#this isn't my usual content but it seemed tumblr-appropriate

[nacricissa]

Cappy as an invasive species

In the 2017 video game Super Mario Odyssey, the premise remains that you, as Mario, are trying to save Princess Peach. I think that this is a lie. I think Mario dies slowly over the course of the game, taken over by Cappy.

Part of my reason for this is that while the Kingdoms of Mario Odyssey appear broadly distinct, with only New Donk city showing evidence the other kingdoms even exist prior to the post-game, most wildlife shows evolutionary defense against Bonneters, which is to say they all have hats. The citizens of these kingdoms will also cower in fear, and in the case of Shiverians cover their heads when Cappy approaches in a capture, but not when the animal approaches on its own. They are scared of Cappy. The only reason this fear does not translate when Mario is wearing (read: controlled by) Cappy, is because Cappy is imitating a hat Mario might otherwise wear. It is not as jarring to the citizens as seeing an animal with a different hat to the one they normally wear.

It is also worth noting that Princess Peach, who is generally more magic than Mario, never wears Tiara after they are freed from Bowser. Even before they are freed, they are often pictured separately. Peach does not want Tiara controlling her. I don't think she succeeded, however, given that her iconic castle has been symbolically topped with a top hat in the post game. Peach, the princess of what is presumably a fairly influential kingdom, has been taken over.

The rest of the world, now realizing containment is a lost cause, begin dropping the lockdowns that had generally been preventing international travel prior to Mario's reversal of the successful trapping of all Bonneters in Bonneton through the destruction of their ships. Even as they travel, you can see numerous Bonneters controlling other sentient creatures, finding them as Hat-and-Seek moons.

Mario is quite definitely gone, according to any Bonneter you meet, who will address Cappy, and not Mario, even if Cappy is currently hiding as Mario's iconic hat.

None of this would have been possible without two things: Mario's athletic talent, which allows him more general mobility than almost any other capture, and Cappy's seemingly unique ability to capture several things at once, generally Mario and something else, but at the end he and Tiara successfully capture Peach, Mario, Bowser and a wire between the two of them. Most Bonneters are not depicted capturing anything (I don't imagine the one in Bonneton would be scared of Paragoombas if they could just capture them), never mind two or more at once.

The only things truly immune appear to be the Broodals, which Bowser brought along as insurance when dropping Mario in the quarantine zone that was Bonneton, despite his general reluctance to hire new help. Rabbids truly are the most evolved lifeform in the Mario universe.

[hyperfixingfr]

Hey guys, just a quick warning on the user makiyaaaahm who you may have seen in the tags recently with disturbing content (disclaimer; do not harass, just report + block)

There's a kid below the age of Tumblr usage (11 years old) going around the fandom and posting disturbing content that depicts them and glorifies them as a murderer that they are posting untagged. I attempted to speak to them about how this behavior is unacceptable and hurting people, but they spent the entire time shouting at me venting to me about how they're so mentally ill and can't help but draw themselves as a glorified killer, before proceeding to deny that they were venting to me or glorifying themselves as a murderer. It really disgusted me as someone who is mentally ill because this isn't acceptable behavior in a fandom with such a demographic that NEEDS to have this sort of content tagged. I tried to tell them that this was unacceptable and they can't deny responsibility for how they're hurting other people just because they're mentally ill and that they need to get help and find ways to heal so they aren't suffering anymore, but eventually they blocked me because they didn't want to listen. The behavior they displayed and the way they spoke to me was really disturbing and I worry about this kid being engaged with on here. Please just block and report them. I tried my best to push them towards getting help but like I said, they blocked me. If you want to send them resources so they can get help I wouldn't be against it but otherwise don't engage and just simply report and block. I don't like knowing that someone this unstable is online at SUCH a young age and I really want you guys to steer clear of this person so they aren't negatively influenced any further. I can't force them offline and I don't intend to, but they really shouldn't be here if they can't even come into a social space without spewing out triggering and glamorized material of horrific topics into a kids fandom. Really, they shouldn't be here given their age. They're not stable. Someone else (who also isn't a good person but we won't get into that) seems to have told them off as well in asks but that didn't get through to them either. I only said something because I got a direct notification of them reblogging something with disturbing text.

And before the usual "why are you bUlLyInG a child" anon ask comes in... Children need to be held accountable and given appropriate consequences and I've already held them accountable. They openly admitted to not wanting to do anything about this with excuses so the best option for consequences that aren't unfair or rude is to make sure people aren't engaging with them until they stop with their extremely harmful behaviors. They don't get a pass for their behavior even with mental illness (as someone with mental illness) because there's a difference between struggling and acting on bad stuff + making others suffer. I would even excuse it if they had been like "omg sorry I was having a mental break" but they only tried to defend themselves having done it by being like "I'm just mentally ill I can't help it" lol. And again children need to be held responsible for their actions or else they grow into adults who think they can do whatever they want

[the-lonelybarricade]

Fic Writing on Tumblr - Tips

Hello friends! I'm sure there's a million of these style posts floating around the good ole hellsite, but I thought I'd make a little post to tape up on our corner of the internet for any of the writers (old and new) that are interested in some tips for posting fic on tumblr 💕

Tip #1 - Always Use a Read More

This is crucial if you actually want people to reblog your fic. People don't generally want to subject their followers to scrolling through an entire chapter. I know it may seem like you're more likely to "hook" readers by putting all the story up front, but people who may have ordinarily read your fic may be disinclined simply because you decided not to follow this curtesy. As a general rule, I always put a "read more" on any fic that exceeds 500 words.

Tip #2 - Be Mindful of Using Art

Fandom is a community and people who read fanfic are part of that community. A lot of times, readers on tumblr will know fandom artists and their reposting rules. Always use credit if you will be using fanart as a header for your fic and always double check the artist allows this. Usually their reposting rules are stated very clearly on their instagram bios.

Additionally, you need to be aware that the art you're using is setting a first impression for your fic. For example, if you use AI art as a header, many users will decide not to reblog your fic simply because they do not support AI. The same goes for using art of whitewashed characters.

I would personally recommend creating a banner or moodboard for your fic, which will give you much more creative license to give the impression you feel is truest to your story! I use canva for all of my banners and moodboards, though you may find other apps that work better for you!

Tip #3 - Taglists

It is common curtesy to only tag people if they have requested to be on the tag list. There are some exceptions to this, where you may tag friends that you know don't mind or users who have openly encouraged their followers to add them to taglists (like me), but as a general rule of thumb, you should avoid tagging people unless they explicitly ask.

If you want to use a taglist but don't know where to start, I would recommend posting a (small) teaser or a synopsis of your fic in the appropriate tag and simply ask people to interact if they'd like to be added to the taglist.

Tip #4 - Use a Masterlist and hyperlink, hyperlink, hyperlink!

People are more likely to read your work if you make it easy for them to find. Generally, people won't spend time scrolling through your archive trying to find chapter 1 of a multi-chaptered fic you just posted. Making a masterlist that you link to each chapter will help new readers start at the beginning. And if they like your writing, a masterlist will also help them do a full binge of your works!

My friend @ofduskanddreams also recently did a poll here that suggested most users (at least in our corner of the internet) prefer to read fic on AO3. If you'll be cross posting to AO3, I definitely recommend adding a link on each chapter as well as linking your AO3 in your bio or main masterlist.

Tip #5 - Use appropiate tags and content warnings

Foremost, be respectful. While it may be tempting to use the ship tags for any background relationships that appear in the fic, I advise only tagging the ships that are central to the story. You may think using tags for background ships will give your fic a wider reach, but really you're just going to clog those tags with content that isn't really related to the ship. People, generally, don't appreciate this! Fandom is a community and our community is fairly small, so you definitely don't want to set off on the wrong foot by trying to "game" the tag system. People go into those tags because they want to see content for their ship and seeing an improperly tagged fic will certainly turn them off reading it and possibly reading anything from you in the future!

Additionally, if there is anything in your fic that might warrant a content warning (e.g. graphic violence, non-con or dub-con, blood, torture, etc.), then you will want to ensure you label this upfront. Both in the tags (with the format tw: blood or cw: blood) and stated clearly at the top of the fic (E.g. "Content warning: this fic contains graphic depictions of sexual violence). As a curtesy, all potentially triggering or NSFW content should be put beneath a read more.

Tip #6 - Fanfic Is a Community

I really can't express this enough! If you are not experiencing the engagement that you want on your fic, try engaging more with the wider community! Reblog and leave comments on other people's fics, send other people asks, reblog art and headcanons, participate in event weeks.

And lastly, because this is a community, be concious of the posts you make outside of fic. Your writing may be good, but if you make unlikeable posts about other characters, ships, etc., people may decide they don't want to support your works on principle. While it's impossible to please everyone and it's important to be true to you, it's important to understand that your blog represents your writing just as much as your writing represents your blog.

[crypticanexe]

OTW Board Election Candidate Opinion

This is a very long, very opinionated post. A far cry from my usual. I will not be arguing or debating anyone on it. If we disagree, fair enough! I respect that. So all I ask is you not come for my neck either.

NOTE: Some words are fully censored due Tumblrs own TOS. Please note the Q&A is linked at the bottom for the uncensored version of her words.

That said, as I'm sure a lot of people have seen already, voting for the OTW Board has begun. And I've already seen a lot of people shouting not to vote in favor of Tiffany G.

And, I have to agree.

I, unfortunately, cannot partake in the vote, but I've done some digging anyway. Nothing better to do on a Thursday than voice my opinion into the void that is Tumblr.

Tiffany seems to be in favor of censorship. I say seems because this is just based on what's in front of me, she's not outright said so. Just barely brushed the surface of it.

But let's not get ahead of the game. Let's go through a minor breakdown of the Q&A

In the interview on August 1st, Tiffany stated;

"Well, I think a lot of external people are very concerned about the fact that some works contain child ****, p******** content, and other illegal content."

Let's be honest here folks - there's some truth to this. There are some works published on the site that are vile, or downright contain depictions that would be illegal in real-world scenarios. That is the cost of absolutely no censorship. I think the "Other illegal content" is...more of a grey area, considering the basis of fanfiction; partaking in fictional worlds and universes. For example; gambling under a certain age is illegal, but in the context of 'Kakegurui' clearly, their world doesn't abide by that same rule. That's a very basic comparison, but you get it.

My point? I definitely have opinions on the rampant written **** of children and p********, that I don't think should exist, but the third example is just too broad. Not to mention "External people are concerned." Censorship isn't going to solve that problem. External people are concerned with a tirade of things - the real problems, Gay things, violence, etc. That's how people think and act. What censorship will do, is cause a chain reaction.

One of the biggest reasons for this is a common argument; children are on AO3. Here's the thing - it is not the responsibility of the internet to protect or raise your child. It is not my job as an author to limit what I am writing to being "teen appropriate" because little Timmy went on AO3 and found explicit violence. (See; NC-17 ban).

Moving on, the next segment I want to dissect is this,

"OK this is a follow-up to the last question – people think we host child **** content and such things. This issue is actually closely related to the incident when our service is banned in my home country. It might also be helpful to clarify that to the public."

Firstly, let's start with that home country ban. In 2020, the Chinese government banned AO3 due to an incident regarding a drama, "The Untamed" and an RPF written for actor Xiao Zhan. While it does seem to be what initially started that downhill slope of the Mainland China AO3 ban, it actually seems to still exist more because of China's overall censorship.

I don't want to dwell on that particular part much. I don't know much about China's censorship beyond face value, and I don't know much about this incident specifically. If you want to know more, I encourage you to do the research. I encourage that anyway, really.

The second part though, "clarify that to the public", is a bit odd. Who is "the public"? AO3 has its own social media accounts, but I found AO3 through the author's crossposting on FF.net 5 years ago. Who exactly are we clarifying this for, and what are we clarifying? The public's opinion will vary wildly by country, or area, regardless. That's what makes the broadness an issue.

AO3 has always been a '100% inclusive space' which relies on the lack of censorship to sustain that stance. Take one of the biggest points; LBGTQ+ rep. We are constantly filtered out across the web, and across country borders on other sites. This ties into that chain reaction I mentioned, one domino falls and they all come down.

Trucking forward, here's a long segment;

"I support 100% “maximum inclusiveness of content”, yet there is always a boundary to everything. Since OTW is already an influential org, we need to protect our image and hold a better image to the public. I want the public to think of us as an inclusive and socially responsible community. So in general, we have to do something to change. Things like making the rating system more specific and obvious to users will be what I want to do.

Not really restricting the content being posted. I hope it is like more warnings and ratings for posting work so people know what to expect. And all of these are not surprising to people who do not wish to see this."

So, that's a LOT. And my first comment is that it feels contradictory, if only because of its vagueness. You agree with the maximum inclusiveness, but that there are always boundaries. Now, that in itself is true and not the issue - but where is the boundary? Where do you draw the line in the sand?

There is something I do agree with here though; better tagging. Not necessarily revamping what's already there, but giving more. I.e - the 'Underage' tag is very....not explanatory at all, until you open it and find..well, what you'd expected if you've read this far. But there are fiction, written about teens that include scenes like kissing. That's not bad, but it is considered Underage. Sometimes it makes it to the tag, sometimes it doesn't. But that's the issue - with that tag, you cannot differentiate the two except to read through the results.

I can't push this thought enough; I agree that some things on AO3 are just fucked, but censorship is such a slippery slide, that better ratings and tagging seems a much more reasonable route to go.

All in all, I think there are a couple valid points, but there are far to many that vaguely fall in favor of censorship. Once you begin to censor something, the domino effect will occur. Just look at the NC-17 ban on FF.net all those years ago. I was an avid user of FF.net as a kid. It's where I uploaded my first ever fic. But eventually, I moved on to AO3. Not because I was chasing the said NC-17 fics, but everyone else left because of the ban. The once...decently active community had dwindled some.

At the end of the day, it falls to those who can vote, and what you think is best. That's the point of a democratic voting system for the Board. This is just the opinionated rambling of some random guy on the internet.

I'll leave you with all my resources for this wordy and useless piece below, along with a last segment from that Q&A that really cemented why I believe she is on the side of Censorship.

"(Sveritas): "Please clarify how you propose we treat the content we currently have in the archive that should be banned with those proposed TOS changes."

(Tiffany) "If there are changes, it is going to be some slower work I suspect. Will work with PAC to figure out if changes are necessary."

Q&A Tiffany G's Profile 2020 China AO3 Ban (Vox) FF.net NC-17 Ban (Fanlore)

[nightswithkookmin]

GOING ON A HIATUS

Thanks to everyone who's taken the time out to read my posts and has enjoyed it so far. It's really been fun and entertaining exchanging thoughts and having these much deeper ship discussions.

I thought this issue was gonna go away but I woke up this morning to more people messaging me about finding my last video analysis on several other platforms without appropriate credit.

But that's not disturbing. The disturbing part is the people sliding into people's DM'S on other platforms to get them to take down my video because they don't want people sharing my content on other platforms as they believe it would only make my blog popular.

For those worried about this whole credit business, thanks for showing this much concern for me? I really appreciate the love and concern if it's from a genuine place of concern. Thank you...

I think some of you already know this by now or might have figured it out, I am a law student, I am very much well aware what is and what isn't within my rights? Lol

I honestly didn't see this whole credit thingy as a big deal. It's not. Not to me. Lol. I repost people's photos without credit too all the time. Often, it's because I don't know who to credit and most time my lazy ass just forgets to. Lol. I think it's normal? It's inconsequential I mean.

The videos I use are usually often water marked by the appropriate owners so I don't go through the hustle of figuring this whole credit business out. If I should decide to come back here again I will check that habit of mine?

While this whole credit business is not a big deal to me, malicious slander and defamation to my character is and I don't take it lightly.

It has been brought to my attention that some Jikookers from Tumblr have since been sliding into people's DM's on other platforms asking them to take down my video and or remove the credit they give to my post.

They are telling people I am problematic, calling me the Taekook Lives of the Jikook community. That I have been spreading lies about Jikook, that the Jikook Tumblr community hates me or something like that and to further caricaturize me and make me appear more evil in order to get people to turn on me and hate me, they make up the most ridiculous lies about me claiming that I believe a notorious serial killer is innocent.

Now I have since deleted my YT account because I don't want my colleagues to find out I am into shipping too lol- shipping is a guilty pleasure of mine and I know how this fandom works unfortunately. I've been a silent part of it since 2014. I mean it's started already. The Doxing and shit.

The original post under which these replies are from couldn't save sadly as my account has been deleted but you can see from my notifications the general feel of what my interests outside shipping looks like.

I am interested in a myriad of topics, from literature, Aliens, writing, Harry Potter, history, activism, advocacy, philosophy, law, politics, NASA, and mystery and murder among other things.

My quora is mostly filled with notifications from my Book community and True crime community and often I do share my thoughts and answer questions with regards to the psychology of murderers, legal evidence, notorious villains in literature- well I guess now you know the kind of lawyer I want to be if and when I'm able to complete law school.

But what has my interest in these topics got to do with Jikook and shipping please?? How does this prove I hate Jikook and spread lies about them?

This Kookie Min Monsta person slipped into someone's DMS and asked the person who had put up my video analysis to take it down or discredit me because to her I am problematic. She is not the only one.

You want so bad to paint me black- no pun intended just to win an argument? You claim I am the evil malicious person here but I am not the one sliding into people's dms trying to take credit away from people for their hardwork, spreading hate and negative energy, making things up to manipulate people's perception of others and get them to hate and turn on them- and all because of A SHIP? Damn. This is pathetic.

Who died and made you the gatekeeper of the jikook shipping community? Honestly antics like these don't work on me try again.

I made a video commentary on my Booktube YT account- yes I am part of the book YouTube community as well sue me or better still slip into their inboxes and tell them I voted for Trump therefore I hate chipmunks.

The commentary I made on YT months ago was when I was in the highs of finding a new passion and it was on Ann Rule's book, The Stranger Besides Me- a true crime novel on Ted Bundy which I found so poorly written that at the end of the book it left with me wondering whether or not Ted Bundy was guilty at all!

The Author's writing style which deviates from most writing styles of True Crime novels I have read gave me trust issues as I stated in the video. It felt more as if she was writing a made up fictional novel than an actual True Crime novel but because she knew Ted Bundy in person she made it seem as if we just had to believe her account.

Then there was this whole thing about the police not being able to match the DNA samples taken from his rape victims, to his own Semen because his Semen was DNAless- in lay man's terms. I'll spare you the technicalities involved.

As I stated in that video, I do believe Ted Bundy was guilty but I do not have much faith in the Judicial system, or criminal procedures or even the Author of that book- a sentiment most people within the true crime community share as well. We just had differing views on whether the writer's style took away from the narrative and waters down on the extent of Bundy's guilt.

We had a Similar conversation about Chris Watt. If the community I was engaging in didn't have a problem with my commentary why do you? Please don't meddle in things you know nothing about. It's embarrassing.

The conversation about whether or not Ted Bundy is innocent is moot but a philosophical one. It has nothing to do with Ted Bundy's guilt but more so the criminal procedures involved in his case and the different accounts that exists surrounding his case.

He was electrocuted, he confessed to his crimes no damn person with brains would think or assume he is innocent and I never said anything of that nature drew any conclusions to that effect.

Besides, I moved on from Ted Bundy a long time ago. Now I am into the Serial Killer who writes death poems and signs it off with drawings of the size of his dick at his crime scenes- mind your own business please or don't and let's have an intellectual discourse about him? Lmho.

I am also into cat memes if you care to know and have a whole IG dedicated to cat memes. I believe human beings are the most dumbest species in all the galaxies and when the Aliens arrive I am snitching.

When my mind is at rest, I often wonder if Aliens have masculinity complex and if they do whether or not their masculinity is contingent on the size of their dicks or whether they have to engage in a battle to the death with an alien grizzly bear to determine who is the man.

I love BTS memes too- a little too much and often end up debating over the internet with random people over whether BTS memes are funnier than cat memes- I'm weird, true. But how does all of that make me a bad person?

It's crazy how these people can go on these other platforms to ask people to take down the credits to my posts as well as my posts itself but can't ask people who run to these other platforms with misinterpretations of my work to take those down.

Instead they come on here to call me out for people's interpretations of my work?? It doesn't work that way. You are the author of your own opinion and interpretation of other people's work. You don't call out the original author for someone's opinion of their work. If that were so I would be emailing Stephanie Meyer for Anna Todd and her After series. Get some education.

I have since blocked this person and others whose Tumblr I have been able to find thanks to all those that's helped me finding them on here.

My gf also tried reaching out to the persons who shared my post after we realised this was becoming an issue and had asked them to credit her or my blog- but honestly I don't care about that yet she won't give it a rest. Lol. My ride or die this one. Sigh.

However, we realized soon that this is not about 'stealing' credit- can't call someone out for not giving credit when I suck at that myself. Lol.

This is about people's malicious intentions and their attempts to silence me and take away my right to freedom of expression however way that they can. This is wrong and evil.

I honestly don't care for all these ship politics these people are engaged in. I've had enough intelligent conversations to know the distinction between arguments that flows from bruised egos and actual conversations around a subject matter.

This whole I am right, she is wrong politics... y'all get that the point of having an opinion is not to be right, right? We all cant have the same perspective and you can't call someone a liar for holding views that is different from yours. That is a bizarre mentality to have.

As I stated in my post, that content I made was a rebuttal to the Taekook theories running around on the internet alleging JK glared at Tae when he pulled on his shoulder because he was jealous Tae and Jin were having fun behind him. He wasn't. He was worried Tae was gonna expose him and JM holding hands behind Suga.

If you don't think they were holding hands then Taekookers were right and his reaction was because he was Jealous of Taejin I guess...

But thats your truth. That's not my truth. I don't believe Taekook is real. JK isn't jealous of Taejin he is not Twelve- but then again he was sneaking around behind Suga holding his boyfriend's hands so I guess he is twelve? Lol. Jikook!

Do you.

But please stop the evil malicious attacks and seek immediate help. There is such a thing as right and wrong and this is just plain wrong. Your Karma and chakra are in the negative nodes and you need to fix it. It is not funny anymore.

Thank you to everyone who has shown genuine concerns for me in the past few days and thank you so much for trying to stand up for me. There are good people on here and I have met and interacted with a lot of them and thank you so much for such a wonderful experience and insightful discussions.

I don't hate people because of our differences in thoughts, beliefs, opinions. There's always room for dissenting opinions in every sphere. At the very least, we can agree to disagree and shake on it. But You can't make up shit about people just to prove your opinion is right and their opinions and views which differ from yours are 'wrong.

I am not a victim though, and they are not bullies, psst. They are just vile pathetic human beings exposing the greens of their insides. What you do says more about who you are as a person and human being. And this is who they are.

Just be a nice decent human being. That's what this world needs. Fix whatever is broken inside of you and free your mind and spirit. Hate is never the answer.

I'm going to be away for a while because I have studies, work and other interests I want to pursue at the moment- it's just my AADD flaring up so if you see me henceforth raving about Nana at least you'd know why. Lol. She's wrecking my Jimin bias. Lmho.

Spread positivity, do the right thing, stand up for a good cause and keep supporting Jikook. Jikook is real.

Until we meet again.

Signed,

GOLDY

[kookookafreakinchoo]

This is sort of a weird question (ignore if you don't wanna answer), but I'm writing fanfic about a comic book character who's an acrobat. Idk anything about acrobatic stuff but a mutual told me to ask you. Any tips/insight? Sorry this isn't about DP specifically...

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that this is either about Nightcrawler or Nightwing? I’m also curious as to who this mutual was lol there are very, very few people on tumblr who would know to ask me this question. 

Regardless, I’m happy to help.  

Fair warning, I’m just going to cover the basics and I’ll probably forget some stuff. Also, when I talk about “circus” or “circus arts” I’m referring to lyra, silks, trapeze arts, cube, etc specifically (the aerial arts). I’m guessing since it’s a comic book and since you’re asking me you want answers catered to that - so if I say something about an “acrobat” I’m using it interchangeably with “aerialist,” but acrobat can encompass other disciplines as well. 

Stuff about aerial arts equipment: 

- There’s three (general) types of apparatus: a lyra (basically a steel hoop, sometimes with a bar across the top of it and they’re usually taped), silks (two pieces of fabric that vary in stretchiness; can be tied to create a sling or hammock and the stretchiness of the fabric will alter your approach to it), and trapeze (can be standing or flying). There are more, but these are the three that people are probably most familiar with. 

- Rigging is an art form in and of itself. Aerialists have different standards when it comes to what they’ll accept as “safe,” but in general the standard is “if it can’t hold a truck, it can’t hold me.” 

- People usually have a favorite apparatus. This seems to revolve around 1) what type of pain people are willing to put up with and 2) what makes “sense” to someone conceptually; aerials often involve weird, upside down movements and you need to be able to visualize placements and move your body appropriately. Sometimes people have an easier time doing this with one apparatus compared to another. 

Stuff about aerialists: 

- Circus hurts. I think the biggest thing that people don’t realize is how physically painful and damaging aerial arts can be. The lyra, silks, trapeze, etc can all leave a lot of really intense bruises and burns. It’s super common for aerialists to have strange, ugly bruising and/or rope burn all over their body from the equipment itself. The injuries vary depending on the apparatus someone uses, but everyone who does aerials has them. It’s more common for beginners but even experienced aerialists get them when trying new things or if they’ve taken some time off. 

- Experienced aerialists have thickened/leathery skin at various pressure points on their body. It develops over time as your body adjusts and builds layers to combat tissue damage (see previous point). The most common areas are places like the top of the feet, back of the knees, palms, hips, and armpits, but it depends on the apparatus the aerialist uses. I’m not saying that someone can tell just by looking at an aerialist that they have thickened skin (it’s not grossly obvious or anything like that), but you can usually feel it.  

- In terms of build, aerial arts are as much about endurance as they are about brute strength. Because of that, many aerialists are fairly lean (think of a build like a lean gymnast or a ballerina). Any type of aerial art is a full body workout, but aerialists tend to have very strong hips, abs, shoulders, backs, and arms, including forearms; if there’s one consistent thing I’ve seen across aerialists, it’s broad shoulders and muscular forearms. Still, people of all different body types can be incredibly successful aerialists/acrobats, so if you’re writing a story involving acrobats don’t be afraid to make the acrobat have whatever body type you want.

- The rumors are true: flexibility is very important in the circus arts and aerialists tend to be very flexible. Having said that, being too flexible is just as much of a problem as being too stiff; if you can over-extend, it will “look” pretty because it leads to cleaner lines, but there’s also an increased risk of injury and “floppiness”. Basically, the more flexible you are, the more control you need to have in the air. 

- I think people sometimes confuse bravery with recklessness. Aerialists are very brave; I’ve never met an aerialist who is reckless. Being an aerialist requires a pretty strong mind and a sense of self-confidence but rarely do aerialists take needless risks.  

- Aerialists/acrobats are among the most welcoming people in the world. Aerial arts is a real adrenaline rush, so I guess everyone could just be high… but I’ve never met a “mean” or unfriendly aerialist. It’s definitely a family. 

What the sport is like: 

- The aerial arts are very difficult. Most people understand that conceptually, but nearly every beginner underestimates how tough it is or overestimates their own strength. There are muscles that can only really be worked through aerials. Most true beginners take several days just to be able to hang off of an apparatus for an adequate amount of time. That’s not to say that beginners don’t get “in the air” on their first day, but they’re rarely more than a few feet off the ground. Part of this, too, is because beginners don’t have technique - a lot of aerial is about proper technique.

- I think what people underestimate the most is the amount of grip strength you need. The vast majority of beginners will lose grip strength long before they lose shoulder strength when they’re first starting out; I’ve seen people who have incredibly strong backs/shoulders but struggle with the silks because they don’t have the grip strength for them. 

Some aerialists will use sprays or powders to increase their grip strength; this is a huge point of contention in the aerial community. If you ever want to open a can of worms among aerialists, ask them their opinion on the use of rosin. It’s banned in some training centers and encouraged in others - people can get very, very heated over it. 

- For reference, in my experience a typical training practice can last anywhere from 1.5-3 hours, but you don’t spend the entire time in the air. Practice is usually anywhere from 1 to 3 times a week, potentially more if you’re training for a performance. Conditioning is serious business and is typically done before practice, but sometimes training will finish with “last actions” which is basically conditioning when you’re exhausted. Fatigue is a real issue so I’ve never seen anyone train everyday. 

I think that’ll cover the basics if you’re designing an aerialist/acrobatic character or building a story for one, but let me know if you have any other questions! And if anyone has stuff to add feel free to comment. 

[killerrvelvet]

Le Sserafim and the Situation(tm)

tldr: why is *blank* still in the group and hybe sucks ass. also why tf are we still talking about this group as if nothing is happening??

I have been looking up the tag and trying to see if anyone has participated in the discourse/talked about the current debacle plaguing Hybe and the group Le Sserafim. I don’t post a lot of my own content but I feel the need to comment on this current event.

One, at least on tumblr, it feels like very few people have elected to share their opinion or feelings on this whole thing. It is definitely present on Reddit, but here it seems to either be avoided/untouched or it is growing and it hasn’t really reached it’s peak yet. Either way, I just wanted to share my two cents (warranted or not).

I think it’s fairly obvious to anyone that is either closely monitoring the situation or even just catching wind of it here or there (because honestly I don’t know how you could miss it even if you are casually involved in the world of Kpop) that the most glaring issue about this whole thing is the way that Hybe is handling the allegations. I have never seen a company so incompetent; so blatantly lost when it comes to a SERIOUS claim. Whether or not all of this is true, gray/not cut and dry, or false, Hybe is not making this look any less worrisome to ANYONE. The girls are probably freaking out, internally I’m confident the company is scrambling to fix this elaborate mess they’ve created for themselves, and fans of the group are in fear that this debut has been absolutely squandered, because it has been. Before all of you say it sounds like I'm in support of the alleged perprator, I'll get there.

A PLETHORA of examples of companies addressing accusations, allegations, claims, etc are available for any label looking to take something from the how to treat idol accusations playbook. How Hybe adopts none of these methods is beyond me. So this can only lead to the thought that follows after; did she do it, then?

Defending your idol is one thing; but defending your idol when there is evidence (and not some cheap ass document or tweet; potentially some real ass shit from a victim who just wants justice) , lack of an appropriate statement with substance, and a whole group of 5 other girls are serving the sentence for the (ALLEGED; for legal reasons lmao) behavior of one of their members is a whole other thing. at what point, as a company, do you decide to put a member on hiatus? or a more, somewhat common practice; remove them from the group? usually the the first option that I listed above will be enough to do at least one or the other. but in this case? all of the above are at play.

if this was any other company, there is a very good chance that she would be gone. wiped from the system as best as they could manage. I cannot see this being a scenario in which the company defends the perprator in this case so strongly without incentive. this could mean a very lucrative sponsorship (with said member), or wealthy/powerful parents to back her. it doesn't make sense why they are fighting so hard (and so poorly) to keep her in the public eye if it isn't for either of these reasons.

hybe's replies have been absolute dogshit. it's almost comical how substanceless how all of their statement drops have been. not even to mention the doubling down and not even having said member fake apologize or feign distress.

all in all: this whole situation is irritating and gross. hybe sucks and I feel bad for the girls who have to suffer consequences for something that they have nothing to do with. they all worked so hard just for a scandal to tear them down so early in their careers. this will plague the company and the group for a very, very long time. I hope the 5 other members can find peace from this whole thing. and as for the company; either they pull out all of the stops and produce a bombshell that destroys these seriously strong claims, or I never invest myself in a group from this company ever again.