Textarea : elem.val() vs elem.text()

This is very weird. Apparently, I can use both .val() and .text() to manipulate textarea text.

But after I use .val to change the text, I cannot use .text anymore. The converse is not true.

This is leading to some funky bugs. The reason is because a plugin i am using might be using .val to manipulate the text.

Can anyone explain how this works? Thanks!