intense or rough or physically overwhelming (bc obviously he can!!) but its that he wouldn’t use that on someone whose core wound is literallyyyy a tangle of love-as-debt & care-as-performance & affection-as-danger & worth-as-utility??? unless sanji explicitly asked for it baby!!! also this contention around zosan vs sanzo is The most boring unimaginative argument possible & ignores their character arcs, their trauma, their parallels, their loyalty, their comedy, their tenderness, etc. it’s you refusing to look past the surface of ‘waaaa zoro’s so Strong so he can never be submissive?’ because exploring any further depth requires, what, effort??? (not to even TOUCH on what you guys consider as submissive behaviour like PLEASE let’s break that down further pls let me get out my powerpoints!!!). the fact of the matter is this: in canon zosan is one of the richest & most flexible & most narratively dynamic relationships available & watching y’all flatten it to sexual logistics or the same old dull enemies-to-lovers tropes is just uninspired!!!! let me be clear i’m not against specific tastes in porn or romance or even specific tropes but mannnn i’m tired of takes that erase everything rich & specific about them just so u can reskin the same bland top/bottom discourse for the millionth time!!! i’m tired of it grandpa!!!

I already hate, hate, hate the trope of a submissive, needy woman paired with an absolute asshole of a guy, who only exists to dominate her and "hold her possessively." Urgh. Thanks, no.

The same I feel for top vs. bottom. You know, that's just seme vs. uke rebranded. And I never liked that. Unrealistic bullshit.

I want to see character dynamics. And, OMG, you can't tell me that Zoro - who acts like he's never thought of a relationship before - wouldn't get all flustered bc he has no clue what those feelings inside him are. He might try to ACT tough nevertheless, but deep inside that boy's a mess.

And yeah, he probably does treat sex like a workout, but please... Sanji's more than capable of going along with it. For God's sake, their whole dynamic is about that none of them can best the other.

So, Zoro's a klutz when it comes to dating, and Sanji is flirty as hell. How can anyone seriously write Sanji like a fifteen year old school girl who's never had a boyfriend before? Come on now!

The whole conversation about ZoSan vs SanZo is unnecessary. We all know that ZoSan sounds better, and I wish people would stop interpreting it as "Zoro is dominant and tops bc his syllable is in front." It - is - an - effin' - relationship! Do you think about relationships around you the same way? There are a thousand things more important and more interesting than who tops.

“You updated!” = “You cleaned your room!”: Pleasantly surprised. This one’s okay.

“You finally updated” = “You finally cleaned your room” Wow, thanks a lot mom. See if I clean it again if you’re going to be so passive-aggressive about it.

“Please update.” = “Please clean your room.” I literally just did.

“When are you going to update?” = “When are you going to clean your room?” Oh my fucking god, mom, let it go.

Ones that just say nice is like getting a thumbs-up from an absentee-dad.

And I'm like, "Hell nah, there's a reason why I closed that old-ass ugly bullshit room. It wasn't completely furnished anyway, and it's not what I wanna be famous for. Go look at my other rooms, maybe? And no, you can't have the key either."

The reblog chain is one of the things that makes Tumblr unlike anywhere else. All the notes on reblogs are attributed to the original post, no matter which branch people actually liked or reblogged. We want to keep encouraging conversations, and give contributors the recognition they deserve. 

Soon, you'll be able to like, reblog, or reply to any part of a reblog chain, and that note will go to that reblog's author. Each reblog will have its own counts, instead of one aggregated number from every version of the post. And yes, you’ll be able to like multiple posts in one chain.

If a reblog doesn't add anything, the love flows up to the last person in the chain who did. Your post doesn't lose notes just because people spread it quietly.

Past notes will stay on the original post — we're only changing what happens from here on out. Retroactively re-attributing all of them would be... a lot.

We rolled out a significant change to how notes work on reblogs, and the reaction has been strong. We're not going to pretend otherwise. 

First things first: We're reversing the change. Your feedback in comments, emails, and especially reblogs, made clear that the rollout created problems we need to address before moving forward. We also should have communicated this differently from the start, and we didn't.

We still believe there's a better version of how reblogs can work. One that gives every voice in a chain the credit it deserves. But we want to get there with you.

In the coming days we'll share more on how we plan to do that,  including ways to work directly with some of you on this and future changes before they ship.

The reblog chain is one of the things that makes Tumblr unlike anywhere else. All the notes on reblogs are attributed to the original post, no matter which branch people actually liked or reblogged. We want to keep encouraging conversations, and give contributors the recognition they deserve. 

Soon, you'll be able to like, reblog, or reply to any part of a reblog chain, and that note will go to that reblog's author. Each reblog will have its own counts, instead of one aggregated number from every version of the post. And yes, you’ll be able to like multiple posts in one chain.

If a reblog doesn't add anything, the love flows up to the last person in the chain who did. Your post doesn't lose notes just because people spread it quietly.

Past notes will stay on the original post — we're only changing what happens from here on out. Retroactively re-attributing all of them would be... a lot.

As this rolls out over the next few days and you explore it, we’ll keep reading your replies and reblogs, so please keep sharing your questions, concerns, and ideas.

Your creativity has always been the heart of Tumblr, whether you’re the original poster or adding something brilliant in the reblogs, and nothing about this change is meant to limit that.

Taking this feature away and turning it into a comment-hunt for the original poster... is a bad, bad move. It will have an impact on this site. People will leave again like they did years ago when NSFW was banned.

I hope staff will either reconsider this. Or give it a test phase and then reconsider it. No matter how I look at it, its making Tumblr worse.

Omg I love that so much i remember reading it and thinking damn that's high level.

I also really enjoyed the way you portrayed Usopp's and Sanji's relationship.

Can't believe I've been following your art for months and didn't even realise it was the same person

AHH omg thank you so much!!! x333

And YES - "Kitchenbitch vs Gayblade" is a douji project by me and my sister @simonstardust ^^ She's the big brain behind most of the story, I do the drawing.

You know that thing where a story is written in tight third person limited — we’re meant to be inside someone’s head, seeing the world through their thoughts — and then suddenly the narration says “the blond frowned” or “the shorter woman sighed” about a person the POV character knows really well?

That’s called antonomasia — using a descriptive label instead of a name. And it’s fine when we’re talking about strangers: “the cashier handed her the receipt,” “the tall guy blocked the door.” The POV character doesn’t know their names, and we just need a quick way to tell people apart.

But the moment it’s used for someone the POV character already knows, it breaks immersion. Because that’s not how our minds work. We don’t think “the older man smiled at me.” We think “Mark smiled.” Or maybe “my boss” if that relationship matters in the moment.

Third person limited means the narration sits inside someone’s perception. Their inner monologue is the story’s voice. So when you switch from “Mark smiled” to “the blond smiled,” you’ve pulled the camera away from their mind and turned it into an outside shot.

If you want to create distance or irritation, you can do it on purpose —

“The idiot from accounting emailed again.”

That’s character voice. That’s judgment. That works.

But otherwise?

As soon as your POV character knows someone’s name, use it. While we do tend to worry about repetitions, names rarely register as such to the readers.

If you need variety for rhythm, use relational or emotional identifiers that make sense in their head: her friend, his partner, their teacher, the person they loved.

Because inside someone’s thoughts, there are no “blonds” or “brunettes.”

God, I hate that kind of writing style so much! Especially bc it'd be easy to avoid. Just. Put. The. Damn. Characters'. Names. Thanks.

Really, repeating the characters' names doesn't register as repetition in the brain at all. It only might sound weird to yourself bc you're currently writing, reading those four sentences over and over again until you feel like there's something fundamentally wrong with them. Your readers on the other hand won't notice anything off, I can guarantee you.

In the same way, you wouldn't try to avoid repeating words like "and", "the", "a" or any prepositions. There simply are words that by design must be repeated and the brain doesn't find it jarring. The same happens with names.

No, if it's not about my favorite One Piece ship, then it has to be about my second favorite - iron rule! I had this on my mind since May this year and finally can present to you:

It's a daily challenge where you draw a little piece of ZoSan artwork, write a little fanfic or do anything else creative on your mind based on the daily prompts. Of course you DON'T have to do every day! It's all about fun and spreading the ZoSan love. No pressure at all. :3 When posting your artworks, please use the hashtag #ZoSanuary 2026, so I can find and reblog them!

Starting day is January 1st 2026 and it lasts the whole month until the 31st.

For this to work out, though, and reach as many people as possible, I'm heavily relying on all of you. Please, share it with everyone you know would be interested in a ZoSan-themed art challenge! I'm really looking forward to seeing what you all come up with! <3

Winter KidLaw~

The baaaand. Sanji: lead vocals, rhythm guitar Zoro: drums Kid: bass, backing vocals Law: lead guitar

Did Zoro ever talk about Sanji to Kid and Law or did he just show up with a new vocalist?

I'll be fair and drop down everyone's age x,D Sanji: 30 Zoro: 20 Kid: 23 Law: 26

When it comes to Zoro's discretion regarding him and Sanji... well... let's put it in Kid's words:

can you tell us something more about the au? like how it formed, or how they all know each other?

Omg thanks so much!! x333 I'm so thrilled how much everyone enjoys this band AU! x3

Okay, so I'll give a little overview about the relationships/dynamics in this AU and then talk about its origin story xD

It all starts with Kid and Zoro (who share a flat) being BROKE. So broke, that they can't afford rent anymore. Kid is a full-time student who can't handle money and Zoro gets thrown out of every job he starts bc of him being always late (and a bit dumb to be fair x,D).

So Kid has THE idea: FINALLY get famous with their punk band and earn money that way!

The downside is... Bonney (who was their guitarist and Kid's girlfriend) just broke up with Kid and left the band.. so they're in urgent need of a new guitarist.

This is where Law shows up - at first only in one of Kid's universitiy courses (chemistry). They end up as laboratory partners and somehow Kid realizes that Law can play the guitar - so he drags him to band practice.

At first Law doesn't want to join the band, but once he sees how unprofessional Zoro and Kid are - he stays out of pity. (And maybe also because of a certain red gorilla.)

Meanwhile Zoro starts an apprenticeship at the bakery across the road (not even HE manages to get lost on such a short way xD). Things between him and Sanji (yes, Sanji's his boss) get rolling and he finds out how good Sanji can sing. So he simply decides that Sanji is now the front singer of their band xD

But how did I even come up with this AU?

Welllllll..... let me take you back into the year 2013. That's when my sister @simonstardust and I started writing One Piece RPGs. And we had a bunch of different AUs there, which we then somehow mixed together and started an ask blog on tumblr (yes, that was a thing once xD): @askkidandzoro-blog

The ask blog is shut down by now, but it was the start of the band AU!

At first we had it in a high school setting, but over the years we wanted the characters to be a bit older and have like... real life problems and not the overused school stuff x,D

And yeah, here we are xD Writing RPG again and developing the story further.

Big fun fact: The story is mainly KidLaw! I have to admit though, that the amount of ZoSan got more over the years xD

Sooo whenever you like one of my band AU posts, keep in mind that it's a project I have together with my big sis @simonstardust - and big shoutout to her always writing the perfect Kid and Sanji for me! x333

Oh, and btw... we also have a Spotify playlist for the AU if you're interested: Band AU Playlist