K-Pop and K-Dramas: What I Learned About BTS From ‘Bon Voyage’ Season 1

Screenshot of Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Namjoon, Min Yoongi, Kim Seokjin, and Jeon Jungkook from ‘BTS Bon Voyage’. Copyright goes to BigHit Entertainment and BTS.

Hey! Hallie here!

I’m currently in the middle of watching ‘BTS Bon Voyage’ to help pass the time and it’s really amazing so far. You get so many insights into the members personalities and it’s insanely fun watching them goof around. However, you also get to learn what it’s like to travel with them. Every member seems to have their own anxieties, fall backs, and hilarious quirks when they’re left to make their own decisions while exploring somewhere new. And it’s not simply that they always make a point to go shopping after they find their hotel. From the frustrating to the hilarious, here’s what I learned about what it’s like to travel with each member.

Namjoon (RM):

Namjoon’s a pretty responsible traveler on the surface. He’s constantly keeping track of all the members and whenever they need his English speaking skills he’s more than willing to step in. He also takes it upon himself to settle most issues the group needs settled. When Jimin lost his suitcase he called the bus company to find it, he instructed Jimin on how to ask for his suitcase in English, and he called the hostel owner when the time had come for them to settle in. He also isn’t a huge spender. He likes to enjoy the nature in every location he visits and he doesn’t always feel the need to spend money to do so. He does go shopping with the other members, but he’s very careful about what he chooses to spend money on. There’s one major problem with Namjoon, however. He’s extremely forgetful. In the first season he decided to forgo riding a cable car to hike up a hill, only to forget his backpack at the top. Luckily the staff had found it before they left, but it would have cost 30 dollars to send him back up for his backpack. After this he lost his passport and had to fly back to Korea two days earlier than everyone else. He was, understandably, very upset and it was heartbreaking to see him fly back. And yet, somehow, this was not the last time he lost his passport.

Jin:

Jin is another responsible traveler, but unlike Namjoon, he’s a bit more responsible with his belongings as well. Jin will forgo many things to eat a good meal, but he isn’t a big spender. Like Namjoon, he’s careful about what he spends money on. He’s more likely to take time to rest than visit a lot of shopping areas. He’s pretty laid back too. Whenever something unexpected occurs he makes the most of it and remains content. He simply seems to enjoy vacationing, regardless of what he ends up doing. On the other hand, Jin can be a bit too confident in himself at times. He and Jimin once spent way too much time walking to their hotel because Jin didn’t really know where he was going despite his apparent confidence. He’s also the most likely of the members to randomly interact with people on the street despite the obvious embarrassment of whoever he’s with. But overall, he seems to be a pretty sensible travel companion.

Yoongi (Suga):

Yoongi is certainly an interesting traveler. Like Namjoon, he takes up a few of the groups responsibilities when they travel. Namely, taking care of their finances. He is always extremely aware of how much money they’re spending, how much they have left, and how much each thing they do will cost. In fact, he was made fun of multiple times for his habit of counting money the instant the staff handed him any. There was no worry that the group would go overbudget when he was around. Yoongi is also pretty laid back, though in a different way than Jin. If he’s tired, he will forgo activities without feeling like he’s missing anything. At times he even decided to use the inspiration the trip gave him to write music, regardless of what was planned for the day. He doesn’t feel obligated to explore, though he does enjoy it. He simply gives himself time to rest as well. He also has a habit of losing things with the somewhat reckless opinion that they’ll find their way back to him eventually. When leaving a hostel the staff had to pick up his iPad when he left it on the counter. This isn’t as reoccurring of a problem as Namjoon’s, however.

Hoseok (J-Hope):

Hobi is the opposite of a laid back traveler. Like Namjoon, he looks after the entire group throughout each trip. He makes sure everyone has what they need, and when they don’t he’s ready to help. But he can be pretty anxious when things go wrong. When Jimin lost his suitcase Hobi was very obviously concerned about it and didn’t relax until Jimin had it again. Another instance he was careless with the tickets for a cable car ride, believing the group didn’t need them anymore. When he realized that they did need them, he instantly became paler. A kind stranger returned them to him and Hobi sang the stranger’s praises for a good ten minutes afterwards. Hobi is friendly and not easily embarrassed. He held conversations with various English speakers, including some fans, and was very complimentary of everyone he met. He also easily figured out that if he told everyone he was on “important business”, he could kindly turn them down when they asked for a picture. He even openly dances in public places without batting an eye, though he became quickly embarrassed when a crowd started to form on one occasion. He’s an energetic travel companion who seems to be the most likely to worry of everyone in the group.

Jimin:

Jimin has his share of quirks when it comes to traveling. He’s one of the members who seems to enjoy himself regardless of what he’s doing or who he’s hanging out with. He’s also very conscious of the other members. Whenever the group splits up he always makes sure that he tags along with whoever’s alone. At one point this led him into an exhausting hike with Namjoon. He was also the go-to member to call if one of the boys was separated from the rest for any reason. He can be a frustrating travel companion, however. For one, he almost rivals Namjoon in his ability to lose items. At their first location Jimin became so enamored by the scenery that he left his suitcase on the bus. On another occasion he left his suitcase right in front of the airport despite the fact that he was standing right next to it. Fortunately, that time he noticed it before they left. Jimin is also notorious for being late. Whenever the group is ready to leave a location they find that Jimin is in the bathroom. Whenever they leave their hotel for the morning they have to wait several more minutes for Jimin to join them. He does like his sleep.

Taehyung:

Chaos. This man is chaos. In the first season of this series Tae was forced to travel separately from the rest of the members on two occasions. The first occasion was because he was filming at the time, forcing him to leave a day later than everyone else. When he arrived on location he was instructed to go straight to the hostel, but instead he treated the staff attending him to TGI Fridays because he was hungry. Despite the fact that he, and the other members, were supposed to stick to a budget provided by the staff. The second time he travelled alone, this time because he overslept and underestimated the amount of time it would take the other members to reach the airport, his flight got delayed. When he finally arrived in their next location he was instructed to take a bus, but he got so tired of waiting for the bus that he used his ticket to board a random bus instead. This bus, unsurprisingly, took him to the wrong location. He and the staff members ended up in the middle of nowhere, where the director was forced to drive two hours out to in order to retrieve them. However, this is also the beauty of Taehyung. He’s an absolute romantic. One of the reasons why he wanted to stay out and eat before reaching the hostel was because he saw so many people wearing cultural outfits and wanted to spend time taking in the crowds and the atmosphere. When he was lost he told Jimin over the phone that the beautiful greenery made up for it all. He even decided to walk to a river despite the worrying situation. He absolutely shouldn’t travel alone, but you can’t help but admire his outlook.

Jungkook:

Responsible? No. Troublesome? Also no. He doesn’t lose his things and he’s pretty content to follow the instructions of the older members. Jungkook doesn’t ever seem to have much of a set agenda. He seems content to follow whoever has an adventurous idea. Whether that means going for a hike, joining in on a shopping spree, or simply eating a large meal, he always seems content. He enjoys goofing around with the other members and, so long as he’s doing that, he’s happy. He relies on the other members for a lot of things but that doesn’t seem to bother him or anyone else. He’s still pretty serious about his self care, even abroad. He was so worried about the smell of his clothes that he wound up doing the laundry for all the members on their trip. He also loves taking pictures, which on some occasions meant he stopped in the middle of nowhere to pull out his camera and the other members nearly left him behind. Fortunately, he was with Hobi on most of these occasions, who is far too aware to leave Jungkook behind.

Of course, all of this was back in 2016 so many of their habits have probably changed since then. I guess I’ll have to watch the other seasons to see what changes. And, as always, I’ll fill you in as I go along!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Theme Parks: Diagon Alley

Photograph of Universal Studios Orlando’s Diagon Alley. Copyright goes to Universal Studios.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Lately I’ve been on a kick of sharing a little about some of my geeky travels and I figured that this was the next stop. Sure, I’ve been to Universal Studios and seen Hogsmeade tons of times. After Disneyland raised their prices for the upteenth time and my family couldn’t afford it anymore, it seemed like the natural place to go after was the much cheaper Universal Studios Hollywood. I’m actually not mad at this at all, though I do miss it since I’ve been in quarantine for so long. But I did actually visit the Orlando equivalent of my favorite home park, and I have to say that I absolutely loved it. Though it’s mostly because of Harry Potter. (The Cat in the Hat ride at ‘Islands of Adventure’ is terrifying). Though I will never be able to get over Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts castle, there’s something about Diagon Alley that I liked better. I don’t know if it’s the general feeling or the fact that it’s not something I can see as often, but I really do like Diagon Alley better. Let’s get into why this is one of my favorite things I have ever seen from a theme park in my life.

The Buildings:

I know Hogsmeade has the weirdly shaped buildings that feel very cottage-y and cozy. I love those too! But the different shaped, colored, and leaning buildings really makes you feel transported into a distinctly wizardy world. Each shop has a unique sign to go along with it’s unique color and there’s also plenty to explore. The shops here feel much more diverse in what they sell as well and it makes it feel like there’s much more to see.

Madame Malkin’s:

This is the shop that Harry, Ron, and Hermione shopped at to buy new robes and sometimes robes for special occasions. Like the Yule Ball for instance. Because of that you can see several costumes from the film inside the store including Hermione’s Yule Ball gown, Fleur’s wedding dress, and also some specific Death Eater robes. One of the best parts of the store is a large mirror that will talk to you if you stand in front of it and will give you an opinion on your outfit.

Florean Fortescue’s:

This is the ice cream parlor from the books. I distinctly remember it’s mention in the third book when Harry visits there every day to do homework during his stay at Diagon Alley. Florean Fortescue gives him free ice cream and even helps him out with his homework at times. Because this is a shop mentioned frequently in the books, it is to be expected that the shop has flavors that are mentioned in the books. The butterbeer ice cream is almost better than butterbeer itself and the shop also carries strawberry peanut butter ice cream as well as raspberry chocolate. I’ve tried all three of those flavors and fell in love with each of them. Seriously, some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had in my life.

The Entrance:

Almost nothing beats the way you enter Diagon Alley. Outside is the depiction of a London street that includes Kings Cross Station (which is what you use if you take the train in between both parks) and it also actually features Grimmauld Place. If you keep an eye on the windows over the street you’ll be able to spot Kreacher peeking out. The street also has the Knight Bus, the purple double decker bus that’s from the third book and movie. You have to walk past a seemingly closed brick wall to see where the wall has come apart, just like it does when Hagrid taps the wall in the first movie, in order to then enter Diagon Alley.

Knockturn Alley:

I wasn’t actually entirely expecting the length to which they went in making this look authentic. It ended up being one of my favorite parts of Diagon Alley. The entrance is slightly secluded, but there is an ominous arrow pointing to the dark alley where it really feels like you might get mugged if it wasn’t in a theme park. Here you can visit Borgin and Burkes which features one of my absolute favorite props in all of the parks. Remember the vanishing cabinet that Draco uses in the sixth book and film to transport Death Eaters into Hogwarts? It’s there. If you stand close to it you can hear the chirping of a bird inside, like it’s possibly stuck in eternal nothingness after Draco’s first failed test of the object.

Gringotts:

This is the focal point of Diagon Alley and it really is for a reason. When you enter, the first thing you see is the giant dragon from the seventh movie on top of the wizarding bank. Every once in a while it will roar rather loudly and spit fire, so if you’re sensitive to loud noises you might want to be aware of that. Upon entering the bank in order to get to the ride that is the focal point of the experience, you get an attraction within the ride. Every piece of this line is meant to be enjoyed once you enter the hall of goblins. Each animatronic feels real and the room is uncommonly big. Almost intimidatingly so. Throughout the line Harry, Ron, and Hermione, can often be heard or kind of seen shuffling about trying to find one of the final horcruxes. So this is Hermione as Bellatrix for some of it. You then enter an elevator where you are met by Bill Weasley (we should not forget that he’s a curse breaker for Gringotts), who takes you down a large elevator that really moves and shifts. The elevator was really fun for me, but I can see how it would make someone motion sick.

Escape from Gringotts:

When I first went on this ride the attraction had just opened. Because of this, they were having technical problems. The ride is still known for having technical problems, but it’s not as bad as it was. My family and I literally got to the very front of the line and were about to board the themed mine cars when the ride broke down. We stood there for an hour waiting for the ride to come back up. Thankfully, one of the people working on the ride was very kind and charismatic and talked to us through the entirety of the situation to help us pass the time. I do actually find Universal employees to be more pleasant than Disneyland ones in both California and Orlando, but I digress. This ride was totally worth the wait. It was fast paced and so immersive. The minute you leave the loading dock you are confronted with Voldemort which gets your adrenaline racing and you’re like that for the rest of the ride. It’s definitely one of my favorite rides I’ve ever experienced.

Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes:

Obviously, my favorite shop. Though I guess it’s not too obvious because I really love that ice cream. It looks exactly like it does in the movies and with the stairs leading upstairs it feels like Fred and George might appear at any moment. Maybe because they would considering Oliver and James Phelps love visiting this park in particular and have been spotted there. The shop is actually a little narrow and can be hard to navigate in large crowds. But it’s worth seeing even if you have to dip out right away due to claustrophobia. When I was there it was pretty empty. I just have to warn you though; if you buy a pygmy puff they will ask you what you’re naming it and announce it to the entire store. There are no exceptions. Just accept it and laugh. I did not know this going in and blushed bright red, especially because I hadn’t thought of a name for it when I bought it. I ended up just saying Arnold because that’s the name of Ginny’s in the books.

There you have it! Diagon Alley in Universal Studios Orlando is one of the most unique and amazing experiences that you’ll ever find in a theme park. I want to go back so badly now! Curse my need for travel!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Marvel: What I Want to See From the Characters in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’

Screenshot of Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’. Copyright goes to Marvel Studios and Disney+.

Hey! Hallie here!

This Friday the hole that ‘WandaVision’ left in Marvel fan’s hearts is set to be filled with Marvel’s new series, ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’. There’s no knowing how good this series will really be, and I’m not here to speculate about that. But I do love the characters that are starring in this series and I’ve wanted more from them for quite a long while. In the past our three main characters, Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, and Sharon Carter, had been given decent set ups and were then pushed aside. There have even been some glaring missteps in the MCU’s writing for these characters thus far. This is what has happened to these characters so far and what I hope to see from their storylines when the series airs on Friday.

Sam Wilson:

Sam was first introduced into the MCU in ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’. From the beginning of the movie his relationship with Steve Rodgers was heartwarming, especially because they could confide in each other over their shared trauma. It wasn’t surprising that Sam Wilson decided to take Steve and Natasha in without hesitation when they were on the run. His loyalty was well appreciated by Steve, who managed to retrieve the experimental technology that was Sam’s Falcon wings so that he could join their team. Sam was shown to be a pretty laid back guy with a good sense of humor and a strong sense of right and wrong. It wasn’t surprising that Steve liked him so much. But his friendship with Steve took an immediate backseat to Steve’s friendship with Bucky. Even though Sam literally made Bucky sit in the backseat in ‘Captain America: Civil War’, it was clear who the movie was really about. In fact, one of the major reasons why Steve was so willing to fight Tony was because he wanted to protect Bucky. Steve did give Sam the shield when the time came for him to give it up, but the two didn’t spend nearly enough screen time developing their bond. Part of that was because writers decided not to give Sam much screen time at all, which was a huge problem in the MCU that specifically targeted their first few BIPOC superheroes and still lingers. What I want to see from this show is the full main character treatment. I want a more full exploration of his relationship with Steve Rogers, but I also want a full development of his character in general. I want to know more about his life and his past. I want to see him be more than just the comic relief. I want to see how he interprets taking on the Captain America responsibilities and the struggles he faces that are specific to his character. Sam Wilson deserves to show everyone why he got the shield.

Bucky Barnes:

I talked a lot about the focus on his friendship with Steve above but, despite his much larger amounts of screen time, he still has faced a lot of issues in past movies. His introduction was in ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ where Bucky was already friends with Steve. He was a bit of a flirt and somewhat conceited, but his care for Steve showed just how big his heart really was. And then, towards the end of the movie, Bucky died. When he reappeared in ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ his personality was nowhere to be found. Despite the fact that the movie focused quite a bit on Steve’s relationship with Bucky, it was all from Steve’s perspective. Bucky’s brainwashing made him nothing more than an emotionless murderer throughout the movie. ‘Captain America: Civil War’ saw the return of Bucky without the brainwashing. But his personality was definitely not on display. He was mostly quiet and his main goal throughout the movie was simply to survive. Once again, his relationship with Steve was focused heavily on Steve’s emotions. Apart from a few short comments about the past, Bucky was still devoid of most of his own emotions. What I want to see from Bucky in this series is a full exploration of his personality. He doesn’t have to be the same as he was in the first ‘Captain America’ film, and after all he’s gone through, I don’t imagine that’s even possible. But I do want to see what has stayed the same despite all the years that have passed. I also want to see more differences from his past self aside from simply “he’s quiet now”. I don’t want to see the strong, silent character type he’s been portrayed as in the last few movies. I want to see a more complex personality from him.

Sharon Carter:

Oh boy. Here we go. We saw very little from Sharon Carter in ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, but that is where we were first introduced to her. She worked undercover for SHIELD as Steve’s neighbor so that they could keep an eye on him. She was very nice to him and clearly very good at her job because he didn’t suspect her. But she also earned immediate distrust from Steve when she revealed herself to be an agent. Despite the distrust, she proved that she was on Steve’s side when she decided to stand up against Hydra. We saw Sharon again in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and, once again, she wasn’t around for long. She grieved with Steve when her aunt, Peggy Carter, died and she helped him for a very short amount of time. She also kissed him, which was really creepy considering he was still in love with her aunt. Overall the creepiness of her relationship with Steve ended up turning most audiences against her character. In this show I’m hoping they make audiences regret brushing her off. I want to see her personality, because we haven’t actually seen it yet. I want to know about her past, especially with her aunt as one of the founders of SHIELD. I want little to no mention of her relationship with Steve and I don’t really want to see her act as a love interest at all in this series. I just want to see her move past her awkward beginnings and prove how big of a badass she is.

And that’s it! There are plenty more reoccurring characters set to pop up in this series, but I’m really hoping for these three to get the major focus they deserve. I’m excited to see what this series has in store. If it’s anywhere near the quality of ‘WandaVision’, it’ll definitely be a fun series to dive into. I guess we’ll see on Friday!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: Don’t Mess With BTS

Official photo from the 2021 Grammys performance. (From left) Jeon Jungkook, Park Jimin, Kim Seokjin, Kim Namjoon, Kim Taehyung, Jung Hoseok, and Min Yoongi. Copyright goes to BigHit Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I’m sorry, but I can’t leave the stuff about the Grammys just yet. Especially not after the new developments from today. Because if you mess with BTS you’re going to get on the nerves of the very protective ARMY, and now we’ve actually seen some of the effects of that. Yes, BTS lost the Grammy last night, but after some results from today regarding last night’s Grammys the question becomes; did they actually lose? I know I’ve been vocal from the beginning about how I want the Grammys to die out and I don’t really think it’s relevant anymore. But still, Namjoon’s “told you so” broke all of our hearts. Somehow, that pain has all been lessened for me now.

Ratings:

The ratings for the Grammys were released this morning and we actually got to have a look at how much the Grammys was actually effected by all the boycotting. For the record, the Grammys of 2020 hit a disappointing low for the creators after they received about eighteen million views. This was second lowest just above 2006’s record low of seventeen million, and both numbers were significantly lower than the other Grammy years. This year they received just around eight million views. That is less than half of their lowest year. It is a catastrophic low for the Grammys that many news sites are reporting could mark the end for all shows of this nature. To put this in perspective ‘The Masked Singer’, which does not receive good reviews in the US, is now the most watched program on CBS over the Grammys. That’s absolutely insane.

How did BTS factor in?:

Not long after BTS’s performance in the actual show, it was dropped to Youtube just like the other performances from that day were. In a few minutes the video received more views than the entire Grammys had in it’s three hour run time. Not long after the event BTS also went live on Vlive, it was short but also ended up with more views than the Grammys in that short amount of time. In fact, BTS’s Grammy related videos have received more views than anything else from the Grammys either, including performances.

What ARMY did:

BTS’s fanbase is known for being large and passionate. Yesterday the members of ARMY didn’t really attack Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, but they still voiced their disappointment in several important ways. The hashtag scammy’s was trending all night mostly due to ARMY as well as many calling for a boycott directly after BTS lost their award in the pre-show. With the entirety of this fanbase boycotting after as well as the fanbases of several artists who called out the Grammys this year, the show had to face the problem of fandom boycott as well as the growing lack of interest for a show that is now seen as something for rich people.

Media Acknowledgement:

We have to give massive shout outs to the major media platforms who reported the ratings today as well as giving some credit to ARMY. Earlier today Forbes released an article detailing the mistreatment of BTS at the Grammys for the last several years. They included the fact that BTS was left until last to try and garner more viewers as well as how BTS should have been up for more awards. Though I have seen major K-Pop blogs and websites post articles like this, I didn’t expect such an extensive article backing up ARMY and BTS from Forbes today. But this wasn’t the only place that this backlash appeared. The anger of ARMY caught the attention of none other than Philip DeFranco, the most popular news channel on Youtube. He also discussed how BTS was only nominated for one Grammy that wasn’t in the main show despite all the records they’ve broken and talked, again, about how the Grammys led people on, only to stick BTS at the very end of the show. The mistreatment of BTS got more media time because of this event than it ever has before.

What does this mean?:

I’m not sure exactly what to make of this, but I’m absolutely certain that it will make people more aware of the mistreatment of BTS. This has added to the list of dings on the name of the Grammys, especially the many that happened this year with all of the boycotting due to various artists. But not only that, it’s statistical proof of one of the major hashtags last night. Who really needs who? The obvious answer here is that the Grammys need BTS, not the other way around. BTS has become a band that’s too big for the Grammys. And in a way all of this could effect the way any western awards shows are treated when it comes to BTS from here on out. Only time will tell what that really means.

Good job ARMY for sticking up for our boys last night! Though I know all of us including the amazing member of BTS were a little disappointed, we made much more of a impact than I think anyone thought we would. BTS may have lost last night, but today this feels a little more like a victory.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: BTS Didn’t Win

Promotional photo of Jungkook, Suga, Jimin, V, RM, J-Hope, and Jin. Copyright goes to BigHit Entertainment and BTS.

Hey! Hallie here!

So today was…disappointing. Actually that’s an understatement. The way BTS was treated this year, just like every year, was outright unfair. The outpouring of support from ARMY, and from BTS right back, made the bad news of today a little more bearable, though. Let’s go through the events of today and recap exactly what happened.

Grammys Pre-Show:

We knew yesterday that the award BTS was up for wasn’t going to be aired on the Grammys. Instead it was going to be streamed as part of the pre-show, along with other categories that were deemed “less significant”, mostly involving BIPOC artists. When the announcement came around we learned that Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande won the award, marking the first time an all female group won this award. It’s women’s history month. It’s nice to have this record broken on such an occasion. However, there’s a few problems with this. One is that Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, like many artists in this category, are not a group. They’re two solo artists who collaborated on their song. There is already an award on the Grammys for collaborated works. BTS was the only actual group nominated for this award. Also, “Dynamite” did leagues better in every respect, including streams and money made. And on top of everything else, it feels like these women were chosen so that the Grammys could attempt to demonstrate how “feminist” they are while still throwing BTS under the bus for their race. The Grammys has had a history of both sexism and racism, and just because they raise one group up doesn’t mean audiences don’t notice when they’re purposefully ignoring artists from the other group.

BTS and ARMY Reaction:

Late tonight the boys’ reactions to the news was posted to Twitter. Heartbreakingly, Namjoon said “I told you” when the winner was announced. And to many others, it wasn’t a surprise. We expected the Grammys to ignore them and treat them poorly, as they have always done. We expected the blatant racism from the Grammys. But the question was, would they risk the wrath of such a huge fan base by denying BTS the award? The answer was, evidently, yes. However, the boys were quick to cheer each other up, though Taehyung seemed quieter than usual, and post to Weverse. Hoseok and Jin posted “I love you ARMY”. Namjoon and Yoongi posted some encouraging words. Jimin and Jungkook posted selfies with some comfort for ARMY. And ARMY was equally quick to send out their support for BTS. The hashtag #whoneedswho was trending after a Forbes article pointed out the popularity of BTS versus the popularity of the Grammys. There were multiple tweets telling BTS that they were the only award ARMY needed and assuring them that they deserved the award more than anyone. The hashtag #scammys was also trending in response to BTS’ loss. Some hate was thrown Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s way from frustrated fans, but most fans were polite. However, all fans, and even some non-fans, were unanimous in the opinion that BTS deserved the award. And they’re right. “Dynamite” has been one of the biggest songs in the world for months on end. There’s no way that kind of accomplishment doesn’t deserve a Grammy. So it also wasn’t a surprise when the Grammys pre-show lost most of their viewers and the Grammys itself ended up being boycotted by many people because of the result.

BTS Performance:

BTS couldn’t attend the event in person, which was probably for the best. All the stars wore masks and tables were six feet apart, but celebrities and attendees did not stay six feet apart for the whole event. But I digress. BTS performed from Seoul in a large set made to look like LA. The boys were at the top of their game for this performance of “Dynamite”. The dancing was flawless. The singing was clear and beautiful. Their orange colored suits looked amazing on them. The sets, from the intricately lit interior to the rooftop exterior, were breathtaking. It was one of the best performances, and it was definitely the biggest performance, of the night. This performance was left to second to last once again. The Grammys, as always, was shameless in their attempts to get ARMY to watch the entire program. They used BTS for their popularity and then left them out to dry, as always.

V-Live:

After the performance the members of BTS all went on V-Live together. They all looked exhausted, but aside from that they didn’t seem to be doing too badly. They joked about the bags under their eyes and mentioned that they had champagne, but they drank it all after the announcement. Apparently they’d been up since 2:30 in the morning, which is a little insane. In the very least they didn’t seem too upset, though they’re probably trying to stay happy for ARMY right now as well.

Tonight was rough. I’m proud that the majority of ARMYS turned their attention towards boycotting the Grammys and streaming “Dynamite” instead of harassment. I’m proud that we were able to comfort BTS just as much as they were comforting us. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t be disappointed with everything that happened today. BTS were mistreated throughout this entire process. And they deserved that win, at the very least. The fact they didn’t win this award says a lot about the horrific old fashioned views of the Grammys. Does this nomination mean a win for BTS next year? I don’t know. If that’s what BTS wants, I hope so. As for me, I’m aware of the fact that the Grammys has been dying. I’m aware of the fact that their viewership has been going down and that artists are starting to boycott the show. I think it’s time for the Grammys to die. BTS didn’t need the Grammys. But the Grammys needed them. To ARMYs who were disappointed today, stream “Dynamite” and keep up your spirits. BTS deserves some good news after all of this.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: Line Friends Store Hollywood

Photo copyright of ‘Line Friends’ and ‘The Korea Herald’. (From left) Jung Hoseok, Kim Taehyung, Kim Namjoon, Park Jimin, Min Yoongi, Jeon Jungkook, and Kim Seokjin.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I feel like this blog is slowly being taken over completely by BTS and I really hope you’re not mad at it. This is a very BTS weekend considering the Grammys, though that situation makes me nervous. So I guess here’s a more lighthearted BTS post before whatever happens tomorrow. Most of you are probably very well aware of the BT21 line. A line of merchandise created by the members of BTS in collaboration with the Line Friends company. We have a different post breaking down the line of merch, mostly focusing on their characters, so that’s not really what I’m going to talk about today. What I am going to talk about is how amazing this store is because I have actually gone twice recently and I had never gone before the last couple months. I haven’t really been going anywhere at all because of quarantine and luckily my sister and I were able to plan our trips to the store so well (don’t go on weekends) that there was barely anybody there when we went both times. So it was entirely safe! But this store is absolutely amazing and beautiful so I have to talk more about it.

The Handprints:

I’m not going to lie and say this wasn’t what I was most excited about seeing when I first went to the store. The Line Friends store is located pretty directly across from the Chinese Theater, which has become a very recognizable trademark of Hollywood. Outside of the Chinese Theater you can see several handprints of celebrities who have cemented their influence into the experience forever. Because of this, the members of BTS actually did the same for the Line Store. Their handprints are hanging around the store in various places. It’s really interesting because Yoongi and Jimin are always teased for being small, while people who have seen them in real life say that this isn’t the case. This really comes across here. All of their hands are so much bigger than my own, including Jimin’s pinky (which he is also made fun of for). Seeing them really makes the boys seem more like real actual human beings. I also have to say, Namjoon and Taehyung’s hands are giant. Each of their handprints are under a sign depicting the character they created for the merch line, which makes it even better. Namjoon’s handprint was actually difficult for me to find at first. I didn’t get a picture of it until the second time we visited the store because you really have to turn around and pay attention to find it. It’s kind of away from the others which I found to be weird.

BTS Store:

Now, I know I keep saying the Line Friends store which is it’s own company itself. They sell other things that are not BTS. But the location in Hollywood is currently their largest location outside of Seoul and it’s almost entirely a BT21 store. There is a very very small section towards the front of their other merchandise, so if you walk into the store wanting to find regular Line Friends merch, this may not be the store for you. This is, for all intents and purposes, a BTS store. The decorations and the merch is nearly all their BTS merchandise. If BT21 is what you wanted, then great! There is so much to see and purchase in the store that has to do with BTS. But not much else. I personally am only interested in buying the BTS themed merch, so this worked in my favor.

Picture Opportunities:

There are so many throughout this store. Crammed in the corner of the very small Line Friends non BTS section is their mascot bear that you can take a picture with. The rest is all BTS. There’s a large painting towards the front of the store of the BT21 characters hanging out in LA as well as a very large Tata who will often be changed for Halloween and Christmas. There’s also a seat surrounded by the members of BT21 that’s currently blocked off for Covid purposes, but it’s still cute. There’s a kissing Chimmy (that you can’t kiss but I don’t know why you would), a piece of art of Tata that you can stand under to make it look like he’s abducting you, a red carpet with a large RJ award on it, and so much more. My favorite of these was actually a large art wall which has some of the original art of the BT21 characters. If you look around you can actually see the art each member of BTS originally drew for their respective characters. The first time I went I barely looked at the wall, but the second time I spent so much of my time there trying to pick out all the things I hadn’t seen before. I would also like to mention that there’s a hidden ‘Where’s Waldo?’ style game that is instead ‘Where’s Shooky?’. I didn’t want to spend too much time in the store because of Covid purposes, but I did take a picture of it and had fun playing the game on my phone later.

The Organization:
I know this isn’t the most fun thing to talk about, but this actually sold me on the store more than I thought it would. Each member of BT21 has their own section in the store marked off with a large picture of them. So if you’re looking for something for a specific character, it’s really easy to find stuff. Most people buy this merch based off of their bias or bias wrecker, so this is actually incredibly helpful for BTS fans wanting to find something bias specific.

The Staff:

Some of the nicest people run this store. Right now you do have to do a fever test and mask up the entire time you’re in the store, which makes it all feel so much safer. But when you’re in there the staff is just so kind and pleasant. But seriously, this is one of the only places that has felt semi-Covid safe to me other than my house.

I just love escaping to this store every once in a while. Especially knowing that this is one of the places the boys stop off in if they’re in LA. But also because it’s just a cute store! I went there recently but now I want to go back again!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: BTS and the Grammys

Press photo of BTS walking the red carpet. (From left to right) Min Yoongi (Suga), Kim Taehyung (V), Kim Seokjin (Jin), Jung Hoseok (J-Hope), Jeon Jungkook, Kim Namjoon (RM), and Park Jimin. Copyright goes to BigHit Entertainment and BTS.

Hey! Hallie here!

The Grammys are on Sunday and many ARMYs, like myself, are a little on edge right now. The truth is, the Grammys aren’t very trustworthy. They’ve already proven this multiple times in the past. They’ve even begun to re-prove this on the days approaching the award show. And yes, I’d say most, if not all, of the ways the Grammys has mistreated BTS are rooted in racism. I don’t think the Grammys are going to suddenly stop being racist. But I do think that if BTS doesn’t win the Grammy they were nominated for, ARMYs will unleash hell and it won’t be pretty. There’s a lot to be aware of coming up to the event on Sunday, and there’s a lot that ARMY needs to keep in mind regardless of if BTS wins their award or not. So with everything seeming to come down to this one moment, let’s look into what we need to prepare for.

BTS at the Grammys 2019/2020:

Let’s start with the first two times BTS attended the Grammys, the first only being two years ago despite their major successes beforehand. BTS wasn’t nominated for any award either time. Even though their popularity and critically acclaimed works rivaled, and even exceeded, that of the nominees those years. Not one nomination. But they were invited and they even filmed behind the scenes footage to celebrate the event. What we saw didn’t shine the best light on the Grammys. All the members of BTS practiced English phrases and speeches to say to interviewers, but some of them didn’t manage to say all they had prepared because of how little they were pulled over on the red carpet. They were the first Korean group to present an award at the show, but it felt shallow when the boys weren’t even allowed to perform their own song. Their second year they were grouped into a performance with Lil Nas X. This performance was also left to the second to last slot despite the constant mention of BTS throughout the night. It was a very clear method to keep the large amount of ARMYs watching for the entire program. In essence, they used BTS to get the views of ARMYs, but they barely involved the members in the show at all. It was scummy and it left a very bad taste in the mouth of every ARMY who had waited for BTS the entire night. It isn’t hard to see why ARMYs are so skeptical this time around considering how badly their first Grammys went.

Coming Up to the 2021 Grammys:

This year BTS has been nominated for one Grammy. Despite all the records they broke with their recent albums, the popularity of multiple songs including “Dynamite”, and the amount of time they spent at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. This, as you can see, is already ridiculous. They are the most popular musical act in the world right now and still they were only nominated for one Grammy. It seems the Grammys are already patting themselves on the back for nominating a Korean group, but the reasons to be skeptical keep showing themselves. For example, tonight was the Music Cares concert preceding the Grammys. The concert didn’t have enough artists signed on to perform live, which was very evident given how many performances were from past concerts. However, they did manage to get BTS to agree to do the concert. And I guarantee you, that is what made them the most money. But, once again, they left BTS to the second to last act so that viewers would watch the majority of the concert before leaving. They once again manipulated ARMY to keep people watching. And I don’t think it’s unfair to say that it will probably happen again on Sunday.

Sunday Night:

This is what ARMYs need to be aware of once the day of the Grammys comes around. Like I said above, BTS’s performance will very likely be left until one of the last of the night in order to keep ARMYs watching. If you wanted to do something else until other ARMYs on Twitter notify everyone when BTS is performing, I wouldn’t exactly blame you. However, we also have to watch out for when the winner of the Grammy they’re nominated for is announced. If they win it will be well deserved. If they lose, we all know there’s many reasons to be angry. But we can’t attack or harass the winners or anyone involved with the Grammys. That behavior will reflect on BTS, and fan behavior is a much larger thing in Korea than it is in America. In America we create a major distinction between artists and their fans. In Korea many artists are considered the role models for their fans, and therefore somewhat responsible for their behavior. ARMYs can’t make BTS look bad with our outrage. We have to be kind and respectful even when we feel like it’s undeserved. Just like BTS is out there making us proud, we have to make them proud.

Every member of BTS has talked about wanting a Grammy for years. Every one of them has mentioned how important receiving a Grammy would be for them. It’s bewildering that it’s taken BTS this long to be nominated for one. They should have several by now. However, most of us already know that the Grammys, and similar award shows, have been criticized for the way they decide winners. We know these shows have demonstrated large amounts of racism and sexism before and that many amazing artists have been passed up by such shows for no clear reason. However, it feels different with BTS. BTS are the most popular music group in the world and the Grammys have used their popularity for their own gain before. Not only that, but getting a Grammy is still an important milestone, regardless of how problematic the award show is. As ARMYs we want to hope for the best. But if they don’t win, we can’t add to BTS’s sadness by responding with viciousness. BTS spreads messages of love and togetherness, and now more than ever ARMY should be spreading that message.

Update: Reportedly, the category BTS was nominated for won’t be aired on the Grammys, as well as various other categories that feature predominantly BIPOC artists. If true, this is further proof of not only the racism of the Grammys, but the fact that the Grammys is only using BTS’s performance for ARMY views. Some artists have begun to refuse to allow their labels to submit their works to the Grammys, and some artists have even begun refusing to perform for the show. The Grammys is failing miserably at trying to ease the already rising tempers of ARMY, and even if BTS does win, I don’t see a bright future for the Grammys.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Theatre: Female Roles

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Moviestore Collection/REX (1596346a) Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh Film and Television

Hi! It’s Annie!

Now that we have this category for our blog, there’s a lot that I really wanted to talk about in regards to theatre. Especially because this is actually what I majored in in college. Majoring in this is part of what opened my eyes to how badly women have been treated in media and also behind the scenes in this industry. So in the hopes of shedding light on some of these situations, I’m actually going to share some of my own experiences in working with the material that I have. Unfortunately, this will not be as happy and light hearted as some of my other posts. If that does not appeal to you right now, I completely understand. So hold onto your hats, and here we go.

Smart Female Roles:

The first acting class I ever took was with a female professor who was extremely feminist just like I was. I spent some time discussing things like the ‘He For She’ organization as well as Emma Watson’s hand in it with her. Because of this she decided that she was going to assign me a monologue featuring a smart woman. She had told me in this class that my typecast was the love interest and warned me that I would be cast as a lot of girlfriends throughout my acting career. In telling me this, she also let me know that most love interests are written around men and don’t often have minds of their own. Especially because most acting classes revolve around classic work, which could often be sexist. Because of this she would only cast me as smart women throughout that class, saying that the trend would not start with her. I’m not sure I quite understood the significance of what she had done for me then, but I had the most fun playing women in her class. If I was assigned a female character it was because it was a character written to have her own thoughts and storylines.

The Trend:

As soon as I transferred to university, I knew exactly what she was talking about. I played a lot of girlfriends and most of them didn’t have much in the way of a brain. I ended up attracting jealousy for my typecast, which didn’t make sense to me because I wasn’t a favorite student and wasn’t cast in many shows because of that. I guess this is just a case of the grass is greener on the other side. People who were typecast as supporting characters envied me for having more lines while I envied them for playing characters that didn’t revolve around the leading man. Then again, I didn’t care as much about casting as most other people did probably because I discovered that I didn’t actually want to be an actress. Maybe if I had, I would have had a bigger reaction to cast lists. Typecasting is a completely different type of awful the industry has to offer that often pits people against each other. But I won’t dive into that here.

Taming of the Shrew:

This was the class that put the nail in the coffin of me considering an acting career. My Shakespeare class. The professor who taught this class was extremely sexist and his favorite Shakespeare production was ‘Taming of the Shrew’, which was very in character for him. Because of this, we had to do a lot of scenes from this play. If you aren’t completely familiar with this one, it’s about an independent woman who doesn’t want to get married but a bunch of people in her family want her to. They basically sell her off to this man who teaches her obedience by making her sleep on the floor, do a bunch of chores, starving her, and otherwise mistreating her. She comes back to her family at the end to give a large speech about how women should be obedient to their husbands. While this is happening her little sister is dealing with two suitors who are fighting over her. The suitor who wins her over eventually hears the speech at the end and realizes that women are not worth being fought over and feels she also needs to learn to be obedient. I had the misfortune of having to play both of the demeaning main female roles at different points during this class. The professor would not refer to me by name, instead choosing to refer to me as “she”. He also blamed most of the problems for the scene on me and would only give me notes through my male colleagues. I don’t think it needs to be said that he treated all the other women in this class similarly. I spent most of this class angry and frustrated and ruminating on the words of my first female acting teacher.

The point in telling you all of that is to tell you that theatre is not any better with representation or in the way it treats women. How can it when women are still being forced to play these roles in their acting training? The simple fact that I had a female teacher warn me about this also means that this has gone on for a while and it probably isn’t going away any time soon. Some modern theatre has been doing better, but until this material also shows up in classes, many professors will still think it’s ok to treat women like this or use these materials. I’m not saying this to destroy your love of theatre, but I am saying this because lately I’ve heard a lot of people say that theatre has become the most progressive brand of media. I’m not going to dispute that, but that doesn’t mean that theatre doesn’t still have a lot of problems. This isn’t something we should be stagnant on. I just graduated from college last year. This stuff is recent and needs to be looked at. If this is happening in a school that is acclaimed for being progressive in California, you can bet this is happening everywhere else in the world.

In other words, what I’m trying to say is that women need to be written to be their own characters and not to revolve around the men in their story. And women portraying these characters need to be treated like actual human beings. Until all of this happens, theatre can’t be as progressive as we make it seem.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

ATEEZ: Variety Shows

Press photo of ATEEZ on the red carpet. (From left to right) Jeong Yunho, Park Seonghwa, Choi San, Kang Yeosang, Kim Hongjoong, Jung Wooyoung, Choi Jongho, and Song Mingi. Copyright goes to KQ Entertainment and ATEEZ.

Hey! Hallie here!

ATEEZ recently finished up their most recent self-promoting variety show, “Salary Lupin ATEEZ”. It hasn’t been their first variety show of this kind, but I found it, in many ways, lacking. Before ATINY’s get angry, I would like to say that I love ATEEZ. I consider myself an ATINY, and I in no way believe that ATEEZ is incapable of creating an enjoyable variety show. In fact, they have before. In promotion of the first half of the “Fever” album, ATEEZ released a variety show called “ATEEZ Fever Road”. This variety show was superior to their most recent show in many, many important ways. And not just because Mingi was there to enjoy “Fever Road”. From fun games, to getting to know the boys, to simply being more watchable to the audience, these two variety shows have major differences. So let’s look into them.

“Salary Lupin ATEEZ”:

Concept: This concept isn’t bad. The first episode sets it up by showing each of the boys interacting with a fake digital interface (A staff member hilariously sitting in a box). The box holds a job interview with each member, ultimately deciding which position in the fictional firm, titled ATEEZ Holdings, the members will take. While the positions themselves aren’t important, the ranking of their positions is used to create many comical moments throughout. Especially because Jongho, the groups maknae, was placed in the highest position in the company. After the job interviews, the members are sent into an office building, and various places afterwards, to role play their positions in the company while playing games. The concept initially sounds like a lot of fun. Until you get into the role play section. It’s not that the boys are bad at getting into their roles. They actually seem very enthusiastic about it. It’s simply that a lot of their dialogue is scripted. Unless they’re in the process of playing a game, a lot of their interactions are scripted to set up plot points. The dialogue is always cringy and the members either laugh through it or deliver it awkwardly. It takes away from the audiences ability to get to know the members personalities and it’s unnecessary to most episodes. Considering the long length of each episode, I think it’s safe to say all of the scripted elements could have been cut out for a much better viewing experience.

Activities: The activities that occur throughout the episodes are hit or miss. They play a game where the members must locate the two imposters within the group by earning clues. The members personalities came through in this game more than any other activity. Some members, like Hongjoong, accused other members in the effort to form alliances with those adamant that they weren’t the imposters, and to catch true imposters in a lie. Others, like Seonghwa, were too quick to trust and ended up betrayed. The true imposters were Jongho and Yeosang, though, to be honest, neither was the best of liars. Still, they managed to win the game. Other smaller games, such as laser tag and karaoke, also seemed to really interest the members. They were fun to watch because the members were having fun. Some activities weren’t so interesting to watch. One activity saw members get into groups to plan out future potential music videos. During this activity the episode spent a lot of time on the boys working on computers and muttering ideas to each other without letting the audience in on the action. Needless to say, this wasn’t fun to watch and the time that they were working on the computers could have been cut from the episode entirely. Another game was a murder mystery game where the members had to discover which one of them killed a fictional employee of their company by looking through a set. The clues in this game implicated every single member of ATEEZ in the crime. To the point that every member had a motive and a means to kill the employee. By the end it was impossible for the audience to have put together who the murderer was. Though it was fun to watch Hongjoong calmly and easily deflect suspicion off of himself, only for him to be revealed as the murderer, it wasn’t fun for the audience to watch.

Overall: There was one truly meaningful part of this series. After playing a game the members of ATEEZ earned themselves a meal. Only to find out that each dish of the meal was provided by each of their mothers. Each received a note from their mother wishing them well. Hongjoong’s mother even recited some of his lyrics in her letter, leading to an extremely touching reaction from Hongjoong. Moments like this stripped the role-play down and showed the true personalities of the members. But, unfortunately, they didn’t happen often enough. Every good moment was met with an equally bad or cringy moment, and every episode was far too long, making this series mediocre at best by its end.

“ATEEZ Fever Road”

Concept: “Jumanji”. What more is there to say? The first episode started with the boys coming up to a large house. Drum beats, like the ones you hear before every challenge in “Jumanji”, indicated their first challenge had come before they could even step into the house. The members ended up having to find keys to determine which was the one to open the door to the house. When they finally got it open, they found a board game that was, of course, a replica of the “Jumanji” game promising more adventures. There’s no script in this one. Simply staff throwing the members into unexpected and challenging games. This works to it’s benefit. It allows members to be themselves and give genuine reactions to their unexpected predicaments. Meanwhile, the show gave the members time to have genuine moments with one another before they were thrown into each game.

Activities: Every game was unexpected and fun. Each one also rose the stakes of the previous game, and gave the members a puzzle piece for a puzzle they would put together at the end of the series. One of the first games had members pick food dishes individually, if any member chose the same dish as another one, the dish had to go back. This led to the members ending up with some pretty strange things in an effort to pick something no one else would pick. The staff wound up taking pity on them, allowing them to do small tasks for the dishes they missed. This ended with the members cooking together around a large bonfire and genuinely enjoying each other’s company. The next night the staff “kidnapped” Wooyoung, dropped him in a quite frightening park, and forced him to find a way out with the help of the members, who had to find instructions for Wooyoung by completing smaller tasks. As you can see, the games escalated quite quickly. All were fun to watch though and all of the members seemed to enjoy them. From climbing a rock wall to retrieve the letters to a love message to ATINY, to having to retrieve Mingi by gaining clues about his location when they answered questions about Mingi correctly and wearing large blow-up animal outfits when they guessed incorrectly, no episode was uninteresting or confusing. The audience could enjoy everything just as much as the boys.

Overall: The show ends with the boys back around the campfire, sharing what ATINY means to them. It’s a meaningful moment that makes ATINYs watching feel closer to the members. And that’s what this show does as a whole. The episodes are much shorter than what “Salary Lupin ATEEZ” boasts. But in the end, it shows much more of the members personalities than the other one does. No matter what they face, the members reactions are always genuine and there’s just as genuine of a love for ATINY behind it all.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: Run BTS 131 and 132

Screenshot of Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook from ‘Run BTS’. Copyright goes to BigHit Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I’ve already done a giant post on my favorite episodes of Run BTS but, of course, that was before these last two episodes came out. These were some of the funniest episodes I have ever seen. While I did worry about the boys potentially getting sick from all the water, it seemed like they were also having a blast! (No pun intended.) If you haven’t watched these episodes of Run BTS yet you really should. They are the perfect way to get into this variety show if you haven’t yet. But there will be SPOILERS in this post because I am going to talk about the highlights. If you’re still here, great! I mean, all of the episodes are always great, but why were these that good?

Warm Up:

Before the game really even started they had a warm up, which involved the members of BTS floating to the middle of the pool on a floatie and trying to make each other fall in, in pairs. But the catch was, as it generally is, that they had to make the other person fall in without touching them. Part of what made this episode so hilariously chaotic is how much they really didn’t want to follow this one single rule during this game. This game started out with Jimin and Yoongi who did not purposely break this rule, in their defense. Yoongi lost his balance and fell on Jimin resulting in them both falling into the water together. Tae and Hobi went up next and Hobi lost while they both also ascribed to the rules. The issue began with Namjoon and Jin when their game lasted so long that Namjoon seemed to have had enough, resulting in him grabbing Jin and plunging them both into the water. Jimin and Jungkook faced off next which began with a hilarious ‘Titanic’ recreation (pictured above) as they were floated out to the middle of the pool. This one also went apparently too long for Jimin’s liking, and he promptly pushed Jungkook into the pool. All of this was taken to another level when Tae pretty much threw Jin off the floatie in the next round and fell in after him. The members of BTS were also asked to write Run BTS on their palms and try to keep the ink on as they went into the next water events.

Moderator Jungkook:

The first water debate started out with the topic of dry versus mushy cereal. Each time a member hit the desk a canon of water was blasted in their face and a giant bucket of water fell on the moderator. After they discovered this, Tae began incessantly hitting the desk resulting in Jungkook getting dunked with water over and over and over again. When they filmed this Jungkook’s hair was long, so he kept whipping his hair around like a drenched puppy. It was adorable, but you just couldn’t help but a feel a little bad for him

Moderator Namjoon:

The second topic was eggs versus green peas on jajangmyeon. This one stirred controversy from the beginning because nobody preferred the peas over the eggs, but the debate must go on. Namjoon was a very good moderator in that he tried to prevent the boys from talking over each other. The key word here is “tried”. Here the forbidden action was getting up. Though Namjoon now had the water bucket over his head, he had an advantage here in that his height prevented it from completely covering his head. That doesn’t mean he didn’t still get completely soaked though.

Moderator Jin:

The topic of this one was hard peach versus soft peach. Right away this one began to go awry because from the very first second of this debate starting they were all blasted with water and it would not stop. They tried in vain to figure out why they were being blasted as Jin was practically being drowned until Jungkook finally looked at Yoongi who had his arms crossed. The staff knows Yoongi very well as this is how he usually sits. So that entire time they were being constantly blasted because of poor Yoongi. I’m seriously impressed that Jungkook was able to figure it out.

Moderator Hobi:

Starting with the second episode we had Hobi as the moderator. Oh, this poor man. The topic was washing your face first in the morning versus brushing your teeth first. The issue was that in this one the forbidden action was touching your hair. Which, of course they were all doing because they were getting soaked and wanted their hair out of their faces. None of them could figure it out for a long while and Tae just started leaning out of the way of water canon. Eventually Tae figured it out and reached over to try and fix Hobi’s hair for him (Hobi was the one who was touching his hair the most because of the large amounts of water being spilled on him), only for them all to be blasted again.

Moderator Tae:

The topic for this was should you eat or not eat the kelp pieces in ramen. Namjoon called out Tae right away for wearing a baseball cap in a way that protected his face from the water when the other moderators hadn’t, so Tae flipped his hat around. Tae spent the entire time laughing and taunting the water stationed above his head. A couple times he even got up and did some Michael Jackson moves as the water came down, so he didn’t do much moderating. Jungkook made him regret all of this after a while though, after Jungkook figured out that the forbidden action was moving the water goggles they all were wearing, which he continued to do for fun. Tae wasn’t having as much fun by the end of that.

Moderator Jimin:

The topic for this was whether or not you should eat the rice in the sikhye (a sweet rice drink). Jimin knew from the beginning that their forbidden word was ‘yes’. Though the forbidden word didn’t effect much before this, Jimin kept getting them to say it here. Of course, the forbidden word does not effect the moderator. The forbidden action here was standing up and the water completely covered Jimin every time the action was done. But Jimin eventually stood up himself as if it was his own water show. Jimin and Tae had so much fun as the moderators which made it really funny to compare them to the others.

Moderator Yoongi:

The topic for this was bread with raisins versus without. Because this was the last debate they were able to choose freely which side they were on. The forbidden action here was pointing fingers which they all do so much. At this point you could tell they were all thoroughly soaked and a little tired, so no one was doing anything on purpose anymore. Yoongi got so into the debate he started arguing as the moderator for the raisin team. You could see that it was completely dark outside by the time they got to this one, so it was no wonder they were done with the water.

Ending:

The end of the episode involved them all swimming in the pool and revealing how well protected the writing on their hands was. Jimin’s was by far the most well protected, so he ended up winning the challenge. His little hops when he went to retrieve the award were so adorable. The staff seemed to know that this chaotic episode was a lot for the boys, so they sat the producer of the episode in the moderator position and dunked water on him.

These episodes were so hilariously chaotic and I couldn’t stop laughing, so I obviously had to write about them. The boys were laughing just as much as the audience was which made it even better. I just really love seeing them that happy.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie