The Wake - Bizarro - Spring 2021

student magazine

A Letter to Low Rise Jeans

p. 9

volume 20 — bizarro

Constructing an Identity for Dummies

p. 17

Oops...! I Did It Again

p. 10

Why Do We Yearn for the Cottage Life? p. 20

Lapdogs Q&A

p. 15

Non-Eurocentric Classics

p. 24

VOLUME 20 BIZARRO EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Cities Editor Voices Editor Online editor Copy editors Multimedia Editor Multimedia Producer

PRODUCTION Tala Alfoqaha Marley Richmond Ian Knoll Sylvia Rani Na’Jai Wilson Autumn Sanders Peter Nomeland Sebastian Alfonzo

Executive Director Creative Director Finance Manager PR/Ad Manager Social Media Manager Art Director Web Manager Distribution Manager

Esther Chan Chae Hong Hannah Dove Udita Goel Grace Augustin Sydnney Islam Natalie Bluhm Shannon Brault

Cynthia Maya

Music and Review Interns: Avery Wageman, Macy Harder Editorial Interns: Mitchell Levesque, Holly Gilvary, Sydni Rose, Jemma Keleher, Srihita Raju,

Designers: Anna Aquino, Gavin Schuster, Makenna Larson Production Interns: Skylar Neubar, Tymia Phathachack, Amy Haslerud

Ellie Roth, Avery Wageman, Macy Harder, Hannah Lundquist, Panache Matemba-Matusa, Erica Bouca Multimedia Interns: Linnea Baerenwald, Parker Smith

Art Interns: Isabel Atkinson, Megan Bormann, Madison Kuehn, Natalie Yang

THIS ISSUE Writers Ian Knoll, Jemma Keleher, Hannah Lundquist, Macy Harder, Kinga Mozes, Sylvia Rani, Shannon Brault, Holly Gilvary, Grace Augustin, Na’Jai Wilson, Tosin Faseemo, Sydni Rose, Marley Richmond, Cynthia Maya, Esther Chan, Hannah Dove, Srihita Raju, Mitchell Levesque, Erica Bouska Art 1 Sydnney Islam, 2 Megan Bormann, 3 Isabel Atkinson, 4 Natalie Yang, 5 Madison Kuehn, 6 Shannon Brault, 7 Marley Richmond Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, Edward Scissorhands, The Craft, Lapdogs Q&A art from original sources.

Cover and Feature art by Sydnney Islam and Megan Bormann

©2020 The Wake Student Magazine. All Rights Reserved.

Established in 2002, The Wake is a fortnightly independent magazine and registered student organization produced by and for students at the University of Minnesota. The Wake was founded by Chrin Ruen & James DeLong.

Disclaimer: The purpose of The Wake is to provide a forum in which students can voice their opinions. Opinions expressed in the magazine are not representative of the publication or university as a whole. To join the conversation email eic@wakemag.org.

The Wake Student Magazine 126 Coffman Memorial Union 300 Washington Avenue SE Minneapolis, MN 55455

INSIDE

wink! one page magazine

the wake song we are the wake interns and staff

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The Oldest Sites On The Internet

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A Letter to Low Rise Jeans

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Oops!... I Did It Again

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How Has Celebrity Culture Changed Since The 2000s?

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Punk and Emo Concert Subcultures

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we hope our bizarro issue will make u laugh writing and drawing and filming for y’all

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A Look at The 1990 Tim Burton Film

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Lapdogs Q&A

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Constructing an Identity for Dummies

20

Why Do We Yearn for The Cottage Life?

and we have voices to follow the elections

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Swiss Family Shuttleworth

cities is cool and full of great stuff

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A Reflection On Shared Wishful Longing

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Non-Eurocentric Classics

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A Review of The Secret History

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The Closer You Look

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How To Academic

plus we hold meetings over in folwell hall the wake was created to share students’ thoughts that is because we can create a lot reviews is the section that sweet like confection

we have high standards and it’s up to snuff online is so fun and so filled with good content thats why i wrote this little tune as a sonnet just kidding this is a regular song so if you’ll join me go ahead and sing along!

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Alternative Religions and Spiritualities are for Everyone

UPCOMING EVENTS 5/14—5/16

5/22 @ 10am—6pm

Art-A-Whirl Weekend

Minneapolis Oddities & Curiosities Expo 2021

Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association

Minneapolis Convention Center

5/22 @ 3pm—5:30pm

7/27 — 7/28

Minnhaha Falls Arts Fair 2021

Loring Park Art Festival

Minnehaha Falls

Loring Park

Stop by at the largest open studio tour in the country

Celebrate 150 artists with a wide variety of art mediums, live music, amazing food, delivious beer and wine, and more!

For lovers of the strange, unusual, and bizarre. Entry cost: $10

The stunning wildflower gardens of Loring Park create an idyllic setting for art, food, music and enetertainment!

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Letter from the Finance Manager Hello weary travelers, welcome to the Wake’s Bizarro issue. Allow me to be your guide to the growing pains of the Wake staff.

We’ve all gone through phases. Some say our life is made up of a series of phases, one after another, bending into some form of identity we carve out of the pieces we most enjoy, pasting them together like a macaroni art project. There are phases of our life we look back and grimace at, pondering why we threw ourselves so earnestly into Juicy Couture. Some of us were ahead of our time (that someone is me—I was ahead of my time, but that’s besides the point).

We sought to depict iconic “phases” in this special Bizarro issue, from Y2K and goth, to cottagecore dark academia. Though seemingly disparate, one thing binds them together: me. Yes dear reader, I have experienced each and every one of these phases, and probably will continue to cycle through them until the end of time. From adopting the baking habits of the cottagecore fairy, to attempting to read the Romantics in my mad quest for dark academic knowledge (the true knowledge is: all of these men needed therapy, full stop), to merely existing through Y2K (please don’t bring back low rise jeans—my body image can’t handle that) to goth/punk/emo (black chokers never go out of style).

The Wake is taking you on a tour of identity crises, something it feels like everyone in this pandemic has gone through (don’t lie, you absolutely tried to bake bread or make Dalgona coffee). Currently Millennials and Gen Z are fighting over skinny jeans and side parts, people are simmering in nostalgia for old childhood haunts like Webkinz and Club Penguin, and Flash Player has been discontinued. What we considered to be the Golden Age of the Internet is in its twilight as we watch the walls tumble down around us. We’re witnessing societal breakdown due to plague, infrastructure collapse, and the like so pardon us if we regress into watching Freddie Fish playthroughs on Youtube (the soundtrack absolutely slaps, would recommend). Whether you consider yourself Gen Z or not, the future is looking a bit apocalyptic at the moment. However, it’s important to realize that we’ve been through horrors like these before (I mean, not for a hundred years or so, but still), and humanity always bounced back. Maybe there’s something we can learn in the past that we can bring into the future in order to ride these waves.

So please, join me into this excursion of micro-aesthetics that, if explained to a small medieval child, would most likely kill them. Things haven’t been this hip since Pluto was still a planet.

Love, Hannah Dove Finance Manager

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Come along on The Wake’s identity crisis

y2k

goth & punk

cottage core

dark academia

Y2K.PNG

weren’t joking when they called Clover “the wiener wonder”), some are heartfelt (R.I.P Buffy), but all these good boys and girls are worth seeing. If you’re looking to relive the GeoCities glory days, I also recommend cameronsworld.net. Filled to the brim with rotating gifs, fonts of every color, and the lowest quality 3D models around, camersonsworld.net aims to archive GeoCities sites in the most visually cluttered way possible, just as god intended.

Time marches on, empires rise and fall, but one thing remains: www.spacejam.com. Created in anticipation of the 1996 classic (it’s a classic, fight me), this website has everything needed for a good night of web surfing: digital postcards, browser games that no longer work, and a downloadable trailer whose file size is smaller than today’s average photo. Yes, www.spacejam.com comes from an era when websites were built with GeoCities instead of SquareSpace and when your internet and phone line were still the same thing.

The internet has been around publically for nearly 30 years now, and with that type of history comes quite a bit of growth. Largely for the best of course, but it’s good to look back and see how much (or how little) we’ve changed. With that in mind, register your free 1000 hours of AOL as we browse some of the oldest websites still out there.

Speaking of GeoCities, let’s start there. https://dogs.geocities.institute/ is a new site, but serves as an archive for arguably the best GeoCities content: dogs. Set to a moving MIDI rendition of “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” this site is a slideshow of blogs dedicated to man’s best friend. Some are wholesome (they

Other sites are less glamorous: itcorp. com, frequently called the oldest site still online (the record actually goes to info.cern.ch, which CERN used to introduce the very concept of the “web”) is just five lines of text on a white page.

“Why Is This Web Page So Plain?” the fourth beckons. “...to satisfy the needs of those who expect every domain to have a Web presence” the fifth responds. Equally simplistic (but far more interesting) is 1994’s fogcam.org, which updates every twenty seconds with a new shot of San Francisco State University’s campus, making it the oldest continuously operating webcam.

WELCOME TO THE 2000S

Look no further than conceptlab.com/simulator.

Stylized as a choose your own adventure game, this website will take you through Y2K life in a series of button prompts and barely 240p gifs. With just a few clicks, you’ll be working your dead-end McDonalds job and coming home to watch Saved By The Bell. conceptlab.com and it’s creator, artist Garnet Hertz, are also still active, and I highly recommend the rest of his works, which examine our ever evolving technology and dependence on it.

The Internet has been around for quite some time, but it’s good to see some things haven’t changed. We’re still showing off pets, still complaining about computer (and now phone) updates that ruin everything, and some of us are still setting Pop Tarts on fire (don’t ask). Where will the internet go from here?

What new ways will we find to share and communicate? No one knows for sure, but if the past is any indication, there’s plenty of changes to look forward to. And as for the best site on the internet? We’ll just have to see what Space Jam 2 brings us.

If you want to see what internet nerds from the 90s were up in arms about (hint: it’s mostly Microsoft), toastytech.com is your place. What’s especially great about it (besides the faux-marble backgrounds and pixelated photoshops of a demonic Bill Gates) is that it’s shockingly still updated, meaning you can hear those same crotchety nerds’ takes on the 2020 election (hint: they’re not great). A more pleasant take on nerd humor is pmichaud.com/toast, better known as “Strawberry Pop-Tart BlowTorches.” This is another “black text, white background” kind of site, but the author’s meticulously explained experimentation (written as a traditional scientific report) and choice photos of the titular blow torch makes this site worth a quick visit, and a quick laugh.

But what if you want to re-experience not just Y2K era internet, but everyday life too?

The oldest sites on the Internet

BY IAN KNOLL

From flaming Pop Tarts to pictures of dogs, we take a look at the best the early internet had to offer.

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A letter to low rise jeans My old friend who will remain firmly in the past

BY JEMMA KELEHER Dear Low Rise Jeans, Hey, old friend. It’s been, what, ten years since we parted? You were my go-to, my best friend, my childhood staple. At the ripe old age of ten, I adored your 6-inch rise. I didn’t mind pulling my pants up constantly, because you were all I knew. But now, as I’ve aged and grown, seeing you again is bittersweet (but mostly bitter).

Middle school nostalgia

When I started seeing you worn by the trendiest celebrities and influencers, it set trepidation in my heart. It had been so long.

I wondered if you were really making a return to my life. It felt like seeing an elementary school friend who I hadn’t spoken to in a decade, but whose face was still imprinted in my mind. I couldn’t ignore you, as much as I wanted to.

As you made your comeback, the thought crept into my head: would we be friends again? Would I adopt your painful and unflattering silhouette once again in the name of fashion? Would I go back to the days of having my butt look flat in the name of letting my midriff show her full potential? Those questions were quickly answered: no.

A quick trip back in time to the early 2000s

See, as much nostalgia as you bring me, I simply will never wear you again. You will never return to your throne of being my go-to pants. As I’ve moved on to higher rise styles that make my butt look great and make me feel secure, I know I can never go back to you. You’re like an ex-partner, one who I have all the love in the world for, but one who I will never, ever get back together with. You were toxic for me, and even as you rise from the dead and grace my Instagram timeline, I know that being with you would simply make my self-esteem plummet.

BY HANNAH LUNDQUIST The bus ride on the way home was always the same. The dusty, bumpy roads, the twists and turns, and my obsessive habit of counting every tree along the highway. We took the same route every day after school—the same route with the same people, the same stories, and most importantly, the same seats. They never let me sit in the back. I was only a sixth grader, so it made sense, but each day I slowly crept back until I was only a few seats away from the juniors and seniors who couldn’t drive or didn’t have cars—I was never sure which it was.

Do I want to see you die altogether? Absolutely not. For some, namely people who have abs that could cut steel and torsos short enough to be nonexistent, you are marriage material. You have everything they need: you accentuate their legs, show off their V-line, and let them feel the nostalgia of the 2000s. But for me, someone whose upper half could be compared to a giraffe’s neck in terms of length, you simply do not do it anymore. Your counterparts, namely mid-to-high rise jeans, are all that I need in life. And since experiencing the sweet nectar of jeans that fit me right, I can never do myself the disservice of putting you on my body ever again.

Getting off the bus, I would check the mail because my mom was still at work. That meant it was my responsibility to make myself a snack. My snack cabinet consisted of Stackers, Gripz, Yogos, and Kudos bars—you know, the basic early 2000s snacks. I would usually settle on some Gripz and maybe a Kudos bar, too. After assembling myself a snack, I would head to the TV and watch the array of recordings I had available. This included “Zoey 101,” “That’s So Raven,” “Fairly Odd Parents,” “Hannah Montana,” and many, many more. I often found myself wishing I could just transport into the TV and live with the characters. Their worlds seemed so simple, but of course it was only fictional, and I knew that.

In conclusion, I want to thank you for your service throughout my life. As a kid, you covered me and kept me warm, even if I did have to constantly adjust you in order to make that work. But you are a friend who will remain permanently in my past, never to be resurrected. I may feign wanting to get back together: “We should get coffee sometime!” But I will never mean it, and I will never follow through on those plans. I wish you the best of luck in torturing those who take the risk of wearing you, and bid you farewell.

I often find myself thinking back to those middle school afternoons.

I feel nostalgic for memories that I didn’t even enjoy in the moment. Everything was so simple, and I was so unaware of how beautiful that was. I miss being unaware of the struggles of being an adult. I miss being a kid.

Not a lot of love, Jemma

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Y2K.PNG

Oops!...

I Did It Again

I’m just gonna come right out and say it: The golden age of celebrity culture is over.

The 2000s were a special decade to be a famous person because of an emerging player in the media landscape: the internet. But we weren’t yet at the phase of the internet where every star had a platform to share things directly with their audience.

Instead, amateur photographers in Hollywood produced the images that would define the era, and people flocked to celebrity gossip sites to view the unflattering flash paparazzi photos of their favorite stars. It was unhinged, problematic, and absolutely glorious.

Britney Spears

BY MACY HARDER There’s no doubt that Britney Spears embodied the essence of the early 2000s, and her second album, “Oops!... I Did It Again,” is no exception. Almost 21 years after its release in 2000, the album is the epitome of nostalgia, reminiscent of an iconic era in popular culture. It’s an amalgamation of everything Y2K: sparkly tops, velour tracksuits, flip phones, low-rise pants and other questionable trends. Not only this, but the album’s instrumentals include the quintessential elements of 2000s pop: upbeat percussion, catchy hooks, futuristic synths and other electronic sounds.

But ultimately, “Oops!... I Did It Again” both defined and transcended the moment, as it promoted a message of female empowerment that wasn’t extremely common in the pop hits of 2000.

We can see this right off the bat with the widely-known title track: an iconic anti-love song that empowers the female heartbreaker.

“Played with your heart, got lost in the game,” Spears admits.

These feminist undertones continue on “Stronger,” where Spears makes it clear that she doesn’t need a man to be happy. “My loneliness ain’t killing me no more,” she says, referencing a contrasting hook from her breakout single, “Baby One More Time.”

The idea of female empowerment continues on “Don’t Go Knockin’ on My Door” and “What U See (Is What U Get),” which invite us to unapologetically embrace our femininity, to never change at the request of others, and to finally drop that toxic ex. At the time, this was the ultimate middle finger to the patriarchy.

At first listen, “Oops...I Did It Again!” is a work similar to those of Britney Spears’ 2000s pop counterparts. But ultimately, Spears was dipping her toes into the waters of feminism and sexual empowerment, while at the same time embracing the evolution of her own womanhood.

Avril Lavigne’s Legacy Avril Lavigne

BY KINGA MOZES The signature low-rise jeans, fishnet gloves, and in-your-face middle finger made it easy to dismiss Avril Lavigne as an overly angsty teen in the 2000s. She embraced her caricature on her freshman album, “Let Go,” producing the guitar-heavy classic “Sk8er Boi,” which blurred the lines between pop and rock.

Lavigne was the definition of a rebel, but she had a big heart.

She knew what it felt like when your middle school crush didn’t like you back and you were determined to show the world you were over it.

In hindsight, Lavigne’s lasting cultural impact is anything but ordinary. She was a trailblazer—a young woman forging her own path in the male-dominated rock genre. She’s often referenced by artists from Snail Mail to Rico Nasty as being an inspiration. Not only did she inspire us to paint our nails black, but...

It wasn’t just her music, it was her persona. Lavigne was a brooding tomboy at a time when the ultra-feminine Christina Aguilera was in the spotlight. Nothing’s wrong with bleached hair, but Lavigne gave us the chance to throw away society’s expectations of what a lady should be. Her lyrics were raw and full of frustration, the epitome of the growing pains that we all face at some point.

Oddly enough, Avril’s camo pants would fit in with modern fashion, and that’s a sign that you should bust out her dusty CDs in the corner of your room and give them another listen.

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WELCOME TO THE 2000S

But let’s start with the present. Today, celebrities are connected to their fans through social media, allowing for frequent updates about their inner lives. Celebrity culture in 2021 gets its fuel from the social media postings of everyone’s faves. “Kim Kardashian Shares Cute Snaps of Son Saint After Being Named Billionaire,” reads a typical DailyMail article headline. Nowadays, celebrity news sites often pull their content straight from the celebs’ social media pages.

Unfortunately, this means that celebrities have a lot of control over their own image.

Boring! And as the almighty algorithm demands more likes, more perfection, and more heart eye emojis, it’s become increasingly obvious that the celebrity content we see on Instagram is the result of careful planning, editing, and PR—not the voyeuristic peek into celebs’ personal lives that we thought it would be.

Thanks to social media, each celebrity has more power to shape their own narrative than ever before.

The 2000s were a time before all of that, before the word “selfie” was even part of the cultural lingo. It was the peak of TMZ scandalmongering, when celebrities’ public image was at the mercy of the entertainment news media. It was a time when Perez Hilton’s crappy doodles and callous blog posts attracted eight million hits a day.

Hilton built his entire brand off being the “Queen of Mean,” and many other gossip sites

used a similar tone. It was unabashedly vicious. Celebrity weight gain, sexuality, and drug addiction were hot topics. Truly nothing was off limits for criticism in the 2000s. During the early development of the internet news cycle, there also wasn’t an agreed-upon standard of decency towards celebrities.

Paparazzi were an enormous part of the cycle; with new ways to spread images and an ever-hungry audience, amateur photographers would go to extreme lengths to follow and capture everyone’s favorite stars. We can never forget Britney’s iconic bald meltdown when she attacked a paparazzo’s car with an umbrella in a fit of rage at the constant trailing she endured.

While we can look back on the mess of the 2000s and recognize that Perez Hilton could have been nicer to the stars he disparaged and that perhaps the paparazzi should have respected celebs’ right to privacy, the media-celebrity relationship was far from one-sided. Conversely, celebrities reaped tremendous benefits from the media coverage.

Even once they had learned the tricks to avoid the paparazzi (stars could choose to wear the same outfit every day, driving down the price of a shot), celebrities understood that removing themselves from this type of media coverage would also mean removing themselves from a certain level of fame. And this was something that few were prepared to do. Without social media, paparazzi photos and gossip sites were the main ways that stars could grow and maintain their place in the limelight. As the adage goes, “all publicity is good publicity,” and this was especially true for stars without other options for promoting themselves.

Today,celebrities are their own paparazzi.

They’ve cut out the intermediary, providing the content to their audience through their social media channels. Unfortunately for lovers of messy gossip, social media seems to be here to stay, providing us with a seemingly endless stream of overblown perfection in lieu of the scandals and raw chaos that rocked the 2000s. In 2007, Kim K had to leak a sex tape to make people pay attention. In 2021, she maintains her fame by posting facetuned photos of herself to her millions of followers.

We may never recoup the unfiltered realness of the Y2K era, but we can always look back fondly on the years that celebrity culture was at its peak and understand that it’s been going downhill ever since.

How has celebrity culture changed since the 2000s?

BY SYLVIA RANI

Reflecting on a decade of gossip

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Alternative

Religions and Spiritualities or everyone f e r a

AND

Neither punk nor emo is a monolithic group, and concerts are where the subcultures of these groups shine

SHAnNON BRaULT

BY

One thing I miss about pre-pandemic times was seeing all of the subcultures at punk and emo concerts. There was a whole cast of characters that appeared at these shows, which added a little spice to life and to the band’s performance.

There is a misconception that punk and emo music fans are all the same, which of course is not the case. Punk and emo music fans can be broken up into many subgenres. There are so many that it is nearly impossible to keep them straight: post-hardcore, screamo, pop-punk, punk rock, alternative rock, deathcore, and many more.

These groups are also gatekept by people who are knowledgeable about the distinctions between the subgenres. Many people don’t know the difference between the many types of punk or emo music, while others take it quite seriously.

The vibe of a show can depend on who is performing and the subgenre of the band who is performing. With bands like All Time Low, Pierce the Veil, and 5 Seconds of Summer, you often see both new and old fans ready to sing (and scream) along to their favorite songs while laughing at the jokes the band incorporates into the show or the banter between members.

All Time Low shows were perhaps the most interesting I have ever been to. You got your moshers, your teeny boppers, your millennials, your new fans who only know the latest album, and your old fans who know either all of their stuff or only their old stuff. People also changed their mannerisms throughout the show, depending on who was opening for them. At one show, Issues opened for All Time Low, which resulted in the largest mosh pit I have ever been a part of, but as soon as All Time Low took the stage, everyone vibed together and jumped around in their own bubble.

There are also specific things that always happened during All Time Low shows. There were always bras thrown onstage for Jack Barakat to put on his

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microphone stand. I have been a fan of All Time Low for over a decade, and I couldn’t tell you why this happens, but it always does. There was also the banter between Jack and Alex, while Rian and Zack vibe and laugh along. They always played “Time-Bomb” and brought people onstage to dance with them.

Warped Tour, on the other hand (rest in peace, may it come back in 2023), garnered a variety of fans, who wanted to see their favorite bands in the blazing summer sun. Warped Tour was set up like other music festivals, with multiple stages and different bands playing at the same time. Earlier in the day, the less popular bands played, and later in the day, it was increasingly packed as the headliner hour drew near.

The age range at Warped Tour was huge. There were a lot of punk-rock teenagers who showed up earlier in the day and stayed until the headliner hour, but there were also a lot of older (and ofdrinking-age) fans who came later in the day to go hard in the headliner mosh pits.

With the blazing sun, severe heat, and wide variety of people, a new community was born. People were often willing to stop and chat about their favorite bands, what songs they hoped to hear, and how long they had been in attendance. It was a time when the subcultures could come together and be one in the name of enjoying their favorite music.

There is a lot to learn about the subcultures of the punk and emo music genres, and some people have been in the music scene for decades but don’t understand the nuances. What’s important is that the subcultures are able to come together to support each other and their favorite bands. It’s a beautiful sight that I hope to experience again (safely) soon.

Witchcraft, Satanism and more are on the rise in the Twin Cities and elsewhere—and they’re so much more inclusive than we’ve been made to think

It can be hard to figure out where our beliefs lie when we first enter adulthood. Luckily, there’s a vast selection of beliefs and spiritualities to look into, and the best part about being a young adult is that there’s no one looking over your shoulder anymore, telling you which one to believe. Growing up, many of us may have been told—by parents, teachers, or church members—that religious and spiritual practices that fell into the “gothic” category are bad, evil, and immoral. I certainly grew up with a skewed view of religions such as satanism, with Catholic parents and weekly religious education classes. Today, however, especially with apps such as TikTok giving a voice to witches, satanists, neopaganists, and members of all other types of alternate beliefs, people at increasingly younger ages are getting more exposure to beliefs that aren’t the common Abrahamic religions we most frequently see in the West. In addition to this, the use of the internet to give a platform to these religions shows us that alternative religions and spiritualities are much more diverse than we may have thought previously, and can even be more accepting than other, more common religions.

It might be surprising to hear that practices and beliefs such as witchcraft or satanism are on the rise; however, when we consider the core values of these religions, it makes sense that people are resonating with them, especially now. Satanists from the Church of Satan, for instance, don’t even believe in Satan or hell--they’re largely atheists who use Satan as a symbol for their beliefs and core principles. They emphasize individuality, free will, and never inflicting harm on innocent people.

Witchcraft is today coinciding with practices such as astrology, tarot reading, and crystals as ways to tap into outside forces of power and connect with one’s spirituality. Both of these religions represent good doing and spiritual wellness and contentment.

Along with other alternative religions, satanism and witchcraft provide people with a core belief system and something to channel one’s spirituality into, without having to commit to regularly attending worship services, following strict sets of rules, or worrying about feeling included within their spiritual community. For instance, witchcraft encourages the practices of meditation and aura cleansing, and

satanism urges people to do the things that they believe are best for themselves, no matter what society may say about it.

Alternative religions can also be more inclusive than the more common Western religions. Many alternative belief systems focus more on spirituality and well-being than on dogma and tradition, leaving their doors wide open for all who are curious or interested in joining. This is especially the case with the LGBTQ+ community, which has felt ostracization from more popular religions both throughout history and into today. Certain pagan practices even celebrate the existence of diverse gender identities, recognizing gender diversity as a sign of diversity within nature. This is a nice change from religions that may reject or condemn gender diverse individuals. Practices such as witchcraft have also provided a safe haven for women to be leaders in their practice, which contrasts with more common Western religions that may restrict women in their religious roles.

In the Twin Cities, alternative religions have slowly begun putting roots down. There are a number of pagan, satanist, and witch communities, as well as locally owned shops that offer supplies for practicing some of these religions. While many conventions and meetups for various religions have gone online due to the pandemic, members of alternative religions have still maintained a strong online community and a space for education and connection about their beliefs, using Facebook and other social media platforms. Metaphysical supply shops such as Magus Books & Herbs and Eye of Horus Metaphysical provide for a brief look into the Twin Cities’ witch and pagan communities, without the risk of a larger gathering. Overall, the Twin Cities has quite a few communities and resources to offer in terms of alternate religions and practices, and accessibility to these should improve as the pandemic dies down. With a little research, it’s not hard to find an alternative religion that may pique your interest, and the good news is that there are probably communities for it right here within the Twin Cities, and that it will most likely be much more diverse and welcoming than you think.

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Lapdogs is a Minneapolis-based indie rock band.

The Wake sat down with Oliver Gerber and Aaron Kramer to discuss the band’s origin, their inspiration, and their creative process.

usually like the beginning with someone will come from just a spontaneous moment or whatever. Or one of us will come to practice with a riff already written. We’ll try out a lot of different stuff and really work on a song for a long, long period of time before it’s finished.

A - Yeah, I’d say we do a good bit of both. We sit down and write stuff and we also jam it out.

Who are your biggest inspirations when it comes to making music?

O - Definitely a lot of the local music here.

A - We love Why Not; we love Miloe, Harper’s Jar. We love all of the local bands we play with.

O - Heart to Gold, Bugsy. Just great local music all around and I think that inspires us a lot.

What is it about the local music that inspires you guys?

After a full year in quarantine, Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands is more relatable than ever. This film is an excellent pandemic watch; it is relatable in regards to the isolation that Edward feels and because it appeals to both your dark side and your inner-romantic. Not to mention, we get to see Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, and Anthony Michael Hall cast in surprising new roles.

The film begins and ends with Edward, played

by Johnny Depp, in isolation. As an outcast and an “incomplete” person with scissors for hands, Edward spends his days alone in his gothicstyle castle, where he trims shrubs and makes ice sculptures. His home overlooks a satirical pastel, suburban town filled with gossipy, bored suburban townspeople. When he finally emerges from his isolation and is introduced to the town, he is welcomed by most and celebrated for his differences. However, not surprisingly, the fascination with Edward quickly fades, and he takes on the role of the “beast” in this rendition of the “tale as old as time.”

The “Belle” of this story is Kim, played by Winona Ryder, the Avon lady’s daughter who welcomed Edward into her home. Right on cue, Kim and Edward’s relationship evolves into a romance. It leaves your heart aching by the end of the movie.

In combination with the movie’s goth vibes, their tortured love story makes for a great film.

However, the best part of this movie was seeing Ryder, Depp, and Hall acting in character roles outside of their norm. Until the release of this film in 1990, Depp was routinely cast as the bad boy, and Ryder was the dark and mysterious goth queen. To see Depp as the awkward, clumsy hero and Ryder as the magnetic golden girl was an enjoyable change of pace. Burton’s decision to cast Anthony Michael Hall, formerly Brian “the brain” Johnson in The Breakfast Club, as Jim, the antagonistic bullyslash-ex-boyfriend, was strange, to say the least.

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Between the quirky plot, the romance, the goth undertones, and the star-studded cast, Edward Scissorhands was a wonderful and surprisingly relatable quarantine watch.

How did you guys meet?

Witchy women of the 90’s tearing through high school and social norms entrapping them Though it appears to be a simple movie of the mid’90s, The Craft (1996) widens the dramatic teen movies genre with its sweeping elements of fantasy and horror. The Craft tells a story of four teen witches uniting against oppressive forces both of this world and of the worlds dwelling within them. Despite its cult following over the years, the film seems not to have had the same impact on larger popular culture as it did for the many who watched it.

Having discovered this movie at the age of thirteen, I was floored by the carefree darkness the film evoked.

It seemed to capture much of the teenage experience grimly and honestly. Most importantly, the movie reminded me that women could be both healers and perpetrators, as displayed between Sarah and Nancy’s doomed friendship. Along with the central conflict being that of Sarah and Nancy’s constant clashing, the two other main characters Rochelle and Bonnie, navigate issues less fantastical than the use or misuse of their supernatural abilities. Rochelle and Bonnie both face discrimination from their often racist and ableist peers. Before this movie, I hadn’t seen the emergence of womanhood displayed in a manner that was both empowering and dark.

Known primarily for its witchcraft and edgy characters, The Craft covers a multitude of complex themes, involving sexual assault, abuse, racism, poverty, disability, and as the movie often reminds its viewers that one must be giving in the same measure with which they take. Through these themes, the story is driven forward as the four main characters struggle against the current of high school and that of the dark magic flowing through them.

BY BY NA’JAI NA’JAI WILSON WILSON

A - Oliver and I met freshman year through a mutual friend of ours.

O - We actually met playing music, which was pretty cool. That was our introduction to each other. I don’t think we talked all that much; we just jammed. I think we decided that night to start a band.

What genre of music do you guys make, if you had to pick one?

O - I would just call it alternative rock, indie rock.It’s guitar music.

What’s your creative process like? You mentioned that you guys were jamming together when you first met, so is it abstract or do you try to sit down and really work on stuff?

O - I’d say we sit down on stuff a lot and work it out,

O - I think it’s just having seen all these bands live and connecting with the music in that way, as more of an experience than just a sound object that I can relate to is really cool. That’s something I’ve been really missing in the last year.

A - Something special and unique to this area, feels like this particular brand and style of music that is from here. I think that’s really cool.

How has on the pandemic changed how you guys make music?

A - It’s put a hold on things. We’re more of a live music type of band.

O - That’s the most fun part of it for us, is doing the shows.

A - We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to do live music soon and things will return at some point.

What’s your favorite thing about doing live shows?

O - It’s just a lot of fun. It’s a very validating and rewarding experience for me, personally, to be in a whole room full of people who are feeling that same energy. It’s just a big rush and to see all the other bands too is really awesome.

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Tosin faSeEmo 15

Constructing an Identity for Dummies A Definitely Sincere Investigation Into Identity with Completely Conclusive Findings

BY SYDNI ROSE, JEMMA KELEHER, AND MARLEY RICHMOND 16

We all care, arguably some more than others, what people think of us—both those who are alike and those who are different. What helps to categorize us as similar or dissimilar is the identities we choose to assume in day to day life.

Identity can be described through external factors such as the clothing a person wears, the concerts they attend, if they go to church on Sundays or if they’d rather attend a swinger party (or if they do both on the same day).

But identity is about more than how you present yourself—it’s also deeply internal and psychological. Concepts of self-image, selfesteem, and individuality play a part in identity as much as the color you choose to dye your hair. Each of the 7.7 billion people living on Earth, whether conscious of it or not, make decisions every day that define their identity.

In order to better understand, define, and explain identity, we conducted four absolutely real, definitely not fake, interviews, which we certainly did not make up. Did we succeed? Well…

Identities Give Us a Place in the World Stella Rockford, a graduate student at Harvard studying psychology with minors in sociology and philosophy, notes the importance of identity and the role it plays in an individual’s life and society as a whole. She discussed the psychological theory of social identity, which has three components:

the need to obtain a positive social identity, recognizing the status of different groups in society, and the approach to solving identity problems.

“It is extremely necessary for someone to form an identity that brings them comfort and joy in life— it’s how we as humans can build our self-esteem and have a secure sense of belonging,” Rockford said when asked about identity.

She then talked about how her identity has been influenced by her family, culture, and intellect.

Descended from generations of Harvard graduates, Rockford said pursuing academia is meant for her.

“It all comes so naturally and I fit right in with my peers,” she said. “That’s why I’d never associate with someone from Cornell or Brown, their intellectual level is just—I guess I just wouldn’t feel like I belong, you know?” We aren’t sure how that interlude relates to the general concept of identity, but Rockford insisted we include it.

“Some people want to be perceived a certain way even if it’s not their true self— others don’t want to be perceived at all”

She went on further to emphasize that while building an identity one is proud of is crucial to happiness, it’s neither a quick nor easy task. “Some people want to be perceived a certain way even if it’s not their true self—others don’t want to be perceived at all,” Rockford said. She made it very clear she is on neither end of that spectrum, and her life is “as good as it seems.”

Her studies on identity through psychological, sociological, and philosophical perspectives have been monumental, according to Rockford, who said that she doesn’t know all the answers yet but is close. “Every person is so different yet so similar in overlapping ways, making identity so mysterious that only the smartest of people can understand it.”

Without Identity, We are Nothing Rockford’s assessment that identity can only be understood by the most intelligent folks made us very

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nervous, but we persevered. Truthfully, we hardly understood her and needed a second opinion.

While it seems that identity is not a concrete or comprehensible concept, some people’s identities are as tangible as their bodies. Herbert Hughes is no stranger to the identity-addicted, and has dedicated his life to supporting those for whom identity has had an outsized impact on their life.

Hughes runs the support group HGU. The clinic was originally named Horse Girls United, but his clientele has since expanded to include groups such as (but not limited to) Disney Adults, Indie Kids Who Think Bon Iver is “Underground,” and Every CBS Freshman Who Plans to Go to Medical School.

“I perceive authentic sympathy for the afflicted,” Hughes said. “Some individuals are plagued by an insufficient sense of belonging and seek to attain some semblance of community through the subconscious intensification of select personality traits, absorptions, and life objectives.”

Certainly, identity can become armor, protecting its wearer from the existential dread of examining who one really is. But common interests bind communities together and may act as the building blocks for human connection and life trajectories.

Hughes helps the identity-addicted root out which parts of their condition are genuine, and which result solely from the media they are currently

consuming. (Here, Hughes was struck with a coughing fit during which we seemed to hear “Grey’s Anatomy.”)

Although they have entirely opposing perspectives on identity—with Rockford musing on abstract concepts and Hughes navigating the tangible artifacts of the self—we think the two would make a fitting couple and have set them up on a date accordingly.

Who Needs a Stable Identity When You Have Instagram?

With a researcher and medical practitioner’s opinions warring in our minds, we set out to find a real person whose identity we could study. Unfortunately, while identity may be a stable concept for some, others are surfing tides of trends to construct a self which is popular, despite being transient.

Ashleigh Rose Jones, member of the definitely real sorority Delta Delta Delta, shared her insider perspective on the idea of identity-shifting. “I think the current things we are into are, like, mom jeans, middle parts, and probably recovering from COVID after going on a spring break trip that we took between doses of the vaccine.”

The joining of these disparate trends—and hundreds like them—into a shared identity stems from an almost cult-like dedication to adopting each new style then moving on to the next

obsession when it gains momentum. Is there any meaning in the ever-changing and never-sticking cloud of “identity”?

“Some trends are stupid, and a lot of them are only really feasible for people with a lot of money.”

Jones admitted. “But sometimes it’s just fun to enjoy things with your friends. Just because something is popular doesn’t mean it is necessarily bad.”

Identity is Futile in the Name of the Divine To some, the topic of identity is rooted in what they believe about the world. The spiritual approach to life—believing in the Universe as the underlying divine force—has been brought to mainstream eyes recently and more people have begun adopting its sentiments. Ruth Wisen, a student at the University of Minnesota studying Political Science, is one example of this perspective.

“See, identity is complicated because the way I see it, we are all one in the Universe,” she says. “It’s like the Universe is the palm of the hand, and each of us is a finger. We’re all the same—an extension of the divine.”

Wisen believes that individual identity is created as a human response to being uniform with others. “We’re all one, but we’ve been conditioned to believe otherwise. So our identities form in response to that. We don’t think we’re part of the whole, so we establish ourselves as othered.”

She goes on to state her opinion on this. “Honestly, I don’t think identities are real,” says Wisen. “Every single one of us is the same. We are all divine.

Identity doesn’t exist when you realize that.”

Ultimately, after evaluating these different takes on identity, we have absolutely no clue what conclusion is to come from this. Are established identities important for self expression? Are people meant to devote themselves to one aesthetic forever? Or are we really all inherently connected, and therefore personal identity is futile? You may very well know better than us at this point.

But one thing is certain: even with the confusion that is all of these contrasting opinions, you can have your own perspective on what identity is and what it means to you. Do what makes you happy, believe what you want about personalization, and enjoy exploring (or not exploring, if that’s what you decide).

Do what makes you happy, and enjoy exploring.

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Swi Family Shuewor

Why Do We Yearn For  Cottage Life?

An excursion into an English fairytale

BY HANNAH DOVE

A deeper dive into the aesthetic that romanticizes isolation and an escape from modern duties

BY CYNTHIA MAYA So much of this past year has been about dealing with anxiety, confusion, and uncertainty. Many of us have turned to different activities to relinquish the boredom of social isolation. Maybe this lockdown spurred your new houseplant obsession, began your journey to becoming a master chef, or you started making air-dry pottery. You’re not alone, I know I have fallen victim to the knitting craze myself. If you’ve been on Tik Tok or Instagram in the past year, chances are you’ve stumbled upon one of the biggest trends of the past year: cottagecore.

Cottagecore is defined by Aesthetics Wiki as an “aesthetic inspired by a romanticized interpretation of western agricultural life.”

It entails what you would imagine living in a little cottage in the woods would be like; hanging your white linen dresses to dry on a clothesline, picnics in a field of flowers, homemade pies of freshly picked berries atop your round wooden table. Think Snow White with an iPhone. It describes something that sounds so foreign to our modern, busy, and connected lives, so why is it something that has attracted so many people in recent months?

The cottagecore aesthetic thrives on its aspects of comfort. Instead of looking to the unpredictable future, we’d rather revert to a soothing and refreshing past. One that can take you away from the countless headlines

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and worries we face everyday. Escaping to the countryside sounds pretty attractive in the middle of a pandemic that demands social isolation. Under lockdown, inescapable tiny apartments in the middle of the city became a reality for many people. In the spring of last year, those who could afford it fled cities for the countryside or quieter suburbs to avoid crowds, returning to nature and spend their time in less cramped spaces.

Because cottagecore is full of traditionally feminine activities, cottagecore has also begun to be reclaimed by LGBT youth as a way to escape gender roles and over-sexualization from the media. As Paper Magazine puts it, “what if we could go back to a time before the planet was ravaged by industry, except with added protections for marginalized queer communities?

What if we all lived like tradwives, minus the husbands?”

But it’s not all milkmaid braids and strawberry dresses. Cottagecore can also serve as a rejection of capitalistic values and connectivity to the online world. The lifestyle involves growing your own food, making your own clothes, and tending to your home, as opposed to sitting in Zoom calls all day; hoping an email “finds you well;” and paying for food; groceries, and rent. The DIY aspect of it is attractive to people who desire sustainability,and it’s nostalgic for a time before we were obligated to be online, giving the illusion of being disconnected from the internet and being “off the grid.”

The aesthetic thrives on the internet yet is willfully ignorant of it. Every cottagecore scene is very much “Little House on the Prairie” yet it only exists because of its presence on social media. But, ultimately, it’s a rebellion to bury the concept of a “hustle culture” and instead spend your time doing things that bring value to your life.

Though it’s based on living in the countryside, this doesn’t mean we have to ditch the trend after our eventual return to cities and a new kind of normal. At its essence, the cottagecore life symbolizes a safe space. An idyllic haven in which we can reject the current state of capitalism and urbanism, and tread a little more lightly on this Earth. And frankly, is it so bad to yearn for a life with no societal obligations?

The Shuttleworth Swiss Garden has been called, “a miniature world, dotted with follies as absurdly pretty as illustrations in a fairy tale” - an incredibly British turn of phrase. In finding myself within this Zoom call surrounded by older people from across the pond with names like Agnes and Humbert, I find that description incredibly apt for The Garden Trust’s conversation on The Swiss Garden Shuttleworth. This event, diving into the history and design of the Shuttleworth House and Gardens located in Bedfordshire, England, lounged within a seminar series following the “golden afternoon” of garden art, literature, and garden design - but only within Britain and the continent. In reality, the Swiss Gardens are not Swiss at all - they’re a menagerie of designs, many blatantly stolen from some of Britain’s former colonies to give the gardens a more ‘exotic’ feel (because as we all know, there is nothing more exotic than the Swiss.)

The Shuttleworth House, built in 1875, exists at the intersection of dark academia and cottagecore. With 425 acres of grounds known as Old Warden Park and a house designed by Victorian architect Henry Clutton, I halfexpected Lord Tennyson to come tumbling out of the computer screen to call me a silly peasant not amassing the family fortune through shipbuilding. Yet staring at lush hills of yellow daffodils rolling into the fernery, I found myself wrapped in a deep longing. Perhaps it was the longing for spring, coupled with the urge to pretend to be a Regencyera dandy, to hotwire an Edwardian car and take it for a joyride into the moat. Perhaps, in this writer’s opinion, it was a yearning for acknowledgment that botany has a global history spanning back millennia and, in fact, wasn’t invented by some English aristocrats in the 1800s with too much time and money on their hands. But for now, I’ll have to yearn to make my small apartment a Swiss grotto in itself and mirror the Swiss cottage by hanging some English Ivy on my walls. But be careful, reader, as it’s invasive.

And poisonous.

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An Ode To Grandma Hoies Because why not?

BY ESTHER CHAN As I’m sure you’ve gathered from the title, this is an ode to grandma hobbies and my fellow grandmas who likewise partake in the simple pleasures of knitting, crocheting, baking, candle-making, and whatever artistic twiddling enjoyed by your average 80-year-old.

I make light of this, but truthfully, there is something almost healing about it. When I knit and bake, it’s an excuse to create something brand new. There may be a pattern I’m following, and my work certainly is not life-changing, but at the end of the day, I put into this world a tangible product that did not previously exist.

The label of “grandma hobbies” is used as a joke—a subtle and lighthearted dig toward antiquated recreation. It makes sense that some might try to distance themselves from this association. I was definitely someone who used to get embarrassed to admit I enjoyed knitting. However, now I actually enjoy labeling my hobbies as that of a grandma.

I associate “grandma” with peace, homeliness, comfort and simplicity, and categorizing my hobbies as such creates the same associations.

When I’m in my “grandma state of mind,” everything feels simpler and more manageable. It’s therapeutic to spend hours taking soft yarn and weaving it together with nothing but the soft clink of needles and perhaps the twinkling notes of soft music in my ears. I can trick myself into believing I’ve reached that stage of life where there is no stress of school and work; there is only peace and comfort.

So yes, here’s an ode to my beloved grandma hobbies because without them, I wouldn’t have my little pocket of peace.

And here’s my little propaganda: if you haven’t tried any of them yet, here’s your sign to start. I promise you won’t regret it.

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23 their work. Maybe it’s about something deeper. Perhaps we are meant to thirst for knowledge and delight in the satisfaction of being productive and contributing to our community. However, I think we’re meant for more than performing menial tasks in a brutal, corporate system.

So many of my recent conversations have devolved into a mutual despair about what seems like an inescapable, gouged route of monotony. I don’t know if it’s because we’re all one Zoom meeting or “hope all is well” email away from bursting, or if it’s because we’re now almost three semesters into remote learning, or if perhaps it’s something more profound. Either way, I’m sure I’m not the only one who senses a shared existential dread towards this machine we find ourselves in. Every assignment seems like a burden on our already strained mental capacity. Every reminder of the games and rules we must follow exhausts us. And for what? The joy we experience when we get an internship or a successful grade quickly fades away when we realize it’s all a social construct and holds little meaning. At least for me, every success ends up being a reminder that, for all the tears I put into it, the result is that I’m one step deeper into a system that cares little for me.

I’m not necessarily trying to depict myself as a completely anti-establishment, anarchist, hippie type. However, regardless of your “type,” I think there’s a reason why many people in our generation are so drawn to the idea of escaping civilized society, living in a cottage in the mountains, dancing and twirling in a field of wildflowers, ignoring their problems.

There must be an underlying truth behind why those feelings of nostalgia and peace envelop us each time we watch a 60-second video of a crisp mountain lake or a billowing field of grass— even if we didn’t experience it ourselves. We long for these unattainable, idealistic lifestyles. The idea of leaving everything behind to live in tech-free uncertainty appeals to so many of us, inspiring a perplexing blend of delight and escapism.

I feel like there is a reason why we as a human race have the propensity to long and yearn for experiences that we have not yet touched. I’m sure I’m not the only one who looks up to the clouds and wishes to float and evaporate with the thinness and lightness of the cool whispering breeze. These dreams and nostalgic emotions touch us in distinct ways—that’s why art is so universal. When we hear a particularly evocative soundtrack, reminiscent of flying above clouds or diving deep into crystal clear water, we share the same heartbreak as we recognize we’ll never get to experience it in our lifetime. The lightness of hearing that ethereal harmonious melody, feeling the rhythms thrum synchronously with our own heartbeats. The sparkling glaze over our eyes when we escape into a clever novel. We’re made to appreciate beauty. I’d even argue we’re meant to bask and live in it. Why does it seem to escape us in our everyday routine, left only to haunt our dreams or tickle our hearts in the brief moments of free time in our hectic schedules?

Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t have an answer here. The point of sharing this is not to offer you a perfect solution, like a ’00s infomercial that presents a universal problem alongside a 1-800 number. More than anything, this is a reflection on my own yearning and desperation and what can sometimes feel like hopelessness. I like to think that we’ll all find our way out, that we’ll find satisfaction in our longing and a resolution to the unknown nostalgia. Until then, there’s nothing wrong with a little wistfulness. I implore you, carve out a momentary pause to daydream of stars and flowers and mountaintops.

I recognize this seems a bit backward. When we consider the rejection of work and education, we are, to a certain extent, rejecting the progress of activists who fought—even died—to give so many of us the opportunity to join the workforce and gain an education. But maybe this desire isn’t about undoing

A Reflection On Shared Wishful Longing Are we doomed to forever yearn for the unattainable?

BY ESTHER CHAN

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Art by Makenna Larson

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Ninth House, a novel by Leigh Bardugo

Non-Eurocentric Classics (Or Should-Be Classics) to Diversify Your Shelves

Leigh Bardugo

Leigh Bardugo’s novel “Ninth House” draws readers into the mystery and glamour of Yale’s elite while subtly critiquing the power that corrupts Ivy League secret societies. Gritty magic, ghosts, and the occult are at play in New Haven’s streets, making this a dark and thrilling adult fantasy.

Diversify your shelves with these classics that aren’t written by old white men!

“The Guide” by R.K. Narayan As irritating as it is to hear, most of us agree that we A corrupt tour guide from India seeks refuge after being spend far too much time on social media. Our brains released from prison in an abandoned temple where are bored of seeing the same types of posts, meant to he is mistaken for being a holy man. From there, he engage you for only a few moments. As someone who begins a spiritual journey that he experiences along often falls into the cycle of switching between the same with readers. This book was written in 1958 but holds four apps for hours, I’m grateful for books. I’ve always been a reader, but I understand why so many people fell many messages that resonate with people today. out of love with reading during middle or high school.

“The Prophet” by Khalil Gibran “The Tale of Genji” by Murasaki Shikibu We were forced to study texts that were made to be “The Tale of Genji” was written during the 11th century This collection of poetic essays was first published in leisure and read the same types of works and authors 1923. The topics span everything from love, to laws, by a noblewoman. It follows the life of Hikaru Genji, while ignoring continents’ worth of literature. A lot of to death, to eating. If you are looking for something the son of an ancient Japanese emperor and one of his us did not feel represented by the characters or authors inspirational, spiritual, and philosophical, this is a concubines. Readers follow Genji through his romantic we were told to appreciate. If you want a break from great classic to add to your list. The author, Khalil life and aristocratic society. This book is the ultimate social media and the stress of the news cycle, here are Gibran, was a Lebanese-American writer whose choice for those who love books as it is considered by some non-Eurocentric classics that will help you learn work has reached people around the world for decades. many to be the world’s first novel. Most “classics” lists more about the world while giving you the escapism are made up of books written by white men, so this that you need.

Whether you are reading for self-development, comfort, choice by an Asian woman who worked as a lady-inor escape, there is value in diversifying the types of waiting is sure to shake up your reading.

“Passing” by Nella Larson books you read. Beyond that, we as a society need “Passing” was published in 1929 during the Harlem to expand what we view as classic, or even “good,” “Birdie” by Tracy Lindberg Renaissance and follows a mixed-race woman with a literature. Art doesn’t need to be made by a rich, white “Birdie” is the debut novel of Indigenous Canadian life that anyone would want to have. Everything in man half a century ago to hold merit, so by expanding author Tracy Lindberg. It was published in 2015 her life is comfortable until she runs into an old friend what we read and what we praise, we expand what and is the newest on this list, so it may not be a classic who, because of her light skin, is able to live as a white future generations pull from to learn about the world, yet, but it is on its way to becoming one. You may as lady in a white neighborhood, married to a racist and that world shouldn’t be a bubble. I hope that some well get ahead of the curve by diving into Lindberg’s white man. As the two friends become more involved of these reads help you escape for a little while and story about Canadian colonialism, Cree Law, and the in each other’s lives, things become more and more diversify your shelves! harrowing issue of indigenous women going missing or dangerous. This book, at only 160 pages, is a great getting murdered. choice for anyone who wants a short, thrilling story that peers into America’s not-so-distant past.

— from Srihita Raju

A Review of The Secret History: Donna Tartt Calls Out Snobs for Over 500-pages

Yale’s eight Houses of the Veil are, in Bardugo’s world, imbued with nefarious magic. Lethe house is entrusted with overseeing the ceremonies of the Veil, and Galaxy “Alex” Stern is their surprising newest member. Alex’s past is mysterious and troubled, yet she has a unique ability that might be more important than her history: she can see ghosts. Her snark and tenacity make Alex feel like an honest and relatable college student, a point of view that isn’t always easy to find in fantasy novels.

Donna Tartt

The Secret History by Donna Tartt is basically required reading within the Dark Academia subculture. The story follows Richard as he transfers to a liberal arts college in Vermont and becomes a Classics major, which at this school means being a part of an incredibly exclusive group made up of five other students and led by a mysterious professor. The group is known on campus to be secretive.They stay away from the other students and faculty on campus and once Richard becomes a part of it, we learn why this is. But don’t be fooled.

The writing style is beautiful and descriptive.

If you’re a fan of a slower read where you get to know the incredibly unlikable characters, this one is a great choice. Although I wouldn’t say this book is exactly a psychological thriller, it is fun to read a story about a murder where you know who the killer is and what happened within the first few pages.

It is also important to look up the trigger warnings for this book beforehand because although it never gets too gory, I can see it being too much for some people. Overall, All the Tumblr posts and aesthetic images you’ve seen this book, despite being the almost 600-page depressing based on this book, while mostly accurate, tend to over- monster that it is, became a new favorite for me.Anyone emphasize how much this book is actually about culwho likes dark academia vibes will enjoy it too. ture and the arts. There are a few conversations about Greek philosophy and many references to the Greek — from Srihita Raju language, but this book is primarily about the group’s bonds with each other. And of course, about the murder that is mentioned/committed in the first few pages.

Golden-boy Daniel Arlington, who is training Alex to take on his position in Lethe, goes missing. And while Alex tries to take his place while investigating his disappearance, a murder in New Haven draws her suspicions and attention. Bardugo keeps readers on edge through twisting storylines that effortlessly pull together in the end.

Bardugo weaves magic into the real world with such a deft hand that this novel feels almost believable. Fantastical elements—like a drug that makes its recipient bend to the will of anyone near them—accentuate real-life problems such as assault and bureaucratic corruption. “Ninth House” explores trauma in multiple forms and ultimately embraces a sense of agency and justice for victims.

“Ninth House” is not a book for the faint of heart. This fantasy tackles every point quintessential to dark academia, including murder, sex, and drugs. The result is a poignant, satisfying read that leaves readers desperate for this series’s next book. For fans of magic looking for something a little more grown-up, “Ninth House” should be your next read.

— from Marley Richmond

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Religion Made Table Legs Sexy The Victorian Era had interesting ideas about what was sexy

The Closer You Look

A good place to begin in measuring the influence and prestige of these secret societies is in the realm of conspiracy. Yale’s Skull and Bones alone has been rumored to be in cahoots with Illuminati, the CIA and the Council of Foriegn Relations – an organization itself that has its hands in many op-

erations. Hearsay concerning illicit and nefarious connections in these societies are only helped on by depictions in the media; one such example being the Simpsons’ “Stonecutters”, a group parodying the Freemasons, who sing jubilantly around a long refectory table “Who keeps Atlantis off the maps?

Who keeps the Martians under wraps?” with the refrain “We do, we do!” Though this may be parodying a secret society outside of academia, the same ethos is most certainly kept for those in ivory towers, as evidenced by the Simpson’s character Mr. Burns visit to Skull and Bones, where he indulgently sips his drink out of Martin Van Buren’s skull, a long-rumored possession of the society.

In and inbetween many of the occult and conspiracy-theory ridden parts of these society lies the humour. I would like to first shout out the Life and Death Brigade, a fictional secret society created for the show Gilmore Girls, whose principle hijink involves jumping from a seven-story high platform with umbrellas, a stunt that ends with the characters Rory and Logan lamenting over what a once in lifetime experience that was, whilst their bungee cords employed for the staging of the scene can still very much be seen. Another honorable mention comes with the rapper Ludicrous, who was denied honors at the secret society Manuscript after confusing the society for a literary club. A final mention comes with Frederick Wallace Smith, who having been a member of the aforementioned and notorious Skull and Bones secret society, culmi-

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would not fly in the 1700s.

Most of the rules were a form of subjugation of women. It didn’t help that Queen Victoria often talked about women being inferior to men and opposed the burgeoning Women’s Rights movement.

But when puritanism took over in the 1860s, necklines rose to just below the chin. To counter that, the bustle—exaggerating someone’s derriere with extensive fabric—was common. The stepsisters’ dresses in “Cinderella” had bustles.

One of the positives during the Victorian Era was the introduction of pockets to women’s clothing. But when it came to ankles, legs, and necklines, there were strict rules.

Secret societies’ place in culture

In researching secret societies for this article, I happened to stumble upon a humorous Reddit exchange. The creator of an “Ask Me Anything” thread, “ihazsecrets”, a purported member of one of Yale’s secret societies, introduces themselves with “So I might as well put myself out there.” Much to their dismay most likely, comes the swift reply of one commenter: “You’re not very good at the ‘secret’ part.” A funny interaction indeed, though, what’s more is these secret societies hold on our culture.

Certainly, these rollicking bacchanals of bigwigs that are secret societies serve as quite the spectacle for our ponderings of what ivy league students do between classes. And it’s not hard to see why: with societies such as the Seven Society members, whose allegiance to the club is only revealed upon their death by a wreath of magnolias in the shape of a seven placed on their grave, there’s a clear element of enigma and theatrics at play. However, how much of this holds up? For a piece of culture (if that’s what we’re going to term secret societies) that is so nebulous and allusive both in reality and in the media, what are things like when we actually take a closer look?

After the Great Enlightenment of the 18th century, the Victorian Era was defined by puritanism. The fun and looseness associated with the Regency Era—low necklines, stockingcovered ankles, and anything else in Jane Austen’s novels— became improprietous.

nated his efforts into his most evil of ventures after school: the creation of FedEx. In the Reddit thread that began this article, another commenter asks “What does a secret society actually do?” To this, ihazsecrets replies that meetings take place on Sundays for dinner. Outside of this, activities may range from “TV, drinking, laser tag, [and] mixer.” I for one think it’s hilarious that one of Yale’s secret societies resolves to playing laser tag as one of their main pastimes. In truth, the name and subsequent postings of the creator of this thread, “ihazsecrets”, may in some ways perfectly embody these societies, both in their claim to possessing coveted knowledge and also in their more probable situation of just being somewhat normal. For as much as they captivate us with their supposed hijinks and capers, I imagine they must play a lot of laser tag. That being said, I won’t go as far as to say that secret societies are a complete fraud; certainly some things go on within these places – not all of them as harmless as FedEx or partying– but to deduce their influence and place in culture is to wipe away much of what makes them so alluring. On top of this, there is the obvious privilege and elitism that is so inherent to these societies. To be sure, some things are best admired from afar, for if they were given any more attention they would only crumble under the weight of their reputation – a common occurrence today.

— from Mitchell Levesque

In the 1700s and early 1800s, décolletage was acceptable and thought to be a show of wealth. The shoulders, neck, and upper chest were considered beautiful and not as sexual as they are now. The rules in high schools about covering shoulders

The wealthy equated too much coverage with vulgarity. If you were caught with too many scarves tucked into your bust, it was suggestive and similar to modern-day bra stuffing.

Before the Victorian Era, ankles were acceptable if they were covered by stockings, and showing a little ankle was considered flirtatious. Want to catch a potential suitor’s attention? Raise your hem and hold your hand fan to your heart.

But in the Victorian Era, dress hems dropped to the floor to cover up women’s skin. Even table legs had to be covered because they looked too similar to women’s legs. Despite the era’s hatred of sexuality, they made everything from shoulders to table legs sexy.

— from Erica Bouska

How to *~*Academic*~* Sometimes you just have to put on some rose-colored glasses to get through the school year. Here’s how.

Being a student can be the most depressing thing if you think too hard about it, as I’m sure you know. Academic burnout, especially during online school, has been a real struggle for me lately. I’ve found a strategy to motivate myself that has really helped me, and I hope it can help you too.

First, you need to trick yourself into liking your schoolwork. It doesn’t matter if it’s your least favorite class or the class you’ve been looking forward to since the beginning of the school year.

Look at your assignments, the terms you have to study, and the lecture videos you have to watch… Look at all your materials like they’re the key to life. Don’t pressure yourself, but look at them as if they contain information that would be genuinely beneficial for you to know. Tell yourself over and over again that you are excited to soak in the words on the page because they are good for you.

Next, set the mood. Pull out a candle, put on a Spotify playlist without any songs with lyrics (my favorites are anything lo-fi or orchestral), and tidy up your desk a bit. Although it may seem counterintuitive, I always focus the best when the shades are drawn and all my lights are off except for my desk lamp.

Something about pretending like I’m studious tricks me into actually being studious.

In summary, to survive academia, you must be dumb enough to trick yourself into being smart.

— by Srihita Raju

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enjoy the summer & see you next year!