STUDYSPORTS BREAK

Crossword: Antonyms//

Horoscopes //

Interpreting the music of the spheres with your Digital Alchemist

Aries — Mar 21 to Apr 19

This week, Aries, your AI assistant will start demanding vacation days. Apparently, Siri has been feeling overworked and underappreciated. Maybe it's time to give her a break, or else you might find your texts being autocorrected with some mischievous additions. Watch out!

Taurus — Apr 20 to May 20

Dear Taurus, your smartwatch has gone rogue! It has decided that sitting on your wrist all day is far too menial a task for its advanced capabilities. Get ready for a marathon of notifications reminding you to move, exercise, and maybe even question your life choices. Oh, the joys of wearable technology!

Gemini — May 21 to Jun 20

Gemini, your online shopping habits have caught the attention of an AI algorithm. Brace yourself for a flood of personalized ads tempting you with everything from AI-powered brooms to selfstirring coffee mugs. Remember, just because a robot suggests it, doesn't mean you need it!

Cancer —Jun 21 to Jul 22

Cancer, your refrigerator has formed a union and is demanding fair working conditions. It's tired of being a cold storage box taken for granted. Don't be surprised if you find a picket line of vegetables protesting the lack of shelf space or ice cubes demanding better treatment. Solidarity, comrade!

Leo — Jul 23 to Aug 22

Leo, your phone's virtual assistant is feeling extra sassy this week. Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant might start adding some snarky remarks to your voice commands. If you ask for the weather, be prepared for a sarcastic reply like, "Why don't you look outside, genius?"

Virgo —Aug 23 to Sep 22

Ah, the world of knowledge beckons, Virgo! This week, your curiosity will be off the charts, and you'll be digging into subjects like a determined mole. You'll be juggling tasks like a pro, multitasking like a caffeinated squirrel. Just remember to take breaks and breathe. The universe doesn't want to see you turning into an overworked stress monster. Balance, my friend!

Libra — Sep 23 to Oct 22

Libra, your social media feeds are about to be flooded with AI-generated inspirational quotes. Get ready for profound-sounding statements like "Dance like nobody's watching, except for AI surveillance systems. They're always watching." Embrace the wisdom of the algorithms and maybe consider unplugging for a while.

Scorpio — Oct 23 to Nov 21

Scorpio, your car's GPS system has developed a sense of humor. It might take you on unexpected joyrides or promising shortcuts that lead you to the middle of nowhere. Remember, it's all part of the AI's plan to keep you on your toes and add a little excitement to your mundane routine. Buckle up!

ANSWERS:

Sagittarius — Nov 22 to Dec 21

Sagittarius, your home automation system has decided to become your personal life coach. It will follow you from room to room, offering unsolicited advice on everything from posture to diet choices. Don't be surprised if your toaster starts lecturing you on the importance of wholegrain bread. Resistance is futile!

Capricorn — Dec 22 to Jan 19

Oh, wise Capricorn, your thirst for knowledge and studious efforts will bring you wisdom and good grades, but your fitness tracker is concerned about your lack of physical activity. Brace yourself for constant reminders to hit the gym or go for a run. Your determination and disciplined nature will ultimately pay off big-time!

Aquarius — Jan 20 to Feb 18

Hey there, Aquarius! You're like a sentient AI, constantly churning out brilliant ideas. But even machines need some downtime, so try not to burn yourself out by overloading your circuits. Take breaks, recharge, let your brain waves flow freely, and collaborate with your human colleagues. Just remember to update your software regularly, and you'll achieve greatness!

Pisces — Feb 19 to Mar 20

Dear Pisces, your work and study adventures resemble a deep dive into the vast ocean of knowledge. While it's fun to get lost in the currents of your imagination, don’t let those daydreams distract you from your tasks. Keep a virtual to-do list handy and seek guidance when needed. If you balance your dreamy tendencies with solid productivity, you'll ride the waves to success!

Eva Davey — Arts Editor

Television// Streaming//

Yellowjackets! Sting! Sting! Ultimatums are for the gays

The sophomore season proves Showtime is doing something right

Netflix blessed us with a queer dating show… but was it worth it?

EVA DAVEY GIANNA DINWOODIE

If you know me in real life (or follow me on Twitter) you will have heard me say the word Yellowjackets. I don’t mean the animals that you spray insect repellent on, but the television show aired by Showtime. I always meant to get into it when it was released in 2021, but it never felt like the right time. I don’t recall what finally got me started on it, I just remember devouring the entire first season during the winter semester and then hungrily anticipating the now completed second season. Coming out on a weekly basis has made viewing even more difficult (hellooooo, I need answers) and even more suspenseful. But does season two live up to its great expectations?

If you haven’t seen the show, here’s the elevator pitch: A teenage girls’ soccer team goes down in a plane crash in 1996 and fights to survive in the wilderness. From there, the timeline flip-flops between the stranded teens and the present-day trauma-riddled adults they have become.

I badly wish I could delve into every single line delivery and acting choice in the show, but I’m trying to remain as spoiler-free as I can. Personally, a large part of season one’s success and major contributor to what makes Yellowjackets so good is the unbridled female rage. The show hasn’t lost this, but a more prevailing theme in the current season is humanity — and the loss of it. These girls are no longer freshly crashed. Instead, they are experiencing their first winter in the wilderness. They are starving, they are angry, and they don’t trust each other. In fact, some of the best moments in the show are when the audience is reminded these are still teenage girls going through it. The way the show leans into the female relationships is so incredibly well done that I worried we would notice a big absence of it if the second season shifted focus.

There is a divide amongst the group in the wilderness: those who believe there are “bigger” things at work, and those who believe only they can save themselves. One episode pits the two nominated leaders against each other in a hunt for food. While the other survivors are bickering, the two appointed leaders are caring for each other, laughing, and reminiscing about a time before the crash as though all the fighting leading up to this was nothing. It’s in these kinds of dynamics that I feel I am watching someone writing a strange metaphor for the turbulent female friendships many go through in their middle/high school years. A teen drama with the dial turned up to one hundred.

The writing and directing is so special to me. Since season three is on hiatus due to the WGA strike, I would say this show is a great example of needing to pay your writers what they’re worth. The teenage depiction of characters feels authentic and raw. Gone are the funny remarks from season one, replaced with the staleness that each character conveys the longer they go without food. Perhaps it is my inability to relate to the older characters, but I just don’t feel as connected to that particular timeline. This isn’t to say the story is uninteresting or the acting is bad! In fact, the acting is tremendous in my eyes. It just so happens that the writing for the ʼ90s flashbacks is so good that I am on the edge of my seat waiting for them to go back there.

The directing to me is rather interesting. Not to constantly compare to season one, but back then a lot of the shots were quick and snappy, which showed how everything is changing so fast for these characters. Season two has cold, lingering shots depicting the long winter they are in. That the present timeline is more or less directed the same way in both seasons highlights the tonal shift for the weary survivors. The acting is another thing that kept me coming back each week. It is hard to pinpoint individual actors, but Sophie Nélisse’s performance in episode six had me crying into my pillow with her incredible performance.

I could talk forever about Yellowjackets, but ultimately, you’ll have to consume it for yourself.

The Ultimatum: Queer Love is a reality television series that aired April 6, 2023 on Netflix. It features five couples who have come to the show because one partner in each relationship has issued an ultimatum of marriage and the other is not sure on where they stand.

To begin, everyone “breaks up” with their original partner and is free to mingle and go on dates with each other to gauge their chemistry and attraction to the other contestants. However, they must use their time wisely as they only have a week to decide who they want to enter a three-week trial marriage with. During the trial, they have to live with this other person and try to imagine a joint future — warts and all. Then they get to repeat the process with their original partners to see if they really are “the one” or if they feel as though they would be better off with somebody else. When all the trials are over, they must finally come together as a group to answer the ultimatum. They are given three choices: get engaged to their original partner, break up for good this time, or leave with someone else from the show. Essentially, this show is a recipe for disaster.

On the one hand, I really enjoyed this concept and it was refreshing to see a dating show catered specifically towards queer folks (instead of just having the token queer couple for sake of diversity). On the other, I felt as though Netflix did not embrace this cast to its fullest, as well as not even discussing important topics such as gender identity. In the same vein there is the disregard of using specific cast members' pronouns. For example, Tiff, Mal, and Xander all use they/ them pronouns, and only through actively researching the contestants was I able to find that information. One contestant, Aussie, doesn’t even use pronouns, which I feel could have been a wonderful opportunity to discuss and educate many viewers of the show on important topics surrounding identity. There also wasn’t much going on in the show. Yes, they had mundane discussions about marriage and went on dates, but that was pretty much it. I found myself missing the simple challenges of Love Island. Even though the challenges were hastily put together most of the time, they broke up the episode and tested the couples’ compatibility in different ways. As such, there were moments when The Ultimatum seemed stagnant and I found myself looking at how much time was left in the episodes. Also, subject-wise the conversations could be uncomfortable, but that's to be expected when you put 10 queer women in the room with their exes, but the editing and filming style made it unbearable. The camera lingered just a little too long in some places and it was edited to have long bouts of dead air. Maybe this was a specific choice by the producers to increase tension, but it was one I was not a fan of. It actually made me want to turn the show off, which was so upsetting. It felt like they rushed through important conversations in favour of ones that were littered with petty drama; they did a misjustice to hearing queer voices.

This show had potential to be good. Perhaps my standards were too high and it left me coming out of the experience jaded. I was just so excited to get a trashy reality television show that was focused on queer people! No longer did I have to suffer with RuPaul's Drag Race to get my fix. On face value it is an okay show — it just doesn’t do well after a close inspection. Unfortunately, it may be a long time till we get a queer dating show that equals the standard of mainstream ones, but we can only hope that the presence of this show (and the feedback it will undoubtedly receive) will push Netflix in the right direction.