Daily Archives: December 12, 2023

Travel/Food

Winter drink reviews

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By: Sophie Johnson and Addie Strack

The winter menus at both Starbucks and Dunkin’ have recently been released. Both containing new, and  delicious coffee or tea options to really get you into the holiday spirit. Between the fall and the winter menu, we can agree that the winter menu is the most exciting as it kickstarts the holiday season with new and improved drinks every year.

The first drink that we tried was the Starbucks Peppermint Hot Chocolate. This has been one of our favorite drinks for years and is a staple menu item for getting into the holiday spirit. Not only is this the perfect amount of sweetness, but the spice of the peppermint makes it taste like a delicious candy cane. We would rate this drink a 4.5/5. The way we remember this drink in past years was more chocolatey, and this year it was slightly watered down, but nevertheless, it warmed us from the inside out and especially got us into a holiday celebrating mood. Along with this drink, we received several free reusable Starbucks cups. This gift was for ‘Red Cup Day’ at Starbucks where they give away a free cup with every drink purchase. This did not affect the peppermint hot chocolate, however it was a nice addition to the experience.

The next drink we tried was the Starbucks Sugar Cookie Chai. This drink was so sweet and flavorful, and this year was the first year we tried it. Not only was this tea topped with a thick and creamy cold foam, but it had red and green sprinkles as well to add to the Christmas or holiday theme. We would rate this drink a4/5 just because of how sweet it was, but besides that, it was perfect. We would recommend getting this beverage iced instead of hot because you can better taste the tea and the cold foam doesn’t melt as fast.

Another drink we tried that was definitely one of our favorites is the Peppermint White mocha. This tastes similar to the Peppermint Hot Chocolate, mostly because of the peppermint aspect, but this one was even better. We can both confidently say that this beverage is a 5/5 and could drink this drink over and over again. We wish that this drink was on the menu year round because of how delicious it is. If you are a coffee lover, this is the drink for you as it is both sweet and energizing from the caffeine. The flavor is so tasty that it is gone so fast. For this drink, we would recommend getting it hot instead of iced. Out of all the drinks on the Christmas menus for both Starbucks and Dunkin, we can both agree that this one is by far the best.

The last drink that we tried was from Dunkin’, and it is called the Cookie Butter Cold Brew. The idea behind this drink was very good and the price was not bad, but when we tried this drink it just did not meet our standards. First of all, the coffee was slightly watery which affected the flavor negatively. The second reason why this coffee wasn’t very good was because the chunks of cookie on the top got really soggy and made the coffee chunky with every sip that we took. The advertising for this drink really sold us and we were both super excited to try it, so these factors were super disappointing after we had paid for a new drink. We would rate this drink a 1/5. The only thing that was good about this drink was the sweet cold foam on top and the cookie crumbles before they got soggy from the coffee.

After tasting all of these beverages, some better than others, we think that overall, Starbucks drinks are better than Dunkin’ ones. Dunkin’ has significantly better deals than Starbucks but we agree that most of the Starbucks drinks top the Dunkin’ ones. Our overall favorite was the peppermint white mocha and the least favorite was the cookie butter cold brew. These drinks help everyone to get into the holiday spirit and keep you warm during the winter season.

Editorials/Student Voice

What makes a good villain?

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By: Persephone Pond

Villains are what makes a story a story. An opposing force always gets in the way of the hero, creating endless opportunities for character development and fun plots. But what happens when a villain is poorly written? In this article, I’ll be highlighting some of the best and worst ways you can write a villain and some examples of both.

Humanization is a very important factor for a complex villain. A lot of antagonists in children’s media aren’t very humanized because having things clean cut as “good” and “bad” is what is typically done for children, but to really have another level of character for a villain, humanization is essential. This brings the aspect of humanity to a person who’s only really been seen as evil for the length of the game or show and can help the viewer to understand and empathize with this person, or just gain an understanding that the villain is still on the same level as the hero or protagonist.

Motives and backstory are important aspects of any character, but in my eyes, especially villains. Regardless of if the villain is going to have redemption, there needs to be a reason that this person is doing what they’re doing. Often, in villains, the thing that draws them apart from the hero is their outlook on the world and their ideals or philosophy, which impacts their perspective on the world. This determines their actions, which are often viewed as evil or bad. This aspect of a villain is vital to understand why this person does what they do.

And on the topic of philosophy, personally I think if a villain makes you think about another aspect of a common societal, or some other problem, then the writers did a good job. Villains aren’t necessarily only there to oppose the protagonist, but to provide another outlook and challenge the hero’s ideas and try to impose change, even if their methods aren’t the best. This is my favorite part of any villain and I strongly believe having a philosophy makes all the difference in characters of all kinds.

Redemption arcs are very iffy parts of villian stories. There’s nothing wrong with redeeming your villain, oftentimes it makes for a wonderful addition to the story, but there are quite a few ways to screw a redemption arc up. One of the biggest ways is the justification of the villain and their actions through trauma to create this redemption.

Trauma isn’t inherently bad, it often creates a complex backstory for a villain and gives them a good motive, but when the audience is expected to forgive a morally wrong person who’s done bad things just because they had a hard life, it’s a deal breaker. You can write a villain with trauma and have them reveal it, but when we, as an audience, excuse things like murder because one person went through something is just bad writing, and I personally think it’s one of the biggest red flags in a show. This is a very touchy spot in writing any piece of media, but it can, and has been, done very well, and it’s very rewarding to watch a show or play a game with a well written villain.

These are all aspects of writing a character that are incredibly important, and as there are badly written villains all over the place, a well written one is worth the find.