Theme Parks/Live Entertainment: Bridgerton Experience LA

Photo inside the Biltmore Hotel LA, an experience by ‘Shondaland’, ‘Netflix’, and ‘fever’. Photo belongs to this blog.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Dear readers, last night, as of writing this, I was present at the Queen’s Ball! Ahem, the ‘Bridgerton’ immersive experience in Los Angeles presented by ‘fever’. And I did very much feel like Lady Whistledown, Penelope herself, because I did spend much of the time being a bit of a wallflower and taking it all in so that I could write about it later. Hi, I’m an introvert! I guess that makes my sister Eloise. But don’t worry, we had so much fun and definitely danced! How could you not at what is essentially a ‘Bridgerton’ prom. There was tons to do and see there and so little time to do it, so I’m going to cover all of that. And I’m also going to talk a little bit about my thoughts on ‘Bridgerton’ going in, because I haven’t talked about watching it all on this blog yet! Though rest assured, it was a fairly recent binge in order to prepare myself for this event. So without further ado, I’m going to talk about the resplendent beauty of a very ‘Bridgerton’ night!

‘Bridgerton’ the Show:

If you’ve been on my blog for a little while, you may already know that I am a huge fan of regency era fiction. ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is my favorite book of all time and the accompanying movie starring Keira Knightley is also one of my favorite movies of all time. I was a little off put by ‘Bridgerton’ though, because of a number of things. For one, the modern music in regency England threw me off and for another, I heard it could be pretty vulgar. Which I don’t always mind, it just depends on what I’m watching. But I was interested because of the much needed diversity in the show. So when my Mom wanted to go to an immersive experience that took place in regency era England for her birthday, I was immediately excited and set to work getting to know the material I was going to walk into. To be perfectly frank, I thought ‘Bridgerton’ was fine. I didn’t dislike it! I actually really love some of the characters; Penelope, Eloise, Benedict, and Lady Danbury to be more specific. But any of the characters I didn’t like, I just couldn’t get behind at all. The main purpose of this show is meant to be romance, and I found the romances in both currently released seasons to be really toxic. I just couldn’t get behind either couple or any of the leads as individuals either. But I will give you that the setting was breathtaking and some of the plot lines were at least intriguing. It wasn’t at all a painful watch to prepare for this, but I didn’t find it was everything it had been hyped up to be.

‘Bridgerton’ at the Biltmore:

This experience won’t be in Los Angeles for much longer, so I’ll assume that if you haven’t gone you probably won’t be able to go at the time of posting this. But I have to say, if you are able to go to some version of this experience you are really going to want to dress up. I was warned ahead of time that people take the costuming for all ‘Bridgerton’ immersive experiences very seriously. And as someone who has cosplayed in the past and always goes all out on any occasion I can, I was determined to take this just as seriously. I went in a replica of Hermione Granger’s Yule Ball gown (I told you I’m a geek) and a matching flower crown and I thankfully did not feel underdressed. The Biltmore Hotel is also a very gorgeous hotel, super intricate and very large, you’re really going to want to spend some time walking the lobby because it’s too beautiful of an experience to pass up. I cannot stress this enough though; DO NOT go alone. Really you should never walk the streets of LA alone ever, but the parking structure is very creepy (flickering lights, ominously opening elevator, the whole ordeal), the streets going up to the Biltmore are not super well lit, and they aren’t always very busy either. I should also say that do not expect this to be like the ‘Secret Cinema’ event taking place in the UK. This does not have quests and multiple full sets for you to explore. It’s immersive, but you more just take in the experience than actually get to LARP. Though I would have loved to LARP.

‘Bridgerton’ the Experience:

You walk in through the beautifully lit ‘Bridgerton’ tree to a separate lobby once you’re called in and this is where your journey really begins. As you’re waiting for the show to start, there’s plenty to see. The hallway you enter into is absolutely lined with costumes from the show, including a small boutique you can head into to see even more costumes. I found Daphne’s costumes to be particularly intricate and beautiful. There’s a small terrace outside that’s decorated like a regency garden; it’s a small space but it is complete with a fountain and a few flower archways. Inside there’s a giant flower gazebo for pictures where you can pose with your true love. And an entirely different hall where you can take a picture sitting on a plush red sofa with a beautiful painting above it. Or take pictures with your loved ones that are given an effect to make you look like a painting yourself. This gorgeous hallway is where you greet and bow to the Queen as she passes, and that sofa is where she watches lines of hopefuls bow to her to choose her diamond of the evening. After this, everyone is led into a large dance hall where you see two characters fall in love through dance and are taught quite a few dances yourself. After the diamond has officially been crowned, they start playing an actual DJ playlist so that everyone can just dance as they normally would. Before this they actually had a string quartet, which was extremely impressive. (The violinist was my favorite because she actually got up to dance a few times while playing!) The afterparty is what felt like prom, with everyone dancing. I definitely had fun on the dance floor after all of that! I loved that they just had a moment where you could let your hair down and not worry about how you look dancing anymore! I think my favorite parts were with the Bee performer though; she had some much needed energy and was really trying to get everyone involved. I also laughed hysterically when she came out. And there was another performer in a top hat I very much liked who always cleared the dance floor for the two actors by saying that they needed space for their “heterosexual moment”. I have no idea who he was, but I loved that guy.

‘Bridgerton’ the Scandal:

Ok, so while I absolutely loved the experience; here’s what I didn’t like so much. This experience is only ninety minutes, also unlike the ‘Secret Cinema’ event in the UK, which means there’s not a whole lot of time to do anything. Not everyone was able to present themself to the Queen with that giant of a line. I didn’t even try. There was also limited room on the dance floor for learning some of the dances too, though I did try my hand at one. So just know going in, you probably won’t be able to do everything. Also, the main characters of this experience weren’t actually ‘Bridgerton’ characters. The only canon characters were the Queen and the bee. So the couple you watch falling in love is not Daphne and Simon or Anthony and Kate. You could easily go into this experience not knowing anything at all about the show, which isn’t a good thing or a bad thing in my opinion. Some of the decorations for the show covered some of the natural beauty of the hotel as well. It was disappointing to see the more plain chandelier for the acrobatic performance when you looked above it and saw the gorgeously intricate chandelier built into the ceiling. My last critique isn’t much of a critique because I did thoroughly enjoy myself. But none of the songs for the afterparty were at all recent. My sister described it as feeling like an old prom playlist from 2015 and I couldn’t help but agree. But it was fun hearing those songs again!

I absolutely loved this experience! I am always up for any amount of immersion I can get in anything fictional, and regency era anything is always right up my alley. Also, fun fact about me, I never went to my High School prom. It just wasn’t something I was interested in when it came up and I ended up going to Disneyland with my friends in dresses instead. Going to this made me feel like I had actually been to a prom, but with better dresses, a better venue, and far better decorations than any school prom could ever afford. It was just fun! It wasn’t anything mind-blowing or profound, but there’s something to be said about the let-your-hair-down sort of fun that this ended up being. And the sets only made it that much better! While I would much rather wait around for a ‘Secret Cinema’ event to pop up in LA again rather than going to another event like this; I would go to something like this again in a heartbeat if it revolved around something I or someone that was close to me was interested in. If you can catch it before it leaves or you find an event like this in your area and are interested, by all means go! I guarantee you’ll have fun! Just don’t expect LARP level immersion or any particularly juicy scandals.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Star Wars: ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ So Far

Screenshot of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi in episode 2 of ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’. Copyright goes to Lucasfilm and Walt Disney Pictures.

Hey! Hallie here!

The first half of the six-episode ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ series is now out and it’s so much more than I expected it to be. I’m over the moon that Ewan McGregor’s back in the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi and he’s making me fall in love with the character all over agin. I’m also so excited to see Star Wars fans putting aside past criticisms to give Hayden Christensen the warm welcome he should have received back in the prequel days. So far, this show is full of very welcome surprises, lovely character dynamics, and amazing writing. I do have a few gripes, though. One of them not being aimed at the show, but instead aimed at the toxic part of the Star Wars fandom that remains just as successful at making new and old fans alike ashamed of the fandom’s reputation. I’m going to talk about all of it below, but as this is a review there will be MAJOR SPOILERS ahead. Seriously, the marketing for this show did its best to keep one specific character a secret, and if you want those secrets to remain hidden from you I wouldn’t go any further.

Controversy:

First up, let’s get another “humans being horrible to one another” story out of the way. Ever since the trailer dropped, fans have been attacking Inquisitor Reva and by extension Moses Ingram, the actress who plays her. Why? Many fanboys would tell you that it’s because Reva’s annoying. But they really didn’t have that excuse back when we only had trailers. No, all the criticism is very clearly because she’s a Black woman. Some have been comparing her to Joffrey from ‘Game of Thrones’ despite the fact that she’s done nothing that can at all be compared to what Joffrey did in that show. Others have been questioning her status as part of the Inquisitors for no discernible reason. All of it is an overreaction that’s clearly targeted at something other than the character. The Star Wars social media accounts themselves had to put out posts telling people to stop attacking Ingram and fully calling out the behavior as racist. Those posts came along with the information that Ingram was warned by Lucasfilm that she would get this kind of reaction because Star Wars fans have been so racist in the past. Ingram herself also shared some of the death threats she’s been receiving. After all of this was revealed, Ewan McGregor recorded a message for Star Wars fans telling them that racists aren’t welcome in the fandom. As he should. But guess what? That isn’t all. Because Vivien Lyra Blair has also been viciously attacked for being too outspoken and annoying to be Leia. As if Leia was never headstrong or stubborn. As if Leia didn’t muscle a blaster away from someone who was trying to rescue her, found her own escape route, and yelled at her rescuers for doing a shoddy job. Attacking a little girl is another level of low, but Star Wars fans always seem to find new depths to sink to. It needs to stop.

What I Liked:

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Now that that’s over with, let’s talk about the star of the show! Obi-Wan is broken man at the start of this series. He works a mundane job where he has to steal in order to get enough food, but he doesn’t help the other workers who are suffering even though he wants to. He can’t draw attention to himself. The Inquisitors are too good at hunting down and killing Jedi, and they’re getting way too close to Luke for Obi-Wan to risk much of anything. So he lives in a cave, refuses to use the force, and doesn’t talk to anyone except for a Jawa and Owen. And Owen doesn’t let Obi-Wan talk to him most of the time. There’s a very real helplessness that surrounds Obi-Wan, paired with the guilt he carries for the way Anakin turned out. It’s devastating to watch. Fortunately for him, Bail Organa shoves him back into action when Leia is kidnapped, refusing to take no for an answer. Once Obi-Wan starts the Leia rescue mission we start to see more of the man we knew. With or without the force, he’s dangerous in close quarters. His fight scenes in episode two are a delight to watch, especially when he uses witty moves like incapacitating his opponents with drugs. Once he finds Leia he’s very strict with her, but he quickly realizes that his behavior comes across as antagonistic to a little girl who doesn’t know him. Seeing him actively attempt to be gentler with her feels like his kindness coming through once more, and the way he’s slowly warming to her quick thinking and independence is a highlight of the entire series. I couldn’t hide my smile when he finally decided to use the force in order to save Leia’s life. And when Darth Vader arrives in episode three, he’s willing to lay his life on the line for her escape. I loved the battle with Vader too, not just because we got to see Obi-Wan use his lightsaber, but also because we got an accurate look at how rusty his skills have become. It was painful to watch, but necessary to establish. I look forward to a full-fledged fight between these two soon.

Leia Organa: Leia is my favorite Star Wars character of all time and I was giddy when I realized that Leia is the secondary main character of this series. From her first moments on screen she’s a complete delight. She’s too adventurous to like senator training, but as Bail tells her, that only makes her a better candidate. She also refuses to take abuse and, as such, dresses down her cousin in one sentence with a burn to rival Anakin’s. SO Leia. But she also refuses to apologize and can be frustrating to her parents because of her disregard for decorum. These flaws make sense not just for Leia, but for a little girl who’s constantly reminded by everyone that her parents aren’t her “real” parents and that she isn’t a “real” Organa. Her struggles make it obvious why she decides to run away from the formal event she’s been roped into, even though it results in her kidnapping. We all already know that kidnapping Leia never ends well for anyone, though. In fact, she ends up ambushing Obi-Wan when he arrives to her cell to rescue her. She initially doesn’t trust Obi-Wan and granted, doesn’t have much reason to. But as he grows closer to her, she begins to see a more genuine man behind the stern mask and puts her faith in him. Once she does, she becomes an asset to her own rescue. Her quick lies are just as entertaining as her refusal to remain passive in high-risk situations. Especially when she randomly threw out something as genius as her mother’s recent passing when Obi-Wan called her by the wrong name. Which also led to a heartbreaking conversation about Padme that only emphasized her confusion about her family. As the episodes go on she seems more and more ready to embrace the Organa name. She even tearfully tells Obi-Wan that she shouldn’t have run away in episode three. But we’ll see if she’s in need of rescue again now that she’s facing a force user.

Reva: We don’t know much about Reva yet, but she’s a badass. We know she has a strange obsession with Obi-Wan, which is a mystery I can’t wait for the show to unravel. We also know that she’s the only Inquisitor to get anything done. Instead of strutting around and handing out vague threats, Reva sets traps and takes action whenever she sees the opportunity. Sometimes she’s reckless and a bit brutal, not that any other Dark Side user can’t say the same. But often, she’s the only one who can come anywhere close to finding the Jedi the Inquisitors are supposed to be hunting. I mean, she had the foresight to hunt down one of Obi-Wan’s old friend’s daughters in order to lure him out, almost successfully captured him twice, and now single-handedly found the tunnels the Rebellion had been using to smuggle Jedi off-world. She also captured Leia on her own. Reva never leaves a stone unturned and never leaves a lead to run cold. She’s not all knowing, but she is intelligent enough to never let her enemy get a step in front of her. Regardless of the way the other Inquisitors look down on her, she deserves to be the leader of the Inquisitors.

What I Dislike:

The Inquisitors: This shouldn’t be surprising after all the praise I gave Reva. I really liked the concept of the Inquisitors in ‘Star Wars: Rebels’. They felt dangerous, unhinged, and abnormally intelligent. The Inquisitors are a special task force that operate outside of any laws or rules, and because of that I never knew what to expect when one showed up in ‘Rebels’ to terrorize the heroes. In this show, they’re useless. All they do is give haughty speeches, glare at people, and get angry at Reva for actually doing something productive. Often times they’ll talk about how superior they are to Reva, but then never do anything to make themselves of any value to the Empire. It was really satisfying to see Reva stab the Grand Inquisitor in episode one even though he obviously can’t be dead.

Those are my thoughts on ‘Obi-Wan’ Kenobi so far! I’m really liking this series. It manages to be very tense even though our two main characters have some serious plot armor. Its main characters and main villain are connected in a way I find extremely satisfying to watch. More than any other Star Wars series so far it feels like a movie. Which makes sense given that it was initially planned as a movie. I can’t wait to see more of Hayden Christensen and I really can’t wait to see Obi-Wan’s confidence grow to the point that it’s at in the original trilogy. And hell yes to more little Leia!

Don’t so anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

BTS: The White House and Updates

Image of (from left) Kim Taehyung, Jeon Jungkook, Park Jimin, Kim Namjoon, Kim Seokjin, Jung Hoseok, and Min Yoongi. Copyright goes to BBC and BTS.

Hi! It’s Annie!

We’ve had a few updates on ‘Proof’; by the time this releases I’m sure there will be plenty more that I haven’t talked about. But the major piece I want to cover today is BTS at the White House. I don’t think pride even slightly covers what I felt at their appearance. They continue to be completely good hearted, well spoken, and a fixture of hope for so many of us. On top of that, we have more pictures regarding ‘Proof’ in various amazing styles with a lot of theories behind some of them. And even more than that, we’ve gotten more first hand accounts of how the BTS boys are behind the scenes from someone who worked in wardrobe during the ‘ON’ MV. This only included a few accounts of the members, but I wanted to talk about it because it warmed by heart to read! So, without further ado, I will just get right into it!

The White House:

BTS appeared at the very beginning of the press conference and if any of them were at all nervous, you absolutely couldn’t tell. They walked in at the very start, and all of them looked pretty intimidating standing around the podium. The image itself seemed to still the entire conference room before they spoke. And though they only spoke for a short while, their message came across. They not only spoke on their heartbreak over Asian hate crimes and the incredible importance of addressing them, but also talked about the growing number of all hate crimes. They expanded their speech to advocate for the protection of all minority groups, and their message was felt by watchers and a crowd of people who seemed to be stunned at the seven men standing in front of them. I would be too! At the very end of their speech several reporters yelled out questions, though they were cut off and the boys left not long afterwards. Personally, I felt a good amount of satisfaction seeing that the press wasn’t really allowed to ask questions. I don’t generally trust any form of American interviewers with BTS, especially not political interviewers. But Namjoon very cutely apologizing for not being able to answer questions causing himself and the room to laugh was a highlight for me. Our leader can be dead serious one second and adorably endearing in the next. Each member of BTS spoke so well and I also want to give the translator a shout out for translating in both Korean and English. I can’t even describe how proud I am among so many other strong feelings to see them up there and advocating for a better world. They give us so much hope and I’m sure things like this are nerve-wracking and difficult for them. They did so incredibly well! I seriously almost cried seeing them surround that podium. And I can’t stop thinking about the face Yoongi made when he saw those notes. It was hilarious!

Backlash: I want to talk for a minute about the very privileged backlash that has come out regarding BTS’s speech and overall appearance at the White House. Some American representatives were apparently outraged at their general appearance and talked about how if they were there then they should have had opinions on issues like gas prices and border security (???). To which I would say; why? They were not there to discuss those issues, they were invited to a conference to specifically talk about the issues involving Asians. If you’re going to complain at least read the hundreds of articles that detail why they were there in the first place. Just read. On top of this, several people have said that they can’t talk about racism in the US if they don’t live here. Again I ask; why??? They’ve experienced racism in America to an alarming degree and they’ve spent a good amount of time here. They’ve been called every racist term in the book by radio hosts, interviewers, and even politicians. Can Asians not talk about the racism that they face here if they don’t live here permanently? What about international students? Not only that, but they were talking about the rise of Asian hate crimes everywhere due to the racist blame by mostly white people that has happened as a result of Covid. This is a problem that isn’t just happening in America, it is happening internationally, and it is very Americanly ignorant for all of these people in the US to narrow their vision to only the country they live in. It’s funny how much people would learn if they only did a simple internet search.

‘Proof’ Concept Photos:

We’ve seen a lot of different kinds of concept photos for the upcoming album and the duality of the boys here is nothing short of breathtaking. From the angelic photos with the beautiful see-through fabrics, to the dark costumes that emanate their very first looks. The shields with bullet holes in them have specifically been garnering attention. Each member has a different amount of damage on their particular shield. Namjoon seems to have the most bullet holes of everyone’s, prompting people to say that this may represent the fact that the bullets have to go through the leader first in order to then get to the other members. Many also talked about how Namjoon used to not translate bad comments to the others or, in some interviews, even translated the hateful comments into good things instead. Yoongi also seems to have a fair few bullet holes in his which some have connected to his past struggles that he’s been very open about sharing. Taehyung also has a fair few, though they are more scattered. Jimin’s shield is one of the most startling with not only bullet holes in his, but also massive tears in the shield itself. If these tears do represent struggles, I wouldn’t assume anything as Jimin hasn’t really talked about this. Meaning, it isn’t really for us to talk about. Jungkook, Hobi, and Jin have fewer bullet holes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they haven’t struggled. In fact, it doesn’t mean that at all. While it is fun to theorize about what these concept photos could mean, it is also important to not diminish other members’ struggles because of what you perceive these concept photos to stand for. All of these are fan theories, they haven’t been confirmed. We’ll only know for certain if the boys choose to talk about these photos eventually. But it is fun to see how much interaction and attention these photos have been getting because of fan theories! It’s also nice to see a couple of call backs to their debut. For example, Namjoon has two shaved lines that mirror a part of his hairstyle from their debut. The angelic photos are amazing as well, I especially have to shout out Jungkook who’s styled hair absolutely came for me when these photos were released. And Hobi’s poses only look more and more stunning with each and every photoshoot. They all look so good! It really isn’t fair!

Seeing BTS in Person:

Someone who worked in wardrobe on the ‘ON’ MV has recently come out to talk about some specific members. While the anonymous worker was working on costuming, she seemed to have a few interactions with some of the members. She had seen all of them, and commented that they all were breathtaking in person, but she only (as of writing this post) had something to say about three of the members specifically. She said that she helped specifically on Jimin’s costume, that she thought she had messed up with distressing the costume too much, but that Jimin pulled it off because he was so stunning that he made anything look great on him. Can’t say I’m surprised! The boys are heart-stoppingly handsome! She worked in a vicinity not that far from Hobi and described him as literal sunshine. He seemed to make everyone around him happy and was particularly playful with Jungkook. The only member she actually talked to was Namjoon. She went to get a coffee around the same time he did and he politely conversed with her and asked how she was doing. She said she was too nervous to say much of anything to him, but I guarantee any of us would feel the same in that situation! It’s difficult to imagine Namjoon walking up to me and just politely talking with me! Obviously, a great example of the wonderfully kind behavior we’ve come to expect from the boys. It’s always nice to hear how amazingly nice these boys are to everyone! Some TikTok creators saw them in the US as well when they came for their White House appearance. Specifically Jin, Hobi, Tae, and Jimin. I just want to say that I’m so glad that ARMY continues to give BTS their space no matter what. They deserve it and it shows just how much respect this fandom truly does have for the boys.

By the time this post comes out it will be somewhere around when the MV and the new album releases. I’m sure we’ll have a full review of both coming up very soon! For now we’ll just be enjoying these amazing pieces from BTS over and over again until we post about it. But I can’t describe how proud I am of all of their accomplishments. All of their appearances at the UN, the US, and as the Presidential Envoy in South Korea. As well as the fact that they’ve gotten to the point where we can have an anthology album. I always anticipate everything they do and they always leave us with more hope in out hearts than when we first discovered them. I don’t think many of us could even put into words what they mean to all of us and I’m always amazed with all of the creativity and heart that they put into every project. Now I will stop crying over the keyboard for a second to say a big thank you to BTS!

Update: I forgot to say that my sister and I will be on vacation for the next couple weeks! As usual that means you’ll get one week of preplanned posts and one week off from our blog. But we’ll have plenty to say, probably mostly about BTS, when we get back! Look forward to those posts!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Sci-Fi: ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Episode 3-4 Review

Screenshot of Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. M’Benga and Rebecca Romjin as Una Chin-Riley (Number One). Copyright goes to Paramount Pictures and Roddenberry Entertainment.

Hey! Hallie here!

I promised this review and I love this show too much to pass up talking about any episode, so here it finally is! As for the next review covering episodes five and six, I’m going to forewarn you here that this blog will be silent for a week in June due to vacation so that review might also be delayed slightly. But we’ll be back before you even notice we’re gone! In any case, this series has yet to disappoint. Every episode is full of excellent writing, interesting concepts, and some of the best character work in all of Star Trek. I really can’t get enough of ‘Strange New Worlds’! In the latest episodes we finally got an episode entirely focused on Una Chin-Riley, which I’ve been anticipating since the first episode, as well as a perfectly suspenseful take on the Gorn. I can’t wait to get into these reviews so here’s your SPOILER WARNING. Onto episode three!

“Ghosts of Illyria”:

Una Chin-Riley: Una gets to run the Enterprise on her own in this episode and it’s very clear why she’s second in command. She’s meticulous, probably more so than Pike, and very protective of her crew. These traits are really helpful when she realizes she has to deal with a ship-wide disease that’s leading most of the crew to put themselves in serious danger in search of heat. But she also provides one of the largest mysteries in the entire episode. At the very beginning of the episode we see her develop the same symptoms that other crew members display when they get the disease. But all it does is envelop her and disappear. She then lies about experiencing any symptoms at all when she’s first asked by Dr. M’Benga. All of this leads up to the reveal that she’s an Illyrian, the bioengineered alien species they were attempting to study at the beginning of the episode. I adore this reveal, not just as an explanation for her super strength, but also as a criticism of some of Star Fleet’s views. She struggles with guilt over her identity, especially when La’an Noonien-Singh comes down with the illness and accuses her of lying to everyone while attempting to fight her way to a heat source. This fight is probably my favorite part of the episode. It’s the first time we get to see Una use her super strength to the fullest, catching punches in mid air and picking up La’an like she weighs nothing. As the episode ends her guilt and loyalty to her crew lead her to approach Pike with the goal of resigning but, as we all know, she’s too badass to let go of so Pike refuses her resignation and tells her that her species if wrongfully judged. Una owns this episode with both her physical and emotional strength, and I do love a good second-in-command takes over episode.

Dr. M’Benga: M’Benga is a secondary character in this episode, but he provides yet another major mystery in the show. The disease spread that occurs throughout the episode is immediately established as being nearly impossible because of the transporters. The transporters should have filtered out the disease entirely. While this isn’t the major concern of the crew left behind in this episode, it confuses Una enough that she keeps it in the back of her mind until the end of the episode. When she discovers that the medical bay transporter was responsible for letting the disease through because the biofilters weren’t updated in favor of something M’Benga’s hiding in its code. At first this feels like a betrayal. M’Benga risked everyone’s lives in order to hide something for himself, and after he’s been such a supportive and amazing doctor throughout the entire episode. But then it’s revealed that what he’s hiding is his daughter who he’s managed to trap inside the transporter, effectively holding her in stasis until he can find the cure for her deadly disease. This reveal is heartbreaking, and it’s even more heartbreaking when he admits that he’s endangering everyone and instantly resolves to stop what he’s doing once he’s confronted. Fortunately for him, Una manages to find a way around the problem and he ends the episode reading a book to his daughter. His backstory is just the right amount of emotional and his personality is just the right amount of likable that I’m very much anticipating a solo episode for him.

Spock and Pike:

The secondary storyline in this episode follows Spock and Pike, who don’t manage to get transported to the Enterprise in time to outrun the major storm that’s messing with the Enterprise transporters. They’re forced to wait out the storm in a cave while the ominous figures of light they spotted surrounding the storm bang on the door. This story isn’t given too much time, but it connects well to the main story. Firstly, I really love how Pike irritates Spock in this scenario. Pike’s eagerness to get back to his struggling crew makes him eager to find a way to muscle his way out, but Spock instantly turns to the writings left behind in the cave for knowledge. These separate responses are very in character and simultaneously bewilder each other to very amusing results. I also liked the twist that the frightening creatures banging on the door were actually attempting to save Pike and Spock the entire time. Not just that, but they were once Illyrians, which puts Pike in just the right space to give Una the pep-talk at the end of the episode. This wasn’t a long story, but it was fun to watch.

‘Memento Mori’:

La’an Noonien-Singh: This was the opportunity for her character to win me over and, though she isn’t my new favorite character or anything, I definitely like her more after this episode. This episode is really about her childhood trauma. She lost her family to the horrific acts of the Gorn, and it’s later revealed that her brother, who was attempting to escape with her, willingly sacrificed himself to the Gorn for her. This background makes the entire episode play out like a suspense-thriller with her at the center. The first time the Gorn are described, particularly the clicking sounds they make, gives us a chilling moment where the sound dulls so all we hear is the clicking paired with La’an’s jagged breathing. Everywhere she turns, she sees her dead brother. She first-hand witnesses sudden attacks on the ship that leave innocent civilians dead within the blink of an eye. But this episode doesn’t lean too far into horror. It actually makes a point of focusing on strategy. The Gorn’s strategy comes first and foremost, presenting the terrifying prospect of a ship that is hard to detect, waits until the Enterprise can’t raise their shields at all, and can run down the ship until they’re low on resources. But La’an is an excellent strategist too, and you can’t help but admire her ability to know what the Gorn are going to do before they do it. The friendships she forges with Pike and Spock also help her character out quite a bit. Pike helps her deal with her trauma, offering both encouragement and support, and plays off of her advice well with some really witty moves of his own. Meanwhile, Spock’s recent loss of his sister endears him to La’an’s situation and vice versa, which is a surprisingly effective way to use ‘Discovery’. These friendships mean that she feels like a more solid part of the crew by episode end.

Uhura and Hemmer: There are a few different groups who are trapped together in this episode, but the biggest stand-out is the pairing of Uhura and Hemmer. I haven’t really gotten to talk about Hemmer yet, but I really do love this character. He’s an Aenar, which are a subspecies of Andorians that are canonically blind. Andorians really are some of the best characters in Star Trek, aren’t they? Hemmer is a really gruff guy on the outside, somewhat understandably because people get in his way often. Still, I was really waiting to see the softness behind that hard shell, and it turns out Uhura was the best person to bring it out. But really, who couldn’t like Uhura? The scenario that forces these two to work together comes about when the Enterprise is attacked by the Gorn. At the time Uhura’s in the middle of an engineering test being given by Hemmer, but the entire thing turns more dire when Hemmer breaks his hand during the attack just when the coolant system goes offline in the bay they’re in. Not only are Uhura and Hemmer trapped in position by debris, but Hemmer clearly can’t fix anything by himself. Which leads to Hemmer having to teach Uhura how to fix the issue instead. He winds up being a surprisingly good teacher in a pinch, and is only helped along by Uhura’s infectious positivity. He even shares with her wisdom on both ones natural calling as well as the fear of death. In the end they wind up having to vent the bay entirely, a dangerous venture with the both of them in it, but the two manage to successfully tether themselves down. Seeing these two reassuringly grasp hands as they’re put at the mercy of the vacuum of space wound up being my favorite moment of the episode, though Pike’s relief when he hears they’re alive is a close second.

Obviously I don’t really have any complaints about these episodes, or any episodes so far. All of the concepts they’ve tackled have been done perfectly, and the characters are already some of my favorites in all of Star Trek. Pike might just be my favorite Star Trek Captain. And that’s only after four episodes. This is genuinely one of my favorite projects of any franchise that’s come out recently and I can’t wait for more!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Books: The Myth of Eros and Psyche

‘The Abduction of Psyche’ by William Adolphe Bouguereau.

Hi! It’s Annie!

After seeing ‘Hadestown’ a few days ago, I have fully immersed myself once again in Greek mythology. It’s definitely one of my favorite forms of classic literature to dive into! And for years now, no Greek tale has been quite as interesting to me as the tale of Eros (otherwise known as Cupid) and Psyche. It could be because Greek mythology and folklore is well known for its tragedy and this is one of the only stories that actually (surprisingly) ends happily. I’m not a huge fan of depressing endings; I much prefer a happy one. And the story of Eros and Psyche is not only one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read, it also is the inspiration for many fairytales that we know and love today. The story also includes the most depth we get on the actual character of Eros, who is an often misinterpreted mythological figure. So I’m actually going to go into the tale itself, the figures within it and who they actually are, and how this amazing myth has effected so many other beloved stories we all know! This is a MAJOR SPOILER warning for if you do not know the myth and want to read an official version.

Eros:

Before I go into the story, I want to talk about the characters! And none so much as Eros, one of the most misinterpreted gods in Greek mythology. Modern media portrays Cupid as a baby angel in a diaper carrying a bow and arrow. Always lighthearted and a very pure image of what love is. This is not how Eros has ever been portrayed in any of the original myths; in fact Eros was one of the most feared Greek gods in mythology. This was for several reasons, the first of which being that he was one of the only gods who actually had the power to effect other gods because of the power of his arrows. Yes, they were that powerful. Eros was also actually more of a mischief god than anything else; while he could grant a mortal or god love he could also grant them suffering by forcing them to love an inconvenient person, or worse, a deadly creature. On top of that his mother, Aphrodite herself, often used him as her hound, to enact revenge on mortals or gods that had wronged her. Eros never took the appearance of a baby. He was described to look like a young man, the fairest of the gods even, but with wings. Despite Eros’s great power and freedom among the gods to do what he pleased as none of them wanted to be on his bad side, he was often described as being fairly lonely. Often not finding companionship with men or other gods, partly because of how much he was feared. Is it just me, or is that so much more interesting than a weird baby in a diaper?

Psyche:

A very beautiful mortal whose beauty becomes so renowned that men travel from afar to see it for themselves. Unfortunately, this also leads many mortals to say that she’s more beautiful than Aphrodite. If you know anything about Aphrodite at all, saying something like that is usually a death sentence for the recipient of the compliment in Greek tales. This on top of the fact that people began giving Psyche their gifts originally meant to be offerings for Aphrodite was just the icing on the cake of her fury. But Psyche did not mean for this to happen, nor was she happy about it. Psyche was also unable to ever fall in love with a mortal man and others falling in love with her was just as impossible. Men could only admire, but never truly love her. Making her just as lonely as Eros, but also unknowingly opening her up to falling in love with an immortal man. When her parents fear that she will never have any marriage prospects, they take her to see an oracle who tells her that her future husband will be a monster who even the gods fear. (Still unconvinced that Eros was actually a badass?) She is told to go and wait on a cliff for her husband, which most of the village accepts as her death, but she is instead taken by the winds up to Eros’s palace.

‘Beauty and the Beast’:

The fairytale to take inspiration from this myth the most by far is actually ‘Beauty and the Beast’. Obviously, Eros fell in love with Psyche after Aphrodite sent him to make her fall in love with a horrific and dangerous creature and he could not complete the task. But arranging for Psyche to come stay with him is difficult. Firstly, part of it is to keep her hidden from Aphrodite. But also, Psyche is not allowed to see him at all meaning that he can only visit her when it’s dark outside. Psyche is still under the impression that she’s been taken to a monster, taking the words of the oracle very literally even though they probably weren’t meant that way. Trapped in a palace with a monster. Sound familiar?

‘Cinderella’:

As Psyche is only allowed a little time to spend with her new husband, she is still very lonely and misses her family. Cue Eros allowing her to invite her two sisters, who very much remind me of two other fairytale sisters. Immediately jealous upon seeing how their sister is now living, they encourage her to find out the identity of her husband. Ultimately convincing her that he was still a monster who would probably kill her any night he chose. Of course, Psyche does the stupid thing and lights a candle to look at Eros, which drips oil on him, waking him up and causing him to leave, hurt by the betrayal.

‘Rumplestiltskin’:

One of the more interesting points of this myth is that it is one of the only ones that involves a woman going through Greek trials. After Psyche misleadingly goes to Aphrodite for help getting Eros back, she is forced to do four tasks. Though Psyche is taken pity on and helped through all of these tasks. The first one is actually to sort through piles of seeds, which is the exact task that is set for the protagonist of ‘Rumplestiltskin’.

‘The Little Mermaid’:

Though this one is less of the original tale and more of more recent adaptations; this one is also pretty obvious to me. Having a powerful being give a woman a certain amount of time to earn her man or become a slave has been used in many versions of the ‘The Little Mermaid’. Considering that this even ends with the “Prince” coming to help her with the final battle at the end, makes this even more obvious to me. Eros eventually frees himself from where Aphrodite has locked him the entire time Psyche has been completing these tasks, and saves Psyche. Eventually standing up to his mother himself before Zeus intervenes.

‘The Sleeping Beauty’:

The final task that Eros saves Psyche from? She retrieves “beauty” from Persephone on the request of Aphrodite and after a harrowing journey to the underworld, Psyche is nervous about meeting Eros in her severely beaten state. She opens the box of “beauty” which turns out to be more like death or rather a deep sleep. Though Eros uses his powers to wake her up, this is thought to be where the idea of waking someone from deep sleep with true love comes from.

The story ends with Zeus giving Psyche immortal life so she can live out her days with Eros with the ability of actually seeing him this time. Like I said, it ends happily! But I was surprised I hadn’t heard about this story sooner than I had, especially because it is one of the lesser known myths despite how influential it has been. This story is literally all of our favorite fairytales wrapped into one! But considering ‘Beauty and the Beast’ has always been one of my favorites, I find it odd that nobody seems to talk about its origins. Not to mention the idea of a lonely immortal god falling in love with a lonely mortal woman is an absolutely beautiful concept. I wish we’d have more adaptations of this myth in particular, because what we do have is very few and far between. I hope that this myth will eventually get the recognition it deserves so that I can finally read a full book adaptation of it in the future.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Live Entertainment: ‘Hadestown’ Tour Review

Professional photo of Kevyn Morrow as Hades, Nicholas Barasch as Orpheus, and Kimberly Marable as Persephone. Photo by T Charles Erickson and copyright goes to Concord Theatricals.

Hey! Hallie here!

There’s so much to talk about right now. The first two episodes of ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ just dropped, the first part of ‘Stranger Things’ season 4 is now out, and we’ve been given more episodes of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’. We’ll be talking about at least some of it really soon on this blog, but today my favorite musical of all time takes precedent. I had the great pleasure of seeing ‘Hadestown’ yesterday! The past few weeks have been really rough for many of us and ‘Hadestown’ was a birthday gift that came at just the right time for me. I’ve also been dying to see it for around four years now, ever since I discovered it while pursuing my Theatre undergrad degree and clung to it during the harder parts of the program. Needless to say, I had extremely high expectations. This touring cast met those expectations and then exceeded them. I don’t think I’ve smiled so widely during an entire show in the way I did during ‘Hadestown’. The story, the direction, and the performances were nothing less than perfection. So strap in for a lot of praise because I have very little negative things to say about what I saw last night. WARNING: If you haven’t seen this show yet and want to go in blind, I would avoid this post.

The Story:

I’ve gushed about this story many times before so I’ll keep this relatively simple. ‘Hadestown’ is a retelling of the tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice from Greek mythology. For those who don’t know the story, it focuses on newlyweds Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus, the main character, is the son of a muse and is known for the beautiful music he makes. Which comes in handy when Eurydice is bitten by a snake and dies. Orpheus goes down to the underworld to retrieve her, and his music is so beautiful and sorrowful that all of the gods decide to protect him on his journey down. Once he arrives in the underworld, his music also wins over Hades and Persephone. Hades agrees to let Eurydice go, but she must walk behind Orpheus on the way out and he can’t turn to look at her or else she’ll return to the underworld forever. But this is a tragedy so, of course, Orpheus begins to doubt Hades and turns around, losing his only chance to rescue Eurydice.

‘Hadestown’ tells this same story. They even alert you in the first song that the ending is no less tragic than what we all expect. But it adds depth to the story and the characters. Orpheus is no longer a classic Greek hero, but is instead a nervous kid whose optimism endears him to all he meets. Eurydice is a world-hardened girl who falls in love with Orpheus in spite of her skepticism, but chooses to go down to Hadestown because she no longer wants to fear going hungry. Hades is no longer amiable, but a frightening tyrant who overworks the souls he rules over in order to bring comforts like light and warmth to Hadestown, a desperate move to appeal to Persephone so she won’t leave him as he fears she will. Persephone also plays a major role as Hades’ biggest skeptic and Orpheus’ biggest cheerleader, having become an alcoholic because of her strained marriage to Hades but striving to make things right for everyone. And of course, there’s the addition of Hermes who narrates the story and emphasizes the importance of keeping hope during hardship. It’s a beautiful retelling that cleverly parallels Orpheus and Eurydice’s new love with Hades and Persephone’s ancient one and encourages the audience to take up Orpheus’ optimism and work towards a better world. And even though the story ends in tragedy it still leaves the audience with hope, not just for Hades and Persephone’s rekindled love, but also for Orpheus and Eurydice’s story to maybe, one day, end happily.

The Cast:

Here we get to more specific things about the tour! There were no major changes to the cast the night I went, so I saw the touring cast I covered a few months ago! As someone who adores all of the original performances by all of the Broadway cast, I was somewhat frightened that I’d judge this cast too harshly or make my expectations too high. But this cast exceeded all of my expectations by quite a bit. First off, Nicholas Barasch was the sweetest Orpheus. He played clueless so well that he got some of the most laughs of the entire night. His sincerity was just as captivating, though. I was particularly floored by his performance of “If It’s True” which also showed off his amazing range, one of the most important parts of Orpheus’ character. Morgan Siobhan Green was an equally amazing Eurydice. She played Eurydice as the perfect mix between sarcastic and unsure, which is a really hard balance to find with such a headstrong but naive character. Her voice soared throughout the theatre during each song, especially “Wedding Song”. She didn’t do one of the riffs I enjoy in “Wait For Me (reprise)”, but her beautiful voice well made up for it.

Next is the biggest surprise for me, Levi Kreis. I was skeptical about Levi Kreis when I heard he’d be playing Hermes. He was much younger than I expected and I worried he wouldn’t capture the flare and comfort Andre De Shields brings to the role. The moment Kreis came out on stage I was proved wrong. His voice was fun and playful, his humor enraptured the audience, and his presence was both comforting and so intimidating that he could stare down Hades and feel just as powerful as him. Kimberly Marable was just as perfect as I thought she would be as Persephone. She particularly shone during “Our Lady of the Underground”, where she took over the entire stage and felt so approachable that I instantly wanted a Persephone in my life. Whenever Persephone and Hermes spent time together in the corner of the stage, I knew where I wanted to be. Kevyn Morrow was Hades and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had heard amazing things about him, but Patrick Page’s deep range isn’t easily replicable. I can confidently say this wasn’t an issue for Kevyn Morrow. His low notes in “Hey Little Songbird” were so on point that I was fangirling in my seat. He also played a much less stoic Hades, instead portraying more humor, sometimes of the sinister variety, making his more stoic moments very intimidating. Belen Moyano, Bex Odorisio, and Shea Renne were such fun Fates. They bounced off of each other incredibly well and were bone chillingly frightening when need be. “When the Chips Are Down” and “Word to the Wise” were some of my favorite songs of the night thanks to these ladies. And, of course, shout outs are due to both the ensemble and the band. I adored every single person on stage and each one earned my undivided attention at some point of the night. Good luck to Chibueze Ihuoma who is soon to take over Orpheus. I could already tell from just last night that he’ll be perfect for the role!

Staging:

This stage is beautiful in person. It doesn’t change much throughout the show, but it really doesn’t need to. The stage feels like a homey, energetic jazz bar. The stands on each side fit the band perfectly, involving them in the action but never putting them in the way of it. The spiral staircase up to the balcony is gorgeous and invokes New Orleans architecture. The use of the center of the stage, which is at first covered in tables for the cast to sit in but is then cleared to reveal a turn table with a circular center that remain still, works really well. The tables add to the bar feel of act one, but the turn tables add much needed tension to various numbers in act two. In the original production the center piece of the turn table is an elevator that takes characters to and from Hadestown. But, because not all theaters can accommodate this, this production has an elevator at the back of the set that can move up to the large door at the back of the balcony. It’s a clever use of the usual design of the stage, but sometimes feels out of place. Such as when Eurydice leaves Orpheus’ flower for him to find in the middle of the stage, which would have been where she disappeared to Hadestown in New York, but is nowhere near where she disappears in the touring show. But it doesn’t break immersion. I genuinely gasped when the stage split apart to represent Hadestown. The harsh lights changed the stage entirely and were especially effective during “Wait For Me”. And I can’t leave without talking about the hanging lights in “Wait For Me” as well, which are magical in person.

And that’s it! Seeing ‘Hadestown’ made my entire week. It’s the best experience I’ve ever had in the theatre and I hope all of you who are reading this manage to get to see it yourself. It leaves LA after tomorrow, unfortunately, but it will be moving to San Diego for a brief stint and then San Fransisco for a month before leaving the state and continuing around the country. Wherever you live, look out for this show! You will absolutely regret missing it!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

ATEEZ: ‘BEYOND: ZERO’ Mini Album

Image of the ‘BEYOND: ZERO’ cover. Copyright goes to ATEEZ and KQ Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I was made aware of this mini album existing way later than I usually expect for a group I actively follow. I have no idea what happened, but I didn’t even know this album was going to release until a couple days before it did! I feel like I’ve been living under a rock. Anyways, now I am safely back on track absolutely obsessed with every piece of content that was released for this album. From all the songs re-released in Japanese, to the brand new piece of music and song, to the brand new MV for ‘Rocky’ that was probably altogether too badass for human eyes. We’re still getting some promotional media for the album; such as the behind the scenes shorts of the individual members doing the photobook shoot for the album. I’m going to talk about all of it! Because it’s ATEEZ and everything that they do is absolute perfection. Anyways, if you were living under a rock as much as I was and haven’t given the new album, and especially the new song, a listen yet, I guarantee that it’s absolutely worth it!

‘Rocky’ MV:

This MV has a more raw style than what we usually see from the extremely cinematic ATEEZ, though it still manages to feel cinematic with the simpler style. And the simpler style fits the feel of ‘Rocky’ almost too perfectly. Of course, the members are dressed as Boxers in this MV, walking and dancing epically in boxing gear. Most of them are also a bit scratched and bruised, as if they jumped onto your screen after just having gotten into a fight. Is it connected to their main storyline? I’d say probably not. Though ‘Deja Vu’ is one of my favorite of their MVs and as far as we know, that one isn’t either. I do wonder where their storyline will go now that Halateez has been apparently killed off on ‘Kingdom’, but I always trust them to be creative. And this MV is another example of that. ATEEZ just continues to flaunt that they can pull off any style of music or MV. While we’re usually used to more props, this MV focuses completely on the dance aspect of their performance. Though we do see a boxing ring in the MV, the ring is usually made by ATEEZ themselves; as the boxing opponents jump off of them into the “ring” to face off. It’s just another example of how ATEEZ breaks every expectation when it comes to dance. Nobody is as high-energy and intricate as they are with their routines. And can I just say, having the full MV is so satisfying after having seen them perform this live as well as seeing their released practice video. It’s clear that they worked as hard on all of the elements of this song as they did for either of the main solos on the previous album. You don’t often see groups pushing their B-tracks as successfully as ATEEZ is with this one.

Intro (BEYOND: ZERO):

They always knock the intros to their albums out of the park. ATEEZ is well known for their storytelling abilities, and the cinematic music that introduces each album is a perfect example. This feels more like an anime intro with the calming melody that builds into an epic anthem. It really sets the tone for the rest of the album and I doubt I know of anyone who focuses so much on the thematic sound of an album than Hongjoong.

Deja Vu (Japanese Version), Turbulence (Japanese Version), Take Me Home (Japanese Version), Fireworks: I’m the One (Japanese Version):

These are all the songs we know and love but in Japanese to make it more accessible for Japanese fans. They are still as amazing as they always were, of course! And I was very excited to see that ‘Take Me Home’ was included in the album. That one isn’t usually considered as popular, but it’s probably one of my favorites from them and I’m excited to see the song getting more love!

‘Rocky’ (Boxers Version):

This is absolutely the ‘Boxers Version’, because it packs a punch. From the very beginning we’re met with more musical accompaniment from this song in the form of some really badass electric guitar. I seriously haven’t been able to stop listening to this version of the song since it released. I’m always a massive sucker for electric guitar in anything, but with different genres you do have to be careful with how it sounds with the rest of the song. This addition of electric guitar made me feel as though it had always been in the song. It fit so seamlessly! And it only serves to add more energy to an already energetic song. An energy that ATEEZ makes look easy with their just as energetic dancing.

‘The King’:

This is the new song that is included in the album, and I just about died after hearing it. I think we all know that ATEEZ is great at making heart-racing anthems and epic beats. But this song felt just as royal as the title. As soon as it started it felt like I had been transported into some cinematically epic medieval fight scene. This accompanied with the badass rap and high notes made this a song that feels like it could headline its own comeback. A lot of people have been talking about the epic nature of the song and how it feels a bit like it was created to be a performance song. The beat and the cinematic intro and outro is very typical to an ATEEZ performance. You know, the kind that always blows everyone else out of the water. Their performances really are the canons on their metaphorical pirate ship. Obviously, the MV and stand out for this album went to ‘Rocky’. Which completely makes sense. ‘Rocky’ is such a badass song and also one that I love so much. But now I really want to see a performance of ‘The King’ live. Whether they unveil one in some of their mysterious promotions soon or if they decide to include a performance in their next tour, I would be highly interested in anything they could do for this song. If their performance of it is anywhere near as epic as the song itself, I think this could very well be one of the best K-Pop performances any of us will see for ages.

Promotion:

We know we’ll get some more promotion for this album, but so far we’ve gotten a few behind the scenes shorts. Yunho’s was just released, we’ve already gotten Hongjoong and Seonghwa, and none of these shorts are fair. They looked so good in the MV! I’m still not sure if I currently have the funds to buy the mini album when I’m saving up for the tour they’ve hinted at for possibly later this year; but I’m not sure how those who have the photobook are surviving. Lately we’ve also gotten the beginning of the ‘Space Sailing’ interviews where they talked a little bit more about the things they like and dislike. I always like seeing idols answer some more fun and lighthearted questions and ATEEZ always look like they have so much fun doing it too! And here’s to hoping that we’ll see a performance of ‘The King’ sometime!

ATEEZ keeps pushing the bar higher and higher with everything that they release. I still have no idea how they’re under appreciated in some circles! They manage to combine storytelling, cinematography, and music. It’s very rare that we see so many forms of media so seamlessly combined. Every time they release anything I end up asking myself the same question. How can they possibly be this good??? It shouldn’t be humanly possible!! Anyways, this is perfection (as always) and go give it a listen if you haven’t!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Book Adaptations: ‘Good Omens’ and Good Queer Representation

Screenshot of Michael Sheen as Aziraphale and David Tennant as Crowley in ‘Good Omens’. Copyright goes to BBC Studios, Narrativia, The Blank Corporation, and Amazon Studios.

Hey! Hallie here!

‘Good Omens’ is probably my favorite streaming series of all time. It’s one of the perfect blends of excellent screenplay and incredible casting with some of the best chemistry between its two leads that I have ever seen in any show. I really can’t wait for the next season to come out. But from its first announcement, I have been very concerned about the show becoming an example of queerbaiting. This specific fear has been loudly voiced by many fans. We’ve heard from Michael Sheen, Neil Gaiman, and multiple other people that Aziraphale and Crowley love each other, with several references from Amazon Prime themselves that imply the relationship between these two characters is romantic. But all of those statements don’t mean anything if we don’t see anything in the show, as ‘Harry Potter’ fans very well know. However, this conversation is more complicated than it seems. What if Aziraphale and Crowley aren’t romantic, but are instead a queerplatonic couple? If this is the case, what constitutes as clear representation? Especially if we’re carrying forward Gaiman’s idea that neither Aziraphale or Crowley really have genders? And should we be bombarding Gaiman with questions before the season is even released? I’m going to try my best to tackle this whole complicated issue with some of my opinions thrown in there for good measure. Let’s get started!

Queerbaiting:

‘Our Flag Means Death’ in particular has started up a large amount of conversations about queerbaiting over the last few months. ‘Our Flag Means Death’ marked one of the first occasions where the two main male leads seemed to be interested in each other at the beginning of the show, and then were revealed to actually be romantically interested in each other by the end of the show. Going back through the episodes it was clear to all viewers that the show was telling a classic romance with its two leads. But the kiss between the leads still caught most fans off guard because we don’t see that in shows very often. What we usually get is something like ‘Supernatural’. We get two main characters of the same sex who seem like they might be interested in each other but either don’t start a relationship, get paired off in straight relationships, or are separated before anything can happen. Many franchises avoid being accused of queerbaiting by simply telling their audience that it’s cool if they think the two leads would make a good couple, but they aren’t intending to write them that way. ‘Good Omens’ isn’t one of those shows. In fact, they embrace the LGBTQ+ community who adores this series. Amazon Prime has labeled multiple YouTube videos containing moments in the series with jabs to the widely regarded romantic relationship between Aziraphale and Crowley. Michael Sheen has openly endorsed the couple on Twitter, retweeting fan art and fan theories, admitting to reading fanfiction, and even stating in multiple, multiple, interviews that Aziraphale is in love with Crowley. While David Tennant has made less statements like this, he’s been on board with the idea. But actors support queer couples all the time without writer support. Just look at Oscar Isaac. And this is where Neil Gaiman comes in.

Neil Gaiman:

‘Good Omens’ already isn’t a case of the actors being the only support for a main queer couple. Neil Gaiman has also voiced support for this idea. But his opinions on this entire situation seem to vary depending on the instance. He’s responded positively to fans theorizing that the relationship is romantic, platonic, and queerplatonic. Most recently he’s talked about a queerplatonic relationship, but the issue with choosing to represent this type of queer relationship is it requires explicit proof that both characters involved are queer. This, as well as an understanding that this type of relationship is different than a friendship. Which is not information most people in the entertainment industry seem to know. Whether or not Neil Gaiman knows this is unclear, but he seems unwilling to label Aziraphale and Crowley as queer, or anything else for that matter. He’s often responded to comments online indicating that the characters are gay with the argument that neither have a set gender. Which would be cool if the two characters being discussed didn’t canonically present themselves as men for millennia. Both have presented as a woman once each in the series, but these occasions are exceptions to the rule. So, once again, for this to be a valid argument we’d need explicit proof in the narrative that these two characters are genderqueer. The point I’m trying to make here is, regardless of what Neil Gaiman wants to do with gender, sexuality, or the romantic status of these characters, representation is required in season two for this series to avoid queerbaiting. And like many, I’m very afraid we’re going to see this opportunity for representation passed on once again.

The Most Recent Interaction:

The reason why I’m making this post is because a fan recently took the opportunity during a Neil Gaiman Q&A to ask whether or not ‘Good Omens’ was going to be queerbait. The answer they got back was not at all attempting to hide Gaiman’s annoyance. His answer summed up to what he’s been telling us since season two was announced. He isn’t going to reveal anything about the plot and we need to wait and see. I think that’s fair. I don’t want spoilers for season two. I don’t think expecting spoilers for season two is reasonable. I also don’t think that Neil Gaiman can be considered guilty of queerbaiting at this point. To be clear, I don’t think season one of ‘Good Omens’ was queerbait. The book was created many years ago now, when both Gaiman and Pratchett weren’t really thinking about the sexuality of their characters, and even if they were, queer relationships weren’t as accepted in media. Season one is a faithful interpretation of the book, and beyond that, it also develops the relationship between Aziraphale and Crowley with the queer relationship many readers told Gaiman they had seen clearly in mind. But nothing is explicit, to the point that there are still a mass of homophobic fans attempting to shut down fans who think Aziraphale and Crowley are together. And we won’t know if anything will be explicit until season two is released.

Do I think queer relationships need to be explicit to be accepted as canonical? I don’t. Not in general. But the truth is, the LGBTQ+ community needs for representation to be explicit in media right now. Because too often, we don’t get anything at all. Too often we get queerbait instead of actual queer relationships because writers aren’t willing to actually put LGBTQ+ characters in their stories. ‘Our Flag Means Death’ has proven that putting clear LGBTQ+ representation in any fun story is not only possible, but can also be wildly successful. I’m sincerely hoping that, whatever ‘Good Omens’ decides to do, they join the list of shows making change right now.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Books: ‘XOXO’ by Axie Oh Review

Image of the front cover of ‘XOXO’ by Axie Oh. Copyright goes to Axie Oh, artist Zipcy, and publisher ‘Harper Teen’.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Lately I’ve been pretty indecisive when it comes to deciding the next K-Drama I want to watch. It doesn’t help that I have a bit of a time limit when it comes to these things because my family is going on vacation soon. So I instead turned to something I didn’t previously know existed and was a little bit unexpected. I turned to K-Drama style books about K-Pop. Which I wish I knew existed at least a year ago because it effectively combines three of my all time favorite things; K-Pop, K-Dramas, and reading. ‘XOXO’ was a recommendation from a friend. I was impatient to read it the minute I saw her review and I knew that the book even existed. I got it the day before yesterday and finished it in a day and a half and am already re-reading it. That’s how amazing this book is. If you haven’t read this book already, go ahead and do that. This review will be full of MASSIVE SPOILERS and this is such a heartwarming and wholesome read, I promise you that you don’t want to miss out. Especially if you’re in love with K-Pop and K-Dramas as much as I am. Because this book is a lot like a K-Drama only in book form, I’m going to review it in the same way I do K-Dramas. With that aside, I’m just going to get into it!

Synopsis: High Schooler, Jenny Go, is rapidly pursuing her dream of becoming a professional cellist with no distractions. But when an audition and some advice force her to realize that she’s not living her life to the fullest, she makes a needed rash decision to challenge a boy that she doesn’t recognize at first. A couple days and some surprising news later, she finds herself in an entirely new country and back with the boy who made her feel alive. Though this time it might be more difficult to get to him than she initially anticipated.

The Good:

Female Lead: Firstly, I just want to say how amazing Jenny is. Too many times in both books and K-Dramas made for young adults have I seen a female character be a completely blank slate for the sake of allowing the reader or watcher to project themselves onto them. I never really appreciate this decision; I would much rather have the character have a personality and be relatable than be a self insert. This is partly personal preference, but I find self insert characters to be bland and barely characters of their own. How can you relate to a character with no personality? That’s why I liked that Jenny had a personality and that she was made to be relatable. She had backstory trauma, but it wasn’t an unrealistic amount. She also stood up for herself when she needed to, but she was never shown to have no weaknesses. I personally liked that we saw her cry on a few occasions during this book, because strong never means emotionless. Jenny had a lot of depth, a specific and realistic way she talked to her friends, and plenty of moments to show off her badassery. I thought she was an incredibly well rounded character that was always an entertaining point of view.

Male Lead: Oh, Jaewoo. What can I even say about this character? Some of what I saw the most in reviews before purchasing this book were comments about how dreamy Jaewoo is as a character. I have to agree, there’s really not a choice here. Jaewoo is this perfect mix of sweet, sarcastic, responsible, and witty. And even with all these amazing personality traits, he doesn’t suffer from perfect boyfriend syndrome. Jaewoo is responsible to a fault, often pushing some of his own worries off on bandmates and, let’s be honest, he isn’t the best at confrontation. We stan flawed characters in this house because it makes them realistic! More than that though, Jaewoo is just the best boyfriend and the best band member. I loved that this author took care to show us Jaewoo genuinely caring about and having a relationship with his fans. A lot of stories like this will completely dismiss the fans, but Oh put all blame on paparazzi which is exactly where it should be. Jaewoo also has this amazing knack for making everyone around him feel safe, which in turn makes the reader feel safe when you’re reading about him. He’s nothing short of a dream boyfriend and probably the character that made this book for me.

Side Characters: These side characters were adorable and so completely lovable. Sori is the perfect enemy to friend story that you see in so many dramas, but it was so satisfying to see her take a step beyond that and become the best friend. She ended up being one of my favorite characters in the entire book. Sori has her own personal trauma, but when Jenny later goes through similar things it opens her up to become the ultimate supportive friend. The one who holds Jenny when she cries, the one who laughs with her on the floor of the dance studio, and the one who ends up performing a duet with her. This has to be one of my favorite depictions I’ve seen of a female friendship ever. Not many are written this realistically and I appreciated it to an extent that I can’t even put into proper words. Angela and Gi Taek are both amazing and adorable, and I loved the addition of Gi Taek specifically because it meant more female-male platonic relationships! Those are very rare and I love when I can get them!

XOXO: The band, with the exception of one member I’ll talk about later, was amazing. Nathanial was hilarious and another one of my favorite characters. Most of the time I laughed out loud while reading, it was probably his fault. I loved that he was the kind of smarmy and sarcastic type, I always gravitate towards those characters. Youngmin was adorable and I wanted him to be in more of it. I beamed every time he entered the story again. But most of all, I loved how the group was portrayed. They had an immense love of their fans, an immense love of each other, and an incredible amount of responsibility that the author never shied away from. Oh even included a few monologues detailing how difficult the life of an idol really is and effectively spent the entire novel advocating for the privacy of idols. Both the band and the fans were treating with the utmost respect that could only come from another K-Pop lover and fan. I also loved the little details that only K-Pop fans would get, like how difficult it is to get a ticket to shows and how difficult it is to stop thinking about a particularly beautiful and well themed MV.

The Romance: This was the focal point of this story and was very well executed. Though I’m not always a huge fan of the clueless meeting with an unknown celebrity, this book actually sold me on the concept. Especially because Jenny eventually became such a big fan of the group. I loved all their little hidden moments where he’d grab her wrist and pull her behind something so they could talk or just spend a couple of unseen moments together. I loved how it wasn’t portrayed as being easy as well. I find that a lot of these more difficult romances are brushed off because of how happy they’re supposed to make the main characters. But relationships like this, though worth it, can’t be easy. Making sure to show the characters going through these difficulties in some form was important and made the relationship feel more earned in the end. The book was also very swoon-worthy and the chemistry was bursting between these characters in every scene!

The Bad:

Unfinished: Though I loved that this was written in a K-Drama style for the most part, there was one element of it that gave me pause. And it’s actually addressed at the very beginning of the book! In a lot of older K-Dramas specifically, there was a tendency to end them without much of a wrap up of all of the plot lines. This doesn’t happen so much with more recent K-Dramas that I’ve seen, but it happens in a lot of the older ones that I’ve watched. At the very beginning of this book, there are a few Korean women watching a K-Drama that ends pretty suddenly and one of the women throws her slipper at the screen in response. That’s how I felt ending this book. There were so many loose threads that I didn’t feel were answered in the end! It was probably my only issue with the entirety of the book! I’m not the only fan of this book who thinks this way apparently, because with one Google search I found several fans asking the author if there would be a sequel to wrap up these loose threads. All of the below categories will be about the unfinished feel to those specific plot lines.

Sun: He’s the fourth member of XOXO and we barely got him in the book! We hear the other three characters praise him on multiple occasions, but we don’t really get to see much of that greatness ourselves. He was such a mysterious figure for so much of the book, especially as the group’s leader, that I found myself a bit disappointed with how little we ended up getting of him at the end of the story.

Sori and Nathanial: It was clear throughout the book that these two were still in love with each other to some degree. We never got a full answer as to whether or not they were interested in getting back together and I think that’s something they both deserve.

South Korea: Jenny tells her Mom towards the end of the book that she’s not even sure she wants to move back to the States. All of her friends, her boyfriend, and her newfound love of life are all in South Korea, which she’s still not in at the end of the book. In fact, she gets into her top choice of school in New York. Couldn’t she find a job in Seoul or a good music school there? Her Mom also said that she wanted to talk to her when she got back. Was that about possibly moving back to South Korea? I have so many questions!

I loved this book so much that it’s inspired me to buy even more K-Pop and K-Drama based books; so look out for more similar reviews in the future! I’m personally very excited to dive more into this genre of books and hopefully I’ll also find a brand new K-Drama to watch soon! This book made me want to watch a bunch of those too. But seriously, check this book out if you haven’t! It’s one of my favorite books that I’ve read in a while and I can’t get enough of this genre! There’s also several references to BTS and to ‘Blood, Sweat, and Tears’ in this book which made my respect for it skyrocket even more. This book is happiness wrapped in beautiful book art. How could anyone resist?

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

BTS: “Filter” and Songwriter SA Allegations

Official art for BTS’s upcoming anthology album, ‘Proof’. Copyright goes to BTS and Hybe Entertainment.

Hey! Hallie here!

As a blog that tries to keep up with BTS news, we try our best to keep things light and entertaining. But that doesn’t mean we can skip out on important discussions happening in the fandom. So let’s talk “Filter”. ‘Proof’ has been a bit of a controversial topic in the fandom so far. There was a large debate around the reveal that it’s going to be an analogy album, with ARMYs voicing disappointment, frustration that other ARMYs were disappointed, and debating whether or not it was ok to have any sort of opinion on it at all. Debates started up again once the third disc was revealed to be CD only despite the phasing out of CDs overall. And now those who have been following the Bobby Jung situation in South Korea have voiced their concerns over the decision to put “Filter” on the album. We’ve discussed some of the other controversies around ‘Proof’ already on this blog, so if you’re interested, feel free to check our last post on ‘Proof’ out. For this post, I’ll just be covering the Bobby Jung situation. TRIGGER WARNING: I have to talk about the sexual assault, though I won’t go into much detail.

Bobby Jung:

Bobby Jung is a former member of the indie group ‘Autumn Vacation’ and a songwriter who has worked with Big Hit/Hybe on multiple TXT and BTS projects. To be clear for BTS fans, he’s worked on “Love Maze”, “I’m Fine”, “Home”, “DreamGlow”, “Answer: Love Myself”, “134340”, and “Filter”. He’s also currently on trial for sexually assaulting multiple women as well as filming them without their consent. Though he hasn’t yet been convicted, it’s really not looking good for him and he’s already been dropped from all the projects he was involved in. He worked on all of the BTS songs above before this information came out, meaning that the issue here isn’t that Hybe worked with him knowing what kind of a person he was. However, putting a song he worked on in BTS’s newest album seems like a tone deaf move to many fans. There’s really a lot to consider when it comes to this situation though, and not all fans feel its right to advocate for leaving it off of the album. I’ll talk about the different takes on this situation below, but keep in mind that the most important voices to listen to right now are SA survivors.

The Pro-“Filter” Argument:

This argument isn’t based around a disregard for the women hurt by Bobby Jung. This argument is mostly based around the advocation for the other creatives who worked on this song. First there’s Jimin, who has said that he picked “Filter” to feature on the album himself, although we can all pretty well guess that Hybe had a say in what was chosen for ‘Proof’ as well. “Filter” has always been a point of pride for Jimin. All of the members do a lot of work on their solo songs and feel that the songs they work on individually highlight each of their artistic personalities in ways other songs don’t. Jimin has said that he feels this way about “Filter”, and the lyrics were specifically written to reflect the different sides of him that he wants to present to the fans. Though he didn’t write the lyrics himself, Namjoon has said that Jimin took it upon himself to figure out the concept and to piece the song together. To many ARMYs it feels wrong to strip such a personal project away from him, especially after he’s expressed how much he wants to perform it for ARMYs. Putting Jimin aside, there were also nine other songwriters who worked on “Filter”, making it unlikely that Bobby Jung contributed anything substantial to the song. Many feel it doesn’t make sense to condemn the work of so many people simply because of one person. Some have also suggested that as a collective, music fans should be working towards ensuring those convicted of sexual assault can’t receive royalties for the things they worked on. I personally agree that we should be working towards this goal instead of holding artists accountable who weren’t involved with the situation, but this is a major systemic change that will take time.

The Anti-“Filter” Argument:

First off, sexual assault survivors still deal with being ignored, made fun of, and disbelieved all over the world. Right now it’s more important than ever that big companies like Hybe show support to SA survivors, and many fans argue that taking “Filter” off of ‘Proof’ would do that. Others argue that ARMY has come after groups who were similarly attached to abusers, making it hypocritical for them not to hold Hybe accountable for associating with Bobby Jung. Still others think Hybe should just take Bobby Jung’s name out of the credits. Unfortunately, taking Jung’s name out of the credits for the song is impossible unless the systemic change I discussed above occurs. But waiting for that change, to those in this group, would take too long and isn’t realistic for the present moment.

So what’s the answer? I don’t know. I personally am really sympathetic to all of the other people who worked not just on “Filter”, but all of the other songs I listed that Jung was involved with. But I’m not a sexual assault survivor and I can’t add the nuance to this conversation that those individuals can. I do agree, however, that Hybe should acknowledge this controversy rather than avoiding it altogether. Even if they don’t take “Filter” off of the album, declaring support for the people who have been hurt and showing genuine concern for the situation would still be an important move. Lets hope they listen to ARMYs and break their silence soon!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie