K-pop and K-dramas: BTS and the Grammy’s

Members of BTS during a photoshoot. (From left) Jeon Jungkook (Jungkook), Min Yoongi (SUGA), Kim Seokjin (Jin), Kim Namjoon(RM), Kim Taehyung (V), Jung Hoseok (J-Hope), and Park Jimin (Jimin). Copyright of Hong Jang Hyun for Variety.

Hi! It’s Annie!

It’s been a really big past couple of weeks for BTS and I’m extremely happy to be getting all of this new content. Early yesterday, many of us woke up to the news that BTS had FINALLY been nominated for a Grammy. Obviously, celebrations ensued. The entire band, but especially Yoongi, have been talking about how much getting a Grammy would mean to them. It was difficult to not feel the excitement when you saw Jungkook, Namjoon, Jimin, and Tae reacting to the news in their adorable reaction video. I really just wanted to jump up right with them! But- the Grammy’s should be talked about for everything it is. I’m really excited for them and I want them to get the Grammy really badly! But mainly because I know they want it. I’ve been pretty jaded when it comes to the Grammy’s, and other award shows like it, for a long time. We all know that they deserve this award and that, if this is treated fairly, that BTS should and would win the award. The issue is that Grammy’s never treat anything fairly. And neither do award shows like the Oscars or the Tony’s. Let’s break down why!

  • Select voters. The people who vote for the winners in the Grammy’s aren’t necessarily well-known music aficionados and they certainly aren’t regular people. For the most part, they are rich white people. Generally older than the demographic that actually regularly listens to the type of music nominated for these awards. You might think that this sounds ridiculous and that’s because you are absolutely right. The people selected to vote for the Grammy’s as well as which artist wins a Grammy, is all political. These people generally vote for an artist based off of the rich connections this artist or people connected to this artist might have. So, don’t hold your breath for BTS to be chosen. This is the same for all similar award shows. Every once in a great while somebody unexpected will be chosen. For example, ‘Parasite’ winning at the Oscars. This rarely happens though. These award shows want to make you think that this is a fair and important process, but this is generally more about behind the scenes relations than it is actually about what song or artist is better. If you want more information on this topic, Eminem has been really outspoken about all of this and I highly recommend looking up one of his interviews on this topic.
  • Racism and xenophobia. These award shows have all been criticized for this and sexism on top of it, but sexism doesn’t really apply to BTS. Nobody knows about the racism of the Grammy’s more than Black artists and their fans. The amount of Black artists nominated versus white artists is ridiculous, and the gap between winners is even worse. No one knows any of this better than fans of Beyoncé. For years she wasn’t nominated for anything, then went into being nominated and never winning for several more years, until she finally actually started winning some awards. Her most popular album won nothing at the Grammy’s. The Grammy voters being predominantly white definitely has a large part to do with this. We have to be honest with ourselves; just like in Hollywood, the music industry is still pretty racist. That’s because we have a bunch of people running these industries who are old white rich men and because our society is still pretty racist. These award shows are no different. It’s awful and hopefully more bands from other countries coming in like BTS and artists of color continuing to speak out against the Grammy’s will help phase things like this out. But at the same time, none of that is their job. We all need to do our part in listening to them and spreading the word.
  • Popular vs artistic. Have you ever looked at the list of Oscar winning movies and not recognized a single name? Or looked at a winner of the Grammy’s and had maybe only heard one song by that artist? Again, this is partly because of politics but also partly because these award shows are trying to distinguish between art that’s “dignified” and art that’s just popular. Which is absolutely ridiculous. Obviously, if something is popular it has to have some merit. Why does anyone get to state definitively if a piece of art is dignified rather than popular? Why is there a difference? Why can’t popular music also be dignified? Art is made to be enjoyed and interpreted differently by everyone. Still, this is what these shows often do. Just look at things like Marvel and Star Wars never being nominated for Oscars. The Grammys are, again, no different. These shows treat movies and music like the people voting for the winner have a more dignified palate than the general public. Which is again, ridiculous. No one group of people should have a say over what art is important and what art isn’t. If you want a more accurate look at what is actually most liked, look at award shows that use the people’s choice. Is it a coincidence that BTS wins all of their awards on shows like that? Nope.
  • How the Grammy’s have treated BTS in the past. Horribly. Most ARMY’s know this from a recent behind the scenes 2019 Grammy’s video BTS released on their Twitter. In 2019 they practiced their English, including answering interview questions, and were barely stopped on the red carpet. They didn’t get to use any of the English they practiced for interviews. They were given few accommodations in comparison to other artists, and weren’t even allowed to perform their own music. The Grammy’s instead decided to pat themselves on the back by making them the first K-pop stars to present awards at the Grammy’s. Wow. It was obvious to us all that the Grammy’s had invited them in order to get the large numbers of ARMY watching, as many award shows have done. Just the regular exploitation of these amazing boys who do not deserve this. Watching the Grammy’s turn around like this not only feels slimy, but it also feels like they’ll pull something like patting themselves on the back just for nominating them in the first place and use that as an excuse to give them nothing. I mean, just look at how many nominations they got. One. If this was fair, they would have gotten much more than that and this wouldn’t have been the first time they were nominated.

I do want BTS to win, but I want them to win because they want to win. I don’t care about the Grammy’s specifically. But that doesn’t mean this isn’t important and isn’t a cause for celebration. If it’s important enough to them, then it is to me too. But don’t get your hopes up about them winning and don’t feel like it says anything profound if they don’t win. BTS is bigger than the Grammy’s have ever been and probably ever will be considering over the years the numbers for award shows like this have been decreasing. We’re at this point where everyone listens to or watches what they want, and that’s really good! If you do want to watch BTS at the Grammy’s though, I would highly recommend watching an unofficial stream or watching unofficial videos after the fact. Don’t give the Grammy’s your views. BTS is worth so much more than a Grammy or any award you could ever put to their name. I just hope that more and more people will begin to see how messed up award shows like this are, so we can fix them or have award shows that will celebrate all artists instead of certain ones (mostly white ones). All art has value and everyone is entitled to their own opinions of it. Whether they win or not, all of ARMY will still be there for them.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Twins in Media: Sharon and Susie (1961) vs Hallie and Annie (1998)

Screenshot of Lindsay Lohan from ‘The Parent Trap’ (1998). Copyright goes to Walt Disney Pictures.

Hey! Hallie here!

For Twins in Media this week, I thought we’d go back to the twins this blog is based off of. Most of the references on our blog have something to do with the 1998 ‘Parent Trap’. But Hallie and Annie weren’t the first twins to try to trick their parents into getting back together. Enter Sharon and Susie, the twins from 1961’s ‘Parent Trap’. Even though these twins are placed in the same story, there’s some pretty big differences. Let’s look into these differences and see which twins are better twin representation. As usual, I’ll be judging them based off of tropes, differences and similarities, relationship, and plot. So which pair is more realistic?

Tropes:

  • Sharon and Susie. There are a few obvious tropes that both sets of twins are going to fall into. One is the ‘Separated at Birth’ trope. This trope is just not realistic, and it tends to be used in order to give each twin a different personality. The theory here seems to be that, if the twins come from two different upbringings, they will act completely differently and won’t confuse the audience. Putting aside the fact that separating these two was a questionable parenting choice at best, it’s important to note that all twins have different personalities, including the ones that grew up in the same household. If the worry is that audiences won’t be able to tell the twins apart if they’re from the same place, you’ve already failed at understanding that each twin is just as unique as any human being. These two also fall under the ‘Mischievous Twins’ trope. That’s kind of the point of the entire movie. The issue with Sharon and Susie here is that they’re pushed to the background during the second half of their movie to give their parents more screen time. That means the only time they’re on screen, they’re playing some kind of prank. Another trope these two fall in that their 1998 counterparts don’t share, is the ‘Psychic Connection’ trope. This only happens once, but Sharon does share early on in the movie that her mother thinks Sharon’s psychic because she gets goosebumps when something big is about to happen. She says this just before Sharon and Susie discover they’re twins, at which point both characters get goosebumps. No. Just no.
  • Hallie and Annie. There’s a lot of similarities here. The ‘Separated at Birth’ trope is pretty much exactly the same for these two. The ‘Mischievous Twins’ trope is slightly different, though. Hallie and Annie, unlike Sharon and Susie, aren’t pushed into the background during the second half of their film. This lets the film spend more time on their personalities and a little less time on labeling them as “mischievous”. That doesn’t mean they escape this trope entirely, though. The idea that twins like to switch places is a common one, and most of the pranks they play have to do with this idea. In my experience, though, most twins would rather others be able to tell the difference between them. My sister and I get mistaken for each other enough without having to pretend to be one another. We’d rather you learn which one is which than keep calling each of us by the wrong name.

Winner: Hallie and Annie. Hallie and Annie get a bit more time in their movie to establish their personalities without entirely relying on “They play pranks!” as personality traits. They also managed to dodge that embarrassing psychic connection situation. They share a lot of tropes with Sharon and Susie, but maybe the time gap between these movies did some good.

Differences and Similarities:

  • Sharon and Susie. Sharon and Susie are introduced as being very different. Sharon is very proper and polite. She has good posture and her vocabulary is slightly larger than Susie’s. Meanwhile, Susie is more laid back. She uses slang when she speaks and she has a tendency to bite her nails. These differences would be nice if not for the fact that they’re dropped during the last half of the movie. Part of the problem is that they’re played by the same actress. That means that when they’re sitting side by side, wearing the same outfit, it’s impossible to tell them apart. Even identical twins have different appearances, so it’s kind of jarring when I can’t tell a pair of “twins” apart. At one point I thought I knew which one was which because one of them started biting their nails, but then someone called her Sharon. Susie was the one who bit her nails at the beginning of the movie. Needless to say, I was confused. Hayley Mills, the actress for both characters, also has a tendency to bite and lick her bottom lip while playing both Sharon AND Susie. These two had a good start, but by the end of the movie they didn’t do so well.
  • Hallie and Annie. Hallie and Annie have a good amount of similarities and differences. They’re presented as pretty different when they first come on screen. Hallie makes friends easily and can be very sarcastic. Meanwhile Annie is proper and responsible with a bit of an anxious streak. They start out with different appearances as well, just as Sharon and Susie do. Hallie and Annie also have some similarities, but the movie does a good job of relating these without making them the same character. Both Hallie and Annie get in a fencing fight when they meet each other. They’re both very good, but Annie is clearly more skilled and wins the battle. In another instance they play poker against each other. They’re both shown to be good at it, but Hallie is better and wins the poker game. The main issue here is, once again, they have the same actress. Lindsay Lohan isn’t the most disguisable actress, and they didn’t do much to differentiate her appearance in each role aside from the wardrobe.

Winner: Hallie and Annie win it again! They have more consistent differences. Lindsay Lohan does a better job at making sure each character feels different when she’s playing each role. The script also does a good job of making them both similar and different without going to extremes.

Relationship:

  • Sharon and Susie. These two have a pretty realistic relationship development, but, once again, they get a little less once the movie gets going. They don’t get along at first. Their differences cause them to make some pretty harsh judgements about each other. This results in an all out prank war and quite a few fights when they’re in camp. Once they get over this however, they become pretty fast friends. They’re close, but there’s no indication of a realistic relationship, either. They stay together constantly and don’t show much of a difference in opinion, nor do they do anything overly thoughtful for one another. They’re just…there.
  • Hallie and Annie. They have pretty much the same story as Sharon and Susie. They fight in camp, refuse to get along, and get over it all once they realize they’re twins. The difference is that their relationship is extended beyond this. They have a few chats over the phone that result in arguments, mostly because Hallie is enjoying her time with her mom while Annie is worried her dad will get married. They do come together again once Hallie realizes the situation, and each enjoys spending time together in the attempt to thwart their father’s potential marriage. They get so close, in fact, that both Hallie AND her father make the decision to go after Annie and their mom when they decide to part ways again. Hallie and Annie have many disagreements, but by the end of the movie it’s obvious how much they care for each other.

Winner: Surprise! It’s Hallie and Annie. A lot of the relationship dynamic is the same, but Hallie and Annie have the advantage of being more explored as characters. Their relationship is stronger for the extra screen time they receive.

Plot:

Sharon and Susie: What’s nice about every ‘Parent Trap’ is that the twin characters share some of the storyline, but they also spend a good chunk of the movie separated in order to switch places. This separation tends to be used to introduce the audience to the parents and family friends, but it’s nice to see Sharon attempt to figure out her relationship with her father while Susie is having completely different problems on her end. They interact with different family members, start different relationships with these family members than their sister had, and overall get a nice amount of story to themselves without having to be together.

Hallie and Annie: I’d say this is pretty much the same. They get separate storylines at the same points in the movie. Their storylines converge at the same points as well. Even though they get slightly more screen time, I’d say it serves the same purpose when it comes to the overall plot.

Winner: Tie. There are some differences between the movies, but the overall plot is the same.

Final Result:

There’s a pretty obvious winner here and it’s Hallie and Annie. I think most of their advantages have to do with the fact that their movie was a remake of a version that came out several decades beforehand. Not only is the 1998 movie longer, it also mastered the storyline of the original. The movie was better paced, spent more time on characters the original didn’t seem to have time for, and didn’t push our main characters to the background once the romance plot started becoming important. Hallie and Annie have more personality to them. They have clearly defined traits that aren’t exactly the opposite of one other, allowing them to bond over their similarities without having the same personality. They were both written as individual characters at all times. Lindsay Lohan was able to play them with differences too, despite the fact that both characters look exactly the same because they share an actress. There’s definitely some downsides to Hallie and Annie, but there’s a reason why so many twins connect to these two.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Disney: ‘The Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast’ in Tokyo Disneyland

Press explore the inside of ‘The Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast’ on Sept. 25, 2020. Courtesy of Kyodo and Tokyo Disneyland.

Hi! It’s Annie!

This is definitely not the first time I’ve posted about ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and it definitely won’t be the last. What can I say, I’ve always strongly related to Belle with her love of books. This movie is also just gorgeous. My love for this movie that has now spanned over years has now given me the reputation for being the Belle girl in my family. I also am a California native who grew up going to Disneyland until somewhat recently when the tickets got so ridiculously expensive that my family couldn’t afford it anymore. I’ve also been to Disney World a few times. Though Disneyland has admittedly fallen behind somewhat with immersive experiences in comparison to some of their competition (ahem Universal Studios), they generally still have the same magic. And I had high expectations for this ride considering their recent successes with ‘Rise of the Resistance’ in Galaxy’s Edge. My expectations only skyrocketed when they released footage of some of their animatronics. And then I watched footage of this ride and I don’t think my opinion would change seeing it in person. I’m going to come out and say it- this ride completely falls flat for me. Me. The person who loves ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and doesn’t think that Disney has come out with a truly bad ride (for the most part at least). I wanted to talk a little bit about why this was so disappointing to me. And also the few things that I did like!

Pros:

  • The animatronics. They’re beautiful. They feel lifelike and transport you into the story. There’s also plenty of animatronics in this ride to look at, so that’s always good. I’m a sucker for some good practical effects. Also, did you see that Belle with the lantern? She’s so pretty and real-looking!
  • The castle and surrounding village. The castle is really pretty and the inside is just as impressive. Walking through the castle you see giant suits of armor adorning the richly draped halls, some familiar characters, and the grand entrance hall looking just as it does in the movie. If you haven’t watched a walk-through of the surrounding village yet, you should. There are explosions coming out of Maurice’s house and several props from the movie you might recognize. Like a specific hat display in one of the shops. It really does make their guests feel like they are walking in Belle’s footsteps.
  • The opening show. The opening to the ride takes place part-way through the line in the grand hall of Beast’s castle. Here you watch part of the story through a beautiful stained glass window, just like the movie, and then the amazing Belle animatronic with the lantern and Beast are shown to the audience on the top of the stairway. I know I’ve already said this a million times, but it does feel as if you’re in the movie now. It’s gorgeous and well-detailed.
  • The Beast’s Transformation. More than half-way through the ride you get to the pivotal moment in the movie where the Beast transforms into a human. I have no idea how they did it, but they were actually able to pull this off with actual animatronics in this ride. You see an animatronic of the Beast turn into an animatronic of him as a human. It’s unreal.

Cons:

  • The opening show. I really do like this opening, but it did leave me with a few questions. Firstly, the stained glass window looks pretty small. Secondly, I’m not quite sure why they stuck the best animatronic in the entire experience in the pre-show rather than actually putting her in the ride. You only see this Belle for a couple seconds before the pre-show ends. None of the animatronics in the ride even match up to this Belle and you’re often stuck for ages in rooms with these animatronics, but I’ll get more into that later. If more animatronics were like this first Belle it would have made the ride much more interesting. I understand also that this Belle is one-of-a-kind and a difficult feat. Which makes me wonder even more why they put her in the pre-show rather than actually showing her off in the ride. You barely see her, especially because they stick her so far in a corner. It makes you wonder if there’s some issues with the animatronic.
  • Four rooms. I’m pretty sure I’ve counted that correctly. And yes, this ride has a total of four rooms that you spend time in forever. They almost play full songs while you spin around these pretty small rooms. They also didn’t actually put a whole lot in these rooms, so you get acclimated to everything pretty quickly. It makes this feel more like a showcase or an art show than an actual Disney ride. You don’t feel like you’re going anywhere or really doing anything. They stick you in one room for a while and then you go to the next for a while until the ride is over. They also didn’t do a whole lot of screens for the outside or detailing, so it feels a little claustrophobic in these rooms on top of everything else.
  • Sparse detailing. Like I said before, for being stuck in these rooms for several minutes, there’s really not that much to see. They skimped out a lot on the detailing. Every room seems to have one big event that they assume will draw everyone’s eye. But the issue with being in those rooms for so long is that eventually everyone will start looking at other things. Especially because you made the tea cups spin, so they kind of have to look at other things too. For example, in the ‘Be Our Guest’ room, you really only have a small room with Lumiere, a table, and Belle. There’s not anything else in the room. And the table is pretty bare until half-way through the song when things begin to appear on the table. So you’re there for a really long time looking at a tablecloth and Belle smiling unnaturally. Not to mention that this Lumiere animatronic is worse than any of the ones they’ve made before, like in the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ experience in Disney World for example. This is actually the worst in the ‘Something There’ room. There’s Beast in a tower and then all the way on the other side of the room Belle stands with Philippe under a tree. The rest of this room is completely bare aside from some fake snow. And they put you in there for what feels like the longest of any room. Because the tea cups spin, you aren’t always by the Beast or Belle, so there are times where all there is to see is fake snow.
  • No Gaston. Yup. They claim to take you through the entire movie and Gaston appears once as a shadow. I know they were trying to keep it to inside the castle, but I’m not asking for Gaston’s tavern. You can see Gaston’s tavern in the village. It would have been so cool to see the Beast and Gaston fighting outside of a window before the transformation scene. It would have been much better than showing us the backsides of two more Belle and Beast animatronics in what is supposed to be a cute scene but feels like the guests caught them at the wrong time. Even the ‘Little Mermaid’ ride has Ursula, though I do think the ‘Little Mermaid’ ride is much better than this one.
  • The “main event”. They want the main part of the ride to be the ending when Belle and the Beast are dancing. But these aren’t the most impressive animatronics in the ride and this is another room that feels a little empty. Some more windows at least might have been nice. But you’re just there for a while watching Belle and Beast in the middle of the room do the same little dance thing over and over. You can’t help but compare this room to the similar dining room for the dining experience in Disney World. It feels a little small and pathetic. And trust me, just from videos I like Tokyo Disney a bit more than I like what they’ve done with Disney World. I want to go very badly. It feels weird to me that the park got something that’s worse than Disney World.

I was really excited to watch the ride-through of the ride and probably hyped myself up too much for it. At first I thought a lot of my disappointment came from me hyping myself up, so I showed other members of my family to get their opinions. And we all came out saying the same things. My Mom and I even watching the ride-through for ‘Mickeys’ Runaway Railway’ and wondered at how we thought that one seemed fun considering we generally like practical effects better. I guess I’m now of the opinion that both doesn’t hurt. You don’t have to go all screens or all practical effects. Maybe a screen or two would have given the guests more to see in this ride. I guess I’ll have to give all my attention in Tokyo Disney back to Ariel’s Grotto (because I do love Ariel almost just as much as Belle). But at least it’s not all bad and there’s still plenty more to see and love in Disney parks. Even though I’m seriously considering never giving them my money again because of the giant fit the company is currently throwing. I just hope none of this becomes a trend.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Books: An Honest Look at the Hogwarts Houses

Screenshot of Hogwarts castle from ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone'(2001). Copyright goes to Warner Bros. Pictures, Heyday Films, and 1492 Pictures.

Hey! Hallie here!

Sorting Hat quizzes definitely haven’t gone down in popularity since the entire ‘Harry Potter’ controversy happened. Recently a friend of mine sent me another Sorting Hat quiz, which isn’t a surprise, but what did catch me off guard was how differently everyone seems to view each of the Hogwarts houses. There’s always different ideas about what the houses represent or don’t represent. So I decided to look at the various sources the books, official websites, and fans have provided to see what the houses are about, and what people see them as now that the fans have pretty much taken them over. This will detail what each of the Hogwarts houses represent, but I in no way claim to know everything there is to know about each house. I would also like to point out that no test can pigeonhole your personality into one box. With that out of the way, let’s look at the houses.

Gryffindor: This house is known for their bravery. The traits the Sorting Hat gives Gryffindor specifically are brave, daring, and chivalrous. Let’s break this down a bit because all of these look like the same exact thing. In most instances they are used interchangeably. Bravery isn’t hard to understand. It’s the ability to face something that might bring you pain or discomfort. Daring is generally used more to describe someone who is adventurous. Chivalry refers to the knights code. This code can basically be summed up to: Stand up for those who can’t defend themselves. In other words, Gryffindor is a house of heroes. Gryffindor is about doing things that might make you nervous and trying things you’ve never tried and putting others needs before your own. This is why all of the main characters are in Gryffindor. Somewhere along the line, Gryffindor house became known in the fandom as the house of jocks. Because of the emphasis put on Gryffindors success in Quidditch in the books, and the tendency of both Harry and Ron to leap before they look, the fandom referred to this house as the sporty house where common sense isn’t so common. The fandom was content with that for a while, but after a few years there was a reemergence of the idea that every house is important and perhaps the more mean interpretations weren’t so accurate. After all, Hermione was in Gryffindor as well. Here we had the more widely known interpretation of Gryffindor. Gryffindors are brave and will stand up for what’s right at any cost. Sometimes this will cause them to neglect or offend those they’re close to who happen to disagree with them. But they tend to care for people and have a desire to protect them.

Hufflepuff: What the hell is a Hufflepuff? Well, Hufflepuff is the house that prioritizes, justness, loyalty, honesty, and hard work. This is easier to break down than Gryffindor. Justness describes the ability to be able to tell what is morally right. Loyalty is unwavering support of someone or something. Honesty comes out of the Sorting Hat describing Hufflepuffs as “true”. In general it is simply telling the truth. Hardworking is the last trait, which is described by the Sorting Hat as being “unafraid of toil”. Hufflepuffs are a combination of very desirable traits. They know what is right, are fierce supporters of their friends, try to be truthful in everything they do, and prioritize hard work. The books also gave Hufflepuff the unfortunate reputation of being dumb because of an offhanded remark by Hagrid, but the fandom found this more offensive than telling. Instead, the fandom gave Hufflepuff the reputation of being the nice house. While Helga Hufflepuff is described as “sweet” by the Sorting Hat, there really is no indication that a Hufflepuff must be nice to meet all of the above requirements. Which fans also seemed to notice because Hufflepuffs also began to get the reputation of being secretly violent as part of the “loyalty” trait. Hufflepuffs still have quite a bit of this representation, but more recently fans have started to put more of the hardworking aspect into the definition of Hufflepuff. Hufflepuffs are now known for being supportive with a strong moral compass, and an equally strong work ethic towards projects that would lead to the betterment of those they care about. This can cause them to neglect themselves, and they aren’t all people of the community, but they do at least have a bubble of people they work to make happy.

Ravenclaw: Ravenclaws are described as wise, witty, and knowledge-hungry. Wisdom can be broken down as the appearance of having experience or good judgement. Wit is described as keen intelligence. Being hungry for knowledge is described by the books as a desire to learn. Essentially, Ravenclaws were written to be sensical, generally smart, and willing to explore all different kinds of information. This house was written to be a house of very smart students who were more prone to studying than the other houses. The fans took this description and went a bit overboard with it. Ravenclaws were portrayed by the fandom as nerds who spent all their time obsessing over grades or reading. There was, and still is, also a reputation of being emotionless robots. I was surprised to find this specific trait in one of the more recent “good” Sorting Hat quizzes I took. When a more broad definition was accepted to include all of the people that had been sorted who weren’t like this, it’s reputation changed somewhat. Now Ravenclaws are seen as old souls who have either had a lot of life experience, or seem to have a lot of life experience. This is because they view the world in such a broad and imaginative way. They’re also known for being hyper-interested in specific subjects, but that doesn’t mean they’re interested in all subjects. Ravenclaws can be caught up in their heads fairly often, but their imaginations are enviable.

Slytherin: This is the house the fandom took over the most. The traits the books gave Slytherin’s were cunning and ambition. Cunning describes achieving what one wants by deceit. Yes, that is correct. The definition of cunning uses the word “deceit”. Ambition describes a strong desire to achieve success. The Sorting Hat speaks of Slytherins using any means to achieve that success, which considering the definition of cunning, doesn’t necessarily imply the best methods. Slytherin was written as the evil house. Plain and simple. Slytherins were bad mouthed throughout all the books for being willing to step over other people to get power. All of the Slytherins were locked in the dungeons by McGonagall during the Battle of Hogwarts, implying none of them fought in it. The fandom took this a few ways. First the fandom embraced Slytherins evil and many fans of the villainous characters placed themselves in Slytherin because of their love of those characters. Then the fandom, while seeing the positives in the other houses, decided to see more positives in Slytherin. Slytherins started to be correlated with the desire to work hard for your dreams. To lessen the blow of their seemingly selfish ideals, fans started to extend loyalty into Slytherin. Slytherin ended up adopting a lot of Hufflepuff traits, if you look at it. Slytherins now have the reputation of being big dreamers who work hard to make those dreams realities. They’re also known for being protective over those they care about, but the amount of people they care about tend to be a small group. They can be closed off, but they’re pretty warm once they let you in.

There’s something very important I want to leave you with before I sign off. No matter what house you’re in, or even if you think you’re in a different house than you were when I started, you are more than just the traits I described. You probably exhibit all of the traits from all of the houses, and more. Many people have noticed this. This is why there are so many theories on why the Sorting Hat chooses what house suits which person best. The point is, all of us are very similar and equally important. The books made the mistake of making the houses divided with several different rivalries. It also put forward a system where like-minded kids are kept in a group without exploring other mentalities. But as a fandom, we have grown past that. We have has conversations about our different mindsets and what we value and why we’re in the houses we’re in. We are all more than our house and there’s a lot more to explore about yourself to find your true personality. And you will know what that is better than any Sorting Hat.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Netflix Shows: Gilmore Girls-Dean, Jess, or Logan?

Screenshot from ‘Gilmore Girls’ Season 2 (2001) starring (left) Milo Ventimiglia and (right) Alexis Bledel. Copyright goes to Warner Bros. Television.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Though this show isn’t originally a Netflix show, that’s where you can watch it now! Which is exactly what I’ve been doing recently with my Mom. I grew up with this show because my Mom loved it, and the mother-daughter bond portrayed in the show really made this something special for me and my Mom. So as we’ve been talking about it as we re-watch it, we ended up on THE fan question. The question on the minds of the fans of this show has always been; who should Rory have ended up with? Obviously, we don’t really ask this question about Lorelai because we know she should have ended up with Luke, which is what happened. But the newest season of ‘Gilmore Girls’ threw the Rory question even farther into focus. So-who should Rory have ended up with? I think that if you actually look at the options, the answer is pretty obvious. But let’s look anyways!

Dean:

The first candidate is Dean and he’s a pretty good one too. Rory’s first love and the absolute sweetest boy. At least at the beginning. When we first meet Dean, he’s absolutely perfect for Rory. He’s unassuming and gentle and just wants to make a good impression with her Mom. The way he handles Rory’s school bullies when he takes her to the Chilton dance is adorable too. He doesn’t pay them any mind and brushes them off, often finding ways to get Rory out of the situation in a safe way. Then everything falls apart after their first break up. Dean tells Rory that he loves her and freaks out when she’s unable to say it back. And though I do understand his heartbreak and the fact that they’re really young, Rory even explains why she’s unable to say anything back. It’s partly because of how divided her family is and because of that it takes her a while to get to the point where she can comfortably say it, even if she wants to. Dean does not understand this and breaks up with her. Then when they get back together, Jess gets thrown into the picture. Dean is immediately over-protective, even yelling at Rory for hanging out with Jess in front of her friends at some points. This definitely strains their relationship until it’s kind of a shadow of what it was. When Rory eventually leaves him, he’s still insanely jealous and tries to pick a fight with Jess several times. This all culminates into Dean jumping into a marriage very young and then him and Rory having an affair. Not to mention the episode where he says he’d rather have the kind of wife who makes dinner for him when he comes home from work. A little archaic. But their relationship did start out wonderfully before it crashed and burned.

Jess:

The second candidate could be described as Rory’s bad boy phase at first glance. Jess is a troubled kid when he comes into town. He picks fights with kids from his school, seems very ungrateful to Luke who took him in, and plays pranks on the people of Stars Hollow. He quickly gains the reputation of being a delinquent. Rory is sure that he has some kindness in him, even though she doesn’t always get along with him. This portrayal is great! Rory doesn’t exactly hate him nor does she like him, which feels a lot more realistic than hating him outright or blindly believing that he’s a good person. As she gets to know him she realizes that he really does care, but his home life before this was so screwed up that he doesn’t really know how to show it. Jess softens up after spending more time with Luke and Rory. When they start dating, he’s still very troubled and kind of a jerk. He flaunts his relationship with her over Dean sometimes. But he’s much more understanding about Rory being friends with Dean than Dean was ok with her being friends with Jess. He also understand Rory’s hobbies and interests a lot more than Dean does. Jess leaves and comes back multiple times, often because he thinks he’s not good enough for Rory, until finally he leaves to find himself. When he comes back again, Rory has dropped out of college, is living with her grandparents, and is dating Logan. While Jess has matured, is a lot more chilled out and less troubled, and has even written a book; Rory has made so many mistakes. Jess reminds her that this isn’t her. And though he raises his voice, he doesn’t do it out of anger. He does it because he wants his friend back and even comfortingly puts his hand on her elbow before remembering her birthday. Jess also seems to still have a connection with Rory in the new season. But he didn’t start out that great.

Logan:

The rich boy third candidate that might have been Tristan in an earlier season if he hadn’t left the show. Logan is certainly charming, but he’s also a massive jerk. Just like Tristan was! The thing is, he doesn’t mellow out. Logan consistently cheats on his girlfriends, gets everyone around him in trouble, and abuses his money and power. Often he pays no mind to Rory or her emotions. Let’s just say- Jess had a point when he said that Rory shouldn’t be dating a guy like him. Logan is a cautionary tale more than anything, despite his charms. A smiling face doesn’t necessarily mean a good heart. The new season just proves this as Logan is shown to have not changed in the slightest bit over the years. Logan will always be Logan. A frat boy with a tendency towards the awful. He should have never had a girlfriend in the first place. So, really, he’s out of the running for Rory in my eyes. When Rory admits to Jess that she loves Logan, you just can’t help but feel sorry for her after all he’s put her through.

Who should have ended up with Rory?

You might have already guessed, but I definitely think it’s Jess. Jess was definitely not the best boyfriend to Rory when they were first dating, but when he comes back he’s perfect for her. It’s almost like watching Lorelai and Luke. When one of them is ready to date, the other one isn’t. They just keep missing each other. But they will always have each other in their lives, and eventually you can’t help but wonder if that’ll lead to them finally getting together. Even when Jess wasn’t the best boyfriend, he was always a support for Rory that she needed. Dean was a nice boyfriend, but he didn’t completely understand Rory. Jess did. Jess was always unselfishly in love with Rory, sometimes even giving up habits in order to make her happy. Like quitting smoking and refusing to fight Dean. Though I believe that each of these three were integral to Rory’s growth, I think that, while watching the series, there is only one clear answer for Rory. Jess and Rory will always be endgame in my mind.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: ‘BE’ is Out!

Promotional photo of BTS on the set of “Dynamite”. From left to right: Min Yoongi (Suga), Kim Taehyung (V), Jeon Jungkook (Jungkook), Kim Namjoon (RM), Kim Seokjin (Jin), Park Jimin (Jimin), and Jung Hoseok (J-Hope). Copyright goes to Big Hit Entertainment and BTS.

Hey! Hallie here!

We ended this week with a few posts on K-Pop and K-Dramas, so it was only fitting that they lead up to BTS’s release of their new album, ‘BE’. As someone who absolutely stayed up all night streaming “Dynamite”, then streaming their entire album, then watching their V-Live, I celebrated the release just as obsessively as any ARMY could. The album didn’t disappoint. It captured the ups, downs, and complete restlessness of being in quarantine so perfectly. It spoke to me and my mental health in ways no album ever has. I initially planned to rank the songs on the album, but I can’t really bring myself to. All of the songs are so personal to the boys and to myself that I can’t put a definitive ranking on these songs. So instead, I’m going to be talking about why each one is amazing. There’s a bit extra to talk about here because all of the members of BTS were as involved in creating the album as possible. They were the writers, directors, producers, and took over even more responsibilities. So let’s look into the work they put into each song.

“Life Goes On”

This song was mainly written by the BTS rap line; Kim Namjoon, Min Yoongi, and Jung Hoseok. The accompanying music video for this song was dropped at the same time as the album and was directed by vocalist Jeon Jungkook. This song encompasses the general quarantine experience. It speaks about how everything seemed to stop when quarantine started except for time. While it talks about the feeling of loneliness and claustrophobia, it also reminds the listener that it will be over. It uses the phrase “life goes on” to remind everyone that we are moving forward even if we feel we aren’t and that we’ll come out of this on the other side. There’s also a few very sweet messages to ARMY that assure us that our relationship with the boys hasn’t changed despite how the world has changed. The music video emphasizes the song’s meaning. It mostly consists of all of the members of BTS lounging around inside, trying to keep a routine while everything’s gloomy. There are a few shots of Taehyung in a car and Namjoon on a bridge, isolated but attempting to get in touch with the outside world. These are definitely experiences many people have had in quarantine, but it uses them to give us hope that everything will be over. It’s a much needed message as we end the year.

“Fly To My Room”

This song was also written by Kim Namjoon, Min Yoongi, and Jung Hoseok. Park Jimin and Kim Taehyung are also noted as partial creators. It’s about the feeling of being stuck in your room during quarantine. It goes through the feelings of being trapped in one place before it takes a brighter turn. The boys sing about how they would rather take a more optimistic view of their rooms and invite their dreams inside. The song then reintroduces the room as a safe place where one can find happiness. It’s the second song on the album to convey a very relatable feeling of sadness connected to quarantine, before reminding the listener that there is hope.

“Blue & Grey”

This song was written by Kim Taehyung, Min Yoongi, Kim Namjoon, and Jung Hoseok. It was initially written by Kim Taehyung as a solo song for himself, but he ultimately decided to perform it with the rest of the group, causing it to have to be reworked. Taehyung wrote this song less about quarantine and more about the general feeling of unhappiness. The song goes through the confusion of not knowing why you’re unhappy and the guilt that comes with that. In the song there are mentions of this feeling appearing as early as childhood and refusing to go away. The chorus starts with “I just want to be happier” and asks if it’s too greedy to want more happiness. So many have gone through this form of depression, myself included. While BTS generally tries to spread happiness, they’ve always emphasized the importance of talking about ones mental health. This song is a beautiful reminder that no one is alone and nearly everyone has felt something like this at some point.

“Skit”

This isn’t a song! This is a three minute clip of all of the members of BTS talking about getting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in their careers. They even mention how strange it is that they’re practicing choreography for their very first song, “No More Dream”, when something so major has just happened. All on Jungkook’s birthday. The joy and excitement in their voices is what makes this skit so enjoyable to listen to.

“Telepathy”

This song was written by Min Yoongi, Kim Namjoon, and Jeon Jungkook. This one is probably the most upbeat of the songs on this album. It’s about feeling connected to those you’re close to, even when you’re separated. It’s about, you guessed it, quarantine. This song definitely uses quarantine imagery to emphasize the separation between loved ones. Specifically the separation BTS has felt with ARMY because of the cancellation of their concerts. While a topic like this could be sad, they manage to focus on the happiness someone feels when they talk to, or even think about, the people they love. It’s a nice feel good track amongst some of the other emotional ones.

“Dis-ease”

This song was written by Jung Hoseok, Kim Namjoon, Min Yoongi, and Park Jimin. It’s also my personal favorite song on the album. This song is about feeling restless during quarantine. It talks specifically about attempting to use the time to be restful but the desire to accomplish something productive keeps coming back. It’s one of the more upbeat tracks, with a pretty soulful bridge. Jimin is responsible for the bridge, which he wrote in about four minutes. He talked about feeling somewhat guilty for writing it in such a small amount of time because, Jungkook initially had a bridge prepared, but upon hearing Jimin’s, the rest of the group felt his bridge worked better. I feel bad for Jungkook, but I honestly can’t picture this song without this bridge.

“Stay”

This song was written by Jeon Jungkook, Kim Namjoon, and Kim Seokjin. Similar to “Blue & Grey”, it was initially written by Jeon Jungkook as a solo song, but was reworked to be part of the album. It was also written in English so it had to be rewritten in Korean. I’ll get to that in a second. This song is a bit close in meaning to the track “Telepathy”. It talks about the general wistfulness of being apart from someone who you know will always be waiting for you until you reunite. It also references ARMY’s separation from BTS during quarantine. This song is a bit lighter than “Telepathy” and it’s pop sound makes it very different.

“Dynamite”

This is the only song on the album that is written and performed completely in English. It’s also the only song that wasn’t written by any of the BTS members. It’s ALSO the song that put BTS on the Billboard Hot 100. This song has a pretty basic feel-good message of “enjoy yourself”. It was released as a bright song to help people get through some of the darkness that’s been going on recently. And it helped a lot. It brought a large amount of people into ARMY and became an anthem for happiness. BTS seemed to notice the danger with this song instantly after it’s success. It appeared to prove that Korean artists could better reach Western audiences by abandoning their native language. BTS didn’t want that. I can’t really blame them, either. Racism is the main reason why songs in other languages don’t do as well as songs in English among English-speaking audiences. All of the members of BTS were adamant that the rest of the album be in Korean, and they delivered. They made it very clear that they aren’t going to give up singing in Korean. I hope they find just as much, and even more, success with their Korean tracks.

That’s it for “Life Goes On”! I’m going to keep streaming it as much as possible. Hopefully one of their Korean songs will get them that second number one spot on Billboard. If you haven’t checked out this album yet, I’d highly recommend it. It’s emotional, relatable, and incredibly beautiful. I can’t express enough how much it affected me. I feel more at peace listening to this than I have felt in the past few months, and I know I’m not the only one. And to those ARMY’s who are right there along with me, listening to this album as much as possible and totally not crying, I’m happy to be right here with you.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: My Holo Love

Screenshot from ‘My Holo Love’ (2020) starring (left) Ko Sung-hee and (right) Yoon Hyun-min. Copyright goes to Studio Dragon and Netflix.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I wasn’t actually recommended this one as much as I just saw it on Netflix. Netflix really has been my go-to for K-drama stuff, just because it’s so easy. This one drew my attention mainly because it was short and I was in a bit of a time crunch. I was a bit put off by the premise of this one just because I thought the hologram aspect of it would be weird. For those of you who are more unfamiliar with this show, it follows Go Nan-do, an introverted genius working on a multi-purpose hologram. When other companies attempt to steal the product, the hologram is slipped into the possession of an un-assuming Han So-yeon who eventually befriends and then falls in love with the hologram. She is unaware that her new neighbor who never shows his face is the creator of the hologram, as well as the spitting image of it, attempting to get his product back. The falling in love with the hologram piece of this is what made me really skeptical, but this show did not turn out how I initially thought it would. As always-SPOILERS. Read at your own discretion.

The Good:

  • The main male character. No perfect boyfriend syndrome here! This male protagonist is not toxically masculine or lacking in sensitivity. In fact, he’s kind of the opposite. He suffers from social anxiety as well as a lack of hopefulness for his life. Both of these things are aspects of his life that he works out as the series goes on. You eventually find out that he created his hologram self to a be a perfect version of himself. A version of himself that can express emotion the way that he wishes he could. It’s only through the support of friends and family that he’s able to realize that this is something he can achieve himself. He’s not perfect or overly passionate and romantic. He really strikes you as a character that could really exist because he actually has real human problems. He’s definitely all the better for it.
  • The main female character. She also feels very real and very human. She deals with social anxiety as well and has trouble navigating her life at work. This is partly because she has a condition where she cannot process or remember faces, so her co-workers often feel that she is slighting them. She initially uses her new hologram to help her navigate life at work, as the hologram can recognize her co-workers. Eventually she gets to the point where she has to work through her own problems. One of them being the fact that she fell in love with a hologram. She is never too girly or too tom boyish. She doesn’t feel like some high standard or the type of character that is really hard to relate to. She feels possibly the most human of any female protagonist from a K-drama that I’ve ever seen.
  • The hologram. I really thought this character would be weird. I was pretty much convinced of it. But they really went out of their way to make this hologram feel more human and less weird. The hologram develops his own thoughts and emotions and makes his own sacrifices for the happiness of others. Though he has also fallen in love with Han So-yeon, he must come to terms with the fact that he isn’t a real person. Often times when the two protagonists have a romantic moment, it was instigated by him to make sure they are both happy. In the end you can’t help but see him as a sentient human being. You really do feel sorry for him at the same time you’re really happy to see the protagonists together. I did not expect them to so successfully humanize him in the way that they did.
  • The romance. Just like how the characters felt realistic, the progression of this romance also felt realistic. They don’t particularly like or dislike each other at first. She is definitely wary of him because of his history in trying to steal the hologram back from her, but she soon discovers that he’s a kind soul with a few issues. But what I like here is that she doesn’t try to fix his problems nor does she let his behavior slide because of them. She becomes emotional support for him, but she encourages him to fix his own issues as she knows that it isn’t her job. When both characters change for the better it’s because of their own willingness to. But they both remain incredible support for the other throughout their struggles. That’s where they really bond and that’s what makes them so good together. And the scene where he’s carrying her home is far too precious.

The Bad:

  • The side-plot romance. I’m not even sure if you’re supposed to like it. I really liked Go Nan-do’s sister and I thought she deserved so much better than the love interest they gave her. There were some points where it felt like I was supposed to really like it and some points where I felt like I was completely justified in hating it. He helps her sometimes which is good, but he’s also way too business minded and often put that over her. I just didn’t really feel this one.
  • The villains. This really could have done without the dramatic moments of other companies trying to steal the hologram. It didn’t really seem to serve the plot and the villains existence came up pretty inconsistently throughout the show. There really could have been another way that Han So-yeon ended up with the hologram. The villainy in this show just ended up being forgettable and on the boring side.
  • Love triangle. I’ve said it before and I will say it again- I really don’t like love triangles. This is probably more of a personal preference thing, but I just don’t think they’re ever written that well. I didn’t find this one to be an exception. The fact that there was a moment where Han So-yeon was choosing between the hologram and the actual guy was so bizarre to me that it took me out of the story a little bit. And it wasn’t just because he’s a hologram, because he was a very human hologram. It was because by the time she starts spending time with Go Nan-do, she has already found out that some of the romantic things she thought were done by her hologram were actually done by him. Not only that, but she falls in love with the hologram pretty quickly without much build up, unlike her relationship with Go Nan-do. It made sense for her to still care, but there were things that definitely made me question why she still felt the way she had.

I actually thought this drama was good! It definitely exceeded my expectations! It’s not the best drama I’ve ever watched, but it’s something I would watch again. I was really surprised at just how human this supernatural plot was made to be. I grew so much more attached to the characters than I thought I would. If you haven’t made the time to watch this one yet, or if you saw it and dismissed it because it looked kind of weird, I would highly recommend giving this one a second chance. It’s adorable and another one of those shows where you can just turn your brain off for a second and watch something cute.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: Common Misconceptions About BTS

Promotional photo of J-Hope (Jung Hoseok). Copyright goes to Big Hit Entertainment and BTS.

Hey! Hallie here!

I’ve been obsessed with BTS for a few months now. I discovered them while in quarantine, and I’ve been relying on their music and videos to get rid of my boredom. To many BTS fans I’m still a baby ARMY. I know quite a bit about the group, but I’ve only learned these things recently. BTS has been a large presence in the music industry for a few years now, so I absolutely had heard about them. But from what I heard, I presumed a lot of weird, and often undeserved, things about them. I’m not the only one, either. I see a lot of the same assumptions being mentioned quite a bit by people who don’t know much about BTS. So I’m going to clear a few of these things up right now. Whether you’re a long-time ARMY, or someone who just wants to know a little more about the boys, here are some misconceptions you should be careful of.

Jin is the weakest singer/dancer:

Kim Seokjin is easy to underestimate. He isn’t focused on as much as the other members in music videos and he’s said himself that he’s the worst at learning new choreography. But that doesn’t make him a bad singer or a bad dancer. Firstly, all of the boys dance in sync. If Jin wasn’t a good dancer, everyone would notice that something was off. But this rarely, if ever, happens. All of the boys are excellent dancers and skilled at keeping up with each other. Jin is no exception. The fact that it takes him longer to learn dances in no way means he’s less skilled at them when he does learn them. As for his singing, look up any of his solo songs. “Moon” is a good one to start with. His voice is beautiful, and that isn’t just me being encouraging. He has a large amount of talent and he’s released many, many, solo songs to prove it. His voice may not be your favorite of the BTS members, but that’s ok! You’re allowed to have your own personal opinion. Regardless of that, Jin has a gorgeous voice, and once you’ve learned to recognize it, you’ll notice he’s involved in many more songs than you might have originally thought. There are definitely music videos where Jin gets less of the spotlight than everyone else, but that has nothing to do with his talent. If anything, it’s probably because he’s the oldest member of the group, which is a lot bigger of a deal in Idol groups.

Suga hates everyone:

Min Yoongi is definitely the most introverted member of BTS. At any large event he shies away from large groups and tends to stick with the rest of BTS. He’s talked a lot about how he doesn’t like to go out very often. He can also seem stand-offish at times. He’s the most likely to shrug off physical affection and in a lot of BTS behind the scenes videos you’ll see him napping. But Yoongi is actually a pretty friendly guy. His introversion is simply something that affects him more than most. He’s talked about how going out to restaurants and movie theatres can cause him a lot of anxiety. Sometimes he’ll need to ask other members of BTS to get him food after performances because he can’t bring himself to go out to eat with them. He also really likes to mess around with the other members of BTS. Sometimes he’ll pretend to be disgusted by their hugs just to make them laugh. Other times they’ll wake him up from a nap and he’ll threaten them for fun. It’s all for their enjoyment, and if he or anyone else was actually uncomfortable, they would say so. But Yoongi is just one goof amongst a group of goofs and it would be a mistake to take every joke he makes seriously.

J-Hope is the ugliest member:

I’ve seen this going around a lot. A pretty large group of people have said that Jung Hoseok has a “horse face” and isn’t as attractive as the other members. This has caused a lot of new ARMY’s to believe that he has a small fanbase or that a lot of his fans pity him. This even got around to Hobi himself, who admitted that he was teased about his looks in school as well. You can catch a few videos where he compares his face to a horse and the other members of BTS playfully assure him that that isn’t the case. Yoongi has said that he believes Hobi is the most attractive member of BTS. Honestly, these were just mean comments that blew up at an extreme rate. It doesn’t take much to disprove this. As is true of most Idol groups, you won’t find anyone in BTS who isn’t conventionally attractive. Unfortunately, that’s a large part of choosing members of Idol groups. His fans don’t pity him, but they do appreciate him for his bright personality. This is coming first-hand from a J-Hope bias. And if you needed any more proof, look at the photo I used for this post. There. Disproved.

RM was only chosen to be leader because he knew English:

While this is definitely one of the reasons why Kim Namjoon was chosen to lead BTS, this isn’t the only reason. Namjoon was the only member of BTS who was part of the original lineup. He was the first one found because of his growing fame as a rap artist, and he was the most determined to stay out of everyone in the group. He even convinced J-Hope to stay after he decided to leave a day before their debut. In some instances, he was the reason why some members joined BTS. Jungkook has stated in multiple interviews that one of the main reasons he joined BTS was because he enjoyed Namjoon’s work. Namjoon pulled everyone together before BTS debuted. His leadership and determination didn’t go unnoticed. The fact that he could speak English was just a plus.

V is Immature:

Kim Taehyung is one of the youngest members of BTS, but he isn’t the youngest. Somehow, he still has the reputation of being immature while Jungkook, the actual youngest, doesn’t. Some of the members of BTS probably fueled this reputation. Yoongi has said that he found Taehyung quite immature in the first few years he lived with him and a fight he had with Jimin over dumplings is one of the most infamous stories the group shared. In some interviews he can also seem irritated, which has only worsened this reputation. Taehyung has talked about his immaturity before, but he has also spoken about coming a long way from that. He wrote an entire song about it called “Inner Child”. Taehyung doesn’t regret his immaturity. A lot of the youngest members of BTS had their childhoods stolen from them and Taehyung has appreciated that his environment, despite that, allowed him to be silly and goof around. But Taehyung has shown professionalism and wisdom throughout the past few years. As for his interviews, it isn’t a secret that many Western interviewers treat BTS poorly. Taehyung doesn’t put up with this treatment. He makes it obvious when he’s upset by sitting quietly and looking exasperated. He isn’t loud and he doesn’t disrupt the interview. That’s one of the most professional ways I’ve seen someone handle their displeasure while they’re being disrespected.

These are only a few misconceptions I’ve come across. There are many more going around. These are just some of the more serious topics I’ve seen. I can’t say I didn’t believe some of these at one point, but I’m glad I did more research. It’s important as ARMY that we appreciate every member of BTS for their uniqueness. They deserve to be respected for their accomplishments. And for those who aren’t ARMY, don’t judge a book by it’s cover! There’s much more to each member of BTS than just what a handful of people say. Look into them and form your own opinions! Whether you like their music or it isn’t really your thing, you have to appreciate the work they’re putting into make this world a better place.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Twins in Media: Hikaru and Kaoru vs Fred and George

Screenshot of Kaoru and Hikaru in ‘Ouran Highschool Host Club’. Copyright goes to Funimation and Nippon Television.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Now that we’ve covered a massive variety of twins in media, we thought we would pit them all against each other to see what’s really the best portrayal of twins in media out there right now. Of course, we have to start with the obvious pairing of Hikaru and Kaoru vs Fred and George considering it is very likely that one portrayal was based off of the other. Here we have two pairs of identical twins with red hair and a ‘partners in crime’ style mischief streak. But which one was a better representation of twins? I’m going to be judging these two based off of four categories; tropes, differences and similarities, relationship, and plot. Hopefully we’ll figure out which pair avoids the most harmful portrayal. Ready? Let’s go!

Tropes:

  • Hikaru and Kaoru. These two suffer from several tropes, one of them being the mischievous trope I already mentioned. For some reason, a lot of people seem to automatically assume that twins are mischievous and play pranks; which obviously isn’t always the case. Hikaru and Kaoru often try to confuse other people so that they won’t be able to tell which is which. In my experience with my sister and also with all of the other twins I have ever met in my life, that’s not something we really do. We would much rather you be able to tell us apart so that you’ll treat us as individuals. They also fall under the synchronized twins trope in that they talk at the same time a lot and say the exact same things. That would require a lot of practice on command and my sister and I barely do it on accident. When we say something at the same time it’s generally one word and not often. To top all of this off, we have one of the absolute worst tropes of all on this list. Twincest. I can’t even begin to describe how much this one grosses me out and I really hope I don’t have to say that this is wrong. I do hope you already know that. Incest is not made better or more acceptable by making the characters twins despite what media writers seem to think. Just…give me a minute to throw up.
  • Fred and George. These brothers suffer from the mischievous trope even more than Hikaru and Kaoru do. To the point where they actually open a joke shop together. It’s fun to see and here I feel it’s used a bit more tastefully than with Hikaru and Kaoru. With Fred and George at least it’s something they commit to rather than it being a random part of their characters. But it’s still difficult to not notice that this is still a trope. No matter how you look at it. The synchronization here is also bad, but at least they don’t say the same things at the same time so much. They have more of a habit of finishing each other’s sentences….which is also really unrealistic and barely ever happens. I honestly don’t know if finishing each other’s sentences or saying something at the same time is worse. Their particularly bad trope is different from the Hitachiin brothers, however. Here we have the much beloved by writers trope of one twin must die. This is another one of my most hated tropes. For some reason, writers believe that it’s less likely that a pair of twins will survive an ordeal than a pair of regular siblings. I’m very confused by this logic. Also, they seem to think that a twin will only be interesting if their sibling dies. That’s really nice to hear. Thanks.

Winner: The winner of this round has to go to Fred and George. Each of these twins’ synchronicity is different but equally as bad as the others and they each are the proud owners of some of the most annoying twin tropes out there. The only saving grace for Fred and George here is that the mischievous trope was actually ingrained into their storyline and didn’t feel as much like a random trope thrown in to assure the audience that they’re twins.

Differences and Similarities:

  • Hikaru and Kaoru. Hikaru and Kaoru are presented to the audience as being very much the same, but as the series goes on, you realize that this isn’t true. Hikaru is much more rash than his brother and also a lot more introverted. Hikaru still has this immaturity to him because he’s afraid to open his world view and get hurt. Which is entirely fair given his backstory. He doesn’t trust people and can often treat them badly one-on-one because of his lack of trust. Kaoru is much more mature and wise. While Kaoru is also an introvert, he’s a lot more open to other people. He is also afraid of what might happen if he lets people in, but he’s open to opening that door and trying it out. He knows he can’t stay in the dark forever. Because of this, Kaoru has a much sweeter disposition both in general and towards other people. They are never depicted as the opposites of each other and they do handle trauma and life in very different ways. In the end, they both realize that they will always be best friends but they won’t live the same same life nor have the same relationships with others.
  • Fred and George. Fred and George are never focused on individually. They are almost always seen together. You never get individual character growth like you do with Hikaru and Kaoru. They speak to everyone the exact same way and have the exact same relationships with their friends. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the time siblings have the same friends. Hikaru and Kaoru certainly do. But because each twin has a different personality, their relationships with people around them are different. This doesn’t happen here. The most we see of them being different from each other is a scene in the fourth book, not the movie, where the two are fighting. Here we see a glimpse of George being a bit more responsible than Fred as he does take the more sensible part of the argument, but that’s about it. Not only that, but the scene after he lets Fred do whatever he wants and doesn’t even stop him. They have the same lives, the same relationships, they want the same exact job for the same exact reasons. I wish there were more differences here.

Winner: Hikaru and Kaoru. They are the only real answer here. Though Hikaru and Kaoru do have their bad points, the show goes out of it’s way to make sure the audience knows that these are two different people. Fred and George receive no such treatment. One of these pairs of twins are often treated as though they are interchangeable in the writing, and it isn’t Hikaru and Kaoru.

Relationship:

  • Hikaru and Kaoru. Admittedly, their relationship can sometimes be a little creepy because of the Twincest thing. Though I am glad that the show is very eager to point out that that’s something they do for show and definitely isn’t real, I don’t think they do a good enough job at that considering Hikaru and Kaoru still share a bed for some unknown reason. Also, I don’t think many siblings would be ok with what they do in the Host Club, so I can’t call that realistic. Thank god for that. However, it’s nice that there’s no evil twin act. They are best friends through and through. But they also don’t always agree and sometimes fight. Yay! What is incredibly realistic about them though, is how much they look out for each other. It’s never something super prominent, but Kaoru even sets up a date for Hikaru because he knows he has feelings for Haruhi. It’s nice to see that they’re so close without being exactly the same.
  • Fred and George. It’s also nice to see that Fred and George are best friends and I’m really glad that these two don’t weirdly share a bed. However, the scene I mentioned earlier is really the only time the audience ever sees that Fred and George aren’t agreeing on something. Being on the same wavelength all the time is impossible. They always want to do the same thing at the same time. We also don’t see a whole lot of occasions where one is actively looking out for the other, because their storylines are constantly smushed together.

Winner: Again, Hikaru and Kaoru have their issues, but they are the clear winners here. Fred and George aren’t explored by the author nearly enough to have a completely decent relationship. Hikaru and Kaoru at least feel like real siblings sometimes.

Plot:

  • Hikaru and Kaoru. Hikaru and Kaoru have different storylines branching out, which is incredibly important. Hikaru deals with his unwillingness to let people in and eventually has to help Haruhi when he wrongfully abandons her. Kaoru must learn to deal with change that he doesn’t think he’s ready for yet. On top of this, their backstories are incredible. Hikaru and Kaoru have an entire backstory based off of the disappointment of people not being able to tell them apart. This was relatable for me and my sister. This all culminates the best in a flashback where it is revealed that, when one of them would be asked out, he would go to the girl pretending to be his brother to make sure that the girl actually wanted to date him as an individual person. The girl would always eventually admit that she wouldn’t mind dating either or, which continuously broke both of their hearts. I’ve said it before, but my sister and I actually have gone through similar things. It really sucks, because I’m not my sister and she’s not me. We are very different people who actually don’t look all that alike once you get to know us. But people assume that, because we’re twins, it’s more ok to do something like this. I was really happy that they explored this storyline and put a massive emphasis on why you should never assume that twins are the same. Because they never are.
  • Fred and George. Fred and George are definitely more side-characters and less explored than the pair above. But that doesn’t really give them a pass. Fred and George are never a whole lot more than pranks, Quidditch, and being a massive twin stereotype. Them barely being seen isn’t necessarily an excuse for that. Beyond their joke shop, Fred and George only find major relevance again when they can be collateral damage for the war. George loses and ear and Fred loses his life because of tropes. The story is very unkind to them. Though they are fun to watch and you do grow attached to them, they have very little in the way of plot. Which makes the massive trope thrown in at the end feel even more like a punch to the gut. We didn’t even get to explore Fred as an individual person because he was written with twin tropes before he dies. Also, is no one talking about how she-who-must-not-be-named said that George married Angelina a.k.a Fred’s old girlfriend? Do you know how incredibly toxic that is? Firstly, my sister and I have never been interested in the same guys. Secondly, you just decided that George will never be able to have a separate life outside of Fred’s even after his death. Thirdly, this decision also treats Angelina horribly. Angelina is not Fred’s old blanket, she is an actual person. I just can’t begin to fathom why this decision was made.

Winner: Hikaru and Kaoru. They are the only ones with a real plot and they are also the only ones here treated with respect. Fred and George not being explored enough isn’t an excuse for how many tropes and stereotypes were just poured on there.

Final Result:

I’m sorry James and Oliver Phelps, I like you guys a lot. Hikaru and Kaoru are the obvious winners. Though they are just slightly worse when you look at initial tropes, when you actually look farther in depth they are WAY better. They have actual stories that are separate from each other and a lot of the tropes are dropped outside of the Host Club. At first glance they look iffy, but when you examine how the writers treated each character individually, there’s more substance to this pair. Hikaru and Kaoru actually feel like different human beings were written where as it barely feels like she-who-must-not-be-named put any thought into her characters at all. I mean, she didn’t even care when casting James and Oliver Phelps as the two. She just pointed at them in quick succession and gave them roles. The difference here is that Hikaru and Kaoru are actually meant to be human beings and Fred and George are not. Also, it’s really nice to see anything where both twins survive at the end of it with equal character development.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Video Games: Characters that Don’t Look Scary but Absolutely Are

Screenshot of Tom Nook from the Nintendo Switch ‘Animal Crossing’ teaser trailer. Copyright goes to Nintendo.

Hey! Hallie here!

I always like a good surprise when I’m playing a video game. But some surprises come from really unexpected places. I really enjoy seeing cute characters turn absolutely terrifying. Whether it’s a purposeful move or not. It bridges a gap between hilarious and terrifying we rarely ever see. These types of characters are always fun to see in a video game. They make you question your views of the game and give you a different topic to talk about with other gamers who were just as shocked as you were. But this surprise isn’t always a pleasant surprise. Some of these characters live in my nightmares. Here are some of my favorite characters that you shouldn’t underestimate, despite their adorable appearances.

Tom Nook (‘Animal Crossing’):

Tom Nook seems nice when you first meet him. He’s a small racoon with droopy eyes and chubby cheeks. There aren’t many characters in ‘Animal Crossing’ who aren’t adorable, and Tom Nook is no exception to this rule. He also offers the player a place to live with a mortgage they can pay off at their leisure. Sounds like a pretty nice guy. Until he starts constantly mentioning the money you owe him. He hangs it over your head every time you walk into his shop. And then when you finally pay him off, he offers you an upgrade to your property without having to pay any money up front. Only to reveal to you later that the upgrade costs more than the actual property and will take you much longer to pay off. This starts a cycle throughout the entire game. Tom Nook will do anything he can to make sure you’re indebted to him, and the more you pay for upgrades to customize your village or island, the more unashamedly greedy he becomes. After a while of playing his cute face becomes terrifying. You dread seeing him walking anywhere near your direction. There’s a reason gamers call him the devil.

Flowey (‘Undertale’):

Here’s a more purposeful creepy/cute character. Flowey is only cute in the first few minutes of the game. But he’s REALLY cute. There really isn’t much of reason why you shouldn’t trust him. He’s a small flower with an adorable smiling face. And then he attempts to kill you and his smile takes on a much more disturbing appearance. From there, you have no choice but to be terrified of him. Even his original friendly smile will make you want to scream and run in the other direction. And that’s not even the worst part. He shifts through three different levels of terrifying smiles, each more disturbing to look at than the last. And then, in your final battle against him, he shifts into a monster absolutely unrecognizable from his small flower form. He sprouts vines, has a large bug-like head with human looking eyes and teeth, all hooked up to a large screen with a deranged smile on it. Flowey never stops trying to kill you throughout the game and he’s pretty crafty about it. He manipulates your friends into betraying you without knowing they’re doing it (Mostly Papyrus), and, in some scenes, you can even see him stalking you from the side of the screen. Flowey has only increased my lifelong fear of flowers with faces (I had a really scary sunflower toy when I was a kid, ok?). He’s definitely one of the scariest video game villains I’ve ever seen.

Merrill (‘Dragon Age 2’):

Merrill is a short elven woman. Between her fairy-like features and endearing high-pitched voice, you can’t help but feel safe whenever she’s around. Then you figure out she’s a Blood Mage. For those who don’t know what blood magic is, it’s a school of magic that focuses on the manipulation of blood to either make someone stronger or completely control them. Merrill used this on herself so that she could complete a spell she did not have the ability to complete otherwise, but there is very much a reason why blood magic is considered taboo in all of the ‘Dragon Age’ games. It completely opens the Fade, the place where spirits reside, and entices demons to come through the barrier. While it is implied that the people who use this form of magic may be harshly stereotyped, the game shows far more people who misuse blood magic as opposed to those who use it for good purposes, including rich mages who use blood magic on their slaves. Merrill isn’t exactly innocent either. Seeing Merrill drain opponents of their life is unnerving. Merrill also willingly calls demons to help her, which comes complete with a blood splash when she cuts open her own arm to do so. After seeing Merrill brutally suck someone’s life out, she doesn’t seem so cute anymore.

Tiny Tina (‘Borderlands 2’):

Tiny Tina’s rare in that, even though her introduction is her brutally killing someone, you can’t help but find her unexplainably cute. She’s a kid who loves pink and bunnies. You can even help her put together a tea party for her various stuffed animals. But that doesn’t hide the fact that she makes giant explosives and her favorite pastime is blowing people up. She has a pretty tragic backstory to explain her love of murder. Her parents were killed while Handsome Jack was using them for human experimentation. Tina was there, but her mother gave her a grenade that allowed her to escape. Unfortunately, she escaped alone. Tina is out for revenge after what happened to her parents, but that doesn’t seem to dampen her attitude. She’s energetic and fun to be around. She names her plushies and she loves playing games. One of the ‘Borderlands’ DLC’s is her own Dungeons and Dragons campaign. But you don’t want to mess with her. Tiny Tina has blood on her hands. You aren’t likely to survive making her angry.

These characters aren’t the only cute characters you can depend on to scare you. There are many more and all of them are incredibly enjoyable. I love the characters that are made to be frightening on purpose, but the ones that were made without that scary aspect in mind are especially funny to me. I enjoy when the entire gaming community collectively agrees that a character is strangely scary regardless of what the creators intended when they created the character. It’s narratively interesting, however, when writers embrace a characters duality and write it into their story. There’s always a funny aspect of each character, but there’s also some interesting depth behind why such a bright character became so dark. This is even happening in ‘Animal Crossing’, where games have started to bring up Tom Nook’s past before he became so greedy. This character type doesn’t come up nearly enough in games, but it works so well that I hope we get to see more of this craziness in the future.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie