Double Take

YMOUR SYDNEY SEIEF

NELLETTI STELLA RA INT EDITOR

RRELL ELIOT CO

ELSEN MIA MICK ANAGER

ITOR

E DIGITAL ED

EXECUTIV

INBERG KELLY KLE R TING EDITO WRI

FINANCE M

E PR

EXECUTIV

EDITOR IN CH

AVA WISDOM

DESIGN EDITOR

BEATRICE KAHN

COPY EDITOR

EMESE BRAC AMONTES VARGA CO PY EDITO R

SYLVIA DAVI

COPY EDITOR

DOW

WALLIE BUTLER

ILLUSTRATION ED ITOR

OPR SNEHA CH

A

ZOE

MAITLAND

NDREWS CAMILLE A R

MY ANAYA LA ITOR COPY ED BLOG

ITO

STYLING ED

R

PHOTO EDITO

R

PHOTO EDITO

NATALIE ROBI NSON

MUSIC EDITOR

ISABELLA THOM

MUSIC EDITOR

AS

ZAK CHRISTEN

VIDEO EDITOR

-COONEY

KYM ROHMAN

FACULTY ADVIS OR

E RUBY JOYC ITOR ED BLOG COPY

Dear Align Readers, 10 years ago, a group of University of Oregon students started an Instagram account, @ducksdressedup, to document outfits on campus. Today, Align — a student media organization focused on arts, culture, and fashion — is 10 years old. Over time and not without our members, Align has grown into something larger than itself; it’s not just a printed publication and digital content, we have built a welcoming and supportive community that feels as close to a family as you can get with 200 plus individuals.

Before anything else, I’d like to thank each and every person who has ever contributed to Align in any way over this decade of hard-earned development. I can’t wait to see what Align looks like in another 10 years.

To think that I’ve passed the halfway mark of not only my time as editor-in-chief but with Align… well I’d rather not think about it. Align has been the most fulfilling and inspiring constant in my life for almost four years. My friends can attest that even as a freshman, it was difficult to get a conversation in without me mentioning Align. That hasn’t changed, and I dread the day it will.

This winter, Align continued to grow in ways I don’t think anyone could’ve foreseen. We collaborated with student Spenser So’s brand, SoMuchLove, to produce media coverage for their Lover’s Ball, a Valentine’s Day-themed event with live music. We also teamed up with the UO Fashion Club to host a panelist discussion with young fashion entrepreneurs, and we participated in the UO Flea Market. Thank you Mia for making these collaborations and events come to fruition.

On the digital front, I’d like to give a huge shoutout to the video team for producing some of the most fun and creative short-form content on our Instagram yet. And to everyone tuning into our recently launched podcast, “Align on Air,” thank you! We’ve released four episodes so far, each with a different UO creative — catch up on season one on Spotify.

Of course, Align wouldn’t be what it is without the people behind the scenes. A huge thank you to our editors for continuing to be such a dedicated and inspiring team to work with. Thank you to our faculty advisor, Kym Rohman, for your unwavering guidance and input. And lastly, thank you to my girls, Stella, Eliot, and Mia — each of you never fails to impress me every day.

And now, onto our W25 issue. Double Take invites you to take a second look at the phenomena that comes in two. Inside our winter issue, you’ll find writing, illustrations, photoshoots, design, and even the occasional playlist that explore life’s dualities and double entendres, moving towards nuance and ambiguity despite our natural tendencies... and in the process, hopefully, make you do a double take.

See you back here at the same time next term.

Sincerely with love and hope you enjoy, Sydney Seymour

WRITERS

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Alex Goldberg Anaya Lamy Ava Chand Avery Wilson Beatrice Kahn Campbell Williams Cass Morrison Claire Conger Drew Turiello Ellie Johnson Emese Bracamontes Varga Hannah Kaufmann Helen Myers Hope Call Isabel Parra Kayla Cervantes Kelly Kleinberg Lara Clute Libby Findling Lily Reese Luke Bottomley Mark Munson-Warnken Matthew Bedrosian Niharika Panjala Seira Kitagawa Sophie Turnbull Sydney Seymour Sylvia Davidow Viviann Nguyen

Ailsa Huerta Anna Curtis Ava Klooster Avery Wachowiak Charlotte Miller Cori Markus Danielle Collar Delaney McCuen Eliot Correll Eva Rose Brazfield Harry Nowinsky Isabella King Isabella Uribe Jaden Rai Kaia Mikulka Lac Nguyen Lela Akiyama Lucy Mcmahon Maya Clausman Natalie Robinson Sneha Chopra Soraya Solano

STYLISTS

Adriana Becker Alyssia Truong Allyssa Corpuz Angelika Stolecki Camille Andrews Clarissa Perez Clementine Jaffe Diego Vasquez Elin Lawrence Emily Muro Eva Frezza Gidi Batya Josie Cunningham Juliet Power Keiran Christiansen Kiana Heilfron Libby Findling Lucy Macneela Morgan Glinski Nina Latto Piper Shanks Rex Brown Sally LaChica Vivian Rush

Aubrey Jayne Ayla Fung Bella Snyder Charlie Townes Cole Thomas Eliot Correll Emma Highfield Jaden Rai Joaquim Gruber Ky Myers Lucy Ruppert Natalie Robinson Saj Sundaram Sneha Chopra Sofia Moscovitch Sophia Greene Zoe Maitland

ILLUSTRATORS

Ash Dunteman Ava Aanderud Cecilia Seldera-Bahnson Ella Jaksha Ella Simpson Emma Harris Isabella Melani Joey Bezner Olyvia Bankovitch Ridley Gardner Taylor Jones Wallie Butler Ying Thum

VIDEOGRAPHERS

Adrian Beltran Diego Solorio Hana Jessup Iman Zarlons Janaya Pardo Maura McNeil Owen Roetto Sofia Cervantes Zakary Christen-Cooney

MUSIC CONNOISSEURS

ART DIRECTORS

Ailsa Huerta Anja VanderZee Arden Brady Bella Snyder Bianca Lewis Ellie Thompson Elsie Ferber Fiona McMeekin Gretchen Scheck Henry Martin Isabella Bartocci Jacqueline Pineda Kate Elliott Maddy Hughes Mia Fairchild Millie Langarica Natalie Robinson Sylvie Rokoff

DESIGNERS

Abigail Raike Adaleah Carman Amelia Ramsey Claire Brady Elianna Mabaet Ella Kenan Evan Fandel Evan Giordano Evelyn Orozco Kayla Chang Megan Lee Natalie Englet Olivia Bourgault Ryan Ehrhart Sofia Lentz Stella Ranelletti

BLOGGERS

Bridget Donnelly Claire O’Connor Daisy Simpson Elise Alvira Emily Hall Haley Batmale Kate Cooper Madison Doohen May Byrne Nahla Wilson Phoenix Nwokedi Sadie Mordan Stella Van Goor Zoë Brown

MODELS

Aamani Dhamija Sharma Adriana Becker Ailsa Huerta Alanie Padilla Alex Goldberg Allyssa Corpuz Alma Schuetz Alyssia Truong Amanda Ngo Amelia Steffe

Anja VanderZee Arden Brady Ash Dunteman Audrey Mercier Audrey Stephens Ava Klooster Ava Mreen Avery Wilson Bella Snyder Blu Mackey Camille Andrews Carmen Valencia Correa Cass Morrison Charlie Townes Clementine Jaffe Cori Markus Daisy Simpson Danielle Collar Davis Lester Diego J Vasquez Drew Turiello Elena Browne Elias Contreraz Elin Lawrence Ella Kenan Ella Poor Ella Simpson Elsie Ferber Emily Fennell Emily Hall Emily Hatch Emily Muro Emma McFarland Eva Rose Brazfield Evelyn Park Fernanda Gonzalez Huerta Gidi Batya Hana Jessup Hannah Kaufmann Harper Meyer Hei Dim Helen Myers Henry Martin Ian Proctor Isabella King Isabella Razura Iviana Coleman Janaya Pardo Josie Cunningham Josie Wells Julia Cohen Juliet Power-Mallory Kadin Mitchell Kaia Mikulka Katie Lantz Kayla Chang Keiran Christiansen Khushi Mishra Kira Curtis Krisha Borgonha Lela Akiyama Lilly Bartleson Lily Reese Lydia Hickey Madeline Dell Madison Doohen Makende Stewart Margaret Medici Maura McNeil Maya Gangishetti Mika Maii Millie Langarica Morgan Glinski Nahla Wilson Natalie Caddell Natalie Robinson Nora Lynch Nova Hollenbeak Parker Kirkwood Pilar Sprague Reed Fine Roshni Ram Sadie Mordan Sally LaChica Simleen Gulati Sophia Truitt Sydney Fauske Sylvie Rokoff Taylor Jones Wallie Butler Will Martin Zhen Chau Zoe Walkenhorst

JOIN OUR TEAM Applications open two weeks before the beginning of every term, and we publish three printed issues per year. Check our socials to know when applications are released.

Follow us @align_mag on Instagram Read past issues and our digital content at alignmaguo.com

MUSIC music

From the Align Music Team, and with song submissions from our community, this playlist aims to inspire resilience, spark confidence, and remind us that self-doubt is merely a stepping stone on the path to creative empowerment.

Double Take P L AY L I S T

EVERYWHERE

FLEETWOOD MAC

FRANKENSTEIN

THE EDGAR WINTER GROUP

GIMME SHELTER

THE ROLLING STONES

HERE COMES THE SUN

THE BEATLES

LAST NITE

THE STROKES

LET THE LIGHT IN

LANA DEL REY

KOOL THING

SONIC YOUTH

QUEEN BITCH

LIL’ KIM

RILKEAN HEART

COCTEAU TWINS

THIS MUST BE THE PLACE

TALKING HEADS

TYPE OF WAY VIENNA FLOAT ON FRIDAY I’M IN LOVE

RICH HOMIE QUAN BILLY JOEL MODEST MOUSE THE CURE

UNWRITTEN

NATASHA BEDINGFIELD

CALIFORNIA

JONI MITCHELL

L I S T E N TO T H E F U L L P L AY L I S T:

VIDEO video

In addition to documenting Align’s various photoshoots and events, the Align Video Team produced a plethora of creative projects that expressed the Double Take theme. Here are a few of our favorites from this term. Watch them online @align_mag on Instagram.

SHADOWS DIRECTED BY MAURA MCNEIL

1 MINUTE THRIFT DIRECTED BY ADRIAN BELTRAN

BLOG blog

From the Align Blog Team, here are a few favorite blogs written for Double Take. Read them and more at alignmaguo.com or scan the QR code.

REMEMBER YOU ARE ONE:

THE PREVALENCE OF DOPPELGÄNGERS IN HORROR

WRITTEN BY CLAIRE O’CONNOR

MUKBANGS AND EREWHON: FOOD CONTENT’S TWO EXTREMES

WRITTEN BY NAHLA WILSON

A L I G N M AG U O.CO M

THE PERFECT MATCH WRITTEN BY DAISY SIMPSON

RECYCLED CINEMA:

HOLLYWOOD’S CREATIVITY CRISIS WRITTEN BY STELLA VAN GOOR

THE OLIVE THEORY:

WHAT DETERMINES COMPATIBILITY? WRITTEN BY KATE COOPER

Aries

MARCH 21 - APRIL 19

All eyes are on you, the passionate ram, as your season is approaching. This is not the time to be impulsive. Be mindful of not quickly jumping into things. This period of time is all about focusing on your relationship with yourself. You may feel inclined to change up your routine, rid yourself of habits that don’t serve you, and implement new healthy habits, and finding new hobbies into your life. You are coming out of your cocoon and blossoming into your best self!

what’s your HOROSCOPE

Taurus

APRIL 20 - MAY 20

The grounded bull. This is your period of rest and relaxation. You may be feeling extra reflective and rethinking aspects within your daily life such as with relationships and career. You may have been feeling more strength in your goals and connecting with people who support them. You may notice completions of projects and celebrations. This is a wonderful time to engage with arts and spirituality, no matter what that looks like to you. Key words to describe this period for you are mystical, magical, and artistic.

Embrace the free time that may come before you to set new goals, journal, reflect, and rest. You may be finding new tribes that scratch your creative itch. Ask yourself how you can make magic happen.

Gemini

MAY 21 - JUNE 20

This time is action-packed for you. You might be making a lot of new connections and traveling to new places. Prominent opportunities might arise in regards to your relationships. People from your past may unexpectedly emerge. In general, you will take steps that will help you reach your goals. The universe will repay you for your hard work. Be mindful of little things that might fall under the radar such as missed phone calls, scheduling errors, and unread emails. Show up for opportunities you may be holding back from such as invitations to events, or publish projects you’re hesitant to put out there. The universe wants you to be social and surround yourself with like-minded people. Embrace it.

Cancer

JUNE 21 - JULY 22

You will be pushed into the spotlight this term. You have a fire lit under you that will incline you to be more responsible, hardworking, and committed. This period of time is the beginning of great things for you. Career is heavy on your mind as you are thinking about what you truly want in that aspect of your life. You may feel inclined to start new things and quit your old job. But wait, and really take your time before taking a huge leap. Watch out for hidden enemies that might be lurking in the shadows. Be mindful of who you choose to trust with sacred information. You are realizing you need to be more bold and assertive. Take time before you launch things and focus on planning. This period is the development phase of something great ­— your prelude to success.

Leo

JULY 23 - AUGUST 22

The courageous lion. Major shifts are shining before you. Shifts in personal beliefs? Emotional conclusions? There are many opportunities for travel and adventure in your near future. This may be a period for processing grief and intense healing. Be patient during this period. Seek higher knowledge.

Be weary of those being deceptive, especially in terms of money and finances. Make sure you are protecting your assets. What goes around will always come back around. You may be getting ready to make a big decision in terms of where your life is going. Feeling like blending spirituality and movement?

You may feel more inclined to practice yoga. For the artistic lions out there, you may be more attracted to mysticism, esoteric-related subjects, art, and hypnosis. Your new teachers? Mind, body, and spirit connection. You will be overcoming your fears.

Virgo

AUGUST 23 - SEPTEMBER 22

The reliable Virgo. Prepare to go through significant turning points. Change starts with you on the inside.

You might be revisiting the nitty gritty in partnerships. Keep your nose clean and your eyes open. You are always very detail-oriented, Virgo, but you will hone into that even more during this time period. You may even find yourself diving more into research or tackling problems head on in relationships. You may feel distance and change in relationships — someone may be ghosting you or acting standoffish. Times of negotiations may ensue. Exes could come back. Be wary of not idealizing and over-romanticizing your life. For these last couple of years you may have felt a lack of clarity in your relationships. Now, you may have a heightened sense of awareness on relationships that are wrapping up. Don’t be too trusting with others. Value your privacy. You may see positive new encounters regarding romance.

Libra

SEPTEMBER 23 - OCTOBER 22

This period of time may feel very oriented towards other people. It also is a period of growth. Don’t let disappointment cloud your vision, but remember, this is just a phase. The goals you’re aiming for are closer than you think. While patience is tough, it’s crucial now. This period is about trust—trusting that your efforts will pay off. Stay focused and keep pushing forward, even if progress feels slow. Remember that every day is a new chance for growth. Celebrate small victories along the way. They build momentum and keep your spirits up. Remember, every step counts, and you’ll reach your destination. Keep faith in the process, and soon, you’ll see the change you’ve been waiting for!

Scorpio

OCTOBER 23 - NOVEMBER 21

Sagittarius

NOVEMBER 22 - DECEMBER 21

The spontaneous archer. Your fiery spirit is shining during this period. You are no stranger to taking leaps of faith, so free to grow, expand, and involve. You will be faced with new beginnings during this time as well such as a new hobby, new friendships, and maybe even a romantic partner. You might take this time to prioritize fun in your daily schedule; getting out of the house by going to bars, movies, and shows. You may also be going back and forth in some of your relationships and even rekindle old flames. Prioritize your well-being and do what makes you happy first and foremost!

Capricorn

DECEMBER 22 - JANUARY 19

The ambitious and determined sea goat. During this time you are learning how to honor your independence. You are starting fresh. Make sure to allocate time to figure out what being on your own might look like for you. This will also be a time where you will be getting answers to unresolved questions that have been distressing you. Serious conversations may arise as well, meet them with a level head. You may have been struggling to balance a busy schedule – during this period of time you are finding solutions to that. You may also find reconnections with your family and find signs of clarity within your home life. Isolation may present itself during this period but that is alright! Use that time to figure out your own personal needs and honor that.

Aquarius

JANUARY 20 - FEBRURARY 18

Revaluate and assess any big changes or plans to make sure they align with your morals and realties. Look over past agreements or to ensure your voice and your values are being heard. Check in with yourself about what your morals are and think about how these impact your relationships. Now is the time to stand up for yourself both socially and professionally. Keep an open heart and an open mind. Tap into your confidence and remember that you can do hard things! You may be exploring a new side of yourself, embrace that exploration and indulge in self appreciation. Stepping outside the box could add the spark you’ve been looking for, but remember to be patient with yourself in order to move forward.

Pisces

FEBRUARY 19 - MARCH 20

Happy Birthday Pisces! The sun is shining on you, and you are glowing. During this time it’s okay for you to be a little bit selfish. Don’t be afraid to cut off anyone who makes you feel like you are not good enough.

Know your worth and spend time to eliminate limiting beliefs that are diminishing your self-esteem. Reflect on what benefits you and what doesn’t. This also could be a great time for establishing a morning routine.

Take time in the morning to do something that fulfills you such as taking a morning walk, stretching, or working on a creative project. Less is more. Trust in yourself.

IN-HOUSE ASTROLOGISTS ANAYA LAMY & MIA MICKELSEN ILLUSTRATED BY WALLIE BUTLER DESIGNER STELLA RANELLETTI

The mystical scorpion. Be careful with who you trust with sensitive information. Try to keep a level head and approach things with patience and understanding. A shocking surprise in your social circle or a personal epiphany could quickly reroute your future plans. Routines may be thrown off and old habits may come back. Prioritize what makes you happy, this includes hobbies and friends. Maybe it’s time to take up a new hobby and pursue that venture you have always been interested in. While doing this, remember, it’s important to take time for yourself to relax and recuperate.

PREDATOR OR PREY? SOULMATES THE SHAPESHIFTER OF THE SEA FOR THE LOVE OF CATS THE DECAYING BEAUTY NARCISSUS.EXE ENGAGE OR ESCAPE A MISCOMMUNICATION OR TWO / LOST IN TRANSLATION WE WERE GIRLS TOGETHER THE FOOL SKIMMING THE SURFACE THE SHADOWS AND SOUL OF REMAKES LIQUID COURAGE OLYVIA BANKOVITCH TWIN TIED MIRRORED MINDS ONE GAME WON’T HURT

12 16 19 22 26 30 32 36 40 42 44 48 50 54 56 60 62

HAVING TWO HOMES THE ART OF THE ALTER EGO DEKHO WHO’S AFRAID OF COPIES? HAVEN’T I SEEN THIS BEFORE? INVERTED IT TAKES DEUX NOCTURNE WARPING SOUND TIMELESSNESS AND TRANSIENCE ELLA SIMPSON THE POWER OF INVISIBLE THREADS DANCE DEJA VU HATE VS. PRAISE CONFUSION AND CONNECTION THE DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD

66 68 72 74 78 80 82 84 88 90 94 96 98 102 104 108

PREDATOR OR

PREY?

The Entanglement of the Human Body and the Natural World ALIGN 12

I

n an age where the Gen-Z atheist aesthetic thrives – “we live on a rock floating through space, so life is meaningless; do whatever you want” – one can’t help but wonder: if this is true, is it a coincidence that a fingerprint mimics the bark of a Western hemlock? Or that sound waves emitted from an acoustic guitar riff resemble the ridgeline of a

mountain range? Or that my greatgrandmother Marilyn’s laugh lines mirror the patterns of the Nile River Delta?

What about the way the human body undergoes the same energy conversions as the photosynthetic ferns of the forest floor – bound, perhaps, by the same kinetic kismet?

The human body is more than a miraculous creation of nature; it is nature. While the “I don’t give a GAF” worldview offers a kind of liberation, I find myself drawn to a different lens – one that doesn’t cling to a dramatically nihilistic worldview or retreat into Eurocentric ideals that perpetuate the cycle of religious assimilation. It’s a gratitude that ALIGN 13

“In challenging the dichotomous realities of the world – resilience and fragility, guilt and gratitude, destruction and rebirth – we must ask ourselves: can we embrace our place in nature without further destroying it?”

ALIGN 14

WRITTEN BY HOPE CALL ART DIRECTOR KAIA MIKULKA PHOTOGRAPHED BY ZOE MAITLAND & SNEHA CHOPRA MODELS EMILY HATCH & AAMANI SHARMA STYLISTS MORGAN GLINSKI & JULIET POWER-MALLORY DESIGNER RYAN EHRHART

rejects meaninglessness, guilt, and shame, instead embracing interconnectedness and transcendence.

with institutionalized religion, spirituality can mean a host of different things.

But true spirituality can be elusive, especially in a culture that is often hell-bent on division. Corporate greed tells us that we’re at the apex of the food chain, free to dominate the natural world by whatever means necessary. We are the predators, and whatever gets in the way of our prerogative is prey. These corporations seem untouchable, and they convince us we can never make a difference if we can’t control them. This is the myth of diffused responsibility, used first to keep us from demanding accountability, and then to pit us against each other while the spotlight stays off their wrongdoings. But what if our lungs blackened with the same severity as the Eldorado National Forest? If we carried brain fog as thick as the air above Qatar’s oil fields? If campaign money burned in politicians’ pockets with the same intensity as South Sudan’s drought-stricken heat?

Would we act then?

Spirituality is moldable; it doesn’t have to exist within the confines of a temple, church, or mosque if you don’t want it to. It can be found in the forgotten scratches on a dusty CD case or in the intimate annotation of a beloved book.

And not all forms of nihilism are toxic; Nietzsche’s original definition doesn’t suggest that life is meaningless. Rather, it’s an invitation into selfactualization – a challenge to create meaning without a necessarily ‘divine’ purpose.

This is where spirituality and connectedness thrive: whether you find connection in the margins of the Quran, in the mountains, in the safety of a punk-rock subculture, or in the sweet sincerity of a laugh between kisses. Intentionality and spirituality are attainable in whatever way works for you.

When we allow a toxic nihilism to permeate too deeply, we lose balance with the natural world, and end up extracting more than we need. Perhaps if we were more connected to the earth, we would remember our place within it. In utilizing our own self-procured definition of spirituality and connectedness, we can counter the Americanized ideal of domination and place new emphasis on balance, respect, and reciprocity.

This marks the essence of our generation’s need for spirituality in one sense or another. The word “spirituality” can be intimidating. It can conjure images of rejection, as institutionalized religion has historically wielded the predator-prey cycle to oppress marginalized groups, such as the LGBTQ+ community, racial and ethnic minorities, women, and the lower class. As these groups have been forced into the position of social prey, many people who have experienced this kind of discrimination might want to reject the idea of spirituality altogether. While toxic nihilism may offer a temporary comfort in lieu of harmful experiences

But is it too late? Have we tipped the scales too far?

The Earth we are killing is showing us that we aren’t the dominating predators we once thought we were.

Proof of this fact can be found everywhere: in a singed Southern California mountain range or in the thawing tundra of Arctic Alaska. No matter what monopolized monsters or tyrannical elites tell us, we will not dominate the world before it dominates us. In challenging the dichotomous realities of the world – resilience and fragility, guilt and gratitude, destruction and rebirth – we must ask ourselves: can we embrace our place in nature without further destroying it?

As we face the consequences of how our society has been built, we cannot forget the human body and natural world aren’t separate entities. They’re mirrors of one another, bound by the same rhythms of creation and destruction. In finding a meaning that fits our needs, we can recognize the fragility of both ourselves and the Earth around us, honoring the delicate balance between them. In this balance, we can not only heal ourselves, but also find a purpose in healing the world we have taken for granted, nurturing the gentle humanity in us all.

ALIGN 15

THE RED THREADS OF FATE - helen myers

T

he second you arrive on this planet you are bound with a single red string, tethering you to the person you will inevitably spend eternity with – your soulmate.

East Asian mythology tells of a red thread of fate, an intangible rope tied around the pinky fingers of two destined lovers. Red represents joy, prosperity, and good fortune in Chinese culture, manifesting a life of exceptional fulfillment when two finally meet. This bond transcends both space and time, meaning that even if two soulmates are born on opposite corners of the world, an invisible force will pull them towards each other. No matter what decisions are made or paths are taken, the string keeps soulmates on track to eventually meet so that destiny transpires. Threads can get stretched, knotted, or tangled but will never sever.

In Chinese folklore, young children are visited by Yue Lao, the lunar matchmaking god and overseer of red threads. Yue Lao pulls the children aside and informs them of exactly who they will end up with. The young children – who have no interest in marriage and are unhappy with their chosen soulmate – reject his prediction and try to push away fate. But their future is inevitable. Decades later, the red thread drags the two soulmates back together to fulfill their destiny.

Unfortunately, in modern-day society, most of us aren’t visited by a matchmaking god who leads us into the arms of our soulmate. We have no idea who we will end up with and are instead led by blind fate. Failed relationships and false promises leave a lot of us feeling hopeless and burnt out. Sometimes, developing a meaningful connection with someone new feels next to impossible. It seems easier to instead come to terms with the fact that you may never find your soulmate.

To combat this discouragement, people have come up with a new way of thinking. In 2023, TikTok users took concepts from East Asian mythology and developed their own take on this folklore. The “invisible string theory” describes a similar concept of a thread linking two people destined to be together. The theory adds that your paths could cross throughout your lifetime, but you won’t meet until the perfect moment. Users shared stories of times they unknowingly encountered their partners years before they officially got to know each other. Some revisited childhood photos, only to discover their spouse was in the background the entire time.

ALIGN 16

THE TIES THAT BIND - drew turiello

S

ome bonds are unseen, yet unbreakable. They weave through time, through dreams, through the spaces where memories refuse to fade. You feel them in the pull of a name you haven’t spoken in years, in the ghost of a touch that never truly left your skin. These are soul ties. Soul ties are connections formed beyond reason, and beyond will.

But what if not all ties are meant to last? What if some were never meant to exist at all? There are those who say severing a soul tie is unnatural, almost like a wound that cannot heal. Others believe breaking one is the only way to be free. And then there are the ones caught in between, tangled in the mystery of love, fate, and the shadows of what once was.

Not all soul ties announce themselves with grand passion or fate’s heavy hand. Some slip in quietly, unnoticed until it’s too late. You feel them in the way your heart stirs at the sound of their voice, in the way your thoughts wander back to them without permission.

But what happens when the tie turns from a lifeline to a shackle? When the connection lingers not as a comfort, but as a weight? Some say breaking a soul tie is impossible, that to sever such a bond is to defy something greater than ourselves. Others insist it’s the only way to reclaim who we are. However, the truth hides in the silence between longing and release.

Severing a toxic soul tie isn’t as simple as walking away.

Distance doesn’t erase the imprint they’ve left on you, and silence doesn’t undo your bond. The tie remains, lingering in the memories of old conversations, in the habits you picked up from them without realizing. It’s even as simple as smelling the fragrance they wore – it will always remind you of them. You might not speak their name anymore and force yourself to forget the way they made you feel, but deep down, you know they’re still there. A soul tie doesn’t disappear; it only fades into the background, waiting for a moment of weakness in a familiar song or a late-night memory to pull you back. The true act of severance isn’t in forgetting, however, it’s in choosing, over and over again, not to answer the call.

But even in silence, even in absence, the energy of that connection lingers. It’s in the way you second-guess new love, in the way your heart hesitates before trusting again.

A soul tie, even a toxic one, leaves imprints on your day to day life and shapes the way you move through the world.

ALIGN 17

The theory explains that you can be near someone for years, but won’t fall in love until the time is exactly right. The “invisible string theory” gives people hope that their soulmate is out there, and could even be hidden in plain sight.

Although I’m not a spiritual person, I feel comforted by these beliefs. At times, it feels like small decisions I make redirect future relationships and new opportunities. Maybe riding the bus rather than the train prevented me from encountering a perfect stranger.

Or taking one section of a class over another meant that I never sat next to my soulmate. But believing that a higher power is keeping me on track relieves some of that pessimism. Simultaneously, I feel a need for control. That I should be the master of my destiny and get to choose who I end up with. This paradox lives in the back of my mind with each new person I meet and my opinions on fate turn on a dime.

Is it reassuring to believe that no matter what we do, our soulmates are somewhere out there drifting toward us? Or is there an existential dread knowing that fate is not in our hands?

If fate is in our hands, is it up to us to build meaningful connections outside of an initial magnetism?

After all, people change people. I am who I am because of every single person who has come into my life and taught me something new. Maybe the initial sparks and circumstances are predetermined by destiny, but it’s through quality time, growth, and effort that two soulmates grow old together.

Whether it’s real or not, I like to believe that there is a little red string tied to my pinky finger, keeping me on track and leading me to my one true love. With the grim state of the world and an abysmal dating culture, it could be healthy to turn to ancient Chinese mythology and trust that an invisible force is pulling us towards true contentment.

ALIGN 18

The real battle isn’t just in leaving, but in reclaiming yourself. Healing isn’t about pretending the tie never existed – instead, it’s about learning to exist beyond it. And maybe one day you’ll wake up and realize that the pull doesn’t feel so heavy anymore.

“

But even in silence even in absence, the energy of that connection

lingers.

”

In the end, soul ties are never truly broken, only quieted. Some remain as gentle reminders of love that once was, while others serve as ghosts of lessons learned the hard way. But the power was never in the tie itself – you decide whether to keep looking back or to step forward, whether to keep feeding the bond or to let it fade away.

And maybe that’s the real secret: soul ties don’t fade on their own.

You have to choose to outgrow them.

WRITTEN BY HELEN MYERS & DREW TURIELLO

A Conversation About Soul-ties and Soulmates People come in and out of your life for a reason. Every relationship serves a purpose and offers growth, whether the outcome is a lifelong partner or a short companionship. You can feel a strong intangible connection to someone while knowing that it’s better for both of you to diverge and move on. Just because someone isn’t physically in your life doesn’t mean that they don’t play a role in who you are and who you’ll become. I agree, you can be tied to multiple different soulmates within our lifetime.

Not only can you have a romantic soulmate, but you can also have platonic ones. Being tied to multiple soulmates is a definite possibility.

A soul tie is a deep, emotional, and sometimes even spiritual connection between two people. Even when a relationship between two people is toxic and no longer serves either party, there’s still a connection. When a relationship ends between soulmates or it proves toxic, I think they aren’t actually soulmates – a soulmate never leaves you. But with a soul tie, even if you may no longer

ART DIRECTO R & PHOTOGRA PHER ELIOT CORR ELL STYLIST EVA FR EZZA

see or interact with them, you’re still connected with that person forever. Soul ties can be with anyone you feel connected to: friends, family, or anyone else who is significant in your life. These relationships often feel easier than those with soul mates as they are less intense and have lower stakes.

Soul ties can vary in intensity and impact. Some are light and fleeting while others can be deeply binding and powerful. It depends on the type of relationship you have with the other person — shared experiences and the depth of the relationship play a major factor in the intensity of soul ties. Adding to that, the longer you spend with someone, the stronger your tie to them becomes.

Quality time can put one relationship above others, even if you haven’t known them as long.

Some people go through life never getting married or “settling down.” Tradition tells us that they die alone, but I don’t like that framing. Most of the time platonic relationships are the longest lasting relationships in our lives and they shouldn’t be discredited. Platonic soulmates are just as powerful as romantic ones, if not even more. The best thing about a soulmate is that they can take form in literally anyone.

MARTIN MODELS HENRY & EMILY MURO RANELLETTI DESIGNER STELLA

If we miss out on someone we are destined to be with, hopefully, our invisible strings pull us back. That doesn’t mean you should blindly let fate do all of the work, but it’s comforting to know that we often get second chances with the people who matter most. I have met a lot of people in my life and at least one of them has to be my soulmate. I already have a few platonic and familial soulmates. If I have met my romantic soulmate but just haven’t realized that, I hope that fate would bring us back together.

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The

Shapeshifter of the Sea

WRITTEN BY LIBBY FINDLING ILLUSTRATED BY TAYLOR JONES DESIGNER NATALIE ENGLET PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR JACQUELINE PINEDA

W

hile the Loch Ness monster dominates popularity in mythology, a deeper look into such folklore reveals another legend of the sea. The selkie is a mythical seal that lives in saltwater, playing in herds as seals do. Though, when the sun sets and the sea is illuminated in the moon’s white glow, selkies can travel to sandy beaches and remove their seal skins, transforming to an alluring human with pale skin and inky locks. If their skin is lost or stolen while they are in human form on land, returning to the sea is impossible. The word, “selkie” originates from the Scottish word “seolh,” meaning “the sea.”

The roots of selkies remain mysterious, though one theory is that ancient Scottish peoples thought of Finnish and Sami travelers as selkies because of their use of sealskin kayaks and coats. The nature of selkies makes for a compelling study of double lives between land and sea, soul and skin.

Long ago on a full moon’s eve, a group of female selkies were dancing on a moonlit beach, their skins removed and stashed on shore. All of a sudden, a snooping fisherman spotted the group and selfishly stole a single seal skin. The selkie whose skin was stolen was forced into a domestic life with the man, bearing his child and grieving her past life with her sisters in the sea. Some say her sisters ventured out of the sea to scavenge for her skin and found it locked away in a great wooden chest. After seven years, she was reunited with her skin and freed from her human form. She was now allowed to be a selkie again and return to the sea. Some selkies are able to flee captivity on their own, find their skin, and make it back to the sea. However, many stories end tragically. In darker tales, the individual who finds the skin becomes so mad and desperate for the selkie that they burn it, forever binding the two with a cruel contract.

Stories of female selkies are high in popularity due to their connection with modernized tales about the beautiful and free woman of the sea enslaved by a greedy man. In Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” Ariel belongs to the sea but sacrifices her voice and tail to be on land.

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However, the selkie can slip between worlds as she pleases,so long as her skin stays with her. But what is it about the land above the salty sea that tempts these women? Could these callings come from a place within — a burning desire to explore their instinctual wildness?

American psychoanalyst Clarissa Pinkola Estés reflects on “wild women” as archetypes in her book, “Women Who Run With Wolves.” The “wild woman” has a deep and dynamic relationship with her own independence as well as a raw bond to nature. She leads with her heart. The selkie embodies this feral woman — untamed, fierce, and mystical. Though, her identity is challenged when her skin is stolen. She faces an unknown world; totally naked and vulnerable. Estés’ study of selkies focuses on the duality of the soul and the skin. She finds that the concept of separate identities resonates with women who have found space between themselves and their skin.

Dr. Estés writes, “These selkie tales resonate strongly with women, for the selkie’s song is our song. It’s a song of yearning – yearning for a part of ourselves that we feel we have lost – or maybe a part that we feel we might once have had, but never know.”

Estés emphasizes how our skin is our greatest sensing organ that translates external information to us. She discusses how women can “lose their skin” — it can be stolen, given to someone once trusted, or it can be removed for safekeeping and forgotten about entirely. Roaming to the shore ritually is sacred and empowering for the selkie and her sisters. It’s where she can be wild and free to explore her vulnerability. But as soon as her skin is taken, her power is stolen and she loses her sense of belonging. When separated from the open sea, her seal sisters and her own skin, the selkie’s wild heart is anchored to the land. She has been tamed. When she escapes this prison, she leaves with knowledge of who she is and where her true home is. The selkie embraces her balanced life between land and sea. Her power lies in her freedom to express herself how she pleases, no matter the form she takes.

Selkie stories enlighten us land-dwellers to reconnect to our true sense of wildness after losing pieces of our identity when we are most vulnerable. We are able to reclaim the severed tie between ourselves and our most intuitive home by finding our seal skins and once again returning to the sea. Through the selkie, we learn that our home is wherever we feel safe to wear our skin proud and comfortable enough to drop it. Home is our center. When we are free to relax and explore our instinctual, intuitive ways, self-reflection, growth, and transformation can take place.

If we choose to listen, through the fierce waves crashing against the land, the shapeshifters of the salty waters whisper to us where we belong.

F

so

.... ng

th r o

lkie’s song is ou e s e r

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For the Love of Cats

CAN HAVING A CAT BE EMOTIONALLY EQUIVALENT TO HAVING A ROMANTIC PARTNER? WRITTEN BY SYDNEY SEYMOUR

ART DIRECTED & PHOTOGRAPHED BY ELIOT CORRELL

MODELS MORGAN & MOOSE GLINSKI ALIGN 22

DESIGNER STELLA RANELLETTI

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ats—they follow you to the bathroom like your little shadow, rub up on your legs when you don’t give them enough attention, and greet you with a meow or two or three when you get home.

Cats have the capacity to actively seek out interactions with humans. They can also express contentment through distinct vocalizations like purring. These actions indicate they have the capability to develop emotional connections. Through an analysis of survey data from almost 4,000 cat owners worldwide, researchers Mauro Ines, Claire Ricci-Bonot, and Daniel Mills proved just that for the National Institutes of Health.

According to the study, while most relationships with cats seem to mirror friendships,

cats can form close emotional relationships with humans so much so that a codependent relationship can occur.

This phenomenon was especially prevalent in a oneperson household with a cat that does not have access to the outdoors. Signs of a codependent relationship may include the cat and owner frequently playing together, the owner staying with the cat while it eats, the cat licking the owner’s hand or face, and both preferring to remain in close proximity to the other. Given these behaviors, it’s not so farALIGN 23

fetched to compare a relationship with a cat to one with a romantic partner.

But how do emotional bonds with cats differ from one with a romantic partner? A study by Mikel Delgado and Gretchen Reevy, published in Anthrozoös, a journal focusing on human-animal interactions, discussed this. They found that cat owners in a romantic relationship sought some degree of emotional support from their cats, they didn’t necessarily need reassurance from their cats or feel distressed when their cats were unavailable, unlike how they might feel about a romantic partner. While a relationship with a romantic partner may seem to indicate a deeper emotional bond, a cat’s presence improves the owner’s daily life in an authentic way that cannot be replicated in human form or interactions with other animals.

Something as simple as a cat’s purr can soothe us in therapeutic ways. Behavioral health therapist Nancy Martin explained that the lowfrequency vibrations of a cat’s purring, typically between 25-150 hertz, are often used in sound therapy to trigger the release of oxytocin, a hormone that promotes happiness and reduces stress, thus inducing the body’s relaxation response.

Considering a cat’s purr, their tendency to become our personal shadows, and the fact that they don’t require daily walks, cats are the most valuable partners in managing our mental health.

They offer us a way less complicated and lowmaintenance relationship than another human or emotional support animal. So maybe the infamous cat lady is doing it right after all.

In loving memory of Rocky Road Seymour, the best companion I could’ve asked for.

05/02/2024-02/17/2025

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the good, the bad & the ugly

T

he sun beamed through the expansive windows, its bright rays casting atop the parallel pews jewelry-embellished candelabras on either side of the pulpit. Waiting patiently at the front of the church, Yves sat with her hands placed curtly on her lap, awaiting the priest’s wise words. Her white dress, embroidered with layers of chiffon, tulle, and lace, lay in asymmetrical patterns. Her dark hair, adorned with white bows, cascaded down her back in soft curls, tranquil as a river.

A multi-eyed stuffed bear that she owned since childhood sat in her lap. Sitting in the church, accompanied by the stuffed bear, Yves was enamored by beauty. But she was torn between the two spirits that knelt beside her during the priest’s sermons – one of faith and one of sin, disguised as devotion. No matter the amount of praying, they would return to their hypocritical ways by morning.

Yves had kept her eye on one of the churchgoers who claimed so-called allegiance to God. His presence reeked of alcohol, as he berated his children; he was a blemish on God’s perfect creation. The darkness of night swept in like an eagle, an axe with a white ribbon wrapped tightly around the handle as she stepped toward the ugly sinner. Stumbling at the sight, the sinner lost his balance, and his lips sputtered pleas of mercy, interrupting the perfect silence of the night. Yves smiled to herself. She was serving God in the ultimate form.

The world was decaying, and those who contribute to its decay deserve to die.

The adrenaline rush from her art was thrilling. She reveled in the beautiful world she was creating, her heartbeat soaring.

The blood on her clothes and skin only caused the guilt inside her to simmer to a boil. She let warm water wash away her doubt, reminding herself that it was what God would have wanted.

Her eyes widened as she gazed into the mirror.

The girl in the mirror wasn’t Yves. Her face was identical to Yves’, but something wasn’t right. Her straight blonde hair juxtaposed Yves’ waves of black curls. A bulky, black blazer was placed quaintly over her flowy dress with stacks of silver jewelry around her neck, fingers, and wrists. Her pale skin stretched tightly over her sharp facial structure – eyes sunken, glinting with something wicked. Horrified, Yves held her breath.

The first stroke was that of a sculptor’s chisel, cleaving away at the excess imperfections. The rigid edges of these sinners only exacerbate their lust, defiance, and contempt. But God had bestowed upon Yves the role of the perfect artisan – every swing of her axe reshaping the sinners and chiseling away at their defiance, bringing in the tranquility of silence. Yves’ axe simply stripped the sin from sinners, leaving behind only what was necessary: stillness, peace, and exoneration. Each kill was a craft. As she admired the fruits of her labor, she understood with lucidity how far she had left to go. Another sinner was gone, and she was one step closer to her masterpiece. The chaos that once lived within him was replaced with the hymn of peace. She felt no remorse; picking roses came with the pain of thorns, as carving marble came with the annoyance of dust.

The sacrifice was simply part of her craft.

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wound. The girl watched as Yves writhed, playfully hitting the axes’ handle against her hand in a rhythmic pattern. Despite her beautiful exterior, something much more sinister had been hidden underneath.

Yves opened her eyes one final time, her body growing cold and limp.

The girl was gone.

In the mirror was Yves, on the floor, holding the axe to her bloodied stomach. She saw her multi-eyed bear sitting beside her, its eyes drilling holes into hers. Suddenly reminded that the bear had been a silent witness all her life, finally, she understood. She never made the world beautiful, and God was not on her side. The bear’s many eyes had seen the truth.

It sat still as Yves took a final breath. Her time was up. How astounding it was for someone so enchanted by beauty to be so terrifying.

“Are you certain you’re making the world beautiful?” The girl asked, her mouth corroding into a wide smile. Her voice lingered in the recesses of Yves’ flesh. The glass rippled like water as the girl stepped out, her body twisting in anatomically impossible ways, holding the same axe Yves held just moments ago.

Yves’ mouth was dry. Her fingers gripped the cold porcelain of the sink as she tried to maintain balance. Her breathing was unrhythmic – no, this isn’t real, she thought. The girl could see Yves’ quickening descent into delirium, a combination of her religious devotion, her intense love of beauty, and the denial of what she indeed was – tainted with sin.

“You can carve away the sinners,” she spoke, her eyes squinting into a slit, “but you can’t carve away what you are.”

She raised her axe, slashing it in her stomach with raging vigor. Yves’ knees buckled, the world turning sideways as she fell to the floor, her hands slick with blood as she clutched her

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"The world was decaying and those who contribute to its decay deserve to die."

WRITTEN BY VIVIANN NGUYEN ART DIRECTOR LUCY MCMAHON PHOTOGRAPHED BY CHARLIE TOWNES MODELS AVERY WILSON & ALYSSIA TRUONG STYLISTS REX BROWN & JOSIE CUNNINGHAM DESIGNER ABIGAIL RAIKE

ILLUSTRATED BY WALLIE BUTLER

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ENGAGE or ESCAPE

The Importance of Tolerance in the Digital Age ALIGN 32

E

very once in a while at the University of Oregon, a group of anti-abortion protesters will stand in front of the Erb Memorial Union. At the most trafficked intersection on campus, they hold graphic signs of bloodied fetuses and use a megaphone to express their belief that abortion is blasphemous. Students passing by are presented with two options: to keep walking, disregarding the protesters, or to stop and engage with them. Both options depict a binary that dominates societal discourse as a result of social media.

The dilemma students face before the anti-abortion protesters reflects the modern challenge of personal expression: there is little opportunity for civil discourse, for they are already yelling. The evolving partisan rivalry, global conflicts, and demographic social issues are topics of heated debate on the internet. Conversations around social issues online quickly escalate to disrespectful exchanges, meaning that expressing support for one side demands becoming a part of the fight.

Aggression on the internet can be attributed to the complexities of interacting with someone who is not physically present. The National Institute of Health defines the “online disinhibition effect” as some people who self-disclose or act out more frequently or intensely online than they would in person. In real life, confrontation is tense and uncomfortable — a natural incentive to try to keep a conversation respectful.

On social media, one can interact with people without having to face them in real life which has made us less confrontational in person.

Reinforcement from online communities amplifies aggression and division. Algorithms that provide content are actively funneling users into communities based on their demographics and interests.

In 2013, Substack writer Sean Monahan wrote, “Once upon a time people were born into communities and had to find their individuality. Today people are born individuals and have to find their communities.” Social media pressures us towards communities — both actively (as we consciously follow, like, and subscribe to the community) and passively (as we are algorithmically filtered into it).

Social media feeds us targeted, repetitive content, limiting our exposure to outside perspectives. By interacting in a medium that favors conflict and homogenous content, communities become increasingly alienated from each other.

And although social media creates a space for discourse that is detached from reality, the effects of toxic online interaction shape our mentality. The excess of toxicity and intolerance in online forums makes us less inclined to interact with people of different viewpoints. It’s preferable to choose the second option: keep walking and ignore the noise and disassociate from a difficult reality.

Disassociation offers an escape. Gen Z, at least, is unsatisfied with the current state of social interaction. This generation’s consistent infatuation with Y2K reads as a yearning for a less technologically involved era. Many clubs and venues prohibit cell phones, offering hedonistic catharsis from the pressures associated with a digital footprint.

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“Third spaces,” social spaces other than home and work, were imagined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg. Oldenburg coined “third spaces” as indicators of a healthy democracy.

The obsoletion of the “third space” is often blamed on the transition from physical to digital commons, neglecting the intolerance that has resulted from it. If divisive and provocative online forums remain our default space for discourse, we must vigilantly practice being tolerant of others. Making an active effort to collaborate with people who have different views than ours can be burdensome, particularly if we have been conditioned to dislike them. It’s a burden that demands that one be respectful, informed, and patient. Our collective willingness to carry this burden in the coming years will be imperative to maintaining a civilized society.

“It feels like technology is robbing us of having fun in our 20s,” said one TikTok commenter. Consider the phenomemon of “doom-scrolling:” a term that conveys cynicism about disassociating from reality by scrolling on social media for large quantities of time. It should be extremely alarming that, despite a collective sense of disapproval for the current state of techno-social interaction, we choose to disassociate because the possibility of constructive interaction has become so bleak.

“I hate that things are so bad that we have to make a commercial about it,” Snoop Dogg said during the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show. Whether this remark landed or not, the fact that public discourse has become so toxic that many are simply choosing to opt out instead poses grave implications for the trajectory of our democracy. The presidential interregnum shows early indicators of an authoritarian regime – consolidating executive power, politicizing federal agencies, suppressing dissent. Whether our government shifts towards authoritarianism may depend directly on whether we can tolerate and constructively interact with each other.

Avoiding conflict by disassociation often perpetuates the same intolerance that creates aggression. Recently, liberals fled en masse from Elon Musk’s X towards BlueSky. Homogenous internet communities create echo chambers that reinforce users’ beliefs and limit opposing points of view, increasing the impossibility of coexistence and compromise. In a Substack essay titled “Third Space? You Can’t Handle a Third Space,” Anna Pompilio wrotes,“our penchant for black and white thinking, thinking that often alienates us from each other for things both big and small causes us to be averse to spaces like this.”

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In its absence, the two options – engage or escape – are submission to the primitive instincts of fight or flight. When intolerance resulting from the internet forces us to choose between these two counterproductive options, we must learn to engage with each other in more productive and positive ways.

As unnatural techno-social dynamics perpetuate conflict, resisting the temptation to disassociate from the overwhelm of it all is the ultimatum that we have arrived at as a society: lock in or check out.

WRITTEN BY CASS MORRISON ART DIRECTOR ISABELLA URIBE PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOAQUIM GRUBER MODELS DANIELLE COLLAR, HANA JESSUP & WILL MARTIN STYLIST ANGELIKA STOLECKI DESIGNER SOFIA LENTZ

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A Miscommunication OR TWO WRITTEN BY HANNAH KAUFMANN

JANUARY 15th

12:24 AM

I

went to the playground again today. I promised myself I wouldn’t, but when I left Asteroid Coffee, I went right on Wilshire out of habit and left on Pearl because I’ve turned there before, and on the corner of Pearl and Lawrence was the little lot of grass and bark chips and slides and swings. And I looked at the little kids playing make-believe together, in their tiny gloves and hats and shoes, and I looked at the women on the benches with pear clusters on their left hands. Who do they go home to? Whose child is whose?

What would me and his baby look like, bouncing on my knee while I adjusted their hat?

What would our own child makebelieve? My mom told me I only ever wanted to play house, but that’s something that was told to me, not my own recollection. Will these kids remember this moment in five years? Will they leave their playground memories in the dust when they look up at the newfound weights on their heads, looking around at the multitudes of lives that could become theirs?

After he ignored me at that party, I knew that whatever we had was over. He failed the last test: I saw him right when I walked in, talking to Stephanie. Sure, it

was his party, but I know he saw me walk past him, and he didn’t even stop me to say hello. I was wearing my tuberose perfume too, the one with the scent trail, so people would notice when I walked by, but nobody mentioned it all night. So I started talking to this other guy, who was cute, I guess, and as he got closer to us I got a bit more flirty. I thought, “If he really cared about me, he’d say something.” But he just never did.

That wasn’t the only thing, either. He stopped responding to my texts as much, and we never hang out anymore. He says it’s because he’s busy, but, hello! We’re college students. We’re both busy, and just because he’s in engineering and I’m not doesn’t mean that I’m not still tired at the end of the day. If he really cared about me – which, I don’t even know if he does – he’d text me back something more than a word or two once a day. I know he’s on his phone. Also, since when did sending TikToks become the new method of courtship? I’m supposed to think you like me because you sent me a video of a baby turtle? And okay, yeah, it was really cute. Regardless, what happened to love songs, and red roses, and buying me any food besides pizza? Within that same minute he sent it to me, he could have forwarded the message to any number of girls while barely lifting a finger.

ART DIRECTOR LAC NGUYEN

I did like our movie nights, though.

I never paid attention to the movies; I just felt his warm chest pressed against my back and his arms around me. I felt so safe in his arms, and for a moment I wondered whether, if things between us didn’t work out, I would ever feel safe like that again. But the thing about movies is that the audience stays quiet during the performance. We’ve kissed, and held hands, and spent our time together, but I only know his last name from his Instagram handle. We joked around a bit, but never had real conversations, and I can’t help but think that we never went out together because he’s embarrassed of me.

I don’t know why he blew me off like that, but if he’s not even gonna try to win me back, this is over. I blocked him from the social platforms we met on, but he knows my email address. He knows where I live. He could be trying harder to reach me, but he isn’t.

For all intents and purposes, this man is dead to me. I don’t want to play make believe anymore. But, I don’t know, it’s been a few weeks. He might have changed, at least a little. Maybe I should text him.

PHOTOGRAPHED BY EMMA HIGHFIELD ALIGN 37

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LOST IN TRANSLATION WRITTEN BY MATTHEW BEDROSIAN

JANUARY 26th

1:42 AM

S

o, I don’t really know how to journal, but my buddy recommended trying it out. Here goes.

Things have been busy for me right now. Ever since I got that internship, my time has been filled with shadowing so many cool engineers, and I’ve been learning a lot, which has been sick.

There was that girl, though. It’s been a while since we last talked, and we had a good thing going for us. But then it got weird and she started acting, well, weird.

And with the way school was going, I just didn’t have it in me to deal with all that.

Well, maybe that’s an oversimplification. We met through mutual friends at a party. She and her friend competed against my friend and I in beer pong. Eventually we got to chatting and she seemed cool. The rest of the night we hung out and kept talking, and it was a good time. At some point I think her friend had too much to drink and she disappeared to help them in the bathroom, but before she left, I made sure to give her my Snapchat.

After the party, I walked her and her friend back home. We kissed before she headed inside her place.

Later, I sent her a TikTok, a video of a baby turtle. We kept on sending videos back and forth for a few days. Eventually we started hanging out at my place and we would watch movies and eat pizza.

It was a nice routine, and felt like a little tradition.

She was really funny and I liked having her around. And for a second I thought we had the potential for something more long term.

Then I got accepted into my engineering internship. I was stoked when I got in. The experience alone is crazy, and getting to connect with so many cool engineers is fire. My resume is gonna look goated.

Except I wasn’t fully aware of how much work it would entail – I’m working day and night on all sorts of things. On top of my schoolwork, it’s draining. By the time I’m home, I barely have any energy to cook myself dinner or shower, and I just want to collapse onto my bed and fall asleep.

She kept texting me though, sending me TikToks and stuff and asking me about my day. But I didn’t really have the time to respond to it all. Sometimes I would just react with a heart or say one word.

MODELS ZHEN CHAU & DAVID LESTER

Then my birthday party came around, and it was big! I saw her around the start and said hey, but I got busy and couldn’t talk much with her. When I finally got a minute to go talk to her, she was all up on this guy, an old classmate of mine.

She was getting really close to him and touching his shoulder and I don’t know, I didn’t wanna seem weird so I left them alone.

But at the same time, it’s not like we were anything official so I can’t be mad if she talks to other guys. I just walked away cause what was I supposed to do? Get mad at her?

Later as everyone was leaving, I saw her again. I turned away before I said something petty or mean to her.

That was the last time I saw her.

For some reason, she blocked me on Instagram and we stopped talking. I mean, it stung. I don’t know what went wrong though, I just guess I hope she’s doing well.

My buddy said I’m yearning. I’m like, okay, what then? How do we stop yearning and starting claiming what we want?

STYLISTS LIBBY FINDLING & KIANA HEILFRON

DESIGNER CLAIRE BRADY ALIGN 39

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STYLISTS LYDIA HICKEY & ALMA SCHUETZ PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR ARDEN BRADY DESIGNER STELLA RANELLETTI

ART DIRECTORS CHARLOTTE MILLER & LELA AKIYAMA PHOTOGRAPHED BY AUBREY JAYNE MODELS SALLY LACHICHA & MILLIE LANGARICA

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WRITTEN BY KELLY KLEINBERG ILLUSTRATED BY CECILIA SELDERA-BAHNSON DESIGNER AMELIA RAMSEY

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Y

ou are in love. Unrequitedly, to be clear. You pour days, weeks, years, into poetry for your beloved, discarding every draft in hopes of the universe granting you karmic mercy and rewarding you for your silent, miserable pining with reciprocation of your love. It does not. Your muse remains unknowing of your feelings, and you lose hope. You publish over a hundred of these poems, and some years later, you die.

Your love, your hope, your optimism, never recognized and never returned by the object of your affection — was it wasted?

Is this unreasonable, unrewarded hope worthless? Is the fruit of your labor the sole determinant of its worth?

You are dead. But, you are William Shakespeare. Your love is still unrequited, but does your success in your lifetime and posthumous fame change the worth of your optimism?

Or were you just a fool who got lucky with fame?

In other words, is an unreasonable optimism ever justified?

The Fool is the first card of 78 in a Tarot deck. It typically pictures a young person blissfully mid-stride, posited a single step from a cliff’s edge. The Fool, joyous and hopeful, is unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. The card is said to represent new beginnings, hopes, dreams, and a journey of endless possibilities. It’s an encouragement to optimism, a wish of luck for new beginnings. It’s also a warning to consider the consequences of unwise exploration, an alarm against naivete — it’s a warning against cruel optimism.

Cruel optimism is author Lauren Berlant’s neologism for desiring something that will ultimately do you harm – even the very act of pursuing that detrimental dream is a drawback, keeping you stalling, cyclically stuck in the pursuit of a false mirage. This kind of optimism doesn’t always present as hopeful, but often appears as the ache of a craving, or in the constant yearning for something just out of reach.

This grating paradox haunts me, and I see it in every parasitic pursuit in my life, and in the lives of my friends. We want the people who make us feel inadequate. Or we chase social

ease, pretending to be people we’re not, and then slip into the internal discomfort of inauthenticity. Procrastination feels like indulging in some secret lustrous pleasure until the moment it chokes us. Or we crave connection, so we download dating apps that end up making us feel alienated and unseen. We down another drink for the promise of fun, and wake up the next morning with no recollection of the night. Or in pursuit of safety, we stay shackled in our comfort zone and are punished with boredom and dissatisfaction.

Why do we so often pursue this cruel optimism? What drives us to this sort of sadistic insanity? Why does it feel so normal, and so fitting? Is it ever worth it? If we achieve our ultimate sought-after thing, have we won some invisible, intangible game? Have we outsmarted karma? And if the object of our desire catalyzes the slow death of our happiness, what then?

Are we still winning?

Berlant offers an answer to (some of) these questions. She writes that our addiction to what we cannot or should not have stems from subconsciously recasting our object of desire “not as a thing (or even a relation) but as a cluster of promises magnetized by a thing that appears as an object.” Berlant sees these fascinations not as endgoals themselves, but as doorways for possibilities made suddenly attainable by winning the object of desire. Theoretically, if we lock down a partner who makes us feel incompetent, we prove our own worth and unlock a life of value. By procrastinating and refusing to start intimidating projects, we remain in an illusion of control. In other words, the fixation itself isn’t the summation of desire – rather, it functions as the genesis of a new life promised to us.

Let’s bring it back to Shakespeare’s muse. If he never locked down his baddie, but he achieved success in his career, was the yearning worth it? Was his optimism cruel, or just effective motivation? How far from life’s lemons can you get while still making lemonade?

I hate to be honest, but I have no idea. Maybe the best we can do is try to look beyond or desires, and see through the mirages we create for ourselves. We can ask ourselves how far we’ll let optimism take us, and where our hearts draw the line.

From one fool to another, be optimistic. But for your own sake, don’t be cruel.

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WHY NikeSKIMS MAY STRUGGLE TO MAKE A NAME FOR ITSELF

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n mid-February 2025, a reverberation echoed through the concrete pillars of Nike Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, into the brick streets of SKIMS’ brick-and-mortar in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. and into social media feeds and Pinterest boards around the world. The reverberation that was felt around the fashion world calls itself “NikeSKIMS.” In what sounds like the beginning of a Greek epic, this sets up the brand that oh-so-effortlessly rolls off the tongue. NikeSKIMS conjoins Nike, Phil Knight’s running shoe business that transformed into an expansive clothing, eyewear, shoe, and lifestyle company, recognizable by the seamless swoosh, with SKIMS, Kim Kardashian’s lingerie and shapewear company.

NikeSKIMS is not merely a collaboration between the sneaker and loungewear behemoths. It’s an entirely new brand, “grounded in innovation and an unrivaled belief in women,” according to the Nike website. SKIMS’ states that the products are “designed to sculpt and engineered to perform.”

This is a heavy task for a pair of leggings or for a sports bra. Catering to female consumers invested in luxury activewear, in a lengthy statement, Nike emphasized how NikeSKIMS will be “women-specific.”

In a political climate where gender roles are scrutinized and gender equality is precarious, is it a thoughtful move for Nike to enter a close partnership with Kim Kardashian and SKIMS? Kardashian emerged in national prominence due to an inappropriate video. Is it tasteful to create NikeSKIMS, claiming to empower “anyone who has a body” and touting “female power” despite being headed by an objectified and objectifying businesswoman? NikeSKIMS enters the lifestyle and fitness world as Nike rests precariously in the

upper echelons of sportswear. This fragility was elucidated by the 6% jump in Nike stocks following the announcement of NikeSKIMS. The fusion of Nike and SKIMS demonstrates an attempt at tapping female consumers, the majority of whom are fitness-oriented in their 20s, eager to don the (likely) matching taupe sets before sipping $23 sea moss smoothies.

A true test of NikeSKIMS is if it can attract female consumers who are not already attending workout classes or engaging in the proliferating fitness landscape. The SKIMS consumers who abide by its loungewear aesthetic may not be keen on replacing the SKIMS “fits everyone” bra for a high intensity sports bra.

Can two successful businesses, from separate and interrelated spheres of catering to and shaping contemporary lifestyles, can inherently profit? Is the market for Pilates-inspired activewear in neutral colors and leggings with subtle branding and high waists oversaturated or untapped?

One need look no further than Alo Yoga’s sleek leggings, Lululemon’s evolving array of matching sets, or other fitness influencers’ activewear companies, such as Form by Sami Clarke . Consumers are overwhelmed with existing products. Moreover, the timing of NikeSKIMS poses a threat to the success of the nascent brand. As increased tariffs loom and economic uncertainty grows, a new fitness gear company may confront a rigid consumer base. Many fitness-oriented female consumers already own workout garments. It’s unclear whether NikeSKIMS will find enthusiastic consumers ready to shell out upwards of $50 for fitness gear. Doubling the visions and figureheads of Nike and SKIMS may overwhelm an oversaturated market.

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Will innovation excite consumers? Or will the products mirror what is already available at Gymshark, Lululemon and Nike more broadly? Questions remain for the nascent NikeSKIMS. The brand’s emphasis on female empowerment may limit NikeSKIMS in how it markets possible shoes, accessories, and other gender-inclusive products. Previous collaborations between Nike and Melody Ehsani in rainbowcolored Air Jordan 1s adorned with clocks on the tongue managed to attract a variety of consumers rather than solely female sneakerheads.

PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR MADDY HUGHES

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NikeSKIMS, proclaiming that it’s “BODY OBSESSED,” rings to an empty weight room. The name recognition of the brand may draw in resellers in place of genuine consumers.

Ultimately, Kim Kardashian, a woman who has undergone multiple plastic surgeries to shape an artificial figure, speaks to the unattainability of NikeSKIMS in touching female consumers already in the gym, and may deter those considering stepping into the fitness sphere.

WRITTEN BY BEATRICE KAHN ART DIRECTOR & PHOTOGRAPHER NATALIE ROBINSON MODEL ELLA POOR STYLIST KEIRAN CHRISTIANSEN DESIGNER EVAN FANDEL

Shadows and SOUL of REMAKES The

WHY A VAMPIRE FOLKLORE TALE AND A CLASSIC COMING-OF-AGE NOVEL ARE STILL RELEVANT TODAY WRITTEN BY SYLVIA DAVIDOW ILLUSTRATED BY YING THUM DESIGNER ELLA KENAN

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nce upon a time, there was a concept called an original idea. Two people meet and their lives are inexplicably changed, bringing them together despite trials and tribulations. This plotline is most common in fairytales but has been replicated in numerous films that have spanned the decades of cinema. From Disney classics to any romance film ever made, the concept of soul ties has been prevalent throughout film history – something known to keep audiences engaged, as everyone loves a relationship story. Filmmakers and audience members also love the past, another concept that was once original and now seems to have a new interpretation as more films continue to get churned out each year.

One reason the 2024 “Nosferatu” is a well-executed remake is through its use of parallels. I must note there is a filmed version of “Nosferatu” made

by Werner Herzog in 1979, which Eggers paid homage to by using the same Count Orlock castle in his film.

However, Eggers version mainly alludes to the 1922 version. Some scenes practically mirror the original such as the scene with Ellen and the flowers, when Thomas opens the tomb of Nosferatu, and perhaps the most iconic, the scene of the horse carriage in the dark forest. Other scenes pay homage to certain actions of certain characters such as Ellen’s entranced sleepwalking – her white nightgown blowing in the breeze, her arms floating in front of her as she walks unknowingly on her tiptoes.

Period piece films nowadays seem to consist of reinterpretations of relationship tropes and past events.

Some even go so far as to create adaptations of past films with the director convincing the audience, “If you loved the original, you’ll love my modern version.” And yet, there are cases where the modern version of a classic film is better than the original.

But why are we, as film connoisseurs, so attracted to recycling these ideas about the same plotlines and settings over and over again? Why are remakes so popular and what makes a good remake?

Another way Eggers did his “Nosferatu” justice was by taking inspiration from the cinematic era of the German Expressionist Movement.

Stylistically speaking, the director paid homage to multiple elements of this movement through the use of cinematography, lighting, and long-take shots. When the film takes place during the day, it serves as a modern-classic period piece. But once night hits, the shadows expand, twisting the room with eerie lighting – almost to make the 2024 film purposefully appear in black and white. Eggers establishes this effect throughout the first scene where heroine Ellen Hutter, played by Lily Rose-Depp, accidentally calls upon the spirit of Nosferatu to connect with her at dusk.

The answer lies within the recently released Robert Eggers film “Nosferatu,” a 2024 remake of the classic silent horror film originally released in 1922. Now even the first film itself wasn’t the original idea of this gothic tale. The “Nosferatu” films were inspired by Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula,” the tale of a business man’s trip to visit Count Dracula, a vampire (who was renamed Count Orlock in “Nosferatu”). The films explore this plot in greater detail, adding a proper story arch involving a heroine and villain as well as a curse that spreads throughout the film.

In Ellen’s cold and dark bedroom, the camera focuses on a close-up shot of her as she prays to the spirits.

Her innocent doll-like face is half illuminated by the moonlight and shadow… a symbolic concept Eggers applies throughout the entire film.

Then, the audience hears the voice of Nosferatu for the first time as the camera slowly pans out, showing Ellen on the right side of the screen and her balcony on the left, which blows a force of wind so powerful, it triggers a lighting

movement of her curtains as the shadow of Nosferatu suddenly appears and Ellen begins levitating.

But remakes can also shed light on new generational interpretations of a nostalgic tale. “Little Women,” written

by Louisa May Alcott in 1868, is still an incredibly popular novel to this day.

One of the main reasons has to do with keeping the story of the four sisters relevant through a series of eight film adaptations. The most recent version is Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” (2019), which granted the newest generations a sense of appreciation for the classic story of sisterhood.

The star-studded cast is one aspect that makes this Gerwig’s version so approachable for audiences. Emma Watson embodies Meg’s kindness, Saoirse Ronan’s Jo is ambitious and headstrong, Florence Pugh has Amy’s unapologetic honesty, Timothée Chalamet yearns longingly as Laurie, and Laura Dern’s Marmie is welcoming and selfless. Together, these actors bring these beloved characters to life, sheltering them and making them a family – one that would do anything for each other. And in an age of technological advances and progression in the workplace (to some degree), one thing stays the same. Family is forever at the end of the day.

In the year 2025, remakes are popular now more than ever before.

For some media conglomerates, they are purely a money-making strategy – a way to get people in the seats of movie theaters, whatever it takes. But for other cinematic artists, there’s a lot of thought that goes into remakes including how to maintain relevance while paying homage to past versions. Directors like Robert Eggers and Greta Gerwig breathe new life into dusty old books on a shelf by turning them into intricately made films that honor a classic story yet give it new meaning in the present.

When it comes to cinema, remakes are already proof that something amazing exists.

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Liquid Courage Doing a double TAKE at the allure of drinking cuture and ROMANTICIZING blacking out

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At the bar, laughter rises and falls like waves. Familiar faces blend with new ones as the buzz of conversation and booze makes the hours fly by. Another song plays, laughs are shared, and the empty PBR pitcher is replaced with a full one. It feels like the night is slipping by. Before long, you’ve stumbled home to fall asleep with half of your eyeliner still intact.

The next morning, with a heavy head and droopy eyes, you gather to debrief the previous night. Did that really happen? Who kissed who? After the jokes, regret creeps in as you remember doing things you’ll never live down. Your head is spinning and your body feels like it’s been through a war.

In tandem with the tradition of the debrief is the reality of drinking and blackout culture. This phenomenon is romanticized and often centers around the desire for social connection, confidence, and escape from everyday pressures.

The consequences are often downplayed, leaving out the lessthan-glamorous side of it all. The fleeting euphoria of risky decisions and the thrill of not remembering it all can feel liberating. However, amidst the fun, the romanticism of blacking out is accompanied by real consequences. One must face the reality of the aftermath: the emotional and physical hangover, the strained friendships, the health toll, and the financial impact, just to name a few.

Sally LaChica, a University of Oregon senior and psychology major, knew the drunk alter ego of herself as “Shelly.” According to LaChica, Shelly was a blackout drunk whose use of substances stemmed from her experiences with depression and anxiety.

Shelly’s actions alarmed those around her and often led to LaChica (as her sober self) making apologetic calls the next morning.

WHAT DO I EV EN LOOK LIKE

he night’s ritual begins with sipping a tequila soda and sitting cross-legged in front of the mirror while getting ready.

Steady hands apply a third attempt at winged eyeliner as an influx of texts come through, altering the group chat of each person’s outfit choices. An hour later, the living room is full of friends. The contents of the bar cart are splayed across the countertop, alongside a slew of various BYOB pregame drinks. It’s finally the weekend. This calls for a group shot! Where’s the tequila?

After an hour of yapping, nonsense, and taking pictures, it’s 10:30 p.m.

Nobody wants to get stuck in a line, so drinks are chugged, phones are searched for, shoes are on, and — oh, one more shot for the road.

“We try to escape weird feelings using alcohol but seem to forget that alcohol is a depressant and it’s going to make you feel worse,” LaChica said. “It allows you to release, relax and forget what’s happening in the present, future, and the past. But as soon as you sit down to stop for a second, it all hits you. And even if you can’t name that feeling, it’s still there. You can’t sever that part by yourself.”

LaChica’s last appearance as Shelly was in 2023 when she blacked out at a pool party and hit her head in the bathroom while her friends were trying to hold her body up to help her.

She was rushed to the hospital and suffered a concussion.

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“That was a wake-up call for me.

I don’t plan on being Shelly ever again,” LaChica said.

While she still drinks with friends, LaChica does so with more intention: prioritizing fun while balancing safety and awareness.

Reflecting on her own and others’ behaviors, she sees how personal issues can manifest when drinking.

She believes that instead of focusing on the humorous debrief, it’s more helpful to explore why someone acted in a way that might have hurt or alarmed others.

DO I EVEN LI KE MYSELF

Another UO senior studying psychology, Margo Cummings, feels that some people romanticize being out of control and having a reason to justify their drunk actions. “It’s easy to blame bad things you’ve done on something else,” she said.

“It’s also easy to bond with other people when you believe yourself to be more outgoing and fun if you’re drinking. Drinking as a whole is romanticized because the social stereotype is that drinking makes you fun and gives you friends.”

Drinking can become an accessory of belonging.

Heavy drinking is part of the social fabric; college culture normalizes the idea of drinking to excess. Blacking out is seen as a game — a competition to see who can drink the most.

“Something I’ve noticed in college is to keep drinking

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until you can’t anymore. It isn’t as common to just casually have a couple drinks and socialize. It’s very normalized to keep buying or drinking drinks until you can’t,” senior and advertising major Luke Domenick said.

For some, alcohol removes inhibitions, allowing them to engage, dance, or try something new. Others become more talkative, expressive, or affectionate. Some become introspective and uninhibited, while others find themselves impulsive, emotional, or unexpectedly bold.

Each drink can bring out a different version of our identity.

Sometimes they can be fun, but also reckless or even scary.

“Confidence can be manufactured by tequila and accountability while drunk is nonexistent,” Savannah College of Art and Design junior Emma Hock said.

The stories of lost inhibitions, bold decisions, and unforgettable memories may hold a certain appeal. But they often mask the reality of the emotional and physical toll that can follow.

By being mindful of our relationship with alcohol, we can redefine the experience — not as a means to escape or to validate ourselves — but as a way to enjoy meaningful connections, maintain our well-being, and keep the memories intact. It’s possible to continue romanticizing those special moments of going out with friends without sacrificing who we are and our safety in the process.

WRITTEN BY CLAIRE CONGER ART DIRECTOR MAYA CLAUSMAN PHOTOGRAPHED BY ZOE MAITLAND MODELS LELA AKIYAMA & AVA MREEN STYLIST PIPER SHANKS DESIGNER RYAN EHRHART

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ILLUSTRATED BY OLYVIA BANKOVITCH

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u nt a ng li n g the t w i n exp er ience

tw i n e x p e r ie n c e unta n g lin g t h e ALIGN 56

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here's a certain connotation in the world of pop culture and everyday life associated with twins. They're often defined by their similarities — dressing alike, finishing each other’s sentences, and sharing thoughts and behaviors that make them seem inseparable. The twin identity is presented as a tightly woven thread, impossible to separate.

As a twin, I've shared this novelty and ideation of twinhood. My twin and I share clothes, experience unexplained moments of telepathy, and are bound by the duality of living side by side.

But what happens when we look beyond the surface, challenge the stereotypes and untangle the coil of the “twin experience?”

Growing up as a fraternal twin, I was constantly measured not just against my twin, but against the expectations of twinhood that society placed on us. My awareness of this began in elementary school, a crucial period for self-discovery and exploring the boundaries of originality. That process was shaped by being known as “one of the twins.” Self-discovery was complicated when my identity was braided so tightly with someone else’s. I spent my early years in the same class as my twin, and it wasn’t until we were separated in fourth grade that I began to truly experience life as Lara. It was as if someone had loosened a knot, giving me room to stretch, to breathe to find a shape of my own. For the first time, I could just try myself on without the twin label constraining my exploration of individuality.

The struggle for identity among twins is nothing new; it's a thread woven throughout history and myth. The twin children of Zeus and Leto, Apollo and Artemis, were bound by blood but defined by contrast. Apollo, the golden god of light, reason, and music, stood in opposition to Artemis, the huntress of the moon, wild, and untamed. Though they shared a divine lineage, their paths were never the same. Their story reveals a deeper truth about twinhood — individuality can and should emerge even from the most intertwined of origins.

Yet, untangling a life spent in unison is easier said than done.

This struggle between unity and independence as a twin is a delicate balance: the comfort of togetherness versus the yearning for singularity. Most of the time, being labeled as “the twins” can feel like a joy — there’s a deep, unspoken connection, an inseparable bond that no one else can truly understand. But at other times, it becomes a cage, a box that leaves little room for growth beyond the mirrored

twin label. Twins are often conditioned to think in terms of “we” instead of “I.” From childhood to adulthood, the drive to avoid conflict and keep harmony between twins can lead to an overwhelming need to please others. This conditioning extends far beyond twinhood — it seeps into how we navigate the world, how we form relationships, and how we make decisions.

What would the other want?

When it’s time to make those decisions, I fall into the trap of thinking, “what would the other want?” rather than “what do I want?” My twin has always been my built-in mirror, reflecting a sense of belonging and familiarity.

But in that reflection, I've sometimes lost sight of myself.

The effort to maintain harmony has often come at the expense of self-assertion. Even as an adult, I find myself defaulting to peoplepleasing, hesitant to disturb the equilibrium, fearful of what it means to exist outside the known structure of “we.”

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WRITTEN BY LARA CLUTE ART DIRECTOR ISABELLA KING PHOTOGRAPHED BY LUCY RUPPERT STYLIST SALLY LACHICA MODELS EMILY HALL & ISABELLA KING DESIGNER ABIGAIL RAIKE

can make it hard to break out of the follow-the-leader narrative that has told my life story. I often find myself waiting for other people to tell me what my role is, what next step I should take, and how I am supposed to feel. As a twin, I'm enmeshed in a tumultuous dance of consideration, selflessness, and self-doubt.

go of twinhood but in reshaping it. To be a twin does not mean to be an echo. To be a twin does not mean to be bound. It means to be two lives that were once twisted together but now unravel into their own identities — two threads that started as one knot but now run parallel, distinct yet forever linked.

What do I want?

Ultimately, what if the true beauty of twinhood has nothing to do with conforming to societal expectations or the need for equipoise. What if twinhood instead embraces the complexity of connection, individuality, and emotional autonomy? Just as in Greek mythology, where Apollo and Artemis may have shared the same bloodline but walked entirely different paths, twins can be more than just a reflection of one another. They can be individuals — together, yet apart. A ball of thread, once uncombed and muddied in duality, can be The challenge lies in learning how to exist outside of “we” intentionally separated. That, perhaps, is the most profound without losing the deep bond that “we” created. It's not in letting expression of twinhood.

However, untangling the twin experience does not mean severing the thread entirely.

Rather, it means learning to loosen its hold — to find a way to exist as both connected and separate. It is a process, a skill that requires patience and practice, like learning to unravel a delicate knot without breaking the string.

With each act of self-advocacy, I strengthen my ability to exist as an individual and learn the language of separation.

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Mirrored Minds

THE CONNECTION OF SHARED THOUGHTS AND MOMENTS WRITTEN BY ISABEL PARRA ALIGN 60

ILLUSTRATED BY AVA AANDERUD

DESIGNER MEGAN LEE

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ave you ever had one of those weird, uncanny moments when you and someone else think the exact same thing at the same time... or finish each other’s sentences? It’s the kind of thing that makes you stop and wonder, how did that happen? It’s like your minds are in sync, and for a second, you both feel like you’re sharing one brain.

This strange connection between people is something that psychologist Carl Jung called “synchronicity.” He introduced the idea in the 1930s as meaningful coincidences of events that seem to be more than just random. He described it as an “acausal connecting principle” – a fancy way of saying that there’s something more going on than we can explain. When we have these moments, whether it’s thinking the same thought or just being in tune with someone emotionally, it feels like we’re tapping into something bigger than ourselves. So why does this happen? Are we really just random individuals, or is there something deeper going on that connects us in ways we don’t quite understand?

One of the most common experiences of synchronicity is finishing someone’s sentence. It’s the moment when you and a close friend or partner or even a stranger speak the same words at the same time. It’s almost like you’ve got some kind of mental telepathy going on. You don’t even have to try – it just happens. And then, there are times when you’re not even trying to finish someone’s sentence, but you both end up saying the same thing or realizing the same idea at the same time. It’s those moments that make you pause and think, did we just share a thought?

Then there are times when it feels like you’re connecting on a deeper level, like when you feel what someone else is feeling before they even say it. It’s that intuition that tells you something’s wrong with a friend or loved one, even when they haven’t said a word. There’s no explanation for it, but you just know. These moments suggest that maybe our emotions and thoughts aren’t as isolated as we think.

So, why do these moments feel so significant? Why does it seem like the world slows down for just a second when two minds are perfectly aligned? Jung thought “synchronicity” could point to something deeper, an invisible force that connects us in ways we can’t fully explain. It’s like, for a brief moment, the lines between people blur, and you feel less like an individual and more like a part of something bigger.

This idea challenges how we usually think about ourselves.

We tend to see ourselves as independent beings, each with our own thoughts and experiences. But “synchronicity” makes us wonder, are we really separate? Or is the way we experience ourselves as individuals just an illusion, a barrier between us and

the unseen connections that tie us all together?

If this idea of connected minds sounds familiar, it’s probably because we see it pop up all over in movies and TV, such as films like “Inception” and “The Matrix.” In “Inception,” characters literally share dreams, diving into each other’s subconscious worlds. In “The Matrix,” minds are connected through a digital simulation, making us question what’s real and what isn’t. Both films play with the idea that our minds are more interconnected than we can even imagine.

In real life, science has given us a little bit of insight into these connections. Ever heard of mirror neurons? They’re brain cells that help us mimic, or mirror, the actions and emotions of others. When you see someone smile, your brain can automatically trigger a similar reaction in you. It’s part of why we can empathize with people so easily. While mirror neurons don’t directly explain “synchronicity,” they do hint at the idea that our brains are wired to connect with others in ways we don’t fully understand yet.

The weird thing about “synchronicity” is that it can feel both comforting and unsettling at the same time. On one hand, it’s kind of nice to realize that someone else is feeling or thinking the same thing as you. It’s like a little reminder that you’re not alone in the way you see the world — you’re not the only one having those thoughts or feelings. It creates a sense of unity, a quiet bond that goes beyond just words or proximity.

On the other hand, these moments can be a little disorienting. When you realize that you’re so in tune with someone, it starts to blur the lines between “you” and “them.”

Suddenly, your sense of individuality doesn’t feel as solid as it did before. If we can share thoughts and emotions so easily, does that mean we’re even really separate? Or is it possible that we’re all part of something much larger ­— something we don’t fully understand yet?

Jung believed that “synchronicity” could be pointing to a deeper, invisible connection that links us all. These moments might be a glimpse into something bigger than just our individual lives. They might suggest that we’re all woven together into a greater web of human experience and that maybe we’re not as isolated as we think.

“Synchronicity” makes us question the nature of connection itself. Whether these moments are just coincidences or something more profound, they remind us that maybe, just maybe, we’re all more connected than we realize. So the next time you finish someone’s sentence or have that eerie sense of understanding, take a moment to wonder: is it just a fluke, or are you catching a glimpse of something deeper?

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One Game Won’t Hurt America’s “Golden Age” of Online Degeneracy and Gambling

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ith a click, neon lights flash as one by one the wheels lock into place. Could this be the game you’ve been waiting for? Sevens fall, one after another. With a final click, colors streak across the screen as the winnings appear, four, five, six digit earnings, a life-changing sum. Yet, as the screen fades to black, the only discernible thought remaining is how the next game will play out. As enthralled eyes glaze-over, the cursor, seemingly moving on its own accord, is directed to the bottom of the screen. In a split-second, the wheels continue spinning and the cycle begins anew.

The endless adrenaline rush of uncertainty and emotion provided by games of chance have long engrossed the most vulnerable members of global society. In 2025, games of chance have undergone an internet rebrand. With increased convenience and youthful aesthetics, masses are blinded by the childlike joy of the “maxwin.” This creates a market of impressionable youth who have developed a penchant for gambling live streams conducted by gamers and celebrities alike. The internet’s new degenerative standard of internet entertainment is the culmination of chronically online behavior and a generally cynical collective consciousness. While the blame rests largely on the consumers, the underhanded marketing techniques used by the offshore cryptobased gambling institutions (who capitalize on youth audiences) have enticed a generation of young men to start the journey down gambling’s slippery slope.

The shift towards youth-centric internet gambling began in 1977 in the Indo-Pacific region. Japan, midway through its own economic and cultural rebrand, became home to a series of cartoon aesthetics through popular games, toys, and TV shows. Capitalizing on the shift, Bandai, a prominent entertainment company, popularized the 1965 idea of “gachapon,” a luck-based

vending machine system which sold collectables.

Termed “gacha” for short, the addition of uncertainty to the once mundane toy collection was an instant hit.

It has since been adapted to trading card games like “Pokemon” and eventually was embraced by online games. In 2012, “Counter-Strike Global Offensive” gained widespread popularity for its competitive nature and engaging skin market which revolved around gacha-adjacent mechanics. The marketplace became so popular that it formed an entire economy and skins that regularly sell for thousands of dollars.

Eventually, third party gambling sites like CSGORoll took over the community with creators streaming their wins. While gambling via online games has since been normalized, it was only a matter of time before the disguise was cast aside and casinos took advantage of the gaming community’s live streaming demand and propensity for games of chance.

When offshore cryptocurrency-based casinos like Roobet (2018) and Stake (2017) were founded, gambling seeped into the underbelly of the internet.

While the sites remained on the fringe, they slowly worked their way into online communities. In 2022, the chips began to fall with the inception of Kick, a notorious live streaming platform. The site, founded by the proprietors of Stake, offered looser terms of service guidelines and a haven for audiences to live vicariously through gambling livestreamers after the genre was banned from established platforms in 2021.

While there isn’t an inherent problem with creating a community of gambling hobbyists, the deceitful marketing strategies the platform implemented are reminiscent of the Supreme and Bape-clad loot boxes of MysteryBrand in 2019.

While MysteryBrand promoted to minors through budding internet phenoms like Ricegum and Jake Paul, Stake opted for nine-figure non-competitive deals to

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slowly convert the gaming icons of the past into slots promoters. These deals allowed massive streamers to continue growing their young and predominantly male fanbase on reputable platforms while syphoning them over to gambling streams on Kick. The first convert was Tyler Niknam, or “Trainwreckstv,” in 2022 who allegedly made over $360 million in his first 16 months on the platform.. 2023 brought Felix “xQc” Lengyel, Nick “Nickmercs” Kolcheff, and Adin Ross to the platform, each making NBA-sized salaries with the addition of a referral program. Influencers earned an additional 10 percent of bets placed by referees with an increase depending on casino advantage all while gambling with the house’s money.

In noncompetitive deal contracts, streamers are provided with currency by the casinos to create more content. In a SkyNews article, a streamer described a $75,000 allotment per stream of fake currency to gamble in front of his audience. Such a business model is only viable due to the crypto-based nature of the site and the lack of government regulation.

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Though there are obvious moral failures of this new phenomenon, as Stephen “Coffeezilla” Findeisen stated in a video on the topic, “As soon as SteveWillDoIt won’t do it, another Steve will do it.” While such dishonest methods are poor form morally, the influencers themselves can hardly be held accountable.

As our trickle-down economy remains poorly disguised in the “golden age” we’re living in, the phrase “get the bag” becomes ever more prevalent in the American lexicon. From online gambling promotion to crypto pump-and-dumps, the morally ambiguous will continue to use socio-political clout to profit off the masses in any way they can. With a proverbial line out the door to make that eight-figure bag, it raises the question, if 10 million were on the table, would you?

WRITTEN BY MARK MUNSON-WARNKEN ART DIRECTOR DELANEY MCCUEN PHOTOGRAPHED BY KY MYERS MODELS CAMILLE ANDREWS & SOPHIA TRUITT STYLISTS CAMILLE ANDREWS & CLEMENTINE JAFFE DESIGNER MEGAN LEE

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Having Two Homes The duality between Japanese and American citizenship

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s the flight attendant welcomes me aboard my flight, my American life restarts. I find my seat, making friendly eye contact with the passenger next to me as I buckle up. I’ve done this routine many times.

I was born in the U.S. because of my father’s education but grew up in Japan. I returned to the U.S. when I was 16. I turn 21 next month. Due to Japanese policies, I will be required to select my country of citizenship. Which identity ­— my American or my Japanese — will I choose?

There are many ways to form one’s identity, such as culture, race, gender, belief, nationality, and citizenship. Some forms of citizenship include: family citizenship (Jus Sanguinis, or “right of blood”), citizenship by birth (Jus Soli, or “right of the soil”), naturalization, citizenship by marriage, or economic citizenship. Depending on the country, the definition and requirement of citizenship varies. In Japan, it’s a combination of naturalization, marriage, and birth in Japan by Japanese parents. Naturalization in Japan is for foreign nationals that can obtain Japanese citizenship after living in Japan for at least five years. The foreign nationals must renounce their previous citizenship.

So, going back to my question: “Will I need to choose my citizenship?” The answer is yes. In Japan, there’s a policy where Japanese citizens should only hold one citizenship after turning 22 years old. For me, this decision comes next year. I’m counting down my months until I “need “ to claim my citizenship.

Some people who know the system have asked me about my decision for citizenship — every time I got nervous and pressured to make such a big decision.

In this writing, I will pause on the talk of the technical citizenship situation, and instead, share how some other students experience living between Japan and the U.S. ALIGN 66

At the University of Oregon, many students feel similarly about the double identity that comes with dual citizenship.

I remember meeting Elena Kato at the Japanese language circle my first year at UO. I was leading the language circle at the time, and she joined the circle with other Japanese language learners and Japanese exchange students. Because I didn’t know her at first, I spoke to her in English, but then realized her Japanese fluency.

Kato grew up in a “pretty rural town,” three hours by train from Tokyo until the age of 12. Her mother is Japanese and father is a second generation Japanese American. She grew up going to Japanese school like her other friends. In 2011, there was a major earthquake in Japan that caused a tsunami and an accident at the nuclear plant. Out of safety concerns, her parents decided to move to the U.S. When she first arrived in the U.S. and walked into an elementary school classroom, Kato was shocked – there were different styles and colors of hair! Kato noticed little things like that as she started her life in the U.S. Language was one of the barriers Kato faced when she first came to the U.S. “I strongly believe that language and behavior are connected,” Kato said. After struggling to make friends and experiencing differences in cultural, social, and political views, Kato feels “definitely American.” But still, Kato is intentional to value her Japanese culture; she eats rice everyday and celebrates Japanese holidays like New Year’s with her family.

I can definitely relate to how Kato felt that time. After spending two years or so in the U.S., I started seeing myself more like an American when I was in Japan. Yet, I also want to recognize the Japanese culture in and around myself.

Most days, Mia Rawland has rice and natto — a fermented soybean dish with a distinct smell that many non-Japanese people tend to dislike ­— for breakfast. Rawland’s mom grew up in Japan and came to the U.S. as a teaching assistant, then met Rawland’s father. Because of that, Rawland’s mom sent her to summer school in Japan, where she took classes at a local school. For Rawland, Japan was like a “summer vacation spot.”

As Rawland started looking for colleges, she was excited to go to a college in Japan.

She decided to go to the International Christian University, which is known as one of the more diverse Japanese universities. The classes are liberal arts-based, and taught in English and Japanese. She felt the style of the college was just like the U.S. Rawland’s parents encouraged her to attend university in Japan for a year and then come back if she didn’t like it. After a year, Rawland returned to the U.S. During her time at ICU, Rawland met other students who had similar struggles with their cultural and national identity. Now at UO, Rawland continues to meet people who have similar situations. She said that her experience at ICU motivates her to stay connected to Japan.

While Rawland is taking Japanese language courses and practicing among friends, sometimes she forgets a simple English word like “hallway,” she said.

“It’s a little bit of a sacrifice to try and be part of both cultures,” Rawland said. “You have to spend time and energy to belong somewhere.”

Even though there’s some pressure to choose citizenship or think about the future, I appreciate my experiences growing up in Japan and living in the U.S. today. Things that I thought were “normal” were never normal in different parts of the world. Living in the U.S. brought me the opportunity to view things in a different perspective.

Do I have the answer to the question? Not yet. But now I realize selecting citizenship status isn’t a struggle that I have to endure alone and that others have to make that decision too.

As I flew from Tokyo to Seattle, I asked myself, “Am I going back home or leaving home?”

Sometimes my friends and family say “Welcome back,” but they also say, “When are you going back?”

I have multiple homes. Wherever I see my connection and my people, it’s my home and always will be no matter what. Yes, there could be some sacrifices that I have to make in the future, but I will always have multiple homes that I belong to.

WRITTEN BY SEIRA KITAGAWA ILLUSTRATED BY ELLA JAKSHA DESIGNER CLAIRE BRADY ALIGN 67

The

Art of

Alter

Egos ALIGN 68

why do musicians make characters?

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ow old were you when you realized Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus were the same person? The concept of a famous person creating a character separate from themselves and their other bodies of work is one we seem to see a lot in music. But why? The concept of having an alter ego can be traced back all the way to Cicero, who described it as “a second self, a trusted friend” the help of having a second soul to do things you can’t. For artists at a high level of fame, where everything in your life is put under a microscope, it’s obvious why one would create another personality. However, privacy isn’t the sole reason someone would create a character with their own backstories, “separate” albums, and performances.

has received backlash for critiquing the norms of celebrity and asking to be left alone when she’s not performing. In a perfect world, people would treat the two as entirely different humans, but that’s not the case. In the age of the internet, an alter-ego designed to protect could have the opposite effect. When a character is outspoken, she’s fun, but when a real person asks for boundaries, she’s abrasive. The protection Roan seeks is one reason for her second personality, but not her only.

There are artists who want to tell a story through music; stories so separate from their own they create, perform, and release albums as the characters in these stories. The audience is put into the world in which these characters live.

You, as a listener, are asked to play along and rely on suspension of disbelief. So instead of Damon Albarn performing a song about a story, singer Gorillaz tells you about his experience on Plastic

Island. With artists like Ethel Cain, her album is like a book. It’s a complete telling of the story of a “Preacher’s Daughter” from start to finish. Same with “Electra Heart,” these albums aren’t by Hayden or Marina but are meant to be consumed as if they’re coming from the character’s world. Before the age of extreme access to celebrities via the internet, a unique and respected balance of these stories and their makers was followed. However, in recent years, some “fans” have been unable to merely love the characters and stories alone and feel the need to dig up older works outside the characters. The beauty of a story-based alter ego: it can end or continue forever without fear of personal impact.

An artist who has an alter-ego and seems to be pushing back on celebrity culture is Chappell Roan. Her persona allows privacy while she performs as Chappell and not as Kayleigh-Rose.

The second the Chappell drag queen makeup is off, she’s clocked out. Roan

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The brand of an artist like Beyoncé is just as important as her music. But the artist might be afraid to explore creatively while building that image.

Thus, Beyoncé created Sasha Fierce to express the more fiery sensual side she had hidden and put out an album. Artists might feel pigeonholed into creating one genre of music or a specific performance style on stage because it’s what they’re known for or what sells. But through an alter-ego, the freedom to express their creativity and experiment with sound is limitles.

We could look at another one-name singer, Prince, who recorded an entire album as his alter-ego, Camille.

Camille is a representation of the singer’s more feminine side. He pitched up his vocals when recording as the character, creating an entirely different sound from Prince. These artists used their characters as a way to experiment with their art and have a stronger sense of identity for it.

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“The beauty of a story-based alter ego: it can end or continue forever without fear of personal impact.”

I couldn’t talk about musical alteregos without mentioning Bowie. You could argue a large part of Bowie’s success is due to his personas, but even “David Bowie” is a persona of David Jones. Bowie didn’t start incorporating alter egos until his third album, aptly titled, “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust,” where the titular Ziggy Stardust would be introduced and skyrocket Bowie into stardom.

Unlike the other artists mentioned in this piece, Bowie’s idea of a “concept album” was something that didn’t exist in the mainstream at the time. A musician living as a character hadn’t been done before. He wanted to critique the rock star messiah worship that was gaining traction in the 1970s. But more than anything, Bowie wanted to combine theater and rock and roll to create a complete artistic statement. Bowie eventually retired the character after touring, feeling he could no longer separate Ziggy from David, but this wouldn’t be his last time performing as a character. He went on to play Halloween Jack, Aladdin Sane, and The Thin White Duke.

We’ve seen how these musicians have utilized their characters for different reasons: protection, story, experimentation, or all three. By letting themselves go and becoming this other personality, artists can create some of the best works of their careers. The fear attached to doing something out-of-thebox can be daunting, but transforming into this other person gives you the freedom of courage. Your second self can teach you things about yourself you otherwise would’ve never known. Even for those not in the spotlight, adopting an alter-ego and becoming someone else gives us a deeper understanding of who we are.

WRITTEN BY AVERY WILSON ART DIRECTOR HARRY NOWINSKY PHOTOGRAPHED BY CHARLIE TOWNES MODELS ALMA SCHUETZ & ISABELLA RAZURA STYLISTS GIDEON BATYA & NINA LATTO DESIGNER EVELYN OROZCO ALIGN 71

ART DIRECTOR, PHOTOGRAPHER, WRITER, & DESIGNER SNEHA CHOPRA MODELS BLU MACKEY & SIMLEEN GULATI STYLISTS BLU MACKEY & DANIELLE COLLAR

she took one look back

and soon

a directionless void

nothing was the same.

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and one look ahead

the two blended

filled her soul

and yet nothing had changed.

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WRITTEN BY EMESE BARCAMONTES VARGA

PHOTOGRAPHED BY SOFIA MOSCOVITCH

ART DIRECTOR AVERY WACHOWIAK

WHO’S

AFRAID

C of

O

S E PI ?

THE CASE AGAINST ORIGINALITY

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verything is everything is everything, which is to say, our contemporary world is fueled by the machinery of mass production. Grocery store aisles warp into a Warholian labyrinth of copies: rows upon rows of identical, plastic-wrapped objects are squeezed onto shelves to form a street of repetitions. We tend to associate mass production with rampant capitalism and industrialization, and while not wrong, this view obscures a different issue: the relationship between the copy and the original. But don’t jump to any conclusions — the copy never drove a stake into the heart of the original. How can originality be dead if it were never alive?

Originality is an obedient follower of the supreme rule of raw thought; in order to be successful in its aims, it depends on a wellspring of “newness.” The problem with this is quite obvious: originality has never been, nor will ever be, purely new or different. We cannot assume because something is created first, it’s also new or different; doing so ignores the nature of inspiration and influence — ideas don’t pop out of thin air! Once we acknowledge this, we realize originality’s wellspring of “newness” consists entirely of previous references provided by its surroundings. And how could it not?

MODELS LYDIA HICKEY, MAREN FULLERTON, & HOLLIS MORRIS

Even nature itself is unoriginal: dried river beds are shaped like lightning and human bronchial tubes resemble families of plant roots.

Everything original is anchored to a process of derivation: underneath every so-called “original” idea is always another idea, at its core a reproduction of something else. Trapped in a cage of continuous mimesis, the original is more closely related to its counterpart, the copy, than to whatever “newness” it claims to embody.

In his 1967 essay “The Death of the Author,” French theorist Roland Barthes writes, “the text is a tissue of citations, resulting from the thousand sources of culture.” Although Barthes refers to

literature here, the sentiment still applies to sociology. Everything we create has already been absorbed by the countless creations preceding it. Today’s “original” ideas are nothing more than an amalgam of yesterday’s flowing in the same braided direction.

But why does it matter? The proclamation “originality is dead” is in itself unoriginal. Still, we continue to exalt originality, and by exalting it we force the copy into gloom.

The copy is many things: a leech, a drain, a void. The act of copying is perceived as lazy at best or insulting at worst. For the artist, the idea of being dubbed a “copy” is monstrous. Yet, in many ways, the process of copying is a fundamental condition for anything to be at all. Where would life be without copying? How could new beings come into existence if not through the literal

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STYLIST EMILY MURO

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act of reproduction? Consider the entirety of human history: how could we go from stone carvings to the printing press without the spread of ideas by way of imitation? Humans are undoubtedly drawn to copying (see also: our doublestranded DNA), so why do we tremble in fear before it?

Our fear of copying is rooted in the deluded belief that originality is alive, breathing, and walking around. Yet, much like being convinced of seeing a ghost, sightings of originality are little more than wishful thinking. We refuse to accept the supremacy of the copy because we hold onto hope for the return of the original when, in reality, it’s never coming back. The original did not disappear so much as be consumed by the copy. Even so, the original still insists on maintaining its authority. Why? Philosopher Walter Benjamin famously asserted all original artworks emanate an “aura.” The “aura” of the original art object is tied to its original

presence and everything else made in its image thereafter is a shriveled sham. Applying this theory to the concept of ideas explains why

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we covet originality as much as we do.

There is something desirable in the fresh novelty of an original idea, in its new and different “aura.” But what’s

Like an object, an idea must start from somewhere. But unlike an object, an idea cannot be reproduced endlessly —“mass produced”— without being branded as plagiarism. Ideas, unlike objects, have well-defined owners, and this supposed ownership precludes them from being mindlessly copied. But, of course, this notion of ownership is just for show.

An idea can’t be owned, despite what intellectual property lawws may tell you.

Only the act of reaching into space and gathering inspiration belongs to you.

“A CORPSE REANIMATED: THIS IS THE TRUE NATURE OF ORIGINALITY.” The owner of an “original” idea is much like Dr. Frankenstein, stitching together a body of borrowed ideas. A corpse reanimated: this is the true nature of originality. And if the copy is no less monstrous than the original, what reason is there to fear your own creation?

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lost in the reproduction of an idea? What even is a “mass produced” idea? Is it a seed of thought germinating into a trend, spreading like a virus? For that matter, what are trends? Merely mass produced ideas that have etched themselves into the stone of culture? It’s hard to say.

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PLAYLIST CONNOISSEURS MIA FAIRCHILD & MADDY HUGHES DESIGNER OLIVIA BOURGAULT

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WRITTEN BY LUKE BOTTOMLEY ILLUSTRATED BY EMMA HARRIS DESIGNER KAYLA CHANG PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR ELSIE FERBER ALIGN 78

Haven’t I Seen This Before?

SNL, TIKTOK, AND THE MONOTONY OF COMEDY

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here’s a medieval English ledger known as the “Book of Fees” which includes the name Roland the Farter.

Roland was allegedly gifted land in return for “a jump, a whistle, and a fart” in the presence of King Henry II each Christmas (at least that’s how the internet tells it). On January 25th, 2025, Timothee Chalamet could be seen farting while performing CPR on Sarah Sherman for a Saturday Night Live sketch. Chalamet’s farting was viewed by millions on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Whether in the court of the King of England or for millions of people around the world today, farting has proven its efficacy in eliciting laughter. Though there are constants in comedy, including bodily movements, it tends to be the uniqueness and absurdity of jokes which make us laugh the hardest. Because of this, freshness has long been required to make it in the world of comedy, something which SNL excels in, rotating classes of A-list comedians.

Today, however, the comedic landscape is rapidly changing.

TikTok brought a dominance of short form content and an increasingly monotonous comedy style. Trends, sounds, and internet vernacular are how younger generations are coming to understand comedy. This shift has forced SNL, long the comedic standard, to pivot its style to remain relevant. SNL and comedy as a whole’s new look brings with it a question for its evolving audience: have I seen this before?

SNL is no stranger to adapting to the internet. When YouTube first gained popularity, it opened up general access to the previously exclusive world of sketch comedy. Unless you were on SNL or in a handful of improv groups such as Chicago’s Second City or LA’s Groundlings, sketch comedy was inaccessible. YouTube allowed groups such as Smosh, The Lonely Island, and Good Neighbor to challenge SNL’s dominance of the sketch scene. YouTube’s perceived threat was promptly quashed, however SNL used it as a talent pool, plucking The Lonely Island and Good Neighbor off of the website to join their cast. SNL sketches also lend themselves well to becoming YouTube videos and have been massively successful since SNL created their account in 2013. SNL’s real threat came when the internet began to develop short form content, challenging SNL’s capacity to succeed online.

Short form content is nothing new. When Vine burst onto the scene in 2012, its six-second video limit was a massive departure from YouTube’s format. SNL had to rely on parodies of the 2016 election cycle to remain afloat during Vine’s reign.

Vine was shut down in 2017 but just a year later, Chinese company ByteDance acquired Musical.ly and merged it with its newest app, TikTok. What TikTok capitalized on, and what had the greatest effect on comedy, was its use and creation of trends. The vast majority of TikTok videos use “sounds,” short audio clips which are used on hundreds of thousands of videos. This has created a highly competitive landscape in which TikTokers fight for views while creating near identical content. Though the use of sounds themselves are a significant part of TikTok comedy, the more fundamental change is in how individual comedians are shaping their work to fit the TikTok algorithm. The number of video sounds and users on TikTok forces comedians to find a so-called niche. Much like how a sound works, a TikTok comedian’s niche is built on the repetition of a character or video format that has done well. For example, out of SNL cast member Marcello Hernandez’s nine most recent TikTok videos, three have the caption, “A parent sending you a video while on vacation,” and each have nearly the same spoken lines. Characters such as this one are part of a trend within TikTik comedy of serializing to fit a niche. Though recurring characters in comedy are not unique to TikTok ­— SNL is famous for its characters — TikTokers have been forced to entrench themselves in a single character to succeed. This limits their freedom to create the aforementioned freshness which comedy seems to require.

SNL recognizes this change in the comedic talent pool. It also recognizes that TikTok is becoming the access point into comedy for younger generations. Current SNL figures, Jane Wickline, Marcello Hernandez, and Please Don’t Destroy have all gotten their starts on TikTok. On SNL, they’ve brought the TikTok style with them. Rather than acting as a wide range of characters, these SNL members often play the same or very similar characters, not dissimilar from the niches they arose from.

Timothee Chalamet farting on national television is indicative of what SNL is currently searching for: guaranteed laughs.

A changing comedic landscape among younger audiences means SNL has been forced to turn to TikTok to produce those laughs. This change doesn’t spell disaster for SNL, or comedy as a whole, but it does represent a fundamental towards monotony.

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INVERTED

ART DIRECTOR & DESIGNER AVA KLOOSTER PHOTOGRAPHED BY JADEN RAI ALIGN 80

MODELS JOSIE CUNNINGHAM & NOVA HOLLENBEAK

STYLISTS ALLYSSA CORPUZ & VIVIAN RUSH

DETREVNI

ASSYLLA STSILYTS HSUR NAIVIV & ZUPROC

MAHGNINNUC EISOJ SLEDOM KAEBNELLOH AVON &

RETSOOLK AVA RENGISED & ROTCERID TRA IAR NEDAJ YB DEHPARGOTOHP

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It Takes Deux

WRITTEN BY ANAYA LAMY ILLUSTRATED BY ASHLEY DUNTEMAN DESIGNER SOFIA LENTZ

dancers at the ballet company Examining Masculinity Male Queensland Ballet expressed engaging in exercise outside of ballet class ensure they have the strength and Femininity within tonecessary to pas de deux. According to a video from the company, “Ballet Ballet Culture Men - Don Quixote,” principal dancer

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he magic of sitting in canvas chairs and looking outward to see the detail of the Proscenium arch. Gazing left and right to see the balconies and boxes filled with highculture consumers. The lights begin to dim, and the vibrations of the orchestra’s overture ring throughout your body as the velvet curtains begin to open. For the next two hours, you will escape into a story told through pas de bourrées and promenades.

As the curtains rise, you can anticipate a crucial duet sacred to any prominent ballet’s plot. This is known as pas de deux. Pas de deux is a French term that translates to “the step of two.”

First appearing in the 18th century, it’s a classical ballet duet between male and female principal dancers — the danseur and the prima ballerina. The most prominent iterations of the Grand Pas de Deux are from “Swan Lake, “The Nutcracker,” “Romeo and Juliet,” and “Sleeping Beauty.” For the spectators, this is the most entertaining piece of the show. For the dancers, this variation holds a weight that the typical viewer may not see — even from the orchestra section.

Male ballet dancers are often portrayed in the media as a comedic device; an emasculating practice involving parading across a stage in spandex. However, to be a dancer takes a certain strength and skill set that those who participate in traditionally masculine sports may not possess.

When the danseur takes the stage for his variation, he’s a symbol of power. Immense strength in the legs, hamstrings, quads, and glutes, along with astute coordination, is mandatory to reach soaring heights while jumping.

Keian Langdon says, “As dancers, when we’re doing allegro, you need to have good cardio and stamina. I like to do gym work, bike riding, a little bit of running, and cross-training to build up my cardiovascular strength.” The agility ballet requires is precisely why several prominent football players have used ballet to improve their performance on the field. According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, NFL tackle Steve Mclendon described his ballet classes as “harder than anything else I do.” A danseur’s masculinity is quiet in presentation but large in feeling.

After the danseur charms the audience with the bells and whistles of his jumps and turns, the Prima’s variation follows. The pas de deux is the crown, but the female variation is the jewel graced upon it. It’s arguably the most captivating, with its strenuous tricks that have been mastered to appear effortless. This threeminute solo is the moment the Prima has been training her entire life for.

George Balanchine, known as the father of American ballet, has famously said that “ballet is woman.” The way she looks and performs is designed to fit the mold of absolute femininity — as defined by a man. For rehearsals, she’s ritually dressed in a black leotard and pink tights, and her hair is slicked back into a signature spiral bun; a uniform designed to ensure that the instructor can see every muscle engaging in her core and every vertebra in her spine is aligned.

The dancer has spent years in the studio perfecting perfection. She must land grand jetes without making a sound on the vinyl stage and hold perfectly turned-out battements like a breeze, all while portraying an effortless feminine allure to the audience. The beauty the dancer exudes makes her tricks look like

child’s play, but the blisters and bruises underneath her satin pointe shoes are badges of honor that signify what it takes to perform the pas de deux.

When the two come together, it’s truly hypnotic. They’re storytellers communicating various themes: the pure romance in the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet, the whimsical yet bittersweet farewell from the Sugarplum Fairy and her cavalier, the winsome first encounter between Sleeping Beauty and her Prince, and the enchanting seduction the Black Swan casts upon her prince. There’s a level of trust and understanding between the prima and the danseur that’s crucially telepathic as he must lift her to great heights and support her pirouettes. Their combined dedication comes together in the adagio and coda to emit the perfect blend of masculinity and femininity.

Although the pas de deux is one of the most captivating sections of any ballet, the strict tradition it holds doesn’t reflect our nuanced society.

The foundation of ballet is built upon outdated ideals: Eurocentric beauty standards, conventional portrayals of heterosexual relationships, and gender roles displayed as simply black and white.

These expectations discourage people of different racial backgrounds, body types, and gender identities from excelling in the art. However, the culture is shifting — several dancers and choreographers in recent years have been working to chassé away from these toxic values. For example, in 2017, Kristen McNally from the Royal Ballet Theatre choreographed “Duet” which featured a dance partnership between two women. Similarly, in 2020 the American Ballet Theatre debuted “Touche,” which portrays the story of two men in love and performing their own pas de deux.

A duet doesn’t need to be between male and female to portray themes of love, grief, loss, and anger. It simply just takes two.

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Nocturne While most are asleep, the world feels more alive than ever

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he sun sets, stripping the world of the natural light that makes for concrete decision-making and orderly conduct. The celestial backdrop of the stars and moon provide a setting for a descent into slight absurdity. For at night, our minds are awakened to a new realm of possibilities. At night, we can be whoever we want to be. We bloom into the most chaotic version of ourselves when it’s too dimly lit to care how our choices may affect us once the sun rises again. Proclamations of “you only live once” and “for the thrill of it all” fill our heads as we embark on late-night adventures, devoid of consequences for the foreseeable future.

Anything can happen during the dark period of time that bridges the gap between yesterday and tomorrow. There’s an undeniable sense of freedom and otherworldliness brought to life after the sun sets and the moon settles into place. While many are dozing off into dreamland, some are just waking up. Suddenly, the line that separates imagination from reality becomes blurred. Daytime is lit by the sun, illuminating the orderly routine and regimented structure of one’s day-to-day life. As the sun fades from view, gradually replaced by the shadowy uncertainty of the moon, our world becomes a blur.

We fall into a cataclysmic descent of a choice in front of us: stay awake and embrace uncertainty, or drift off into a sleepy haze of imagined reality that exists solely in our psyches.

WRITTEN BY ALEX GOLDBERG ART DIRECTOR JADEN RAI PHOTOGRAPHED BY SAJ SUNDARAM MODELS DREW TURIELLO, ANJA VANDERZEE, AMANDA NGO, MAKENDE STEWART & REED FINE STYLIST ALYSSIA TRUONG DESIGNER ELLA KENAN PLAYLIST CONNOISSEURS ANJA VANDERZEE & ELSIE FERBER

Should we choose to embrace the night, we can indulge in the messy and the unconventional without turning heads.

Drive all night until the break of dawn — the windows down, wind whipping through the car, not a single destination in mind.

Swim in the ocean by the lunar light, chase the thrill until the thrill becomes the chase. Scour the depths of your memories of hidden meanings and secrets that have been locked away in the deep innermost corners of your mind. Gladly accept noise complaints from the neighbors because you refused to shut off the music. Go somewhere you’ve never been on a whim while wearing an outfit of utmost foolishness. Fall in love with a stranger, climb to the highest height you can find, and scrutinize the stars and celestial bodies for personal messages ALIGN 85

and deeper meanings. Do anything you would never dream of doing beneath the radiance of the sun’s golden rays.

People in creative fields are often struck with midnight inspiration. An artist splashing colors on a canvas until dawn, ending with a masterful piece that represents the inside of their mind. A writer indulges in late-night musings, descending into madness as they embark on a 3 a.m. writing frenzy. The pieces of their novel have finally fit into place, and the ending they’ve been searching for by the light of day finally reveals itself with the light of a flickering candle. Those who are cautiously composed and boldly audacious alike are swept up into a different version of themselves. Or rather, they’re swept into a different version of the world — one free from societal expectations and decorous behavior, one that’s illuminated by colorful displays of creativity and spontaneous adventures.

The limitless potential of the hours between sunset and sunrise is only truly harvested by the nocturnal individuals who let the night consume them, while they consume the night.

The youth of today’s world are fascinated by the realm of possibilities the night holds, especially through the lens of nightlife culture. The pursuit of happiness isn’t wasted among these ambitious 20–somethings; they tend to come alive in

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the dark. Once day turns to night, we become one and the same. Stereotypes are erased as well as people’s preconceived notions of one another. Whether one is at a neon light-inducing house music party or participating in a 2 a.m. parking garage meet-up, there’s no desire to perceive those who have also embarked on a nighttime escapade. The night allows us to feel alive and in control of our own lives, even when in reality, control is likely far from reach. For in the act of allowing the night to overcome us, we have consequently relinquished personal control.

The unpredictability of the night and knowledge that one thing could lead to a myriad of possibilities in the dark is both enticing and exciting. The draw of the silence and the life it brings with it is wholly its own, incomparable to any other feeling. The silence offers space to be eaten alive by imagination while being freed from daily restraints entirely.

From being under a blanket of moonlight dappled with the candlelight from a midnight poet’s window to sitting amongst the strobe lights from a wild and reckless party, the night holds something that every person finds beguiling. In the faraway distance, the sun begins to show its face once again. Suddenly, the wait for when it will fade from view and shroud the world in shadowy uncertainty begins anew.

“At night, we can be whoever we want to be.”

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S O U N D G N I P R A W

A look at genre-bending in modern music

“

The music industry is dead.” This is a conversation about the current state of music I’ve found myself in many times, usually with older people. Their complaints ring loudly in my ears, demanding there isn’t any good music coming out these days — it’s all been done before. This critic considers all the music produced over the last 70 years. Each decade is defined by the genres of music that emerged or gained popularity over the course of the 20th century. In the 1950s, rock and roll exploded.

The 1970s broke-it-down and laid-it-out with funk and disco music. The 1990s rebelled against the mainstream with hip-hop and grunge artists. The evolution of music works as a trend for most of the 1900s, seeping into the 2000s with genres like pop-punk and neo soul, further cementing themselves in the mainstream. But according to these self-proclaimed critics, the 2000s marked the end of groundbreaking work in the music industry. Critics believe that since then, society has been flooded with generic and formulaic “nothing music” created in the forms of recycled chord progressions and hyper-relatable lyrics that are the listening equivalent to a glass of water.

of genre-bending through their music and the passion and talent behind the craft, which is still very much alive today.

When we look at modern-day genre-bending, we have to remember the artists who brought the melding of genres into the mainstream. We wouldn’t have an artist like Prince without the rockers and soul artists of the past, and in the same way, we wouldn’t have the artists we have today without the works of the past genre-benders.

The current state of genre-bending is incredibly layered and pulls from more sources than any music from previous decades. All genres are more accessible than ever through the extensive catalogs in streaming services. Old music is also more popular than ever been and people are finding themselves further back in music’s history for inspirational listening material.

This is where my disagreements with the critiques of the current state of music lie: yes, there’s always been bad music in the world, and there isn’t a genre that defines the current state of music, but the new directions that artists are going in through genre-bending shouldn’t go But the critics fail to realize they have it wrong. This is unrecognized, nor uncelebrated. The reason why so much far too reductive of the current state of music. While the “nothing music” does exist, it’s important to note there’s no emotionless, formulaic music is so popular nowadays is begenre of music that defines the current generation. This is cause more people have access to music than ever before.

Listening to music no longer takes a sound system and due to the influx of genre-bending, the practice of taking elements from known genres and adding them together to physical copies of albums — it all lives in the phones that we carry around with us every day. The most digestible, make a diverse and new sound. Genre-bending isn’t anything new; it dates very far back in the cultural zeitgeist of non-offensive music will be enjoyed by most people; the same reason why McDonald’s continues to make millions music. Artists like Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Jimi Henof dollars every year. And just like McDonald’s, this music drix, and Prince are all helped bring genre-bending into is mass-produced, with dozens of soulless yet massive the mainstream with their influential and unique sounds. releases every year.

Modern-day genre-bending is expanding the practice Despite this, there’s never been a time in the last 70 with more artists to admire and many different sounds years that good music has been kept from the public. being produced. One artist who is constantly introducThere are and always will be artists who have a deep pasing new sounds and ideas is Childish Gambino, who has sion and skill for making music. However, due to the mass jumped between hip-hop, R&B, soul, electronic, and pop amount of people that are making music today, finding (to name a few). With every switch between his projects, good music might require a little digging into different not only does he excel at interpolating these different sounds, the sound produced is still unique to him. In a simi- genre catalogues. To anyone who truly believes there lar lens, we can look at Charli XCX’s recent album “BRAT” isn’t any good music coming out anymore, I implore you to look for it. Talk to people, do research online, and your in the same way – it fuses elements of more traditional next favorite artist will come to you eventually. Just like the pop, electronic, dance, and house music. Together, these amazing artists from the past, your pick will completely genres create a sound that unique to her style. These artists and countless more emphasize the impressive state change the way you think about music.

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WRITTEN BY CAMPBELL WILLIAMS ILLUSTRATED BY JOEY BEZNER DESIGNER ELIANNA MABAET ALIGN 89

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Timelessness and Transience Why Some Art Endures, Some Fades, and Why We’re Drawn to Both

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rt exists in a paradox — to capture a distinct moment or emotion, yet it strives for immortality. It lives in a constant flux between timelessness and transience. Is it meant to last forever, or does the beauty lie in its impermanence? A painting freezes a single brushstroke in time, but its meaning shifts with every new pair of eyes that land on it. A photograph immortalizes a second that will never exist again; it forces the transient to be timeless. A street mural, for example, weathers away year after year. Art is constantly redefining the standards of what lasts and what fades with time. These paradoxes collide and give people a space to feel mesmerized by the ephemeral, despite our desire for permanence.

But why do some works of art linger in the collective consciousness for centuries while others fade into obscurity? A painting like the “Mona Lisa” has remained an enigma for over 500 years because she invites endless interpretations. Her mystery and serenity enthrall each generation, allowing her to transcend time. In contrast, movements like Pop Art, though instantly recognizable, feel tethered to the era they were born in. Andy Warhol’s soup cans and Roy Lichtenstein’s comic book panels captured the pulse of their time but lacked the same open-ended ambiguity that allows a piece to be continuously reimagined. Ambiguity is what gives art longevity.

It captivates people and offers them a space to feel comfortable in the unknown. Art that endures is often art that refuses to be fully understood — it’s art that teases, provokes, and evolves, making it feel just as alive centuries later as the day it was created.

An art form like photography takes a fleeting moment in time and makes it eternal. We’re captivated, knowing that these moments can never be repeated. Infamous French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson believed that photography is about pinpointing the right moment when everything is in sync. It’s that moment when light, time, and a subject line up perfectly to create something fortuitous, deemed by Cartier-Bresson as “The Decisive Moment.” It’s this transient quality of photography — the ability to capture a moment that once gone is gone forever — that allures spectators.

Chinese artist and photographer Qiu Zhijie’s exhibit, “Twenty-Four Seasons: Critical Temporality,” at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art explores time’s impact on individuals, politics, and social change from multiple perspectives. His words line the exhibition walls: “We always mistakenly think of photography as an instantaneous art form, but forget that within the period when a shutter opens and closes, what happens is an event, a drama, and perhaps a miracle.”

A medium such as performance art takes the idea of the inimitable even further, creating something that only exists at the moment of its enactment. Multimedia artist Yoko Ono’s “Cut Piece” (1964) exemplifies the ephemeral nature of performance art. During this performance, she invited audience members to cut away at pieces of her clothing, creating an evolving and unrepeated experience. This performance was a powerful commentary on the objectification of and the vulnerability of women in society. Performance art is a medium that resists permanence — it lives on only in ALIGN 91

memory, documentation and retellings, yet its impact is enduring. This paradox, how something so temporary can leave such a lasting impact, says a lot about what people seek from art. Sometimes, we’re infatuated by what can never be repeated; other times, we seek masterpieces that will stand the test of time.

The rise of digital art complicates our understanding of impermanence and experience. Unlike a live performance or a physical painting, digital works exist in a space where nothing is ever truly lost. A performance like “Cut Piece” can only be experienced firsthand once, but its recordings allow it to live on indefinitely. The same is true for street art — what once disappeared with time is now preserved through photographs and social media. But does something change when we experience art through a screen rather than in person? A photograph of a painting can’t capture the texture of its brushstrokes. A recording of a performance can’t replicate the energy in the room. Digital archives give us access to art that would otherwise fade, but they also create distance. At the same time, digital art itself is evolving — non-fungible tokens, AI-generated works, and interactive media challenge traditional notions of originality, presence, and time. As technology advances, so does art, raising the question: does digital permanence strip art of its ephemerality, or does it allow it to evolve in ways we have yet to understand?

Despite the medium, art teaches us to appreciate the present moment. Ephemeral art, whether it’s a street mural, a photograph, or a performance, reminds ALIGN 92

us the value isn’t just in longevity but in the viewing experience. Art embraces impermanence showing us that beauty is tied to the intensity of the moment itself.

In a way, art mirrors life: fleeting, unpredictable, and meaningful precisely because it doesn’t last forever.

And yet, some art does stand the test of time. Works like “The Last Supper” and “The Birth of Venus” persist not only because they invite endless interpretations, but because they’ve been upheld by museums and cultural institutions that ensure their relevance. Their ambiguity keeps them meaningful across generations, but so does their place in history. Contemporary and abstract art, on the other hand, also thrive on ambiguity, yet in a different way. A Rothko painting doesn’t offer a historical narrative, but its expanses of color evokedeeply personal emotions. Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain” forces viewers to grapple with the very definition of art. These works also demand interpretation, but their meaning is often shaped by the individual viewer rather than a collective historical dialogue.

Perhaps what makes a piece timeless is not just its mystery, but the conversation it creates, whether through cultural recognition, personal resonance, or a question that remains forever unanswered.

The paradox of art is that it can be both fleeting and immortal. Some pieces capture a specific moment, others transcend generations, but all remind us of the fundamental human desire to create, preserve, and find meaning in both what lasts and what inevitably fades.

“The paradox of art is that it can be both fleeting and immortal.”

WRITTEN BY ELLIE JOHNSON ART DIRECTOR DANIELLE COLLAR PHOTOGRAPHED BY SOPHIA GREENE MODEL JULIET POWER STYLIST ADRIANA BECKER DESIGNER KAYLA CHANG PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR BELLA SNYDER

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ILLUSTRATED BY ELLA SIMPSON

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tHE pOWER OF INvISIBLE threads

NAVIGATING THE PATHS WE CHOOSE

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ime is the relentless force pushing us forward, like an unstoppable train. Every choice we make is like selecting the track we are destined to ride. You know the invisible string theory? Everyone and everything is interconnected by invisible threads that tie us to people and places, stretching across time and space. Every choice we make, no matter how small, pulls on these strings, guiding us towards various destinations. It’s as if every choice is a moment where we decide which thread to follow and where it will lead us. We make one decision, and we end up riding one train. We make the opposite, and we take the opposite train headed in another direction. Sometimes, and I can attest that I have been in this position myself, we have embarrassing moments or moments where we regret saying something we maybe shouldn’t have. Regardless, the timelines we choose guide us through the universe as reflections of our own actions. In doing so, we forfeit opposite realities. But what if we could alter that? If we had the power to change the past, should we? Could these changes lead us to better futures, or would they cause more harm than good?

Imagine your dream location is Rome, Italy and you were just presented with the opportunity to move there. You feel lots of emotions when you get the news — your excitement is skyrocketing, but anticipation towards the unknown seems to be an even stronger emotion, causing you to worry rather than marinate in happiness. Do you choose the safe or risky path of life?

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Option One: The Safe Path Option 1 allows you to stay put in your comfortable bubble of a hometown. You have all of your friends and family, a steady job, your favorite restaurants, and secret “I know a spot” places. There’s nothing to stress about because the majority of things happening are static. You are safe should you choose this path, however there are no big changes. There may be limited personal growth in the future years, hindering any new adventures and opportunities.

Option Two: The Risky Path Option 2 challenges you to take a leap into the unknown.

Yes, this massive move is terrifying since you cannot be certain of what events will unfold. However, this path could also lead to growth you cannot fully anticipate. Embracing your fear and the unknown could push you to take a step into the uncomfortable while simultaneously discovering new and exciting aspects.

New city, maybe a new job, new wardrobe, and new restaurants.

Maybe someone there can show you their “I know a spot” places. The feeling of fulfilling a deeper purpose could be just steps ahead. ILLUSTRATED BY ISABELLA MELANI DESIGNER NATALIE

These possibilities have me thinking about how life is like a vast web of endless possibilities. We, as human sculptors, are shaped by each challenge and event we encounter. Every “what if” question. Every “should I go for it” question. When encountering a crossroads, such as the chance to move to Rome, we’re not just deciding where to go, we’re pulling on invisible strings that connect us to people, places, and future experiences we haven’t yet envisioned. Every path we choose creates new intersections of connections that could potentially tie people together in a knot.

The scariest part of making a final decision is questioning whether you are making the right one. I mean, it’s not like five years down the line you can whip out your time machine, take it back to the exact decision-making moment, and switch options.There’s a tension between the excitement of the unknown and the comfort and security of home. But regardless of what path you choose to take, what is meant to happen for you will inevitably happen. There’s limited control over altering timelines.

Even the smallest shifts in timelines could cause a ripple effect that alters every other timeline. Our personal destinations are so intertwined with our choices that the bigger question lies in how we achieve peace. Will making corrections to our past gravitate us to our happy ending?

How far would we go to obtain that picture perfect ending?

Ultimately, it’s not about altering the threads of time to our desires, but learning how to shift with them, allowing these threads of our choices to guide us. There’s peace in knowing that, in spite of our questioning, these invisible threads are tying us to the life we were destined to lead.

WRITTEN BY KAYLA CERVANTES ILLUSTRATED BY ISABELLA MELANI DESIGNER NATALIE ENGLET PLAYLIST CONNOISSEUR GRETCHEN SCHECK ALIGN 97

Dance carries culture reflected in the past, present, and future

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DANCE DEJA VU DANCE DEJA VU WRITTEN BY AVA CHAND ART DIRECTOR AILSA HUERTA PHOTOGRAPHED BY COLE THOMAS MODELS AILSA HUERTA, ELIAS CONTRERAZ & ZOË WALKENHORST STYLIST ELIN LAWRENCE DESIGNED BY ADALEAH CARMAN

D

ance is a lineage. It has carried culture on its back, across the globe, throughout time. Dance is an art form that mirrors the past and reflects in the present, setting up a new framework for the future. Dance reflects like the strands of DNA – the past and present are two different strands that run parallel to each other, but intersect in increments. Those intersections are where they meet and create a reflection of one another.

One strand cannot exist without another, and it just keeps building and growing as time goes on.

In the modern era, dance similarly reflects the past. The resurgence of dance professionalism is growing in popularity through music videos and live performances. Artists have chosen to implement unique, modern twists through their dance. Most of the iconic dances we see today pay homage to dance trends of the past while still pushing boundaries by appealing to both young and old generations.

As a dancer, choreographer, and artist, it’s important for me to shape my understanding of dance while paying my respects to the origins of hip-hop dance.

Hip-hop was born in the 1970s, accompanied by the evident rise of disco and funk. The entire decade of the 1970s served as a catalyst for popular dance culture; it housed the origins of many dances that are still practiced today. A major staple for dance was the musical variety show Soul Train, which carried Black culture on its back for decades. Soul Train launched the careers of some of the largest 1970s icons including Teena Marie, the Jackson Five, and Curtis Mayfield. Soul Train didn’t just launch musical artists, but also founders of some of the most recognizable street styles. Don Campbell and Toni Basil founded

The Lockers, a group credited in creating the style of “Campbellocking.” The Lockers unknowingly pushed forward a new culture within dance, straight down to the fashion. They shaped dance history in the palms of their hands by going on to choreograph for some of the 1970s most influential entertainers like Michael Jackson and James Brown.

“Campbellocking” and West Coast street styles such as waacking and popping accompanied by the New York social dance culture of vogueing, breaking, and house all worked together to create the foundation of popular dance in the 1970s and 80s. These styles are translated through numerous recognizable performances. Michael Jackson’s iconic 1983 debut of the ‘Moonwalk’ was a dance move created by Jefferey Daniel, originally called the ‘Backslide.’ This instantly identifiable move ties back to the origins of hip-hop and the West Coast locking style. With this tie back to the past, these styles also support evolution in dance today.

Modern popular dance is unique because of distinctive ties back to its 1970’s and 80’s origins.

Much like Michael Jackson popularized the “Moonwalk,” artists today popularize moves that date much farther back than their connoisseurs realize.

The internet allows widespread information to reach all corners of the world, which assists dancers in revitalizing older dance concepts with the intention of reaching a wide variety of audiences. This allows dancers such as myself to broaden our view of dance.

I’m able to see how other dancers in the world are molding around the framework of hip-hop while making it their own. A notable example would be the band Jungle and their dancing frontman, Will West.

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What makes Jungle distinctive is their use of dance to create stimulating visuals for their videos in addition to their retro aesthetic. In their song “Candle Flame,” the video calls back to “Campbellocking” and popping, with a very distinct popping and locking sequence during the chorus. The combo is addictive to watch, drawing audiences in with each tensed muscle creating a stop-and-go visual. This throwback to original West Coast styles had viewers soaking in dance history without even realizing it.

Shay Latukolan, the choreographer for Jungle’s visual album “Volcano,” created a visual masterpiece by drawing back to the fundamentals of dance – something that kept audiences intrigued. His identifiable style not only drew on popping and locking, but also waacking and vogue for a feminine touch. When audiences see Latukolan’s choreography, they instantly know it’s him. Jungle’s retro aesthetic accompanied by dance moves that nod back to retro styles creates an old yet new form of mainstream dance. It’s funky, composed, and eloquent. And, it keeps me constantly watching.

Chris Brown, a notable entertainer in the R&B scene, uses both dance and music to capture the attention of the masses. On his latest “11:11” album tour, Brown’s collection of backup dancers ranged from every style hailed down from the origins of hip-hop and West Coast styles. Dancers’ backgrounds ranged from commercial dance to house, krump, turf, heels, vogue, waacking, and every style under the sun. Having these styles come together through talent, fused to create modified versions of classic styles, pushing forward the narrative that dancers create culture. His lead choreographer, Josh Smith, along with the assistant choreographers, utilized their dancers’ strengths in their own styles while still twisting them to create fusion routines, especially when accompanied by style-specific songs. Stylespecific songs are carried by house beats, popping beats, West Coast krump beats, and even Afro-beats. This plethora of genres is rapidly growing in popularity among dancers as well. Even through the fusion and creative direction of unique movements, the dances being presented all, in one way or another, tie back to the original styles of the 1970’s.

Dance is a timeless language that carries history while constantly evolving. From the disco grooves of the 1970s to today’s polished routines by artists like Jungle and Chris Brown, professional dancers revamp classic styles for modern audiences.

Like strands of DNA, past and present dance forms intersect, building on each other to create something both familiar and fresh. As long as dancers honor this lineage, dance will continue to thrive, pushing boundaries while staying rooted in its history and knowledge.

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HATE T

hinking outside the box, then executing outside the box, then becoming the box. Heidi Klum can dress as a worm at her own costume party. Adam Sandler has become a source of inspiration for costumes consisting of baggy graphic tees and basketball shorts. Even events like the Met Gala are just excuses for guests to dress as outlandish as possible.

Celebrities always look unbelievably good, but what if an everyday person decided to wear this same designer clutter?

We look at these icons and rarely think twice about how crazy their outfits may look. But imagine you showed up to a Halloween party dressed as an insect or a wedding dressed in your most baggy clothes. The reaction would not be the same. Celebrities are encouraged to premiere more out-of-thebox outfits to keep the media intrigued.

But when the average person dresses abnormally, it’s deemed as weird. So why do the people that society puts on a pedestal get praised for this action while regular, average people receive hate?

The Thin Line Between Acceptance and Rejection: How Credibility Shapes Perception WRITTEN BY SOPHIE TURNBULL

We as a society give so much praise to big-name celebrities.

But we also fail to acknowledge that we often give the same amount of praise to certain people we surround ourselves with daily. We’re all constantly inspired by our friends and family – copying their outfits, and picking up similar mannerisms. But everyday people aren’t celebrities, therefore praising a normal person is much less common. The chance of copying someone on purpose might come off the wrong way, leading to hate rather than praise. Sure, there are people we look up to when they execute a new idea. But how many more people are you judging for stepping outside the box? Probably a lot more.

VS.

Every May 5th, the Met Gala hosts the most famous celebrities for one of fashion’s biggest events of the year, and their outfits never disappoint. “A Line of Beauty” was the theme in 2023 to pay tribute to Karl Lagerfeld, an American clothing designer who was known for his simple “serpentine” line designs. Doja Cat came dressed as a cat and Lil Nas X showed up in nothing but silver body paint, platform heels, and a pair of briefs.

“Sleeping Beauties; Reawakening Fashion” was the following year’s theme. Instead, we ended up seeing celebrities like Lana Del Ray wearing what seemed to be tree branches. The Met Gala allows fashion’s most creative designers to showcase their best work by premiering it on pop culture icons. The outfits are extremely bold to pull off, but we continue to see celebrities outdoing each other to be more out-of-the-box. There’s nothing but love for these insane looks from social media, yet everyone might think it would be “weird” if an average person tried to pull off eccentric outfits.

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The bridge between hate and praise may seem enormous, but there is actually a simple answer… credibility. With fame comes trust, with a fan base comes reliability, and with VIP status comes credibility. Anyone we look up to from friends to celebrities is seen as credible. But what defines a credible person? Credibility, by definition, is the ability to be believed or trusted. Trust is easily achievable when we spend time with others to get to know them on a deeper level. So, why do we trust celebrities when we don’t truly know them?

Forbes writer Lacey Rose wrote an enticing piece titled “The Ten Most Trustworthy Celebrities.” The article lists Tom Hanks as the most trusted celebrity, as Hanks is someone whom a lot of people look up to and is therefore seen as credible. But we don’t personally know him. Nevertheless, Rose explains where we find our trust in him, writing, “Often we trust actors because of the characters they play on screen.” As we get to know these characters on screen, we start to build our trust in them as people who are close to us. It’s fascinating. Oprah Winfrey was another one of Rose’s most trusted celebrities. We trust Oprah

PRAISE

because of what Rose calls the “mere exposure effect” which explains the more we are exposed to something, the more we trust it. With the beloved pop culture icon Oprah Winfrey, we become familiar with her as she’s constantly seen everywhere in the media. This repeated exposure to Oprah’s image triggers a sense of comfort whenever we see her. Therefore, the more we see these celebrities, the more we like them.

Whether it’s your favorite celebrity with thousands of followers or your best friend whom you copy outfits from, both share the common trait of credibility. Anyone is allowed to branch out with a new idea and be accepted for it. Anyone can be trusted and as a result, praised for something crazy. But is the box just being credible? That’s up to those who are up to the challenge of thinking outside the box, then executing outside the box, then becoming the box.

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Confusion and Connection

WRITTEN BY NIHARIKA PANJALA ART DIRECTORS EVA ROSE BRAZFIELD & ANNA CURTIS PHOTOGRAPHED BY AYLA FUNG MODELS ELIZA MAZURSKY & DAISY SIMPSON STYLIST CLARISSA PEREZ DESIGNER EVAN GIORDANO ALIGN 104

NAVIGATING HUMAN DUALITY IN LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS

“Family is a tricky line and forgiveness is a strong word. I know a lot of conversations my family has not had.

However, we’ll still sit at the dinner table.”

I

’ve always struggled to let go of seeing life in black and white. Lacking a clear meaning behind people’s actions or words has never felt safe, especially when a close relationship is at stake. But the more love I experience, the clearer it becomes that human relationships are complex, confusing, and messy.

Sometimes, you’re so proud of your best friend’s latest accomplishment you wish it was yours instead. Sometimes, you start a new relationship that feels so safe and peaceful that you have to stop yourself from running the other direction.

You could wish from the bottom of your heart your childhood was different and simultaneously wouldn’t want to change a thing about it. Love and connection are alluringly complicated.

“I moved out when I was 15. I had to take some space. That push away was probably the most selfish thing I’ve done.

In a good way.”

“When you’re born, you immediately have to trust these people you don’t know to keep you alive and warm and safe. It feels like you owe it back to them when you’re older. I wouldn’t be who I am today without their love.”

“I have an amazing relationship with my mother, but she has hurt me more than anybody. I forgive her because I know she’s human, and I love her. But it has changed how I interact with other people in life, and I’m still really hurt by it.”

xoxo attachment as a child can set an example of what romantic love is as a young adult.

For some, being in love and being hurt become intertwined.

“My closest relationships bring me the most love and pain simultaneously.”

“If you love somebody you’re going to get hurt no matter what. That’s just a part of love.”

Before most rants to my friends, I start with an acknowledgement of sorts: ’I’m grateful for my family. But…’ It’s at this point my best friend usually interrupts and reminds me, “Two things can coexist, Niha.” It’s been years of having this exchange, and that idea still hasn’t completely sunk in. It’s difficult to understand that I can love these people and be upset by them at the same time.

To see if I was alone in experiencing these paradoxical emotions at play, I reached out to the Eugene community.

As it turns out, the following anonymous sources share my sentiments.

“My definition of love has changed over time with my ability to see love in so many other aspects of my life. It’s gotten less complicated and more complicated at the same time.”

It’s at home where people first experience what it’s like to be close to someone as well as the gut-punch feeling when that closeness becomes painful. Experiencing the thorny sides of ALIGN 105

“Ultimately, love and hurt come together, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It means you really loved and you really cared.”

Love is sloppy, disorganized, and chaotic. But it can also be expansive, boundless, and soulful. Platonic, romantic, or somewhere inbetween, love is so intrinsically human that it can’t be limited to any one kind of feeling. You can’t have one part without the other.

“In most relationships I have, I’m always double and triple-sided in the way that I feel. It’s never that simple.”

”You are at once both the quiet and the confusion of my heart.’

- Franz Kafka, Letters to Felice

“You cannot love somebody without pain being present because you’re giving everything of yours to someone.”

Because of this risk, it’s easy to avoid getting too close to someone. Our brains and hearts create all kinds of trapdoors, screening mechanisms, and guardrails to protect ourselves and keep the other person at bay.

“When I care about someone deeply, I know they can hurt me. I need to push them away before I get hurt.”

“When I open myself up to someone I love, I want to push them away. I bombard them with the worst of me and see if they stick around.”

“It takes a lot to open up because there’s always that fear of being rejected.”

However deep the knife twists, it’s human nature to keep loving. Knowing things might go wrong, you’re handing someone your heart and trusting them to keep it safe. You keep enough hope to open your heart to a beautiful unknown.

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love is to know the true value of hurt and to have been hurt before. It puts things into a narrower scope of what matters and what love is.”

“You have to open yourself up and bare yourself naked in order for them to really understand you and see you for who you are.”

“If we don’t have those experiences where we get hurt from what’s bad for us, we’re never going to recognize the beauty in what’s good for us.”

ich “The sense of duality, wh t s u m , e v lo e ru t o t r ie is a barr n io t p e rc e p p a e h t s a g n lo prevail so e c n O . d re u c c o t o n s a h h of Trut re e h t , d re e d n e rr u s is y individualit is only total Love.'

- Ramesh S Balsekar

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DOUBLE-ED GED THE

SWORD

How Every Decision Backstabs What We Leave Behind ALIGN 108

Clarity, however, is rarely solitary. It exposes the contradictions, motivations, and realities of those around us.

Conflict, then, becomes a mirror – one that reflects both our convictions and the tangled world we inhabit.

The duality of conflict speaks to the nature of society itself.

ELDER. systems apart while ITS WIbreaking RAYgenerative, It’s destructive TO BETyet A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD IS DESTINED forcing the creation of new S progress through LESdefine ENTWe OF RELones.

AN AGE IN AND OY, TR DES O ALS CAN struggle; justice is born from upheaval, understanding from ERS POW EM WHAT A H SUC NG PPI disagreement, and identity from opposition.

So are we drawn SELVES GRI INNOVATION, WE OFTEN FIND OUR to conflict, or to the resolution NEW Do we seek the fight INATEitS offers?

ILLUM E, clarity ANC NOR IG GH ROU TH S double-edged sword is destined to betray its wielder.

CUT or simply the that follows?

SS GRE PRO BLADE. O What empowers can also destroy, and in an age of MISES A BETTER WORLD -- BUT IT ALS AND PRO ES,ourselves TIfind POSSIB relentless innovation, weILI often gripping Perhaps it’s neither and both atTH once E – a cycle as endless S, AND HIP ATIONS REL H, LT HEA AL NT such a blade. Progress cuts through ignorance, illuminates new ME OUR as the chicken and the egg.

Conflict demands resolution, TO IN CES SLI possibilities, and promises a better world – but it also slices into E BEL E. resolution breeds new conflicts, and within that cycle, clarity ABL HAK IEVED UNS ONC TIONSweWEonce our mental health, relationships, andFOU theNDA foundations flickers in and out of reach, revealing just enough to keep us believed unshakable. searching.

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S E V A E V L v Y T I L _ A U D WITH BLACK-AND-WHITE DECISIONS

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FILLED LIFE IS Life is filled with black-and-white decisions – one side of This duality extends to every freedom, QUIETespecially the A IS E IC CHO RY EVE E. EDG S FE' the coin: the knife’s edge.

Every choice is a quiet betrayal, an KNI freedom of speech. The right to express ourselves – to write, SIDE OF THE COIN, THE assassination of the path left behind. To decide is to sever, to DECIDE create, to share stories a privilege that should not be IND.– isTO T BEH H LEF ON OF THEtoPAT ATI AN ASSASS RAYAofL,certainty, carve away possibilityBET in favor butIN what does that taken for granted. Free expression exposes NTY, injustice and TAI CER OF OR FAV IN TY ILI SIB mean for the weight of ourTO decisions?

Choosing awareness POS Y amplifies truth. Yet, like the sword, this freedom balances SEVER, TO CARVE AWA IS ? human nature: betrays ignorance. Choosing ignorance betrays the truth. Each ONSof ISIsides fine edge, darker OF OURtheDEC GHTrevealing Ea WEI AN FOR THon THATweME S roads T DOEthe WHAagainst BUT step forward is an act of treason refuse to violence, bigotry, misinformation, and harmful ideologies.

IGNORANCE CHOOSI ANCE.in media walk. Perhaps this is why regret lingers: because every choice RAYS IGNOR Violence canNG desensitize or traumatize. Bigotry in BET RENESS NG AWA CHOOSI carries the ghost of what could have been. speech normalize hatred.

Misinformation can erode trust EASON OF TR AN ACT WARDcanIS BETRAYS THE TRUTH. EACH STEP FOR and destabilize societies.

IS WHY The double-edged sword has a universal DS WE REFUSE TO WALK. PERHAPS THIS THE asROA STserved AGAINlong symbol: justice in classical antiquity, duality in Buddhism, and OF AUSE EVERY CHOICE CARRIES THE GHOST S: BECJustice, LINGER RET REG memory in Yoga. In every case, it carries a warning. though impartial, can strike blindly. Duality reminds us that COULD HAVE BEEN. T joy WHA cannot exist without suffering. Memory, both a gift and a curse, anchors us even as it binds us. The sword reveals the paradox of VED AS A UNIVERSAL SYMBOL: SER human experience: every step forward risks imbalance, hurt, G LON HAS RD SWO GED -ED BLE DOU THE and even moral faithlessness.

Y IN BUDDHISM, AND DUALIT JUSTICE IN CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY, TICE, This paradox plays out in our modern age change.

RY CASE, IT CARRIES A WARNING. JUS IN EVE A. rapid IN YOGof RY MO ME Technology connects us even as it isolates us. Societal progress NDLY. DUALITY REMINDS US THAT , CAN ST IALinspires empowers while destabilizing. growth yetRIKE BLI H IMPART THOUGPersonal leaves us exhausted. Innovation brings opportunity, what SUFFERING. MEMORY, BOTH A GIFT AND THatOUT EXIST WIbut NOT CAN Y JO cost? The speed of progress often outpaces reflection, pushing US. THE SWORD REVEALS THE NDS BI IT AS N EVE US S HOR ANC us to wield its power before we understand its consequences.

SE, A CUR EP FORWARD RISKS IMBALANCE, ST RY EVE E: ENC ERI EXP AN HUM OF DOX I think of the things we In contemplating thisPARA balance, EVEN MORAL FAITHLESSNESS. T, ANDThese instinctively avoid: conflict, discomfort, and HUR uncertainty. moments feel inevitable, demanding our attention no matter how much we resist. Take conflict, for example. We exhaust ourselves trying to smooth things over, yet when we are forced to confront issues face to face, we discover its value. Conflict teaches honesty. It compels us to advocate for ourselves, to voice our needs, and to set boundaries where we once hesitated. It’s both a weapon and wound, a force that cuts but also clarifies.

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Living in the grey space is difficult but necessary. It’s a space of moral ambiguity, of uncomfortable conversations of contradictions that must be held rather than discarded.

Within this space, an open mind can thrive. Nuance can shape discourse. And while the risk of harm can never be erased, it can be mitigated.

The answer may not be a single rule, but a constant negotiation – a willingness to remain in the tension between freedom and responsibility.

The metaphor of the double-edged sword feels more urgent now than ever. To wield it without cutting ourselves requires balance, intentionality, and mindfulness. Like the sword, progress is ruthlessly honest: it carves through illusion,

“Icarus did not fall simply because he flew too high; he fell because he was trapped between extremes. “

So, how do we apply limits while preserving what we deem morally sound? Who decides which voices are silenced and which are amplified? Picking and choosing is a dangerous game—black-and-white thinking turns the sword back on itself.

Both excessive restriction and unchecked freedom carry the potential for harm. Too many limits risk censorship, while too few allow harm to spread unchecked.

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revealing the cost of every gain, the shadow of every light. But the sword does not cut in one direction. It confines as much as it divides. When we define the world in absolutes – progress or regression, truth or lies, conflict or peace – we bind ourselves to the edge of the blade, where every step risks harm.

WRITTEN BY LILY REESE ART DIRECTORS CORI MARKUS & SORAYA SOLANO PHOTOGRAPHED BY BELLA SNYDER MODELS NOYA EPSTEIN, GARRETT HOHENGARTEN, CLEMENTINE JAFFE, CORI MARKUS, MAKEDA POLK, ENZO PAREDA, JANE RICHARDS, MILO SCHWARTZ, & SORAYA SOLANO STYLIST LUCY MACNEELA & DIEGO VASQUEZ DESIGNER EVAN GIORDANO PLAYLIST CONNOISSEURS MILLIE LANGARICA & ANJA VANDERZEE ALIGN 110

Icarus did not fall simply because he flew too high; he fell because he was trapped between extremes. Too close to the sun, he burned. Too close to the sea, he drowned. We, too, stand on this knife’s edge, mistaking absolutes for clarity, believing that we must choose one path and forsake all others. But if we refuse to see the space in between – the contradictions, the nuance, the uncertainty – then harm is inevitable. The danger is not only in the fall. It’s in refusing to see the space between.

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