Superheroes: Big Hero 6 VS Teen Titans

Screenshot from ‘Big Hero 6 The Series’. Copyright goes to Disney and Disney Animation.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I recently switched from re-watching ‘Teen Titans’ to watching the ‘Big Hero 6’ series that is currently on Disney+. Why? Because the original ‘Teen Titans’ series was kind of getting a bit repetitive for me. I know that a lot of superhero shows at that time were, but I was kind of looking for something with the same group dynamic and structure without the slight feeling that I was watching the same episode over and over. And that’s when I remembered ‘Big Hero 6’ is so similar. ‘Big Hero 6’ has always been one of my favorite superhero films for its college friend group dynamic, its combined San Francisco and Tokyo aesthetic, and the amazing science based powers they gave each character. (Yay women is STEM!!!) But after only a little inspection, it’s pretty clear to see that the movie adaptation of ‘Big Hero 6’ was probably influenced a little more by something else rather than the comics where the characters are extremely different. In fact, these characters seem to be very similar character tropes and have a similar young friend group dynamic to what we see in ‘Teen Titans’. While I doubt they would ever admit to it, I personally think that ‘Teen Titans’ most likely had something to do with the way the characters in ‘Big Hero 6’ turned out. And while I currently find myself to be enjoying the humor style of the ‘Big Hero 6’ series more, I feel like I have to compare the characters now that I’ve found the connection. So that’s what I’m going to do! SPOILERS for both franchises will be coming up!

Hiro vs. Robin:

The leaders and strategists of the group; neither Hiro nor Robin have the flashy superhero powers that other members of their group seem to. But what stands out here is that they seem to be equal with the rest of the group despite that. Robin is the true strategist of his group by assessing the villains they are up against, having strong hand to hand combat training, and carefully planning and designing each of the missions for his group. Hiro on the other hand strategizes with careful planning, but also designs and creates the suits and technology needed for the rest of the group. While each of them also have a say in creation and design, it’s Hiro who does most of the grunt work for their technology. Hiro and Robin also are the brooding members of their team. For Hiro it is entirely with good reason. Hiro was praised when the movie first came out because of how willing the writers were to tackle mental health as a theme. Hiro loses someone very close to him and it impacts the rest of the movie, pretty much culminating in a want for revenge. Robin is also on the revenge track, but his obsession with his foes culminates in a frustration that takes over his entire existence. Including working on plans without including his teammates. Robin has less clear brooding reasons, though it really makes sense since he was brought up by Batman. Either way, it is clear to see the similarities in creating Hiro, though Robin isn’t really younger than the rest of his team. Still, I think that Hiro comes across as more of a real character on multiple occasions. And Robin can get so obsessed with villains in the show that sometimes it feels like they become his only personality trait.

Wasabi vs Cyborg:

The most intimidating looking members on the team with probably the least intimidating personalities. Both Wasabi and Cyborg tower over the rest of their team mates and especially in battle look extremely intimidating. But Cyborg is a complete dork and Wasabi is a complete scaredy cat. Either way, not far into getting to know either of these men your intimidation for them fades practically immediately. Cyborg is know for his technological genius and the robotic parts of him that make him an upgrade from any other humans. Wasabi is known for his genius in both his work and his organizational skills. Both characters come really close to being just as smart as the leader. But they are both far too clumsy and unsure to take up a leadership position themselves. Though I could definitely see future leadership positions for either of them. Cyborg, unfortunately, is probably the most side-lined of all of the characters in ‘Teen Titans’. While the other members get copious episodes about themselves and their relationships to other members, Cyborg often gets left out. In fact, Cyborg doesn’t even appear in some Titans content, though some of it is because he’s been upgraded to a more important role within the Justice League. Still, it never seemed that he got enough time. Especially because the other members of the group kind of paired off. Wasabi doesn’t struggle from that. Wasabi has always been just as present as every other member of the group and even has been used as the main voice of reason or the primary comic relief. Also, his fear of heights is relatable. Another character that feels more real, but obviously he also has more time to do so.

GoGo vs. Raven:

GoGo and Raven even have the same purple shade of hair, though for GoGo it’s only a few streaks. These are the two women in the team who are possibly the most capable members of their respective teams and definitely the most badass. Both of them have a penchant for being more introverted and keeping to themselves while also picking up more of a gothic or badass aesthetic. GoGo frequently tells the members of her group to “woman up”, a phrase that I wish more people would use. She’s extremely intelligent, a real thrill seeker, and an entire episode of the series was dedicated to demonstrating that she never really got scared of anything. And even when she was, she was the first person to figure out a way out of it. GoGo is more selective about her displays of emotion or showing that she cares about other people, but she’s one of the first to get concerned when a member of her team has a real issue. Raven is also pretty selective at showing her emotions, but does truly care. Though Raven can’t show emotions rather than it being a choice, because she has the horrifying duty of constantly attempting to keep her demonic father and her inherited demonic powers at bay. Raven can’t take the responsibility off of other people, but she will try to soothe it. And she is the most powerful member of the team because of her demonic powers. Added onto this is her relationship with Beast Boy which is incredibly sweet and always demonstrative that she really has the capacity to feel emotions. Raven probably gets more overall time dedicated to her due to her difficulties with her powers, but I wouldn’t say by much. For me, it’s nearly impossible to choose between these two.

Honey Lemon vs Starfire:

Here we have the two extremely sweet members of the groups, or the Moms of the groups if you will. These two characters are specifically known for their positivity and lightheartedness, and their constant supportive nature of everyone else in the group. Either of these characters could easily be considered the heart of the group. They are the ones that bridge the gap between other members and mediate arguments. But I find that there’s a huge difference between these two. Starfire can be one of the most powerful members of the group, but if there’s ever a group member to be captured it’s usually her. Thought she often saves herself, she spends just the same amount of time waiting to be saved by someone else. Most likely because she’s the love interest for Robin, who is the leader and the one most likely to save everyone else. They use this device often for romance, but that doesn’t mean I like the use of this device at all. Starfire is also an alien which means they often use the fish-out-of-water trope to make her a bit more ditzy. Honey Lemon on the other hand is the chemist of the team. If someone needs to be saved, her chem purse creates cushions for others to land on or unique opportunities to get pedestrians out of dangerous situations. What I’m saying is that Honey Lemon is more of the savior than the one who has to be saved. She’s also the only person on the team with her particular science niche, meaning she’s treated more like an expert than a ditzy girl who doesn’t know anything about reality. I think that for far too long comics have put a line in the sand when it comes to positive and sweet female characters. We’ve been told that a character can’t be sweet and smart. Honey Lemon is the proof that this idea is, quite frankly, bullshit. And while I like Starfire, I think she plays more into the trope than proves it wrong. There’s a reason why Honey Lemon is one of my absolute favorite superheroes ever created. She’s sweet and loves pastels but she also never pretends to be less intelligent than she is. But I’ve ranted for too long about this. Honey Lemon is perfection, that is all.

Fred vs. Beast Boy:

Here we have the two lazier and more laid back members of the group. Neither of these characters are the brightest of the bunch by any means, but their laid back personalities and enthusiasm for the job make them valuable members of the group. In fact, it’s pretty clear that their respective groups wouldn’t be able to survive without them. Fred is the one who likes comic books and superheroes to begin with. While he doesn’t have the talent for science, he’s actually an English major specifically for creative writing (YES!!!), he has a huge passion for science and a respect for scientists. Without Fred in the group, Hiro probably would have never had the idea to turn their small friend group into a superhero group. And, on the other hand, Fred would have never been able to live his superhero dreams without his scientist friends making it a reality. But his comic book knowledge has proven to sometimes be the only knowledge to get the rest of the group through in a pinch. Beast Boy is a jokester who doesn’t really have the time for seriousness. He’s the one to cheer up another member who’s not feeling their best and the only one to not overthink a situation. Which, as an over thinker, I can tell you that it’s probably for the best. Beast Boy is able to balance and help characters like Raven who often need his brightness. Beast Boy is usually proven to be more helpful of these two though, as Fred has shown that he can’t protect anyone by himself and has to be supervised at all times. Though it is still difficult to choose between the two.

Result:

While I love ‘Teen Titans’, I think I have to go with ‘Big Hero 6’. Of course, I had a harder time choosing between some characters than others. You can probably tell that upon my recent rewatch of ‘Teen Titans’, I wasn’t a huge fan of either Robin or Starfire who I remembered liking a lot more than I ended up finding on my rewatch. I also found the tower to be stifling at times. Other than the obvious pro in the addition of the adorable Baymax; I like the overall city vibe of ‘Big Hero 6’. Everything about that group is just aesthetic from the city to the cafe. It really makes you wish that the locations were real. And the friend group being in college both makes it more realistic and reminds me of my own amazing college experience. I really love that the show takes time to explore each character and their relationships to each other without necessarily having romance. I also found the recent progresses in diversity in shows really show up in ‘Big Hero 6’. While I love both teams, and I think that Disney is kidding itself if they think that they weren’t inspired by ‘Teen Titans’, I think that ‘Big Hero 6’ in the end is an improvement on the tropes that span both shows.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

K-Pop: “Rush Hour”

Promotional photo of Jung Hoseok (J-Hope) and Shin Hyoseob (Crush) for the new single “Rush Hour”. Copyright goes to P NATION.

Hey! Hallie here!

We’re getting a lot of solo content from the members of BTS at the moment, and after quite a few collaborations, J-Hope is jumping in on the action! I really wasn’t expecting anything for a while after ‘Jack In The Box’ was released, and I honestly wasn’t sad about that because it meant Hobi was taking a break, but he’s briefly exited his break to collaborate with Crush! “Rush Hour” is one of those songs that feels like a perfect fit for J-Hope, so much so that I’m wondering how I functioned without this song in my life. This song is, first and foremost, Crush’s song so I’ll definitely be praising his work here as well. But I’m coming to this as an ARMY without much knowledge of Crush’s work, so keep that in mind! Let’s get into this!

The Song:

“Rush Hour” is a really fun funk song that could easily be placed up there with other funk greats like “Give Up The Funk” by Parliament or Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”. It doesn’t take itself too seriously with lyrics from both Crush and J-Hope that stick to describing how much fun they’re having with their current successes, and that really works for the song. It’s a dance piece. Something that makes you want to get up out of your chair and learn the choreography in the MV. It really doesn’t have to be deep. Crush’s vocals cut through the energetic instrumental with a harsher cadence that makes him stand out during verses, before switching to the even more addictive tone for the chorus. He’s very talented at both flow and singing, and he’s clearly pulling out all the stops for his comeback after military service. When J-Hope jumps in he brings something completely different to the table, his voice and flow a bit more playful in the way it matches the background music. J-Hope has always been an expert at matching his verses to the individual sounds of each song, and the way he adapts to this one’s positivity and energy feels so natural to his personality and style. I especially love the end of his verse, where he goes from the more conversational-like sound in both verses, to something more sing-songy, to a rap flow reminiscent of his solo work. Each style blends together so seamlessly you almost don’t notice he’s doing it. Overall this song is just complete joy. Between Crush’s mastery over his voice and J-Hope’s killer verse, there really is nothing to dislike here.

The MV:

This is a really simple MV and I love how well it works for the song. There aren’t many sets in this MV, instead sticking to the same street corner with a few buildings in the back and plenty of cars to mess around on. Occasionally we’ll get other areas too, like a bus stop, that are indicated to be around this street corner as well. What makes this set so effective is the way that it feels lived in. There’s graffiti on the walls and scaffolding in the background with construction workers around it. The beginning of the MV starts with the backup dancers going about seemingly everyday activities. In one scene a cop chases down a few people. In another the dancers are briefly interrupted by a team of runners. Another thing that makes this MV striking is the lighting. It’s dark around all the sets, and lights are on in all of the buildings to indicate that it’s nighttime. But throughout the entire video the set is lit with a bright yellow light that feels like it’s highlighting the positive energy of the song. The dancing throughout is also fun but simple. There’s nothing too complicated here, but there’s happiness to be found in the fact that everyone can attempt this dance if they want. Not to mention that every single person in this MV looks like they’re having the time of their lives dancing to this song. But simple doesn’t mean there’s a lack of talent here. Every one of the dancers shows a mastery over the rhythm of this song that’s completely enviable. I especially loved watching J-Hope embrace his roots in dancing, something he’s talked about missing for a while, with his own moments to lead the dance crew with his crazy body control. He even threw in a dance move from “Mic Drop” that nearly made me squeal. There’s so much enjoyment to find in the simplicity of this.

Outfits:

The outfits in the MV get their own section just because I love them so much I feel like rambling a bit. They’re all very casual, and some of the dancers, like the construction workers, are wearing work clothes. But they’re all casual in the way that I want every single piece I saw in this video in my closet immediately. Crush himself shows off a matching flannel and shorts with a pleasing plaid pattern in the first part of the MV, all paired with bright yellow shoes and a matching fluffy bucket hat. It’s such a bold but casual style that it makes him eye-catching but still extremely approachable. The same goes for his end-of-MV outfit, where he shows up in a nostalgic mix of a patterned shirt underneath a plaid vest with bedazzled jeans. It feels 80s but in a very fun way. J-Hope wears a brown varsity jacket with various bedazzled details and matching brown pants when we first see him. Once again, it’s a casual style with pieces that certainly look bolder than if you were to catch Hobi on his day off, but still makes him look approachable. His final outfit is similar, with instead light-wash jeans, a brown sweatshirt, and some of his signature colored glasses. Old-fashioned colored glasses always look amazing on Hobi. There’s this amazing mix of comfort and personality in each piece worn in this video that I would love to emulate in my own personal style.

I will now stop gushing about this song. For now. It will likely come up in another post, though, because I’ve been listening to “Rush Hour” on repeat all day and I can’t see that stopping any time soon. I’ve said on this blog that J-Hope’s ‘Jack In The Box’ album may be my favorite album of all time partly due to its deeper themes. But sometimes you just need a song about enjoying life to lift you up. “Rush Hour” definitely lifted me up after a hard week, and I hope it did the same for everyone else who listened to it!

Don’t do anything until I get back!

Hallie

Superheroes: Raven and Beast Boy

Official art of Raven and Beast Boy. Copyright goes to Gabriel Picolo and DC Comics.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Especially lately it seems like I’ve been forgetting some of my favorite shows of all time and then rediscovering them. The most recent of which being ‘Teen Titans’. My rediscovery of one of my favorite shows growing up began, oddly, at my most recent visit to my local book store to pick up some new books because I had already re-read all of my current favorites so many times. While there I looked up on a shelf to find, to my absolute delight, a DC comic of ‘Teen Titans’ with Gabriel Picolo’s ‘Teen Titans’ art on it. I’ve followed his work for a while and there’s seriously nobody who portrays these characters quite like he does. He breathed life and a sense of reality into these characters. I’m pretty sure it was his art that inspired the newer grittier ‘Titans’ that I’m admittedly not a fan of except for Ryan Potter’s absolutely amazing and adorable portrayal of Beast Boy. But Picolo’s art isn’t really gritty, it’s full of color and absolutely beautiful to look at. When I picked up the comic, which ended up being the brand new ‘Beast Boy Loves Raven’; I was absolutely ecstatic to see Gabriel Picolo actually working on the ‘Teen Titans’ in a comic format. And he’s always had a soft spot for his portrayals of Raven and Beast Boy in particular, which is great because they’ve always been my favorite characters. Admittedly, they are also one of my favorite superhero couples of all time. Now with his book in the mix we finally have Beast Boy and Raven as a canonical couple. But, obviously, this has been a long time coming. So I figured I’d make a post detailing the growth of Beast Boy and Raven’s relationship and DC actually relenting in presenting them as a couple. Finally! MAJOR SPOILERS for most ‘Teen Titans’ content coming up!

‘Teen Titans’ Original Series:

In the original ‘Teen Titans’ the relationship between Beast Boy and Raven was pretty odd from the get go. Raven was really progressive for her time for being a more closed off and brooding female character who never had to be saved and was inarguably the most powerful member of her team. While this character trope is more common now, it wasn’t really when Raven first graced our screens. Beast Boy was the comic relief and dumb character almost to a ridiculous extent. In season one there’s an entire episode where a villain traps them all in a make-shift school in order to hypnotize them, and Beast Boy is the only person who becomes hypnotized because he’s so dumb. The show’s opinion, not mine. Raven often spends her time either being annoyed by Beast Boy or oddly endeared and confused by him. There’s a pretty infamous scene from ‘Teen Titans’ where Beast Boy feels inadequate and Raven goes to talk to him. This actually takes place in the first couple of episodes of ‘Teen Titans’, which I hadn’t remembered and surprised me. I think the most pointed out episode for their relationship though, is the episode where Beast Boy loses control over his powers and Raven gets knocked out when he does; prompting everyone to believe that Beast Boy knocked out Raven. And Beast Boy, who has no memory of the event, even believes that he knocked out Raven himself. When Raven wakes up she reveals that Beast Boy actually saved her from an entirely different assailant and they have a long heart to heart at the end. It really didn’t take long for lovers of this show to start pairing these two together after the moments that they had. And the golden retriever boyfriend-goth girlfriend dynamic has always been a popular one in any fandom. This time the boyfriend can even actually turn into a golden retriever! Or more like a green retriever.

‘Teen Titans GO!’:

Years after the release of the original series and in answer to the cries from the fandom to bring it back, Cartoon Network and DC revealed that they would be bringing back ‘Teen Titans’. Everyone was then disappointed when this meant that they weren’t actually bringing back the original series and were instead making a more child focused and comedy centric version with alternate versions of the characters. I remember swearing this off, much like a lot of fans at the time did. I really didn’t connect with the humor and I wasn’t a huge fan of any of the changes, but I at least respected that they brought back the original voice actors. In the hopes of bringing some of the fans back, the writers decided to dip into popular fandom. One of these moves was to bring a more canonical Beast Boy and Raven pairing to the screen, even if it wasn’t complete canon and played mostly for comedy. This definitely turned the heads of fans and even won a lot of people over. I don’t view this series in the same negative light that I used to, even if it’s still not necessarily my thing. In this version of ‘Teen Titans’ they featured an adorable episode where Beast Boy and Raven almost got married after Cyborg makes a matchmaking app that declares the two the perfect match, an episode where Beast Boy writes a song for Raven, and an episode where Beast Boy and Raven pretend to date to make their past flings jealous and end up more endeared to each other. Unfortunately, none of these storylines were acknowledged beyond the single episodes they took place in and none of them ended in Beast Boy and Raven moving forward into an actual relationship. But it was a step forward and proof that fandom shipping sometimes pays off!

‘Titans’:

This is the more gritty live-action twist on the original series that they tried to connect to the DC cinematic universe. So if you’re wondering why Cyborg isn’t a part of the team in this series, it’s because he already existed in other movies and content. Raven is a little too much of a damsel in distress here for me, however, as I said before, I absolutely adore Ryan Potter’s portrayal of Beast Boy. He portrays an endearing, adorable, and very boyish Beast Boy who is by far the most warm of the characters. The drab colors of the show automatically brighten up with his shock of green hair. From the beginning this show made to even out the playing field between Raven and Beast Boy by aging them both down slightly while aging up the other characters and having both of them have a certain lack of control over their powers. This last aspect has actually gone forward in their relationship in other mediums. They connect from the off and other characters even comment from beginning episodes that they would make a good couple. The show is three seasons in and they still haven’t gotten together though the characters have admitted that they love each other and have been more heavily hinted at with each passing season. The main reason why they aren’t together yet in this series is most likely the age gap between the actors. There’s actually a ten year age gap because the actress who plays Raven, Teagan Croft, is in her late teens while Ryan Potter is in his late twenties. Ryan Potter is an actor known for playing and being cast younger than he actually is. And I don’t think anybody would do as well in his role. We’ll have to see what they do in this relationship going forward considering the potential controversy. But, though it might take a couple years, this is looking like it will be another canonical romance between the two characters.

‘Beast Boy Loves Raven’:

Finally we have the canon couple! This comic series is more of a prequel, which means that this take would see Beast Boy and Raven already dating by the time the team fully forms. They both meet when they are both promised mentoring by a mysterious figure we already know is Slade, who says he can help both of them take control of their powers. They meet and end up sharing a hotel room, a dance, and plenty of traumatic experiences throughout because obviously Slade is up to no good. Both of them attempt to hide their powers from the other in fear of being judged, but they end up being each other’s biggest supporters. And we get our very first canonical Beast Boy and Raven kiss! I would highly recommend getting this if you haven’t yet. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve picked it up since I bought it just a week ago to re-read my favorite parts or just to stare at the amazing art! And obviously, I love that we finally get canon Beast Boy and Raven. I always thought Gabriel Picolo’s art of this couple was absolute couple goals and seeing it actually become canonical couple goals is more than I could have ever asked for for these two!

Don’t get me wrong, I love the other three ‘Teen Titans’ characters. Starfire, Robin, and Cyborg have always been lovable to me. But I don’t think any characters quite touch the level of Raven and Beast Boy in any iteration of ‘Teen Titans’. They work so well off of each other and I love that the fandom has worked so hard to make a couple so obvious to all of us finally canon. I don’t think I’ll ever find a superhero couple as simultaneously wholesome and badass as these two and I’m looking forward to seeing many many more depictions of the finally canon couple!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Sci-Fi and Superheroes: Asexuality in ‘Star Trek’

Screenshot of Brent Spiner as Data from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’. Copyright goes to Paramount Pictures and Roddenberry Entertainment.

Hey! Hallie here!

Unsurprisingly, I love ‘Star Trek’. It’s been a major comfort franchise for me for a while now, and I’ve spent a lot of time on this blog praising its progressive ideals and important themes. But as an asexual, I also want to spend some time talking about the possible asexual representation in this show. Not everything I’ll say here is going to be positive. Despite how much I appreciate ‘Star Trek’, it isn’t always amazing at representation. And though none of the characters I will discuss here are canonically asexual, there are definitely problematic aspects of these characters that perpetuate harmful stereotypes. That said, the fact that we’ve even seen asexuality hinted at at all makes aspects of the characters I’m going to discuss worth praising. Let’s go through the pros and cons of asexuality in ‘Star Trek’!

Spock:

Here we have our first character who has been considered an asexual icon by many fans. Though there was really no way for ‘The Original Series’ to explore sexuality or gender identity without getting taken off the air, Spock’s apparent disinterest in romantic or sexual relationships led many to believe that he may not feel much sexual or romantic attraction at all. Which would make him both asexual and aromantic. Even some fans who thought a relationship between Spock and Kirk made more sense than an aromantic Spock, felt that Spock could very easily be asexual. But there’s a few problems with asexual Spock. First is the canonical problem, pon farr. Pon farr is a frustrating concept to most asexual fans because it turns Vulcan’s ability to experience sexual attraction into a biological necessity. At some point, once a Vulcan becomes an adult, they experience an uncontrollable desire to mate that must be either acted upon or medically treated. And though asexuality describes experiencing little to no sexual attraction rather than none at all, it still doesn’t make sense for an asexual character to be biologically forced to sometimes experience sexual attraction. In other words, pon farr might imply that an asexual Vulcan is impossible. There’s also the other issue of Spock being Vulcan and therefore hiding his emotions. This is a problem because asexual people are already accused of being emotionless, and perceiving Spock’s deliberate attempts at repressing his emotions as asexuality doesn’t result in the healthiest asexual representation. All that said, it is worth noting that Spock’s disinterest in sexual relationships rang true to many asexuals who hadn’t seen themselves reflected in media before. That, at least, is important.

Data:

There are a lot of similar problems with Data being asexual as there are with Spock being asexual. Data displays a lack of interest in romantic and sexual relationships, which implies he could be another aro/ace character. But his lack of interest in these things is also tied to his lack of emotions, and as Data is an android, we’re talking a complete lack of emotions. Considering that asexuals are commonly referred to as “robots” by anti-ace people, that makes Data the worst possible character to represent asexual people. And the situation with Tasha Yar makes the whole thing worse. On the one hand, the fact that Data sleeps with Tasha doesn’t make him bad representation. Some asexual people do participate in that form of intimacy, whether that be because they enjoy it or because they don’t mind it so long as their partner enjoys it. After all, asexuality describes feeling little to no sexual attraction and has nothing to do with each asexual persons opinion on intimacy, even if they don’t have any particular desire to engage in it. But on the other hand, one of the main things Picard uses to prove Data’s sentient when Data’s on trial is the fact that he slept with Tasha that one time. Which implies that the desire for intimacy is essential to sentient life in general. I don’t know about you, but that feels more harmful to the asexual community than helpful. But there’s also something to be said about the fact that later in the series, when Data does start feeling emotions, he still doesn’t express a desire for romantic or sexual relationships. Though Data may not be the best asexual representation, he still could very well have been aro/ace by the time the series ended.

Odo:

This one is perhaps the most important asexual-coded character in ‘Star Trek’ because he was, fully and intentionally, asexual-coded. That’s all thanks to the actor, Rene Auberjonois, who felt Odo was asexual so strongly that he decided to play him that way. That doesn’t mean the writers backed him up on that, though. Odo, in the initial seasons of ‘Deep Space Nine’, could be viewed as aro/ace. He frequently observes characters participate in romantic activities and expresses a complete lack of understanding about why someone would want to do those things. Which is an experience many aromantic and asexual people have had. Eventually Odo was confirmed as a non-aromantic character when his clear desire to be in a romantic relationship with Kira became a major part of his storyline. But his asexuality remained in tact. Even in the occasional situations where Odo did wind up sleeping with someone, he expressed that it was never an important part of the relationship to him. And his relationship with Kira very clearly showed the two seeking out other forms of intimacy that felt more natural to Odo. But there’s a problem. Odo has a strong and constant desire to link with other Changelings. In ‘Deep Space Nine’ it’s shown that Changelings, in their most natural state, exist together as one fluid being known as the Great Link. As such, Changelings like Odo are shown to link with each other as a way of recreating the intimacy that exists while being part of the Great Link. But what linking is like for Odo depends on the writer. In some episodes, he compares it to shaking hands or communicating. In others, it’s compared to much less family-friendly activities. Regardless of how it’s portrayed, Odo very strongly desires to link with other Changelings. So if linking is as X rated as some storylines lead you to believe, Odo isn’t asexual. Odo is definitely the best asexual representation in ‘Star Trek’, but it feels like he’s asexual only part of the time.

There aren’t really any other characters I can discuss here. At least not yet. Tendi is the next ‘Star Trek’ character who many asexuals feel could be representation for the community, but ‘Lower Decks’ is ongoing and could very easily shut down that theory in the future. As of now, nothing’s been confirmed. Now that there are so many openly LGBTQ+ characters in ‘Star Trek’ I’m very much hoping we get an openly asexual character in the future. One who doesn’t have any of the problems I listed above. But for now, we have three characters who both gave a voice to many asexuals and also cause some harm to the asexual community. All of these characters are also portrayed as otherworldly and their lack of sexual attraction is often used to emphasize that instead of being portrayed as normal. But I’m convinced that if any major franchise can give me the representation I’m dying for, it’s ‘Star Trek’.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Books: ‘Float’ by Kate Marchant

Promotional capture of the book ‘Float’ by Kate Marchant. Copyright goes to Wattpad Books and Kate Marchant.

Hi! It’s Annie!

This is the second book in the shortest amount of time ever where I re-read it directly after reading it for the first time. I think I just need to pick up more YA romances because I’m pretty sure I’ve found my book niche. This book in particular surprised me because I was originally not going to pick it up at all. This past weekend I went on one of my occasional book hunts at my local bookstore and almost left the store with nothing. But thanks to the sharp eye of some family members and me finally deciding to give this book a shot, I actually left the store with more books than I was originally set on buying. I have to admit, the ‘Wattpad Books’ label on the bottom was one of the reasons why I wasn’t sure I was going to buy it. Considering the overall reputation that site has, I was really unsure. But the pastel colored cover and the writing style when I opened it up sold me on it. And I am so glad I read this book. Romance and found family may be my favorite book types and this book completely mashes both of them into one lighthearted and wholesome story. Not to mention I am always a sucker for a good beach theme in my media. I seriously loved this book almost too much and I highly recommend it! I say that because this review will have SPOILERS, so just be ready to read spoilers if you continue with the rest of this review. Let’s get into it!

Summary: Waverly feels out of her element when she leaves Alaska and her overly judgmental parents and goes to visit her Aunt on the coast in Florida for the summer. The fish-out-of-water feeling only gets worse when the next door neighbor’s son, Blake, seems to hate her from the off. But going to the beach with him and his friends may be the best thing that has ever happened to her, and maybe even gives her a sense of belonging. And Blake may be a lot more complicated than she thinks.

The Good:

Waverly- Finally! A protagonist female character that I actually love! Waverly was completely relatable in that she was unsure of herself and most definitely anxious. Over-thinking was a descriptor she used commonly for herself, and I can say that I also very hardcore relate to that. But instead of using her insecurity to make the character almost a damsel that needed to be fixed, the author here made this a clear story of self growth and self care. Waverly didn’t need to be saved, she just needed to find out more about herself and what made her happy. And that didn’t mean that she wasn’t without anxiety at the end of this; the view of her anxiety was more of her learning to accept it than it was something that was completely solved. Waverly was also sarcastic and stood up for herself often. Even though she was nervous around Blake, she never let him walk all over her in any way when he didn’t like her. She was more confident than she gave herself credit for, which honestly made me reflect a little on myself and wonder if I too am more confident than I give myself credit for. She was such a relatable and lovable protagonist to follow and I loved every moment of her banter with Blake.

Blake- Oh my gosh, it’s been a while since I’ve swooned so much over a romantic lead. Blake started out fairly annoying and brooding, which I wasn’t expecting. The back of the book that I picked up made it seem like Blake would be welcoming from the get go, which he was not. But I actually loved it in the end because I loved seeing the progression of his relationship with Waverly. In a lot of these stories that start with a brooding lead, there’s no real reason for the lead to be brooding that much. Here, the reason is clear and understandable. I liked how real and raw the struggle between him and his new step-mom trying to understand each other was. But on top of that, I just loved how soft this boy was. His willingness to jump into the ocean after Waverly was so adorable and his sarcastic comments won me over completely once he started opening up to Waverly. I laughed at half of his banter with her. And don’t get me started on how sweet he was with her when she got upset and started crying. The scene where he starts reading her book aloud to calm her down completely took me out. This has to be one of the softest male leads I’ve ever seen in a book.

Romance- These two characters worked beautifully together and their romance was so cute. The hate to friends to love was absolutely endearing and completely realistic the entire time. Nothing about their relationship felt rushed. It was gradual and adorable and I loved the lengths the author went to prove just how much they both cared about each other. Also, by far the best banter I’ve ever seen for a couple in a book except for maybe Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Which is saying something. Whenever the banter started I would automatically start grinning like an idiot. And the backdrop of the beach only made it that much more romantic. They were both so sweet to each other. This is absolutely the caring completely equal relationship that I wish I had. If you’re looking for darker characters or a more hardcore relationship here, you aren’t going to find it. These two are softies and everything in their relationship is just so wholesome and adorable. Did I mention adorable?

Side Characters- I loved both Lena and Jesse. They were the best kind of whacky and eclectic and I automatically wanted both of these twins as best friends. Firstly, they would also get what it’s like being compared because they’re twins. But they are also so welcoming and wholesome from the get go. Essentially what the back of the book described Blake to be, but actually this time. Jesse is the type of hype man that everyone needs and wants and Lena is the understanding best friend that I almost cried over a couple times because she had that amount of warmth. Alissa is purposefully supposed to be harder to connect to and I didn’t feel I could completely by the end. But I still thought she was a valuable addition to the team. Aunt Rachel was also such a warm character and the type of eccentric anyone would want to know and have in their family. Can I keep them all?

Found Family- I legitimately cried at the end of this book because I didn’t want to leave the characters. It felt almost like a found family I was personally a part of.

The Beach- I loved the ocean description and the surfing trips. It made me want to go back to the beach very badly. I think I see a beach trip in my near future!

The Bad:

Continuity Errors- This was probably the biggest issue I had with the book. I didn’t have many issues at all. It’s a lighthearted novel, so there’s nothing in the way of complicated plot. But this book was originally written chapter by chapter online and there were certain things that made that come across. For one, by the end of the book Waverly completely knows how to swim. This is mostly confusing because at the beginning of this novel she doesn’t and Blake offers to teach her how to swim. We see a couple of lessons, he teaches her how to float, and then we don’t see anything after that. I guess the lessons must have happened in between what the reader sees, but with the way the book is written it doesn’t make any sense. Especially because of the build up between Blake and Waverly. It doesn’t make sense that they would spend time together beyond what we see for how the story is written. On top of this, at the end of the book Blake gets in trouble with his step-mom for teaching Waverly how to swim because he’s supposedly grounded for the entirety of the book. But he isn’t really grounded before the party fiasco, and they start lessons before that point. It was just little things like that, that stood out to me for not quite making sense.

Rushed Ending- I think people found the ending to be rushed more than I did, but I would have liked a little more Blake and Waverly time at the end of the book. Especially when she thought she was going to leave. But I didn’t think we needed much more time at the end of the book.

I didn’t realize that there was a movie coming out for this book when I got it. Now that I know they’re making a movie, I’m so incredibly excited! I know it won’t be as good as the book and I’m a little concerned that it will be bad. They already confirmed that they’re aging up the characters and tweaking a little bit of Waverly’s backstory; which does concern me just a little bit. But this is the type of amazing location and lighthearted story that I absolutely want to see on my screen. This book probably has one of my favorite couples of all time. Not to mention one of my new favorite fiction friend groups. If you asked me which fictional relationship I might most want to have, I think I would answer with this one. I still can’t get over this book. I want to live in it! But I think the best books make you feel that way.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Disney: Why the Live Action Remakes Don’t Work

Screenshot of Pinocchio as voiced by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth and Tom Hanks as Geppetto from ‘Pinocchio’. Copyright goes to Walt Disney Pictures.

Hey! Hallie here!

Disney has been relentless with their live action remakes. It seems like every animated classic is, at this point, destined for a needless remake. And most of them are indeed needless. Why remake an already beloved movie if there isn’t much to add to the story? Not many Disney fans can answer that question, nor is Disney doing a good job of justifying the existence of any of their live action projects by answering the question themselves. In other words, these movies are clear cash grabs with no value. But why are they so bad? Why does something that could be so harmless rub so many people the wrong way? Let’s talk about where these movies fall flat and why they feel so awful. Before I jump into this, note this post is more a dig at ‘Pinocchio’ than ‘The Little Mermaid’. ‘The Little Mermaid’ already holds importance due to Black representation, and for that I’m rooting for it.

Retelling the Same Stories:

Not all Disney live action projects fall into this category, but a good majority of them do. The recent ‘Pinocchio’ is an excellent example of this, as are ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘Aladdin’, and ‘The Lion King’. These movies don’t do anything at all to differentiate themselves from their original movies aside from a few song changes and new actors stepping into the roles. Which makes them all completely redundant. What’s especially painful about ‘Beauty and the Beast’ or ‘The Lion King’ though, is that they’re Renaissance Disney films. In other words, their live action counterparts are remakes of films that Disney made in their prime. When they first showed mastery of deep characters, meaty storylines, and Broadway-style plot progression. So they already got as much out of the characters and the story as they could have when they released the first films. There isn’t anywhere else to go with them unless you were to completely change the plot, which sometimes does work but is very clearly not what any of these films are attempting. Add to that the fact that ‘The Lion King’ isn’t technically live action anyways because it’s all CGI, or the fact that the majority of the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ cast had to be autotuned because they couldn’t sing the songs well enough, and you have a long list of bad decisions to add to these already uninspired films. This category has an exception, however. ‘Cinderella’ gets a pass for actually expanding on the characters in the film. They draw out the romance between Cinderella and Charming enough to make it stand out, and because it’s a remake of a really early Disney film, it allows for deeper-feeling characters.

Missing the Point:

Some of the live action remakes we see take enough liberties with the story that it doesn’t feel like I could turn on the original and get the same, if not better, experience. But that doesn’t make these remakes good, necessarily. Enter movies like ‘Mulan’ or ‘Dumbo’. While these movies follow a similar plot as the original, they have aspects to them that feel completely new. Except these aspects undermine the entire storyline of the movie. In ‘Mulan’ this manifests as a further exploration of Mulan’s femininity and strength. But her strength comes from “chi” rather than from her own abilities as they do in the original film. And the effort to focus on her femininity ends in many conversations about how men treat Mulan, bringing the conversation back to the men, instead of a focus on how Mulan’s femininity empowers her. I mean, we all know at this point that the movie failed the Bechdel test despite very clear efforts to pass it. Then there’s ‘Dumbo’, which manages to bury a heartwarming story about an elephant who is treated as an outcast learning to find his confidence, behind a family drama starring two little kids. At some point Dumbo doesn’t even feel like the main character anymore. A notable exception to this category is ‘The Jungle Book’, which, like the above movies, tells the story of the original movie with enough exceptions to feel different. These exceptions are extremely good, though, expanding on all of the characters and the lore to the point that it feels more epic in scale than the original.

Leaving the Original Too Far Behind:

This is actually my favorite category of Disney’s live action movies. Movies like ‘Maleficent’, ‘Cruella’, and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ all feel completely unique. In fact, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Maleficent’ started the trend of Disney making as many live action remakes as possible, and I didn’t hate it when it began. These films aren’t perfect, however. ‘Maleficent’ and ‘Cruella’ both suffer from overly-simplistic plots that take up too much effort to explain how these characters became known as villains. ‘Cruella’s examples are the most fun to pick on because they’re the most ridiculous. I mean, Dalmatians kill her mother? Really? That’s how we’re going to justify her skinning puppies? There’s also the strange reveal that Cruella gifted Pongo and Perdita to Roger and Anita, which just doesn’t make any sense. On the other hand, ‘Maleficent’ does everything it can to prove our title character isn’t the villain and isn’t responsible for the majority of the things we saw in the original movie, which is clever at parts but reaching at others. ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is a completely different beast entirely. It fleshes out Wonderland lore with more content from the original book, ages up all the characters, and presents a giant war between kingdoms that ends in the beheading of a large beast. It’s probably the least kid-friendly movie here and does attempt a bit too much. But it’s hard not to get caught up in the whimsy presented in it. As I said, these movies feel more justified and more enjoyable. Just not perfect. No exceptions in this section. These movies all have their pros and cons.

And that’s it! I left out a few movies from this post, but I don’t regret ignoring the more forgettable ones. There’s one giant exception to this entire post, though. That would be ‘Christopher Robin’, a movie that’s technically considered to be a Disney live action remake but doesn’t quite operate that way. It doesn’t really match up to Disney’s ‘The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh’, its storyline is more unique than any of the movies I mentioned, and it’s by far the best movie I’ve mentioned in this post. If you watch nothing else from what I’ve discussed, watch ‘Christopher Robin’. But that’s the thing. ‘Christopher Robin’ is worth watching because it has its own identity. The other movies on this list can’t say the same. Because of that I and many other Disney fans are tired of seeing live action remakes. I really hope ‘The Little Mermaid’ does its best to set itself apart because I very much want it to do well, but I can’t help but be exhausted by these constant, blatant examples of a lack of creativity.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

BTS: Happy Birthday Kim Namjoon!(SEXY NUKIM)

Promotional photo of Kim Namjoon, otherwise known as RM. Copyright goes to Namjoon and HYBE Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

It is, once again, my favorite holiday. Or at least it should be. Happy Birthday to my forever ult bias and the amazing leader of the group BTS! Namjoon only gets more wise as the years go on and I am always so incredibly happy to have discovered him and to have his presence in my life, even if I haven’t actually met him. This man has gotten me through my worst times, has given advice that I now use daily, and has echoed my own feelings so that I’ve felt heard on too many occasions to count. I am continuously enchanted by this man not only because of how distractingly handsome he is (World’s Most Handsome Man to all of us no matter what!) but mainly because of his work and how amazingly human he is. His lyrics capture the human experience more than any other lyricist I’ve ever seen and he’s continually so open and honest about his mental health that it really does make it feel ok for those who are struggling, like me, to be more open and honest ourselves. (Seriously, watch me cry while I type this.) I will never forget my first time watching them live in concert at PTD LA, sitting there after the concert after my bias had just become Namjoon, staring at his face on the large poster on the screen and uncontrollably crying because I was so happy and I felt so heard. Since then I have freaked out over noticing Namjoon was reading a book I recently finished in ‘In the SOOP’ and watched his Vlives to feel less alone on nights where I’ve had insomnia. I will forever owe this man so much and all my posts for his birthday are just a start. But one thing I’m definitely covering here, is all the recent news because all of his endeavors deserve to be pushed without any further delay! So here’s to one of my favorite people on the planet on his birthday.

“SEXY NUKIM”:

For those of you who regularly follow this blog, you were probably wondering why I didn’t talk about this single when it first came out. The answer is pretty much because I was waiting for Namjoon’s birthday to talk about it. And I’m glad that we’ve finally gotten here because I’ve had way too many thoughts to keep to myself. When I first heard this song, I admittedly didn’t love it. I didn’t dislike it at all either though! I loved Namjoon’s verse from the moment I heard it; I’ve always had a soft spot for his rap style. He always has this presence about him that screams for everyone to listen to him. From the cadence of his voice, to his rap style, to his actual physical presence. I wouldn’t say that it’s exactly that he’s intimidating (though he is slightly in the best way), it’s more that he has the cool candor of someone who you just feel that it’s important that you pay attention to what they say. But I will say that I am now completely obsessed with every bit of the song. It was one of those ones for me where the more I heard it, the more I absolutely adored it. It has a catchy hook that will doubtlessly get stuck in your head all day and every rapper in the song has an absolutely addicting verse that was obviously well thought out. Now if you’re one of those people looking for more clarification about the subject matter of the song, just look at the title. I’ve seen these pretty hilarious back and forth conversations on the internet about what this song is about, which is pretty clear. Or if Namjoon’s verse is cleaner than the rest of the song (it’s not). The song is literally called “SEXY NUKIM”; I think the answers to all of these questions are pretty clear. And just because BTS is an internationally loved group doesn’t mean they don’t or suddenly can’t use more mature themes. They’re all adults. But that conversation aside, this is an amazingly addictive song and I’ve probably listened to it far too many times for it to be acceptable anymore, but I don’t care!

Namjoon and Art:

One of my favorite things about Namjoon is how he’s used this time to do what he’s passionate about whether or not that went along with what people seem to expect from him. Namjoon has gone on art related podcasts and even done interviews with art related newspapers and magazines to share his love of things like modern art. He revealed his dream to one day open a gallery of his favorite pieces and has now talked extensively about the pieces that he’s collected personally over the years. Namjoon has always been vocal about how he uses his own interests such as going out into nature, reading and buying books, riding his bike, and visiting art museums to keep his sanity in his hectic life. Doing any one of those things has now been lovingly nicknamed ‘Namjooning’ by ARMY. While this was initially dismissed by many as him just listing out his hobbies; Namjoon has made it clear multiple times that he believes that life dreams and goals don’t necessarily have to have anything to do with your career. Your career is just one part of the many parts of your life. Not only has Namjoon inspired ARMY of all ages to take part in his hobbies, he’s also revealed that his hobbies are a part of his dreams. Let me break down how much this absolutely means. As someone who is currently looking into going into a profession that involves a lot of reading, writing, and knowledge of English and creative influences; him inspiring people to read is something that is insanely important to me. He’s also inspired people to look more seriously at things like hobbies and view them with a similar regard to career. I am also a person where my dreams lie mostly with my hobby plans than with my career plans. Namjoon helped me realize, and helped the public realize, that this is completely ok and a perfectly valid way to live your life. I have personally attended several more art museums than I had before I fell in love with BTS and I absolutely love having those experiences! And hearing Namjoon talk so passionately about a dream he has, not caring if it fits in with his career or what people perceive his career should be like, inspires me so much with my own dreams. I have been reading every art interview and listening to every podcast he’s put out and it only makes me happier and more inspired every time.

Leader and Human:

I really wanted to close out all of this by talking about a couple of Namjoon moments that I feel like don’t get talked about enough and have left a huge impact on me. I think the first one I want to point to is the performance of “Dionysus” at the 2019 ‘MMA’s. For those of you who have been following the blog for a while, you’ll know that Namjoon was my bias wrecker for quite a while before he became my bias. One of the things that really struck me about Namjoon in that performance, was his entrance. I think we all agree that BTS looked like Greek gods in their performance, which definitely makes sense for the theming of the song. But one of my favorite parts of this performance was that it began with individual performances from each of the boys as they each showed off a talent that really did feel like them. After each mini-performance a light would come down, symbolizing their role in the group and pointing out that BTS is a group of seven incredibly talented individuals who work together. No other group has been quite as good at pointing out the individuality of all the members in their group. Namjoon was the last, as the leader, and his part of the performance saw him walking epically onto the stage to smash a staff to the ground. While many would say this was minimalistic, I’ve cried several times while watching it and it solidified his place on my bias list. Because I don’t think any other performance moment has really screamed “that’s our leader”, like that one. On the other end of that spectrum, many ARMY are also aware that Namjoon is the member probably the most likely to talk to himself. Not only in that distracted way that I’m certain we all do, but he often does it to comfort himself. He’ll encourage himself, or tell himself to calm down, often calling himself by name. Seeing him do this has inspired me to do this a little in my own life. It’s one of the most obvious examples of positive talk that I’ve seen anyone do and it always reminds me that Namjoon is human and him also practicing positive self talk lets me know that I’m not alone. It’s also always adorable to see him do it too!

I have probably rambled for long enough about Namjoon. And admittedly, I also did cry several times while writing this. But I can’t help myself. Namjoon has been part of my bias list for a long time with BTS and he only became my bias after I saw BTS live. He’s been my bias rather than my bias wrecker for almost a year now, but this is my first birthday post after I finally realized that Namjoon is my bias. I thought I would be totally cool while writing this, but now that I’m here and doing it I realized that I’m an emotional wreck. Namjoon just means so much to me and I know he means so much to all of us. I often say that Namjoon is my comfort person, and reflecting on his birthday only makes that statement feel that much more true. I recently rewatched PTD LA with my sister because the filmed version came to Disney+. I was floored by the end of it because I was suddenly hit by a blast of feelings that I felt at the end of the concert, most of them Namjoon related, and I felt so incredibly happy. I don’t think I will ever be able to fully put into words how much Namjoon means to me. Happy Birthday Namjoon!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Sci-Fi/Superheroes: D23 Announcements

Screenshot of Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin in ‘The Mandalorian’. Copyright goes to Walt Disney Studios and Lucasfilm

Hey! Hallie here!

The huge Disney convention, D23, is currently happening and just today we got news from their largest panel concerning the future of a majority of their live action franchises. To most fans, the most exciting news here has to do with Disney’s biggest money-makers: Marvel and Star Wars. There’s a lot of news from both parts of the panel dedicated to these two franchises, but not as much as we expected. And there’s also reason to be just as skeptical as we are excited considering D23 is known for announcements that later get shelved before making it to the screen. Still, there’s plenty to talk about and a lot of which I have very strong opinions about. So going into this, know that all the opinions here are my own and you can feel free to disagree with them if you wish. Let’s get into the news!

Marvel:

‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ and ‘Ironheart’: Those at the convention got a sneak peak of ‘Wakanda Forever’, but we who didn’t attend won’t be able to see much of anything until the movie releases. This isn’t really surprising considering the release date is just around the corner. They also didn’t reveal much of anything new, which is also unsurprising. The only new information we got is that the movie will focus on Wakanda now that other countries are trying to take advantage of their resources. We also learned that director Ryan Coogler has stepped up as Executive Producer for ‘Ironheart’, which makes sense after the confirmation that Riri Williams will make her MCU debut in ‘Wakanda Forever’. Though we didn’t learn much about ‘Wakanda Forever’ or ‘Ironheart’, I’m extremely excited for both. Specifically ‘Wakanda Forever’. Even for someone like me who’s been experiencing Marvel fatigue, ‘Black Panther’ is a movie I return to often and the trailer for this movie looks so good. I seriously can’t wait.

‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’: We already knew that Kang the Conqueror was going to be the villain for this one, but evidently this movie is also going to be direct set-up for the next ‘Avengers’ installment. Kang is already the confirmed villain for this phase of the MCU, but knowing this movie will directly tie into that final plot line makes ‘Quantumania’ feel infinitely more important. Apparently in this film, Kang will kidnap Cassie in order to force Scott to go on a heist. And Jimmy Woo is coming back! Aside from my interest in Kang and my adoration for Paul Rudd, I’m not all that interested in this movie. ‘Ant-Man’ movies sit firmly in the “Meh” category amongst MCU films for me. I don’t see this one being any different.

‘Werewolf By Night’: I’m going to be honest here, I know little to nothing about all of the characters in this MCU project. All I know is that various characters we’ve seen little to nothing about in the MCU are gathered together to figure out which one of them is a werewolf. That said, the trailer was released to the public and it’s very intriguing. It’s completely black-and-white, has a fitting over-the-top feel that makes it come across as retro, and blends both horror and mystery together in a really fun way. It’s also directed by Michael Giacchino who’s an excellent composer. I’m absolutely willing to give this a shot.

‘Secret Invasion’ and ‘Armor Wars’: This one is another project with a publicly released trailer! While the concept of ‘Secret Invasion’ has never really appealed to me, the trailer looks exciting. Samuel L. Jackson is at the top of his game here and feels very intimidating throughout the entire trailer. We get to see some of Maria Hill, Rhodey, and Talos who all look like they’re going to play substantial roles in the series. It looks like it’s going to be an intense spy thriller, which is interesting. Honestly, I feel like this could either be very good or kind of okay. Samuel L. Jackson starring feels like a good sign, though. The series is set to lead into a Rhodey-centric series called ‘Armor Wars’. We don’t know much about this one but I’ve never been the biggest fan of Rhodey, so I’m not as optimistic for this project. Especially because it feels like it’s in really early development right now which means it might not be as solidly in the roster of future projects as it appears.

‘Loki’ and ‘Fantastic Four’: There isn’t much to talk about for either of these. They gave fans at D23 some footage of Kang in ‘Loki’, but they’re clearly not ready to release anything to the public yet. Ke Huy Quan will be joining the cast, though! The director of ‘WandaVision’ is officially going to direct ‘Fantastic Four’ which is cool. But we don’t even have casting for this one so don’t go getting too excited yet.

‘Echo’ and ‘Daredevil: Born Again’: ‘Echo’ was an amazing character in ‘Hawkeye’ so I’m happy to see her series got some love at D23, even if it wasn’t much. We do know that Kingpin will return in the series with an eyepatch, which pretty much every Marvel fan expected. He’s also going to show up alongside Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock in the new ‘Daredevil’ series, but we don’t know much about it aside from the fact that the new season will be eighteen episodes long. Much longer than other series we’ve gotten so far. I don’t really follow the more mature Marvel shows because they aren’t really my thing, but I hear a lot of good things about ‘Daredevil’ and I hope the new season will be everything Marvel fans hope for!

‘Captain America: New World Order’: This one is pretty far off, which is disappointing because it’s my most anticipated Marvel project after ‘Wakanda Forever’. Apparently it’s going to be a thriller, which is certainly an interesting move. The Leader is set to be the villain for this, which is hilarious because he was set up in the ‘Incredible Hulk’ movie they’ve been trying to retcon for years now and have only started to acknowledge. My favorite news about this project is that Carl Lumbly is returning as Isaiah Bradley! Carl Lumbly is an acting legend who many know best as the voice of the Martian Manhunter in the ‘Justice League’ cartoons. He was seen in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ as the older man who was given the super soldier serum. We still don’t have a ton of information overall for this film, but I’m excited!

‘Thunderbolts’: I have so many mixed feelings about this. We’ve heard rumors about the cast for this, but now we have confirmation. The team will be controlled by Val, who we saw at the end of ‘Black Widow’ and the end of ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’ recruiting potential candidates. The actual team will consist of Ghost from ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’, Red Guardian from ‘Black Widow’, John Walker from ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’, Taskmaster from ‘Black Widow’, Bucky Barnes, and Yelena Belova. Yelena and Bucky are confirmed to be the leads for this film. That bit of news is what gets me most interested for this movie. Bucky and Yelena have been some of my favorite characters recently and I’m so pumped to see a movie focus on these two. I’m also excited to see David Harbour return to the MCU, even though Red Guardian isn’t necessarily a character I’m excited about. My biggest concerns here are Taskmaster and John Walker. Taskmaster just isn’t interesting. I suppose this could be their opportunity to make her interesting, but until they do I don’t see anything to get excited about. John Walker is a character I really hated by the end of his show. I didn’t buy his small scene of redemption in the slightest. And I don’t like that this white dude who was definitely a symbol of racism in his show gets a redemption by joining a team of majority white characters. It sits strangely with me. Still, I’m white so my opinion isn’t the most important here.

‘The Marvels’: Once again, we don’t have many new things to talk about. We know that the film will star Carol Danvers, Kamala Khan, and Monica Rambeau. We now know that the movie will be about these three trying to figure out why they keep switching places with one another every time they use their powers. This plot seems kind of ridiculous to me, but it could just be that we’re hearing it without much context for the rest of the film.

Star Wars:

‘Andor’: We have a new trailer for ‘Andor’ out and it looks about as bleak as everything else we’ve seen for this. I’m not the biggest ‘Rogue One’ fan, but I’ve been liking the Disney+ ‘Star Wars’ content quite a bit so I’m willing to give this one a try! I’m particularly excited to see Bix Caleen because of how much I like Adria Arjona. We get a three episode premiere for this one so there will be plenty to talk about once the series drops.

‘Tales of the Jedi’: This is a series of shorts we’re getting next month. The trailer, which was also fully released, gives us some interesting footage of Ahsoka, Anakin, Yoda, Obi-Wan, Mace Windu, Captain Rex, and most interestingly, a young Count Dooku with his padawan Qui-Gon Jinn. I’m excited to see where these go even though they’ll only be shorts.

‘Skeleton Crew’: We still don’t know much about this other than Jude Law stars in it, Jon Watts of ‘Spider-Man’ fame is directing, and it takes place during the New Republic. Think after the original trilogy but before the sequel trilogy. I like Jude Law but there really isn’t anything to judge here yet.

‘Ahsoka’: Before this panel even happened we got the news that Ewan Esfandi was going to play Ezra Bridger, joining Natasha Liu Bordizzo, our Sabine Wren, as our first live-action look at ‘Star Wars: Rebels’ characters. For this showcase we got to see a rendering of the last shot in ‘Star Wars: Rebels’ of Sabine looking at the mural of her team. Which indicates that we are, as we all expected, picking up from where the last episode of ‘Rebels’ left off. Aside from this we know that Dave Filoni basically considers this series to be his greatest work and we’ll see lots of lightsaber battles. I’m not certain how I feel about this. I really love almost all of the characters we’re promised to see here, but I’m not a huge fan of Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka as we’ve seen her so far. She’s too much of a generic Jedi and too little of the spunky, hilarious, badass we got to see in ‘Clone Wars’. I really want to like this series, though.

‘The Mandalorian’: Last but certainly not least, we got a trailer for season three of ‘The Mandalorian’! It looks amazing. First off, we’re getting so much more of Bo-Katan Kryze, who I love with my entire heart and will never get enough of. She also seems to be actively recruiting Mando to join her in continuing to rebuild the Mandalorians, referring to the group that just cast him out for taking off his helmet as a “cult” that “fractured” their people. I’m inclined to believe her knowing what I know from ‘Clone Wars’. Then again, I might be biased. We also have characters officially referring to Mando as Grogu’s dad! And we have more cute moments of Mando and Grogu helping each other out in dangerous situations! I’m actively melting into a puddle as I type. On top of these things we also get brief shots of Pell Motto, who is always a joy to watch, and the adorable Babu Frik! I can’t wait until this comes out!

And that’s it! I’m definitely looking forward to the Star Wars content the most, but Marvel caught my eye with a few announcements. There’s just so many projects Marvel’s working on that I have a hard time believing all of them will make it to completion. I’m crossing my fingers for some good content, though!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

ATEEZ: Haunted Houses

Promotional photo of (from left) Choi Jongho, Song Mingi, Choi San, Jeong Yunho, Kim Hongjoong, Kang Yeosang, Jung Wooyoung, and Park Seonghwa. Copyright goes to ATEEZ and KQ Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I talked very briefly about ‘WANTEEZ’ in my last post, and I swear each episode gets better and better. The most recent episode from this week is probably my favorite of all of them so far. I don’t know what it is, but KQ loves to send ATEEZ into haunted houses and I absolutely love it every time despite being scared to go into haunted houses myself. This most recent episode of ‘WANTEEZ’ saw the boys going into a zombie infested school and having to figure out how to leave alive while they were all paired up in groups of two. The surprise in this being that one of them was secretly a zombie and they had to figure out who it was before they left. I was absolutely shocked at who the zombie was, especially with how they each have been proven to act in a haunted house. Which got me thinking, which members would be best to go into a haunted house with and which ones would be the worst? So entirely in the spirit of fun (and my desperation for it to already be Halloween), I’m going to go through all the members in order of who I think would be the best to go into a haunted house with for me personally. It’s kind of hilarious that I’m doing this considering most of the members of ATEEZ hate horror.

8. San

I love San. I absolutely love him. But I am absolutely just as scared of horror as San is and I want to go into haunted houses probably just as much as he does. What I’m saying here, is we probably wouldn’t even make it through the door. Who knows? Maybe that’s actually a good thing considering I’ve pretty much sworn off haunted houses! We might have a really nice day blowing off the haunted house and going to do something else! But San is always what I picture myself to be when he goes into a haunted house with the other members. He’s always hiding behind someone, jumping at every small sound, and half crying the next time he goes into a room because he really doesn’t want to. And I do not blame him because I would be exactly the same way. Hiding behind people is important because I don’t think I would be the best person to hide behind. San and I would stand for a while at the doorway, probably both complaining that we didn’t want to go in the entire time. And that would be it. I guess the only reason he’s at the bottom of this list is because we wouldn’t be going in at all.

7. Mingi

This is another one where I’m not sure we’d actually make it in. Maybe we’d get through the door, scream, and then run out the same way we came in. Mingi is another type to try and hide behind other people, though usually the only one he can manage to hide behind is Yunho. In the most recent ‘WANTEEZ’, Mingi kept getting stranded behind doors after running away from the group causing the editors to refer to him as Princess Mingi, and I honestly don’t think I could handle the possibility of losing the person I went into the haunted house with. That is, if we even made it far enough into the house for me to possibly lose Mingi. I’m also way too small for Mingi to hide behind, but I doubt I’d be able to hide behind him either. Mingi is constantly the type of person to jump or run away from a situation, while I’m more the type to freeze if I’m scared. So I can see getting lost very easily. Though I don’t think we’d make it very far, I at least think we might be able to psyche ourselves up enough to get in the door. I don’t think we’d get farther than that though.

6. Wooyoung

Another person who is absolutely afraid and may or may not be hiding behind another person. Again, it absolutely wouldn’t be me because I am not the person to hide behind. I would probably have to be led through the haunted house as fast as possible while I held one hand over my eyes. So Wooyoung wouldn’t be the choice for that. I think Wooyoung would get up the bravery to actually enter the house though, which is more than I can say for some of the others. Wooyoung after a while would probably be more focused on getting through it, but at the beginning of going into any sort of haunted house, Wooyoung is usually at the back behind someone. Which I can relate to. Wooyoung also is one of the most jumpy of everyone which would probably just make me also jump more. The only thing with Wooyoung is that I don’t think we’d be separated. Wooyoung seems like he’s probably more likely to freeze up and go on the offense than run away, so at least the two of us would be completely frozen together. Not that we’d have a great time. I think with Wooyoung it would be more like a quick sprint through a haunted house, which might be merciful.

5. Yeosang

I think there would be a careful discussion about the merits of us even going in there in the first place, but eventually we probably would. Yeosang is usually just as scared as everyone else, but he’s more quiet about it. He also can become more task oriented once he’s actually inside of a haunted house and often jokes away his feelings with sarcasm, which definitely would make me feel a little bit better. Some lighthearted humor always defuses the tension, but I’ll also say that Yeosang always seems to be up to something when he’s inside of a haunted house. He’s been known to be pretty cunning and I don’t doubt he’d trick me in some way. Maybe he’d disappear around a corner and then rejoin me in the next room. But then again, he’d probably be too scared to be alone. Either way, I’ve seen a cunning Yeosang take adavantage of the others also being scared in a haunted house one too many times. But I don’t think he’d be an overall bad partner to go into a haunted house with. Though considering he would also be very scared, he wouldn’t be the best for me either.

4. Seonghwa

I can already hear other Atiny asking why he made it so far on this list. The real answer to that question is because of a quick thing that happened on the latest episode of ‘WANTEEZ’. When all the other members (except for Yunho and Jongho) were afraid of the turned zombie in the chair at the beginning of the episode, Seonghwa stepped in front of all of them to protect them from the zombie. This is probably the most brave thing I’ve ever seen Seonghwa do in a haunted house situation, but most of them aren’t brave at all in haunted house situations so I’ll take it! Which again, I can’t blame them for because I can’t even watch a horror film. Seonghwa would be just as terrified as I would be, and once again it would be a difficult time trying to psyche ourselves up to go in. At least I know that I could hide behind him and he wouldn’t mind. I see a lot of screaming and sprinting, much like Wooyoung, but at least I wouldn’t have to see as much of it behind someone else’s back. I also feel like there would be a lot of half-frightened out of our minds laughing. Which is at least laughter of some kind!

3. Hongjoong

Finally we are to the last person in ATEEZ who also hates horror and, like me, would do very poorly in a haunted house. This is a group after my own heart, and I love it even more that they embrace haunted theming despite not liking horror. Because I’m often the same way! Hongjoong is the master villain of ATEEZ’s haunted themes and the leader of the demon line. But he’s also terrified in a haunted house to the point of being the type to fall on the floor. There would probably be some hauling him up at times. But, when he wants to get out of a place, he will become very determined to get out of that place. He’d psyche himself enough to walk in and has the head on his shoulders to make sure that he and whoever he went in with would get out as soon as possible. Maybe he’d fall down at a couple of jump scares, but I feel like helping him back up might help cut some of the tension. Though he probably wouldn’t be the person to hide behind the entire time, I think he occasionally would let you. Definitely the type to grab someone’s hand and run the hell out of there. And I think all of these things together might be a great pair for me, who would just want to get out of there.

2. Jongho

I know a lot of Atiny would be surprised that he isn’t first on this list. I think we all know that Jongho is the bravest in any haunted house situation and is the most ok with horror and horror themes. He has always let other members hide behind him when they wanted to and is never fazed by anything. He doesn’t even jump. He would absolutely go into that haunted house and he would absolutely be your human shield if you wanted one. The only reason why I place Jongho second is, like Yeosang, I wouldn’t completely trust him inside a haunted house. Jongho has been shown to find the others getting scared pretty funny. He would absolutely be the type to suddenly disappear only to reappear in the next room to jump scare you himself just by standing in the corner. But if he really knew how afraid you were, he probably wouldn’t. Most likely. Otherwise Jongho is the perfect person to go into a hunted house with if you’re scared. His bravery would probably inspire at least some bravery in myself. But overall, I don’t think he’d be the first person I’d trust to go into a haunted house with me. There’s only one person who I think would be better than Jongho at protecting me in a haunted house.

1. Yunho

Yunho is the only other person in ATEEZ who is unfazed by horror. Though he isn’t as completely stone faced as Jongho, the others always rely on Yunho when they’re part of his group. Yunho has the ultimate tall stature to hide behind and is absolutely the soft hearted puppy who would jump in front of you and protect you. He has no complaints when other members grab the back of his shirt and he’s slowed down by them walking so slowly while having a grip on him. So I feel like he would be absolutely ok if I decided that I had to close my eyes and be led out of the rest of the haunted house. Yunho isn’t really the type to pull pranks or anything else and is absolutely the type to just be the hand to hold if you need it. Yunho is usually the one standing in front of the group or leading when anyone else is scared. His reaction to being scared is either emotionless or laughing and I feel like his tendency to laugh at things would make going through a haunted house feel a little more lighthearted. I would absolutely trust Yunho the most if I were to choose someone to go through a haunted house with. Though I may be just a bit biased because he’s my bias.

As I said, I’ve pretty much sworn off going into any haunted houses at all ever. I think one of the only things that might make me break that rule would be the impossible situation where I was somehow offered the chance to go through one with ATEEZ. But since it’s not going to happen, it’s fun to imagine! While this is my list of who I think would be the best going through with my type of fear in a haunted house, I’m sure everyone is different. If you’re the type who likes to be scared, you might want to go with someone like Wooyoung who would be scared with you. Or someone like Jongho who also seems to thoroughly enjoy it, even if he’s not the type to be scared. But this is just my list as someone who is an absolute and complete scaredy cat. I’d love to know who you think would be the best ATEEZ partner to walk through a haunted house with!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Comfort Entertainment: ‘The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power’ Episodes 1-2 Review

Screenshot of Megan Richards and Markella Kavenagh as Poppy and Nori in ‘The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power’. Copyright goes to Amazon Studios, Harper Collins Publishers, and New Line Cinema.

Hey! Hallie here!

We haven’t talked about ‘Lord of the Rings’ much on this blog, which is unfortunate because both my sister and I absolutely love it. I even finally got through the Silmarillion in order to prepare for anything ‘Rings of Power’ might throw at us. Though it definitely has a lot to live up to given how beloved the Peter Jackson trilogy is, the fact that it’s covering completely different content and filling in a period of time we’ve never seen before gives it a serious advantage. And so far, I think it’s doing a great job of taking advantage of the opportunity it has to both use characters we know and tread new ground. Before I get started though, know that I do not and will not tolerate any negative comments about this show on the basis of the people of color in the cast. Tolkien’s ideas on race don’t matter. What matters is that everyone gets an opportunity to see themselves in the media they consume, and the world of Middle Earth is fictional with nothing ever saying anywhere that people of color are barred from existing in it. Now that I’ve made that clear, let’s get to the review! SPOILER WARNING!

Galadriel:

This series is separated into four storylines at the moment, so I’m going to take some time to review each so far. Galadriel’s storyline was probably the most advertised of all of them. I was actually under the impression we’d end up spending more time with her than the other characters. I was surprised to see how well balanced all of the stories are. Galadriel feels more like one piece of a large ensemble cast rather than a main character, which I have no objections to. As far as her story itself, there’s some interesting elements. So far all of the epic fight scenes have gone to Galadriel, as they should. She’s badass and the fight scenes, especially the ones in episode two that take place on and in the water, are gorgeous to watch. I also like how accurate-feeling Galadriel’s characterization is here. Galadriel is established to be a warrior first and foremost in the Silmarillion. She’s one of the elves who supposedly took part in the Kinslaying, the battle where elves turned against each other in pursuit of the first main villain Morgoth, and her loyalty to both her family and the oath to defeat Morgoth makes her feel dangerous. We see all of that here. A woman who spent so much time fighting that she doesn’t know how to live a life without it, and a woman who’s so good at it that no one can compare. I especially loved that some of her motivations are tied to her brother Finrod, who is probably my favorite of the elven kings, because it further emphasizes her loyalty to her family and makes her a really empathetic figure. That said, I hope we get more characterization for her soon. Aside from being a badass, we don’t know all that much about her personality at this point and it makes it difficult to fully get behind her. But we’re only two episodes in so I’m confident we’ll get more character moments as the series goes on.

Nori:

This is one of my favorite storylines so far. The Harfoots are so easily likable that the day after the first two episodes of ‘Rings of Power’ started streaming, they completely covered most of my social media timelines. First of all, they’re precursors to Hobbits. Who doesn’t like Hobbits? And just like the Hobbits we’ve grown to know and love, their close-knit community and peaceful relationship with nature make them feel comforting. Nori is especially likable. Unlike some of the others in her community who are content to stay within the confines of their village, she loves to explore. She’s fearless and curious, making her an ideal character to follow. She’s also incredibly compassionate. When the man dubbed The Stranger falls from the sky and lights the ground on fire, she doesn’t hesitate to run over and see if he’s ok. She takes him in and comforts him. And when her curiosity for The Stranger takes her away from her father she shows genuine remorse for it. She’s such a fun, strong character already and I can’t wait to see where she goes next. As for The Stranger, I have a few theories about who he may be just like everyone else. Given his demonstrations of irregular powers, he has to be one of the characters in Middle Earth that’s gifted with magic. That would likely mean either one of the wizards sent to Middle Earth, or Sauron. I’m currently leaning towards Gandalf. I think it’s most likely the show set up all this build up for a large payoff, rather than The Stranger winding up being an unknown wizard, and I think his apparent relationship with bugs, his uttering of elvish that Gandalf uses in the Peter Jackson movies, and Gandalf’s relationship with Hobbits makes this my first choice. But we’ll have to wait and see!

Elrond:

This is the other of my favorite storylines so far. Elrond has always been one of my favorite ‘Lord of the Rings’ characters and he’s just so delightful here. The ways he attempts to encourage Galadriel are endearing, as is his excitement for the days to come. Although, knowing that Sauron’s power is on the rise and the rings of power are soon to be created, Elrond likely won’t be so optimistic for long. In fact, it’s Elrond’s storyline that’s introducing us to the beginning of the rings of power’s creation. For those who don’t know, Celebrimbor, the elf Elrond is currently trying to help, created three of the nine rings of power. Granted, these rings were the elven rings that were mostly kept away from Sauron. Celebrimbor notably stood against Sauron as well, but that doesn’t make up for the fact that the One Ring held power over these rings. In other words, this can only get worse for Elrond. That said, my favorite part of his story so far is Elrond’s friendship with Durin. Their relationship has given us a really good look at Elrond’s cunning and kindness, as well as the ways in which elves deal with their near-immortality. Our introduction to Elrond’s friendship with Durin is Durin showing animosity towards Elrond for missing the development of his kingdom, his wedding, and the birth of his children. At first Elrond is clearly confused by this, but as we see him spend time with Durin, and one of the best characters in the entire show Disa, we see his confusion turn into a somber acceptance. He missed everything because he hadn’t noticed how much time was going by. Would you if you lived as long as an elf? I really hope we get plenty more of Elrond, Durin, and Disa in future episodes.

Arondir and Bronwyn:

This is probably the slowest storyline for me at this point. I really like the idea of Arondir’s character. First off, his wooden chest plate? My favorite piece of costuming in the entire show. It looks so good. But beyond that, I really like the idea of an elf who’s been defending an area for so many generations that he doesn’t want to leave. And the fact that he fell in love with a human while doing his job is just the icing on the cake. But the relationship between Arondir and Bronwyn doesn’t really offer any intrigue yet. We know Arondir’s been pining for her for a while, and it seems like she might like him too, but we didn’t get to see how those feelings came to be and the two separated almost just as quickly as the story brought them together. Now the major intrigue for these two has to do with Orcs. We got to see our first Orc of the show when it showed up to kill Bronwyn and Theo, and Arondir followed the holes the Orcs left in the ground which may have lead to more Orcs or even to something worse. But other than the link to possible moves Sauron could be making, I’m not extremely interested in Orcs. Their storyline just isn’t pulling me in as much as the other ones are so far, possibly because of its slower pacing. I don’t dislike it, but I hope it picks up soon!

Those are my thoughts so far! The only thing I want to add is that this show looks absolutely gorgeous. The landscape shots alone are enough to get you hooked on ‘Rings of Power’. But everything so far is really promising! Some storylines are better than others, and some elements of the story have yet to interest me, but we only have two episodes so far! We only have six more episodes to go for a total of eight episodes, but even in that case the first two episodes don’t often cover a huge amount of ground. I’m not ready to give up on any character or story yet, and I’m really excited to continue watching this series!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie