Category Archives: Digital

Hobama

HF: “I wanted to talk about the most iconic ship around…especially since it’s been resurfacing online through TikTok. Harry Styles x Barack Obama, aka ‘Hobama’. This ship has been around ever since I can remember, I don’t even know how I learned about it, but suddenly I just knew. This was way before TikTok, I probably heard on Twitter and Tumblr since most memes like this originated there. It was during the One Direction era when it started so probably around 2014-2015 was the start.”

Interviewer: What kind of memes was it? Did people actually see them hang out as One Direction meeting the President or something?

HF: “Hahahah, no no, that would’ve been amazing for the fandom though, I’m sure. They were photoshopped images, some goodish, some really poorly mad but they were equally as funny. I’m pretty sure there were even Wattpad/Tumblr short fanfics on them, too. The fandom took the bit and just ran with it.”

Interviewer: “Omg wow, that’s so funny. You mentioned earlier it’s resurfacing, could you please expand on that?”

HF: “Yeah, for sure. So there’s always the occasional edit from time to time, like since 2014, the fandom has kept this running, so out of the blue, you’ll find a great edit or photo. But recently, I’ve been seeing them in what everyone’s been posting about the new Tomodachi Life game.”

Interviewer: “Tomodachi Life?”

HF: “Nintendo released a game this year called Tomodachi Life, where you can make custom Mii’s, and it’s kinda like Sims, where you watch them live life and help them move the stories along. People are genuinely so creative and have been posting videos of their games and the Mii’s they’ve created, and how they interact. Oh, and the characters can fall in love with each other! You can’t make them, though – you can try and have them hang out until they do, but it’s all worth their coding like of the personalities you picked for them match. So, to my point, people have been making Mii’s of Harry Styles and Barack Obama, and they’ve been falling in love. So basically their love is universal haha….This fandom brought people together. Having a shared joke like this all over created a community, and I’m so happy to see it continue now.”

Context: This was a story told to me by my cousin. She is 25 now and was a prime target audience for One Direction, being a teenage girl during their peak years. On a phone call, we were talking about Tomodachi Life and the different characters people are making, and she mentioned Harry and Obama. I knew some of the lore, but knowing she was older and deep in this info during the prime of it all, I knew I had to ask her to elaborate for the archive.

Analysis: This shows how internet fandoms can take a completely random joke and keep it alive for years just because it’s funny and weird. It started on Twitter and Tumblr and has moved to every social media platform since then. Becoming a prominent part of the new viral videos of Tomodachi Life on TikTok proves how diverse its platforms are and how it will jump and continue anywhere. This fandom ship has had so much potential to break up, considering Obama has not been president, and One Direction has broken up for a while, but the ship is still prominent and not going anywhere anytime soon. Fans will always find new ways to keep them going. The strength of ships and fandoms is a force that should not be reckoned with.

Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons

Interviewer: Can you please dive into what exactly is Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons?

VS: A movie franchise that pretty much raised me. To be shorter, we can call it ROTBTD. It’s a mix of the movies Rise of the Guardians, Tangled, How To Train Your Dragon or HTTYD, and Brave. I honestly don’t think there’s any crossover between the movies, but they came out around the same time and have similar story lines with shared themes and animation styles. OH! And Frozen is sometimes included in there too, but isn’t a main one enough to change the fandom title.”

Interview: Ok, so interesting fandom them for such a random reason…how did the fandom grow and spread? Did people just know to watch them together, or where did you see it?”

VS: “Well I just knew haha, but that was through my older sister. She was old enough around then to have Tumblr and Twitter and read it through there. She would show me and my brother and just laugh, it was all so creative, honestly. The movies came out and people saw the similar styles and made this awesomely random connection to put them together.”

Interviewer: “What kind of things would you see?”

VS: “Ha it’s kind of what wouldn’t I see to be honest. There were edits of them – both photo and videos, Wattpad fanfics, AU stories on Tumblr of them all together in high school. People would ship the characters as well. It mainly revolved around the big four, like Rapunzel, Merida, Jack Frost, and Hiccup. I think Frozen came into it because people loved to ship Jack Frost with Elsa…rip Jelsa, that was a peak ship. Those edits were before AI and always edited so scarily accurate, like they were in the same room. Also, Rapunzel showed up in a blury background in Frozen during Elsa’s coronation scene. That’s pretty much the only part where Frozen’s in the ROTBTD fandom, it mainly consists of the big four.”

Interviewer: “Is it still a thing?”

VS: “Not as big as before, but it comes back sometimes, especially on TikTok. It’s very nostalgic.”

Context: My friend and I were watching YouTube videos together and saw the creator, Danny Motta (a movie and TV show reacter), had started a series on Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons. We started watching his videos on the subject and started reminiscing about it from when we were kids. I was aware of the Jelsa part on the internet, but VS knew the true lore and crossovers of everything.

Analysis: This truly shows the power of fandom and that it can emerge from anything. These were four movies that seriously have barely anything in common, yet people put them together, and it took the internet by storm. It became a true fandom with fanfics, edits, ships, and AU (Alternate Universe) stories of them hanging out. It goes to show the creativity and extend the fan will go to create something new entirely for others to enjoy, and ultimately create a community. These characters have never interacted, so everything made was completely from the fans’ imagination, and one fan would build off the content from another fan. Communities and fandoms can be made from anything.

Forbidden Forest

Age: 18

Q: Before we begin, who and where did you first hear about this story?

A: I saw it in this old tv show I can’t remember the name of years ago and I was watching at night. 

Story: There’s two really poor people in this village that faces a gloomy forest. They are a mother and son and this forest was believed to be cursed, holding spirits that would cause the death of anyone who goes inside. Despite this, the mother and son decided to go into the forest out of desperation for a source of food as they had been starving. When they went in, the had unexpectedly found tons of food and told all the villagers, but the villagers were skeptical but the mother and son ignored it. Instead they ate the food and went home, but that night the villagers claimed they saw a green haze wandering into their home that night. The next day, the villagers found the mother dead and the son barely surviving looking so pale it was like he had no blood left in him. The son’s last words were to never go into the forest again, reiterating what the villagers had said to them before that it was both evil and cursed. 

Q: And what do you think about this story?

A: I think it was a very common ghost story I’ve heard throughout the years. It was from a tv show so I don’t think it’s really a true one, but I’d say it could be scary. 

Interviewer’s thoughts on the story: This story, much like the teller said, is a very classic cautionary tale about ignoring warnings and desperation.  I think it does a good job showing how the mother and son were pushed into a dangerous decision because of their situation, which makes what happens to them more tragic than just a simple “they should have known better.” The mysterious green haze adds a creepy, supernatural element that reinforces the idea that the forest is truly cursed, not just a rumor and overall I would say would be classified as a ghost story. 

The Vanishing Footsteps

Age: 19

Context: I interviewed my best friend who is currently attending school in Ohio. When we were catching up she told me about a strange incident that happened a month before when she was walking home at night. 

The story:

It was late at night, around 12 when I was walking back to my dorm after a long chemistry lab. I had headphones on. While walking down this street I could’ve sworn I heard someone walking behind me. I quickly took them off and checked to see if someone was there. Maybe it was my own feet I’m hearing. The footsteps I had heard immediately stopped. I was like okay cool just me. I go back to walking this time without my headphones on and I hear them again, this time sounding louder and louder. So I stop again, just to confirm to myself, really that I’m just hearing things. This time when I stop I still hear them. And they’re getting closer. I look all over the place, and I can still hear them, but I can’t see anyone. I get a bit freaked out, so I start walking faster. I still hear them walking behind me and it’s like they’re gaining on me. Eventually I stop and I wonder if I can let whatever this is pass so I stop. When I stop I can physically hear them next to me then go in front of me. I looked across the street and all over the place wondering if maybe that was an echo of some kind. I walked down the street many times before, but maybe this time for whatever reason it had just echoed strangely. But no, I didn’t see anyone anywhere near me. After that it seemed to promptly vanish. 

Informant’s view: She thinks that it might have been a ghost or some sort of spirit. All the obvious explanations didn’t explain away the footsteps she heard so she’s open to the possibility of other worldly things.  

My view: I think this might have been a case of serious sleep deprivation. I know around that time period she was going through midterms and not getting enough sleep. She’s never had an incident like this but I feel like this was her brain having a freakout after having to work so hard with no rest.

The Homeowner Ghost

Age: 47

Context:

My mother always believed in God and held religious values. Whenever I would ask her about spooky things or if she believed in ghosts she would always answer with “Don’t seek out such things.” It wasn’t until recently she revealed an odd occurrence with a spirit that involved me many years ago. 

Interview:

Me: So when did this occurrence happen?

Informant: It was 2009. You were two years old and we had just bought the house. We knew from the realtor the owner of the house (an old woman) had passed away and her heir had sold it to some house flippers before we bought it. 

Me: Do you think there was a possibility she passed away in the house?

Informant: I rather not think about that.

Me: Alright so how soon after did you see the ghost?

Informant: You mean spirit. Well before it happened there was one bit of information I found important. One time our neighbor needed me to move my car so he could park on the street. I told him I’d move it if his daughter watched you. She did just that and when I came back from moving the car she told me “Wow the inside of the house looks so different. I used to take care of the woman who lived here before. The walls all used to be pink inside and outside.” Which did make sense since paint started chipping outside and it was all pink under. Anyway, when you saw the spirit-

Me: Wait, I saw it?

Informant: Yes. Your father worked all day so it was just me and you. It was summer and the house had no AC so I would have us hang out in the back room of the house that always stayed cool in the latter half of the day. We were playing with your toys when you left the room to chase the dog down the hallway. I called out for you to come back and when you did you had a big smile on your face. You told me “Mami, there’s an old lady waving and smiling at me.” I thought you were joking with me. I peeped my head out and saw nothing. I kept asking “Are you sure there’s someone there?” You were serious and kept saying “Can’t you see her?” I could tell you weren’t joking and I got spooked so I shut the door and waited till your father came back home. The dog didn’t bark or growl so I assumed it was a friendly spirit. 

Me: Do you have any idea who the spirit could’ve been?

Informant: I think it was the old woman who owned the house before. I assume she wanted to check up on who was living in her house and was happy when she saw a small child. The dog wasn’t growling or barking so it must have been a good spirit. I mean who else could it have been?

Analysis:
I believe the ghost of the previous owner was the spirit I saw. She might have been upset house flippers painted over her pink walls for a new family to move in. I think she wanted to see who changed and now occupied her old space. I also believe that her smiling and waving at me was her accepting our presence in her space and moving on. When I asked my mother again if she believed in ghosts she answered this time saying “I’ve always believed in spirits but never had any experience until that day. I don’t seek out things like that.” I have no recollection of this event or have seen the woman since.