K-Pop: Tours, Albums, and Controversy

Screenshot of (from left) Kim Taehyung, Park Jimin, Kim Namjoon, Jeon Jungkook, Min Yoongi, Kim Seokjin, and Jung Hoseok from the ‘Permission to Dance’ music video. Copyright goes to HYBE and BTS.

Hi! It’s Annie!

We’ve recently gotten even more news from BTS, though they still seem to be taking some time to rest and prepare. Which I am very glad for and hope that they continue to do. They definitely deserve it! But throughout this rest, we’ve gotten hinting towards several new projects and now the confirmation of some others. Also, in the world of ATEEZ there was a recent large controversy that could even lead to legal action if companies aren’t careful. With so much news to talk about with just what we’ve gotten over the last couple weeks, I think it’s time that I actually address it all. So I’m just going to dive into it!

ATEEZ and JYP:

This is the story that has been blowing up the past couple days, so I’m going to start here. JYP, which is known as one of the current big K-Pop companies, just released a new MV for a new girl group. NMIXX debuted with a song and vibe that was meant to be refreshing and fantastical, evoking a lot of imagery that felt very fantasy-like. But eagle eyed ATEEZ fans felt that something was all too familiar while watching the debut MV. There are several scenes that are being pointed to specifically as looking like they’re from an ATEEZ MV, and a lot of side-by-side comparisons. One of a flying galleon among pink clouds, one of the galleon then crashed, one of a blue-sky sunset cityscape (thought I note that this one is pretty common), and the other of an alleyway that looks very similar to the end of ‘The Real’. The band is also tackling the pirate theme in this video, which is pretty bold right now. Many people inside the K-Pop industry have expressed that it would be difficult for any group to do a pirate theme right now with ATEEZ practically claiming the genre for themselves and absolutely perfecting it. They don’t own it, but another group attempting to tackle it is going to be automatically compared. And rookie groups especially can’t compare to a group that has already perfected it. But over-all, the imagery pushes it over the edge. I personally believe the plagiarism allegations are completely founded, especially with the galleon shots in the MV. JYP’s silence feels like more of an admittance of guilt than anything else. But I have also seen people blaming the members of NMIXX and saying that the group should disband. I don’t agree with this. The members of this group just debuted and are currently in a position where they can only do whatever they are told to do. Especially in a company like JYP. Absolutely blame JYP; but not the group.

BTS New Music:

Throughout their break, we’ve gotten several picture hints of possible projects from several members of the group. We know that we’ll probably get Taehyung’s mixtape sometime soon, and we now know that Hobi is also planning on his own mixtape release. In fact, we’ve seen Hobi post hints that he was creating a mixtape for months. Now he’s announced that he meant to release it on his birthday, though there were also delays. But we’ll get there soon! We’ve also seen almost a confirmation that something will be released in March. Possibly a new BTS song. And with similar studio pictures from both Namjoon and Yoongi, it’s hard to not speculate that there might be something coming from them individually soon too. We don’t have much in the way of confirmation yet, but I think it’s no secret that people are expecting new music soon. We’re most likely getting another album in the net few months too and I’m not sure there’s enough time to emotionally prepare myself for an album. But I am so excited for the prospect of any new music from them! I just hope they got a really good break beforehand.

BTS Recovery:

I don’t think I’ve talked about Taehyung getting Covid or his recovery much. But I think right now it’s not uncommon to hear that our favorite idols are down with Covid, unfortunately. I’m really hoping that it stops soon, but it at least seems that none of them are really getting all that sick because of their vaccinations.

BTS Tour:

So while there hasn’t been any official announcement regarding a world tour with all the dates and locations; I think we’re all pretty sure that a tour is currently happening. Recently, as I mentioned in my last post, BTS announced ‘Permission to Dance-On Stage’ for Las Vegas. Which I am definitely going to try and get tickets for if I can. I don’t live all that far so it’s just a small road trip for me and I really want to see them again! Especially since it seems like each location might be getting a rearranged setlist. However, with the announcement of this location, they did describe it as a tour location specifically. They used the word “tour”. I know a lot of people were hoping to get a tour of their new album once it releases, but I do think that this is the important tour to do right now. Especially with some of these songs being specifically aimed for ARMY coming out of harder Covid times. I think that our 2022 tour is going to be ‘PTD On Stage’, and they will slowly announce more locations and times as things go on. I wouldn’t expect this to happen all at once. After all, their Seoul and Las Vegas shows are a month apart. I also wouldn’t expect another tour after this. Especially because the South Korean government still has not made any decisions regarding BTS and mandatory military service. I also wouldn’t expect it to be much easier to get tickets to any of these locations. Because they are currently keeping things so close to their chest about locations and times, it doesn’t really assure many ARMYs who would usually wait to see them when they perform closer to them. I still don’t recommend a lot of travel right now, but I know that’s going to fall on deaf ears especially when it comes to BTS. It’s understandable, but I would still wait to see if they come closer to you. BigHit has at least forced Ticketmaster to release all of their tickets on the first presale day. But that also means that if you didn’t get into the ARMY presale, you aren’t getting tickets. So try to get into that presale if you really want those tickets! I already have my confirmed registration emails from Ticketmaster so I’m crossing my fingers!

Tour Etiquette:

Now, with this tour and more locations being announced, there are a lot of things that ARMYs are asking other ARMYs not to do. Many ARMYs in LA got angry at baby ARMYs for apparently not screaming loud enough, not knowing the lyrics to songs, and not knowing the fan chants. As someone who was there, I saw no evidence of any of this. The arena erupted with sound from the crowd, and sometimes fan chants weren’t done because they actually mixed so many of their songs. When fan chants could be done, they were done. Also, being a baby ARMY isn’t a bad thing. We need to get rid of the idea that you’re wrong or bad just because you’re new to a fandom. It’s something we’ve probably all felt directed at us in some way and it’s a ridiculous notion. Nobody wants to hear it again, guys. It’s BTS, of course the arena is going to be loud. And if you are a new ARMY, don’t feel discouraged from getting a ticket if that’s what you really want. You aren’t any less of a fan and your wants don’t mean less.

BTS on Live:

I figured I should mention this because they’ve all started returning to Vlive again! I even caught part of the Yoongi, Namjoon, and Jimin one lately! Here’s your reminder that all of their live videos will soon completely transfer over to Weverse. We don’t know exactly what that’s going to look like yet, but soon the Vlive app won’t be as useful to ARMY. However, their lives are just as adorable as ever. We got to see Yoongi crack a walnut with brute strength, Namjoon call out Jimin about Instagram, and Namjoon assure Jimin that he looks perfect the way he is. I completely agree, Namjoon! So I guess we’re going to have to keep our eyes out for those random lives that could come on at any time! Both exciting and nerve-wracking!

I’m so glad that we’ve gotten so much BTS content recently and I’m excited to get even more! I’m also so stressed about tickets next week; so I’m just crossing my fingers and telling myself that at least I’ve seen them once. I hope all of you who want BTS tickets get them as well! And if you’re planning to travel, please do it as safely as possible! Covid isn’t over despite several places taking away precautions. Please be careful! And hopefully I’ll see some of you in Vegas!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Books: More Opinions on ‘Harry Potter’ Ships:

Screenshot of Alfred Enoch and Devon Murray behind the scenes of ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’. Copyright goes to Warner Bros, Heyday Films, and Patalex IV Productions Limited.

Hey! Hallie here!

About a month ago I posted some of my opinions on the most popular ships in ‘Harry Potter’. Let’s just say that my opinions of couples fans have put together is more positive than my opinions of most of the couples that are actually in the series. But there are definitely couples I didn’t really have time to include and couples that I forgot about entirely. So armed with more deep dives into fanfiction websites, and admittedly some resulting trauma which I’ll get into below, I have an entire new list of ‘Harry Potter’ ships to discuss! Let’s get into this!

Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour:

I completely forgot about this canonical couple when I discussed the couples Rowling put together in my last post. I actually do like this couple. This is the only couple Rowling wrote that I genuinely support. It kind of comes out of nowhere, especially if you’re only familiar with these two in the movies, but given that the readers don’t know much about Bill and Fleur’s day-to-day it isn’t necessarily strange that the two got together. And I like their relationship. I like how devoted Bill is to Fleur despite how much Molly disapproves. I like how Fleur is unafraid to stand up for herself against Molly as well, especially when her love for Bill gets called into question. The moment where she insists that she doesn’t care that Bill’s face was marred by a werewolf and notes that she has good looks enough for both of them despite Molly’s insults, is probably the most romantic scene in any of the books. Plus their wedding is pretty. So while I may criticize the books and movies for every other canonical couple, this one, while not often focused on, does get a pass.

James Potter and Lily Evans:

Another canonical couple! This one isn’t bad. It just isn’t developed or explored. ‘Harry Potter’ fans know that James was a bully during his school years and that Lily didn’t like him because of it. But, at least according to Remus and Sirius, James grew out of it. Had he not, Lily likely wouldn’t have ended up with him in the first place. Does that make them a good couple? I have no idea. All I know is that they loved each other and they loved Harry. In the very least James wasn’t obsessive like Snape was, so there’s that.

George Weasley and Angelina Johnson:

This couple makes me want to vomit. Genuinely. This is one of those ideas Rowling had after the books came out that is considered canonical by some and just another of Rowling’s bad after-the-fact additions to the ‘Harry Potter’ universe by others. I’m on the team that believes the latter. Because this couple is so offensive and wrong in so many ways. It perpetuates the stereotype that twins are so similar, that the other people in their life find no significant differences between them. Obviously this is completely untrue. Twins, as we have stated on this blog before, are completely different people with different personalities. But on top of that, the only reason why Angelina ends up with George, according to the awful author, is because she’s mourning Fred. So not only does Angelina decide to date George because he’s “close enough”, but the entire time she’s also wishing he was Fred. How is that healthy? In the least bit? Reason number 1001 why Rowling needs to stop talking.

Hermione Granger and Fred Weasley:

We’ve officially made our way out of the Rowling-made couples and into the fan-made couples. Hermione and Fred is a relationship that gains and loses popularity sporadically throughout the ‘Harry Potter’ fandom. Most people began to like the couple because of a scene in the books. In the scene, Hermione accidentally comes across an invention by Fred and George that punches her in the eye, leaving a dark bruise. When Hermione approaches the two with said black-eye, Fred expresses immediate guilt, gets her something to take care of the bruise, and ensures that she’s alright. This act of kindness felt more meaningful to some than anything Ron ever did for Hermione. Because Fred doesn’t share an unhealthy relationship with Hermione in the way that Ron does, many fans also see Fred as the solution to the Ron problem. Hermione still gets to be a Weasley, and she can be in a relationship with someone who has the potential to respect her more. I like this ship for that reason. I also really appreciate that Fred has none of the problematic implications that other characters often shipped with Hermione do (Draco and his racism, Snape and his everything).

Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas:

This is a very popular ship in the ‘Harry Potter’ fandom. These two are always seen together. Even when Seamus and Dean reach a disagreement in their beliefs about Harry they still spend all their time together. Dean even attends the Quidditch World Cup with Seamus and his mother. They clearly have a very close relationship, so it makes sense to take this chemistry and turn it into something romantic. Especially because Rowling was so bad at creating any kind of representation at all in ‘Harry Potter’, let alone LGBTQ+ representation. The fact that Seamus spends most of his final year at Hogwarts missing Dean because it’s too dangerous for him to attend due to his parentage, only to run to hug Dean when he shows up for the Battle of Hogwarts, is adorable. And the best part? Their actors are friends in real life and have vocally supported the ship. It’s no surprise that so many people like this couple.

Percy Weasley and Oliver Wood:

This couple was only recently brought to my attention, but it has a decent following and is admittedly pretty cute. Most people have put these two together because, as they were in the same year at Hogwarts, fans discovered that they must have shared a dormitory. Also because, as I said before, there is no LGBTQ+ representation to be found in ‘Harry Potter’. They don’t interact at all in the books or movies, but they do have similar motivated mindsets. I also like that many fanfic authors have used this couple to help Percy strive to be a better person, which many of us wish for both the sakes of Percy and the Weasley family. There’s a lot of space that fans have found to be creative with this ship, and I appreciate that.

Harry Potter and Severus Snape:

Why are people like this? Why must they traumatize me in this way? This ship has a lot of the same issues that the Hermione/Snape ship has. Namely, many fanfic writers don’t age up Harry, making him a minor in these stories. A good chunk of supporters of this ship also use Snape’s interest in Lily as a means to make Snape interested in Harry. Which is clearly, very disgusting. There is no reason for this couple to exist and I don’t want to talk about it anymore.

That’s it! This group was definitely a mixed bag but it was interesting to go through! There were even some ships in here that I didn’t know existed! As of now I feel this post will probably be the last in this series. While there are many other ‘Harry Potter’ ships, including cross-fandom ones, there are way too many to talk about. I’ve also covered all of the major ones I’ve heard of. But if I do find more couples to talk about, count me in! I have a lot of fun looking into ‘Harry Potter’ ships and fan created content!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Video Games: The Women of ‘Persona 5’

Image of ‘Persona 5’ characters (from left) Ann, Makoto, Futaba, and Haru. Copyright goes to P-Studio, Atlus, and PlayStation.

Hi! It’s Annie!

So, currently I’m trying to distract myself from the stress of attempting to get tickets to the Las Vegas ‘Permission to Dance’ BTS concert. I mean, this feels less stressful than last time since I already saw them in LA, but seeing them again while they’re on tour would be amazing. So, in attempting to distract myself I’ve thrown myself into one of my favorite video games, though I usually mostly just watch my sister play it. I’ve also been watching the Anime and diving into panels done by voice actors from the dub. Because the voice actors from the dub are amazing and I’ve been a fan of a lot of them for a long time. Mathew Mercer??? Robbie Daymond??? Erica Lindbeck??? Count me in! But the women in particular from this game have been discussed a lot, because of the strides they took for representation and some of the shortcomings of the game itself. Because while the female characters in this game are some of the best I’ve seen in a long time, and while they also have taken massive strides, there are still some flaws here I want to point out. And all of them have their merits! I’m definitely not here to say who’s “best girl”. I will specifically be going over Ann, Makoto, and Futaba with a little bit of Haru at the end. As this is about the original game, I won’t talk about Kasumi. Especially because I already have a post about her in our ‘Twins in Media’ section, and it isn’t…the most flattering towards the character. I’m just going to get into it! WARNING: This article will have spoilers and possible triggers. I won’t get fully into the triggers, but they will be there!

Ann Takamaki:

The fact that a medium that is known for over-sexualizing women tackled the over- sexualization of women, is amazing in itself. Though the purpose of the game is more for tackling societal issues. Specifically, societal issues in Japan. And though I am not well versed in Japanese cultures, I think there are some things that everyone can relate to here. Specifically the way women are often over-sexualized by the male gaze and how disturbingly often this can happen to even young women. In fact, in getting into this fandom, I’ve seen a lot of over-sexualized artwork of the female characters in this game. Keep in mind these characters are between the ages of fifteen and seventeen in this game. And it really makes me wonder if the people making this artwork even payed attention to the entire story arc of Ann. Ann starts out this game fending off the advances of a teacher, Kamoshida, while also going along with his games sometimes because of his hold over her best friend’s slot on a team. Ann watches as this man destroys her best friend’s life, and through her own guilt decides to take action. Through this she learns that some men only see women as sexual objects and that she won’t let herself or anyone else be treated like that anymore. Her first action upon unleashing her Persona, is to destroy Kamoshida’s warped and sexualized version of her in his Palace. Which was such a clever move! She forces Kamoshida to live in order to atone for his crimes and forever have them linger over his head. A fate that she deems worse than death. While this is one of the best ways I’ve seen anything handle over-sexualization, there are some tone deaf things that happen with Ann later in the game. Such as just after when she has to pretend to agree to model for a nude picture, or several comments specifically made towards her by Morgana. I know that this kind of sense of humor is often common in Japanese media, but they felt very misplaced after the storyline they created for Ann. I also feel that her costume was created to be slightly sexualized with the idea of her taking it back for herself; but, especially with her negative response to the outfit, this isn’t clear. Again, it took strides but it isn’t perfect. It’s still important though and I love how opinionated and strong Ann remains throughout the game

Makoto Niijima:

While Ann dealt with the over-sexualization of women; Makoto dealt with a very different problem that woman all over the world face. Realizing your career choice is extremely male dominated and having to come to terms with how you’re going to move through that. This is where some of the differences between America and Japan come in. While we are still nowhere near equality in the workplace, we are actually quite a bit above a few other countries. Japan is a country that values men in power specifically, and that means that Makoto realizing she wants to become a police chief is extremely difficult. When we meet her, she doesn’t quite know this about herself yet. Which is also extremely relatable for young people. She feels indebted to her sister who she feels she is a burden to, and feels that following in her sister’s footsteps will make everyone happy. So she makes the decision to be a lawyer, without actually wanting to be one. In doing this, and also her sister being who she is, puts a lot of expectations on her shoulders, suffering under her own expectations and the expectations of others after a while. Which is something that anyone can relate to in some way. She is also used as a tool by the principal and other authority figures because of her brain and position. Women being used my men in power in unfortunately common. Eventually she realizes that she would be more suited to the position of a police chief, which is an extremely difficult position for a woman to get into in Japan. Her entire story involves being used by and then navigating around men professionally. And the narrative portrays her as the smartest one there, especially over the men in her life. Makoto’s issue is less with this and mostly also with over-sexualization. Though Ann suffers from this more, the show still takes time to over-sexualize Makoto too. Even though the entire point of her character is her brain.

Futaba Sakura:

Her story arc more involves the positive portrayal of those who are neurodivergent or suffer from mental illness. Which is a topic that is more important now than ever. Only in recent years have we started to truly understand neurodivergence and have been open with the fact that most everyone deals with mental illness at some point in their lives. This conversation has been important through the pandemic especially and assured everyone that they aren’t alone in their thoughts and feelings. Futaba herself canonically suffers from anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Some have also thrown ADHD and Autism into that mix too, but those two haven’t been canonically confirmed. Though they most certainly could be and the signs are there too. Because the conversation about mental illness is so new, we still have hilariously poor representation for mental illness in media all over the world. Futaba is one of the first positive and completely inclusive depictions that is good. She doesn’t just magically get over it. She has to go through steps to get help and ultimately also help herself. She learns how to deal with social anxiety by slowly getting more used to crowds with the help of Joker. This was so important for me to see because I sometimes also deal with social anxiety in this way. She is the one who realizes that her own negative thoughts are just an illusion and not her personal truth. And she also has to get used to the members of the team in chunks. A newer game came out that revealed that, a few years later, she is still making strides with dealing with her anxiety. Futaba is never shown as dumb or less capable for being neurodivergent, in fact she’s also one of the smartest on the team. I love that some of the smartest members of this team are Makoto and Futaba who are both women. Anyways, most of the time she is portrayed as completely capable. But she does need help and asks for it sometimes too, which is important. It’s maybe taken a step too far when she refuses to leave Joker and still completely relies on him by the end of the game. Ryuji also calls her a pet hamster in the dance game, which wasn’t well though out. But overall, she’s one of the best examples of a neurodivergent character I’ve ever seen.

Haru Okumura:

I won’t talk as much about her as she isn’t a very focused on character and comes in very late to the game. But her storyline is also important for women, though the cultural difference here is also prevalent. She is constantly used by her father to gain political status, is stuck in an arranged marriage, and is held under “ladylike” standards. She takes her life back into her own hands, finding a way for herself and rejecting all the ways that she is used by the men in her life. For hundreds of years, women in many societies were viewed as objects. This is an example of how women are still sometimes seen that way, and it rightfully demonizes it. Women should be able to choose their own lives for themselves, in marriage and with everything else. The fact that these expectations for women still exist in some places is horrible, but it’s important to point out.

All of these characters are nothing short of amazing. As are every other character in this game. Maybe Morgana isn’t always my favorite, but I love every other character in this game and what they represent. Like Joker being an ex-con for example, which is amazing! This game especially needs more recognition for having mental health being the most essential theme of the game. Everything has faults, but this might be one of my favorite pieces of media just for its representation of these things in general. And it’s very aesthetic and is very realistic in the way it shows young people hanging out. Like just vibing together and occasionally being on phones or going out. It’s nice that it feels so natural! So, if you haven’t dove into this yet, I would highly recommend it. These are the superheroes that we need now.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Netflix Shows: What We Know About ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 So Far

Poster featuring (Top) Natalia Dyer, Maya Hawke, (Middle) Joe Keery, Gaten Matarazzo, Priah Ferguson, (Bottom) Sadie Sink, and Caleb McLaughlin for ‘Stranger Things’ season 4. Copyright goes to Netflix, 21 Laps Entertainment, and Monkey Massacre.

Hey! Hallie here!

I would have posted about this a few days ago but J-Hope’s birthday takes some precedent on this blog so, finally, I’m talking about all the ‘Stranger Things’ updates we got a few days ago! This series is one of my favorite television series of all time, which is surprising because I don’t like horror. But, despite my dislike of gore and being scared, ‘Stranger Things’ has always won me over with its excellent character development and carefully crafted twists. And after a few years of waiting, we now have confirmation that season 4 will be coming in just a few months! May 27th is the date we’ll receive the first part of the season, yes, first part, while the second part will come only a month later on July 1st. I’ll explain that decision and all the other things we’ve been given about season 4 below, so let’s get started!

Posters:

First let’s talk about the four posters we received for this season and which characters are present on each. This has been one of the biggest debates amongst fans since the season 4 announcements, but it’s clear enough who’s who that we can discuss this without fear of being incorrect. First up is what appears to be a high security prison is Russia. The trio bundled up in this poster is one of my favorite trios from last season. That would be Hopper, Joyce, and Murray. I really don’t know how Joyce and Murray got to Russia, but given the fact that each poster has in common the gaping holes from the Upside Down that have acted as portals in other situations, that might be a good bet. Next is the most obvious poster, which features Eleven facing away from us while standing in a hallway of the lab she grew up in. Considering the fact that she moved to California last we saw her, she’s clearly displaced as well. Our third poster has the most characters in it, and it also shows off a new location that we received a teaser trailer for a little while ago, the Creel House. I’ll get into that one more in the next section. Exploring this house is Nancy, Robin, Steve, Dustin, Erica, Max, and Lucas. As I recall none of these characters went to California, so my guess is that this is in Hawkins, but who knows. All I know is the Scoop Troop is reassembled, and given that they were my favorite part of season 3, I’m unbelievably excited. Finally, our last poster is in California, where Will and Mike have reunited while Jonathan and his new friend Argyle, played by Eduardo Franco, lead the charge. There are multiple new characters we can expect from this season, but the fact that Argyle is the only one who made it into a poster feels significant.

Teasers:

The first teaser we got for season 4 of ‘Stranger Things’ was two years ago. This teaser was a short one, showcasing a snowy railroad where armed guards were watching over the workers on the tracks. The notable part of this teaser, as most of us remember, is the moment where one of the workers takes off his hat to wipe his brow. When his arm falls away we see Hopper, head shaved but definitely alive. Did I cry? Maybe. A little. Moving on from this we got a cryptic trailer that took place in the lab, where Martin Brenner, or “Papa” as Eleven knows him by, instructs the other children he raised there. Meanwhile, Eleven sits behind her door, seemingly uneasy. The next teaser was mostly made up of clips from previous seasons, but in the few clips we did receive from season 4 footage, we saw the group in the poster above investigating the Creel House, some men holding a distressed Eleven back, and Hopper exploring an unknown location. The next teaser gave us more on the Creel House. For one, every time the Creel House is brought up we get a clearly important shot of a grandfather clock within the house. The poster above was even given to us with the words “tick tock” attached. What exactly this means, I don’t know. But I do know that the Creel House dates back to somewhere around the 30s. At that time a family of four owned the house, but given the dead animals on the lawn, the fluctuating power, and the creepy shot of the two kids lying motionlessly on the floor, I don’t think the group exploring the now dilapidated house is going to have the easiest time. Although, it is fun to see Dustin quote Sherlock Holmes to a very confused Steve.

The biggest teaser we recieved was given to us three months ago. This teaser set up the entire storyline through a note Eleven’s writing to Mike. In the letter she describes how amazing her life is in California, but it’s clear she’s being ostracized at school despite her words. Through various scenes we see that she still misses Hopper a lot, Will is now working on his art more seriously, and the both of them get rides to school from Argyle in his pizza van. Regardless of her struggles, Eleven says she’s looking forward to spending spring break with Mike. Is that how he ends up in California? Maybe! More importantly, we get a few shots in rapid succession that hints to more of the season. Eleven seems to be using her abilities to project herself into a roller rink, Joyce finds a creepy doll, Jonathan gets shot at by an unknown group of people, Murray hears something shocking in his headphones, a procession of cars with a helicopter approaches, a mysterious door appears, the pizza van spins out of control with Mike and Will inside, there’s a diner, the shot of Eleven being held back is shown again, and it all ends with even more gunshots and explosions. From all of these teasers it looks like we’ll be getting a very action-heavy season complete with a haunted house. All of that sounds amazing to me.

Why It’s Been So Long and the End of the Series:

I’ve seen a lot of fan complaints since we received all of the recent news. With ‘Stranger Things’ season 3 airing in the summer of 2019, it will have been two years since the last season aired when season 4 drops. Because of this, I’ve seen fans say that everyone’s lost interest and that they should have released season 4 in the winter of 2020 when they had initially promised it. Given that ‘Stranger Things’ started the rush for streaming services to create their own exclusive shows because of its popularity, I’d say its impact is more than many are giving it credit for. Their loyal fan base is a massive one that sells out events every Halloween. And also, don’t forget the global pandemic that put most productions on hold for nearly a year and a half. I’d say that’s a pretty good reason to postpone airing the season. With that rant out of the way, I’m not at all surprised that they decided to separate the season given how long the Duffer brothers say it is. Apparently, they wanted to cover so many things in season 4 that it ended up being much longer than all their other seasons. If it’s as long as they say, it makes sense to release it in two chunks. I’m just glad that we only have a month to wait between them. We don’t know when season 5 will release at this point, but that isn’t abnormal. All we know is it’s the last season, which is what the Duffer brothers have planned for a while. And if you’re confused because some people have been spreading the rumor that it’s going to be a movie, know that the Duffer brothers have never said that. It seems like it’s going to be a season like the others. But it won’t be the last we see from this universe. Apparently the Duffer brothers think there is much more to explore with different characters. I’d be interested to see what they come up with next.

That’s all the information we have so far! I threw in some of my speculations for this series, but I honestly don’t know what to expect from this season. Some fans have been discussing character deaths, but considering that ‘Stranger Things’ has walked back every major “death” so far (I’m talking characters like Hopper and Eleven rather than one-season characters like Bob Newby and Barb), I’m not expecting any deaths among the established main cast. That could partially be wishful thinking though, because I love all of these characters and I don’t want to see them come to any harm. It’s amazing how ‘Stranger Things’ can have such a large cast and make you care so deeply about each of them. I can’t wait to return to their stories and fall in love with all of them all over again.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

ATEEZ: Twoho Appreciation

Selfie image of (left) Choi Jongho and (right) Jeong Yunho. Copyright goes to ATEEZ and KQ Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I touched a little on this in my Valentine’s Day post, but it has recently been brought to the forefront that quite possibly the most underrated members of ATEEZ are these two amazing gentlemen. Which makes me incredibly sad. I have not made it a secret that Yunho is my bias and Jongho has one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard in my life. And several things have come up recently that have brought up how much these men can sometimes be disrespected. Obviously, every member of every group unfortunately has to go through being disrespected at some point. But there have been several hits in the recent weeks that have caused Atinys to stand up for these two specifically, so I’m going to go through some of my favorite aspects of these two men while also addressing what has happened over the past weeks. Because these two boys deserve nothing but all the love.

Jongho Lanyards:

The event that started the string of events following it. There was an ATEEZ event not long after their concerts in the US ended, and many talked about this event specifically because of the freebies that were being given out. Lanyards featuring each of the members of ATEEZ were given out as part of this, and people were being very disrespectful about not receiving a lanyard with their bias on it. Specifically, a lot of people were trying to trade Jongho lanyards and would be very angry when people wouldn’t want to trade with them. I think all of that is wrong. Firstly, if you want to trade within your friend group because of biases, that’s fine. But wanting to trade with absolutely anyone because you don’t like the member you got, that sounds a lot like solo stan behavior. Personally, I would have loved to get a Jongho lanyard or a lanyard with any other member of the group on it. Because I love all of them. Jongho, for one, has one of the best voices in the industry and he’s the adorable maknae! I also highly recommend watching ‘Imitation’ if you haven’t, because his portrayal of Hyuk is guaranteed to steal your heart. I questioned my bias wrecker several times during my watch because of Jongho’s adorableness and this one very well-shot scene where his hair was blowing in the wind. Anyone who got a Jongho lanyard is absolutely lucky, and Jongho biases put up with a lot of bull from people attempting to force all of their lanyards on them. The Jongho biases are absolutely correct. Everyone attempting to trade is not.

Yunho Dance Prodigy:

I talked about this already, but there’s been updates about this one. A lot of people were accusing Yunho biases of solo stan behavior because they were calling him the main dancer of ATEEZ because ATEEZ doesn’t have an official dance line anymore. But Yunho is the leader in dance practices and has been noted to be the best dancer of the group by other members of ATEEZ. And he worked hard for both of those! He’s often underestimated because he’s such a tall dancer, and has expressed his frustration with that. The argument over Yunho’s dance abilities blew up so much that it caught mass media attention. ‘Koreaboo’ even made an entire appreciation post for Yunho’s dancing in support of him. Another tall idol trainee also came out in support of Yunho, explaining how difficult it is to dance when you’re over six foot and the tallest in your group. It means more movement in a shorter amount of time than anyone else in your group, so you often struggle alone with attempting to match the pace of everyone else. And yet Yunho does it effortlessly and nails the dance moves each time. So much so that he’s been called “my boy” by a popular choreographer in LA. So much that every member goes to him when they have questions about choreography. He even had a solo dance video before their debut that showed off how amazing he is. And he continues to show off his skills with every dance break he’s given. He’s definitely one of the best dancers of the 4th generation artists, and it isn’t solo stan behavior to give him the recognition he deserves. Especially when he can sometimes get less recognition than many of the other members.

Twins? No:

A lot of people have been saying that they think Jongho and Yunho look alike. I personally don’t see it. But a picture came out where a trick of the light really did make Yunho look a bit like Jongho while he was masked. People took Atinys talking about it as an excuse to call Yunho and Jongho “twins” and some people even expressed that they were never going to tell the two apart. Which, as someone who is actually a twin, sentences like that usually just tell me that the person who said it is unwilling to put any effort in. This has gotten so out of hand, that people have been posting this underneath every picture of Yunho and Jongho. International fans need to be hyper aware of how many times we tell people from other countries that they look the same. Because it’s something that uneducated white people do, way too often. I’m sure they don’t think they look the same and I’m also sure that they don’t want to keep seeing it under every post. If you genuinely think they look similar, I know I disagree, but fine. You don’t have to put it under every picture though. Just be more aware. Because sometimes it feels like new fans or solo stans not wanting to get to know two underrated members of the group. Yunho has longer features, is extremely tall, and very gangly. Jongho has rounder features and has a shorter and broader stature. They are both extremely handsome! Let’s celebrate them for their individual looks too!

Jongho and Dispatch:

This is one where my take on it probably isn’t what you would think, given the topic of this post. ‘Dispatch’ recently released a video behind the scenes at the ATEEZ concert in LA, but this video didn’t have Jongho in it. This caused many fans, mostly international ones, to become angry. Especially because it was so soon after Jongho was trending because of the lanyard and merch incident. I understand that Jongho biases were on edge, I kind of was too. But fans who spoke Korean were quick to point out that while Mingi was talking at the beginning of the video, there was a note explaining that Jongho felt too ill to film it. As someone who went to the last day of the LA concert, I can confirm that Jongho wasn’t feeling his best. It was announced that he was suffering from stomach aches before the concert and during the first day he twisted his ankle backstage. He was unable to perform some of the encore songs and definitely pushed himself to his limits dancing. But despite this, Jongho fans went as far as to say that the video shouldn’t have been put out at all if Jongho wasn’t feeling well enough to film. I feel this is going too far. Members of any group should feel free to take time for their physical or mental health without having to feel guilty about it. And forcing idol groups to postpone everything, including important media to get them out there, because a member is sick is not going to promote what we want it to. It’s going to promote more idols attempting to keep going when they really should take breaks. It’s kind of similar to how I feel about people telling Jimin to come home because he posts the least on Instagram. He should feel free to take breaks from any of his social media when he wants to without fans unknowingly making him feel guilty for not being a part of everything that’s posted. That’s just my two cents, but as I said, I understand where Jongho biases are coming from. And Jongho did so much more than anyone would be able to do on a twisted ankle at that concert. I’m so glad we all chanted his name so many times to let him know that he was loved and appreciated for everything he was doing.

Underrated Members:

There are always underrated members of a group, and they always have their own fair share of fans who love them as much as they deserve. I just wish all of them could be loved equally. And this happens to every group, including BTS. I recently found a picture of gift boxes set up for each of the members of BTS at a debut event. Jungkook’s box was overflowing and many of the other boxes had quite a few gifts and letters. Except for Namjoon’s which had only a couple and Hobi’s which had nothing at all. This still can be seen sometimes as Jin, Namjoon, and Hobi’s merch usually sells out last. I always hate seeing anything like this, and seeing any group being treated this way always rubs me the wrong way. As K-Pop stans, we all need to get better about supporting every single member of a group. I think I need to get better too. We all should like all of their pictures on social media, if you’re making something to give to one of them at an event then make something for all of them, and follow all of their social media accounts. Lately, I’ve seen people ranking the members of groups based off of their personal “bias order”. There isn’t any such thing and there shouldn’t be. You can have a bias and a bias wrecker based off of who has helped you personally or caught your personal attention, but what we aren’t going to do is start making lists and ranking everyone in a group. It doesn’t matter if it’s your personal preference. These are human beings, not fictional characters in your favorite show.

Jongho and Yunho are both amazingly talented and handsome. And they both have so many fans; I don’t want to make it seem like either of them have barely any. ATEEZ has a lot of fans who love all of the members. But we also need to be better about treating the groups like we love all of them! Don’t be afraid to show another member of a group love even if they aren’t your bias. Let’s make sure they know we love all of them equally!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

BTS: Happy Birthday, J-Hope!

Photoshoot image of Jung Hoseok (J-Hope) for Vogue. Copyright goes to HYBE Entertainment and J-Hope.

Hey! Hallie here!

Happy Birthday, J-Hope! I’m a little late to posting this today, mostly because I’ve been watching BTS content all day, but I absolutely can’t miss the 28th birthday (29th in Korea) of my ult bias! If you’ve looked at my past posts I’ve done for J-Hope, you probably know I’ve talked plenty about his discography on his birthday before. So instead, I’m going to talk about the general things I love about him as a person and as a performer. Also, let’s get hyped for his next mixtape! He already confirmed Hope World 2 is coming soon! With that aside, let’s get right into this!

Main Dancer:

It shouldn’t be new information to any ARMY that Hobi is one of the main dancers in BTS. J-Hope and Jimin earned main dancer positions in the group for their major talent, partially because both of them entered Big Hit with a lot of dance experience. Hobi’s experience came from the underground dance group, “Neuron”, that he was in before he became a trainee. His hip-hop dance style was insane from day one of BTS’s debut because of it. And it’s only improved over time. I could talk forever about the “Boy Meets Evil” piece he has done as both a highlight video and live onstage (I dedicated an entire post to it recently). Not to mention the smooth and effortless way he moved when I saw him live myself late last year. But he’s not just an impressive dancer. He also leads dance practice, teaches the other members choreography, and comes up with some of the choreography himself. The other members of BTS have described him as a patient but precise teacher. All of the members have hilariously expressed that they’re frightened to catch his gaze during dance practice because it’s nearly impossible for a mistake to pass his notice. I’m completely enamored with J-Hope’s dance style in every performance. I also seriously appreciate both the confidence in his craft and the maturity it takes to make the contributions he’s made to BTS’s dancing as a whole. He’s truly one of the most talented dancers in the industry.

Main Rapper:

A lot of people wrote off Hobi’s talent as a rapper at first because his flow isn’t as fast as Namjoon or Yoongi’s. Some people even spread the rumor that J-Hope was behind on his practice as a rapper when BTS debuted because he was meant to be a vocalist but switched places with Taehyung last minute. This rumor is completely false. In fact, BTS was initially intended to be a group where all of the members rapped. Still, J-Hope asserted himself as a unique member of the rap line by bringing a completely unique style to the group. His flow is constantly changing depending on the mood and beat of the BTS song. Some verses are melodic (His singing voice is also incredible), some are hard-hitting, some are slow, some are fast, and all are complete with Hobi’s charming cadence. His constant but shifting flow makes all of his verses so addictive that ARMYs have come together to agree that his verses are a highlight of every BTS song. This is the reason everyone should be getting excited for his next mixtape. I can already listen to “Hope World” constantly on repeat without realizing how much time has passed. I can’t even imagine the amount of time I’ll be spending listening to him rap once his next mixtape drops.

Our Hope:

This man puts everything into the hopeful stage presence he’s created. At every concert he’s bright and cheery, putting his all into each performance and interacting with ARMYs as much as possible to ensure that everyone’s having a good time. When speaking to ARMY he encourages us to be ourselves, believe in our abilities, and to lean on him when times get hard. He acts as the energizer within BTS, keeping track of all of the members’ happiness, health, and exhaustion levels to make sure they have the energy to get through each project. In his songs he’s expressed the desire to heal the world of all its darkness by acting as a beacon of hope for everyone. He came up with the idea of “Hope World” for exactly the purpose of giving everyone a place they can feel happy and comforted. But he’s also been open about the fact that he’s a human being who doesn’t always feel hopeful. J-Hope is his stage presence. A name he chose that he feels called him to the greater purpose of spreading hope throughout the world. But Hoseok is a human being who experiences a range of emotion, including sadness and depression. I’d argue that the fact that he’s open about this helps his message even more. As a fan, I love that I can watch videos of Hobi spreading happiness to instantly brighten up my day. But I also feel that it’s ok to experience days where I’m feeling low because even someone as happy as J-Hope experiences that too. It’s important to remember that we’re all still human, and J-Hope makes me feel okay with that on both good and bad days.

I’ve mentioned a few of these things in passing before but I really wanted to dedicate an entire page to all the things I love about J-Hope! He’s one of those kinds of people that I’m just happy to know exists in the world. He deserves all the love for his birthday! Every year, I get kind of sad to see that his birthday doesn’t trend as long on social media as some of the other members, but really, as long as ARMY is sending him love, I’m sure that that’s enough for him. He obviously has an amazing support group around him between his family and the members of BTS, and I hope they’re giving him all the love today that ARMY can’t from afar.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop: A K-Pop Valentine’s Day

Photoshoot image of Kim Namjoon. Copyright goes to BTS and HYBE Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I am a single Pringle and, though things are clearing up, I spent most of my Valentine’s Day inside due to Covid and wallowing in my singleness. Today is technically SAD (Singles Awareness Day), but I usually do most of my celebrating on Valentine’s Day by dressing up just for myself and eating a lot of chocolate. Of course, my Valentine’s Day has never been the same since I became a K-Pop stan. Instead of just passing by the topic altogether, I now joke that my Valentine this year is Kim Namjoon and continue on. I actually did quite a few things this Valentine’s Day that made it a pretty good day to me and most of it had to do with the comfort for me that is K-Pop. So I’m going to go through some of my favorite K-Pop things to do on Valentine’s Day with some other things thrown in. And my reaction to some news that we got yesterday as well! So this was my day yesterday! The general Valentine’s Day of a K-Pop stan.

Yunho and ATEEZ:

I’m going to start with this because I woke up to this yesterday and this is much less self care. Starting yesterday, a giant argument started regarding Yunho of ATEEZ that only gained more fuel today and has continued. Definitely not my favorite. This was because after the concert, many Yunho fans were complimenting Yunho on how great of a dancer he is and calling him the main dancer of the group; basically complimenting him on being one of the best fourth generation main dancers. Why would this start an argument? I have no idea. But it kind of did. Many other ATEEZ fans were saying that they shouldn’t be calling Yunho the main dancer because there isn’t actually an official dancer line for the group and saying that the other members should also be complimented. I think they were somehow thinking that this was solo stan behavior? It wasn’t. Yunho fans came back saying that Yunho often gets pushed into the background and that he leads all the dance practices, which makes him the main dancer. Also supporting him by sharing quotes from past interviews where he expressed frustration with being underestimated because people don’t think people as tall as he is can be good dancers. A main dancer standing at the height of 6’2” is not usual, but he’s one of the best dancers I’ve seen nonetheless. Yunho is one of the most under represented of the group and they have all said that he leads all of their dance practices. We even got recent footage of him leading a “Rocky” dance practice. He deserves this recognition, and pointing out the skills of individual members isn’t solo stan behavior. It only is if you’re pointing out the skills of one member to negate those of another. That’s not what was happening here. But I suppose seeing one of these arguments is natural for a stan on Valentine’s Day because something like this happens practically every day in some fandom or other.

More Covid:

This is also unfortunately kind of daily news right now. In the past couple days both San of ATEEZ and Taehyung of BTS have tested positive. They’re all vaccinated so none of them are getting any really bad sickness, thankfully. I just hope that we see the end of idols (and everyone else) getting Covid soon.

K-Dramas:

While not exactly K-Pop related, depending on the drama, I did watch some of my favorite compilations of my favorite K-Drama couples. I started a new K-Drama as well, though I ended up putting it down today because it was moving too slowly to keep my attention right now. I’m not going to say what it was, and it won’t really matter because I won’t review it anyways. But I always have my favorites to return to! For example, ‘Crash Landing on You’ has one of my favorite couples in it of all time with Jeonghyeok and Seri, and the couple is getting married in real life now! Congratulations to them! My favorite scene with them is probably still the scene where he takes one step across enemy lines just to kiss her. It makes me melt every time. Other K-Dramas that I highly recommend for the cute couples are ‘Vincenzo’, ‘Boys Over Flowers’, ‘Her Private Life’, and ‘Lovestruck in the City’. Those are probably my all-time favorites. ‘Vincenzo’ is surprisingly full of adorable couple moments despite the more action packed nature of the show. I should clarify that for ‘Boys Over Flowers’, I am definitely talking about Yi Jung and Ga Eul and not Jun Pyo and Jan Di. I actually made an entire post about why I like them best if you’re curious, but in short I think their story was more well rounded. ‘Her Private Life’ has such an understanding couple in it and it was made for K-Pop fans. (It also has one of my favorite first kiss scenes in a K-Drama.) ‘Lovestruck in the City’ is a lot more emotionally charged (A LOT more), but it is totally worth it if you’re prepared to cry. Though with that one I mainly mean the main couple, because the others go through some specific problems. It makes more sense when you watch it. But I really couldn’t think of many things to do, better than spending Valentine’s Day watching K-Dramas! It’s a good way to wallow.

BTS:

Now this is how I spent my evening and was definitely the highlight of my day. When my sister and I went to pick up dinner, the place we went to was playing an entire BTS playlist. We were definitely jamming out in the restaurant. How could you not? On top of that, Weverse just released old ‘Bon Voyage’ seasons and a bunch of concerts again. So my sister and I spent the night watching ‘Fifth Muster: Magic Shop’. This is one of my favorite BTS concerts of all time. Seriously, if I could go back in time to see one concert it would probably be this one. There’s something so warm and comforting about the ‘Magic Shop’ idea and this concert really established the magic of BTS. They create a community where everyone feels safe, heard, and understood. You can’t help but feel your worries slip away in the Magic Shop. And watching a BTS concert has to be one of my ultimate forms of self care. I still want to go back to a concert of theirs very badly and sometimes I can’t believe that I’ve already been to one. But I do miss the boys a lot. This concert also really makes me want to see ‘Pied Piper’, ‘Dimple’, and ‘Intro: School Luv Affair’ live sometime. But I’m going to be honest, I am more than happy with each and every song that they sing live. So really as long as I’m there, I’ll be happy with absolutely anything. In order to commemorate how I spent my Valentine’s Day, I did take a picture of my Tiny Tan Namjoon in front of the screen I was watching the concert on. Just so I know that this year I did spend the day with Kim Namjoon as my Valentine in a funny way. Gotta say, the company was superb.

I am absolutely certain that I am not the only person who spent their Valentine’s Day this way. I have no regrets and I don’t think any stan who spent it in any way that’s similar have any either. This is part of stanning! Like I said, you really can’t beat the company when you know you have the support and backing of some of your favorite people out there who you also unconditionally support. I had a lot of lighthearted fun this year, and I hope all of you beautiful people did too! Here’s to another Valentine’s Day as a K-Pop stan! Definitely one of the best decisions I’ve made.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Marvel: Let’s Talk Wanda Maximoff

Screenshot of Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff in ‘WandaVision’. Copyright goes to Walt Disney Studios and Marvel Studios.

Hey! Hallie here!

With the Super Bowl airing today we were gifted with a lot of Marvel trailers and footage. The biggest standout for me was the “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” trailer. There are so many huge things this trailer revealed, some which I’m very excited about (Professor X is back???) and some that I’m very concerned about (The multiverse has never looked so confusing). Wanda Maximoff stole my attention through it all, though. Of course she did. She’s currently my favorite character in the MCU and the amount of Marvel fans who are the same has been exponentially rising since ‘WandaVision’. But the controversy around the character has risen too. Many women have been outright attacked for liking Wanda because of her complicated morality. Some have even gone as far as to say that the MCU has failed entirely to make her likable as they seemingly inch towards a more villainous story for her. I, obviously, disagree. So let’s discuss this character and why so many women are rallying around a line she was given in the newest ‘Multiverse of Madness’ trailer.

Wanda Maximoff So Far:

This character, and her fan reaction, has been interesting to track over the years. She was introduced alongside her brother Pietro in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’. She spent most of the film almost attached to Pietro, starting out as a misguided anti-Stark villain and ending the film having been recruited to the Avengers. Many argue that she didn’t have enough personality here, but given that the movie was one of Joss Whedon’s, I’m glad it was so jam packed that he didn’t have time to ruin her character. That said, I feel Elizabeth Olsen did allow some personality to come through. She was stubborn but unsure, naive but extremely intelligent, and very compassionate. Her immediate interest in Vision despite the trepidation everyone else approached him with betrayed her large heart, as did her slowly developing father/daughter relationship with Clint Barton. The movie ended with our first hint to her power, caused by the death of Pietro, to set up the character. Moving on from this she appeared in ‘Civil War’, a film that solidified her personality and developed her relationship with Vision. The film highlighted her serious power right from the off by having her accidentally blow up part of a building. Though she hadn’t intended to blow up this building, and the move resulted in less casualties than it would have had she done nothing, Tony felt she was dangerous and imprisoned her. Her break out ended in more Wanda fan hate for really no reason at all. From what I gathered, some fans appeared to be angry at Wanda for fighting back against Vision to escape when Vision had, only moments earlier, been wiping the floor with Clint Barton. It wasn’t like she had much of a choice. However, overall Wanda saw more fans from this movie because of her fleshed out personality and because of the interest in the developing romance between her and Vision.

Next were the appearances in ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame’. In the former we got to see her die. But not before she had to destroy Vision, whom she was now in a relationship with, because only she had the ability to match the mind stone’s power. And then she had to watch Thanos rewind time to destroy Vision all over again. Fun. In ‘Endgame’ she avenged Vision by almost singlehandedly destroying Thanos in yet another display of immense power. Her grief over Vision lead right into ‘WandaVision’, a project that I firmly believe is one of the best character pieces Marvel has ever done. Here we got a good mix of Wanda’s sense of humor, compassion, and dangerous grief. Wanda’s entire storyline throughout the MCU has been marred by judgement and pain, so it wasn’t a big ask of the audience to believe that Wanda would reality shift an entire town and brainwash the people inside just to bring Vision back. But it was an accident despite her protectiveness of the home she created, and if that wasn’t enough, Monica’s sympathy for Wanda ensured that the audience understood exactly why Wanda was doing what she was doing. After it all she even let Vision and her boys go for the sake of those she had hurt, though her possession of the Darkhold proved she hadn’t given up the life she created. And really, who can blame her? A lot of the more recent negative opinions over Wanda have stemmed from her treatment of the townspeople she was controlling, but not only does the show make clear that Wanda isn’t completely aware of what she’s done to them, it’s similar to what Druig of ‘The Eternals’ does without facing any of the repercussions Wanda does. I clearly feel the criticisms of her in this regard are unfair.

What I’m Concerned About:

You’ll notice that despite all of the foreshadowing in past appearances that imply Wanda is capable of becoming dark and powerful, she’s never actually gone bad. Wanda’s always had a very strong conscience that’s allowed her to become more aware of herself and put a stop to behaviors that are destructive. Some people have mistaken ‘WandaVision’ for the beginning of Wanda’s villain arc. If Wanda goes full villain in ‘Multiverse of Madness’, that will be the start of her villain arc. Wanda defeated Agatha Harkness and put aside her feelings so she could fix her mistakes at the end of ‘WandaVision’. That’s not villain behavior. Which means ‘Multiverse of Madness’ has the task of making Wanda’s turn to the dark as smooth and as character accurate as possible. Wanda’s clearly been through a lot of devastating moments throughout the MCU’s run. She also hasn’t really had anyone to lean on this whole time except for Vision, who she’s lost three times at this point. I mean, look at her comforting herself in the ‘Multiverse of Madness’ trailer. She clearly feels alone and it’s not like Clint showed up to Westview. There’s already a very good backbone for Wanda turning her back on the world in favor of trying to get at least two seconds of happiness. But, once again, she’s never gone evil and her conscience has never gone away. I’m concerned that ‘Multiverse of Madness’ will just wipe away the kindness we’ve seen from her in favor of diving headfirst into her villain story. I’m afraid they’re going to focus only on Wanda’s possession of the Darkhold and avoid mentioning that she made amends with Monica and let Vision fade away. We can’t erase Wanda’s goodness to get to the badness.

What I’m Excited About:

For one, seeing the Scarlet Witch in all of her glory is absolutely incredible. I can’t wait to see her fight against what appears to be Captain Marvel. I can’t wait to see how far her illusions can go. And I can’t wait to see her take some of her confidence back. Wanda has an amazing line in the trailer that mentions the scrutiny she gets for breaking the rules that Stephen Strange doesn’t get when he does the same. All of the women who’ve been standing behind Wanda while fans hurl insults at her for Westview feel that in our souls. Because villainous characters, and even heroes who have done morally ambiguous things, get a pass if they’re a guy. Meanwhile, I’ve seen countless women being needlessly attacked for backing female characters who have done similar things. I want to see Wanda take on these criticisms herself. I want to see her decide, as she mentioned in ‘Civil War’, that others opinions of her don’t matter. I want to see her kick ass and prove that she’s complicated and powerful. Both an immense ally and an immense foe. At this point, it would be kind of cathartic to see her destroy some things, even with me being cautious about the way they write her villain arc. Also, I don’t know when White Vision’s going to show up next, but the unfinished business she has with him is one of the most interesting loose threads in the MCU right now. Her role in the newest ‘Doctor Strange’ film is only one of her future appearances to look forward to.

The ‘Multiverse of Madness’ trailer and TV spot gave me a lot to think about. As a pretty vocal skeptic of the multiverse storylines we’ve seen take over the MCU, I’m kind of terrified by the sheer amount of craziness we’re being promised in ‘Doctor Strange’. But more than any of that, I just want them to do right by Wanda. She’s one of the best characters in the MCU and I want to see her get even more interesting as time goes on.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

International Dramas: ‘So Not Worth It’ Review

Screenshot of (from left) Joakim Sorensen, Terris Brown, Han Hyunmin, Choi Youngjae, and Minnie. Copyright goes to Mystic Story and Netflix.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I’m completely back into wanting to watch some wholesome lighthearted entertainment where I can just turn my brain off for a while. This is definitely one of those shows. This drama marks the comeback of the Korean sitcom, which is a medium of television that they haven’t really been making anything in for the past ten years. It’s kind of easy to see why. Most sitcoms have aged out nearly everywhere, with most shows either going for a more dramatic feel or not wanting the laugh track to interfere with the way a joke lands. I’ll admit that I usually feel a little thrown off whenever I see something recent that includes a laugh track. But what really brought this show into the limelight was the immense amount of diversity. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to watch it at first, because when it first came out there were a lot of mixed reviews. This seems to be one of those shows where you either love it or you hate it. And I actually really liked it for what it is! So with that, I’m just going to get into this one.

Synopsis: This Netflix original is about a group of eight friends living in a foreign dorm at a university in Seoul. Sewan is a Korean native who is the RA of the dorm, she is very poor and often gets spare cash by having students pay her for looking the other way when they accidentally break a rule. Jamie is a Korean American student who hides the fact that his mother is a famous US actress. Sam is a Korean Australian who is the son of a rich food chain mogul. Minnie is a Thai student who is absolutely obsessed with K-Dramas and clubbing. Hyunmin is a half Nigerian half Korean student who was born and raised in South Korea, but needs to secretly stay in the foreign dorm because of his long commute. Carson is an American student who is known for being tough and world weary despite her age. Hans is a Swedish student who is a stickler for the rules. Terris is a Tribagonian student who, in the process of serial dating women, begins to figure out who he is. Together they form a tight knit college friend group who navigate the trials of life and love together.

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW!!!

The Good:

Sewan- I find that too often in sitcoms there will be a female character that’s written with the express purpose of being relatable, so she’s often not as fun and such a blank slate that she isn’t really relatable. They don’t do this here. Though she’s one of the most focused on characters, she had her own quirks and personality that makes her stand out just as much as all of the other characters. She’s known for swindling people out of their money, and this is used for comedy, but they also give her a relatable reason to back it up. Her mother is in constant debt and the debt collectors will sometimes even resort to finding Sewan at school instead of her mother in order to get the money back. She’s flawed and funny rather than being “normal” and perfect. I really appreciated that from the most focused on female character!

Jamie- He has to be one of the most adorable romantic leads I’ve ever seen. He’s known for being helpful, innocent, and smart but also often too naive. When he starts dating Sewan he has to convince her that he even likes her. Later, when American press realize that he’s going to the university in Seoul, he is insistent on telling the press that he is very devoted to his girlfriend despite the better option being to deny his love life at the time. He’s very sweet, sometimes to his own detriment, but he’s also one of the most comforting characters in the show. He’s seriously so cute.

Sam- Though he’s not focused on often, you always need that one friend in the group that constantly annoys everyone else lovingly. He’s the mischievous one who is most prone to getting in trouble and when he shows how devoted he is, it’s always sweetly, surprisingly. He’s also played by Choi Youngjae of Got7! Though I’m not super familiar with them, he was such a great actor and I was surprised to learn that he didn’t do acting more regularly. So many idols in South Korea are also absolutely excellent actors!

Minnie- She was one of my favorite characters. Firstly, her favorite K-Drama that she mentions most often is ‘Crash Landing On You’, which is one of my favorite K-Dramas of all time. I absolutely loved the constant callbacks! Her more carefree and lighthearted nature was a great foil for some of the more angsty scenes and she was so endearing it was difficult to not like her. I also want her wardrobe. Minnie is also an idol, this time from G-Idle. And she actually uses her real name for this, as most of the actors do. There are only a few exceptions. She is a very good actress!

Hyunmin- Though he’s commonly mistaken for a foreigner, this drama aims to tackle a different identity. He’s Korean born and raised. Which is a huge step considering portraying Black Koreans is still not very common. He spends most of the drama attempting to be reliable and failing because he relies so much on his friends. And while the drama doesn’t get fully into the problem it aims to tackle, he is one of the most comedic characters in the show and very fun to watch because of that.

Carson- She might have been my favorite character, and I’m not the only one who thinks this way. Carson is tough and known for being able to handle herself in any situation. This is brought up in an awful turn of events when her boyfriend of several years, who she moved to South Korea for, cheats on her. In her finding this out she realizes that the relationship had been over for some time, but this doesn’t stop her from punching him in the face for the way he treated her. She later gives several of her friends advice and even helps Terris in the most influential part of the season for him. I also want to say that I am so glad they didn’t make the American woman a huge partier. I see that trope quite a lot, and I’m glad that it wasn’t here.

Terris- He doesn’t get too much for the first part of the season. His friends call him a Casanova due to his penchant for serial dating. But he never really seems happy in it, and his friends take note of his happiness diminishing the more he dates. Eventually Carson is set up with a guy Terris knows and finds out from this guy that he loves another person, which is a relief to Carson who isn’t ready to start dating after such a long term relationship. Carson discovers that this man loves Terris, and the reason for Terris’s stagnant dating life is because he has realized that he loves this man back. This is such an adorable turn in the last couple episodes. I hope we see more of it and Terris in a second season.

Sewan and Jamie- This is the major relationship in the show and I wasn’t sure I bought it at first. But after they got together it seemed only natural to me. They both understood each other in a way that it made their characters just click so effortlessly. Though they bickered a bit, it wasn’t the foundation of their relationship. They felt realistic. I think everyone aspires to be in a relationship this understanding.

Women and Men- This is one of the only shows I have ever seen in general where the way women talk about men is pretty realistic. Specifically Sewan, Minnie, and Carson talk often about how stupid men are and lament liking them. But they also talk about wanting boyfriends in the same conversation, which is painfully accurate. They easily call out their male friends for dictating what women want to do with their own bodies or constantly bringing up ex-boyfriends in judgment. This was also dealt with very naturally instead of having to stop the storyline in order to point out that they were doing this to begin with. The show never patted themselves on the back for doing the bare minimum.

Wholesome- In general, this drama is very wholesome. While it isn’t one with very deep storylines, it’s the kind of lighthearted show you’d definitely want to watch at the end of a long day at work. I appreciate it for just aiming to be about the general camaraderie of a friend group.

The Bad:

Hans- This was the only character from the eight friends that I wasn’t sold on by the end. For the most part it often feels like his friends don’t even like him. He often gets them into trouble because he reports everything they do, he gets sued for stubbornly not understanding the laws in South Korea and bullying a business because of a mistake he made himself, and he constantly threatens to reveal that Hyunmin is secretly living in the dorms. While he isn’t the one who eventually gives away Hyunmin’s secret, all of his friends believe him capable of it and avoid him for the last couple episodes because they think he did do it. His brand of comedy was also not very funny to me. Speaking of which…

Sense of Humor- I’ve talked about this before, but I’ve found that some K-Dramas I’ve watched that had a focus on comedy used some pretty infantile comedy. There are quite a few fart and poop jokes in this. Not enough for it to be too distracting, but definitely enough to be noticeable. Especially with the character of Sam, which sometimes made me appreciate him less. Maybe it’s just that I don’t have this sense of humor. But it’s odd that this is a young adult series with jokes like that to me. But it could just be personal preference.

Minnie and Sam- I know that it’s very common to put the constantly bickering friends together, but Minnie and Sam just didn’t work. And it also didn’t seem like the show thought they worked either. Sam was either too forgiving or too uptight about what Minnie did, and Minnie often didn’t care about Sam at all. In fact, at the end of this season it’s actually left up in the air whether or not Minnie is cheating on Sam. It appears that she was kissing another guy. So far, I’m just hoping this couple isn’t endgame.

Laugh Track- So, I know this is a staple of any sitcom, but the laugh track didn’t work. It wasn’t used consistently, to the point where sometimes I would be genuinely surprised to hear faint laughter in the background. It would take me a couple seconds to remember the sitcom thing and I would watch the screen with a furrowed brow and a thousand questions about it. Like why sometimes it could clearly be heard while sometimes it was barely there, almost like the writers were afraid that the joke wouldn’t be that funny. Anyways, I don’t think they needed it. I think laugh tracks are being used less everywhere for a reason.

Overall, I really liked this show! It wasn’t the most profound thing I’ve ever watched, but I really needed a pick-me-up and this was definitely that. The camaraderie on the show also felt so familiar and comforting. This is definitely a show I would return to if only to turn it on in the background to make everything feel more comforting. It had that feel of eating comfort food. If you’re also looking for a pick-me-up, I would highly recommend this drama. If you want to get into something serious and well thought out, maybe skip this for now. But definitely come back to it. Because I think we could all use a drama like this every once in a while. I, for one, will be waiting for the next season to come out and hope that it feels as light and fun as this season did. Now I have to go back to absolutely reeling from the fact that ATEEZ will be spending an extended amount of time less than two hours from where I live.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Star Wars: The Problem With ‘The Book of Boba Fett’

Screenshot of Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand and Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett in ‘The Book of Boba Fett’. Copyright goes to Lucasfilm and Walt Disney Studios.

Hey! Hallie here!

‘The Book of Boba Fett’ has officially ended its first season. Unlike ‘The Mandalorian’, it hasn’t received wide praise. Actually, most people have mixed feelings about this series. I’ve seen more bad reviews than good, but overall I’ve seen mostly confused reviews from fans who appreciated parts of this series but not all of it. And let’s be honest, the parts of this series most of us appreciated were the callbacks to ‘The Mandalorian’. I personally felt like this series gave us a whole lot of nothing and the last few episodes didn’t really prove to me that the story was overall worthwhile. I don’t think ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ was awful, but it certainly wasn’t good and there are definitely a few aspects of the series that dragged it down. But before I go any further I’m going to put a major SPOILER warning here. To talk about my thoughts on this series I need to dive into details, so if you haven’t watched all the way through it, come back later.

Boba Fett:

Let’s talk about the main character himself. He wasn’t much of a main character, was he? The hero of the last few episodes seemed to be Din Djarin, or Mando. It genuinely felt like the writers decided to downgrade Boba to a secondary character halfway through the series. He didn’t even show up in one episode in favor of giving Mando the episode to shine. And even in the last episode that wasn’t really rectified. Boba took control of the forces fighting back against the Pykes, but he left partway through the battle to get his pet Rancor. Meaning we spent a bunch of time with Boba offscreen yet again while we focused on Mando reuniting with Grogu. And did any of us really care that he was gone? Well, for my part, no. The first few episodes of ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ didn’t sell me on the character in the least bit. The narrative switched between flashbacks and the current timeline with no connection between them. In one story the Tusken Raiders took up all of the personality and intrigue. In the other, Boba proved himself to be an incompetent Daimyo with conflicting ideas. Seriously, all he did was get injured so Fennec Shand and the kids he later hired could prove their skill, fall into political traps because he never took Fennec Shand’s advice to prove himself to the city, and float in a bacta tank. I appreciated his desire to rule with honesty and kindness, but those traits conflict with the idea of, you know, being a crime lord. And when he finally does something that gains the respect of the townspeople, namely saving them from the Pykes, he voices irritation at his new job. So why did we have an entire series leading up to this point in that case?

Mistreated Side Characters:

We had so many side characters in this series and almost none of them were good. Fennec Shand was the sole non-‘Mandalorian’ side character that was good. But the treatment of her character was contradictory. Shand was portrayed as both the voice of reason and the reckless sidekick Boba had to reign in. On the one hand, Fennec was appreciated by Boba for pointing out when he was being made a fool of as well as for giving him advice. On the other, Boba would brush her ideas off as too violent and uncaring. I was so confused by this contradiction that I had no idea what the show was trying to say when it revealed that she single-handedly wiped out the leaders of the Spice Runners at the end of the finale. Was her murder spree harsh and coldblooded, or a sign that she was changing her ways because she hadn’t cared about the spice trade before? I still have no idea. All I know is that Fennec Shand was right about the lack of progress Boba was making the majority of the time. She likely would have made more progress as Daimyo with Boba at her side rather than vice versa. As for the other side characters, who really cares? The kids Boba hired were given no personality. The Wookie that sided with Boba didn’t have any either. Even Cad Bane, a beloved villain from the animated series, felt bland. He was clearly brought in because the show had no formidable villain for fans to care about without him, but he only showed up for a few scenes before Boba killed him off. The rivalry between them wasn’t even built up. The show relied on the fact that Bane killed the Raiders Boba had grown attached to in order to build tension, but the Raiders were killed offscreen. Tell me why I should care about that event if the writers didn’t care enough about it to show anything aside from one scene of Boba looking vaguely sad?

Mandalorian Season 2.5:

I’m pretty sure this is what we all just watched instead of ‘The Book of Boba Fett’. Boba Fett showed up once in the span of two episodes in favor of focusing on catching up with Mando and Grogu. To be honest, it was kind of nice. I liked seeing the repercussions of Mando taking his helmet off as well as the start of his journey with the Darksaber. I liked catching up with Grogu and Luke (Although I still dislike both Ahsoka and Luke’s strange insistence to keep to the Jedi Order rules when both actively rebelled against these rules beforehand). I liked seeing Grogu and Mando reunite. I even liked seeing the return of Peli and all her droids. But what does any of that have to do with Boba Fett? I have no clue. I felt like halfway through the series they decided to drop the Boba Fett storyline in order to wrap up some loose ends from ‘The Mandalorian’ so they wouldn’t have to spend time doing so at the beginning of season three. But really, all of the things they included would have taken up maybe one episode at most. So it still didn’t feel necessary here.

‘The Book of Boba Fett’ could have used more Boba Fett. It could also have used a more cohesive story and a more developed supporting cast. But what we got instead was disjointed, sometimes boring, and apparently incapable of standing on its own if Mando’s involvement is any indication. I liked certain aspects of this show. It hyped me up for season three of ‘The Mandalorian’ and I could definitely do with more Fennec Shand. But I don’t think those were goals a series about Boba Fett set out to accomplish. Somehow I feel like Boba Fett is just as bland of a character as he was before this series started. Back when he hardly had any lines at all throughout the ‘Star Wars’ franchise. I’m definitely disappointed. Here’s to ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ being better!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie