#august 2021 contest

[foxmulderautism]

the sexual tension between me and the short story prize that still says submissions will open in august 2023 on their site

[undersprite]

...

Ah, jeez, did anyone remember to dust in here while I was away?

Hello, everyone—CHAOS_FANTAZY here, former entrant and judge to the Undertale/Deltarune Sprite Comic contest. It's been a while since the previous one hosted in 2021, but I've been thinking about running this contest again ever since.

So why not now?

As of right now, I've reopened the official contest Discord server in preparation for the 3rd """annual""" comic contest—slated to run throughout the summer, with the submission period running from June through August. I'm making this post to inform everyone of the contest's return, with all the general information given below:

Huh? What? Sprite Comic Contest? I don't understand anything!

A sprite comic, as its name suggests, is a web comic that uses sprites rather than artwork as the main means of depicting its subjects. This is commonly done to produce fan comics for video games, and Undertale is no exception—many prolific AUs, including @invertedfate, began as sprite comics.

This is a contest to produce a sprite comic about Undertale or Deltarune—a game jam but with comics, as it were. If you've ever had an idea for a story you want to tell using these games' characters or setting, but could never justify dedicating time to telling it...this is the excuse you need!

Who's running this show now?

As aforementioned, it's me, CHAOS_FANTAZY! I'm joined by a panel of three volunteer judges, Mufeet, Subna, and Soufon (Whom, much like myself, has no major social media platforms). All four of us are not only long-time Undertale fans who can remember when sprite comics were a highly popular storytelling format, but also participants in previous sprite comic contests!

What's in it for me?

Although he's no longer directly involved in running the contest, the former host @fmsdraws has graciously offered to supply it with illustrated prizes. Additionally, we have a small cash prize pool to distribute among the top three (Via Paypal/Cashapp, or an alternative if both of these are unavailable to the winner):

First place will receive $25, and a custom illustration with up to two characters from Fms.

Second place will receive $15, and a one-character custom illustration from Fms.

Third place will receive $10, and a custom sprite from Fms.

Additional prizes may be added to this pool over the next week or so; this post will be edited to reflect these changes.

How do I participate?

I'm glad you asked! Our official Discord server is not only the proper avenue to send a submission, it also contains all the official rules regarding the production and submission thereof. (The original contest's rules are here, but there have been some revisions and modernizations made since.)

As aforementioned, the contest is planned to run through August—make sure you get your submission in by 11:59 PM EST on August 31st!

That's all for now. Good luck, everyone!

[hjnxx]

house of cards is a south korean reality show created by mnet. hosted by twinstar’s oh hyewon, it premiered on march 5th 2021 and was broadcast every friday for thirteen weeks until its final episode. the series was broadcasted on the sbs m channel or youtube depending on the viewer’s location.

with fifty - two contestants being entered into the ring, the aim of the show was to debut a four - member group under the rising company kq entertainment. and with the growing success of their boy group ateez, it wasn’t long until those fifty - two slots were filled—auditions being held from january to february 2021.

divided into groups of four, a ‘pod’ would consist of thirteen members recognized in the four main categories needed to be a successful idol groups : vocals, performance, rapping, and personality—the last of the categories surprising its viewers. one member from each pod would be selected to represent themselves in their respective categories, as well as expected to keep up if asked to suddenly perform in the other categories. each week, four contestants were eliminated.

on the final episode of the show, aired on may 28th, it would be announced that the final four would debut later the same year.

in an unexpected turn of events, highly voted contestants choi janelle and yamada emi did not make the lineup. ending up in fifth and seventh place respectively, the top four spots went to kq trainees ahyeon and micha, pledis trainee yuina, and eunji—a recent university drop-out and convenient store worker. outrage from comets—fans of teenstar—and new fans of emi were inescapable for weeks online, marring the reputation of the show. but the hate didn’t matter. not to a certain staff member at kq.

house of cards was the brainchild of creative director yoon boeun, hired in 2020 and tasked with the creation and development of the project kqueenz. with her newly selected four, she would go on to partially introduce the girls to the world on june 14th, faces partially hidden in a similar fashion to their seniors. dancing to rico nasty’s counting up, four girls dressed head to toe in black gave a teaser of what’s to come. despite the show’s negative reception, the dance cover was quick to go viral—hate-watched or not. they would quickly gain popularity due to being of ateez’s sister group.

after the release of their dance video, the group would go through a series of debut preparations—the release of the official group name on july first, hijinxx, individual and group street performances from june to august, posters in public areas—all to raise domestic popularity. and on september first of the same year, hijinxx would officially debut.

[the-tortured-artists-department]

TS Outfit Madness: Round 2, Matchup 4

Be sure to follow tsoutfitmadness for all upcoming polls! I really appreciate all reblogs! It helps get a bigger sample size for each poll & always keeps things more exciting 🫶🏼

For the duration of this tournament, I will be running a contest where you simply need to fill out this Google Form after you vote.

Option 4: For a better look at the dress, here is the Grammy Performance.

[jisforjudi2]

THE FAITHFUL SECRETARY

Chicago Tribune

UPDATED: August 10, 2021 at 12:23 a.m.

Before the women’s movement, back when Father knew best and network TV made room for Daddy, when Mary Tyler Moore was Laura Petrie, not Mary Richards, actress Barbara Hale was playing a single working woman on TV.

Hale, now 71, remembers what appealed to her about the role of Della Street, secretary to lawyer Perry Mason on the series that was based on the mysteries by Erle Stanley Gardner.

“When we started (in 1956), it was the beginning of women not working at home. I liked that she was not married. My husband didn’t have to see me every week married to another man, and our children didn’t have to see me mothering other children.

“When (my son) Billy was in the 1st grade, we went to school for the first parent meeting, and on his desk were little projects he’d made-pictures of Daddy and Mommy and his sister and his animals. And underneath my picture-I wish I had it now, but the teacher kept it-he’d written in inch-high block letters, `This is my mom. I love her. She is a secretary.”‘

On Friday, the latest Perry Mason two-hour movie, “The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host,” will air on NBC, one of seven productions that will carry the courtroom stalwart and his unflappable Girl Friday into 1994.

“I guess I was just meant to be a secretary who doesn’t take shorthand,” she quips. “My assistant wants you to know I’m a lousy typist too-33 words a minute!”

The Emmy award-winning actress is a Hollywood survivor-going into her second half-century in a profession she never dreamed of pursuing. A veteran of the old studio system and of television’s infancy, her co-stars in those early years were household names-Sinatra and Cagney and Stewart and Mitchum-when she was the ingenue.

RKO Studios was her “paid education,” as she puts it, her training ground. She met her husband, actor Bill Williams (who died several months ago), over coffee at the studio commissary.

Today, she still offers ample evidence of the effervescent beauty she was in the ’40s and ’50s-and even earlier, in Rockford High School, when her buddies entered her in a May Queen contest and she won. “I still know them, dear, and we 15 get together every three years. It takes three years to get over the three days we spend together!”

Her career seems to have evolved from being on the right Chicago street corner at the right time.

The daughter of a Rockford horticulturist and a homemaker, Hale (born in DeKalb) was studying at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, living at the Harriet M. McCormick branch of the YWCA and planning a career as a commercial illustrator and portraitist.

One day, as school let out for the summer, she was standing at the corner near the Drake Hotel with a girlfriend who’d come to town for a couple of weeks to look for modeling work. While they were waiting for the bus taking them to the North Side, a car drove up and someone tossed a card at them. It referred them to a modeling agency.

“A couple of weeks later, I went to see my buddies, and I told one of them the story about the card,” she recalls.

“She said, `Barb, you’re kidding! I was sitting in the little coffee shop at work this morning, and a lady came in and sat next to me, because it was the only seat left. She was pouting. I asked if she had a problem, and she said, “Yes, darn it. I have a model agency and I saw this kid on a corner, in a red coat, and can’t track her down. She’s exactly what one of our ad agencies is looking for.” Barb, what coat did you have on that day?

“I said, `My red coat-it’s the only coat I have.’ And she said, `Barb, I think that card was meant for you.”‘

It was. Hale went in to the Seaman Agency, and stopped Connie Seaman in her tracks. “She said, `Oh, my God-honey, don’t move! Al, get over here quick!’ Al came in and said, `It is her! Let’s see-we’ll shape her eyebrows, put on a little more lipstick, pull her hair back … ‘ and I said, `Just a minute, sir-what are we talking about?”‘

Hale was “a green 19” when she began fashion modeling, and after about a year and a half, RKO offered her a six-month tryout. The day after she arrived in Los Angeles, she visited the studio and its casting director, Dick Stockton.

“As I was shaking hands with him, the phone rang. He took the call, and as he listened, he started looking at me. `Yeah, yeah, yeah, just a minute.’ He turned to me and asked, `Honey, can you say a line?’ I said, `I don’t know.’ He said into the phone, `There’s a kid in the office right now. I think she’ll work. I’ll send her right over.’ He told his assistant, `Take her to wardrobe, take her to makeup, take her to Stage 6. One of the kids is sick. We’ve got to have a girl there immediately.’

“It hit every paper the next day. Cinderella story. First day on the lot, she gets-of course they said a starring part. I had one line, but you know about those things.”

Apart from that walk-on, in “Gildersleeve’s Bad Day,” she made her debut in 1944 in “Higher and Higher,” opposite Frank Sinatra.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Ginger Rogers and Jane Russell were all at RKO then. So was Burr-who would be her TV series co-star about a dozen years later.

Hale studied dancing and singing at the studio. She began to appear on screen regularly-four movies in 1944, two in 1945-and eventually won leads in such movies as “The Boy With Green Hair,” “The Window,” “Jolson Sings Again” and “The Jackpot,” performing even while pregnant.

“I told Billy (her son, actor William Katt, who starred in the television series “The Greatest American Hero”) he should put on his resume that he was in `The Jackpot’ and `Lorna Doone,’ and he said, `Mother, I wasn’t,’ and I told him, `Oh, yes, you were!”‘

She continued her movie career and was a mainstay of television dramas until 1956, when a producer offered her the Della Street part in the pilot of what turned out to be a 9 1/2-year run. Hale went on to win an Emmy for best dramatic actress for the role in 1959.

“We did 36 shows that first year,” she says. “And we’re still doing it!”

She says that Della “was-and still is, to a great degree-a woman who knew what everybody was thinking. She was informed, and very observant of everything that went on. That was my challenge as an actress-to be a necessary part of the office without being too aggressive. Della was quietly overpowering: She knew when to speak and when to keep her mouth closed.”

Hale sees Della as having remained constant, to an extent. Her task is basically the same. But there have been some subtle emotional changes.

“I think she’s a little more at home, relaxed, showing her knowledge not only of the case, but also of her boss. In the early days, it was all business. Today there’s more of a camaraderie between them, a little more humor and more sensitivity to each other, which comes with years of being side by side.

“She’s trying to see that he stays healthy,” she says. “She’s taking him off coffee.

After nearly 300 episodes, “Perry Mason” folded in 1966.

In the mid-1970s, the show returned briefly with other actors and faded quickly. During the ’70s and early ’80s, Hale worked sporadically. She was in the original “Airport” in 1970, and appeared opposite her son in a 1978 surfing movie, “Big Wednesday.”

In 1985, producer Dean Hargrove asked her what she thought of the idea of a “Perry Mason” reunion show. She told him, “it would be divine, but we are 25 or 30 years older than we were then.” He said the intention was to use them as they were and to bring in a few new young actors to replace cast members William Talman, Ray Collins and William Hopper, who had died.

“Dean said, `There’s a young blond kid in town. I want to talk to him, not his agent. He’s done a series-“The Greatest American Hero.” But I can’t reach him.’

“I said, `Oh, well, that young man is in Kansas City doing “The Music Man” right now, and I can get you in touch with him if you want.’ And Dean asked, `You know him?’ I said, `Dean, I changed that boy’s diapers!’ Billy played in the first nine (Perry Mason) movies, then went on to another series of his own.”

“Perry Mason Returns” in 1985 was a Nielsen triumph, and with Perry stepping down from a judgeship to defend Della against murder charges in the first episode. From then on, the Mason bunch have visited America’s living rooms every few months.

After nearly four decades, Hale says the role of Della still offers unexpected moments.

“This week, at the end of the show, very quietly and very surprisingly, Perry plants one on Della,” Hale says. “It’s a first!”

Originally Published: May 16, 1993 at 1:00 a.m.

www.chicagotribune.com/1993/05/16/the-faithful-secretary/

[arofili]

Tolkien Fandom Event Calendar

Recently I’ve received some asks about events/weeks in the Tolkien fandom, so I thought I’d compile a list of those that I know about. This is not exhaustive, and dates are subject to change by the organizers of these events!

Other blogs you can check out are @tolkieneventsblog and @tolkienfandomevents, though I’m not sure how active those are. The @silmarillionwritersguild Discord also has a channel dedicated to signal boosts for all sorts of Tolkien-related & general fandom happenings, which is another excellent way to keep up with fandom goings-on.

Want to run your own event? Here’s some of my tips!

If your event is not on here and you’d like it to be, let me know and I can add it :) Note: I will only add events that have announced dates!

~

JANUARY Screw Yule My Slashy Valentine @myslashyvalentine — work time Lord of the Rings Secret Santa @lotr-sesa — reveals Thorin’s Spring Forge @thorinsspringforge — signups Second Age Week @secondageweek

FEBRUARY Hidden Paths My Slashy Valentine — reveals Thorin’s Spring Forge — claims Maedhros and Maglor Week @maedhrosmaglorweek

MARCH Back to Middle-earth Month @spring-into-arda Thorin’s Spring Forge — work time Fëanorian Week Fun with Fanon Fest Round 1 @funwithfanon

APRIL Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang @tolkienrsb — signups Silm Remix @tolkienremix — signups & assignments Thorin’s Spring Forge — reveals  Aralas Week @aralas-week Barduil Month @bi-widower-dads All of Arda is Autistic @all-of-arda-is-autistic F3: Focus on Friendship & Family, Phase I @spring-into-arda

MAY Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang — claims Silm Remix — reveals Aspec Arda Week @aspecardaweek Angbang Week @angbangweek Gondolin Week @gondolinweek F3: Focus on Friendship & Family, Phase II

JUNE Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang — work time Scribbles and Drabbles @fall-for-tolkien — signups Tolkien Ekphrasis Week @tolkienekphrasisweek F3: Focus on Friendship & Family, Phase III

JULY Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang — work time Scribbles and Drabbles — claims Tolkien Gen Week @tolkiengenweek LotR Ladies Week @lotrladiessource Tolkien Appreciation Week @tolkienweek Tolkien Latin American & Caribbean Week @tolkienlatamandcaribbeanweek

AUGUST Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang — deadlines Scribbles and Drabbles — art reveals Innumerable Stars Exchange @innumerable-stars — nominations & signups Tolkien of Colour Week @tolkienofcolourweek Silvergifting Week @silvergiftingweek Tolkien OC Week @tolkienocweek

SEPTEMBER Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang — reveals Scribbles and Drabbles — work time Innumerable Stars Exchange — signups & assignments Sindar Week @sindarweek Dor Cúarthol Week @dorcuartholweek Finwëan Ladies Week @finweanladiesweek

OCTOBER Innumerable Stars Exchange — reveals Scribbles and Drabbles — work time Half-elven Week @halfelvenweek

NOVEMBER Tolkien Secret Santa @officialtolkiensecretsanta — signups & assignments Scribbles and Drabbles — fic reveals Nolofinwean Week @nolofinweanweek

DECEMBER Tolkien Secret Santa — advent calendar & reveals My Slashy Valentine @myslashyvalentine — signups & assignments Lord of the Rings Secret Santa — claims Khazad Week @khazadweek

MONTHLY EVENTS: These events have prompts/challenges occurring every month. Teitho Contest Tolkien Short Fanworks Silmarillion Writers’ Guild @silmarillionwritersguild

(this list was last updated 5/4/23)

LEGACY EVENTS: These events used to occur, but have not happened within the last year. Arda Needs More Pride @ardaneedsmorepride (bimonthly; last run 2020) Kiliel Week @kilielweek (timing variable; last run 2021) @oneringnet monthly events (last run 2021) Atani Week @ataniweek (January; last run 2021) Legendarium Ladies April @legendariumladiesapril (April; last run 2020) Gates of Summer Exchange @gatesofsummerexchange (May-June, last run 2022) Tolkien South Asian Week, run by @arwenindomiel (June; last run 2022) Arafinwëan Week @arafinweanweek (July; last run 2019) Fëanturi Week (August; last run 2019; no official blog and the creator has deactivated) Imladrim Week @imladrimweek (November; last run 2019) Doriath Week @doriathweek (November; last run 2020) Tolkien Family Week @tolkienfamilyweek (November; last run 2021)

[mcytblr-archive]

Early MCYTblr Interviews: wormweeb

our interviewee today is @wormweeb, author of the cowboy au, nominee in the 2020 MCYTblr election, and overall MCYTblr veteran. below is a transcript of the questions and answers!

Q: What do you remember most fondly about “Early MCYTblr”? (2020-2021)

A: I think early mcytblr had the perfect mix of being an insular, small community with enough people actually posting (whether it be shitposts, art, fix, etc.) to keep the community alive. Perfect reblogger-creator ratio, I think. I loved seeing the familiar notifications from blogs that frequently RBed my stuff and familiar Urls in the tags (which I probably checked daily lol). There was this infectious energy that made being in the fandom so fun, with all the inside jokes and interactions and inter-blog familiarity.

Q: Do you recall your experience in the first MCYTblr election? What was it like?

A: Honestly, there was a lot of anxiety. I didn’t have many friends in the fandom in the sense that I didn’t often DM with people or talk in discord servers. I was kind of reclusive, so having to reach out to find running mates was nerve-racking! And then being thrust into a huge discord server with a bunch of other people I didn’t really know at all… It was all bizarrely anxiety-inducing. I didn’t really care about the results that much, since it was kind just a popularity contest (no hate, just true). I think the elections were cute and fun, another sort of fandom activity that I think only could’ve worked in an insular but involved fandom.

Q: Building off the last question– in my time archiving, I’ve seen people both hold you in high regard and condemn your blog wholesale. Is it odd to be talked about as a pseudo-historical figure in MCYTblr culture? 

A: It’s mind-boggling! When I did all my posting as wormweeb, roughly July 2020 to august 2021, I was 16/17 and literally never left my house due to quarantine. It’s bizarre to think I was influential in that microcosm of a fandom, because I was truthfully just Some Guy irl. It was weird to see the extremes of how people treated me, with some users (much younger than me, I should add) treating me like a cc, with other people acting like I was a toxic supervillain.

At the time, I was deeply concerned with my image in the fandom. I reveled in the shocked reactions to some of my more… avant guard posts… but I was also really bothered when people talked badly about me. I wanted to be liked and popular, but I also wanted to be shocking and critical. I had contradictory motivations behind my posting, which I probably lead to such polarized reactions to my presence in the fandom.

Ultimately, I think it’s super interesting to see how people talk about me — whether they remember me as ‘that one crazy truthing blog’ or the cowboy au author or a proto-critblr poster or a toxic bad takes poster, etc. I don’t take any of it too personally any more, thankfully.

Q: Do you think that MCYTblr’s cultural shift away from crit and ‘truthing’ has been an overall good or bad thing? 

A: I can’t really say. I think it’s natural that as a fandom expands, the most palatable takes will become the dominant ones, and any unpopular criticism / trutherisms will be pushed to the fringe. I can see why some people thought criticism was toxic and truthing was intrusive, but truthfully, I don’t think it reflected any poster’s moral character. I’m not involved in mcytblr anymore, so I don’t know exactly what the state of the current fandom looks like.

Q: Do you ever find yourself missing 2020-2021 MCYTblr? If so, what do you miss the most?

A: I often do miss that era of my life. Truthfully, I miss the attention and (infinitesimally small, microcosmic) cultural import I had. There was an exciting thrill that came with getting notifications every second of the day — that’s not an exaggeration either. I liked having people leave deranged asks in my ask box, or ask my opinion on some random streamer micro controversy, or people asking me when the next chapter of my fanfic would come out (lol). I, of course, miss the other elements of being in an active fandom — the fanfics, the fan artists, the familiarity between blogs,

However… I also know I was mentally unhealthy during that time. I was isolated, so it was fun and exciting to be an ultra-micro celebrity, but at the same time, I took it way too seriously. Because I painted myself as some sort of moral guardian, the great Intellectual Critiquer of content creators, I was terrified to make any bad takes… which, ironically, I made a lot of. I had painted myself into a corner both being dteam critical and (unfortunately) a genuine dteam stan at the time.

Q: Several in-jokes have lost their context (jewge, ancap dream, tradwife george/dream, homophobic dream and sapnap, republican dream, mega milk sapnap/george, etc). Would you like to provide their context, for archival and media literacy purposes?

A: Here’s a rundown for all of them!

“Jewge” was actually sparked by warpedfungusonastick, which I helped popularized. There are a few old videos where George’s friends called him jewge, and that combined with his ashkenazi last name led me to speculate he was jewish — for what its worth, im also jewish. Unfortunately, I think those videos of baby jewge have been lost to time. But nonetheless, that spawned a mini-jewge fandom, which jewge fanart!

Tradwife George and dream… I don’t know even know. I think the idea of “male wives” was trending on general Tumblr at the time. There was already this fandom idea of Dream being a “needy top” and George being the sugar baby/bitchy/uninterested love interest, which I just transplanted onto the idea of tradwifery. Dream as the doting tradwife, George as the unloving tradwife, etc.

Republican/Anarcho-capitalist dream — Ah, this one is kind of embarrassing!! I was really into jreg, and I was, for the first time ever, exposed to political ideas outside of the generic democrat vs republican dichotomy. I was really fascinated by right-wing libertarian or “ancap” ideology, and I already saw dream as a kind of self-made capitalist success story. At least, that’s what he portrayed himself as. My critique of dream and calling him ancap/republican was kind of a baby’s first leftism moment for me… but I nonetheless think the jokes were mostly funny.

Homophobic dream / sapnap — They gave me republican vibes. Dream especially, with some of his older, unsavory tweets, reeked of edgy gamergate humor.

Megamilk sapnap — I didn’t really pioneer this one! I believe this was mostly a Tumblr user who I think was pandascanpvp, or it was Plates gayminecraftmen (or both).

I’ll use this opportunity to catalogue a few more obscure wormweeb-pioneered AUs.

Homestuck au! I think I imagined it as dream = dirk, George = Jake English. Colournotfound (rip gone but not forgotten) did so much of the sustaining of the au.

Scott Pilgrim au. Dream = Scott, George = Ramona. Fundy = envy. This one got fan art!

Q: What was your physical, mental, and emotional reaction when kaceytron pulled up your crit post on stream?

A: Baffled. Excited. God, I wish I had clipped it! I still have a screenshot. I desperately hoped she would read it to dream (who joined the stream later). That felt like I had peaked as a cc stan blog… having a C-list streamer pull up my post on stream. Literally google searching “dream queer baiting” because she didn’t even know what she was accusing him of, or how to support her argument.

Q: Is there anything else you particularly want to share or talk about? 

A: I was just want to say that although I don’t watch or support any member of the dteam any more, I still am proud of the cowboy au. It’s kind of a relic of the time (especially the gnf and Maya mxmtoon stuff). The general response to the fanfiction was… wow!! Everyone who commented on that fanfiction was so exceedingly kind. People even drew fan art. I am still happy to have written something that, despite the inherent cringeness of it, positively affected so many people.

[noaasanctuaries]

The memories of someone’s first paddle, fishing trip, reef dive, or marine life encounter may be enough to create a life-long relationship with the ocean.

Make your own memory during our #GetIntoYourSanctuary summer campaign.

📸: Bruce Sudweeks (2022 GIYS Photo Contest Submission)

[mythicalviper-fr]

my festival submissions from June 2021 - June 2023! two years, 32 designs (not including recolors), 14 wins, 7 losses. I'm blown away by how much my art has improved, and I'm very grateful for the artists that have mentored me along the way ^^ especially august, who competed with me throughout and pushed me to be a better artist.

unfortunately, Brightshine 2023 is probably my last hurrah. I will still resubmit my fest rejects, but I was diagnosed with tendonitis in both arms last week (work-related), leaving my right arm in a cast. I don't know if or when I might recover, but considering the severity of the diagnosis I was given I don't want to risk injuring myself further :/

I am currently writing up something on festival skin contests, mostly with tips that I hope will help and encourage other artists to enter.

until then, happy Brightshine everyone! here's to another (the best and the snek-est) fest cycle!

[boasource]

BoA recently hinted at retirement...

[Edited on 240825 for clarity and to include information that was revealed after I initially posted this, which can better contextualize what happened]

I made a thread on Twitter explaining the context behind BoA's recent IG stories, where she hinted at retirement, so I figured that I'd write up a post on it here too.

TL;DR: This announcement was a big shock - BoA has consistently said, up until the week before she posted those IG stories, that she wanted to continue singing and performing. Fans believe that BoA likely hinted at retirement because of the relentless harassment she's faced online.

On April 6th (240406), BoA hinted that she was planning to retire from being a singer entirely. The following day, she stated the exact date her contract was expiring. A few days later, she took down all of her IG posts.

What people seem to miss is that leading up to this, BoA has also been at the receiving end of constant online harassment for months.

(More under the cut)

BoA has been the subject of huge hate trains, arguably since 2021. This isn't a comprehensive list, but the big ones include:

People disagreeing with her decisions as judge on SWF and SMF, prompting a flood of hate comments on her IG, including accusations that she was 'trying to seduce the male contestants.'

GOT the Beat opened the floodgates for a lot of ageist comments about BoA, who was the group's most senior member. There were also malicious speculations about why she wasn't present in much of the group's behind-the-scenes content; BoA swiftly addressed this via her IG story, explaining that she had to attend a family event. While this wasn't named as the reason, it may be important to note that BoA's brother passed away from cancer on September that same year.

BoA was blamed for 'delaying the solo/group comebacks of her juniors,' in favor of GOT the Beat to 'boost her own career.' Not only has BoA (who is not even the group's leader; she gave the position to Taeyeon) already explained that she did not make the group — she was asked to join it and was, in fact, initially apprehensive — it was also later revealed that comeback delays were due to internal management issues (culminating in the ousting of Lee Sooman and Hybe's acquisition of SM) and because of disagreements about lyrical content. Interestingly, out of all the members of GOT the Beat, BoA ended up being the only member who didn't have a comeback in 2023.

The most recent wave of hate came from her cameo in the drama Marry My Husband, often mocking her appearance.

Since at least February 2024, BoA has been consistently and directly addressing the harassment she's been facing, both in interviews and in her social media. This is something she has rarely done in the 24 years she's been active.

Things came to a head on the evening of March 29th, when BoA posted this on her IG story:

This IG story prompted a huge wave of hate. There were forum posts calling her an attention seeker; notably, there was also a tweet that went viral, of a 'fan' saying that they now planned to unstan BoA because she was now "a completely different person."

One week later, on April 6th, BoA posted, "It's okay for me to retire right?" with an IG story that clarified that she intended to remain a singer until her active contract expires on December 31, 2025; the implication seems to be that she would no longer be an active singer after 2025.

This came as a huge shock to fans because BoA has consistently said that she wants to keep working as a singer:

August 25, 2020 [her 20th debut anniversary]: "There'll be a 30th anniversary after my 20th. I'll do my best to make good music for a long time, so please always give me your love and support!"

April 23, 2023 [Interview with Uhm Junghwa for W Korea]: "Actually, I'm the type who doesn't look back. After I've accomplished something, I don't have time to think, 'well done' or 'good job' because I'm already thinking of the next step. With that, there's no time for me to rest on my laurels, but this drive allows me to last a long time. It might be the most difficult thing, but my one hope is that I never tire of this job [being a performer], which I love so much."

February 23, 2024 [BoA for Marie Claire Korea]: "Right now, I enjoy my job, and I want to keep doing what I can, given my age."

Most notably, on the afternoon of March 29th — shortly before BoA responded to hate comments about her looks — BoA gave an interview with Esquire Korea, where she basically said that there were still so many things she wanted to accomplish as a singer:

Q: Is there something you still want to achieve? BoA: I want to do a lot of interesting performances. I want to break away from preconceived notions/conventions, sing songs I haven't done before, and create opportunities to communicate more with my audience. Q: What don't you want to change? BoA: My passion for music. Music is where I started. It's my life.

Right after BoA posted her retirement IG stories on April 6th, her fans organized truck protests (something the fandom has never done before), demanding that SM take action to defend BoA from the deluge of online hate.

They were incensed by the fact that in 2022, SM had already promised they would take legal action over malicious comments against her (she even reposted their statement on her personal IG), but nothing happened. In fact, legal action has only been taken in defense of BoA once, in 2020 — 20 years into her career, despite the fact that she's been going through much worse harassment, especially in the early 2000s when she was barely a teenager.

Five days after BoA's retirement announcement IG stories, on April 11th, SM announced that they were going to take legal action. While the statement resembled the one they put out in 2022, they also added that BoA was going through a difficult time, suffering from "great mental pain." A follow-up statement came on April 17th, where SM mentioned specific platforms and forums they were planning to sue. Unfortunately, as of this writing, there have been no further updates.

To recap:

On March 29th (afternoon), BoA gave an interview where she said that there was so many things she still wanted to do as a singer.

On March 29th (evening), BoA responded to malicious comments about her appearance on her IG story.

Her IG story quickly went viral in Korea. On March 30th, a post from a fan who claimed to 'unstan' her because of her IG story, garnered millions of views.

On April 6th, BoA hinted at retiring after 2025 on her IG story.

On April 9th, BoA removed all of her IG posts. Fans organized truck protests to call out SM's inaction vis-a-vis the harassment she was facing, in spite of their explicit, repeated promises to act on it.

On April 11th, SM issued a statement that they were going to take legal action against malicious comments about BoA, adding that BoA was suffering "great mental anguish."

As of this writing (August 25, 2024), there has been no formal, official announcement on whether or not BoA is really going to follow through with retiring after her active contract expires. But BoA has remained inactive on social media since April. There were only a handful of times she interacted with fans online: she went on IG live for 4 minutes in May to tell fans that she has plans to hold a concert in October, and she would also sporadically post a sentence-long message on her membership-only Weverse page.

On a more personal note from me: this has just been so disheartening to watch, as someone who's been following her career closely. The idea of BoA retiring was unimaginable to me. She always talked about how she compares her own career to other older artists, how she still feels like a 'baby' with a long way still to go compared to them. Obviously, it is well within BoA's right to change her mind about her own career, and surely, there are things going on behind the scenes that we don't know about. But the news has just been so hard to take because it doesn't feel like she's retiring because she wants to - it feels like she's burnt out.

[readmarxz]

Help Palestines first solar technician!

This is Ghada, she’s 23-year-old history maker. Being the winner of the International Green Skills Competition from the European Union Training Foundation. She became one of the first technicians in photovoltaic solar energy systems in Gaza, and one of the most influential women in Palestine in 2021. Through her work in ensuring a greener future she has become a role model for many girls within her community. Showing them how to be strong, smart, and resilient in the face of challenges and hardships.

Ghada had big dreams that went beyond studying a male-dominated field or winning the green skills contest. She wanted to finish her education and start her own business. She worked hard to make her dream come true, but the war shattered her life. In one night, the war took everything from her: her home, her room, her office, her smile, and her memories. Ghada and her family are traumatized now because of what they went through. She was looking forward to graduating, wearing the gown, and celebrating with her family.

She was pursuing the rewarding and challenging career of renewable energy and business administration, growing her business with optimism. Now, everything is in ruins - her dreams are buried under the rubble, her home is destroyed, and their lives are disrupted.

Ghada is the sole provider for her family of eleven, but the war robbed her of her job, her home, and everything she owned. They have no income and nothing left. Her father, who is 62 years old, had a horrible car accident in August 2023 that fractured many bones in his body and head. He is still suffering from the aftermath of the accident and needs urgent medical care, but he could not complete his treatment because of... the war. Moreover, Ghada had a hole in her eardrum due to the loud noise of the bombing, and she needs treatment urgently.

Ghada and her family need urgent humanitarian aid; I am asking you to donate whatever you can to help Ghada rebuild her life. With your generous support, we can give her food, water, medicine, clothing, shelter and more. We aspire to be able to raise an amount that will help Ghada and her family leave Gaza and start a new life away from fear, danger, destruction, and war; because even when the war is over, the situation in Gaza will not return to what it was before the war, Gaza has become a completely destroyed place.

Do not lose hope... Be stronger and demand the saving of Ghada and her family's lives. You are our only hope, together we can make a lasting impact.

[gardensofthemoon]

End of the year fic recs

Thank you so much for tagging me, @curufiin! I am veeery new to fandom and fan spaces, and I started reading silm fic in August, but I have already devoured lots of great stories and I’m eager to share some of my favourites. I read mostly ship fics, so that will reflect on my recs.

Recommend up to 5 series or multi-chapter fics from 2023 that everyone should read (multi-year WIPs count, if the last update was in 2023).

Recommend up to 5 single chapter fics/one-shots (long or short) from 2023 that everyone should read.

Recommend up to 5 fics NOT from 2023 that everyone should read (oldies but goodies).

Recommend up to 5 of your own fics (completed or WIP) from 2023 that everyone should read.

Multi chapter fics:

The Long Road by whyyesindeed, WIP, Mature, Fingon/Maedhros, 26k. I adore the author's previous works, and this one is a chaptered story in progress, an AU where Fingon and Maedhros go to Beleriand 48 years before Finwë’s death. The prose is impeccable.

Half-brother in blood, full lover in heart by @ettelene, WIP, Mature, Fëanor/Fingolfin, almost 200k. This is my favourite Feanolo, with lovely writing and compelling plot. The chemistry between the leads is sizzling and I hope that in this AU there will be a happy(/ier) ending.

Moonlight In His Cave by @cuarthol, WIP, Mature, Curufin/Finrod, 15k. Canon compliant Curufinrod, I don't need to say anything more. I cannot wait to read more; the prose is absolutely gorgeous and I LOVE how the familial relationships are portrayed so far.

Curufinwë Atarinkë’s Journal by @curufiin, WIP, Teen and Up, minor Curufin/Finrod, 9k. This one made me love Curufin so much and understand more of his mind, it's crack treated seriously and it goes from baby Curufin scribbling in his journal, to adult kinslayer bearing a horrible burden. I read this three times and each time, I love it more.

Know Thyself by LiveOakWithMoss, completed, Teen and Up, multiple relationships, 9k. Absolutely hilarious, couldn't stop grinning: First Age Feanorians are magically transported into the modern world and meet their human counterparts. Chaos ensues (Maglor duet contest, selfcest, Maedhros is elected Assistant Manager in a mall shop, some interdimensional threesomes). I adore every word.

One shots:

Mirror Image by @swanhild, Gen, various familial relationships, 4,5k. A few fluffy moments between the Feanorians and the Arafinweans, with Feanor and Arafinwe watching. It's endearing and heartwarming with some ominous foreshadowing. It made me cry.

Mapmaking by am_fae, Explicit, Maedhros/Maglor, 3k. Super funny and clever with lots of puns, and a steamy sex scene. Lots of sexy geography talk.

The dining room by @ettelene, Teen and Up, various familial relationships, 9k. A peek into the cooking preparations and subsequent dinner at the Feanorians' house. With a larger cast, lots of witty dialogue, a Huan cameo and underlying tension, this is a splendid read with great characterisation.

Of doves, letters and darker things by @elevenelvenswords, Explicit, Curufin/Finrod, 3,5k. Super atmospheric, a glimpse into the complex power games between the cousins that ends up in hot throne sex.

Oldies:

Outlast the Forests by daphnerunning, 2021, completed, Explicit, Beleg/Turin, 68k. If I could convince any silm fan to read a fic, THIS WOULD BE IT. It's my TOP favourite longfic, canon compliant, slow burn, mortal/immortal. It's based off of Children of Hurin, rife with tragedy, heartwrenching, incredibly loving and ladden with longing. I read it four times and I still think about it on a weekly basis. This is canon to me, it gives alllll the doomed feelings. I don't even need to read other Turleg fics, this is perfection.

And All Our Wounds Forgiven by Marchwriter, 2012, completed, Mature, Curufin/Finrod, 9k. The writing style is fantastic, tolkienesque, the atmosphere the writer has created is unparalelled, like a fairytale, but infused with tension. One of the first Curufinrod pieces on ao3 and a MUST READ for fans of this pairing. I cannot stress enough how beautiful the prose is.

Those Who Favor Fire by @clothonono, 2022, completed, Mature, Fingon/Maedhros, 41k. The author is already one of my favourites on Russingon, but I love this fic in particular because of Maedhros' portrayal post-Thangorodrim, as it fits in line with my headcanons. It also explores the morality of the first kinslaying and Fingon's attempt at justifying himself. It ends with a gut-punching line.

your shadow at morning, rising to meet you by crownlessliestheking, 2021, completed, Explicit, Feanor/Fingolfin, 5k. Fingolfin goes to Formenos to talk sense into his brother. Excellent characterisation and I specifically liked the dialogue.

Correspondingly so by LiveOakWithMoss, 2016, completed, Teen and Up, Curufin/Finrod, 2k. Notes and letters that are funny and witty as hell and full of subtext. I love ALL of LiveOak's Curufinrod pieces, but this was one of the first ones that I read and I remember snickering so much. Another one I reread multiple times and it has in fact inspired one of my fics too.

Mine:

Fëanor posts on r/amitheasshole, Teen and Up, various relationships, 4k. Pure crack. I laugh every time I reread this and I had a ton of fun writing it, I recommend it for when you want some shits and giggles.

Immortal Longings, Mature, Curufin/Finrod, 5k. Epistolary and humorous, written for a 'sexy letters' prompt. Falcon shenanigans, banter, mentions of steamy scenes and golden lingerie that ends up being treated by historians as valuable artefacts from an ancient age. It ends up in tragedy but I am very proud of this one.

Give me shelter, the night is dark, Mature, Curufin/Finrod, 5k. I consider this my best written fic, prose-wise, and I am very pleased with the dialogue (I adore writing Curufinrod dialogue). The premise of it is basically 'Curufin does drugs and Finrod does Curufin.'

This took way longer than expected! I truly believe I have not read ONE badly-written silm fic, and it was quite difficult to choose from many well-loved works. Tagging all authors mentioned here, if you'd like to join.

[bigmammallama5]

grace, the way i just perked up the second i saw your tags about a stardew AU... i am *very* interested

so i may or may not have put about 140 hours on my first real stardew valley play through (and im not done im just taking my time and holy cow things are expensive) and like. way back in august of 2021 i was like hey @sango-blep what if this happened lol. and she was like IF YOU DONT DO THIS and then it regrettably (or not regrettably?) just kinda sat there until i got to a romance scene last night and the flood gates opened. i wanted to keep it fairly close to the game without it being a lift, which wouldnt make it an au, so the gist is:

Lena, who grew up with the love of her mother completely removed from the Luthors, has grown weary of her genetics job and the popularity contest and rat race that comes with it. Years after her mother passed and now in her mid-thirties, she needs a break. In a forgotten lock box lies a deed to a property in Midvale, a small costal town outside of National City. Aching for change, Lena packs up and leaves it all behind for a new start-only to be met with the strange and otherworldly as she learns to live in harmony with the citizens of Midvale and the wilderness around them as the evil of her estranged half-family encroaches...

also kara is her neighbor who raises bees with a flower garden bc i have a silly meet-cute idea for their first scene together, im keeping the main show cast for funsies along with building a small cast of locals, im still keeping some canon alien aspects of stuff so i have a spring board, and im trying really hard not to spoil anything plot-related bc i dont want to give it away just yet but this might also turn into some form of baby's first murder mystery a la murder she wrote but im not sure yet i have. too many ideas.

so yeah im still fleshing it out but its stardew au but cottage core warping into ghibli-eldritch cottage core and lets hope i can pull it off bc some of that still needs some work and it sounds really fun in my head LMAO

[lboogie1906]

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story is a 2021 anthology of essays and poetry, published by Random House’s One World imprint on November 16, 2021. It is a book-length expansion of the essays presented in the 1619 Project issue of The New York Times Magazine in August 2019. The book was created by Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine and was edited by Hannah-Jones, Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman, and Jake Silverstein.

On January 26, 2023, The 1619 Project documentary television series based on the original project and book debuted on Hulu.

Numerous historians criticized the book for factual and historical inaccuracies, inconsistency, or exaggeration. The most frequent issue historians take issue with is that Hannah-Jones claims “...that the patriots fought the American Revolution in large part to preserve slavery in North America.”; a claim that is contested by historians as not holding up to a review of the historical record.

The book debuted at #1 on The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list for the week ending November 20, 2021. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[the-tortured-artists-department]

TS Outfit Madness: Round 1, Matchup 23

Be sure to follow tsoutfitmadness for all upcoming polls! I really appreciate all reblogs! It helps get a bigger sample size for each poll & always keeps things more exciting 🫶🏼

For the duration of this tournament, I will be running a contest where you simply need to fill out this Google Form after you vote.

Option 1: For a better look at the dress, here is the Grammy Performance.

[itsstarseason]

╭┈──── ◌ೄ◌ྀ ˊˎ

╰┈➤ ❝ MILLIE’S PROFILE !

╭┈──── ◌ೄ◌ྀ ˊˎ

╰┈➤ ❝ BASIC INFORMATION !

✰ NAMES & NICKNAMES

BIRTH NAME. Millie Yoo

BEHIND THE NAME. Derived from German and English, Millie means 'hard worker' and 'gentle strength'. Her parents mutually chose the name.

KOREAN NAME. Yoo Mi-Joo (유미주)

BEHIND THE NAME. Translated from Hanja, Mijoo means 'beautiful pearl'. The name was suggested by her mother to use as Millie's Korean name.

NICKNAMES. Lil, Mini, Lily, Mil

✰ BIRTH INFORMATION

DATE OF BIRTH. August 15, 2002

PLACE OF BIRTH. Atlanta, Georgia, USA

HOMETOWN. Atlanta, Georgia, USA

ETHNICITY. Korean

NATIONALITY. American

CITIZENSHIP. American

BLOOD TYPE. B+

FAMILY. Anna Kim (mother; 1975), Daniel Yoo (father; 1976), Kylie Yoo (sister; 1999)

LANGUAGES. English (native), Korean (native)

ZODIAC SIGN. Leo

CHINESE ZODIAC SIGN. Horse

✰ GENDER & SEXUALITY

SEX AND GENDER. female woman

PRONOUNS. she/her

ROMANTIC AND SEXUAL INTERESTS. undisclosed LGBTQ+

╭┈──── ◌ೄ◌ྀ ˊˎ

╰┈➤ ❝ PHYSICAL INFORMATION !

✰ PHYSICAL TRAITS

EYE COLOR. brown

HAIR COLOR. brown

HEIGHT. 160cm (5’3”)

WEIGHT. 42kg (92lbs)

DOMINANT HAND. right

✰ BODY MODIFICATIONS

PIERCINGS. left earlobe - 1, right earlobe - 3

TATTOOS. right upper arm - 1, left hip - 1, right foot - 1

✰ OTHER

MEDICAL HISTORY. sprained right ankle (2016)

MEDICAL CONDITIONS. nearsightedness (-2.50 on both eyes), lactose intolerance

ALLERGIES. none

ADDICTIONS. none

╭┈──── ◌ೄ◌ྀ ˊˎ

╰┈➤ ❝ CLAIMS !

VOICE CLAIM (SPEAKING). Yujin (IVE)

VOCAL CLAIM. Yujin (IVE)

RAP CLAIM. Gaeul (IVE)

DANCE CLAIM. Yunah (ILLIT)

╭┈──── ◌ೄ◌ྀ ˊˎ

╰┈➤ ❝ CAREER INFORMATION !

OCCUPATION. K-pop Idol

✰ NAMES & NICKNAMES

STAGE NAME. Yoo Millie (유밀리)

NICKNAMES. Jumi

✰ GROUP

GROUP. ZEROBASEONE (2023–present)

BOYS PLANET RANK. 6th (1,518,319 votes)

POSITIONS. N/A

DEBUT DATE. 10 July 2023 (ZEROBASEONE)

✰ SOLO

LABELS. Woollim Entertainment (2021–present)

TRAINING PERIOD. 1 year 4 months (07.2021–11.2022)

ROLE MODELS. Jeon Somi

SOLO FANDOM NAME. Millienauts

REPRESENTATIVE EMOJI. 🦁

REPRESENTATIVE COLOR. N/A

✰ OTHER

KNOWN FOR. being a BOYS PLANET contestant; being a member of ZEROBASEONE; her Mystery Hidden Box video; her reaction to Jiwoong's visuals; her dance battle in BP; her relationship dynamics with Naoko; her comments and reactions on camera; being friends with everyone; being a lesbian attractor; having no media training;

SIGNATURE.

itsstarseason 2024 ✰